“Uh-huh.” Skye was silent, then asked, “But if Beilin is the killer, what did Earl hear that got him to look in the backyard? Beilin was already here by that time.”
“Who knows?” Wally wiped his fingers on his napkin. “It could have been an animal or maybe Earl lied because he didn’t want to get in trouble for trespassing.”
“Seriously?” Skye snickered. “A Doozier afraid to get into trouble for anything less than murder?”
Wally chuckled his agreement, then said, “Tell me more about the neighbors.”
“They seem affluent and nosy.” Skye twitched her shoulders. “But the lots are big and wooded and it’d be pretty easy to keep out of sight.” She fiddled with her spoon. “The blond, Stacy Carter, seemed to be the leader of the group, and she has the hots for Beilin.”
“Enough to kill his wife to get him?” Wally brightened. Maybe this was the lead he needed.
“Probably not.” Skye shook her head. “I can’t see someone like that getting her hands dirty. Unless she hired a hitman.”
“Anything else you can think of that was suspicious?” Wally asked.
“Not off the top of my head.” Skye got up and cleared the table. “Did the crime scene tech mention finding anything unusual? Were there prints on the knife?”
“No. It was from a set in the Quinns’ kitchen and it was wiped clean.” Wally rose to his feet and started to fill the sink. “Evidently Jerita has an amazing housekeeper because the tech said there wasn’t even any dust.” Wally squirted in dish soap. “Which was why he found it odd that there were pumpkin seed hulls on the floor near the trash can in the kitchen.”
“Why does that ring a bell?” Skye asked as she picked up a dish towel. A second later, her beautiful green eyes widened and she said, “Oh. My. Gosh! It’s Homer!”
“Homer?” Wally repeated stunned.
“Yes.” Skye nodded. “His newest food addiction is pumpkin seeds.”
“But why would he kill Jerita?” Wally asked, but didn’t wait for an answer before he added, “Because she threatened to sue him personally.”
Skye nodded. “Exactly.”
Chapter 9
Mama, I’m Coming Home
“When are you going to interview Homer?” Skye asked, as they finished the dishes. She checked the microwave clock and saw that it was 2:48. “He doesn’t stay very long after the bell rings at three, so he’ll be leaving school soon.”
“I’ll have to handle this matter carefully.” Wally scowled at his phone. “As soon as you told me about Homer’s pumpkin seed habit, I texted the city attorney to get a warrant for his DNA. He just answered that a judge will say that Homer isn’t the only one who consumes that type of snack, and he won’t issue a warrant without more probable cause.”
“I could probably…” Skye hesitated before offering her help.
If Homer wasn’t the murderer and/or didn’t go to jail, she would have to continue working with him. He was tough enough to deal with when he wasn’t holding a grudge. What would he be like if he blamed her for the police investigating him?
“You could probably what?” Wally asked, gazing at her expectantly.
“Grab a used paper cup or something from his trash can.” She tilted her head. “Is that legal?”
“Anything that is thrown in the trash is considered intentionally relinquished and is free for anyone to take.” Wally walked over to the bedroom and peeked in at the sleeping twins, then headed for the front door. “It’s called abandoned DNA. However, we might have a problem with the chain of evidence.”
Seeing Wally was about to leave, Skye quickly said, “I’ll be at the school tomorrow morning for the PPS meeting, and I can try to get something from his garbage either before we start or after we finish.”
Skye had arranged with her mother to watch the twins for a couple of hours so she could attend the Pupil Personnel Services conference. The teachers had been trying to slip a lot of evaluation referrals past Piper that they knew wouldn’t make it through the process without significant prior interventions once Skye got back from maternity leave.
“That would be great. Worse comes to worst, if whatever you get has DNA that matches the pumpkin seed hulls from the crime scene, we can use that evidence as probable cause,” Wally said. Then he paused with his hand on the knob and added, “Just be careful and don’t let him know that he’s a suspect.”
“Absolutely.” Skye wasn’t about to take any chances with Homer. First of all, he was huge. And second of all, he had a terrible temper.
“Good.” Wally glanced at his cell again and frowned. “Still no word from Loretta. Do you think she might be having the baby?”
“Mom would let me know,” Skye said, then realized that her phone was set to vibrate and it was on the coffee table, not in her pocket. “Hold on a second. Let me check my cell and see if I missed something.”
Wally followed her to the living room area of the RV and waited.
Skye saw that May had sent her a text a couple of hours ago. She quickly read the message, then looked up at Wally and grinned. “Wow! You must be clairvoyant. Loretta and Vince headed to the hospital a little past noon. Mom has April, but will bring her up to meet her new baby brother as soon as Vince calls and gives her the green light.”
“Shoot!” Wally sighed, then grinned. “I supposed it would be tacky to interview Loretta about Jerita while she’s giving birth.”
“Probably.” Skye smiled, then groaned. “Heck! This means Mom will be busy with April and won’t be able to take care of the twins tomorrow.” She bit her lip. “And your dad is flying out in the morning to attend a business meeting.”
Although Carson Boyd was a majority shareholder and the CEO of a major Texas-based oil company, he’d put his nephew in charge in order to spend time with his new grandchildren. But every once in a while, there was something he needed to handle personally.
“You know, I have an idea for a nanny,” Wally said casually.
“You do?” Skye asked, surprised. “I take it this person is someone other than the women we have lined up to interview?”
“Uh-huh. Someone we actually know,” Wally said carefully. “Someone who could do more than just watch the kids.”
“Oh.” Skye nodded, studying Wally’s expression. It was bland, but she still thought there was more to this than what he was saying. “Who?”
“Dorothy Snyder.” Wally sat on the sofa and motioned for Skye to sit next to him.
“But Dorothy wouldn’t have time.” Skye happily snuggled next to Wally. She’d take any alone time she could get with her handsome husband. “She cleans for several people and has a full schedule to keep.”
“I had a thought about that too.” Wally tightened his arm around Skye and nuzzled her neck. “What if we hired her full-time just for us? We have that guest suite over the garage and she could live in as a combo nanny and housekeeper.”
“We don’t need a housekeeper,” Skye automatically objected.
“Think about it.” Wally ran his lips down her cheek. “You’re exhausted taking care of two babies, this tiny RV, and working a few hours a week.”
“It’s not that bad,” Skye protested. “You do your share of the chores.”
“I try to be a team player, but I’m tired too.” Wally’s warm brown eyes gazed into hers. “And it’s only going to get more overwhelming when your maternity leave is up and we move into a place five times the size of this motor home.”
“Hmm.” Skye had to admit that he had a point, but she still wasn’t convinced. “But having a live-in housekeeper seems so pretentious. Like we’re hitting people over the head with our wealth.” Her chest tightened. “That’s why we agreed to keep the size of the house reasonable. I don’t want people to think of us that way.”
“Sugar.” Wally’s soothing baritone usually calmed her, but not this
time. “Since we came clean in The Star, there’s really no hiding anymore that we have money.”
“But we don’t have to parade the fact we’re rich in front of everyone.” Skye chewed on her bottom lip until she drew blood.
“As much as Scumble River is a rural community,” Wally said as he gently used his thumb to stop her from biting her lip, “there are several wealthy families who own big houses and drive expensive cars.”
“Intellectually, I know that’s true,” Skye said softly. “But…”
She glanced at Wally, who was patiently waiting. She knew her real problem was wrapping her head around the fact that eight years ago, a few months before her thirtieth birthday, she’d arrived back in Scumble River with her tail between her legs.
She’d been fired from her job for trying to protect a child from being abused, jilted by her dirtbag fiancé, and had maxed out her credit cards trying to keep said dirtbag happy. She had no references, very little cash, and, at best, a bleak future.
Having prepared herself for an austere reality in which she might never find her soul mate, never have a family of her own, and always have to scrimp to make ends meet on a school psychologist’s salary, she wasn’t prepared for how quickly her life had turned around. In what had seemed like the blink of an eye, she was married, had twins, and could suddenly afford to buy anything her heart desired.
There were times, like these, that she still couldn’t believe it was true. She still half expected to wake up alone, destitute, and unemployed.
It occurred to her that she was terrified that it all would be taken away. That if she made one wrong decision, Wally and the babies might vanish into thin air. And flaunting their wealth by hiring full-time help might be the poor choice that caused her to lose everything.
But in her heart, Skye knew they needed the help. Taking a deep breath, she said, “You’re right about hiring Dorothy.”
“Of course I am,” Wally agreed with a wink.
Skye brightened. “You know, Vince mentioned that he and Loretta were going to look into hiring someone to take care of April and the new baby, as well as help with the house. And if they do that, we won’t seem like we’re showing off so much.”
“True.”
“We can see how their search is going when we go meet the newest member of the family.”
“Have they decided on a name?” Wally got to his feet and helped Skye to hers.
“They’re keeping to the months of the year theme and going with August.” Skye followed Wally to the tiny foyer. “As it happens, it’s Loretta’s grandfather’s name.”
“How’s your mom taking that?” Wally turned the knob.
“She’s okay with it.” Skye smiled. “But only because they’re using Alberto, which is her father’s name, for the baby’s middle name.”
“Smart.” Wally opened that door. “I’d better get back to the station and see if there’s been any progress on either the murder or the disappearance.”
“Do you think there’s any chance they’re connected?” Skye asked.
“I don’t see how.” Wally shook his head. “But I also don’t believe in coincidences so I’ll certainly being looking for a connection.”
“I’ll keep my ears open too.” Skye kissed his cheek. “And I’ll call Dorothy to see if she’s interested in working for us full-time.”
“Offer her whatever salary you think will get her onboard.” Wally waved as he ran down the metal steps, then hopped into his squad car and sped away.
It was only after Wally left and she was changing the twins, who had woken up from their nap in dire need of fresh diapers, that Skye realized that they hadn’t asked if Beilin would be continuing on as their general contractor. And if not, what was their alternative?
Immediately, Skye felt guilty. The man had just lost his wife in a horrific manner and all she cared about was getting her house finished. Glancing down at her babies, who now were clean and indicating rather loudly they’d like to be fed, she offered a quick prayer for Jerita’s soul and for the woman’s family.
As Skye gave Eva and CJ their bottles of formula mixed in with the breast milk she’d pumped earlier, she contemplated who would want to kill Jerita Quinn. Her husband was the obvious suspect. Beilin had been witnessed fighting with his wife, and he had been late for work the day she was murdered, not to mention all his other unexplained absences. That gave him both motive and opportunity.
But Skye just couldn’t see him driving a blade into Jerita’s skull. Although Beilin was a huge man, certainly strong enough, he didn’t seem to have the kind of temper to do something so gruesome. Stabbing a knife into someone’s head took a hatred-driven type of fury.
Skye finished feeding her babies and decided to take a ride over to her mother’s. She wanted to sound out May on the subject of Dorothy’s availability. However, she’d have to be careful not to let on why she was interested in her mom’s friend or May would be applying for the job herself.
She also wanted to see if her mother had any hint as to how Jerita Quinn and Edie Baker might be connected. If anyone would, it would be Skye’s mother. May was plugged into the gossip line for several of Scumble River’s cliques.
Bundling the twins into their coats, Skye packed them all into the SUV and drove to her parents’ house. As she pulled into her mom and dad’s driveway, she didn’t see May’s car and it dawned on her that she should have called to make sure her mother hadn’t left to take April to the hospital to meet her new brother.
Oh well. She was there now, so she crossed her fingers, got out of the Mercedes, and checked the garage. There, in all its pristine white glory, was her mom’s Oldsmobile. It may be older than the hills, but Jed kept it waxed to a high shine and there wasn’t a dent or scratch anywhere on the vehicle.
Relieved her mom was home, Skye unfastened Eva and CJ from their car seats and carried them up the front steps. Fumbling with the knob, she wasn’t surprised that it turned easily. May wasn’t a fan of locked doors.
As she stepped inside the utility room, Skye’s nose twitched at the distinctive odor hitting her nose. Her mom firmly believed that a dirty window was a portal to hell and May certainly didn’t intend to invite the devil into her house. Skye and her brother joked that their mother went through a bottle of Windex a week. More if they’d had a lot of rain or snow.
Walking into the empty kitchen, Skye raised her voice and called out, “It’s me and the babies, Mom. Is there any news on Loretta yet?”
“Shh!” May rounded the corner from the living room, the distinctive blue liquid–filled container in one hand and a rag in the other. Putting her cleaning supplies on the floor, she said, “April is napping in your bedroom. She’s been really cranky today. I sure hope she isn’t coming down with anything. That would be all Loretta and Vince needed with a newborn.”
“Sorry.” Skye handed Eva to May and situated CJ into the bouncy chair, then asked, “I take it that Loretta is still in labor?”
“Yes. And what are you doing here? Is everything okay? Why didn’t you answer my text?” May commanded, “Tell me you weren’t at that murder.”
“Everything’s fine.” Skye knew that her mother’s go-to response to anything unexpected was to fear the worse had happened.
“But you did go to the crime scene.” Suspicion glimmered in May’s emerald-green eyes. She pointed her finger at Skye and demanded, “You didn’t take the babies, did you?”
“I went, but I called Carson to come watch Eva and CJ.” Skye folded her arms. “I suppose you heard about it on the scanner.”
May nodded. “Then Thea called me and filled me in on the details.” She narrowed her eyes. “And where’s your coat? It’s thirty-five degrees out there and the wind makes it feel colder than that.”
Skye explained that her jacket had been confiscated as evidence, then sighed. “I guess I’ll have to fin
d time tonight or tomorrow to run to Kankakee and buy another one.”
“Wait here.” May disappeared for a few seconds and came back holding a forest-green jacket. “I bought this for you for Christmas, but…”
“Oh. My. Gosh.” Skye slipped the coat on and twirled around. “It fits perfectly.” She hugged her mom, then warned, “Don’t even think of buying me anything else for Christmas or I’ll return it.”
“Of course I won’t. Well, stuff for your stocking, but nothing else.” May adjusted the crease in her perfectly ironed jeans, then said, “So what brings you here?”
“I just came over to visit. You always say that I never stop by to talk,” Skye said, then seeing the doubt in her mom’s expression, she added, “And to pick your brain about the victim.”
“Oh.” May nudged her daughter toward the sofa. “Why don’t you sit down and I’ll go get you a glass of milk and some brown-butter butterscotch oatmeal cookies. They’re fresh from the oven.”
“Diet Coke would be better,” Skye called at her mother’s retreating back. May had it in her head that her daughter needed to drink more milk, and nothing Skye could say could convince her mom that she was consuming the amount recommended by her ob-gyn.
A few minutes later, May returned with Skye’s snack and a stack of napkins. She placed everything on the coffee table and took a seat.
“So you want to know about Jerita Quinn.” May reached for a cookie.
“Yes.” Skye nodded. “Have you heard anything?”
“According to Carson, the Quinns moved here from Chicago after the tornado.” May picked up the glass of milk and handed it to Skye, gesturing for her to drink. Once she complied, May continued, “Carson had met Beilin because of some business deal and knew he wanted to move out of the city, which was how your father-in-law persuaded Beilin to come to Scumble River to build your house.”
Skye took another sip of milk, then put down her glass and selected a cookie. “How did the Quinns find a home here to buy?” After the tornado destroyed most of the town, intact houses for sale were few and far between. “Did Carson do something to nudge the seller?”
Come Homicide or High Water Page 9
