Death Before Diamonds (Sky High Pies Cozy Mysteries Book 10)

by Mary Maxwell

  Luckily, Mrs. Frankenstein and I both found it amusing, and I was still chuckling a short time later as I unlocked the door and stepped into the Sky High kitchen. Julia’s car was in the back parking lot, but I didn’t see her or smell coffee brewing.

  “Jules?”

  My voice echoed through the silent room. I dropped my purse, shuffled around the center island and looked through the pass window. She was sitting in a booth, madly scribbling on the back of a paper placement.

  “Julia?”

  Her eyes shot up from the document. She smiled, nodded and held up one finger.

  “Okay,” I said. “Sorry to interrupt.”

  With another grin, she went back to work, so I retraced my steps, started a pot of coffee and went into the office. I’d left in such a hurry the previous afternoon that the top of my desk looked like a jumbled mess again. I quickly organized the folders, cooking magazines and unopened envelopes to restore some appearance of order.

  I’m a packrat, I thought. I’m going to end up on the next season of Hoarders.

  “Ready for this?”

  Julia’s voice startled me. I whirled around in my chair just in time to see her place a mug of coffee on the desk.

  “Sorry, Katie! I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

  I laughed. “I already beat you to it,” I said. “Frankenstein’s lovely bride greeted me in the bathroom mirror this morning.”

  She frowned. “Who?”

  “Frankenstein’s bride,” I said. “I fell asleep in bed with part of a toasted coconut cupcake. Some of the frosting was in my hair when I woke up.”

  She sat in one of the chairs facing the desk and sipped her coffee.

  “I didn’t know that he had a wife,” she said.

  “Frankenstein?”

  She smiled. “Yes, but it’s kind of early to talk about him.”

  “It’s kind of early to talk about anything,” I muttered. “I didn’t sleep very well last night.”

  “Because of the cupcake?”

  I shook my head. “No, it’s the Rex Greer thing. I keep rolling it around in my head, reviewing the clues and online research to try and figure out what the heck is going on with Rex and his brother.”

  “And?” Julia smiled, sipping her coffee. “Any progress? Do you have a theory about why he was attacked?”

  I shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. Rex has yet to give a comprehensive statement about the incident. It’ll probably be another day or two before anyone can start figuring out what really happened.”

  “And in the meantime?” Her eyebrows lifted. “What are you planning to do?”

  “Mind my own business,” I said.

  “Uh-huh. Like that’s possible.”

  “I might check online again later,” I said. “Maybe Theo’s Facebook page will shed some light on the situation.”

  Julia drank more coffee, eyeing me skeptically.

  “What?” I said. “Do you think I’m sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong?”

  “I’m not touching that,” she said, getting up from the chair and motioning for me to follow. “Come on, Katie. I made some notes about your cooking class idea, and I also need to ask you a couple of questions about the prep list.”

  I grabbed my coffee and we walked out of the office, down the hallway and into the kitchen.

  “Right there,” she said, pointing at two entries at the bottom of the whiteboard on the wall. “What do those say?”

  I studied the scrawled words. “The first one is ‘buttermilk biscuits,’” I told her. “And the other one is…” I paused, frowning at the indecipherable doodle. “Well, I have no idea, but I hope it isn’t anything we need this morning.”

  “Don’t sweat it,” she said with a confident smile. “We’ll figure it out, Katie. We always do!”

  CHAPTER 37

  When my eyes blinked open at five-fifteen that evening, I was confused and disoriented. I got out of the desk chair, stumbled across the office and glanced in the mirror.

  “Somebody looks rumpled,” I said to my reflection. “Thank goodness there are no witnesses.”

  Julia and Harper had scrambled out the door around four o’clock. I’d finished the daily bookkeeping and returned a few phone calls before apparently catching up on my lack of sleep with a catnap in the desk chair.

  Although the snooze was a nice surprise, it left me groggy and listless. I felt like a sloth, everything moving at a slow and languid pace. My eyelids were slabs of granite on a slippery slope, inching ever downward with gritty determination.

  “Is it too early for bed?” I asked the drowsy woman in the mirror.

  But instead of waiting for her to answer, I drifted out of the office, down the hall and into the Sky High kitchen. I retrieved a can of ginger ale from the walk-in, popped the top and took a restorative sip.

  “That’s tasty,” I said to the empty room. “Be even better with a splash of rum or bourbon.”

  I wandered around the silent space, studying the neatly organized pots and pans hanging on the rack. Some were new, others were nicked and dented with age. One in particular caught my eye. It was a cast iron skillet with NANA REED printed on the side in white paint. I’d tagged it with the nickname we used for my grandmother when I was eight. She’d made an offhand remark about it being one of her favorite possessions because it could double as both a multipurpose kitchen resource and a weapon for self-defense.

  “I love you, Nana Reed,” I whispered, reaching up to touch the skillet.

  After another revitalizing sip of my drink, I glanced at the whiteboard that we use to track prep tasks and special orders. We’d accomplished more than usual that afternoon, so the board was nearly bare. But along the bottom, in bright green marker, I saw two atypical entries.

  In her delicate and precise handwriting, Julia had left me a note: Take the night off! Directly below that, in the immaculate lettering that she used to write guest tickets, Harper had added her own comment: You deserve it, boss!

  I laughed at their thoughtful suggestions before plucking one of the ink markers from the Mason jar on the counter to add my own message: Thanks for being amazing! Nothing around here would happen without you!

  I dropped the pen back into the jar, finished my ginger ale and walked the empty can to the recycle bin by the backdoor. Then I pulled out my phone and sent Zack a text about dinner. He replied almost immediately to say that he’d been delayed at the newspaper and wouldn’t finish work until around 9. Sorry, babe, he added. See you ASAP! XO

  For a brief moment, I considered calling my neighbor to see if she wanted to go out for a bite. But then I decided to head upstairs to my apartment, take a long bubble bath and order a calzone and salad for delivery from Pepper & Roni’s.

  “Laptop,” I said, returning to the office. “I can at least do more cost comparisons for the cooking classes while I wait for the food to arrive.”

  I was nearly to the desk when my phone vibrated in my pocket. I didn’t recognize the number, but the area code indicated the northern and western parts of the state.

  “Hello?” I said after the call connected. “This is Kate.”

  “Miss Reed?” said a man with a resonant baritone. “This is Theo Greer. I understand that you’ve been looking for me.”

  CHAPTER 38

  The room suddenly felt airless and silent as a tomb. I put one hand on the desk to steady myself as I spun around and sat in a guest chair.

  “Mr. Greer?”

  “Yes.”

  “Where are you right now?” I asked.

  “Over here in Palisade. I got a tip from someone back in Philly that Colorado’s wine country was worth the time. I decided to do some sightseeing before I head back home.”

  “I’ve heard that part of the state is nice,” I said.

  “So far, it’s very enjoyable,” he agreed. “I’ve got a room at the Wine Valley Inn, the people are friendly and the—”

  “Pardon the interruption,” I said firmly.
“But aren’t you curious about why I was trying to reach you?”

  His laugh was as deep and unruffled as his voice. “Well, I suspect that you’re about to tell me,” he said. “The motel manager in Frisco left a message for me. He made it sound urgent, so I came back to my room to get in touch with you straightaway. I would’ve called you from the vineyard, but my phone’s battery ran out of juice.”

  “I appreciate that,” I said. “There is a matter that I wanted to discuss with you.”

  “I figured as much,” Theo said. “What can I help you with?”

  “It’s your brother,” I said. “Rex came to Crescent Creek looking for you, and he ran into a bit of bad luck.”

  Another booming laugh blasted from the phone. “That’s the most asinine thing that I’ve heard in a long, long time. I told him to go back home to Philadelphia after the stunt he pulled at the Silver Dollar.”

  I felt my mouth lift into a faint grin at the admission. Then my mind flooded with the stark realization that Rex had lied about his brother’s disappearance. And if he did that, what else was he lying about?

  “Are you telling me that Rex kicked in the door to your room at the motel?” I asked.

  “That I am,” Theo said. “My little bro had a few wild ideas about my trip to Colorado.”

  “Such as?”

  He laughed again. “How is that your business?”

  “Well, I suppose that it isn’t,” I said. “But your brother turned up on my doorstep a couple of days ago with a story about your disappearance. It seemed plausible. And I’ve been trying to help figure out not only your whereabouts, but the identities of the people who attacked Rex the other night.”

  The line was silent. I imagined that Theo was processing what I’d just told him about his brother.

  “What happened?” he asked finally.

  “To Rex?”

  “Yes,” he said. “Where was he attacked?”

  “Here in Crescent Creek,” I answered. “The police are investigating, but they don’t have any suspects at this point. From what little I know, there’s a strong chance that your old friend from Diamond Galleria might be involved.”

  “How bad was it?” he said. “Is he on his way home yet?”

  “No, Mr. Greer,” I said. “He’s in the Regional Medical Center here in Crescent Creek. He ended up with some fairly serious injuries.”

  “How serious?”

  “He made it through surgery,” I said. “But they want him to stay in the hospital for another few days.”

  “And you don’t have any idea who attacked him?” Theo asked.

  “Nothing definite,” I answered. “But your brother claimed it was two women.”

  Theo scoffed. “Two women? Are you kidding me?”

  “No, sir. That’s what Rex told the police before he went into surgery.”

  I waited for his next comment, but the line went silent again. I could hear him breathing, so I figured he was processing the additional news about his brother.

  “In that case, I guess that I’ll be coming back your way,” Theo said finally. “I suspect I know who put my brother in the hospital.”

  I asked who he was talking about before encouraging him to contact the Crescent Creek PD.

  “It’s none of your concern,” he said. “I’ll take care of them.”

  “Do you know who did this?” I said.

  “Maybe.”

  “Are you willing to share the names with me?”

  He laughed. “I’m not ready, willing or able to do that. I won’t be completely sure until I sit down and talk to them.”

  “Fair enough,” I said. “Can you at least tell me if it’s someone you know?”

  He ignored the question, letting the silence convey his displeasure at the line of questioning.

  “Or maybe it’s a former coworker,” I suggested. “From Diamond Galleria in Philadelphia.”

  He chuckled again. “You keeping tabs on me, Miss Reed?”

  “I’m a former private investigator,” I explained. “I guess you could say that doing research and following leads is a hard habit to break.”

  “Is that so?”

  I ignored the rhetorical rejoinder, deciding instead to give Theo a short summary of what I knew so far about Rex and his visit to town.

  “When your brother showed up here in Crescent Creek,” I said, “he told a pretty convincing story that you were missing and he was worried about your safety. He seemed certain that you had run into some sort of nefarious trouble.”

  “Nefarious?” The man’s voice was still buoyant and cheerful. “Is that the same thing as bad?”

  “Essentially. Is it true?”

  “What’s that?”

  “Did you run into trouble?”

  “You could say that,” he answered. “For example, I overindulged last night in some pretty tasty Riesling from one of the local vineyards.”

  I let the quip fly by, asking again if Theo had encountered any genuinely troubling circumstances since arriving in Colorado.

  “I’m beginning to wonder if it was a mistake to return your call,” he said brusquely. “What are you getting at?”

  “Here’s the thing,” I said. “Your brother came to my café and claimed that you were missing. He told me that he’d made the trip out here from Philadelphia to try and find you. Based on some skillful work by the Crescent Creek PD and a little sleuthing of my own, we believed that it was possible you might be in jeopardy because of—”

  “Arlene?”

  “—your association with…” His interjection derailed my train of thought. “Um, yes, actually. Arlene Warren, who we now believe is—”

  “Look,” he said in a firm tone. “I don’t know you, Miss Reed. And you don’t know me. But I’m a polite and civil kind of guy. When I got the message that you were trying to reach me, I called you back. Since you’re in Crescent Creek and I visited your place of business, I thought maybe I’d dropped something when I came in to eat. But I can tell that’s not the case. And I’m not really comfortable discussing my personal life and old friends with a complete stranger over the phone.”

  “Would it make any difference if it was someone from the Crescent Creek Police?”

  He laughed, slowly and softly. “Heck,” he said. “Anybody can call from anywhere and claim to be with the police. How do you think I found Arlene in the first place?”

  His question stopped me; it sounded like he’d just confessed to impersonating a member of the law enforcement community.

  “And I’d do it again,” he said, “if it meant finding the person responsible for something bad that happened six years ago.”

  “Is this about the robbery at Diamond Galleria?”

  He laughed again. “You have been doing some homework, haven’t you?”

  “As I told you, I used to be a private investigator. It comes with the territory.”

  “You know what else requires homework?” he asked, sounding colder and much less relaxed. “Revenge.”

  “I don’t understand, Mr. Greer.”

  “You don’t have to understand,” he said in a low, unhurried tone. “Because it’s none of your concern.”

  CHAPTER 39

  My conversation with Theo Greer ended as abruptly as it began. After telling me to mind my own business, he hung up. Then I listened to the hum of the lifeless line for a few seconds before dialing Trent’s number at CCPD Headquarters. When it landed in voicemail, I called the switchboard.

  “Is Deputy Chief Walsh in the building?” I asked.

  “Which building?” said the man on the other end, demonstrating an oblique sense of humor.

  “It’s urgent,” I said. “This is Kate Reed. I’ve been helping out behind the scenes with something.”

  “I know,” said the deep voice. “Trent’s actually standing right here. He saw your name pop up on the screen and told me to give you a hard time.”

  I didn’t say anything.

  “Sorry about that, ma�
�am,” the man offered. “I’ll put you on hold briefly while he grabs a phone down the hall.”

  “Thank you,” I said, feeling my blood pressure gurgle a little higher.

  It seemed like precious minutes had been wasted on Trent’s attempt at humor. The conversation with Theo Greer had left me with a swelling sense of urgency, and I was beginning to regret making the call from the desk phone. If I’d used my mobile, I would already be out the door on the way to see Rex again. A few more moments passed before Trent finally came on the line.

  “What’s up?” he asked with a bouncy lilt. “I was getting ready to leave.”

  “I’m glad that I caught you,” I said. “I just talked to Theo Greer.”

  It took a few seconds for the name to register.

  “You mean the missing brother?” Trent asked.

  “He’s in Palisade,” I said. “A little sightseeing trip through Colorado wine country.”

  “Do you want to tell me how you managed to find him?” Trent’s chuckle was even more playful than his voice. “Or is that some kind of trade secret?”

  “I left my number with the manager at the Silver Dollar in Frisco,” I said. “It took a day or so, but the message eventually reached Theo.”

  Trent cleared his throat. “What’s the story?” he asked. “Did you tell him that his kid brother is searching high and low?”

  “I don’t know exactly what he’s up to,” I said. “But I don’t believe that Theo’s visit to Crescent Creek was a simple stroll down Memory Lane to see a former co-worker.”

  “Then what was it?”

  “I wish I knew. Theo didn’t seem surprised that Rex had followed him out here. In fact, I think that he’s coming back to town.”

  “Good,” Trent said. “He can be responsible for Rex once they release him from the hospital.”

  “I don’t think it’s going to be that simple,” I said.

  Trent snickered. “Do you have any idea what the heck is going on with these two goofballs?”

  “I have a couple of theories,” I said. “But I wanted to give you a quick call before I go back to the hospital. I want to see how Rex handles the news about Theo. Maybe his reaction will help us understand what, if any, criminal activity is afoot.”