Santa Sleuth (7 page)

“I want to go ice skating again,” Scooter chimed in.

“I think we can do that as well. In fact, I planned for us to spend a good part of the weekend in town enjoying Hometown Christmas as a family.” I just hoped sleuthing wouldn’t get in the way.

“Can Eve and Pepper come with us?” Alex asked.

“I thought Pepper was going home for the holiday.”

“I guess it isn’t going to work out for her to go home after all.” Prudence Pepperton—Pepper for short—was another of the three students living with Phyllis.

“Oh, no. What happened?” I asked.

“She was all set to go home when her dad called to say that he was taking his new family to Aspen for Christmas, so he felt it was best that she stayed in Ashton Falls.”

Poor Pepper. Her mother had committed suicide after her father divorced her and moved on to a new family. Pepper had hoped to mend fences with her father in spite of the way he’d treated her mother, but it seemed he didn’t mirror her desire to share their lives. The main reason Pepper was boarding with Phyllis and attending Zimmerman Academy this year was that her father wanted her out of his hair. I felt so bad for the poor girl who was having such a hard time with both her mother’s death and her father’s desertion.

“Eve and Pepper can absolutely go with us if they want to,” I answered. “Brooklyn can come too.”

Brooklyn Banks was the third student boarding with Phyllis.

“I think Brooklyn is going home for the holiday.”

“Can Tucker come?” Scooter asked.

“Sure, why not? The more the merrier.”

“The more the merrier what?” Zak asked as he wandered into the kitchen.

I explained about the weekend outing the kids and I were planning.

“Sounds like a lot of fun.” Zak poured a cup of coffee. “My favorite part is the sleigh ride. We can’t forget to do that.”

“Do you have any traditions from when you were a kid?” Alex asked Zak.

Pi wandered in and joined us as Zak shared memories from his past. This, I realized, was the type of big family meal I’d dreamed of as a kid. I wasn’t sure what the future held, or how long Pi, Alex, and Scooter would be with us, but I knew in my heart that I would always remember this breakfast.

I decided to stop by to visit with Ellie after I dropped Scooter off at school. I really did want to make plans to do something with her this weekend. I knew that between Scooter’s play that evening and Hometown Christmas with the family time was going to be tight, but Ellie was my best friend and no matter what else I had going on I would make time for the person who had been there for me whenever I needed her over the years.

“Please tell me you aren’t here to apologize again for the fire,” Ellie greeted me when I knocked on her door.

“I’m not.” Okay, I was, but I didn’t need to say so. “I just wanted to see if you wanted to do something this weekend. Just the two of us.”

Charlie greeted her dog, Shep, as we followed Ellie into the warmth of the boathouse. Ellie had decorated the small space warmly with just a few well-placed accents to bring the feel of the holiday into the home without making it feel crowded or cluttered. I loved living with Zak and I loved my new noisy family, but there were times when I missed the peace and serenity I’d found living in my own little space.

“I thought Scooter’s play was tonight,” Ellie pointed out.

“It is. And I have plans with the family tomorrow. Maybe Sunday?”

Ellie sighed. “Maybe.”

“Something wrong?”

Ellie handed me a cup of coffee. I didn’t want to admit I’d already had five cups that morning so I took a small sip and then set it down on the small dining table she’d tucked into the window nook.

“It’s Levi. I’m pretty sure he wants to break things off between us.”

I frowned. “Did he say as much?”

Ellie set a plate of Christmas cookies on the table.

“No, but he’s been distant. Actually, more than distant. Downright evasive. I know something is going on, but whenever I ask him about it he just gives me some vague answer about needing to work things through. I think there might be someone else.”

“I’m sure it’s not that. Levi wouldn’t cheat on you.”

“Maybe not, but something is going on. And it’s something he refuses to talk about, so all I’ve been able to come up with is that he has a thing going on with someone else.”

I took a bite of my cookie. Ellie wasn’t wrong about the fact that Levi had been distant and evasive, but another woman? I found that hard to believe.

“How is the investigation going?” Ellie asked. “Any news since we spoke to Billy yesterday?”

It seemed obvious that Ellie wanted to change the subject and suddenly so did I.

“I think we’ve pretty much hit a dead end. Between Salinger and me, we’ve eliminated all our suspects. There is one woman I still want to talk to, though. She goes by the name of Riley. For some reason I didn’t think to get a last name. She was at Lucky’s at the time of the fire, so she couldn’t have done it, but it sounds like she might have been in a relationship of some sort with Jason, and I know she was with him just prior to his altercation with Kelly.”

Ellie frowned. “That name sounds familiar.”

“Tina Littleton indicated that she’d been sleeping with Jason at the same time she was.”

“Tina Littleton was sleeping with Jason?”

“Apparently. From what I’ve been able to find out it seems the guy got around.”

I realized that a discussion about cheating men wasn’t the best topic after what Ellie had just told me.

“You know,” Ellie said, “I think the woman who owns that motorcycle shop out on the highway is named Riley.”

“You mean the one with the pink Harley hoisted up onto that platform a good two stories off the ground?”

“That’s the one.”

The shop Ellie was referring to was just outside of town. It didn’t seem to me that Ashton Falls was large enough to support its own motorcycle dealer, but I knew the shop did repairs on motorcycles and domestic vehicles as well.

“Feel like doing the sleuthing thing with me again today?” I asked.

Ellie paused. “I still need to grab a shower. Will you wait?”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “I’ll take Shep out for a quick run while you get ready.”

Shep took care of his morning business and Ellie got dressed, and then she, the dogs, and I headed toward the highway that led out of town.

Riley looked exactly like I thought she would. She was tall and thin with dark hair and so many tattoos covering her body that you could barely make out the original shade of her skin. She had long hair that was pulled back in a braid that nearly reached her waist and wore dark lipstick and eye liner that accentuated the piercings in her lip and eyebrow.

“Can I help you?” she asked as we walked into the shop.

“Are you Riley?” I asked, just to be certain the woman actually was the person I was looking for.

“Who wants to know?”

“My name is Zoe. I’m looking into Jason Overland’s death.”

“I know who you are. You’re the animal shelter lady who’s always nosing around in everyone’s business.”

“Yeah, I guess I am. Do you have a few minutes?”

Riley turned and walked down the hall. I looked at Ellie, who shrugged, and we followed her. The hallway opened up to a large room filled with partially disassembled vehicles and motorcycles. There were three men dressed in blue overalls working on the various vehicles. Based on the grease stains on Riley’s hands, I was willing to bet she worked on the vehicles as well, but today she was dressed in a tight black sweater topping tight black jeans that were tucked into black leather boots.

She walked through the workroom to a small office in the back. She indicated that Ellie and I should take seats on the blue plastic chairs across the desk from where she sat down.

“I didn’t kill Jason,” she jumped right in.

“We know that,” I answered. “The bartender at Lucky’s already verified that you were at the bar during the time Jason was murdered.”

Riley just looked at me as if to ask why in the heck I was bothering her if I already knew she wasn’t the killer.

“The reason we’re here is to find out if you have any information that might lead to the person who did kill the man,” I continued.

“I thought you did.”

“No,” I corrected her. “I didn’t kill Jason. At least I don’t think I did. The whole thing was kind of a blur.”

Riley laughed. Based on her stoic demeanor to that point, her reaction surprised me. “I sure hope you don’t end up in jail. The DA is going to eat you alive.”

“I don’t plan to go to jail. I plan to find out who actually killed Jason. Is there anything you can tell me that might help me do that?”

Riley looked me up and down. I was sure she found me lacking, but I still hoped she’d point me in some direction.

“If I was investigating this case,” she began, “I’d talk to five people.” She took out a pen and paper and jotted down the names. She pushed the note across the desk. “If I were a betting woman, and I am, I’d bet you’ll find your killer among the names on this list.”

I picked up the paper and looked at it.

“Andrew Dover?” I asked.

“Andrew is the lead contractor working on the mall project. He hired Jason based on Billy Sand’s recommendation. On the surface it appeared Jason was doing a passable job, but what neither Billy nor Andrew knew was that Jason was stealing materials from the project and selling them down in Bryton Lake.”

“I suppose that could make this Andrew mad. Certainly mad enough to fire Jason, but kill him?”

“The thing is, Andrew isn’t the one who noticed the discrepancy in materials. The investor developing the project did. Andrew almost lost his job over the whole thing. The only reason he didn’t was because he promised to pay the guy back for the materials Jason took.”

I could see how that might make a man mad enough to commit murder. It sounded like Jason got off scot-free. I asked Riley about that and she said she didn’t know the details of the agreement the men came to.

“Kelly Arlington?” I asked as I considered the second name.

“I take it you already know Jason pretty much used her as a punching bag,” Riley pointed out.

“Yeah, but I’m pretty sure she was passed out when Jason was stabbed.” Actually, Salinger had pointed out that she could have come to and stabbed him after I passed out, but we didn’t have any evidence to support that. “Why do you think she might have killed him after putting up with his abuse all that time?”

“She tried to kill him once before.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

Riley leaned back in her chair. “Jason told me that Kelly ground up a lethal dose of sleeping pills and put them in his whiskey. The only reason he didn’t die was because she had second thoughts after he drank the deadly brew and rushed him to the hospital to have his stomach pumped.”

“So why wasn’t she arrested?” Ellie asked.

“No one other than Jason knew what really happened. They told the cops and the doctor it was an accidental overdose. The only reason I know what really happened is because he told me after Kelly kicked him out a while back.”

I took a minute to let this all sink in. Kelly had tried to kill Jason once. Could she have decided to try again? She certainly had more of a motive for wanting him dead than anyone else we had looked into.

I glanced down at the list. “Bram Willard? The same Bram Willard who owns the local feed store?”

“One and the same.”

“But he’s so nice. I really don’t see him as the type to kill a man.”

“Jason hooked up with Bram’s sister Jennifer three nights before the fire. They met up at Lucky’s and things progressed from there. I saw her in town on the morning of the fire and she had a huge bruise on her face. I don’t know for a fact that Jason is responsible for that bruise, but based on what I know about the guy it seems likely.”

Bram was a sweet man who I frequently chatted with when I stopped in to buy dog and cat food. He didn’t seem like the violent type, but I had to admit he was protective of his sister, who had a bit of a wild side. I hoped he wasn’t the killer, but the more I thought about it, the more I was convinced that he very well could be.

“Blugo? I don’t know anyone named Blugo.”

“You wouldn’t. He tends to keep to himself.”

“Do you know where we can find him or do you have a last name?”

“Tizzy will know where he hangs out.”

Tisdale Brenton was the owner of Tizzy’s Tats.

“So why do you think this Blugo might have killed Jason?” I asked.

“’Cause Jason won big at a poker game Blugo sat in on. Really big. A couple of days later Blugo found out that Jason had cheated. The idiot actually bragged about cheating to his bar mates after he’d had a few. I don’t know Blugo all that well—no one really does—but I do know that cheating the man out of his money is as good as a death sentence.”

“So you think he could have done it?” I mused.

“I think everyone on that list could have done it. That’s why I gave you the names.”

Riley made a good point.

“How do you know all this stuff?”

“I hang out in the bar. People talk; I listen.”

I guess that made sense. I looked back down at the sheet of paper I held in my hands.

“Tina Littleton?” I read the last name out loud.

“The chick is a wacko,” Riley began. “She had a thing with Jason prior to him and me hooking up, and when he tried to break it off she went psycho. She totally blamed me for the whole thing and started following me around.”

Tina had admitted that she’d taken to stalking Riley after Jason broke things off with her. Still, it seemed if she was going to kill someone it would be Riley and not Jason she’d stab.

“I have to ask, if you knew the guy was an abuser and a cheater, why did you spend time with him?”

Riley shrugged. “I spend time with a lot of guys, and Jason could be a lot of fun. He only hit the weak and needy women in his life, so I never felt threatened. Besides, there was no way Jason was going to hit me and live to talk about it and he knew it, so he left me alone.”

“Okay, well, thank you for the list.” I stood up. “I do appreciate the information.”