Suspicions with Murder (A Rilynne Evans Mystery, Book Four) (14 page)

She was still staring in disbelief at the bubbling mess when Danny drove back up a few minutes later. “I don’t even know where to begin,” she said as she watched Lisa climb into the car and drive away.

“I think there’s a wet vacuum in the closet off the foyer,” he said. “Why don’t you go get that and I’ll grab the buckets from the garage.”

Rilynne found the vacuum right where Danny said it would be and rolled it to the scene outside. When she stepped back onto the driveway, she found Danny-sleeves rolled up and tie hanging over his shoulder-trying to scoop the suds out of the car.

Rilynne walked around to the driver’s side and pulled the door open. When she did, a wave of bubbles crashed down onto her feet. “What on earth am I supposed to do with this?” she asked, staring at him through the mess. She didn’t even know where to start.

Danny just laughed, bubbles now covering almost his entire body. “Just look busy until the detailing guys get here. You’ll end up completely soaked, but it’s probably the easiest thing you’ll have to do while you’re here. When we’re done you’ll even have a nice little break to clean up before starting back in on your daily duties,” he said as he scooped another bucket full and emptied it on the ground beside him.

She had to admit he had a point. As messy as it was, it was still easy work. At least Cyndi Lewis hadn’t requested she clean the interior herself instead of calling in a detailer. “How long will it be before they get here to take care of it?” she asked.

Again Danny laughed. The look on his face reminded her of a child planning something they were bound to get in trouble for. “I told them not to hurry,” he said after glancing over his shoulder to make sure they were alone. “It’ll probably be an hour or two before they can make it.”

“This is really how you want to spend your morning?” she asked curiously. She looked down in the car, again wondering where exactly to start. Finally, she decided just to grab the bucket and start scooping. There was still far too much in the car for her to use the vacuum.

“I could definitely think of worse things to do. At least the company is good,” he stated.

Rilynne peered over at him, but he didn’t look up.

Despite having covered the driveway with bubbles, the car didn’t seem to be emptying at all. Instead it was somehow getting fuller.

“What the hell?” she thought aloud as she dropped the bucket and pushed her hands through the suds. After a few moments she found what she was looking for.

Instead of just pumping the car full of bubbles like she had originally assumed, Mr. Lewis seemed to have used a chemical mix to create them. The cylinder she removed from the car was still erupting with suds when she placed it on the ground.

“What’s that?” Danny asked. He walked around the car toward her.

Rilynne backed away from it. As she cocked her head and stared down at it, all she could do was shrug. “I have no idea,” she said. “I’m glad we found it, though. Who knows how long it would have pumped bubbles into the car.”

After the detailing team arrived an hour later, Rilynne walked to her room. Her clothes were completely soaked. She grabbed her spare uniform and hurried to the bathroom, trying not to leave a wet trail behind her as she went. After peeling her sopping clothes off, she quickly climbed into the shower and rinsed off before putting on her dry uniform. She tossed her wet shoes in her room and grabbed a backup pair on her way back to the north wing. Despite her resistance, Lori had insisted she pack more than just one pair of shoes. She was glad she gave in.

Rilynne slid them on and walked back into the kitchen. Luckily, there was still some toast left on the table. She grabbed a few pieces and ate them as quickly as she could before another interruption popped up.

“Come on,” Nancy called when she stuck her head into the room a few minutes later. Rilynne pushed the last bite into her mouth as she spun to face her. “Lisa’s back with the groceries and we need to help her bring them in.”

Rilynne tossed the empty plate into the sink and followed Nancy out the back door. She had never seen so many grocery bags before. The entire trunk and back seat were full. She was also genuinely surprised to see everything had been placed in reusable
shopping bags. For some reason, the Lewis’ just didn’t seem the type to be concerned with the environment.

She waited as Lisa and Nancy grabbed all they could, then stepped toward the open trunk. When she pulled the bags away from the side, she caught a glimpse of something that got her attention. At first Rilynne thought it was just a smudge of motor oil, but when she looked closer, she could see it was something else. It was blood.

S
he leaned in for a closer look but was interrupted by Nancy and Lisa walking back out. By the time all of the bags had been removed, Danny was already climbing back into the car to take it to the garage. After quickly helping put all of the new cleaning supplies into the closets, she retreated to her bedroom.

“See if you can get another warrant that covers the cars,” she said abruptly when Matthews answered.

“Well, hello to you, too,” he replied stubbornly. “Did you see something in one of the cars?”

She dropped down into the corner chair and pulled her feet up underneath her. “I saw what looks like a spot of blood in the trunk
of a staff car. I wasn’t able to get a really good look, but the color was consistent,” she explained. “I know the security logs don’t show any cars coming or going, but it’s possible it just wasn’t recorded.”

“I’ll call it in and see if we can make it out there tomorrow,” he said.

“You better make it today,” she stated firmly. “Mr. Lewis filled one of the cars with suds this morning, and Mrs. Lewis has a detail team here now cleaning it. I wouldn’t put it past her to have them clean all of the cars while they’re here.”

“All right,” he said. “I’ll have it pushed through and see if we can be out there within the hour.”

Rilynne hurried back to the kitchen as the others gathered for lunch. “The detailers are thirsty. Is there anything I can take out to them?” she asked Lisa, careful to keep her voice down to avoid attracting the attention of the others.

“Of course,” she said pleasantly. “I just made a pitcher of lemonade. I’ll pour a couple of glasses for them.” Rilynne leaned against the island and watched her fill the three large glasses. “Do you need help carrying them out?”

“No,” she replied, “thank you.” She balanced the three glasses in her hands and carefully made her way to the door. Before stepping out, she placed the glasses down on a corner table. Looking in the mirror, she pulled her skirt up another inch and sighed.

“Here boys,” she said with a flirty tone as she stepped out onto the driveway. “I thought you might be a little thirsty.”

The men looked up at her and grinned as they dropped the cleaning supplies and hurried toward her.

“Well aren’t you a doll,” the oldest stated. Of the three, he seemed to be the only one in his twenties. If she had to guess, she would have thought the other two were no older than sixteen. “I need to get myself a pretty little thing like you to come home to.”

“Aren’t you married?” one of the younger boys asked. He grinned as he took a sip from the cup.

“That doesn’t stop me from needing someone to do what’s needed around the house. Especially while wearing something like that.” He had a smug grin that made Rilynne want to smack him. She forced a smile on her face, though didn’t say a word. “Maybe Mr. Lewis should make messes in the cars more often. I wouldn’t mind the extra work as long as I got to see your pretty face.”

“Speak for yourself,” the younger boy spoke again. “It’s going to take us hours to get this mess cleaned up. We’ll be lucky if we make it to our next appointment on time.”

“Some things are worth the extra work,” he stated. His eyes were still firmly placed on Rilynne. The other boys looked at each other and shook their heads before walking back to the car. “So what’s a pretty little thing like you doing cleaning up after people? You should be sitting at home while some lucky man takes care of you.”

“Maybe one of these days I will be,” she said playfully.

His grin made her stomach turn. He was physically attractive, but something about him left her feeling both uneasy and dirty. “Well, I’ll let you get back to work. I’ll be in a heap of trouble if I don’t get my chores done before lunch.”

“Don’t be a stranger,” he called out as he watched her walked back toward the door. The conversation left her feeling like she needed another shower.

Just under an hour later, their lunch was interrupted by the sound of tires rolling down the driveway.

“It’s the police,” Lisa said, peering out the back window. “They’re heading toward the garage.”

“What did you do, dude?” Cole asked Danny.

Danny shrugged, though Rilynne could see a glint of concern on his face.

The group jumped up almost simultaneously and hurried toward the door. By the time they stepped out onto the driveway, four police cars had stopped outside of the garage entrance.

“We have a warrant to search the vehicles for anything related to the murder of Brittney Price,” Tylers said as he stepped toward them. “Please open the doors.”

Danny grabbed the warrant from his hand and looked over it as he said, “Nancy, go get Mrs. Lewis.” When she turned and hurried back to the house, he reached for the keys in his pocket and unlocked the door.

“Are these doors always kept locked?” Tylers asked.

“No,” Danny stated as he stepped back to allow the team to enter. “Mrs. Lewis’ order to keep it locked came only this morning. She thought it would be better if access to the cars be limited from now on.”

“Did she give you a reason for that?”

“Yes,” Danny said quickly. “Though if you’d like to hear her reasons, you’ll need to ask her yourself.”

Rilynne was surprised by his abruptness, but before she was able to give it much thought, a shriek rang out behind her.

“This is unacceptable,” Cyndi Lewis said as she strutted toward them. Nancy had to almost run to keep up. Instead of its normal, perfect appearance, her hair looked almost tangled as the wind picked it up off of her shoulders. She didn’t even bother to move it out of her eyes when she came to a stop, just feet from Tylers.

“This is bordering on harassment!” she yelled, tearing the warrant from Danny’s hand. “You cannot keep coming here and disrupting my house.”

“Ma’am, we’re investigating the murder of a member of your staff. We’ll do whatever we need to do in order to find the responsible party.”

Rilynne had to fight to keep the impressed grin off of her face. While she knew Tylers was a more than capable detective, she had never seen him so forceful before. Even Mrs. Lewis seemed slightly shocked by his tone. She quickly recovered, however, and took a territorial step toward him.

“I hope this last visit is satisfactory, because you will
not
be making another one. My attorneys will see to that,” she said abruptly.

Tylers didn’t back down, but instead just stared at her until she turned and started back toward the house. “With me,” she said, not turning toward the staff. Everyone followed without a
second's hesitation.

Rilynne expected her to walk straight through the kitchen and back into the main house, but instead she turned and peered out of the window.

The rest of the staff seemed to anticipate an explosion, because they quickly dispersed. Rilynne waited for them to vanish down the hall before turning toward Mrs. Lewis.

“This is ridiculous,” Cyndi stated, though she didn’t appear to be addressing anyone in particular. “They’re treating us like common criminals. For all I know, they’re in there planting evidence themselves.”

“Would you like me to go supervise them, ma’am?” Rilynne said timidly. “I wasn’t here at the time of the girl’s murder, so they couldn’t refuse my attendance by stating I’m a suspect.”

Cyndi nodded without looking at her. “I want to know everything they do.”

Rilynne walked back out the door and straight to the garage, careful not to look to eager.

“What-” Tylers started when she neared him.

“She’s watching,” Rilynne said quietly. “She sent me to keep an eye on what’s going on. She wants to make sure you don’t plant evidence.”

The corner of his mouth rose, as he seemed to struggle not to appear amused. “Well right this way, ma’am,” he said as he led her into the large garage. “And have I mentioned how much I love the outfit?”

“Oh, hush,” she said as she walked toward the cars. There were close to twenty cars strategically placed around the room. She made her way to the three black cars on the end and pointed to the one in the middle. “It was this one.”

“Ben should be just a few minutes away,” Steele said as he walked up next to her. “Why don’t you show us what you found?”

She took a glove out of his hand and pulled the latch on the trunk. “I couldn’t really get a good look with everyone around, but there’s what appears to be blood on the side right here.” She pointed to the left side of the trunk, just beside the panel for the rear lights. Steele stuck his head in and examined it.

“Let me see that,” he took the glove back. “It looks like there’s a hair caught under the edge of the panel.” He snapped several pictures before he took a small evidence bag out of his pocket and gently pulled the hair away from the lining of the trunk. After examining it briefly, be carefully put it in the bag and sealed it. Steele then turned the latch on the panel and let it swing open. “Bingo.”

When he stood back, Rilynne could see a large bloody fingerprint.

“Isn’t that my job?” Ben called out as he walked in behind them. Rilynne turned around to point out what they had found, but his eyes weren’t on the car. Instead, he was looking her up and down with a playful grin.

Rilynne rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I swear, one of these days all of you are going to end up having to wear something completely ridiculous, and I’ll never let you live it down.” She heard a click to her right and turned to see Steele’s camera now pointed at her. “You’re dead.”

“What?” he said with an innocent tone. “I promised the guys I would take a picture. You know, for posterity.”

The men smiled as she took a long, annoyed sigh. “How about you three actually get to work so I don’t have to stay in this thing for the rest of my career. I would think that a bloody fingerprint would be far more interesting to you than my attire. After all, you’re searching for a killer, aren’t you?”

Ben laughed as he stepped past them and leaned into the trunk. “Nice find, detective. With any luck, we’ll be able to put a name to this beauty and have an answer to that very question by tonight.”

“Well, get to it then. I’ll just wait back here and act like I’m spying on you. Cyndi Lewis is bound to venture out herself soon,” she said.

It took just over an hour for Ben and Summers to go over the entire car. Given that it was a staff car, there were surprisingly few prints on it. She had a feeling that whoever used the car to dispose of the victim took care to wipe it clean. She had wondered why such care wasn’t put into cleaning the trunk, but quickly came to a satisfying conclusion. Danny was in charge of cleaning the cars himself, so an alarm would rise if it were to
suddenly show up detailed. It would have been easier to just wait until he was scheduled to clean it and let him unknowingly dispose of any remaining evidence. Judging by the schedule posted on the wall, it was actually due to have been cleaned that very afternoon. Rilynne was suddenly very grateful for Jared Lewis’ morning shenanigans.

After following everyone out of the garage, Rilynne found Cyndi Lewis still hovering in the kitchen. Her presence seemed to both annoy and frighten Lisa, who was hovering in the corner as she prepared for dinner.

“Well?” Cyndi said impatiently.

“They took a bunch of pictures of the cars and looked in them all. They didn’t really let me that close, but it didn’t appear that they found anything. They took fingerprints off of all of the door handles and steering wheels then left,” Rilynne said, again trying to sound timid.

“Is it possible that they put something in one of the cars?” she asked, stepping toward Rilynne. “Think very carefully, Miss Howard. Can you say that you’re positive that something wasn’t placed in there?”

She was more paranoid than Rilynne had originally believed, which was saying a lot. “I didn’t see anything, ma’am.”

“But is it possible that someone could have slipped something in without you seeing?” she asked. Her posture was quite intimidating, even to Rilynne. “You couldn’t have been watching all of the cars at once. Someone could have easily pretended to drop something as they walked past a car and placed something under it.”

“I guess so,” Rilynne said. She no longer needed to pretend to be nervous. She now found herself backing slowly away from Cyndi, wanting more than anything to be out of that room.

“You guess so. Okay, good,” she said. Her demeanor quickly changed as she smoothed her hair back and walked quietly out of the room.

“What the hell was that about?” Rilynne asked as soon as she was sure Cyndi was out of earshot.

Lisa looked almost as shocked as she felt. “Knowing her, she’s probably afraid that her husband paid off an officer to bug her car. Just last week I overheard her accusing him of having her followed. Lovely couple, aren’t they?”

Rilynne cocked her head and chuckled. “Well, I’m incredibly behind on my work for today. I guess I better get started or I’ll end up working through the night.”

“I doubt you’ll have to worry about that,” Lisa said. “Mrs. Lewis would have given your chores to Nancy while you were cleaning up after Mr. Lewis’ mess. I assume she did the same for the time you were observing the police officers for her.”