Elizabeth C. Main - Jane Serrano 02 - No Rest for the Wicked (25 page)

Velda mouthed,
“
Sorry.
”

Minnie contented herself with a stage whisper.
“
You need to keep the line open in case Alix calls.
”

I nodded and pretended to search the computer for an account before speaking into the receiver again.
“
No, they haven’t been mailed. That last book hasn’t arrived yet.
”

“
Nick’s not back? And Minnie’s there, right? This is my lawyer call. Have you talked to Nick at all?
”

“
Still waiting. Are you okay with that?
”

“
I’ll have to be. Arnie’s never going to look for anyone else now.
”
Alix’s voice was low, defeated.
“
I’m such a fool. Between the money connection and my argument with Hunter, even Arnie can see a perfect case shaping up.
”

I gripped the phone harder as Alix’s voice broke on the next words.

“
But I didn’t do it.
”

Minnie waved her arms in the air and hissed at me.
“
How can you worry about books at a time like this?
”

Ignoring her, I turned to the wall.
“
Of course.
There’s absolutely no question of that! I’ll … I’ll take care of it, Mirabella.
”

I replaced the receiver and took a deep breath before turning back to the room.

“
Who has a name like Mirabella?
”
Minnie asked.
“
What a pushy customer. Last thing you need is her hysterics. I tell you, Jane, sometimes people make me tired. We have an investigation to run.
”

Velda attempted to soothe Minnie.
“
On the other hand, that customer doesn’t have any way of knowing what we’re going through. I thought Jane handled her p
roblem with great sensitivity.
”

Minnie was not to be appeased.
“
But we’re wasting valuable time. We have to do something else, find another suspect. You can’t let your work here distract you from our primary mission. Laurence will just have to take care of his own store while we …
a
h
, there you are, Laurence.
”

Laurence and Tyler were coming slowly down the stairs
together. Laurence held tightly t
o the polished oak banister while Tyler effortlessly managed a heavy box of books to add to the sale table.

Once they reached the main floor, Minnie continued.
“
I was just telling Jane that she can’t waste time working here right now. She needs to head up our investigation because Arnold Kraft most certainly will not be able to find the real killer.
”

“
Good of you to manage my store and the police investigation, too.
”

Instead of erupting as I’d expected, Laurence was smiling. He hadn
’t
looked
this happy in weeks.

“
Don’t think I can’t recognize sarcasm when I hear it, Laurence,
”
Minnie said.
“
We can’t let Alix rot in jail. I’m serious about this.
”

“
I’m sure you are. Would you like to rearrange my win
dow display while you’re here?
”

While the two of them jousted verbally, I pulled Tyler aside.
“
Can you manage without me?
”

“
Okay,
”
Tyler said
,
“
but I’d rather go with you.
”

“
Believe me, I’d love to have your company, but if I can just sneak away before Minnie and Velda … you know how they are. Keep them occupied. That’s the best way to help. Besides, honestly, I don’t know what I’m going to do next.
”

He grinned at me.
“
You’ll figure it out. I’m not worried.
”

“
Thanks. Neither is Bianca. Nice that you both have such faith in me. I’m going to make a break for it
. Cover me.
”

Chapter 25

If I went home, Minnie and Velda were likely to track me down.
I
nstead, I
drove to Nick’s house as the daylight faded
, aware
I
was merely putting in time because
I had no
plan. Nick
would
call as soon as he was back in range,
and maybe we could come up with something.

Several newspapers littered the porch and the driveway was empty.
I retrieved the yellowed papers and dumped them on the passenger side of
my
car
. There. I’d done something. Big deal.
Even if Nick drove up the street right this minute, what could he—or anyone—do for Alix?

I returned to the driver’s seat.
S
lumped behind the wheel, I started to shake as I acknowledged for the first time that I was totally at a loss. It had been pleasant to allow myself to be momentarily buoyed at the faith Bianca and Tyler had shown in my ability to clear Alix, but now I was face
-
to
-
face with the reality that I
didn’t know what to do
.

As I reviewed the day’s events, I was stung by the realization that Laurence certainly hadn’t been plagued by a similar lack of initiative when he launched his preposterous plan. What had that cantankerous old man been thinking, putting himself in that kind of danger? I could guess at his likely answer:
“
S
omebody had to do something.
”

“
Right,
”
I whispered.

A wave of
sadness
swept over me as I pictured Alix as a hopeful little girl with her beloved doll. That innocent little girl had become a lovestruck teen duped by a persuasive older man. It didn’t take much imagination to understand how Alix had ultimately become a determined, aloof woman. Alix had made her solitary way in the world for a long time, hiding her generosity toward Hunter’s grandmother and others, guarding her emotions, not daring to get close to anyone … until last
year.

For the emotionally scarred Alix, joining our book club had been a gigantic leap of courage, though her offhand manner had made me wonder why she bothered to come so regularly to our meetings. Without ever betraying that belonging to the book club mattered to her, in
the
course of the past year she’d helped us solve a murder, managed Thornton’s temporarily after Laurence’s heart attack, and created an opportunity for Bianca to work and develop her creative capabilities. Alix had also become my close friend. I’d never realized before this week what a daring act it had been for her to risk forming relationships, something so simple that the rest of us took it for granted.

Now, Alix was in real trouble. She had turned
to
her friend for help, and what had I accomplished? Exactly nothing. I slapped the steering wheel in frustration
.
The brutal reality was that since I’d actually solved a murder last year, it had been tempting to flirt with the fantasy that I could do it again, all the while assuming the real killer would be found in a couple of days. Bianca and Tyler had been so confident of my abilities that they’d left me to play at being a detective as they took care of real responsibilities at the Wedding Belle and Thornton’s.
I knew Minnie and Velda were likely to be more stumbling block than help to any investigation, but I’d done little to head them off. At least, they’d been doing the best they could, while I hadn’t treated this seriously enough.

But now … the evidence against Alix was piling up. She was right that Arnie wasn’t likely to look further for a suspect. At the best of times, Arnie wasn’t much of a sheriff, and in this case Alix’s ingrained habits of secrecy had particularly worked against her. She couldn’t have made herself look
much guiltier if she’d tried.

The muffled tones of my cell phone sounded from my bag.
I didn’t recognize the number that came up,
but I crossed my fingers and answered.

“
What the hell is going on?
I’m calling from a gas station.”

In spite of the words, my heart leaped at the sound of Nick’s voice.

“
I called the store
,
and Bianca told me about Alix.
”

I could hardly hear him.
“
Oh, Nick.
”
The tears fell thick and fast as I tried to squeeze out words between sobs.
“
I’m sitting in front of your house right now.
You’re on your way back?
”

“
C
an’t hear you. Yes, I’m c
oming back. What about Alix?
”

“
It looks bad
,
and I don’t know what to do.
”
I was crying so hard now that my words came out in gasps.

“
We’ll sort everything out together.
”
Nick spoke in his lawyer voice, all calmness and reason.

I loved that voice.
My shakiness began to subside.

“
Alix is innocent. All we have to do is prove it, okay?
”

I nodded vigorously and wiped my cheeks. I wanted to jump out o
f the car and shout with joy.

“
Damn it. I was planning to be down on one knee at the beach right now
,
talking about something else entirely, but for once I agree with you that Alix comes first. Okay?
”

It wasn’t until he asked again that I realized he couldn’t see me nodding.
“
Okay,
”
I breathed.

“
I’m seventy miles away, but I’ll get there as fast as I can. Will you have stopped blubbering by then?
”

The beep in my ear indicated that my phone’s battery was about to give out.
“
Yes, I promise. Nick, my phone’s about to quit on me.
”

“
Bianca said
Alix had
been a
rrested, but what else? Quick.
”

“
It’s complicated. Alix
just wanted to get rid of him.
”

“
So did somebody else
. Tell her to keep her mouth shut until I get there.
”

Once more my low
-
battery indicator sounded.
“
She knows that.
Nick, please
—
”

The phone went dead. Probably just as well.
H
e’d be here soon. I tossed the phone onto the passenger seat and started the car. Just knowing that reinforcements were on the way, I pulled away from the curb with a flourish.

My thoughts drifted back to Laurence’s gallant attempt to link other fraudulent activity to Hunter’s murder. Maybe the concept wasn’t so far-fetched, after all. If the newspaper would run a story asking for community assistance, possibly someone who’d been a victim two years ago would connect old information to the current crime, link it in some way that hadn’t happened before. Arnie himself said that he hadn’t investigated that line of thought. It was a long shot, but worth a try.

Velda’s bitter comments at various SOS meetings had made it clear that her aunt had been one of those victims, but I hadn’t ever talked to Eleanor herself about what had happened. It wasn’t likely that she could shed any light, wasn’t even likely that Hunter Blackburn had been the one who’d defrauded her, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask.
Had Eleanor even looked at his picture this week in the paper? Possi
bly not, since she’d been sick.

I reached for the cell phone to call Velda, but remembered the dead battery. I
had at least an hour until Nick’s arrival. Taking positive action would make the time pass more quickly.
It wouldn’t take more than a few minutes to drive
the five miles
out to Eleanor
’s house
. I hesitated at the junction
stop sign
. Right toward town or left
to Eleanor’s
? No contest.
Excited about following
the only
lead
I had
, I swung
left
onto the
country
road. Velda was protective of her aunt’s need to rest, but I wouldn’t stay long. In fact, Velda might not even be home from Thornton’s yet.

As I wound through the curves
so popular with local daredevils
, I resisted the impulse to speed. It would be just my luck to find Arnie lurking under his favorite
p
onderosa pine. Sure enough, I spotted the hood of his patrol car poking out from his usual hiding place. This was one time I actually wanted to talk to him though, so I signaled carefully before pulling off the road. No use giving him an excuse to ticket me when he was already ben
t out of shape by my meddling.

He didn’t bother getting out when I approached the driver’s window.

“
See you’ve learned to be a mite more careful with your driving. Heard about your flat tire yesterday. Shouldn’t drive too fast, even when you’re chasing ‘suspects.’
”
He almost managed to keep the smirk off his face.

“
You do keep a close eye on things, don’t you? Surprising, really, when you have so many important tasks.
”

I watched his eyes go blank as he turned that idea over, trying to determine whether he’d been insulted.

Before his sluggish mind could work through the problem, I switched topics.
“
Have you ever thought about backtracking to see whether any of those unsolved fraud cases from two years ago involved Hunter Blackburn? He might have been here then.
”

“
Why don’t you just ask your friend Alix about that? She was married to him.
”

I didn’t bother to answer.
“
So, did you check the other cases against this one?
”

“
Didn’t need to. I already know who killed him.
”

“
Did you talk to Laurence this afternoon?
”

“
I
’ll get to it.
Didn’t seem like much of a lead to me.
”

“
I have another
one
. How about coming with me right now—
”

He shook his head.
“
I’m
busy
. Besides, I’ve got the killer locked up. You and your friends
,
always thinking you’re so smart—
”

I suddenly discovered the accuracy of that old saying about
“
seeing red.
”
Before saying something I’d regret later, I clamped my lips shut and retreated. As I jerked the seat
belt across my body, my hands shook so badly that it took me several tries to engage the latch. Pompous jerk! As soon as Alix was cleared, I’d make it my mission to get Arnie recalled from office for incompetence, or gross stupidity, or something.

Ostentatiously signaling once more, I pulled onto the road again, traveling well under the speed limit. Just as ostentatiously, Arnie signaled and pulled out behind me. He followed for about a mile before tiring of the game. The tires on his patrol car squealed at his Hollywood-style turn back toward town. Probably eager to get back to his heavy schedule of harassing innocent people.