The Root of All Trouble (12 page)

"
Well, he's wasting his time," Kevin said.

"
Why's that?"

"
Delphine's case is all but wrapped up. Couldn't be prettier if it had a bow on it."

"
What kind of evidence do you have?"

"
When I questioned her last night, she admitted that she'd lied about not seeing Joey again after he went to lunch."

Aha! I knew she
'd been lying yesterday.

"
She said she was upset by what Perry had told her about the tiles and she called him to meet her."

No wonder she
'fessed up. Her call would have been easy to trace with Joey's cell phone records.

"
They met up at his townhouse—"

My eyebrow shot up, and I wondered if she
'd really met up with him to talk about Perry or for a little bit of afternoon nookie.

I shuddered at the thought.

"I know," he said with a knowing smirk. "Anyway, she said she met him there, says they discussed the tile situation, and that when she left he was alive."

"
Did she say how he explained the tile situation?"

"
A
misunderstanding
."

"
Were you
Luvie'd
to death?"

"
Smothered."

"
And the Honey situation? How did Joey explain to her that he'd been hiding a wife?"

"
Supposedly he regretted getting married and that he planned to leave Honey."

"
After three months?" I asked.

"
Yeah, I'm not buying it either," he said.

"
So, did she kill him during the meeting?"

If she had, how did he end up in the tree?
"Did you find blood in his townhouse? And wouldn't killing him there mean it was premeditated? I mean, most people don't usually carry around hammers. Plus, if she'd killed him why not just tell everyone that she'd fired him and that's why he hadn't come back instead of perpetuating the story that he simply walked off the job?"

"
Whoa, there!" He held up his hands. "We don't have all the answers yet. But we found her prints on the hammer used to kill him and blood matching Joey's blood type was found in her car and on some of her clothes."

He
'd ignored my initial concerns, but his evidence was pretty damning. The prints were easily explained, of course, but the blood... "Did she confess?"

"
Denies everything except her affair with him. She has no explanation as to how the blood got in her car and on her clothes and claims someone is trying to frame her."

Was it possible? Or simply the only defense she had?
"And the townhouse? Did you find blood there?"

"
Haven't found the crime scene yet. That's what he's doing here," Kevin said, motioning toward Cain's car. "We don't need the crime scene to prosecute her, but it would help. She had means, motive, and opportunity. This case is signed, sealed, and delivered."

"
Did the coroner give you a time of death?" I was trying to nail down timeframes in my mind.

"
Between three and five p.m. on Wednesday."

Perry
's voice floated through my head, reminding me that Mario might have actually been the last one to see Joey alive. He'd been at the townhouse until three. Then there was also the mystery man Mario overheard arguing with Joey. I bit my cheek wondering if I should tell Kevin that bit. I didn't want to rat out a friend if I didn't have to.

Kevin absently looked into the back yard.
"But we know he was alive at three forty-five. He answered a phone call from a pay phone around the corner from his house."

I let out a breath. That let Mario off the hook—he
'd been home with Perry by then.

"
Who was on the phone? Do you know?"

"
I'd bet my badge it was Joey's killer, luring him to his death. We're checking it out. The more nails in Delphine's coffin, the better."

"
I'm still not convinced she did it. I mean, he probably had other enemies. Some who might have stopped by his place and argued with him, then lured him to his death. Delphine is easy to frame, especially because a lot of people knew she had argued with him about Honey. Plus, why else put Joey's body in the tree here? Maybe someone was trying to tie the death to Delphine's job site."

Dark eyebrows snapped downward.
"Do you know something you want to share, Nina?"

Damn! He could always see right through me.
"I just think you should look a little deeper into that angle." I peeled myself off the bumper. "That's all."

He clenched his jaw.

I smiled.

He clenched harder.

I shrugged. "I'm just saying."

"
Well, stop."

"
You're cranky." I gestured toward the house. "The back yard... When can I get to work? When can Mario and Perry get back to the renovations?"

"
We'll know more in a few hours," he ground out. "I'll let you know."

"
Fine," I said.

He was shaking his head as he walked into the house. I watched him go inside before I turned toward home. I hadn
't taken two steps before I heard someone call my name.

"
Hey, Ms. Quinn!"

I spun and found Cain Monahan jogging toward me. As he neared, he slipped his sunglasses back on.

Damn.

Kevin watched our every move from behind Mario and Perry
's picture window.

I shaded my eyes against the sun.
"Yeah?" I squeaked.

He stuck his hand into his pocket and pulled out a business card holder. He flicked it open, pulled out a card.
"Just in case you have any more questions."

He gave a nod, turned, and went back into the house.

I wrapped my hand tightly around the card. I had a million questions, but I didn't know if he held the answers.

Kevin still stared.

For kicks, I blew him a kiss before I turned toward home.

Chapter Eleven

M
r. Cabrera waited for me on the front porch. Gracie wandered around, sniffing the bushes.

"
Well?" he said. "What'd he say? Why's he over there?"

I lowered myself next to him.
"He's checking the house and yard, trying to figure out exactly where Joey Miller was killed."

Mr. Cabrera whistled.
"That'd be something, another murder happening in that house."

I wasn
't worried. Mario and Perry had been home during the time frame Joey had been killed—locked in the house alone. And they would have heard or seen something if he'd been bludgeoned right outside their back door.

Next door at the haunted house, the neighborhood Realtor, Jennie Nix, pulled up with a couple in tow. They stepped out of the car, pointed at the crime scene tape across the street and got back into the car and drove away.

"That house'll never sell."

"
Until I tell my parents buy it," I said.

His eyes widened.
"You wouldn't!"

"
I might." I really wouldn't, but he didn't need to know that.

"
This neighborhood has gone to—"

"
Seed. Yes, I know. You've told me."

He grumbled but didn
't say anything else.

Gracie hopped up the steps and nudged my leg with her nose. I rubbed her ears and glanced across the street. Cain passed by the window, and I couldn
't believe how much he resembled Seth Thiessen.

I had to keep remi
nding myself that Seth was dead.

I
'd gone to his funeral.

Letting out a breath, I realized that the key to putting the Cain situation behind me was to see his eyes. The eyes would tell me everything.

I glanced at the card in my hand. The coroner's office was located in the county's municipal building—the same place Ana worked. All I had to do was pop in to see her on Monday and take a little detour to Cain's office...

A loud truck rumbled down the street. My truck. I watched as it swerved into Kit
's driveway. The bed of my Ford was loaded with furniture and full black trash bags. Ana honked and stuck her head out the window. "Give me an hour!"

Kit
's Hummer pulled up at the curb, an armoire sticking out the back window, a plastic bag tied to a drawer pull blowing about. Kit was particular about his car, and I imagine it took some finagling on Ana's part to get him to use it as a moving van.

I smiled, feeling happy for them. They were pretty perfect for each other.

"She sure has him wrapped around her finger, doesn't she?" Mr. Cabrera said, sounding disgusted.

"
I don't think he minds all that much."

"
On the surface, perhaps. But underneath he's probably mourning his freedom. The power to do what he wants, when he wants with no one to answer to but himself."

I gave him a sideways glance.
"Or...he's happy to have someone to come home to every night, someone to share his problems with, someone to listen to his jokes, and who makes him laugh. Someone who loves every tattoo on his body, who smiles at him like there is no other man in the world, because to her there isn't. And he knows how lucky he is that she chose him. Just as she knows how lucky she is that he chose her."

Bushy white eyebrows shot up.
"Pah. Next thing I know you're going to tell me that they'll live happily ever after."

"
Maybe they will. It's been known to happen from time to time."

"
Or they won't. And then the heartbreak will be worse when one of them leaves."

"
Not everyone leaves."

His voice was hoarse as he said,
"The good ones do."

I turned to face him. Suddenly his reluctance to get married made all kinds of sense. He
'd loved his wife dearly, but she'd been gone a long time now. "But don't you think it's worth trying? Better to have loved and lost..."

"
My head hurts. I'm going to go lie down."

"
Forty-five minutes!" Ana yelled.

"
What are you two doing anyway?" he asked as he stood up.

"
Shopping," I lied.

"
You might want to think about getting your nails done while you're out. Men like pretty nails, and you haven't had a date in a while."

"
What happened to not believing in happily ever after?"

"
I'm not talking about you gettin' married. I'm talking about how you're becoming a spinster. You gotta live a little." He did a little shimmy shake.

"
Am I a catch?" I joked.

"
Let's not go that far," he said. "After all, you're the corpse whisperer. A man's gotta have his head checked to get into a long-term relationship with you."

"
Gee, thanks." I scooped up Gracie, gave Mr. Cabrera the Ceceri Evil Eye as I passed by him, and went inside. I headed straight upstairs and set Gracie on the make-shift doggy bed I'd made for her out of old towels.

As I turned on my laptop, I absently wondered where Maria, Perry, and Mario had gotten off to. I didn
't think their meeting was supposed to last so long. On that same note, I wondered when Nate was going to swing by and pick up Maria. She was getting entirely too comfortable here.

Perry
's mysterious package sat on my nightstand. I gave it another shake but couldn't tell what was inside.

I didn
't want to think about him having a possible stalker, so I stared at the search engine I'd called up on my computer. I typed in Delphine's name and found a few pages of entries. Mostly reviews of her company—the majority of them surprisingly favorable. Plum had said they were an honest company, but I'd had my doubts simply because of their family history. I silently sent them an apology.

I searched for information on Joey Miller, but it was such a common name that I didn
't find much of any use—there was too much to wade through. I didn't even know how old he was. I guesstimated mid-thirties, but I'd need his actual birth date or social security number to narrow a search.

I drummed my fingers on the edge of the computer and finally lost the battle within myself to search for what I really wanted to know.

I typed in Seth Thiessen + plane crash.