by Amy Saunders
Jonas returned to Belinda and Bennett to fill them in quickly. “This is gonna take a while,” he said, then gave them the hard news about Dinah.
Belinda covered her mouth in shock, glancing up at the apartment, where you could see officers through the front windows.
“At a glance,” Jonas said, “this is taking a similar form to the other two murders.”
“It’s an art studio?” Bennett said, rubbing Belinda’s shoulder. She stayed quiet, maybe processing the whole thing.
“Yeah. I hope something’s survived to know if Dinah’s our forger or not. I can’t imagine why else she’d end up dead now with everything that’s happened.” Jonas glanced behind him. “I’m gonna have to leave you two.”
Belinda forced a smile, her eyes sad. Then Jonas was off back into the danger zone.
Chapter 24
It was pandemonium in the Lachappelle house the next day, and Belinda only really got through the gate because she dropped Jonas’ name and none of Shelby’s relatives had been able to get there yet. Shelby’s dad was in India, and no one else lived close by.
Shelby was by the pool in back, just sitting on the edge with her legs dangling in the water. An officer was with her, and she nodded to Belinda and went inside. Belinda threw her sandals off and sat next to her, unsure what she should do next. Then Jarrett came out of the kitchen, carrying two glasses of water.
“I was here when the police came.” He set the glasses down on a table nearby. “They didn’t make me leave.”
That was a little defensive, Belinda thought.
After a few seconds of silence, Jarrett motioned with his head for Belinda to follow him. She left Shelby reluctantly and walked out of her earshot with Jarrett. “What is it?” Belinda said.
“You think I had something to do with this,” he said.
“With Dinah’s murder? No.”
“But you thought I might with the other two. It was on your face at the yacht club.”
Belinda couldn’t deny that. Yes, it had crossed her mind…but it was mostly in the interest of piecing it all together. And he was friends with Shelby, who was a suspect, and she probably would have needed an accomplice.
“I don’t have a motive. I had no reason to do it.”
“I realize that…”
“And neither does Shelby. I know it’s kind of looked that way, but she doesn’t.”
Belinda hesitated. She wasn’t exactly sure what was going on here and why he was saying all this, other than to clear his name. But it seemed to her there was more than that on his mind. “Did you know Kevin?”
“Only from a distance.”
“Shelby told you who he was?” Belinda said. Jarrett nodded. “And this other guy, Alec?”
“They’re a thing.”
“Okay. So do you know him?”
Jarrett shrugged indifferently. “We’ve met a couple of times.”
“Are he and Shelby okay? I mean, still together? No fallouts or anything?”
“I’m not sure…” Jarrett gazed back toward the pool at Shelby. “They had a big fight recently, after the bonfire thing. She found out he posed for some paintings. She was vague about it, but I guess he was naked or something? Anyway, she wanted to know who painted them, and he wouldn’t say. Then they had a big fight. She didn’t say they broke up, though.”
“Alec told her it was him? For certain?”
“Didn’t sound like he denied it. I guess he claimed it was good money.”
“But he wouldn’t divulge the artist?”
Jarrett shook his head.
“Why not?” she said.
“I don’t know why it was a secret, but Alec told her it was part of the agreement. He was supposed to keep quiet.”
Could Alec have done all of this on his own? Belinda never considered that possibility. It never felt like he had a motive, other than helping Shelby. But if he wanted to keep the paintings a secret, or needed to for some reason, that put a whole new twist on the situation. Of course, why toss the fake Simone with Kevin’s body if that were the case? It would make more sense to dump the paintings he’d posed for. And Alec didn’t seem to have a connection to the forgery. Unless the paintings of Alec and the forged Simone shared the same artist, possibly Dinah. She supposed Dinah might want to keep it a secret if she was painting nudes of her daughter’s boyfriend.
Then there was the fact that Dinah was hit on the head with a sculpture and Kevin Pratt was hit on the head with an unknown object…or maybe not so unknown.
“I need to go use the bathroom.” Belinda looked back at Shelby, still comatose by the pool. “Take care of her.”
Jarrett watched her curiously as she went inside. She thought the bathroom line came out smooth and casual, but maybe not. He didn’t seem to think that’s why she went in. And it wasn’t.
There had to be another connection here, and the only thing out of place that Belinda could think of was that estate auction and the missing vase to the pair Dinah bid on. After hiding behind a wall for an officer to pass by, Belinda darted upstairs toward the bedrooms, peeking through every door until she found Dinah’s room. It was like the rest of the house–elegant, expensive, but understated. She had an original piece of Impressionist art, in a gilded frame, hanging above her bed. It was a showpiece that most people would hang in the foyer or living room, but maybe it was somehow more personal to her.
The room was sparse besides the ornate oak bed and matching side tables. She glanced around, but nothing stood out, so she went to the walk-in closet, which was a room in itself. It was neat and orderly like everything else she’d seen in the house. Shelves of shoes and racks of clothes were still and quiet, untouched by the tragedy outside. It was odd to think it was all just as Dinah had left it earlier.
In a corner, Belinda found the cardboard box she’d seen at the auction house. She pulled out her Swiss Army knife and slit the tape apart, peeking inside. Still just the one vase. It was odd before, but it was really starting to seem strange now that Dinah had been killed. Another forgery?
Belinda sat back on her knees and started from the top with Kevin Pratt’s murder. A hit on the head and then he went into the water. Belinda stood and held the vase, one hand cupped inside, the other supporting the bottom, and swung it out in front of her, like she was aiming at someone’s head. It was a relatively heavy object and was harder to swing out than she thought. If Kevin’s death was simply opportunity, something like a vase would make a good object to use as a weapon. Kevin turned away and the killer grabbed the vase, and hours later, Kevin washed up on shore…. But they still needed a reason to kill Kevin. He had a fake Simone, no money, and a jerk of a best friend.
“Is that how Dinah was killed?”
Belinda swung around, still holding the vase. Jarrett stood in the closet behind her, blocking the door. She swallowed involuntarily, reminding herself that Jarrett had no motive to kill any of these people.
“Shelby identified her mom’s body,” he went on, “and she wouldn’t talk about it. I don’t know how Dinah died.”
Belinda tightened her grip on the vase. “That’s what I’ve been told.”
Her head was spinning, things starting to add up as she held the vase Dinah had bid on at the auction house, and then secreted away in her closet, like she was hiding it. Jonas told them that Kevin may have gone to the auction house before he died. Maybe he brought the painting there and someone knew it was a fake. The missing vase, the strong smell of bleach and other cleaning products in the offices of the auction house… Could Kevin have been murdered there? Dinah may have painted the fake Simone, but someone else could’ve sold it. And if Kevin went to the auction house before he died…
Belinda set the vase back in the box, her heartbeat steady. The killer wasn’t facing her, or sitting listlessly by the pool. “Look after Shelby,” she said.
“You’re leaving?”
“I’m sorry, but I have something I have to do.” She stared Jarrett square in the eyes. �
�You have a second chance. I know you can make something of it.”
She left Jarrett looking slightly bewildered but pleased, and ran back to her car. She and Bennett had work to do.
Chapter 25
Jonas stared Alec cold in the eye, not interested in his indifference. It turned out that Dinah Lachappelle had been renting that studio in town under an alias for several years since her kids got older. Oil paint they’d found safe in a cabinet matched the fake Simone, and there was a partially charred work-in-progress in the studio–a reprint and the canvas she was using side by side. Dinah had also wired large sums of money into a European bank account.
Someone really wanted to erase the evidence. They’d doused the forgery and reprint and Dinah’s tools with paint thinner and lit it on fire, then sloshed the paint thinner around, hoping it would all, along with the now dead Dinah Lachappelle, go up in flames. Arson could be tough to prove, so Jonas was incredibly grateful the fire had been caught before all the proof disappeared.
Alec looked tired, which Jonas hoped might mean he’d be more compliant. “So,” Jonas said, “you leave here and now Dinah Lachappelle is dead.”
“I didn’t kill her,” Alec said flatly.
“We know she painted the portraits you tried to incinerate at the bonfire the other night. We found sketches in a notebook in her studio and her paint’s a match. I imagine you went to all the trouble to outrun the lifeguards for a reason.” And trying to outrun Belinda, Jonas added in his mind. He really needed to hang out with them more, just to witness these events firsthand.
“Why would I kill her?” Alec raised his hands in frustration. “It wasn’t my secret.”
“You stole the paintings from a crime scene and tried to destroy them because the secret had nothing to do with you? Not to mention the amount of cash we found stashed under your mattress.”
“What do you think the money was for? To keep the secret.”
“So you were paid to not tell anyone?”
Alec was slipping. Jonas could see it in his eyes. He didn’t want to say anything, but he was starting to realize he was running low on options.
Jonas laced his fingers on the table. “We have your prints all over Angie Chen’s studio, witnesses that you fought with Kevin and threatened to hurt him, and a cash box of money you don’t seem to want anyone to know about.”
“Would you? I’m in a house full of clowns.”
Jonas leaned back, unimpressed. “You look guilty.”
“Well, look harder. I…” He rubbed his face. “I posed for those paintings and I was paid very well to keep it secret.”
“Why?”
“How should I know?”
Jonas listed his head, not buying the ignorance act.
Alec gave him an exasperated look. “I don’t know why. She wasn’t painting them under her name or something. I thought maybe it had to do with Shelby.”
“Because you’re dating her?”
Alec shrugged. “No…maybe. I don’t know. I just did what she asked. Why shouldn’t I? She was paying me.”
“Did Dinah pay you to get the paintings from Angie?”
Alec hesitated, then said, “No. Dinah didn’t know about any of that. I saw the paintings when I went to Angie’s to help Shelby. After we left, I went back alone and took them.”
“And planned to dispose of them yourself?”
“Yeah. It was a lot of money. I didn’t want Dinah finding out and thinking it was my fault.”
Jonas leaned back and folded his arms. “Thinking what was your fault?”
“That Angie had the paintings in the first place. Angie confronted me about posing, and she threatened to tell Shelby. I told her I didn’t care if Shelby knew.”
“But you did care if Dinah found out.”
“Angie didn’t know about Dinah.”
“Are you sure?”
Alec glanced at him suspiciously. “I didn’t tell her.”
“Did you know Dinah was deep in the art forgery business?”
“No. Why?”
“It’s likely Angie learned Dinah was the artist and realized that the fake painting in Kevin’s possession was Dinah’s work.”
Alec’s eyes flitted to the side briefly, but he didn’t say anything.
“We understand you accused Kevin of stealing money from you,” Jonas said. It was hearsay, but worth a shot.
Alec shook his head. “Kevin didn’t steal from me. It wasn’t his style.”
“Then what did you fight about?”
Alec tapped his fingers on the table, like trying to figure out how much his secrecy was worth now. Three people he was connected to were dead; he might be worried he was next in line. “Kevin figured out what I was doing and he wanted in. I told him I couldn’t say anything.”
“You could’ve asked Dinah in his behalf.”
“Kevin wasn’t the type of model she wanted, trust me.”
“So Kevin got mad at you for not helping him out?”
“Yeah. And he was fine later. No hard feelings.”
“Are you sure? Angie told me you threatened Kevin, after the fight.”
Alec pursed his lips. “Angie was bitter because I told her to give it up. Kevin didn’t like her.”
“Did you threaten him later?”
“I couldn’t risk him telling anybody.”
“But he didn’t even know it was Dinah, did he?”
Alec crashed back into his seat, staring off to the side thoughtfully. If Angie knew about Dinah, Jonas had a feeling Kevin told her. Maybe out of spite. “Not as far as I know. But he had to understand he couldn’t say a word. It was too much money to lose.”
“So you pushed him around some more?”
“Didn’t have to. He was fine with it.”
Jonas shrugged. “Maybe Kevin wasn’t fine with it, threatened to tell, and you killed him to keep him quiet.” Jonas was thinking that didn’t explain the fake Simone tossed with Kevin, but he was attempting an angle that didn’t include that as a motive. Alec could’ve easily killed all three of them because of these paintings. Kevin might’ve told Angie, and Angie confronted Alec, then Alec killed both of them. If Alec really wanted the secret locked down, he would’ve killed Dinah.
“Why? I liked the money, don’t get me wrong. But it wasn’t my secret.”
“You were fine with people knowing you posed for them?”
Alec shrugged indifferently. “Why shouldn’t I be?”
As obnoxious and arrogant as that sounded, he had a point. There was really no reason for him to want to hide. “How upset was Shelby about it?”
“Not upset enough to kill for. Besides, Shelby isn’t forever. She’s leaving for college soon. This will probably be the last time I see her.”
“And you’re okay with that?”
Alec paused, then shrugged again. “Things change. She’s getting to be kind of a pain anyway. She was more fun last summer. Less uptight. Now…well, she reminds me of her mother.”
As much as Jonas wanted a reason to arrest this kid, it was looking less and less likely that Alec was the murderer. Jonas believed he could–and even would–do it. But in this case, the facts didn’t add up. Alec wasn’t their killer.
Chapter 26
Maybe Bennett was right to think she was getting a little too comfortable with sneaking around. Belinda was in all black, in an outfit Victoria had helped her piece together for these occasions that was both utilitarian and cute. The spandex in her pants gave her flexibility (and gave Bennett something to admire while they worked), and the jacket had multiple pockets in front and inside for transporting things like her pocket knife and new lock pick (only Victoria). She’d smoothed her hair into a bun to keep it out of the way, and strapped on gray sneakers with pink laces–the only pop of color she wore. You had to have it somewhere.
Bennett sat in the driver’s seat of his newly rented car, so he didn’t have to constantly get rides or borrow someone else’s. Plus, it was nice and neutral–better for s
neaking around town than in her more memorable Mini.
She sat up as he parked a few streets up from the auction house, ready to do this. “I love it when you wear your newsboy cap when we slink around at night.”
Bennett touched the rim of his black cap. “This is the first time I’ve worn it. You just gave it to me. And, by the way, this is the last gift for a while. The next mystery package on my kitchen counter goes back to the store.”
Belinda frowned, though she knew that was coming. “Fine. But I feel like this is becoming a thing and we need to start some traditions…snookums.”
Bennett got out of the car and shut the door.
She took that to mean he didn’t approve of that pet name, either.
Belinda hurried after him as he took off down the street without her.
She theorized Kevin Pratt had been killed with the missing vase, then transported and dumped in the water later with the fake Simone. Belinda remembered that the box with the vase had been open when she and Bennett went to talk to Adrian Leon that first time, and there was definitely only one vase. So somewhere between the photo shoot for the estate auction catalog and the day they saw Leon, the other vase went missing. And that fit the timeline of when Kevin was murdered.
Logically, that probably meant the vase was long gone–possibly at the bottom of the Atlantic. After all, why would you leave the murder weapon in the same place but dump everything else? On the other hand, murderers didn’t always act logically. The vase felt like a weapon of convenience to Belinda. And if the killer grabbed the murder weapon on impulse–maybe, just maybe–they’d thrown some evidence in the Dumpster and it hadn’t been emptied yet.
Either that or diving into a smelly heap of garbage was a complete waste of a perfectly good night.
It was past dark, and the auction house street was quiet as they snuck into the back lot of the building, around the loading dock and Dumpster. Bennett knew there was a motion-sensor light back there, but it was dim, like it was on its way out. He lifted the Dumpster lid carefully, trying not to make much noise. Belinda had volunteered to go into the Dumpster, though the thought made her stomach turn. It was hot and the smell of rotting food stuck to the moisture in the air, making her gag even standing a few feet away, but it was the least she could do. Bennett protested, but gave in almost immediately. She guessed she deserved that.