“You’re right. It’s just that mine are so formal — and expensive. Russell makes us eat on paper plates most of the time. These others are so cute.”
The door jingled and Russell called to them from the front of the store.
“We’re back here.” Deena stood up and stretched her aching legs. Her right knee ached from the previous night’s encounter with the fence. She hobbled to the front counter with Estelle on her tail. “What did you find out?”
Russell had that Cheshire Cat grin on his face he got whenever he knew a secret. When he and Deena were kids, it always gave him away.
“You were right. There is indeed a black car in the body shop with damage to the left side. It’s a Toyota. Here, I got a picture.” He held out his phone.
Estelle kissed his cheek. “Way to go, dear. I knew you could do it.”
“By the way,” he said. “I’m getting my truck repainted next week. They do amazing work there.”
Estelle rolled her eyes.
Deena scrolled through the pictures. “Wow. You even got the license plate. Can you message these to me?”
He pushed the phone back toward her. “You do it. I’m not as good with all that technical stuff as you are.”
Deena laughed and shook her head. “You can take apart an entire engine and put it back together, but you can’t send me a picture from your phone.”
Estelle leaned on the counter. “So what’s our next move? Is it time to call Guttman?”
Deena hadn’t really expected the car to be there. She wasn’t sure what to do next. “After what happened yesterday —and last night — I don’t want to talk to Guttman yet. He’ll think it’s another wild goose chase.”
“Why?” Russell asked. “What happened last night?”
Estelle giggled then covered her mouth with her hand.
“Estelle can fill you in.” Deena rubbed her knee. “I’d rather not have to tell it again.”
“Okay, so then what?” he asked.
“I’m thinking about going to see Fisk. If I show him the coin, I can read his face. I’m good at that. Maybe I can tell if he looks guilty.”
“What coin?” Russell looked at Estelle. “You’re going to have to catch me up.”
Estelle’s face dropped as she looked at Deena. “You’re not thinking of going to see him by yourself, are you? He could be dangerous. Look what happened to Leonard and Billy. At least take Russell with you.”
“I’m a big girl. I know what I’m doing.”
“Wait a gosh darn minute!” Russell said and stamped his foot. “The last I heard, you thought Ronnie Clark was guilty. Isn’t that why you sent me to the body shop? What happened?”
“Oh, honey. That was yesterday.” Estelle took hold of his arm. “This is Thursday. Now we think the mayor is guilty.”
Deena turned as Hurley trotted out of the storeroom carrying something in his mouth.
“What is it, buddy?” Deena leaned down to retrieve the object. It was a wooden gavel. The kind a person would use during an official meeting. Like the mayor might use at the city council meeting.
Estelle gasped. “A gavel...it’s another sign!”
* * *
OF ALL THE THINGS THAT Hurley could have dredged up from the storeroom, he found a gavel. Deena couldn’t shake the image from her mind. Maybe Estelle had been right about this “sign” business. She didn’t have time to think about it now. She needed to focus on Fisk.
The parking lot was more crowded than the day before. Pawn shops tended to get busier later in the month when money was short and people needed cash. That could also explain why business was down at the thrift shop. Of course, they hadn’t kept it open more than a few hours the last few days. Deena had talked to Sandra about it, and she didn’t seem to mind a bit. Then again, she was up to her eyeballs in dirty diapers and was operating on very little sleep.
Deena pulled into a spot behind the building and went in.
Fisk spotted her right away, abandoning his customer to walk over to her. “What are you doing here? I made it clear to Detective Guttman that I didn’t want you snooping around anymore.”
She resisted the urge to stick out her chin. “I’m not here as a snoop,” she said in a measured tone. “I’m here as a customer. Well, sort of.”
“What do you mean?”
Glancing around, she didn’t see tattoo guy from the day before. An older man wearing a cowboy hat and a Steely Dan t-shirt appeared to be the only other person working.
She smiled. “I found something, and I wondered to myself, ‘Now who has the expertise to identify it?’ That’s when I thought of you.” Yeah, you can catch more flies with honey.
He threw out his hands. “What is it?”
Deena pulled the coin out of her purse and held it up, staring at his face. The look was obvious and instantaneous. He recognized the coin.
“Where did you get this?” His voice came from somewhere deep in the back of his throat.
As if you didn’t know. “I found it.”
“Found it where?”
“What does it matter?”
“Ricky, keep your eye on the place. I’ll be in my office.” He motioned for Deena to follow him.
She hesitated as a knot formed in her throat. She hadn’t expected to be alone with Fisk. If she refused, it would look suspicious. If she agreed...
She followed slowly, like a dead man walking. Was this the point where he would take her out the back door at gunpoint and make her disappear? She felt in her purse for the pepper spray. Keep calm. You’ve been in stickier situations than this before.
Fisk picked up a stack of gun collector magazines and set them on the floor, motioning for Deena to take a seat. He sat behind his desk and pulled open the top drawer.
As he reached in, she held her breath and started to pull the pepper spray out of her purse.
He pulled out his hand. No gun. “Check this out.” He handed her a coin. “Same coin as yours, just a different date.”
She feigned surprise. “Huh. So these must not be that rare then.”
“On the contrary. These are actually worth a pretty penny.”
“Where’d you get yours?”
“It came in here the other day.” He stared at the object in his hand, but his mind seemed a million miles away.
She waited for him to say something. The extended pause made her uncomfortable. Should she cough? Get up to leave?
Finally, he glanced back in her direction. “To be honest, I considered calling you about this coin. If I tell you something in confidence, will you not run out to Detective Guttman and shoot your mouth off about it?”
“I will. I mean, I won’t. You can trust me.”
He leaned forward in his chair. “I think this coin came from the Fitzhugh collection. The one stolen from the auction.”
You could have knocked her over with a feather. Either Fisk was trying to deflect attention from himself, or he was confiding in her. Both possibilities were surprising. “What makes you think so?”
“I know those coins. I also know where this one came from. That’s a concern.”
“I guess I’m not quite understanding. Are you saying that you think whoever brought the coin in stole it from the auction?”
“I’m saying that there is a possibility of it.”
She paused to consider what he had said. “Then why don’t you want to tell Detective Guttman?”
“Because, the guy who brought it in is a friend of mine.”
Uh-oh. She didn’t like where this was going. “So why tell me?”
“We both know you’re a sharp cookie. You might be able to figure this out better than Guttman. He tends to be a little quick on the draw when it comes to making arrests.”
Again, with the sharp cookie. Deena wondered if anyone would use that same description for a man. “What do you want me to do? I’m not about to cover up a crime or break the law.”
“What kind of fool do you take me for? I’m the mayor, yo
u know. I just want you to find out how my buddy really got this coin. If it turns out he stole it, then he’ll have to pay the piper for his stupidity. But if he’s innocent, you’ll be able to protect him from having his name smeared all over town by Detective Fast Fingers.”
The whole conversation had thrown her for a loop. She had come there with the intention of exposing Fisk as the guilty party, but now he was taking her into his confidence and asking for her help.
She considered his proposition. It wouldn’t be like she was keeping evidence out of the hands of the police since she couldn’t be certain of the origin of the coins. Was this a trick?
Fisk’s impatience got the best of him. “Well? Will you do it or not?”
“Okay. I’m in.” Had she said those words out loud?
He took a drawstring bag out of the drawer and dropped in the coin. A stern look crept across his face. “Before we shake on this deal, I want you to tell me where you got your coin? For all I know, you could be the real thief here.”
“You know better than that,” she said. “I found it yesterday...in my mailbox.”
Fisk pulled a handkerchief from his back pocket and wiped his forehead. “Sounds like someone was trying to get you to back off. I seriously hope it wasn’t my friend. Did you show it to Guttman?”
“Not yet.” Her eyes blinked nervously.
A sly grin came across his face. “Looks like I’m not the only one who doesn’t trust that cop.” He stuck out his hand. “You’ll let me know what you find out before you tell Guttman. Deal?”
“Deal.” She returned the handshake. “Now, for the million dollar question. Who brought in that coin?”
“A guy I know who also collects coins. He owns a couple of local businesses. His name is Ronnie Clark.”
Deena couldn’t believe her ears. It took a minute to find her voice. “I—I know Ronnie Clark. I talked to him the other day.”
“Oh yeah? What did he say?”
“He seemed furious when it was suggested that he might have something to do with the stolen coins.”
“Furious, like he was guilty or innocent?”
“Let’s just say that he didn’t take it well and stormed off. His wife blamed it on his drinking.”
“Wait. Are we talking about the same Ronnie Clark? Lives over on Pine with his wife, Wanda?”
“That’s the one.”
“Ronnie Clark doesn’t drink, at least he didn’t used to. He’s an avid hunter. I remember he used to say that’s how he was able to get so good with a rifle. While all his huntin’ buddies would get liquored up, he’d stay sober to keep his eye on the prize. He said they used to make fun of him.”
“I’m just telling you what Wanda said.”
“That explains a lot. Maybe that’s why he...”
“What?” Deena couldn’t take another dramatic pause. “You can’t send me into the lion’s den without all the facts.”
“It’s just that about six months ago, he started bringing me his guns. At first, he just wanted to pawn them. Then he started selling them. I thought he might be having money trouble, but he said he just needed to downsize his stash.”
“Well, he downsized it all right. Wanda showed me their safe, and there was only one rifle inside.”
“Huh. Now I see why he wanted to sell me that coin. He’s obviously desperate for money.”
“So he just brought a stolen coin in here to sell? Wouldn’t he realize that you’d recognize it?”
Fisk shook his head. “It wasn’t like that. He said he found it in his car and thought it was from the stolen group of coins but couldn’t be sure. I think he was afraid of having it since it might be evidence from a crime.”
“So why did he bring it to you?”
“I told him I would hang on to it for him. If everything got cleared up and the thief got caught, I would give him a fair price for it.”
Deena’s jaw dropped.
Fisk must have noticed. “Oh geez. That could make me an accessory or an accomplice or something, right?”
She looked down at the coin bag still resting in her hand and tossed it back on Fisk’s desk like a hot potato. “I think I can check out his connection to the case without that.”
He grabbed it from his desk. “I’ll put it in my safe. In the meantime, you’re my witness to all this.”
Again, she wondered if Fisk was playing her. It just seemed too risky a move on Fisk’s part to show her the coin and make up a story like this. For now, she would take him at his word.
“I’m going to see what I can find out,” she said. “To be honest, it may end up that we need to tell everything to Guttman so that he can get a warrant to search Ronnie Clark’s house.”
“You may be right. Man, that would be a real shame. Ronnie’s a decent guy.”
“One last question,” she said. “What kind of car do you drive?”
“Why does that matter?”
“Just wondering.”
“I’ve got my truck out there today. I took my car to Ronnie’s shop yesterday for some repairs.”
“I see. And what color is your car?”
“Red.”
Chapter 20
Obviously, the black car in the body shop belonged to someone other than Marty Fisk, but who? It would be easy enough for Guttman to run the license plate and find out the owner. Deena would bet her bottom dollar — or in this case, her Walking Liberty Half Dollar — that it belonged to Ronnie Clark. Now all she needed to do was figure out what he had done with the rest of the coins in the collection.
Deena drove back to the thrift shop, her mind preoccupied with coins and cars and crashes. She walked in the front door and glanced around, expecting to see Hurley.
The door to the storeroom, which normally remained open during business hours, was closed.
“Estelle?” she called as she glanced around. “Hurley?”
The door opened and Estelle stuck her head out. “Oh, I thought you were a customer.”
Hurley ran out and came up to Deena as though a freed prisoner. “What is it, boy? You hungry?”
Estelle twisted her fingers. “I thought you were going to be gone longer. I’ll be working back here if you need me.” She closed the door with an audible click of the lock.
That was odd. She seemed to be hiding something? Maybe she was planning a surprise for her birthday. But that was still two weeks away.
Hurley circled her feet.
“Let’s take a walk and see what we see.” She attached his leash and headed out the front door.
Hurley pulled her around the corner toward his favorite spot in the alley behind the store. An old Thunderbird was parked behind the building. She pulled on the back door. It opened.
There in the middle of the room huddled over a card table were Estelle and Penelope Burrows.
Estelle jumped up and let out a scream. “You scared me to death!”
Deena dragged Hurley in behind her. “What are you two doing this time?” As she got closer to the table, she saw for herself. “A Ouija board? Oh, heavens.”
Penelope chuckled. “Deena, my dear, you should be thanking me. I’m trying to help you catch a killer.”
Did Estelle really open up about the case to the biggest gossip this side of the Rio Grande? Deena played dumb. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”
“Stop being so coy and come sit down,” Penelope said.
Estelle nodded. “You really should hear what she has to say. It’s quite extraordinary.”
She had no intention of getting sucked into their game of Twenty Questions with a would-be apparition. Instead, she led Hurley straight past them into the shop and shut the storeroom door behind her.
It was just as well. At least Estelle would be out of her hair. She could use the time to plot out her next move. Questions swirled in her head. Where had Ronnie Clark been at the end of the auction? When did he leave? Was the black car she had seen him driving away from his house the same one that was sitting da
maged inside his body shop?
She leaned down to straighten up the racks of shoes when the front door opened. Looking up, she saw her friend. “Sandra! What are you doing here?”
The new mother glowed as she walked in with the baby in a big pink carrier. “I’ve been going stir crazy and needed to get out of the house.” She pulled back the blanket. Baby Sylvia breathed heavy as she slept.
“What an angel!”
Sandra gently picked her up, cradling the baby in her arms. “Isn’t she a doll?”
Estelle came out of the storeroom. “Well, hey there. It’s good to see you. Let me take a look at that precious baby.”
Deena stepped back while Estelle cooed over Sylvia. After an ample amount of baby talk, she looked at Sandra. “Would you excuse us a minute? I need to ask Deena something.”
Deena followed her to the corner by the storeroom. “Can you come back here? I think Penelope is on to something.”
“Don’t you just mean ‘on something’—something like booze?” Deena watched as Sandra walked around the shop chatting to the baby.
Estelle whispered, “Just because she drinks a little doesn’t mean she doesn’t have insight into the spirit world. I had to tell her about the investigation. Since we couldn’t finish our séance the other night, this was the best way to get to the bottom of things.”
Deena didn’t even try to hide her anger. “Ugh. You’ve stooped to the bottom, that’s for sure.”
“Penelope Burrows? What’s going on back here?” Sandra stood gazing into the storeroom entrance.
Oh, great. How was Deena going to explain this?
“Is that a Ouija board? I haven’t used one of those in years!” She hurried over to Deena and placed Sylvia in her arms. “Let’s go ask it some questions,” she said, heading to the back room.
Estelle shrugged her shoulders. “I’ll fix this, I promise.”
And just like that, Deena was standing in the middle of the shop holding her goddaughter while three crazy sorcerers conjured up spirits.
* * *
BEFORE LONG, BABY SYLVIA woke up and began crying as though she’d seen the devil. Sandra thought it best to take her home. Deena didn’t try to stop her.
Stay Sharpe Box Set Page 13
