Fatal Brushstroke (An Aurora Anderson Mystery Book 1) (23 page)

Chapter 34

The next morning, Rory and Liz sat on a concrete bench facing the beach, deserted except for a flock of seagulls resting on the sand close to the ocean. On the bike path below, a lone rider passed in front of an unoccupied lifeguard station.

“So you never found out why Veronica was parked outside your house?” Liz took a sip of her coffee, then tore a piece off a whole-wheat bagel and popped it in her mouth.

Rory shook her head. “I couldn’t find her after she left the store. She wouldn’t even pick up any of my mother’s calls. Maybe she really is a murderer like you suggested the other day. She did turn up at Main Street Squeeze
before
Trudy’s death became public knowledge.”

“Plus, she lied about seeing Kevin with his mother the night Hester died.”

“How do you know that?”

“Time of death doesn’t match. Hester was killed before midnight. Didn’t she say she saw Kevin with his mother in the wee hours of the morning? Maybe she said that to cover up her own involvement. She could’ve killed Hester before her tryst with Kevin, then moved the body later.”

Rory bit into a chocolate chip muffin and considered her friend’s theory. She thought back to how the young woman had claimed to know the location of the murder weapon, what Rory had thought was a lie Veronica had made up to demonstrate her investigative skills. But, maybe she’d been telling the truth all along. She could have killed Hester to clear the path for marriage to Kevin.

“I get why she’d want to get rid of Hester, but why Trudy?” Rory finally said.

“Who knows. Finding out the time of death hasn’t helped much, has it? No one seems to be in the clear. Kevin or Julian could have killed Hester, too.”

“Maybe it’ll help to find out what appeared on Vista Beach Confidential that had Julian so upset,” Rory said. “My guess is it had something to do with Kevin.”

“Can’t you work your computer magic and find out?”

“Julian likes you. I bet he’d tell you all about it if you asked.”

“Can’t today. I’m fully booked.” Liz checked her makeup in a compact mirror and reapplied her lipstick. “Who says we have to talk to Julian, anyway? Nora’s working today. I wouldn’t be surprised if she knows all about it. I’ve got to go meet a client. Call me if you find out anything.” She brushed crumbs off her pantsuit, tossed her coffee cup in a nearby trash can and walked up the hill to her real estate office.

Rory stared at the waves gently rolling onto the sand and considered what her friend had said about the mysterious blog post. Given her position as an executive assistant, Nora probably knew more about her boss’s life than anybody else. The woman just might have all the answers.

Rory zipped up her hoodie and headed up the hill to the headquarters of H & J Security. As soon as she stepped inside the door, she spotted Nora operating a copy machine steps away from the front desk. With a wave of her hand, Rory breezed past the well-endowed receptionist as if she’d visited a thousand times before.

“Hi, Nora. Do you have a minute?” she said above the whir of the Xerox machine.

The surprise on the woman’s face quickly morphed into a welcoming smile. “Rory, how nice to see you. Did you have an appointment with Mr. Bouquet?” Her face crinkled in concern. “I don’t have anything written down.”

“No, I stopped by to see you.”

“Let’s talk at my desk.” Nora gathered the papers from the copier and led the way to the reception area of an office suite. Rory was relieved to find the door leading into Julian’s inner sanctum firmly closed.

“Can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea?” the woman asked.

When Rory politely refused, Nora sat down behind her desk.

Rory sank down onto a chair across from the executive assistant and cleared her mind, hoping her body language wouldn’t betray her nervousness.

“Now, what did you want to see me about? Did you find my pin?” Nora’s eyes lit up and she leaned forward, resting her elbows on the desk.

Rory had forgotten all about the lost item. She hated to dash the woman’s hopes, but she had nothing new to report. “I’m afraid not.”

“Then what can I do for you?” Nora settled back in her chair, an occasional glance at the closed office door betraying her impatience.

“I don’t want to take up too much of your time. Is Julian here?”

“He’s on a conference call. I can spare you five minutes or so.”

Rory sensed she needed to dispense with idle chit-chat and get right to the point. She leaned forward and said in a hushed voice, “I wanted to ask you about the Vista Beach Confidential blog. Do you know what Julian saw that upset him?”

Nora’s eyes narrowed. “Why do you want to know?”

“I thought it might have something to do with the attack on my mother,” Rory said with only a slight hesitation. Her newfound ability to come up with spur-of-the-moment white lies disturbed her a little. She shoved the troublesome thought to the back of her mind and concentrated on discovering what she could from the woman opposite her. “I think Kevin was involved. He wrote on the blog, didn’t he? I understand your desire to protect Julian and his family, but I’m afraid my mom’s in danger.”

“Has she identified Kevin as her attacker?”

“No, but she’s beginning to remember things in bits and pieces. I’m concerned about what he’ll do when he finds out.”

“Kevin’s not the one you should be worried about.”

“You mean...?” Rory plastered what she hoped was an interested yet not overly eager expression on her face.

“Veronica. I don’t trust anyone who puts holes in places where God didn’t intend them to be. Thank goodness I didn’t touch that filthy belly button ring of hers.” Nora wrinkled her nose in disgust as if visualizing the millions of bacteria harbored by the tiny hoop. “You didn’t, I hope.”

Rory thought back to the previous day when they’d gathered up the items that had spilled all over the floor of Arika’s Scrap ’n Paint. She hadn’t thought about germs then any more than she had when she’d picked up the car keys and tiny hoop off the classroom floor the morning after the vandals struck. Rory gasped when she realized the belly button ring hadn’t tumbled out of Veronica’s tote bag as she’d originally thought, but had come from the lost-and-found box.

“Are you okay?” Nora’s concerned voice broke into Rory’s thoughts.

“Sorry, I just—” Rory stopped her explanation when she realized the assistant’s attention was no longer focused on her but on raised voices coming from the reception desk. Rory twisted around in her seat to see what the commotion was all about. While the employees in the office looked on, Detective Green wended his way through the cubicles to the office suite followed by an anxious-looking receptionist.

Wishing she had that shrinking potion Alice had encountered in Wonderland, Rory scrunched down in her seat and stayed as quiet as possible while the scene played out before her.

“He wouldn’t let me call you,” the curvaceous young woman said to Nora, who had planted herself in front of the door to the inner office, blocking the detective’s access to her boss.

A determined expression on her face, Nora stood up as tall as she could and crossed her arms in front of her chest, making herself appear as large and intimidating as possible as if she’d encountered a bear in the wild.

But the beast merely bared his teeth in an unconvincing smile and said, “I need to speak with Mr. Bouquet. Is he in?”

“I’m afraid you’ll have to make an appointment.”

The detective stepped forward until he was within inches of the executive assistant. He looked down on her and said, “You can’t protect him forever.”

Even though neither of the combatants had spoken loudly, the hostile vibes generated by the confrontation must have penetrated through the walls. His jacket off, tie loosened and shirt sleeves rolled up, Julian flung open his door and stepped into the outer office. “What’s going on out here?”

“You need to come with me, Mr. Bouquet. We have important things to discuss,” Detective Green said.

“Hasn’t my family suffered enough? I’ve already told you, I had nothing to do with my wife’s death. Or Trudy’s for that matter.” Julian turned to his assistant who had retreated to a position behind her desk. “Nora, would you escort the gentleman out?”

He’d taken only a single step toward his office when Detective Green’s next sentence stopped the man in his tracks. “Aren’t you interested in what your son told me about all those alarm problems around town?”

The head of H & J Security slowly turned around. “What he wrote on V.B. Confidential has no basis in reality. He’s just mad at me.”

“You can tell me all about it down at the station.”

Rory cringed at the thought of the claustrophobic interrogation room waiting for the man at police headquarters.

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Julian said.

“We can talk about it right here then, in front of everyone. Or does your staff not know what you’ve been up to?” The detective glanced toward the cubicles where the employees bent down over their keyboards and pretended to work.

Julian’s jaw tightened and his fist rolled up into a ball. Rory prepared herself for the violence she was sure was just around the corner but, after a moment of tense silence, the man visibly relaxed. “Let me get my jacket,” he said before heading into his office.

When he walked back into the reception area moments later, he turned to Nora and said, “Contact my lawyer and have him meet me at the station.”

Nora picked up the phone and pressed a button. Before Detective Green and Julian had made it out the front door, she was explaining the situation to someone on the other end of the line.

Rory remained in her seat, thinking about what she’d just seen and heard. At least she’d confirmed Kevin had been responsible for the mysterious blog post, though she could only guess at its contents. From the conversation between the detective and the owner of H & J Security, she suspected it said something about Julian being involved with the recent alarm problems plaguing the city.

Nora was too busy dealing with her boss’s legal troubles to answer any more questions. Rory was better off tracking down Veronica and finding out what she could from her. Besides, the young woman had some explaining to do. Rory found it suspicious Veronica’s belly button ring was on the floor of the classroom right after the store had been vandalized. Plus, she’d lied about seeing Kevin with his mother in the wee hours of the morning.

Rory waved goodbye to Nora and slipped out the door in search of the aspiring reporter.

Chapter 35

Rory visited the offices of the
Vista Beach View
and several other spots around town before spotting her quarry coming out the front door of Arika’s Scrap ’n Paint. When she greeted Veronica, the young woman said, “Can’t talk now. I heard that detective brought Julian in for questioning. Need to get down to the station to find out what’s going on.”

So much for pumping Veronica for information about Julian’s legal troubles, Rory thought.

When the young woman headed down the block, Rory called after her, “Why’d you lie about seeing Kevin in town with Hester the night she died?”

Veronica’s shoulders stiffened, and she stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. She turned around and walked back to where Rory stood, a false smile plastered on her face. “I didn’t lie. I saw them around two going into the condo complex.”

“You couldn’t have. Hester was already dead by then.”

Veronica shook her head. “I know what I saw.”

“The autopsy report says you’re lying.”

At the news, Veronica’s whole body sagged. “I was just so mad at him for not taking our relationship seriously, I wanted him to suffer.”

“So you spread a rumor about his being with Hester the night she died?” Rory asked.

Veronica nodded. “I did follow him that night, honest.”

“What was he doing?”

“He entered the back door of one of the businesses over on Dewey. An insurance company, I think. I waited until he came out the door. Less than five minutes later, the alarm sounded, and I got out of there as fast as I could. I lost him after that.”

Rory wasn’t quite sure why, but she believed Veronica this time. “How’d he get inside? Did he have a key?”

“Maybe. I know he worked on the alarm earlier that day.”

“What about my mother’s store?” Rory gestured toward the entrance of Arika’s Scrap ’n Paint.

“I’m sure Kevin didn’t have anything to do with the vandalism and attack on your mother. That isn’t his thing.”

“How about you? I found your belly button ring in the classroom the day after the break-in.”

“I was in the store the day before. Must’ve lost it then. Besides, what reason would I have for breaking into a craft store? Look, I really need to go.” Veronica walked down the street at a fast clip before Rory could ask her any more questions.

Rory shoved her hands in the pockets of her hoodie and headed down the sidewalk in the opposite direction. Oblivious to everything and everyone around her, she tried to make sense of what Veronica had told her. From what she’d just heard, Rory was pretty sure Kevin wasn’t responsible for the vandalism at her mother’s store, but she didn’t yet know what role he’d played in his mother’s death.

Deep in thought, Rory stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, only vaguely aware of the grumbles of her fellow pedestrians as they maneuvered around her stationary form. Even though she believed Veronica’s story about Kevin’s whereabouts, that didn’t mean the young woman couldn’t have killed Hester or vandalized Arika’s Scrap ’n Paint. Maybe there was something in Hester’s supplies she was interested in, though Rory had no idea what that could be.

Rory didn’t know how long she’d stood there, analyzing the situation, when a deep voice behind her brought her back to reality. “A word, Ms. Anderson.”

Plastering a pleasant expression on her face, she turned around to face Detective Green. While nothing about his features signaled anything other than friendliness, something about his demeanor warned her she wouldn’t like what he had to say. “What can I do for you, Detective?”

“Why’d you do it?”

“Not this again. I told you before, I didn’t kill anyone. Why don’t you spend your time figuring out who attacked my mother instead of harassing me?”

“I’m not talking about the murders—yet. This is about the fire at the Ocean Park development.”

Rory bit her lip to suppress a gasp when she realized the policeman was talking about the complex where Julian Bouquet owned a unit. “That’s too bad, but what does that have to do with me? I’ve never even been there. Not recently, anyway.”

“That’s not what I heard.”

Rory winced when she realized he must have found out about her presence at the open house. “Oh,
that
condo complex. I thought you said Ocean
Gate
, the one on Fifteenth. I have a distant cousin who’s thinking of relocating so Liz and I checked out the place on Sunday.”

She desperately wanted to stop babbling, but the words kept on spewing out against her will. “There’s a unit for sale. It’s really quite nice. Not far from downtown. Would be perfect for her, but the price might be a little out of her league. Of course, everything in this town is expensive, isn’t it? Maybe you should think about buying there. Just steps from downtown and the beach. I’m sure Liz would be happy to show it to you.”

When she finally ran out of steam, he said, “Where does this mythical cousin live?”

“She’s not mythical. She lives on the East Coast.”

“
Where
on the East Coast?”

Rory frantically tried to remember what city she’d placed her fictional relative in the last time someone had asked. Her brain couldn’t come up with the answer so she made a stab in the dark, saying the location with an air of confidence she didn’t possess. “Boston.”

“Really? That’s not what you told Julian Bouquet. You said she lived in New York.”

“Did I? Boston, New York. She lives somewhere in between.” She waved her hand in the air as if to indicate those places were all the same to her.

“Right. Care to tell me why you were so interested in the community room where the fire started?”

“I wasn’t any more interested in the room than anyone else who’s thinking of buying there. I certainly didn’t start any fire,” she said. “If you’re so sure I did it, how did I get past the locked gate? Tell me that.”

“You have a friend who’s a real estate agent. She trusts you. You could have gotten in with or without her help.”

“Leave Liz out of this. What makes you think I’d start a fire? What motive do I have?”

“I know all about your background. Chief Marshall told me everything.”

“What happened to forming your own opinion? I can’t help who my birth parents were. They have nothing to do with me now. I don’t even remember them.”

Detective Green cleared his throat and looked at the building across the street, refusing to meet her gaze. “There are some mental problems that are hereditary, that you have no control over.” Compassion written all over his face, he turned to look her directly in the eyes. “Confess now and I’ll see you get the help you need. It’ll be easier on your family.”

With a start, Rory realized the man thought she was crazy. “I don’t have any mental problems. Someone’s trying to frame me.” And doing a good job of it, she added to herself.

“That sounds a little paranoid.”

“Maybe, but it’s the only explanation.”

“I gave you a chance. Remember that.” With a sad look in his eyes, Detective Green turned around and walked away.

At that moment, Rory realized the police wouldn’t be any help in discovering who was trying to frame her. She had to figure it out herself, and soon, or she’d end up in jail alongside Julian.