Murder & The Monkey Band: High Desert Cozy Mystery Series

by Dianne Harman

  As Marty looked up from her plate of Mexican Eggs Benedict at the big handsome man who had just walked into the room she felt her heart do a flip-flop. For absolutely no reason whatsoever she had the fleeting thought, so you’ve come, I’ve been waiting for you. Huh? What is this all about? What is going on? I feel like a teenager. I can barely look at him, he’s so gorgeous. It must have something to do with Laura’s psychic powers. I’ll get back at her later.

  The big man said, “Hi, I’m Detective Jeff Combs with the Palm Springs Police Department. Which one of you is Marty?”

  “That would be me,” she said in a strained voice. It was all she could do to get it out of her mouth. She was completely flustered by him and hoped she didn’t faint or do something else equally unsophisticated.

  “Well, Marty it’s nice to meet you. And this must be your sister, Laura. Would I be correct?”

  “That you would,” Laura said. “Why don’t you sit down and join us? We were just finishing lunch. I’m sure Rosa has more makings for the Mexican Eggs Benedict and can poach some eggs quickly.”

  “I’d love to join you, but I just ate lunch, however I would take a glass of iced tea,” he said, turning to Rosa, “if that’s not too much trouble.”

  Rosa placed a frosty glass of iced tea in front of him and walked back to the sink to finish the dishes she’d been washing.

  “When Jim told me he was having the items appraised I thought I’d better meet the appraiser and ask a few questions since this is a murder investigation, and you might find something out that could be important concerning the case.”

  “Marty, I’ll be back in a minute. I need to use the bathroom,” Laura said.

  When she was gone, Marty turned to the detective and said, “Of course. What kind of questions can I answer for you?”

  “Well, first of all I see you’re not wearing a wedding ring. May I assume you’re not married?”

  “Yes,” Marty said, feeling her face redden, “but what does that have to do with my appraisal?”

  “Absolutely nothing, but I wanted to find out. I don’t know if you’re aware of it, actually I don’t see how you couldn’t be, but I feel like there’s some kind of an electric spark going back and forth between us. If I’m really out of line, I apologize. This is crazy.”

  “I agree, it’s crazy. Let’s get back to the appraisal,” she said hoping he didn’t see the twitch in her right eyelid which always happened when she got nervous.

  “Marty, are you okay?” Jeff said, leaning towards her. “It looks like your right eyelid is twitching.”

  “Yes, I’m fine. It happens sometimes when I’m tired. I’ve really been concentrating this morning. I’m sure that’s what it is. It’s nothing to be concerned about.”

  Laura walked back into the room, took one look at Marty and said, “Marty, what’s wrong? Your eyelid’s twitching, and it only twitches when you’re nervous.”

  When we get in the car and drive back to the compound, I am going to stop the car, throw you out, and make you walk back the rest of the way. Let’s see if your psychic stuff picks up on that. Maybe it will teach you to keep your big mouth shut.

  “No, I’m not nervous at all,” Marty said. “Probably just a little tired from how hard I was concentrating this morning.” She turned to the detective. “How can I help you?”

  “You know that Mrs. Jensen was murdered last week. I just got the coroner’s report, and it indicates that the murder weapon was a .9mm pistol. The bullet was lodged in her chest. What I would ask of you is if you see anything you think is strange or something you think I might want to know, please tell me.”

  “Of course. What kinds of things should I be looking for?” Marty asked.

  “Obviously if you find a gun I want to know about it. I don’t know much about antiques. That’s your field. I’m curious if she had some antiques other collectors would want, maybe even kill for.”

  “I haven’t run across any yet, but this is just the first day of the appraisal.”

  “Her son, Jim, tells me he and his sister are going to inherit everything according to the terms of the Will, and he also mentioned he hadn’t been able to find a ten carat diamond ring his mother owned. He said he’d asked you to keep an eye out for it.” He smiled at her, and she felt her heart flipping around in her chest like a trout trying to jump out of the net. The thought brought back a memory of her father fishing with her when she was young. Her job had been to put the net in the water so her father could get the trout in it.

  Keep it together, Marty, keep it together. You can fall apart when you get home tonight. He’s got to be leaving soon.

  “Yes, he mentioned that to me and of course, I’ll keep an eye out for it. Do you have any suspects at the moment?”

  “No, and that’s very frustrating. Her husband’s deceased, she seemed to have a good relationship with her children, and no one has told me anything scandalous about her, and yet someone wanted her dead. Cases like this one are what’s causing my hair to prematurely turn grey.”

  “I can imagine. I’ll let you know if I find anything.”

  “Here’s my business card, and I’ll write my cell phone number on the back. I’d like your number as well in case I need to get in touch with you. Actually, let me have your address too. Sometimes cell phones don’t work in the hills,” Jeff said with a roguish grin. He watched while she entered his number in the contacts list on her cell phone.

  At the sound of the gate buzzer, Rosa turned to the detective and said, “Are you expecting someone?”

  “No. my staff doesn’t even know I’m here. What’s the buzzer for?”

  “It’s the front gate. I’ll answer it and see who it is.”

  CHAPTER 11

  Rosa walked over to the intercom and said, “Who is it?”

  “Rosa, it’s Nikki Bolen. Could I come in for a minute?”

  “She was Mrs. Jensen’s best friend. Is it all right if I buzz her in?” Rosa asked, her hand covering the intercom. All three of them nodded in the affirmative. “I’m unlocking the gate right now, Mrs. Bolen. I’ll meet you at the front door.”

  A few moments later a beautiful dark haired woman entered the kitchen. “Hi, I’m Nikki Bolen. I was probably Pam’s best friend,” she said, extending a well-tended hand to them. She was dressed in a simple white blouse and khaki skirt with white wedged sandals in stark contrast to her perfectly polished red toenails. Although there was nothing ostentatious about her outfit, Marty knew she was looking at a woman who was wearing about $1,000 worth of clothes to say nothing of the enormous diamond ring on her ring finger. Although the diamond ring far surpassed the diamond tennis bracelet and the diamond stud earrings she wore, and even though jewelry wasn’t her specialty and she usually had to get an expert’s opinion on the value of it, Marty knew Nikki’s jewelry alone was worth thousands of dollars.

  “May I join you? Rosa, if you wouldn’t mind, that iced tea looks so good, I’d love a glass. Detective, it’s good to see you again. Have you found out anything about Pam’s death?”

  “Nikki, I wish I could tell you we’d arrested whoever did it, but unfortunately at this moment I don’t even have a suspect. You were her closest friend. Maybe you can tell me something that will help. Actually, I was going to call you to see if you had any ideas.”

  “Well, Detective, feel free to call me any time,” she said, batting her eyelashes at him.

  Marty felt a sudden white hot flash of hatred for the woman. What in the devil is wrong with me? It’s obvious they know each other. I’m the new kid on the block. For all I know they may have been involved in a relationship for years. This is absolutely crazy. I’ve got to get ahold of myself.

  “What can you tell me about Mrs. Jensen? I know she was wealthy and quite beautiful, but in a town like Palm Springs, that doesn’t make her all that different from a lot of other women,” the detective said, a little nervously Marty thought.

  “Pam had three passions in life. First was Brian. S
he was devastated when he died, even though he was fifteen years older than she was. Her other two passions were non-profit organizations and her antique collection. She was on the board of most of the major charitable organizations in the city and gave to almost every cause, from stray cats to runaway children to the homeless. When she married Brian, she was immediately admitted into a very rarified group – the extremely wealthy people of Palm Springs. Because she knew these people, she was very effective at raising money for her favorite charities.”

  “From what I’ve seen this morning, she also must have spent a great deal of time learning about antiques and following auctions,” Marty said.

  “Yes, that was her third passion. She often bid by phone when major auction houses throughout the United States, actually all over the world, had a piece she wanted. She was very knowledgeable, and I’ve been with her on a number of occasions when she was bidding. She knew exactly when to stop and never got caught up in the hype and almost circus like atmosphere that often surrounded the items.”

  “Was she emotionally attached to the items, or did she collect mainly for investment purposes?” Marty asked, “Not that it makes any difference in the valuation of the pieces.”

  “She was emotionally attached in that she enjoyed everything she bought. There were some jewelry pieces she loved, and certainly she loved the Meissen Monkey Band. I think the rest of her antiques simply brought joy to her. Even though Pam had an outstanding collection, I never heard her brag about it. In fact, people often brought the subject of her collection up in a conversation with her, because they had heard how extraordinary it was.

  “Turning to another subject, Pam’s husband felt her son, Jim, was trying to bleed her dry, and I don’t know if you know this, but Pam told me last week that she’d mentioned to Jim she was going to have a new Will prepared. From what she told me, he was furious. She was afraid she’d lose her courage, so she went to her lawyer and did it.”

  “Do you know why Jim was so angry and what was in the new Will? This might be very important to the case,” Jeff asked.

  “She felt very bad that Brian had left his daughter by his first marriage, Amy, out of his Will. Pam never felt very good about taking Amy’s father from her and developed a very good relationship with her. They often saw each other, and I know Pam was very fond of her. Pam knew that Brian would disapprove of the relationship, so she never told him about it. After he died and left everything to her, Pam decided to add Amy to her Will. She willed half of her estate to Amy and the other half to her son and daughter, Jim and Marilyn.”

  “Wow, that means Jim would lose half of his inheritance when that happened. Right?” Laura asked.

  “Yes. I know she did it because we met for lunch afterwards, and she was a little shaken up about it, because she knew Jim would probably be furious that she’d actually done it.” She turned to Detective Combs. “Do you know if Jim has found out about it?”

  Marty spoke up. “I don’t think he knows about the change in her Will, because he told me he and his sister were the sole beneficiaries. Nothing was said about Amy.”

  “We talked about suspects earlier,” Jeff said, “and I said we had none. I think I have one now if Jim found out his mother had, in fact, changed her Will. When I talked to Jim, he gave me the name of Pam’s attorney, and I called his office. He’s out of town, but he’s due back this afternoon. I asked his secretary to call me when he returns.”

  “I have a nail appointment,” Nikki said, looking at her watch. “I really need to go. Nice to meet you,” she said to Marty and Laura. She turned to Jeff, “You already have my phone number. I’d love to hear from you. Rosa, would you lock the door behind me?” She turned and walked out the kitchen and towards the front door. Within seconds they heard her scream.

  Jeff jumped up and ran to where Nikki stood pointing her finger at the Meissen collection, Rosa not far behind her. Laura and Marty joined them. “Nikki, what’s wrong?” She was absolutely white, and her hand was shaking.

  “The Monkey Band is gone.”

  “I’m sorry, Nikki, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Jeff said.

  “Remember, I told you it was one of the few antiques that Pam was attached to. It was her pride and joy. Brian bought it for her, and there are very few complete and original sets like hers in the world. The set dated from the 18th century and was almost priceless. It looks like the rest of the Meissen collection is here.” She turned to Jeff and said, “Pam told me once that people would kill to own the Monkey Band. It was that rare. If you find out who wanted the Monkey Band, you’ll probably have another suspect.” She turned and walked out the door.

  “Rosa, what can you tell me about this? Do you know anything about it being missing?”

  “No. I dusted her Meissen collection about once a week, sometimes less than that because it was behind glass and didn’t collect much dust. It was here the last time I dusted.”

  Marty noticed that Laura was staring intently at Rosa and knew she’d hear more about that later.

  Just then Jeff’s phone rang. “Yes, I’m on my way,” he said. “Ladies, I’ve enjoyed talking to you. Marty I’ll probably call you this evening to find out more about this Monkey Band thing. Right now I’m needed down at the station. Rosa, thank you for the iced tea.” He hurriedly walked out the front door.

  CHAPTER 12

  After Nikki and Jeff had left, Marty turned to Laura and said, “Back to work. We need to finish up the dining room. That’s going to take some time because the antiques in there are really superb, and they need to be fully documented. Rosa, we’ll be in the dining room if you need us.”

  When Rosa was safely out of earshot, Laura said, “Did you notice how nervous Rosa was when Nikki screamed that the Monkey Band was missing? Honestly, she turned pale and her hand involuntarily went to her heart. That’s usually a tell - or that’s what us psychics call it when someone does something involuntarily, and it’s very revealing. It’s a subconscious thing people don’t even know they’re doing, and it indicates they’re nervous or scared or know more than they’re telling about something.”

  “I was so busy looking to see what Nikki was so upset about that I wasn’t paying attention to Rosa. We can talk about it tonight.”

  “Sure, if you’ll tell me what’s up with you and the handsome detective. Wow, what a hunk he is! And if you don’t mind me saying so, good sister of mine, I think he’s really interested in you.”

  “Laura, absolutely nothing is up between the two of us. We’ll just probably be seeing more of him because he’s the detective assigned to the case.”

  “Right,” Laura said grinning mischievously. “Okay, I won’t harass you about him and the look he gave you, but you could sure do a lot worse.”

  “For your information, I am not interested in any men at the present time, and that certainly includes Detective Combs. Now hold the tape measure, so I can get some accurate measurements. By the way, remind me I need to call Carl Mitchell and the antique book guy whose name I can’t remember when we get home. Carl owns an antique shop in downtown Palm Springs, and is very knowledgeable about almost all antiques, but his real expertise is jewelry, and from what I saw when Jim took the jewelry out of the safe in his mother’s bedroom, those pieces need to be examined by an expert. I could probably do it myself, but in an appraisal like this one, I’d be doing a disservice not to have them examined by Carl. Since the Will may be contested, it’s even more critical to cross all the t’s and dot the i’s.”

  The remainder of the afternoon was spent appraising items in the dining room and two of the three bathrooms in the house. Even though there weren’t extensive collections in either of the bathrooms, antique mirrors and other decorative objects had to be appraised.

  At 4:30, Marty turned to Laura and said, “I’m brain dead. All I want to do is go home, pet Duke, and have a glass of wine. Let’s find Rosa and tell her we’ll see her in the morning.”

  “Can we leave all your equ
ipment here, or do we need to take it with us?”

  “It would be a lot easier if we left it here, but I want to look at the photos I took and make sure they all came out okay. I also took a lot of photos of the jewelry, ones I want to send to Carl to give him a broad overview of what’s here. Usually when I have him join me in an appraisal, we meet before his shop opens at ten.”

  “How long do you think it will take him?” Laura asked. “I guess I’m asking what time we need to be here in the morning.”

  “I think I’ll make an appointment to meet with him here at the house at eight in the morning. That will give him almost an hour and forty-five minutes to do the appraisal, and he can get back to his shop in time to open. That should be plenty of time. I can help him by taking the types of photos he’ll need for the appraisal. If he can meet with us at eight, I’ll call Rosa. The other alternative is for him to come to the house after his shop closes.”

  Twenty minutes later on their drive back to the compound, Laura looked out the window and said, “There’s the compound in the distance. It always makes me happy to come home to it. I still can’t believe I ever found it, and it was for sale. It sure was my lucky day. It’s so perfect. Les says he’s done his best art work ever since he started living here.”

  “I like him, but I don’t recall you ever telling me how you met him,” Marty said.

  “One of Alliance’s insureds is an art gallery. Dick thought we should be represented at the grand opening of their second gallery. The artist they were showcasing was Les. I attended the grand opening as a representative of Alliance, and that’s where I met Les. That was over five years ago. We have a wonderful relationship, and I still pinch myself every day to make sure it’s really me he’s interested in.”

  “You sell yourself short,” Marty said. “What does he think about your psychic abilities?”

  “At first it was difficult for him to accept. After he personally witnessed things happening that I’d predicted, he became a believer. Now when I suggest he do something or not do it, he never questions me, which is nice.”