Grave Paths (A Maddie Graves Mystery Book 11)

by Lily Harper Hart

  LARRY BOONE LIVED IN the bad part of town. Of course, the “bad part” of Blackstone Bay was still better than the good part of most other cities. His house was located at the very end of Glendale Road and he had no neighbors in the immediate vicinity.

  Nick figured he probably liked it that way because he knew what could happen when neighbors squealed. That’s how he made a living, after all.

  “I managed to pull up a bit of background on Larry Boone while you were putting Laura in her cell,” Nick offered, climbing out of Kreskin’s cruiser and moving toward the front of the house. “He sounds like a real lowlife. After reading his file, I realized I recognized the name.”

  “He’s definitely a lowlife,” Kreskin said. “We’ve crossed paths a time or two. Thankfully, cheating spouses aren’t big business in Blackstone Bay. He does most of his work out of the city limits.”

  “Until now,” Nick noted, squinting as he stared at the dark house. “It looks empty.”

  “His truck is in the driveway.” Kreskin pointed for emphasis. “We need to talk to him. If he’s known all along who killed Jennifer Cook, he’s going to jail. I don’t care how much the prosecutor fights it.”

  “Let’s talk to him.” Nick fell into step with Kreskin. “I hope Maddie is okay back at the police station. I thought it was safer to leave her there than bring her with us given this guy’s background. His file says he’s been in a fight or two.”

  “Or ten,” Kreskin said grimly.

  “It says in there that he’s fought with you twice.”

  “Do you have a problem with that?” Kreskin’s tone promised a long fight if Nick voiced his concern, so the younger detective immediately backed off.

  “I don’t. Let’s see what he has to say for himself.”

  “I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS has happened to me.”

  Laura rested on the cot in one of the station’s two cells, staring at the ceiling as she lamented her lot in life.

  “I’m kind of confused how you thought it would go another way,” Maddie said, stretching her legs out as she sat in a chair next to the locked room. She promised Nick she wouldn’t get too close, but he seemed keen to see if she could get Laura to talk in a friendly manner. The first two hours of Nick’s absence were painful. Since he’d been gone so long, though, Maddie was hopeful that meant he was getting important information. In fact, maybe if she was lucky, he would have P.J. in his arms when he walked back into the station.

  She could only hope, of course, so that’s what she did.

  “He said we were going to be together forever,” Laura pressed. “Why wouldn’t I believe what he said?”

  “Because he promised Jennifer he would be with her forever, too,” Maddie pointed out. “I’m sure Jennifer wasn’t the first woman he made that promise to either. It seems to me that Peter Cook is the type of man who will promise anything as long as he can get his rocks off.”

  “That can be said about any man.”

  “Not really,” Maddie countered. “Nick isn’t like that. Dale isn’t like that. Most of the men I know aren’t like that. Perhaps you might want to ask yourself why you were attracted to a man who thinks like that in the first place.”

  “Oh, well, look at you,” Laura intoned, her expression dour. “You think you’re so special, don’t you? I’ve seen you with your boyfriend. I’m surprised they let cops work together as partners the way you two do.”

  “I’m not a cop.”

  “What are you?”

  “An interested … consultant,” Maddie replied. She honestly wasn’t sure how to answer. “As for Nick, you don’t know anything about him.”

  “Oh, honey, what I don’t know about men isn’t worth knowing,” Laura said. “You think just because that guy looks at you the way he does right now that it will always be like that. That’s not how it works. You need to mold and manipulate a man to get what you want. That never changes.”

  “I feel inexplicably sorry for you because you believe that,” Maddie said. “True love does exist. I believed that long before Nick and I got together. I didn’t think I was destined for it, but I always believed.”

  “You sound like a stupid little girl.”

  “And you sound like a bitter old woman and you’re not even twenty-two yet,” Maddie said. “I get that this situation didn’t turn out like you thought, but you were never going to get what you wanted. Peter Cook is incapable of loving you.”

  “I don’t need love. I just want money.”

  “He doesn’t have much of that either,” Maddie said. “Did you see his house? It’s tiny. Granted, house values are high in Blackstone Bay, but he doesn’t make a lot of money if that’s all he can afford. How did you think he was going to support you in the lifestyle you clearly want when he doesn’t have money?”

  “He has potential to make money,” Laura clarified. “He’ll be promoted. In a few years, he’ll be rich.”

  “You wouldn’t have hung around long enough to see that,” Maddie said. “Peter Cook is a womanizer. He would’ve moved on to someone else long before you enjoyed the fruits of his labor.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “I think anyone with eyes can see it.”

  “And I should listen to you because you have stars in your eyes and believe that guy you’re with is going to love you forever?” Laura challenged. “You’re dreaming. You’re delusional. You’re … stupid.”

  “No, I have faith,” Maddie corrected, standing when Nick swooped into the room. “Did you find the baby?”

  Nick’s expression reflected sadness. “No, Mad. We found Larry Boone, though. He’s dead.”

  “What?”

  “What do you mean he’s dead?” Laura rolled off the cot. “How can he be dead?”

  “Someone bashed him over the head with a hammer,” Nick said, carefully resting his hands on Maddie’s shoulders. “He’s been dead for several hours. We need to cover the scene and get the medical examiner out there.”

  “Okay.” Maddie licked her lips. “What do you want me to do?”

  “Go home, love,” Nick replied softly. “You can’t help here and it’s going to be a really long night.”

  “You’re not coming home?”

  Laura snorted. “He wants to spend some quality time with me. Can’t you see it on his face?”

  Nick ignored Laura’s dig. “We have to go through his house, Mad. We have to see if he knew anything. P.J.’s life depends on us finding out what Larry knew.”

  Maddie swallowed hard and nodded. “Okay. I’ll go home.”

  “Be safe and text me when you get there.” Nick pressed a soft kiss to her cheek. “I love you. I’ll get home as soon as I can.”

  “Of course he will,” Laura sang out, ignoring the way Nick looked at her. “He’ll be thinking of me when he climbs into bed with you, though.”

  Nick scowled. “Oh, Laura, you’re almost pitiable. After tonight, no one is going to be thinking about you but your cell mate for a very long time.”

  17

  Seventeen

  Maddie did her best to wait up for Nick. Then she did her best to sleep without nightmares. By the time he crawled into bed – well after three in the morning – she was dead to the world. Nick was happy she seemed to sleep easy so he rolled up behind her, slipped his arm around her waist, and joined her in heavy slumber.

  Maddie woke first, of course. Her sleep hadn’t exactly been unencumbered, but the dreams that plagued her were of a different sort. It had been all fighting adults and self-indulgent love partners rather than screaming women and crying babies. She watched Nick sleep for a long time, his arm thrown over his head as he snored. He only snored that loudly when he was exhausted and she had no intention of waking him so she stealthily crawled out of bed, tucked him in tightly, and then wandered to the kitchen.

  She was surprised – although she shouldn’t have been – to find Christy and Maude drinking coffee at the kitchen table.

  “What are you guys doing here
?” Maddie rubbed her hand over her cheek in an effort to shake off the remnants of sleep. “It’s early.”

  “It’s almost nine,” Maude corrected. “I’ve been up for three hours.”

  “That’s because you’re old and cranky.”

  “Who are you calling old?”

  Maddie cracked a smile as she shuffled to the coffee pot to pour herself a mug of caffeinated goodness. She figured it would work faster if she could throw it in her eyes but that seemed like a poor idea. “How long have you guys been down here?”

  “About an hour,” Christy replied. “We heard they made an arrest in the Cook case and we’re dying to hear the details.”

  “Yeah, Eloise Martin told people at the diner that it was the husband’s mistress,” Maude said. “She also said you were around when the tart was taken into custody. How come I’m always the last to know when these things happen?”

  “Maybe because you’re always getting into your own mischief,” Maddie suggested, groaning as she sat in the chair next to Christy. “I’m still tired.”

  “Then you should’ve stayed in bed,” Christy said. “I heard that you guys were at the station late last night.”

  “I wasn’t there overly late,” Maddie corrected. “I came home around ten or so. I have no idea what time Nick got home.”

  “Did the mistress tell you where the baby is?”

  “She doesn’t know where the baby is,” Maddie replied. “At least she claims not to know.”

  “Do you believe her?”

  Maddie shrugged. “I don’t think she’s smart enough to be able to hide a baby for this amount of time without anyone discovering him.”

  “What about a baby’s body?” Maude asked, ignoring the dark look Maddie shot in her direction. “What? I can’t be the only one thinking it.”

  “You’re not the only one thinking it, but I refuse to give up hope,” Maddie said. “As for the mistress, she wasn’t arrested for killing Jennifer Cook. She was arrested for breaking into the Cook house last night and then questioned about the murder and kidnapping.”

  “Oh.” Maude was disappointed. “I thought there would be more to the story.”

  “Oh, there’s more to the story,” Maddie intoned. She filled in Christy and her grandmother on what was discovered – admitting she was behind the loop on exactly what happened to Larry Boone because she fell asleep before Nick returned home – and when she was done, Maude and Christy were understandably flabbergasted.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Christy made an exaggerated face. “Larry Boone is dead?”

  “Did you know him?”

  “I knew of him,” Christy corrected. “I think everyone in this area did.”

  “I don’t think I’ve ever heard his name before,” Maddie admitted.

  “That’s because you were gone when his story hit the news,” Maude supplied. “He made a big splash about six years ago, at least I think that’s when it was.”

  “That sounds about right,” Christy said. “He had all of these ads on television. They were the low-budget types you just know were filmed in his bedroom and backyard. Anyway, he was hired by some guy in Central Lake to follow his wife. He was convinced the wife was cheating on him.”

  “Was she?”

  “Yes, but the better part of the story is that once Boone caught the woman red-handed – in the act, so to speak – he showed her the photographs and evidence and gave her the option of paying him more to keep the information secret.” Christy rubbed her hands together, clearly enjoying the story. “So, she agrees to pay him and sets up a time to do so but, in the meantime, the guy she was sleeping with stole off and killed the husband so she wouldn’t have to pay Boone and would inherit everything instead of suffering through a divorce.”

  Maddie was horrified. “Seriously?”

  “Yeah. When it went to trial, the murderer blamed Boone for forcing him to do it and it was a whole big thing,” Christy said. “The trial was covered on every news station for three weeks straight.”

  “It was huge news up here,” Maude agreed. “Down there where you were it was probably barely a blip.”

  “Huh.” Maddie chewed on her bottom lip. “I can’t figure out why someone would kill him.”

  “How long has he been dead?” Christy asked.

  Maddie shrugged. “They were waiting for the medical examiner when Nick stopped to tell me the news, but they estimated a couple of hours.”

  “So the mistress couldn’t have done it?” Maude queried.

  “I honestly don’t know,” Maddie replied. “She’s a loose cannon and she doesn’t think before she speaks but I get the feeling she’s all talk and little action. She paid the private investigator so she wouldn’t have to get her hands dirty. To me, that sounds like she’s not the type to kill two people.”

  “It sounds like you’ve given this a lot of thought,” Nick teased as he shuffled into the room, his hair standing on end. He didn’t care that Christy and Maude giggled at his appearance, instead dropping a kiss on Maddie’s cheek before heading for the coffee pot. “Are we having a party and nobody told me?”

  “They were here when I came down,” Maddie replied. “I was hoping you would sleep a bit longer. You got in late.”

  “I’m okay, Mad.” Nick smiled for her benefit. “How did you sleep?”

  “I slept okay … other than having weird dreams about Laura,” Maddie said. “They weren’t nightmares as much as … annoying-mares. Wait … is that a thing?”

  “Is it any wonder that I’m crazy about you?” Nick gave her another kiss, this one squarely on the mouth, and then sat in the chair to her left. “She’s still singing the same tune, although she seems a bit more shaken. Once you left she was practically begging to be let out of the cell.”

  “Well, that’s because she thinks she’s magic and can seduce you.”

  “I don’t think even she is dumb enough to believe that,” Nick said. “Still … she’s a piece of work. She actually had the audacity to ask if we could get her money back from Boone now that he’s dead.”

  “She’s pragmatic,” Maddie noted. “You have to give her that.”

  “She’s trash,” Nick corrected. “As for Boone, the medical examiner puts his death at around three in the afternoon yesterday. He was struck with a large vase, which shattered, and then it appears someone went to the garage to find a tool and finished the job with his own hammer.”

  “Oh, my … they used a hammer?” Christy’s face twisted with disgust. “That’s is a horrible way to die.”

  “Yeah, it definitely wouldn’t have been pleasant,” Nick agreed.

  “So who killed him?” Maddie asked. “Was it Laura?”

  “You just said you didn’t think Laura had it in her,” Nick pointed out.

  “I could be wrong. It’s been known to happen.”

  “Not my Maddie.” Nick was in a snuggly mood – mostly because waking up with Maddie was his favorite part of the day and he missed it with her getting up early – and he didn’t care that Maude was making gagging noises across the table. “As for Laura, per her burnout neighbors, she left around two in the afternoon. She was behind us on the road.”

  “She couldn’t have gotten to Blackstone Bay in time to kill Larry,” Christy noted. “Not from Bay City.”

  “No,” Nick agreed. “She’s still being kept in custody for the time being.”

  “What about Peter?” Maddie suggested. “Granny and Christy told me the story about Larry Boone turning the tables on a client. Maybe he went to Peter to tell him what Laura did.”

  “To what end, though?” Nick asked. “Cook was the one having the affair. Once Jennifer died, it didn’t matter who found out because we already knew. There was no benefit for him.

  “Plus, well, Larry was hired to get dirt on Jennifer,” he continued. “It would make more sense for Larry to approach Jennifer and ask her to pay him off.”

  “Except Laura said that Jennifer didn’t do anything but stic
k close to the house and take care of the baby,” Maddie said. “What if there was no dirt on Jennifer to be found?”

  “I have no idea,” Nick said. “Even if Larry approached Jennifer, it would’ve done him no good to kill her. What would he have gotten out of that? Then there’s the problem of Jennifer being dead long before Larry’s body was discovered. If he approached her and she turned on him, who killed Larry after the fact?”

  “So you have no idea what’s going on,” Christy said. “That’s basically what you’re saying, right?”

  Nick held out his hands and shrugged. “I have no idea what’s going on. All we know is that Larry might’ve been watching Jennifer the night she was killed. It’s a definite possibility and we have his computer. It’s password protected, though, so John is bringing over a state police tech to look at it this afternoon.”

  Something occurred to Maddie. “What if Larry approached the killer and offered to keep his mouth shut for money?”

  Nick smiled. “And that right there is why you’re the smartest woman in the world. That’s our working theory for right now.”

  “Hey.” Christy wrinkled her nose. “I would’ve figured that out eventually.”

  “Me, too,” Maude added.

  Nick wasn’t about to be dissuaded. “You’re still not as fast as she is.” Nick slipped his arm around Maddie’s shoulders. “She’s undisputed genius of the house.”

  Maude raised her hand. “I move to dispute that.”

  “Denied.”

  MADDIE LEFT CHRISTY AND MAUDE to gossip in the kitchen as she trailed after Nick and followed him to the second floor. Nick knew she was there, he could practically feel her brain working, but he was happy letting her take her time.

  “Nicky, you do realize if Larry knew who killed Jennifer and took the baby that it probably means the person is or at least was local, right?”

  Nick nodded. “I know. What are you thinking?”

  “Jennifer died days ago. Larry probably sat on the information for a bit and then approached the killer. Why would that person go after him last night, though?”