Tj Jensen Cozy Mystery Boxed Set 2: Books 6-10

by Kathi Daley

  “Did you meet Roy’s new partner?” I asked.

  “No, he came alone, but he did mention that someone had been permanently assigned to the town. Roy could certainly use the help. He’s been running things on his own for over a year.”

  Roy definitely needed the help; I just hoped this specific help didn’t end up being more of a hindrance.

  When Kyle and I left the hospital, I decided to call Roy to ask about his visit with my dad. If Dad was right and the person who’d tampered with Judge Harper’s car had simply done so to warn him, perhaps even someone with a minor grievance, like a disgruntled town employee, could be to blame.

  “Hey, Roy, it’s Tj.”

  “Hang on.”

  I waited while he changed location. I could hear footsteps and then a door open and close. After a minute Roy got back on the line. “Sorry about that. Kate is using the computer in the other room, so I came into the office. What’s up?”

  “You know you’re her superior. You really don’t need to be afraid of her.”

  “I know. I’m not afraid. But we do have to work together, and it’s just easier not to ruffle her feathers. What’s on your mind?”

  “I understand you visited my dad this morning.”

  “Yes. I was glad to see him doing so much better.”

  “What do you think of his theory that the person who tampered with Judge Harper’s car meant to send him a warning, not to kill him?”

  “I think your dad could be right. If the judge had gone straight home rather than offering your dad a ride, the brake failure would most likely have resulted in nothing more than the car running onto the beach or into a field. If that had happened he’d be alive today.”

  I had to admit the idea that someone had simply been trying to scare Judge Harper rather than kill him made me feel somewhat better, although the end result was the same. “Theoretically we can open the suspect list up to people we don’t necessarily think would kill Judge Harper but might want to cause a minor accident to send a warning.”

  “Theoretically, yes.”

  “That could include anyone with a petty grievance.”

  “I’m afraid it does. Kate has been interviewing people who attended the council meeting and coming up with a list of suspects based on the observations of those attending. None of the suspects, in our opinion, had a beef strong enough to cause them to intentionally kill the judge, but to scare him? Maybe.”

  “So far all I have left on my list are Striker Bristow, the person who killed Steven Reinhold’s wife if he didn’t do it himself, and Sam Wilson.”

  Roy paused. “I think Bristow could be a real suspect. The person who killed Reinhold’s wife seems like a long shot to me. It couldn’t hurt to snoop around a bit, though it’ll be hard to find new leads on a crime that old. And Reinhold could be guilty.”

  “I agree it’s a long shot, but we figured it was worth a look. Kyle and I are going to try to speak to Clarissa Halloran today. Do you have any new information since the original trial that we should be looking at?”

  “No, not at this point. I haven’t had time to look at it.”

  I glanced at Kyle. “Is there anything else we should know?”

  “Like I said, Kate came up with a list and is in the process of interviewing the people on it, but I think we should leave that up to her. Let me know if you find anything when you speak to Ms. Halloran. If it looks like something’s there, I’ll find a way to bring it up with Kate without telling her where I got the lead.”

  “I’ll call you later either way.”

  I hung up and turned to Kyle. “It sounds like both Roy and Kate think my dad might be on to something with the idea that someone only meant to warn Judge Harper, not kill him. If that’s the case, we might need to adjust our criteria for the suspect list.”

  “You still want to talk to Clarissa Halloran?”

  “I do, but let’s head over to the county office first to see if we can talk Harriet into letting us take a look at Judge Harper’s office.”

  The county offices were nearby, so it only took a few minutes to make the trip. Harriet hadn’t returned my call, but she was as big a snoop as they came. I was sure we could use her curiosity as a means of gaining her cooperation. Kyle parked in the lot shared by the post office, sheriff’s office, library, and county office.

  “Tj, Kyle, so good to have you both back,” Harriet said as we walked into the lobby of the county office building. “I understand your father is doing much better.”

  I smiled at Harriet. “He is. Did you know he was moved out of the ICU?”

  “I hadn’t heard, but I am so happy to hear that. This community has already suffered such a huge loss. I don’t know how we would have dealt with it if we’d lost Mike too.”

  “How are you doing with everything that’s happened?” I asked. This had to be as hard on Harriet as anyone. After all, she had worked closely with Judge Harper for the past year.

  Her smile faded. “I’ve been better. When I learned that the mayor was targeted specifically I almost broke down completely. Who would do such a thing to a man who’d spent his whole life serving this community? It makes no sense.”

  I felt awful for Harriet, especially when I noticed the bags under her eyes. It looked like she hadn’t been sleeping much, and now that I’d taken a closer look it appeared she’d lost weight as well. Harriet probably didn’t have anyone to talk to about things now that Helen was spending most of her time up at Bookman’s.

  I offered an encouraging smile. “Kyle and I have been looking into things, trying to find the answers we feel the community as a whole needs. It turns out this particular investigation seems to have a lot of things going on that, on the surface, don’t necessarily appear to be related. We had an idea that the judge’s role as mayor might have provided the motive and hoped that you’d allow us to look in his office.”

  Harriet hesitated for a few seconds. I could see that she was weighing my request before making a decision. She pursed her lips, began to speak, paused again, and let out a long breath before she eventually agreed. I wasn’t really worried that she’d come around. We’d known each other long enough for her to realize that Kyle and I really did have everyone’s best interests at heart.

  “What are you looking for?” Harriet asked after she unlocked the office and ushered us inside. “Maybe I can help you find it.”

  “I’m not sure,” I admitted. “Can you think of anything Judge Harper was working on that could have caused someone to want him out of the way so desperately they’d tamper with his brakes?”

  “The mayor was a kind man, a good man. He was such a breath of fresh air after our last mayor, who, as you know, was less than honorable. But despite the fact that he was about as fair a man as you’ll find, there were some members of the community who found fault with some of his decisions. Most of the people who stopped by to complain had petty arguments I doubt would escalate to the point where they’d try to harm him. The files on his desk would be the things he was currently working on, so I suppose they’d be a good place to start.”

  Kyle began looking through the papers while I continued to speak to Harriet. “Can you think of anyone who might have come by to speak to the judge, who might have had business with him outside his role as mayor?”

  Harriet considered my question. “There was one man who came by while I was at lunch one day so I didn’t catch his name. When I got back I heard them arguing. It wasn’t like the mayor to lose his cool, but that day it seemed as if tempers had been ignited on both sides.”

  “Do you know what they were arguing about?”

  “Based on what I overheard, it seemed as if the mayor had sent the man to prison when he was still a judge. The man had recently been paroled and was having a hard time meeting some of the conditions that had been set up before he was released. He wanted the mayor to interv
ene on his behalf, but it sounded like the mayor either couldn’t or wouldn’t do it.”

  “And you never got his name?”

  “No. But I got a look at him when he left and I remember him mentioning someone named Smith. Of course, Smith is a common name; I doubt that will help you much.”

  I supposed that a disgruntled parolee could be angry enough to tamper with Judge Harper’s car, although Harriet was correct that the name Smith wasn’t going to be a whole lot of help. “Do you remember when this happened?”

  “A few days before the accident. The timing seemed suspect to me, so I mentioned it to Roy. He said he’d look into it. I never heard back, but maybe he either cleared the man or was unable to identify him.”

  “I’ll check with him.”

  I looked around the room, which had changed very little since our previous mayor had been in office. I wondered who would take over now. I supposed the council would have to meet and put someone in place before too long. Judge Harper’s death was a shame in more ways than one. Not only had he been a gem of a man, he’d been a gem of a mayor as well.

  “I found a file on Bristow’s project,” Kyle announced. He looked at Harriet. “Is it okay if I make a copy?”

  Harriet looked over at Kyle. “Is Mr. Bristow a suspect?”

  “At this point.”

  “I guess I could look the other way while you made a copy, but I’m sure you understand that everything in that file should be treated as confidential.”

  “Of course.”

  Kyle started to copy the contents of the papers while I continued to look around. I noticed that the pictures on the wall had changed since the judge had taken office, and there were several awards on one wall as well. I wondered who would inherit the judge’s estate. As far as I knew he’d never had children; in all the years I’d known him, he’d never mentioned any. His wife had passed, and given his age, I was certain his parents had as well.

  There were photographs on one wall of the judge with other people, including one of him fishing with my dad. I didn’t recognize a lot of the subjects in the older photographs, but I did recognize quite a few in the more recent shots. I paused in front of one in particular, of Judge Harper standing next to his wife. Mrs. Harper was standing next to Martha Wilson, who was standing beside a man I assumed was her husband. A young boy who looked to be around ten stood in front of the adults. Based on his features and the people he was with, I imagined the boy must be Sam. Judge Harper had a hand on the boy’s shoulder, who was looking over his shoulder at him with an expression of adoration on his face. I guess I could understand why Sam was so upset to learn that his mother had been in an intimate relationship with a man he’d always known as an uncle of sorts.

  “I have what I need,” Kyle said to me.

  “Okay, great.” I turned to Harriet. “Thank you so much for your help.”

  “I hope you’ll be able to find the person who did this.”

  “We’re going to try,” I promised. “If you think of anything else—anything at all—please call me. You never know when some small thing can make all the difference in figuring out a complicated puzzle like this.”

  “I’m happy to help in any way I can.”

  I turned to leave when I noticed the phone on Judge Harper’s desk. “Have you listened to his messages?” I asked Harriet.

  “Why, no. I have never checked Judge Harper’s messages. Even when he was away, he checked them remotely. To be honest, it didn’t occur to me. I suppose he would have checked them prior to the council meeting, so any messages he might have would be after that point in time.”

  I continued to stare at the phone. “I know you’re worried about overstepping, but I think we should check them. Just in case.”

  Harriet looked undecided, but after a few seconds she walked over to the desk and pushed the message button.

  The first message was from Sam Wilson. “Hey, Harold. I’ve thought about things and I realize I may have acted rashly. I want my mom to be happy, and it appears you make her happy, so I’m willing to get past this. Maybe we can do breakfast tomorrow. Call me after your meeting tonight and we’ll set up a time.”

  I glanced at Kyle. Based on the message, it sounded like Sam wasn’t our guy.

  The next message came several seconds later. “Damn. I must have missed you. We need to talk. Avoiding me isn’t going to change a thing. You know what I want. I just need to know if we have a deal. I’ll try to track you down at the meeting tonight. This really can’t wait.”

  “Who was that?” I asked Harriet.

  “Striker Bristow.”

  I glanced at Kyle again. I couldn’t know for certain at this point, but there was a good possibility Bristow was our man.

  “Do you know what deal Bristow was talking about?” I asked Harriet.

  Harriet shook her head. “No. I don’t have a clue.”

  “Did Bristow and Mayor Harper meet often?”

  Harriet paused. “I’m not sure what you mean by often, but Bristow had been by several times in the weeks prior to the accident. When he first brought the idea of the mall project to the council, pretty much everyone was against it. But Bristow can be a persuasive chap, and over time he managed to persuade about half the council members to support the idea. Even those who continued to oppose it publicly seemed to be coming around to a certain degree. I think if Mayor Harper would have changed his position on the project, it would have been granted the support it needs.”

  “Do you think the mall project will receive the green light now that Mayor Harper is out of the equation?” Kyle asked.

  “Yes,” Harriet answered. “Unless, of course, Striker Bristow is actually responsible for Mayor Harper’s death.”

  As we left the mayor’s office, we ran into Kate, who was approaching the building from the parking lot.

  “Kate,” I greeted her, somewhat stiffly.

  “Tj, Kyle. What are you doing here?”

  I lifted a shoulder. “Just saying hi to Harriet.”

  Kate stared at us with a look of suspicion. “Just saying hi?”

  “Absolutely,” I assured her with a smile so big it felt like my face would crack. “Harriet and I are old friends and I hadn’t had the opportunity to speak to her since returning to Paradise Lake. I was in the area so we took advantage and stopped by.” I glanced at Kyle. “We really do need to be going. I enjoyed getting to know you at dinner the other night. We’ll have to do it again when we have more time to talk.”

  Kate narrowed her eyes but didn’t respond. If she was trying to intimidate me, it was just as well she found out sooner rather than later that Tj Jensen didn’t intimidate easily. I put my arm through Kyle’s and waved goodbye as we started back toward the parking lot.

  “Were you trying to piss her off?” Kyle asked as we neared his car.

  “Piss her off? Whatever do you mean?” I asked innocently. “I couldn’t have been nicer if I’d tried. All I did was say I enjoyed meeting her and expressed a desire to get to know her better.”

  Kyle snorted. “You know you’re playing with fire, and that, I’m afraid, never ends well.”

  “You worry too much. Kate is a strong woman with powerful convictions. She’s actually a lot like me. I think we both understand that it’s game on if she’s seriously going to try to tell me what I can and can’t do in my own town.”

  Kyle wisely didn’t comment, so after a moment of silence I called Roy to ask him about the tip Harriet had given him. I doubted the ex-con was our guy, but it was best to leave no stone unturned. He said the man Harriet had overheard arguing with Judge Harper had indeed recently gotten out of prison and would have made a good suspect, but he had a solid alibi that Roy himself had verified. It looked like we could move on from that lead. I was really beginning to think Striker Bristow was our man. Roy said both he and Kate has spoken to Striker and
he hadn’t said anything that would definitively point to his guilt, but he hadn’t said anything that would definitively clear him either. Roy considered him a viable suspect and so did I, but Roy said Bristow was out of town until after the holiday weekend, so our best lead at the moment, at least in regards to following up, seemed to be Clarissa Halloran.

  “Let’s head toward Lakeshore Estates,” I instructed Kyle. “Maybe Clarissa Halloran has information that will help us either confirm or eliminate Jennifer Reinhold’s murder as a motive for the judge’s death.”

  Kyle pulled onto the highway and headed east. It was another beautiful day and the town was decorated with accents related to the upcoming holiday. I really did wish we were simply on our way to the beach, or perhaps even a second official date.

  “I’ve been thinking about Harriet’s suggestion to talk to the other council members,” Kyle said after we had driven for a while. “Being a council member I probably should do that anyway to get up to date before the next meeting. Tomorrow is the holiday, but if we haven’t figured this out by Wednesday I’ll set up a few meetings to see what I can find out.”

  “That’s a good idea.”

  Kyle pulled up to the gate and I gave him the code. “I think Clarissa Halloran’s home is on the meadow, so you’ll probably need to make an immediate right once you go through the security gate.”

  “Do you think we should have called ahead to set up an appointment?”

  “No. I didn’t want to give her a chance to refuse to see us. One way or the other, I intend to get the answers we came for.”

  Chapter 15

  Clarissa Halloran lived just a couple of blocks from Judge Harper’s home. Her house wasn’t as close to the lake as Harper’s, but it was still very nice, in a gated community where crime would be kept to a minimum. When I knocked on the door, a woman who looked to be in her mid-to-late forties dressed in slacks and a designer blouse answered.

  “Can I help you?”