A Grid For Murder (8 page)

“What did he say?”

“He told her, ‘You’ll live to regret it. I can promise you that.’ You know Greg; he’s usually full of harmless bluster, but he didn’t sound harmless that night. It might bear looking into.”

“Sounds good. I’ll talk to him first,” I said.

“Hang on a second, Savannah. I’m not sending you out into the world with this information to confront someone who might be a killer. You need to tell your husband and let him handle it.”

“I can question Greg myself,” I said. Sometimes Rob had the idea that women were delicate flowers, and I did everything in my power to dissuade him of that belief whenever I could. I was a grown woman, perfectly capable of handling just about anything that came my way.

“At least take him with you,” my friend insisted. “I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you because of what I said.”

“Rob, are we going to have to have that conversation again?”

“Woman, I’m not kidding here,” he said, his face screwed into a frown. “If Greg did get rid of Joanne, facing him alone would be the worst thing in the world that you could do. If you won’t ask your husband to speak with him, or even go with you, then I’m begging you to at least take me. Between the two of us, we might be able to handle him if things go wrong.”

I was tired of being sheltered. It was time to deflect Rob’s attention to something else. “He wasn’t even in Asheville today,” I said.

“That you know of. The very least we need to do is get an alibi for the man. If we can cross him off the list, so much the better.”

I bit my upper lip. “I see your point, but we can’t exactly walk up to him and ask him, can we?”

Rob smiled. “We can do just that, if we handle it properly. In the meantime, let’s get back to the list.”

I studied the last name he’d written there. “What could Hannah Reed have against Joanne? I’ve never even heard the woman raise her voice in public, so it’s hard for me to wrap my mind around the idea that she could possibly commit murder.”

“From the books I’ve read on the subject, there are times when the least likely suspect is the one guilty of the crime.”

“Are we talking fiction or nonfiction?” I asked. “I’m not sure mysteries should count as true research on how the criminal mind works.”

“And why not? Many of the novels I’ve read are closer to the way the world actually works than the best true crime books.”

I wasn’t about to argue the point with him. “Okay, but that still doesn’t give Hannah a reason to kill Joanne.”

“There is a good one. I just haven’t told you what it is yet.”

I waited for him to provide the missing information, but when he wasn’t forthcoming, I asked, “Are you going to tell me at some point, or do I just have to keep guessing until I stumble across Hannah’s motive on my own?”

“I honestly don’t know if I should share this with anyone, including you,” he said. “Before I say one more word, I’m going to have to get someone else’s permission.”

“Not Hannah’s, I hope.”

He shrugged without committing to an answer one way or the other. “Let’s just leave her name up there for now. If I can get the go-ahead, I’ll tell you her motive later.”

I scowled at him. “How am I supposed to figure out if she killed Joanne or not if I don’t know what her motive could be?”

Rob said softly, “Easy there, Savannah. I realize that you’re under a lot of strain at the moment, but we don’t need the motive for now; not if she’s lacking the opportunity.”

It was time to give up that particular line of reasoning, since it wasn’t likely that I would get anything more out of Rob about Hannah.

I stared at the list, and then asked him, “Is that it?”

“Off the top of my head, I’d say yes. I have to do a little digging, so I’m not ready to say that the list is finished by any stretch of the imagination.”

“There’s one other name that’s not up there,” I said somberly.

“I know you didn’t kill her,” Rob said, the closest his voice had ever gotten to angry in my presence before.

“It’s not my name I’m talking about,” I said.

“Then I’m waiting to be enlightened.”

“I’ll tell you, but you might not believe me.”

He handed me the chalk as he said, “I don’t need to believe you; at least not yet. Just knowing that it’s possible is enough for me for the moment.”

I took the piece of chalk from him and wrote down a name.

He looked at it, and then stared at me. “Is that some kind of joke, Savannah?”

“No, I actually think it’s possible,” I answered.

“Explain yourself,” he said. “There were a great many things Joanne Clayton was capable of doing, but I wouldn’t think poisoning herself was one of them. She wasn’t the suicide type.”

“I
T’S POSSIBLE,” I SAID AS I PUT THE
chalk back on the desk after writing the murder victim’s name on the board. “She had access to her tea when she was by herself. I haven’t heard what she was poisoned with, but it could be something she was able to get ahold of.”

“That doesn’t mean she killed herself,” Rob said.

“No, but when we were together at the café, Joanne knocked my bag over and spilled everything onto the ground. I thought it was odd at the time that she didn’t help me pick anything up, especially since she was the one who’d made the mess in the first place, but when I sat back up, I noticed my tea cup was askew.”

“Are you implying that she was trying to poison you, and mixed up the cups by accident? That’s a little far-fetched, wouldn’t you say?”

“Rob,” I said, “I can’t think of a reason in the world she would want to kill me.”

“Is that true? Are you saying that there was no motive for her to get rid of you?”

I thought about the puzzle Joanne had published, and the unlikely idea that she’d tried to eliminate her competition, but I found it too ludicrous to voice. “I’m just saying she could have nudged it when she was poisoning her own tea.”

He shook his head. “It’s entirely more likely that she’d poison the three of you for spite before she’d ever dream of killing herself.”

“Fine. I just thought I’d throw it out there.”

I started to erase her name when he said, “Hold on. There’s no reason to be rash about it. I’ll ask around about that, too.”

“You can’t do everything by yourself,” I said. “This is my investigation, and I’m not about to sit back and let you do all of the work.”

“Funny, I thought the police were running an inquiry of their own,” he said, a twinkle in his eye.

“They can do what they want, but I’m going to ask questions, too,” I said flatly. I wasn’t going to let him try to charm me out of doing some digging on my own. I wasn’t wired that way. When something needed to be done, I did it, with no apologies and no excuses.

“You ask the questions,” he agreed, “but there’s a good chance that unless I go with you, no one’s going to answer any of them.”

I knew he was right, though I didn’t want to admit it. “When can we get started?”

He looked at the clock on the wall. “We close in ten minutes. Can you wait that long?”

“I suppose I can,” I answered.

“Good enough.”

As he got up, I asked, “Is there anything I can do right now while you’re waiting around to close?”

“Savannah, if a broom fits your hand, I wouldn’t mind you sweeping up around the place,” he said.

I thought he was most likely kidding, but I decided that would be exactly what I would do. I knew myself well enough to know that otherwise I’d just sit there and fret, so why not do something productive in the meantime?

When I grabbed a broom once we were out front, it clearly confused Lee. “Hey, boss, is she working here now, too?”

“I don’t know. You’ll have to ask her,” Rob said, as dead serious as he could be.

“Well, are you?” Lee asked me pointedly.

“For the moment,” I said.

He apparently didn’t like my answer. “What does that mean? I’m still the senior clerk around here.”

Was he seriously concerned about sharing a workspace with me? I looked at the clock over the register and saw that we had three minutes to go before Rob locked up. “Tell you what. I’ll leave when you do.”

“That’s fine, because I’m not going anywhere,” he said, the resolve strong in his voice.

“Not even at six?” I asked.

“Do you mean today?”

I smiled as brightly as I could at him. “That’s right. I’m what you’d call a temporary, seasonal, part-time employee.”

He caught my smile, and then said, “Well, that’s all right then. I understand now.”

“Do you?” Rob asked. “Then would you mind explaining it to me?”

That just served to confuse the young man even more. “Is there a joke going on here that I’m not getting?”

“If there is, it probably isn’t very funny,” I said. “I’m just pitching in for a minute today, and then I’m finished and off the payroll. As far as I’m concerned, your job here is safe.”

“It’s not up to you though, is it?” he asked with a grin.

“You can come back tomorrow, Lee,” Rob said. “After that, we’ll see.”

“That’s good enough for me.”

At six on the nose, Lee couldn’t get out of the hardware store fast enough.

I turned to Rob as he was balancing out his cash register. “That wasn’t very nice of me, was it?”

“Lee’s a little too young and a little too earnest to get the full range of your humor, Savannah. He’s a good kid, don’t get me wrong, but he’s got some seasoning to do first.”

I smiled at him. “I’m not sure if you’re complimenting me, or if that’s meant to be an insult.”

“I suppose some things in this life must remain a mystery to us all,” he said with a slight smile.

A minute after I finished sweeping the floor, Rob looked up from the stack of cash on the counter and the register tape. “Good, it balances out on the first try. Lee is coming along nicely.”

“Do you have big plans for him?”

“Are you kidding? Someday I’m hoping he’ll take over so I can spend my days fishing.”

I thought about saying something, and then decided to hold my tongue. After all, it wasn’t any of my business.

Rob caught my hesitation, though. In some ways, he was just as sharp as my husband was. “What were you going to say, Savannah?”

“It might not hurt to tell him your plans, if you’re serious about it. He seems a little jumpy about his job, if you ask me.”

“I appreciate your advice, and I’ll give it every consideration it deserves,” he said with a smile.

I matched his smile as I said, “In other words, butt out of something that’s none of my business.”

“Your way is more succinct than mine, but not nearly as elegant. Now, if we’re done with our bantering, let’s go do a little digging in Parson’s Valley and see what we can uncover.”

“D
O YOU HAVE A SECOND?” ROB ASKED GREG LINCOLN AS
we walked into his barbershop. There wasn’t a soul in any of the waiting seats, or the two barber chairs near the long mirror in front. The floor was clean swept, an apron was draped on one side of one chair, and the other cutting area was completely vacant. Though the shop had, at one time, housed two men, Greg was now literally the only barber in town, and I was sure he grew tired of folks asking him who cut his hair, or if he managed it himself in the mirror.

“Sorry, my appointment book is all full at the moment,” he said with a smile as he leaned against the wall. Greg was in his early forties, and I’d heard Zach say that he’d bought the place from his dad when he retired, at a steep interest rate. If Greg minded, he didn’t seem to show
it. He looked as at home there as if he’d had a pipe, a robe, and slippers.

“Try to fit me in anyway,” Rob said, matching the light mood of the moment. He turned to me and said, “You know Savannah Stone, don’t you?”

He nodded in my direction. “I’ve seen you around town. You’re married to Zach, aren’t you?”

“Guilty as charged,” I said with a little of the humor my husband liked, though I realized as soon as I said it that it might not be appropriate at that exact moment. I wondered how long this playful bantering was going to last, and Rob’s next question took care of that nicely. “What were you and Joanne Clayton arguing about the other night out on the street?”

Greg looked guarded, but not surprised, as he answered, “What are you talking about? I didn’t have an argument with her.”

“Save it, buddy. I saw it myself,” Rob said. From the abrupt tone he was now using, it was clear there was no doubt in his mind about what he’d seen.

After a moment of thought, Greg finally gave in. “We never argued. Joanne might have raised her voice a time or two when we discussed things, but it was all innocent enough. Why does it concern you, anyway?” He looked a little more intently at Rob. “When did you start spying on me?”

Rob shook his head. “I wasn’t spying. I was out walking around town and I saw you two together. I heard you threaten her, Greg.”

The barber looked uncomfortable now. “I didn’t mean it, and she knew it. You know how Joanne can be. You’ve known her longer than I have. Sometimes she says things just to get a reaction from folks.” Greg sat up straight and
asked, “Has she been spreading rumors about me in town, Rob? Let’s get her over here right now. I’m certain she’ll tell you I didn’t mean anything by it. We’re on good terms, generally. We just had an off night, that’s all.”