Murder in Palm Springs

by Dianne Harman

  “Good night,” she said, turning off the light and hoping that tomorrow would be the day the murder was solved, rather than just another day.

  CHAPTER 25

  The insistent ringing of Marty’s cell phone on the nightstand next to the bed woke her out of a sound sleep. She was having a dream about Miles Reed performing in Las Vegas to a standing room only audience wearing the Elvis jacket Carl had taken to Jimmy Joseph’s home on the day of the murder.

  She was somewhat disoriented when she picked up her phone, noticing that Jeff’s side of the bed was empty and that it was 7:00 a.m. “This is Marty,” she said as she answered the phone in a groggy voice.

  The voice on the other end was barely audible and Marty was sure whoever was calling was crying. “Hello, hello? Who is this?” she asked.

  She heard sobbing and then a woman’s voice said, “Marty, it’s Ruby,” was all she was able to get out before she started crying so hard, she had to stop talking.

  “Ruby, what’s wrong? Why are you calling?”

  “It’s Horace. Somethin’s terrible wrong.”

  “Is he sick? Has something happened to him?” Marty asked.

  “Yeah, he’s got a bad case of the flu, but that ain’t what’s wrong,” she said, still sobbing

  “Then what’s wrong?”

  “It’s horrible, jes’ horrible. Ya’ gotta’ help me. I can’t believe it,” Ruby said.

  “I’m sorry, Ruby, but I can’t help you if I don’t know what the problem is. What would you like me to do?”

  “I need to talk to ya’, but not at the house here. Could ya’ meet me somewhere?”

  “Certainly. When and where?” Marty asked.

  “There’s a Starbucks coffeeshop at 110 North Palm Canyon Drive. Can ya’ meet me there?”

  “Of course. I can be there in 45 minutes. Will that work for you?”

  “Yeah, see ya’ then.”

  Marty threw on some clothes, fed and walked the dogs, and put a leash on Patron. She didn’t know what she was going to encounter, but having Patron with her seemed like a good idea, and she knew he’d be welcome at the outdoor seating at Starbucks.

  “Okay, Patron, you’re going with me. Duke, we’ll be back…”

  She was interrupted by Laura opening her door and calling to her. “Marty, I need to talk to you before you go see Ruby.”

  Marty thought about asking her how she knew she was on her way to see Ruby, but knowing Laura’s psychic ability, figured it would be a waste of time.

  “I just want you to know that it will be over today and be gentle.”

  “Wait a minute, Laura, that’s all you’ve got for me?”

  “Yes, that along with the words I told you about yesterday, ‘Act of Mercy.’ I don’t know exactly what it means, but that’s what I’m getting. It will all be over soon.”

  “Thanks for confusing me even more. I have no clue why Ruby needs to see me and no clue what any of this means, but if you’re right, and based on past experience, you probably are, I’ll tell you all about it tonight.”

  “Marty, you’re not in any danger. You can leave Patron at home today.”

  “Are you sure? I promised Jeff I’d take Patron with me.”

  “Yes, I’m absolutely certain. See, he’s not growling or showing any other signs that something is wrong. Anyway, it would probably be easier for you.”

  “Okay, Laura, thanks. See you later.”

  She took Patron’s leash off, walked through the gate, got in her car, and began the drive down the mountain to Palm Springs and Ruby.

  A little over a half hour later Marty walked by the Starbucks outdoor patio and saw Ruby sitting at a table, dabbing her eyes. Marty waved and indicated she’d be there in a minute. She’d left her house in a hurry, without having any coffee or eating, so a bagel and a cup of coffee were sorely needed before she talked to Ruby.

  “Good morning, Ruby,” she said as she sat down at the table where Ruby was sitting, wiping tears away from her face. “I’m sorry something is causing you so much pain. How can I help?”

  “It’s Horace…”

  “Yes, you mentioned that when you called. What’s wrong with Horace?”

  “He’s got the flu, but that ain’t why I called.”

  “All right, why don’t you take a deep breath and then tell me what’s troubling you?”

  Ruby was quiet for several moments as she tried to gain control of herself and then she said, “He called out for me this mornin’. Our bedrooms are next door to each other. I went into his room and he said he was really sick and runnin’ a high fever. I felt his forehead and he was very hot. I tol’ him I’d get some aspirin and I went into his bathroom. I opened the medicine cabinet and, and, and…”

  Ruby started sobbing again and couldn’t continue speaking. Marty reached across the table and patted her hand. “It’s okay, Ruby. Whatever it is, I’ll do what I can to help.”

  “He’s gonna’ go to prison, ain’t he?” Ruby asked, crying harder.

  “Horace? For what?”

  “For killin’ Jimmy.”

  “Wait a minute, Ruby. You’ve lost me. I have no idea how you got from getting aspirin for Horace, because he was sick, to him going to prison. I need you to fill in the missing pieces.”

  Ruby took several deep breaths and began to speak rapidly, as if she was afraid if she didn’t get the words out quickly, she’d never be able to say them.

  “I opened the medicine cabinet in his bathroom and I saw a strange bottle in there. I took it out and looked at it. It was a powder called ricin. Think ya’ said that was in the pellet that was shot into Jimmy’s leg. And that’s what killed him. Horace killed Jimmy.”

  It was Marty’s turn to be quiet. She had no idea what to say.

  “Ruby, I agree that finding the poison that was responsible for Jimmy’s death in Horace’s medicine cabinet doesn’t look too good for him, but that doesn’t mean he killed him.”

  “Mattera’ fact, it does,” Ruby said shaking her head up and down. “I also found the gun that shot the pellet. I gave Horace some aspirin and he fell asleep. While he was sleepin’, I looked in his desk. The gun was in there as well as directions on how to make a ricin pellet that could be fired from a gun. Horace shot Jimmy with the pellet he’d made and now he’s goin’ to prison.”

  “Ruby, I don’t know what to say. I agree with you, that it certainly looks like Horace was the one who shot him, but it makes no sense. They were very close, and from everything I’ve seen and understood, Horace worshipped him.”

  “He did, and that’s why I can’t unnerstand what happened. I felt if I told ya, maybe you could get yer’ husband to help. If regular police found out, and I figured sooner or later they’d get around to searchin’ Horace and my bedrooms, they’d just take him in right then and there and throw him in jail.” She looked pleadingly at Marty. “Please help us.”

  “Ruby, if Horace was responsible for murdering Jimmy, as you well know, that’s a serious crime. Maybe there was some reason for it. I think we need to talk to Horace, and I think my husband should be there. Do you mind if I call him?”

  “No, please do. Tell him we need help.”

  Marty picked up her cell phone and went to Favorites. She pressed Jeff’s name and a moment later heard his voice on the other end of the line. “Hi, sweetheart. Are you finally up? I had to leave early, and I didn’t even have time to start coffee for you. Sorry.”

  Marty told Jeff everything that had happened and then said, “Ruby’s still with me. What should we do now?”

  Jeff was quiet for a moment and then he said, “You’re in downtown Palm Springs now, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, meet me at the Joseph house in fifteen minutes. I just need to do one thing then I’ll be on my way. As I remember, the house is gated. I would assume Ruby knows the gate code, but you better ask her.”

  Marty looked at Ruby and said, “Jeff wants to meet us at your house in fifteen minutes. He w
ants to make sure you have the gate code, so we can get in.”

  “Yeah, I know it.”

  “Jeff, she has it and we’ll see you there in fifteen minutes.”

  CHAPTER 26

  Marty followed Ruby to the Joseph house and through the open gate. Jeff pulled in behind her. On the way over, Marty’s mind was whirling. She couldn’t make sense of what Ruby had told her. If Horace murdered Jimmy, what was his motive? They were as close as brothers, and he had an extremely good life. What reason could he possibly have for doing something like that?

  She hoped against hope that Horace had a logical explanation for the ricin and the gun. It made no sense to her. Maybe Jeff could put the puzzle pieces together.

  Marty introduced Ruby to Jeff as they walked up to the door of the house. Ruby had started tearing up again. “Ruby, here’s how I would like to handle this,” Jeff said. “I want to see how Horace is feeling. Maybe the aspirin reduced his fever, and he’d feel like talking to me.”

  “Will you be comin’ into his room with me?” she asked.

  “Yes, given what you’ve told Marty, I have no choice but to make sure that a police officer is with him. Unfortunately, until I find out something more, he definitely is our number one suspect, and I can’t risk him trying to run away.”

  “Yeah, I was afraid of that. Let’s go see him.”

  Jeff turned to Marty and said, “I’d like you to stay here in the hallway. Let me assess the situation, and since you know him, if it’s feasible, I’d like you to join us. I’ll call you if I think you should come in.”

  While she waited in the hallway, Marty heard voices coming from inside the room, then a few minutes later Jeff called for her to join them in Horace’s bedroom. He was sitting up in bed with a questioning look on his face.

  “Marty, why don’t you sit down? I’ve told Horace I have a couple of questions I’d like to ask him in connection with the murder of Jimmy Joseph.”

  He turned to Horace and said, “Horace, Ruby called Marty this morning and asked to meet with her because she was very concerned about some things she found. Specifically, she found a bottle of the poison, ricin, in your medicine cabinet as well as an air gun type of pistol in your desk. What can you tell me about those things?”

  Horace looked at Ruby and said, “Why, why would ya’ tell anyone that you found those things?”

  Ruby looked back at him and said tearfully, ‘Horace, we both loved Jimmy like a brother and he loved us. I know you couldn’t kill him. We was as close as three people could be. I jes’ couldn’t not say somethin’ about findin’ those things. I know there’s got to be some logical reason, but I sure can’t come up with one.

  “I thought maybe since Marty knew us and how close the three of us were, it’d be better if her husband talked to you rather than some uniformed police officer who wouldn’t care about us. Please, Horace, tell us some logical reason why you had them things. Please tell me ya’ wasn’t the one who killed my Jimmy.”

  Horace looked away from her and was quiet for several long moments. The room was utterly quiet and you could cut the tension in the room with a knife, as the three of them looked at Horace.

  When he finally spoke, his voice was filled with emotion and he said, “Ruby, Jimmy loved ya’ like a sister. Ya’ know that. He knew the state you were in when he had his heart attack. What he didn’t tell ya’ was that he had terminal cancer. He was diagnosed when he was in the hospital recoverin’. He knew it would kill ya’ to see him die day by day.”

  “Jimmy had cancer? Oh, no. Why didn’t he tell me?”

  “Jes’ what I said. He knew it would kill ya’. He started beggin’ me to do somethin’ to end his life. He said he wasn’t brave enough to take his own life and how would it look to his fans. I told him I didn’t want no part of it, but he said I was the only one he could trust.

  “One night when he was watchin’ television, he saw some crime show about how a guy had killed someone by making a ricin pellet and shootin’ it at his victim. The man died shortly thereafter. The day after he saw the show Jimmy told me that’s what he wanted me to do. He also told me that he’d amended his trust to leave the bulk of his estate to you and me, includin’ this house.”

  “Oh, Horace, no. You murdered him and he arranged for everythin’ to be left to us. Wasn’t he worried that ya’ would be charged with murder and go to prison?”

  “Yes. That’s why he had his attorney draw up some paper that said in legal mumbo-jumbo, that Jimmy had asked me to kill him, and I was doin’ it outta’ love fer him. He told me to keep the paper as insurance in case somehow it was discovered I was the one who did what Jimmy called an Act of Mercy.

  “He said he’d talked to his doctor and told him he wanted to invoke the right to die law, but he wasn’t gonna’ do it himself, he was havin’ someone do it fer him. He said if someone found out that I did it, the doctor would testify that it was Jimmy’s wish to die, and I was simply followin’ his wishes.”

  “Horace, are you telling me you admit to killing Jimmy Joseph by shooting him with a pellet which contained ricin?” Jeff asked.

  “Yes, sir, but I wouldn’t call it a killin’. It was like Jimmy said, an Act of Mercy.”

  “Horace, I have no choice but to arrest you for the murder of Jimmy Joseph, and I have to tell you that this is probably the worst moment I’ve had in my career since I’ve been on the police force. Unfortunately, I have to do the job I have sworn to do, namely uphold the laws of the State of California,

  Jeff then read Horace his Miranda Rights, reading off a card he carried in his wallet. When he’d finished he said, “Horace, I have a question. Why didn’t Jimmy take a pill from a doctor once he’d decided to invoke the right to die law?”

  Horace was quiet for several moments and then said, “Jimmy was real proud, sir, and he loved his fans. He didn’t want his fans to think he’d do somethin’ like that. He thought if it looked like he’d been murdered, it would be kinda’ glamorous and all the entertainment media would pick it up and even in death, he’d still be a star. He didn’t want his fans to see him as an old man who took a pill to die.”

  “Mr. Jeff. What’s gonna’ happen to Horace?” Ruby asked.

  “I have to take him to the station and have him booked for the murder of Jimmy Joseph. He’ll be there until he can get an attorney and post bail. If the two of you are going to inherit Jimmy’s estate, and I rather imagine it will be large based on this house and what Marty has told me about his collection, I think it would be wise to hire the best criminal lawyer you can find. Obviously, you’ll be able to afford it.

  “No one can predict what judges and juries are going to do, but given what you’ve just told me, I find it hard to believe that either a jury or a judge would give Horace the maximum penalty for murder. With a good lawyer, and the doctor’s statement, I would assume it would be a light sentence or best scenario, not serve any time and do community service. I rather doubt anyone could hear this story and not be touched.

  “Ruby, would you show me where the bottle of ricin is and the gun? I’ll need to take them with me as evidence. Horace, we need to go to the station. If you feel very sick, I’ll get an ambulance to take you to the prison ward of the hospital, and we can do the paperwork there. If not, I’ll personally take you to the station. Your call.”

  “Sir, I really don’t feel good. I think maybe I better go to the hospital. Didn’t want to worry Ruby none, but I ain’t felt good fer the last coupla’ days.”

  “Fine, I’ll make a couple of calls. Give me a minute. Ruby, why don’t you pack a little bag for Horace to take with him?”

  “Yes, sir. Can I go with him?”

  “I think it would be better if you drove to the hospital in your own car. That way you’ll have some transportation when you want to leave.”

  Within thirty minutes Horace was transported to the hospital by ambulance, accompanied by two policemen Jeff had called to the scene.

  After the ambulance left
, Jeff turned to Marty and said, “The case is solved, but I sure am sorry it ended this way. Why don’t you go home and take it easy for the rest of the day? If you feel as lousy as I do about this whole thing, I imagine you could use some rest. I won’t be far behind. It’s times like this when I wish I’d never chosen this profession.”

  “I understand, Jeff, but you had no choice. You weren’t the one who made the decision. Jimmy did. See you at home.”

  *****

  Marty couldn’t keep from crying on the way home. To think that Horace might spend time in prison for doing what his best friend and almost brother had begged him to do seemed wrong. Particularly given the fact that Jimmy Joseph had terminal cancer and wouldn’t have lived long anyway.

  I don’t understand why someone would ask their friend to do something that could cause them to go to prison, she thought. He must have decided no one would ever discover the truth and that his murder was just a random act of violence. And to think it was done because he didn’t want his fans to know the truth. He wanted to be glamorous even after death, but at what cost to Horace? This is just about the saddest thing I’ve ever heard.

  Marty pulled into the driveway and greeted the dogs. The compound was quiet, for which she was glad, given her state of mind. She had no desire to talk to anyone. The only thing she wanted to do was get in her house and have a good cry.

  When she was finished crying, she fixed herself a sandwich and was sitting at the kitchen table thinking about the unfairness of things in life when her phone rang, the screen indicating it was a call from Jeff.

  “Hi, Jeff. Did you get Horace taken care of? I have to tell you I came home and had a good cry. His explanation of why he did it was just about the saddest thing I’ve ever heard.”

  “Sweetheart, it’s not going to get any better. There’s no way to sugarcoat this. Horace just died in the hospital. He had a seizure and even though a team of medical personnel were present when it happened and did everything they could to save him, he died. The coroner happened to be in the hospital on another matter and immediately came up to his room.