I smiled until something she’d said struck me. “Back up a sec, Tina. When did you see Alexa climbing a building? Today?”
“No, the other day when I was delivering dinners for Shredding.” Tina tapped her chin while thinking. “Over a week ago. I was delivering food for Midge Martin on the street behind the building. The street that ends at Azure Park.”
“Ocean Avenue.”
“Right. Alexa was wearing this really cool aqua blue camouflage jumpsuit with a hood. She almost blended into the building’s façade.”
“Which building was it?”
“The Boldine Building, where her studio is.”
“How did you recognize her?”
“She swiveled her head to look at me. Maybe she felt me staring. Her eyes are so distinctive.” Tina fluttered fingers beside her own.
“Go on.”
“Alexa continued upward, to the rooftop. She took a breather and then descended and slipped into the studio through the window.”
Rooftop. Seven-letter crossword clue for where the fish fry would take place, I mused.
Tina said, “I thought Alexa might have been practicing for whatever the challenge was but keeping it secret until she conquered it.”
“How was she climbing?” I asked. “There aren’t any stairs or ladders.”
“Freestyle. Like a rock climber. I saw a Dumpster at the base, so maybe she gave herself a boost so she could reach the bricks on the second floor.”
Of course. The first floor of the building’s façade might have been smooth, but the second floor featured brick. Because it was painted the same color as the rest of the building, neither Rhett nor I had noticed. Bricks would have provided plenty of fingerholds.
Tina glimpsed her watch. “Oh, I’ve got to go. Class in twenty minutes. Bye, Bailey. Bye, Brianna. See you tomorrow, sweet thing.”
I hurried to Bailey and said, “Did you hear that?”
Bailey was rocking Brianna and wiggling one of the baby’s fingers. “What?”
“Tina said she saw Alexa scaling the Boldine Building.”
“No surprise, I suppose. Alexa is an exercise nut.” Bailey chuckled. “She’s also jumped out of a perfectly good airplane, and she loves to bungee jump.”
“No, you’re missing the point. She was wearing camouflage, to match the building.”
“Okay.” Bailey signaled for me to continue.
“What if Alexa lied about having a flat tire on the morning Kylie was killed—she punctured the spare tire to cover the lie—and she doubled back, clambered up the building, slipped in through the opened window and hid in the studio until Kylie entered, and then attacked her?”
Bailey’s mouth fell open.
I said, “Alexa could have killed Kylie and escaped without anyone seeing her.”
“Why would Kylie have come there?” Bailey set Brianna in her stroller.
“Because Alexa texted her and asked her to meet.”
“Except there weren’t any messages on Kylie’s phone, remember? The police checked.”
“Alexa could have erased it.”
Bailey mulled that over. “Why would Alexa kill Kylie? She loved her like a sister.”
Earlier, outside Kylie’s apartment, Alexa had said she hadn’t been inside Kylie’s place. She’d said they hadn’t socialized a lot after Kylie had moved to that location. Why? Had they had a falling-out? Were Alexa’s tears for her friend fake?
“What if their friendship went poof?” I flicked my fingers.
“Poof?”
“Because Alexa found out that her father and Kylie had a brief affair.”
“They what?” Bailey’s voice skated upward.
“Eugene admitted as much to Tito and me at the café. I didn’t tell you because I had to meet with Deputy Appleby.”
“Secrets,” Bailey said. “Everyone has secrets.”
“Kylie tricked him. It was—” I rotated a hand. “That’s not what matters right now. Eugene said Kylie was blackmailing him. The deputy and I went to Kylie’s to look for evidence of the extortion.”
“Did you find it?”
“No.” I clutched my pal’s elbow. “Stick with me on this. What if Alexa knew Kylie had instigated the affair and blamed Kylie for creating a wedge between her parents?”
Bailey blinked. “Hold it. Aren’t Audrey and Eugene together? They seemed happy when we went to visit Alexa.”
“They’re in couples therapy,” I said. “I’m not sure the marriage will survive.”
“Oh, man.” Bailey moaned softly. “Even so, why would Alexa kill Kylie, her bestie, because of that? The message on the mirror said, ‘You should have reformed.’ Had Alexa warned Kylie to back off the thing with her dad?”
“The message.” I snapped my fingers. “Remember how Alexa hugged Tito when he came into the studio? What if she wrote the message and dropped that tube of lip balm in his pocket?”
Bailey gasped. “Why wouldn’t she have gotten rid of it after killing Kylie?”
“Because she needed a patsy. You or Tito or even Viveca could have been her fall guy.”
Brianna started to whimper.
“Shh, sweetheart.” Bailey pushed the stroller back and forth. “Jenna, we need to tell—”
“The police?” I rolled my eyes. “Cinnamon is in the hospital, and Appleby had to rush to an emergency with his son.”
“What emergency?” my aunt asked, walking toward us.
I blanched. “I wasn’t supposed to tell you, Aunt Vera.” I petted her arm as I laid out the issue between Appleby and his son. “Marlon said he’ll handle it and not to worry. So, please, don’t worry.”
“We should go to the precinct,” Bailey said.
“Good idea.” I moved to the counter to fetch my purse and drew to a halt. “Alexa was at Kylie’s when I went there with Deputy Appleby. She told us she’d come to deliver flowers as a tribute, seeing as Kylie wasn’t yet buried. What if that was a lie? What if she took files out of Kylie’s safe to protect her father?”
Bailey whistled.
My aunt said, “I saw Alexa when I was at Latte Luck a bit ago. You know me and my brownies. Shari makes the most amazing ones on Thursdays. Anyway, Alexa was rolling a suitcase into the Boldine Building.”
“A suitcase?” I raised an eyebrow. “Do you think she’s planning on leaving town?”
“I wouldn’t have a clue, dear.” Aunt Vera tsked. “I read tarot cards, not minds.”
Bailey said, “Alexa’s lease is over. She has to give up the space. Maybe she’s cleaning out her office.”
“Or maybe she put whatever she filched from Kylie’s place into the suitcase so she could dispose of it.” I grabbed my purse and cell phone. “I’m going over there.”
“To do what?” Bailey asked.
“I’m not sure.”
“Dear, even though Cinnamon is under the weather, you’d better call her,” my aunt said.
Bailey pushed the stroller toward my aunt. “Vera, I’m going with Jenna. Will you watch Brianna? She might need a bottle.”
“Absolutely.”
• • •
Bailey and I flew out of the Cookbook Nook and headed toward the mini San Francisco complex. On the way, I phoned Mercy Urgent Care and asked for Cinnamon’s room. The connection rang and rang. Maybe she’d been released, or she had been taken to another room for a test.
I hoped everything was okay and dialed her cell phone, leaving the following message: “Chief, I think Alexa Tinsdale might be the killer after all. I’ll explain when I see you. FYI, minutes ago, Alexa was seen entering the Boldine Building. Bailey and I are going there, and we’ll watch the exits until someone from your team arrives.”
When I ended the call, I dialed the precinct. Appleby was still out and unavailable. I asked if there was anyone I could speak to. The clerk transferred me to the officer on duty, except he didn’t answer. I reached his voice mail, too. Swell. I left him the same message I’d left Cinnamon and, frustrated, stabbed End on my cell phone.
I hoped Bailey and I wouldn’t take heat from the police for doing our citizenly duty, but I knew I was a dreamer. Cinnamon might have given me permission to help with the investigation, but no good deed went unpunished. At least I could claim, by taking Bailey along, I’d considered safety in numbers.
Apparently the Boldines had returned from their vacation. Customers were entering the building when we arrived, most veering into the jewelry store, which was having a preholiday sale on diamonds.
“Let’s go to the second floor,” I said to Bailey.
“Whoa. Hold on.” She grabbed my shoulder. “Your message to Cinnamon was that we’d watch exits.”
“What if Alexa escapes the way she did the other day?” I strode to the stairs. “Through the open window?”
Bailey raced after me. “Wait! What’s our plan?”
“If Alexa is still inside? Be cordial. Stall. Someone from the police department will show up.” I took the stairs two at a time to the second floor.
Bailey followed, huffing and puffing. “I really am out of shape,” she wheezed.
“You can start skating with Cinnamon and me once a week.”
“Speaking of Cinnamon, call her again. Maybe—”
The door to Your Wellness opened. Alexa poked her head out. “I thought I heard voices. What are you two doing here?” Her face was placid and emotionless. No smile.
I cleared my throat. “I was concerned about you, after running into you at Kylie’s. You were so distraught.” Which, if I was right about her guilt, had been a total lie. “My aunt saw you enter the building earlier, so since business was slow for us, Bailey and I decided to make a social call. I’m so sorry you have to give up this space.”
“Yes. It’s awful. The Boldines . . .” Alexa pressed a hand to her chest. “I get why they ended the lease. I wish they’d give me a second chance. C’mon in.”
I stepped inside and my gaze instantly went to the tower-style reformer with its retractable rope system.
Alexa followed my gaze. “If only I’d been here. For Kylie. I feel so guilty.”
“You shouldn’t blame yourself,” I said, though I was thinking: Sure you should. “Anything new on the business front?”
“Not a peep from my students. I’m sunk.”
Bailey said, “Alexa, is it okay if I grab a cup of water? Those stairs did me in.”
“Sure.”
Bailey made a beeline for the water cooler located outside the glass-enclosed office. She hesitated and gazed over her shoulder at me. Deliberately, she hitched her chin to the right. I spotted what she wanted me to see. Alexa’s suitcase. Inches inside the office door. A black overnighter, its top open and resting against the office door. From this distance, all I could see on top was what appeared to be a manila envelope and a book.
I turned back to Alexa. “Traveling?” I asked, keeping my voice easygoing.
“Yes. Heading to Oregon for the weekend. Between you and me, I can’t wait for a change of scenery.”
“I can’t imagine what you’ve been going through this past week.” I licked my lips. “You know, I could use a glass of water, too.” I ambled in that direction, to get a closer look inside the suitcase.
Alexa rushed ahead of me and clapped the suitcase closed. Her face changed. Hardened.
“Going with anyone to Oregon?” I asked, acting as if her bolt to conceal had been a non-event. “A special someone?”
“No boyfriend, if that’s what you mean.” Alexa heaved a sigh. “He dropped out of my life a year ago.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. I had no idea.”
“Good riddance.”
The edge in Alexa’s voice made me shudder.
“Look, ladies, I’ve got a flight to catch,” Alexa said, “so if you don’t mind, I’m kicking you two out.”
Bailey took a step toward us and tripped. On purpose? Her cup of water went flying. She landed on her knees and reached for the suitcase. She flipped open the lid. “What a klutz!” she groused. “Sorry about that.”
I peeked into the suitcase. The manila folder was inscribed with the words Eugene $$$. Beside it lay a yearbook with Kylie written on the cover in black marker pen. I flashed on the sketch I’d made of the crime scene and my notes about the shredded paper. Some of the bond-style paper had red and black ink on it. Could it have come from a Crystal Cove High School yearbook? The Toreador mascot was black; the school’s color scheme was red and white. Alexa had defaced a page in her yearbook and had torn out another. Her mother had said the missing page had been a picture of Bunny yukking it up with some football buddies. Had that been the truth? Could that page have contained another picture of Bunny and Kylie? Had Kylie, and not veganism, been the root of Alexa and Bunny’s breakup? Was that yearbook picture among the shreds?
Bailey scrambled to her feet. “Sorry, Alexa. I’ll get some paper towels. I’ve been so clumsy ever since delivering the baby.”
“That’s a lie, Bailey Bird Martinez,” Alexa growled. “I’m your trainer. I know what you’re capable of.”
“Yes, but—”
“That’s it.” Alexa lunged to her left and grabbed a double-handled resistance band from the collection on the wall. “I know what you two are up to.” She whisked one end with whiplike accuracy at Bailey, catching her on the arm. Bailey wailed. “And you, Jenna.” Alexa loped to her right, toward the entrance to the studio, while wiggling the resistance band as if it were a cobra. She whisked the band in my direction. The handle whizzed by my ear but missed hitting me.
Given the opening she’d created, I darted past her to the weights wall and grabbed a three-pound barbell.
Alexa cracked the band again. It caught me on the thigh. I bit back a yelp.
“I knew you were nosey, Jenna,” Alexa said, “but I had no idea you were stupid.”
I positioned the barbell chest-high. I wasn’t quite sure what I would do with it. I was an ace with a Frisbee, but I couldn’t put a shot worth a darn. Heaving a barbell had to be the same kind of move. Dumb. Even so, Alexa kept her distance.
“You robbed Kylie’s safe, didn’t you?” I asked. “Right before Deputy Appleby and I showed up. That’s where you found your father’s file.”
Alexa glanced in the direction of the suitcase and returned her focus to me.
“Kylie was blackmailing him,” I continued, “but then you knew that, didn’t you?”
“She might have mentioned it.”
“You stowed the contents of the safe in the trunk of your car right before Deputy Appleby and I drove up,” I said, edging to my right. “You’d brought flowers to cover your tracks, in case a neighbor saw you in the vicinity.”
With Alexa’s focus riveted on me, Bailey edged to her right.
“Is that Kylie’s senior-year yearbook?” I knew it was. I recognized the date from the one her mother had shown us. “Did Kylie deface pictures the way you did in yours?”
“No.”
“So why take it?” I asked. “Maybe someone who loved her would want it.”
“Like family?” Alexa said snidely. “She didn’t have family. That’s why she glommed onto mine.”
“But she didn’t succeed,” I said. “Your parents adore you.”
“Don’t kid yourself. They adored her, too. My father perhaps a little too much,” Alexa said with a bite, cutting a sharp look in the direction of the folder with her father’s name on it.
“You and Kylie were besties, you said.”
“Things changed when she took Benjamin from me.”
“Who’s Benjamin?” I asked.
“Who was Benjamin?” Alexa corrected.
“He’s dead?”
“Yep. He died a year ago last week.”
I gulped. Had Alexa killed Benjamin as well as Kylie? How?
Silently, Bailey grabbed a barbell like the one I’d taken.
“Tell me about Benjamin,” I said, keeping Alexa’s gaze trained on me.
“Bunny was my fiancé.”
Bunny? Of course. Audrey had said Alexa had been as serious as a heart attack about Bunny . . . Benjamin.
“How long were you and Benjamin engaged?” I asked.
“Since high school.”
She was lying. Her mother had been clear about the breakup.
“Is his picture in Kylie’s yearbook?” I gestured to it. “Can I see what he looks like?”
“No!” Alexa hissed.
Bailey inched more to her right, keeping eye contact with me.
“Alexa, I happen to know Bunny, I mean, Benjamin, dumped you.” The statement was cruel, but I pressed on. “Your mother said it was because he became a vegan, and you teased him mercilessly.”
“That’s not why he—” She sliced the air with her free hand. “How petty would that make him look? We broke up because Kylie stole him from me.” Her voice turned raspy, tight. “She stole all my boyfriends.”
“Your mother said Kylie wouldn’t have done that. She knew you were mad about Bunny.”
“That didn’t matter to Kylie. She wanted to defeat me at all costs.”
Lifelong rivals, I mused.
Eugene had said Kylie changed a year ago. When Benjamin died?
I noticed Alexa’s necklace. Seeing it conjured up an image of the crime scene. Kylie O hadn’t been wearing the locket she’d had on when she and Priscilla the crossword puzzle lady had nearly run me over. Was it a locket with Love B etched on the back?
“Did you kill Kylie because of Benjamin?” I asked, praying the police would show up and end this madness.
“I didn’t kill her.”
“Yes, you did. You scaled the building, climbed in through the opened window, and hid in the studio. When Kylie entered, you attacked.”
“Get real.” Alexa scoffed. “There are no ladders or stairs on this building.”
“A witness saw you practicing your freestyle climb. She didn’t think anything of it. She thought there might be some kind of sports challenge coming up.” When Alexa didn’t argue, I laid out my theory. “You set a meeting with Kylie on Friday morning. I’m not sure how you convinced her to come, seeing as the two of you were at odds. She’d maxed out her credit cards. Did you promise her money? It doesn’t matter. She showed up.”
Alexa didn’t blink.
“After killing her, you left without leaving a trace. There were no security cameras to record your actions.” I lowered the barbell and started to swing it—a little back, a little forward. “Did Benjamin give you a necklace etched with Love B on it?”
Shredding the Evidence (A Cookbook Nook Mystery 9) Page 22