Sarah Woods Mystery Series (Volume 3)

by Jennifer L. Jennings

  She leaned over, whispered something in her daughter’s ear and the little girl skipped away.

  Amy joined me outside on the farmer’s porch, and made sure to close the door tightly behind her. “What are you doing here?” she whispered.

  “I have a few more questions, if you don’t mind.”

  She gave me a tense look that said, yes, she did mind. “Can’t we do this at my office tomorrow?”

  I spread my arms wide. “Well, I’m here now.”

  She motioned for me to follow her to a screened gazebo to the left of the house.

  She turned to me and said, “What is so important that you needed to come to my home?”

  “You lied to me,” I said.

  She made a face. “Excuse me?”

  “You and Gregory. How long have you been seeing each other?”

  She gave me a long, hard look. Her eyes began to water. “How did you find out? Did Gregory tell you?”

  “No. His friend Charlie mentioned that Gregory was seeing a hypnotherapist.”

  She slowly breathed in and out as her shoulders began to tremble. “Please don’t tell my husband.”

  An odd request. She should have been more worried about the implications of murder over adultery. “When did the affair start?” I asked, keeping my voice low.

  She glanced back at the house nervously. When she turned back to face me, there was panic in her eyes. “After the funeral.”

  “You expect me to believe that?”

  “The way Melanie used to talk about him, I really didn’t think I was going to like him. But at the funeral he was really sweet. He gave me his email address and said he’d like to keep in touch.”

  “Does he know your married?”

  “No.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at her. “This doesn’t make any sense. I thought Melanie was your friend? Why would you get involved with your dead friend’s husband so soon after her death?”

  “It’s not like I planned on it. These things just happen.”

  “Bullshit,” I said. “There’s more to the story. Why don’t you just level with me?”

  She leaned closer and lowered her voice. “Remember what I told you the other day about Gregory’s unfortunate problem?”

  “You mean his penis size?”

  She nodded. “Well, I like small.”

  “What?”

  “My husband is too big. Most women think bigger is better, but not me. It hurts like hell; for me, the smaller the better.”

  I shook my head in disbelief, yet I was inclined to believe her. It was too bizarre to be a lie. Besides, Asian women, or petite women of any nationality, have smaller “anatomy,” so it made perfect sense that she’d prefer a smaller penis.

  “Are you in love with Gregory?” I asked.

  She glanced toward her house again. “I really need to get back inside or John will wonder what’s going on.”

  “He has no idea you’re involved with another man?”

  “No, and I’d like to keep it that way. But now he’s going to ask questions. I really wish you hadn’t come here tonight.”

  “I apologize for interrupting your family time, but I have a problem with people who lie to my face.”

  “Just because I didn’t tell you about me and Gregory, doesn’t mean I lied.” Something changed in her expression. “Wait a minute. I know why you came here. You think I poisoned Melanie, don’t you?”

  I shrugged. Since she brought it up, I figured I might as well tell her my theory. “Did you and Gregory plan the whole thing? To kill Melanie and frame Jasmine?”

  “You can’t be serious.”

  “Maybe Gregory promised you a cut of the life insurance money.”

  She pursed her lips but said nothing for a few seconds. Then finally, she sighed. “I know how this might look. Yes, I was at the office when Melanie died and yes, I’m screwing her husband. I don’t blame you for thinking what you’re thinking, but I swear I didn’t kill her. So, what will it take to get you off my back?”

  Was she offering me a bribe? “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “What do I have to do to prove my innocence?”

  I wondered if this was a trick question. Was she trying to throw me off balance by cooperating? “First of all, you can tell me the name of your client.”

  “Why?”

  “I need to confirm that you never stepped out of your office during the session on the night of April third.”

  “If I tell you his name, will you promise to leave me alone?”

  “That depends on what your client tells me.”

  She paused. “His name is Frank Dobbs. He lives in Hampton. But you can’t tell him I gave you his name.”

  I made note of it. “Do you have his number?”

  “Of course I have his number, but I’m sure you can find it. That is part of your job, isn’t it? Now, if you’ll excuse me, my family is waiting.” She turned heel and trudged back to the house without saying another word.

  When I got back in the car, Carter said, “How’d it go?”

  “Well, she admitted to the affair, but nothing else. She gave me her client’s name. Frank Dobbs.”

  “Good work,” he said. “I’ll contact him as soon as possible.”

  “Amy’s more worried about her husband finding out about her affair than anything else. Big John probably has no idea his wife prefers party franks.”

  Carter raised an eyebrow. “Party franks?”

  “Bad joke,” I said. “Forget I said it.”

  Chapter 24

  When Carter dropped me off at home, it was almost 9:00pm. There was a message from Candice. She wanted to know how things were going with the investigation.

  When I returned her call, I said, “Sorry it’s so late. We’ve had a busy day.”

  “What happened?” she asked.

  “Gregory is having an affair with Amy Chang.”

  “What? Are you sure? Isn’t she married with kids?”

  “Yeah. She claims the affair started after your mother’s funeral. According to Gregory’s emails, I tend to believe it’s true.”

  “How did you read his emails?”

  “Carter has his ways,” I said. She didn’t need to know that Carter broke into Gregory’s house to get that information.

  “So, what does this mean?” Candice’s tone was growing more agitated. “Did Gregory and Amy kill my mom so they could be together?”

  “Well, it’s a theory. But I have no proof that Gregory and Amy had any contact before your mother’s death.”

  “So what do we do now?”

  “Well, Carter is going to contact Amy’s client, the one who was there on the night of April third. If he tells Carter that Amy left the room at some point during their session, then she would have had the opportunity to go to your mom’s office and switch the joint but, even so, I’m not sure how we can prove that.”

  “I can’t believe Amy would have an affair with Gregory. She has a gorgeous husband and adorable kids. I’ve seen the pictures in her office. Why would she risk losing her family to be with Gregory? Makes no sense.”

  I was about to tell her the reason, but decided it wasn’t important. The size of Gregory’s penis was a topic I’d rather not discuss anymore.

  “Actually, Candice, there’s something you can do to help.”

  “Sure, anything.”

  “Greta Stone won’t return my calls. I was thinking of showing up at her office, to see if Melanie ever gave her the first draft of the manuscript. But, maybe you’ll have better luck. Since you’re Melanie’s daughter, she’d be more inclined to give you a copy if she has it.”

  “Okay, I’ll call her first thing in the morning,” she said, “but, I’m pretty sure Mom never completed the first draft. She would have told me.”

  “Either way, it’s worth a shot.”

  As soon as I ended the call with Candice, I poured myself a glass of wine and reclined on the sofa. I needed an hour to decomp
ress with some mindless TV. Just as soon as I grabbed the remote, however, my cell phone chirped.

  It was Carter. “Hey, Sarah,” he said. “I just talked to Frank Dobbs. He told me that he doesn’t remember Amy leaving the room during their session on the night of April third.”

  “Do you think he’s telling the truth?”

  “I don’t know,” he said. “He could be lying for her. Or maybe he doesn’t remember correctly.”

  “If Amy had him in a deep hypnotic trance, she could have left the room for a short period of time,” I said. “He wouldn’t remember it when he woke up.”

  Carter made a scoffing sound. “Bottom line is, Amy has an alibi. In fact, everyone we’ve talked to so far has an alibi.”

  “Great,” I said with a sigh. “We’re right back to square one and it all comes back to Jasmine. I think it’s time we pay her another visit tomorrow.”

  “I was thinking the same thing,” he said. “I’ll pick you up around ten.”

  After talking to Carter, I wasn’t in the mood for TV anymore. I finished my glass of wine and turned on my laptop.

  After spending so much effort trying to prove that Gregory was guilty of something, I’d neglected to delve further into Jasmine’s personal life. Had I overlooked some important details?

  I knew that Jasmine had a clean record before the incident with Melanie - but what about Raul and Derek?

  I decided to do background checks on both of them.

  Raul had no criminal record but his brother Derek was a different story. According to my online resources, Derek Thompson had been arrested twice. The first arrest was in 2012 for dealing narcotics. The other arrest was in 2013, for assault. No jail time, just a fine and six months of probation. I was starting to wonder what other trouble he might have been into.

  And then it came to me. Of course. He had to be selling pot. The marijuana plants were still there for Raul’s use. I imagined that Derek helped himself to the leftovers. Maybe he took over Jasmine’s clients.

  But even if that were true, I could not see how it pertained to Melanie’s death.

  By ten o’clock, I was utterly exhausted. I shut off my laptop and slipped under the covers. I was out instantly.

  Chapter 25

  Friday, June 27

  When Carter picked me up at ten the next morning, I explained to him what I had found out about Derek Thompson. “He has a criminal record.”

  “Have you called Raul and talked to him about it?” he asked.

  “No. I figured I’d wait until after we talk to Jasmine.”

  After getting through security at the prison, we were escorted to the same visiting area as before. When the guard led Jasmine into the private room, the first thing I noticed was the bruise on her face.

  She sat down and pointed to her left cheek. “I had an accident,” she said, dryly.

  “I can see that,” I said. “How did it happen?”

  “I’d rather not talk about it.”

  I could tell there was a difference in her demeanor from just a few days ago. Her eyes were unfocused, blinking slowly as if she were a zombie. She seemed broken. Must be hell but I wasn’t sure if I felt sorry for her. I wasn’t sure about anything.

  “We have some bad news,” I finally said.

  She blinked again but said nothing.

  I continued, “You neglected to tell us a few important details last time we were here. You wanna tell us about the loan you asked Melanie for?”

  Jasmine looked up at me and swallowed. “How did you find out about that?”

  “That doesn’t matter. What matters is that I’m starting to think you actually poisoned Melanie because she wouldn’t help you. I guess I can understand. You were desperate. All you needed was that fifty grand so you could afford the cancer treatment to save your husband’s life.”

  Jasmine shook her head. “No. You don’t understand. I wasn’t upset. Melanie explained why she couldn’t lend me the money.”

  I paused. “She told you she was broke?”

  “You think I’d kill her just because she didn’t give me a loan? You must really think I’m evil.”

  “Maybe you are,” I said. “Because the fact is, we can’t find any other person who went to Melanie’s office after you left. So if you didn’t poison the joint, who did?”

  Jasmine buried her face in her hands. “I already told you, I don’t know.”

  “I have an idea, but right now I don’t have all the pieces,” I said, sliding a sheet of paper across the table toward her. “Read it.”

  She wiped her eyes and looked at it. “What’s this?”

  “A rap sheet on Derek Thompson. Did you know he was arrested twice in the past two years? Drugs and assault.”

  “What?” she said. “That can’t be right.”

  “Don’t play dumb. You must have known about Derek’s arrests. He’d been living with you for several years.”

  Jasmine took a few minutes to read the sheet. “Raul would have told me if his brother ever got arrested. He tells me everything.”

  “Maybe Raul didn’t know, either.”

  After a long silence, Carter turned his attention to Jasmine and asked, “Did Derek ever help you make joints for Melanie or any of the other friends you sold joints to?”

  She shook her head. “No. I mean, he’d sometimes make the joints for Raul, but not for my clients. I did that all myself.”

  “But it’s possible that he could have tampered with Melanie’s joint.”

  Jasmine said nothing for a while as she studied her hands in her lap. Finally she looked up and said, “Why would Derek want to kill a woman he never met? It doesn’t make sense.”

  “Maybe Gregory Frazier approached Derek with a proposition,” I said. “Think about it. Gregory could have promised him money in exchange for poisoning his wife’s dope.”

  “No way,” Jasmine said. “Derek would never do that to me. He’d never let me take the fall, besides, if he was paid off, where’s the money at?”

  Another idea shot into my brain like a lightening bolt. “What if Derek didn’t get cash, but something just as valuable?”

  “Like what?”

  “Like an anonymous donation.”

  Jasmine stared at me, mouth open. “What?”

  “I’ve been thinking how odd it is that Raul just happened to receive this donation out of the blue after you got arrested. Think about it. How did that happen?”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I just figured someone felt sorry for us.”

  “A random act of kindness? Hmm, maybe. But not likely. I think there’s another explanation.” I turned to Carter. “How difficult will it be to find the person’s identity?”

  “We can contact Raul’s doctor. Maybe he can point us in the right direction.”

  Jasmine remained quiet, but I could tell something was wrong. She was visibly shaking. Her eyes were fixated on the wall behind me.

  “Are you feeling okay?” I asked her.

  She didn’t respond so I waved a hand in front of her and repeated myself. “Jasmine, are you okay?”

  Her eyes focused on me and that’s when I sensed her fear. Something must have occurred to her, and she was afraid to tell us.

  “What’s going on Jasmine?” I asked her. “If you want to get out of here, you need to help us.”

  She licked her lips. “Derek was at our apartment that night before I went to Melanie’s office. I left my purse on the kitchen table, just for a few minutes, while I was in the bedroom with Raul. He’d had a bad day and he couldn’t get out of bed. I wanted to make sure he was drinking enough fluids.”

  “Melanie’s joint was in your purse?”

  Jasmine nodded. “Yes. Maybe Derek switched it with the poisoned one.”

  Carter looked at me and said, “Let’s head over to their apartment right now. If we’re lucky, Derek will be there.”

  The guard came in to collect Jasmine. She wiped her tear-streaked face, got to her feet, and turned to me
one last time. “Please tell Candice I’m so sorry for everything.”

  And, without another word, she left the room with the guard.

  Chapter 26

  When we got to the apartment, Raul answered the door in his pajamas.

  “Sorry to keep bothering you,” I said to him, “but can we come in?”

  Raul must have sensed something was off. He just stared at us for a few seconds, as if trying to assess the situation. “What’s going on? Did you find the real killer?”

  “That’s what we need to talk to you about,” I said. “Is your brother home?”

  “He just went out to grab us some lunch. He should be back in a few minutes, why?”

  “May we come inside and wait for him?”

  Reluctantly, Raul opened the door.

  “What do you want to talk to Derek about?” he asked. “He has nothing to do with your case.”

  “Maybe he does,” Carter said. “In fact, we think Derek has been lying to you for some time.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Carter showed him the rap sheet on Derek. “Do you know about his arrests?”

  Raul glanced at it. “Yeah, I know about that. So what? He’s had some bad luck. Doesn’t make him a bad person.”

  “Bad luck?” Carter said. “If it wasn’t a big deal, then why didn’t you tell your wife?”

  Raul stood there, speechless. Finally, he said, “If Jasmine knew about my brother, she would have kicked him out of the house. I didn’t tell her because I thought Derek needed a chance to get his life together. Besides, he’s been helping me get through the chemo. I don’t know what I’d do without him.”

  “Look,” I said to him. “We know how close you and Derek are. He’d do anything for you, wouldn’t he?”

  Raul took a step back and looked at me like an enemy. “What are you getting at?”

  I raised my hands defensively. “All I’m saying is, if there was a way that Derek could help save your life, he’d do it, right? Even if it meant taking another person’s life.”