Home Sweet Homicide: A Cozy Mystery (A Gemma Stone Murder Mystery Book 5) (13 page)

“I sleep enough,” Maisy told her. “Did Ross go home?”

“No, I put him in one of the bedrooms upstairs. No sense in him sleeping on the sofa,” Gemma told her.

Maisy nodded and sat down at the table. The black cat leaped easily into her lap and she stroked his sleek head.

“I need to call Nick as soon as possible,” Gemma reminded Maisy. “Hopefully, he’ll be able to get those prints in the right hands for us.”

“He seems like a nice young man and a good friend. I’m sure he’ll be happy to help.”

Ross stumbled into the kitchen, looking as if he hadn’t slept any better than Gemma. He sipped the coffee Maisy put in front of him without saying a word.

They were eating breakfast in silence when Gemma’s phone chimed. “It’s Nick,” she said. “Hey, I was just about to call you,” she told him, after accepting the call.

Nick laughed. “Oh, yeah?”

“We have a favor to ask of you,” Gemma said.

“We? Oh, yeah, is Ross still there?”

“Yes, he is,” Gemma said. “But let’s not talk about that on the phone.”

“Good idea. I’ll see you soon.”

Within fifteen minutes, Nick was at the door. Ross had just come back into the kitchen, dressed and ready for whatever the day held. Gemma was still in sweats and a t-shirt.

“You didn’t have to get all gussied up for me,” Nick teased when he joined them at the table.

Gemma simply shot him a tired look.

“Okay, what do you need?” Nick asked. He seemed in an abnormally cheerful mood, almost giddy with excitement.

“We lifted some prints off of that hand truck in the garage where Katie was killed,” Ross explained as he pushed the white cards across the table toward Nick.

Gemma sat there staring at the various prints. It occurred to her that they looked awfully big, definitely belonging to a man.

“You want me to try to get these analyzed,” Nick guessed.

Both Ross and Gemma nodded.

“So you think the killer used the hand truck?” he asked.

“Gemma seems to think that the murder started upstairs. Katie ran downstairs and was killed there. The killer used the hand truck to get her body back up into that bedroom,” Ross told him.

“Based on those wheel marks on the carpeted stairs, it makes sense,” Nick agreed.

“Maybe he even used it to lift her into place to hang her from that rod,” Gemma added and then reached across the table to squeeze her aunt’s hands. “Sorry, Aunt Maisy. Sitting around my table discussing a how a murder was committed isn’t normal, I promise you.”

“I’m sure it’s not, dear but it is fascinating to watch the way you all work together,” Aunt Maisy said, looking at each of them in turn. “You should open your own detective agency.”

“The Three NitWits Detective Agency,” Gemma said and all of them laughed.

“Is that it?” Nick asked, scooping up the cards and stuffing them into an envelope.

“One more thing,” Ross said, holding up a finger. “We’ve discovered there was at least one shady real estate deal involving Katie.”

“I’d be surprised if there was just one,” Nick told him.

Ross gave him the particulars and then asked. “Do you think you could do a little investigative reporting? Maybe sniff out a very, very unhappy home owner. That may very well be another suspect.”

“Will do,” Nick said and held up the envelope. “I’ll be sure they know to keep this on the down low.”

“I appreciate that,” Ross said.

“Well, if that’s it, I’m going to head out,” Nick said, rising.

“You seem awfully chipper this morning,” Gemma said, eyeing him carefully. “And you didn’t touch your coffee.”

Nick shrugged and gave her his familiar lopsided grin. “I’m just a happy guy.”

Two hours later, Holly picked Gemma up and they headed downtown for the shop. “I hope it’s okay that I went ahead and bought some paint. A pretty cream color to brighten up that brick wall,” Holly told her. “Mitch and I were out last night and...”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Gemma said, struggling to concentrate on Holly’s words.

Her thoughts continued to drift back to those fingerprints lying on her kitchen table and what they’d gone through the night before to get them. And she was sure it was better that Holly knew nothing about it. She also realized Holly had no idea Ross was hiding out at her place. Better keep that to herself as well, at least for the time being.

“Are you okay?” Holly asked.

“Yes, I’m just tired,” Gemma told her, forcing a smile.

When they arrived at the shop, they discovered Natalie pacing back and forth on the sidewalk.

“At least we know our new employee is prompt,” Holly said.

“And reliable,” Gemma added.

Dressed in worn jeans, a t-shirt and sneakers, Natalie’s pink hair almost glittered in the morning sunshine as it cascaded around her slender shoulders. She smiled and headed for the car when Holly parked.

“I’ve got paint and supplies in the back,” Holly told her.

“Cool. I like to paint,” Natalie said, opening the back and reaching in for buckets of paint.

“Good, because I think that apartment upstairs is going to need a fresh coat as well before you move in,” Holly told her. “Don’t worry, we’ll help.”

Gemma was quiet as she helped them carry brushes, rollers and drop cloths into the shop. While they went to work painting the brick wall that ran the full length of the shop, Gemma went back into the office/storage room to make note of what needed to be done in there. The shelves were clean and in good shape and Gemma was sure it was plenty big enough for them. She made a note to purchase a desk and maybe a dedicated computer just for the shop.

Her cell phone chimed. It was Nick.

“Hey,” Gemma said after swiping the screen.

“Hey. I have bad news and good news,” he told her.

“Bad news first,” Gemma said, placing her legal pad and pen on a nearby shelf.

“I called in some favors and the State Police lab in Richmond is going to analyze the prints for us.”

“Great,” Gemma said. “But...”

“They’re pretty backed up and can’t do it right away. It’ll be at least two weeks. Sorry, it was the best I could do on that one,” he explained.

“That’s a long time,” Gemma said with a sinking feeling. “Gilmore might try to go ahead and arrest Ross on circumstantial evidence.”

“The good news is I found someone willing to talk about a shady real estate deal he had with Mack,” Nick told her.

“Oh, yeah.”

“Yes, he’s really, really angry and he’s not alone. He agreed to talk to me later today,” Nick said.

“Okay, cool. Let me know,” Gemma said and ended the call.

Back out in the main shop, half of the wall was painted. The place already looked brighter and more contemporary. Gemma smiled. Once the display cases were put in place and the lighting was done, this was going to be beautiful.

“That looks great, guys,” Gemma told them.

Before either of them could answer her, the bell over the door tinkled. All three women turned to see Peggy Langstrom entering the space. Were they ever going to get rid of that woman? Dressed in a dark suit that was a size too small, she wore way too much make up and her short gray hair looked like it was plastered to her head. Her bulging briefcase looked like it had seen better days.

“Peggy, can we help you?” Gemma asked, trying not to sound as impatient as she felt.

“Just attended an emergency breakfast meeting with the Chamber of Commerce,” Peggy boasted, placing her briefcase on the floor and crossing her arms over her chest. “With Katie out of the picture, I mean, gone, they had to elect a new treasurer.”

“Oh,” Gemma said.

“And they elected me,” Peggy finished. “Natural choice.”

“Well, congratulations, Peggy,” Holly said, although she sounded rather uncertain.

“I’m also the head of the committee welcoming new businesses to the city,” Peggy continued. “Me being such a commercial real estate mogul and all. I know when all of the new business owners come to town.”

“I thought Essie handled commercial real estate,” Gemma said. Wasn’t that why they had sought her out to find them a shop?

“But she just handles the small stuff. Nothing big like I can facilitate,” Peggy assured her.

“Oh,” Gemma said, a thought forming at the back of her mind.

“Anyway, I want you to attend next month’s breakfast meeting as my guests. It’s great for networking and that sort of thing. I’m sure you’re going to need all the help you can get. Perhaps after you meet everyone, you’ll want to be on one of our committees.”

“So, do you only do commercial real estate now?” Gemma asked, cutting off the tirade as gently as possible.

Peggy picked an imaginary thread from her knee length skirt and tugged gently at the lapels of her fitted jacket. “Oh, no. I do it all. So, Holly, when you’re ready to start house hunting again, you just let me know.”

“Peggy, what do you know about some land over off of Route Two-fifty?” Gemma asked and then added quickly. “Perhaps Holly and Mitch would like to build.”

Gemma could feel Holly staring at her but she kept her gaze trained on Peggy.

“I’m afraid Katie already purchased that land,” she finally said. “It belongs to her mother now, I guess.”

“So you don’t have any land of your own?”

“No and there’s good reason for that. Katie was somehow able to buy several large tracts of land just outside the city limits at an unheard of price. I’m sure she had something going on with the zoning commissioner. Big surprise. I tried to buy that land, even offered more money but they wouldn’t even talk to me. Me,” Peggy said loudly and thumped her chest with a fist. “President of the Board of Realtors for the county.”

“I didn’t know you were President of the Board of Realtors,” Gemma said.

The older woman did her best to hide it but she was becoming more agitated by the minute. “Oh, I’m not yet but I will be now that Katie is gone.”

“Did you know the land that she built on was slated to be taken by the state to widen Route Two-Fifty?” Gemma asked.

Peggy cleared her throat. “I know it now but I didn’t know it at the time.”

“Did Katie know it?”

“Probably.”

“What about the other pieces of land?” Gemma asked.

By this time, Peggy’s face was red. Her neatly combed hair was beginning to come undone and her hands were fisted at her side, clenching and unclenching rapidly. “That is none of my concern,” she snapped, turned on her heel and stormed out of the building.

Silence filled the space where before had been nothing but white hot anger and the reek of cheap cigarettes.

“Well, that was interesting,” Natalie finally said, her voice quiet. She picked up her paint roller and went back to work.

“Pushed her a little bit didn’t you?” Holly asked, looking at Gemma.

“Just a little,” Gemma conceded. “Do you think she hated Katie enough to kill her?”

“She was pretty hot,” Holly said, turning back to her work as well. “Don’t know if she was angry enough to kill but she’s certainly taking advantage of Katie being gone.”

They worked in silence for a while, with Gemma trying to concentrate on her computer screen. All she could see was Peggy’s eyes flashing anger, a violent anger that was almost tangible. But she couldn’t have moved Katie’s body. It was too heavy and unless Peggy was pretty strong... Perhaps she had help.

While she pondered this, the door to the shop opened and a short, heavy set man wearing a dirty t-shirt and jeans stepped into the shop. He rubbed his bald head with both hands and gazed around the shop, looking more and more confused as the door closed behind him.

“Can I help you?” Gemma asked, stepping toward him.

“I’m Frank McCoy. I was told to meet someone from the newspaper here, name of Nick Leonard,” he explained in a deep, gruff sounding voice. “I’m a bit early.”

“Oh, Nick’s not here yet,” Gemma said, surprised that he asked the man to meet him at their shop. Why not the newspaper office or a restaurant somewhere? “He should be here any minute.”

Almost before she finished speaking, Gemma saw Nick trotting down the street toward the shop. He passed the big display window, pushed open the door and scanned the room. His smile grew wider when it landed on Natalie. Then he saw McCoy and entered the shop.

“Mr. McCoy, I’m Nick Leonard with the ... newspaper,” Nick said, offering his hand.

“Frank McCoy. Nice to meet you,” Frank said and shook Nick’s hand.

Gemma, pretending to go back to work, noted the size of the man’s hands.

“I just wanted to talk to you a little bit about the law suit you had against Ms. Mack,” Nick explained.

“I hate to speak ill of the dead but that woman cost us a fortune. We paid a pretty penny for our house and within six months the state came through to widen the highway. Went right through the middle of the house. Took the whole thing out. She had to have known it was going to happen.”

“What’s going to happen now?” Nick asked.

Frank shrugged, his shoulders drooping. “I don’t rightly know. Haven’t talked to our lawyer in the last few days. We weren’t the only ones who lost almost everything we had. And the ones who weren’t wiped out totally lost front yards, not to mention the property values going down.”

“The state paid for your homes,” Nick suggested.

“Not even half of what we had in them,” Frank argued and then shrugged. “But now she’s dead so I suppose, if we win the suit, her estate will pay off.”

The men continued talking and Gemma’s thoughts whirled. Ross was right. This information opened up a whole new line of suspects. She still felt that Peggy was involved somehow. Perhaps she had managed to coerce one of them into helping her kill Katie?

Finally, she heard Nick thank Frank for his time and they shook hands again. As the men shook hands, Gemma saw a flash of pink on Frank’s wrist.

“That’s an interesting bracelet, Mr. McCoy,” she observed.

Frank held up his arm. “I lost a sister to breast cancer but I prefer the Paracord to a pink ribbon.”

“Did you hear all of that?” Nick asked when he was gone.

“Enough.”

“That’s one reason I brought him here,” he explained.

“Thanks,” Gemma said.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I promised your new employee I’d take her to lunch,” Nick said.