“Did Dean mention anything to you?”
“Kate,” she said, taking a moment to formulate her response before stating it. “If this was about anything else, you know I’d tell you everything I could. But...”
“Who was this woman, Jessica?”
“I’m sorry.”
“What if this is the person who killed Clifford? Do you really want her roaming free around Rock Ridge?”
“Well, I can safely tell you that an argument—”
“And slashing his tires.”
“Right, well, it isn’t proof she killed him.”
“Why are you two protecting her?”
“If you really must know, she made a sizable donation to the mayor’s office. It was historic. It’s going to cover Dean’s campaign for re-election, and it covered his investment in the amusement park.”
“He’s an investor?”
“He had to entice Six Flag’s to want to build in Rock Ridge. Look, I hate politics and it’s all very confusing. I’m sorry. All I can say is that there’s no way she had anything to do with Clifford’s murder.”
“Why were they arguing? How does a woman in a position to donate thousands—”
Jessica interrupted only to correct her. “Millions.”
“Millions? Well, how does someone like that know a criminal? Why were they arguing?”
“I really don’t know.”
Kate could tell by the look in Jessica’s eye that she was telling the truth in that regard, but it frustrated her to no end that Jessica was holding out on her.
“Please,” she said. “I won’t tell Dean you told me.”
Jessica slid off the table and squared her shoulders at Kate confrontationally.
“If my husband asks me to keep something confident, I keep it confident,” she stated, but her tone implied Kate didn’t hold the same values in her own marriage—and the insinuation nearly pitched her into a rage.
But she drew in a deep breath, calming herself, and then said, “Thanks for your time. I’ll see myself out.”
It was a very long walk to the front door, and when Bradley called out her name, wishing her a good day, she barely flicked her eyes in his direction.
Outside, the air was sweltering. She made slow work of shutting the door behind her, not quite willing to part with the crisp AC wafting out of the house.
The moment she did, her cell phone buzzed in her overalls.
It was Scott.
“Hey,” she said in an exhausted tone.
“I have some good news,” he said.
“I could use some good news.”
“It looks like the Clifford Green case is going to close. We made our arrest.”
“Who?”
“Daisy if you can believe it.”
Daisy?
She couldn’t.
Chapter Six
So after Daisy had pointed her finger at Carly, Daisy ended up getting arrested? Had Carly pointed her finger right back at her in retaliation? Kate knew Scott was a far better police chief than someone who would book a person on mere rumor, but it did beg the question, why had Daisy been arrested? Grady, the cook had mentioned it had been out of character for Daisy to show up at the diner before the employees that morning. Had she killed Clifford in the parking lot? Scott certainly thought so, yet he hadn’t confided in her that his team found the murder weapon. Wouldn’t he have mentioned it?
The day was getting away from her. There was less than an hour’s worth of sunlight, but luckily her go-to furniture store for renting items whenever she needed to stage a house would be open until nine o’clock.
She walked through the entrance of Corey’s Cabinets, a mom-and-pop store she favored over IKEA, which was on the outskirts of town. Though Corey, the owner, had needed much buttering up and prodding, she had managed to convince him a year back to allow her to rent furniture, even though his store wasn’t known for doing such a thing. To convince him that she would return all items undamaged, she had taken out an insurance policy. It had done the trick—though he wasn’t exactly doing her any favors with the prices.
She found Corey smoothing down a fresh mattress cover over one of the newer models. He was a portly man with a thin tuft of white hair sprouting from the top of his head and his spectacles always seemed to be slipping down his nose.
“Don’t mind me,” she said, rounding through the displays and heading towards the living room furniture. “Just pricing out a few items.”
“Evening, Kate,” he said when he had a moment to glance up. “Let me know if you need anything.”
What she needed was pictures of Meredith’s living room unfurnished. It was challenging to visualize the room. She hadn’t been back since the movers had cleared the house, and she couldn’t quite picture it empty.
She took her time perusing the floor display items, making notes as she went whenever she saw a piece of furniture she thought would work in Meredith’s house. The trick revolved around trying to match the pieces to the art deco style, which wasn’t easy. Corey’s Cabinets tended to be stocked with antique items, which would clash badly, but she managed to pick out a few choice items, noting their prices and tallying a total.
“Will you be around tomorrow?” she asked, approaching the counter where Corey was clicking through his computer.
“Shorter hours,” he said, glancing up at her. “But yes, I’ll be here until four.”
“I may swing by with a U-Haul to get a few things, if this budget is approved.”
“Another house for Justina to sell?”
“That’s the idea,” she said. “But it’s Meredith Joste’s art deco. It didn’t sell two years ago.”
“Well, you never know. I’ve seen a lot of new faces around Rock Ridge.”
So had Kate, but she doubted anyone recently released from prison would have the means to purchase a home as expensive as Meredith’s.
“Besides,” he went on, “Meredith has time.”
Kate cocked her head at that. “I’m not sure she does. She’s moving to Florida. She’s already emptied the house. I’m sure the last thing she wants is to keep up a mortgage while she’s paying rent on a condo down there.”
“I’m sure she can afford it,” he said offhandedly.
“What makes you sure?”
“Meredith’s quite well off. You didn’t realize that?”
She hadn’t.
“She downplays her wealth, but make no mistake, she should have no problem managing two homes.”
Then why is she moving? Kate wondered. She had been under the impression that Meredith needed to sell her home because it had gotten unaffordable. If she could afford it and then some, what was her rush to leave Rock Ridge and get down to Florida?
She handed him another list she had made, saying, “These are the items I’ll pick up tomorrow if Justina okays them.”
Corey read through her list, but before he could reach the bottom he said, “I only have one of these coffee tables, and I’m afraid I can’t spare it.”
“Shoot. Can you recommend something similar? A living room without a coffee table will look strange.”
“Hmm,” he said thoughtfully, as he emerged from the counter and began walking slowly through the store.
“Glass top,” she said. “Brass legs.”
“I know what the coffee table looks like,” he said impatiently.
She was impressed. She had only jotted down the SKU numbers.
“What about this one?”
Corey was pulling another glass coffee table out from beneath a larger table. She hadn’t even seen it.
“It’s the only one I’ve got, but it hasn’t sold in years, so I can live without it for a few months if need be.”
“This looks great,” she said.
“And I’ll rent it to you for half of what the other would’ve cost you.”
“Sounds like a deal.”
“In fact, if you feel like being a powerhouse,” he went on, “you could swing by ton
ight to get these. Truth be told, it’s an imposition having you on the weekends. The hours are short enough as it is, and when I’m off the floor helping you, I’m not on the floor selling.”
“Let me see what I can do,” she said. “I haven’t rented the truck yet.”
“There’s hardly anything on here,” he countered. “Use your pickup.”
“Corey, I’ve listed a queen-sized bed.”
“So you’ll take a few trips.”
Yeah, and I’ll never see my husband, she thought. Not with Corey suggesting she work into the wee hours, driving back and forth, delivering furniture to save him from one hour of inconvenience.
But she agreed. “I’ll see what I can do. How late will you be here?”
“We close at nine, but I’ll be doing the bookkeeping until eleven or midnight. Just give me a holler.”
On her way out, she dialed Carnegie Real Estate and one of Justina’s new assistants picked up.
“Hey, it’s Kate Flaherty.”
“You mean York?”
“No, I mean Flaherty, but yes, I’m married to Scott York.”
“Like I said.”
Kate tried not to sigh loudly. “Can I swing by to drop off my budget and get that credit card?”
“If you come right now. We’re locking up.”
“I’ll be there in three minutes.”
And she was.
Justina’s assistant, Veronica, who always seemed to be dressed in pink for reasons Kate feared to imagine, was waiting and tapping her heel against the floor just inside the anteroom.
“You were longer than three minutes. It’s Friday night, you know.”
“Yes, I’m aware,” she said, handing the snooty young woman the list she had made.
“In the future,” she said, “you should submit this on a Purchase Order, with the list from Corey’s stapled in back of it.”
Kate didn’t point out that she meant Rental Order and not Purchase Order. She simply said that she would.
“It looks good,” she said. “Here’s the card.”
As soon as she had it in her hand, she saw the name on the credit card: Kate York.
“This says York.”
“That’s your name.”
“It’s not my name. It’s not the name on my driver’s license, or my mortgage, or any of my bank accounts or credit card statements, and if they ask me to show ID at the counter, I’m going to have a problem.”
The young woman pitched her eyebrow up her forehead with immense skepticism. “Why would Corey ID you?”
To end this irritating conversation, she stated, “Thank you,” in a sharp tone then yanked the door open and made her way out to her truck.
It was going to be a long night.
Doubling back to Corey’s Cabinets, she gave Corey a quick call, knowing she shouldn’t drive and talk on her cell phone, but the conversation was brief. She pulled around the back of the furniture store, and luckily, Corey must have wanted a good, long distraction from bookkeeping, because he was ready for her, as she rolled to a stop.
“I brought all the smaller items out, as you can see. But we’ll have to do the bed together.”
“Sure thing,” she said. “Should we get it now so I don’t have to bother you on my next trip?”
He shrugged, indicating it was a decent idea. They walked through the storage area in the back of the store and rounded through the bedroom displays.
Though she had full coverage insurance, Corey was only comfortable renting her the floor items, which had been chinked and chipped over the months from prospective customers.
When he reached the bed frame she had noted on her list, he supplied her with a screwdriver and they began disassembling the bed. Soon they were piling the pieces into the back of her truck. Next came the mattress, which they wrestled and maneuvered through the furniture store. When they set it in her truck bed, Kate needed a minute to catch her breath.
“I bet we could lay the smaller items on top.”
She widened her eyes as though he were insane.
“I have bungee cords. Trust me, I don’t want the furniture flying off into the street any more than you do.”
One trip would certainly be better than two or three, so she agreed, helping him carry piece after piece and loading up the truck bed. By the time they were done, the furniture was teetering precariously on top of the mattress, but Corey wasted no time anchoring it down with several cords.
She thanked him, as she hopped up behind the wheel.
“Take care,” he said, as she drove off.
Night was falling fast, and as she pulled into Meredith Joste’s driveway, she wrapped her head around the fastest way to unload her truck. If Meredith had truly moved out all of her belongings, then Kate should be able to simply put the furniture in the garage and arrange it another day.
It seemed like the most productive course of action considering she was ready to drop, so she climbed out of her truck and rang the doorbell, but Meredith didn’t seem to be home.
Where the heck did she go when she disappeared like this?
Kate sighed then searched around the flowerpots, hoping Meredith had left the spare key in the one on the left. She had.
Kate let herself in and was going to round through the foyer and into the garage to open it from the inside when she remembered she still had a few tiles to secure down on the patio.
Decisions. Decisions.
She reasoned she might as well finish the patio now. That way if Meredith got home, she could get formal permission to stow Corey’s furniture in the garage.
But the thought of working for even twenty minutes on the patio made her legs feel like rubber. She took a detour into the kitchen and put on a fresh pot of coffee. As it percolated, the aroma revived her almost as well as her first sip, which she took padding out to the living room.
As she opened the sliding glass door and flipped on the floodlight outside, she immediately noticed one of the tiles was cracked. Letting herself out, she realized it was the tile that she had laid over that strange patch of loose soil. It shouldn’t have cracked, she thought, since I had covered the soil with a thick layer of putty.
She set her mug of coffee down and counted the remaining tiles she had. Luckily, she would still have more than enough to replace the damaged tile and lay down the last three, so she muscled a can of putty open, kneeled in front of the cracked tile, and began prying it up off the ground.
“Hey!”
Kate turned to find Meredith rushing through the darkened living room towards the open door. Startled, she froze, wondering why Meredith looked suddenly furious.
“I didn’t think you were home,” she explained. “I can have this finished in a half hour tops.”
“Leave it!” she ordered, her gaze locked on the cracked tile, which Kate had nearly pried off.
“Meredith, it’s got a crack down its center. I can easily replace it.”
“Just leave it,” she snapped. “It’s fine.”
“Well, it isn’t. Like I said, it’s cracked.”
“I don’t have time for this, Kate.”
Meredith was dressed up, she realized, as she glanced her up and down.
“You really should have called ahead.”
She didn’t appreciate the tone Meredith had taken. Rising to her feet, she asserted, “I’m not interested in dragging out this project. We both want it done, and I’m here now. Can I finish?”
Meredith drew in a deep breath and held it as a measure to calm herself then said, “Fine. Finish it. But leave that tile as it is.”
It was beyond her why Meredith would want her brand new patio to be so imperfect, but she didn’t argue. Rather, she asked, “My truck is full of furniture. I was hoping to leave it in your garage and come back tomorrow to stage the house.”
“I’m flying out tomorrow.”
“When?”
“In the evening, but I can’t have you bumbling about distracting me.”
“Me
redith, what is wrong? You seem agitated, and you aren’t acting like yourself.”
“I’m fine except that I found someone on my back patio,” she stated, accusingly. “Just do what you have to do and lock up. I’m late as it is. And leave that tile! It’s fine!”
In mock response, Kate lifted her hands in surrender as if to say, ‘I won’t touch it, sheesh.’
As soon as Meredith left and Kate heard the click of the front door shutting, she grumbled to herself about Meredith’s volatile attitude and went right ahead with fixing the cracked tile anyway. This patio was an example of her work, after all, and residents from all over Rock Ridge and the surrounding counties could very well pass through those doors, interested in buying the place. Kate wasn’t going to allow her reputation to be tarnished, just because Meredith’s blood sugar had dropped too low.
Was that it? Had she sunk into a foul mood because she hadn’t eaten? Hadn’t had her coffee? Was she generally stressed about picking up and moving her entire life to Florida?
Whatever the reason, Kate wasted no time replacing the tile and laying down the rest. She was so rattled by Meredith that she finished in record time, locked the sliding glass door, and padded through the house into the garage where she opened the door.
Carrying each piece of furniture into the garage was no easy task. Often she longed for a fresh cup of coffee, but pausing to drink would only drag this endeavor out further, and she would rather be home with Scott. She was dying to find out what had possibly led him to arrest Daisy.
Soon the furniture pieces were tucked into the garage and Kate drew the door down. She was quick to lock the front door and hide the spare key where she had found it in the flowerpot.
As she approached her truck, she thought about giving Scott a call. Considering Jason had landed a great position at Wentworth Construction, it might be nice to get together for dinner, all four of them. Daisy’s Luncheonette came to mind, as she hopped into her truck. But then she cringed at the thought. Would Daisy’s even be open? Who was running the place now that she was in jail?
Deciding to simply get home as soon as possible, she thought she could give Jason and Jared a call after getting the scoop on Daisy from Scott. She put her truck in reverse and began backing out, but her tires were making a strange thumping sound.
Mrs. Fix It Mysteries: The Complete 15-Books Cozy Mystery Series Page 62
