Molly waved a french fry in my face. “Not you, too. I don’t even have to ask you where you got that nonsense, do I? Kelly Sheer’s been putting ideas into your head.”
“He’s got to be considered a legitimate suspect,” I said, “even if he is a cop.”
“Lower your voice,” Molly commanded. “I’m not stupid, Ben. I looked into Brian’s whereabouts when the murder occurred. He was on the other side of town the entire time.”
“Is there anyone who can confirm that?” I asked.
“You’re wrong about him, Ben. Drop it.”
I put my fork down. “Molly, you have to treat him like everybody else. You’re too good a cop to do otherwise.”
“This conversation is over,” she said as she stood.
“Hey, what about your pie?”
“I’ve lost my appetite,” she said. “Thanks for dinner.”
She walked out of the restaurant, and I threw a twenty on the table. “Thanks, Ruby,” I called out as I started to leave.
“What about dessert?”
“Not tonight. Don’t worry about change. I put a twenty-dollar bill on the table. You and Garnet have our dessert yourselves, okay?”
Molly was outside, still steaming from my supposition.
When she saw me exit, she smiled faintly. “It’s hard to make a dramatic exit when I need a ride back to the station.”
I nodded, not saying a word as I held the car door open for her. We rode back in silence, and I realized that I’d pushed her a little further than she’d been willing to take. Still, if I planted a single seed of doubt in her mind about Brian Ross, it would be worth it. All I wanted was for her to focus on the other suspects in the case besides Diana.
When we got back to the station, she finally spoke. “Thanks for the meal.”
“You’re most welcome,” I said as I started to get out.
She popped the door open and got out. “Don’t bother.”
I couldn’t even protest.
Molly started to walk back to the station, then stopped and came back toward my car.
She leaned down to my open window and said, “He didn’t do it, I know that in my heart, but I’ll look into it.”
“That’s all I ask,” I said.
“I’d tell you to drop this, but I know you won’t. Just don’t do anything stupid, all right?”
I looked at her a second, then said, “I’ll try, but then that’s always my goal. Is there anything you can tell me that I don’t already know?”
She hesitated, then finally said, “I’m going to regret this, and if you tell anybody I told you, I’ll lock you up out of pure spite.”
“I’ll keep my mouth shut; it’s a deal.”
“We found the murder weapon. There were no prints on it, but there was enough evidence on it for us to know we got the right hammer. By the way, it’s one of yours.”
“Mine?” I wasn’t even sure I owned a hammer anymore.
“Not yours. I mean it belongs to your shop. It was in your Dumpster in back, so whoever killed her tossed it in there as they left the property.”
“At least that’s what they want you to think,” I said.
“For the record, if anyone asks, we’re pursuing leads actively on several fronts.” She shook her head as she walked away and added, “Good night, Ben.”
“Good night,” I called out to her. “And thanks.”
I’d done what I’d set out to do, so why didn’t I feel better about where things stood in the investigation? Maybe it was because I had to count on Molly and not do it myself.
There were at least a few things I could still do tonight, though, and I was determined to keep digging.
SIX
“
I’M
not asking for much. I just need to know if you have a man named Barry Hill staying here.”
The clerk in front of me was no more helpful than he’d been on the phone when I’d called the Lakefront Inn earlier. I’d decided the best way to get information was face-to-face, but clearly I’d been mistaken.
“As I told you over the telephone, I’m not allowed to give out that information. Our guests expect a certain level of privacy here, and we are determined to provide it.”
It was time to try a new tack. I took a twenty from my wallet and slid it across the desk. “Perhaps you could look again.”
If he saw the bill, he ignored it, though I noticed that a maid ten feet away was watching the attempted bribe with unconcealed mirth in her gaze. She was an older woman with a weathered face deeply lined from a thousand smiles and ten thousand tears. At least I’d made somebody happy tonight. That was something.
The desk clerk finally noticed the bill, and nearly sneered at it as he dismissed its presence. “Again, I’m sorry. I really can’t help you.”
I didn’t know if he actually had integrity, or if he was holding out for more squeeze, but either way, we were finished. I couldn’t afford any more on a lark, and he wasn’t in the mood to share for free.
“Thanks, anyway,” I said with as much mock sincerity as I could muster.
“You’re most welcome,” he replied, either not catching or ignoring my sarcasm completely.
I was at the Miata wondering what to do next when I saw the same maid who’d been watching us step outside, apparently for a smoking break. I didn’t pay her much more attention, and then I saw her beckoning to me. What did I have to lose? I got out of the car and walked toward her.
“Can I help you?” I asked.
“No, but I can help you. I understand you’re looking for somebody.”
I nodded. “I am, but your clerk in there wasn’t very cooperative.”
She laughed, then said, “Don’t mind Jeffrey. He got caught stealing supplies from the office last week, and it’s just your bad luck the man’s on probation. It must have broken his heart to pass up that twenty.” She added with a wink, “I’m not on probation, though.”
I dove into my pocket for the bill, and handed it to her. “Is Barry Hill staying here?”
“He is,” she admitted. “He’s in the Azalea Room, but he’s not there right now.”
“How do you know that?”
“I saw him out by the pool taking a smoke not two minutes before you walked in. Was that worth your twenty?”
“Every dime of it,” I said as I hurried to the pool area. I stopped a second, then asked, “Can I borrow a cigarette?”
“Are you telling me a man driving a car like that can’t afford his own smokes?”
“I could if I wanted them, but I need one as a prop. How else am I going to get him to talk to me?”
“Smart thinking,” she said as she handed me a cigarette. “Take my advice. Shallow puffs, and try not to inhale or you’ll choke to death on it.”
I took the cigarette and walked to the pool. I wasn’t a big fan of smoking, and it killed me that my home state of North Carolina made so much from the addictive habit, but I didn’t have time to moralize. I needed this man to open up to me, and if holding a Winston could help, I’d do it.
I found a gentleman sitting by himself, the glowing ember of his lit cigarette intensifying as he took a drag from it.
“Mind if I join you?” I asked, holding the cigarette up.
“Be my guest,” he said. “To be honest with you, I’d like the company.”
I held the Winston long enough for him to see it, but I couldn’t bring myself to light it, no matter what the stakes. Instinctively, I snapped it in half. Now what was I going to say?
I didn’t have to come up with anything. He did it for me. “Trying to quit? I must have thrown away a hundred packs over the last six months, but I can’t seem to make it stick.”
“It’s tough, isn’t it?”
He stared at the cigarette in his hand, started to snuff it out, then took another drag. “It’s the hardest thing I ever tried to do. I’ll beat it one day, but for now, it helps me get through the night.”
I sat on a chair nearby. “It sounds like you’ve got a heavy load on you.”
He started to say something, then it looked as though he changed his mind. “We’ve all got our problems,” he said.
“I’ve been told I’m a good listener,” I said, “and I don’t mind hearing what you’ve got to say.”
He nodded in the near darkness. “It’s a story that’s been told a million times. I lost someone I thought I loved, and it’s tearing me up inside.”
“What happened?” I prodded when he didn’t speak again. “Did it just happen?”
“In a way it did, but in other ways, I realize that I lost her a long time ago. I just didn’t know it at the time.”
“That sounds tough,” I said. “How did you lose her?”
“That’s exactly what I asked her this morning,” he said softly. “You know the worst part about it? I’m not even sure I ever had her in the first place.” He stared toward the pool, then added, “She was a cruel woman, and I’m sitting here in the dark wondering how I ever made myself believe she loved me.” He lit a fresh cigarette off the dying butt in his fingertips, took a deep breath of it, then said with a jab of anger in his voice, “Who am I kidding? Why am I sitting around here mourning for her? I’m starting to think that maybe she got exactly what she deserved.”
He stood up abruptly, flicked his cigarette toward the pool, then walked off without another word.
I sat there a second, then dialed Molly’s number on my cell phone.
“Hey, it’s Ben.”
“I thought we were finished tonight, Ben. I’m busy.”
“This is important,” I said as I stood up and started back to my Miata. “I thought you’d like to know that Connie Brown’s former fiancé is staying out at the Lakefront Inn.”
She lowered her voice as she said, “Ben, are you drunk? I’m looking at Brian Ross, and he’s sitting twenty feet from me.”
“Not that fiancé,” I said. “I’m talking about the last one she dumped, Barry Hill.”
“How did you find him?” she asked.
“I figured if he was hanging around Harper’s Landing, he’d probably be at the Lakefront.”
“And they just told you he was a guest?” she asked. “I know better than that. They treat that place like a fortress.”
“Listen, do you want to sit here and argue about it over the telephone, or do you want to talk to the man? He’s in the Azalea Room, but I’m not sure how long he’s going to be here. I just talked to him, and it looked like he made up his mind about something.”
“You’re interrogating suspects now?” she asked loudly. “Now I’m hoping you’re drunk and not just stupid.”
“Don’t let him get away,” I said, ignoring the insult, and then I hung up.
I got into the Miata and started to take off, but then I realized that if Barry Hill did decide to flee, maybe I could follow him. I had a little practice tailing people, but I preferred my mother’s minivan over my Miata. It was certainly less conspicuous.
I sat there for fifteen minutes, afraid Molly was going to disregard my plea, when I saw a cruiser pull up beside me.
Molly got out, and I joined her. “Why are you still here?” she asked.
“I wanted to make sure he didn’t get away before you got here,” I said.
“You’re just a bucket of surprises today, aren’t you?”
“Can I go with you when you talk to him?” I asked. “You might need a witness.”
“Go home, Ben. I mean it.”
I knew that tone of voice well enough to realize that she wasn’t kidding. I got into the Miata, but before I drove off, I said, “Be careful. He could be a killer.”
She nodded, then headed toward the inn.
I wanted to stay and wait, not just to find out what Molly uncovered, but more importantly, to make sure she was safe. I’d never be able to live with myself if something happened to her because of me, and I knew Molly wouldn’t be in danger right now if I hadn’t interfered with police business. Maybe
interfere
was too strong a word.
Circumnavigate
was probably more appropriate.
I chided myself to stop stalling. Molly had been clear enough about her desire for me to leave. I knew if I stayed and disregarded her direct order, our relationship would be seriously damaged, maybe permanently.
Still, driving off and leaving her all alone with a man who might be a murderer was one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do in my life. I couldn’t bring myself to drive home, so instead, I wandered around in my car, not sure where to go. When an hour passed and I still hadn’t heard from Molly, I decided to drive back to the Lakefront, despite her earlier warning.
Her squad car was gone.
I dialed her number on my cell phone, and of course it was busy. When I finally got through to her, I said, “Where have you been? Why didn’t you call me?”
“Sorry, Mom,” Molly said. “I didn’t mean to miss my curfew. Don’t ground me, please. I really want to go to the spring dance.”
“How did it go?” I asked, ignoring the sarcasm.
“He was packing his things,” she said. “I managed to persuade him to hang around town a little while, and he wasn’t too happy about it.”
“So you think he might have killed her?” I asked.
“I’m not ruling anybody out right now,” Molly said. “I’ve got to go, Ben. I’m working late tonight.”
And then she hung up on me, without a thank you or any indication that I’d helped her in her investigation. I wasn’t doing it for her gratitude, but I wouldn’t have minded a little acknowledgment that I’d actually been of some use. Then I realized that if Molly had thanked me, she would have tacitly been admitting that she’d needed me, and that wasn’t about to happen.
I was going to have to be content that I’d managed to get some of the intense glare of the police’s focus off of Diana. And after all, that was exactly what I was trying to do.
It was time to shake another branch of this tree and see what came falling out.
I
tried to track Betsy Blair down the same way I’d found Barry Hill, but I didn’t have any luck. After I’d visited all of the nearby motels in the area, I decided to give up and go back home. There was a call on my answering machine from Diana, asking me to call her, no matter how late I got in.
“Hey, it’s me,” I said when she picked up.