A Cup of Murder (13 page)

She shook her head and breathed deeply. "I
haven’t seen James face to face for a long time. He seemed filled
with anger most of the time. Somehow this trait allowed him to
control others. He is a person who likes to show his power over other
people. His constituents don’t always see the real Senator, you
know."

Nope, I didn’t know that but I didn’t agree or
disagree. She was someone who definitely knew the brothers better
than I did. This explanation of personalities was a far cry from what
I had observed in the two brothers. I had never seen Michael as a
generous person. On the other hand, I didn’t get the impression
James Simms was a controlling person much less an angry one until I
encountered him in Roasted Love earlier. On the outside, he seemed to
be the usual politician, when it came to getting people to vote for
him.

"I appreciate your time," I said when it
was time to leave. "Again, please accept my condolences."

On the way home I felt I could start drawing a few
conclusions of my own. The question of the exact circumstances of
John Andrews’ sudden death was one to investigate. It was
interesting that someone who Marianne couldn’t name found him alone
in the campaign office that fateful day.

I noticed a message on my phone when I got home.
It was from Daniel. He wanted me to call him back which I did once
Thor finished reveling in my attention.

"How about going to dinner tomorrow night
when you get off work?"

I was both surprised and happy with the
invitation, but I had a lot to think about. Jacob’s desperation
came to mind.

"I’m busy with my detective work. May have
to take a raincheck."

Was I crazy? I must be more involved than I
thought to let this invitation fly out the window. Was that another
soft chuckle I heard over the phone?

"Look, I will help you with this private eye
work if you’ll have dinner with me."

I needed an ally. My lack of expertise in
investigating murder was evident to me. I agreed. "I need help.
So I’ll take you up on the invitation. I think Michael may have had
something to do with John Andrews’ death."

"Are you sure about that?"

"No, just suspicious. I’ll tell you about
my visit with Marianne Andrews when we meet."

"I think I can get John Andrews’ autopsy
report if you want me to. I have a few friends in the police
department."

I couldn’t believe my luck. "Yes, I want
that. Bring it with you."

"Hang on there. I said I will try to get it.
I’m not sure I can get it that fast but I’ll do my best. I want
to hear everything when we go out tomorrow night, so don’t hold
back."

I laughed. "Don’t worry. You’ll hear it
all."

It was a relief to have someone to lean on. This
was especially true when I thought about going out with Daniel
Jenkins. I vowed to stick with the business at hand.

I looked forward to seeing John Andrews’ autopsy
report. My reasoning was it could be somehow connected to Michael’s
murder. The web was weaving tighter. I thought I probably should look
up facts on how to investigate murders. I had no mentor along those
lines to know what I was doing. Mainly, I hoped I wasn’t gathering
useless information. That is where I needed Daniel. He appeared to
have a level head.

Not sure I liked his joking accusations of me, but
I knew he was the one to help me out. It was with those thoughts I
realized he had already helped me. I did like it when he questioned
me. It made me rethink things.

My preference was to drift off to sleep with
thoughts of Daniel Jenkins dancing in my head. Instead, Jacob Weaver
came to mind. He still sat behind bars. I couldn’t ignore the look
in his eyes when he begged me to help him. Nor could I forget his
slumped shoulders when he walked away.

The once massive and strong frame looked a few
inches shorter. Despair isn’t a pretty picture. This is especially
true when it comes to seeing it in an innocent person pronounced
guilty before trial.

Daniel and I needed to move faster on this
investigation.

Chapter Seventeen

Daniel and I sat across from each other at the New
Orleans Style Restaurant. He had asked me if I liked Cajun food
before we chose this place. When I said yes, he introduced me to a
huge selection of authentic Acadian dishes.

"How do they get it fresh from the Gulf to
New York?" I asked.

"They have it flown up almost as soon as the
seafood is fished from the waters. Try one of the gumbos."

He chose the smoked chicken and sausage gumbo. I
veered from his suggestion about gumbo and had my eye on the southern
shrimp and grit cake. There was Tasso ham on the side. After we
ordered I looked at him with expectation.

"So where’s the autopsy report?"

He laughed and reached for the folder he brought
in with him. "You don’t waste time, do you?"

I glanced at the report and asked him to explain
it all.

"It states John died as a result of an
extreme asthma attack. It also says bruises were found on his body,
especially around the head and shoulders. The date, time of death and
where it happened is here, too."

I scanned the document quickly. I depended on
Daniel for interpretation and that was enough.

"Then Michael must have fought with him over
something and caused his death," I said. "Did I tell you he
gave John’s mother a hefty check the day before he was murdered?"

"You haven’t told me anything about your
visit with Marianne Andrews. So no, you didn’t tell me that. What
was the check for?"

By now, I was into the whole story of what I knew
so far. I told Daniel all about the visit, the check, the reasons
unknown for it according to Marianne and my own take on it all. I
didn’t leave out that Sunrise was now owned by Marianne.

"Wow! You found out a lot of news," said
Daniel. "I’m not really surprised Michael left Sunrise to her.
After all, he and John were good friends."

"Nevertheless," I said. "I really
think Michael Simms had something to do with John Andrews’ death.
The report says there were bruises on him. I think John made Michael
mad and they got into a fight."

Daniel leaned back and scrutinized my face. "What
could they have been fighting about? From all reports they were good
friends. Good friends usually work things out verbally, not with
fists."

"There’s more," I said. "I found
a photo of Michael, John and James on the ground next to Roasted
Love’s trash bin. On the back were their names and under that the
word ‘redemption.’"

"That’s interesting. I mean that the trash
had belonged to Michael and was there on the ground next to Roasted
Love’s trash bin."

"I thought so, too. What do you think the
bruises on John meant?" I asked.

I knew I jumped from one thought to the next but
wasting time wasn’t in the cards. We could discuss the trash later.

"The report states most likely due as a
result of some roughhousing before his death."

"He was twenty years old. That sounds like
someone looked at him as a kid. What kind of roughhousing would have
been going on in the office? I thought he was alone when he died."

"It is all quite a mystery. John had only
been working for James for a few months. It was James’ second
campaign. He was older by a couple of years, you know."

"I wonder if Marianne had it out for
Michael," I said, ignoring his latest comment. "Maybe she
found belladonna someplace, met him at Sunrise and put the poison in
his coffee the night after he went to see her."

Daniel leaned back again and gave a low whistle.
Humor flooded his eyes. "You sure know how to draw conclusions."

"It is possible," I said.

"Anything is possible. We just don’t know.
From what you have told me, Michael still held John’s mother in
high regard. He did leave his business to her to say nothing of the
hefty check. Besides, the autopsy report doesn’t say anything about
anyone causing the asthma attack, so where do you get murder out of
it?"

O.k. so I was grasping at loose straws. I dug into
the cheddar cheese grit cake. Gathering a small spicy shrimp on top,
I popped the bite into my mouth.

After allowing for time to think while I savored
the sautéed shrimp, I said, "Why else did Michael think he
needed to write ‘redemption’ on the back of that picture? That
could mean he felt guilty about something."

"From what I understood of Michael’s
personality changes, he probably had reasons to be guilty about a lot
of things," said Daniel.

It hadn’t taken long for me to realize Daniel’s
methods consisted of playing the devil’s advocate. It did add
interest to the process of solving the mystery.

"How about some dessert?" he asked me.

I held up my hands in the negative. "I
couldn’t eat another bite, but help yourself if you can do it."

He declined the server’s card displaying a
variety of sweets. While Daniel paid the tab I thought of more
reasoning behind Marianne committing the murder of Michael Simms. Her
motive sounded more likely than an unknown argument between two good
buddies.

I thanked Daniel for the dinner. We rode in
silence for a few blocks.

"What are your real thoughts regarding John
Andrews’ death?" I asked him.

"I’ve always felt there may be something
more to his death than what is on paper. I just don’t know."
He navigated the traffic well. Of course, he was a paramedic and knew
how to do that easily. "I want you to be careful in meeting with
people you don’t know. We still don’t know who murdered Michael
Simms."

Coming from him, I paid more attention to his
words than I had when Jacob warned me. When we arrived at my
bungalow, I leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Whoa, what was that for?"

"Mainly, it’s for showing me the autopsy
report, and for a delicious meal."

We grinned at each other. "If I had known
that was all it would take to get a kiss from you I would have come
up with that sooner," he said. "What else can I do for
you?"

"For right now, the report and the dinner
will do it," I said.

I slid to the car door and opened it. He waited
until I got inside and I waved goodbye.

Thor bounded forward when I came in. I looked out
the window as Daniel pulled away. Clearing my mind of him, I had more
important things to think about at the moment.

For starters, I had to think about another visit
with Marianne Andrews and how to accomplish that. Daniel’s words of
caution briefly went in and out of my mind. I sat at the computer and
brought up the obituary on John Andrews. I read it twice. According
to the notice, the campaign manager was found in the parking lot of
his apartment complex. He was on the ground next to his car parked in
his assigned space in the carport space outside his apartment door.

It was determined he died of an extreme asthma
attack. Nothing about who was there or who found him was in the
obituary. This was in stark contrast to the autopsy report that I was
sure said he died at the campaign office.

I quickly dialed Daniel on his cell phone.

"I just read the obituary on John Andrews
online. It states he died in the parking lot outside his apartment. I
thought it was a known fact he was found in the campaign office of
James Simms. We both read that in the autopsy report, too."

"I should have told you. The obit was written
that way but I have it from reliable sources he was found in the
campaign office. That is why I have always felt there was more to his
death than what the family wanted the public to know."

"Well, what do you know? This is a mystery,
for sure. This tells me that his death was not a natural one."

The familiar chuckle came through the cell. "I
agree with you on this one. And it all may or may not have something
to do with Michael’s death. But I have to say, there is no way
John’s death was anything but suspicious. I concluded that when I
first read the notice of his death."

"It would have been nice if you had said all
of that when I saw you."

The chuckle floated over again. I wondered what
else he kept from me. It was hard to sleep that night. I set my phone
alarm for plenty of time to get caffeine in my system before heading
in early to Roasted Love.

Chapter Eighteen

My cell rang the next day in the early afternoon.
It was Marianne. She wanted to see me. My dilemma solved, I told her
I would be over that evening around seven. It was a problem
concentrating on work. Ideas flooded my mind and I continually turned
over events of the last week. I took Thor home after work and we went
through usual routines but I think Thor felt neglected. My attention
was miles away from him. His accusing face told me he knew I
shortened his running time.

"You get more attention from me than Michael
gave you, Thor. You know you do."

I left him and headed over to Marrianne Andrews'
house. Once again, the petite woman ushered me into her living room.
We sat in the exact same spots as before and I waited for her to
speak. Tapered fingers reached for one of the albums still on the
coffee table. I told her I had some questions for her first if she
didn’t mind that.

She agreed with a smile. "Of course, ask
away," she said.

"This is a really strange question...but I
feel like it could lead to solving something about John and Michael's
deaths. Do you know exactly where John was when he passed away?"

"He was on the floor of James Simms’ office
as I said before."

"The obituary states he was on the ground
next to his car at his apartment."

She shuffled a few books on the table next to her.
"I know that and I have no idea why that was in the obituary. I
didn’t write it. I left it to Michael to write it up. Thomas, my
other son, was too young to put it together and I was in no state to
do so. My husband passed away when both the boys were very young."