Murder Of A Snake In The Grass (26 page)

“What?”

“That’s private, Mom.”

“He’s already married, isn’t he?”

“Divorced.” Skye sank into a kitchen chair. “But how could you possibly know that?”

“Men who have been married act different than those who are bachelors.”

“How?”

“I can’t explain. Just watch from now on, and you’ll see,” May ordered.

“Fine. Don’t tell me. Can I go now?”

“No. You haven’t told me what Luc is really doing in Scumble River, what this Snake Iazetto has to do with anything, and what’s going on.”

Skye gave up. As soon as her mother reported for her three-to-eleven dispatch shift, she’d know everything. “Okay, you win. Here’s the whole story.” The only thing she omitted was Luc’s proposal of marriage and the fact that the New Orleans mob might or might not be coming after her. There was silence when she finished.

Finally May said, “Well, that proves it.”

“Proves what?”

“Men are like commercials. You can’t believe a word they say.”

“Which TV talk show did you hear that on?” Skye asked.

“I’m not sure. I think I read it somewhere.”

“I need to get going. I’ll talk to you later.”

Just as Skye was hanging up she heard a muffled, “Call me if you need anything.” Once again May had managed to get in the last word.

Skye took off her jacket as she headed toward the bathroom. She threw her dress across the bed and stuffed her bra, panties, and slip into the hamper. After she turned on the bathtub faucet, tuned the radio to an oldies station, and lit a couple of candles, she switched off the lights and sank into the tub. She closed her eyes and resolved to let her mind go blank.

Five minutes later, her eyes opened. Not only had her mind refused to go blank, it was crawling with conflicting images. Okay, fine, she would sort through her options and make a decision. Wait a minute, there was no decision to make, was there? Could she really even be considering Luc’s proposal? No. She just had to sort things out.

First, why had she ever fallen in love with this man? That was easy. She had fallen for Luc because he represented everything she had missed by growing up in Scumble River and spending all those years in the Peace Corps. He was handsome, rich, and witty. Too bad he had also turned out to be shallow, mean, and dishonest.

If that were true, why was she still attracted to him?
Maybe she wasn’t, at least not on a serious level. Any red-blooded woman would find him attractive and probably have some physical reaction to his charm. Was there anything more than that for her?

Skye examined her feelings for Luc. He was amazing to look at. He was charming. He held a certain sexual pull for her. But that was all. They had nothing in common. Nothing you could build the next fifty years on. For the life of her, she couldn’t picture them growing old together. Every time she tried, a young blond bimbo popped into her vision and pushed Skye away from Luc’s side.

That was the true test. She could never trust him. Without trust, there was no way they could ever have a life together. Now, she just had to turn down Luc’s proposal and find out who had really killed Snake Iazetto so Luc could get his deed back. Then she could sign it, thus paying off the mob, and he could leave town. At which time she could get back to her normal life. Piece of cake.

Skye was cleaning out her linen closet as she waited for Loretta to call. They had agreed that she would let Skye know what happened with Luc’s questioning and whether he was still being held at the police station.

After her not-so-relaxing bath, Skye had decided to work off her nervous energy. So far she had cleaned out her kitchen cupboards, tidied the bookshelves, and done three loads of laundry.

When she heard knocking, her heart stopped. Could the mob be after her already? No, she was being silly. They wouldn’t knock. Skye ran to the foyer and looked out the window. It was Simon. She flung open the door. “Oh, Simon, you scared me.”

“Why would someone knocking on your door in the middle of the day scare you?”

“That’s a long story. Come inside, and I’ll fill you in.
How much have you heard?” Skye figured she might as well clear things up with Simon as soon as possible.

“Let’s see. You discovered Gabriel Scumble is really Snake Iazetto from New Orleans. St. Amant is being held by the police for questioning. With your help, he’s hired your friend Loretta to represent him. And he spoke to you for a long time this morning before talking to Wally. Am I missing anything?”

“No, that about does it.” Could she be that lucky? Was Simon not going to demand to know what Luc had said?

“So, that only leaves what he said to you.”

She thought for a moment. It was now or never. Come clean with Simon, or lose him forever. “We’d better sit down.”

“That bad?”

“Just complicated.”

They sat on the sofa, and Skye took Simon’s hand. “You were right all along. He didn’t come back because he loved me. He was just trying to use me again.”

“How?”

Skye told him everything, stopping just before the marriage proposal and concluding with “His plan was for me to endorse the deed without ever knowing what I signed.”

“He’s an idiot.”

“And now the New Orleans mob may be after me.”

Simon made a sound in his throat that might have been a growl. “You’d better come and stay with me.”

“I can’t do that. There would be too much talk. I’ll be careful.”

“You could go stay at your folks’.”

Skye frowned. “I’m not putting them in danger.”

“I wish you weren’t so isolated here.”

“Me too.” Skye shivered. “But I’m not running away. Too bad Luc didn’t just phone and ask me to sign the deed.”

“He sees everything and everybody as having an angle. It would
never occur to him that you wouldn’t try to keep the land or get a piece of the money.”

“That’s true. In his world, there is no such thing as integrity.”

Simon put an arm around her and drew her to his side. She let her head rest in that comfy space men have on their shoulders that’s perfect for snuggling.

He spoke so quietly at first, she thought she heard him wrong. “Are you going to marry him?”

She shot straight up off the sofa. “What? Who? Are you kidding? How did you know he asked?”

He stood also, towering over her. “It was obvious that even though his main purpose was to get your signature, he still cared for you. He knows you’re the type of woman who would work hard and help him rebuild his life. How many of those society debutantes would do that?”

“Oh.” Sometimes Simon’s insight scared her. “Then you should also be able to figure out that I would never marry him. I told you how I fell for him and that I’ve changed from that superficial person.”

“True, but you also can’t resist the underdog. Which he sure is at this point.”

“I spent this afternoon sorting things out in my mind. Do I still find him attractive? Yes. Is he a sexy man? Yes. Is there any future with him? No.”

“Is there any future with me?” Simon put his finger under her chin and gently forced her to look him in the eye.

“I hope so. I hope you’ll give me the chance to find out.”

His hands slipped down her arms, bringing her closer, and his lips parted hers in a soul-searching journey. His fingers were exploring the soft lines of her back, her waist, and her hips when the knocking started.

Both tried to ignore the intrusion, but Loretta’s strong alto voice called out, “I know you’re in there. Get your butt over here and open this door.”

Simon and Skye exchanged looks of mutual frustration,
and she moved out of his arms, straightened her clothes, and let Loretta inside.

The attorney took in the situation and said to Simon, “You’ve got lipstick on your chin.”

He reached up and rubbed the pink smear away.

Skye ignored this exchange and asked, “What happened at the station after I left?”

“Wally questioned Luc. Luc answered. Wally still thinks he did it but couldn’t hold him without more evidence. So Luc was released but can’t leave town, and Wally kept the deed to the property.”

“Can he do that?” Skye asked.

“It’s his town.” Loretta shrugged. “By the time I get a judge to order him to hand it over, he’ll have either given it back or arrested Luc. Anyway, for now Luc’s checked into Charlie’s motor court.”

Skye groaned. “That does it. If he’s ever going to be out of my hair and take the threat of the mob off my back, we have to figure out who really killed Snake Iazetto.”

Simon nodded. “Let’s go someplace nice for dinner and figure out a plan.”

“Really?” Skye was amazed. “Let me get this straight. You are not only saying it’s all right with you if I investigate, you’re going to help me?”

“I’ve realized you’re never going to change. And even if you did, I wouldn’t like you as much because you’d be a different person.”

Skye felt something catch in her throat. “Thank you.” This was the side of Simon she was learning to trust.

Once again Loretta broke the mood. “Dinner sounds great. I’m starved.”

Simon looked at his watch. “It’s five before five. I thought we’d go to Joliet or Kankakee—better food, more privacy.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Loretta headed for the door.

“Wait.” Skye stopped her. “Don’t you think I’d better
change?” She pointed to her clothes: cut-off shorts and an old University of Illinois T-shirt.

Loretta frowned. “Five minutes, Denison, or we leave without you.”

It actually took Skye closer to ten minutes. Luckily she had reapplied her makeup after her bath. Loretta and Simon were waiting for her next to his Lexus. She slid into the passenger seat and said, “Where shall we go?”

“Somewhere in the direction of Chicago,” Loretta answered. “I’ll follow you two. That way I can head home after we eat.” She paused, then added, “And make it somewhere we won’t have to wait to be seated. I haven’t had anything to eat since a bagel this morning.”

“Well, I was thinking of Branmor’s in Bolingbrook, but there might be a wait.” Simon reached in his pocket and tossed a cell phone to Skye. “Call and make reservations on the way.”

“When did you get a cell phone?”

“Yesterday. This way Xavier and I aren’t tied to the office, waiting for calls.”

The twentieth century was creeping into Scumble River. Too bad the twenty-first century had already arrived everywhere else.

As if by mutual agreement, they didn’t talk about Luc or the murder on the drive to the restaurant. Instead, they drove in silence, holding hands and listening to the oldies station.

Once they arrived at the restaurant, they were shown to a quiet corner table. Crisp white linen, low-key lighting, and the subdued clink of silver and crystal provided a relaxing background. Loretta immediately got into a conversation with the server about wine.

As Skye studied the extensive menu, she caught herself thinking about her last dinner date. The highly impressive and highly expensive Charlie Trotter’s with Luc seemed not only a million years ago, but as if it had happened on a planet far, far away. She looked around. This was a very nice
restaurant, and certainly not cheap, but she felt a lot more relaxed here.

After they had ordered and the wine had been poured, Skye asked Loretta, “Did Luc add anything to what he told me when he talked to Wally?”

“You know I can’t tell you anything he says to me—client privilege. But, no, he told Wally exactly what he told you. Although there were a few details I advised him not to disclose.”

“Such as the fact that he owed Iazetto money?”

Loretta shook her head. “I can’t discuss it.”

Simon took a small notebook from his pocket. “Let’s assume St. Amant is telling the truth. To me, the first question isn’t who killed Iazetto. It’s who was the real intended victim?”

“That’s a good point.” Skye took out her own pad of paper and pen. “We have to investigate it both ways—one, as if it were Iazetto and the other, as if it were the real Gabriel Scumble.”

Loretta joined in. “Let’s take one at a time. Say the killer knew he or she was killing Iazetto. Who in Scumble River would want him dead?”

“Besides Luc, there’s Grady and his gang.” Skye explained to Loretta about the graffiti and the bandstand hangout.

Loretta sliced a piece of bread from the warm loaf they had just been served. “He sounds like a good suspect, no matter who the victim is. I’ve dealt with kids like that before. They have little remorse to begin with, and being with their gang only makes it worse.”

“The other thing we can’t forget is the hanky with the blood and lipstick on it,” Skye elaborated. “Iazetto is just the type Fayanne would take up with.” She filled Loretta in on the liquor store owner’s fight with the victim just hours before his death.

“The only thing I can think of is maybe someone
followed him into town, murdered him, and left.” Skye made a wry face. “And if that’s the case, we haven’t got a chance in heck of finding him.”

“Now let’s assume the intended victim was Gabriel Scumble,” Simon suggested. He moved his notepad aside to allow the server to place a plate of mixed greens topped with a lacy swirl of french fried onions in front of him.

All discussion was put on hold until they had finished their salads.

Once they were served their entrees, Skye raised her fork and said, “Okay, if the killer thought he was murdering Gabriel Scumble, both Grady and Fayanne are still suspects. And there’s something funny going on between the mayor and Fayanne, too. Something about money. And don’t forget the Montreal police told Wally that Gabriel Scumble’s family had a reputation as robber barons.”

“But Gabriel was trying to change that reputation and was a beloved philanthropist, right?” Simon looked up from the steak he was cutting into.

“As far as we know, but …” Skye trailed off.

Simon nodded. “True, people can fool you.”

“I’ll talk to Miss Letitia and see if there’s any dirt from the past we should know about,” Skye volunteered.

“Okay, then I’ll check on Fayanne and Mayor Clapp’s financial situations,” Simon offered.

Loretta loaded a fork full of pasta and shrimp. “Give me a call if you two come up with anything.”