Close Knit Killer

by Maggie Sefton

  * * *

  “Oh, my, oh, my, oh, my,” Mimi chanted softly as she stirred cream into her Earl Grey tea. “Why did that horrible man have to come over here to Lambspun? I’m so glad I wasn’t here to see him. He’s caused so much heartache and misery to so many fine people.”

  “It’s just one of those things, Mimi. He heard about Hal Nelson’s canyon property being for sale and came over to ask about it.” Kelly rearranged the knife and fork on her plate, which was spotless. All traces of Pete’s delicious homemade sausage, biscuits, and gravy were wiped clean. Their table was completely shaded, which Kelly welcomed because the sun was at its zenith. She’d be playing softball in the sun all afternoon, so the shade felt good now.

  Burt leaned back in the wrought-iron chair and sipped his coffee. “It’s unfortunate that Jared Rizzoli was murdered, but the man had cheated so many people here in Fort Connor that, as much as I hate to say it, I’m not surprised someone took revenge on him. Especially if he was flaunting his now-wealthy lifestyle.”

  “Well, what really disturbs me is Barbara’s involvement. Merciful heavens! I cannot believe Barbara would confront that man out here in . . . in our own garden. But, then, to go to the hotel and confront him again in front of all those people!” Mimi closed her eyes, obviously not wanting to picture the scene.

  “I have to admit that surprised me, too,” Burt added. “Barb’s always been such a solid, no-nonsense gal. Bossy, yes. But never would I picture her doing something so . . . so brazen as a public confrontation.”

  “I agree, Burt. Of course, if it turns out that Rizzoli was actually murdered, then I’m afraid the police will be turning their sights on Barbara. Once they hear about her confrontations with him.” Kelly looked out toward the golf course and golfers. “And I’m also worried about Malcolm. He confronted Rizzoli, too. Right over there in the driveway. I was here to witness it, along with the entire patio filled with breakfast diners.”

  Mimi pinched her forehead. “Who’s Malcolm, again? That name sounds familiar.”

  “He’s the formerly homeless guy at the Mission who’s been working with Hal Nelson on our remodeling,” Burt explained, then turned to Kelly. “What exactly did you see, Kelly?”

  “I was walking from the cottage to the café when I saw Malcolm yelling at Rizzoli. Rizzoli looked like he was going to explode, so I walked over to them in time to see Malcolm accuse Rizzoli of ruining his life. Rizzoli swatted Malcolm’s hand away and started calling Malcolm names. Malcolm yelled back and jabbed his finger into Rizzoli’s chest. That’s when Rizzoli shoved Malcolm so hard he fell backward onto the ground. Then Rizzoli started yelling more names at Malcolm. Hal Nelson ran over then to help Malcolm, and Rizzoli stormed off. Hal and I took Malcolm inside the café so he could calm down. But, once again, Rizzoli was confronted in public with a lot of people looking on. Not good.”

  Burt glanced toward the garage being remodeled. “Well, the guys will be back to work tomorrow. Let’s see how Malcolm is doing. I’ll talk with Hal and see what he knows.”

  “You might want to talk to Jennifer, too. She was the agent handling Nelson’s sale. She told me that Rizzoli and Hal had a signed contract and a cashier’s check from Rizzoli for one half the purchase price. Of course, everything’s in limbo now that he’s dead.”

  “Oh, goodness.” Mimi frowned. “This horrible situation keeps drawing more people into it. Now Jennifer is involved.”

  That reminded Kelly that Mimi and Burt were unaware of the changes about to occur for Jennifer and Pete. “Speaking of Jennifer and Pete, you guys have missed what’s been happening. You were still here the day Pete’s grandfather Ben had a heart attack in Denver, then you left.”

  “Yes, yes! And Rosa’s been giving us updates on Ben’s condition when she calls every day. Five blockages! Terrible!” Mimi wagged her head.

  “Thank goodness doctors were able to repair them. I’m not surprised Pete’s still down there. It sounds like his grandfather’s condition is really serious,” Burt added.

  “Oh, it is,” Kelly agreed. “Doctors said he’ll be bedridden for months and will probably need to go into a wheelchair afterwards.”

  “Good Lord. What about the little girl, Pete’s niece?” Mimi asked. “She can’t stay there, surely.”

  Burt frowned. “Has her mother finally shaped up and come to take care of her?”

  “Nope,” Kelly said with a rueful smile. “Cassie’s coming to stay with Pete and Jennifer for the near future. Certainly during the summer. Pete’s coming back home either today or tomorrow and he’ll bring Cassie with him.”

  “Really?” Mimi’s eyes got wide as saucers. “Are they going to try to live in that apartment?”

  “Nope. Steve is letting them rent his smaller three-bedroom house that’s still unsold. So the gang spent all day yesterday moving Pete and Jen’s stuff from the apartment to the house. Jen has her hands full trying to handle the café and supervising the staff.”

  “Well, now.” Burt leaned forward, folding his arms on the table. “Looks like Pete and Jennifer have suddenly acquired a family.”

  “I think it’s wonderful that they’re opening their home to that little girl,” Mimi said, with the first smile Kelly had seen since they returned.

  Kelly had suspected that “Mother Mimi” would be particularly pleased that Cassie would be visiting in Fort Connor this summer. After all, Mimi lost her only child, her son, to a teenage accident. Consequently, Mimi would never have any grandchildren of her own. Kelly had always noticed that Mimi was delighted whenever Burt’s grandchildren came to visit or when she and Burt took them on a weekend excursion. Kelly figured that Mimi and Burt might like to join in the “Cassie Project” and maybe invite Cassie to join them when they visited Burt’s grandkids. Kelly wasn’t sure whether the old saying “the more, the merrier” was true, but it might be.

  She decided to prime the pump, anyway. “Yeah, we all think it’s a much better idea that Cassie stay up here in Fort Connor with Jen and Pete than bounce around Denver with neighbors and her erratic mom. Of course, Pete and Jen work seven days a week through the morning and afternoon, so we all figured out ways to help them out by supervising Cassie this summer. I’m going to see if she’d like to join the kids’ softball clinic I’m teaching this summer. It meets two mornings a week. Megan’s going to take her to tennis classes, and Lisa’s taking Cassie to the sports clinic with her. Show her what therapists do.”

  “What about the guys?” Burt asked, a twinkle in his eye.

  “Greg’s going to take her to the university computer lab with him, because Cassie is fascinated with computers, according to Jennifer. And Marty . . .” Kelly grinned. “Marty volunteered Spot, the Wonder Dog. So, there’s no telling what he’ll do.”

  Burt threw back his head and laughed. “Oh, Lord . . . I’d forgotten about Marty’s dog impersonation. What a riot. I can’t wait to see that again. Good old Spot.”

  Mimi laughed. “Goodness, me. Well, Burt and I certainly want to do our part, too. And I just got an idea, listening to all that, Kelly. Cassie could come over here every morning when Pete and Jennifer open the café. Burt and I are up way early every morning anyway. We can come over to the shop before it’s open for business. That way Cassie will have something interesting to do while Pete and Jennifer are taking care of customers and before her activity schedule starts.”

  Kelly could tell from the way Mimi’s eyes danced that Mother Mimi was delighted with the idea of “helping” with the Cassie Project. “That’s a wonderful suggestion, Mimi,” she enthused. “Not only will it help out Jennifer and Pete but it will also give Cassie a chance to explore the shop. Lots of fascinating stuff in Lambspun.”

  “I’ll say.” Burt nodded. “Who knows? Maybe she’ll get interested in yarn. Maybe knitting. Aren’t you teaching a kids’ class this summer, Mimi?”

  Mimi smiled. “I am, indeed. A knitting class for ages nine to twelve. That would be perfect for Cassie.”

 
Kelly noticed Jennifer walking toward their table through the garden patio. “Hey, welcome back, Mimi and Burt,” she greeted them with a big smile. “I take it Kelly has filled you in on everything that’s been happening.”

  “Goodness, yes,” Mimi said, gesturing. “But I don’t even want to talk about the gruesome death in our driveway. What I want to know is when’s Pete returning to Fort Connor with little Cassie?”

  Jennifer grinned. “Well, she’s not so little anymore. She’s gotten taller but she’s still skinny as a rail. But more importantly, Pete just called and said they’ll be here about three o’clock. So if you and Burt would like to meet Cassie, this afternoon might be a good time. By the time they get here, the lunch crowd will have left. So, it will be peaceful and quiet.”

  Mimi perked up. “Really? Why, that would be wonderful! We’d love to meet Cassie this afternoon, wouldn’t we, Burt?”

  Burt gave her an indulgent smile. “You bet. I’m looking forward to it. I’m already thinking about ways we can get Cassie together with my grandkids.”

  Mimi fairly sparkled, Kelly noticed. Her eyes danced. “Oh, yes! Yes! What a wonderful idea, Burt!”

  Jennifer looked over at Kelly. “Pete and I are thinking we’ll introduce you guys to Cassie slowly. We’ll start off with Mimi and Burt. Then maybe you next, Kelly, since you stop in the shop every day. Then we’ll have Megan drop by, then Lisa. We’ll save Greg and Marty and Steve for last.” She grinned.

  “Definitely. Save the best for last,” Kelly agreed, laughing. She checked her watch. Twelve fifteen. “You know, I’d better check in with Megan and Lisa. We’re playing Greeley here in Fort Connor at three o’clock this afternoon. But I’m thinking that we should stop by your new house, Jennifer, and make sure Cassie’s bedroom is set up. We put up the bed last night, but there are no sheets or anything. So I’ll go by our house first and get some. Steve bought a lot of stuff in Denver that he never even opened.”

  “Kelly, you’re an angel,” Jennifer said, beaming. “I won’t be able to get off to go shopping, and I wouldn’t want Cassie to walk in and find nothing in her bedroom except a bed.”

  “Well, we have plenty of bed linens at our house if you need more,” Mimi said. “Just let us know.”

  “Since you ladies are setting up the house, I’m going to call my old partner Dan. See if he knows anything about this.” He glanced at Mimi and smiled. “This unfortunate incident in the driveway.”

  Mimi made another waving motion with her hand. “I don’t even want to think about it. I’m going to think about Cassie coming. That’s all. In fact, I’m going into the shop right now and check that class schedule. I want to make sure everything’s all ready for this week.”

  Kelly caught Jennifer’s glance and they exchanged smiles. Mother Mimi was definitely excited.

  * * *

  “Hey, Kelly, did I get you at a bad time?” Burt’s voice came over her cell phone.

  “No, no, I’m driving back from our game. Steve and the guys are still playing Longmont.” Kelly slowed her car and turned into a shopping center to park. “How’d it go with Cassie? What’s she like?”

  “She’s a sweetheart, just like Jennifer described. Tall, skinny, with dark brown hair down to her shoulders, and the biggest blue eyes you’ve ever seen. Huge. I swear, I thought her eyes were going to pop out when she came into the shop.” Burt’s warm chuckle sounded. “She was staring in every direction and touching everything in sight.”

  Kelly could easily imagine that scene. “That sounds like me the first time I set foot into Lambspun. I bet Mimi was pleased at Cassie’s reaction. I could tell she was hoping Cassie might like to join her knitting class.”

  “Ohhhh, yeah. She took a real shine to Cassie, just like I thought she would.”

  “What’s she like? When you talk with her, I mean?”

  “Well, she was real quiet when she first came into the shop with Jennifer and Pete. She stayed right between them when Mimi and I were talking with her. Then we started to show her around the shop, and her eyes just kept getting bigger and bigger.” He laughed softly again. “Of course, Mimi was in her element, showing Cassie everything, as you can imagine.”

  “I figured as much. I told Jennifer yesterday that I had a feeling Mother Mimi would really appreciate having some time with Cassie. Some one-on-one time. Mimi’s so good at that. She’s been mothering all of us, now she’ll have a chance to mother someone who actually needs it.”

  “I feel that same way. Listen, I also wanted to let you know that I did get to talk with Dan. And he said he’d heard about Rizzoli’s murder but wasn’t involved in the investigation. He promised he’d look into it and get back to me with more details.”

  “So it definitely was murder?”

  “It looks that way, but the medical examiner hasn’t made his report yet. All Dan heard was Rizzoli was stabbed in the throat with a knife.”

  Kelly had no trouble picturing the gruesome method of murder. She had walked in on a similar crime scene years ago. The first year she was here in Fort Connor. A woman in Bellevue Canyon had her throat cut. Kelly didn’t think she’d ever forget the gruesome sight.

  “Stabbed in the throat. That’s a pretty angry way to kill someone. That kind of fits with everything we’ve heard about Rizzoli and his past misdeeds. There were certainly plenty of people angry with him. Now police will have to narrow it down and find the one who did it.”

  “That about sums it up, Kelly. The tricky part will be the narrowing-down process. Brother . . . that could take a long time. Like we’ve both said, Rizzoli made a lot of enemies here.”

  “Did Dan say what kind of knife was used? That would be a clue.”

  Burt’s chuckle came over the line. “Right as usual, Sherlock. Dan hadn’t heard any details. I imagine more will come out with the examiner’s report. Who knows? Maybe police found the weapon already.”

  “Well, if so, maybe there will be some fingerprints.” She revved the car’s engine.

  “We can only hope, Sherlock. We can only hope.”

  Nine

  “I e-mailed those financial statements through five minutes ago, right before you called,” Kelly said to her Denver client, Don Warner. “They look really good, Don. I think you’ll be pleased.”

  “Music to my ears, Kelly.” Warner’s voice came over her cell phone. “I’m kicking around some new ideas. I’ll run them by you next time you’re in Denver. Maybe on Wednesday when you’re here for the staff meeting.”

  Kelly watched Carl roll on the ground in the cottage backyard, legs in the air, scratching his back. Ahhhh, the life of a dog. “Sounds like a plan, Don.”

  “There goes my other phone. Talk to you on Wednesday, Kelly.”

  “See you then,” Kelly said, and clicked off the same time as her client.

  Another hot, sunny day beckoned to her outside. Summer temperatures would be in the high eighties and nineties. And no rain in the forecast. Even the sparse April showers had ceased in May. All of Colorado was dry. Bone dry. And that was not a good thing in the mountains, especially heading into summer. Wildfires were too easily started in tinder-dry forests.

  Kelly shoved her laptop into her briefcase. Maybe she could work outside in the café patio garden, she thought, as she grabbed her coffee mug and headed for the cottage front door. First she wanted to check on Malcolm, then go into Lambspun and meet Cassie.

  She spotted Hal Nelson’s truck as soon as she walked toward the driveway. Nelson was measuring a large sheet of fiberboard that was balanced on two sawhorses beside the driveway. Kelly glanced around but didn’t see Malcolm.

  “Hey, Hal,” she greeted as she approached. “I imagine you heard the awful news over the weekend.”

  Nelson looked up from the fiberboard. “I sure did, Kelly. The newspaper only said a man was found dead in his car. But when I read it was ‘near the corner of Lemay and Lincoln avenues,’ I called Burt to see what he knew. Burt filled me in.”

  “I hate to say
it, Hal, but it sounds like someone took their revenge on Jared Rizzoli.”

  Nelson stared at her solemnly. “You’re right, Kelly, and I think he had it coming.”

  Although a little surprised by Nelson’s blunt comment, Kelly had to agree. “After everything I’ve read and heard for the last week, I think you’re right. It isn’t hard to imagine one of Rizzoli’s many victims taking revenge on him.” She glanced toward the garage. “Is Malcolm working inside? I was wondering how he was doing. I confess when I first learned that Rizzoli was murdered, I thought about Malcolm. And that angry confrontation he had with Rizzoli the other day.”

  Nelson looked away. “Well, that is a problem, especially now. I just learned this morning that Malcolm fell off the wagon the same night Rizzoli was killed. Apparently Malcolm was found drunk Saturday morning on the river trail over there.” He pointed across the golf course to the stretch of the Poudre River Trail that Kelly knew so well, having run along that same trail countless times since she’d come to Fort Connor.

  “Oh, no!” she said, shocked. “It was all because of their argument. It’s gotta be. Malcolm looked so . . . so beaten down after that.”

  Nelson’s mouth twisted. “That’s because he was. Beaten down and kicked to the side like a piece of trash.”

  “Good Lord,” Kelly worried out loud. “Have the police questioned Malcolm yet?”

  “Not yet. I went over to see him at the Mission this morning before I came here. Apparently the guy who found Malcolm Saturday morning took him to the Mission, and they called the folks at AA that had been counseling him. They came over to take care of him.”

  “Thank goodness for that. But it’s only a matter of time before someone tells the police they saw Malcolm in an argument with Rizzoli. Think about all the people who witnessed it when they were sitting outside.” She gestured toward the garden patio. “The detectives will be crawling over poor Malcolm once they find out about his argument with Rizzoli.”