Gemma flashed her an apologetic smile and crossed the room to look out of the French doors that she hadn’t noticed the night before. They opened onto a balcony. The view of the golf course and the rolling hills and mountains beyond was breathtaking. Even covered with snow it was a beautiful sight. Down below, they were grading the parking lot and she could see the city had already been working on the roads.
The CID would be here in just a matter of hours.
Behind her, Holly was still talking softly and Gemma could tell from the tone of her voice that she was talking to Mitch. Gemma hugged herself and wondered if Walter Shores and his magical walking stick was hiding out there somewhere, or perhaps he froze to death during the night. If he, indeed, was the killer, it was better than he deserved.
“Thanks for letting me know where you were,” Holly said, sarcasm dripping from her voice.
“I’m sorry. The sound was turned down on my phone and I didn’t hear the calls,” Gemma explained for the second time that morning.
Holly held out her hand and Gemma handed over her phone. With a swipe and a few clicks, she changed a few settings and then handed it back with her usual sweet smile. “Now, you’ll FEEL me calling you even if you can’t hear it,” she said.
“Got it,” Gemma said.
“Now, I want to take you to breakfast this morning before the convention starts up again,” Holly said and then she took a deep breath. “Mitch wants me to talk to you about something.”
“Do I have time for a shower?” Gemma asked.
“Hurry,” Holly said, checking her watch.
While Gemma showered and washed her hair, her thoughts ran in a dozen different directions. She tried to analyze the information she’d picked up that morning but it was too soon. It needed to simmer a little bit first in her subconscious. She knew this much about herself and her thought processes. The answer was there, she just couldn’t quite put all the pieces together yet.
Dressing in a gray pin striped pantsuit with a white silk blouse, she added a bit of color to the outfit with a pink scarf. Her favorite high-heeled boots finished off the look. Make-up was easy since she rarely wore anything more than mascara and some lip gloss. Her hair was another matter altogether and, after drying it, Gemma finally gave up trying to control the wild curls and pulled them up in a high pony tail with a tortoiseshell clip, another gift from her mother.
“Ready?” Holly asked, handing Gemma her purse.
“Ready,” Gemma said, pulling the calendar page from her jeans and slipping it into her jacket pocket.
They rode down to the restaurant in silence. Gemma wanted to talk to Holly about what she’d learned, hoping it would help her sort out her thoughts. But if Holly knew she’d been caught snooping in Benjamin’s office earlier, she would report straight to Ross. Still, if she could have lured Holly into that office, Holly would have been able to tell her what all the accounting gibberish meant.
Gemma had a good idea though. Northlake Manor was drowning in debt and it looked like the brothers were trying to sell it to General West, or at least get him and his investors to bail them out. Perhaps that’s what the money in the briefcase was for. She didn’t think Victoria had the nerve to kill the general herself so, if she was involved, she’d paid to have it done.
“I can almost hear those gears turning in that little head of yours,” Holly said.
“Sorry, there were some new developments in the murder and I was just mulling them over,” Gemma said, smiling at her friend.
“Such as?”
“Well, for starters he wasn’t shot like everyone thought,” Gemma said.
“I’m listening.”
“He was stabbed - and it looks like it might have been a professional job.”
“I understand he had made a few enemies. That guy with the books really hates him,” Holly said.
The restaurant was fairly bustling this morning, but the hum of conversation was still subdued. The waitress seated them at a table right beside Conrad Bilker. Head down, he was practically shoveling food into his mouth. Seated at the table with him was a man in an ape-like suit, wearing a crossbow.
“Why is he dressed like an ape or something?” Gemma whispered to Holly.
Holly glanced at their table. “He’s supposed to be Chewbacca.”
Gemma didn’t respond.
“Star Wars. See the head?” Holly prompted.
“Oh yeah, I get it now,” Gemma said to her friend.
But it wasn’t the head of the costume with the long flowing brown hair that caught her attention. The two men laughed about some private joke and Chewbacca reached out and touched the crossbow. Alongside it was arrows and Gemma could hardly take her eyes off of them. Long, round arrows with a sharp tip.
Gemma wondered just who was under all that hair.
Chapter Twelve
“Stop staring,” Holly hissed.
Gemma finally tore her eyes away from the men and concentrated on ordering her breakfast. Did Ross know about the guy with the arrows? She hadn’t seen him there the day before. And was it significant that he was hanging around with Bilker?
They ordered breakfast and Holly gave her a knowing look.
“What?” Gemma asked, trying to look innocent.
“Will you forget about trying to solve this mystery long enough to pay attention to something important that I need to talk to you about?”
“Yes,” Gemma said. Folding her hands on the table in front of her, she forced herself to concentrate as she gazed across the table at her best friend. They’d known each other since first grade. She wondered if their relationship was going to change once they were married and had families of their own. Oh, they were in business together and that was working beautifully, but Gemma knew Holly’s priorities were about to change.
“Mitch wants me to start looking for a house,” Holly said.
“What fun,” Gemma said, sliding her hands across the table to squeeze Holly’s.
“He’s so busy, but I know what he’s looking for. He thought you might be willing to help me narrow it down to two or three and then he’ll look at those,” Holly explained.
“Count me in,” Gemma said. “Are you going to start with a real estate agent or just start looking online?”
“You’re going to hate this, but I’ve already talked to Katie Mack,” Holly said and then winced.
“Oh, no. Not Katie Mack. She’s been badgering me to sell my parents’ house for months. But she’s so...so...” Gemma couldn’t even finish the sentence.
“Cold. Cantankerous. Hateful. The list of negatives goes on and on,” Holly said, nodding her head in agreement. “But she handles all of the high end homes in the area and Mitch wants something to kind of show off his new status in the law firm.”
“I understand,” Gemma said, her sigh letting Holly know that she had given in. “But...”
“It’ll be fun. You said so yourself,” Holly reassured her. “And we can make fun of Katie behind her back.”
Gemma giggled. “Like we used to do in school.”
“Are we all done here?” Holly asked, drinking down the last of her coffee. She checked her watch. “We have time for a bathroom stop before heading to the convention hall.”
“You go ahead,” Gemma said. “I want to do a couple of things first.”
“Like?”
Gemma grabbed a clean napkin and dug a pen out of her purse. “Just a quick autograph.”
“What?”
Gemma scooted out of her chair and crossed to the table where Bilker and Chewbacca were still deep in conversation. “Excuse me,” she said.
Both men looked up. Bilker was obviously furious at her interruption. Chewbacca just looked curious. He took off the heavy-looking mask and she saw he had gray green eyes and slick, black hair. Gemma tried to memorize every inch of his face. “Could I please have your autograph? I’m a huge fan and I understand you’re just about the best Chewbacca in the whole convention.”
“Wh
y, of course,” the man said, taking the pen and napkin from her.
And that’s when Gemma saw the tattoo on the back of his right hand. She knew she would never forget that.
“That was the silliest thing you’ve ever done,” Holly whispered as they left the restaurant. “You didn’t even know who Chewbacca was until I told you.
“You go ahead to the bathroom. I’m going to give this to Ross,” Gemma said with a sweet smile. “I think I may have just found our killer.”
She found Ross talking to several uniformed police officers. He smiled when he saw her, a good sign.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” she asked.
“Of course,” he said and motioned with his coffee cup toward the small room where he had interviewed her earlier. As he opened the door, he placed his hand in the small of her back and whispered. “You smell wonderful.”
As tempted as Gemma was by his touch and words, she had something more important to tell him. “I found the killer,” she said, turning to face him once he’d closed the door.
“Really?” He didn’t sound impressed.
She nodded and handed him the napkin with the name scrawled on it.
Ross took the napkin from her and read the name.
“He carries a crossbow with arrows,” Gemma told him. “Long, round, sharp arrows.”
“He’s here?” Ross asked, all business again.
Gemma nodded. “I left him sitting with Bilker in the restaurant. And you might want to check out that weird tattoo on his right hand.”
“Deputy Stone, I don’t know which I like better, your pretty face or that brain of yours,” Ross said, using the pet name he’d given her at Christmas time.
“I have something else, too,” she said, handing him the blank page she’d ripped out of Benjamin’s desk calendar. “The day West was killed was missing completely. I was hoping there might be an impression of something he’d written on this page. I haven’t had a chance to look.”
Ross just stared at her in surprise but before he could ask any questions, her cell vibrated loudly in her pocket.
“That’s Holly. I gotta go.”
I’ll check both of these leads out,” he promised her. Then Ross caught her hand, drew it to his lips and kissed it tenderly. “This should help get this wrapped up by the time the CID gets here. Or at least draw their attention away from you and that stupid, wrong cell number.”
The lump in her throat made speech impossible so she simply crossed the fingers of her free hand and showed them to him. And then she headed out the door toward Holly and the convention hall.
Despite the bad weather, they convention hall was quite busy. Holly had just finished up with a customer when Gemma arrived. She was grinning from ear to ear.
“I think we’ve really made an impression on the area,” Holly said. “Everyone has mentioned that they saw us at the mall at Christmas but were just too busy to stop. And I’ve had a few stop by and tell me how much they were enjoying the jewelry they bought then.”
“Good,” Gemma said. “Any more special orders?”
Holly flipped through the pages of the spiral-bound book and smiled prettily. “What do you think?”
Gemma hugged her best friend. Everything was falling into place. All their hard work, all the money they’d spent was going to pay off. HealthGems was going to be as successful as they’d dreamed. Her mom and dad would have been so proud. She could picture the look on their faces if they were still alive. And since she’d pretty much single handedly solved the murder of General Loden West, the army might give her a medal or something.
They watched the fitness demonstrations for a while and then Holly suggested they make a list of promotional items next on their list. She grabbed a notebook and a pen and they brainstormed, making notes and dividing up the chore of checking on different venues.
“Do you think we should maybe think about opening a brick and mortar store?” Holly asked.
Their online sales had been going so well, Gemma hadn’t even considered that possibility. “We’d have to hire employees,” she said.
Holly nodded. “And we’d have to make sure we got a good location.”
“Well, definitely NOT the mall,” Gemma said quickly. “I’ve had enough of that place to last me a lifetime.”
Holly laughed. “Okay, not the mall. Maybe we could open a shop in one of those little spaces downtown near the courthouse square.”
Gemma considered that. “If the rent isn’t too high.”
“I’ll check it out,” Holly said, making a note.
“Maybe your friend Katie Mack can work some magical deal...”
“Shut up,” Holly said laughing. “She’s not my friend.”
Nick chose that moment to step up to their booth. “Girls, girls. No fighting,” he said, reaching across the table as if to separate them.
They were both laughing now. And then they both started talking at once, telling Nick their big plans for the coming year.
“I think I could probably do a story for the paper to help spread the word,” Nick suggested. “Online Sales Translate to Local Sales,” he said, pretending it was a headline piece.
“I love it!” Holly squealed.
“Oh, and you might want to find Ross in just a little while,” Gemma told Nick. “I solved the murder this morning.”
“You what?”
“I did,” Gemma said. “Go find him. He’ll tell you.”
“He’s really handling this thing with you and Ross pretty well,” Holly said after Nick left.
“I know,” Gemma said.
“In fact they’re both being pretty gentlemanly about the whole thing,” Holly said. “How did you do that?”
Gemma shrugged. “They’re both good guys. They both care about me. And I care about them just as much. This is hard.”
Soon after that, more and more people began crowding into the large room and their table was as busy as ever. Gemma had no idea that it was nearly lunch time until she saw Ross striding toward her.
“Holly, can I borrow your side kick long enough to buy her some lunch?” he asked.
“Sure,” Holly said. “Mitch will be here soon. He’ll help me out if I get busy and then we’ll go to lunch after that.”
“Come on, Sherlock,” Ross said, reaching for Gemma.
Instead of going to the restaurant, he took her back to his makeshift office off the conference room. “One of the guys is bringing lunch, but I wanted to talk to you about something where we wouldn’t be overheard.”
“Okay,” Gemma said, suddenly nervous as she sat down in the chair where she’d been interviewed the day before. Ross leaned against the end of the table beside her, feet crossed at the ankles, arms crossed over his chest. “Is something wrong?”
“I just wanted to report back on the information you gave me this morning.”
“Oh,” Gemma said smiling. Why wasn’t Ross smiling? “Have you arrested Chewbacca yet?”
Ross shook his head. “And we’re not going to.”
“Why? He had the weapon. I’m sure someone hired him to kill West and...”
Ross was shaking his head. “Chewbacca works with disadvantaged, troubled youth in town,” he explained. “He has an alibi for the time West was killed. He knows Bilker through some on-line purchases. And those arrows were plastic.”
“He’s not...”
“Nope.”
“But the tattoo?”
“It’s the Millennium Falcon.”
Gemma had no idea what that was, but from Ross’s reaction it meant nothing. Her shoulders sagged. She was so sure Bilker had paid Chewbacca to kill West, or was at least in on the scheme.
Their lunch arrived, sandwiches, chips and a drink and Ross took a seat across from her. They ate in silence for a few minutes.
“Look, don’t feel so bad. I would have jumped to the same conclusion,” Ross assured her.
“What about the calendar page I got from...”
“Yeah, by
the way, where did you get that?” Ross interrupted her.
“Um, I sort of found it,” Gemma said, avoiding his gaze.
“Where?”
Gemma took a deep breath. “On his desk.”
“What were you doing in his office?”
Gemma didn’t have an answer except the one she’d given the Northlake brothers earlier. “I was looking for an earring I thought I lost in there the day before.”
Ross munched on his sandwich, his dark eyes boring into her very soul. It was obvious, he didn’t believe a word she said. “Yeah, that’s what Benjamin told me, too.”
“You talked to him?”
Ross nodded. “Especially after I looked closely at the calendar page you’d given me. It did have an impression of something written on it. And that something was West and the time.”
“So they were scheduled to have a meeting,” Gemma gasped.
“They were. Only he was killed before that meeting took place,” Ross explained.
“Why were they meeting with General West?” Gemma asked. “Did you ask him that?”
“I did, thank you very much, Deputy Stone,” Ross teased and then grew serious. “The money in the briefcase was a down payment on Northlake Manor. They were selling out to him for two million dollars. He already had investors who wanted to own a golf course and sell time shares and whatever. Now, there’s no doubt in my mind that he was going to pull the same kind of scam he’d pulled with investors before, run it into the ground, take off with their money and then chalk it up as a loss.”
“Victoria didn’t want to sell,” Gemma told him.
He was nodding again. “The brothers knew that but the manor is facing bankruptcy. This way they could get Victoria the medical help she needs.”
“Medical help?”
“She has serious mental health issues, honey,” he explained.
“Oh.”
“And if you’re thinking she had West killed to stop the sale, you’re wrong. She doesn’t have the mental capacity or the financial means to make that happen.”
Gemma finished her sandwich and sipped the last of her drink, disappointed. “Did they find the guy with the cane? Shores?”
“Yeah, they found him alright,” Ross said. “That cane is all smoke and mirrors. It doesn’t really do anything.”
Mansions Can Be Murder: A Cozy Mystery (Gemma Stone Cozy Mystery Book 2) Page 8