Chapter Seven
N ina tipped an imaginary hat to me before she pulled out of the parking space and headed toward our next destination. “Good catch, Sherlock.”
Grinning, I winked in return. “Now, let’s discuss. Maybe Richard’s the guy who wrote the letter? I mean, he did want to date Zinnia, right? It’s best to go into the interview having a full deck of cards.”
Wanda’s finger shot up. “But! Remember Armand said she turned down his advances. If that letter was about her pregnancy, Richard’s not a likely candidate.”
“But that doesn’t mean he didn’t whack her,” Nina pointed out. “Maybe he whacked her because he was jealous she was pregnant by another guy? Jealousy’s a sure motivation for murder.”
“That reminds me, Wanda. What was all that about women staying quiet to appease a man?”
Wanda sighed. “Too much overly sensitive feminist?”
I squeezed my fingers together with a smile. “Maybe just a little. Armand was just telling us what he observed. I didn’t get the feeling he was some kind of misogynistic jerk.”
Wanda looked down at her lap. “You’re right. I overreacted. I guess it’s just the whole vibe I’ve been getting from male weres in general. The simpletons at the were council and Stan Freemont, to be precise. It rubbed me the wrong way. I’ll rein it in.”
I completely understood where she was coming from. There were plenty of ancients who refused to take us seriously, even though they had no trouble letting us do their legwork. There were plenty of werewolves in our own pack who didn’t take me seriously, but I can assure you, with Keegan for a husband, they knew better than to voice their thoughts.
Anyway, back to what Armand said. Nina had a point. “Forget your burst of female power. Richard’s next on our list, so I guess we can ask. Elroy’s also coming with him, two birds, one stone. Let’s see what he has to say for himself.” I smoothed my hair from my face, pulling out my compact to check my lipstick.
“Where are we meeting these two dudes, anyway?”
Wanda gave Nina a coy glance, which meant she had an idea. I knew the look well. “In the park not far from the diner, but we have about an hour before we have to meet and no one else is available until later this afternoon. Sooo, you know what I was thinking?”
Nina hit the heel of her hand against the steering wheel. “Wait, let me fucking guess. There’s a cute little boutique somewhere between here and there where you two ninnies can get your shop on while I’m bored to tears watching you hem and haw over a stupid scarf, right?”
Wanda leaned over and pinched her cheek. “Ding! Ding! Ding! Survey says, right answer!” She held up her phone. “It’s called Vera’s Vintage Parlor, and it’s got all things vintage. Look at this stuff, Marty!”
She scrolled the pictures of the interior of the store, showing me a divine dress in teal that had my name on it. “Squeeee! Let’s do it!”
“Fuck, how many scarves do you need, for the love of shit?”
I tugged on a strand of Nina’s hair. “All the scarves. All of them,” I teased.
“I don’t get you two. I have three hoodies, a coupla pairs of jeans and like ten T-shirts. What the hell else do you need?”
“More than two ratty hoodies and the third ‘special’ one you only break out for important occasions like Christmas.”
Wanda laughed, covering her mouth. “She’s not lying. And all of your T-shirts say something awful. Would it kill you to wear a nice blouse?”
Nina plucked at her current T-shirt, which read, “Don’t Piss Me Off. My Backyard is Full.”
“There’s not a damn thing wrong with my T-shirts, Wanda. Stop trying to put me in the frilly shit you two kooks like so much. People like my T-shirts. They even laugh at ’em. Because that shit’s funny.”
Wanda rubbed her arm. “I’m sorry. You’re right. We love you no matter what you wear. We just see how beautiful you are and only want to enhance it.”
Wanda always knew how to soothe the beast in Nina, and honestly, we really did love her no matter what she wore. But we felt like we owed her a good poke for always being so testy about our love of shopping.
As Nina pulled up to the cute vintage store, snow began to fall. I craned my neck around the driver’s-side seat and dropped a kiss on Nina’s cheek. “You sure I can’t talk you into a cute scarf?”
She gave me a sour look, throwing up her middle finger, but her eyes were twinkling. “Cute scarf this. I’ll be right here, on my phone, trolling assholes on Facebook who have some shit to say about everything when they shouldn’t be allowed on the damn internet. Pisses me off when they play armchair experts like they have degrees in everything from child psychology to veterinarian medicine”
If you only knew the arguments my favorite vampire picked, defending others. She despised a bully.
I dug out a sealed bag of blood from my purse. “Fine, but while you do, make sure you feed, young lady. It’s getting to be your lunchtime. Be back in a flash. Love you! Mean it!”
I hopped out of the SUV onto the sidewalk, following Wanda into the clothing store. I needed some retail therapy, and time to think about this Richard, and how, if he was indeed the mysterious R, we’d get him to admit he was the one who’d killed Zinnia.
I tucked my gorge new scarf around my neck as the wind whipped through my hair, pushing the ends into my coat to tighten it around my throat. The wind was killer today, with more snow expected in the forecast.
Nina had grabbed us both hot coffees while we shopped (she’s our monster with a heart), and I was grateful to have something warm to wrap my hands around as we made our way across the park.
Our next two suspects were sitting at a picnic table across the snow-covered expanse, in the gazebo where there were standing heaters for the townspeople to stay warm while they ate lunch from one of the various eateries lining the quiet street.
I extended a hand to them, the first to take it a blond with a crew cut and features lean enough to cut glass. His hazel eyes greeted mine with a smile, his introduction phlegmy and husky. “Richard Gordon.”
Potential baby daddy , I tacked on silently.
“Elroy Simmons,” suspect number three said. He was a bit older, his face more filled out. His barrel chest, covered in a flannel jacket, lifted when he took a deep breath. “Sorry to meet ya under such sad circumstances. Still can’t believe what happened.”
We all exchanged introductions and greetings, taking seats at the picnic table, and then we got down to the nitty-gritty with no time to spare.
I gazed right into Richard’s darting eyes. “So, Richard, I hear you had a crush on Zinnia. Can you expound?”
He spat a cough, covering his mouth with the crook of his elbow. “Sorry, have a bit of a cold.” Shifting in his seat, he folded his lean hands together in front of him. “What do you wanna know?”
“We want to know about your pursuit of Zinnia,” Wanda stated plainly, her feminist mode in high gear.
He gave us a surprised look before his eyes narrowed. “My pursuit ? I asked her out a coupla times, that’s all. I don’t like what you’re implying here, lady.”
“It’s Wanda, and I’m not implying anything, Richard. We were told you had a crush on Zinnia. Is that true?”
He shrugged his wide, athletic shoulders. “I don’t know if crush is the word I’d use. Did I like her? Yeah. Did I think she was pretty? Yeah. But it’s not like I chased her around or anything. She said no. That was that.”
I patted Wanda’s knee to remind her we always caught more flies with honey.
Keeping my tone easygoing, I asked, “But it’s our understanding you teased her about refusing to go out with you. Is that true?”
He made a face and shrugged his shoulders. “A little, I guess. She told me she was seeing someone though. I was trying to respect that.” Then he paused a minute, clearing his throat, his hazel eyes narrowing. “But I wanna make something real clear here. I didn’t pressure her. I didn’t make passes at her. I didn’t stalk her or harass her. I like to think she was my friend. I just liked her. That’s not a crime, and I’m not gonna let you turn it into one. I know what year we live in. I know how things can go from zero to a hundred in no time flat. I’m not gonna let you cancel me.”
Elroy, who sat next to Richard, slapped him on the back. “Relax, bro. Nobody’s canceling anybody. They’re just askin’ questions because Mr. Ellis hired ’em. You want Mr. Ellis to be cleared, don’t ya?” When Richard nodded with a sharp bounce of his head, he slapped him on the back again. “Okay then. Take a beat, buddy.”
We sat silently for a moment while the wind whistled across the gazebo and Richard absorbed his friend’s words, his nostrils flaring, his eyes on fire.
Elroy leaned into him, nudging his shoulder before he addressed us. “Look, Rich is a good guy. He’d never hurt a fly. Yeah, he liked Zinnia. We all did. She was funny and sweet, and, most of all, she was kind. She’d bring us snacks from the kitchen, coffee and stuff. She was a nice lady, and I’m sick thinking about her being gone the way she went. She was just a kid.”
Nina—who, to her credit, had managed not to yank Richard up off the bench when he got a bit loud—lifted her chin. “How long have you two known each other?”
Elroy scrunched up his face as though he had to give that some thought. “About five or six years now, but I’ve worked for Mr. Ellis for fifteen years. I’m the one who’s worked for Mr. Ellis the longest, but Rich here, he came later.”
Elroy came across as protective of Richard, making me wonder about their relationship and if he’d hide anything for his friend. “Do you spend time with one another outside of work?”
Richard shrugged. “We don’t see each other a lot because of our different shift hours. Elroy’s the one who trained me, though. And yeah, sometimes we grab a beer together, but it’s rare. Why?” he asked suspiciously.
“I’m just establishing relationships,” I assured him. “You said Zinnia told you she was seeing someone, right, Richard? So did you, or either of you, see anything prior to Zinnia’s death that was strange? Anything—or anyone—she was afraid of? Did you ever see her with anyone—romantically, that is? To back up her claim she was seeing someone?”
Richard’s jaw clenched. “Nope. I just assumed it was somebody she was seein’ at school and I let it be—mostly, anyway.”
Elroy agreed. “Me neither. She was always around, helping Pearl when she was home, but I never saw her with any guys or anything.”
I didn’t know if they’d tell us the truth. I definitely sensed a protective vibe when it came to the Ellises, but I had to ask. “Did you ever see Zinnia alone with Mr. Ellis?”
They both crowed, “ Alone ?”
“What are you gettin’ at?” Elroy muttered.
“Nothing. Nothing at all,” I answered with feigned innocence. “I’m just asking questions, doing what I was hired to do. Finding out the truth of what happened to Zinnia. Good or bad.”
But Elroy insisted, “There must be a reason you’re alludin’ to somethin’ fishy goin’ on.”
Nina leaned in over the picnic table. “We’re just doin’ our jobs, okay? Ellis said to figure out what happened no matter what the fucking outcome. Got it? Now why the hell do you think Ellis killed Zinnia? I mean, I’m sure you heard he admitted it, right? Did you ever see them argue? Exchange angry words? Anything ?”
Richard and Elroy looked at one another with bewildered eyes before they looked back at Nina. “We’ve been tryin’ to figure that out since it happened,” Elroy replied. “Mr. Ellis was a good guy. A really good employer, and we’d never seen him get even a little upset. We don’t get what the hell happened. None of this makes any sense. Everyone got along…well, except for Charmaine and Mrs. Ellis.”
Richard scoffed, the condensation of his breath making a puffy stream. “Yeah. You know that’s right. Charmaine hated Eve, but I never understood why. Eve was always so nice to her. But we chalked it up to her missing her mom. The first Mrs. Ellis was a nice lady, but so was Mrs. Ellis number two.”
We weren’t hearing anything we hadn’t already hear from Armand. Everything was hunky dory at the Ellis household, where butterflies soared over rainbows and unicorns frolicked gaily in the gardens.
Damn.
This was beginning to feel more and more like our last case, where clues were few and far between.
“What about Rafe?” Wanda asked rather suddenly. “How did he get along with Eve?”
Elroy paused to give that some thought, his broad, acne-scarred face scrunching up. He tugged his knit cap over his ears, scratching at his jaw. “Ya know, Rafe hasn’t been around as much since Mr. Ellis remarried because he went off to school not long after. But he always seemed to like her well enough. I never heard him say anything negative about Mrs. Ellis. Though, ya gotta remember, we just work there. They treat us real good, but it’s not like we all chew the fat together about personal stuff.”
Nina cracked her knuckles, her impatience growing. “Where were you two when Zinnia was murdered? I know that dude Armand was on duty that day, but where were you two specifically, and do you have proof to back it up? As in alibis?”
Richard didn’t squirm under Nina’s hard gaze, but he definitely looked as though he’d had enough. “I was at my mom’s, fixing her water heater. I’ll give you her number.”
Nina cocked an eyebrow in Elroy’s direction. “And you?”
“I was sound asleep because I work the night shift. I don’t have any proof of that, though. The missus works days. She was long gone by the time that poor kid was… And I was asleep.” He shrugged. “I saw the wife before I went up to bed, and she can tell ya that much, but I don’t have any proof other than my word. I didn’t find out about this until late last night when I was gettin’ ready to go in for my shift. That lawyer guy called me. Freemont or whatever. Told me I didn’t need to go in. Then I looked at my messages and got a bunch of texts about it.”
Elroy didn’t appear overly anxious to prove his innocence, but neither did Richard. None of them did. The only one who was ruffled was the guy claiming he’d killed Zinnia.
Then I remembered whoever had knocked me over at Pearl’s yesterday. “Were either of you at Pearl’s cottage at all yesterday? Maybe later in the afternoon?”
They both shook their heads, but then Richard sat up straight, pulling his puffy jacket tighter around him. “Hold on. When you said Pearl’s name, it reminded me of something.”
We each sat up straight, all ears. “What did it remind you about?” Wanda asked.
Richard sighed as though it pained him to relay what he knew. “I heard Pearl and Zin arguing. I mean, I think it was an argument. I swear, I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but they were really loud. About a week ago, I was giving the gardens one last sweep before I left. Elroy was already inside at the vault for his shift. Zin and Pearl were outside her cottage, and she was crying.”
I cocked my head. “Zinnia was crying?”
Richard nodded. “Yeah. Well, they were both crying, and I don’t know what they were talking about, or if they were fighting. But I remember Zinnia telling Pearl that he was going to kill her if he found out.”