Needled to Death

by Sefton, Maggie

  “I’m fine, Kelly. In fact, I’m startin’ to get mad now. If Geri took Raja to breed those females, that’s the same as stealing in my book. And she’s got to answer for it. I’ll be glad to help any way I can.”

  “I’ve got an idea, Jayleen. But I’m going to need your help. See you in a few minutes.” Kelly tossed her phone to the seat. If she was right, then Geri Norbert had even more to answer for than switching alpacas in a pasture.

  Jayleen leaned forward in the ladder-back chair, her hands clasped between her knees. She stared at Kelly, her blue eyes wide. Even Jayleen’s normally ruddy complexion had paled as Kelly repeated her suspicions about Geri. “Good Lord A-mighty,” Jayleen said softly. “That’s more than I want to think about. I mean, stealing Raja and Vickie’s money is bad enough, but . . . but killing . . .”

  Kelly swirled the coffee in her cup before she drank. Thank goodness Jayleen had a pot on the stove when Kelly arrived. She didn’t think she could tell this story without sustenance of some kind. Lacking food, she’d take caffeine. Kelly shifted position and sank deeper into the upholstered chair. Most of the furniture in Jayleen’s small, but cozy, living room showed years of wear. Comfortable and broken in, Kelly’s dad would call it.

  “I know, Jayleen. I don’t like to think Geri could do it, either. But those withdrawals are simply too damning to ignore,” Kelly said. “Only someone who was close to Vickie would have access to her office so they could see the folder with account numbers. And unless you know of someone else, that leaves Geri, you, and me.”

  Jayleen screwed up her face. “What about Bob Claymore? That bastard had the most to gain from all of this. Maybe he took the money.”

  “Why would he?” Kelly countered. “He was about to inherit half the estate.”

  “You’ve let him off the hook, haven’t you?”

  Kelly shrugged. “Well, it’s pretty clear he’s telling the truth about Debbie. That e-mail message came from the ranch office, no question. Plus, he didn’t show up until evening. Debbie was killed earlier in the afternoon, the police say.”

  Jayleen shook her head. “I just hate letting that bastard off. He’s . . . he’s . . .”

  “So easy to suspect,” Kelly finished the sentence. “I know. I felt the same way. But that e-mail shows the killer was trying to frame Claymore by luring him up to the ranch.”

  “You think Geri schemed all of this?”

  “I don’t know, Jayleen, but all these circumstances keep adding up. Geri needed money badly. Whether her business was going bad or whether she gambled too much, her house was going up for foreclosure. The surveyor said so. I called Jennifer on the way over here and asked her how foreclosure works, and Jennifer said there’s all sorts of time built into the process so the home owner can save their property. I mean, they just don’t sweep in and grab your house if you miss a couple of payments. It has to be more than that, and the person is given every chance to pay up before the county steps in. So that means that Geri had been missing payments for several months before it got to this point.”

  Jayleen leaned back in her chair and crossed her ankle over her knee. “Well, she’d been making her loan payments to Vickie every month. Maybe she was skipping her mortgage to do it, hoping she could catch up later.”

  “Maybe she was hoping she’d win big and be able to pay everything off,” Kelly suggested. “Who knows what the final straw was. Maybe the county contacted her about the looming foreclosure. Something happened to drive her to desperation.”

  Jayleen stared off into the room for a full minute before speaking. “Or maybe she had a blowup with Vickie.”

  The tone in Jayleen’s voice captured Kelly’s attention. “What do you mean? Was there a problem between the two?”

  Jayleen exhaled a long sigh. “Whenever Geri was late with her loan payments, Vickie would lay into her. She could be pretty harsh at times. I was there when it happened a couple of months ago, and, well, there was this look that flashed on Geri’s face . . . just for a moment.” Jayleen stared at her boots. “Well, it was ugly, that’s the best I can describe it.”

  “Had they argued about the loan before?”

  “Not in front of me, but I could tell Geri chafed about the lien Vickie put on her house. But she was careful to keep that below the surface.”

  Below the surface, simmering, Kelly thought. “If Geri was skipping her mortgage payments to pay Vickie and then lost more money at the casino, that could drive her to do something desperate. Or at least ask Vickie for an extension on her loan or maybe forgiving a payment.”

  Jayleen shook her head vehemently. “Vickie would never agree to that. Friends, family, it didn’t matter. She was hard-nosed about money and never budged an inch. Plus, she’d be suspicious if Geri even asked. Vickie would know right away that Geri’d been gambling. She’d smell it out. Then, she’d hit the ceiling.” She flicked some caked mud off her boot. “Damn, now I wish I’d lied when she asked about those commissions.”

  “You mean that percentage you gave to Vickie for every client?”

  Jayleen nodded. “Last month, Geri was in the office when I was doing the books, and she overheard a message on Vickie’s answering machine when I talked about the commission on my new client. Geri asked me straight out if I’d paid money to Vickie for everyone’s business, including hers.” Jayleen shut her eyes, as if the memory bothered her. “She caught me off guard, and I couldn’t lie. Not with her staring daggers at me like that.”

  “Was Geri mad?”

  “Furious. That ugly look flashed over her face for a second.”

  Kelly thought about that for a moment. “Maybe that’s what happened. Maybe Vickie refused to help her, and Geri got mad and accused Vickie of using her friends for her own financial gain.”

  “Oh, no. I could have stopped it. Why didn’t I lie?”

  “Jayleen, none of us can stop what’s going on inside someone else’s head. You know that,” Kelly countered. “Geri may have killed Vickie in rage. We don’t know what happened between those two.”

  “But why kill Debbie?” Jayleen asked. “What threat was she?”

  “I think Debbie discovered those suspicious withdrawals first. She left me a message on my cell when we were in Wyoming. Maybe she spoke to Geri, and Geri got scared. Who knows?”

  Jayleen stared at Kelly. “You know, all we’ve got is a bunch of suspicions, Kelly. No proof at all. How’re we gonna go to the police with that?”

  Kelly swished her coffee again. It was cold, but she drained it anyway. “I’ve been thinking about that. And the only thing we can do is confront Geri and try to make her confess.”

  Jayleen’s eyes nearly popped out. “What! Confess to two murders? Are you kidding? She’d never do that. Why would she? She probably thinks she’s in the clear. Everybody thinks Bob Claymore killed both of them.”

  “That’s why you and I will have to put pressure on her. Tell her we know about the gambling and the alpaca switch. Make her think we know even more. Push her hard and see if she cracks.”

  Jayleen whistled between her teeth. “Boy, that’s a big gamble, Kelly-girl.”

  “It’s the only thing I can think of, Jayleen.” Kelly glanced out the window. Nearly dark. They’d talked for over two hours. She pulled herself from the comfy chair. “Listen, call me as soon as you find out if that’s Raja in Geri’s barn, okay? Do you recognize his ID?”

  “Sure do, but it’ll be after midnight, probably. I figure the wee hours would be better for sneaking around,” she said with a wry smile as she rose from her chair.

  “I’m willing to bet next month’s salary that Geri has switched alpacas. She’s got Raja, and Raleigh’s in Vickie’s barn. And if you confirm it, then I’ll call Geri early in the morning and ask her to meet me at the ranch office. I’ll tell her that I’ve found something in the records concerning her loan, and I need her help to explain it. I’ll make it sound urgent.”

  “Boy, Kelly, I hope you have a backup plan if this doesn�
�t work,” Jayleen said as she walked Kelly to the door.

  “One crazy plan at a time, Jayleen,” Kelly said as she left, the sound of Jayleen’s laughter drifting after her.

  Twenty

  “You’re up to something, Kelly, I can tell,” Jennifer said, as she refilled Kelly’s mug in the corner of the café. “All these questions about foreclosure. And you’re more antsy than usual, even for you.” She held the mug out of reach. “Go on, spill it, or no Eduardo coffee.” She sniffed the steamy brew. “Aaaah, smell that.”

  “You are cruel, you know that?” Kelly said, then laughed as she glanced over her shoulders at the filled tables. “I can only give you a hint right now, but I promise I’ll come over late this afternoon and explain the whole thing. Right now, I don’t know if I’m being overly suspicious or if I’m on to something.”

  “My money’s on overly suspicious. You’re an accountant. It’s what you do.”

  Kelly grinned as she headed toward the knitting shop. “Well, there is that. I promise I’ll tell you later. Until then, I’m just trying to do my civic duty as a good citizen.”

  Jennifer eyed her skeptically. “Somehow, I don’t think you mean picking up trash along the highway.”

  Kelly waved and scooted out of voice range. She was hoping to find Burt before he started his early morning spinning class. She needed a favor.

  It was after one a.m. when Jayleen had called to tell Kelly the alpaca in Geri’s barn was indeed Raja. Not only did he nuzzle her like usual, the ID tag number matched when she scanned him. That was all Kelly needed to hear. She called Geri first thing in the morning.

  Geri had hesitated a moment when Kelly asked for her help, but when Kelly prodded once more, Geri agreed. She’d meet Kelly at the ranch office after one o’clock. Kelly and Jayleen planned to be there waiting for her.

  Kelly’s cell phone rang, and she slipped it from her pocket as she huddled beside several bins of yarn. “Jayleen?” she said, recognizing the number.

  “It’s me. We were right. The vet confirmed the alpaca in Vickie’s pasture is Geri’s herd sire, Raleigh.”

  Kelly felt another piece of the puzzle fall into place in her mind. “Okay. My salary’s safe then. I’ll see you around ten thirty.” She flipped off the phone as voices came around the corner. One of the voices was Burt’s.

  “I can move that wheel for you, if you’d like,” Burt said, as he and Mimi walked into the room.

  “Oh, would you? That would be wonderful,” Mimi said, then glanced up. “Hi, Kelly. You missed Megan and Lisa, but they’ll be back this afternoon.”

  “That’s okay. I’m only here to ask Burt a question.”

  “Well, drop by later, why don’t you?” Mimi suggested as she headed toward the front of the shop. “I’ve missed talking with you.”

  “What’s up, Kelly?” Burt asked, peering at her almost the same way Peterson did. “You’ve got that look.”

  Brother, she couldn’t hide anything. Jennifer could read her, and so could Burt. Kelly gestured Burt toward the empty library table and pulled out her phone. “Burt, what’s your cell number?”

  Burt recited the number, then added, “There’s something else on your mind, Kelly. What is it?”

  Kelly grinned. “Everybody’s reading my mind today. Boy, I’m going to have to work on that. What an invasion of privacy.”

  Burt didn’t reply. He folded his arms across his chest and waited.

  “Burt, I need a favor.”

  “What kind of favor?”

  “If I called you this afternoon, would you be able to get in touch with your friend in Peterson’s office quickly?”

  Burt’s eyes narrowed. “What’re you up to, Kelly?”

  “I’m going up to Vickie’s ranch to meet with Geri Norbert. Ask her some questions. And if the answers are what I think they’ll be, I’ll need you to send Peterson’s boys up there.”

  Burt reached out and took Kelly by the shoulders. “Kelly, don’t you go getting into something you shouldn’t. You could get into trouble. What do you know about this Geri?”

  “I’ve uncovered enough to suspect her of Vickie’s murder, and Debbie’s, too.”

  Burt drew back in shock. “Exactly what have you uncovered, may I ask?”

  “Jayleen and I have proof that Geri stole Vickie’s prizewinning alpaca stud. He’s in her pasture right now. And we think she’s been stealing money, too. These withdrawals were made after Vickie’s death.” Kelly reached into her bag and handed Burt a copy of the bank printout. “The last entry was made while we were coming back from Wyoming, right after we spotted Geri driving away from a gambling casino. Geri was also about to lose her house in foreclosure. You may want to give this bank statement to your friend in the department.”

  Burt took the printout and scanned it. “Kelly, this is all just—”

  “Circumstantial, I know,” Kelly agreed, feeling Burt’s wave of skepticism wash over her. “That’s why Jayleen and I are going to confront Geri and see if she’ll confess.” Somehow, saying it out loud to Burt made the plan sound even crazier than it did last night at Jayleen’s.

  Burt stared at her in disbelief, then rolled his eyes. “Kelly, Kelly, don’t be naïve. You have absolutely nothing on this woman.”

  “I know. But Bob Claymore has been interviewed twice based on circumstantial evidence,” Kelly countered. “Admit it. There’s no proof he killed either woman.”

  Burt frowned at her. “What if this Geri gets violent? Have you thought about that?”

  Kelly shrugged good-naturedly. “Hey, there’s two of us. Jayleen looks pretty sturdy. We can take her.” Deciding retreat would be a good idea, Kelly backed away. “Keep your phone turned on, okay?” she said, giving him a bright smile.

  “Depend on it. You be careful, and don’t press your luck.”

  Kelly gave another wave and escaped out the door. Burt didn’t understand. Luck was all she had to press.

  Kelly rearranged the folders on Vickie’s desk, carefully concealing the small tape recorder she’d brought along.

  “Hey, don’t cover that, or it won’t pick up anything,” Jayleen warned from her spot beside the window, which looked out toward the driveway. Alpacas were scattered about the pastures, grazing peacefully.

  “Maybe beside the in-box,” Kelly said, moving the recorder. “There it’s partially hidden by the clock, now.”

  “Whoa, here she comes. Better make that call, Kelly.”

  Kelly flipped on the recorder as she grabbed her phone. Burt picked up on the first ring. “It’s me, Burt. Could you make that call, please? She’s driving up now.”

  Burt sighed loudly. “Okay, Kelly. But if you’re wrong, you’re gonna do more than piss off a friend. You’re going to piss off the county police, and that’s never a good idea.” He hung up before Kelly could reply.

  “Okay, let’s get to work over these papers and look busy,” Kelly suggested, waiting for Geri. A moment later, she heard the sound of boots walking across Vickie’s hardwood floors. Kelly took a deep breath and bent over the folder on the desk.

  “Hey there, Kelly,” Geri said as she entered. Glancing over at Jayleen, she added, “Hi, Jayleen. Are you helping Kelly?”

  “Yeah, we’re both trying to get these records done so that damn lawyer will get off our backs,” Jayleen said as she looked up from the stack of bills she’d strewn across the desk. Debbie would have been appalled at the mess.

  “Thanks for coming, Geri,” Kelly said, leaning back in the chair. “Why don’t you sit down. I’ve got a few questions that I’m hoping you can help me with.”

  Geri tossed her dark braid over her shoulder and pulled up a chair on the other side of the desk. “Sure. Be glad to. You said you saw something with my loan. What exactly did you find?”

  “First of all, I was surprised to see that the loan was secured by a lien on your property. Was that your idea or Vickie’s?”

  “It was Vickie’s. She, uh, she was kind of a fanatic about mo
ney, you know,” Geri said with a shrug. “She wanted to have extra security, I guess.”

  “But why your loan? Vickie had loaned money to Jayleen before and never asked for a lien. Why you?” Kelly probed.

  Geri glanced back at Kelly, then Jayleen, then examined her jeans. “I don’t know. Vickie could be funny sometimes.”

  Kelly let the warm tone disappear from her voice. “Was it because of your gambling? Vickie had loaned you money once before when you were about to lose your house, right?”

  A flush crept up Geri’s neck, spreading to her cheeks. “That’s past history,” she retorted. “I stopped all that. I’m paying back every damn dime!”

  “But history has a way of repeating itself, doesn’t it, Geri?” Kelly continued. “You broke your promise to Vickie. You’re gambling again. I saw you leaving the casino last week when we were driving back from Wyoming. The bartender says you’re a regular. How much have you lost? Is that where your mortgage payments went? Into the slots?”

  Geri’s cheeks flamed. “Are you spying on me?”

  “You gambled away the mortgage money, didn’t you, Geri?” Kelly pressed. “You paid Vickie’s loan so she wouldn’t get suspicious. Were you planning to make a big score and pay everything back? Instead, you lost even more, didn’t you? That’s why your house is on the foreclosure list, isn’t it?”

  “Not anymore it isn’t!” she declared hotly. “I paid up everything I owed. And I’ve got the receipt to prove it.”

  “Where did you find the money to make all those back payments?”

  Geri glared at her. “My business is growing. I . . . I’ve had two new breeding females arrive. I’ve got the breeding fees and . . .”

  “And you’ve got Vickie’s Raja as the stud, right? What better way to build your reputation than to use a prizewinning stud, rather than your own. Clever, Geri. Except Jayleen and I found out.”

  “Wh-what are you talking about?” Geri’s face started losing color.

  “I heard you sneaking into the barn last week. You left the barn door open, and I heard your truck drive off,” Kelly said. “Plus, Raja was acting different. That’s because you were sneaking him over to your place every time you had a new female to breed, weren’t you? You switched Raja for Raleigh, hoping we wouldn’t notice.”