by Beth Byers
I curled up next to Simon the next morning. It had to be 3:00am or so. He was sleeping deeply and I’d woken due to the usual frequent pressure on my bladder.
He was still sleeping and I could see how easy it would be to get up, leave the house and be back without him even knowing. The sky was black as pitch and I pulled away from him, padding out to the kitchen.
Even my constant companions, the dogs, didn’t follow me. I made myself a cup of chamomile tea and grabbed the notebook I’d started carrying when I realized I was forgetting things. Pregnancy brain was a real thing, and I’d become super absent minded. I flipped past the page of things we needed to order for the baby. I was having a hard time just ordering. I needed to read all the safety reviews. It was crazy how many things could kill a tiny human.
The next page was the list of people that Janice gave me who interacted regularly with Jerry. There was his ex-wife, his brother Dave, his sister Janice, her husband Herman. There was Jerry’s partner, Henry.
I had learned from too many murders in my life that the people who killed you were the ones who were supposed to love you. If someone ended up murdering me, Simon and Zee were the likeliest suspects. Maybe my employees if I somehow found them doing something shady. But, Simon was the number one. I knew he’d never hurt a hair on my head.
That didn’t mean the same of others who were married though. Jerry’s ex-wife had left him. Would she kill him now that they didn’t live together anymore? Maybe he was threatening their child in some way? Or trying to take her to court over something? Maybe she snapped?
Simon padded out to the kitchen and asked, “Are you ok?”
I nodded and then admitted, “I woke due baby Olympics on my bladder and then couldn’t sleep. If I were murdered, it would be you who did it.”
Simon knew me well enough to know I was thinking about Jerry’s death, not making accusations towards him.
“So you think his ex killed him?”
I shook my head and shoved the paper towards him. I went and got a cup of tea for him while Simon read it over.
“So Janice wants you to investigate because you figured out the other killers?”
I nodded and leaned down to kiss his cheek.
“And Zee arranged for Janice to come in and talk to you.”
I nodded again.
“You know that she could just be trying to control the investigation?”
I shrugged and said, “Well, she might be manipulating me, but she has to worry about the pros more than me.”
Simon tangled his fingers with mine as he sipped his tea, and I snuggled closed, taking his hand to put it over my belly where our baby was kicking me up one side. Simon grinned at me and then said, “It’s sad how something so miraculous is happening at the same time that something so terrible happened.”
“Why do you think someone killed Jerry?”
Simon shrugged and admitted, “I don’t really know. His mom thinks he was amazing. She was so proud of him. Talked about how far he’d come. How he was the child who needed her. She made him sound like her special gift from god.”
I winced and asked, “Did you talk to Janice today?”
He nodded. “Both Janice and Dave have very different stories of Jerry. Janice’s husband told me privately that Jerry abused Janice as a kid. Said she always had a hard time being around him. That their mom pushed them together and insisted that Janice ‘get over it.’
I winced and then rubbed my baby belly. I couldn’t imagine so thoroughly hurting my child like that. You weren’t allowed to tell someone when to get over their abuse. Healing happened at different rates. And then to see your mother choose the child who was in the wrong. Man, oh man.
“What about the business partner?”
“He was at a conference in Portland. He came back, but he has a pretty good alibi.”
I frowned and then suggested, “How was the produce business doing? Cole told us that his deliveries and billing had been pretty messed up. That he was thinking of switching businesses. Maybe there was company trouble?”
Simon didn’t say if he knew for sure. He just stood and pulled me after him as he said, “Rose, sweetheart, you need to sleep.”
He was right, and I let him wrap me up in his arms and hold me close until I slipped into sleep. I realized, however, that if Simon hadn’t been so aware of me because of the baby, I’d have gotten away with leaving the house and he’d never know. Just how hard did Janice’s husband sleep? Maybe he had years and years of experience with her unable to sleep?
If Simon weren’t so endlessly worried about me and the baby, especially with his bad dreams…it would have been easy to slip away and get back into bed before his alarm went off. It was a reality I couldn’t discount.
I wondered just what Dave’s alibi was. If the brother were as angry as Janice—maybe he’d been able to slip away and back before his wife even realized? Those alibis were shakier than either realized but so very reasonable. I wasn’t sure what to think. Poor Janice. For Jerry’s mom, Sheryl. The poor family in general. Murder was certain to mess with any bonds that remained from all that damage.
* * * * *
The next day was gray and cloudy with a constant drizzle. I drove down to the diner knowing that Janice would be bringing in someone to talk to me. I wasn’t sure why they were cooperating with Zee and her quest to get us involved in the murder investigation, but I suppose a part of me could sort of see how if you believed someone would be able to just solve things that you’d speed towards an end. Especially if you hadn’t killed your brother.
When I got into the diner, I took the green smoothie option for breakfast with wheat toast. I tried to alternate my waffle days with healthier things but the sight of the day’s offering was pretty tempting. Az had gone with a spice waffle topped with whipped cream, maple syrup, and a side of bacon.
I downed my smoothie before I could give into the waffle and then started making sugar cookie dough for the jack o’ lantern, bat, and witch cookies that we were going to be selling over the holiday weekend.
Zee told me that Henry Denson would be coming in soon. What was he thinking? Was he here because Zee threatened him about his account with us? Was he here because Janice asked him? Because he didn’t want to be the one who said no?
“What did you learn from Carver?”
“He doesn’t buy the alibis,” Zee said. “For Dave or Janice. He found out some shady stuff about Jerry Voe that gives a pretty good alibi, but he wouldn’t tell me what it was.”
“It might be what Janice referred to. That Jerry abused her as kids. I’m pretty sure from the way Simon said it that the effect of it has lingered into her adulthood and effected her capacity to even be around him.”
Zee’s brows rose and I knew we were both wondered just what kind of abuse. Statistically, he might have sexually abused her. I flinched at the idea of being abused like that and then having to see the abuser—who hadn’t changed—every time you were around your family. What a way to ruin holidays. Especially when you saw him taking advantage of your mother as well.
“Janice is on the top of my list for suspects,” I told Zee.
Zee shrugged and said, “I never assume anyone is innocent. Could a sister stab her brother in the back? Yeah, she could. Even without that history. Women aren’t delicate somethings and sometimes, the man kind of deserves it. He sounds like a likely subject for murder.”
I knew she meant that Jerry seemed like a guy ripe for the killing. The truth was there were lots of people who were ripe for killing. They didn’t end up dead though. Most of the time people in their lives just dealt with the issues caused by their terrible family members or coworkers. Normal people didn’t track down someone who was terrible in their lives, find some handy pumpkin carving tools, and stab them in the back.
So why had it happened in this case?
CHAPTER 8
Henry Denson was at least six foot four inches tall and broad. I was guessing that delivering box af
ter box of produce kept him slim. He grinned at me, but the smile didn’t extend to his eyes. Perhaps I’d met someone who would actually miss Jerry?
“Hello,” I said, holding out my hand.
He shook my hand and we took a seat. Henry ordered chicken fried steak and a sudden craving hit me despite the fact that I’d just had a green smoothie. Zee joined us as she delivered his food and he said, “So Janice says that she’s asked you to help out finding Jerry’s killer.”
I nodded and then said, “The police are your best bet.”
He lifted his brows and said, “I didn’t expect that from you.”
“Simon and Carver are excellent investigators.”
Henry just nodded and then said, “You know…Jerry was my friend. He was a flawed man and Janice has good reason for feeling like she does about him. He could have been a better son. But he was my friend.”
I considered him for a moment and then I asked, “So you both invested in your business the same amounts?”
Henry shook his head and said, “Jerry couldn’t afford to do that. He helped, but he tapped himself out.”
“I understand he tapped his mom out.”
Henry cleared his throat and then said, “Look, I don’t know about where Jerry got his money.”
I nodded, but I didn’t believe him one little bit.
“I heard your service hasn’t been for others what it has been for us,” Zee told him. She hadn’t said the same to me, but I looked her way and watch her eyes flash. “The tearoom said you’ve been late and you’ve been billing her wrong for months. Cole at Bella wasn’t happy. Jose and Los Jalapeños isn’t happy. Beatrice McCallister isn’t happy.”
Henry winced and said, “We’ve been having some hurdles. But listen, I’m here to help you get a better picture of Jerry. He was my friend, and I have an alibi. I didn’t kill him.”
Henry was almost belligerent about his comment and I kind of wanted to prod him a little, but instead I said, “Tell me about his ex-wife.”
“What? Lane? They fought a lot. Jerry could have been a better dad. I don’t think she killed him.”
“Who do you think did?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” Henry said. “Why does it have to be one of us? Couldn’t it have been some passerby? Jerry could be a real jerk to people.”
I had no idea what it could have been. But did I buy that some random person out about Silver Falls, Oregon—in the off-season—would have overpowered him and killed him? Yeah. No. No I didn’t buy that for a second, and I was sure that Carver and Simon didn’t either.
I had no idea what Simon and Carver were thinking about who killed Jerry Voe, but I was absolutely sure that it was not some random stranger.
Zee questioned Jerry about his business, and I watched his reactions. He was not happy at her questions, but I was guessing that he didn’t want to truly infuriate her. The 2nd Chance Diner account had to be one of the largest of his incomes given the way that we flew through food at the diner. If he was on the edge of losing quite a bit of business accounts, he probably needed ours pretty badly.
“How much money did he invest into this?” I asked suddenly. “He must have given something to be your partner? Or was he just your employee?”
Henry shot me a nasty look and said, “The finances behind my business are hardly…”
“It’s cool,” I cut in. “You don’t have to tell us. But, you’ll have to tell the police.”
“He does have to tell us,” Zee said meanly. “I’m in charge here, and I won’t keep doing business with a company that is wrapped up in a potential murder. You help us clear it, or we’ll go with Friday’s Produce instead.”
Henry’s ears turned a brilliant red and then he said, “I invested my entire life savings and 401k. It was about seventy thousand. Jerry provided as much as he could, about forty thousand. We negotiated that he would get paid less until he eventually base up the difference.”
I let Zee ask further questions and left it. I wasn’t sure I was much of a fan of Henry Denson, but he was in a hard place. He’d invested everything and something was going wrong with his business. Given that a lot of Silver Falls had switched to DeVoe produce, I was confused about why he was struggling. We paid a pretty good upcharge to have the food delivered and let the DeVoe business take care of our shopping for us.
The baby was pressing on my bladder, and I was done with Henry. I knew I might be behaving rudely, but I took Zee’s phone and messaged Janice asking her how much money their mom had given Jerry.
I didn’t necessarily believe that Henry was lying to me. More I believed that from what I’d heard about Jerry, he might have invested just as much as he could get away with to be a ‘partner’ while also taking his mom for as much as he could.
Janice messaged that she’d get copies of the checks for me, but that she believed her mom had about ninety-five thousand dollars in her savings account, and she was down to only five thousand dollars.
I flinched at that and then messaged Carver from Zee’s phone telling him that I though he should check into who was pulling their business from DeVoe and get a copy of their accounts. He seemed to know it was me rather than Zee. I didn’t read up their conversation, but knowing Zee she either had some weird pet name for him or she was always sharp.
I messaged him what I’d learned about the investment from Henry’s standpoint. I knew they’d pull the paperwork and see if it was worth looking into further. I wasn’t sure what I believed of Henry, but money was something people murdered over. What would he do if he knew that Jerry hadn’t invested as much as he could have?
Would that have been something to murder over? Zee asked him about his ex-wife, sister, brother, and mother, and Henry acted as though he didn’t know.
“Do you spend all day in a truck delivering together or do you have two trucks?”
Henry glanced back at me and said, “We deliver together.”
I nodded. Yeah, I didn’t believe he didn’t know more. I wasn’t sure why he was being cagey. His partner—potentially his best friend—was dead. Surely he wanted to help find his killer? Unless he was trying to sort of retroactively support him?
Henry left a few minutes later and Zee said, “You weren’t your normal self.”
“I don’t like him. I didn’t find anything he was saying…credible. It felt like if he wasn’t lying to us about Jerry, he was misleading us. You should ask your buddies about what was happening with his orders.”
Zee glanced at me and then said, “I have. I spent much of the morning doing that while you and Az were playing in the kitchen.”
“And?”
“Several of the accounts got past due bills in the last little bit for bills they paid. People like Cole provided proof of payment, proof of their order, and proof of what they got. But when I asked Josephine if she got one? She had, and she paid it. She didn’t realize that their paperwork was all messed up.”
My brows rose at that. “But we didn’t?”
“We had one weird bill once, and I called and talked to Henry. He took care of it, and it didn’t happen again.”
I leaned back against the booth and then messaged Simon for him to come and join me for a chicken fried steak lunch and walk. I bet he’d take a long one and spend some time with me. I wondered if Jerry had been stealing from his business. I could see that Zee was wondering the same thing.
“Embezzling a small business like that…it would all fall apart. Henry saved for his own business for years. If Jerry was doing that, it would be something to kill over.”
“So would abusing your sister and then making yourself the victim,” Zee countered.
“I don’t disagree,” I said to Zee. “I just think Henry is as much of a suspect as anyone else.”
CHAPTER 9
I brought two platters of chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes to the office booth where Simon and Goliath were. I told Simon about the money stuff, and he raised his brows.
“Why do peopl
e tell you stuff? Surely, Henry realized it could make him look like a suspect?”
I shook my head and then admitted, “Henry wouldn’t have. But, Zee threatened to pull our account. Given what we’ve been hearing about DeVoe Produce, it could have ended his business.”
Simon flinched a little for poor Henry. We’d completely blackmailed information out of him, and I didn’t feel bad about it. I wasn’t sure why you’d keep that stuff secret in a murder investigation. In a normal situation, yeah. But a murder one? Maybe to us. Zee and I were hardly the police, but Henry should have told Simon if things were shady about what was happening with his business. Maybe he didn’t know? Maybe—if my guess was accurate about Jerry being a thief—Henry might only discover it as he untangled the mess of his business. And really…what man would steal from his mother but not his business partner?
I reminded myself to ask Zee later if she’d only ever worked with Henry or if she’d worked with Jerry too. In fact…I messaged her and asked her to contact the folks who’d had messed up bills and see who they’d been working with. Simon watched my message and then said, “You two with your gossip train and Zee’s connections.”
“She does know everyone and for someone reason we all like her.”
Simon rubbed his hand down my back and said, “The prickly exterior hides the kindest woman you ever saw. However, we need to see if we can pick apart or firm up the alibi for Dave and Janice. The truth is—Henry has an alibi.”
“Where was he again?”
“Portland. He was at a conference about a new payment processing service. He has the receipts. We can clock the mileage on his car. It’s all very credible.”
I nodded and laid my head on Simon’s shoulder. The chicken fried steak was magical at The 2nd Chance Diner. Az was a brilliant cook. He deserved to be something more than a cook at a diner, but I knew he loved it. He didn’t want to be a fancy chef. He didn’t want to own his own place where he couldn’t be in the kitchen. He liked to turn the radio on and hum to the music while he cooked. I’d spent a lot of time trying to think up something better for him before I recognized that he loved his life and I was an idiot.
