A Slice of Murder (19 page)

“No,” I said curtly, hoping to put that out of my mind until I had to deal with it later.

“Then how about some make-up tips?”

“Why don’t we just enjoy the drive?” I said. “Talking just spoils it.”

“Be that way,” she said with a hint of laughter in her voice. After a few minutes, she added, “We’re here.” Maddy pointed to the window of Penny’s antique shop and said, “See, I told you she was still gone. It’s dark inside.”

“But the sign’s gone,” I said. For an instant, I saw a brief flash of light inside the shop. “Did you see that?”

“What was it?” Maddy asked.

“I don’t know, but I think we should find out.”

As Maddy turned off the engine, she asked, “Is there any chance you want to call Kevin Hurley before we go barging in there?”

“Now, what fun would that be?” I asked. I got out of the car, but my sister didn’t follow. “Aren’t you coming?”

“I guess so, but I still think we should have some backup.”

I pointed to her purse. “Still have your stun gun?”

“I don’t go anywhere without it.”

“Then we’re armed.”

“Really?” She looked at me a second. “What do you have?”

“Pepper spray and a bad attitude. That should be enough, don’t you think?”

“It all depends on what we find in there.”

“Then let’s go look.”

I couldn’t see much through the darkened windows of the shop, and Maddy was getting ready to knock on the door when I grabbed her arm.

She said, “What’s wrong? Did you change your mind about getting someone else over here?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“Then what is it?”

Instead of answering, I put a hand on the door. “Let’s try this first.”

“It’s got to be locked,” Maddy said in a dismissive voice.

The phrase nearly died in her throat, though, as the door swung open, and I took my first step inside.

“W
ho’s there?” a voice called from the back of the shop the second I walked inside. “I’m warning you, I’m armed.”

“It’s Eleanor Swift,” I called out quickly.

Penny Olsen stepped out of the shadows holding an old-fashioned rifle. I was taken aback by her appearance. The last time I’d seen her—just a month before—Penny had been a pretty, vibrant woman, but it was hard to reconcile that image with the woman standing before me. Her hair, normally so elegantly coifed, needed a good wash and comb, while her make-up was nonexistent.

“It’s you,” she said, obviously not that pleased to see me.

“Would you mind lowering that thing?” I asked as I gestured toward the gun.

“Oh, this? It’s not even loaded.”

Given her current state, I wondered how she could be sure. “I’d still appreciate it if you’d point it somewhere else.”

“All right,” she said as she reluctantly leaned it against the wall. “What do you want, Eleanor?”

“I need to talk to you,” I said, motioning with one hand behind my back to keep Maddy outside. In the state Penny was in, I didn’t want to push her any further than I had to, and I was afraid that my sister’s style of shoving until someone felt no option but to shove back was going to be way over the top for the present situation.

“What are you doing with your hand?” Penny asked as she started to reach for the gun again.

“I had a cramp,” I said. “Besides, you already told me it wasn’t loaded.”

“Yes, but was I telling the truth?”

She was acting decidedly erratic, even by my standards.

“It’s understandable that you’re upset, but I want you to know that I had nothing to do with what happened to your ex-husband.”

“What are you talking about?”

There was an odd look in her eyes as she asked it, and I wondered if something inside her had snapped. Then it dawned on me all at once. “You really haven’t heard, have you? I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news for you. It’s about Richard.”

“What about Richard? Nothing’s wrong with him. I spoke with him just before I left town.”

“When exactly was that?”

“Ten days ago,” she said, putting herself well away before the murder.

“I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you, but someone murdered him. I found the body, so I know he’s dead.”

I wasn’t sure what I expected, but the look of relief I saw there wasn’t even in the top ten choices.

“He’s really dead?” Was that hope in her voice?

“I’m afraid so. I can’t believe the police haven’t talked to you yet.”

She shrugged. “I just this moment got back into town. As a matter of fact, I haven’t even been home. I came straight here to check on the shop.” She made a clicking sound with her tongue, then said, “I can’t believe it.”

“Excuse me for saying so, but you don’t seem all that distraught.”

She laughed, another reaction just a little too odd for my taste. “There’s a reason he was my ex-husband,” she said.

“Still, you must have loved him at some point.” Why I was defending the dead man’s honor was beyond me, but I suppose it was because I believed that everyone deserved at least one mourner, even if I couldn’t bring myself to fill that role for Richard Olsen.

“I suppose I must have, though it’s difficult to recall now. He somehow managed to cheat me all the way to the end, didn’t he?”

“What do you mean?” I kept my eyes on her, making sure she didn’t retrieve that weapon. I had my doubts about it being unloaded, or Penny’s compunction to use it.

“I had three more alimony payments coming from him, and then it was over. The courts decided that five years was enough, since I had my own business. Still, I would have loved to have had those last checks from him, just to spite him.”

“You really hated him, didn’t you?”

She shook her head. “I might have while we were married, but I got over it. Am I sorry he’s dead? I don’t even know how I feel yet, the news is so recent.” She mulled it over a few seconds, then said, “I suppose that leach of a sister inherited everything, didn’t she? Have they found the will yet?”

“Yes, but from what I understand, there was no need to. The house, the bank accounts, everything was in both their names. It all reverted to her the moment he died.”

“That figures,” Penny said. “He always did have a soft spot in his heart for her, though I never cared for the woman. I was never good enough for her precious brother, at least according to her. I can’t believe he’s actually gone.”

Penny Olsen was obviously in the mood to talk about her ex-husband, and I might not have another chance to talk to her before Kevin Hurley did, and that was an opportunity I couldn’t afford to pass up. “Do you know anybody who might have wanted to hurt him?” I asked.

“Do you have a pen and paper? We could make a list, but I’m afraid it would be easier going through the Timber Ridge phone book.”

“Surely not everyone hated him,” I said. “He had a way about him, especially with most women. I don’t mean me, but I’ve heard some found him attractive.”

“They certainly did when we were married. You know about him and the mayor’s wife, don’t you?”

I nodded. “She denies it, but I have my doubts.”

“You should. I caught them together in the end. Why do you think I threw him out? He’s been seeing Faith for a long time. They were sneaking around together even before she married our fair mayor. I’ll wager you didn’t know that.” She paused, then added, “I wonder if one of them had the guts to kill him. I could see Steve doing it, but I’m not sure about Faith. Well, maybe if he broke it off with her.”

I tried to keep my expression even, but she must have caught something in my glance. “He did, didn’t he? The fool. I used words to go after him, but dear, sweet Faith would use a pistol. I warned him about her, but he wouldn’t listen to me.”

“I understand he was fighting with his neighbor about a property line,” I said.

“That’s nothing,” she said as she waved a hand dismissively in the air. “He and Travis White disliked each other from the first time they met, and that line gave them something to argue about.” She reached one hand down to a table and ran her fingers over a carved wooden elephant. “I wonder….”

“What?”

“Oh, nothing.”

“Go on, you can tell me,” I said, hoping fervently that she wasn’t through.

“Richard had a dirty little secret, one I didn’t find out about until after the divorce.”

I wasn’t sure that it was something I wanted to hear, but if I was going to try to solve his murder, I needed to learn what I could about the man. “What was it?”

Penny’s eyes lit up. “Why, Eleanor Swift, I believe you have a dark streak inside you I’ve never seen before.”

“It’s just human nature to be curious, wouldn’t you say?”

She laughed. “Oh, I never doubted it in myself.”

When it appeared she wasn’t going to explain, I prodded her gently. “So, what was it? What was Richard hiding?”

She was about to tell me when the door opened. I turned to warn Maddy off, but instead, Kevin Hurley was there.

“Where have you been?” he asked as he walked up to us.

“I didn’t realize I had to check in with you everywhere I went,” I said.

“I’m talking to her,” he said as he gestured to Penny. “Eleanor, I’ll deal with you in a minute. Why don’t you wait outside with your sister? I’ll be with you both soon.” Though it was phrased as a question, there was no denying that it was an order. I thought about defying him but then doubted that Penny would finish her story while he was standing there listening. If I was ever going to find out what she’d been about to tell me, it was going to have to wait.

As I walked outside, Maddy said, “I tried to warn you.”

“Thanks. I can’t believe he threw me out.”

“You were certainly in there long enough. I couldn’t believe it when you waved me off like that. I had half a mind to storm in, anyway.”

“She was holding a gun on me when I walked in,” I explained gently.

“Then again, maybe it was a good thing I stayed outside,” Maddy said. “Someone had to keep watch, didn’t they?”

“And a fine job you did,” I said.

“Hey, it wasn’t like I could blow my car horn or something. He parked down the block and snuck up on me.”

“I was just kidding,” I said.

“Did you learn anything while you were inside?”

I nodded. “Unless Penny was lying to me, she didn’t know about Richard’s murder. She said she just got back into town, and from the look of her, I believed it. Her hair was a mess, and she didn’t have any make-up on.”

“Spare me the fashion report,” Maddy said. “How did she react?”

“The instant I told her, I could swear she looked relieved by the news. After that, she got decidedly chatty. I’m not sure if it’s true or not, but Penny said Richard was fooling around with Faith Baron even before she married Steve. Apparently it wasn’t a fling. She must have really loved him, at least more than Penny ever did.”

“So, when he dumped her, it could have been more than she could handle,” Maddy said.

“Sounds like it,” I said. “There’s just one thing. I need to get back in there as soon as Kevin leaves. Penny was about to tell me something when Kevin came in. I’m not exactly certain what it was, but she called it Richard’s dirty little secret.”

“That could mean anything,” Maddy said.

“I’m thinking she was talking about blackmail, but I didn’t have a chance to let her tell me.”

Kevin suddenly came back out, with Penny in tow.

“You’re not arresting her, are you?” I asked.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but we both decided we’d be more comfortable talking in my office.”

“Is that true, Penny?” I asked.

She shrugged as Kevin said, “I’m still not sure how any of this is your business.”

“Hey, you’re the one who told me to wait outside for you.”

He shook his head as he walked down the street with Penny right beside him. I followed a few paces back until he whirled around. “Eleanor, I’d advise you to just get into your car and drive away.”

Maddy answered before I could. “Her car’s still at home. She’s riding with me today. Someone shot out her window, remember?”

That got Penny’s attention. “Don’t look at me. I was out of town. I couldn’t have done it.”

“No one accused you of anything,” I said.

“I just wanted you to know.”

Kevin walked her to his police cruiser without another word.

“Where should we go now?” Maddy asked as we got into her car.

“I’d like to talk to Carl Wilson again.”

She turned to look at me. “Do you really think he had something to do with Olsen’s murder?”

“No, but I’d love to strike a few names off the list before we go racing around town interviewing everyone in the telephone book. We never asked him for an alibi the last time, did we?”

“We didn’t exactly leave on good terms, either. We lied to him about being clients to get information from him, so I doubt he’s going to welcome us back with open arms.”

“You’re right about that,” I said. “There’s got to be some way to approach him, though.”

“I have an idea,” Maddy said.

“Well, don’t hold out on me. Let’s hear it.”

“I’ve got to warn you, it’s a little radical, something we haven’t tried before.”

“You’ve got my attention,” I said.

“How about if we tell him the complete, total, and unvarnished truth? We’re looking for the killer, and unless he did it, he might just cooperate.”

“I think you’ve lost your mind,” I said.

“Then you won’t do it?”

“I never said that. What do we have to lose?”

“That’s the spirit,” Maddy said. “When we get there, let me do the talking.”

“I can’t make any promises,” I said.

When we arrived at the shredding company, I put a hand on Maddy’s arm before we went in. “Are you sure this is the best way to handle this?”

“No, but I wasn’t able to come up with anything else on the drive over. Were you?”

“I’m drawing a blank,” I admitted.

“The truth it is, then.”

We walked in, and the smile Carl Wilson had plastered on his face quickly faded the moment he saw us.

“I thought you two weren’t coming back until you had a lawyer.”

Maddy said, “We lied to you, and we came here to apologize.”

He looked more quizzical than angry. “Excuse me?”

“We came back to tell you we were sorry. We were never clients of your firm, so there was never any danger of us suing you for damages,” Maddy explained.

He stood, and I could see the tension in his posture. “Then why did you both come here in the first place?”

“My sister,” Maddy said as she put a hand on my shoulder, “has been accused by the police as the main murder suspect, and we’re trying to clear her name.”

He took a step forward, and it wasn’t to offer his support. “How did you plan to do that, by pinning the murder on me?”

“Believe me, we realize we were wrong. There’s one easy way to get rid of us, and then we’ll both vanish from your life forever,” Maddy said.

“I doubt that,” he said, “but go ahead and tell me what it is you want.”

“Do you have an alibi for the night of the murder?” Maddy asked gently.

“I’ve already gone over this with the police.”

“Then it won’t hurt to tell us, too,” I said, ignoring the disapproving look in my sister’s glance.

He looked at us a few seconds, then said, “What can it hurt? I was having dinner with a potential new business partner in Raleigh that night. It was too late to come back after a little wining and dining, so I stayed over until the next morning. Is that good enough for you?”

“Raleigh’s not that far away,” Maddy said. “I’m sorry, but you could have gone back and forth after the meal, and no one would be the wiser.”

“It might even be why you made the appointment in the first place,” I said. “It sounds good at first, doesn’t it?”

Carl Wilson’s face reddened slightly, and I thought for a second he was going to physically throw us out of his office. All of a sudden, though, he slumped down and leaned against his desk. “I told the police all of it, so I might as well tell you. After dinner, we went back to my room, and things got a little too close, if you know what I mean.”