Snake in the Glass (31 page)

Before anyone could protest, I slipped out the door, shutting it behind me, and sat at the top of the stairs, looking at the familiar streetscape, dimly lit by the shadowed streetlights. I took a deep breath, savoring the scent of mesquite in the air.

The streets were all but empty, and then less so, as a lone man turned the corner by the shop and headed in my direction. My first thought was that it was a mugger, but then the dark figure resolved itself into Matt.

I was down the stairs in seconds, just in time to throw myself into his arms at the bottom. His arms went around me and we simply stood there, silent. I couldn’t think of anything to say, but it didn’t matter. He was safe. I found myself patting him, making sure he was in one piece.

He noticed. “Looking for something?”

“Just making sure you’re all there. No bullet holes.”

“Nope. Everything accounted for.”

He wasn’t letting go, I noticed. Then he tilted my face up and kissed me. Some centuries later, we finally came up for air. “You were waiting for me?” he asked.

I nodded. “I was worried. I didn’t know what you’d find out there. That’s why I called you, to make sure you knew what you were walking into.”

“It’s kind of nice, knowing someone’s worried about me. It’s been a while.”

“It scares me, Matt. Not because it’s your job, but because it matters to me. Does that make sense?”

“I think so.”

“Okay.” I took a deep breath. “So tell me what happened. Just the outline—there are several people upstairs who want the whole story, or as much as you can share.”

“First, no casualties. We found Will’s house, and Denis was there. And you were right—Denis tried to convince us that Will had kidnapped him. I think there was a good chance he would have killed Will if we hadn’t gotten there when we did.”

“So you arrested them both? Or somebody did?”

“Yup. The sheriff took them back and split them up and we got their stories, bit by bit. Denis finally caved.”

I let out a breath that I hadn’t known I was holding. “Thank goodness. So it’s over?”

“Looks like it, all but the paperwork. Denis killed Alex.”

I swallowed. “That’s what I figured.” I waited a second before going on. “I talked to his wife, after you left. She said she and Alex had been having an affair. Did Denis know?”

“Wait ’til we get upstairs.” He fell silent, but neither of us moved. It felt good to be here in his arms, all worries gone. Maybe independence wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Maybe Matt and I had some things to talk about.

Finally I said, “People are going to send out a search party for me soon. We’d better go up.”

“Can’t have that. Let’s go fill them in, shall we?”

I turned and headed up the stairs, and he followed. I opened the door, and we were greeted by hearty cheers—and barks. I took inventory: Frank, Nessa, Cam, Allison, and the pups. Yes, everyone was here, apparently waiting to hear whatever Matt had to say.

We made them wait as I scrounged up beer and chips and we all settled ourselves on sofa, chairs and floor. First Matt launched into his summary report.

“Denis killed Alex?” I prompted.

“Looks like it. I don’t think Denis meant to kill him—it probably was an accident. But after that Denis kept trying to patch over things and they just kept getting worse.”

“Did he tell you how it happened?”

“He found out Alex was sleeping with his wife. They got into a shoving match, sounds like, but Alex hit his head on the counter, and that was that.”

This was news to everyone but me. “So it wasn’t the gems?” Nessa asked.

“I think the financial problems forced Denis and Alex together more than usual recently, and Denis must have noticed something going on with Alex and his wife.”

“Or maybe he knew all along and was afraid to say anything. His wife hasn’t been happy with him for a long time,” I added.

“When Denis told us that he had shipped her out of town for her own safety, he was lying. She’d planned the trip for a while, and he wasn’t sure she was coming back.”

“But she came back when she learned that Alex was dead?”

“She did. You’ll have to ask her why.”

Cam broke in. “When did Alex die?”

“The night before you met Denis at Alex’s house. Denis went there the next morning to see if there was anything incriminating, and you surprised him. He knew you were coming, but he didn’t know when. So when you conveniently assumed he was Alex, he thought he’d just shuttle you out to the RV, where he knew you couldn’t communicate with anyone, and then try to figure out the next step. In the end he asked Will to take care of things.”

“He’d been working with Will all along?”

Matt nodded. “Yes, both he and Alex.”

“And Denis asked Will to dump Alex’s body. But why was Will helping Denis at all?”

“Denis promised him a cut of the proceeds from the sale of the stones, after he’d settled his debts. The original deal was with Will, and he laid out some money up front. But then Alex found a better deal and wanted to cut Will out.”

“He probably figured he’d never see his money unless he helped Denis out.” At Matt’s look, I added, “I’ll explain later. Anyway, Will couldn’t bring himself to kill Cam, so he settled for scrambling his brains.” I was glad that Beverly had been right. It would be hard to live with the knowledge that your brother was a cold-blooded murderer. Stupid was easier.

Matt turned to Cam. “Denis said Alex came by to drop off the new gem-sale contract while Elizabeth was at work, and that’s when he confronted him about the affair. He’d had his suspicions for a while, but he didn’t want a messy argument, and he wasn’t sure how to get out of the business relationship.”

I pictured the gleaming kitchen, with its trendy granite countertops. How well did granite hold blood evidence? “But how did he get rid of the body so fast? And what about Alex’s car?”

“Denis called Will in a panic and asked him to meet him at Alex’s house. Then he drove Alex’s car back there and waited for Will. When he showed up, he told Will to get rid of the body where nobody would find it. And Will did. It came pretty close to working. If I hadn’t pushed the ME, he probably wouldn’t have looked at the body for months. And then Denis went home and cleaned up. The police never did examine Denis’s house, at least not as a crime scene.”

“Do they need any evidence? Or is Denis’s confession enough?”

“That’s up to the lawyers. They’ll go over his place more carefully now anyway,” Matt said.

I mulled that over for a moment. “Denis showed up at my studio the next day. Why?”

“He needed to finish the stones to get the money from the gem sale, to pay off the loans—and Will.”

“Did Denis clean up the RV too? I don’t think Will could have managed that.”

“Yes.”

“Is Will okay? And what’s he told you?”

“Denis was going to try and lay the murder and the kidnapping on him, and then fake his own kidnapping and kill Will to make it look convincing. When he heard that, Will was happy to tell us everything he knew.”

We all digested this for a few moments. Finally I said, “I feel stupid, letting Denis fool me the way he did.”

“You weren’t the only one he fooled. You did see through him when it mattered. That call of yours put us on the alert, or else we might have fallen for Denis’s story. And he hadn’t worked up the courage to kill Will, so we have his story too. I don’t think Denis is really a killer at heart—he just got caught up in a mess.”

“What happens to the gem find? Who ends up with that?” Frank asked. Trust Frank to worry about that detail.

“We’d have to check the articles of incorporation and also see if Alex left a will. I’d guess Elizabeth. Why does it matter?”

“She might be able to follow up on the technique, sell the stones, if she’s interested.”

With all the details now dissected and discussed, none of us had much else to say. We sat quietly, exhausted by all that had happened. It had been a hell of a week, but at least everyone had emerged more or less intact. I looked around me: at Matt, tired but satisfied; at Cam and Allison, their hands entwined; at Frank and Nessa, sitting companionably side by side on the couch. Safe home, every one.

At last, Matt stood up. “I should be going. It’s been a long day.”

“Wait, Matt,” I said. He turned toward me. I looked around the room at the happy couples. “It’s getting kind of crowded here.”

“It is,” he agreed amiably.

Damn the man, he was going to make me come out and say it. “Can we go to your place?”

“I’d like that,” he replied, watching my face.

“I would too.” I made a point of not meeting anyone’s eye as I gathered up a few things. At the door where Matt waited, I turned to the group. “Will somebody walk Fred and Gloria, please? Allison, Nessa—you’ll be in tomorrow?”

Nessa smiled. “Of course, dear.”

Maybe now life would get back to normal, as soon as the Gem Show ended in a couple of days. Although normal might not be what it had been.

“See you in the morning.” Before anyone could say anything else, I turned and fled with Matt.

At the foot of the stairs I stopped, turned to him, and said, “Matt, I promise I won’t run out on you in the middle of the night this time. I think . . .” I couldn’t finish, because I didn’t know what I was trying to say.

He put his arms around me. “I know. We’ll worry about that later.”

At least there would be a later. I leaned against him, and enjoyed the moment before saying, “Matt, there’s a lot we haven’t talked about—about us, I mean.”

“I know.”

“About where we’re going.”

“Yes?”

He really was going to let me do all the work here.
Damn you, Cam—why did I let you push me into this?

“I think maybe we need to.” I held my breath waiting for his answer.

“Whenever you’re ready, Em.”

I relaxed into his arms. “Maybe tomorrow, after . . .”

Smart man, Matt—I didn’t need to explain.

Colored stones have fascinated people since their earliest discovery, and gems have been assigned various mystical properties from the beginning. Some of the more entertaining reference books were written in the nineteenth century, and include:

Other more recent writers such as Deanna J. Conway in
Crystal Enchantments
(1999) have perpetuated the fascination with stones, and there are many websites that provide additional information.