A Murder State of Mind Boxed Set

by Jude Pittman

  "I'm sorry about your wife. That must've been really hard." Her fingers tightened around his hand.

  Her soothing voice brought a lump to Kelly's throat. Even after all this time, he still had trouble sharing the pain. "It took me a long time to come to terms with losing her. I don't talk about it much." He mumbled the words, his voice gruff with emotion.

  "I've never loved anyone, so I can't imagine that kind of pain." A wistful note of longing shaded her voice. Loneliness peeped through her eyes.

  "You're a beautiful woman," he pulled his thoughts away from his own pain. "One of these days, some lucky guy will come along and teach you all about love."

  "I don't know," she shook her head and locked her eyes with his. "I wonder if I'd even know how to share that kind of love." She dropped her eyes. "I don't really feel anything about my mother, you know. Oh, I'm sad because she's dead but it's a selfish sadness. I'm mainly sorry because I never got to ask her why she went off and left me. I keep thinking I ought to feel some kind of personal loss but I don't."

  "Of course you don't. You were just a child when she left. It hurt you to the quick. As the years went by, you built up walls to protect yourself. You can't be expected to grieve for her when you never had a chance to know her. Or for her to explain why she left."

  "Why do you think she was killed?"

  Kelly took a sip of wine. "I don't know why she was killed, Krystal. I think the police believe my friend Cam killed her because they had a falling out over the note she had on his bar. They had a fight about it the night Anna died, so it looks bad for him. But I don't believe he did it. Actually, I’d like to ask for your help in finding out some things that might lead to her killer. If you feel up to talking about it."

  "Yes. I want to know the truth. But how can I help? I don't know anything about my mother except what I read in Mr. Boscon's report and what you and Detective Graham have told me."

  "I know you don't but you know about your uncle and your family in Houston and I can't help feeling Anna's past has something to do with her murder."

  "But nobody except Penny even knew I'd found my mother until after she was dead."

  "What about the detective you hired to find her?"

  "Mr. Boscon? But what would he have to do with my mother's death?"

  "Probably nothing but the Davis family is pretty well-known around these parts. It's not impossible Mr. Boscon might've called your uncle and told him he'd found your mother."

  "Uncle Andrew." The pain was back in Krystal's voice. "So you do think he killed my mother."

  "No." Kelly reached out and took her hand again. "I just think there's a possibility he knew you'd found her. Maybe he told somebody about it and that somebody had a reason for keeping you and your mother apart."

  She frowned and shook her head. "I don't think so. Uncle Andrew didn't act like he knew anything. He was stunned when I told him."

  Kelly smiled and shrugged his shoulders. He didn't want to push her. "You're probably right but I'd still like to find out why Anna ran away from her family. Will you help me do that?"

  "Of course. I don't believe Uncle Andrew killed my mother but if he did, I wouldn't want him to get away with it. What do you want me to do?"

  Krystal's voice sounded strained and Kelly squeezed her hand. "What I really want is information on your mother's past. You were just a child then, so rather than you trying to deal with this, maybe you can think of someone else who might be willing to talk to me?"

  Krystal stared at him for several moments. Then she grinned. "Stella. She'd be willing enough to talk to you, if you went about it the right way."

  "Your uncle's wife?"

  "Being Uncle Andrew's wife doesn't bother Stella, if you know what I mean. She likes cowboys and she especially likes tall, well-built men. Do you happen to own a cowboy hat?"

  Kelly laughed, then immediately choked it off. "I'm sorry but that sounded so funny coming from such a sweet little gal."

  She laughed harshly. "Oh, believe me. I'm not always sweet. I know I have a blind spot where Stella's concerned. She made my childhood miserable and that affects my attitude but I'm serious about the kind of woman she is. She and Uncle Andrew stopped sharing the same bedroom years ago and she doesn't even pretend to be a faithful wife."

  "Even if that's true, would she be willing to tell me things that might be damaging to your uncle?"

  "I don't think she'd care. She likes damaging people. She'd probably be happy to see Uncle Andrew charged with my mother's murder because then he'd go to prison and she'd have all his money. Grandmother Davis made her sign a prenuptial agreement before she married Uncle Andrew and if she leaves him, all she gets is a monthly allowance."

  "Do you think she knows anything about your mother and father? That all happened quite a while before she married your uncle, didn't it?"

  "I don't know. Uncle Andrew’s not the confiding type and Grandmother Davis sure wasn’t. She didn't approve of Stella at all. Still, Stella's sneaky. If there's a skeleton in our family closet, she’d have found it."

  "Any suggestions about approaching Stella?"

  "Oh sure, that's easy. Just tell her you're an old friend of mine who wanted to get in touch with me. When she tells you I'm away at school, act disappointed and mention you were hoping I'd show you a bit of the night life. Stella will take care of the rest."

  "I'm not quite sure how to take that. Still, it might work, at least for starters. I'll eventually have to tell her who I am but maybe I can soften her up a bit before I start with the questions."

  "I'm sure you can." The edge was back in her voice. Kelly winced.

  "I doubt if there'll be a mutual attraction. I don't like cold, calculating women."

  Krystal blushed. "I'm glad." She lowered her head until her voice was barely audible. "Because I like you."

  "I like you too." Kelly smiled and brushed his fingers across the palm of her hand. "That gives me another reason to find out who killed your mother. I'd like us to get better acquainted and I don't want Anna's death hanging over our heads."

  She lifted her eyes to his and they held the gaze for a long moment. Finally, Kelly took a notebook from his pocket and handed it across the table.

  "Here, write down the address and phone number in Houston. Then let's forget this stuff and enjoy the rest of the evening. There's a band in the other room. Do you like to dance?"

  "I love to dance."

  Chapter Eleven

  Kelly jerked up in the bed, tangled his arms in the sheets and grappled thin air with his hands.

  "Did you bite my foot?" He glared at Jake, who basked in the early morning sunlight across the foot of the bed.

  Jake hopped off the bed and stretched his legs, then opened his mouth for a big yawn and padded across to the door.

  "And you don’t give a damn that I didn't hit the sack until two a.m. either, do you?"

  Jake shook himself and looked at Kelly.

  "Nope, you don’t." Kelly limbed out of bed and opened the door. "You go check out the neighborhood while I get myself together, then we'll see about some chow."

  Kelly showered, dressed, made a pot of coffee and filled Jake's bowl. Cup in hand, he wandered into the living room and spotted the light blinking on his answering machine.

  Kelly hit the playback button and Gus' voice boomed off the tape. "Where the hell are you? I want to talk to you about your buddy Cam. Give me a ring as soon as you can. I'll be in the office all morning."

  "Shit!" Kelly swore. He’d like to kick Cam’s ass himself for lying to him. And it would take some fast-talking to get Gus to approve his trip to Houston now they had Cam locked up. Best start laying the groundwork for that as soon as possible. He picked up the phone and called.

  "I was beginning to think you'd eloped," Gus boomed over the wire. "That must've been some date."

  "Well, I think we were the last ones left on the dance floor when the band quit for the night, anyway."

  "Good for you. I guess you've h
eard that we picked up Cam."

  "Yeah, I heard. Are you nailed down on this, Gus?"

  "No, not nailed down but what we've got looks good. Why don't you meet me over at the White Bull? We'll have a cup of coffee and mull things over a bit."

  "I'll catch you there."

  Maybe there was hope. Gus' willingness to meet and talk was a sure sign he had a few doubts about the case. Gus might be with the Sheriff’s Department now instead of the Fort Worth PD, but one thing Kelly knew about his former partner—if Gus was convinced Cam was guilty, he’d wouldn’t be discussing a damn thing with Kelly, let alone setting up a meeting to do it. Maybe he’d get approval for that Houston trip after all.

  It never hurt to be prepared. Kelly packed a bag for an overnight stay, gave Jake an affectionate rub and headed for Old Blue. He stopped at the bait house on the way. The sun had its high beams on and Bubba was sprawled out in a lawn chair reading a Louis L'Amour paperback and taking advantage of the warmth when Kelly hopped out of the truck.

  "Hey, Kelly, what's up?"

  "I'm headed for Houston. I'll probably be back early tomorrow afternoon but just in case I'm held up, how about keeping your eye on things? There's nothing going on at the flea market, so if you'll just do a walk around later tonight, that'll be good enough. Jake's got plenty of food and water but maybe after you've done the market you could stop off at the cabin and make sure everything's copacetic."

  "Sure, Kelly. No problem."

  "Thanks. I'll catch you later."

  The White Bull on 28th Street had been a standard pit stops back in the days when Gus and Kelly were a team. Kelly slid across the cracked red plastic of the same old booth they'd always chosen. It felt good, like a homecoming.

  "Just like old times." Gus’s voice was muffled by the mouthful of biscuit. Kelly nodded and called the waitress over.

  "I'll have the biscuits and gravy." He pointed at Gus' plate. "And throw a couple of eggs on the side." She nodded, filled his coffee cup and headed for the kitchen.

  "So!" Kelly took a sip of hot coffee and looked at Gus. "You gonna tell me what's going on?"

  Gus set his fork on the plate and leaned back. "Seems your friend left out a coupla’ things when he told you about his run-in with Anna."

  "Yeah, kinda of figured that out already. Okay, let's hear the worst."

  "Cam's prints were all over that box of Anna's. So was Bubba's, but he had a reason. Or so he says. We had enough to get a warrant on Cam though. And we weren't inside his place ten minutes before we found Anna's note tucked away in the bottom drawer of his desk. That sound good to you?"

  "Smartass. So what's his story?"

  "About what you'd expect. He claims he went down to Anna's cabin to see if she'd come back from the flea market. Says the door was unlocked so he walked in and went to her bedroom to see if maybe she'd passed out on the bed. And then, according to his story, he spotted the box pulled out of the floor and busted wide open. Says the note was right on top and he grabbed it without thinking and got the hell out of there."

  "He's probably telling the truth about that door. Most of the Creek folks leave them unlocked. Including Anna."

  "Yeah, well, she may have left her door unlocked but not the box. Cam admits he went inside her cabin looking for that note. That nails him for burglary right there."

  "Sure it does but you're not after a burglar, for God's sake. You're after a murderer."

  "What makes you so sure we ain’t got both. Two for the price of one?”

  Kelly shrugged. "Call it gut instinct if you want to. And don't try and tell me that you're absolutely sure about it, either. I know you, Gus. If you were set on Cam for the big one, you wouldn't be wasting time jawing with me. You'd be out busting your ass to get your case against him nailed down. So what gives?"

  "I have been busting my ass, as you so delicately put it but I admit there're a couple of things bothering me. For one thing, it's not like you to get on your high horse the way you have about this Cam character. That bothers me some. Then there's the scarf. How the hell did Cam get his hands on it? ‘Cause we know he never left the Hideaway Saturday afternoon, which is when Krystal says she lost the scarf. What really bothers me though is the note. Cam admits he knew Anna's will cancelled out the note, so if he killed her, why in hell would he take the note? It just don't make sense."

  "That's what I been trying to tell you. If Cam killed her, he'd have hauled ass back to the bar and built himself an alibi. Woulda’ been stupid to go to her cabin and steal that note and Cam's not stupid."

  "Maybe he got so damn scared after he killed her his brain wasn't working."

  "I don't believe that. If Cam had committed the murder, his first thought would've been how to cover his tracks."

  "Well, I'm not filing it but I'll level with you, Kelly. I'm getting a lotta pressure from upstairs and until something better comes along, Cam’s just gonna have to cool his heels."

  Kelly nodded. "I know all about the politics. Besides, Cam shouldn't have lied. It won't hurt him to simmer for a couple of days. Meantime, I've got an idea that might open up another line."

  "What's that?"

  "I asked Krystal a few questions last night and I got some interesting family background that might be worth some digging."

  "Such as?"

  "It seems Anna was a forbidden topic in the Davis household and not only that, no one’s ever told Krystal what happened the night her father committed suicide. Still won’t. That's the reason she hired a detective to track down her mother."

  "I already checked that out," Gus said. "It's the same old crap. Anna ran off with a boyfriend and when her husband found out, he blew his own head off."

  "I don't buy that. If it was a straightforward case of Anna being a Jezebel, why didn't they just tell Krystal all the details and let her think the worst of Anna? Nope, something's not kosher and what I'd like to do is run down to Houston and have a little chat with Krystal's Aunt Stella."

  Gus rolled his eyes. "That's just what I need. You'll go on down there and start some fireworks and the next thing I know, one of Davis' hot-shot lawyers will be on the phone to the chief and I'll be up to my ass in alligators."

  "That's not gonna happen." Kelly grinned and clapped his hand to his heart. "I give you my word, I won't stir up any shit. All I'll do is have a go at the aunt and see what comes out. If she balks, I'll back off and that'll be the end of it."

  "I ought to have my head examined but what the hell," Gus growled. "I admit I'm not happy with some aspects of this case but my hands are tied. I'll agree to you poking around down there in Houston. As long as it's strictly unofficial. If I get any complaints, I won't know a damn thing about what you're doing."

  "You got a deal." Kelly picked up the bill and headed for the front counter. "I'll get the grub."

  "Don't think this evens us out from Angelo's!"

  Kelly headed straight for the freeway from the café. It was one o'clock by the time he'd fought his way across Dallas and merged with I-45 to Houston. It was a four or five hours, depending on traffic and road construction, so he’d play connecting with Stella by ear. According to Krystal, Uncle Andrew often stayed at the office until nine or ten. If traffic was light, he might even see her tonight.

  Luck stayed with him all the way. By five-thirty he'd reached the outskirts of Houston and merged onto the 610 Loop west and south. From there, he stayed on to the San Felipe off-ramp where he exited onto River Oaks Boulevard and whipped into a gas station to refuel. And to call the Davis residence.

  "Davis residence." A woman’s voice. Probably the maid or housekeeper.

  “Andrew Davis, please?”

  "He's not available."

  Well, hell! Not available might mean anything from taking a crap to being out on the town. He'd hoped to head right over there but if Andrew was home, he'd have to wait for morning.

  Kelly switched tactics. "I'm a business associate of Mr. Davis. I just got into town and I'd like to get hold of hi
m tonight if possible."

  "Have you tried the office?" The woman asked.

  "No. I didn't think he'd be there this late."

  "He's working on a project and isn’t expected home until midnight or later."

  Kelly grinned, thanked the woman for her help. He pulled the truck away from the pumps over to the side and consulted his map, looking for Pine Hill Terrace.

  A ten-minute drive took him to River Oaks. He whistled low in his throat when he pulled up in front of the Davis mansion. The place was a showpiece. White-trimmed windows and casements contrasted with the red brick exterior. It shrieked of old money. Kelly climbed out of Old Blue and let himself in through the wrought iron gate.

  A sleek blue Jaguar stood in front of the garage. It had to be Stella’s car. Krystal had told him she drove a Jag. Kelly crossed his fingers for luck and strode up to the front door.

  The hollow tone of muted chimes filtered through the heavy oak door. A few moments passed before the latch clicked and the door swung open.

  The shapely redhead stepped onto the porch and arched an eyebrow. "Can I help you?" She swept her cool blue eyes down Kelly's six-foot frame.

  Kelly grinned. Krystal's description hadn't quite prepared him for Stella. Her faded blue jeans fit her slim legs like a second skin and a colorful green print shirt was knotted snugly below her ample breasts.

  "I hope so. I'm looking for Krystal Davis. We were at a workshop together in Austin last year and she told me to look her up if I ever made it to Houston." Stella eyed him speculatively but didn’t speak. Time to go in with a big hit. “You wouldn't by any chance be her sister?"

  "I'm Krystal's aunt. Krystal's living in Fort Worth."

  "Oh! Well, I guess that means I'm going to be left on my lonesome." He drew out his words and kept his eyes fastened on hers. "I was hoping Krystal would show me some Houston night life."

  "Too bad she's not here then." Stella smile made it clear she had an alternative.

  "I don't suppose you'd care to join me for a drink?" Kelly struck while the iron was hot.

  "I don't know. I'd hate Krystal to hear I'd been inhospitable to her friend but I do have a previous engagement for tonight." She paused, then flashed another smile. "Are you staying in the area?"