Murder of a Barbie and Ken

by Denise Swanson

  “Okay, we’ll see if he thinks he can do it without harming the disks. Otherwise, we’ll just have to wait for the sheriff’s department to get to it.”

  Skye nodded her agreement.

  As she was driving Wally to the mechanic’s to pick up his squad car, she asked, “How do you think that person knew we were at the Addisons’?”

  “I don’t think he or she knew we were at the Addisons’. I think you were being followed, and your attacker was unpleasantly surprised to find out I was here, too.”

  “That makes sense. Your car wasn’t parked out front. So, if they followed me, he or she would have no idea you were here.”

  “It was probably the same person Frannie and Justin saw trying to break into your cottage yesterday.” Wally took out his pad and jotted down a note. “Do you know if they got a good look at the person?”

  Skye shook her head. “They said they couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman because the person had on a bulky coat and a knit cap.”

  “Too bad.”

  Skye paused, considering, then said, “What if I had gone to the Addisons’ alone?”

  “You might be dead right now.”

  “Don’t say that to Mom or Simon.”

  Wally snorted. “Do you seriously think they won’t figure it out for themselves?”

  Skye pursed her lips. He was right. Well, this would be a good test for Simon. He claimed he had changed, that he didn’t mind anymore when she got involved in investigations. Now was his chance to prove it.

  After dropping Wally off, Skye drove home. The plan was for Wally to pick up his cruiser, take the box to the police station and dust it for prints, then call Skye. Meanwhile, she was supposed to get in touch with Simon, and see if he thought he could get the disks to work in his computer.

  Skye took a quick shower when she got home. While she waited for her hair to dry, she called Simon. He thought he could open the files on the disks and had an hour between appointments at three o’clock. Skye looked at her watch. It was close to two-thirty already. She hoped Wally would be finished looking for prints by then.

  The phone rang while Skye was reapplying her makeup. Wally was ready. He’d meet her at the funeral home.

  Simon was already at the computer when she arrived, Wally standing over his shoulder peering intently at the monitor. Neither man turned when Skye walked in.

  “Have you found anything?” She nudged Wally over so she could see what was on the screen.

  “Hard to say.” Simon shrugged. “These are definitely Barbie’s Instant Gourmet records.” He pointed to the printer on his desk. “I’ll make printouts so you and Wally can start going over them.”

  Wally and Skye moved from behind the desk and sat in the visitors’ chairs. They grabbed the pages and scanned them as the printer started to spit them out. The sheets were still being churned out at a steady rate a half hour later when Simon had to leave for his meeting.

  When the printer finally stopped, Skye sat back and rubbed her eyes. At first the words and numbers had made no sense, but gradually she began to understand. “A couple of these women really mortgaged their souls to Barbie and Instant Gourmet. Once they realized what they had done, I could see how they might want her dead.”

  “What a scheme. Barbie gets these women to sign contracts agreeing to purchase anywhere from a hundred to a thousand dollars’ worth of merchandise every month, and then it’s their problem to sell it to other people.” Wally stood up and stretched. “If you couldn’t find anyone who wanted to buy the stuff, the cost could add up real fast.”

  “Did you notice that beside the initial investment, there were things like shipping charges, advertising fees, and territory restriction tariffs?”

  Wally nodded. “Yeah. They were out a pretty penny before they even had a chance to try to sell the product.”

  “I’ve read about scams like this, and always wondered how people got sucked into them.” Skye started to sort the pages into piles.

  “Everyone wants to get rich quick,” Wally said, and then asked, “What are you doing with those?”

  “Arranging them according to the amount of money involved and length of contract. This group on the left spent the least and signed up for the shortest period of time allowed, six months. The middle stack spent less than ten thousand dollars and had single-year contracts. The bunch on the right committed themselves to five years, and I need a degree in higher mathematics to figure out just how much money they owed Barbie.”

  “Smart.” Wally patted Skye on the back. “Our suspects no doubt come from the last group.”

  “That would be my guess.”

  “Then let’s make a list.”

  Skye rummaged in her purse until she found her calculator, then she picked up the pile of papers she and Wally were interested in and started to assess which of the women Barbie had snookered the worst.

  She and Wally had just finished adding up the columns of figures when Simon returned.

  “Hi.” Skye looked at her watch. It was past six o’clock. “Sorry, it looks like we’re going to have to miss our dinner date.” She would have to change clothes and the restaurant was forty-five minutes away. No way could they make their seven o’clock reservation.

  “I kind of thought that might be the case, so I canceled it.” Simon kissed her on the cheek and took a seat behind his desk. “How’s it going?”

  Wally tapped the notes in front of him. “We’re finally making some progress on this case.” He explained to Simon what they had found in Barbie’s records and concluded, “We have it narrowed down to Joy Kessler, Lu Ginardi, and Hilary Zello. Over the last couple of years, they’ve paid Barbie and Instant Gourmet between twenty-five and thirty thousand dollars each, and they still have three years left on their contracts.”

  Simon whistled. “I know all three of those women have wealthy husbands, but that’s a lot of money to come up with.”

  Skye had been silent as Wally and Simon talked, but now she said, “And don’t forget they each had other reasons for hating Barbie and Ken Addison.”

  “What reasons?”

  “Joy and Hilary are involved in some kinky sex fantasy club, and from what I overheard, it seems that Ken was the one who seduced the group into having those types of parties. He didn’t exactly make them participate, but he played on their fear of being uncool and ‘small town’ if they refused to take part.”

  Wally’s eyebrows shot into his hairline. “How did you find out about this?”

  Simon said, half to himself, “These people are amazing. I would never have guessed.”

  Skye told the story of her discovery, explaining about Frannie and Justin, and why she had had to follow them. While she was owning up, she threw in the fact that Nate Turner and Quentin Kessler had caught her and Frannie, and threatened them.

  “And when were you going to mention this to me?” Wally demanded.

  “I wasn’t.” Skye looked him in the eye, daring him to make a fuss. “There was no reason to ruin peoples’ reputations unless it turned out to be relevant to the murder. Since it now seems relevant, I told you.”

  “You shouldn’t have gone to the house alone,” Wally grumbled.

  “Maybe.” Skye shrugged. “At the time, it seemed the right thing to do. I couldn’t let Frannie and Justin go by themselves. It wasn’t a police matter, so I didn’t feel right about involving you, and Simon was busy with a wake. Who did you want me to call? May, Charlie, or—hey, I know, Bunny!”

  Skye waited for Simon to chime in on Wally’s side, but he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut.

  Wally let the matter drop. “How about Lu Ginardi? Weren’t she and Barbie best friends?”

  “That’s the point. Besides the money, Barbie hurt her on a personal level. How would you feel if your best friend cheated you out of thirty thousand dollars?” Skye paused, reflecting on what she knew about Lu. “You know, the more I think about it, the more I think Lu should be our prime suspect. I’ve been o
ut of high school for more than fourteen years, and she still hates me for something that happened when I was a freshman. She’s clearly someone who can hold a grudge for a long, long time. And don’t forget she had an affair with Ken, which might have been her first attempt to get back at Barbie for swindling her.”

  Simon looked surprised at this bit of news, then said, “Still, you can’t rule out the other women.”

  “No, but look how the Addisons were murdered. Lu is by far the strongest of the three women. She was quite an athlete in high school.”

  “Joy and Hilary are no weaklings,” Wally offered. “They both belong to the health club. I see them nearly every morning when I work out.”

  “If only we had a better idea of the time of death,” Skye said. “Between thirty minutes and three hours is such a long period. If we could narrow it down, we might be able to do better with eliminating some alibis.”

  “I’ll go pull the file and see where Joy, Hilary, and Lu claimed to be during that time.” Wally stood and picked up the box of disks. “I’ll give you a call and let you know who was where.”

  Simon and Skye waved him away.

  Skye took a deep breath. “Before I forget, I’ve got something to tell you.”

  Simon eased back into his chair. “Yes?”

  She explained about her close call at the Addisons’ earlier that day, and about the person Justin and Frannie had seen at her cottage the day before, concluding with, “So it looks like I might have made someone uncomfortable.”

  Simon’s left eye gave a single twitch, then not a muscle moved in his face. Finally he said, “You’ll have to be extra careful.”

  She nodded, relieved he had taken the news so well. After a moment she stood and asked, “Want me to make an omelet or something for dinner?”

  “That won’t be necessary.” He came around the desk and put his hand on her waist, guiding her out of the funeral home and toward his house across the street. “I’ve made other arrangements.”

  He unlocked the front door and stepped back so she could enter first. There was a trail of rose petals leading from the foyer into the dining room. The table was set with delicate china, sparkling crystal, and sterling flatware. Candles stood in silver holders on a crisp white linen tablecloth.

  Skye exhaled a long sigh of amazement, then turned, and asked, “When? How? What?”

  “I’m glad you like it.” A laugh rumbled deep in his chest. “Let’s see. When—as soon as I saw how much paperwork you and Wally would have to wade through. How—I called someone I know who’s trying to get a catering company started. And what—a nice romantic dinner for two—”

  She threw her arms around his neck and her lips smothered his last words.

  A few seconds later, a sudden noise from the kitchen caused her to jump. “What was that?” Skye’s heart was pounding. She wasn’t sure if it was from passion or fright.

  “The dishwasher shutting off. The caterers must have put a load in just before they left.”

  Skye produced a faint smile. “Phew. I am definitely wound up too tight when an appliance scares me.” Something flitted near the edge of her memory, and she frowned, trying to focus in on the thought, but Simon’s hands burrowing under her sweater distracted her.

  He reclaimed her lips and, after that, his slow, drugging kisses drove all other thoughts from her mind.

  CHAPTER 22

  But there is no joy in Mudville—mighty Casey has struck out.

  —E. L. Thayer

  The next morning Skye snuggled against Simon’s side, tracing patterns with her fingertips on his bare chest as they both slowly came awake. Abruptly, she sat up and swung her legs off the bed. “Oh, shoot! I forgot about my car. It’s been sitting in the funeral home parking lot all night. People will talk.”

  “It’s taken care of.” He pulled her back to his side and smoothed the hair from her eyes. “I got up last night after you fell asleep, and put it in the funeral home’s garage. The hearse spent the night outside.”

  “Ah.” She relaxed back in his arms, enjoying his smooth skin and firm muscles, only to pop up again a few minutes later. “Wally.”

  Simon swore, and this time he sat up, too. “You certainly know how to ruin a moment.”

  “Oh, I didn’t mean …” Skye trailed off, realizing that calling out one man’s name in another man’s bed was tacky, to say the least. She hurried to explain. “It’s just that I remembered that Wal … ah, Chief Boyd said he’d call me about the suspects’ alibis.”

  “So?” Simon’s back was rigid as he got up and walked into the adjoining bathroom. “There’s nothing you could have done about it last night.”

  “That’s not the point.” She followed him and watched as he adjusted the shower. His stance emphasized the strength of his thighs and the slimness of his hips. He was truly a sexy-looking man, especially naked. “What if he kept calling when he couldn’t reach me? After what happened yesterday, he’d be worried.” Skye thought, Or know I spent the night with you.

  As if reading her mind, Simon said, “We’re all adults. Don’t you think he’d figure out you were probably with me?”

  “Yeah.” Her face grew warm. Skye was far from comfortable with anyone, especially Wally, knowing that she and Simon were sleeping together. “I guess I’m being silly, but …”

  “I understand. Small towns are awkward that way.” Simon took her hand and tugged her after him into the shower. “Let’s pretend we’re someplace where no one knows us.”

  Skye allowed herself to be drawn under the pleasantly hot water, and as Simon started to soap her back she said, “Someplace with no phones, no jobs, and no murder.”

  It was getting close to ten when Skye finally retrieved her car from the funeral home garage and drove home. Simon followed in his Lexus. She unlocked her front door and was met by an angry black cat. Although there was plenty of dry food and water, Bingo made it clear that nearly twenty-four hours without any Fancy Feast was unacceptable.

  Simon tried to pet the furious feline while Skye cleaned his litter, but the cat hissed, backing away with narrowed eyes. “I think Bingo knows it’s my fault you weren’t home last night to attend to his needs.”

  Skye glanced at her pet, whose tail was fluffed to twice its normal size, and said, “True. And he’s not in a forgiving mood.”

  “He’ll get over it once he’s eaten.”

  Skye raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment. Simon had obviously never been on the receiving end of a cat snit before. Skye went into the kitchen, saying over her shoulder, “Would you mind feeding him while I check my messages?”

  “Not at all.” Simon opened a cupboard and took out a small can with a salmon-colored label. “Should I give him the whole thing?”

  Skye nodded distractedly. The light on her answering machine was flashing rapidly; she’d had several calls, all from Wally.

  His final message took up most of the remaining tape: “It’s almost midnight. Quirk said he saw your car at the funeral home a few minutes ago, so I’m guessing you’re safe—at least from the murderer. Here’s what I have regarding the suspects’ alibis: Hilary was alone from seven-thirty to nine-thirty, but then with a neighbor having coffee for the next hour. Joy was seen at the grocery store at nine-fifteen and her cash register receipt shows she checked out at two minutes after ten. But like Hilary, she has no one to vouch for her during the two hours before nine-fifteen. Lu, on the other hand, was on the telephone with an insurance agent from about eight-forty to nearly nine-thirty, but she has no alibi for the hour or so right before the bodies were discovered.”

  Skye grabbed a legal pad and replayed the message, taking careful notes of the times. When she was finished, she told Simon, “If we knew exactly when the Addisons died, we could probably name the killer with this information.”

  “Time of death is hard for the medical examiner to pin down, unless there’s a witness or the victim’s watch is smashed or something.”

  “It seems like fo
r every piece of information we get, we can’t figure out two others.” Skye sighed.

  “Let’s go somewhere for brunch. It’ll take your mind off the murders for a while.”

  “Might as well,” Skye agreed. “Right now I can’t think of what else to do to find out who killed the Addisons.”

  “I’ve got to do laundry,” Skye said over her shoulder as she and Simon walked into her cottage. It was a little after noon and they had just gotten back from the restaurant. “Seems like I went through a lot of clothes this week.”

  “I’ll stick around.”

  “To protect me?” Skye shrugged out of her jacket. “Or do you have something else in mind?”

  “How about both?” His golden-hazel eyes took on a luminous glow.

  “Then make yourself comfortable while I get the first load started.”

  Simon had put on a Tony Bennett CD and was sitting on the sofa when Skye joined him. A half hour later, as she rested in the cradle of his arms, the washing machine clicked off and she stiffened. That was what she had been trying to remember.

  She turned to face Simon. “I know who did it!”

  “Who? How?” Simon asked, a puzzled expression on his face.

  She jumped off the couch, ran to get her notes on the suspects’ alibis, and thrust it into his hand. “Look. It’s all right here.” She pointed to the suspects and the times they couldn’t account for. “It finally came to me. When I first discovered Ken and Barbie’s bodies, their washing machine was just shutting off. Remember last night when your dishwasher clicked off? That’s what it reminded me of, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on the memory. Just now, when my washing machine shut down, it came to me.”

  “Explain.”

  “Barbie and I have the same model washing machine.” Skye’s eyes sparkled. “My machine takes exactly thirty minutes to complete a wash cycle.”

  “Go on.”

  “If the killer started the machine just as she left, the time of death had to be within half an hour of when I arrived.”