“Grace? I hope we’re not bothering you, but Annie from Grant Jewelers gave us your address. I was hoping I could ask you a few questions,” I said, trying to sound casual after what had happened.
An odd expression spread across Grace’s face. “First of all, you need to tell me who you are before I’ll answer any questions.” She looked from me to Dorothy.
“My name is Maggie Thomas and this is my assistant Dorothy Raye. I’m a private investigator.”
I thought for a moment by the look on her face that she would definitely shut the door. If it hadn’t been for Dorothy giving her that sweet grandmother look she probably would have. Looks could be deceiving though. This woman would be wise to look out for the kindly smiles from Dorothy. Oh well, she’d have to learn that for herself.
“What are your questions?” Grace asked hesitantly.
“Like I said, I’m a private investigator. I’ve been hired to look into the death of Kristin Grant,” I said.
Her face paled, but she didn’t say anything.
I continued, “Her grandfather hired me.” I pulled out the picture and handed it to her. “You’re in this picture with her.”
Grace took the picture, then looked down and nodded. “Yes, that’s me. That was a fun night,” she said with a smile. “We were at a nightclub, we danced all night.”
“How long ago was the picture taken?” I asked.
“Oh, that was just about two months ago.”
At least I was getting some information out of her. Finally, now I was getting somewhere.
“There was one other thing,” I said. She looked up at me. I tapped the photo with my finger. “Do you know this man in the photo? I know it’s just his arm, but I know he’s with you all because he’s sitting at the same table.”
She was shaking her head before I’d even finished the question.
“This is really important. You do want to help your friend, right? I know you know who this is,” I said with a pleading look.
“How did you get this photo?” Grace asked, changing the subject.
How had I lost control of the conversation? “Her grandfather gave the photo to me,” I said. That wasn’t exactly a lie because he had given me access to the house. He would have given me the picture if he’d had it. Now I needed to steer the conversation back to the important subject. I had to convince her to share more information.
“So back to the picture…can you tell me who is in the photo? It’s very important,” I said.
Grace looked down and at her feet and signed. Finally, she looked at me. “That was Kristin’s boyfriend.”
Now we were really getting somewhere. “What can you tell me about him?” I asked.
She shrugged. “There’s not a lot to tell.”
“Any info you can provide would be a huge help,” Dorothy added with a smile.
She paused, and then said, “His name is Henry Reynolds.” She paused again and then continued, “I don’t like the guy and I don’t know what she saw in him.”
I glanced down at the photo. “What didn’t you like about him?”
“Besides that he was a pompous ass?” Grace asked.
Dorothy snickered.
“Yes, well, besides that,” I said.
“Henry wanted her to do everything for the relationship. She paid for every single date. She drove her car. They did everything he wanted. I mean, what happened to sharing?” she asked.
“That’s a pompous ass all right,” Dorothy said.
“Can you tell me where I can find him?” I asked.
Grace hesitated again. Now was not the time for her to stop talking after I’d gotten this far. She looked around as if someone would overhear her. “Well, you didn’t get this information from me, but I do have his address.”
“That would be great if you could give it to me,” I said.
This had been a totally worthwhile trip. We’d get this guy’s address and go see him right away. Of course I couldn’t just come right out and ask if he’d killed his girlfriend though. That was an entirely too dangerous question.
“I’ll give you the address, but you don’t want to go,” she said with all seriousness.
I stared for a moment, but she didn’t change her statement. “What makes you say that?” I asked. “Is it just because you think he’s a jerk? Because trust me, I’m very accustomed to dealing with jerks. I’ve dealt with more than my share of them over the years.”
Dorothy nodded. “Maggie is a jerk magnet…well, except for Jake, but that’s a story for another day.”
I stared at Dorothy and then focused my attention on Grace again. “He’s no match for us.”
Grace shook her head. “No, it’s not just because he’s a jerk.”
“Then what is it?” I asked. How long was she going to keep me in suspense? “Why shouldn’t we go see him?”
“I think he’s involved with a lot of bad people.” She rushed her words.
My stomach dropped. This was the kind of info I’d been looking for. Someone like this could definitely be involved with Kristin’s death. Why hadn’t she mentioned this earlier?
“Who are these bad people?” I asked.
Grace looked around again. “I think they were involved with drugs…a lot of big stuff. Like selling it.”
“Her boyfriend did that?” I asked.
Grace nodded. “Yes, and he tried to get Kristin involved. I stopped talking to her about a month ago so I’m not sure what was going on,” she said.
“How did Kristin meet this guy?” I asked.
“He came in the restaurant a lot. I guess they got to talking and then started dating. I can see how she would fall for his charm at first,” she said.
That was interesting. The guy with the boat had come into the restaurant too. Was there a connection? I hoped I could find out.
I wasn’t sure how Kristin could have fallen for Henry’s charm because he didn’t sound like a very nice guy. Some people could be deceiving though and he probably put on a good act. I wouldn’t fall for it. I’d be able to see right through him.
“Hold on and I’ll write down the address of where you can find him, but remember I didn’t tell you and you never talked to me. I don’t want to be involved in this.” She waved her hands through the air. “And I should warn you again that you shouldn’t get involved either.”
“It’s my job,” I said.
I wanted to sound confident, but a little doubt had slipped into my mind. I couldn’t lie and act like I wasn’t a little frightened.
Grace grabbed paper and a pen from the table next to the door. She jotted down the address and handed me the paper. “Good luck,” she said as she closed the door.
“Well, either she’s being overly dramatic or maybe we should be worried,” I said as we made our way back to the car.
Dorothy nodded softly. The conversation had left even her speechless and that never happened.
I started the car and pointed the car in the direction of the address. I hoped this didn’t end badly. Like with either of us killed. Maybe I should have consulted with Jake before I set out on this trip, but that was the logical thing to do, and I wasn’t known for doing anything logical. Where was the fun in that?
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“There’s one thing that I forgot to ask her,” I said as I navigated the car.
“What’s that?” Dorothy asked as she fished around in her purse.
I had a feeling she was going to shove a peppermint in my mouth soon. Just because she was nervous didn’t mean that I was too. “How did Annie know who this woman was?” I asked.
“That’s a good question,” Dorothy said.
“I mean, Mr. Grant said that Kristin didn’t come around often, so how would Annie know this woman?”
“That’s something we definitely need to find out,” Dorothy said, shoving a peppermint at me.
We’d almost arrived at the address that Grace had given us when I recognized the place. It was the same ho
use that Dorothy and I had already visited once. We’d found the address at Kristin’s place. I had to confess that I was apprehensive. How could I not be anxious with Grace’s dire warnings? Now I knew that this man had been lying to me when I questioned him.
“This is the same house,” Dorothy pointed out.
“I know. What should we do now?” I asked.
“We sure as heck shouldn’t go up there,” she said.
“I kind of have to,” I said.
She shook her head. “You should call Jake.”
I waved off her statement as I climbed out of the car. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll call him later.”
I’d only made it halfway up the driveway when the guy appeared from around the side of the house. His hand was on the gun at the side of his waist. I swallowed hard. This wasn’t going as planned.
“What the hell do you want?” he asked.
I froze, and for a moment was unable to speak. His expression said he wanted to shoot first and ask questions later.
Finally, I said, “Are you Sam?”
The scowl on his face deepened. “What the hell? Did Sam send you?”
It was time for me to abandon this mission. “No, I must have the wrong address.”
I turned around and ran toward my car. The whole time I prayed he wouldn’t shoot me in the back. I jumped in the car and cranked the engine.
“Well, that was a fine mess. I told you to call Jake.”
I wasn’t going to admit that Dorothy was right to her face, but she was right. I should have called Jake. This guy looked like he meant business.
The next day, Dorothy and I made our way to the restaurant. I really didn’t want to go back in that place. The smell of seafood was making me sick. But I had no other choice. Dorothy and I hopped out of the car. I really hoped I would discover some kind of good clue today. I’d gladly give away all my tips for another kind of tip regarding the case.
First on my agenda was to find Spencer Johnson, the waiter from Captain’s Quarters who’d been talking to the boat guy, since I was pretty sure he had been following me. Next, I needed to talk with Megan. I hadn’t gotten the chance to speak with her again since the time in the break room. Not that it would do any good because she hadn’t been that forthcoming that time and I doubted things had changed since.
When I spotted the waiter who’d given me information about Spencer, I hurried over to him. “Hey, is Spencer here today?” I asked.
He set his tray down on a table and looked around. “No, I think he quit.”
Just then the manager called out to him. I got the weird impression that he didn’t want anyone to talk with me.
“I have to go.” He grabbed his tray and hurried away.
I stood there wondering what had happened. Had Spencer really quit? Since I had Spencer’s name, I’d have to do a quick search to see if I could find his address. Unfortunately it would have to wait until after work.
Dorothy was already at the bar surrounded by a group of customers. They were hanging on to every word. She regaled them with fascinating stories, but when I walked up, everyone stopped talking, like I couldn’t be included in their fun. I assumed the stories weren’t about me, but with Dorothy I never knew. She seemed to be doing a good job with the drinks though and the customers loved her. I just hoped she kept it up and didn’t blow our cover.
As I sat the bar watching Dorothy fulfill orders, she seemed to know what she was doing. She apparently knew every drink available…or so I thought.
The blonde woman beside me waved Dorothy over. “I’d like a Screaming Orgasm, please.”
I did not want to know where this was going to end. But surprisingly Dorothy took the order and immediately turned around to gather items. Dorothy was focused and completely serious about her work. Dorothy turned around and gathered bottles glass, mixed the drink and brought it back over.
Dorothy sat the fruity-looking drink on the bar in front of the woman.
When the woman looked up, Dorothy said “Okay, now meet me in the back and we’ll take care of the screaming orgasm.”
The crowd gathered around the bar laughed. The blonde blushed a little and laughed.
“Dorothy, I can’t believe you said that,” I said.
Dorothy pointed at the other female bartender. “She told me to say it.”
The other bartender chuckled, then turned around and walked away.
“I don’t think I’d do everything she tells you to do, Dorothy,” I said.
After taking out orders for some of my customers, I went back over to the bar to see how Dorothy was doing. Apparently I needed to keep a close eye on her. Nonetheless, she was still obviously doing a lot better at this job than me.
A dark-haired man was sitting at the bar. Since I had a few minutes’ break, I sat next to him and sipped on a glass of water. After the man placed an order of bourbon neat, Dorothy turned around and grabbed a glass and started to make his order. He glanced at me and I smiled. He didn’t return the smile, but instead just looked back at Dorothy. Apparently he wasn’t in a talking mood which was fine with me because I was really just trying to be polite.
Dorothy turned and started wiping off the counter in front of the man. She cleaned up the space around him and made it look really nice. She placed a napkin down in front of the all neat and orderly. He watched her as if she’d lost her mind. Finally Dorothy placed the glass down and then wiped up the extra liquid that had dripped off the side of the glass. She looked at him with a smile.
He stared for a moment and then said, “What is this?” He looked at me as if I would be able to answer.
“The drink you wanted,” she said with a smile.
He stared at her as if she was speaking a foreign language. “I ordered a bourbon neat. This is not a bourbon neat.”
“I made it neat as possible for you,” she said.
I touched Dorothy’s arm. “Dorothy, that’s not what he means.”
“I thought he wanted it clean around the bar,” she said.
“No, that just means bourbon and nothing else.”
The man got up and tossed a couple of crumpled dollars onto the counter and then stormed off. He was probably going to talk to the manager.
“Dorothy, I thought you knew what you were doing over here?”
She waved her hand. “I’ve been faking it. No one has complained…much.”
“Maybe you should study up on the drinks before you blow our cover,” I said.
She shook her head, grabbed a towel and began wiping off the rest of the counter. “I’ve been doing a great job up until now. I’m not going to blow our cover.”
“Just try not to do anything else to draw attention to us,” I said.
“I think we’re doing great. Before you know it we’ll find out everything we need to do and then we can get out of here.”
“It will be none too soon for me because I am terrible at this job.”
I was pretty sure I was going to be fired soon, before I even had a chance to quit.
Dorothy’s eyes widened and she got a funny look on her face. She motioned over my shoulder and I turned around. Megan was standing nearby.
“Did she hear us talking about being undercover?” I whispered to Dorothy.
Dorothy shrugged. “I don’t know, but I think she may have. Watch what you’re saying from now on. You’ll blow our cover for both of us.”
This job wasn’t going exactly how I planned it and definitely not the way things would have worked out for Charlie’s Angels on Magnum, P.I.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
I was at the back of the restaurant and hadn’t expected to see Jake. When I looked up and spotted his face, I couldn’t help but smile. He walked back toward me. I was standing by the door that led to the little employees’ lounge area. The office and dressing area with lockers was also back there.
When Jake approached he didn’t crack a smile. “Can I talk to you in private?”
I didn’t like the sound of this
, but I sucked it up and nodded. “Yeah, we can go in the back dressing area. There’s a table and chair back there.”
He followed me through the door. That was when he grabbed my hand and led me around to the back, behind the lockers.
“I don’t think anyone can hear us back here,” he said.
I had to admit the touch of his hand caused a thrill to run through my body.
“What do you want to talk about?” I asked, dreading to hear what he might have to say.
Jake looked at me and then said, “I’m just worried about you here. I don’t like the way things are going.”
“Why do you say that? What makes you so worried? Do you know something that you’re not telling me?
Before he answered, voices carried through the air. Apparently, we weren’t alone in the room anymore. We stopped talking in order to listen. The sound of footsteps echoed as they moved across the room. Obviously, they didn’t know we were in there. Just then they started talking. I recognized the voices. It was Megan and Spencer again.
Jake and I stood completely still, being as quiet as possible. Jake leaned forward as they spoke so that he could hear more of their conversation. “What are they saying?” I whispered.
“They’re talking about getting the job done.”
They must have stepped closer because that was when I was able to make out some of their conversation. Megan and Spencer were once again discussing what they were going to do with the money. Well, Megan was really the only one talking about what she was doing with the money, but I assumed Spencer was in on this too.
Unfortunately, I still didn’t know what any of this meant. They were being secretive and not letting on to exactly what they were talking about. All I knew was that it couldn’t be good.
Jake shook his head. “I don’t know what they’re talking about.”
Yeah, that was what we had to find out. We stepped to the edge of the lockers, the only thing blocking us from view. But maybe we’d be able to hear more of the conversation since some of it was still muffled.
Murder is a Beach (Maggie, PI Mysteries) Page 14