by Judi Lynn
“Bodies break down fast if left in the open air,” Gaff said. “Burying them, even in a shallow grave, slows down decomposition. Bugs still feed on you, though.”
Cocoa leaned her head against Jazzi’s leg, and she stroked her soft fur. The poor dog looked depressed. “I wonder why the killer didn’t bury Leo with the others.”
Jerod gave Cocoa a sympathetic look. “Maybe he thought Cocoa would stay away from the graves if Leo wasn’t buried there.”
That made sense. Jazzi scratched behind the dog’s ears. Cocoa raised her head and howled a long, sad note. Ansel, a sucker for dogs, leaned closer to pet her, too. “I hope George is all right. I’ve left him a long time in a strange house.”
Jerod snorted. “He knows Thane’s house by now. He’s probably sleeping. I bet we wake him up when we get back.”
“But he has to be worried by now,” Ansel argued. “He doesn’t like it when I’m gone this long.”
Jazzi had never seen the pug too bent out of shape. He liked to snooze on the dog bed Ansel had bought to keep at Thane’s while they worked.
When they reached Thane’s, Cocoa tugged on the leash, anxious to be home. By the time they reached Louisa’s house, Jazzi felt grateful she was with Gaff. He’d tell Louisa the sad news, not her. They entered the house in single file, and Cocoa went straight to her dog bed and flopped down on it. She laid her head on her paws and closed her eyes.
Thane, who’d stayed with Louisa, glanced at their faces, and Jazzi watched him brace himself. “How bad is it?”
Gaff glanced at Louisa. “Are you ready for this?”
She bit her bottom lip and nodded. He told them what they’d found. Louisa gripped the arms of her wheelchair and took deep breaths, struggling for composure. They all waited, giving her time.
Finally, she said, “You think someone killed Leo?”
Gaff nodded. “It looks that way. We have no body, but someone dragged him away.”
She shook her head in denial. “Why would anyone hurt Leo? He was a kind, gentle man.”
Just then a car pulled into the driveway, and an older woman rushed to the house. She knocked and hurried inside, going straight to Louisa. She had a cap of soft brown hair and stooped shoulders. Her slacks and top looked expensive. “I’m Miriam,” she told them, “Louisa’s friend. You called me to stay with her.”
Louisa reached for her hand. “They think my Leo was murdered. Can you imagine?”
Miriam blinked and pressed her lips together. “Why in the world would anyone harm Leo? How dreadful. I’m so sorry, Louisa.” She glanced at Gaff, the only one of them in a dress shirt and slacks. She must have decided he was in charge. “What makes you think someone killed Louisa’s husband?”
Gaff motioned to the dog. “Cocoa found two dead bodies. We think she dug up their graves, and Leo was going to report them when someone stopped him.”
“And why did you decide that?” Miriam asked.
“We followed a trail of smashed weeds and grass. There were rust-colored stains—dried blood. We think his body was dragged to a car and taken away.”
Miriam stopped to consider that. “Couldn’t the two bodies in the graves have been dragged there for burial instead?”
Gaff shook his head. “The weeds were crushed down in the other direction, away from the graves, toward the driveway.”
“Oh dear, oh dear.” Miriam’s hand went over her heart, and Jazzi tensed. The woman’s wrinkles implied she was as old as her friend. She wouldn’t have a heart attack when she heard terrible news, would she? But then she bent to hug Louisa. “Losing my Charlie was the worst thing that ever happened to me. He was my helpmate for over sixty years. How many years were you with Leo?”
“Sixty-seven. I was twenty-two when I walked down the aisle.”
“Oh my. It’s going to be hard. I can stay with you as long as you need me.”
Sixty-seven years? Jazzi glanced at Ansel. That was a long time! “Till death do you part” hadn’t translated into twice the years she’d been alive when she thought about marriage.
Ansel quirked an eyebrow at her. “How long have your parents been married?”
“I’m twenty-seven...jeez! Thirty years?”
“Thirty good years,” he told her.
Gaff looked at her, amused, then turned his attention back to Louisa. He took out his notepad. “Could I ask you a few questions before I leave?”
Nervously, she tugged her housecoat closer together. “I haven’t had a chance to get dressed yet. I must look a fright.”
“You fell,” he said to reassure her. “Your husband wasn’t here to help you. I’m just grateful you didn’t get hurt.”
“I don’t know where Leo went last night. I can’t help you very much.”
Miriam pulled a chair next to hers and reached for Louisa’s hand. “This isn’t a quiz. I’m sure the lieutenant just wants to get some background information that might help him understand Leo and his routine more.”
Gaff nodded. “Just some general information, nothing serious.”
Louisa relaxed against the back of her wheelchair. Her voice still sounded a bit anxious, but she said, “All right.”
Jazzi started toward the door. She could zip out of here while Gaff did his thing. They still had a lot of work to do on Thane and Olivia’s house, and lunchtime had come and gone. They could grab something to eat and get back to renovating bathrooms. But just as she turned the knob to leave, the black Cadillac SUV she’d seen before pulled into the drive. Louisa’s nephew jumped out and almost ran to the door.
Jazzi opened it and stepped out of his way. He looked to be in his late forties, only an inch or two taller than she was. His head was shaved, but somehow, it only made him sexier. He wasn’t really good-looking, but he was attractive.
“Aunt Lou! Are you okay?” Ignoring the others, he knelt beside her wheelchair.
Tears filled Louisa’s eyes when she saw him. “You were at work. I didn’t want to bother you.”
“At a time like this?” Seth leaned forward to hug her. “Miriam called me. I’m glad she did. Are you all right?”
“They think my Leo is dead, murdered.”
He raised his eyebrows, surprised. “Leo? He could be a nuisance...” He stammered to a stop. “You can’t stay here on your own. It’s not safe for you to stand without someone around.”
“Miriam’s going to stay with me a while.”
He looked relieved. “Good.”
“I can’t walk the dog, though.” Miriam glanced at Cocoa, lying exhausted in her bed. “I get winded easily.”
“I can come before I open the bar in the morning, but I can’t always get away on my break before supper rush. Is that enough?”
Good. Jazzi had worried about the Lab.
Louisa turned to look at her. “Could you walk Cocoa before you leave your sister’s house each day?”
It was a small favor to ask. “I’d be happy to, but we’re only working here till the end of the week. I can do it that long.”
Louisa sat up a little higher in her chair. She looked a little less shaken. “Thank you. Maybe I can pay someone after that.”
Gaff clicked his pen, ready to ask Louisa questions. Jazzi started to the door to zip out again, but another car pulled into the drive. Another SUV, smaller than the Cadillac. A woman dressed in scrubs got out, frowning at the other vehicles in the drive, and started to the house. Again, Jazzi opened the door and stepped back to let her in. Good lord, how many people checked on Louisa most days?
The woman, who looked to be in her forties, glanced around in surprise. She frowned at Jazzi. “Did I come at a bad time?”
She was pretty in a quiet sort of way, slim with fair skin and long, dishwater-blond hair pulled into a knot. Mascara and lipstick were her only makeup. That’s all Jazzi wore, too. It was pointless to wear more
. It melted away while she worked. “Louisa just got bad news. We think someone murdered Leo and dragged his body away.”
The woman’s light brown eyes went wide. “I’m Amy, Louisa’s visiting nurse. Maybe I should come back at a different time?”
“No. Stay. I need you.” Louisa held out both hands to greet her.
Amy went to take them and squeeze them gently. “I’m so sorry to hear your news.”
Louisa was growing less frazzled with each new visitor. She had a strong support group. “Amy, this is my longtime friend, Miriam, and my nephew, Seth. I’m so grateful you’re all here.”
Jazzi decided to make her break while she could. She gave a nod to Gaff, then slipped out the door. Ansel, Jerod, and Thane followed her.
Back at Thane’s house, they all gathered in the kitchen. George came to greet them, so maybe he had noticed they were gone longer than usual. Thane made sandwiches and passed them out. Jerod handed out beers. They looked at each other and shook their heads.
“Can you believe it?” Jerod asked. “I mean, I like Gaff and all, but I didn’t really want to see him for another case.”
“I didn’t want to see another dead body.” Ansel took a long swig of his beer. “After seeing four of them, I’m getting cremated. Ashes look better than corpses.”
Jazzi nodded agreement. “I didn’t think about how a person became dust to dust, but it’s ugly.”
Thane swallowed his last bite of deli turkey and reached for another sandwich. “What difference does it make? You’ll be dead. If they kick your body to the curb, it doesn’t matter.”
Jazzi wrinkled her nose, trying not to think about bugs crawling across her corpse and her bodily tissues collapsing. “I’d rather go up in flames and get it over with.”
“Whatever suits you.” Thane glanced through the hallway arch. “Do you think we can still get the bathrooms done today?”
Jerod nodded. “We’ll divide and conquer. Ansel and Jazzi can take the guest bathroom, and you and I will work on the master. We can stay a little later if we need to.”
That’s all it took to motivate them. They finished their lunch and separated into teams. Ansel and Jazzi installed the floor first. Easy, since the ceramic pieces fit together. The room’s drywall was good. It didn’t need any work, so all they had to do were the backboard and the moisture barrier around the tub and shower. Then they taped and mudded the drywall.
When Jazzi finished her section, she glanced at Ansel, bending to finish the bottom of his piece. Not a bad pose. She’d never wanted a horseback ride more. But she resisted the temptation. His expression didn’t invite play. He was in work mode, concentrating.
He covered the last of the tape and straightened up. “Ready to tile the shower area?”
Olivia had chosen small tiles connected to a sheet backing, so the work went fast. When they both bent to press the tiles on the end walls, their butts bumped. They turned to grin at each other.
“Promises, promises,” Jazzi teased.
Ansel wiggled his eyebrows. “I always deliver. Rest assured.”
When they finished the tiles, they couldn’t do anything else until everything dried.
“Let’s go check on Jerod,” he said.
Yup, work mode.
They tracked down Jerod and Thane. The master bathroom was bigger, and the walls still needed to be mudded. Jazzi glanced at her watch. Almost six, but staying a little over was worth it. Her sister was still at the salon, and as much as she loved seeing Olivia, they’d get more work done when she wasn’t here. When they came tomorrow, they could finish the bathrooms in a short time and then start work on the kitchen.
She was reaching for a trowel when the doorbell rang and Gaff called, “Hey, Jazzi, can I borrow you for a minute?”
She sighed and glanced at Jerod and Ansel.
“Go,” Ansel said. He took the trowel from her hand and scooped up some mud. “I’ll pitch in here.”
Wiping her hands on her jeans, Jazzi went to greet Gaff.
“I was wondering if you’d go with me to talk to Miles’s parents. I waited until after five to see if you could spot Ed’s work van on the way there and back. He should be home by now.”
“Miles’s parents?” She grimaced. That would be worse than being part of telling Louisa about Leo.
“You have more of a feel for him than I do,” Gaff said. “And you’ll recognize the logo on Ed’s van. You saw it.”
She called to the guys in the back of the house. “I’m going with Gaff.”
“Have fun!” Jerod yelled.
Her cousin could be a pain in the behind. But she liked his sarcasm better than anything maudlin. She tugged some stray strands of hair behind her ears and set off after Gaff.
Chapter 13
Jazzi spotted Ed’s van in the third subdivision Gaff drove into. She pointed. “That’s it.”
The white van was parked in a gravel drive, outside a detached, oversized, two-car garage. Closer to the road, a single-story bungalow with a small front porch faced the street. Someone had recently painted it a pumpkin color with cream-colored trim. Jazzi liked it. Ed’s neighborhood was filled with small, modest houses, all of them well-kept. A chihuahua on a leash in the backyard barked the minute they parked and stepped out of the car.
A woman wearing short cut-off jeans and a tight top walked out of the house to meet them. She looked to be in her late twenties, with shoulder-length black hair, lots of makeup, and a swagger. She crossed her arms over her chest. “What do you want?”
Gaff flashed his badge. “We’d like to talk to your husband.”
The woman’s lips twisted into a sneer. “What did the dummy do now?”
“We hope nothing. We just want to ask him a few questions.”
She looked disappointed. She tilted her head toward the back of the house. “He’s out there, painting his precious garage to match the house. I’ll walk with you.”
When they got there, the garage door was up, showing a muscle car inside. Jazzi knew enough to know that old cars took a lot of maintenance. “He must be a handy mechanic.”
“I suppose. He’s going to build me a three-season porch next. He’s too cheap to hire someone to do it. I like sitting outside in the evening but hate mosquitoes.”
Ed walked toward them as she finished her sentence and scowled at her. He looked tired. He bent to pet the chihuahua. “It’s all right, Killer. We have company.”
His wife gave him a dirty look. “I shoulda known you’d come to check on your mutt.”
“He was barking. You could have picked him up to make him feel better.”
“Don’t think so. He’s shedding.” She glanced down at her black top.
Ed looked annoyed but shook it off. He looked at Gaff. “You wanted to see me?”
“You’re the man who tried to track down Leo about leaving dog poop in your yard?”
Ed’s shoulders drooped. “Look. I was having a bad day. Eve and I had a big argument, and then I stepped in the stuff. I lost it.”
“You got angry with Leo when you and your wife were fighting before, didn’t you?”
Ed glanced at Eve and frowned. “Things have been a little rocky lately.”
Another sneer from Eve. “He thinks I’m cheating on him.”
“Are you?” Ed narrowed his eyes, waiting for her answer.
“What difference does it make? You can’t keep up.”
Jazzi tried not to gasp. She swallowed her shock. She tried not to look at Ed and make it worse.
“You have a temper,” Gaff said. “We found two bodies not that far from here, near the wetlands. Do you know anything about that?”
Ed’s face drained of color. He stared. “Was one of them Leo? Do you think I killed them?”
Eve laughed. “He doesn’t have the balls to kill anyone.”
&
nbsp; Ed’s hands formed fists, and he closed his eyes, struggling for composure. “Will you just shut up? You’re not helping anything.”
Eve’s lips curled, amused. “Sorry, I figure you have to be innocent. You’re all noise, no action.”
Jazzi bit her bottom lip, determined to stay quiet. But no wonder Ed and his wife argued.
Ed raised his eyes to the heavens, took a deep breath, and turned to Gaff. “I don’t know what happened to Leo. He was annoying as heck, but I never wished him dead.”
“What about the kid who lived in your neighborhood? Miles. Did you wish him dead?”
“No, I worried about him.” He hesitated. “You said two bodies. Did you find Miles?”
“I’m driving to talk to his parents.”
“Do you know how...? Miles was a nice kid, you know. He just didn’t understand. He had a bit of a voyeur problem. I told his parents, but they didn’t know what to do about it. They couldn’t lock the kid inside twenty-four-seven.”
“We’ve heard that before,” Gaff said. “He liked to lurk in the shadows and watch.”
Jazzi glanced at all of the windows in the bungalow. She’d guess you could see in every room after dark if the lights were on.
Ed jerked his head toward Eve. “He’d park his bike behind our big bush at night and watch Eve parade around in her thin, little nightie. I was going to run him off, but Eve sort of liked it, said the kid had to get some kicks somewhere.”
Ed thought a minute. “You didn’t say. Was Leo the other body?”
“No, we found a young woman’s body in the grave next to Miles’s.” Gaff waited for Ed’s reaction.
Ed stared. “Huh-uh. Miles would never hurt anyone. He didn’t pull some murder-suicide thing and fall into an empty grave after he buried the girl.”
“We never considered that.”
Ed looked uncomfortable. “Don’t tell his parents I told you about him watching, will you? They’ve been through enough.”
“There’s no reason for me to mention that,” Gaff said. “Knowing he’s dead might actually bring them some comfort. It’s better than wondering.”
Ed turned to Eve. “We should send them a casserole or something.”
