I succeeded in spilling coffee all over the hardwood floors.
“I’m fine. I just can’t walk and drink coffee or chew gum at the same time.”
I took my cup to the kitchen and rinsed it in the sink. Then I grabbed a small rag and soaked it. I took the wet rag, and a dry one, back to the conference room.
As I got down on my hands and knees to clean up the floor, I said, “Lydia said Edie kept things tidy, her car especially. She had it detailed regularly.”
“Wow. You’re saying the wrapper on the floor and the shoe print may give us a clue?”
“We can only hope. But that’s asking too much.”
“We need access to that car. But I don’t think that will happen. Maybe Nick can get in and get a good look.”
“Did I hear my name?” Nick said.
I turned to see him standing in the doorway, looking as handsome as ever. He wore a charcoal suit with a single button on his jacket buttoned. His pale-yellow shirt and ivory tie looked amazing against the dark gray. He’d obviously had this suit tailored, because it fit him like a suit that cost several thousand dollars.
“You did,” Piper said, walking over to shake Nick’s hand. “We’re looking at the photos of a suicide your department caught. Husband thinks it was murder.”
Even though I knew there wasn’t anything between them, I was glad to see he didn’t pull her in for a hug. I walked over and kissed him on the cheek.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“Nice way to greet your fiancé,” he said.
“I didn’t mean it that way. You rarely stop by, so it’s a surprise.”
Nick nodded his head at Piper. “I wanted to stop by and make sure I hadn’t steered you wrong by sending that girl your way.”
“So far, so good,” I said.
“And I wanted to take you to lunch.”
I looked like the stunned emoji. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Give me a break. My caseload is lighter than usual, and I’m taking advantage. You never know when the next gang murder will change my day. People are always dying to see me.”
I laughed despite myself.
“Go. I’ll have my lunch delivered and continue to go through this,” Piper said. “I’ll put the notes on my tablet and send them to you in an email.”
No way was I passing up the opportunity to see Nick in the middle of the day, much less a free lunch. “I may have to pick your brain during lunch,” I warned him.
Nick waved me off. “Forget it. I’ll take Charles to lunch.”
Nine
Mimi
When I picked the place to eat, there were white cloths on the table. When Nick picked, there was a drive thru. But when he asked me where I wanted to go, I said I didn’t care. With the photos of Edie and her car still fresh in my mind, I couldn’t concentrate on where to eat.
Nick surprised me again by taking me to Frieda’s on South Main Street. Frieda’s specialized in southern American with a twist. Frieda worked in the kitchen if her doors were open. Once in a blue moon, she had the chance to step into the dining room and chat with her guests, but she wanted to run the kitchen her way. And her recipes didn’t taste the same if she didn’t have a hand in the preparation. Or so she said.
Frieda’s restaurant was sandwiched between a music store and a photography studio. Both businesses had been in the same place since I was a kid, and both had been passed to the next generation. I always thought that was cool, and wondered if their kids would eventually take over, or if it would end with them.
Walking into Frieda’s felt like walking into a neighborhood diner. Royal blue upholstered booths lined both sides of the room, with a small hostess stand right inside the door. No hostess seated anyone though; it was strictly for paying the bill at the end of the meal.
Nick held my hand as we walked halfway through the room and found an empty booth with a clean table.
As soon as we sat down, a woman who looked to be in her forties called out to us from the kitchen pass-through area, “Hey sweetie, be there in a few minutes. Gotta get this food out while it’s hot.”
She continued to pull plates down from the cook’s window, filling a banquet tray. Then she grabbed a tray stand and hustled down the aisle, swiftly setting up the stand and placing the tray on top, doling out food to the sounds of “Ohhh” and “Ahhh” as she set the plates down.
I tried not to drool over the meals she served, knowing I’d be getting the chicken fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy. I rarely got anything else at Frieda’s.
Nick looked at his menu, then Marcy (that was the name on her nametag) took our drink order, and since we were both ready to order, she took that, too. Nick ordered the steak rancheros. I was pretty sure that’s what I’d smelled as Marcy walked by with the heavy tray.
Marcy reached into the pocket of her apron and placed two straws on the table. When she came back to deliver our iced teas, she greeted the next guests who’d arrived.
With the royal blue booths, Formica table tops, and black and white checkerboard tile floors, I almost felt like there should be a jukebox on the table.
“I think I found a house,” Nick said.
I nearly choked on my ice tea. I tried to cover it with a cough. “That’s great. Where?”
Somehow, selling his current house and us buying a house together made the fact that I hadn’t even looked at venues for the wedding worse. I didn’t even realize he’d been considering any houses. What did that say about us? I believe it said we needed to carve time out of our schedules to spend more time just talking.
“Off of River Road. It’s a big house, with about an acre of land. I think Lola will love it.”
Him mentioning Lola when it came to his house buying preferences made my heart pitter patter. I said, “An acreage? Who’s going to mow the lawn?”
We barely had time to keep the house clean as it was. And Nick’s house didn’t have much in the way of landscaping.
“We’ll get a riding mower, and it won’t take as long. Besides, I quite enjoy being outside. And I’d love to have a real vegetable garden, not one that hangs on the wall outside my house.”
I loved his wall garden. Before seeing it the first time, I’d heard about them on HGTV or some channel. I thought it clever for small spaces. I couldn’t believe my ex-football playing, homicide detective boyfriend even had a garden, much less grew his own vegetables and herbs.
“Tell me more,” I said.
“It’s five bedrooms and three bathrooms.” He put his hand up to stop me from protesting. “The kitchen is huge and well laid out. It has a formal dining room, a large living room, and what the realtor calls a family room, but I thought it would make a nice game room. The master bedroom and bathroom look good in pictures and are huge.”
I didn’t want to put a damper on his enthusiasm, but this sounded like a lot of house for two people. “Five bedrooms? Will we be running a bed and breakfast?”
Nick rolled his eyes. “I thought we could each have our own home office. We tend to work late away from home. If we had our own space, we could bring that work home instead of staying late in town.”
He had a point. It would be nice to have a workspace at home. My old house was too small for an office. I set myself up in my dining room, or in a small space in the living room. And Nick’s house had three bedrooms, but it didn’t seem right not have room for guests.
“Can we get a cleaning service?”
As I asked the question, Marcy arrived at the table with our food. As always, Frieda’s had quick service. The smell of the chicken fried chicken made my mouth water. The gravy with a hint of pepper would go straight to my thighs and I didn’t even care.
We thanked her, and she left us to eat.
“Yes, we can have someone come weekly if you want. And we can put in an underground fence, so Lola can roam the property all day if she wants.”
I laughed. “You mean find a good place in the sun, when there is an
y, to nap.”
Nick chuckled with his mouth full.
We ate in a comfortable silence that comes with knowing each other and not needing to fill the space. To a stranger, it probably seemed we didn’t have much to say to each other.
Marcy came by to refill our drinks and check to see if everything was tasty. It was.
“Can I ask you a question about the client we have?”
Nick looked at me with dread. “What’s that?”
“How long would it be before the coroner would have been able to examine a body in a suicide?”
“That depends on his calendar, I suppose. The body would have to wait its turn. Why?”
“I told you we have a client who thinks his wife’s death is a homicide, but the cops ruled it suicide.”
He nodded.
“We were just getting into our investigation, but we don’t have the coroner’s report. Would you be able to see if there is one?”
He groaned, and it wasn’t with delight from the delicious food. “I’ll see what I can find out for you. I thought this case was closed on our end. I’ll check with the detectives, too.”
I reached across the table and grabbed his hand. “I really appreciate it. And could you run a criminal check on Edie Pratt while you’re at it?”
“You need to stop investigating deaths. Of any kind. I thought you were a private detective, not a homicide detective.”
“Haha,” I said.
“Seriously. One of these days, you’re going to want me to cross an ethical line. Heck, I’ve already come close.” He pulled the straw from his tea and drank straight from the glass.
“I don’t like looking at dead bodies, you know. It’s not my fault these cases land in our laps.”
“As for this one, I’ll look at the file, too. It’s not like Douglas to rush to a decision. We all know to treat every death as a homicide first, even in the case of a natural death. If the victim dies alone, we start an investigation. The coroner’s report should help a lot. But then again, if I remember correctly, it’s only been less than a week.”
“You’re right. It hasn’t been long. And I’ll be honest, from the looks of the photos, it sure looks like a self-inflicted gunshot wound.” I hadn’t looked that close, but overall, that was my impression at first glance. I was worse than the cops, going through the motions. Shame on me.
“Let Piper do her thing. She’s a good cop. As much as I like working with Gabe, she was a good partner. She’s smart and detail oriented.”
“We’re going to look deeper when I get back to the office. But I have to give the case to her, because I have four other cases I’m doing research for at the moment, and one that needs answers fairly quickly.”
“Why?” Nick asked.
“Why what?”
“Why is there a rush?”
I wiggled my brows, because I thought he’d laugh at the reason. “Because there’s a wedding this weekend, and the mother of the groom wants the skinny on the bride.”
“Parents,” Nick said.
“Right? Want to split a cobbler for dessert?” As if the meal wasn’t enough calories.
Nick raised his hand to get Marcy’s attention.
“What can I do for you, hon?”
“One berry cobbler, topped with vanilla bean ice cream, and two spoons, please. And I’ll take a cup of coffee,” Nick said.
“I’ll have a cappuccino, please,” I added.
“Make that two cappuccinos instead of the coffee, thanks,” Nick said.
Marcy didn’t even need to write down the order.
“Have you given any more thought to a date for the wedding?” Nick asked.
“I think about it all the time,” I said. “I just can’t seem to find the right time to do anything concrete.”
“Setting a date isn’t that hard,” he said.
“I know, but we’re in limbo, both at the office and in your house.”
“Our house,” he said.
It wasn’t our house, it was Nick’s. I’d moved in after he asked me to, and I had sold my little house. It would never feel like my home too, which was part of the reason Nick decided to sell it. He wanted us to start fresh. I liked the idea, but had forgotten what a hassle buying and selling a house could be.
“Make an appointment for this weekend, if you can fit it in. I’ll arrange my schedule to fit it. Then we can go look at this plantation on River Road.”
Dessert arrived. “Here you go,” Marcy said. “You sure you don’t each want your own?”
Looking at the bowl of cobbler, I almost considered having my own, but my stomach begged to differ.
“Maybe if we get this house, we can have a small ceremony there,” Nick offered as we walked back to the car.
I appreciated him not pushing the point while we ate dessert, but I didn’t like this idea, either.
“Let’s look at the house first,” I said.
By the time we headed back to my office, I wanted a nap.
Ten
Mimi
Piper stuffed a piece of pizza in her mouth, then dog-eared a page in the book she had on her lap. She picked up a magnifying glass and leaned over a photo to get a better look.
“How’s it coming?” I asked.
“It’s coming,” she said after swallowing. “I’m working on some details of the photos.”
I walked over to the table. “You know the magnifying glass is just a myth? We rarely use them to work a case.”
Piper grinned, her mouth full again. “Funny,” she said.
“Seriously, what are you doing with a magnifying glass?”
She pointed to the photo of Edie’s head. “I was trying to get the fine details.”
“Did something stand out to you?” I sat down next to her.
“I’m matching the notes with the photo. Looking at the wound structure, which is consistent with a bullet through the chin, pointing at an angle. Which goes with the back of her head being splattered into the back seat.”
“Nice, and right after lunch,” I joked.
“Heck, I’m still eating.” She lifted the next piece of pizza. “Thank goodness for delivery. I couldn’t make myself leave.”
Now I felt guilty for going to lunch with Nick. “Anything make you think this is a homicide?”
“The blood pattern is consistent with the angle of the gunshot. If you look closely, you can see the contact burn around the wound. The notes mention GSR on the victim’s hand and clothing. But I’m still put off by the shattered sunroof. I don’t see any mention of them recovering the bullet, which would also indicate it may have ricocheted and hit the sunroof, maybe landing in the grass.”
“We could always go talk to Douglas,” I said.
“You know how much help he’ll be? We’re covering his tracks, looking for inconsistencies in his investigation. He’ll stonewall us and be pissed to boot. I think we do what we can without his input.”
“The neighbor said she heard the gunshots,” I said.
“Right, but she heard them much earlier, not right before she went to the car. And that’s the other thing. Maybe she was killed, then the killer put the gun in her hand and fired another shot. This would have to be at an angle where the gun could be fired, not hit anything, and the killer could hold Edie’s hand to help pull the trigger. All quite difficult with a limp, dead hand.”
“But wouldn’t the GSR be missing if someone held her hand to pull the trigger?”
“Good point, but maybe the person was careful.” She picked a piece of paper off the table. “There were no defensive wounds.”
“Maybe she was drugged,” I offered.
“But she was in the driver’s seat. The body wasn’t moved. If she could drive, she’d have been able to fight off an attacker.”
“And even then, who would want to attack her and why?” I asked.
“I have a lot of questions for Clive,” Piper said.
“Then let’s get him in here. I’ll have Uta call him.”
<
br /> Piper stuffed the last of her slice of pizza in her mouth while I picked up the phone to call Uta. Sure, I could have gotten off my lazy butt and walked down the hall, but we had a phone system in the building for a reason.
I pressed the button for the reception desk.
“This is Uta, how may I assist you?” Professional even when she knew it was me on the other end.
“Uta, I need you to look up Clive Pratt’s phone number and call him. See if he can come in this afternoon to answer some questions.”
A few minutes later, Uta stood next to me at the conference table. “Mr. Pratt can’t make it this afternoon, but he said you can question him over the phone if you like. Otherwise, he can stop by tomorrow.”
Piper looked up. “I’d rather talk to him face to face. Make an appointment for any time after one, please.”
Uta gave Piper a thumb’s up and left the room.
We spent the next several hours going over the investigative notes and the photos from the scene. The gum wrapper and the footprints on the passenger side of the car gave me pause. I didn’t think we’d be able to see the BMW, but it might be worth a try.
I sent Nick a text, asking him if the car had been released.
“Since we aren’t going to chat with Clive, I’d like to go to the scene and look around. I’d like to see if there’s something unusual.”
I looked at my watch. “I still have my other cases to work on today, ones with deadlines. Let’s go out to Old Stage Road tomorrow morning.”
“Sounds good. Probably better. I want to get my notes organized, so I don’t waste time at the scene. Do you want to go there early?”
I shook my head, almost dislodging my earrings from the force. “I’m not a morning person.”
Piper laughed. “I’m not either, since I don’t get much sleep.”
“I know I said this was your case, but I’d never let a new investigator work a case alone,” I said.
“I totally get it. We didn’t work alone in homicide, so this isn’t any different. I appreciate the chance to work on this type of case right off the bat.”
A Lie in Every Truth Page 7
