Book Club Bloodshed (11 page)

Cody waited in her truck, with the windows down of course, while they ate in the diner up the street. When the waitress dropped the check, Missy snatched it up.

“Missy, you—”

Missy held out a palm. “You just lost your job. Let me get this.”

Ruby looked down, embarrassed. “Thanks.”

Missy left a generous tip. In high school, she’d worked one summer as a waitress and knew how difficult the job was. The servers were the ones that got the brunt of a diner’s disappointment whenever something went wrong in a restaurant, even if it was outside of their control. She’d tipped well ever since.

“Missy, thanks, I really feel bad, coming here and dumping all my problems on you while your best friend is…” Ruby’s voice drifted off.

Missy reached across the table and held Ruby’s hands. “It’s okay. I kind of needed the break myself. It’s all I’ve been thinking about. I just wish I knew how to find the information I need.”

Ruby’s eyes went wide. “Information?”

Missy lowered her voice. She figured she could share a little with Ruby. Not everything, but a little. “I’ve got my own theories about who killed Anne, but I need access to real estate records.”

Ruby’s eyes went back to normal. “Uh, hello? Librarian here.”

Missy palmed her forehead. “Of course I should have come to you.”

Ruby smiled. “I know how to research. What do you need?”

“I’m not sure exactly.” Missy hesitated, wondering how much to share. Paul Gold had passed the information along about the property Trudy and Anne had both been interested in.

Ruby watched her expectantly, hoping Missy would open up to her. Looking at the woman, Missy figured it would actually do Ruby some good if she helped. That way, Ruby could keep her mind off the more depressing news in her life.

“What I’m going to share with you can’t go any farther.”

Ruby nodded. “Of course.”

“I need to research a piece of land that was bought a couple years ago, by Anne Baxter. Is there a way to get information on someone that
almost
bought the land?”

“Like what kind of information?”

“That’s where I’m struggling. I don’t know. I won’t know till I see it. If it even exists.”

Ruby thought about it. “The town keeps records of all this stuff. One thing you could check would be permits.”

“Permits?”

Ruby nodded. “If the other person intended to do anything with the land, they might have started the permit process.”

“Okay, great! How do I get that information?” Missy asked.

“The property and tax assessor’s office.” Ruby smiled sadly. “I was actually working with him on integrating their database into ours, so people could access the public information through the library.”

“Do you know somebody there?”

Missy really should have gotten back to the bookstore. Brett had okayed her closing it down for a couple hours during the day, but she’d already spent most of that time having lunch at the diner with Ruby. But the town’s administrative offices closed at four, from what Ruby had told her, and she didn’t want to wait until tomorrow to get in there and find what she was looking for. From what Lee had shared with her, Tyler and the department were moving fast with Noreen. She was running out of time.

Missy walked into the tiny building that was attached to the courthouse. She didn’t know what she was expecting to find, but it certainly wasn’t the tall, handsome, strapping (there was no other word!) man behind the desk at the town assessor’s office. He looked up at her with a smile.

“Tom?” Missy asked. “Ruby said she was going to call you…”

“The infamous Missy DeMeanor.” He stood up behind his desk and offered his hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

She chuckled. “I don’t know about infamous.”

“I’m sure you can think of a better word. How about crime-fighting? I heard how you solved Switzer’s murder last year.”

“Solved is way too strong of a word. I was lucky.” She thought about that man’s hands closing around her throat and how Cody had saved her life by breaking through the screen of the storm door. Then Tyler had shown up to take the man into custody. “Very lucky.”

“What can I help you with?” Tom asked. Missy pegged him as mid-twenties, about Ruby’s age. They had been in school together, according to Ruby.

Missy explained what she was looking for. She even had the information she needed on the parcel of land.

“That’s all public information.” Tom nodded as he thought about it. “It’ll only take me a second. Let me see who else was looking at that property.”

Of course Missy already knew who else was interested: Trudy Shaw and her husband. But she pretended she didn’t.

Tom worked on his computer. She couldn’t see the screen from where she stood, and it would have looked strange for her to watch over his shoulder anyway.

“Oh,” Tom said. “Right. I remember this one.”

“This one?” Missy asked innocently.

Tom nodded, his eyes still on the screen. “Jason and Trudy Shaw. They had filled out the paperwork on a number of permits, looking to improve the land.”

“Right. What kind of permits?”

“To build, basically. Judging by what they were asking for, the Shaws planned to put real estate on the land.”

Missy nodded. She hadn’t known this last bit with certainty, but it was hardly news.

“You said you remembered this one?”

Tom looked up at her. “Yeah, hard to forget actually.”

“Why do you say that?”

“They were acting like it was a done deal. Nobody goes to this trouble unless they’ve gotten a handshake.”

“Oh.”

Tom smiled devilishly. “I probably shouldn’t share this, but I help out in the Court of Common Pleas sometimes. I know the folks over there.” He bobbed his head in the direction of the courthouse next door. “The Shaws sued the owner and the holding company of the eventual buyer.”

“What?” Trudy had never mentioned this. Neither had Anne, but why would she broadcast the fact she’d been sued? No, if anybody was going to bring it up, it would have been Trudy. The same Trudy who had told Missy about Anne’s affair with a mysterious cop. The more Missy thought about it, the more she suspected Trudy now. The real estate deal had been a few years ago but money gave people long memories.

Tom nodded. “Tortious interference with a contract.”

“What does that mean in laymen’s terms?” Missy asked.

“Sorry,” Tom said, shyly. “I want to eventually go to law school, when I have enough money saved up. It basically means a third party interfered with someone’s contract, enticing or forcing one party to break that contract. The aggrieved party, under contract law, can sue the third party for basically sticking their nose in and ruining everything.”

“Thanks, Tom. Very interesting.”

“Sure, no problem.” He got up as she left. “And hey, if you talk to Ruby, let her know I was asking about her, okay?”

Missy said she would but didn’t mention the fact that Ruby was happily engaged.

***

When she got back to the store, Missy found Ellen Stein waiting outside the door. Missy parked in the mostly empty lot and rubbed Cody’s side. The dog picked her head up.

Missy waved at Ellen, who did not wave back.

“So that’s how it’s going to be,” Missy said, still in the truck.

She got out and Cody followed. Ellen had her arms folded and looked positively unfriendly as Missy approached the store.

“Hi, Ellen.”

“Missy.” Ellen looked at the front door. “I didn’t know you closed in the middle of the day.”

Her voice was icy.

Missy smiled sweetly. “We’re understaffed this week.”

“You mean because Noreen has been arrested,” Ellen said.

Missy lost the smile. “Wrongfully. And also because Brett is taking his first vacation in years. So it’s just me.”

Ellen nodded. She worked for the local paper and handled the classifieds and most of the copy-editing. From time to time she also played the part of reporter too.

“Can we talk inside?” Ellen said.

“Sure.” Missy didn’t care for her tone. She was glad her boyfriend, the cop Richard, wasn’t around.

Missy unlocked the door and Cody slipped inside first, darting for the space under the desk, right where Missy liked to put her feet. Of course.

Missy held the door for Ellen, who stepped inside with her arms still folded. Then Missy came in and tossed her jacket on the coat rack. She rounded the front desk and as discreetly as possible, slid her note pad off the desk and put in the drawer so Ellen wouldn’t see it.

The chair Alison and Ruby had sat in earlier was still right there, but Ellen didn’t sit.

“I don’t appreciate your sneaking around and questioning my boyfriend.”

Missy thought about how to respond. She could feign innocence, but Ellen would see right through that. But she didn’t want to come out and admit it, either, because then Richard would know she at least suspected him.

“I was just making conversation.”

Ellen lips formed a thin line. “Missy, I’m a reporter. You can’t BS me.”

Missy folded her arms. “Alright, fine. I have reason to believe Anne was having an affair with a cop. I didn’t know you and Richard were dating until I saw you at Carney’s.”

Ellen didn’t take her eyes off Missy. “I don’t want you messing up what I have. Richard is a good man and he loves me very much. He did not kill Anne Baxter. He has no reason to.”

Missy didn’t want the conversation to go this way. She
liked
Ellen. But Noreen was her best friend. If she had to choose between the two, it was a no-brainer.

“Okay, Ellen. Then why were you so insistent on trying to keep him quiet about Anne?”

Ellen’s nostrils flared as she took a deep breath. Missy had just scored a point.

“Richard speaks his mind. For better or for worse. It’s one of the things I love about him. And I happen to know what he thinks of Anne. It isn’t very flattering. He would have said some really mean things about her if I hadn’t stepped in. And, knowing you, you would have jumped all over them. But he didn’t kill Anne.”

“Why didn’t he like Anne?” Missy said, ignoring the hostility that was coming off Ellen in waves.

“None of your darned business, Melissa.”

Ah, the full name. Ellen must have been really irate. “Is it because Anne broke up your engagement?”

“Like I said, it’s none of your business.”

“Did he date Anne before you two got together?”

Ellen head bobbed backward and she half-laughed. “No. Is that what you think?”

Missy said nothing.

Ellen started laughing. “Wow. You are
some
detective, Melissa. Really.”

Missy measured Ellen’s words against her body language and detected no lie. She was telling the truth. Richard hadn’t dated Anne Baxter before.

“Look, Ellen, I’m sorry about what I did. But you have to understand why I did it. Noreen didn’t kill Anne.”

Ellen seemed to soften a little bit. “I wouldn’t have thought so either. But then who did it?”

“Come on, Ellen, just tell me why Richard doesn’t like Anne. Help me find whoever did this.”

Ellen looked away. Slowly, she unfolded her arms and dropped them to her sides. “Richard doesn’t not like
her.
He doesn’t care for her family. Anne’s father and his had a falling out years ago.”

“About what?”

Ellen shook her head. “You’re unbelievable, you know that?” She folded her arms again. “You’re wasting your time, by the way. Richard couldn’t have killed Anne.”

“What do you mean, couldn’t have?”

Ellen smirked. “Richard already provided Tyler with his alibi.”

“But he said he was home alone,” Missy said.

“Yeah.” Ellen was still smirking. “But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have an alibi.”

“What does that mean?” Missy stood as Ellen headed for the door. “What does that mean? Please, Ellen.”

Ellen stopped at the door. “You think you’re a detective, you figure it out.”

Missy closed the store a few minutes earlier because she hadn’t had any customers for two hours straight. It was a sobering thought. With so few customers, how could Brett keep the store open much longer?

She opened the door so Cody could jump into the truck. The dog settled into the passenger seat, and Missy got behind the wheel.

She had plenty of suspects. Now what she needed to do was find a way to cross them off the list. It was just a process of elimination, right?

But how to do that?

Missy sat behind the wheel of the truck, lost in thought, as the night wore on. Cody stretched out on the passenger seat next to her.

She called Lee Greenberg, hoping for some good news. “Lee, what’s up?”

“They’re going to charge Noreen tomorrow.”

“On a Saturday?” Missy asked.

“The criminal court is open when they need it to be open.”

Missy’s heart sank. She was letting her friend down in the worst possible way.

“What are you going to do?”

“We’ll plead tomorrow,” Lee said. “Then we have to get ready for trial.”

“Trial?” Missy couldn’t believe it.

“It’s all circumstantial, Missy,” Lee said. “So I’ll bet I can get the DA to take a deal.”

“A deal?” Missy shook her head. “NO WAY. Noreen is innocent. She can’t go to prison, not even for a day. It would ruin her.”

“Missy.” Lee’s voice changed and she knew he was about to deliver bad news. “They have a strong case to make against her.”

Missy couldn’t speak for a moment. “This is crazy. They have a strong case to make against her because she got into an argument with the woman at a book club meeting?”

“Seems like a silly thing to get that angry about, doesn’t it?” Lee asked. “And it wasn’t the first argument they had.”

“But you said it yourself. It’s all circumstantial.”

“There’s physical evidence too.”

Missy’s chest felt hollow. “What?”

“Noreen had some abrasions on her hands and a few broken nails.”

Missy thought back to that night. She remembered noticing Noreen playing with a couple broken nails.

“But…” Missy didn’t even know what to say. “But…wait, wait a minute…”

Lee paused for a long moment. “They’re saying she wore gloves to do it, then got rid of the gloves before she came back inside.”

“What?” Noreen didn’t usually wear gloves from what Missy knew. She certainly didn’t remember Noreen wearing any that night.

“They found the gloves. They’d been hidden inside the library.”

“No.” Missy felt sick to her stomach. “This can’t be happening.”

“It is.” Lee took a deep breath. “Missy, I’m not saying that Noreen did this. But I’m telling you, they have a strong case.”

Missy squeezed her eyes shut. Despite her earlier convictions, she felt her resolve crumbling. And a tiny, traitorous voice inside her head wondered if Noreen was actually guilty.

“They’re saying she had gloves on, which explains why they couldn’t get any of Anne’s DNA off her hands or in her fingernails.”

“How does she explain her hands being nicked up?”

“She fell while she was outside smoking.”

Missy nodded. It sounded like a weak defense to her too.

“I’m sorry, Missy.”

“I just can’t believe it.”

“I know.” Lee took another breath. “This isn’t over, Missy. I’m just preparing you for the worst.”

“Consider me prepared.” She couldn’t fathom the idea of Noreen going to prison…or worse.

“I think Noreen really has to consider a plea bargain at this point,” Lee said.

That meant it was basically over. Lee was usually overflowing with confidence and a can-do attitude. If he was ready to throw the towel in, then…

“Have you found anything today?” Lee asked.

Missy didn’t know where to start. She told him about Trudy Shaw and her husband, and then about her visit from Ellen.

“Hmmm,” Lee said. “Run that by Paul, okay? He’ll think of something.”

Missy didn’t have the same confidence in Paul I.S. Gold that Lee did, but like her mother always said, a problem shared is a problem halved.

They spoke for a few more minutes, then Missy hung up. Steeling herself, she called Paul.

“What’s up, mama?” he answered.

She almost threw up in her mouth. “Hi, Paul. I just wanted to bring you up to speed on what I found out today.”

“Good, because I’ve got something for you.”

Missy perked up. Maybe he hadn’t shared whatever it was with Lee yet. She decided to go first and shared the details of her conversation with Ellen and the lawsuit between Trudy and Anne.

When she was done, Paul said, “You know, I’ve always wanted a partner.”

“No thanks,” Missy said. “What do you think?”

“I meant a life partner,” he said, laughing.

Missy choked back the bile.

Paul said, “Just kidding. Or am I? Anyway, I’ll look into both. If Richard was home by himself and has an alibi, it’s obvious to me.”

“What’s so obvious about it?” Missy asked, getting mad.

“Take it easy. I’ve done this before, that’s why it’s obvious to me. He was online, doing something that can demonstrate he was at home.”

Missy tilted her head to the side. Now that Paul had said that, it was kind of obvious. “How can we check on that?”

“Let me handle that. And I’ll try to get details on the lawsuit tomorrow. I know somebody at the courthouse. Who knows, that might point us in a direction but I doubt it.”

It took a moment for how he’d ended that sentence to register. “What do you mean?”

“I talked to Gloria Campbell,” Paul said. “Now I know why Tyler moved so fast on Noreen.”

“Why?”

“Gloria was good friends with Anne, right?”

“Right.”

“So she wouldn’t lie.”

“Wouldn’t lie about what?”

“She was outside for the entire break with Kylie, Ellen, and Trudy.”

“What?”

“Yeah, so that pretty much takes care of all four of them. With Gloria being Anne’s friend, she wouldn’t lie to protect anybody if she thought they had killed Anne.”

Missy hung her head.

“So that leaves Richard, you, Ruby, and Alison, or some unknown third party,” Paul said. “You’re pretty much out of the picture.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“You were inside the whole time,” Paul said. “So you’re out.”

“Alright.” Missy nodded. She knew what she had to do. “I’ll talk to Alison tomorrow.”

“What about Ruby?”

“No way. I don’t think she could have physically done it. Plus, she was inside with me for half the time.”

“I see what you mean,” Paul said. “But people can surprise you sometimes. Take it from me. I’ve been in this business for a long time.”

“How long exactly?” Missy asked.

“About five years.”

Missy couldn’t take it.