SONGBIRD (JAX DIAMOND MYSTERIES Book 1)

by Gail Meath

  “That had to be hard for you.”

  “Sister Rosemary is in charge of it now, and she’s done such remarkable things there. She even ended up resolving the issues of my past if you can believe that. Anyway, she said that Wanda and Jimmy had been sent to the institution in Poughkeepsie, and that’s where they supposedly died. She didn’t know anything more than that.”

  “I’ll call the person in charge of it tomorrow and request those records,” Tim said. “Since Wanda and her brother didn’t die, that means two other kids did.”

  “I knew they were both devious. I should have done something to stop them back then. None of this would have happened.”

  “What could you have done, Jax? You were just a kid.”

  “Yeah, I guess. I would bet my last buck that they were responsible for cutting my car brakes at the ballpark. They’re the ones who wanted me out of the way. But at that point, they weren’t out to hurt Laura. They couldn’t know that she would be with me after the game.”

  “Thank goodness, she was.”

  Jax let out a sad chuckle. “You should’ve seen her, Murph. She knew exactly what to do and kept her head through the whole thing. She even made a wisecrack after the car had stopped.” He lifted his head and stared at the moon shining above them amid a myriad of twinkling stars. It reminded him of the night that he walked Laura home after leaving Tim’s apartment. That was the day they had spent together at Coney Island. “God, where is she?”

  “We’ll find her, Jax.”

  “At the amusement park last week, I thought I was losing my mind when I saw Jimmy Dillenbeck standing behind Laura. But I wasn’t imagining it. Ace had better sense. Without even knowing the man, he knew Jimmy was up to no good and chased after him to get him away from Laura. I wish Ace had caught up to him now, but he probably gave up his pursuit because he didn’t want to leave Laura alone.”

  “He’s smarter than the both of us combined, and one hell of a good partner.”

  Jax looked at Ace, sitting by his side. “We both need her back, Murph.”

  “I know.”

  Ace was suddenly on his feet, growling.

  Jax looked down the street and saw someone standing in the shadows. When the person ran in the opposite direction, Ace darted off, barking viciously. Jax and Tim rushed after him. They heard a woman scream and quickened their pace. Just before the corner, they saw Ace pounce on the woman and knock her down. And he stood over her, snarling, while she kept squealing and cursing, and trying to cover her face with her handbag.

  Jax saw it was Margie. “Good work, Ace.” He grabbed Margie’s arm and yanked her to her feet. Then, he pushed her back against the brick wall and shoved his forearm over her throat. “Where is Laura? Tell me right now, or I’ll strangle every breath from you!”

  Tim pulled him away. “That’s enough, Jax.”

  Margie doubled over, coughing and choking, but Jax knew she was exaggerating since he hadn’t put any pressure on her neck.

  Tim roughly turned her around and handcuffed her wrists together. “I’ll take her to the station and do this the legal way.” He led her to his car and pushed her into the back seat.

  At the precinct in one of the interview rooms, Jax stood in the corner while Tim and Lieutenant Simmons questioned Margie. He’d only been allowed into the room as long as he promised not to interfere. So, he impatiently leaned against the wall with his arms folded in front of him while Ace sat beside him, watchfully.

  After an hour, they had gotten nowhere. Margie had admitted being at Grand Central Terminal when the police began swarming the place. She heard someone had been abducted, and she claimed to have gotten trapped within the crowds leaving the building. So, she took a taxi to her boyfriend’s nightclub and spent the next several hours there. She pretended to look shocked when they told her that Laura was missing. She even pulled a handkerchief out of her handbag to wipe her fretting tears away.

  Next, they questioned her about Wanda Dillenbeck, and her entire demeanor changed. She appeared puzzled and told them that she had no idea who that was. She denied having a younger brother and said she grew up on Long Island with her two older sisters. She even offered their names. And she went on about her family, how they moved to California a few years ago while she decided to stay behind to pursue her acting career.

  Throughout this conversation, she spoke calmly, nonchalantly, as though she didn’t have a care in the world and was just chatting with a few friends. Deliberately, she focused on the Lieutenant during the entire interrogation and avoided any eye contact with Jax.

  “We’ll need to get in touch with your family, so if you wouldn’t mind writing their information down,” the Lieutenant told her, and he slid a pad and pencil across the table.

  “She’s lying,” Jax stated coldly. He ignored the other men’s protests, came forward, and rested his hands on the table. Then, he leaned in and looked Margie dead in the eye. “All they have to do is make one simple phone call to Sister Rosemary at the orphanage near Englewood. I’m sure the good Sister would be more than happy to tell them exactly who you are and where you came from.”

  There it was. He’d struck a nerve. The color of her eyes instantly washed away as she glared at him, and he knew if she had a knife in her hand right now, she would drive it through his heart. Ace knew it too and began growling. Even Tim and Lieutenant Simmons fell silent.

  She sat back in the chair, grinning. “Jax Diamond. We meet again after all these years. With all the cops in the city, it was just my brother’s dumb luck that you started poking around. Although, I think he’s been enjoying playing cat and mouse with you again, especially since he’s kept one step ahead of you.”

  “Until now.”

  “Oh, I think he is still way ahead, isn’t he, Jax?” She started to stand up to put some space between him and her, but Ace moved forward, menacingly, and kept her in her seat.

  “So, you’re blaming your brother for all of it?”

  She placed her hand over her heart. “Oh, but of course. I could never commit murder. I was afraid of what he would do to me if I didn’t go along with him. He has a ferocious temper, and he’s constantly threatening me.”

  Jax grew impatient. “Tell me where Laura is!”

  “Ah, Laura,” she cackled. “The source of all these wicked deaths and the love of your life, right, Jax? Jimmy was none too pleased watching the two of you grow closer. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her, but because of you, he had no other choice.” She stared at him with those cold green eyes. “He killed her, Jax.”

  He stormed out of the room with Ace. He couldn’t breathe and leaned against the wall to support himself. She was a liar, he kept telling himself over and over again. None of this was her brother’s idea. Every dastardly deed those two had ever committed had been her idea, not her brother’s. He was just a puppet, a tool she’d used to achieve her demented goals.

  He suddenly pushed himself upright. “Ace, she called her brother Jimmy.” At the theater, Mister Kratz had said that Jimmy signed for the bouquet of gardenias and put them in Laura’s dressing room.

  A stagehand had full access to the theater, including both Robert Ashworth’s office and Mister Beacham’s files. He also had the perfect opportunity to deliver Sam Sanders dinner to him on the day of his death, after he poisoned the man’s meal.

  Margie had obviously hated Laura and was jealous as hell over her success. Had she confessed to doing the killing, it might be true. But Jimmy was in love with Laura, so killing her would be no easy task.

  27

  Berries

  Sunday, June 10, 3:00 am

  Laura woke up. She was laying on a cold, hard surface, and it was pitch dark in the room. Her head was pounding and her mouth was so dry, she could barely swallow. She tried to sit up, but she grew dizzy from the effort. Even with her eyes acclimated to the darkness, she couldn’t see anything as though she had fallen into a black abyss.

  She leaned back against a wall and close
d her eyes, trying to remember what had happened. She pictured Jax and Jeanie sitting with her at the table in the restaurant. The waiter had stopped and asked if they were ready to order. That’s when she saw Margie in the hallway, smiling and motioning to her. And she pressed her index finger over her lips as though she wanted to tell her some exciting secret. But after she had followed her into the restroom, Margie pushed her into one of the cubicles.

  Laura began rubbing her temples, trying to stop the painful throbbing so she could remember what happened after that, and understand why Margie had looked so angry with her.

  She finally got to her feet, using the wall behind her for support. She was in some sort of room and every room had an exit. Yet, not knowing what was in front of her, she kept one hand on the wall to guide her way around. When her foot hit something solid, she bent down to see if she could feel what it was to help her determine where she was. Within a few minutes, she realized it was some sort of storage room. Boxes were stacked around the perimeter, some filled with metal objects. Others were stuffed with coarse and silky fabrics, feathers, beads, and additional trinkets. Props, she realized, like the ones they use at the theater.

  She continued her search until she came upon an indentation in the wall that stretched above her head and to the floor. Excitedly, she found the doorknob. It was locked, but she kept turning it both ways using every bit of her strength as though it would miraculously open. She felt around for a window, but it was one solid mass.

  She pounded her fists against the door, screaming at the top of her lungs until her voice went hoarse and her hands went numb. She started to cry, then shook the emotion off knowing it would do no good. She needed to keep her head so she could find a way out of this.

  She thought about Jax then, and how clever he was. Despite the odds against him, he had doggedly pursued his suspicions about Mister Sanders’ death, and she knew in her heart that he wouldn’t stop until he found her. She may not remember what had happened in the restroom, but he had only been sitting a short distance away. It wouldn’t take him long to figure it all out. That assurance eased her mind a little until a noise startled her.

  Someone was on the other side of the door, unlocking it. She backed away carefully so as not to trip on anything behind her. As the door creaked open, a light filtered into the room, illuminating it. She saw the lantern first. Next, she saw a person’s hand gripping a knife.

  “Laura?” he called out.

  She nearly screamed with joy when she recognized his voice. “Jimmy! Thank heavens you found me!” She ran to him and hugged him tightly with tears streaming down her cheeks. “I don’t know how I got here, or why someone brought me here. I don’t even know where we are! The theater, I think.” He held her close yet remained silent.

  She finally loosened her embrace. “Jimmy?”

  “Sit down, Laura,” he said, flashing the knife at her, and he quickly locked the door. “We need to talk.”

  “I don’t understand, Jimmy,” she said as she sat down on one of the boxes, stunned. “What are you doing?”

  “Saving your life.” He pulled the satchel from around his shoulder and placed that, the lantern, and the set of keys on the floor. All the while, he held the knife in full view. Then, he sat down on the cardboard box beside her. “My sister has been wanting me to kill you ever since you were given the lead in Blossom Time instead of her.”

  It took her a moment to comprehend his words. “Margie wanted that part. She’s your sister?” As horrifying as that was, it was the only thing that made sense of how she got here. Still, it was a hard truth to swallow. She, Margie, and Jeanie had been so close these past few months. But it was her next thoughts that shocked her even more. “Jimmy, did you kill Kitty Cooper?”

  “Had to,” he replied.

  “And you put something in Mister Sanders’ dinner, didn’t you? He died from some sort of poison.”

  “That should have gone undetected,” he blurted out. “I discovered that he was writing a play for you and made the mistake of telling my sister. She started pressing me to get rid of you again, and I nearly agreed to it. It was obvious that he was trying to win your heart by writing an entire musical just for you.”

  “There was nothing between us, Jimmy,” she told him.

  “I realized that after you met with him at the restaurant. I could see that you didn’t return his affections. So, I convinced my sister that stealing the manuscript from him would prevent you from starring in it. It was the only way to save you. And he needed to die slowly, for thinking that he had a chance with you. But that’s not what I want to talk to you about. I want to discuss Jax Diamond.”

  She ignored him as another realization struck her, and she could barely get the words out. “Oh, Jimmy. Did you kill Mister Beacham?”

  He jumped to his feet. “I didn’t want to. He was a nice old man, and I had nothing against him. But after I carried a crate into the music room for him, I saw his copy of Sam Sanders’ manuscript. I had to take it from him. That was the deal between my sister and me. Mister Beacham caught me in the act. He asked why I was taking it, and I couldn’t think of a good excuse. I knew then that he’d guessed I had something to do with Sam Sanders’ death. I couldn’t let him go to the police.”

  Laura fell silent now, thinking about how Mister Beacham had suffered. Probably right here in this room before Jimmy killed him and put him in the pond. She was sure that she was in one of the storage rooms at the theater now since Jimmy was one of the few people who had a key.

  His previous comment entered her mind. He wanted to talk about Jax, and she knew why now, after what’d said about Mister Sanders. He wanted to find out how she felt about Jax, and she needed to avoid that conversation above all else. If he knew the truth, it would make the situation even worse for her. And put Jax in danger, too.

  “You planted Mister Sander’s ring in Robert Ashworth’s desk, didn’t you?” she asked as a distraction. “That’s what convinced the police that he was guilty.”

  He sat down again. “I found something very interesting in Mister Ashworth’s desk, Laura. I’ve been anxious to tell you about it. I think it will bring the two of us closer together. I can even help you deal with it. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. To be closer to you.”

  As he spoke, she noticed that he had lowered the knife, and he appeared more relaxed. If she could keep him talking, she might be able to preoccupy him long enough to grab the keys and make an escape. It was a long shot, perhaps, but it was her only chance. “What did you find, Jimmy?”

  “There was a document in his desk about your father.”

  She snapped out of her thoughts and stared at him. “What about him?”

  “Are you sure his death was an accident?”

  Angrily, she got up and walked to the back of the room to put as much space between him and her. Jimmy was a killer, she reminded herself. A murderer. He would say anything to get under her skin right now, and she shouldn’t listen to any of it. The situation was far too critical for her to get caught up in the past.

  But the mere mention of her beloved father’s death instantly broke through the barrier, the one she’d built to prevent herself from remembering. She was only eleven years old when she had watched her father’s car burst into flames. And with no other reason given to the family except, the engine had overheated. With her father’s knowledge of cars, his ability to build one from scratch, and ten years’ experience racing them, it never made any sense to her.

  “What did the document say?” she asked.

  He suddenly charged towards her like a madman, backing her against the wall. “I want to talk about Jax Diamond first! I not only saved your life, but I even defied my sister by forging a letter to the director, instructing him to hire you to replace Kitty Cooper. My sister would be furious with me if she knew. She wanted that part more than anything in the world. Now tell me about Jax Diamond!”

  “I don’t know what you mean,” she replied nervously. He stood n
o more than a foot away from her now, pointing the knife at her. “He...he’s just some two-bit private detective who was...”

  “Was what?” he shouted.

  She struggled to think of what to say and how to say it so he couldn’t tell that she was lying. “I didn’t want to stay at his apartment. I loathe the man. But he...he forced me into it in hopes of catching the killer. He was using me, Jimmy.” She caught a deep breath, praying she’d pacified him.

  “So, he means nothing to you.”

  “No.” But she’d hesitated for just a second and right off, she knew he didn’t believe her.

  “Sit down, Laura.”

  “Jimmy, listen to me.”

  “I said, sit down!”

  She slid to the floor, still staring at the knife. He grabbed the satchel he’d brought with him and took out a coil of rope. He tied her hands together, then her ankles. All the while, she tried to convince him that Jax meant nothing to her. She even took it as far as to soothe him by saying that she’s always been attracted to him, ever since she first met him in January when he helped out at the Imperial Theater during the Follies.

  Yet, as though he were driven by some diabolical being, he finished securing her. Then, he pulled out a vine of berries from the satchel, and no matter how much she struggled and screamed, he shoved the poison down her throat.

  “I know you weren’t telling me the truth,” he growled at her. “You’re in love with him, not me. I heard it in your voice. I saw it on your face and in your eyes. And now, he has to die, too.” And he stormed out of the room, locking it behind him.

  28

  Time’s Ticking

  Sunday, 3:30 a.m.

  “Lucky for us, Mister Kratz agreed to go to the theater to get Jimmy’s address for us,” Tim said as he, Jax, and Ace hurried up the stairs to the top floor of the man’s apartment building. “If Laura isn’t here, remember that you both need to control your tempers. Don’t kill Jimmy before he tells us where she is.”