by K M Morgan
Chloe stared at his clenched fist. “I thought you said your outbursts were over, that things were different. It sure doesn’t look like it.”
Isaac looked down with surprise, almost as if he didn’t even realize he’d closed his hand into a fist. His eyes then opened wide as he panicked.
“Leave me alone,” he yelled.
Isaac darted back into his house.
Chloe sighed. Talk about a surreal conversation. Chloe didn’t quite know what to make of it. One thing was clear, there was no taking Isaac off the suspect list.
Isaac may have thought that running into his house would put an end to his problems, but that was far from the case. When Chloe returned to her car, the first thing she did was call the police.
Unfortunately, Detective Thicke didn’t pick up his phone. She left a message for him, letting him know that Isaac seemed to be trying to skip town. The police could put out an all-points bulletin and keep an eye on Isaac.
In the meantime, Chloe had other suspects to question.
Chapter Sixteen
Chloe’s next stop was Ben Harrington’s house. When she pulled onto his street, she realized he already had company. Ben’s ex-wife, Leah Manning, was talking with him in the driveway.
Chloe purposefully overshot the house and decided to go into stakeout mode. She ended up parking on the side of the street a few houses down and turned her keen eye to Ben and Leah.
At first, Chloe wondered why their conversation was taking place outdoors. Then, it occurred to her. Leah was being awfully flirtatious. Ben was just the opposite. He had the look of a man who couldn’t wait for their conversation to be over. Most likely, Ben decided to have the conversation outdoors because if he invited Leah in, it would be hard to get her out again.
It was a shame that Chloe was too far away to hear what was being said, but their body language spoke volumes. Even though Leah was Ben’s ex-wife, she was clearly still hung up on him. Chloe was interested to see how their conversation ended. She wasn’t about to barge in and interrupt them.
In Chloe’s experience, approaching two suspects at once was always best to be avoided. It was just a numbers game. If they wanted to, the two suspects could team up against her. It was hard enough drawing information out of someone as it was, much less when Chloe had two different people to focus on.
Chloe was at her best when she was questioning a suspect one-on-one. Suddenly, it looked like she’d get her chance. Leah Manning got into her car with a dejected look on her face.
Chloe had a decision to make. She could only confront one suspect right now. Ben Harrington was most likely staying put for a while. A stationary target was much easier to hit. Chloe didn’t know where Leah was going, so it made the most sense to follow her.
As Leah backed out of the driveway and sped away, Chloe followed her.
***
Of all the places for Leah to go, she ended up driving to a chocolate shop. Chloe was surprised she hadn’t headed straight home. As a woman who’d given in to plenty of chocolate cravings in the past, she knew what the root cause was for most of them—man trouble.
Suddenly, a number of questions sprung to Chloe’s mind. What did Leah expect out of her conversation with Ben? How well did she handle rejection? Did any of this tie in to the argument Chloe saw Leah having with Victoria the night before?
Chloe parked and snuck up behind Leah in the parking lot. This was ideal for Chloe. They were in a public place, so Leah would be less likely to make a scene.
Chloe made her move. “I love this place.”
Leah was startled to see Chloe come up beside her. As Leah gave Chloe the once-over, it was clear Leah didn’t recognize her.
“Uh-huh,” Leah replied.
Even though Chloe flashed her a smile and tried to make small talk, Leah seemed leery to get caught up in conversation. Chloe tried to break the ice.
“You know, I used to avoid driving down Pleasant Point Road altogether, because I knew I couldn’t drive by this chocolate shop without popping in to grab a snack,” Chloe revealed.
“The chocolate here is addictive,” Leah admitted.
“It always hits the spot. Unlike men, chocolate never lets you down.”
Leah lowered her head, still visibly hurt from her previous conversation with Ben Harrington. “So true. Men do know how to break your heart sometimes.”
It was only a slight opening, but Chloe took it. “Yeah, I can’t imagine what it’s like to still be hung up on the man who cheated on you and ruined your marriage.”
Leah became highly offended. “Excuse you.”
“I saw you and Ben Harrington talking earlier.”
“Were you spying on us?”
Chloe shook her head. “I had driven over to talk to Ben.”
Leah got a jealous tone in her voice. “About what?”
“Don’t worry, I’m not interested in him romantically. I already have a boyfriend.”
Leah appeared relieved. “Oh. Then what were you going to talk to him about?”
“The murder of Victoria Ryan.”
Leah tensed up in a hurry. She looked to make a quick exit from this conversation. “You know what? It’s really cold out here. I’m going to go into the shop.”
“I’ll join you,” Chloe replied.
Leah did a sudden about-face. “On second thought, I should be heading home. I don’t need all those extra calories anyway.”
Chloe stopped her. “I just have a couple of questions for you first.”
Leah shut her down. “I don’t have any answers for you.”
“But you don’t even know what the questions are.”
Leah kept walking. “I don’t care.”
“You know, being evasive only hurts you. It makes you look guilty. If you want to help yourself, just tell me the truth.”
“There’s nothing to say. I watched some trashy reality shows last night then went to bed early.”
“You mean after you got done arguing with Victoria Ryan outside the club,” Chloe corrected.
Leah stopped dead in her tracks. “How did you know about that? How long have you been spying on me?”
“You’re awfully paranoid. I haven’t been spying on you. I just happened to be leaving the club and saw you two going at it. What were you arguing about?”
“That’s not important.”
“It was apparently important enough that you didn’t want to tell the police about it this morning. Let me guess—you were arguing about Ben.”
“I didn’t kill Victoria,” Leah insisted.
That reply seemed to come out of nowhere. Chloe hadn’t even accused her of committing the crime. Apparently, Leah was jumpier than Chloe even thought.
“I didn’t accuse you of murder. Do you have a guilty conscience?”
“I don’t know why you’re picking on me. I didn’t do anything.”
“You still haven’t answered my question. What were you and Victoria fighting about last night?” Chloe asked.
“All right, so we were arguing about Ben. I was lonely and feeling sorry for myself. I also knew Victoria was the cause of it all. So I went to the club to give her a piece of my mind.”
“Let me get this straight. There you are, a jealous, bitter divorcee angry about how your life has turned out. You go to confront the mistress that ruined your marriage and have a shouting match in the same parking lot where that mistress turns up dead hours later. That sounds an awful lot like a motive to me,” Chloe explained.
“I don’t care what it sounds like. I just wanted to blow off some steam. That’s all.”
Chloe shook her head. “That’s not all. I know you’re still hung up on your ex. I also know your ex-husband was still hung up on Victoria.”
“For the last time, I didn’t do it!” Leah yelled.
Leah then reached her car and got in.
Chloe tried to keep her from leaving. “If you’re innocent, then why are you running away like you’re guilty?”
Leah didn’t answer.
Instead, she pulled out of her parking spot, not caring that she almost ran Chloe’s foot over in the process. Leah then drove away and didn’t look back.
Chloe couldn’t help but linger on how quickly that conversation took a turn. She’d put Leah towards the bottom of her list of suspects earlier, but after what just happened, Leah shot right up to the top.
Chapter Seventeen
After nearly getting her foot run over, Chloe returned to Ben Harrington’s house. Normally, Chloe was able to shake off a bad encounter. This one was proving more difficult. Chloe had an affinity for keeping all her limbs intact, so the prospect of having a literal flatfoot because a suspect nearly ran it over left her shaken. So much so that she didn’t even stop into the chocolate shop to grab a truffle. For Chloe to skip out on chocolate was a big deal. She’d have to reward herself with many truffles when this case was closed.
By the time Chloe parked in Ben Harrington’s driveway, she managed to calm her nerves. She’d need them. She saw a light on inside Ben’s house, so she knew he was home. The question became, would he answer? Chloe approached his front door and knocked.
On the second set of knocks, the door opened. Ben poked his head out the door with a blank look on his face.
“Yes?” he said.
“Ben, I’d like to ask you a few questions,” Chloe replied.
Ben furrowed his brow. “Who are you?”
“I’m investigating the murder of Victoria Ryan.”
“I already talked to the police.”
“I know. I just have a few more questions for you.”
Ben was short with her. “I don’t have to talk to you.”
“No, but I can tell the police about the heated conversation you just had with your ex-wife. I’m sure they’d like to hear about two suspects arguing with each other. The question is, would you rather talk to me, or the police?” Chloe wondered.
Ben looked down, took a deep breath, and then stared back at Chloe. “What do you want to know?”
“What happened last night?” she replied.
“I already told the police. I was at home, soundly asleep.”
“You didn’t tell the police you were at the club earlier in the evening. You brought Victoria flowers in a desperate attempt to win her back. Only, she stopped you cold. When you were rebuffed, you lashed out at her, condemning her for trying to chase after Noah Bryant. Rejection is hard to take, but being traded in for a younger model was the stuff bitter jealousy is made of,” Chloe explained.
Ben got very defensive. “I know what you’re implying, and I didn’t kill her. I loved her.”
“Come on, Ben. We both know that loving her only makes you more of a suspect, especially since she didn’t feel the same way about you. Unrequited love and jealousy make for a dangerous combination.”
“No. You have it all wrong. I told you, I’d never do something like that.”
“I don’t know, desperate people do desperate things. Take your ex-wife.”
Ben seemed taken aback by the mention of Leah. “What about her?”
“Leah still pines for you, just as much as you pined for Victoria. You’re still so hung up on a woman who didn’t want you that you pushed away a woman who does want you. Now, are you still going to tell me that love doesn’t make people do crazy things?”
“I didn’t do anything crazy. Leah’s the nutcase. She’s the one who showed up on my doorstep at twelve thirty last night,” Ben blurted out.
Chloe had been waiting all day to get a break in this case. She finally might have gotten one.
“Did you just say last night? How long was she here?” Chloe asked.
“She got here at twelve-thirty, and I managed to get rid of her at around twelve forty-five. The woman has a thick skull, but I thought I finally got her to realize that we were never getting back together,” Ben explained.
“Twelve forty-five, huh? Interesting.”
“If it’s so interesting, why don’t you talk to her about it? We’re done here,” Ben insisted.
Chloe had a number of other questions for Ben, but she wasn’t going to have a chance to ask them. Before she could get her next word out, Ben shut the door in her face.
***
Chloe’s mind was running wild now. Whether he realized it or not, Ben had just poked a major hole in Leah’s alibi. Chloe was determined to follow up with Leah.
Unfortunately, when Chloe arrived at Leah’s house, she didn’t see her car anywhere. Chloe also received no answer after knocking on the door. She called Hope Callahan on the off chance that Leah had been dumb enough to post her whereabouts on social media. That also yielded no results.
Suddenly, Chloe was left with one really big question and no answer. Earlier, Leah said she returned home after her argument with Victoria outside the club yesterday, watched some reality TV, then went to bed by midnight. Ben Harrington let it slip out that Leah came to his place last night and didn’t leave until after twelve forty-five.
If that was true, Leah certainly hadn’t watched reality TV and gone to sleep by midnight. The question became, why did she lie about her impossible-to-confirm alibi? Chloe had a theory. If Leah had revealed to the police that she’d argued with Victoria about her ex then went over to Ben’s only to find out that he was still hung up on Victoria, it would make her look guiltier than ever.
None of this was enough to prove Leah committed murder, but it did make her look more guilty than innocent. Unfortunately, once again, Chloe was left with plenty of questions. She’d have to wait on finding out the answers.
Chloe couldn’t just hang out in front of Leah’s house all day waiting for her to return. She still had more interviews to do, so she set off to question the next suspect on her list.
Chapter Eighteen
Before Chloe headed off to Noah Bryant’s place, she got a call from Hope Callahan.
“How are things going?” Chloe asked.
Hope’s voice didn’t sound too promising. She was completely lacking in enthusiasm, which meant there was most likely no good news to report.
“They could be better,” Hope replied over the phone.
“Yeah, there’s a lot of that going around.”
“Is the investigation not going well?”
“I’ll fill you in on all the details later. How about you—have you dug up any dirt on the suspects online?”
“Surprisingly, no. I did just get a very troubling phone call from Noah Bryant, though.”
“What did he say?”
“That he wanted to cancel our date.”
“I’m sorry, Hope. But in a strange way, maybe that’s for the best. After all, he is a murder suspect,” Chloe explained.
“True. Then again, according to the police, so am I,” Hope answered.
“Normally, I don’t say corny lines like this, but there are other fish in the sea, and in this case, maybe that’s not such a bad thing.”
“I think you might be right.”
“Why? What do you mean?” Chloe wondered.
“He sounded really weird on the phone. I mean, it’s odd enough that he didn’t wait until after the murder investigation was over to cancel our date. On top of that, he just sounded really shifty, which is especially strange, since I’ve always known Noah to be so smooth,” Hope revealed.
Chloe furrowed her brow. “Interesting. It sounds like I have a bunch of things to talk about with Noah.”
“You are being careful out there, aren’t you?”
Chloe wasn’t about to tell her friend about getting the door slammed in her face and having her foot almost run over. Now was not the time.
“As careful as can be,” Chloe answered. “Do you have anything else for me?”
“Not yet. I’ll keep you posted if I do,” Hope replied.
***
Chloe planned on making Noah Bryant’s place her next stop. Life had a change of plans for her. The club was on the way to Noah’s place. As Chloe drove pa
st the comedy-and-magic club, she noticed something odd. Strangely, the light seemed to be on inside.
Who would be at the club at a time like this? Chloe was determined to find out. She wouldn’t have to wait long to get an answer. Before she had a chance to pull into the parking lot, she saw the front door to the club open.
Tony Ryan shook hands with Andrew Brown in the doorway before the two parted ways. Andrew went back inside the club, while Tony headed to his car that was parked out front.
Chloe quickly pulled her car up beside Tony and rolled down her window.
“We meet again,” Chloe said.
Tony did not look very happy to be running into her again. “So it seems.”
“How’s your investigation coming?”
Tony got a confused look on his face, almost as if he’d forgotten that he’d told her that he was doing his own separate investigation earlier. “Uh, all right.” He deflected as quickly as possible. “How about you?”
“The plot keeps thickening.”
Tony grimaced. “Well, I should be going.”
Chloe knew Tony was itching to get out of the conversation. She had to get a little more from him before he scooted off. “By the way, I talked to Isaac Hunter.”
“Didn’t I tell you he was the killer?”
“He has a different story. He told me you were the most likely to have done it. That you gained the most from your mother’s death.”
Tony lost his temper. “What do I care what he thinks? He’s a liar and a thief.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I’m not going through this again with you.”
“Fine. Why don’t you tell me what you were just doing with Andrew Brown?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“By the looks of it, you seemed to be doing some business of your own. Why else would you be talking to your mother’s business partner?” Chloe asked.
