Murder of a Bookstore Babe (30 page)

Smiling, Skye joined the congregation shuffling down the aisle toward the exit. As always, Mass had made her feel at peace, but it was time to talk to Xenia about Kayla. And this time she wasn’t giving up until she got the whole story.

When Skye had tried before, she’d accepted Xenia’s claim that Kayla was an angel and there was no one who would want to hurt her, but now Skye wondered whether she’d been too quick to believe Xenia. No one was that perfect, and Xenia had to know more about Kayla than she had told Skye. After all, who had more dirt on a teenage girl than her best friend?

“Wait up, Xenia.” Skye caught up with the girl at the foot of the stairs, and they moved onto the grass.

“Ms. D.” Xenia stopped. “I bet I was the last person you thought you’d see at church.”

“Not the last person . . .” Skye trailed off, not wanting to lie. “But I thought maybe with your trust issues—”

“Hey,” Xenia cut her off. “I believe God loves me. I just think he has a really, really wack way of showing it sometimes.” She grinned. “Besides, I like asking Father B. questions that get him all riled up. I’m an equal-opportunity annoyer.”

Skye couldn’t imagine the priest “all riled up,” so instead of commenting, she asked, “How about I buy you lunch?”

“McDonald’s or the Feed Bag?” Xenia challenged.

“You pick.”

Xenia weighed the choices. “Since you probably want to pump me about Kayla again, McDonald’s is more private.”

“True.” Skye was glad that Xenia seemed to be in a cooperative mood. “Then McDonald’s it is.”

“I’ll meet you there. Get me a Big Mac, fries, and a large coffee,” Xenia said, then started off to the right. “The lot was full, so my car’s parked on the street.”

Skye nodded and headed in the opposite direction. She hoped this wasn’t Xenia’s way of ditching her.

When she arrived at McDonald’s, Xenia had staked out a booth in the back corner. Skye placed their order and joined the girl once their meals were ready.

Skye slid into the seat opposite Xenia and distributed the food. “Thanks for talking to me.”

“Duh. Like you wouldn’t have hounded me until I did.” Xenia decapitated a sugar packet and poured the contents into her cup, stirred, then asked, “So, what’s up?”

“I need you to be straight with me.” Skye had thought a lot about how to approach Xenia and decided head-on was the best way. “I know Kayla was your friend, and you don’t want to speak ill of the dead, but we need to find her killer. No one is as wonderful as you described Kayla to me last time we talked.”

“True,” Xenia agreed without the least bit of embarrassment. “But why should I tell you Kayla’s personal business?” She fiddled with her stirrer, spattering the tabletop with droplets of coffee. “Besides, I thought you told me yesterday that the murderer was after Ms. Vaughn, not Kayla.”

“Now I think I was wrong.” Skye shook her head. “Something’s been bothering me, and I think I figured out what. Your version of Kayla and Chase’s version of Kayla are too dissimilar. It’s almost as if you two were talking about different girls.”

“That’s ’cause he had no idea who she really was.” Xenia took a bite of her sandwich, swallowed, and added, “He thought she should be like some nineteen-fifties housewife—pop out two-point-five kids, make his dinner, and clean up after everyone.”

“And you thought she should pursue her art and become a famous director.” Skye gave Xenia a calculating glance. “Was that her dream or yours?”

“Both of ours.” Xenia sneered. “Chase is a jerk. He’s just like Kayla’s stepdad.”

“You’re sure?” Skye made a face. “One of my personality flaws, and a bad one considering I’m a psychologist, is that I’m often too quick to judge people.”

“I’m right about Kayla.” Xenia’s voice was firm. “And about Chase.”

“One thing I always try to remember is that the side a person shows you is not always representative of them as a whole.” Skye stabbed her salad over and over with her fork as she considered Xenia’s statements. “Kayla had to see something in Chase. They were together a long time.”

“Back when they first started dating, he was what she needed—someone to love her more than anyone else. He was a way to escape from her family and for her to be number one in someone’s life.” Xenia twisted a skull-shaped ring on her finger. “But that was years ago. When Kayla started film school in Chicago, she got a taste of freedom and saw what life outside of Scumble River could be like. It made her think that maybe Chase wasn’t the right guy for her.”

“Chase said they were getting married later this month.”

“True. She agreed a couple of weeks ago to marry him.” Xenia narrowed her eyes. “But now that we’re talking about it, Kayla said something the night before she was killed that made me wonder if she’d changed her mind.”

“What?”

“I can’t remember exactly.” Xenia shook her head. “It was just a fleeting impression.”

“Interesting.” Skye thought for a moment. “Did you tell me that the night Kayla died, Chase started calling you sometime before eleven o’clock?”

“Yeah.” Xenia nodded. “Way before. Maybe as early as quarter after eight or eight thirty.”

“Oh.” Skye’s mouth dropped open and she sat up straighter. “He told me he didn’t start calling you until after midnight.”

“Then he lied. And I can prove it. I haven’t erased his messages.”

“I need to talk to Chase.” Skye felt the ghost of an idea percolating in the back of her mind.

“Not without me.” Xenia stood up. “Let’s go. I know just where to find him.”

“D
on���t you have to get to work?”Skye asked. Despite her attempt to dissuade Xenia from accompanying her, the teenager doggedly followed Skye to her car, plunked down in the passenger seat, and ignored Skye’s commands to get out.

“I’m not missing this.” Xenia whipped out her cell. “I’ll call in sick. They’ll be okay without me.”

“You’re going to make this harder,” Skye argued. “He’ll probably talk to me more openly if you aren’t there, since you two don’t get along.”

“So, you’ll have to work for it.” Xenia crossed her arms. “Deal.” When Skye glowered, Xenia asked, “Do you think he killed Kayla?”

“I don’t know.” Skye measured her words carefully. “I want to check on something.” What the Dooziers had said about Kayla’s winning film, and what Xenia had said about thinking that Kayla had had a change of heart regarding marrying Chase, were starting to add up, not to mention his lie about the timing of his calls to Xenia. But Skye still wasn’t sure she’d done the math correctly.

Part of her refused to believe that the young man who was so torn up at seeing his fiancée crushed under a bookcase could be the one who put her there. However, another part of her knew it all fit. If she was correct about the motive, Chase may even have convinced himself he didn’t do it. Another thing to keep in mind was that Chase was a darn good actor. His Prince Charming in the school’s production of
Sleeping Beauty
had been outstanding.

“What do you want to check on?” Xenia asked. “Do you think he murdered her because she broke off their engagement? That’s pretty wack, even for him.”

Skye ignored the girl’s questions. “I am going to call the chief and have him on the line while we talk to Chase.”

“Is that legal?”

“Yes. You told me Chase will be at the park playing baseball, so he has no expectation of privacy. Plus, I’m not recording him.” Skye paused, considering what the city attorney had told her when she was hired as a consultant, then murmured half to herself, “We aren’t arresting him or even taking him to the police station, plus I’m not a sworn officer so I don’t have to read him his rights.”

“Cool.”

“I’ll be back in a second.” Skye got out of the Thunderbird and said over shoulder, “Don’t forget to let Risé know you’re not coming in.” As soon as Skye was out of Xenia’s earshot, she phoned Wally, explained her theory, and asked him to check something with the ME. Although Wally wasn’t thrilled with her idea, he did agree that bringing Chase into the PD and formally interviewing him probably would not elicit much information.

When she pointed out that Chase was a long shot and they would be in a public place, in full view of dozens of witnesses, Wally finally acquiesced, saying, “The only reason I’m going along with this is because I know if I don’t, you’ll do it without me. At least this way I can be nearby to protect you.”

“True. And I appreciate your being there.” Skye smiled. At least he realized his limitations. “I’ll call you back once we find him, and if I need you, I’ll say, ‘Thanks for clearing that up.’”

“Fine. I’ll ask the medical examiner your question.”

As Skye and Xenia drove to the baseball field, Skye outlined what she wanted Xenia to do, then asked, “Any questions?”

“Duh. What part of shut up and keep quiet do you think I might not understand?”

Skye went over the plan in her head as she turned onto the park’s rutted gravel pathway. Chase was far from the sharpest cleat on the athletic shoe, and he was easily riled up. She just needed to poke at him until he lost his temper and blurted out something incriminating.

When Skye first got out of her car, she didn’t see Chase, but she finally spotted him sitting on a bench in the dugout among several other guys in their early to mid-twenties. Once she got Wally on her cell phone and reminded Xenia to keep quiet, Skye approached the young man.

“Hi, Chase.” Skye waved. “Can I speak to you for a second? It’s important.”

Instead of answering, he glared at Xenia. “What’s she doing here?”

“Actually”—Skye thought fast—“she’s the reason I need to talk to you. Xenia has told me some things that don’t jibe with what you’ve said.”

“She’s a liar.” His face was tight with indignation.

“I know Xenia has had some issues with the truth in the past.” Skye shot the girl an apologetic look, and Xenia rolled her eyes. “That’s why I want to hear your side before leaping to any conclusions.”

“Gee, Ms. Denison.” The young man pushed back his cap and scratched his head. “I can’t leave. We’re in the middle of a game.”

“How about we just stand over there in the parking lot so you can see when your team goes on the field?” Skye was used to coaxing teenagers, their parents, and sundry school personnel into doing what she wanted. “I only need a couple minutes of your time.”

“Well, okay, but I gotta leave as soon as my team takes the field.” Chase got up off the wooden bench and said to the guys sitting near him, “I’ll be right back.”

Skye and Xenia followed Chase across the gravel.

The three of them stopped near his SUV, and Chase jerked his chin at Xenia, asking, “What did she say?”

“Xenia tells me you started calling her as early as eight fifteen, but you said you started at midnight.” Skye thought she’d begin with the easy stuff.

“I’m not a clock-watcher.” Chase shrugged. “Maybe it was earlier than I thought. So what?”

“You also told me that you and Kayla were getting married later this month, right?”

“Yes.” Chase opened the BMW’s front passenger door, grabbed a can of beer from a cooler on the seat, and offered, “Want one?”

“No, thanks.” Skye edged back as he popped the top, not wanting to get sprayed. “Xenia says that Kayla changed her mind and was going to call the wedding off.” Although this wasn’t exactly what Xenia had said, Skye hoped it would make Chase angry enough to blurt out something incriminating.

“That’s not true!” Chase shouted. “We were going to get married, have kids, and settle down. She was going to forget all about making those stupid movies.” He gulped back a sob, then took a slug of beer. “I had it all planned out. It was going to be perfect.”

“But since you didn’t see her that night,” Xenia interjected, “you didn’t know if she was going to dump you or not.”

“No!” he roared. “Kayla knew she could never leave me.”

“But she had won a big award and had the chance to show her movie to lots of famous directors and producers.” Skye leaned against the rear passenger door. “Xenia, wasn’t Kayla going to Hollywood?”

“Yes.” Xenia stared at Chase. “She showed me the airline ticket.”

“You’re lying.” Chase jerked as if he’d been Tasered. “That was before. We talked it over and she wasn’t going.”

“Before what?” Could it be what she thought? Skye held her breath.

“Before she saw reason?” Chase’s tone was almost a question, as if he hoped that was an answer Skye would accept.

“Could she have changed her mind?” Skye persisted. His defenses were definitely beginning to crack. “Girls do that all the time.”

“No.” The young man shook his head wildly. “She promised me.”

“But a chance to go to Hollywood and work for a celebrity, maybe become a celebrity herself . . .” Skye let her voice trail off. “Scumble River and her high school boyfriend might have begun to seem like settling for bronze when she had a chance at the gold.”

Chase’s shoulders slumped, and he choked out, “Why would you say something awful like that?”

Skye flinched. She felt a little nauseous, as if she were burning ants with a magnifying glass. But they had no other leads, and it wouldn’t be fair to Kayla if her murder went unsolved.

Unable to meet his eyes, she glanced into the SUV’s window. What was that in the backseat? She tilted her head. It was a half-folded, superelaborate, heavy-duty baby stroller with a cracked blue plastic footrest. Various facts zipped through her mind in a matter of seconds.

Holy moly!
The last piece of the puzzle fell into place. Earlier, when Xenia had mentioned that she thought Kayla had changed her mind about marrying Chase, Skye remembered that at the Dairy Kastle Kayla had said she hadn’t been hungry the past week or so and that food wasn’t appealing to her. Kayla hadn’t been dieting. She’d been pregnant.