Liz wondered if Jenny was having second thoughts because she believed Liz was guilty. That was a sobering thought she hadn’t expected.
“I do need to spend less time doing bookwork,” Jenny said, “You know, accounting etc. And you could do that from home.” She leaned back in her chair, putting a little distance between them. “I did some background checking on you and I found your credentials to be squeaky clean, in spite of that embezzlement trial which put you on the front page for a long time.” She paused and raised her eyebrows at Liz. “Is there anything you’d like to say about that situation?”
“No. I think it was well covered in the media. Not much left to add.” And there wasn’t. Obviously, Jenny had a great source for researching and that caught Liz’s ear immediately.
“So, like I said, I need time to be out of the office whenever I have the opportunity to follow a story. My preference is doing investigative reporting, but I never say that to anyone because it scares people away. I’m sure you understand. Instead, I say I’m a street reporter who likes to be out and about where the news happens, where the people are.” She steepled her fingers together as she leaned her elbows on the desk. “Also, I spend a lot of time doing searches. I like to stay ahead of the game because big news can happen anywhere, even here in Maple Ridge.”
Without a doubt, the murder in Liz’ barn fit the caption of big news perfectly. She wondered if being squeaky clean applied to her accounting practice only.
“I understand what you’re getting at,” Liz replied, nodding in agreement. “And I do prefer working at home so that’s no problem. I’m sure I can handle what you want done.”
“I’m sure you can. Truthfully, you’re a bit overqualified but if it’s okay with you then I’m happy to have you do the job. But why don’t we wait about a week before you get started? I can’t believe you’re able to concentrate on columns of numbers at the moment. So, I’ll save the details for later.”
Liz nodded, glad to have that put off for a while since she had far more pressing matters on her mind. Now she had to ask about the pictures, otherwise she’d regret it if she didn’t.
“Would you mind if I browsed through the photos you took during Market Day? And your drone video too?”
“Sure thing, I just uploaded the photos this morning. But I don’t have a drone or any videos.” Jenny’s interest seemed to visibly pick up.
Liz stared at her, puzzled over the drone comment. “Someone told me you had a drone flying around my house when the police were there that morning.”
“Not me.” Jenny shrugged. “Maybe it was my former assistant’s drone. I know Robert has one but since he doesn’t work for me it’s not likely that I’ll see any of his videos. Sorry.”
Liz felt a bit deflated over this news but refused to give up. If Robert was still in town, she’d find him. In the meantime, she’d take a look at Jenny’s photos.
“Is there something in particular you’re looking for?” Jenny asked.
“I’m not sure if there’s anything at all but if I see something unusual then I’ll know.”
Jenny stared at her for moment then said, “That’s a vague answer, Liz.”
“I know, but I don’t want to stick my neck out unless I see something, anything, that helps my situation.” That was as close as she’d get to confiding.
“You’re looking for the person who got murdered? Do you think he or she was here that day?”
“Yes,” Liz replied emphatically but wasn’t ready to say more than that.
“Did the police tell you the name of the person?”
“No,” Liz replied. “Did they give you any details? I’m assuming you asked.”
“I tried but that detective is pretty hard-headed and close mouthed. I’ve contacted him in other situations and he’s no fun to deal with, not that I plan to give up.” She grinned and cocked one eyebrow. “Fat chance of that happening.”
Liz believed her. She could only hope that Miles might be willing to give her some kind of news when she asked him that afternoon.
“Here let me pull up the photos for you.” When she had the screen full of pictures, she angled the monitor towards Liz, keeping it turned enough so she was able to see it too. “There are a few hundred at least but you can skim through the thumbnails and then open the ones that catch your eye. I’m in no hurry.”
Liz scanned the majority of the pictures, knowing that Kevin wore a navy shirt and khaki pants and had dark hair. She enlarged a couple of them, mistaking him for someone else. Then she found what she had hoped she wouldn’t when she saw Kevin speaking to her in front of the café. It wasn’t a close up, so it didn’t show the confrontation they’d had, but it was enough to point out that there was verbal contact only hours before the murder.
“That’s you, right?” Jenny said, looking closer at the photo. “Who’s that with you? It doesn't look as though either of you were happy to see each other.”
“You’re right. We weren’t.”
Jenny stared at Liz. “Is this the man that was killed in your barn?” She zoomed the photo larger, but it wasn’t a sharp image.
Liz hesitated, knowing this was the only opportunity so far in gaining some help to dig deeper. On the other hand, Jenny’s self-proclaimed reputation spoke loud and clear that once she got involved there would be no stopping her, regardless of the outcome. And if any evidence seemed to point directly at Liz, would Jenny turn on her? She admitted it was a gamble, but felt she had no choice. Besides that, the temptation to confide in her was so strong since Jenny had the ability to research, or rather, investigate via her reporting expertise.
“Yes. This is the man.”
“So, you knew him.” Jenny pierced her with a look. “What was his name?”
“Before I say anything more, I need to know if our conversation is confidential, off the record or whatever you want to call it.”
Without changing her expression, Jenny replied, “Of course. But that won’t stop me from digging, you understand.”
Liz felt relief nudging aside the weight of worry for the first time since she’d found Kevin’s body. She needed someone like Jenny to work with her in searching for the real killer.
“Yes, I knew him because I had worked with him for years. He was part of the embezzling scheme, but he got off scot-free. His name was Kevin Jones.”
Jenny’s eyes widened and she sat dead still. “You do know his name. I thought you said you didn’t.”
“I said the detective didn’t give me any information about him. And that’s true.”
Jenny blinked as if needing to digest this new information.
“Do you think he came looking for you in particular? What kind of conversation was this?” She pointed to the photo on the computer screen. “He looks angry.”
“He was. Our conversation was short but his last words to me were threatening.”
“And did you tell Miles or the detective about this?” Jenny asked, her face in a tight frown.
“If I would have told them, they would have instantly believed that I was the one who had killed him. But I didn’t kill him. Someone else did and that person is out there somewhere.”
Jenny nodded. “I see what you mean.” She looked thoughtful for a moment then asked, “Just exactly what did he say when he threatened you?”
“Let’s just say I know a threat when I hear one. During the trial I got more than a few and I brought them all to the attention of the police, but they told me that they needed more than idle threats to take action. They said I should just hang on to them and file them in case something happens.”
“Well, that was helpful,” she replied sarcastically and tossed her pencil onto the desk. “Was this recent threat the same as any of the others?”
“A lot of them were mostly alike, threatening and name calling, but one stood out loud and clear. There were three identical notes and all of them were written in the same handwriting with the last word in caps. ‘You are going to be sorry one d
ay SOON.’ And the police said the same thing about those as they had about the others… just hang on to them. And for a while, I did.”
Jenny steepled her fingers, deep in thought. Then she picked up her pencil again but didn’t write anything on paper.
Liz went on. “I’ve been trying to figure out if Kevin came here for another reason other than just to threaten me, which doesn’t make sense. I’ve gone down the list of possibilities but keep coming up blank. I never heard that he had family in this area or any business dealings of any kind, not that we were best friends. We weren’t. But he tended to talk a lot without hiding where he went or who he knew so I’m sure I’d have heard about family or friends from my hometown area. So, I wonder who else knew he was in Maple Ridge?”
“How do you think he found out where you lived? I mean, before you even moved to New York. You know, here in Maple Ridge.”
Something about Jenny’s voice changed in a way that seemed more uncertain. She appeared less sure of herself and she wasn’t making eye contact the way she usually did. Liz tried to ignore all of this, thinking it was probably her imagination going off on a tangent which wasn’t too surprising, considering she’d been skeptical of a lot of things lately. It was simply a matter of self-preservation in order to get through the entire mess.
“It wasn’t as if I tried to keep it a secret so I’m sure he knew. Plus, I did put up a website about a month ago for the B&B so he could easily have found me through that.”
“True. The odd thing is, though, he was the one who was murdered,” Jenny said, frowning.
“Which is exactly why I don’t want to bring up the fact that I knew him or that he’d threatened me.”
“Of course.” Jenny absently bounced the pencil’s eraser against a tablet. “But you’re aware that they’ll eventually discover that you worked together and were involved in the same trial.”
“I know.” And that worried her a lot. She knew it would connect her to Kevin when nothing else would. Unless she could find the real murderer first.
“Are you in the house alone? I mean, you should have a dog or maybe borrow a neighbor’s dog. You might consider Brian Stanford’s until this is over.”
“My guest says she’ll be staying till Wednesday which is when she believes the detective will let her leave. So, I’m not totally alone, although she is gone most of the day. I suppose I could borrow Polly’s dog, but I don’t think he’s a good choice. And Brian’s dog… Well, he’d definitely be enough to scare anyone, that’s for sure. But I think I’ll pass on that too.”
“Those K9’s are impressive, aren’t they? I wouldn’t want to meet him in a dark alley, but a lot of people have done just that.”
Liz couldn’t hide her shock. “Did you say K9? Ben is a police dog?”
“A retired police dog. He’s earned it, too.”
“How did Brian happen to get him?” Liz tried to connect this information to the little she knew about him, and it filled in several of the blank spaces perfectly.
“Ben is his dog, always has been. Didn’t you know that?”
“No.” Neither had she suspected it. “How did you find out?”
“I worked for a paper in Boston when Brian was a cop there and our paths crossed a few times. I take it that he’s never told you?”
“No. No, he didn’t.” She was trying to process all this new information which required a huge readjustment in her opinion of Brian. “I don’t know him that well.”
“He’s fairly new to the area and you’ve been away for quite a while so that’s understandable.” Jenny bounced her pencil on the tablet once more, this time Liz saw it as a nervous habit. “Moving to this small community was probably a nice counterbalance for him especially with these peaceful surroundings. And just so you don’t get any wrong ideas, I moved here about a year before he did. Pure coincidence that we both came from Boston to the same small town. Honest.” She held up her Scouts honor hand sign.
Liz wasn’t a big believer in coincidences but neither did she want to get into any of Brian’s personal life, so she let all of that pass. How she wished she could leave her own personal affairs out of the whole equation, but apparently, she was right square in the middle of it.
“So how do we begin and where do we begin?” Liz asked, bringing their conversation back to the main reason she was talking to Jenny.
“I have a few ideas but let me check them out first. I don’t give away my sourcing info so you’ll just have to trust me. But you could start by trying to get Miles to tell you something, anything at all, even if it’s just a little bit. You can probably do better with him than I can. From there we’ll piece together just what kind of history Kevin Jones had.” Jenny stared at the paper on her desk, not making eye any contact while she made a few notes.
She wasn’t offering Liz much hope and it seemed like too much time would be required to find out anything worthwhile. She could be in jail before they had any promising leads let alone answers. “I just have this gut feeling that they’ll move faster than we can, and I’ll be the primary suspect.”
Jenny stared at her but said nothing to contradict Liz’ fears.
“It might be wise for you to give Miles the same info you just gave me,” Jenny said. “Especially since he’s local. Who knows, it’s possible he might have seen something while he was driving through town during his watch and that something might just click with your info, even if it’s small. I’ve never felt that Miles was untrustworthy.”
But Liz wondered if he might be so dedicated and honest that he’d share anything and everything she said with Detective Morris. She’d have to play it by ear and decide how much to tell, or not.
Chapter Eight
After leaving Jenny’s office, Liz stopped by the library to see if Shelly was free for lunch at the Café. They decided to meet at noon which gave Liz plenty of time to purchase cow feed. She wasn’t ready to talk to Miles just yet because she needed a little more time to digest everything Jenny had told her.
She pulled into the parking area of the feed store and backed up to the loading dock before going inside, but the cool reception forced her to quickly take care of her business and leave. Afterward, she sat in her truck, wondering if others in town might also give her the same cold shoulder. James, the owner of the store, had always been helpful and friendly until this morning. Apparently, he thought she was a suspect. It wasn’t as if she was new in town, she’d been born and raised in Maple Ridge and so had her parents as well as her grandparents. It seemed she’d lost a lot of credibility when she left town to work in the big city and it truly bothered her. And to think that just a few months ago he’d asked if she’d like to post a flyer for her B&B in his store window. She turned her head toward that window now, and sure enough her flyer was gone.
A new sense of isolation filled her, and she didn’t like it one bit. She realized that even Jenny’s open-minded willingness to help search out facts was a starting place, but she needed more than just one person’s help. Perhaps Shelly had heard or seen something, anything, on Market Day. Surely, Kevin had been seen with someone other than herself. There had to be a missing piece. She remembered that Shelly always had some kind of gossip to pass along and she found herself counting on it as she put the truck in gear and headed out of the parking lot.
While pulling into a parking space on the street near the Java Café, she saw Shelly walk up the steps to the front door.
“Hey, you’re early!” Liz said, hurrying to catch up to her friend.
“I know. It happens sometimes.” She laughed then pointed to their favorite table at the front window. Liz nodded in agreement.
After they were settled at the table and the waitress had taken their orders, Shelly gave her a weak smile and quietly asked, “How are you doing?”
Liz shrugged one shoulder, replying, “Hanging in there, I guess.”
“Have you heard anything new yet?”
“No. I was hoping you might have.”
&nb
sp; Shelly gave a quick shake of her head. “Nothing that would help.” Her usually bright cheery face wasn’t either of those things now.
“Go ahead tell me. You never know and right now I’m looking for a needle in a haystack so I’ll take any news I can get.” She braced herself for negative information with the hope there would be a speck of a positive word.
“I just can’t believe this has happened,” Shelly said.
Liz sighed. “There has to be at least one person who had a motive. How do I find that in a small town where nobody knew this man?” She wasn’t ready to mention that she knew Kevin, at least not in a public place where they could be overheard.
“There were so many strangers in town for the festivities,” Shelly replied with a shake of her head. “I just don’t believe it was anyone from around here. Do you? And how can the police get information from so many people who are no longer in the area?”
“And why did they pick my barn?” Liz leaned closer as she spoke. “It feels so personal and intentional.”
Shelly placed her hand on Liz’s arm to comfort her. “I understand.”
At that moment the waitress appeared with steaming cups of coffee and their salads. Liz hadn’t had much of an appetite since Kevin had confronted her, but she forced herself to eat some of it.
“Has Miles had anything to say about it?” Shelly asked.
“I haven’t talked to him since that morning… yesterday morning.” It felt like a week ago.
“You need to bug him. And make him give you any information he has. You have a right to know, for heaven’s sake.” Shelly stabbed a small tomato, put it into her mouth and bit into with a fierceness that surprised Liz. “I’ll bet he knows more than he’s telling.”
Dead 'N Breakfast Page 10