The Trouble with Tulip (46 page)

“Who?”

“I don't know. But she said she'd be cutting it close and for you to go on to the press conference. She'll see you there.”

Danny tried dialing Jo's cell, but it went straight to the message, which meant she had turned it off.

Please, Lord, don't let her be foolish. Don't let her put herself in danger
.

Jo rang Iris's doorbell, her pulse surging when she heard footsteps from inside. This time, once Iris saw who was at her door, her expression was much more guarded. The poor woman had been through a lot in the last few days, including the public humiliation of having her name leaked to the press as one of the victims.

“Mrs. Chutney,” Jo said. “I'm so glad you're here. May I come in and speak with you for a few minutes?”

Mrs. Chutney hesitated and then stepped back to wave her in.

“I'm very tired, Jo,” she said. “Please make it quick.”

They went into the living room and sat, but this time there was no offer of tea or cookies. Jo was glad, as she wanted to get straight to the point.

“I think I may know who murdered Edna Pratt,” Jo said. “But I need some information from you first.”

“The police already have two suspects in custody,” Mrs. Chutney said. “Angus and Simon. Do you mean there's someone else?”

Jo nodded.

“I was just doing some reading about alchemy. Much to my surprise, I saw that alchemy is very intermixed with the Taoist religion.”

“Oh? What does that have to do with anything?”

“I need you to tell me about a meeting you had here, where Professor Keith McMann came and authenticated Simon's photographs.”

“Yes?”

“What did he say, exactly?”

“He taught us all about alchemy. He's quite a scholar on the subject, you know. It was a fascinating presentation, tracing the history of alchemy from ancient times up to the present day.”

Jo nodded, understanding now that her suspicion had been correct: Keith McMann had been brought in as an expert to authenticate alchemy. The ladies had bought into all he told them—hook, line, and sinker.

The bigger question was, had Keith participated knowingly in the con, or did he genuinely believe that what he was telling them was true?

Before leaving the studio, Danny put away his supplies for the weekend, trying not to worry about Jo. She was a smart woman. She could take care of herself.

Tiffany was lingering also, finishing up her paperwork, but then she planted herself in her favorite spot, sitting on the counter across from Danny's desk.

“So tell me about your weekend,” Tiffany said. “Now that you're practically famous, you'll probably be kind of busy.”

Danny laughed.

“Oh, yeah, I'm famous all right,” he said. “I'm nationally known as ‘the neighbor.' ”

Tiffany twirled a lock of hair in her fingers.

“Not after tonight. Once you get up there for that press conference, everyone will know who you are. You might even get some groupies.”

“Groupies,” Danny repeated, rolling his eyes. “I doubt it.”

“I'd be your groupie,” she said.

Danny glanced at her, not surprised to see that she was fixing him with her sexiest gaze.

“So how about it, Danny?” she whispered. “Are you ever going to get around to asking me on another date?”

He sat back, knowing the moment of truth had arrived.
Let your yes be yes and your no be no
, the Bible said. Danny had always tried to follow that rule in other ways, being as honest and straightforward as he could with everyone in his life. This situation would have to be no exception.

“You're a beautiful girl, Tiffany, and a lot of fun besides. But the truth is that I only want to be your friend. The night we went for coffee wasn't supposed to be anything more than that.”

She shook her head, clenching her jaw.

“You told me you liked my hair. You said it made me look sexy.”

“I said it made you look hot.”

“Right. Hot. Sexy.”

“No,
hot
. Heat. It's so long and thick. We were sitting in an outdoor café on a night in August, for goodness' sake. We were drinking coffee. You looked hot.”

She shook her head.

“Are you kidding me? You weren't coming on to me?”

He held up his left hand and placed his right hand on his heart.

“I promise. I think you're a great girl, but you're not the one for me. I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression.”

She sat there, chewing on her lip, and then she rose and put both hands on the desk, leaning forward.

“You have no idea what you're missing,” she proclaimed.

He nodded, swallowing hard. “I can imagine,” he replied.

She stomped away, turning to look back at him from the doorway.

“I'm going to hate you for a little while,” she added, “but for the sake of my commissions, I'll try to let it go. Eventually.”

30

D
anny got to the township building about 20 minutes early, glad to have settled things with Tiffany. The place was already packed, but as he made his way into the room, the chief waved him toward the front, where they had set up a long table with seven chairs behind it and seven microphones.

“You can sit there,” the chief said, pointing to one end, “and Jo can go next to you.”

“Who else will be up here?”

“Me, one of my officers, the coroner, Senator Sugarman, Louise Parker, you and Jo.”

“Okay.”

Danny sat, and soon he was joined by Mrs. Parker. Though he would have thought she'd feel humiliated to be there, she was, in fact, simply glowing from the attention. She was all dressed up with her hair and makeup just so, and she made a grand entrance as she strolled down the aisle and took her place at the table up front. The coroner came in and sat next to her, and from what Danny could tell, she was actually flirting with him. Go figure.

Jo wasn't there yet, so Danny tried again to reach her on her cell phone. He didn't bother leaving a message but simply disconnected the call. Then he kept his eyes on the door, watching for her to arrive.

If she drove fast, Jo could pick up Chewie from Edna's house, get him over to Danny's, and still make it to the press conference with a few minutes to spare. She would have liked to skip Chewie altogether, but the press conference might drag on for hours, and she didn't think the dog should be left outside at Edna's for that long.

Jo's heart was still racing after her discussion with Mrs. Chutney, and more than anything she wanted to talk to the chief, to tell him that Edna Pratt might not have been killed by Angus or Simon—she might have been murdered by Keith McMann.

Jo tried to think of a reason why Keith would have killed Edna.

To test the theory of immortality?

Out of anger when he learned this whole thing was just a con?

Whatever his motivation, at the very least Jo had now proven that Keith McMann was both a scholar of alchemy and a liar. Surely, when the chief reviewed Keith's statement to the police, he would see that there was cause to bring the man in for further questioning.

Jo glanced at the clock and picked up her cell phone as she drove, dialing Danny.

“Where are you?” he demanded when he answered. “Everyone's here but you.”

“Tell the chief I should just make it.” she said. “I have to stop at Edna's and get Chewie. Can I put him in your guest room?”

“Of course. But where have you been? Who did you go talk to?”

“It's a long story,” she replied. “But I think I know who killed Edna.”

Danny pulled the chief aside and gave him Jo's message that she was on her way. The room was packed, with reporters filling the front few rows and townspeople in the rest of the seats and standing all along the back and the sides.

“If we get any more people in here,” the chief said to Danny, “we'll be violating the fire code.”

“Listen, I don't know what you'll be announcing,” Danny said, “but I was just talking to Jo. She said she knows who murdered Edna, and it isn't either of the two men you have in custody.”

“She's right that it wasn't Angus,” the chief said. “His alibi checked out after all.”

“But Jo says it's not Simon either.”

“That's not true,” the chief replied. “We found a witness who saw him get on a bus near Edna's house last Friday night. He had motive and opportunity.”

“Jo says it was Keith McMann, the history professor over at the college.”

“That guy? He couldn't hurt a fly. What makes her think it was him?”

“I don't know, but she'll be here soon. She'll have to tell you about it herself.”