Drowned in Cherry Hills

by Paige Sleuth

  “A relationship.” Dr. T repeated the words as though evaluating whether he could convince Kat of its truth.

  But he hesitated for far too long. Something else was going on, and whatever it was he didn’t seem prone to sharing.

  What was Dr. T’s connection to Ellie? Their only link that Kat could see was Diana. Diana had said Ellie didn’t approve of her taking painkillers. Could Ellie have said something similar to Dr. T?

  “Did Ellie confront you about the pills?” Kat asked.

  She had tossed the question out not really expecting an answer, but the way Dr. T recoiled told her she was on the right track.

  “You’re not Diana’s regular doctor, are you?” Kat said, her heart pounding as she put the pieces together. “You’re selling Diana those prescriptions. Ellie found out and wanted you to stop.”

  It was no wonder neither Diana nor Dr. T seemed comfortable discussing her prescription. Kat’s new theory also explained why Diana had been so antsy about the police searching her locker that morning. She hadn’t wanted them to find her in possession of controlled substances she shouldn’t have. Then, when Andrew had requested to see her things, she had undoubtedly realized it would look more suspicious if she refused. Lucky for her, Andrew had been focused on solving a murder, not busting a painkiller addict.

  “Okay, perhaps there’s some truth to what you’re saying,” Dr. T finally said, his tone much more conciliatory than it had been a minute ago.

  Sweat beaded on Kat’s forehead. “That’s why you killed her, isn’t it? You were worried she would report you.”

  Dr. T shook his head. “No. I already told you, I didn’t kill her.”

  “But you were in her house.”

  “Yes, but only to recover the photos she was using to blackmail me.”

  “Blackmail?” Kat felt as if she’d been smacked by a two-by-four. “Ellie Higgins was blackmailing you?”

  Dr. T raked his hand through his still-damp hair. “I didn’t mean that. Ignore what I just said.”

  “Ellie was blackmailing you, and you didn’t want to pay,” Kat said, trying to wrap her head around this new twist.

  Dr. T must have decided it was too late to deny it. “Naturally I didn’t want to pay. But I did.” He looked Kat straight in the eye. “I didn’t kill her, I swear.”

  “What photos did you take from her house?”

  “I didn’t take anything from her house.”

  Kat squinted at him. “But you said that’s why you were there.”

  “Yes, she had pictures of the prescriptions I’d been selling on the side.” Dr. T sighed. “But I didn’t find them at her house. And believe me, I looked. After I heard she was murdered, I figured it was only a matter of time before the police descended upon her place, so I hightailed it over there. But whatever she had on me, she must not have kept it at home.”

  “Maybe she didn’t actually have any photos,” Kat proposed. “Maybe she made it up so you’d give her the money she wanted.”

  He shook his head. “She had the pictures. She would include photocopies of them in the notes she left me.”

  Kat blinked. “She left you notes?”

  “When she wanted more money, she’d type up her demands and slip it in here.” He patted his gym bag.

  Kat sagged against the wall, feeling disoriented. The Ellie he was describing was so unlike the Furry Friends Foster Families volunteer she’d dealt with that she was having trouble processing what the doctor was saying.

  “What did she put in the notes?” Kat asked.

  “She kept them simple. She basically told me how much to leave her and where to leave it. That’s it.”

  “Where did you leave the money?”

  “It was always the same place. Locker fifteen.”

  Kat screwed up her nose. “Locker fifteen?”

  “Yes. I was to drop an envelope with the money through the ventilation louvers.”

  “Huh. And she never asked you for the money in person?”

  His lips thinned. “Once, when I ran into her near where we’re standing now, she said I shouldn’t be prescribing pills to people other than my patients. She told me it was wrong. That was when I realized she was the person who’d been blackmailing me. Before then, I hadn’t a clue.”

  Kat thought about finding Andrew’s number at Ellie’s house, wondering if Ellie had planned to turn Dr. T in after she’d squeezed as much money as she could out of him. The Ellie Kat knew would feel a moral obligation to report the doctor in order to help her friend. Then again, the Ellie she knew wouldn’t have waited until after she’d received a few payoffs.

  “Did you ever take the letters to the police?” she asked Dr. T.

  He snorted. “Of course not. I disposed of them as soon as I could.”

  “Extortion is illegal, you know.”

  “Of course I know that. What do you think, I was born yesterday? But what I was doing wasn’t exactly aboveboard either. And the letters she left were more damaging to me than to her. She was smart enough to leave her name off when she typed them up. She could have feigned innocence if anybody questioned her about them.”

  The song filtering through the hallway speakers ended, and another one started up. The music generally didn’t bother her, but right now Kat wished it would shut off. She was having a hard time thinking clearly with all the background noise.

  Dr. T hitched his gym bag higher on his shoulder. “If we’re done here, I have to get going.”

  “But . . .”

  She didn’t bother completing the sentence. Dr. T had already disappeared around the corner, leaving her standing there with more questions than answers.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Kat’s mind was still whirling after Dr. T blew by her. Although a man who prescribed pain pills illegally didn’t merit much trust, she’d believed Dr. T when he said he hadn’t killed Ellie. She doubted he would have been as willing to discuss Ellie’s hold over him otherwise. After all, it gave him a big motive for murder.

  The shock of learning about Ellie’s blackmail scheme had dulled, but it forced her to question whether Ellie’s shady dealings might have been her undoing. Maybe she had dug up dirt on several Cherry Hills residents and was trying to capitalize on all their secrets. If one of her other victims had also put together that she was the one sending the threatening letters, they might not have hesitated to knock her into the gym pool.

  For that matter, had Ellie been blackmailing Diana about the pain pills, too? If Kat could just get into locker number fifteen, perhaps she could find answers to some of her questions.

  Her eyes strayed to the men’s locker room door. How much time would she have to get in and out before anyone showed up? Would she even be able to force locker fifteen open? She wouldn’t know until she tried.

  She dried her sweaty palms on her shorts. Her hands were shaking, and the yogurt she’d eaten earlier was threatening to make a return appearance. Already she felt like a criminal, and she hadn’t even done anything yet. How on earth had Ellie managed this on a regular basis?

  The tiny seedling of doubt that had sprouted when Dr. T brought up the blackmail blossomed into outright disbelief. Why would Ellie have chosen an area reserved for men as her place to collect the money? Wouldn’t she have been better off selecting someplace where she wouldn’t immediately draw suspicion if someone happened to spot her?

  Could Dr. T have been wrong about Ellie blackmailing him? He’d said she left the demands anonymously, deducing that she was involved based on a comment she’d made about the ethics of what he was doing. But what if she knew about the prescriptions because of Diana but hadn’t used that knowledge to her benefit? What if she’d only said something because she was concerned about her friend?

  “Hey, Kat,” Fred said, rounding the corner. “You okay?”

  Kat started, jarred by the interruption. “No. I mean, yes, I’m fine.”

  Fred squinted at her, a line creasing his forehead. “You sure? You didn’t overexe
rt yourself out there, did you?”

  “No.” Not unless chasing after Dr. T counted.

  “Good. Overdoing it is the fast path to injury.” Fred grinned, exposing two rows of blindingly white teeth. “Say, how are you liking your time with us so far? You look ten times more fit than you did back when you first joined.”

  “I do?”

  “Would I lie?”

  Probably, Kat thought to herself, remembering Fred’s concerns that morning about losing business. Lavishing praise on his most out-of-shape clients could be his form of damage control. He likely didn’t realize her continued patronage had more to do with the doughnut shop next door than any desire to look better.

  “Hey,” Fred said, his eyes gleaming, “if you’re ready to take things up a notch, Mikaela has openings for one-on-one sessions. She’s a wizard at helping people reach their goals.”

  “Oh.” Kat held up her hands. “I enjoy her aerobics class, but I’m not really looking for individual attention.”

  “Suit yourself. The option’s always open.”

  “I appreciate it.”

  “Say.” Fred scanned the corridor before lowering his voice. “Any word on the Ellie situation?”

  “The Ellie situation?” Kat repeated. “You mean her murder?”

  “Shh!” Fred’s face darkened. “Don’t shout it!”

  “Don’t you think everybody already knows what happened here this morning?” The way word traveled in Cherry Hills, it would be a small miracle if anyone hadn’t heard the news yet.

  “Yeah, but reminding people can’t be good for business. Forget and move on, that’s my motto.” He bent closer to Kat, his hot breath tickling her skin. “Any updates on when this whole thing will be resolved?”

  She drew back until a more respectable distance separated them once again. “The police have to find out who killed her first.”

  “I know that.” Fred started to roll his eyes but stopped himself. “How close are they to catching the guy? You and Andrew—Detective Milhone—seem pretty chummy. He tell you anything?”

  “He doesn’t keep me apprised of his cases.”

  Fred smacked his hand on his leg. “C’mon, give me something here. He at least got any leads?”

  Kat ran her tongue around her mouth, tempted to tell him about how Ellie—or someone else—had been blackmailing Dr. T and possibly others. If Fred knew what was going on, would he let her into locker fifteen? He seemed pretty adamant about finding Ellie’s killer, and he might just be desperate enough to wrap things up that he’d do whatever she asked.

  Unless Fred himself was the real blackmailer, Kat considered. He had told Andrew he’d lost the master key that opened all the lockers, but what if he’d only claimed not to have it to keep Andrew out of locker number fifteen? Maybe that was why he’d looked so upset when Andrew had brandished that crowbar he kept in his car. Andrew hadn’t said anything about what he’d found in the lockers, but he rarely divulged case details to her.

  Except, if Fred was so concerned that Ellie drowning in his pool would hurt business, wouldn’t he have opted to kill her somewhere else? How hard would it have been for him to get her address off her membership records or follow her as she left the gym?

  Harvey appeared, pushing a yellow mop bucket in front of him. He had one hand on the wringer contraption and the other on the handle of the mop submerged in the basin, doing his best to keep the soapy water from spilling onto the floor as he made his way down the hall.

  “Hey, Harv,” Fred said.

  Harvey stopped moving. “Oh, hi, boss.”

  Fred clamped his hands on his hips. “Hey, it would’ve been nice if you’d put the gym letterhead back into the paper tray when you were done using my printer. You know I’m in the middle of our post-New Year’s membership drive.”

  “Oh.” Harvey leaned on the mop handle. “Sorry about that.”

  “Hey, no sweat.” Fred gave Harvey a shoulder bump. The way he grinned at her while he did it made Kat think the gesture was for her benefit. Fred probably didn’t want any of his clients thinking he wasn’t on good terms with his staff. “Just pay more attention next time.”

  Harvey bobbed his head. “I’ll do that, boss.”

  Fred rubbed his palms together. “Now, I’ve got to get back to the office. The paperwork to keep this place running never stops.”

  “See you,” Kat told him.

  Fred saluted her before striding down the hallway and ducking around the corner.

  Harvey propped the mop handle against the wall and reached into his pants pocket. He pulled out a pair of latex gloves, sending a flash of orange tumbling to the floor in the process.

  Kat stared at the object, the hairs on the back of her neck prickling. When Harvey realized what she was looking at, he dropped the gloves and scooped up the item, shoving it back into his pants pocket.

  But he didn’t move fast enough. Kat had already recognized what it was, having used similar ones herself multiple times in the past six weeks.

  It was a key to one of the gym lockers. Or, rather, judging from the black rim painted around the orange grip, she suspected that particular key didn’t just open one locker but all of them.

  Kat sucked in a breath. Harvey had been standing right there when Andrew had asked Fred about a master key to the lockers. Why hadn’t he said anything?

  Naturally, she already had an inkling as to why he’d remained mum. He didn’t want the police to know he had the key.

  Could Harvey be the blackmailer? With the master key in his possession, he would have no trouble accessing locker fifteen. And it would be easy for him to open up a few other lockers while he was at it—perhaps leaving behind a smattering of blackmail letters printed on Fred’s printer.

  The blood drained from Kat’s head. It wasn’t a stretch to think a man willing to resort to extortion might also commit murder. And now here she was, standing in an empty corridor with only him for company.

  CHAPTER TEN

  “You have Fred’s master key,” Kat said, backing away from Harvey. She didn’t go far before she smacked into the wall.

  “Fred’s master key?” Harvey adopted a puzzled expression, but it looked contrived in Kat’s opinion.

  “The key that opens all the lockers in the building. He told us he lost it, but he didn’t lose it, did he? You took it.”

  “Why would I do that?”

  “Because you couldn’t risk Fred or anyone else getting into that locker you’re using to accept blackmail payments.”

  Harvey’s head jerked back. The confused look was gone, replaced by one of surprise. “You know about that?”

  “I only recently found out.”

  Harvey reached for the mop, and Kat’s blood turned cold.

  “Is that what you used to strike Ellie?” she asked, nodding at the mop.

  He stared at the thick wooden handle for a long moment before refocusing on Kat. “You know everything, don’t you?”

  “No. But I know enough.”

  Harvey didn’t say anything. He simply watched her with an intensity that made her want to fidget.

  She swallowed. “Tell me what happened this morning.”

  He continued to stare at her, the gym’s unrelenting music filling the silence. As much as Kat wanted to look away, she forced herself to hold his gaze. Taking her eyes off this man could prove to be a fatal mistake.

  Just when Kat thought their standoff might last all night, a look of resignation passed over Harvey’s face. “I was mopping the hall when I saw Ellie heading for the pool,” he said. “So I gathered up my things and hurried after her. I had to pretend I was there to clean the floor or my presence might have alarmed her.”

  Kat remembered Diana’s tumble. “You left the corridor wet.”

  “Yeah, well, I wasn’t going to miss my opportunity. Who knew when I would get her alone next?”

  “What happened then?”

  “I waited until she was about to dive into the pool, then I whacke
d her on the head with this.” Harvey shook the mop handle. “She fell right into the water, no sound, no protest, no nothing.”

  Kat felt sick imagining it. “Why? Was she one of your blackmail victims?”

  “Nah. I had nothing on her. She was too ethical. But she came into the locker room a couple days ago when I was counting my profits.”

  Kat frowned. “This was the men’s locker room?”

  “Women’s. I have a payment locker reserved in both rooms.”

  Kat supposed that made sense. She had already figured Dr. T wasn’t Harvey’s only victim. And if you were slimy enough to resort to blackmail, why limit yourself to one gender?

  “I had forgotten to lock the door, and Ellie found me sorting through the payoffs made since my last pickup.” Harvey clenched his jaw. “Walking into that room was her first mistake.”

  “What was her second mistake?”

  “Asking me what I was doing with all that money.”

  “What did you tell her?”

  “I made up a story about dropping my wallet, but she knew. Nobody keeps that much cash on hand. And then she saw one of the notes I get people to leave with their money, so I know who made a payment. I hadn’t had time to hide them before she caught me.”

  Kat wasn’t surprised Ellie had put together what Harvey was up to. She had already known about Dr. T supplying her friend with illegal painkillers. It was only a small leap to deduce that the payment he’d given Harvey was most likely to buy the man’s silence.

  “She was going to turn you in to the police,” Kat said, picturing that scrap of paper with Andrew’s phone number on it.

  Harvey’s eyes darkened. “She told me she was going to talk to that detective who works out here if I didn’t turn myself in first. She said it’d look better if I volunteered a confession, so she’d give me a few days to think about it.”

  His statement filled Kat with melancholy. Giving this vile man a second chance had been Ellie’s downfall.

  “Needless to say, I couldn’t have her blabbing,” Harvey continued. “After I killed her, I emptied out the lockers I’d been using to accept payments. I knew the police would be all over this place, and I couldn’t have them discovering my source of supplemental income.”