Paintings Can Be Deadly (Sage Gardens Cozy Mystery Book 9)

by Cindy Bell

  David’s face grew pale as he stared at her.

  “He would never believe that. That’s not true.”

  “It is. He wanted me to get proof that you were stealing the paintings because he didn’t want to accuse you without it. That’s what he asked for help with. That’s why I was at the gallery when he was killed. I was waiting for you to sneak in to steal some more paintings.”

  “He died thinking I was stealing from him?” David lowered his eyes and clenched his jaw.

  “David, whatever was between you and Bruce is your business, but I want to find out who killed Bruce and make sure that they are locked up. Bruce wasn’t a bad man.”

  “No he wasn’t.” He looked up at her again. “He was my best friend, and I would never do anything to harm a hair on his head. You can believe what you want about me, but nothing is going to change the fact that when he died, I was at a restaurant.”

  “Alone. Where was your girlfriend?”

  “My what?” His cheeks flushed.

  “Your girlfriend, who you spend all of your money on despite your financial troubles?” She looked into his eyes. “I happen to know about your excursions to expensive jewelry stores and women’s clothing shops. I don’t think you’re the one that’s wearing all of that, so why weren’t you at dinner with your girlfriend?”

  “I don’t have a girlfriend. I have a few women I see off and on, and yes I do like to spoil them. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

  “I guess not, if you don’t mind bankruptcy, but that’s not my question. If you have a few girlfriends that you see why were you alone at the restaurant?”

  “Because I had a meeting that fell through.”

  “A meeting with who?”

  “Bruce was supposed to meet me at a gallery near the restaurant. It’s owned by Robert Plathe. He was interested in selling us some paintings for the gallery. I showed up there and the gallery was closed, no sign of Bruce or Robert. After waiting for them for a while, I headed to the nearby restaurant. I was hungry. Is that a crime?”

  “So you were supposed to meet with Bruce the night he was killed, but didn’t bother to check on him when he didn’t show up?”

  “I thought I had my night and time wrong. Or that Bruce had intentionally told me the wrong night and time. He’d been leaving me out of things like that lately. Now I know why. I can’t believe he thought that I was stealing from him. What a terrible thing to think.” He clenched his jaw again and his hands balled into fists at his sides. “If only he’d just asked me instead of going behind my back, I could have told him the truth.”

  “Who do you think killed him, David? Other than me, obviously. Was he having any difficulty with anyone? Did you notice him arguing with anyone?”

  “No. Nothing like that. Bruce went out of his way to be good to people. He said it was his way of repaying his debt to society. He didn’t just start a new life on the straight and narrow, he wanted to be a good person.” His cheeks flushed again as he looked away from her. “I wish I’d had the chance to learn more from him. I’m sorry I don’t have more to tell you, but I just don’t know anything else. As far as I knew everything was fine with Bruce. I have no idea why he was killed, but I had nothing to do with it.”

  “What about a guy named Lou who runs another gallery?”

  “Lou? He wasn’t too happy about us opening the gallery, but we never heard from him again after that.”

  “His business is losing a lot of money and he is closing his gallery.”

  “Maybe he’d have motive then. I guess.” He shrugged. “I don’t know the man at all. I didn’t do this, Jo, you must believe me?”

  “I don’t know what to believe, David. I think it’s possible that you hired someone to kill Bruce. Then made a spectacle of yourself at a restaurant to ensure that you had an alibi. Is that what happened?” Her gaze pierced into his.

  “No, it’s not. Even if I wanted to hire someone, which I didn’t, I don’t have the money for something like that. You said yourself I have financial problems. I’m a compulsive spender, and I like the attention that women give me when I can spoil them. I’ve been trying to sell my personal things off so I have some cash to spend.”

  “Maybe you suspected that Bruce was on to you about the paintings and you knew that you weren’t going to get to live your lifestyle for much longer. The easy solution would be to murder him, and then you could continue collecting the insurance on the stolen paintings.”

  “Keep quiet.” David scowled as he crossed the short distance between them. “Don’t you ever accuse me again!”

  “Or what?” She refused to move an inch as she stared back at him. “I’m not afraid of you, David. All I want is the truth.”

  “Well, you’re not going to get it from me, because I don’t know it. I wish I did, but I have no idea what happened in the gallery that night. I don’t know why Bruce believed I was stealing from him, but I wasn’t.” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “I have nothing else to say to you. Please, just go.”

  “I’ll go. But if you think of anything that might give me a clue as to what happened to Bruce, you should call me. If you cared about Bruce as much as you say, then you should be interested in his murderer being found.” She pulled out a card with her number and name on it from her purse and scribbled Eddy’s number on the back of it. “If for any reason you can’t reach me, call this number, he’ll be able to get in touch with me.”

  “All right.” He took the card from her and stared down at it. “So, you’re on the straight and narrow now.” He shook his head. “That’s quite a change of pace.”

  “I have a different life now, I am a different person, David.”

  He scrutinized her, then nodded. “I’ll call if I think of anything.”

  As Jo walked away from the house, her mind churned with thoughts of how David might have set up the entire murder. Clearly he had a reason to want to kill Bruce, but his alibi was airtight. She wondered if Robert might be the key. If he was really supposed to meet with Bruce and David, then someone must have canceled the appointment. He might at least have more information to offer. Preoccupied by her thoughts she walked right past her car and continued down the street. It wasn’t until she heard a light laugh and the call of her name that she even recognized how far she’d gone. She was at the intersection of the main road and David’s street. A woman waved to her from a car, then pulled up beside her.

  “Jo, it’s you isn’t it?” She parked her car and stepped out. It took Jo a moment to recognize her, but once she did it was a shock.

  “Leela?” She stared at her as her breath caught in her throat.

  “Jo.” She offered a tight smile. “It’s nice to see you again. Although, I wish it wasn’t because of my husband’s death.”

  “Bruce? I had no idea that you and Bruce were married.” Jo’s eyes widened. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

  “Well, you weren’t exactly invited to the wedding, were you?” She pursed her lips as she studied her. “Maybe if you hadn’t gone to prison, it would have been you instead of me.”

  “Leela, no matter what you think I was never interested in Bruce that way. He loved you and I’m sorry that he’s gone.”

  “Are you really?” She leaned closer to Jo and searched deep into her eyes. “Don’t think I don’t know that the police are looking into you as a suspect.”

  “Leela, you know better than that. I would never hurt Bruce.”

  “Maybe not back then, but now?” She shrugged. “I’m not so sure I know anything about you. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. Even when the cops figure out who killed Bruce it won’t matter. He’s dead, and he’s not coming back.” She fished in her purse for a moment and pulled out a tissue. As she dabbed at her eyes Jo reached out to touch her free hand.

  “I’m so sorry. Bruce asked for my help, and maybe if I had figured things out sooner, I could have saved him.”

  “Have you figured them out now?” She lowered the tissue and sniffled.
“Do you know what happened to my husband?”

  “I’m sorry, I don’t, not yet. But as soon as I figure it out I will let you know.”

  “Maybe you’ll do a better job than the police. You know how it is, they see a record and they couldn’t care less about finding a felon’s killer. They kept talking to me about his past, as if that was the reason that he was dead. But, he was a changed man.”

  “Yes, I understand what you mean. But I’m not going to let that happen to Bruce. I will make sure that his murderer sees justice.”

  “I hope that you can.” She sighed and wiped at her eyes again. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I’ve been trying to work up the nerve to talk to you. Every time you got out of the car I considered stopping you, but I chickened out.”

  “You’ve been following me?”

  “Once I heard that you were a suspect, I had to see you again. And look at you, you’re just as beautiful as you always were.”

  “Leela, you should have come to me. Why didn’t you?”

  “I didn’t know what you’d think of me after all of these years. We weren’t exactly friends back then. I know you didn’t kill Bruce, Jo. He talked about you all the time. He admired your work so much.”

  “I don’t do that kind of work anymore, and I’m not proud of what I did.”

  “Maybe not, but he still admired you.” She frowned and lowered her voice. “I think he was in love with you, Jo.”

  “Leela, that’s not true. Bruce only ever loved you.”

  “It seemed that way, but he got a special look in his eyes when he talked about you. I guess that’s why I was always so jealous of you. All of it seems so silly now. He’s gone.”

  “There was no reason for you to be jealous. All I ever wanted from Bruce was his friendship. Now, I’m going to give him mine, and make sure that his murder is solved.”

  “Good. You do that, Jo. If anyone can I’m sure it’s you.” She patted her arm. “Keep me up to date.” She handed her a card from her purse with her name and phone number printed on it. Jo took it and tucked it into her wallet.

  “I will. Try to stay strong, Leela.”

  “I’ll try.”

  Jo walked back to her car with a heavy heart. It was impossible to ignore the heartbreak in Leela’s eyes. They had been together for so long, and now he was gone. She got into her car with renewed determination to hunt down whoever it was that killed Bruce.

  Chapter 11

  When Eddy and Samantha returned to Samantha’s villa, Eddy noticed right away that Jo wasn’t there.

  “I knew it, I knew she wouldn’t stay put.”

  “Relax Eddy. I’m sure she’s fine. I’ll text her. And by the way if it were you in her situation you wouldn’t be staying put either. Would you?” She eyed him for a moment then looked down at her phone so that she could text Jo.

  “No, I wouldn’t. But that’s not the point.”

  “I think it is. She’s a bit old to parent, Eddy. If she wants to look into things for herself she has every right to. If she wants to go for a walk alone at two in the morning and howl at the moon she has every right to.”

  “That’s ridiculous. Do you know how much crime is committed between the hours of one and three in the morning? You’d be safer jumping into shark-infested waters.” Eddy scoffed.

  “I’ve taken walks at two in the morning plenty of times and I’ve never come to any harm because of it.”

  “Why didn’t you just ask me to walk with you?”

  “Maybe next time I will.” She smiled as she looked into his eyes. “But only if you’re going to howl at the moon with me.”

  “I could use a good howl.” He nodded. “Maybe we should take another look at David.”

  “With David having an alibi I didn’t see much reason to look into him, but I can.”

  “Don’t bother.” Jo closed the door behind her. “He didn’t do it.”

  “How do you know?” Eddy turned to look at her.

  “Because I just spent some time with him, and as much as I hate to admit it, I’m convinced that he didn’t do it. At least, not with his own hand.”

  “You went to see him alone?” Eddy shook his head. “That was a bad idea.”

  “I found out something interesting.” She raised an eyebrow. “I dare you to tell me it was a bad idea after I tell you this.”

  “What is it?”

  “Apparently, on the night of the murder David was supposed to meet with Bruce and another gallery owner, Robert. He thought the meeting was at Robert’s gallery, but no one showed up. So he treated himself to dinner.”

  “So, why is that interesting?” Eddy shrugged.

  “Because on the night of the murder, it’s possible that Robert was at the gallery with Bruce. Maybe he saw something, or heard something that might help us.”

  “Or maybe he’s the reason that Bruce didn’t show up for the meeting. He might have done it. I’d like to have an idea about the man before I head off to talk to him,” Eddy said.

  “Sure, I’ll look into him now. Robert Plathe, right?” Samantha began typing.

  “Yes. See what you can dig up.” Jo sat down in a chair not far from Samantha. “I also ran into Bruce’s wife, Leela.”

  “Oh? How did you run into her?” Eddy sat down on the couch.

  “Actually, she was following me. I didn’t realize Bruce was married. Leela was his girlfriend back when we worked together.”

  “Interesting.” Eddy pursed his lips. “Any chance she had a score to settle with her husband?”

  “I don’t think so. She seemed pretty broken up about everything.”

  “What about money?” Samantha looked up from the computer. “Did she stand to benefit from his death?”

  “I guess we’ll have to ask Walt about that.” Jo frowned. “I’d hate to think that she did it, but you’re right the spouse is always a suspect.”

  “I’ll check in with Walt and see if he can find any information about who benefits from Bruce’s death.” Eddy began to type out a text. “Can you tell us what you remember about Leela?”

  “She was a spitfire. She usually found the jobs for Bruce and sometimes she participated in them. Most of the time it was just Bruce. She could be ruthless when it came to making sure that Bruce didn’t get caught.”

  “Ruthless?” Eddy set his phone down.

  “I mean in a protective way. She was even more than a little harsh to me, because she saw me as a threat. Bruce wasn’t shy about praising me, and I think it bothered her. I know it bothered her. I never meant to do anything to come between them.”

  “Well, they were still together, right?” Samantha glanced over her shoulder. “So it doesn’t seem like anything came between them.”

  “Unless.” Eddy frowned.

  “Unless what?” Jo met his eyes.

  “Unless, Bruce’s death had nothing to do with the paintings being stolen, and everything to do with you.”

  “Me? What do you mean?”

  “Well, Bruce was killed right after you agreed to help him. Maybe Leela was more jealous than you thought. She heard that Bruce was working with you again, and decided to kill him before he could betray her. People have killed for far less.”

  Jo’s cheeks flushed. “No, that’s not possible.”

  “Jo, just because you don’t want it to be true, doesn’t mean that it isn’t. I think you need to consider Leela a suspect until we can clear her.”

  “I guess we should.” She stared down at her hands and shook her head. “That would mean it’s my fault. Anyway, I never should have agreed to help Bruce.”

  “We don’t know that, Jo, and no matter what none of this is your fault.” Samantha turned away from the computer for a moment. “Here, I found something. Robert graduated from an art school four years ago, but before that I don’t see a lot of information about him. I can’t find any record of him attending high school in any nearby areas.”

  “Maybe he moved from a different state,” Eddy suggested.<
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  “Maybe. He’s definitely careful about what he shares on social media. Even now that I’ve found his accounts there isn’t much on them to give me an idea of his past.”

  “He could just be a private person. People are much more careful on social media these days.”

  “I wonder if he has a past, just like Bruce, David, and you. Maybe that’s why he keeps a low profile.”

  “It’s possible. I don’t see any records of arrests, but Chris will be able to look into that better than me. Jo, you’ve never heard his name before?” Eddy asked.

  “Never.” Jo shook her head. “Maybe he used a different name back then, though.”

  “Let’s keep looking.” Eddy glanced at his phone. “Walt just texted me to let me know there was a sizable life insurance policy on Bruce. Leela is the only named beneficiary.”

  “Sounds like we have a new prime suspect.” Samantha smiled. Then her smile faded. “Wait a minute, I just got a hit on the list I searched before of known associates of Bruce’s. This guy looks like he could be a candidate for the crime. He and Bruce were involved in a few thefts together about thirty years ago.”

  “Who is it?” Jo frowned. “That’s around the time that I worked with Bruce.”

  “His name is Trent Dodge.” She glanced over her shoulder at Jo. “Have you heard of him?”

  “Are you sure that’s right?” Jo’s hands curled tight around the back of Samantha’s chair. “I thought he was in prison.”

  “Yes. He was released last week.”

  “That’s him, that’s who did it.” She took a step back from the chair as the face of a man she hadn’t thought about in years flashed on the screen. He didn’t look much older. His hair was gray around the edges and his eyes were a little more hooded, but he still had that same wicked smirk.

  “How do you know?” Samantha stood up from the chair. “Have you met him?”

  “Yes, I have. Bruce got him sent to prison. Bruce made a deal with the police. Dodge did the time and rumor is that Bruce never gave him a dime from their profits.”