Mistaken Character

by R A Wallace

  Callie was pretty sure he was serious.

  ***

  Sierra and Michael were right. The salad and sub from the upscale restaurant that boasted healthy menu choices and organic vegetables was pretty awesome. Callie finished her meal quickly as she watched the woman with the laptop across the room begin to gather her things.

  She followed her out of the restaurant to the parking lot. Callie pulled behind the woman on the street and maintained a safe distance as she followed her to a neighborhood that she’d been to recently. The woman parked her car in front of Jimmy Milstein’s house. Before the woman could make it from her car to the house, Callie intercepted her.

  “Excuse me.” Callie flashed a warm smile. “You’re the one my cousin told me about, aren’t you?”

  Callie waved vaguely toward Jimmy’s house. She leaned in close and lowered her voice.

  “He said that it was pretty serious. He didn’t tell me your name though.” Callie waited expectantly.

  “It’s Sally. Sally Linley.” Sally glanced quickly at Jimmy’s house then turned back to Callie.

  “I didn’t know he was expecting you. I was going to surprise him with a visit, but I don’t want to interrupt any plans you two had,” Callie said.

  “Oh, that’s alright,” Sally said.

  “No, no. You two don’t need a third wheel.” Callie waved her hand at Jimmy’s house again. “Don’t even tell him I stopped by. No need to warn him that his secret is out in the family. We’ll just wait until he announces you to the rest of us.”

  Callie headed back to her car. “Welcome to the family,” she called.

  She drove back to the office and found Michael and Sierra. Michael pulled his earbuds out as soon as he saw her.

  “What did you think?” he asked.

  “You were right. It’s a nice restaurant.” Callie set her purse on her desk “Her name is Sally Linley.”

  “What else did you get on her?” Sierra asked as she typed quickly.

  “She went to Jimmy Milstein’s house, so she obviously knows him,” Callie said.

  Sierra nodded. “She does at that. She’s the computer teacher at the Pomelo Cove Academy where Jimmy works.”

  Callie walked behind Sierra to see what was on her screen.

  “Is there a photo of her anywhere?” Callie asked. “I want to make sure that the person you saw and the one I followed is the same woman.”

  Sierra pulled up another web page. “Here’s one. Some of the computer students at the Academy were in a contest. This is the woman we saw.”

  “It’s a match.” Callie crossed her arms. “So, how did you two like field work?”

  Sierra looked over at Michael. They both smiled.

  “We could get used to it,” he said.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Seeing Spencer Ives’s mansion at the end of the long drive was every bit as impressive the second time around. Greyson rang the bell on the front door. They knew he was there. Announcing his arrival was the only way to get past the gate at the street. Geoff answered the door immediately. Greyson followed the personal secretary to an impressive study. Geoff remained standing. It was obvious that he didn’t consider the room his personal workspace.

  “I’m sorry to bother you at this time,” Greyson said as he stood in the middle of the room. “But it would help the agency to have more information on Crystal. I was wondering if I could speak to the staff here. We thought it would help with the picture that is emerging.”

  “Of course. I understand completely. It’s what Mr. Ives would have wanted,” Geoff said.

  “How are you all holding up here with his death?” Greyson asked.

  Geoff hesitated only briefly. “We were expecting it.”

  “Still…”

  “Yes,” Geoff agreed. “It’s been difficult. We’ve all been with Mr. Ives for many years.”

  “Losing your jobs at this point must be difficult,” Greyson said. “Won’t be easy transitioning to another position.”

  “Mr. Ives took care of that. I don’t think we’re very good suspects, if that’s what you’re looking for.” Geoff smiled wryly. “We won’t have to work again, not if we don’t want to.”

  Greyson smiled back. “You know I need to ask.”

  “You wouldn’t be doing your job if you didn’t,” Geoff agreed. “I’ll give you the name of the lawyer. You can confirm everything with him.”

  “Excellent. Where should I start?” Greyson asked as he glanced around the room casually.

  “With Consuelo, I should think. She’s the housekeeper.”

  “What about you? What can you tell me about Crystal?” Greyson returned his gaze to Geoff hoping to see past the carefully constructed façade he maintained.

  Geoff didn’t flinch. “Not much. I avoided her, to be honest. I discovered early on that it was best.”

  “Do you remember anything in particular about the night she died?” Greyson watched as Geoff’s eyes were drawn to the French doors on one wall. They offered a stunning view of the flower garden and lawn beyond it.

  “I saw her leave the house,” Geoff said, his gaze turning back to Greyson. “We’ve all spoken to the police, of course. It’s the same thing I told them.”

  “Anything seem odd about that?”

  Geoff hesitated.

  “Did her behavior seem normal?” Greyson prompted.

  Geoff gave an almost imperceptible shrug as he walked over to a side table. He shifted a small statue an inch to the left.

  “She seemed a little more impatient than usual,” Geoff said.

  “Impatience was common with her?”

  Geoff turned back to Greyson. “Very. At least, around me it was. Not so much with Spencer.”

  “Anything else?” Greyson asked. “Anything that didn’t seem common?”

  “It was just an impression. I could be wrong,” Geoff said.

  “I’d still like to hear it.”

  “She seemed put out. That was also common with her,” Geoff said.

  “But this time it seemed more pronounced?” Greyson guessed.

  “That was my impression, yes.” Geoff gestured toward the door. “I’ll show you to Consuelo.”

  Greyson asked Geoff to explain the relationship between Crystal and Spencer as he followed the other man through the massive house to the housekeeper. He filed the information away as they reached the housekeeper.

  Consuelo was an attractive woman in her fifties. They found her in Spencer Ives’s bedroom. She was going through the man’s clothes. Geoff excused himself after introducing Greyson.

  “I’m sorry to bother you at such a difficult time,” Greyson said.

  “I understand. It’s what Mr. Ives would have wanted.” Consuelo took a white shirt from a hanger and folded it carefully. She noticed Greyson watching her. “He asked that I donate his clothes. Eventually, something will need to be done with everything else but Geoff and Mr. Douglass will handle the rest.”

  Greyson stepped further into the room. “Mr. Douglass. That’s the lawyer?”

  Consuelo nodded her agreement as she took another shirt from a hanger.

  “I was wondering if you can tell me anything about Crystal? I’m trying to piece together what her last days were like,” Greyson explained.

  Consuelo’s hands stilled for a moment. “The police said that she killed herself.”

  “Yes, I know but…”

  “They said she had drugs in her system,” Consuelo continued.

  “Yes, but…”

  “I don’t believe it.” Consuelo’s voice was firm.

  That hadn’t been what Greyson was expecting her to say.

  “Why not?” he asked.

  “That woman was all about her body and her face. She loved being on camera and she did everything she could to look her best. She exercised all the time. She used special creams for her skin. There’s just no way she would ever put anything like that into her system.” Consuelo looked directly at Greyson. “I told the
police that, but they wouldn’t believe me.”

  “Did you ever know her to go to parties a lot?” he asked.

  “Parties?”

  “I understand there was a party the night she died, for example. It was a pirate costume party. Some of the other employees from the television station went to it,” he said.

  “That wasn’t her style, no. She didn’t like crowds where anyone could be there. She preferred more formal gatherings with Mr. Ives’s circle of friends,” Consuelo said. “More black tie. Definitely not pirate costumes.”

  Geoff returned a few moments later and led Greyson down to the kitchen.

  “Victor is our chef. He works here full-time.” Geoff left again after introducing Greyson.

  Victor was at a large island cutting vegetables.

  “The three of us haven’t been able to move on yet. We’ve been with Mr. Ives for so long, we agreed to remain here until everything else has been settled,” Victor said as he worked.

  Greyson understood. “You still cook for the three of you.”

  “Yes. We’ve become something of a family. We need this time to adjust before going back to the real world.” Victor’s hands were never still.

  “What kind of meals did you typically make for Crystal?” Greyson asked.

  Victor shook his head. “That woman barely ate anything more than lettuce. She absolutely refused to touch most of my food. Said it would make her fat. Everything shows up on the camera, she said.”

  “She was careful about what she ate?” Greyson asked.

  “More than you can imagine. Everything had to be natural and fresh. Her vegetables had to be organic. She didn’t want any chemicals of any kind in her system.”

  “Did you ever know her to take drugs?” Greyson asked.

  Victor pointed at him with his knife. “The police said she did. I don’t believe it.”

  ***

  Callie sat across from Liz Torres at the high school. The principal finished reading through the summary of her report and looked up.

  “You think they’re in on it together?” Liz asked. “This Jimmy Milstein and Sally Linley? He’s the one that applied here for the art teacher position, after all. The position that went to Inez.”

  “No, I don’t. From what I can guess, Sally the computer teacher is the one who hacked into Inez’s computer. To be honest, I don’t think that Jimmy knows anything about it. The police will find out for sure.”

  “You can be certain I’ll be calling them as soon as you leave,” Liz said. “It’s enough to clear Inez and allow her to return to work. But what about the smear campaign that was started after? The lies are all over social media saying that Inez is guilty. I called her to talk about it as soon as I heard. She was pretty devasted.”

  “There’s no way to put that genie back in the bottle. The only thing the school can do is show support for Inez Chen. It will go a long way to prove her innocence in the eyes of the community,” Callie said. “Over time, it should be forgotten when the next big news flash hits the Internet. Whatever that might be.”

  ***

  Greyson walked into the office and greeted Sierra and Michael. The noise next door didn’t seem as bad.

  “Are they taking a break over there?” Greyson asked as crossed the office to Callie’s desk.

  “I think they have some questions about your office space,” Sierra said without looking away from her computer.

  “I can probably help with that.” Greyson turned to reverse direction and saw Rosemary enter the office. He reached across Callie’s desk and picked up the report he had made.

  “Hello all,” Rosemary said.

  Greyson met her half way and held out the report. “I’ll trade you.”

  Rosemary passed the mail to him. “What’s this?”

  “The report on the company you were planning to invest with. Based on everything I was able to find your sister can put her fears to rest.” Greyson skimmed through the mail. He handed some of it to Sierra and put the rest on Callie’s desk.

  Rosemary looked up from a quick survey of the summary on the first page. When Greyson turned back toward her, she pulled him into a hug.

  “Thank you so much. You just don’t know how much this means to me,” she said.

  Greyson could see her tears threatening to fall. “Not at all, glad we could be of help.” He pointed to the wall. “I should go next door and answer their questions.”

  ***

  Callie walked into the television studio and immediately went to the room where both Fiona and Amy worked. This time, she found Amy working again.

  “Sorry to bother you again. My staff and I have been piecing together Crystal’s last few days and I’m hoping to get more information about the day she died.” Callie stopped next to Amy’s workstation.

  “I’m not sure what else I could tell you.” Amy scrunched her face.

  “I understand there was a pirate party that night?” Callie asked.

  The confusion on Amy’s face cleared immediately.

  “There was. I was there. It was pretty good actually.” A slight frown formed between her brows. “I don’t remember Crystal being there, though. That wasn’t really her thing.”

  “Who was there?” Callie asked.

  “From here?” Amy looked at her computer monitor. “Well, let’s see. I have some pictures. I posted some of them on the web site after the party. Off course, that was also when we first learned about Crystal’s death. Things got a little crazy here so I’m not sure how many I put on there.”

  Callie watched as Amy pulled up some photos.

  “Is that you?” Callie asked.

  Amy nodded and pointed. “That’s Al Rosales there. He’s the sportscaster.”

  Callie remembered him. She looked up as Fiona entered the room.

  “Hey. I was just thinking about you,” Callie said. “We were looking at pictures of the pirate party.”

  “Oh, really?” Fiona glanced at the clock. “I can’t stay. I have to help someone with research for the next broadcast.”

  “Where are you in the picture?” Callie pointed at Amy’s screen.

  Fiona paused next to Amy. “There. I’m standing next to the pirate in red. Excuse me.”

  Callie leaned forward to look closer at the image.

  Amy was shaking her head.

  “What?” Callie asked.

  “That can’t be her,” Amy said quietly.

  “Why not?” Callie straightened.

  “That’s Al Rosales in the red pirate outfit. He always wears the same one,” Amy said.

  Callie thought back to her meeting with him. He was around her height. Fiona was exactly her height. The woman standing next to Al in the photo was much shorter.

  Chapter Eighteen

  It was interesting to put the facts with the people she’d spoken to. Take Lindsay Gavin, for example. Callie scrolled back to the top of the application. If the birthdate she’d listed at the time of her hire was correct, she was thirty-six years old. That was a year older than Callie was.

  With the types of jobs Indigo Investigations had been getting since Greyson Divine had wormed his way into her life, Callie was finally feeling like she’d made it in her chosen field. When she’d spoken to the female anchor on the news station, Lindsay acted as though her career options were dried up because of her advanced age. It was something she had trouble wrapping her mind around.

  Callie pulled up Jack Nelson’s application. The male anchor had been hired at the station at a relatively early point in his career. He’d remained at the same station since then. In contrast, Lindsay’s application listed working with several large news programs in major cities prior to coming to Pomelo Cove.

  Callie continued reading through the applications looking for anything that might stand out. As promised, the applications were all digitized and had been given to her on a small portable drive. She sat with her computer on her lap, a glass of sweet iced tea next to her in her sunroom. Under normal circums
tances, it would be a typical Saturday morning. Given that she needed to attend a funeral later, it wasn’t a typical Saturday.

  Callie pulled up the next application and began reading through it. Amy, the graphic artist, was twenty-seven. Just as she’d said, she hadn’t worked for the station for long. Callie read through the entire application to make sure it matched up with what the younger woman had told her.

  Crystal’s application was next in the list. It was interesting to read but didn’t reveal many new details. She listed her great uncle as her next of kin. She was twenty-eight years old when she died. The station in Pomelo Cove was the only news station she had ever worked at.

  Sam, the camera man who had worked closely with Crystal, had a fairly long list of previous jobs in the field. He’d not only worked with other news stations, he’d also done some interesting documentary-type programming.

  Isabel, the weather forecaster, was in her mid-twenties. According to her work history, she had worked at a couple of smaller news stations previously. Al Rosales, the sportscaster, had a similar work history.

  The last application was from Fiona Hendricks, the researcher who assisted the on-screen personalities. Callie began scrolling down to look at her job history then stopped. She scrolled back to the top and sat up straighter. Fiona was using her middle name. Instead of writing out her first name, she’d only listed the first letter. It was the letter A.

  That much would simply be a coincidence. Fiona also listed her next of kin as her mother, a woman whose last name was Carson. Again, Callie could chalk it up to coincidence. But as she continued to scroll down the application, she discovered that Fiona used to live in Colorado. And that she had several publications to her name, most of them dealing with the subject of Yellowstone.

  ***

  Callie stood next to Greyson at the cemetery. The large number of attendees at the service was a testament to Spencer Ives’s connections during his lifetime. Callie saw several faces that she recognized, many of them only from television, their celebrity status earning some of them a permanent handful of paparazzi followers. Her mother and Elliot were across from her, speaking quietly to others around them.