Vanilla Vices (5 page)

Jecks frowned for a moment, and then he said, “I was in the process of trading him a set of plated silver spoons for a frame he’d just gotten in.”

“What kind of frame?” Jake asked.

“It’s hard to say, since it was covered with some kind of gilding that completely obscured the original material,” he said. “I thought it might be useful, and Dan had expressed some interest earlier in the spoons. As I said, it was all quite civilized.”

“Was there a painting in the frame, by any chance?” I asked.

“Why is that relevant?” he asked me.

“I’m not sure that it is. I’m just curious.”

“Some local had done a landscape that he deemed worthy of framing. The quality of the frame far exceeded the artwork, I can assure you of that. I planned to strip it, discard the painting, and carefully restore the frame to its original state as soon as it was in my possession.”

“Did the trade occur?” the inspector asked.

“We were about to conclude it when Benny stormed in demanding payment for a set of jugs he’d dug out of some abandoned outhouse. He kept claiming that Dan had cheated him on the deal, that they’d been worth a great deal more than he’d been paid. I insisted that Dan conclude his deal with me first, but he refused. I admit that I raised my voice in protest, but he wouldn’t waver. I left, promising to come back the next day to settle up. When I got to the shop, I found the inspector there and learned of Dan’s fate. If I were you, I’d speak with Benny about those jugs, but as far as I’m concerned, I had nothing to do with what happened after I left. Now, you can either arrest me or let me go. I have work to do, and I can’t waste all morning in April Springs.”

“You may go,” the inspector said.

“Do you honestly believe him?” I asked her before William Jecks could leave.

“Why shouldn’t she?” Jecks asked. “It’s the truth.”

“According to you,” I said.

He didn’t dignify my statement with a response. I’d wanted to see just how far I could push him before his temper flared, but he’d kept it in check nicely. If he’d killed Dan, I doubted that he’d done it in rage. Then again, his story about Benny’s fight with Dan was completely believable. Even Benny had admitted that the two of them had shared a tumultuous relationship, but had things escalated once the antique dealer had left?

“Satisfied?” Inspector Black asked me once Jecks was gone.

“Not even a little bit,” I said. “Who’s to say which one of them is lying and which one is telling the truth?”

“Certainly not a donut maker,” she said.

“My wife is a great deal more than that,” Jake protested.

“I’m sure she is,” the inspector replied. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a witness to interview.”

“I’m going with you,” I said as I started to follow her into Jake’s office where Benny had been stashed.

“I don’t think so,” Inspector Black said as she turned and faced me.

“I promised Benny that I’d be the one to come get him.”

“I’m afraid that’s a promise you won’t be able to keep.” Inspector Black looked from me to Jake. “Don’t you have a missing woman to look for?”

“As a matter of fact, I do,” Jake said, and then he turned to us. “Come on, ladies. I’ll walk you out.”

Once we were outside, I asked, “Are you going to let her treat us like that?”

“Suzanne, I don’t have any choice. She’s right, you know. I’ve got a job to do, and it’s not finding Dan Billingham’s killer.”

“Maybe you don’t, but Grace and I are going to pursue this.”

Jake nodded, and then he added a slight smile. “I’d be disappointed if you didn’t. Keep me in the loop, okay?”

“Does that mean that you approve of what we’re doing?” I asked him.

“I’m not going to say one way or the other,” he answered, but his smile was still there, so I was going to take it as a good sign. “Just try to stay out of her way if you can help it, okay?”

“Don’t worry. I’m not in any hurry to butt heads with her again,” I said, “but I won’t tiptoe around her, either.”

Jake looked from me to Grace. “I suppose I’d be wasting my breath asking you to keep her out of trouble, wouldn’t I?”

Grace just nodded and grinned.

“I’ll see you later,” Jake answered.

“I’m counting on it,” I said.

After he was gone, I turned to Grace. “You know what? He didn’t even kiss me goodbye.”

“Suzanne, I wouldn’t take it personally. You know how he is when he’s preoccupied with something. It must be killing him staying away from Dan’s murder investigation.”

“You’re right. I’ll cut him some slack. In the meantime, what should we do?” My question was interrupted as my cellphone rang. I looked at the caller ID before I answered it. “It’s Gabby Williams. I hope she’s got a name for us now.”

“Answer it and find out,” Grace said. “I’m dying to find out who Crazy Dan was dating.”

“That’s if she’s even willing to share it with us,” I replied.

“There’s only one way to find out, isn’t there?”

She was right, so I answered the call to see what Gabby had to say.

Chapter 5

“I
t wasn’t easy to convince
her, but she’ll talk to you, Suzanne,” Gabby informed me after telling me that Dan’s mystery lady was willing to come forward.

“Great. Thanks so much for acting as an intermediary,” I said, happy to have someone else we could talk to about Dan’s murder. “We can use all of the input we can get.”

“Not so fast,” Gabby said. “There are some conditions.”

“Okay,” I said hesitantly. “What does she want?” I wasn’t sure who this mystery woman was, but I found it odd that she was demanding things before she’d even speak with us.

“First off, you have to promise that whatever you learn during your conversation, including her identity, will not be shared with anyone else.”

“I suppose Grace and I can do that, if we have to,” I said.

“That’s the second thing. She won’t speak with anyone but you. Just you, Suzanne. I’m afraid Grace can’t be with you, or even learn the woman’s identity.”

“Okay. Got it. Well, thanks for trying. I appreciate it, Gabby.” And then I ended the call without another word.

“That was fast,” Grace said as she looked at me curiously. “What happened?”

“It’s not going to work out,” I said.

“Why not?”

I debated whether I should tell her the real reason or not, but then I decided that she had a right to know what was going on. “The mystery woman wouldn’t speak to you, too.”

Grace frowned for a moment before she replied. “I wonder what she has against me. Is it possible that we’ve met before, and she’s not a fan of mine? Honestly, it’s hard to believe that’s even possible, isn’t it?” Grace asked me with a grin.

“I wouldn’t take it personally if I were you.”

“It’s kind of hard not to, though, isn’t it?” Grace asked. “Suzanne, you should go ahead and talk to her by yourself. What you learn may be valuable in finding out who killed Dan, and I refuse to let my pride stand in the way of us gathering information.”

“That’s gracious of you, but unfortunately, it wasn’t her only requirement. If we agree to her other demand, I’m not allowed to share what I’ve learned with anyone else, even her name. With that set of limitations going into the conversation, it’s not going to do me that much good anyway.”

“So you turned Gabby Williams down cold. Do I even need to ask how that went?”

“I’d tell you, but the truth is, I don’t know. I didn’t stay on the line long enough to find out, but I think you can use your imagination and guess,” I said as my cellphone rang again. I held it up so Grace could see it. “It’s Gabby. Should I even bother answering it?”

“How can you not? Aren’t you dying to hear what she’s got to say?”

“Not really. I have a hunch that it’s not going to be good,” I said, but I answered anyway. “Hey, Gabby.”

“Hello again, Suzanne. That was odd. We must have been cut off in mid conversation. I kept waiting for you to call me back, but you never did.”

“That’s because it was no accident,” I said. “What point was there in continuing the discussion? I’m not going to let your friend dictate the terms of our conversation.”

There was a long pause on the other end before she spoke again. “I understand.”

Then, apparently it was Gabby’s turn to hang up on me.

“Was she furious with you?” Grace asked me.

“No, not that I could tell. All she said was that she understood. What an odd conversation that was.”

“Let’s face it. Most chats we have with Gabby are strange.”

I shrugged as I answered, “If we aren’t going to talk to the mystery woman, do you have any suggestions about where we go from here?”

“I was thinking that we should see if we can get anywhere near the junk shop. It might hold the answer to what we’re looking for.”

“What could it hurt? Maybe Inspector Black missed something without even realizing it.”

“That would have to be the case if she did,” Grace said. “There’s just one problem. If she couldn’t find it, what makes you think that we can?”

“That’s easy,” I said. “We knew Dan. She didn’t. It’s possible that something that looked perfectly normal to her would seem out of place to us. It’s worth a shot, isn’t it?”

“What if she hasn’t released the crime scene yet?”

“Then we figure out what Plan B is after that, and then we do that instead,” I replied. “Let’s go get my Jeep, okay?”

“I think that’s an excellent idea. After all, I’m not walking all the way out to Dan’s shop.”

“It’s not that far,” I said.

“Okay then. Why don’t you walk, and I’ll drive? I’ll see you out there in an hour.”

“It probably wouldn’t take me that long, but I get your point. Let’s cut through the park again. I love this time of year, when the air has a bite to it and the tree branches are all so exposed to the world.”

“You just love it because your donut sales pick up when it’s chilly out,” Grace said.

“Maybe that’s part of it, but I’ve loved winter since I was a kid. You know that. We’ve been friends forever.”

“You don’t have to remind me. It’s one of the things I like about my life, my ability to hang onto your friendship, through all kinds of situations.”

“Like marrying Max, and then divorcing him later?” I asked her.

“That was certainly part of it. How are he and Emily doing, by the way? I haven’t seen much of them around town lately.”

“As far as I know, they’re still going strong. Max has been getting more work in commercials out in LA, so he’s been gone more, but Emily keeps me posted. Before he left for the coast the last time, he told me that he’s trying to make enough money so he can buy her a house, but don’t spread that around, because Emily’s not supposed to know.”

“I can understand an engagement ring, but an entire house? Or is he even going to propose before they move in together?”

“He’s already asked her once, remember?” I asked. “This time, he wants her to know that it’s not so spur of the moment.”

“And you know all of this why, exactly?”

“What can I say? He confides in me.”

“After the nasty split you two had, it’s odd that you are friends now,” Grace said.

“I know it’s hard to understand, but I’ve seen his transformation with my own eyes. People can change. That’s something that I’ve had a hard time believing in the past, but I’ve seen it up close with Max. He’s a different man than the one I married.”

“And divorced,” Grace said. “Is that your cellphone again? Suzanne, you’re more popular than I am.”

I pulled it out and saw that it was Gabby yet again. “What could we possibly have to talk about now?” I asked as I answered it. “Hey, Gabby. I was wondering when you would call again. I was beginning to miss you.”

“Is that another one of your lame attempts at humor, Suzanne?”

“Evidently,” I conceded. “What’s up?”

“I’ve spoken with my friend again.”

“Has she changed her mind about speaking with both Grace and me?”

“No, she still wants it to just be you in the interview, but she understands your unique relationship with Grace, so she’s agreed to allow you to share whatever you learn with her, as long as you promise to be as discreet as possible.”

“That exception has to include Jake as well,” I said. I wasn’t trying to be difficult, but there was no way I was going to agree to keep anything from my husband.

“That’s understood. So, do you agree to her terms?”

“Hang on a second,” I said, and then I buried my phone against my chest. “We’ve got a new offer, Grace. The mystery woman still just wants to speak with only me, but I can share what I learn with you after the fact.”

“From your end of the conversation, I assume you can tell Jake as well.”

“Yes, but only if we all promise to be discreet.”

“And you want to know if I can do that?” Grace asked me.

“I know you can. I just want to be sure that you’re okay with the terms.”

“They are fine by me. I can catch up on some paperwork while you two chat. After you talk, maybe we can get lunch.”

“That sounds wonderful. Thanks for understanding.”

“Hey, as long as you’re not the one excluding me, there’s nothing to understand.” She pointed to my phone and added, “Should you keep her hanging around on the phone like that?”

“Probably not,” I said as I smiled and spoke again.

“It’s a deal,” I said before I realized that Gabby was already gone.

What now?

“Hey. Did you just hang up on me?”

“I thought you were signaling your unwillingness to accept the new terms by hanging up on me again,” Gabby said sternly. “Suzanne, I must say, I don’t approve of this new way of communicating with me.”

“I didn’t hang up on you,” I explained. “I wanted to be sure it was okay with Grace before I gave you my answer.”

“And was it?”

“Yes. I accept. Now, who is it?”

“Rather than tell you over the phone, come to the back of my shop as soon as you can get here. She’s waiting on you.”

“Should I knock in any particular pattern so you’ll know that it’s me, like three shorts, three longs, and then another three shorts?” I asked her.

“Why on earth would you want to do that?”

“I don’t know. This all just seems so covert, I thought she’d at least insist on some kind of secret code.”

“She’s not making this difficult on purpose. All she wants is to salvage what small bit of pride she has left. Being with Dan wasn’t easy for her, but she genuinely cared for him, and now that he’s gone, she wants to be sure that whoever killed him pays for it. Is that so hard to understand?”

“I suppose not,” I said. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

“Alone,” she reminded me.

“Alone,” I echoed.

After I hung up, I turned to Grace and said, “I’ll swing by your house when I’m finished.”

“I’ll be there,” Grace said. “Good luck.”

“Thanks. I just hope I don’t need it.”

“This is a friend of Gabby’s, remember? Trust me; you’re going to need it, all right.”

I didn’t even have to knock on Gabby’s back door when I got there, so my suggested secret code was useless anyway. The door opened a moment before I was even able to reach the handle.

“Come in,” Gabby said, looking behind me furtively, as if it was a possibility that I could have been followed. Maybe it wasn’t that crazy an impulse. After all, someone had killed Dan Billingham the night before. It was entirely feasible that they knew Grace and I would be digging into the crime, especially if they were from April Springs. We’d developed quite a reputation for nosing around crime scenes, so it wasn’t that hard to believe that the killer might decide to stalk us as we worked at solving the homicide to check up on our progress. I’d have to share that insight with Grace the next time I saw her. The thought of being followed made me uneasy, and I was happy to get inside and bolt the door behind me.

“Hello, Suzanne,” a voice from the shadows said, and I turned to see who had been dating Crazy Dan the junk man in secret.