Murder & The Movie Star: A Cedar Bay Cozy Mystery - Book 12

by Dianne Harman

  “I’ve been thinking about Jacquie Morton’s death all night. Kelly, I spent a little time researching this, and I learned that once a patient dies, the confidentiality part of a patient-physician’s relationship dies with them.” He looked at her expectantly as if he thought she’d understand what he was saying.

  “Doc, I’m afraid you’ve lost me. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “I have some information I think Mike needs to know about Jacquie Morton. She was my patient, and as I just said, confidentiality is no longer an issue. As you know, my wife Liz is a psychologist, and she was treating Jacquie Morton as well. Last night we talked for a long time and decided we both need to talk to Mike. Any chance we could come by tonight after we get off work?”

  “Doc, I know he’d want to talk to both of you, particularly if you think you have some information about her that Mike should know, but here’s the thing. He’s giving a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars this evening around 7:30. Any chance you could come by the house about 5:30?”

  “We’ll find a way to make it happen, Kelly, even if we have to reschedule a couple of appointments. I think what we have to say is important and relative to the investigation concerning her. We have a feeling she didn’t fall down that cliff on her own.”

  “Doc, are you saying you think she was murdered?” Kelly asked incredulously. Until now she really hadn’t thought it was a possibility.

  “I don’t know, that’s Mike’s area of expertise, but what we both have to tell him may shed a little light on it. He can process the information we give him and decide what, if anything, to do with it.”

  “Thanks, Doc. After that newspaper article this morning, I think he can use all the help he can get.”

  “I agree, and that’s partly why we decided to come forward sooner rather than later. It was a sleazy article, and I’m surprised the paper even printed it. It was really unfair and biased, and I would have expected a lot more from the editor. He’s a patient of mine, and I intend to tell him exactly how I feel the next time he comes to the clinic.”

  “Doc, I don’t want to tell you your business, but may I suggest that maybe politics and medicine don’t mix.”

  “You can suggest it, but I also have to live with myself, and I really can’t until I say something to him. Don’t worry about it. It’s my decision, not yours.”

  “Your call, Doc. See you and Liz about 5:30, and Doc, thanks.”

  “What are friends for?” he asked waving Roxie over to give her his order.

  CHAPTER 13

  The afternoon at Kelly’s Koffee Shop was just as busy as the morning had been, and when it was time to close for the day, Kelly and her three employees felt like they’d definitely earned a little time to wind down from the day. She waved goodbye to them, locked the door, and she and Rebel walked over to where she’d parked her minivan early that morning.

  She didn’t know why, but for some reason she felt she needed to go to Jacquie’s house. A few minutes later she found herself driving north to where the house was located high on a cliff overlooking the ocean. She parked in the circular driveway and noticed that yellow tape had been draped around the house, indicating that it was an area where a crime scene investigation was being conducted. Kelly had no desire to go inside the house, but she wanted to see if she’d missed something on the outside.

  Kelly and Rebel circled the house, noticing that the house next door was almost identical to Jacquie’s, but smaller. She remembered Mike had mentioned something about Jacquie owning the house next to hers and renting it out to the man who was doing the screenwriting for her upcoming movie as well as the actress who was also in the movie, the two who had been with Jacquie at the coffee shop.

  When she and Rebel got to the back yard, she saw a tall man with thinning black hair who was holding a leash attached to the collar of a Brittany spaniel behind the house on the other side of Jacquie’s house. A small woman who was wearing glasses was standing next to the two of them. Kelly noticed that the woman was wearing an auburn colored St. John knit suit which perfectly matched her thick shoulder length hairstyle. They were looking at a large ship far out on the ocean. As Kelly and Rebel started to make their way to the trio, the woman walked to the driveway, got in a car, waved to the man, and drove away.

  Kelly walked over to the man and the dog and said, “Hi, my name’s Kelly Reynolds. This is Rebel, and trust me, he’s very friendly.” Rebel walked over to the man’s dog and gently sniffed the orange and white well-groomed dog.

  “Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Reynolds. My name’s Roger Babowal, and this is my dog, Rusty. You probably saw my wife, Chris. She’s the one who just drove away. She’s meeting a visiting professor who’s come to town to pick her brain. It happens all the time. She used to teach linguistics before she retired, and she was pretty well thought of in her field.”

  “Mr. Babowal…”

  “Name’s Roger. How about if I call you Kelly, and we’ll dispense with being formal? Chris and I live here,” he said, motioning to the house next door to Jacquie’s. “So, what brings you out here on a nice day like today?”

  “Roger, my husband, Mike, is the sheriff of Beaver County. I’m sure you know that your next-door neighbor, the movie star Jacquie Morton, was found dead at the bottom of the cliff over there. I help my husband from time to time on his cases, and I was wondering if you heard anything or noticed anything night before last, the night she died.”

  He ran his hand over his oval face, took a sip from a glass of what looked like iced tea, and stared out at the ocean. Finally, he turned to her and said, “Yeah, I heard a woman screaming that night. She wasn’t screaming anything in particular, just screaming, but it was sort of a terrified scream if you know what I mean, and then it just stopped. I’ve been wondering ever since I heard that Jacquie Morton had died if the scream I’d heard had come from her.”

  “I suppose we’ll never know, and I also suppose she would have screamed whether she’d accidentally fallen over the cliff or someone had pushed her over the edge.”

  “I have no idea, Kelly, but I’ve been thinking about it a lot. When you live next door to someone you kind of expect you’d get to know them, but she never spoke to me or to Chris. Several times we saw her outside, but it was almost as if she couldn’t see us. Maybe she was someone who valued her privacy so much she didn’t want to acknowledge her next-door neighbors.”

  “Roger, I only met her once, so I have no idea. Is there anything else you can tell me? Did you ever hear any unusual sounds coming from the house, like arguments, or things of that nature?”

  He was quiet, seemingly lost in thought. “Kelly, I have kids, and there have been a few times over the years when my children and I haven’t agreed on certain things. Several days ago I heard an argument between a young woman I’d seen go into Jacquie’s house earlier. I’m pretty sure it was her daughter, because when they were arguing I heard her use the word ‘Mom,’ and she looked like a younger version of Jacquie Morton. I couldn’t help but notice someone that beautiful.

  “Sometimes I still like a cigarette, and I come outside when Chris is watching television or has gone to sleep. She gets pretty bent out of shape about my smoking. I’ve decided it’s one of those things a spouse is better off not knowing. Anyway, I was out here having a smoke when I heard the argument.”

  “Can you tell what it was about?”

  “I caught a few of the words, and it seemed like Jacquie was telling her daughter she didn’t want her living at some place anymore. She said the guy was a fake, and that she wanted her daughter to move in with her. Her daughter sounded really angry and said whoever it was they were talking about was not a fake, and she would never move back in with her mother, because she didn’t want anything to do with her or her lifestyle. I remember that part pretty clearly because her daughter slammed the front door, and I saw her pull away in her car and speed down the road, but I don’t know what that would have to do with her death.” He
stopped and took another sip of his iced tea.

  “Nor do I, Roger, but thanks for telling me. Mike’s told me many times that when he gets a lot of little pieces of information, it leads to bigger ones, and it’s sort of like when a tipping point happens, and then the case gets solved. Maybe what you’ve told me will help him. I’m sure you won’t mind if I tell him. Can you think of anything else?”

  “Of course I don’t mind if you tell him. Happy to do it. There is one other thing, and it’s only because it bothered me at the time. Ms. Morton’s gardener comes every week, and as soon as he finishes the front yard, he takes his equipment around to the rear of the house and does the back yard, then he leaves. When he was here last week, he stopped on the sidewalk on his way to the back yard and looked inside the house at something for about five minutes. It didn’t sit well with me. I wouldn’t want my gardener kind of spying into my house, if you know what I mean.”

  “I agree. That does sound unusual. I wonder what he was looking at,” Kelly said.

  “I have no idea, but I suppose any odd behavior has to be looked at when a death has occurred. Anyway, if I can be of help, let me know. Been nice talking to you and tell your husband good luck. If there’s been some foul play, sure hope he finds out who did it, since my home is next to the one where the woman died.”

  CHAPTER 14

  Promptly at 5:30 Doc and Liz arrived at Kelly and Mike’s house with their dogs, Max, a bulldog puppy that was the latest addition to the Burkhart family, and Lucky, the yellow Lab Kelly had given Doc after they’d become friends.

  Kelly raised an eyebrow and said, “Doc, are you taking both dogs into the clinic these days?”

  “No, my last patient of the day cancelled, so I went home and got Lucky. Until I get to the point where I can trust Max not to get into anything, I’ll keep taking him to the clinic every day. I have a wire kennel I keep him in when he’s there. Hope you don’t mind, but I thought they’d like to play with your dogs.”

  “I’m sure my dogs will be thrilled you brought them. I’ll open the sliding door and let them out,” she said as she walked over and opened it. A few minutes later all five dogs were running back and forth in the back yard, thoroughly enjoying their time together. After a couple of minutes had gone by, Rebel, the oldest of the group and definitely the alpha dog, decided he’d had enough and laid down on the grass watching the antics of the younger ones, particularly Skyy and Max, who were exhibiting all the traits of energetic young puppies.

  “Okay, now that they’ve been taken care of,” Kelly said, “how about some lemonade? I made a pitcher when I got home, and thanks to perfect timing, Mike’s car just pulled into the driveway.”

  They both nodded that lemonade would be great, and a moment later Mike walked in. “Hi Liz, Doc,” he said as he kissed her on the cheek and shook Doc’s hand. “Kelly called me and told me you were coming over. I’d really appreciate anything you can tell me about Jacquie Morton, because quite frankly, this case is driving me nuts. The opponent in my race for re-election is making her death the central point of his campaign, so I can use all the help you can give me.”

  “Let’s go sit down in the great room,” Liz said. “We can keep an eye on the dogs while we talk. I don’t anticipate any problems, but with five dogs I like to err on the side of caution.”

  When they were all sitting down with their lemonades in hand, Doc said, “You know Liz and I never talk about our patients, but since Jacquie Morton is dead, we did a little research and we’re not violating the oaths we took by talking to you now that she’s deceased. Quite frankly, both of us have some concerns that she didn’t fall down the cliff on her own.”

  “What are you saying, Doc? Do you think she was the victim of foul play?” Mike asked.

  “That’s your area, Mike, but let me tell you what I know, and then Liz can tell you what she knows, and maybe it will help you solve the mysterious circumstances surrounding her death.” He took a sip of his lemonade and said, “Jacquie called the clinic when she came here a couple of months ago, and asked to speak with me. When I took her call, she wanted to know if I was familiar with a disease called macular degeneration.”

  “I’ve never heard of it,” Kelly said. “What is it?”

  “It’s an eye disease that occurs when the small central portion of the retina degenerates. It causes eyesight problems and as the disease progresses, makes it difficult for the person to read or even identify things. Everything becomes quite blurred.”

  “I’ve heard of it,” Mike said. “I remember something about it being age related.”

  “That’s true,” Doc said. “It generally happens to people when they’re older. Anyway, I told Jacquie I’d treated people for it in my practice when I was in Southern California, and I actually have two patients here in Cedar Bay I’m treating for it. I won’t bore you with the details, but people who have it are often prescribed a medication known as anti-VEGF medication which blocks the vascular endothelial growth factor, thus the name of the drug. I know that’s pretty technical stuff, but I just wanted you to know I’ve had some experience with the condition. Jacquie told me she was being treated for it in Southern California and made an appointment to come in and see me.”

  “I’m going to interrupt, Doc,” Kelly said, “but if she was having problems with her eyesight, that might account for her never acknowledging her neighbor.” She looked over at Mike and said, “I had a long talk with him today, and he told me she’d never talked to him.”

  “She probably couldn’t see him,” Doc said. “She told me she was really concerned about her upcoming movie, I think it’s called The Triangle, because she couldn’t read the script. She said she’d made a lot of excuses to the screenwriter about why she wouldn’t read his revisions when he gave them to her. She told me her assistant, Maizie, had become her eyes. Evidently Maizie would read the script to her, and Jacquie would try to memorize her lines. She said it was really difficult, and she thought the screenwriter was getting very angry with her. I told her I thought she needed to see Liz, because it sounded like she was having some psychological issues as well.”

  “I’ll take it from there, Doc,” Liz said. “Jacquie came to see me once a week after Doc recommended that she do so. I probably saw her about seven times, and I have to tell you that there were a number of things that concerned her. First of all, she and her daughter had become somewhat estranged. Her daughter had chosen to live in the The Loving Care Retreat Center not too far from Cedar Bay. The guy who heads it is from India, and I believe his name is Guru Dev. Jacquie felt he was a quack, and she thought the only reason he’d befriended Kim was to get money from Jacquie. From what she told me, she and her daughter had fought bitterly about it.”

  “Her neighbor heard Jacquie and her daughter arguing about it, too, and he told me her daughter left the house really angry,” Kelly said.

  “That doesn’t surprise me, but there were other things that bothered Jacquie. She really regretted marrying Deke Connors, the pro football player who blew out his leg and hip. He’s the one who couldn’t play football anymore and tried an acting career, based on Jacquie’s recommendation. She said she took it personally that he was such a lousy actor, and when she’d heard he’d been offered some parts in porn movies, it had been a total embarrassment to her. She told me he was constantly calling her asking for money, because he was broke and the only legitimate job he could find was working as a waiter. She also mentioned she’d given an interview to a gossip tabloid about what a loser he was, and he’d become furious with her for having done that.”

  “I’ll second the lousy actor thing,” Mike said. “I thought the guy was a great football player, so when I heard he’d become an actor I checked out one of his movies. It was horrible. Hands down, he was one of the worst actors I’ve ever seen.”

  “Liz, what other problems did she have?” Kelly asked.

  “She was really concerned that her career was over, and she was exhibiting all the signs of
someone who’s suffering from depression. She knew the producer and financial backers of The Triangle wanted her to have the starring role in the movie. Jacquie told me the director, a man by the name of Teddy James, was romantically involved with the supporting actress, Lisette Andrews, and had wanted her to have the lead rather than Jacquie, but as I just said, the film’s backers had insisted on Jacquie having the starring role. She didn’t know how she was going to be able to make the movie with her diminishing eyesight. She was afraid someone would find out about it and use it as a reason to release her from the movie, and she knew if that happened, no one in Hollywood would ever again ask her to be in a movie.”

  “Wow, poor thing. That’s a lot to worry about along with having your eyesight getting worse and worse.”

  “Yes,” Liz said. “Doc didn’t mention that one of the things he’d recommended to her that helped slow down the disease is eating well-balanced meals. He told me how angry he’d been to find out that all Jacquie had eaten when she was at your coffee shop for lunch was a brownie.”

  “Doc, I thought you looked angry for a second, but it happened so fast, I never asked you about it,” Kelly said.

  “Guess it doesn’t matter now,” Doc said.

  “Anyway,” Liz continued, “I asked Doc to give her a prescription for Xanax, because I thought she was getting more anxious by the week, and I thought it would also help with her symptoms of depression. I knew it wouldn’t solve her problems, but it might help her deal with them in a less emotional manner. That’s about all I thought you should know. Doc, do you have anything to add?” Liz asked.

  “No,” he said turning to Mike. “I don’t know if any of this helps your investigation into her death, but we thought you ought to know. If foul play was involved, seems to me there are a few people who would have had a motive, but that’s your department, not mine. Kelly told me you have a political speech you have to give tonight, so we better gather up the dogs and head on out. Kelly, see you tomorrow at lunch.”