by C T Mitchell
She carried the issue back to where Tom was waiting. “I didn’t recognize her because she didn’t look like this dead,” she said tapping the picture in the magazine. “God rest her soul,” she added trying not to sound insensitive. “It says the item was left with the magazine in order to place it in the museum? That’s strange, that would mean someone had to steal it.”
"Okay, this is interesting," Tom said taking notes as she talked. "This could be a motive. Thanks, Taylor."
Miss Coco meowed as she rubbed Tom's legs, "thanks to you too Miss Coco,” he said as he knelt and scratched between her ears. She purred loudly for a few moments before she’d had enough and walked away. Tom pushed back to his feet. “Who should I talk to at your magazine about this Alex King then?”
"We'll go to my boss first thing in the morning Tom, he'll know who she was dealing with at work."
"Okay, there will be people in your yard all day and possibly into tonight. There will also be people coming back throughout the week. Just want you to know.
Taylor flinched, feeling a bit guilty over worrying about her plants. "Thanks, Tom, now I’ll know what to expect."
***
The next day, Taylor and Tom sat in Winston Carter's office. Not only was he the chief editor of the magazine, but he was also the owner. He’d always been a no-nonsense type of boss. It was something Taylor had always liked about him. You came in and did your job and that was that. There wasn’t any fuss.
Tom’s brows furrowed as he rolled the details of the crime through his head. “This is still very strange to me Taylor,” Tom said. They were waiting for Winston to get out of a meeting with the other employees and had been left in the office by the secretary.
“You think it’s strange to you? There was a dead woman I didn’t even know in my pool. Then as it happened, I did know her through my work. It’s very strange to me.” Taylor shook her head.
Before Tom could answer, Winston strolled into his office and plopped down at his desk. He was a short man with a giant personality. He shoved his glasses up his nose and shook his head.
“Are you seriously asking me to believe Alex is dead?” Unable to sit still for more than a moment, Winston shoved to his feet and started to pace the room.
Tom let out an annoyed huff but otherwise kept his voice calm and professional. “That’s what I’ve been saying, sir. And her body was found in Taylor’s pool yesterday," Tom responded.
"When is the last time you saw Ms. King?” Taylor asked. This earned her a glare from Tom who never liked it when she asked the questions. She ignored his disapproving scowl and looked back to her boss.
Carter raised an eyebrow at her but he answered. “Personally, it’s been days since I’ve set eyes on the girl. But Celia Ker, our fashion writer, should be able to give you any information you need. She spent the last three days with the woman.”
“Tell me a bit about Celia,” Tom said. “Is she a good employee?”
Taylor knew Tom had to cover all his basis, but it sounded like he suspected Celia. Celia was a new addition to their team. She’d come over from the local paper after a disagreement with them on a column they’d run.
Winston had been straightforward about the whole thing from the beginning. He’d told the others she was going to bring some spice to the magazine because she wasn’t afraid to speak up for what she believed in.
Taylor and Celia had words in the beginning because Celia felt like she needed to take all her own photos, and Taylor didn’t agree – she was the photographer! Now they simply existed in the same office without really speaking unless they had to. There was no love lost between the women. Taylor preferred to keep to herself. It was a silent, but mutual, agreement the two women had made right from the beginning.
“Celia is a decent employee. She kind of works on her own terms but she does her job. When it comes to deadlines, she gets her work turned in on time and she’s taken the initiative to try taking some of her own pictures.”
Taylor bristled a bit at that. She was supposed to be the only one taking pictures.
“Come on Taylor,” Tom said, “come with me to talk to her.”
“Oh okay,” Taylor scrambled out of her chair, “see you, boss.”
“I hope this gets wrapped up soon,” Winston said, “for all of us.”
Tom reached inside his breast pocket and fished out a business card and handed it to Carter. “If there’s anything else that you can think of, that’s my direct number. Give me a call anytime.”
Carter inspected the card and nodded. “I will.”
“Thank you for your time, Mr. Carter.”
Tom and Taylor left Carter’s office and followed a series of halls and stairs to Celia’s office. However, after finally making it to her door, they discovered she wasn’t there. Tom pulled out another card and left it on the desk for her. He scribbled out a post-it that said he needed to talk to her.
“I’ll have to catch up with Celia tomorrow,” Tom said. “If something comes up before we talk to her I’ll track her down at home.”
“I need to do some work and then go home to check on Miss Coco,” Taylor said, “she’s having a hard time with all the people at the house.”
Tom chuckled. “She’s not the friendliest cat, is she?”
Taylor paused. “She’s not bad, she’s just . . . picky who she wants around.”
Tom grunted. “I completely understand that. I’ll see you back at your house,” Tom said and left the magazine’s office.
CHAPTER 4
Taylor stood in the doorway of her cottage with Miss Coco purring in her arms. The forensic team had carefully and systematically drained her pool. Having had enough attention, Miss Coco jumped from Taylor’s arms to go and inspect the people milling around the property while being sure to keep at a safe distance. It was days like today she was glad she worked from six in the morning until three. She would have missed watching such a fascinating process if she waited to go in until eight.
“So, the office said they inspected the garter. It doesn’t appear to be the one you were talking about. They said the one from Kennedy’s mistress had diamante studs on it.” Tom explained.
“That’s strange. I’m going to make some coffee,” Taylor said. “Are you guys going to be at it for the rest of the afternoon?”
“Yes, we are, so I’ll let you know if we find anything else.”
Tom tipped an imaginary hat at her and went back out to see what was going on.
The rest of the afternoon went on without much fuss. Around six o’clock she saw that activity had picked up around the pool and went outside to inspect. Taylor watched as the team bagged tiny pebbles. As she took a step closer, she realized that they weren’t pebbles at all. They were pieces of diamante stones.
“Where did those come from?” she asked Tom as he walked over to stand beside her.
“It would appear that they fell to the bottom of the pool. Are they yours?”
Taylor shook her head. “I don’t own anything like that.”
Tom frowned. “Well, then it would appear she had them on her at the time of her death.” Tom took a sip of his coffee and studied the bag in his hand.
“May I see them?” Taylor asked. There was something oddly familiar about them. The nagging in the back of her mind piqued her curiosity.
Tom nodded and handed the evidence bag to her. With a frown, she turned the clear plastic bag over in her palm. Why did they seem so familiar? Slowly, the pieces of the puzzle began to click into place.
“Okay. I think I’ve seen these before, Tom,” she said.
Tom turned his attention away from the forensic team as they combed every inch of the pool and surrounding area. “From where?”
“I think you should verify the fact with Celia first, but I think these pieces belong to Jane Thomas. I think these are part of a diamante studded garter that Thurston Kennedy gave to Jane, his mistress. If that’s true, then the garter you found was one hundred percent the piece Ce
lia reported on in the newspaper.”
Tom’s brow furrowed with a frown. “Is that so?”
Taylor nodded and handed the bag back to Tom.
“It doesn’t make sense though, because the garter was left with our office to go into the museum. That means someone stole it from Celia.”
“Well, it would seem that we need to pay a visit to Celia instead of waiting for her to call me. Perhaps the garter is more important than we originally thought.”
“I’ll be there in a little while. I’m working a half day this afternoon. I have to go take pictures of that new shop opening on Fifth and then the local Cub Scout’s charity lunch.”
Taylor wished she could blow off her responsibilities for the evening, but she had to keep her job.
Tom nodded, “I’ll go ahead and talk to her.”
***
Celia looked at the bag Tom had given her and nodded. “That’s right,” Celia said. “The garter was part of a feature we covered a few months ago. But, if these are the diamantes, you’re looking at fifty thousand dollars down the drain or down the pool, I should say.” Celia snickered at her own joke.
Tom frowned, annoyed by Celia’s callous attitude. “Okay, Ms. Kerr, I know fifty thousand dollars is serious money, but Alex was apparently in possession of much more valuable items than these diamantes. Do you know what she found?”
Unphased by the stern tone in Tom’s voice, Celia shuffled papers around her desk. “Ah, yes, here it is. Here, Detective,” she said as she handed him a photo that was buried beneath the stack of papers. “Why don’t you tell me what that is?”
Tom took the photograph and inspected it. To him, it didn’t look like anything other than what it was. A picture of a necklace. “Sorry, Ms. Kerr, but to me, it looks like just another expensive necklace with a locket. Is that the secret item Alex found?”
Celia slowly nodded. “Yes, in a sense, the piece itself is not that valuable. However, its connection to the Kennedys makes it extremely priceless. You see, this necklace was supposedly a gift from one of the Kennedy brothers to an ‘acquaintance’ when she gave birth to his child.
“Unfortunately, the young lady wasn’t married, and the child disappeared. Now, Alex found the necklace in an old house jumble sale. The historians suspect that the woman who owns the necklace is a direct descendant of the current state governor.”
Tom’s attention jerked up from the picture and his eyes widen. How could something like that even be possible? He shook his head incredulously. “You’re telling me Alex has been killed by someone who wants to keep this a dirty little secret and they want to keep this necklace lost?”
Celia held his gaze and shrugged. “That would be my contention, detective. But I don’t mean to do your job for you. Everything I’ve told you is just speculation.”
Tom didn’t like the glimmer of excitement in the woman’s eyes. He just prayed that this wouldn’t end up as an article in her magazine. Tom climbed to his feet and fished a card from the breast pocket of his shirt.
“Thank you for your time, Ms. Kerr. If you can think of anything else that might be helpful, please give me a call.”
Celia took the card and tossed it to her desk without looking at it. He bristled, there was just something about the woman that bothered him. Pushing his irritation down, Tom turned and made his way to the door. He was just reaching for the knob when there were two short knocks.
Without waiting for an answer, it flew open, nearly connecting with Tom’s face. “I’m sorry, Celia but Taylor insists on seeing you right now,” the flushed secretary said as Taylor pushed her way around the secretary and into the office.
Tom watched as Taylor stopped short, casting a glance between both Celia and Tom.
The annoyed look on Celia’s face would have been funny, and had it not been for the wide-eyed expression of excitement on Taylor’s face, he would have chuckled.
“Taylor? What is the meaning of this? Why are you barging into my office so rudely?” Celia asked in an indignant tone.
Taylor ignored the frigid tone in Celia’s voice and looked at Tom. “I think I have found what you two are looking for—or I should say Miss Coco found it. No, that’s not right either. My housekeeper found it, actually. Miss Coco meowed me into action!”
CHAPTER 5
The only thing Tom could do was stand there, unsure of what to say or how to interpret what Taylor has just said. He slid a glance at Celia and judging from the puzzled look on the woman’s face, she’s just as equally perplexed.
Finally, it was Tom that spoke first. “Taylor, take a breath and calm down.”
Taylor nodded and took a moment to compose herself.
“Okay, now, tell me what it is that Mrs. Sullivan found?”
Excitement radiated off Taylor in waves. She looked as if she’d just discovered a vital part of the mystery, and he had a distinct feeling that’s exactly what she’d found.
She swallowed. “A dirt-covered necklace,” she said with a chuckle. “She found it while dusting the sideboard in the dining room.
“Miss Coco noticed it was not a regular item in the house, and she came to alert me. And, well, here I am,” she says.
They all watched as she gently removed the item in question from her handbag. She caught the annoyed look on Tom’s face. “And don’t worry, I haven’t touched it. I wrapped it in a handkerchief to bring it here.”
Tom shook his head, unsure if he wanted to lecture Taylor on proper police procedure or shout for joy and hug the woman. Instead, he just took the necklace from Taylor and inspected it – it was the necklace from the photograph that Celia had just shown him!
"If you're quite done with me, I have some work to do," Celia said, clearly annoyed that they were still hanging out in her office.
"Oh yes," Tom said. "If you think of anything else that might be helpful, give me a call." He pointed to the card Celia had thrown on her desk.
She nodded and turned back to her computer. It wasn’t a friendly nod.
“Okay, this doesn’t solve our murder, and it actually gives us more questions. Why did Alex go to your house and drop the necklace in the dining room before someone decidedly dropped her into your pool?”
Taylor shrugged. “I don’t know, Tom.”
“Also, how did Alex even get there without being noticed?”
“I don’t know, but this doesn’t need to be out in the open like this.”
“Shouldn’t it be logged as evidence or something?”
“In most cases, yes, but this case is a little more delicate. I’m going to do things a little bit differently,” Tom said.
She nodded her understanding. “We can have Winston Carter lock it up for safe keeping.”
They made their way to Winston’s office. Then, after explaining what was going on, Winston agreed to allow them to use his safe.
“I am the only one with the combination,” he said as he placed the item in a locking drawer inside the safe. He then closed the heavy door, gave the dial a quick spin, pressed a few numbers on the number pad, and then closed the fake section of wall back over it.
“Thank you, Mr. Carter,” Tom said.
The man nodded. “Of course.”
Once the necklace was safely locked in the office safe, Tom and Taylor left the office.
“What does that necklace have to do with Alex’s murder, Tom? None of this is really making much sense.”
Tom was silent as they walked down the corridor. Finally, he answered. “I think someone wanted the necklace in exchange for something the murderer had.”
Taylor chewed on her bottom lip as she thought about what Tom said. It made sense, kind of. “So, you think that Alex might have come to my house to trade with someone. The diamante garter—whatever that is—for that necklace. Is that what you think?”
Tom nodded. “There must have been a trade organized over this past week, but for some reason, Alex came ahead of time. She somehow made it through your security system I’m gu
essing to place the necklace in plain sight in your dining room just before the meeting.”
“But why my house. I didn’t know Alex at all. The only things I knew about her is from what I’ve read, like everyone else.”
“Someone had to have known you weren’t going to be home. Your place is small and a little out of the way. It would be easy for something to happen and go unnoticed.”
“I get that, but Alex was followed everywhere she went, and has been ever since she landed in town. She always had an entourage with her. So, where were they?”
“I talked to Alex’s people last night,” Tom said.
Taylor’s eyes widened. “You did?”
He nodded. “They said she was needing to be alone and was going to visit a friend that was going through a tough time. She slipped away a bit later, and I’m guessing she was heading to the rendezvous point - your house. That’s when something went wrong. The murderer must have confronted her, demanding the necklace, but when Alex refused to give up the necklace, they killed her.”
Taylor followed Tom’s train of thought. “Okay, I’ll buy that,” she said, “but there are still two questions that aren’t adding up and I don’t have the answer for. First, why break in? If Alex needed a safe place to go, then she or even Celia, if Alex wanted to talk to someone she knew better, could have contacted me at the lodge I was staying at last week and ask me to keep the necklace for her. Two, who’s this other party, the one who killed Alex? It had to be someone she was comfortable being alone with.”
“I don’t know, I feel like for the right motivation she might have been coerced to meet with someone less than desirable. I mean, I don’t know her but she did just randomly die in my pool.”
Taylor once again felt like she was being insensitive.
They walked out into the cool spring air, each lost in their own thoughts. Tom stopped beside Taylor’s car and chuckled.
Taylor gave him a puzzled look. “What’s so funny?”
“I think you should open your own detective agency, Miss. With Miss Coco as your investigator. I do believe you’d make a fortune.”