Laugh or Death (Lexi Graves Mysteries Book 6) (19 page)

"What are you thinking?" asked Solomon, glancing over at me while we cruised through broad, tree-lined streets.

"Serial killers, Peta, Nancy, and coincidences."

"You think this is all a big coincidence?"

"Yes, no, and maybe."

Solomon laughed. "Got all your bases covered."

"I just don't want to rule anything out. This case has been weird from the beginning."

"Told you I had a bad feeling."

"It could still be the most enormous set of weird coincidences. I mean, just how likely is it that we would fall into a serial killer case?"

"About as likely as an amnesiac wom
an surfacing miles from home, but knowing her own name, or the chance of reuniting lost loves, or discovering a stolen identity, or having a client who is being played to the nth degree."

"Did you leave me any theories to work with?" I asked, punching his arm lightly.

"We can only develop theories using the information we have," Solomon pointed out as he pulled over and parked in front of a pretty house. "So theories evolve with new information. I hope we're about to add a lot more information to what we already know."

"This could be the final piece of the jigsaw
puzzle!"

"Yeah, or it could just confuse us even more. That's the Hanson house." Solomon pointed to the pretty house
, which looked charming and very neat, the kind of place one grew up in, and moved out of, but always aspired to own something similar. I could easily have fallen in love with it, except that would be cheating on my buttercup-yellow bungalow and I loved my home. "Want to take the lead?"

"I don't even know where to start!"

"Start with the photo Leo received. Have them confirm if it's Peta, or Nancy, or whoever. We'll work from there."

I extracted the printed photo from my purse and unfolded it. "Do you think they know where Peta is?"

"We're about to find out." Solomon got out of the car and opened my door, offering me his hand. I doubted any of my colleagues got such special treatment, so I took his hand and enjoyed the gesture, grateful that he never shared a room with any of them on out-of-town trips either.

The street was quiet as we took the path to the door, pausing
momentarily to let a fat, ginger cat cross in front of us before reaching the stoop. I rang the doorbell and we waited. A young man, probably in his late teens or early twenties, answered the door. "Can I help you?" he asked, looking from me to Solomon, and back again. I couldn't blame him. I suspected, by the look in his eyes, that he probably found me more appealing than Solomon.

"We have an appointment with Mr. and Mrs. Hanson. Your parents?" I guessed.

"Right, sure. The private investigators. Come in. I'm Carl, their son." Carl took us into the living room, where his father waited, an unread newspaper next to him on the couch. A triptych of floral paintings spanned the wall behind him, delicate and beautifully alive, each almost as detailed as a photograph. Mr. Hanson stood as we entered and shook our hands, introducing himself as Richard, and his wife, who walked in behind us, as Esther. Esther indicated we should sit and we did, perching on the twin slipper chairs, opposite the couch where the Hanson family sat.

"You said you had some information about our daughter," said Richard. "What kind of information?"

I passed the photo to Richard. He looked at it, then passed it to Esther, who frowned.

"Can you confirm if this is Peta?" I asked.

"It looks like her," said Esther. "Why?"

"This photo was taken recently in Montgomery. We were asked to trac
k this woman by her boyfriend."

"It does look like her, but I'm not so sure," said Richard, taking the photo from Esther and handing it back to us. "Plus
, Peta didn't have a boyfriend when she went missing."

"Are you sure?" asked Solomon.

"Of course, we're sure. We had a very close relationship with our daughter, a very open one. She could talk to us about anything and we always knew when she had a boyfriend," said Richard.

"Does your daughter have any connection to Montgomery?"

Esther shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe. She took trips with her friends and an occasional boyfriend. It's not so far that I'd say she definitely hasn't visited there."

"So
… as far as you know, she doesn't have any friends who live there?"

Esther looked
at her husband, but he didn't give any discernible response. "Not that we know about," she replied. "If that woman in the photo is Peta, I can't imagine what she might be doing in Montgomery. The longer I think about it, the less sure I am at all that it is Peta. She appears similar but... it's just not detailed enough to be absolutely certain. I'm sorry."

I decided to move on, since my question
didn't yield any results. "Did Peta know Nancy Grant?"

This time, both Richard and Esther looked up sharply. "Yes," Esther said, blinking as she darted a panicked look at her husband. "They were friends. Nancy died a few months ago, not long before Peta disappeared."

"Were they close friends? Was Peta adversely affected by Nancy's passing?"

"She was devastated," said Carl quietly, stopping as his mother laid a hand on his knee.

"They'd known each other since middle school," continued Esther. "We were all very upset when Nancy passed. It was very... sudden."

"How did Nancy pass away? Was she ill?"

"No. No, she had an awful accident. She... she had a head injury and... I'm sorry... I... this is all too much," Esther sputtered, her hand flying to her mouth. "Please excuse me." Before I could say anything, she got up and rushed from the room, her footsteps indicating she headed to the back of the house, but I didn't hear a door slam.

"Nancy's passing and Peta's
subsequent disappearance were very hard on the family," said Richard. "My wife has been very upset. We all have."

"We understand," said Solomon, nodding towards me and inclining his head towards the door while the Hanson men weren't looking. He wanted me to go check on Esther, that much was obvious, and my good sense told me it was less of a check
-up and more like a divide-and-conquer. We might have gotten more information out of the family members separately.

"May I use your bathroom?" I asked, standing
up. "It's been a long drive."

"Sure. Down the hall." Richard waved his hand rough
ly in the direction. I ignored it, of course, and instead, looked into all the doorways until I spotted Esther. The house didn't go far back, having a dining room, a study, and a large kitchen-dining room. She was standing at the sink, looking out into the garden. I expected to find her crying, but she wasn't.

"Mrs. Hanson? Esther?" I said, when she didn't turn around as I entered. Finally
, she looked over her shoulder.

"Sorry about that," she said softly.

"No, I'm sorry. It must be very hard to talk about your daughter. You must miss her a lot."

"Every day."

"I speak to plenty of people who are missing loved ones," I told her. "No one ever finds it easy."

"Do you help them?" she asked, turning back to the garden.

"Sometimes. Not always in the way they expect." I stepped into the kitchen, looking over at the mantel. A series of framed photos spanned the ledge and curiosity made me step closer. There were a couple of posed shots of the family, and one of Esther and Richard at a formal party, along with a couple of group photos of the kids. There was one shot with Peta, whom I recognized instantly, and a few other men and women, their arms around each other, laughing. One of the men held a huge fish and appeared to be celebrating the catch. Another man made my breath hitch, but it wasn't because he was incredibly handsome, or that he fell short in the looks department. It was because I'd already met him and his name was Leo Chandler. He had his arm around a woman's waist, pulling her close, but his gaze was looking past her to someone else in the photo.

While Esther's back was turned, I discreetly slipped my cell phone from my purse and took a picture with the camera function. I messaged it to Solomon, then returned my phone and picked up the photo. "Esther, can you tell me who this is?" I asked, taking the photo to her. She looked down as I placed
it in front of her and pointed to Leo's face.

"That's Leo," she said. "Why?"

"And who's this? The woman his arm is around." I tapped her photo just so we were clear, because he also had his other arm around another woman. However, that woman was holding hands and looking up at the guy on her other side.

"That's Nancy. Leo was her boyfriend."

"Peta, Nancy, and Leo all knew each other?" I asked, even though I didn't need to. I knew the answer. The photograph told me quite clearly, they did.

"Yes, they were all friends. We
haven’t seen much of Leo since Nancy passed. We don't see much of any of their friends now."

"Lexi. Esther." Solomon stood in the doorway. "We have a few more questions."

"I suppose we should get this over with," said Esther, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, even though they both looked dry.

"We should," I agreed, my mind racing. "We won't take much more of your time." I ushered Esther
into the living room, sitting as she sat. Solomon came in behind us and only when he placed the photo frame on the coffee table, sliding it towards her, did I realize he picked it up.

"Let me tell you my theory," he said. "Our client came into our office and gave us a story about
losing his girlfriend. Her name was Nancy and she went missing after hitting her head in a fall. She probably had amnesia and somehow, wound up in our town and was recognized. Except he didn't give us a photo of Nancy. He gave us a photo of your daughter, Peta. Acting in good faith, we went in search of the woman we thought was Nancy. We even found her."

"I don't know what you mean by this..." Richard stood
up, his face flashing red.

"Sir, if you give me a moment, I'll explain. We found Nancy. She even called herself Nancy. That's odd, we thought, that she knows her name and can hold down a job
, but can't remember to call her boyfriend."

"Richard..." Esther flashed another panicked look while Carl stared at his feet.

"I'd like you to leave," said Richard, pointing to the door. "Coming in here with these bizarre stories..."

"Then Nancy went missing again," continued Solomon, ignoring the Hansons. "And we then f
ound out that the woman we've been searching for is really called Peta Hanson who was listed as a missing person in a serial killer case."

Carl's head shot up, frantically looking at his parents. His mother whimpered, "Serial killer?"

"That's enough!" Richard raised his voice only a couple of octaves away from shouting. "You're upsetting my wife." Solomon jumped to his feet as Richard stormed towards him.

"Dad, stop it. Stop it!" Carl leapt after his father, grabbing his arm. "Dad, stop it. Just tell them. Tell them everything."

"Tell us what?" asked Solomon as the Hansons appeared to freeze up.

"Carl, don't..." his mother warned, her voice wavering.

"They already figured it out." Carl turned to his mother, his voice pleading.

"Tell us," Solomon insisted.

"Peta's not dead or missing," Carl blurted. "She's hiding. She's been hiding ever since Nancy was murdered."

Chapter Sixteen

All hell broke loose in the Hanson household. Richard's face turned a unique shade of purple, Esther began crying and Carl was breathing heavily like he might burst into tears at any moment, while holding his head in his hands. All I could do was wait as Solomon attempted to cajole the story out of Carl, the only one who seemed willing to talk anymore.

"Why do you think Nancy was murdered?" Solomon asked
. After a long pause, Carl looked up, just as his father warned him again not to say a thing.

"Dad, we have to. These people could help Peta
even if we can't. Mom's been a wreck for months and I can't sleep with the worry. We're all just pretending everything is okay and managing fine whenever one of your friends brings over a casserole or pot pie. We can't keep pretending that we don't know what's happening, or where Peta is. We've always known," he added, turning to us. "It was my idea for Peta to take Nancy's identity. No one else would look for Nancy and it gave Peta a valid identity so she could work and live until we figured out how to keep her safe."

"That was smart," said Solomon. "If I wanted to protect my sister, I might have done the same thing. Tell us about Nancy."

"Nancy was having problems with her boyfriend for a while. I overheard Peta and Nancy talking one night; and Nancy said how controlling he was becoming and so moody that she had to tiptoe around him. He wanted every bit of her, including all of her time and space, and he became increasingly jealous of any attention she gave anyone else. She thought about leaving him, but deep down, still wanted to make it work."

"Th
at guy is Leo Chandler?" Solomon asked, waiting for Carl to nod. "When was this?"

"Two weeks before she died."

"Go on."

"Nancy said Leo was making it hard for her to find a new job
, and she was getting tired of always having to run every little thing past him... but he also began talking about marriage and maybe having kids with some excitement. He was sweet except for his occasional rages and was always so apologetic afterwards. Nancy said she was really confused and wasn't sure they wanted the same kind of future. She needed a job so she could go back to school, but Leo insisted he could support them both and she could be a stay-at-home mom."

"And Nancy didn't want that?" I asked to clarify
things.

Carl shook his head. "She said, eventually
, but not yet, and definitely not if she were being pressured into it. She said she would talk to Leo and try to get him to see things from her point of view. I didn't see Nancy again after that night."

"Did Peta?"

"Yeah."

"Did she ever tell you what they talked about?"

"No, she didn't say anything else about Nancy until Nancy died. She didn't believe Nancy fell and hurt herself."

"What did Peta think
happened?" I asked.

"She said she thought Leo hurt her and she
intended to find out the truth. I don't know if she did or not because she kept to herself for the next couple of days. When she got more of those creepy flowers, she totally freaked."

"Creepy flowers?" Solomon interjected as Esther heaved a fresh round of tears.

"Some anonymous person kept sending her flowers and gifts. At first, Peta thought it was sweet. We all did," Esther said as she reached for a tissue to dab under her eyes. "I thought it was romantic for her to keep getting these lovely little gifts. We guessed a young man had a big crush on her. Peta and Nancy used to giggle about it. Peta thought the admirer might identify himself, but he didn't although the gifts kept coming. After several months, Peta got tired of it and it wasn't fun anymore."

"If they're unwanted, I can see the creepiness," I said, glancing
at Solomon to see what he thought of the phantom gifts. Having once had a stalker situation of my own, I knew it could get very weird. Fortunately, that guy ended up spending a long vacation behind some very tall walls on separate charges. "Did the gifts all arrive here?"

Richard took over, sitting next to his wife and taking her hand. He seemed beaten, like he folded in on himself and his face was no longer red with anger, but instead
, appeared tired and concerned. "No, that was the creepy thing. The gifts often arrived at work, or she'd find them on the porch of a friend's house that she was visiting. Once, she got a delivery when she was out to dinner."

Carl nodded. "When she found a teddy bear strapped into the passenger seat of her car, we knew it was more than a secret admirer. This guy was telling her he always knew where she was,
and could break into her car anytime. Peta was terrified."

"How long did th
at go on for?"

"Like Esther said, months. The last time was a couple
of weeks after Nancy died, when Peta told us she had to disappear," said Richard. "She said she thought Nancy's killer was also the one behind the gifts, but she couldn't prove it. I thought she was getting paranoid when she became convinced someone had been in our house, specifically, in her room. We were all afraid that if Peta stayed, something awful might befall her."

"You have to understand, we didn't want to let her go
, or deceive anyone. We just wanted to protect our daughter," added Esther. "We couldn't bear to lose her like we lost Nancy and the police didn't respond or care."

Richard interjected,
"I insisted Peta take Nancy's identity. We knew no one would be looking for her. Nancy left some of her personal things here, and a list of important information that she knew she would need when she left Leo. We had her Social Security number. As long as Peta didn't stay in any one place too long, she decided she could risk it. We all agreed hiding was the best thing for now."

"Richard took Peta late at night. We had to sneak her out of the house in the trunk of the car in case that creep was watching," said Esther. "Can you imagine my daughter curled up in the trunk like a criminal?"

"No, ma'am, I can't. Where did you take her?" asked Solomon.

Richard said, "I drove her to Boston,
where I stayed a couple days for my conference, then drove home. I gave Peta all the cash we had, nearly ten thousand, to keep her going until she could find a job. We agreed she shouldn't call us or write."

"If that creep could get into her car, he could
easily have read our mail. Maybe even bugged our phones," explained Carl. "But we communicate with her via a message board every few days just so we know she's okay."

"Then we reported her missing," said Esther. "We said she'd gone out for a walk one night and
never came home. It was easy really, to pretend she just disappeared, especially since she filed a police report for being stalked."

"Do you think Nancy's murderer and Peta's stalker
are the same person?" I asked. We waited as the Hansons looked at each other.

F
inally, Richard spoke. "We just don't know. Maybe. I was never entirely sure why Peta was so adamant Nancy was murdered. She wouldn't say why."

"Do you have any of the gifts?"

"Yes. We have them all. Not the flowers, but all the other things. I keep them locked in our floor safe in case that bastard tries to get into our home again."

"We'd like to see them," I told them.

"Will it help?" asked Esther.

"I think so. We might see something that you
missed."

"I don't know how. We've looked at every
item so often. Those gifts just give me the creeps."

Richard stood. "I'll get them." He left the room, walking towards the back of the house. While he was gone, I took the opportunity to ask if Leo
ever stopped by the house.

"Well, yes, he did, a couple of times," Esther said. "He was devastated by Nancy's death. We saw him at the funeral, then he came by when he heard Peta had gone missing. He offered to help
find her."

"If you ask me, he had something to do with Nancy's death," said Carl. "She was
terrified of him."

"Do you share that thought?" I asked Esther
, but she shrugged.

"I'm not sure. He always seemed pleasant
, but if Nancy was scared, well... that's got to count for a lot. But murder? I don't know if I believe Leo was a murderer," Esther eventually replied.

"I do," said Carl adamantly. "I think he killed Nancy and was stalking Peta."

"Do you think he killed Nancy to get to Peta?" Solomon asked as the sinking feeling in my stomach grew heavier.

Carl hung his head, deflated again. "I sure hope not."

Richard reappeared in the doorway, a plastic bag in his hands. He upended it on the coffee table, toppling small boxes and cards across the surface. Solomon and I reached for the first items that came to hand. I got a small card box with a pretty bow stuck to the top. Lifting the lid, I found a silver star pendant necklace inside. It wasn't particularly expensive, but very pretty. Solomon had a shell with a painted heart on it, the kind of souvenir that got sold at the beach for a couple of dollars. He held it up to me. The name Peta was painted on the underside with another heart. There were several other gifts, the nicest being a jeweled hair comb.

"Peta picked that up one day when we were shopping," said Esther, "but she said it cost too much and returned it to the display. The next day
, it was in a gift box on our porch."

"Did you see anyone you recognized while you were shopping?" I asked
. I wasn't surprised when she shook her head.

Solomon had a sheaf of cards in his hand
, which he shuffled through. He stopped at one and passed it to me. "Recognize this?" he asked.

I took it and only had to study it for a moment to know where I
’d seen the handwriting before. "Yes, yes, I do."

"Go make the call."

~

I was st
anding by the car, my back against the passenger door and my phone to my ear. There was a gentle breeze that had me reaching for my sweater to wrap around my shoulders. It took me a few minutes to fill Maddox in on our latest findings, and he seemed pleased.

"It's definitely Leo's handwriting?" Maddox asked again.

"One hundred percent," I confirmed, again. "I recognized it from the client sheet Leo completed when he came to us with his case. He's our stalker, and from what the Hanson kid said, he could be behind the real Nancy's demise."

"That's good work."

"How are things at PD?"

"Good. The detective who made the connection is smart, tenacious. She's wasted here."

"Apparently not. She made a connection that could break your case and mine."

"Her local knowledge is excellent
, but so is the killer's. We went over the dump sites again. Even though they were each in different jurisdictions, they were only just far enough over that it wasn't too much of an effort. Same with the missing persons. I think we should be treating those as murder cases now too, except for Peta, who has really thrown us for a loop."

"By being alive," I said.

Even though it was a rhetorical question, Maddox still answered, "Yes. That's what gets me. If Leo is the stalker, and maybe even the killer, Peta Hanson got away. He's never lost a target, as far as I can see."

"Nancy still died."

"My theory is: Nancy was collateral damage, not a target. I'm putting in a request to have her body exhumed. I got the coroner's report and I'm not happy with it. It's sloppy."

"How so?"

"Too basic. I asked around and the coroner never even worked a murder case before. Never will again, I hope. He steamrollered through the most basic of autopsies, called her head injury an accident, closed the file, and released the body."

"To Leo?"

"No, to some aunt. I'm going to talk to her soon. She's within walking distance of the police station, so I'll catch a cab back to the inn after. Where are you heading next?"

"I don't know. Solomon asked me to call and tell you what we found. He's still talking to the Hanson family."

"Okay, well, after what you told me, I'm going to put a 'bolo' out on Leo Chandler. It's time we spoke to this guy. We can pick him up on the stalking issue for a start and see what else I can get out of him from there."

"Solomon has people watching him."

"Have them check in with me. I'd like to have him in FBI custody within twenty-four hours."

Replying
I would do that, I hung up as Solomon exited the Hanson house, the bag of creepy gifts in his hand. "Maddox is putting a 'bolo' out on Leo," I said, "I guess you won the vacation."

"Don't be so hasty. There's no victor until one of us wins for sure. Taking the guy in
for interrogation isn't an arrest warrant or a charge."

"I thought you'd be happier
just knowing you were right."

"I'll be happier when we find Peta Hanson." Solomon handed me the
“gifts” and opened my door. He leaned in as I buckled up. "We won't get anything more out of the Hansons today, but I told them we'd keep them informed. Let's go talk to Abigail Harris at Nancy's old bookstore. We need more evidence to tie Leo to Peta, and Nancy's death."