Words of Wisdom

by D E Dennis

  “You look awful,” Kali said bluntly. I would have snapped back at her, but she was in the process of cooking me a breakfast which I wasn’t too interested in cooking myself.

  “I slept badly,” I grumbled. I pulled out the carton of milk, closed the fridge door, and leaned against it. “I have to figure this out, Kali.”

  She didn’t need to ask what I meant. “We will. Or more likely Arnie and his partner will. Either way, the people responsible for the mayor’s and his wife’s murders will be caught.”

  “Yeah,” I said softly, screwing and unscrewing the milk cap. “You’re right.”

  She nodded firmly. “When you get off work tonight, we will go through the info I found on the other Best Foot Forward victims’ families. We will talk to them and ferret out if one of them has something to feel guilty about.”

  I straightened, her determination was catching. “Good plan, little sis.” I threw in a salute for good measure.

  She laughed. “Pour me a glass too, alright.” She switched off the stove. “I made us bacon, eggs, and waffles.”

  “Breakfast of queens.”

  I went over everything again as we ate. “Veronica Breyfogle overhears her husband making plans to change his will.” I paused to tear off a strip of bacon. “She knows the cops can’t do anything with that, so she goes to visit the psychic her friend has been raving about to ask her to read her husband and find out what’s going on and if she’s truly in danger.

  “And to be fair, it seemed like she was,” I continued. “The emotions that I picked up from him the night of the committee party, were far from happy and loving. So, I tell Veronica to get away from him but instead, she decides to confront him. The next morning, Best Foot Forward is set on fire with her, her employees, and her customers inside.”

  Kali sighed sadly. “The fire was set in the back of the building, right?”

  “It was set in her office.”

  Kali clicked her tongue. “But if she was in there, why didn’t she run away or scream for help?”

  I pushed my eggs around on the plate. “Because she couldn’t. Petra Wilson went back for her and the other employees. She said when she opened Veronica’s office door, the fire rushed out preventing her from going in, but she saw Veronica slumped over her desk not moving or responding to her screams.”

  “My goodness,” Kali said softly. “Those poor people.”

  I echoed that sentiment. “Their lives were taken by some evil sicko and all I have to go on is a woman hanging around the store, whose only suspicious act was to pick her wedgie.” I pinched the bridge of my nose; a headache was coming on.

  “What about Tad Breyfogle? What do we know about his death?”

  I ate the bit of egg I had been playing with before answering. “The mayor had a secret daughter. A scandal that could impact his family and his political career, so he keeps it quiet. Sadly, said daughter is in an abusive relationship, and at the time of his wife’s murder, he was trying to help her. He lies about this at first, tells police he was in his study, but they don’t even bother to follow up on this at the time, because all signs point to the arsonist being the killer.

  “It’s not until I point the finger at him and people start turning against him that his daughter, Sophia Bell, feels forced to act. She gives up the alibi, then I come knocking and tell her I’m not letting it go until they are both behind bars. She calls up daddy to tell him they are still in trouble, and because I’m the one leading the hunt he calls me and asks to meet him the next day, so he can tell me the truth.”

  “But that night,” Kali continued. “He’s killed.”

  I nodded. “He’s shot, and his killer writes a suicide note, putting the blame for the fire on his and Sophia Bell’s shoulders. And the three people most likely to have done it, all claim to have been out at the time of the murder.”

  “Four people,” Kali chimed in. “Can’t forget Ms. Nadia’s reaction when we told her the mayor was innocent. You should find out where she was that night.”

  I nodded. “You’re right and I will. She has an appointment with me today as it happens. I’ll see what I can pick up.”

  “We already know her motive,” Kali said between sips of milk. “She thought Tad murdered her best friend.”

  “They all had a motive. For Gwen, her father supposedly killed her mother and he stood in the way of her perfume shop. Oliver holds a lot of anger toward his father even in death. Whereas the chef owed her new life to Veronica. They all had a reason to kill him.”

  “But which of them lied about where they were?” Kali asked.

  I groaned, throwing my hands up. “I don’t know.” I dropped my feet flat on the floor and leaned forward. “You know, in those TV shows, the detective figures everything out when she is reminded of some small detail that she dismissed as unimportant the first time.”

  “Yeah?” Kali replied.

  “Well, this isn’t anything like that,” I burst out. “I haven’t dismissed a thing. I’ve thought about every single detail a hundred times and I’ve tried a hundred ways to make them fit, but nothing makes any sense. How could a call to his lawyer set all these things in motion?” I scrubbed my face. “How did we get here, Kali?”

  She half shrugged. “I don’t know, sis. I just don’t know.”

  I SPENT THE LAST HALF of my lunch hour tidying up the office and the Reading Room. Not because it needed it, but because I was hoping it would clear my head enough for some kind of solution to get through.

  It didn’t work.

  But at least my place was spotless by the time the bell over the door chimed. “Good afternoon, Nadia,” I said as I emptied the contents of the dustpan into the trash. “Please go right through.”

  “Thank you, Madame Moon.” The door swung shut behind her and trapped her bag in the doorjamb. She struggled, trying to yank it out. It finally came free and she hurried into the Reading Room. I followed at a sedate pace and took my place across from her.

  I studied her. She looked harassed. Her eyes were darting all over the place, she kept scratching and fidgeting.

  “What is it, Nadia?” I gently probed. “Talk to me.”

  She bit her lip. “Nothing,” she said, shaking her head hard. “It’s nothing.” She abruptly clambered to her feet. “I’m sorry, Madame, but I have to cancel today’s appointment.” She spun around and raced out of the room.

  I went after her. “Nadia, wait!” I grabbed her shoulder and gasped. Her guilt hit me like a freight train.

  “Just let me go!” Nadia cried, shoving me off. She grabbed the door handle.

  “Why do you feel so guilty, Nadia?” It all came out in a rush. “What did you do to Tad Breyfogle?”

  She froze.

  I came around her and made her look me in the eye. “I just want to help you, Nadia, like I’ve always done. Tell me what happened.”

  Her face crumpled. “Oh, Madame!” she wailed and flung herself into my arms. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” Her sorrow tugged and clawed at me like a drowning victim. I sniffled, holding back tears. “I thought I was d-doing the right thing!”

  “You went to the mayor’s house the night he was murdered, didn’t you?”

  She sobbed even harder. “Y-yes. I did.”

  “Why, Nadia?”

  “He killed my best friend.” Her head was buried in my chest and her voice muffled. I lowered my head to hear her. “I didn’t buy that Sophia Bell alibi nonsense for a second, so after dinner I went over to confront him.”

  I nodded. “And then you killed him.”

  “What?!” Nadia flew back, staring at me incredulously. “No! Of course, I didn’t kill him! I didn’t even go inside the house!”

  “Then why all the guilt?”

  She looked away, swallowing thickly. “Because I...I saw...” She shook her head. “No, I can’t. He didn’t know the truth!”

  “Didn’t know the truth about what?”

  But Nadia was done talking. She darted around me, th
rew open the door, and ran out. I was left in her wake screaming for her to come back.

  “THAT’S PRETTY BIZARRE,” Kali replied after I told her the whole story. “He didn’t know the truth? What is that supposed to mean?”

  I sighed. “She booked it before I could find out. She moves fast for a middle-aged woman.” I placed my laptop in front of us, on the living room table. Work and school were done for the day, so Kali and I were getting ready to research the other victims of the fire.

  “She told you she didn’t go into the house. Do you believe her?”

  “I’m not sure. Her guilt drowned out everything else. I have no idea if she was spilling the truth to assuage her guilt or lying to cover it up.”

  Kali kissed her teeth. “Let’s put Nadia aside for now.” She rifled through the sheaf of papers and separated them into two piles. “I printed out every article on the fire, but I haven’t had a chance to read them yet. You start with these.”

  I took my half and began reading. I was three sentences into the first article when my phone started buzzing.

  I glanced at the screen. “Arnie,” I said out loud.

  Kali looked up. “You going to answer it?”

  My hand tightened around the phone. “Yes.” I got to my feet. “I’ll be right back.”

  “Hello,” I said, closing my bedroom door shut.

  “Hey, babe. How are you?”

  “I’m fine.”

  There was a pause as he waited for me to say more, but I was silent.

  He sighed. “I called because I have news. We’ve made an arrest. We found Tad Breyfogle’s killer.”

  That shook me out of my funk. “What? Who?!”

  “The cook. Tatiana Prokop. We are processing her right now.”

  “I...I can’t believe it...” I said softly.

  “Believe it, babe. It turns out, she has a history of violence. She’s got a couple of assault charges on her record, most of them from when she was living on the streets, but she had one complaint made against her during her time with the Breyfogles. Apparently, she heard a guest badmouthing Veronica and she whacked them over the head with a serving spoon. You can’t buy loyalty like that.”

  I sunk down onto my bed. “So, she did kill Tad because she thought he hurt his wife.”

  “Afraid so. We found her fingerprints on the mayor’s laptop and she doesn’t have an alibi. Claims she was out for a walk, but with all this evidence against her, we have enough to move forward with murder charges. We got her, Amari. It’s over.”

  “Right,” I said softly. “I mean, that’s great. Thank you.”

  “It’s my job.” He paused. “Baby, are we okay?”

  I buried my face in my hands. “Oh, Arnie.”

  “Because I didn’t mean to throw the mayor’s death in your face, or say I told you so.”

  “Didn’t you?” I pressed.

  “No! Well, maybe...I don’t know.” He groaned. “Dammit, Mari, why is it so difficult between us? Everything was so perfect before...”

  “Before Kayla died?” I finished for him. “Is that what you were going to say?”

  He didn’t reply.

  I pulled my knees up to my chin and cradled them. There was a flicker of movement out of the corner of my eye. Kayla sat down next to me. “Things were different, before I lost Kayla,” I admitted. “But...but they weren’t perfect. We had a lot of problems, Arnie. When I got lost in grief, we never addressed them.” I sniffed and rubbed my eyes furiously. “And we still haven’t. I think that’s why it’s been so hard.”

  He was quiet for a long time. “But...I love you.”

  I stopped trying to hold back my tears. “I love you t-too.”

  “So where do we go from h-ere?” His voice cracked. It killed me to hear the pain in his voice.

  I took a shuddering breath. “I think we—”

  “Wait, stop.” He hurriedly cut me off. “Don’t answer that, please. Not over the phone. I want us to talk, really talk, face-to-face. I get off at seven, so come over to my place tonight at eight.”

  “But, Arnie, I—”

  “Detective Davis!” I jumped. An ear-piercing bellow on Arnie’s side brought our conversation to a halt. “Help! Restrain the suspect!”

  “Oh shi—!”

  “Arnie!?”

  “Amari, I have to go!”

  Click. The dial tone sounded in my ear. I tried calling him back, but there was no answer.

  “Goodness,” I said to Kayla. “I hope he’s okay.”

  “I’m sure Football Head is fine,” Kayla replied nonchalantly. “But what about you?”

  “Me?” I said tiredly.

  She nodded. “Arnold and Paxon are both expecting to see you tonight. Which one are you going to turn down?”

  “I-I—”

  She raised an eyebrow at my stammering. “That’s enough of this, Amari. You need to make a choice. Now.”

  Like a flick of a switch, I was suddenly flooded with white-hot anger. I shoved away from her and stood up. “Don’t you think I know that,” I hissed. “You think this is fun for me? That I’m sitting around twirling my mustache and laughing about having to hurt one of the two greatest guys I know.”

  “I know this is hard for—”

  My glare intensified. “You don’t know anything.” I threw my hands up. “You don’t know anything, because I don’t know anything. I don’t know what I want!”

  Kayla calmly got to her feet. “You do know what you want, Amari. You just haven’t accepted your choice.”

  I turned away from her, opened the door, and stormed out.

  Kali looked up from her reading. “Hey,” she said cautiously. “Did you and Arnie get into another fight?”

  I shook my head. “No. Kayla and I did,” I snapped. “She’s so annoying sometimes.”

  Kali frowned the way she always does when I speak as though Kayla wasn’t a figment of my imagination but didn’t comment on it. “Want to talk about it?” she said instead.

  I shook my head as I rejoined her on the couch. “No, it’s not important.” I picked up the newspaper articles and threw them down on the coffee table. “And neither is this now.”

  “What do you mean?”

  I threw myself back into the cushions. “Arnie just told me that they arrested Chef Tatiana. They found her fingerprints on her boss’s laptop and as she admitted to you, she has no alibi. They caught their woman. It’s all over.”

  “Oh.” Was it just me or did I hear a touch of disappointment in her voice? I lifted a brow at her and she shrugged sheepishly. “Sorry. That’s great news really. I guess, I’ve just been getting into all this detective stuff. Even though it’s kind of sad sometimes.”

  She pointed out a paragraph in the article she had been reading. “I read up on Sloane Michaels, one of the victims of the fire. It turns out her story was similar to Chef Tatiana’s. She was living on the streets, no parents, no family. Then she met Veronica and she gave her a job. Turned her life around.” She sighed. “Makes me think of Daisy. I wish we could do more for her.”

  I rubbed her back. “We tried, remember. We offered to let her move in with us and I offered her a job with the psychic business. She said no. She wants to make her own way.”

  “I know,” she said softly. “But she’s our friend. Maybe we should have pushed harder.” She threw her stack of papers on top of mine. “I wish she would at least come to visit more often, but we never see her since she started that new job.”

  “New job?” I questioned.

  “Yeah. Don’t you remember? The last time we had dinner together, she said she got a new job that paid well. She was going to start taking us out to dinner from now on.” She laughed. “But maybe since she’s rolling in it now, she’s forgotten about us little people.” The hand on her back stopped moving.

  Kali stood up and stretched. “It’s almost seven,” she said, glancing at the clock on the opposite wall. “I’m going to get started on dinner. How does soup and sandwiches
sound?”

  “He didn’t know the truth...” I repeated in a horrified whisper. “He didn’t know.” My breath quickened as it all fell into place. Short rapid huffs like I was gasping for air. Tad Breyfogle’s killer! I knew who it was. I knew everything!

  “Kali!” I burst out, startling a scream out of her. I leaped to my feet and grabbed her arms. “I know who it was, Kali. I know who killed the mayor. The police arrested the wrong person.”

  “Really?” She grabbed me back. “You have to call Arnie!”

  I barely heard her. “It might already be too late,” I said to myself. “I have to hurry. Kali, what was the address for the Breyfogles’ beach house? Please tell me you remember what Gwen said.”

  Her eyes widened at the intensity in my voice. “S-she said...she said it was by the pier. Cherry Lane.”

  “I have to go.” I released her, grabbed my keys, and took off.

  “Mari, wait! Where are you going?” she cried, but I bolted and ran down the stairs. “Let me come with you!”

  “No!” I yelled over my shoulder. “It’s too dangerous! I’ll be back, I promise!”

  I ripped open the car door, hopped inside, and tore out of the drive. Kali tried to chase me, but she had no chance on foot.

  I sped through the streets of Zinnia Springs. Full-on, foot-on-the-gas speeding. It was a wonder I didn’t get a ticket. The sun had retreated by the time I reached the Zinnia Springs Pier and approached Cherry Lane. Although it wasn’t so much a lane as it was a narrow, gravelly path that led to a single house. Behind that house was the sand and crashing waves of a Florida beach.

  I turned down it and stopped my car in front of the beach house. I sat there, staring at it. A minute passed, then two, then three. After four minutes, I shook myself, took a deep breath, and climbed out.

  Slowly, I made my way up the drive and to the front door. It was a beautiful, wooden door with intricate carvings and glass panels on either side. I tried the handle.

  “Locked,” I said out loud, but of course it was locked.

  There was no other choice. I turned and rested my elbow on the glass, then I pulled back and—