Assault and Batter (10 page)

“Well, I’ve got a hunch nobody’s doing anything until Chief Martin talks to you both. I’m surprised he hasn’t been here yet.”

“He might have left a few messages,” Max admitted reluctantly.

“And you weren’t even a little curious about what he wanted?” Grace asked him.

“I thought he was sending along his best wishes,” Max said.

The front doorbell rang, and Max answered it without thinking.

It was the police chief, and he clearly wasn’t happy with any of us. “What are you two doing here?” he asked Grace and me the second he saw us standing together.

“We just wanted to have a little chat with Max and Peter,” I said.

“Get in line,” he said as he turned to my ex and his best friend. “Gentlemen, get dressed.”

“We just heard the news about Jude Williams, and that’s the truth,” Max said.

“Save it. I don’t want to get into it right here. Unless you object, and you’d better have a darn good reason if you do, this interview is going to take place in my office. Do either one of you have any problem with that?” The way he stared at them both, it was clear that the question was moot. He nodded at their lack of responses. “Good. Now go.”

Once they were back in Max’s bedroom, Chief Martin turned to us. “Really? You just couldn’t wait, could you?”

“We’ve been trying to track them down ourselves,” I said.

“What did they say?”

“They both claimed they didn’t know that Jude was dead,” I said.

“Do you believe them?”

”Yes,” Grace said quickly.

When I didn’t answer right away, the chief asked, “Well? What about you, Suzanne?”

“I’d like to be able to say that I do, but they are both decent actors. Maybe they were telling the truth, or maybe they’re just both very good at lying. I don’t know, and that’s the truth.”

“I appreciate your candor,” the chief said.

Both men came out in jeans and T-shirts. “We’ll follow you out,” I said.

“Do me a favor, would you?” Max asked me as we all walked out together.

“Sure,” I said.

“Don’t tell Emily about this.”

“Max, I’m not comfortable keeping secrets from her,” I said.

“I’m going to tell her. I just want to do it myself. Can you at least give me that?”

I thought about it, and then I answered, “I won’t go out of my way to tell her where you two are, but if she asks me, I’m going to tell her. I’m sorry, but that’s the best I can do.”

“I’ll take it then,” he said. “Thanks, Suzanne.”

“Happy to help.”

“Chief, do you mind if we follow you there in my car?” Max asked.

I could see Chief Martin consider it, and then finally, he nodded. “Stay in my rearview mirror the entire time. If you try to make any unscheduled stops, you won’t be happy with the results.”

“You’ve got it,” Max said.

Peter waved to us as he got into Max’s car, but he looked a little concerned as he did so. Then again, who could blame him? He’d had a fistfight with a man who was murdered soon afterward. It couldn’t feel good, no matter how you looked at it.

Once everyone was gone, Grace turned to me. “There goes two of our suspects,” she said. “Does this change our plans in any way?”

“I’m thinking that it might be a good time to see if we can get Lisa Grambling alone. I had a hunch that the last time we spoke, she had more to say.”

“Oh, boy. This should be a real treat,” Grace said as we both got into my Jeep and drove over to Lisa’s place.

I just hoped that Frank would be gone this time.

Otherwise, I had a hunch that we weren’t going to get a thing out of her.

“I don’t want to talk to either one of you,” Lisa Grambling said as she opened her front door.

“Why, is your husband still at home?” I whispered. “We can meet up someplace else if you’d like.” I had to get this woman alone so she could speak frankly about Jude Williams.

“He’s at work,” Lisa said. “That still doesn’t change the way I feel. You both need to stop bothering me, or I’ll tell Frank that you’re harassing me.”

“You were eager enough to talk to us yesterday,” Grace said. “What’s changed?”

“We’re finished here,” Lisa said. Before she ducked back inside though, she looked quickly up and down the street. The look in her eyes could only be described as real fear.

“Lisa, has someone threatened you? If your husband is being abusive, you need to get out.”

“My husband loves me,” she said emphatically.

“Then who are you so afraid of?” I asked her.

She replied by slamming the door in my face.

“What was that all about?” Grace asked me as we walked back to my Jeep and got in.

“She’s clearly rattled about something. Do you think it’s possible that the killer got to her and threatened her to keep her mouth shut?”

“I can’t for the life of me figure out why else she’d have such an abrupt change in attitude. Yesterday she couldn’t stop herself from naming suspects in Jude’s murder, and today she acted as though she was afraid of something, or someone. How else can we read it?”

I nodded. “I know you’re right, but what good will it do us knowing that Lisa’s scared? We don’t have any idea who might know that she’d been talking to us.”

“Unless someone has been following us,” Grace said.

“You’re talking about Reggie Nance, aren’t you?”

“We have only his word that he was at Max’s place waiting for Max and Peter to show up. What if we got it all wrong and he’d been following us all along?”

I considered the possibility. “Wasn’t he already at Max’s when we got there, though?”

“Did you see his car when we first drove up?” Grace asked me.

I thought about it, and then I said, “I can’t be sure. I didn’t notice him until he started his car and took off.”

“So, he could have pulled in behind us and shut off his engine without us noticing him. We were pretty focused on Max’s place at the time.”

“It’s possible,” I said.

“Then we need to have a chat with Reggie,” Grace said.

“I already spoke with him today. He stormed off without his donuts.”

Grace nodded. “Then it’s a good thing you had extras this morning.”

“What do you expect me to do with those?” I asked her, even though I had a sneaking suspicion what her plan was for my leftovers.

“Why, you’re going to apologize, of course, and offer these as a peace offering,” she said with a smile.

I wanted to argue the strategy with her, but I knew that she was right. “That’s exactly what I’m going to do, and you’re going to be standing right beside me when he do.”

“There’s nowhere else that I’d rather be,” Grace said.

“Just one thing,” I said as I started the Jeep and drove toward Reggie’s office. “It’s a minor point, but it’s still something that we should probably clear up before we get to his business.”

“What’s that?”

“What exactly am I apologizing for?” I asked.

“I was hoping that you would be able to come up with something,” Grace said with a grin.

“I could say that I was being insensitive about Debbie, but I don’t believe that. She wouldn’t have approved of her father’s attitude. There’s no doubt in my mind about that.”

“Can you try to fake it?” Grace asked me. “If you can’t, I understand, but we need a reason to just show up at his office.”

“I am sorry if I hurt him,” I said. “I don’t have to pretend that I’m not.”

“There you go, then.”

We drove up to the form-supply business Reggie owned and parked in a visitor’s parking space. I grabbed the stuffed box of donuts, and then I turned to Grace. “You can sit this one out, if you’d like.”

“Are you kidding? This was my idea, remember? Lead on.”

“What are we going to say is your reason for being with me?” I asked as we walked up to the front door.

“We have plans this afternoon, so I’m just tagging along when you do this,” she said.

“Okay. Here goes.”

We walked in through the front door of the business. Three men and women sat at desks behind a counter, though there was room for half a dozen more. They were all on the phone and talking at the same time. I didn’t know how I’d be able to get any work done in that kind of environment, but then again, a lot of folks would have balked at the prospect of getting up in the middle of the night to mix batter and dough. To each their own.

There was an unremarkable rather heavyset woman behind the desk that said Reception, so we approached her.

“May I help you?” she asked, her gaze never leaving the box of donuts in my hands.

“We’re here to see Reggie,” I said.

“Is Mr. Nance expecting you?” she asked.

“No, we don’t have an appointment, but this is important. My name’s Suzanne Hart, and this is Grace Gauge.”

“I know who you are,” she said as she looked up briefly from the donuts into my eyes.

“Please. It’s important,” I said.

“Let me see if Mr. Nance has time to see you.”

She left her desk, and Grace whispered to me, “Did you see the way she was eying those donuts?”

“Hey, who can blame her? They’re delicious, and she didn’t get any today. Reggie left without them, remember?”

“I’ve got a hunch they aren’t leaving with us, no matter what Reggie says.”

“Shh. She’s coming back.”

The woman came back with a frown plastered on her face. “I’m sorry, but Mr. Nance is unavailable. If you’d like me to give him something, I’d be glad to hand deliver it myself.”

“Sorry. This has to be done in person, or not at all,” Grace piped up.

The woman frowned again, and I could swear I saw storm clouds forming in her eyes. “That’s too bad.”

I couldn’t take it anymore. There was nothing to gain by holding my own donuts hostage. “Why don’t you take these anyway?” I asked her as I handed her the box.

“That’s really sweet of you,” she said with a broad smile. She took the offering and then leaned forward as she whispered, “In ten minutes, he’ll be heading to his car to get his hair cut. You can try again outside. I’m sorry, but it’s the best that I can do.”

“It’s perfect,” I whispered back. “Thank you.”

She just nodded, and Grace and I left the office, but instead of going back to my Jeep, we walked over to Reggie’s car. It was parked front and center, and the sign said, “CEO Parking Only.” For such a small office, calling yourself a CEO had to show that the man had a bit of an ego.

“Well, what do you know? Your donuts really do open doors, don’t they?”

“I wasn’t expecting her to be so cooperative. I just hate to disappoint people when they only want my treats, you know?”

“Suzanne, your good heart pays off yet again,” Grace said with a smile. “What are we going to say to Reggie now that we’ve given up our secret weapon?”

“I’m still going to apologize,” I said firmly.

“But you don’t believe that you need to,” Grace protested. “I didn’t mean to back you into doing something that you’re not comfortable with.”

“Grace, he was right. The man lost a daughter in a pretty devastating way right after losing his wife. He has to have felt pain that I can only imagine. I need to apologize.”

“I knew there was a reason that you were my best friend,” Grace said with a soft smile as she hugged me.

“I thought it was because of all the free donuts,” I said, trying to soften the seriousness of our conversation.

“Hey, I didn’t say that was the only reason,” she said, joining in with a smile of her own.

It was gone soon enough, though, as Reggie walked outside.

“I told Betty that I wasn’t interested in seeing you,” Reggie snapped as he barely hesitated upon spying us waiting by his car. “You’ve got some nerve ambushing me in the parking lot like this.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, plainly and simply.

It was enough to make Reggie stop. “About what, ambushing me?”

“About what I said about your daughter. I was wrong, and I’m sorry.”

That clearly confused him. Reggie had made up his mind to be rough on me, but I’d invoked his daughter’s name, and something changed instantly in the man. “That’s okay.”

“I mean it,” I said. “Debbie’s memory deserves better than what I gave.”

“That it does,” he said.

“I can even understand why you’d want to see vengeance for your loss,” Grace said.

“Vengeance?” Reggie asked incredulously. “Is that what you two think I’m doing? Justice is more like it. Besides, I didn’t touch Jude Williams, as much as I wanted to, and I surely didn’t pick up a pipe and hit him with it.”

“It was an iron bar,” I said. “Reggie, do you happen to have an alibi for the time of the murder?” I asked. “It would make life a great deal easier if you did.”

“Who is there to alibi me in the middle of the night? My family is all gone. I was doing exactly what I do every night, and I was doing it alone. I heated up a frozen dinner, watched a little baseball, and then I fell asleep on the couch. There’s no one in the world who saw me, or even spoke to me. But I’m telling you now, once and for all, that I didn’t kill Jude Williams. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to be late for my haircut.”

Reggie got in and drove away before we could say another word.

“Do you believe him?” Grace asked me after he was gone.

“I want to, but I’m still not sure. How about you?”

Grace shrugged. “You know me. I don’t trust anyone. If I see lips moving, I believe that someone is lying to me. Call it the cost of doing business as a saleswoman for too many years. What does your gut tell you?”

“It’s surprisingly quiet at the moment,” I said, “except rumbling for food. I’m starving, are you?”

“I could eat,” she said with a smile. “I’d just about decided to have a few donuts when you gave them away. That should entitle me to a real meal.”

“How does the Boxcar Grill sound?” I asked as we got into my Jeep.

“Like a little bit of heaven,” she said with a grin.

“Then let’s go eat,” I replied. We’d managed to get some new information since we’d started our investigation, but we were still nowhere near finding the killer. I was beginning to wonder if we ever would, but I knew that I had to be patient. These things often took time. The problem was that Emily and Max shouldn’t have to get married with a cloud of murder hanging over the festivities.