A Cup of Murder (14 page)

"Did you ask Michael why he wrote the wrong
location?"

"Yes, I did. He said because of publicity,
they felt it would be better to make it look like it happened where
he lived. He explained it would shield his brother who was in the
middle of a campaign. I didn’t like the idea, but John was gone and
never coming back. Michael was very sympathetic about the situation.
I knew the truth and that was what mattered at the time."

None of this made sense to me. The Simms family
sure had clout to cover something up. What were the brothers trying
to hide? So what if John collapsed in the campaign office? That’s
where he worked and if the cause was from an asthma attack, that
would be understandable.

On the other hand, maybe Marianne Andrews and
Michael Simms both had reasons of their own to state the untruth. I
placed my face directly in front of hers.

"I want you to know that I can see how a
mother would want to avenge her son’s death. If Michael caused
John’s asthma attack, I can see how you may have met him that night
in his coffee house and put poison in his coffee."

The stunned look on the woman’s face said maybe
I had been too blunt. I couldn’t tell if it was one that told me
she was found out, or one that told me the thought hadn't even
crossed her mind.

She looked me in the eye and regained her
composure. "I would never have poisoned Michael. I recognized
his goodness. The night he was here with the check, he was still
deeply saddened. The anger most saw in him was replaced with
despondency." We sat in silence. "Besides, that is why I
wanted to talk to you again. Michael, nor James, was with John when
he died. His girlfriend was there."

It was my turn to stare. "You told me it was
confusing who was there," I reminded her.

"I hadn’t thought of the specifics for
quite a while until you brought that up. Later, I remembered it was
John’s girlfriend who was there when he died. I don’t know her
name. John had dated her for a short time at that point and I never
met her. I have a picture of her, though."

I leaned forward, excited to see another piece of
the puzzle. When I looked at the picture I held back a gasp. The girl
in the photo with John was tall, slender and had hair the color of
sun-bleached sand on a beach. Without a doubt, the woman was Sarah
Simms. True, she was younger in the picture, but her face was
unmistakable. The girlfriend was the wife of James Simms.

"I only heard her first name and think it was
Susan or Sarah, perhaps," said Marianne. "John didn’t
tell me everything about his private life. I found that picture in
his wallet after he died and on the back he wrote the words ‘my
girl’ on it but no name. Michael once told me he knew her, but he
didn’t say who she was. I was so devastated I didn’t ask at the
time. Do you know her?"

"I thought at first she looked familiar but
I’m not really sure."

Now was not the time to tell Marianne Andrews that
her son was having an affair with the wife of Senator James Simms. I
stood and told Marianne that it was getting late and I had an early
morning.

"I hope I’ve been of some help to you. I
want to emphasize there was no way I would ever have harmed Michael
Simms, ever."

I wanted to say she had only added to my
confusion. At this point, I had no idea what was real and what was
not. Several people had gone to great lengths to cover up things
about John Andrews’ death. I wanted to know why.

Chapter Nineteen

In the early afternoon the next day, I took my
break away from Roasted Love and headed for the jail. Jacob looked
like he had aged a lifetime.

"Hello, Laila. You know you don’t have to
keep coming to see me."

"I come because I want to. I’ve found out
some stuff that I want you to know about."

A glimmer of hope lit his eyes and he sat up a
little straighter.

"I think John Andrews’ death a while back
is somehow connected to the murder of Michael," I began. "I’ve
been to see John’s mother, Marianne on two occasions. I keep
getting mixed information from her. I’ve learned that her son died
in James Simms’ campaign office, not on his apartment parking lot.
The obit states that he was found near his car. The autopsy tells it
different."

Jacob didn’t look surprised. "What does all
of this have to do with anything?"

I told him about Michael visiting Marianne the
night before his death and his offer of a huge check amount. "I
think he may have been paying her off for something. Like maybe he
had something to do with John’s death."

For the first time in the visit, Jacob perked up
with more life in him. He asked me to go on. I was only too happy to.

"I’ve enlisted the help of Daniel Jenkins
in my investigations."

"Daniel?" he asked.

"The paramedic," I said. "You met
him. He was the one who helped take Michael's body out of Sunrise."

"Right," he said, nodding, though I
wasn't sure if he was agreeing because he remembered Daniel or
because he simply wanted the conversation to continue.

"Daniel knew the Simms’ brothers but not
all that well. He does know more about their lives than I do at any
rate," I said. "Marianne told me about the differences in
the personalities of Michael and James. Seems James has quite a
temper at times and is very controlling. Before Michael changed he
was the one who gave to the poor and did good deeds right and left."

"I didn’t know that," said Jacob. "I
knew James had a way of winning political positions most of the time.
Why did Michael give Marianne a check?"

I told him that she was as baffled as anyone and
he wouldn’t explain it to her.

"Twenty-four hours later Michael was dead. It
could be that whatever went on at her house that night made her
resent him. Maybe she blamed Michael for her son’s death. She could
have met him at Sunrise that night and slipped poison into his
coffee."

Jacob rubbed his forehead. "I just don’t
know, Laila. I just don’t know. At the very least, she may know a
lot more than she is willing to say. Do you have any proof she could
have done it? Remember also that someone had to have planted evidence
against me at Roasted Love."

I shook my head no. "Let’s think about who
could have put that evidence in your office. How well do you know the
servers?"

"I did a background check on Janie and Lily
both. I had references and both of them had good ones. I don’t know
much about Lily’s son, Eddie, but he seems like a good kid. After
all, he is her son. I don’t think she would have brought him on
board, even part-time, if she had any doubts to his honesty."

"There’s more," I said. I lowered my
voice though only one other inmate had a visitor. They sat at the
other end of the room. The guard was making eyes at a female guard on
the other side of the glass window. "James Simms has been coming
into Roasted Love on occasion. He was there the other day and I heard
him tell someone that Sunrise had been left to Marianne Andrews by
Michael. She wanted him to get a realtor in to sell it. A realtor
showed it the day James was in the coffee house."

"I don’t think I’ve ever seen James Simms
on the Piazza in all the time Michael had Sunrise."

I brushed over his comment. I told Jacob about
finding stuff that belonged to Michael in a sack on the ground. "It
was by our trash bin, not Sunrise’s." I told him about the
photo and the envelopes. "I plan to ask Daniel to find someone
to test the envelopes for any evidence."

"What kind of evidence?"

"I don’t know but something may be on them
that will help."

I glanced at my watch. I had only about ten
minutes left before Jacob would be taken back to his cell. I told him
about showing the photo to James and his reaction. I spilled the
information about his short and angry conversation with Janie on his
way out of Roasted Love.

My time was up and the guard reluctantly left his
view to escort Jacob back to his cell. Before he did so, I told Jacob
these were all things I wanted him to think about. As he walked away,
I remembered to ask him quickly about hiring another employee. He
nodded yes and waved to me over his shoulder.

I hurried back to work. Thor managed a reproachful
whine. I decided a quick walk up and down the alley a couple of times
would make him happy again. Then I got back to work.

Several customers were there sipping cappuccinos
and frappes. Janie wiped a table and went to the register to gather
her receipts. She handed them to me without a word. Lily was busy
taking an order. I tried to make small talk with Janie. She answered
but didn’t elaborate on anything as she usually did. She seemed in
a hurry to get to the time clock.

"I checked with Jacob. He said it was o.k.
that we put the notice up asking for extra help," I told Lily.

When I told Lily to do that, she seemed excited to
say the least. Relief evident, I felt I had at least made one server
happy. We chatted like we used to do before the murder of the owner
of Sunrise. It gave me a good feeling to relax for a few minutes once
again.

Later, we closed together and walked outside. The
air felt crisp and Thor pulled at the leash. I unhooked him and let
him run free for a few minutes.

"I can’t get over how you’ve taken to
that dog, Laila," said Lily.

"I know. It’s hard to believe he almost
tore me apart not so long ago."

As Thor and I walked home, several of my neighbors
were parking their cars as they arrived home from work. We greeted
with waves. Without warning, Thor growled in the now familiar
threatening way. My eyes skirted the street and lawns looking for his
target. No one was in sight that I could see. I hurried to the door.
Thor held back and turned for a last menacing growl.

"What’s wrong, boy?"

My legs were turning to jello. My dog was more
astute than I was. He could sense someone he didn’t trust a mile
away. The maples and elms were still leaf-laden and dipped low to the
ground in some spots. I wanted whoever stalked me to just show
himself and get it over with.

With a tug, Thor finally came inside with me. I
quickly double-bolted the door and leaned against it. My breath,
uneven, became hard to control. Thor knew I was afraid. He sidled
closer as if to say ‘don’t worry, Laila Rook, I’ll take care of
him for you.’

I decided that was the last day I would walk home
after work for a while. The days were getting shorter. Getting home
after dark never bothered me before. Now I saw phantom stalkers
everywhere. Even the jail where Jacob was being held was close enough
to work that I could easily walk it, but I think I'll forego that,
too, for now.

"You know, Thor, maybe I should keep walking.
I shouldn’t let someone else decide my routine."

Thor licked my hand, agreeing with me. I put him
out back and looked again in my refrigerator hoping for a fully
cooked meal to be waiting to be warmed up. It wasn’t there, but
deli turkey and a variety of several cheese slices were. I reached
for potato chips and a paper plate. Settled on the patio, I munched
away. I was a little anxious about my stalker possibly showing up in
the back yard. I had Thor there and so far no growls came from him,
so once again I was lost in my thoughts. I wadded up the paper napkin
and folded the plate over it. I tossed it all into the trash can at
the edge of the outside wall and closed the lid tight.

I reached for the door just as a raging bark from
Thor came from behind me. My heart jumped to my throat and stayed
there.

"Who’s out there?"

The quiver in my voice failed to make the demand
come out with authority. Thor waited. His low growl continued to hum
but he stayed by my side. Silence enfolded the small yard. In a few
minutes the last of the day’s sun would sink to a final dip and
then darkness.

Dialing 911 would have been anyone’s answer at
this point. I didn’t do that because it would prove useless. I was
sure no one would be there by the time the police arrived. I jerked
Thor’s collar with my hand and commanded him inside with me. He
didn’t like that I had interrupted his duty to protect me.

I called Daniel. When he heard my voice, he said,
"What’s wrong, Laila? You sound scared to death."

I told him about my experiences since arriving
home from work.

"I’m coming right over there," he
said.

"I just need someone to talk to so I can calm
down," I said. "You don’t have to come all the way over
here. My place is locked tight."

"I’m coming anyway."

I did want him here. I needed company and I guess
that was why I called him in the first place. Fifteen minutes later
he drove into my driveway. I had had to explain to Daniel why I had
Michael’s dog. He accepted it better than Jacob had.

"Whoever it was, he must be brazen."

"What do you mean, Daniel?"

"I mean if he is stalking you in daylight, he
isn’t worried about being seen. He knows how to keep in the
shadows. Maybe Thor is helping to keep him away, but one day, you
might be alone and then what?"

I gulped. "Then that means I’m not safe
from him no matter where I am."

"You have to go to the police, Laila, and
report this. At least they can cruise by a little more often and
check things out."

That was good advice.

When Daniel left, I hurried to double-bolt my
doors. He had checked all the windows and found them to be secure. He
offered to sleep on the couch but I knew he was on call that night. I
reminded him I had Thor for protection. He had glanced at the dog and
nodded his approval.

Chapter Twenty

The morning brought clouds that threatened
possible rain. The sky clinched whether I walked or drove to work
that day. Thor happily jumped into my car.