“Yesterday?”
Liss nodded. It felt as if that encounter had taken place days ago. And it seemed like weeks since she’d been free of worry. Her thoughts drifted, longing for a relaxing soak in the claw-footed bathtub Dan had installed and about eight hours reclining on the excellent mattress on the antique bed that now furnished her old room.
“. . . ‘something a little naughty about you.’ Do you want to tell me what she meant by that, Ms. MacCrimmon?”
“What?” Liss blinked at the detective, once again caught off guard. She played back his words, but they still didn’t make sense. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand what you’re asking me.”
He consulted the pages in his hands. “Mrs. Norris said ‘Oh, I never forget a thing, dear,’ and then made mention of ‘something a little naughty about you,’ and then said, ‘we all have our little secrets. And I know most of them.’ Do you remember those comments, Ms. MacCrimmon?”
“Yes, but—”
“And do you remember that you said something about blackmail?”
“We were talking about books,” Liss protested. “Mystery novels.”
“It didn’t sound that way to the person who overheard your conversation.”
“Well, obviously he or she only heard part of it.” The pages the detective held were a deposition, she realized. Someone who’d been at the fairgrounds yesterday had come forward upon realizing that the woman Liss had been talking to had been killed in Aunt Margaret’s shop a few hours afterward. The eavesdropper had added two and two and come up with five.
“He heard Mrs. Norris say you were ‘murderously inclined. ’” LaVerdiere added after consulting the typescript again. “Then she lowered her voice, and he missed most of the conversation, but he caught the end. Mrs. Norris said you’d get your just desserts, Ms. MacCrimmon. That sounded like a threat to the witness. Does to me, too.”
“You’re taking this completely out of context, detective.”
“Explain it to me, then. What was the ‘something naughty’ she referred to?”
“I’m not sure. Besides, she was just kidding around.”
“What do you think she meant?”
Liss stared out the window, trying to figure it out. Something she’d done during her high-school years, but what? As she’d reminded Mrs. Norris, she hadn’t been the rebellious type. When had she had time? She’d been too busy to get into trouble back then, just as she’d been too busy with her career after high school to have much life outside the dance troupe.
Her view encompassed the town square. If she looked to the left, she could see Aunt Margaret’s shop with Mrs. Norris’s house beyond. Looking right, she had a clear view of more white clapboard houses and the impressive red-brick municipal building. Her gaze zeroed in on the second floor, above the town office. The library. Dolores Mayfield was Moosetookalook’s town librarian. She was married to a no-account drunk who went by the nickname Moose.
“Oh,” Liss murmured.
“Yes, Ms. MacCrimmon?”
“I did something stupid once, as a teenager.”
She felt heat rush into her cheeks as she remembered. Yes, that would fit Mrs. Norris’s definition of “naughty.” Unable to meet either the detective’s eyes or Dan’s, she blurted out her confession.
“I was scheduled to compete in a dance competition in Portland. A friend was supposed to drive me, but she had car trouble. My parents were away. I couldn’t stand the thought of missing the competition, so I borrowed Moose Mayfield’s old clunker of a truck and drove myself to Portland.”
Liss thought she heard Dan stifle a laugh.
LaVerdiere gave her a hard look. “By ‘borrowed’ you mean stole?”
“Yes, detective. I mean stole. And I am fully aware that I could have ended up in jail if I’d gotten caught. But I didn’t. And I didn’t think anyone knew about it. You see, Moose liked his beer. Since I refilled the gas tank before I brought the truck back, he never realized it had gone missing.”
“Did you win the competition?” Dan asked.
“Yes.” She dared a glance at LaVerdiere. No smile there.
“Good thing the statute of limitations has run out on that one,” Dan said, sotto voce.
“Detective LaVerdiere, I can understand why what Mrs. Norris said, taken out of context, sounded suspicious.” Liss felt a bit braver now that she’d straightened him out concerning the overheard conversation. “I can even comprehend why you were inclined to believe I might have some deep, dark secret. But why would you think that a nice old lady like Mrs. Norris was capable of blackmail?”
It was a particularly nasty accusation, one that outraged Liss on the other woman’s behalf.
For a moment, she thought he wasn’t going to answer. Then he leaned forward, holding her gaze. “We found evidence in Mrs. Norris’s house that she’d been accumulating compromising information about a number of people. As to your conversation with her, Ms. MacCrimmon, I have only your word that car theft was the worst she threatened to reveal.”
“She did not threaten—”
“It sounded that way to my witness. And if she did threaten you, then it follows that you had a reason to kill her. Perhaps you didn’t mean to. A quarrel. A push. You were overcome by panic and ran. Is that how it happened, Ms. MacCrimmon?”
“You have got to be kidding.”
“I never kid, Ms. MacCrimmon. She warned you you’d get your ‘just desserts.’ Isn’t that right?”
“She wanted me to come over for a piece of her apple pie. ‘Just desserts’ was a play on words!” Liss balled her hands into fists to keep from acting on the impulse to grab him by the lapels and shake some sense into him.
“So you say, Ms. MacCrimmon.”
She’d never heard a voice so cold. Just that quickly, an icy chill drove the heat of her anger away.
Oh my God, Liss thought. He’s serious. Detective LaVerdiere really believes I killed Mrs. Norris!
Chapter Seven
When LaVerdiere finally left, Dan checked his watch, then reached for the phone. “What do you want on your pizza?”
“I’m not very hungry.”
She looked like hell, but he didn’t suppose she’d want to hear that. “You have to eat. Pick a topping or I’ll go with anchovies.”
That got a faint smile out of her. “Mushrooms and onions are my favorites, but order whatever you like. I’ll only eat one slice anyway.”
By the time he placed the order and disconnected, Liss had gone to stand by the window. He wondered what she was thinking about as she stared out at the gathering darkness. It had been just about twenty-four hours since her life had been turned upside down. Again.
“All set. Be here in half an hour. I figure you for at least two slices, so I made it a large. This is no time to count calories,” he added, letting his admiring gaze skim over an enticing back view. She’d given traditional Scottish dress a pass for the second day of the Highland Games in favor of curve-hugging jeans and a camisole top. “You’re not one of those women who’s always on a diet, are you? You look just fine to me.”
“I’m not, no. But if I eat as much now as I did when I was dancing, I’ll double in size within a year.” She glanced at him over her shoulder and registered his doubtful look. “Think retired football player who doesn’t continue to exercise at the same level.”
“So take up a new sport. One that’s easier on the knees. You can’t just stop eating.”
“I haven’t stopped eating. I just watch what I eat. That’s all.”
He heard the thread of annoyance in her voice, grinned, and pushed harder. “So you say.”
She turned to glare at him.
Better. Her lack of animation, the total apathy she’d displayed during the last part of LaVerdiere’s interrogation, had worried him. She’d been holding her own. Then she’d suddenly gotten that deer-in-the-headlights look on her face and abruptly shut down.
It had been about the time LaVerdiere told her he wasn’t kiddin
g. Dan winced, realizing he’d just used the exact same words the detective had—“so you say.”
“LaVerdiere is just blowing hot air. If he had a case against you, you’d already be in jail.”
For a second he thought she was going to keel over on him. Her face lost every vestige of color. “They don’t . . . he wouldn’t . . .” Her voice trailed off, but for once Dan had no difficulty reading her thoughts. Anyone who watched television news shows knew there were people on death row who didn’t belong there.
“Maine doesn’t have the death penalty,” he blurted.
She pressed her palms against her ears and closed her eyes. “This isn’t happening. I’m going to wake up soon and find myself on the road somewhere. No bad knee. No murder.” Bright spots of pink flared in her cheeks. “No you!”
“Damn it, Liss. I’m on your side. I’m trying to help.” Crossing to her, he wrapped his arms around her and hugged, settling her head on his shoulder.
She went stiff as a board but he didn’t let go. If anyone had ever needed cuddling, it was Liss MacCrimmon. After a moment, she gave a little sigh of resignation and relaxed against him. They stood that way, neither moving, neither speaking, until the doorbell buzzed to announce the arrival of the pizza delivery girl.
Liss ate three pieces of pizza, although she did refuse a soft drink in favor of plain water. Dan polished off the rest and waited until the box was in the trash and they were settled on the sofa again before he broached the subject neither one of them could afford to ignore.
“LaVerdiere’s dead wrong, you know. About you and about Mrs. Norris. No way was she blackmailing her neighbors.”
“Everybody has secrets, even if they’re just silly little ones.”
He chuckled. “Borrowed Moose Mayfield’s truck, huh? Who’da thunk it?”
She punched him in the shoulder. “I’m not proud of it.”
“But you wouldn’t have paid a blackmailer to keep it quiet, either. Right?”
“Of course not.” She almost smiled. “I can’t imagine very many frugal Mainers would be willing to pay someone off just to keep them quiet about a youthful prank. Not in this day and age. Most folks around here would say ‘go public and be damned’ and that would be the end of it. Besides, you’re right. I can’t see Mrs. Norris eking out her retirement income with extortion.”
“Still, if anyone knew where all the bodies are buried and who was carrying on with whom, it was Mrs. Norris.”
“But what information she collected was hardly secret. She didn’t gossip, exactly, but if I’d asked her questions she’d have given me an earful over apple pie.” Liss paused, looking thoughtful, then sent him a wicked smile. “I wonder what she’d have said about you?”
Dan, who’d gotten caught up in watching her eyes change from blue to green, didn’t immediately react to what she’d said. Only when he realized she was waiting for an answer . . . or a confession . . . did he blink and pull back.
“No idea. I’m pretty sure I haven’t murdered anyone lately and I haven’t got a wife or girlfriend to cheat on.”
“Ever fool around with married women?”
“No.” And it bothered him that she could think he would.
She must have read his reaction in his face because she dropped her gaze, staring at her tightly clasped hands. “Sorry.”
“Forget it. The foot-in-mouth thing must be contagious. Anyway, my point was that LaVerdiere is wrong about Mrs. Norris and he’s wrong about you.”
“I appreciate the vote of confidence, but as long as he’s convinced I’m guilty, he’s not going to look elsewhere for a suspect.”
“He’ll have to realize he’s wrong eventually. Detectives report to the attorney general. Even if LaVerdiere doesn’t, the A.G. will realize there’s no case against you.”
“Is that supposed to reassure me?” In her agitation, she couldn’t seem to sit still. She jumped up and began to pace, her steps taking her the length of the living room and back again. “I can’t just sit around and wait for LaVerdiere to see the light. I need to prove I’m not guilty.”
“How?”
“Well, I can ask around. Find out if anyone saw anything.”
“The cops will do that. Probably have already.”
“What if they didn’t ask the right questions? If they think I did it, they wouldn’t have tried to find out who else was around yesterday.”
He hated to douse the light of battle in her eyes, but if she interfered with LaVerdiere’s investigation she’d only make things harder on herself. “Bad idea, Liss. It may even be illegal.” He didn’t know if that was true or not, since his only information on how the police solved crimes came from watching television, and he wasn’t a fan of cop shows.
“It’s the best one I have. And really, think about it. I know this town. Or at least I used to. And I know things Scottish. Whoever was in the shop, whoever killed Mrs. Norris, that person must have had some connection to Aunt Margaret or her business.”
“How do you figure that?” His money had been on a stranger. He didn’t want to think any of his neighbors might be a killer.
Liss came to a halt in front of the sofa, hands on her hips. “Because Mrs. Norris wouldn’t have gone into the stockroom for no reason. She must have seen someone enter through the back door, someone who shouldn’t have been there. There were no signs of robbery or vandalism. Maybe whoever was in there did plan to rob the place, but if Mrs. Norris had thought the intruder was there to commit a crime, she’d have called the cops instead of going over herself.”
“I thought the same thing last night,” Dan reluctantly admitted. “She could see the door to the stockroom from her back porch and it doesn’t make sense that she’d take a foolish risk if she saw a stranger break in.”
“So, it was someone she knew. Or at least someone she recognized and thought of as harmless. And I’m better equipped to figure out who that someone might be than LaVerdiere is.” Liss looked extraordinarily pleased with herself.
Dan caught her hand and tugged her back down onto the sofa beside him. Her determination to play detective alarmed him. He was glad she no longer seemed to be frightened or apathetic, but there was no sense going overboard.
“Think about this a minute, Liss.” He angled himself so that he could look her straight in the eyes. He kept hold of her hand. “If Mrs. Norris thought this person was harmless, aren’t you likely to make the same mistake?”
“I’m just going to check on one or two little things on my own. Come with me if you’re worried I’ll get into trouble.”
“I’m not sure that would help much if a murderer takes exception to your snooping. I can’t watch your back twenty-four/seven.”
“I can take care of myself!” Blue fire in her eyes, Liss jerked her hand free in a sudden display of temper.
“Okay, Liss. If you say so.” She’d been on a real roller-coaster ride since yesterday. Dan supposed he couldn’t blame her for resenting his words of caution.
“Humoring the little lady, Dan?” She hopped up, dancing lightly on the balls of her feet. “Come on. Try to take me down.”
Dan stood slowly, suddenly wary. “I’m not going to assault you.”
“No, really. It’s okay. Come at me like you want to grab me and strangle me.” She bobbed and weaved like a prize-fighter, face alight with anticipation. Euphoria, he thought. A false sense of security in reaction to the emotions she’d been feeling earlier.
“This is—” He broke off when she jabbed him in the stomach.
“Chicken!”
“Fine,” he wheezed, his breathing momentarily impaired. She packed quite a wallop. “Have it your way.” Maybe she’d take the risk seriously if he resorted to brute force.
He moved fast, reaching for her. She moved faster. As soon as he made contact, she took a step back, disrupting his balance. Using his own size and weight against him, she flipped him neatly onto the sofa.
He landed on his back, hard enough to knock the wind o
ut of him again. Her crow of triumph echoed in his ears. Closing his eyes, he stayed put. This was not the way he’d expected things to go. In fact, he’d probably made matters worse. Now she’d be convinced she could take care of herself.
Something touched his cheek, softly nuzzling. Dan smiled and opened his eyes, but Liss was right where she had been when she’d thrown him. Warily, he shifted his gaze to the left. Lumpkin gave him another wet-nosed nudge and followed up by licking him with a warm, rough tongue.
Dan sat up fast, swiping at the cat slobber on his face. “Sheesh! Talk about adding insult to injury.” All in all, he’d rather the cat give him another bite on the ankle than turn affectionate.
Still smiling, Liss plunked herself down in the chair LaVerdiere had used earlier. “I feel much better now.”
“I just bet you do.”
“Mad at me?”
“No. But I’m still on record that this is a lousy idea. You aren’t Nancy Drew. Or Veronica Mars.”
“How about one of Charlie’s Angels?”
He shook his head.
“Buffy the Vampire Slayer?”
He stood, as tense now as she’d been a short while ago. “Damn it, Liss. This isn’t make-believe. There’s a real killer out there, someone who’s a lot more dangerous than I am. He—”
“Or she.”
“—won’t want to be found and won’t be happy to hear you’re asking questions.”
“I’ll be careful.” As he watched, her expression turned deadly serious. “I have to do this, Dan. I can’t just sit still and let myself be railroaded straight into jail.”
Now it was Dan’s turn to pace. If she had to do it, he’d have to help her, if only to keep her safe. She did need someone to watch her back. “If you’re determined to ask questions of the neighbors, then we’ll do it together.”
“Five minutes ago you hated the idea.”
“Still do, but I suppose there’s no real reason we can’t check out a few things on our own; make a list of everyone who was near the Emporium yesterday afternoon and evening. What would that hurt?” Nothing, he hoped.
“Thank you.” She sprang out of the chair to give him an impulsive hug.
Kilt Dead Page 8
