Flea Market Fatal (3 page)

Back home, she opened the door for Cody. The dog bounded inside, immediately making the place her own. When Missy reached the living room, she found Cody already curled up on her favorite love seat.

“Oh no, you don’t.”

Missy shooed the dog off the seat. Cody didn’t budge. Missy got the feeling Cody understood what she was asking her to do but playing dumb.

“Not on the furniture, sweety,” Missy said.

Cody just looked her, tongue hanging out of the side of her mouth.

“Okay, sweety, please get down.” Missy reached and put her hands on Cody’s side to give her a gentle nudge. She’d barely touched the dog but Cody whimpered.

“Poor girl, did you hurt yourself?”

Cody rolled over onto her back and stuck her paws up in the universal sign of submission. Missy gave her a belly rub and Cody’s hind legs twitched in sheer joy.

“Okay, girl, you can stay there. We’d better get you checked out at the vet tomorrow.” Missy knew the local veterinarian, Daphne Roberts, from high school. She could probably get in to see her in the morning if she was lucky.

Missy decided to let Cody stay on the loveseat. The dog had hurt herself somehow, and then it dawned on her. Maybe Cody had attacked the person that had murdered Switzer and gotten injured that way?

She was about to call Daphne to see if she could get an emergency appointment tonight, when there was a knock at her door.

Even though she’d cancelled Wine Night with Noreen, she figured it was her friend, come to cheer her up. That would be just like Noreen, ignoring what was said to do what was needed. She was lucky to have her as a friend.

But when she opened the door, she was surprised to find Tyler Brock standing there. He was now out of uniform, wearing a pair of jeans, flannel shirt, and a light jacket. His face had a real sexy five o’clock shadow going. She could remember the feel of it back in high school. Tyler had matured early and stood out physically as a man among boys.

“Hi, Missy.” He smiled, like she hadn’t stormed off earlier after yelling in his face. “Mind if I come in?”

“Are you here on official business?”

He was still smiling when he said, “Afraid so.”

Missy stayed put in the threshold, her hand on the door. “Should I get a lawyer?”

His smile slowly faded, like a sunset. “That’s up to you, Miss. If you feel like you need one, then you should get one.”

“I don’t need one,” she said. “I didn’t kill Switzer.”

He said nothing.

When she couldn’t take the silence any longer, she opened the door fully. “Come in.”

It was a tiny entrance, so he brushed her as he passed. She smelled his deodorant as he went by. Up close, she could better see the signs of age on his face too. He had some crow’s feet around his eyes and creases on his forehead.

She closed the door and followed him into the living room.

Of course Cody sprang off the loveseat and greeted Tyler like they were old friends. She rubbed against his jeans and he petted her.

“Nice dog,” he said.

“Can I get you something to drink?”

“I wish,” he said. “But I don’t want to keep you. I only have a few questions.”

Missy didn’t know whether to sit or stand or how to react in general. She settled on leaning against the wall where she was and folding her arms.

“Okay, Tyler. Shoot.”

“What was your father’s relationship like with Switzer?”

The question threw her for a loop. Talking about Dad was never easy. He’d taken his own life almost ten years ago now.

“For a time, they were talking about starting a business together but nothing ever came of it. Once that fell through, I don’t think they talked any more.”

Tyler nodded. “What happened?”

“I don’t really know. We’re talking twenty years ago here, before you and I…before I was even in high school. I never got the details.”

“But you know whatever it was, it fell through?”

Missy nodded. “Dad was pretty upset from what I can remember. He tried to hide it from me, but I could tell.”

Tyler folded his hands. “You don’t know what they were planning to do?”

Missy shook her head. “I was barely a teenager. If he told me I probably wasn’t even paying attention, you know?”

Tyler said nothing. Missy sensed he was about to change directions again. “What about your mom?”

“What about her?”

“Did she harbor any resentment toward Switzer?”

“You think my Mom did this?”

“That’s not what I asked, Miss.”

Missy took a deep breath, determined not to let her anger get the better of her again. “I don’t know if I’ve ever talked to my mom about Switzer.”

“She didn’t know you were haggling with him?”

Missy pushed away from the wall and kept her arms folded. “I might have mentioned it in passing but like I said, I don’t think we’ve ever talked about him.”

He smiled suddenly. “Even if she disliked him, your Mom wouldn’t have voiced it. She never said a bad thing about anybody that I can remember.”

She almost smiled back at him because he was right: Mom didn’t have a mean bone in her body. But then she felt anger ripple through her. Tyler shouldn’t be talking to her like her ex-boyfriend while he was basically interrogating her.

“Was there anything else you wanted to ask me?” she said.

He was still smiling. “A lot, actually. But none of it would be appropriate right now.”

His comment almost floored her. Earlier he hadn’t seemed the least bit interested in her personal life.

She wanted to ask him to leave, but instead very different words came out: “I could say the same thing.”

Tyler nodded, looking her up and down. “I wish we could have reconnected under different circumstances.”

Missy’s head was practically spinning. He was so handsome. And after all these years, he was acting like he still had feelings for her. She felt self-conscious with him looking at her. In
high school
she’d felt self-conscious…and these days she was big and curvy. She wondered if he even liked that.

Tyler turned to leave. She found herself following him to the door. Part of her wanted him to stay. But she couldn’t think of what to say as he opened the door. It wasn’t until he was on the front steps she remembered Noreen’s advice.

“Hey, Tyler.”

“Yes?” He turned around at the bottom of the steps, a hopeful look on his face like she’d invite him back in for drinks.

“You never said how Switzer died.”

That hopeful look in his eyes vanished quickly, replaced with something much darker. “Why do you ask?”

She shrugged, trying to play it off and wondering how an innocent person would act. Even though she was innocent, she had no idea.

“Just curious. I guess I was too shell-shocked earlier to even think to ask.”

He gave her a long, slow nod. He didn’t believe her for a second.

“Somebody strangled him.”

Noreen was fifteen minutes late picking her up. In other words, earlier than usual.

Missy lugged her gear from her steps. Noreen’s trunk popped as she rounded the car, Cody in tow. Missy had brought twice as much as her friend and had trouble fitting it all in the trunk. But after playing trunk Tetris, she got everything in. She was real excited to try out her new sponge dauber box. It really was the little things in life.

She opened the rear door for Cody, who jumped in and got settled. Missy had never had a dog so didn’t know if she needed to buckle Cody in or not. The dog seemed reasonably well-situated and stretched out on the back seat, so she decided against it.

When Missy got in and shut the passenger door, Noreen said, “Miss, we’re going to a crop, not invading a small country.”

Missy laughed. Noreen was always making fun of how many supplies she brought. “It’s a good thing we’re not invading a small country.”

“Why?”

“That sort of operation requires cracker-jack timing, and as usual, you’re late.”

Noreen threw her head back and laughed. “People that are always on time are so boring.”

Missy looked out the window. Yesterday had been warm, but today it felt like autumn. Only forty-five degrees when she’d stepped outside. In her mind, she quickly went over the things she wanted to get done today. Yesterday had been a wash for obvious reasons, but she could make up for it today. Feeling her jeans digging in as she sat there, she definitely had to get to the gym. And with the Tri-County Flea Market next weekend, she really needed to get started on refurbing Switzer’s cabinet.

“So Riley is meeting us there?” Missy asked. It was all Noreen had talked about the last week. He was a hot bartender that Noreen had met somewhere.

“The loser bailed and let’s not talk about it.”

“Sorry.” Missy didn’t say anything, but this had a tendency to happen to Noreen. She’d met this dreamy guy who she deemed was Mr. Right, and then they’d end up not even going out.

“Speaking of men and also changing the subject, did Tyler stop by last night?” Noreen flashed her a smile while keeping her eyes on the road.

“Actually, he did.”

“Oh, really?”

Missy shook her head. “He had some more questions, about my parents.”

“Your parents?”

Missy relayed the details of the conversation.

Noreen said, “Sounds like he was acting different?”

Missy nodded. “Much friendlier than earlier.”

“Sounds like
flirtier
to me.”

Missy shrugged. “Well…”

“Not good.” Noreen shook her head.

That comment threw Missy for a loop. “It’s not good he was flirting with me?”

Noreen took her eyes off the road for a second to give her a look. Missy immediately feared for her life. Noreen wasn’t the best driver, even when her eyes
were
on the road.

“Miss, really?”

“There’s a big tree coming right at us.” Missy pointed. “Should that be happening?”

Noreen turned back to the road. “Oh, take it easy.” She tried to do as little a swerve as possible to downplay how close they were to the tree.

“Why is it bad he was flirting with me?”

“Because he
shouldn’t
flirt with a suspect. Tyler was a detective in Philly, so he knows better. I heard he was really good at his job.”

“So what?”

Noreen took a hard left much too quickly. Missy heard the tires squeal.

“If he’s flirting with you, it’s
by design
.”

“Why do you always talk
in italics
? Doesn’t that get tiring after all?”

Noreen passed somebody in a no-pass zone. “Sunday drivers, right? Anyway, if he’s flirting that heavily with you when he shouldn’t be, he’s trying to get you to lower your guard. And he’d only be doing that if he thought you were a suspect.”

“Last night you told me I was in the clear.”

Noreen completely ignored the comment and jammed her brakes at the last moment for a stop sign. Missy was pretty sure the stop sign had been at the intersection for at least thirty years.

“Last night I also told you to ask him questions about the murder.”

“Oh, I forgot. I did ask him.”

“Okay. Word-for-word tell me what was said.”

Missy did.

Noreen hit the gas and palmed her forehead. “Hopeless. You are hopeless.”

“No, what that means is I shouldn’t have asked him at all. If I did anything to make him suspicious, it would be that, Nor.”

Noreen made her final right into the parking lot of the grade school and slotted the car outside the gymnasium near all the other vehicles. Two dozen other women were busy getting their supplies out of the car into the school. Missy wasn’t surprised to see Bev and Diane already arguing about something in the parking lot.

Noreen was about to get out, but stopped and looked her up and down.

“What?” Missy was instantly worried about her outfit. Was it not flattering?

Noreen smiled. “You look hot, girl. Have you lost weight?”

Missy closed her eyes. “No.”

***

Missy had gotten her supplies set up and was ready to get cranking. She loved creating and working with her hands, and scrapbooking was a great way to satisfy that craving. The hobby was made all the better because she got to do it with Noreen. They both knew how to make each other laugh. She knew from past experience they’d be in stitches inside of five minutes, spreading infectious laughter to the group. It would be a welcome distraction from the murder and Tyler. Even though she hadn’t killed Switzer, she was beginning to worry. She had found the body. Wasn’t there some kind of statistic that said the person to find the body was the most likely to be the killer?

With that comforting thought in mind, Missy stood to address the group. Before she spoke, Noreen nodded at her and came over. “Miss, this is the perfect opportunity for us.”

“Opportunity?” Missy was confused.

Noreen gestured at the group of women filling the two long tables. “Who knows more about this town than these gossips? We’ll have this crime solved before you get your first page done.”

Missy smiled. Noreen had a point. Even the Little Old Ladies had turned out, and they knew
everything.
After Tyler’s questioning yesterday and Noreen’s comments this morning, Missy was beginning to think her friend was right. In the off chance that Tyler thought she was guilty, she needed to find the real killer. There was no harm in asking these women questions. She was here anyway, and by now word had spread of yesterday’s gruesome scene.

Moving in front of the stage, she waved her hand to get everybody’s attention. “Thank you all for coming.”

“We weren’t sure if you were going to be here,” came a familiar voice.

Missy turned to address the speaker of the last comment, Kelly Patterson. The two of them had never gotten along, going all the way back to third grade when Kelly had put bubble gum in her hair.

“Oh really?” Missy put a fake smile on her face. “And why is that?”

“With what happened yesterday, we weren’t sure you’d be up for this,” Kelly said, barely hiding her dislike.

Missy narrowed her eyes. “No, everything’s fine.”

“Really? Everything’s fine?”

“What I meant was—”

Noreen cut her off. “What she meant was, she didn’t murder Switzer, so lay off.”

Kelly put on a fake smile of her own. “I would never think that our Missy did something like that. Never in a million years. I was just wondering if she was okay.”

“No, you weren’t,” Noreen said. “You were—”

Missy jumped back in. “Let’s take it down a notch. I’m here, I’m okay and I’m really looking forward to scrapbooking. We don’t do this often enough.”

Kelly inclined her chin and ran one hand through her blond hair. “So what happened?”

Missy held out her palms. She’d been hoping these women could help her. But she should have expected they’d be full of questions themselves.

“I don’t know how much I can or can’t say,” Missy said. “This is an open investigation.”

Kelly tutted. “You can tell us what you saw. You’re a witness so you’ll have to testify anyway if this goes to trial.”

Olivia Oakley, a younger woman Missy actually used to babysit in high school, spoke up. “Kelly, chill out. Missy just saw something awful.”

Missy smiled at Olivia, grateful for her support. Everyone tended to discount Noreen’s sticking up for her, since they’d been BFFs forever.

Missy wasn’t sure she should be sharing details. But at the same time, if she opened up about it maybe the women would be more inclined to share what they knew with her. She glanced at Noreen, who gave an encouraging nod. She must have been thinking the same thing.

“I went over to buy a cabinet from Mr. Switzer. He had told me ahead of time he might be inside his house when I got there, because he was expecting company—”

“Who was he expecting?”

Missy forced herself not to roll her eyes. How many more times would she get that question?

“I don’t know. But when I got there and he didn’t come out, I wasn’t that worried. I looked over what he was selling and decided just to purchase the cabinet. I went to the house because I needed change. When he didn’t answer—and Cody here was going nuts—I decided to go inside. I found him on the floor of the living room.”

The room had fallen silent. Definitely a first for this audience, all of whom were usually chatterboxes.

Missy filled the gap. “He was dead when I found him, so I immediately called the police.”

Cody got up and padded over to Missy. She rubbed the dog’s head.

“The police don’t think you’re a suspect?” Kelly asked.

“Why would they?” Missy shot back.

“Oh, come on, Kelly,” Olivia Oakley said.

Noreen folded her arms. “Really, Kelly?”

Kelly shrugged. “I’m not saying you
should be.
But you found him, which means you’re likely from a statistical point of view to be the killer, right?”

“Oh, shut up,” Noreen said. “You are such an ass.”

“What?” Kelly looked around the room. “I’m not saying she did it. I’m just saying the police should view her as a suspect. Maybe the primary suspect. If they aren’t, well that goes back to what we were talking about before. They need better people at that precinct, I think. There has been a spate of theft recently and what have they done about it?”

“They brought Tyler in,” Missy said, immediately regretting bringing him up.

“Yes.” Kelly smiled. “Tyler.”

Missy felt her face grow warm. All eyes were on her. It was a small town, so everybody knew everything about everybody else. Her history with Tyler was common knowledge.

“How did Switzer die?” one of the newer ladies asked, a middle-aged woman named Ellie. Missy didn’t know anything about her except that she had two boys just out of the college.

“He was strangled.”

There were several groans and cries of disbelief, and then a dozen separate conversations started. So much for her introductory speech. Missy didn’t wait for everyone to stop talking. Instead she just raised her voice.

“If anybody needs any help, or supplies, I’ll be at the front table this morning. Remember, we have the gym till one o’clock, then we have to call it day.”

Bev immediately raised her hand. She was seventy if she was a day and had been Missy’s first grade teacher many moons ago.

“Hi, Bev.”

“Missy, I’m totally blocked.”

Missy didn’t understand and thought she was referring to her bowels. “I’m sorry?”

Bev held her hands over her scrapbooking supplies and made circles in the air. “I have scrapbooker’s block. You know, like writer’s block? I don’t know what to do! Maybe someone can help me?”

Diane threw her head back and looked to the heavens. She was ten years younger than Bev but looked twenty years younger. That face of hers had gone under the knife more than once.

Diane sighed. “You’ve known for a month we were scrapbooking today. You weren’t able to think of anything in all that time?”

Bev scowled. “What’s it to you? I didn’t ask for
your
help.”

“Everybody here came to work on their own projects, and now you’re imposing on their—”

“Bev, how about I help you?” Missy said, cutting Diane off. These two argued all the time and more often than not, it led to the rest of the group taking sides. If she had to help Bev for a few minutes in the beginning, it was worth it to avoid the bickering.

“Oh, thanks, Missy. You’re really sweet.”

Everybody got started. While Missy walked over to Bev’s table, Noreen shot her a sympathetic look.

“Okay, Bev, what are you thinking?”

“Well, I don’t know. I’ve got all these pictures here.” She opened a suitcase stuffed with old Polaroids. “They’re of my grandchildren so I was thinking…”