If Hooks Could Kill

by Betty Hechtman

  I didn’t want my fingerprints on the prop gun, so I picked it up with a pencil and dropped it in a plastic bag. Adele was already backing toward the door. “I can’t go back there.” It wasn’t until she was outside in the yard that she realized her car was parked back by Dinah’s house and she couldn’t make a hasty exit.

  “Cutchykins can’t know I had anything to do with this,” Adele said with a worried tone. “I’m not giving up my detective career, no matter what he says, but he can’t know about this.”

  I drove us back to Dinah’s and as soon as I pulled in front of her house, Adele had the door open. She started to walk toward her Matrix, but then stopped and appeared to have a soul-searching moment before she turned back and rejoined us. “I can’t bail on you. We’re the three musketeers.”

  As we looked down the dark street, we could see the night filming was still going on. It was hard to miss the tall crane with the bright light illuminating the area. I imagined Nanci Silvers grumbling in her house since the light probably was shining in her back windows as well. Eric was sitting atop his motorcycle facing away from us.

  Adele had a plan. I didn’t really trust her plans, but we had limited time and she was the one who knew the lay of things and where exactly the gun had come from. It seemed that while Eric was guarding the north end of the street, no one was really watching the south end. We walked around the block past the Donahue house and Nanci Silvers’ and came around the other way. Just as Adele had said, it was all quiet on that end of the production. North’s trailer was parked away from the action in front of the middle school.

  “This should be easy,” I whispered as we looked ahead toward the luxury RV dressing room. Adele pushed the plastic card toward me.

  “I can’t go back in there,” she said sounding panicky. “If anything happens and I get caught, I’ll lose cutchykins.”

  “Well, I can’t go in there,” I said. “If anything happens and I get caught, my son will lose a big client.”

  Dinah grabbed the plastic card. “I’ll do it,” she said, wrapping her long scarf around her neck several times so it wouldn’t trail her. Adele gave her the details of how to open the door and where to put the gun and I handed my friend the plastic bag. Adele and I went back into the shadows and Dinah slipped quickly toward the door. I could barely make out her figure as she worked on the door. Then the shiny metal caught the reflection of a streetlamp as the door opened and closed.

  I could feel my fast pulse throbbing in my neck and my mouth went dry. I kept my eye trained on the door, waiting for it to open and for Dinah to come out. Seconds turned to minutes and still the door stayed shut. Something was wrong.

  “You can’t leave,” I said in a loud whisper. Adele had come out of the shadows and was looking down the street toward the filming zone. The lights were still illuminating the area, but the way everyone was milling around, it was obvious they were taking some kind of break. A catering truck had pulled up to the curb and was dispensing food. “Dinah has been in North’s trailer too long. We have to do something.”

  “Not me.” She edged away, but I grabbed her arm.

  “You just stay put and keep your eyes open, if somebody comes down this way, stop them. I don’t care what you have to do,” I said. She groaned with unhappiness, but followed my order.

  “Pink, what are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know, but I’m not going to leave her in there.” I started walking toward the trailer. I couldn’t worry about Peter and his client. Whatever happened happened, even if he never spoke to me again. I had to help Dinah.

  I used a plastic coffee card to unlock the door and opened it slowly. It was dark inside. I stepped in and pulled the door behind me without making a sound. I heard Dinah making psst sounds, then her hand grabbed my ankle. She was sitting under a table, still holding the plastic bag. I got on my knees next to her.

  “What’s—” Dinah’s hand clamped over my mouth as she used the other to point toward the back. I could see a line of light coming from underneath a door and there was noise coming from inside. I took the plastic bag and pointed her toward the exit. I stood up and dumped the gun on the first surface I felt. Dinah was already out of the RV and I was about to follow when the door in the back opened and I was caught in a flood of light. North was standing wrapped in a towel.

  “Hey there, stop,” he said as I tried to make a run for it. Here goes nothing, I thought turning back toward him. What could I possibly say? I opened my mouth, hoping something smart would come out.

  North didn’t seem the slightest concerned that he was standing there almost naked. He looked me over and smiled. “I had a break and I thought I’d take a shower and freshen up,” he said gesturing toward the towel. He lowered his lids into his smoldering-eyes look and added a sexy smile. “I knew you had the hots for me. I knew it that first time you gave me the ride.” He pointed toward himself. “North is never wrong about women. Though I have to say, most women your age—well, they’re past sneaking in trailers. But no problem.” He gestured toward the couch.

  Was he really talking about himself in the third person? I smiled demurely as I backed away. “You’re right. That’s it. I’m here because I think you’re so hot. But I really can’t stay. I shouldn’t have come. It’s so wrong.” I was babbling now as I moved closer and closer to the exit. He followed me and urged me to stay, but I was out of there in a flash.

  Dinah and Adele were waiting for me and the three of us clasped hands and ran back the way we’d come. We were laughing and talking, all a product of our nerves. By the time we were passing the Donahue house, I had a pain in my side and we stopped to catch our breath. We just missed getting hit by a car pulling into the driveway. Dinah pulled Adele and me into the shadows as Dan got out of the driver’s side. He opened the trunk and took out a box. I was going to say something to him, but instead of walking toward his house, he headed for Nanci Silvers’.

  The three of us watched as she opened the door and he went inside.

  What was that about?

  CHAPTER 27

  When I finally checked my BlackBerry, there were a bunch of messages from Mason. Needless to say I was pretty wired after all the business with the gun and then the run-in with North in his trailer. I was pretty sure having North think I was some kind of aging groupie wouldn’t cause him to fire my son as his agent. At least I hoped so.

  All it took was a call to Mason and he was ready to help me unwind. “I was just going for a late-night swim. It sounds like just what you need,” he said.

  It sounded perfect and I agreed. He was waiting with his front door open as soon as I pulled in front of his house and greeted me with a warm hug. “I’m so glad to see you.” He was already wearing his red trunks. “But we could always go skinny-dipping,” he joked, well, sort of joked. Maybe there was some wishful thinking going on.

  I changed into the bathing suit I kept at his house and we went out into the dark yard. Spike looked at us like we were nuts and climbed up on the leather couch and went to sleep. Mason’s backyard was dotted with little lights and was magical at night. The water was warm from the sun and felt refreshing as we slipped in. For a few minutes we swam back and forth and then hung by the side talking.

  I began to tell Mason about my evening. He started laughing when he heard the story about the gun. “I wish I could have seen the detective’s face when you walked in holding the gun with the Pinchy-Winchy. I hope he at least cracked a smile. He’s usually so serious.”

  “Don’t worry, he laughed,” I said. “He seems to be loosening up a bit. I think the whole experience of being shot and being off work has affected him. He never would have sat outside drinking tea and talking before. Or if he had, he would have gotten a call in the middle and had to leave.”

  “Don’t get your hopes up, it’s probably not permanent,” Mason said.

  “I wasn’t thinking about that. We’re done. Once he moves back home, I’ll probably never see him. If nothing else, Det
ective Heather will make sure of that.”

  “I’m glad to hear it,” Mason said with a little shiver. “Let’s move over to the whirlpool.” He helped me out of the pool and we walked over to the tub of churning hot water. It was surrounded by jasmine and gardenia plants and the air was filled with fragrance. I noticed that Mason had started rubbing his temple and I asked if he had a headache.

  “Yes, and her name is Jaimee,” he said. He climbed into the tub and helped me in. “We’re running out of time. We still don’t have a location for the wedding. She is impossible. Pretty soon, it will end up being a weenie roast at the beach.” He looked at me with a tired smile. “I’d rather hear about your sleuthing.”

  I finished the story about the gun and Mason got a good laugh about the episode in North’s trailer.

  “Maybe the gun wasn’t the murder weapon, but he’s still lying. Why wouldn’t he admit to knowing Kelly?” I said.

  “Just a guess, but it sounds to me as if he’s trying to keep himself from being a suspect. If he doesn’t admit to knowing her, how can he be accused of killing her,” Mason offered.

  “Barry’s right. Detective Heather would never check out North based on anything I said. Besides, she still only has eyes for Dan. She ought to check out Nanci’s house. Maybe the murder weapon is there.”

  “You should tell her,” Mason said.

  “Right,” I said with a laugh. I told him it looked like there was trouble in cutchykins land because Adele’s motor cop boyfriend didn’t want her playing detective. “Good luck on that one, Eric,” I said with a knowing shrug. “Nobody tells Adele what she can’t do. I know that firsthand.”

  “I love hearing about your life.” Mason grinned and then pulled his hand out of the water. “I don’t know about you, but I’m turning into a human prune.” We got out of the water, went inside and changed back into our clothes.

  “Since you seem to like tea so much,” Mason said when I came back into his den. He gestured toward the elaborate tea setup he had put out. No tea bags for him or grocery store tea. Instead, a cast-iron pot brewing a special oolong tea sat over a warming candle. There were handleless cups from Japan and a plate of bakery cookies. When the tea was brewed, he poured us each a cup and we sat together on the couch.

  There was a certain amount of tension, for me, at least, as we sat next to each other. We were two consenting adults, both free and clear, but still something was holding me back from giving myself fully to our togetherness. There was nothing like a little crochet to get past a nervous moment. I rummaged around in the tote bag I was still using for a carryall and pulled out a hook. I went back in for something to use with the hook and a plastic bag stuck to my hand. I recognized it as the bag Adele had pushed on me when she found it in the bin of Kelly’s crochet pieces. I noticed there was a small ball of yarn in the bag and went to take it out. There were some folded sheets of paper that came out with it. I gathered them up, unfolding them as I did. Several of the papers were from a yellow legal pad and had some notes and diagrams on them. Another piece of paper floated free. I laid it on my lap and recognized what it was right away. I had one just like it. It was an invoice for a storage locker. A small plastic bag with a key inside was stapled to the back.

  I showed it to Mason and explained what it was. “I wonder why Kelly had a storage locker?” I said.

  “Probably for the same reason you do,” he said.

  “I got mine when Barry moved in and I had to clear out the space.”

  “Right,” Mason said. “She probably had stuff she didn’t have room for in her house.” I pointed out that both the locker number and the key were there.

  “Are you saying you want to see what’s in it?”

  “She did give the bin this was in to us. So, it isn’t like it would be breaking in or anything.”

  “Do you want to go now, tonight?” Mason said.

  “There’s twenty-four hour access.”

  “Sure. Let’s go. I’ve missed not being part of your investigation,” Mason said, looking enthused. “It’s certainly more fun than finding wedding locations for Jaimee to nix.”

  Mason took Ventura Boulevard instead of the freeway. We had the street to ourselves as we passed closed businesses and dark apartments. It seemed like the whole Valley was set on mute. Mason pulled his black Mercedes into the parking lot of the storage place. I was glad that he parked far away from the only other car in the parking lot. Could it belong to someone living in one of the units?

  Basically, there were four rows of low buildings with identical blue garage-type pull-up doors. There were lights on the end of each building, which made for lots of shadows, but not much help in seeing. I regretted not having a flashlight. Mason had a small one on his key chain.

  The buildings all looked the same and we finally realized there was a sign on the end of each with the locker numbers on it. We found the row hers was in and went down the wide walkway between the buildings. There were lots of dark shadows and I was glad I hadn’t come there alone.

  Mason pointed the tiny pool of light from his flashlight at each of the numbers next to the metal roll-up doors. “Here it is,” I said pointing to one in the middle of the row. I had him put the light on the padlock. The light caught on a spot of reflective paint as I felt for the key.

  “Well, this is it.” I put the key in the lock and when it came free, Mason lifted the door. The only light source we had was his small flashlight and little ambient light from the fixture at the end of the row. It smelled a little musty as we stepped inside and a herd of large black shiny bugs skittered through the light beam.

  Mason flashed the small light around the inside of the locker. There were some odds and ends of furniture. I noticed a wood headboard and a dresser, along with several chairs stacked on each other. There was a small round table with a box on top. I reached for it, but Mason stopped me. “Fingerprints,” he cautioned, handing me a pen. I used it to open the flaps as Mason put the light on it. I yelped when I saw the contents.

  “More of the bugs?” Mason said, lifting his free hand, prepared to do battle.

  “No creepy crawlers,” I said showing him the inside of the box. “But those are the pins and little toys Kelly gave us for the sale. Well, they were almost pins. She hadn’t put the pin backs on. But that’s not the point. They were in the cabinet at the bookstore and stolen by the shoplifters.” I used the pen to ruffle through the flower pins. “The felt backs seem to be coming apart. I don’t remember that from the first time I saw them.”

  Mason examined one. “More vandalism or do you think there was something hidden inside of them?”

  “What would she have hidden in them? I guess we’ll never know, but the point is, how did they get here?” I used the pen to open the top of a large box sitting on the ground. Mason trained the light where I was looking. I saw the top of a leaded glass shade and stared at the pieces of blue and green glass for a long time, wishing I could see the whole thing. “I’m almost positive this lamp was in Kelly’s room. The lamp I’d noticed was missing after her murder.”

  I checked through more of the cardboard containers and found an assortment of bric-a-brac. It all appeared to be nice stuff. When I opened the last box, my breath caught. There was more bric-a-brac, but in the center I noticed a gun handle. Mason saw it, too.

  Both Mason and I knew better than to touch it and we both began to back away toward the entrance.

  “Who else do you think has access to the locker?” Mason said.

  “There was only one key in the bag. You always get two with a lock. The obvious answer is Dan,” I said.

  CHAPTER 28

  It was very late when we left the storage place and headed back to Mason’s house. My car was still parked in front. “You look pretty tired. You’re welcome to the couch, or any of the bedrooms in the house,” Mason said as he pulled into his garage. He turned toward me with a good-natured smile. “No pressure.”

  “Thanks,” I said. I opened the door
to his car and got out. “But I think I’ll go home.”

  Mason walked me to my car and gave me a last chance to change my mind. He leaned in the open window and kissed me. I guess he was hoping to sway me and he almost did, but I started the car and he stepped away.

  I automatically turned off Ventura Boulevard as I passed the bookstore. I thought I would just drive past the Donahue house, but I didn’t get that far. Late as it was, I noticed the lights were still on at Dinah’s. I didn’t want to scare her by just knocking at the door, so called her on my cell. Even so, the middle of the night phone call jangled her nerves, but she recovered fast and told me to come in.

  “I was just watching television and crocheting. I couldn’t sleep after our trip into North’s trailer,” she said.

  “Ha, if you think that’s keeping you awake, wait until I tell you where I’ve been.” I told her about the storage locker and finding the gun. “I’m betting it really is the murder weapon. What a clever place for Dan to put it.”

  “You went without me?” she said with disappointment in her voice.

  “Be glad I did. Remember how we said that place was probably creepy at night, well it is,” I said and told her about the shadows and the herd of black bugs on the floor.

  “So what’s our next step?”

  I felt my mouth slide into a smile. I liked the way she said “we.” Dinah was a true-blue friend who had never let me down. Even with her relationship with Commander she found time for us. Everybody in the world should have one friend like her.