Dead Men Tell No Tales

by Maggie Toussaint

  “How’d it go?” I asked, stifling another yawn as I watched him undress. “Did Sonny cave when you told him you knew his identity?”

  Ike eased under the covers with me. “Sonny shrugged off the news. I couldn’t get a handle on his reaction. I wish you’d been there.”

  “Me too. What about Deena?”

  “Haven’t found her yet. She’s living on borrowed time. I requested more information about her from the cops in Mobile. They sent me a file on her. Deena Mowrey aka Peggy Lou Gray shoplifted as a kid, but nothing criminal showed up once she became an adult. Either she became a model citizen or she got better at stealing. Given the insurance fraud and her shooting at you, I’m banking on the latter being true.”

  “You’ll get her.”

  He wrapped his arms around me. “You’re my lucky charm for case solving.”

  I burrowed into his heat even though the room temperature was warm. Ike’s scent soothed me, and my eyes closed immediately.

  ~*~

  Monday morning’s heavy clouds added a brooding, melancholy aspect to my thoughts. Without a hint of breeze, the dense air felt too thick to breathe. I wished it would rain so the moisture would have someplace to go.

  Trent gave me a big hug before his father drove him to school. My dad and Trish did the breakfast dishes and headed to the newspaper to pull together the next edition. Which left me alone with my dog and feeling adrift in my own home.

  I was too antsy to go to sleep, too unfocused to follow a TV program or read a book. Bailey followed me from room to room as I rattled around in my house, my left arm in a sling. I’d decided against prescription pain meds this morning, but I had dipped into the over-the-counter stuff. Consequently, the muted throb of pain idled in my mind like an outboard motor.

  Case information eddied in my head. Sonny Mowrey was an alias. He faked his death and started over. Deena defrauded an insurance company. Bartender John Starling died in a hunting accident. What did those items have in common? The answer came up Deena every time.

  If I was Deena, what would I do?

  From the look of things, she’d set up Sonny as her patsy. He’d taken the fall for her with John’s accidental shooting, but now she’d shot me. Had she found a new patsy? Ike’s lawyer friend came to mind. He’d socialized with Deena in John’s bar, and now he was Sonny’s lawyer. If he knew bad things about her, he couldn’t reveal them due to lawyer-client privilege.

  I should warn Ike his friend might be in trouble. But before I fished my cell phone from my pocket, the doorbell chimed. Bailey barked and charged toward the door. She acted as if the hounds of hell were outside, not her usual M.O. when company called.

  Between the knot in my stomach and my dog’s unusual behavior, I feared whoever stood on my porch. Besides, I was wounded and fighting the urge to take another pain pill. I was vulnerable. No way would I answer the door. Friends and family knew I’d been injured. They wouldn’t visit today.

  Heart racing in my ears, I ducked into the downstairs bathroom, locked the door, and called Ike on his cell.

  “Someone’s here,” I said in a terse whisper. “Bailey’s going crazy. I’m hiding in the downstairs bathroom.”

  “Climb in the tub and keep your head down. I’ll be there in two shakes,” he said.

  Chapter 15

  Two shakes seemed like an eternity. Bailey barked nonstop at the front door. I huddled in the tub, banging the elbow of my bad arm and seeing stars. I cowered and shook, afraid to lift my head in case another bullet had my name on it.

  A siren wailed. Ike was coming. The siren drowned out Bailey’s barking, and then it stopped.

  Heavy footsteps pounded on the front steps. “May I help you? Ike asked.

  At Ike’s approach, Bailey’s bark changed to a whine. I’d heard every word as clear as a bell. Not much insulation in this old house. My thoughts raced. If Deena was out there, Ike would’ve arrested her. It must be someone else.

  “I need to speak to Ms. McKay,” a woman said. “I have information for her.”

  “Ms. McKay isn’t receiving guests today. Move along, ma’am. This is private property”

  “I must see her. I drove here from Mobile.”

  Mobile? I scooched upright to hear better.

  “Who are you?” Ike asked.

  “Helen Gray of Mobile, Alabama. I’m Lowell’s wife.”

  Lowell’s wife. Not Deena, but the woman Sonny was married to when he faked his death. How did she even know me?

  “Let’s talk at the station,” Ike said. “I’ll make sure Ms. McKay gets your message.”

  “I vowed never to set foot inside a police station again. If you want my story, we’ll talk here.”

  Neither spoke for a minute, but I imagined Ike staring at her, weighing his options.

  “That’s an unusual request, but this case has been unusual from the get-go,” Ike said. “Wait here.”

  As I heard his key in the door and the clicks of Bailey’s dancing claws on the wood floor, I scrambled out of the tub and unlocked the bathroom door.

  Ike appeared, Bailey at his heels. “You okay?” he asked.

  “Mostly.” I hid my trembling hands inside the sling. “Sorry. I thought Deena came to finish what she started.”

  “Me too, but your visitor is Sonny’s lawful wife, Helen. She’s the woman he abandoned to run off with Deena, I mean Peggy Lou who became Deena. Helen won’t go to the station with me. Are you up for company?”

  “Yes.”

  He nodded. “You got that digital recorder handy?”

  “My phone app works as a recorder. Are we interviewing her?”

  “We are, though if you’d rather I question her on the front porch, that’s fine with me.”

  The thought of sitting in the glider and purposefully moving around was more than my body could take. Fortunately, the warm weather gave me a better excuse. “In the air conditioning, please. I can’t face the heat.”

  He searched my face. “You take pain meds this morning?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t want to get hooked on them.”

  “You’re in pain.”

  “I’m functioning. Aren’t you worried that woman will leave while we’re talking?”

  “I blocked her car with my vehicle.” He pulled me close for a quick hug. “On the sofa you go. I’ll call in her license plate to make sure she’s who she says she is before I let her in.”

  Bailey stuck to me like flypaper as I strode to the sunporch sofa. She must be picking up on my anxiety. Fear made me stupid, but I was safe.

  Ike left the door open when he went to the porch again. “She’ll see you, but for my peace of mind, are you carrying any weapons in that handbag.”

  “See for yourself,” Helen said.

  A few minutes later he said, “A 38 special. Smith and Wesson. Never seen one with a pink handle before.”

  “It’s a good gun,” Helen said. “A woman can’t be too careful these days. I never leave home without it.”

  “Lock your purse and gun in your car. You won’t need them in the house.”

  “You’re carrying.”

  “I’m the sheriff. If you want to enter my home, you’ll lock this gun in your car.”

  “Point taken. I’ll be right back.”

  A car door opened and closed. I prepped my phone and waited. What did this woman want with me? I didn’t rise when she strolled inside. The arm sling spoke for itself.

  Bailey barred her teeth, a low guttural sound emitting from her throat. I put my phone down, grabbed her collar, and got her settled.

  “I’m Helen Gray, Ms. McKay,” the woman said. “I want you to write a story about how Lowell and Peggy Lou done me wrong.”

  Helen Gray wore her years poorly. Her thin face had a haggard look, as if she ran too much and ate too little. Her androgynous hair style and clingy clothing on her narrow frame furthered the image of excessive training. She reminded me of someone, but I couldn’t remember who.

  “Please
, sit down.” In my head, I transposed the names she mentioned to Sonny and Deena. “Before we get started, have we met before? You look familiar to me.”

  “I get that a lot. I must have a lot of twins out there, but this is my first visit here.”

  “All right then. I’ll hear you out, but this conversation will be recorded.”

  Helen perched on the wicker chair cattycorner to me, statue still. “Record away. Here’s the deal. I met Lowell and Peggy Lou at the gun range about three years ago. Lowell wanted to shoot his new Glock, but Peggy Lou loved shooting and continued taking target practice lessons. That woman can shoot anything.”

  “And you?” Ike sat beside me, gun prominently displayed on his hip. “Are you also a good shot?”

  “Not at all. Peggy Lou took top honors in the club’s shooting demos.”

  I wasn’t warming up to Helen Gray, but I couldn’t put my finger on why. She didn’t give off a friendly vibe, but maybe my rattled nerves made me more suspicious than usual. It was good to have the recording to review later.

  “What about Lowell?” Ike asked. “Did he continue his training?”

  “No. Once he mastered his Glock, he was done. After that, he drove Peggy Lou to the demos. Poor bastard.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Peggy Lou only saw Lowell as a meal ticket because he was selling the crap out of life insurance. She screwed the range instructor and anything else who looked her way while they were married. She didn’t honor their vows.”

  “Did he confront her about the infidelity?” I asked, jumping into the fray.

  “Lowell didn’t complain. I felt sorry for him. One day at Deena’s shooting demonstration, I asked if he’d like to do something fun with me and he said yes.”

  “To clarify,” Ike said, “you began a relationship with him?”

  “Yes. Lowell’s got plenty under the hood and knows how to satisfy a woman. Peggy Lou had three more affairs before Lowell told her about us. Before Peggy Lou left him, she broke every dish in his house, including his great grandmother’s Wedgwood platter. Lowell moved in with me, and when his divorce was final, we got married. I’ve never been so happy.”

  “But?” I asked, knowing there had to be more.

  “But Peggy Lou skunked me. I never knew about the insurance policy on Lowell naming her as the beneficiary. Worse, he continued sleeping with his ex during our marriage. One day I woke up to learn Lowell’s car was in the Gulf, and he was gone. I haunted the shore for weeks, searching for him, thinking he had amnesia. I visited every hospital and morgue, but I couldn’t find him.”

  Sounded like Helen had a bad case of fatal attraction. If she couldn’t have Lowell, nobody could have him. Especially not his ex-wife.

  Helen stopped to scowl. “Six months after he died, my friend Marge told me Peggy Lou bought a fancy red sports car and dropped a load of cash at the spa where Marge works. A few days later, Peggy Lou left town for good. Two Mobile policemen visited me two days ago saying Lowell was alive. Imagine that. After two years of thinking of him as dead, I had a miracle. Lowell was here in Georgia. Except he’s in jail for shooting someone.

  “Mark my words, Peggy Lou, or Deena as she calls herself now, rigged the evidence. She cashed his insurance policy, but I guarantee you she’s trolling for a new Sugar Daddy to satisfy her urges.”

  Ike crossed his arms. “Quite a tale. Have any proof?”

  “Proof? Peggy Lou stole my husband, and now she’s thrown him away like garbage. I want her arrested so she can never see daylight, and I want to take Lowell home to Mobile with me, where he belongs.”

  “He confessed to shooting John Starling,” Ike reminded her.

  “He’s protecting Peggy Lou. Despite everything she’s done, he still cares for her. She’s a bad egg, and he’ll come around in time. But Deena isn’t as smart as she thinks she is. I’ll bet things didn’t match up just right for the first shooting.”

  “Go on,” Ike said.

  Helen gave a ghost of a smile. “Like the missing weapon.”

  “You know where the murder weapon is?”

  “Peggy Lou has it. At her house.”

  If Helen was to be believed, her rival was the mastermind and a sniper. A gum smacking, emotional, libido-driven woman didn’t fit my idea of a mastermind or a sniper.

  “I’ve had someone watching her house since Friday,” Ike said. “No one’s come or gone.”

  “Because she’s holed up inside and her car is in the garage. That’s the kind of survivalist Pablum her instructor parroted. If you can’t clear an area before trouble starts, hunker down in plain sight.”

  Interesting. Deena had a secret hideout. I wanted to go over there right now and help the deputies find her. I needed to see Ike put handcuffs on her wrists.

  “How do you know this?” Ike asked, leaning forward.

  “Because I took the same course for a while, but it was pure propaganda about the end of the world so I quit. Peggy Lou spent weeks with those whack jobs, which suited me fine. Her absence gave me and Lowell more time together.”

  Ike settled into the sofa cushions. “Try again. We searched her place already.”

  “Part of the training was building a secret room in your home. Was there any room that seemed smaller than normal?”

  I could almost see the gears turning in Ike’s head as he retraced his steps through that house. He swore and rose. “Excuse me for a minute.”

  He went into the kitchen where I could still see him and made a call. I had no doubt that he was gathering his team to storm Deena and Sonny’s place. I turned back to Helen, amused to see Bailey sitting up between us. I placed my hand on her collar again hoping she wouldn’t bite Helen.

  “You’re a font of useful information,” I began, marveling at her capacity for stillness. “What’s the deal? Why are you helping the investigation?”

  “Peggy Lou needs to pay for what she’s done, to me and to Lowell. She’s like the Pied Piper around men. Watch your guy around her. If her pattern holds, she’ll shag her way out of trouble again.”

  “Again?”

  Helen snorted. “Her police record from Mobile was clean, right?”

  “It was.”

  “Peggy Lou stole things right and left. Sometimes she used her body to soften a mark, sometimes she used it for damage control when the cops came a-calling. Have the sheriff dig into her past. She always takes what she wants, but she’s not taking my Lowell. Not this time. I’m getting him back.”

  “By defrauding the insurance company, he will be charged with a crime. He’ll serve time for that.”

  “Not as much time as Peggy Lou does. And I’ll be waiting for him when he gets out.”

  Ike returned. “Mrs. Gray, I’d like you to wait at the station.”

  “Can’t.” The woman stood and stretched like a cat. “I’ve got a meeting scheduled with Sonny’s lawyer in five minutes at the fish camp.”

  “Don’t leave town.”

  “Where would I go? You’ve got my husband. I want him back. And besides you ran my tag, so you can find me if I left town, but I’m not going anywhere. I’m in love with my husband. He means the world to me.”

  Ike glanced at me. From his expression, he was undecided about letting her go. I shrugged, unwilling to go to bat for a person I didn’t know or like.

  “Please don’t make me go to your station.” Helen’s voice turned shrill. “I spent days sitting in one when Lowell went missing. Those were awful times. I’m getting heart palpitations thinking about it. Please, I’m begging you. Let me talk to the lawyer. I have to wrestle Lowell from Peggy Lou’s influence, and her hooks are in him deep.”

  “I’ll allow you to go, but I’ll escort you over there and post a deputy to make sure you don’t leave town.”

  “Fine with me.”

  I pushed upright. “Stay put,” Ike said. “I’ll call you as soon as I know something.”

  “I’m coming with you.”

  “Not a good id
ea, Linds.”

  “The best idea ever,” I retorted. “I want to see you take Deena down. She shot me. I need closure.”

  Helen honked her horn outside. “All right,” Ike said. “But we do this my way.”

  Chapter 16

  Just as Helen said, a rifle was in the trunk of Deena’s red sports car. Ike bagged it into evidence and brought it to the Jeep. “Don’t touch. And make sure no one else touches it either.”

  I waited and waited, my gaze fastened on the door, but no one came out. After half an hour, Ike returned. “I know where the secret room should be, but darn if we can figure out how to access it. I need fresh eyes. Can you help us?’

  “You bet.” I scrambled out of the vehicle, careful of my hurt arm.

  “Stay close to me, and if I say get down, drop immediately.”

  “Have you been calling her name?”

  “Both of her names, but we haven’t heard so much as a peep.”

  He guided me into a study. I saw a desk and a bookshelf behind it, along with Alice Ann and Jimmy, his top deputies. They looked sheepish.

  I cleared my throat. “In every movie I’ve ever seen with a secret room, someone’s moved a book on the shelf and the entire case slides out of the way to reveal an opening.”

  “We have the same taste in movies,” Alice Ann said. “I’ve moved every book on the shelf. Nothing.”

  Hmm. That made it harder. What else was in the room? A side table with a lamp. A few framed watercolors. A ceiling fan. And an air duct. “What about the vent? Did you look in there?”

  “There’s a small camera,” Jimmy said. “You and Alice Ann do watch the same movies. This is déjà vu.”

  I lifted every painting, looking for something out of place. But the entire room was sterile. What was I missing? “The desk chair. Where is it?”

  “Wasn’t one,” Alice Ann said.

  I walked behind the desk. One of those clear protective mats covered the area rug under the desk and where a chair should be. “Can someone move this?”

  Jimmy and Ike stepped forward and dragged the plastic out of the way.