Chili Con Corpses (21 page)

“Thank God someone can kid around with me.” Kinsley rolled her eyes and elbowed Gary. “Mother Hen over here is barely giving me room to breathe.”

Gary frowned. “Can I help feeling protective? Someone tried to kill my wife!” He opened his menu but didn’t read it. “At least they got the bastard.”

Kinsley’s smile faded. “I went to see him this morning.”

“What?” James, Murphy, and Gary all shouted in unison. Startled, Kinsley’s elbow knocked into Murphy’s teacup. It tipped over and a river of hot liquid streamed onto Gary’s lap.

“Jesus!” he yelled, leaping to his feet. “Watch it!”

“Oh, honey!” Kinsley tried to dab at the stains with her napkin. “I’m sorry. It was an accident.”

Gary looked down at his wet crotch and the stain spreading on his jacket. “This is suede,” he grumbled as he inspected his jacket. He then stomped off to the restroom. Kinsley followed him with her eyes, which appeared weary and tinged with a sadness that seemed unfitting to a new bride.

“Why did you visit Dwight Hutchins?” Murphy asked quickly, before Gary could return.

Kinsley was still troubled over the tea incident. Reluctantly, she faced Murphy. “I just wanted to know why he tried to hurt me. What had I ever done to him?” She traced circles on the table with the dregs of tea. “Besides, I wanted to look him in the eye and ask him if he killed my sister.” She dropped her gaze and concentrated hard on not crying.

James handed her his napkin just in case. “And did he talk to you?”

Kinsley nodded. “He claims he’s been framed. He repeated this over and over again. He swore he didn’t break into Colin’s office, that he didn’t poison me, and that he would never harm a hair on my sister’s head.” She shook her head. “By the time I left, I was torn between hating him for lying to me and wondering how long he’d been in love with Parker.”

Murphy had quickly transformed into reporter mode. “Did he accuse a specific person of committing these crimes?”

“No,” Kinsley replied and then forced a smile as Dolly approached.

“You poor, darlin’ baby girl!” Dolly exclaimed and cupped Kinsley’s lovely face in her wide hand. “I am
so
glad to see you up and around. You pick anything you want and Cliff’ll make it for you, special.” She appraised Kinsley closely. “Seems to me like you could use some red meat. How about some spaghetti with meatballs as big as your fist?”

“Sounds perfect.” Kinsley nodded gratefully at Dolly, and the threesome small-talked for a few minutes about the weather and the latest celebrity gossip. In the middle of a discussion about the latest box-office hit, Kinsley’s expression turned anxious as Gary reappeared at the table. “Are you okay?” she asked her husband solicitously.

“I’m not going to sit here in wet pants, that’s for sure.” With one hand on his hip, he held out the other for her to take. “Let’s go.”

Kinsley paused. “But I already ordered dinner and, Gary, I’m really hungry. I didn’t get a chance to eat lunch today.”

“She’s always hungry,” he said to James and Murphy. Though his tone was light, no laughter reached his eyes.

“We’ll drop her off at home afterwards,” James offered, silently bristling on Kinsley’s behalf. “She can’t miss out on Dolly’s meatballs. They’re famous.”

“Or you could go home, get changed, and then come back and join us?” Murphy suggested in a sugary voice.

Gary waved off her invitation. “I’ll just grab Mickey D’s on the way home.” He then gave Kinsley a disapproving look. “Though I’m pretty damned curious about why you went to see the maniac who tried to kill you—especially when you told
me
you were going to get your nails done.”

Kinsley grabbed Gary’s arm. “I didn’t plan on visiting … him. I went to the nail salon, but they were closed. I totally forgot about today being a holiday.” Her eyes welled. “I just sat there, in the parking lot, wondering
why, why?
There’s only one person that could answer that question for me, so I went to see Dwight Hutchins. Suddenly, there I was at the county jail, sitting at a table across from him.”

Dolly arrived with a platter the size of a Yule log and inserted herself between Gary and his wife. “You eatin’ today, Mr. Lowe?” she asked the shorter man without her customary excess of exuberance. James was certain that Dolly must have stationed herself so that she could overhear most of the conversation. He was also certain that she wouldn’t be too pleased about how the newcomer was treating Kinsley.

Faced with Dolly’s fierce maternal stare, Gary quickly backed away. “You can explain everything to
me
later,” he grumbled and walked off.

“I’m sorry, guys.” A single tear ran down Kinsley’s smooth cheek. “I guess he’s just stressed. He used to act like that at Solmes. It’s one of the reasons we broke up.” She twirled spaghetti around and around on her fork. “I could never understand why he got so upset when the market did something unpredictable. It wasn’t like it was
his
money that was lost.”

“Actually, it may very well have been his money,” Murphy said quietly and quickly sought James’s eyes. “I think it’s time to tell her the truth.”

James agreed, though his heart ached for the woman sitting beside him. Murphy told Kinsley what she knew about Gary being fired as succinctly and straightforwardly as possible. She then fell silent as Kinsley busied herself with her spaghetti.

“You didn’t know about the front running,” James stated softly.

Kinsley speared a meatball with her fork, peered at it as if it were an enemy, and then sliced it in two with her knife before shoving it in her mouth. She wordlessly answered James by shaking her head so that her hair glimmered beneath the lights.

“Sitting in that room today, Dwight told me that he and Gary were roommates their freshman year at Princeton. You could have knocked me over like a bowling pin when he said that.” She took a deep breath. “He believes that Gary is behind the burglary and … and putting the Wildnil in my dip.” She drank half a glass of water in three gulps. “Apparently, Gary was always playing mean jokes on people in their college dorm and continued the pranks after they both joined the same fraternity. Since they were fraternity brothers, Dwight saw Gary at house functions, but Dwight lived in the dorms while Gary moved into the frat house.”

“Dwight doesn’t strike me as the type to join a fraternity,” James remarked.

Gesturing with her fork, Kinsley said, “Me either. And Dwight said he got burned out on all the partying by the end of their freshman year. So he stopped hanging out at the fraternity and he hardly saw Gary after that. Then, Gary suddenly appears in the Shenandoah Valley. Allegedly, Dwight hadn’t seen him for
years
until last night.”

James and Murphy picked at their barbecued chicken breasts as they struggled to figure out if Dwight was simply creating a smokescreen or if Gary was somehow connected to all three crimes.

“I’m really confused,” Kinsley muttered and put down her fork. “I got so angry at Dwight when he said those things. I screamed at him. I called him a liar and a bastard and … a lot worse than that. I think the cops were shocked that that kind of language could come out of my mouth.”

Murphy signaled to Dolly. “How did he take you not accepting his story?” she asked Kinsley.

“He just sat there. Resigned.” She sighed. “But he was adamant about not hurting Parker. It was the one thing that got him fired up even after I yelled at him. He told me that he loved her but she was too wrapped up in beautiful Colin to see him as anything other than a guy who was good with their patients.”

When Dolly appeared to check on their progress, Murphy pushed away her dinner plate and ordered three slices of chocolate cake and coffees all around.

“The bit about Parker rang true to me,” Kinsley answered and then smirked, “but it’s pretty clear that I couldn’t tell if someone was lying unless their damned nose started growing!”

“I know you’ve been through a lot, Kinsley.” Murphy placed a hand on the distressed woman’s forearm. “We’re here to help you in any way, and if you want my advice, I would tell you to find out
exactly
what kind of person the man you married is.”

Kinsley’s eyes widened as Dolly placed three cake slices on their table. Each one could have served four people.

“Dolly!” James blurted. “These pieces are a trifle big!”

Dolly shrugged and her massive bosom moved up and down along with her shoulders. “Seems like you folks could use a dose of sugar tonight.” She gave her wide hip a slap. “Always makes me feel better when I’m workin’ out some kind of problem.”

“You’re a wise woman,” Murphy said, smiling at the proprietor who slowly ambled off, humming loudly as she paused to refill coffee cups throughout the diner.

Kinsley swiped a pinkie across the top of her cake and then sucked the icing from her finger. She squared her shoulders and picked up a fresh fork. “The first thing I’m going to do is call a woman who mentored me when I started at Solmes. She’ll tell me all about the front running.”

“And after that?” Murphy persisted.

Kinsley looked crestfallen, but anger surged through her voice like a wave breaking on the shore as she said, “You mean, am I going to find out whether my new husband—the man that I’ve fallen in love with all over again—stole drugs from a local vet, tried to poison me, murdered my sister, and then pinned all the crimes on an old roommate?”

Murphy looked abashed. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t—”

“
Of course
I want to know the truth about him! But how?
”
Kinsley gazed at James and Murphy with appeal in her eyes.

“Don’t worry,” Murphy answered with assurance. “I’ve got an idea.”

“Are you sure
this is a good idea?” James asked Murphy for the third time. “I really think the police should be hiding in Kinsley’s pantry instead of us.”

Murphy chewed on a pretzel twist. “Lucy’s here. She’s practically a deputy.”

“And she’s the one who came up with our hiding spots?”

“Yes. Except that I insisted on being in here with you instead of her, so she and Bennett are in the coat closet. Lindy and Gillian are in an upstairs bedroom with their cell phones charged and ready. They’re the 9-1-1 team. If things seem to be getting ugly, those two will call for help.” Murphy offered James a pretzel. “These are honey mustard. Delicious. Oh, but you’d better stick to these dried apple slices instead. Pretzels are way too salty for you.”

James frowned as he bit into a rubbery apple slice. “This is ridiculous! We’re standing in Kinsley’s pantry, eating her food, and waiting for her to start a scene with Gary so that we can be witnesses to a confession?”

“You got it,” Murphy said happily. “We are going to nail the louse, and I’m going to have the best front page story of my entire career. Shoot, I might even write a book about this. Lucy will get offers from a dozen different law enforcement agencies—hopefully very far away from Quincy’s Gap—and your other friends will be town heroes. We’ve got nothing to lose.”

“When did Kinsley agree to all of this?”

Murphy shrugged. “On the phone last night, right after she talked to her friend from Solmes and found out that Gary had been fired for front running. First, I had to settle Kinsley down, and then we figured out how we could ambush her new husband to see if he’s involved with Dwight.”

James was befuddled. “So you think Gary and Dwight are partners in crime?”

“Of course. They must have been planning this for months. With Parker gone, Dwight gets the practice, and now that they’ve been legally wed, Kinsley’s death would mean that Gary would get a least a portion of Kinsley’s millions. Gary probably promised to pay Dwight off in exchange for the part he’s played.” She chomped on another pretzel. “What’s a few years in jail compared to a lifetime of wealth?” she asked rhetorically.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of the garage door being opened. Murphy snapped off the pantry light and eased the door closed. “I’ve got tape recorders stashed in four rooms,” she whispered in
excitement. “So even if we miss parts of the newlyweds’ conversation, we’ll have something to hold over Gary’s head later on.”

“I hope you ladies know what you’re doing,” James murmured. “If Gary
is
guilty, then there’s no telling how he’s going to act.”

Murphy shushed him as Kinsley entered the kitchen from the garage, noisily flinging her car keys and purse onto the counter.

“I’m glad you were willing to rent
Wall Street
,” Kinsley said cheerfully. “I haven’t watched it in ages, and I thought it would be fun to see what we’re missing.”

“High stress, five-dollar coffees, long hours, and rude customers,” Gary replied. “We’ve got it much better now. Did you get a chance to look at those Florida Keys brochures, baby?” His voice practically purred as he spoke. “We could spend the whole winter on the beach drinking cocktails.”

“Oh, Gary!” Kinsley laughed. “You know I promised to go back to Blue Ridge High next week. I’m really psyched about teaching. We can go somewhere for Spring Break.”

“But it’s cold
now
, babe.” Gary continued to plead his case. “How about Mexico? We could go and come back real quick and you’d only miss a week or two of school. Think about the margaritas.”

“I think I’d like to take a break from Mexican food for a while. I
was
just poisoned, you know,” she reminded him. “Here, take your sesame chicken before it congeals any further. Boy, do I wish there were more restaurants in this town.” Kinsley sniffed. “Even this dim sum is only so-so. Remember that incredible Chinese place across from Solmes? What was that called?”

“Lu Lu’s Lo Mein Palace,” Gary responded with his mouth full. “How could you ever forget that name?”

“I don’t know,” Kinsley answered and then stopped to chew. “But I’ve been thinking about our life there a lot lately. I even called Elaine Salinsky to catch up on all the gossip. Do you remember her?”

There was a lengthy pause before Gary finally spoke. “Kinda,” he said, and then asked lightly, “What did she have to say? Did she mention me?”

“Why don’t you tell me why she might have?” Kinsley’s tone was firm. “And think carefully about how you answer this, because a lot rides on what you say.”

Gary laughed nervously. “What is this? You Judge Judy or something? I quit, babe, and Solmes got pretty bitter about it. The big cheeses knew they were losing their best trader, so they did their damned best to blackball me. Made up some shit about front running. It’s a good thing I gave up that life.” He snorted. “No one would hire me now.”

There was no reply from Kinsley. James could almost hear Murphy silently screaming,
Don’t fall for that lame explanation!

Kinsley rattled a few more bags, which James assumed contained more take-out, and the smells of soy sauce, fried rice, and crispy fried won tons seeped into the pantry. As his stomach gurgled in expectation, James ruefully thought that he’d probably never be able to eat Chinese food again, unless they found some way to cook it without sodium. And then it wouldn’t taste like Chinese food, he imagined.

“Elaine said you were living high on the hog at the time you … left Solmes.” James noted that Kinsley decided not to pin Gary down about whether he was fired or chose to leave on his own accord.

The sound of a pair of cheap, wooden chopsticks being snapped apart echoed in the kitchen. “Pieces of crap! Look at all these
splinters!” Gary complained. “Well, I wasn’t using these kinds of chopsticks, that’s for sure. I made enough to buy a pair of those nice glass ones.”

Kinsley pursued her line of questioning. “Elaine said you moved to a pretty swank place on the Upper West Side. Did you get some kind of special bonus from Solmes that I wasn’t privy to?”

“Listen to you,” Gary chuckled. “‘
Privy to
,’ la te da!” he mocked her, his voice carrying more and more suppressed anger as he growled, “Old Elaine’s been saying lots of stuff about me. You two had a real nice girl’s chat, didn’t ya?”

“I just don’t want any secrets between us, Gary,” Kinsley answered honestly. “Can you tell me that you haven’t kept anything from me?”

“No, I haven’t.” Gary slapped his chopsticks on the counter. “Now, can we watch the movie?”

Kinsley waited a bit and then said, “Sure. I’m sorry, hon. I guess I’m just feeling lonely in this isolated valley without Parker. When we were together, it seemed like a beautiful place, but now …”

“And what am I, chopped liver?” Gary spluttered, and then he quickly cheered up. “Hey! Let’s move back to New York! I’d love that!” He clapped his hands together in glee. “Just think of the food, the bars, the shows. Let’s do it!”

“Um, I was thinking more along the lines of Kansas,” Kinsley responded timidly. “I miss my family, now more than ever.”

“Sorry, babe,” Gary answered without much sympathy. “I know you’re hurtin’, but I can’t do Kansas. We’ll head to a big city, maybe L.A., get a cool place, something really modern and hip, maybe with a sweet pool, and then kick back and enjoy life.”

When Kinsley next spoke, her voice was more muffled and James realized that she must have moved into the living room while Gary was busy picturing a life of leisure.

Kinsley had rented a small house in one of the town’s older sections. Just two blocks off Main Street, its current owners, Missy and Bobby Greenwood, had modernized the cottage. The Greenwoods had added on a garage and updated the kitchen so that the three-bedroom home could serve as the perfect place to raise a family. However, the young couple served in the military and had been sent to Germany for a year’s term. As a result, the Greenwoods’ first child would be born on foreign soil and Kinsley would take loving care of their charming house until she decided where to take up a more permanent residence.

“Gary, I want to live more simply!” Kinsley declared from the living room. “I want to give to a community—to be a part of a town. I want people to know me when I go out for groceries or rent a movie, and I don’t want to be anchored down by constantly thinking about money. In fact, I’ve already talked to the local ASPCA about donating all of Parker’s money to their charity so they can build a beautiful new facility.”

“What!” Gary roared. “Why didn’t you talk to me first? Have you signed any papers?”

James heard Kinsley turn on the television instead of replying. “Just so you know, I may give them mine as well,” he heard her taunt, and then Gary said something too low to be heard from inside the pantry.

“I can do whatever I want!” Kinsley shouted back. “I’m moving home to Kansas, and I’m giving away every penny except what I’ll need to buy a small house with.” Her voice escalated with every word. “Why don’t
you
take all that money
you
earned
front running
and invest it?”

“I already did and I lost it all. Satisfied now, you bitch!” Gary hollered in return, and then a silence descended upon the house, interrupted only by the sound of an exercise show on the television. Judging from the tempo of the music, James assumed that the show’s participants were engaged in a vigorous aerobic workout.

“You lied to me,” Kinsley hissed. “You didn’t quit your job to
comfort
me! You got fired and came here to offer your shoulder for me to cry on so that you could sucker me into marrying you!” She stomped across the hardwood floors. “Well, I’m calling our family lawyer. I’m sure he can arrange for an annulment,” she snapped her fingers, “just like that!”

Gary’s footsteps followed her to where she stood. “Don’t you dare!”

“Or what, you little leech?” she said with a sharp edge to her voice. “You’ll kill me?”

The air became charged with rage.

“I wouldn’t test me on that one, babe,” Gary stated evenly. “You’re my wife and if
anything
should happen to you, then I get every dollar that you’re so hell-bent on pissing away.”

James felt himself go rigid. The antagonism between the couple was speeding to a crescendo that was likely to end in violence. With both hands clenched around the stem of a baseball bat, James felt wound like a spring. At the slightest hint of alarm from Kinsley, he planned to jump to her aid, but sitting there in the dark, it was hard to judge whether he could act in time. He shifted his weight to make certain that his limbs hadn’t fallen asleep after crouching in the narrow pantry.

“Don’t do anything,” Murphy whispered. “She’s going for the jugular now.”

Apparently, Murphy was right. “I’m not afraid of you,” Kinsley mocked her husband, which seemed to James like a dangerous tactic to take. “You’re a deceitful, greedy louse,” she continued, “but you don’t have the guts to kill anyone.”

Gary snorted, a sound he seemed fond of making. “I don’t need to do the dirty work. I’ve got someone else to do that for me.”

James heard the sound of metal scraping on metal.

“What are you talking about, Gary?” Kinsley’s wrath filled the house. “Are you referring to my sister’s murder? Are you trying to tell me you’re some kind of puppeteer and that you had her killed?”