“Did you kill Tiffany Grace, Mr. Kent?”
“No, and I was at work when it happened.”
“Who knows the code to your alarm?”
“Just us, we never give it out, not even to close relatives.”
Parker handed Kent one of his cards.
“I’ll likely want to speak with you again, Mr. Kent, so keep yourself available and let me know if you plan to travel. If you think of anything useful, let me know.”
“I kissed Tiffany, but I never slept with her. You believe me, don’t you?”
“No sir, I do not,” Parker said, and walked away.
4
Detective Joanna Knight studied Mandy Kent as the other woman went about making a pot of coffee.
Mandy Kent was nervous, but it was the normal sort of apprehension that came from discovering that someone you knew had been murdered, and not the twitching nervousness of guilt. Still, Knight knew that Mandy Kent had an admitted motive, as she believed her husband had been sleeping with the victim.
Like Parker, Knight had also detected the scent of liquor coming from Mandy Kent. Perhaps the woman had taken a drink to steady her nerves, or perhaps the problem went deeper, but Mandy had obviously been drinking.
“You have a lovely home, Mrs. Kent,” Knight said.
Mandy leaned back against the sink and grinned.
“Almost everything is new. Alex made a fortune recently and I used a chunk of it to upgrade. We’re also building a new home, I want a bigger house.”
“How well did you know Tiffany Grace?”
“Not too well, but Allie loved her and so I went along with her babysitting, that is, until I found her on the couch with my husband,”
“Where was your daughter at the time?”
“Allie was at school for orientation. Alex knew the house would be empty and he let that girl in and seduced her, or she seduced him, either way, I tossed his ass to the curb.”
“Mr. Kent seems to think that you’re sleeping with the victim’s brother, are you?”
“What’s that got to do with Tiffany’s murder?”
Knight got up from her seat at the table and walked over to Mandy Kent.
“I don’t answer questions Mrs. Kent, I ask them, and when I do, I expect an answer.”
Mandy Kent blinked rapidly as she looked up at the taller woman.
“I slept with Steve once, two days ago, and I regret it. It felt cheap, and despite everything, I want my husband back.”
“Your husband says that Steve Grace was here last night.”
“He’s wrong, or... maybe he’s right and Steve did knock at the back door, but if he did I never heard him. I drank so much last night that I fell asleep in front of the TV after Allie went to bed.”
“What kind of work do you do?”
“I’m a real estate agent.”
“Steve Grace, does he work?”
“He’s a college student, so is—so was Tiffany. They also collected enough life insurance from their parents’ accident so that they didn’t need to work. That was what made me so suspicious of Tiffany, why babysit for a few dollars a week when you didn’t need to?”
“You think that she was after your husband?”
“All I know is what I saw the day I walked in on them.”
“Did you kill Tiffany?”
“God no! I didn’t like her, but I would never kill her.”
“Where were you this afternoon?”
“I was over in Hamilton to show a house to a couple.”
“This couple can verify that?”
“They never showed, and so I sat in my car and looked at listings on my laptop.”
“Did anyone see you in Hamilton?”
“I... no, maybe one of the neighbors?”
Knight took out her notebook.
“What’s the address?”
Mandy told her and Knight wrote it down.
“Mrs. Kent, did Tiffany know that you slept with her brother?”
“I don’t know.”
“But your husband knows, how?”
“He doesn’t know; he only suspects because Steve has always been attentive to me. You won’t tell him, will you?”
“Only if I have a reason to, and I doubt that I will,”
“Please don’t, I really want to try and put my marriage back together.”
“Your marriage is not my concern. My only concern is finding Tiffany’s murderer.”
“And will you, find the murderer I mean?”
Knight smiled without a trace of warmth.
“Absolutely,”
***
Knight spoke with Mandy Kent a while longer as the two of them sipped on coffee, and then she walked off to find Parker.
She found him outside, after discovering that the body had been taken away and the forensics team had left.
“Please tell me that Mr. Kent confessed.”
Parker smiled.
“He confessed his lust for the victim, but says he didn’t kill her. What about the wife?”
“She’s sleeping with the victim’s brother. She said it only happened once two days ago, but once is enough to count as an affair in my book.”
They each took a side of the street and began speaking with the neighbors, most of which didn’t know the Kents or Tiffany Grace, but a Mrs. Paula Jennings, a grandmotherly type, confirmed that it was she who called the police after Allie Kent and her friend came running to the door. She also offered the opinion that Mandy Kent, “drinks a lot” and that Alex Kent had paid too much attention to, “the young girl with the long blonde hair,” Tiffany Grace.
As Knight joined him back in front of the Kent home, Parker pointed to his right, where a silver sports car was parking at the curb.
“That might be the victim’s brother.”
A young, blond man got out of the car and there was a definite resemblance to the victim; however, there was nothing soft or feminine about the man, whose muscular arms showed clearly from a sleeveless T-shirt.
Parker flashed his badge.
“Are you Steve Grace, sir?”
The man’s eyes darted back and forth between Parker and Knight and Parker thought that there was both fear and guilt in his gaze.
“Yeah, I’m Steve Grace. What’s going on?”
Parker gestured toward Grace’s house.
“Perhaps we should speak inside, sir.”
Grace said, “All right,” and then led the way to his front door.
***
When they broke the news of his sister’s death, Steve Grace seemed genuinely distraught, and when they told him where and how she had died, he sent forth a sick moan as tears drenched his cheeks.
“Who killed her? Was it Alex?”
“We’re not sure who killed her yet, but we’re investigating,” Parker said.
As he spoke to Steve Grace, he took note that Knight had risen and was walking about the living room taking in the details, and had even picked up the mail lying on the table to examine the envelopes. The living room was neat, given that the only two people occupying the home were little more than teenagers. There was no sign of a struggle or violence and unlike the Kent’s place, the furniture fit the home and was middle class.
Knight walked over and laid a gentle hand on Grace’s shoulder.
“Mr. Grace, why don’t we all go into the kitchen and talk? It’s very hot out and I could use a drink of water.”
Grace stood, wiped at tears, and began walking towards the rear of the home.
She’s going to work out. Parker thought, as he looked over at Knight.
Detective Knight didn’t want a drink of water. Detective Knight wanted to see as much of the home as she could without a search warrant.
Knight must have also noticed the flash of guilt in Grace’s eyes when they told him they were cops, but Parker didn’t think that the guilt had anything to do with the murder of his sister, not after the reaction he had upon hearing of her death. No, that guilt was spawned
from something else. Maybe the kid had drugs on his person or somewhere in the house. If that was the source of his fear and guilt, he need not worry; Parker’s only concern was to find out who killed Grace’s sister.
As they each sat at the kitchen table with a bottle of water, Parker began the questioning.
“Why do you suspect that Mr. Kent might have killed your sister?”
Steve Grace shrugged.
“She was found in his house, right?”
“Yes, but he has an alibi. He says he was at work.”
“He could have slipped out. He’s the boss where he works, so no one is looking over his shoulder.”
“We’ll be checking into his whereabouts, and on that note, where were you between the hours of one and three p.m.?”
“Me? You think I would kill my sister?”
“I need to ask. It’s part of the investigation.”
“I was at my girlfriend’s house in Freehold.”
“I’ll need her name, phone number, and address,”
Grace gave Parker the information and he wrote it down in his notebook.
“Mr. Grace,” Knight said. “Mandy Kent says that you two have slept together, is that true, sir?”
Grace looked startled.
“She told you about that?”
“Yes sir, is it true?”
“Yeah, two nights ago, Mandy and I... there’s chemistry, you know?”
“Did your sister know about the affair?”
“Tiff? No, not unless Mandy told her, and I doubt that happened. They didn’t like each other much. Tiff thought that Mandy was a drunk, and Mandy does drink more than she should.”
“Can you think of anyone who might have wished your sister harm?” Parker asked.
“No. Tiff was cool and everybody liked her, well, everybody but Mandy, but that was just jealousy because Alex was always perving on Tiff. That dude looked at her like he’d never seen a girl before.”
“We’d like to get a look at her room if you don’t mind,” Knight said, and Steve Grace rose from his seat and headed for the stairs.
***
Looking into his sister’s room started a fresh wave of tears in Grace, and he excused himself and headed back downstairs.
Parker looked around the room and saw what he expected to see in the room of a nineteen-year-old woman.
A queen-sized bed was covered in a frilly, pink blanket atop a shaggy purple area rug. Against one wall was a vanity and its surface was covered with bottles of perfume, tins of make-up and what must have been over a hundred different bottles of nail polish. Inside the closet, clothes hung on plastic hangers and some of the dresses glittered, while the closet’s floor held dozens of shoes.
There were no posters on the wall, but several photos of Tiffany Grace with other young people were taped to the wall beside the vanity, and Parker saw Tiffany Grace as she was in life, happy and vibrant. The girl was stunning even in a photo and Parker knew that alive and breathing she must have been quite a temptation to a man like Alex Kent.
Had Kent lured her to the house and things gotten out of hand, or had Mrs. Kent’s jealousy gotten the better of her?
Maybe it was someone else entirely, but then how did Tiffany get inside the Kent’s home?
Joanna Knight grabbed a few books from a small bookcase that sat beside the dresser.
“These are medical textbooks, pre-med; I guess she was going to be a doctor. My God, what a waste,”
Parker sighed.
“Why was she killed? Did it happen during a fit of rage or jealousy, or was someone trying to keep her from talking?”
“Talking about what?”
“I don’t know, but I think those are our possibilities. We’ll speak to the brother again when we’re done here. A girl this beautiful must have had someone in her life.”
When they finished their examination of the bedroom, they found Steve Grace slumped in a living room chair holding a picture of his family. He had recently lost his parents and now his sister.
Parker laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“Do you have any other family, someone you can be with?”
“I have an aunt, dad’s sister, Peggy, but she’s back in Ohio where we came from.”
“Maybe you should call her.”
“I will, but oh hell, I’ve got to tell her what happened too, oh Tiff, oh man.”
“Was your sister seeing anyone?”
“Yeah, dude named Kevin Mathias, but he was an a-hole and cheated on her with his ex. They broke up last week. I don’t think there was anybody new, but Heather would know.”
“Who’s Heather?” Knight said.
“Oh, uh, Heather Jones, she lives a couple of blocks from here. She and Tiff were best friends.”
“Do you know her address?”
“No, but it’s on the corner of Monroe and Fifth, a big white house and the mailbox says Jones right on it,”
Parker handed Grace his card.
“If you think of anything, please give us a call.”
“Yeah,”
“And one more thing, stay away from the Kents. I think if you go over there it’ll only be trouble.”
Steve Grace said nothing, but nodded agreement, and after a few more questions, Parker and Knight left.
***
“Why don’t we go see Heather Jones?” Parker asked, once they had returned outside.
“Sounds good, I’ll follow you,”
Knight got in her car, a dark blue, late-model Ford, and followed Parker’s old, black Mustang. When they reached the Jones residence, Knight rushed over and ran her hands over Parker’s car.
“This is a beauty. It’s a ’65, isn’t it?”
“You know cars?”
“I know Fords, especially Mustangs; my dad owns a dealership in Pennsylvania.”
“This was my dad’s car. He bought it new and passed it on to me.”
“I see you keep it in great shape.”
“Yeah, and I’ll have it forever.”
They went to the house and a woman as beautiful as Tiffany Grace opened the door and looked out at them. She was Heather Jones, a redhead with green eyes who was a twenty-two-year old medical student.
Jones was so stunning that Parker felt his pulse quicken at first sight of her, but then he remembered why he was there and his heart grew sad at the task ahead.
He told Heather about her friend’s death and grimaced when he saw the pain and shock enter the woman’s eyes.
A few minutes later, the three of them were settled in the living room and Heather was answering their questions from a tear-stained face.
“No, I don’t know anyone that would hurt her. That Mrs. Kent didn’t like her because she thought Tiff was sleeping with her husband, but Tiff would never go for a married guy; she just liked babysitting the little girl.”
“Did she ever say anything about Alex Kent?”
“No details, but something weird happened between those two last week. She wouldn’t tell me what it was, but I got the feeling that maybe he came on way too strong. Whatever it was had her thinking about quitting the babysitting job, but she was really attached to the little girl and kept going there. Then, the dude tricked her into being alone with him, and that’s when his wife caught them together, but Tiff was there to babysit. She didn’t know the kid wasn’t coming home.”
“What’s your opinion of her brother?”
A smile burst through the tears.
“Steve, I like Steve, but he doesn’t give me the time of day. I have seen him over at the Kent’s though; he’s got a thing for Mandy Kent. God knows why, the woman could be his mother.”
“Was Tiffany afraid of Mr. or Mrs. Kent?”
“Afraid? No, she thought Kent was a creep and that Mandy was a bad mother who drank too much, but she wasn’t scared of them. Why, do you think one of them killed her?”
“We’re just investigating at this point. How did Tiffany get along with Steve?”
“T
iff loved her big brother, but... she didn’t like Steve sniffing around Mrs. Kent, Mandy. I was over there one day when she freaked because she learned that he had been spending time there when Mr. Kent wasn’t home. I think it was right after that when she began babysitting.”
“She was protective of her brother?”
“Ah, more like worried that he’d get into trouble. It’s not cool to be messing with a married woman. I don’t know why he likes Mandy so much. I’ve hit on him twice and he turned me down both times.”
Parker studied the girl and felt his pulse quicken again.
“Ms. Jones, can you tell us where you were between one and three p.m.?” He asked.
“Am I a suspect?”
“No, it’s just a routine question. We’ve asked it of everyone.”
“Oh, well I was here watching TV and studying. I don’t have work or classes today.”
“What sort of work do you do?”
“I’m a waitress at Taggart’s; you know the big bar in the handle?”
“I know it,” Parker said.
The town of Washington was roughly the shape of a frying pan, and Taggart’s Bar & Grill sat on land in what could be called the handle, and was called such by the town’s natives.
Heather looked Parker over and sent a shy smile his way.
“I work afternoons and evenings most days, stop by sometimes,”
Parker nodded, before taking out a card and passing it to her.
“Please give us a call if you think of anything that might help, okay?”
“I will, and shit, I can’t believe she’s dead, poor Tiff,”
***
After leaving Heather Jones, Parker and Knight went to a diner near the municipal building that housed the police station.
They discussed the case over coffee and pie, while learning a little about each other.
“How old?” Parker said.
“Twenty-two, my daughter is twenty-two.”
“You started really young,”
“I was fourteen and stupid. The boy was fifteen and he and his parents took no responsibility. My mother, God bless her, she kept my father from going insane and helped me to raise my baby.”
Murder! (Parker & Knight Book 1) Page 3