Money! Was that the answer to the money in her duffel? “What did she tell you?”
Lori shook her head and said, “Never mind. I have to go.”
“What was Meadows hiding? Lori, wait—”
The woman put up one hand, palm facing Jaymie. “No, you know what? You don’t have a clue about Shelby. No one does! She was smart. She was a little crazy, but she was . . . she was a good daughter!” She started to sob, grabbed the full bucket, which sloshed water on the floor, and stomped out of the room.
Jaymie was about to go after her, but Lori shouted as she left, “Just leave me alone!”
That was unmistakably her cue to stop harassing the poor woman. Jaymie got out a towel from under the cupboard and mopped up the spilled water. So Lori knew Shelby was planning to take off. What was more interesting, though, was what Lori said about Delaney Meadows. She’d give a lot to know what Shelby told her mother, and what Delany was hiding from the world.
She had intended to call Heidi and ask her about Glenn Brennan and Shelby. Too bad she hadn’t done that right away in the morning, but Heidi didn’t get up that early, so she never called before ten. Which it was now. She moved out the kitchen door and sat down on the stoop, huddling in her coat as she dialed her friend and waited. When Heidi answered they went through the usual salutations, then Jaymie got down to business.
“Heidi, you and Joel went out with Glenn and Shelby, right?”
“Longest evening of my life. Shelby didn’t like me at all.”
“You said she appeared bored and didn’t seem to want to be there. So what was your impression of why Shelby was out with him?”
“Beats me. They hardly said two words to each other. When they did it was just her pressuring him to meet her alone for a coffee the next day, like she had something to talk to him about, but not in front of us.”
“I don’t understand why she was out with him. This was an attractive girl who could have done better.” Unless . . . Did she have some reason to think that he’d gone out with Natalie Roth at some point? Was he a suspect in the girl’s disappearance? That was something to consider.
“I don’t know why she was out with him. I’d never date him. I mean, Joel can be impossible, but Glenn is a swine!”
“You said he was hitting on you, right?”
“He did while Shelby and Joel were both away from the table. After that he kept calling the house, like he was looking for Joel, you know. But then he’d ask what I was doing, and did I want to go out for coffee.”
“How did you get rid of him?”
“I told him to leave me alone or I’d tell Joel.”
“Simple enough.”
“I’ve been told I’m not very subtle.”
“And why should you be?” In the last moments of the conversation Jaymie had noticed a familiar car pull up the drive. A young man got out, slouched against the far side and lit a cigarette as he stared off over the fields.
Travis Fretter. Everything she knew and had heard rushed in on her. It was Travis and only Travis who claimed to have seen Shelby and Cody together, arguing, the night of her murder. Cody said that wasn’t true, though he’d lied before, many times. But Travis had lied, too, saying he was with his mother the whole time when Jaymie knew he had been apart from her for at least half an hour. According to what Lori had told Pam, the siblings went off together, but got separated. When Lori found her son, he said Shelby had gone off alone, but Lori caught up with Shelby, who told her mom she had something she needed to do. A lot hinged on that tale; if Lori saw Shelby alive, and then gave her son a ride home, it virtually exonerated Travis, but the story kept shifting, like a sand bar in a storm on the lake.
Why was the simple truth always layered under blankets of conflicting stories? It must drive the police mad.
“I gotta go, Heidi. I’ll talk to you later.” She put her phone in her pocket and stood, took a deep breath and approached the car. “Travis?” she said. “Travis Fretter?”
He turned and eyed her. “Yeah?” A puff of smoke came out with the single word.
She eyed the smoke in his hand; it was not a cigarette, and the unmistakable whiff of pot drifted on the frigid breeze. “I’m Jaymie. I knew your sister. I’m so sorry about what happened. You must be devastated.”
He nodded and took another drag, holding it in his lungs, then letting the smoke slip out of his mouth and into the frosty air.
“I’m actually the one who found her that night,” Jaymie said, hoping to see a crack in the tough-guy veneer. “It was terrible.”
He nodded, and Jaymie started to get angry. What was wrong with a guy who couldn’t express even the simplest of emotions regarding his sister’s murder? “I saw you two together that evening, and it looked like you were having a violent quarrel,” she said, needling him. “You must not have gotten along.”
He took a long drag from his joint, then carefully stubbed it against his boot heel and stowed it in a small metal box, which he slipped in his coat pocket. “What do you know?” he said, the inhaled smoke drifting out with his words.
“I know you lied to police and told them you saw Cody and Shelby together. I’m not sure why, unless . . .” She paused for dramatic effect. She was going to be intolerably rude, but she was sure he was lying, and somehow he needed to be confronted. He was eyeing her uneasily. “Unless you were just intent on nailing Cody Wainwright. I’ll bet that’s it, right? It all goes back to your family’s vendetta against Cody’s family.” She paused, but could see he was getting more uneasy. It was interesting that he didn’t jump right in and defend himself, though.
Feigning concern, she watched him and said, “Cody never met up with Shelby that evening; I know that for a fact. As soon as you’re in court as a witness, saying you saw them together, they’re going to question you every which way. Perjury—lying to the court after being sworn in as a witness—is a federal offense. You could get ten years.”
“I didn’t swear to it,” he said, shifting uneasily. He shook his head and turned away, moving toward the house.
Jaymie watched him. He was clearly tense and wanted to get away. “I know you must be upset about Shelby’s death. Do you have any idea who did it? Was she mixed up in anything shady to do with her boss?”
He whirled. “Why are you asking me all these questions?”
“Travis, whoever did this stole Shelby’s future, her everything: marriage, children, love. Life. And the killer stole from you, too, and your children. They’ll never know their smart, fierce, beautiful Aunt Shelby. Even if you didn’t get along with her a hundred percent of the time, I know you loved her.”
For the first time he looked conflicted. “When we were kids we got along all right, not great, but just like any other brother and sister. But lately . . . she was so uptight. I couldn’t even make a joke without her going off on me. That’s what happened that evening, you know, why we were arguing. I was teasing her about her boss and she just snapped.”
“What did you say?”
He frowned down at the uneven ground and scuffed a frozen rut in the mud with his boot. “I knew she was looking into why Natalie disappeared. I said maybe Delaney had her stashed somewhere, like he was keeping babes all over the place, and she’d be next.”
Interesting that that made Shelby angry. Did Delaney have something to do with Natalie disappearing after all? “I know you dated Natalie.”
He shrugged. “Just a couple of times. She dumped me.”
“And I know that you introduced your sister to Cody Wainwright. Did she ask you to do that?”
“Sure. I knew him, she said she wanted to meet him, so I set it up.”
“Why did she want to meet him?”
He looked at her and shook his head. “Nuh-uh. I’m not going to . . . I don’t know. It was none of my business.”
“You knew about her plan, I’ll b
et. You knew she was going to take off and get Cody blamed for her disappearance, all to upset Nan Goodenough, didn’t you?”
He shook his head, but didn’t speak, his eyes wide.
Just then Lori came out the kitchen door, slamming it behind her. “Don’t say a word to her! She’s working for that Nan woman!”
“That’s how this started,” Jaymie admitted, turning back to watch the woman approach. “But I told you the truth, Lori; all I want is for the guilty one, the one who murdered Shelby, to pay. That’s all I care about.”
She expected the bereaved mother to get in the car with her son and drive away, but she stopped dead. “Have you found anything out? I want to know.”
Jaymie felt her heart thud; Lori was actually listening! “I’ve found out a lot.”
“Like what? What have you learned? About who?”
Shaking her head, Jaymie said, “That’s not how this works; I can’t just tell you everything I know. I don’t like Cody Wainwright. I saw him hit Shelby, and I don’t condone that. But I do not believe he killed your daughter. Look, Lori, I know she was planning on pinning him with her disappearance. Maybe it seemed like a trick or a prank to her. But I believe that someone used their intimate knowledge of her intention to finger Cody so they could get away with her murder.”
Lori’s eyes filled with tears. She hugged her purse to her chest. “I told her not to do it, told her it was stupid. But she was smart, and tough, and she hated how Nan Goodenough always managed to make it seem like we were dirt.”
Jaymie held her tongue. It wasn’t up to her to get into that, to defend Nan. “Someone knew all that and used it. I’d be mad, if I were you. I’d be furious.”
“I’ll think about all this,” Lori said, her voice full of doubt and trepidation. “I’ll think about it and call you if I decide to talk to you.” She had clung to her hatred of Cody and her suspicion of him for so long, letting go was proving to be a feat.
Jaymie had done all she could. As the mother and son got in the car and drove away, she muttered, “I hope you decide you can trust me.”
She went back in, told Mabel that she’d be back to do her kitchen part later then left. She stopped off at home, walked Hoppy, answered an email, made a phone call then headed to the call center, intent on finding out whatever it was that Shelby felt Delaney Meadows was up to and what she may even have blackmailed him over. To do that Jaymie needed to talk to Austin Calhoun, as well as Honey and Dawn, and she needed to stop worrying about stepping on toes. This was getting critical.
The phone rang just as she was getting her coat and purse.
“Is this Jaymie Leighton?”
“This is she.” It took Jaymie a moment, but she recognized the voice. “Is that Glenn? Glenn Brennan?”
“Yeah. I’m glad I got you. Uh . . . I wanted to apologize for the other night.” He sounded sheepish. “I don’t usually get drunk like that but this whole thing has upset me way more than I let on. Can we get together? I need to talk about it to someone.”
“About Shelby?”
“Yeah.”
Jaymie paused. “I don’t have time today. I’m pretty busy.”
“Are you sure? I’ll meet you anywhere you say.”
“I’m running around all day and this afternoon I’m volunteering at the Queensville Historic Manor, but I’m going to be working at the Dickens Days festival this evening.”
“That goes from dinner ’til about ten, right?”
“Pretty much. Did you have something specific you wanted to talk about?”
“Actually, yes. Shelby told me some stuff.”
“Have you told the police?”
He was silent for a moment, then said, “It’s about her family. I just . . . I don’t want to get them in trouble if it’s nothing. I was hoping you could tell me what to do.”
“Can’t you just tell me on the phone?”
“I would like to explain in person.”
Jaymie was torn; on the one hand she wanted to find out what he had to say, but she was intent on checking out other things she could only do during the day. “Okay. I’ll be there this evening. We can talk then.”
She walked through the downtown of Queensville, just one street with the Queensville Emporium at the top and Jewel’s Junk and the Cottage Shoppe along it, and the Knit Knack Shack as the last shop. Soon Becca and Kevin’s new venture would be open across from those businesses, and there was a rumble among those in the know that there might be a new bakery café opening in the now-vacant cottage just on the other side of it. Jaymie stopped at Becca’s new shop and looked through the door, where the plasterers were smoothing the walls, preparing for paint and wallpaper as a radio blasted Christmas music.
But it was late December; no one was working that hard. Everything in the business world seemed to shift gears as Christmas approached. There was still a week to go before the big day, but for some folks no more real work would get done between then and Christmas Eve, when the whole town would shut down for at least one day. Jaymie continued on, wending her way through her beloved town until she got to the Belcker Building. She entered the glass foyer, then made her way down to the Bean & Leaf. It was time enough for an early lunch. She was hoping that Austin and the two young women would also use it for their lunch dining.
She got a cup of consommé and half a smoked turkey and brie grilled sandwich, with a mug of tea. It wasn’t long before her wishes were answered. Austin came in with his lunch bag and a fashion magazine. He got a coffee from the lunch counter and turned, looking around for a free table. She waved, and he hesitated but then joined her, sliding into the metal and plastic chair opposite her.
“I was hoping I’d see you here,” Jaymie said.
“Oh?” He took out a plastic tub of carrot and celery sticks, while he looked enviously at Jaymie’s sandwich. “That looks good. I’m trying to lose some weight, but it’s such a struggle.” He sighed in dramatic fashion and chomped on a carrot stick.
“I know what you mean. It’s kind of hopeless before Christmas, though. Do you want half?” She cut the half brie and turkey sandwich in half and offered him the quarter sandwich on a napkin.
He took it and bit down, rolling his eyes. “So good! I haven’t had bread in a week.”
“I’m trying portion control,” Jaymie said sympathetically. “I’m always waging the battle of the bulge. I write a food column, and that makes it tough! So much good food, so little time.”
He chewed and swallowed, eyeing her. He reached across, picked up her cup of consommé and took a long drink. “Mmm . . . good with the sandwich, right?” he said.
She smiled and pushed it back across the table to him. Though she wasn’t especially germaphobic, she never shared a cup with anyone, especially not at cold and flu season, but she’d just as soon let him have it anyway. “Austin, I wondered after we talked, how well did you truly know Shelby?”
He looked affronted and crunched down on a celery stick with vigor. “What do you mean by that?”
“Nothing bad. I just thought you only knew her a few months, right?”
“That’s true.”
“You seemed alarmed when I asked about her and Delaney’s relationship.”
“I just . . . I wasn’t sure what would happen. I get myself into trouble sometimes, with things I say or do, and I wasn’t sure you should be nosing around Delaney Meadows. I was afraid you’d say I told you they were going out together.”
“And later, you just brushed me off and seemed in a hurry to get away from me when I asked about Shelby looking into Natalie Roth’s disappearance.”
“Yeah, about that.” He eyed her speculatively. “Look, I loved Shelby like a big sister, but she could be cray-cray, you know what I mean? She was like this gorgeous diva doll sometimes. She came to work full on dressed to the nines, like she was a businesswoman, even though she wa
s just little old Delaney Meadows’ receptionist. Called herself an ‘executive assistant.’ Puh-leeze!” He rolled his blue eyes.
“About Natalie?”
He drank down the rest of the consommé and leaned across the table, checking around the restaurant first to make sure no one was close. “I knew about the ‘investigation,’” he said, sketching air quotes. “At first I thought Shelby was kidding when she asked me a bunch of questions about Natalie Roth. But after a few weeks, I got kinda scared. Natalie and I were close, like, BFFs, you know? We met at a party. She was gorgeous! Dark haired, dark eyed, exotic, you know. We went to a fashion show in Detroit together in September. That’s where she got the bug to be one of those spokesmodels, so when I told her about Delaney starting up DM Models, she set up an interview, got the job and quit her bank position in Wolverhampton.”
“She disappeared in early November, right?”
He nodded. “I didn’t know where she went. Or what happened.”
“Shelby started looking into it for Natalie’s dad. So what scared you off when I asked?”
He shrugged and crunched on a celery stick. “Something odd about that whole thing. I was afraid it had to do with Delaney. He’s kind of strange, you know? Secretive and suspicious. He’s hiding something. What if that something is that he killed Natalie? And what if he killed Shelby because she found out that he killed Natalie?”
“That’s exactly what I want to know.”
“Yeah, well it scared the bejeebers out of me to think it. Is he some psycho nut, like Norman Bates cray-cray? Made me uncomfortable when you asked a bunch of questions.”
“What if I told you I’d heard that Shelby was mad at you for implying she and Delaney were having an affair? And that she had told you to butt out, or she’d tell people what she knows about you?”
His cheeks turned bright pink and his eyes teared up. He swallowed hard. “That was . . . that was hurtful.”
White Colander Crime Page 25
