Beyond Secrets, The Art of Murder: A Madison Hart Mystery (Madison Hart Mysteries Book 1)

by DB Jones

  Just as Madison was about to knock on the door, it swung open. There stood Aspen in her PJs, a look that didn’t match the setting of her flawless entrance.

  “Welcome to my humble abode.” Aspen motioned for Madison to enter.

  Madison was not surprised at the well-organized décor of the inside of the house. It was quaint, but everything had its place and looked as though it had never been moved.

  Madison looked around the room. “I love your place.”

  “Would you like some tea?”

  “Oh, no thanks. I just finished breakfast.”

  “I just wanted to come by and see how you were doing since your fall.”

  “I’m doing much better, but still having a few dizzy spells. The doctor said it might take awhile. I wanted to volunteer for Tyler’s upcoming showing next month, but the doctor advised me not to drive. At first, I thought I could, but when I make sudden moves, I realize it might not be safe for me. I was looking forward to going. I can’t believe I didn’t see that box lying in the doorway. I could have sworn that it wasn’t there earlier, but I guess I may have kicked it as I was leaving to paint in the courtyard.”

  “Has anyone from the Art Center visited you, since your fall.”

  “Yes, Alice came by and brought me a basket of fruit and a book. Oh, and Kim called to see how I was doing, and so did Tyler. I was very surprised he called. That was so nice of him. Damn, I sure wanted to be a part of helping with his exhibit.”

  Madison started for the door. “Well, I can’t stay long, but if you need anything, just give me a call.”

  “Thanks for coming by, Madison.”

  Aspen was going to find out sooner or later that Madison was an FBI agent, and she wanted Aspen to hear it from her first. “Aspen, before I leave, there is something I need to tell you. My name is Madison Hart, but it’s Agent Hart. I’m with the FBI, and I’m investigating a murder. I’m working with the Maitland Police Department. I wasn’t at liberty to mention my position before, but due to some new evidence, I am officially working this case.” Madison waited for a response from Aspen.

  Aspen put her hand on Madison’s shoulder. “I suspected you were up to something more than just writing a story, but I figured you had your reasons, and God knows we all have our little secrets. If there is anything I can help you with, don’t hesitate to ask.”

  “Thank you; I will. Hope you feel better soon.”

  “Yeah, me, too.” Aspen walked Madison to the door and stood to watch as she headed to her car.

  Madison found Aspen to be a bit mysterious but liked her.

  Chapter 8

  Madison made up her mind that it was time to meet this elusive Mr. Kincaid. Aspen had told her that he might be at the Art Center scoping out the layout for his upcoming exhibit, so she called the Center to find out if he was there.

  Kim answered the phone. “Maitland Art Center, may I help you?”

  “Yes, this is Agent Hart. I was wondering if Mr. Kincaid is in.”

  “Who did you say you were?”

  “Agent Hart.”

  “He is. Is there anything that I can help you with today? He’s very busy right now getting ready for his exhibit.”

  “No. Would you mind getting Mr. Kincaid for me?”

  “I’ll have to put you on hold while I try and find him.” Kim sounded agitated.

  There was silence on the phone for what seemed to be minutes. “What’s taking so long? The place isn't that big. Surely Kim knows where he is.” Suddenly, there was a very masculine voice on the other end. “This is Tyler Kincaid. How can I help you?”

  “Mr. Kincaid, this is Agent Hart with the FBI. I’m assisting the Maitland Police Department with a case. I was wondering if you had some time today? I could swing by the center anytime.”

  “I’ll be here most of the day. I’ll make the time to talk to you. Just have Kim escort you to my studio. I’m preparing for my exhibit and may not hear her page.”

  “I could be there within the hour if that works for you.”

  “That will be fine.”

  Madison called Josh to touch base on her plans for the day and about scoping out Tyler Kincaid and the Art Center.

  “Detective Logan.”

  “It’s Madison. Anything new on the case?”

  “Not yet, but I’ve been doing a little checking into the other women you mentioned and thought we could run by and to talk to some of their family and friends. You up for a road trip this afternoon?”

  “Yeah, I was about to ask you the same thing.”

  “Great minds think alike.”

  “I guess so. I’m driving over to talk to the artist at the Art Center in about a half hour. How about I meet you back at the station about 2:00 p.m.?”

  “Sounds good. I’ll see you then.”

  Madison entered the center, and Kim was sitting at the reception desk. She looked up at Madison.“Oh, you were here the other day when Aspen had that fall, weren’t you?”

  “I was.”

  “What can I help you with today?” Kim asked still smiling.

  Madison pulled out her badge and re-introduced herself. “I’m Agent Hart. I’m here to see Mr. Kincaid.”

  Kim’s jaw dropped, and her eyes were bulging. She stood up, “You’re an agent? I thought you were just a visitor interested in the Art Center. You’re the one who called to talk to Tyler. I mean Mr. Kincaid.”

  “Do you mind showing me where he is? He’s expecting me.”

  “Right this way, Agent Hart.” Kim straightened her shoulders, held her head high, and escorted Madison to the back of the courtyard to a small building with ‘Studio One’ on a plaque over the door. “Mr. Kincaid always uses this studio when he’s around.”

  Kim knocked on the door, and Mr. Kincaid called out, “Come in.”

  Kim opened the door and led Madison into the studio and remained standing in the doorway. Mr. Kincaid was behind an easel working on one of the pieces for his show. He came around the side of his painting and introduced himself. “You must be Agent Hart. I’m Tyler Kincaid.”

  Madison was surprised to see such a gorgeous looking man. He stood all of the 6’2’’, with jet-black hair, and he had several strands of loose hair falling across his forehead, into his steel blue eyes. He was masculine, not too much, but enough to be extremely sexy. Madison caught herself staring at him. No wonder all the women want to take a class with him. He reached over, took her hand, lifted to his lips, and kissed it.

  “It’s very nice to meet you, Ms. Hart. Now how can I help you today?”

  Madison pulled her hand back and tried to regain her professionalism. She turned to Kim waiting for her to excuse herself and then he turned to her. “Thank you, Kim.”

  “Oh. If you need anything else, I’ll be at my desk,” Kim grunted as she left the room. She slowly pulled the door closed while watching the two of them standing there. Kim did not want to leave, and may not have, had it not been an official visit.

  Madison saw Kim glancing back at the studio as she walked across the courtyard toward the main building.

  “Thank you for seeing me, Mr. Kincaid. I know you’re very busy. I heard you’re about to have an exhibit of your new work. I’d love to see your paintings.” Madison headed toward his easel.

  “I’m sorry, Agent Hart, but I’m a bit superstitious. I don’t like anyone to see my work until it’s ready for the exhibit, especially with my new collection. I hope you’ll come to the opening at the end of the month.” He casually stepped in front of her before she had a chance to see his painting.

  She raised her hand and stood back. “I understand. I’d love to come. I was talking to Aspen, and she is so disappointed that she won’t be able to volunteer. She was pleased you called to see how she’s doing. She thinks a lot of you and your work.”

  “She’s a charming girl, and I believe she has talent. I hope she’ll continue with her art.”

  “Mr. Kincaid, I have a few questions I wanted to ask you. Have you he
ard anything about the woman who was murdered, not too far from here?”

  “I did. That’s terrible.”

  “Well, we have reason to believe, that the night she went missing, she was planning to attend an event here at the center.”

  “What night was that?”

  “November 23rd.”

  “November 23rd?” Mr. Kincaid pulled out his calendar. “I’m pretty sure there wasn’t anything happening here that night. I would have known. Kim keeps me informed of all events at the center.” He thumbed through his book. “As a matter-of-fact, there weren’t any events happening that whole week because of Thanksgiving.”

  “Thank you for your time, Mr. Kincaid.”

  He reached for her hand. “It’s Tyler, Agent Hart.”

  Madison quickly shook his hand, so he wouldn’t try and kiss it again. “I may have more questions for you at a later date, but thank you.” She turned toward the door.

  “My pleasure, Agent Hart.” He walked her to the door, leaned over her, and brushed his arm against hers as he opened the door for her.

  Madison stood up straight and walked out of the studio as if she didn’t notice the intentional touch and proceeded across the courtyard. She felt his eyes on her the entire way, which made her a bit uneasy and uncomfortable. It had been awhile since someone looked at her that way or at least that she had noticed.

  She walked through the halls of the present exhibit and looked at Tyler’s painting again. Now I know why his work sells. They’re not buying the painting; they’re buying a piece of him.

  Madison’s cell phone rang; it was Josh.

  “I’m on my way. I got tangled up with my interview with Mr. Kincaid. I’ll be there in five.” She rushed passed Kim and flung the entrance door open, and a she looked back at the entrance, Kim was standing at the door with her eyes wide open and furrowed eyebrows.

  That ought to give her something to think about.

  As she pulled up in front of the station, Betty was coming out. “He’s waiting for you, Ms. Hart.”

  “Thank you, Betty.” Madison slowed her pace as she walked up to the entrance.

  Madison caught her breath and sauntered into Josh’s office as though she didn’t have a care in the world. She was not about to let him know she rushed on his account. When she opened the door, Josh was on the phone. He didn’t say anything but held up his finger. Someone else was doing all the talking. Madison shuffled through some of her papers as if she was looking for a specific thing and wasn’t interested, or cared, that he was on the phone.

  Josh finally hung up the phone. “Sorry about that. Are you ready?”

  “I am.” She took a moment to straighten her papers back into her bag.

  Chapter 9

  Madison and Josh reviewed what little information they had on the other missing women. The only concrete evidence they had was the identification of Margaret Hill. But they were still left with the other four missing women. They hadn’t yet identified the most recent body, but Josh and Madison felt it might be one of the women in their investigation. They were slowly gathering information and desperately trying to discover a link between all five women. Madison had a gut feeling that whoever was responsible for Ms. Hill’s murder just might have something to do with the disappearance of the other women.

  “Madison, I think you’re right about the connection. I talked to Doc Webb, and he agrees that whoever killed Ms. Hill most likely killed our other victim. However, until we have a match on her dental records, we won’t know for sure who she is. There is something very strange about this case. I know you feel it too.”

  “If the victim from the canal is one of our missing women then I think we’re dealing with a serial killer. I’m just not sure of the motive. We need more clues to complete the profile. Hopefully, our trip today will bring us closer to piecing this puzzle together.”

  “Okay, who are we checking out first?”

  “I thought we’d see what we could uncover on the first missing person, Lois Cramer. She was reported missing July 23rd by her mother. She said daughter called her every Sunday morning, like clockwork, and when she didn’t call, she became concerned. She tried calling her daughter, but it kept going to voicemail until the voice mail recording said Lois’s box was full. Her parents drove over from Tampa but found nothing. That’s when they reported her missing. Ms. Cramer lives in an apartment off Park Avenue in Winter Park, and is a grad student at Rollins, majoring in psychology. She lives alone, and her mother stated that Lois takes her studies very seriously.”

  “Did she have any hobbies or outside interests?”

  Madison continued reading from the report. “Not that her parents were aware of.”

  They pulled up in front of the opulent apartment complex on Morse Boulevard, which was within walking distance to Park Avenue. Lois’s apartment was on the second floor. It had an elevator, which made these dwellings more upscale.

  Josh had called the complex manager, who met them at the door with a master key to let them in. “Is there any news on the whereabouts of Ms. Cramer, yet?” the manager asked.

  “No, but that’s why we’re here. We’re hoping to find something that may help us locate her. What can you tell us about Ms. Cramer?”

  “Well, she always paid on time and was never any trouble. From what some of her neighbors said, she was well liked and a serious student.”

  “Did she ever have any visitors?” Madison asked.

  “Not that I’m aware of; the only people I ever saw her with were her parents who occasionally visited. As I said, Ms. Cramer was a serious student and was here for her degree. You should ask some of her neighbors; they might know more than I do.”

  The manager remained in the doorway. Josh reached for the door. “Thank you. We’ll lock the door when we leave.”

  “If you need anything else, I’ll be in my office.” The manager turned toward the elevator and left.

  The apartment was two bedrooms and two baths unit, with a modest living room and dining room combination. The kitchen was the typical galley set up with an open counter top spanning into the dining area. It would be good for entertaining, yet nothing in the place indicated Ms.Cramer did much of that. The cabinets held the bare essentials for eating or cooking. There were no small appliances, other than a microwave and toaster. The pots and pans looked as though they had never been used.

  Madison checked the kitchen area. “I suspect Ms. Cramer ate all her meals out, except maybe heating up the occasional leftovers in the microwave.”

  Josh checked out the guest room and bathroom, then came back to the kitchen while Madison made her way toward Lois’s bedroom, at the end of the hall. The master bedroom was very spacious and had an adjacent bathroom. Madison opened up the medicine cabinet to see what medications Ms. Cramer may have been taking. There was medication for high blood pressure and anxiety. But what caught her attention was the Lybrel, which is an extended birth-control pill. “Why would a woman who has no visitors and spends all her time studying, need birth control pills?” She bagged all the pills separately and labeled the bags. Then she moved through the rest of the room.

  The bedroom had minimal furniture with a queen-size bed and what looked like a bed-in-a-bag set, possibly a designer set. Next to the bed on the small bedside table, was a photo of Ms. Cramer and her parents that Madison bagged and tagged. On the opposite side of the room was a modern chaise lounge, and a small desk with Ms. Cramer’s laptop computer. She had it plugged into the external backup. Madison took the laptop and hard drive to send it to the FBI lab. She opened the closet; the clothes were high-end. However, there weren’t that many. There were no dresses in the closet, only slacks, and blouses that could be mix-matched. They were the type of outfits a woman could wear anywhere, with just a few accessories to make it more dressy or to tone it down for everyday wear.

  Ms. Cramer appeared to be very organized and maximized what she had. Madison grinned. “If someone opened my closet, they would be looking for
a body in the piles of rubble.”

  “Hey, Madison.” Josh hollered from the kitchen.

  Madison walked into the kitchen and found Josh looking through the drawers.

  “This is strange. There’s a set of car keys in this drawer. I’d like to see if they’re hers. Shall we walk down to the parking garage?”

  “That’s odd. Yes, let’s check that out now.”

  Before Josh could head for the stairs, Madison jumped into the elevator. She was eager to get down to the parking garage to see if these keys belonged to Ms. Cramer’s car. Josh nearly tripped, racing back to the elevator before the doors closed. Madison was waiting for no one; she was on a mission. Her mind was spinning with speculations and didn’t even notice Josh stumbling through the doors.

  As the doors of the elevator opened, Madison pushed the alarm button on the key ring, and it went off immediately. There was a car parked at the far end of the garage, and its alarm was blaring. Madison and Josh raced through the garage until they came up on the car and then Madison turned off the alarm.

  Before opening the car, she and Josh walked around toward the back, checking it over completely. Dust covered the hood of the car. “This car hasn’t been driven for quite some time.

  “Yeah, I noticed that, too.”

  Josh knelt down and looked under the car, but there was nothing on the ground. Madison clicked the key-ring and opened the car doors. They donned their latex gloves and entered the car. Madison entered on the driver’s side and Josh on the passenger's side, to look in the glove compartment. He leaned down to check out the glove compartment. “Doesn’t look like she used this car much either. The only thing in the glove compartment is the registration. You should see mine.

  Madison chuckled. “I have; It looks like mine.”