Sarah Woods Mystery Series (1-6) Boxed Set (9 page)

Chapter 22

Friday, November 12

After taking time to go to the gym for a quick workout, I was sitting at my desk looking through the client files by eight o’clock. My renewed disdain for bookkeeping found me pondering the thought of hiring someone to replace Beth. But I didn’t have the heart to do it so soon. It was going to be a challenge to find someone like her. As I was writing checks, the front door opened. I looked up and couldn’t believe my eyes.

“
Jacob and Lindy! What a surprise,” I said, noticing my heart was beating just a little faster than normal. Jacob was wearing loose fitting jeans and a flannel jacket, and Lindy was decidedly less glamorous than she’d looked the first time I’d seen her. Her hair was pulled up into a baseball cap, and she was wearing an oversized sweatshirt with a chunky blue scarf.  

“
Sarah, can we talk for a few minutes?” Jacob asked.

Not sure what to say, I said, “What’s up?” There were so many things jumping around in my mind I felt a little dizzy.

“
Look, Sarah. Lindy and I went to see Detective Flynn this morning. We’d like to clear things up with you, too.” Jacob gestured towards the waiting room.

“
What is it?” I said, crossing my arms and sitting back in my chair. “You can tell me right here.”

 
Lindy walked up to the desk. “I want to apologize for lying to you when I came over here the other day. I don’t know why I did it.” She looked down at her feet. “Maybe I was just curious. I know that sounds completely twisted and wrong. But I swear to you, I had nothing to do with Beth’s murder.”  

“
So what did you and Beth talk about in your car that night? Gabby said she saw Beth get into a white Subaru Outback. Don’t tell me it wasn’t you.”  

“
Yes, it was me. I’ll tell you what I told the detective this morning. I’d called Beth earlier that day, wanting to talk to her.” She paused to tuck a strand of hair back under her cap. “She agreed to meet me here after work, so I came by. She got in my car, and we talked for just a few minutes.”  

“
What’d you talk about?”  

“
Jacob, of course. I told her we were still in love. You see, I was just trying to create a rift in their relationship. I guess I was hoping she’d call off the wedding and he’d come back to me. Well, she told me to get lost. She got out of my car and I left.” Lindy looked over at Jacob, who stood motionless, hands stuffed in his jeans’ pockets.  

“
So, if you really had nothing to do with Beth’s murder, why did you leave town?”  

“
I realized how bad it looked, being the crazy ex-girlfriend and all. I panicked, I guess. But Jacob had nothing to do with that. When I came back this morning, he went to the police with me to help explain.”

“
Lindy, tell Sarah the other thing,” Jacob said, pointing to the envelope she held in her hand.  

“
What other thing?” I asked.

Lindy laid the small white envelope on my desk.  

“
What’s this?” I said, looking down at it.  

“
Open it and see for yourself,” Jacob said.  

I opened the envelope and withdrew five photographs. Holding them up to get a better look, I instantly recognized the two people in the photos.  

“
How’d you get these pictures?” I asked.  

“
They must have fallen out of Beth’s purse when she was getting out of my car the evening we talked,” Lindy explained. “I noticed the envelope on the seat when I got home.”  

“
I don’t get it. Why would Beth have these photos?” I looked from one to the other, but they both just shook their heads and shrugged.  

“
This is disturbing. Do you mind if I keep these? I need to make some calls. Please excuse me,” I said, picking up the phone.  

Jacob and Lindy turned and walked out. Gabby, coming in just as they were leaving, gave them a peculiar look.  

“
Thank God you’re here, Gabby. I was just about to call you,” I said, pushing myself away from the desk and getting to my feet.  

“
What’s wrong?”  

“
You have a minute?”  

“
Of course.”  

Gabby listened to me go on about all I’d learned the past few days about Beth working for a private eye named Carter and about Max’s business. Then I showed her the photos.  

“
Who’s that guy you’re massaging?” Gabby asked.   “He looks familiar.”  

“
That’s Jeff Gardner, the client I was working on the night Beth was killed.”  

“
Why would someone want photos of you massaging him?”  

“
I have no idea, but look, here, Gabby. The date in the bottom right hand corner is October 23. These pictures were taken over two weeks ago.”  

“
Okay. But why? And how? Wouldn’t you have noticed someone standing in your room with a camera?”  

“
Exactly. There was no one in the room with us that day, or any other day.”  

Gabby grabbed my arm and we walked briskly down the hall to my massage room. She was holding the photos, looking around. “Someone would have had to stand on a stool or a chair to get a shot from this angle,” she said, studying the photos, then pulling a chair out of the corner and climbing onto it.  

“
So what are you saying? Someone put a camera or something up there on a timer?”  

“
It’s possible. The angle from which these photos were taken would be just about right for a camera sitting on this upper shelf.”  

“
I’ve never seen a camera up there.”  

“
Did you ever look for one?”  

“
Okay. But why? I don’t get it.”

“
This is my theory. Your client, the guy in those pictures, took them with his own camera or cell phone. He could’ve set it up there while he was undressing, before you came in.”  

“
Why the hell would he do that?”  

“
Maybe he gets off on looking at pictures of himself getting massaged by cute girls.”  

“
Oh, please. That’s ridiculous.”  

“
Don’t be so naïve,” Gabby scolded, handing the photos back to me.  

“
But that doesn’t explain why Beth would have had the pictures.”  

“
You said something about Beth working for a private eye, right? Maybe she found out about the client’s kinky habit and he killed her when he found out she stole his photos.”  

“
This makes no sense to me. Jeff was in the shower when I found Beth. He couldn’t have killed her. Plus, he was the one who called 911.”

 
“What were you doing while he was supposedly taking a shower?”  

“
Laundry.” I replied, recalling that he had taken an unusually long shower. “But they’re just stupid photographs. What do they prove? Nothing. Who’d give a rat’s ass about them?”  

“
Maybe he was afraid the pictures would be sent to his wife. Is he married?”  

“
Yes. But so what? It’s not as if we’re having sex in the photos. Look, he’s completely covered up with the sheet. He’s not even popping a tent for Pete’s sake.”  

“
I don’t know what to say, Sarah. It’s the only thing I can come up with.” Gabby shrugged and walked back down the hall. I followed her into the reception area.  

“
So what do I do now? These pictures don’t make any sense,” I said.  

“
It proves that your client is a pervert, and possibly a murderer,” Gabby said. “If I were you, I’d call the detective and have him question your client again.”  

“
Shit,” I said, looking at the photos again. It just didn’t make any sense.  

“
Look, I have a client coming in a few minutes. I need to get my room ready.” Gabby headed back down the hall.

“
Make sure you check your room for hidden cameras Gabby. You don’t want to find yourself on YouTube rubbing some guy’s hairy ass,” I called after her. It was a cheap shot, but I was at my wits end. All I could think to do was call Melissa to see if she might have any ideas about the photos.  

Chapter 23

“
I don’t know what to say, Sarah,” Melissa said, handing the pictures back to me.  

“
So Beth never showed these to you? Do you have any idea why she’d have them?”  

“
Well, there must have been a reason. Are you gonna confront your client about them?”  

“
I don’t know what to do.”

“
I’m sorry. I wish I could help.” Melissa seemed noticeably less anxious than the last time we’d met. She was sitting in the front seat of my car, on the passenger side, while we talked.

“
By the way, I talked to Max last night,” I said, slipping the photos back into my purse.  

“
You did?”  

“
He’s going to try to find Carter.”  

“
Good luck to him with that. I doubt you’ll find him. He’s not the kind of guy listed in the yellow pages.”  

“
I don’t get it. What’s the big deal? He’s just a private eye who bends the law, right? Why is he so mysterious?”  

“
According to Beth, Carter lost his license to practice. She didn’t know why, but he’s careful about covering his tracks. Beth told me once that he had a unique way of contacting her. Even though they used those throw away cell phones from time to time to avoid being traced, but Beth wanted to take extra precautions. She devised a foolproof way of setting up their meetings. He’d mail a card to our house, sometimes a thank you card, sometimes a birthday card. It would be different every time. The card would appear to be a friendly note, but in the message would be the details of when and where she was to meet him.

My brain was buzzing with all this new information. Then I remembered something. I reached into my purse, pulled out the card that had come in the mail for Beth, and handed it to her.  

“
This came in the mail a few days ago. It’s an engagement card addressed to Beth. I almost threw it out. Could it be from Carter?”  

She inspected the card, opened it, and her eyes widened. She nodded slowly and laughed softly.  

“
Yep. This is from him. Beth was supposed to meet Carter tomorrow at three o’clock.”  

“
How can you be sure it’s from him?”  

“
Because it’s signed, ‘your cousin, Greg’.  He always signs his cards that way.”  

“
Do you think it’s possible he’ll still show up?”  

“
I don’t know, Sarah. But you’d better bring Max with you just in case.”  

Heading home later that day, I decided I was going to kidnap my son and make him spend some time with me whether he wanted to or not. On the way, I phoned Max and left a message asking him to call me back. I had so much to tell him, and hoped he’d be able to go with me to meet Carter. Was it even likely, I wondered, that Carter would show up? What did he look like? I was beginning to feel I was in way over my head, but couldn’t deny the adrenalin rush I was feeling.  

After stopping for cheeseburgers around four o’clock, Brian and I proceeded to Marshall’s and T.J. Max, from which we exited about two hours later with a cart-full of treasures. For me, a new outfit with matching shoes, silver hoop earrings, a wool jacket, and some lingerie I found on sale. For Brian, some highly sought after sneakers and a few shirts. It was after six when we headed home.  

“
See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” I joked, as we pulled up in front of the house. “Hanging with your mom for a few hours, getting in a little retail therapy.”

“
Not so bad, I guess.” He shrugged and smiled at me.

“
Somewhere in a distant galaxy, far, far into the future, this day will be a source of fond memories.” I patted him on the knee.  

“
Sure,” he said, opening his door.  

Brian helped me carry the fruits of our shopping to the back door. When I went to unlock it, I noticed it was already open. I thought I’d locked it when we left, but couldn’t be sure. As soon as we walked in the house and I looked around, I knew something was wrong. My desk, which was situated between the kitchen and living room, and which I always kept impeccably neat, was in disarray, the two bottom drawers of my filing cabinet were ajar, and my laptop, which I usually left open, was closed.

We dropped our bags on the floor.  

“
We need to call the police, now!” I said, trying to remain calm.  

“
Why? What happened?”

“
Someone broke in, Brian. Just call.”  

As Brian dialed 911 on his cell phone, I listened for sounds of someone in the house, then walked down the hall and checked our bedrooms. The police cruiser arrived just as I was beginning to feel I might have jumped the gun.  

I opened the front door to their knock, and two officers entered.  

“
You reported a break in?” one asked, looking around the room.  

“
Someone was here,” I said, beginning to doubt myself. “They went through my desk. Maybe they were looking for bank numbers or financial information. Maybe it was identity theft?”

“
But nothing stolen?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

I felt my cheeks flush. “Well, it’s hard to say. They may have stolen information.”

“
Look, ma’am, unless we have proof that some kind of crime was committed, we can’t file a report. Now do you know for sure if anything was taken from your house?”  

“
No, I guess not,” I said.  

After some further questions and admonitions, the officers left, and Brian and I stood looking at each other.  

“
I can’t deal with this right now. Call me paranoid, but I know someone was in this house. I’m going to call Gabby, see if we can crash at her place tonight. It’ll be like a slumber party.” There was a hollowness to the enthusiasm I was trying to generate, but Brian, although he looked skeptical, must have sensed my fragility and made no objection.

“Fin
e
,” he said, walking towards the bathroom, “I’ll get my toothbrush.”