Engaged in Murder (Perfect Proposals Mystery) (16 page)

“Deal, and I promise to let you know the minute I learn anything that has to do with this case without expecting you to act instantly on it. Okay?”

“All right. Have a good day, Pepper.”

I knew a dismissal when I heard one. I left the police station with the forensic accountant’s card in my purse. It seemed that sweetness really did attract better results than anger.

“There is no way Laura Snow isn’t involved in this,” I said to Felicity.

“What are you going to do?” She was back at work and had called me on her break because she knew I’d gone to see Detective Murphy.

“I need to get back in the airport and scope it out. There is something that Daniel Frasier and Laura aren’t telling the cops. I can just feel it.” I drummed my fingers on my steering wheel.

The car smelled of Bahamas vanilla from the scented beads that hung from my rearview mirror and that particular essence of old car. It was warm as the sunlight reflected off my dash.

“I thought you were working on your next proposal.” Felicity’s voice crackled through the line.

“I am,” I said. “I only now got out of the initial planning meeting. His name is Mike and his girlfriend is Evelyn. She’s a librarian and loves the movie
The Mummy
.”

“Wait—the original with Boris Karloff?”

“No, no, the remake with Rachel Wiesz—she plays a librarian studying Egyptology. Evelyn said it was the first movie she’d ever seen where they created a sexy librarian.”

“How are you going to put that together in a proposal?” Felicity sounded confused.

“I have some ideas but first off I need to visit the Chicago Public Library and see what kind of space I can rent.”

“Keep me posted on that,” Felicity said. “I need to get back to work.”

“I will.” I hung up my cell phone and tossed it on the seat beside me. I figured I had three places to go now. Number one, I could go to the public library and scope out the space. Or number two, I could call Gage and invite him over for dinner. Or three, I could go back to the airport and see if I couldn’t discover more about Laura and Daniel. After all, it was Daniel who told me about the authorized-personnel space on the plane. Maybe he wanted to ensure I didn’t pay attention to the door and who or what may have been behind it. Would there be anything at the airport that would point to Daniel as a killer? It seemed highly unlikely, but I was desperate to figure this out. Desperate enough to go back to the crime scene.

The real question was how could I convince Jeb to let me back inside the airport after that cop had told me to stay away? Jeb’d let me in earlier as long as I promised to bring him any clues I found. But then I hadn’t found any clues. Could I tell him I’d learned about the other mysterious crimes at the airport and wanted to look again?

No, I shook my head at that thought. Jeb might kick me out for wasting his time.

A great thought occurred to me and I put the car in gear, backing slowly out of the parking space. I would tell Jimmy and Jeb that I needed to scout out the space for another client’s proposal.

If I mentioned renting the space, I might connect with Jeb. Especially if the airport was in a bit of trouble as both Warren and Jeb himself had told me. Jeb would be looking for extra cash.

Satisfied, I drove down Milwaukee Avenue. But not before I stopped at Fresh Farms and picked up a container of six cupcakes. I know Jeb said I was to stop bribing Jimmy, but I hoped that as long as I kept plying him with treats, he’d keep looking out for my best interests.

*   *   *

“Hey, Miss Pomeroy.” Jimmy opened the window on the guard shack. “Back again?”

I smiled my prettiest and batted my eyes. “I just can’t keep away from you boys.”

“Got any food that needs taste testing?” He peered around me in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the backseat.

“I do. Can I come in?”

“Sure,” Jimmy said, “but I’ll have to log you in. Jeb was pretty upset that you were nosing around.”

“Wait, he told me I could investigate as long as I keep him in the loop.”

“Yeah, well, he didn’t like the fact that you didn’t see him until the second time you were here. So now he wants written record of who comes and goes these days.”

“Sure, no problem. I promised him I’d keep him up-to-date if I found anything. I didn’t. Now I’m not here to investigate.” I told the lie smoothly. “I’m here to look into the possibility of doing more jet proposals.”

“Oh.” Jimmy’s expression was pure disappointment. “I thought you said you needed taste testing.”

“Don’t worry, I need your help in that aspect as well.”

“Cool.” Jimmy’s smile lit up his face, and he bent down to log me into his entry book. Once he opened the gate, I shot old blue around to the guard shack. Jimmy met me at my parking space, and I handed him the cupcakes as I got out of the car.

“Is that orange chocolate?” Jimmy pointed to the cake with the orange slice on top.

“Yes,” I said. “I may be doing an Asian theme. You know, flying the friendly skies of Japan Air . . . or some such thing.”

“Sounds . . . interesting.”

“Thanks.” I walked with him into the guard shack. There was a new sign-in board tacked to the wall listing employees. I noticed a certain pilot with an X by his name. “Oh, is Daniel here?”

“Yes, he’s doing a walk-through on the plane with Laura. They have to carry an executive to Aspen, Colorado, for more than a meeting. It’s a two-day party and I think I heard Laura say she wanted to gamble while she was there.”

“Huh, they have casinos near Denver?”

“I heard there were several within thirty miles of Denver.” He shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never been out there, but Laura has. You should ask her.”

“Okay, I will, but first I have a question,” I said. “I don’t know if you know this, but is the compartment at the back of the plane really off-limits?”

“What compartment?” Jimmy looked confused.

“The one in the back.”

“Oh, you mean the luggage space?”

“Okay, sure, the luggage space. Is that what goes back there?”

“It’s not always used,” Jimmy said. “Sometimes we get a ride that wants to bring their entire wardrobe, so it’s good to have a place for large bags.”

“Daniel said it was authorized personnel only. Do you know why?”

“Got me.” He shrugged. “Maybe he didn’t want you behind the engines or something.”

I frowned. “Then it shouldn’t matter if I look at the space or not?”

“Why would you want to look at it?” Jimmy asked.

“Last time I had Cesar hide in the restroom. I think it might be better if he could set up the cameras and then go to another space and monitor them for the right moment.”

“Oh, sure, I guess that makes sense. Listen, we implemented this new ID badge rule. I figured you might be back so I made you a badge. That way you won’t have to be escorted as a visitor all the time.”

Jimmy handed over a badge. It said
AUTHORIZED
and had my name,
PEPPER POMEROY,
underneath. “Cool.” I flipped it over. It had a female avatar where my picture should be.

“I found a redheaded avatar for you.” Jimmy grinned. “I thought you’d appreciate it.”

The cartoon character looked like a redheaded Jessica Rabbit. The old movie line went through my mind—
I’m not bad. I’m just drawn that way.
“I do appreciate it,” I said sincerely. Hey, he didn’t make me look like Olive Oyl. That was a step in the right direction.

“Wear it whenever you’re on-site. That way people will know you’ve been authorized to look around.”

“Thanks, Jimmy.” I gave him a quick hug and left him to his cupcakes. I got back into old blue and clipped my ID card on the collar of my pink polo shirt. There were people who thought redheads shouldn’t wear pink. Personally, I loved the color and wore it no matter what people thought. Besides it looked good with my fair skin.

I parked along the side of hangar number four and got out. My new badge in plain view, I pulled a notebook and pen out of my fake-alligator-skin tote and made some sketches of the scene. If whoever called the cops on me last time tried that tactic again, I could counter with Jimmy’s ID badge. If that was not enough, I could explain that I needed dimensions for possible future proposals.

My actions had to be in line with these backup plans on the off chance that whoever didn’t want me at the airport was watching.

I used the camera on my phone and took a few shots to balance out my sketch. Then I opened the side hangar door and entered. “Hello?”

There was no answer. The place was quiet as a tomb and smelled of jet fuel. The plane that Warren had taken to New York sat in the same spot it was in the day he had proposed. The offices were dark.

“Is anyone here?” I called. “Hello?”

No answer. I noticed that the door to the ladies’ room was propped open. I poked my head inside the tiny room. It was clean and smelled strongly of bleach. I supposed I’d have a hard time using a toilet that a dead man had been shoved into. I wondered if they would gut it and start over or simply spray it down with disinfectant and pretend nothing had happened.

My experience with men was that they would probably spray it down and pretend it hadn’t happen. A small shudder went through me. It might take me a while to use a public restroom again without checking all the stalls first.

I took a couple of photos and moved on down the hall. It was small. There were the side-by-side bathrooms and the hall ended in the door I had come in. Across from the bathrooms were the two offices. I tried to open one but it was locked. The window was dusty, but from what I could tell, the room was used mostly for storage. The second office was the one I had been interviewed in. I knew it well and wondered who actually used it. Was it maintenance or the flight crew?

The door was closed, but I tried it and discovered it wasn’t locked. I looked left and then right to see if anyone was watching me enter the room. No one was there. I turned on the light and took a couple more pictures. There was a coat tree, a couple of file cabinets, and the desk and chairs. The desktop held a calendar, a phone, a computer monitor, and a keyboard. I wiggled the mouse, but the computer did not come to life.

Whoever worked in this office had turned off the computer. Or hadn’t come in to work yet. I glanced at my watch. It was 2
P.M.
It was more likely they worked early and were gone for the day. I heard voices. They sounded familiar. As far as I saw it, I had two choices—to say hello and continue the ruse about planning another proposal, or to turn off the light, close the door, and eavesdrop on the staff.

I’m usually too polite to eavesdrop, but for some reason, I turned off the office light and closed the door. I supposed I could get in terrible trouble if I got caught. But I was smart. I trusted that I would figure out something to say should they find me in the dark office.

“I told you Warren would not stay in jail,” a male voice said. “Out of all of us, he’s the one with enough money to hire good lawyers. I bet he doesn’t ever even have to go to court.”

“It’s not Warren that worries me.” Laura stood in front of the office window and faced the plane. “This whole thing is awful, just awful.” She put her hands over her face, and Daniel stepped in to comfort her.

I shrank back into the shadows as my thoughts churned. Were these two having an affair? I remembered the ring on Daniel’s finger. The man was married. Still he was a flirt, and from what Jimmy said, these two worked together a lot. As I watched them now, it wasn’t hard to believe they could be having an affair.

Laura snuggled in close and trembled in Daniel’s arms. Her shoulders shook and a sob came out. Were they the killers? It was hard for me to believe that Daniel would kill anyone, but clearly Laura had things to hide.

I knew she was married, too, and not to Daniel. Daniel turned his head and looked into the window. My heart raced as I stepped as far into the shadows as possible. Did he see me? I couldn’t tell. The lights were such that his eyes were half hidden.

Fear lightninged down my spine. I clutched my notebook to my chest and searched my brain for a reason why I was in a dark room watching them. I thought I was smart but panic made my mind go blank. Surely Daniel saw me and would storm in and confront me.

My eyes closed in fear. I felt like a rabbit confronted by a fox. Maybe, if I stayed very still, they might not know I was there.

I stood in the dark for what seemed like forever and waited. If Daniel had seen me, he had not given any clue. But he did take Laura by the elbow and escort her out of the line of sight of my office windows.

Eventually things grew quiet and I eased the door open. If Daniel or Laura was there, I’d have some explaining to do. I stuck my head out the door and noted that the plane’s steps were down. There was a light on inside the jet. If they were inside, it was my turn to flee. I closed the door behind me and hurried down the hallway toward the side door.

“Pepper? Is that you?” Laura called from the other side of the plane.

I plastered on a smile and turned to face her. “Hi, Laura,” I said and walked toward her.

“Hi, what are you doing here?”

I clutched my notebook. “I have another client interested in a jet proposal for his girl. Warren said I could look around as long as I didn’t copy his proposal to Felicity.”

“Oh, when did you come in?” She drew her eyebrows together and she tilted her head.

“A few minutes ago.” I pointed to the side entrance. “I parked out there when I saw that the hangar door was closed. It’s kind of crazy to walk by the crime scene.” I visibly shuddered. “How do you do that every day?”

“It’s tough,” she admitted. I could tell by her expression that my change of subject distracted her. Tears formed in her eyes and I noted that she couldn’t look at the now open door.

I stepped in closer. “Did you know Randy well?”

“I saw him almost every day but didn’t talk to him much.” She shrugged. “We both had our things going on.”

“I heard he had money troubles.”

Her expression closed. Her mouth went flat. “In this economy there are a lot of people with money troubles.”

“Boy, I understand that,” I said with a wry smile. “I was downsized in my last job. If it weren’t for Warren, I would be worried as well.”

That calmed her down a bit. My goal was to get her talking and keep her talking. I suspected that she and Daniel were having an affair, and if I were a betting kind of person, I would bet that Randy found out and tried to blackmail them.

She crossed her arms. “Wait, Warren Evans hired you?”

“Oh, no.” I put my hand on her forearm. “He inspired me to start my own business.” I pulled out one of my new business cards. “Perfect Proposals, I plan wedding proposals and engagement parties. After I did such a great job for Warren, he sent me to one of his friends. I planned a ‘splash’-themed proposal and party. It was great. Anyway, that’s why I’m here. My client list is growing and Warren said I could look at the hangar and get some ideas for other events.” I leaned in close as if to confide in her. “I think Warren would like it if I drummed up some extra business for the airport.”

“Oh, oh right.” She relaxed her arms and sent me a small smile. “Do you think that men would rent a private jet for a proposal weekend?”

“Yes,” I said. “I do. My clientele is pretty high-end.” I put my arm through hers and walked toward the plane. “I understand you work part time as a nurse?”

“EMT,” she said. “Warren pays me by the trip. That means that sometimes I work four hours and sometimes he covers an entire weekend. It’s like being on call.”

“I hope he gives you health insurance.”

“Oh, I don’t worry about that. My husband Frank’s job covers that.”

So she was married. “What does Frank do? If you don’t mind my asking. I mean, doesn’t he hate when you are away for a couple of days?”

She gave me a small smile. “Frank is in business development. So he’s gone a lot.”

“That must be tough.”

“It was at first, but you get used to it.”

“Can you show me around the plane again?” I asked. “I would love to kind of sketch out the interior so that I can draft a plan for placing decorations, music, and such for any client who wants to use the plane for their proposal.”

“Oh, um, okay.” She walked me around the nose of the plane. “Daniel, look, Pepper’s here,” she called up to the pilot’s window and waved her hand when Daniel saw us.

He got up and met us at the gangway. “Hey, Pepper, how’s it going?”

“Good, thanks,” I said. “Can I come up?”

“She wants to sketch the dimensions of the plane for future events.”

“Future events?” Daniel waved me up the stairs. “What kind of events?”

“Pepper started her own business,” Laura said behind me. She stood so close I could feel her breath on my neck. It was as if Laura and Daniel had me sandwiched between them. A creepy sensation had me stepping into the main cabin as fast as I could.

My wild imagination suspected that these two could murder me and fly off to dump my body in some unknown area, never to be seen again.

Then I remembered that Jimmy had signed me in, so at the very least my family would know where I last was.

“What kind of business?” Daniel asked as he leaned against the bulkhead.

“I call it Perfect Proposals.” I handed him my card. “Warren suggested it. He said, since I did such a good job on his and Felicity’s engagement, I should go into business.”

“Huh.” Daniel looked at the back and the front of my card. “People pay money for that?”

“I certainly hope so.” I laughed and took out my notebook. Sketching the interior dimensions of the plane, I noted where the seats were, the bar, and the restroom. I glanced up to see them both watching me closely. “I promise if I have any proposals that involve airplanes, I’m going through Warren. Hopefully we’ll be working together a lot.”

“More trips would be good.” Daniel stuck my card in his pocket. “Isn’t that right, Laura?” He winked at her.

I noted that she blushed. From the look in Daniel’s eye, there was definitely something going on between them. “Do you two always fly together?”

“We are Warren’s flight crew. The thought was that eventually there would be enough traffic to get a second crew and more planes, but for now, it’s only us.”

“Oh, wait, do you have a job today? Am I interrupting?” I did my best innocent act, tilting my head and batting my lashes. It never worked on my mom and dad, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t work on somebody else.

“Oh, no, no,” Laura reassured me. “We were supposed to take a client to Denver, but he had a last-minute meeting and canceled. That’s what happens with these high-powered players.”

“He canceled?”

“More like rescheduled,” Daniel said. “It’s a pain because we have to come back tomorrow and go through the preflight and everything again.”

“Oh, that’s terrible.”

“It’s part of the business.” Daniel shrugged.

“In fact, I’m only here because I left my gear in the stowaway compartment. I debated leaving it, but thought better. I came back in to get it.”

“There’s a stowaway compartment? On the plane?”

“Oh, gosh yes,” Laura said.

“You called it a stowaway compartment. Have you ever stowed people?” I had to ask. When she glanced at me funny, I thought I covered myself well. “I’m looking for places to stash my videographer besides the bathroom.”

“Oh, no, no,” Laura said with what looked like relief on her face. “This is to stow away our gear.” She opened a thin cupboard in the tiny pantry area. “It would be nearly impossible to put a human being in here, see?”

She opened it up and stuck her arm inside. The cupboard was tall but thin and about eighteen inches deep.

“Maybe if they stood sideways,” I said and climbed inside to demonstrate. It was a very tight fit, but I was thin and straight. I stepped out. “Yes, I suppose that wouldn’t do to hide Cesar in.”

“I think you’re stuck with the restroom,” Daniel said.

“What about the luggage compartment?” I asked. They both looked at me as if I were speaking a different language. “You know where you put the luggage . . .” Still only quizzical looks. “That area with the door for authorized personnel only,” I pushed. “That’s the luggage compartment, right?”

“Right,” Daniel finally said.

“There is no way you could put a person in there. It’s not pressurized and they would freeze,” Laura said. Her voice held a strange tremor.

“Or suffocate,” Daniel added. “Not a good idea at all.”

“Okay, well, then that clears that up.” I turned and continued to sketch dimensions as if I had no idea what had frightened them.

I did indeed have an idea. The way I saw it, they were having a secret affair. Randy, who was always strapped for cash, had found out about it. I mean, they weren’t good at hiding it. I found out about it. So a man who was always around cleaning offices and such would have easily known.

If Randy knew, he could have blackmailed them both. I glanced over to see that Laura had gotten her bag and left. Daniel stood by the doorway watching me. I sent him a smile. “I hope I’m not keeping you from your work.”

“Oh, you’re not,” he said, his gaze serious. “I’m trying to figure out what you’re thinking.”

“Excuse me?” I froze.

“Your perfect proposal plan for the airplane,” he said and crossed his arms. “I’m curious as to what more you can do than you did for Warren.”

“Oh.” I laughed with relief. “That’s the thing. Warren said I could use the plane—in fact, he encouraged me to use it—but he also said I couldn’t duplicate what I did for him and my sister.” I waved my hand at the now austere interior. “It’s why I had to come back and get dimensions and such.” I lifted my sketch book. “I purchased this great little program for the computer where you simply put the dimensions of the space in and then you can move things about.”

“Interesting,” he said.

“Well, I think I have everything that I need for now,” I said. “It was good to see you again, Daniel.”

“Take care of yourself, Pepper,” he said as I brushed by him to leave the plane. “I wouldn’t want to see you get hurt.”

I paused at the bottom of the steps and looked back at him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that.”

“I said take care of you,” he replied. “It’s hard when you find a dead person. Harder still to come back to the place where it happened. Don’t let it get to you.”

I drew my eyebrows together. “I won’t . . . thanks.”

I left the building a lot faster than I had entered it. Climbing into my car, I settled my things on the seat beside me. Laura and Jeb were each other’s alibis. Was that the plan? Time of death was never exact. Had Laura sought out Jeb to ensure she had an alibi that didn’t include Daniel? Daniel had the flight log as his alibi, but logs could be faked. Still that explanation didn’t fit with what I knew of Laura and Daniel.

As far as I could see, the two were threatened by Randy, but neither seemed to be the killer type—if there was such a thing. Still, they may have hired a professional. Yes, that made more sense. That way it was no muss, no fuss. They could have flown him in and established their alibis while he did the deed. Then they could have hid him in the plane and flown him back out with no one the wiser.

Now all I had to do was prove it. Maybe there was a way for me to get a look inside the luggage compartment. I could ask Warren if what they said about pressurization and such was true or not. He would know. Wouldn’t he?

I frowned. But then I would have to tell him why I was asking and I didn’t want to do that yet. I didn’t want Warren to worry about me.

And unfortunately, I couldn’t take my suspicions to Detective Murphy without some kind of concrete proof. Not if a video wasn’t proof enough for him. I sighed.

Then I spotted movement in my rearview mirror. A closer look told me it was Laura. She was talking to someone. I ducked down out of sight far enough that she couldn’t see me but I could see her in my side mirror. It was Daniel she spoke to. They kissed and then separated.

Laura turned and got into a gray Toyota. When she pulled out, I started up my car and followed. It was difficult to be inconspicuous. Old blue stood out in a sea of cars as much as I did in a sea of people. It had never been a problem before. Now when I wanted to tail someone, it was nearly impossible to be incognito.

Thankfully Jimmy stopped me at the gate. “Hey, Pepper, learn anything new for me to report to Jeb?”

“No, nothing new. I did, however, get some dimensions of the plane for my next jet proposal. Thanks for that. Tell Jeb I will keep him posted.”

“Okay, will do.” Jimmy opened the gate and let me out. I could make out Laura’s gray Toyota in the distance. Since Jimmy had stopped me, there was no way for her to suspect I was following her.

I did my best to keep three cars behind her. When she turned down a side street, I kept going, turning onto the next street. I went around three blocks then doubled back.

Laura had parked her car in front of a brick row house. I made a sudden decision and pulled up to the curb. Maybe, just maybe, if I confronted her like the reporters did sometimes on television, I could surprise a confession out of her.

“Pepper, what are you doing?” Laura asked as I got out of the car.

“I followed you,” I admitted. “Well, then I went around the block a couple of times.” Okay, I was an awkward interviewer. Good thing I wasn’t trying out for the local investigative news.

“Why?”

“I have to know, are you and Daniel having an affair?”