Death Before Diamonds (Sky High Pies Cozy Mysteries Book 10) (6 page)

CHAPTER
10

As I measured brown sugar for a
batch of cookies the next morning, Julia slipped around the center island in
the Sky High kitchen. She was enjoying a quick cup of coffee during a lull in
the breakfast orders, and I could tell she had something on her mind. As I
poured the sugar into one of my grandmother’s vintage mixing bowls, Julia flaunted
a charmingly inquisitive smile.

“Can I ask you something?” she
said.

I nodded, waiting for the follow-up.

“Why didn’t you call the police
when that lunatic was here yesterday?”

“Which lunatic?” I teased.

She glared. “You know who I mean,”
she said. “That Rex guy.”

“That’s who I thought you were
talking about,” I said, checking the next ingredient on the recipe card. “And I
didn’t call them because he doesn’t seem dangerous. He seems genuinely troubled
by his brother’s disappearance.”

“Well, who wouldn’t be?” she said.
“But isn’t that something for the CCPD or the Colorado State Patrol?”

“Absolutely,” I agreed. “And that’s
what I told Rex. It’s totally fine if he wants to put up flyers around town and
ask people if they’ve seen his brother. But the best approach is filing a report
and letting the police do their job.”

“Do you think he’ll take your
advice?”

I shrugged. “Time will tell. I gave
him Trent’s name and the non-emergency number. There’s not much more that I can
do at this point.”

Julia snickered. “At this point?”

“What?” I said. “I told him that Harper
remembered seeing his brother. And I promised to give him a call if anyone else
remarks about the poster that he left on the bulletin board in the entryway.”

She crossed her arms and eyed me
warily. “Come
on
, Katie!” Her glib tone was shaded with doubt and
cynicism. “I can practically
hear
the gears grinding in your brain. You
love that stuff—mysteries, cold cases, unsolved crimes and all the rest.”

“Lots of people do.”

“But how many of them actually get
involved in consulting with the local police to help crack cases?”

I scowled at her playfully. “Plenty,”
I said. “Do you think that I’m the only former PI in the world who still enjoys
solving crimes or working out the details of an intricate case?”

“You’re the only one that I know,”
she said as Harper rang the bell in the pass window.

“Hey!” she called. “Anybody working
back there or do I have to cook Mrs. Avery’s short stack myself?”

Julia put down her coffee and started
around the island.

“Hold your horses,” she called to
Harper. “I saw her come in the door just now. I’ll have those pancakes up before
you’ve even poured her tomato juice!”

They both went back to work as I
continued combining ingredients for the chewy brown sugar cookies that Dina
Kincaid had ordered. Besides being a friend from childhood, Dina was the lead
detective for the Crescent Creek Police Department. She, Trent and I had ended
up in a high school love triangle, something that was horribly wrenching back
then because Trent dumped me for Dina. But when they later married and
divorced, I felt vindicated. And the truly ironic aspect of the equation was
the fact that Trent also worked for the CCPD as Deputy Chief.

As I scooped cornstarch for the
cookies from a small plastic container, I smiled and thought about the long ago
broken heart and how it had mended nicely over time. Of course, my current
romance with Zack Hutton, a photographer for the local newspaper, had surpassed
even the wildest dreams that I’d harbored all those years ago in school.

“What are you sneering about?”
Julia asked as I blended the wet and dry ingredients in the big stoneware bowl.

“Am I sneering?”

She made a face. “Oh, for sure! And
I’ve seen that look before, Katie.”

“Yeah? What does it mean?”

Julia answered my question with a skittering
laugh. Then she said, “It’s the silly grin you usually get about a minute
before Zack walks in the door.”

I knew that she was right, but I
was in a mischievous mood. I’d slept well the night before. It was too early in
the day for my lower back to be screaming in agony from hours on my feet. And
I’d ingested just the right amount of caffeine to invigorate all of my bits and
pieces from head to toe.

“Well, I don’t know about that,” I
joked, giving Julia an exaggerated wink. “But I’ll take a look in the mirror
this evening around seven.”

She giggled again. “Are you guys
going out tonight?”

“No, he’s cooking at his place,” I
answered. “Lamb chops with a port wine-cherry glaze and hasselback potatoes.”

Julia frowned. “Hasselhoff what?”

“Hassel
back
,” I said,
remembering her deep affection for the old
Baywatch
series. “David
Hasselhoff has nothing to do with this. Zack makes them all the time, and
they’re delicious! He takes Yukon Gold spuds, cuts them almost all the way
through in slender slices like an accordion and then drenches them in butter.
Then he bakes them until they’re crispy on the outer edges and creamy smooth
inside.”

“Oh, those do sound good,” she
said, flipping Mrs. Avery’s pancakes on the grill. “But you know how I feel
about The Hoff. I thought I heard his name.”

“Uh-huh,” I said. “And if Zack ever
fixes something for me that was inspired by your beloved Hoff, you’ll be the
first to know.”

CHAPTER
11

I was still in the kitchen a couple
of hours later, arranging a dozen double fudge brownies in a paperboard box for
a delivery. They smelled so good that I was tempted to start a second batch and
indulge my sweet tooth when Harper whistled at me from the dining room.

“You busy?” she called. “There’s
someone on the phone.”

“Does the someone have a name?” I
asked.

Harper gave me a simmering leer.
“I’m sure they do,” she said. “But someone else is in the weeds out here so she
didn’t have the time to ask.”

“Sorry! Do you want me to come out
and help?”

“Maybe after you take the call?”
she said. “I was doing great until six members of the Crescent Creek Crabby Committee
started bickering about separate checks.”

“Is that Betty Ritter’s book club?”

She nodded. “How’d you know?”

“I saw them come in the door,” I
said. “Let me get this call and then I’ll be right with you.”

As Harper headed back into the
fray, I asked Julia how she was doing with the flood of new tickets.

“So far, so good,” she said with a
quick nod. “But if I can’t handle it, you’ll be the first to know.”

I flashed a smile, grabbed my
coffee mug and dashed into the office. When I answered the phone, I heard
someone singing in an off-key warble.

“This is Kate,” I said.

“Oh, no!” the caller yelped. “Did
you hear that?”

“Yes, and it sounded lovely,” I
said.

“That’s sweet of you, but I know my
voice is just plain bad.” She chuckled nervously. “Anyway, this is Caroline from
Simply Chic. Pearl said you were interested in the fuchsia Wunder Under Pants.”

I smiled again at the name. “Yes,”
I said. “I wanted to know if you could tell me who bought the two pairs recently.”

“That was Polly Ladd,” said Caroline.
“She was looking for a gift for someone and thought they’d be perfect.”

Polly had moved to Crescent Creek
the previous year, shortly before I returned from Chicago. I hadn’t met her
yet, but I’d heard a few things here and there. I knew that she worked in the
travel industry. I’d heard that she was renting a house on Edgewood Road. And
more than one source had confided that Polly’s temper could occasionally be
both short and sharp.

“Did she happen to mention who the
tights were for?” I asked. “I mean, if there’s a chance we’re both buying
something for the same person…” I left the rest unspoken, hoping that Caroline would
finish the thought. “You know what I mean? It can be
so
embarrassing
when you go to a party and someone else brings the same gift.”

“I’ve done that a couple of times!”
she said. “And I
totally
understand. But Polly didn’t say who they were
for.”

“Darn my luck!” I tried to sound
genuinely disappointed. “I guess that I’ll just have to take my chances.”

“Of course, we carry that line
exclusively here in Crescent Creek,” Caroline said. “Since we only had two
pairs in fuchsia, there’s not much of a chance that you’ll end up with the same
present for the birthday girl.”

“True, but I was going to be in Denver
this weekend,” I said. “I’m sure several stores down there would carry the
wonderful under pants.”

“Wunder Under Pants!” she said,
sounding perky and accommodating. “And you know what? I’m pretty sure that we
still have them available in three colors—Peach Echo, Golden Honey and Berry Blaze.”

“Hmmm,” I cooed. “Those all sound
delicious! Are they also edible?”

“Well…” Caroline hesitated. “I
don’t think so, but they
are
super comfy!”

“Sorry about the lame joke,” I
said. “I’ve been up since before dawn and fatigue is starting to take its
toll.”

“That’s okay,” she replied. “Do you
want me to double check on the other colors?”

“No, that’s not necessary. I’ll
stop by again and take a look.”

“Sounds good,” Caroline said. “I’ll
see you then!”

CHAPTER
12

The last table from lunch was
lingering over slices of lemon meringue pie and steaming cups of coffee when
Harper popped into the kitchen to tell me that Dina Kincaid was on the phone.
After delivering the message, she went back out to start resetting the dining
room for the next day.

“You’re pretty popular today,”
Julia quipped. “Or are you in trouble with the law again?”

“Maybe she’s calling for my
professional input,” I said. “She might want a second opinion about a case
they’re working on.”

Julia rolled her eyes. “Or maybe Trent
asked her to place another order for Ooey Gooey Butter Cake.”

“What do you mean
another
order? What happened to the one he picked up yesterday?”

She laughed. “From what I heard
this morning, Deputy Chief Walsh got the munchies late last night when they
were waiting for some important results to come back from the crime lab.”

“And what?” I smiled. “They all ate
a couple of slices apiece?”

Julia shook her head. “Trent took
care of the whole thing.”

“Who told you that?” I asked.
“Tyler Armstrong?”

“Nope.”

“Amanda Crane?”

She smiled. “I’d like to plead the
Fifth, Katie. I shouldn’t have said anything in the first place.”

“Don’t sweat it,” I said. “Your
secret is safe with me.”

“It’s kind of a compliment to your
grandmother’s recipe,” Julia said. “I mean, have you ever heard of anyone
eating an entire Ooey Gooey Butter Cake in one sitting?”

“I have actually.”

“Oh,” she said. “Who was it?”

“Who do you think?”

“Deputy Chief Walsh?”

I laughed. “Yep! When we were in
high school, Trent came by to see if I was helping Nana Reed in the kitchen. I
was still at soccer practice, so he sat down to wait. She offered him a slice of
Ooey Gooey Butter Cake and went into the dining room to help my mother move
tables around. By the time she got back to the kitchen, he’d polished off the entire
thing by himself!”

We were laughing about Trent’s
insatiable appetite when Harper called to me through the pass window again.

“Are you going to talk to Dina?”
she asked. “Or should I—”

“Oh, I’m sorry! Jules and I got to
talking.”

“You don’t say?” Harper made a
face. “That’s something that’s never, ever happened before.”

“Is she still on hold?” I asked.

“Line two,” Harper said before returning
to the dining room.

“Be right back, Jules,” I shouted
over my shoulder as I raced for the phone in my office. “This won’t take but a
second or two!”

By the time I picked up the
receiver and punched the blinking button, Dina had put the call on hold from
her end. I listened to a recording about traffic safety. Then another about seat
belt safety. And then a third one covering recent changes to the speed limit on
three major roadways in the area. By the time the traffic safety message
started again, I was wondering how much longer I could stay on hold when I
heard a soft
click
and then Dina’s voice.

“Sorry, Katie! I had another call about
a pressing matter.”

“That’s okay, detective. How’s your
day going?”

“It’s fine,” she said. “How about
yours?”

“Pretty typical, so far. Julia’s
cooking, I’m making progress on special orders and Harper’s keeping things
under control in the dining room.”

“That’s great,” she said. “I’m
calling because Trent wanted me to pass along some info on that license plate
you gave him the other day.”

“Thank you,” I said. “And please
give my thanks to Trent as well. What did he find out?”

“Well, the plate you asked about—the
one from Pennsylvania?”

“Yes?”

“That car was reported stolen from
an apartment complex in Denver about three days ago,” Dina said. “Trent got a
hit when he checked the database. I guess he also called the PD down there to
confirm the report and see if they had anything more on the situation.”

“Did they?”

“Not much to it,” Dina answered.
“The owner is a man named Raymond Block. He moved from Philly to Denver about
eight months ago.”

“Sounds like he missed the
ninety-day rule, huh?”

Dina laughed. “It wasn’t the first time,”
she said. “And I bet that it won’t be the last. He claimed that he hadn’t
registered and tagged the car yet due to some financial issues.”

“Okay, so I guess learning that
he’d have to pay a late registration fee was like adding insult to injury after
the car was stolen.”

“More or less,” she agreed. “According
to Trent’s contact at the Denver PD, Mr. Block also told the responding officers
that he knew who took the car.”

“Well, that’s helpful. Who was it?”

“Rex Greer,” said Dina. “Isn’t that
the guy you told Trent about?”

“One and the same. What’s the
latest on the car?”

“Stephen Castle was driving past
Java & Juice,” Dina said. “He’d heard the BOLO and recognized the tags.”

I nodded. “And did you guys tow
it?”

“We did indeed,” she answered. “Which
means more bad news for Raymond Block. Not only does he have to pay the late
registration fee and the cost of buying tags for his car, but he now also owes
the Crescent Creek Police Department two-hundred and fifty dollars to get it
out of the impound lot.”

“Poor guy.”

Dina scoffed. “I don’t know about
poor,” she said, “but he’s not very smart.”

“Because he didn’t register it within
the first three months?”

“No,” she answered. “Because he loaned
it to someone with a conviction for car theft.”

“Rex Greer?”

“One and the same,” she said again with
a faint laugh. “Based on the information that Mr. Block provided to the Denver
PD, his buddy has been in and out of hot water since he was fifteen. The
responding officers also confirmed Rex’s history with the authorities in Philadelphia.”

“Did you see his arrest record?” I
asked.

“I haven’t actually seen it, but I
heard a few of the highlights,” Dina said. “Beginning with the fact that Greer recently
spent time behind bars for grand theft auto in Pennsylvania.”

“How long has he been out?” I
asked.

“Maybe a few weeks.”

“And now he’s gone right back to
his old ways.”

“It sure looks like it,” she
agreed. “But we won’t know for certain until we find the little goofball and
get his side of the story.”