She put a hand to her cheek as she thought back. “Near the end of summer. The end of March. Over three months ago.”
Summer? Oh, yeah. They were south of the equator.
“Okay.” Miranda gestured to the letters. “Why are you so sure these came from your husband?”
“The last time Rico was here—in March—he did not care for some of the changes I had instituted at the resort. I am expanding the spa and adding more amenities. We argued. He warned me the place still belonged to him and I had better check with him before I did anything else.” She inhaled deeply. “And so I started divorce proceedings. He knows I will be awarded the resort property.”
So she ran it, but didn’t own it yet.
“I’m sorry,” Parker murmured again.
“The only reason I did not do it sooner was for the girls. Didi—that’s my eldest—thinks the breakup was my fault. I did not pay enough attention to him, she tells me. She is just looking for someone to blame. Rico was the restless one. He was bored running the resort. And with me. I was getting too old for his tastes, apparently. After he began the modeling company I discovered he was sleeping with several of his clients. That was really what caused the separation.”
Parker touched her arm in sympathy. “Oh, Tia.”
Miranda had to keep from grinding her teeth. She knew men who were creeps like that. She’d been married to one, though he’d been a creep of a different sort. But Parker’s long ago warning rang in her head. Objectivity.
“We’ll have to prove your husband is the one who sent these letters,” Miranda said. “But if he is, we’ll do all we can to see he gets what he deserves.”
She caught the look of pride in Parker’s eyes, despite his sorrow for his wife’s old friend.
“Thank you, Miranda. I feel so much better now that you both are here.”
Miranda let go of the woman’s hands and gave Parker a what-now? look. He was scrutinizing the letters, holding them gingerly. What she wouldn’t give for some gelatin fingerprint lifters and a lab.
“May we keep these, Tia?” he asked.
“Of course. Whatever you need.”
Parker took out a piece of latex—he always carried some in his pocket—folded the letters carefully and slipped them into his coat pocket. “I hate to ask, Tia. But do you have anything of Rico’s he left behind?”
Like something with some fingerprints on it, Miranda thought.
“No. He took everything when he left last time.” She put a hand to her face as if trying to erase the memory. “Wait. There is something. He left a razor here and never asked for it. I should have thrown it out but I kept it in a drawer. Silly, I know.”
“Not at all.”
Sounded like she was still in love with the guy. Something else Miranda could relate to.
“The razor would be perfect,” Parker said.
“It is at the house. I will get it for you.” Tia straightened her shoulders as if putting on a cloak of courage and turned into resort manager mode. “Meanwhile, I am sure you will want to freshen up after the long drive. I have your cottage ready.”
They were staying here? In a cottage? On the other hand, where else would they stay? Pitch a tent on the side of a mountain? Miranda hadn’t noticed any camping supplies in the rental.
“Let’s get you settled.”
Just as Tia got to her feet again, a string of angry Portuguese echoed out in the hall and a young woman burst into the room.
“Oh,” she said stopping short when she spotted Parker and Miranda. “I did not know you had people in here, mother.”
So this was one of the daughters.
The young woman looked to be in her early twenty’s, about the age of Parker’s daughter, Gen. She was pencil thin and her pretty face had a downright exotic look. Long dark blond curls with tawny red highlights, long lashes framing large, intense dark eyes like her mother’s. Her lips were thick and rosy and she wore a shimmering peach pants suit with lots of jewelry in a snappy yet elegant style. She looked like she’d be right at home sashaying down one of her father’s runways in it.
“Ana has left her post out front,” the daughter reported.
Tia dismissed the remark. “She is having lunch. Didi,” she continued, her accent now warm with motherly pride. “This is Wade Parker and his new bride Miranda. You remember him, don’t you?”
Parker extended a hand to the young woman. “You must have been three when I saw you last. My, how you’ve grown.”
One corner of her mouth turned up in a reluctant smile. “I am sorry. I do not remember that far back.”
Parker’s own warmth clashed against her coldness. “I wouldn’t expect you to.”
“Didi,” Tia said, stiffening with annoyance. “Wade and Miranda are private investigators.”
Didi’s big dark eyes grew even bigger. “Detectives? You hired detectives to prove my father sent you those horrid letters?”
“We been hired to find out the truth, Didi,” Parker told her with a firm fatherly air.
Eyes flaming now, Didi whirled on her mother. “I told you it was Geninho who sent those letters.”
“We do not know that, Didi.”
“Who’s Geninho?” Miranda asked.
“The groundskeeper,” Tia explained. “I fired him over a month ago.”
“He said he would get even with you when he left,” Didi insisted. “He was lazy and mean. I know he is behind those threats. And have I not told you not to worry? He is too stupid to carry them out.”
Not as passionate about her mother’s safety, Miranda noted.
Parker gave the daughter the kind of compassionate smile he used when humoring Gen. “It’s too early to draw any conclusions, Didi. Why don’t you let us do our work and see what we come up with?”
Didi folded her arms and eyed Parker cautiously.
Tia cleared her throat. “Wade is correct. We must not jump to conclusions.”
Although Miranda was pretty sure their new client hadn’t changed her mind about her husband.
“How many people know about these letters?” Miranda asked.
“I have only told Didi. She has kept my confidence, have you not?”
“Of course I have, mother.”
“Yes. Of course, you have.” Tia inhaled deeply as if dismissing the matter. “Now we must see to our new guests. Didi, would you please show Wade and Miranda to their casinha?”
Miranda was thinking the girl looked like she’d like to lead them off the side of a mountain when suddenly wild barking rang out from the hall.
The sound of running paws joined it and after another minute a dog appeared in the office doorway. A perky Shepherd mix with ears alert and standing straight up.
“Woof,” it said.
Tia turned from annoyed mother to annoyed manager. “Lobo, what are you doing in here? Lobo is something of a mascot here at Esquecer,” she explained. “A stray from the town who visits us from time to time. But he is not allowed inside.” She told him something in Portuguese.
“Woof,” he said again, probably understanding more of what she’d said than Miranda had.
Tia gave her and Parker an embarrassed smile. “I apologize. He’s usually so obedient. He’s a very intelligent animal.” She stepped toward the door but the dog turned and disappeared. “Where are you going?”
With a groan of disgust, she hurried out into the corridor and everyone followed.
When they reached the grand entrance where the reception desk stood the dog turned and barked again. The front door was ajar and there was something lying near it. He seemed to want them to look at it.
It was something long and thin. A tree limb? Lobo picked it up in his mouth and carried it over to them, doggie nails tapping against the polished floor.
He dropped it in front of them, tail wagging as if he expected a reward.
“Meu Deus!” Tia was starting to get seriously angry with the animal. “Get that nasty stick out of here. You know better, Lobo.”
The dog tilted its head as if he wondered why she didn’t get it.
Didi heaved a sigh. “I’ll get rid of it.” She extended a hand.
“Wait,” Parker said.
Miranda crouched down to peer at Lobo’s prize while Parker held the dog back. The grayish mass was about three feet long, slender, and had rough knots at the end. She’d seen something like that back in the lab at the Agency. It gave off an odd odor. A familiar odor.
Slowly she looked up at Parker and knew he saw what it was, too.
He turned to their new client distress in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Tia. It looks as if Lobo has brought us a bone. And it appears to be human.”
Didi shrieked and Tia clutched her breast with both hands. They both let out a string of Portuguese Miranda couldn’t understand.
“What do you mean, Wade?” Tia said at last. “How could that be a human bone?”
Miranda rose from her squatting position. “Looks like somebody’s tibia to me.”
“Tibia? But of course, it cannot be.” Tia looked as if she might faint again.
Parker bent down to address the animal. “Lobo. Show us where you found that.” He pointed at the bone.
The dog looked at the bone, then back at Parker. After only a moment’s hesitation, he turned and scampered out the front door.
They all took off after the creature and as they hurried down the front steps of the office, Miranda had a feeling if Lobo was as intelligent as Tia claimed, they were in for something really unpleasant.
Chapter Five
If Miranda had known she’d be going mountain climbing, she would have brought hiking gear. Okay, maybe it wasn’t that bad. She was in good shape, after all. And Parker was ninety-eight percent healed from his injuries during their overseas case.
Still, trekking up the steep grassy hills through semi-rough terrain wasn’t a picnic. The first leg hadn’t been so bad. The dog had led them down a winding dirt trail with maybe a thirty degree incline. Then he veered off into the woods.
They all followed him under low hanging fir branches, huffing and puffing, through tall grass and bracken, almost losing him a couple of times.
They must have climbed three or four miles when Miranda heard him bark at the top of a rise. Were they there yet? She hoped this hadn’t been a wild hound chase.
Shading her eyes with one hand she squinted up ahead where the dog was prancing on the ground. Her heart sank. “I don’t see anything.”
“I don’t either.” Parker sounded irritated beside her, but dutifully he kept plodding on until they reached a spot under a circle of trees.
Birds sang in the cool green branches and the fresh air was full of the smell of wild vegetation. But as she got closer, Miranda caught the faint scent of something else.
An odor she knew.
She reached the spot where the dog was pointing with his nose and whining. She peered down at the grass. Nothing. And then she saw what he was indicating.
Her stomach clenched hard.
She’d never seen one this far gone in real life but she’d seen plenty of pictures and film in her studies. What had once been attached to the dusty graying mass had stained the ground—bodily fluids that must have been oozing for some time. Most of the odor was gone but the nasty last of it still hung in the air.
“Lobo, why have you taken us here?” Tia said, annoyed and out of breath as she came up the hill.
Didi agreed. “Bad dog, Lobo. You have wasted our time with your silly game.”
Miranda couldn’t blame them for the foul mood. Hiking these mountains in those high heels must have been a load of fun for these ladies.
But Parker had seen what she had. His voice was stern as he held out an arm barring their movement. “Tia, Didi, you’ll both want to keep your distance.”
“Why? There is nothing here.” Didi peered over the clump of grass beyond Parker’s reach. From the look on her face she must have gotten a whiff, too. “Querido Deus.”
Too late.
Parker stared down at what was left of the corpse and felt the same gut punch of dismay and emptiness he always felt upon discovery of a body. Miranda had been right about the tibia. Half buried under the ferns and grass and wild flowers lay a skeleton. It was missing the leg bone.
Tia looked as if she might faint again but she steadied herself. “Wade, what are we going to do?”
“Stay calm,” he said firmly.
“Who is this…this person? Why is Rico doing this to me?” She waved a hand in the direction of their discovery.
“Why do you blame my father for this?” Didi snapped. “You blame him for everything.”
Miranda couldn’t stand by and watch them tussle. “Didn’t you hear the man? Stay calm. Now take a step back.” She meant literally and held out her hands to indicate it. “And just breathe for a minute.”
The women did as she said, but Miranda wasn’t sure what to do with them now.
“Does your property extend this far?” Parker asked.
Tia nodded. “I believe so. Rico bought up all the acreage surrounding the resort he could.”
“How far is the nearest police department?”
“We have one in town.” Tia said.
“We’ll have to call them, Tia.”
“Call the police? Oh, no, Wade. We cannot.”
The alarm in the woman’s exotic eyes broke Miranda’s heart.
Tia stared back at the thicket where Lobo was still whining and laid a hand against her face. “Yes, you are right. I suppose we will have to. Chico, Inspetor Gaspar is a friend of the family.”
“I will call him,” Didi volunteered. “I will have to go down to the office. There is no cell phone reception here.”
Tia squeezed her daughter’s hand, tears welling up in her eyes from the stress. “Thank you, anjinho.”
Didi’s expression softened and she lingered a moment, holding onto her mother’s hand. “You are welcome, mamãe. Come on, Lobo.”
Didi released her and headed back down the hill with the dog.
“You can go with her, Tia,” Parker told her with compassion in his voice.
Straightening her shoulders she shook her head. “No, Wade. I am the resort’s representative. I will stay.”
He turned to Miranda and gave her a steady look. “Why don’t you find a place for Tia to sit?”
“Sure.”
Miranda hunted around and finally found a rock along a fairly flat spot for them to park it for awhile. Tia settled onto it and Miranda sat down next to her. Luckily there was a view of part of the picturesque little Alpine town below and she was able to pepper the woman with questions to distract her.
It was hard to resist glancing over her shoulder to look at Parker but she knew what he was doing. Gathering evidence of their own before the cops got here.
Chapter Six
Turned out Parker had plenty of time. It took almost two hours for Inspetor Chico Gaspar to arrive with his sidekick, a skinny meek-looking officer named Franco who seemed young, nervous and definitely inexperienced.
Gaspar on the other hand seemed to be in his late forties. He was tall and hefty and wore a good Italian suit, even though he had a bit of a gut, probably from drinking too much German beer in the village. With thinning dark hair which he nonetheless had had styled, he seemed more annoyed that his nice clothes might get mussed than the discovery of a dead body on the mountain.
After he and Tia greeted each other with cheek kisses, he and Agente Franco strolled over to examine the remains. It took them another half hour before they settled in, readied their equipment and got to work. For another forty-five minutes they took pictures, gathered samples and babbled to each other in Portuguese.
“Definitely human,” Gaspar said with a groan when at last he rose from his crouching position. “Male, judging from the pelvic bone. And from ossification, at least in his mid thirties.”
Miranda had come to the same conclusion.
“How long do you think
he’s been here?” Parker asked.
He knew the answer. He was testing the man to see how good he was.
Gaspar inhaled through his nose and he mulled over the question. “He is in the dry stage, so at least a month. By the smell I would say less than six.”
And from the length of gnarled hair on the skull, Miranda thought. Not bad.
Noticing the conversation, Tia came over, arms wound tight around her waist. “Chico, who was this man?”
“Perhaps a local hiker. We have no reports of anyone missing for the last six months. There are no identifying articles of clothing left. No wallet or rings or other jewelry or distinctive marks. We only have the samples we have gathered.”
“He sustained a good gash in the back of the head,” the youthful sidekick put in.
Gaspar gave him a hard look. Not supposed to tell civilians the good stuff. But that gash was something else Miranda had noticed while she watched them work. Parker had, too.
Tia’s eyes went wild. “Do you think he was murdered, Chico?”
The large man shrugged. “I cannot tell you that for certain, Tia. We will take the remains back to our office. But as you are well aware, we are small. We will have to send samples to a lab in São Paulo.”
“How long will that take?”
He shrugged again. “Could be weeks.”
Tia emitted a stunned whimper and clutched at her throat. She was probably thinking by that time she could be dead herself.
Not if Miranda could help it.
“Chico, Miranda and Parker are private investigators from the US.” At Parker’s request, she’d left out that little detail when she’d introduced them.
Gaspar eyed Parker then Miranda. Recognition flamed in his dark, thick-browed eyes. “Ah, now I remember where I have seen you before. The televisão. BBC cable. You were in London a while back, no? You solved a murder case there. Am I right?”
“Right on,” Miranda said with obvious scorn.
“Inspetor Gaspar,” Parker said. “We’d be more than happy to offer our services to help you with this case.”
The corner of Gaspar’s lip twitched and he chuckled and shook his head. “Thank you so much for your kind offer, Senhor Parker. But our little office will manage without help from outsiders. Tia cannot afford the publicity.” He took her hands. “We will keep this incident as quiet as we can.”
The Watcher (A Miranda and Parker Mystery Book 4) Page 3
