I shook my head in disagreement. “No, not Paige.”
Joe was getting fed up with my arguing and let his frustration seep out. “You know this is real life and not just some TV show, right?”
Talk about a head scratcher. Where did that come from? He may not have been aiming below the belt, but he was getting dangerously close to it.
“What does that have to do with anything?” I asked.
“It means you’re not a real detective just because played one on TV.”
“I’m not talking to you as a TV detective. I’m talking to you as your sister. Now please, just listen to me.”
Joe had other ideas and was curt in expressing them. “I’m warning you. Leave this to the professionals.”
“I’d love to—”
For the first time, I saw relief on his face. It would prove to be short-lived. He mistakenly thought this was over and tried to wrap up the conversation.
“Good,” he said.
I hated to burst his bubble, but he gave me no choice. By not letting me finish my thought, he assured himself future frustration. “I can’t let you leave here thinking Paige actually could have done this.”
“I already told you, if I was completely convinced that she was guilty, I’d be dragging her away in handcuffs right now.”
“Are you willing to rule her out as a suspect then?”
He shook his head. “Not a chance. I may not be convinced that she’s guilty, but I’m not so sure she’s innocent either. That’s why I’m doing an investigation; to find out the truth.”
“I’m telling you the truth. You just won’t listen.”
“No. What you’re doing is giving me your very biased opinion. Detective work—real investigations, are based on facts. Now, let me gather them.”
I went to reply, but he cut me off before I had the chance to. The lecture was on, whether I wanted to hear it or not. For the record, I couldn’t wait for him to finish. I already knew what he was going to say before he even said it, and it wasn’t pleasant.
“They may not have covered this on your show, but police work is murky sometimes. You can’t let your feelings get in the way of the truth, whether it involves your friends or not. Now, I have a lot of work to do, so let me do it.”
That was even more condescending than I ever imagined. I didn’t let the comment get to me. I could brush it off, that was, if I chose to. Part of me wanted to rip into my brother and set him straight.
The problem was, I knew it wouldn’t do any good. I recognized that all too familiar look of stubbornness in his eyes. Arguing would get me nothing but a migraine. Ultimately, I decided to let him go.
Once Joe got into his car and drove away, I thought over my next step. I tried doing things the easy way. As that didn’t work out nearly as planned, I’d have to try something different. If there weren’t already enough problems stacking up, it looked like I’d have to do things the hard way,
Chapter Six
When I walked back into the shelter, Paige was an even bigger wreck than before. Time left alone did no favors to her anxiety level. She looked like she was on the verge of a major panic attack. I tried to talk her down from the ledge but had little luck.
“Take deep breaths. You have to calm down,” I urged.
Paige was wide-eyed and practically quivering.
“How can I possibly be calm at a time like this?” In a further fit of anxiety, she began rocking back and forth. “Your brother actually thinks I could have done this.”
“Deep down, I don’t think he truly believes you did this.”
“Do you really think that, or are you just saying it to try and make me feel better?”
“I know my brother, and although I don’t always agree with his approach, I know he’s a fair man. He’s just doing his job and not ruling out any possibility.”
Unfortunately, my explanation did nothing to calm her down.
Paige had actually looped right back around to her original line of thought. “Which goes right back to my point. In his mind, there’s a possibility that I actually did this.”
“Technically, yes.”
“Technically?” Her breaths got shorter and shorter before she finally put her head in her hands. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
Up until that point, I thought I’d done an admirable job of toeing the line. Unfortunately, my first big mistake came at an inopportune time. Just when she needed my support, I let my tongue slip.
“To be fair, things don’t exactly look good for you.”
There weren’t a lot of moments in my life I wished I could take back. That was one of them. I instantly regretted the words as they came out of my lips. Now that they’d been uttered, there was nothing I could do but damage control.
“You don’t think I could have done this, do you?”
Her eyes were filled with fear. There were a number of mysteries yet to be solved, but I could say definitively and without hesitation that my friend was not one of them. I knew where Paige stood, both in my head, my heart, and my gut.
“I know you didn’t do this,” I said.
Finally, a little bit of relief came to Paige’s face. “Good. I’m glad you believe me. Now, if I could just get the police to.”
“The problem is, you didn’t do yourself any favors by going over to Mark’s place last night.”
She pleaded her case. “I didn’t know he’d be murdered a few minutes later.”
“Fair enough. At the same time, why did you go back to his place after he’d already broken up with you?”
“I know it wasn’t the best decision, but I’d been stewing since the breakup. The more my emotions festered, the more I wanted to get them off my chest, so I went over there, frustrated and bent on giving him a piece of my mind.”
“You’re still not helping your case,” I pointed out.
Paige’s face went white as she went over her statement in her head again. “You’re right. Who knew the truth could get me into trouble?”
“You know what they say. The truth hurts.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“Sorry.”
Paige’s frustration manifested in an existential groan. “What am I going to do?”
“Don’t worry. I’m going to clear this up with my brother.”
“But you just talked to your brother, and here I am, still on the suspect list.”
“True, for now. But, if I give him indisputable evidence that you aren’t the killer, he’ll have to believe it.”
She still wasn’t convinced. “How are you going to do that?”
An idea had been percolating inside me ever since talking with my brother. It was a slow burn, the kind of thought that popped into my brain at random and at first appeared fleeting but persisted no matter how much I tried to dismiss it. Over the course of our conversation, there was a swell in my gut, telling me what needed to be done.
“I’m going to find the real killer.”
Once again, I didn’t get nearly the reaction I was hoping for. Paige gave me a look of utter disbelief. “You?”
“Have you forgotten? I was Victoria Sassy, amateur sleuth.”
She was quick to correct me. “Yeah, on TV.”
“Trust me, you learn a lot about investigating a case when you do it every week for seven years, even if it is on a TV show.”
She was still wary. “Are you sure about this?”
“This isn’t my first choice. I’d rather be doing any other numbers of things, including eating chocolate, getting a deep tissue massage, or laying out on the beach. But, given our current predicament, what other choice do we have?”
Paige didn’t put up much of an argument. She couldn’t even come up with one alternative.
“Exactly. Now, I’m not going to let you go to jail for a crime you didn’t commit. And, as much as I’d love to leave this to the police, my bullheaded brother thinks you actually could have done this. So, you’re either left with me or nothing.”
On a day littered with unpredictable reactions, Paige responded with the most bizarre one of all. As I glanced at her, I saw a tear form in her eye. She wiped it away quickly, but I noticed it.
“Why are you crying?”
I was pleasantly surprised by her answer. “I’m just so touched that you’d do something like this for me. I couldn’t do it. It means a lot to me. I don’t know how to thank you.”
“Don’t thank me just yet. I have a lot of work to do. Not to mention, if I’m going to pull this off, I’m going to need your help.”
She gave me a quizzical look. “What do you mean?”
“The killer already has a head start. If I have any hope of leveling the playing field, I’m going to need all the information I can get.”
“I’ll help you out any way I can. What do you need from me?”
“Can you think of anyone who wanted your boyfriend dead?”
I had a feeling the answer would be yes, but I didn’t know how resounding it was until she opened her mouth. “Actually, I can think of plenty of people.”
“I’m going to need names.”
Chapter Seven
Paige ended up giving me plenty to work with. She ended up naming off so many suspects that I had to go over them with her a second time just to get them all straight.
“So, first we have Celeste Cooper,” I said.
“Naturally. Not only was she his woman on the side, but she didn’t know she was,” Paige replied.
“I’m sure when she found that out, she was mighty angry.”
“You know what they say about a woman scorned.”
I nodded. “Having been a woman scorned, I have to say, there really is no fury like it.”
She agreed. “There really isn’t. Don’t forget her husband, though. A husband scorned cannot be easily dismissed either.”
“True. Don’t worry, I have Ryan Cooper on my list as well.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t know if he was aware of his wife’s affair or not.”
“I’ll add that to my list of things that I need to find out.”
“That’s a growing list.”
I opened my eyes wide. “It sure is. But, just say he did know and only recently found out about it. The wound would be extra fresh in his mind.”
Paige segued to the next suspect, Tyler Howard. “Speaking of people with fresh wounds, never underestimate a bitter business partner who thought Mark was running the place into the ground.”
“Especially when a retirement account is at play.”
“Exactly. Imagine how Tyler Howard feels, having invested the lion’s share of his retirement account into the bait and tackle shop, only to see the profits slip month after month.”
“Before you know it, the friendship you once had with Mark evaporates, devolving into nothing but infighting about who can run the place better,” I said.
“But, with Mark out of the picture, Tyler would be free to run the place any way he chooses,” Paige replied.
Out of sheer frustration, I couldn’t help but let a zinger fly, just to blow off some steam. “So true. It’s a shame Mark didn’t have many enemies, huh?”
She smiled. “I know, right?”
“It makes me wonder, is there anyone who did like Mark?” I continued.
“I’m beginning to wonder that myself.”
“I guess we should get to Kristal Stanton next.”
“Ah, nothing like a crazy ex-girlfriend.”
“Key word being crazy, right?” I asked.
Paige corrected me. “You mean, the scary word being crazy. She did not quite grasp the concept of what being an ex, meant. She acted like Mark had never broken up with her.”
“The only thing worse than a woman scorned is a crazy woman scorned.”
“Kristal is definitely all of the above.”
“I wish I could say that was all the suspects,” I replied.
“I know. There’s so many, but we can’t forget about Becky Campbell,” Paige said.
“No, especially not with her story. Do you have anything more to go on than Mark firing her the other day?”
“Is that not enough?”
“It’s definitely a motive, but if I’m going to question her about murder, I’d like to have more to go on,” I said.
“I wish I had more for you to work with. All Mark told me was that she was fired for insubordination.”
I sighed. “All right. I’ll see what else I can dig up. Well, I should get to work.”
Paige stopped me. “Not so fast. You’re forgetting Eric Peterson.”
“Oh, right. Mark’s main competitor.”
“Not to mention the thorn in his side. He was Mark’s business rival, and things got heated between them. I can’t tell you how many rants I heard Mark launch into about how Eric was trying to put him out of business.”
“There’s nothing like a rival to bring out the worst in you,” I said.
“Yup. When two people have that kind of bad blood, there’s no telling when or if it will boil over.”
“I’ll find out.”
“I’m sure you will. Eric has never been shy about his hatred for Mark before, so why should he start now?”
I couldn’t resist letting out a little more steam. My sarcastic streak was having a hard time staying bottled up.
“It’s a shame I don’t have my work cut out for me,” I said.
“I know, right? This case could be as easy as pie,” she deadpanned, at a time when sarcasm couldn’t have been less welcome.
“Please, don’t mention pie. At least until I’ve solved this sucker. Then pie will be a welcome reward.”
“Good luck, Hope.”
“To be fair, I’m counting on having more than hope on my side.”
Paige didn’t quite get my drift. “Are you asking me to pray for you?”
“I wouldn’t turn that offer down, but it isn’t what I meant.”
She scrunched her nose as her face went blank. “I don’t follow.”
“I’m going to need you to do some computer research for me.”
“What kind?”
“I want you to find out everything you can about these suspects. Check their social media, blogs, anything. It’s a longshot, but people have been known to post some crazy things online.”
“Isn’t that the truth?”
“Let’s hope someone did just that.”
“I’m on it,” Paige said.
Chapter Eight
With the behind-the-scenes preparation out of the way, it was time to get down to business. In showbiz terms, rehearsals were over. It was show time.
My first stop was the scene of the crime, otherwise known as Mark Butler’s house. It was a modern, brown stucco house with a red, Spanish tile roof situated a twenty minute drive from the ocean.
When I arrived on the scene, the police were long gone, but their yellow caution tape was out in full force around Mark’s garage. This was going to make for a delicate dance. The cover of night was long gone. The sun was halfway up the sky already. Everything I was about to do was in plain view of any peeping neighbors.
While I didn’t want to draw attention to myself, I had to take a chance of catching a stray glance or two if I was going to get anything out of this. The goal was to poke around and stumble upon something useful that my brother and his forensics team might have missed during their sweep of the place. It was a longshot, but one I had to take if I wanted to get a leg up on this investigation.
In an effort to limit drawing too much attention, I parked on the street a few houses down from Mark’s. I looked around to see if I could spot any prying eyes. To my great relief, it seemed like I was alone. I approached the garage, keeping my eyes focused on the ground. Secretly, I hoped that the killer might have dropped something or left a clue behind in the grass or the driveway. Upon closer inspection, I didn’t find anything out of the ordinary.
I wasn’t sure if that was because the killer had been careful, or if
the police had already bagged up all the evidence there was to find. There was only one place left to check, and that was the garage itself.
A string of yellow police tape warned me not to go any further. I had a difficult decision to make. Would I cross the line and go inside the garage anyway in hopes of discovering something new, or would I stop right there? I knew what the prudent decision was. Ultimately, I decided just to peer into the window of the side garage door.
It didn’t give me a great view, but that was as far as I was willing to go. I wasn’t about to trespass. Not just because it could draw the ire of my brother, but also because I trusted my brother to have done a thorough enough job of going over every inch of that garage for evidence.
I knew coming here was akin to a wild goose chase, but I went anyway, because I at least got a better idea in my mind of how things really went down. Through the window, I was able to see the chalk outline of the body, not to mention the open tackle box where the fishing knife was likely grabbed from.
Given the layout of the scene, the killer could have gone in through the unlocked side door undetected, grabbed the knife from the open tackle box, snuck up behind Mark, and stabbed him without Mark being the wiser. No struggle was needed, nor were any words required to be spoken. Any of the suspects could have done this.
That was not welcome news. I came here hoping to find something to narrow the suspects down, not keep the list as long as ever. It was important not to get down on myself. My idea was a good one; it just didn’t pan out. I should probably learn to get used to that. During the course of an investigation, that happened more often than not. On my old TV show, my character often came across a bunch of dead ends before landing a solid lead.
My morale levels aside, I found myself regrettably right back where I started. Square one had never looked so daunting. I took a deep breath, then looked ahead.
Knowing there wasn’t anything else to see here, it was time to regroup and move on. I walked back to my car, planning out my next step. My thoughts immediately turned to Mark’s woman on the side, Celeste Cooper. She was the logical first suspect to question. I hadn’t even turned on the ignition of my car before I realized that I’d gotten ahead of myself.
Hope Hadley Eight Book Cozy Mystery Set Page 10
