Shopping is Murder (McKinley Mysteries Book 6) (10 page)

Talking It Out

ACCORDING TO THE FILE, ANDRES Malone lived alone
. He kept the place immaculate. Everything had its place, and the air smelled of freshly washed floors and carpet powder.

“What do you want?” Andres gestured to a couch and flumped into a sofa chair.

“We want to ask you questions about Groovin’ Beat.” Sara analyzed him when she made the statement. Andres’ instinct was to avoid her eyes—she caught the flicker—but he stayed his gaze.

He shrugged.
“What about it?”

“You brought in a CD case and put it on the shelf. Why?”

“Who are you guys? Are you with store security? I didn’t steal anything. Like you just said, I left something.”

“Our interest is in what you left.”

“It wasn’t a bomb.”

Sara noticed Andres
’ defensiveness. Anything they said was met by a reaction that pit them against him. As long as they kept approaching this like a case, Andres was going to clam up.

She smiled at him. She was hoping that Jimmy
’s claim about her expression held true and that she did hold power over men with it.

Andres smiled back, but his awkwardness was apparent. He was more shook up than he wanted to let on, but he wasn’t directly involved with Jerrod going over the railing. If he was, he’d likely be high or drinking right now, and his fear of cops never would have allowed him to open the door.

Of course, maybe she was making the assumption of his innocence too quickly. The house could have been tidy as the result of an obsessive compulsion, one spurned along to silence the voices of guilt.

“What was it?” Sean asked.

“It was a CD case.”

“We know that much. What was in it? Why were you leaving one instead of buying one?”

“What is this, twenty questions? You haven’t even told me what you really want. You’re not from the store are you? How did you find me?” Andres’ cheek was twitching.

Sara observed something beneath the surface, a nervous energy, but he was doing well holding himself together. While they had decided not to start the conversation with Jerrod’s death because panic would have set the tone, it was time the subject was broached.

Sean must have thought the same thing.
“The man who died at the mall picked up the CD not long after you left it,” he said. “We have reason to believe—”

“No. It had nothing to do with his death. I didn’t do it anyway.”

“But you know who did?” Sara spoke softly, but Andres didn’t respond, so she continued.
“What was on the disc? If might help us get to the bottom of all this.”

Andres shook his head wildly.
“Not going to happen. I don’t even really know, all right.”

“Which is it? You know or you don’t know?”

“I never saw it for myself.”

“So you dropped off something for Jerrod. That was the man’s name.”

Andres
’ face contorted and tears fell. “I didn’t kill him, okay. I wouldn’t hurt a fly. I hate disorder.”

“You’re covering for someone else,” Sean said.

He received a small bob of the head in response.

“Who?”

“I’m not saying anything. This person…if they killed that guy, what’s to stop them from killing me?”

Sara gazed at Sean, hoping to get his attention. Andre Malone may have planted the disc, but she believed his pleas of innocence when it came to Jerrod
’s death. She also believed that Andres was in the middle of whatever this was and didn’t have exact knowledge about its significance. Another thing she believed was that Andres had become fearful for his own survival.

Taking Names

THEY WALKED BACK TO THE car, and Sean could feel eyes on them. It would be more than Andres watching after them. Their Mercedes didn
’t exactly blend into this neighborhood.

“Andres knows who is behind all of this, but he’s not going to say a word,” Sean said as he closed Sara’s door.

With him behind the wheel, Sara replied.
“I agree, darling. And he’s both afraid of, and loyal to, this person.”

“It also has me thinking…you know how we believe that Jerrod must have been involved in a crime and someone was holding it over him? We should ask Nicole for specific names of people who didn’t care for her husband.” The idea sounded brilliant until he saw the reflection in her eyes. “Yeah, I guess that’s a hard one to ask a widow, but it’s necessary. I know we have already asked, but we met with a summation, no specifics.”

“True. I did it all the time with the day job, but Nicole is a friend. The victim was her husband.”

Sean turned toward Sara and took her hands.
“You’re stronger than you realize. You’ve got this.” He smiled at her, and her lips twitched in response, like she wanted to form the expression but couldn’t quite bring herself to do so.

“You are right.”

“Can you say that one more time so I can—” He maneuvered like he was going to pull his cell out to record her.

“Since when are we like this?”

“We’re an old married couple now. It’s time to start the scoreboard.”

She angled her head to the side, her one brow arched up farther than the other.
“Are you sure you want to go there?” She laughed, unable to keep the straight face.

“No, I really don’t, but at least all of this put a smile on your face.”

She smirked and ran a hand down his arm.
“You can always do that.”

“Because when I look at you, you make it easy.”

Sean put the car into gear and headed over to see the Townsends.

Shelly Townsend answered the door, her expression at seeing them reflected neither happiness nor disdain. The woman had progressed to indifference.
“She’s in the living room.”

“Thank you,” Sara said.

“Uh-huh.” The bolt
thunked
in place behind them.

What would it take for this woman to forgive her one transgression? And what was the crime anyhow? Missing one event in her daughter
’s life? Even though it was a monumental one, she had a good reason. Sara was tired of wearing the heavy cloak of guilt. It was time for Mrs. Townsend to leave the past where it belonged—the past.

Nicole was curled up on the couch, beneath a blanket, with a paperback in her hands. She stuck her thumb between its pages and lowered the book when she saw them.
“Sara. What are you doing here? Did you find something out?” She peeked past Sara, her eyes tracing to Sean.

“We have actually,” he answered.

“Oh?” Nicole watched Sara as she took a seat beside her. She shifted her position to place her feet on the floor. The blanket remained draped over her lap.

Sara let the sound of surprise in Nicole’s voice wash over her. It didn’t necessarily reflect her disbelief in their abilities. She may not have expected answers so soon, especially in the wake of being told by the police that there wasn’t evidence of foul play.

“What did you find out?” Nicole scanned Sara’s eyes.

She didn
’t want to go into all of it—the part about the bribery, suspicions of her husband’s wrongdoing. It was all still that—suspicions. Until they had the disc in their possession, or evidence that money traded hands, there would be no way to know for sure.

“Do you know an Andres Malone?” Sara asked.

Nicole
’s chin pressed in, causing small dimples to appear. She shook her head. “Never heard of him.”

“What about a man with an eagle tattoo on his wrist?” Sean interjected. He had remained standing.

“No. I’m sorry.”

Sara reached for Nicole
’s free hand. “You don’t have to be sorry. I know this is rough. I can only imagine, but we need names of people who were jealous of Jerrod’s advancement at the firm, or had other reasons to dislike him.”

“That could include the entire floor, maybe more. It’s a competitive environment. Anyone who is anyone wants to be promoted to managing partner.
Not to mention, with the position he was given firing authority.
”

Had they been considering this from a slightly skewed angle? Maybe it wasn
’t someone currently within the firm but one that Jerrod had gotten rid of.

“Who did he let go recently?” Sean asked, revealing he must have thought along the same lines as her.

“I don’t know. Again, I’m sorry.” Nicole adjusted her position, straightening out her back against the couch. “I can give you some names. Maybe it’ll be of help. I would just find it to be such a shock, you know? Someone he worked with every day hating him enough to kill him?”