Sarah Woods Mystery Series (Volume 3) (33 page)

Chapter 22

It was almost 4:45pm by the time I got back to my car and called Carter.

“I just talked to Charlie Cox.” I told him. “I don’t think he was having an affair with Melanie, but I know who Gregory’s girlfriend is.”

“Amy Chang,” he said, matter-of-factly.

I gasped. “Yes. How did you find out?”

Carter cleared his throat. “I’ll explain later. Where are you?”

“I’m heading home right now. Have you had dinner, yet?”

“No.”

“I’ll grab some Chinese take out and meet you back at my apartment.”

“Roger that.”

A little after 6:00, Carter showed up at my place with a six-pack of Corona.

“Have a seat,” I said. “The food is on the table.”

He cracked open a beer for each of us, and we dug right in, filling our plates with a medley of various dishes: fried rice, egg rolls and teriyaki chicken.

“So tell me what happened today with Gregory,” I said.

“I went to his house around nine and waited. He left around ten-fifteen with golf clubs. I figured he’d be gone for a few hours.”

“You got into his house?”

“Easy,” he said. “There’s an alarm system but it hasn’t been activated. The guy probably spent five grand on a security system and he hasn’t bothered to hook it up.”

I nibbled on an egg roll, hanging on Carter’s every word. “And?”

“Nice house. The guy likes to spend money. You should see the theater room with a state of the art surround sound system. Probably cost over a hundred grand. Anyway, I had a look around and found his laptop in the bedroom. I copied his emails onto a USB flash drive.” He reached into his back pocket and placed the device on the table.

“Is that how you found out about Amy Chang?” I asked.

“Yep. Must be two or three dozen emails back and forth. From what I gather, she’s been going to his house several times a week since mid April. The emails are very sexual in nature.”

“When was the last email sent?”

“Gregory sent her one yesterday around 11:00 in the morning.”

“That’s around the time I left his house,” I said. “What did the email say?”

“Gregory warned Amy not to contact him for a few weeks. He told her they needed to play it safe. Lay low until things cooled down.”

“Until things cooled down?” I repeated, feeling the hairs on the back of my neck vibrate. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

“The emails started on April fifteenth,” he said.

“April fifteenth?” I shut my eyes and thought about that date. It finally came to me. “That was Melanie’s funeral.”

Carter shrugged. “Unfortunately, these emails don’t prove that Gregory conspired to kill his wife.”

“Of course not,” I said with a sigh. “He’s too smart. Did you check his search history on the computer?”

“Nothing incriminating. No research on poisons or marijuana, or ways to kill someone; but again, he’s probably not stupid enough to use his personal laptop to do that kind of research.”

“Charlie Cox is convinced that Gregory is innocent,” I said. “Although he was quite nervous talking to me today. He downed four miniature bottles of liquor within five minutes. I think he has a drinking problem.”

“Well,” Carter said. “What do you want to do about Amy Chang?”

I checked my watch. “Can you look up her home address for me?”

“Sure,” he said. “You want to show up at her house?”

“You bet. She’s gonna be pissed, but maybe I can use that to my advantage.”

While Carter accessed a program on his phone for locating people, I
began clearing the table, discarding the empty Chinese take-out boxes. A thought occurred to me. “Have you ever been hypnotized?” I asked him.

He looked up and gave me a crooked smile. “No, have you?”

“No, but I had a friend who went to a hypnotist to quit smoking.”

Carter rolled his eyes. “You don’t really believe that stuff, do you? It’s a scam.”

I laughed. “
How do you know if you’ve never tried it?”

“Why would I need to? I’m damn near perfect.” Carter went back to his search while I took a few more sips of beer and eventually dumped the rest out in the sink. The last thing I needed was to cloud my head with alcohol.

“Amy Chang lives in Exeter, New Hampshire,” he finally said. “If we leave now, we can be there by 7:30.”

I grabbed my purse. “Let’s go.”

Chapter 23

As we drove to Exeter, the sun was setting behind a blanket of clouds, coloring the sky a deep shade of purple.

Carter was quiet as he drove and I figured this might be a good time to tell him about my decision to move to California, but just as I was about to open my mouth to speak, Carter cleared his throat and asked, “How was dinner last night with Brian?”

“We had a really nice time,” I said. “It’s been a while since he and I did anything together.”

“Did you tell him about California?”

“Yeah. I think he’s happy for me.”

Carter hesitated. “So you’ve made a decision to move?”

I swallowed. “Um, yeah, I guess I have.”

He kept his eyes on the road. “When do you leave?”

“September.”

Carter remained quiet for a few long seconds. Finally, he said, “Are you sure that’s what you want?”

“A change of scenery might do me good.”

He said nothing.

When we pulled into the driveway of a large farmhouse style home, he cut the engine. “We’re here.”

The house was secluded being surrounded by dense woods. I was hesitant to step out of the car, afraid a swarm of mosquitos might carry me away.

Lights were on in the house, so someone must be home. “Are you waiting in the car or coming with me?” I asked.

“Whatever you want.”

“Maybe I should go and talk to her alone. Do you mind?”

“Not at all.”

When I walked up the steps of the farmer’s porch, I could hear laughter coming from inside the house. It was the unmistakable sound of giggling children.

I knocked. When the door opened, a girl of about six or seven years old stared back at me with wide, blue eyes. Her long, silky black hair was the same exact color and texture as her mother’s, along with her mother’s slanted eyes and olive skin tone. The blue eyes obviously came from the dad.

“Hello, there,” I said to her in a friendly voice. “Is your mommy home?”

I heard Amy’s voice yelling to her daughter and, a moment later, Amy appeared behind the screen door. She blinked at me, clearly surprised to see me standing there.

“Hi, Amy. I apologize for stopping by like this. Do you have a minute?”

She leaned over, whispered something in her daughter’s ear and the little girl skipped away.

Amy joined me outside on the farmer’s porch, and made sure to close the door tightly behind her. “What are you doing here?” she whispered.

“I have a few more questions, if you don’t mind.”

She gave me a tense look that said, yes, she
did
mind. “Can’t we do this at my office tomorrow?”

I spread my arms wide. “Well, I’m here now.”

She motioned for me to follow her to a screened gazebo to the left of the house.

She turned to me and said, “What is so important that you needed to come to my home?” 

“You lied to me,” I said.

She made a face. “Excuse me?”

“You and Gregory. How long have you been seeing each other?”

She gave me a long, hard look. Her eyes began to water. “How did you find out? Did Gregory tell you?”

“No. His friend Charlie mentioned that Gregory was seeing a hypnotherapist.”

She slowly breathed in and out as her shoulders began to tremble. “Please don’t tell my husband.”

An odd request. She should have been more worried about the implications of murder over adultery. “When did the affair start?” I asked, keeping my voice low.

She glanced back at the house nervously. When she turned back to face me, there was panic in her eyes. “After the funeral.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

“The way Melanie used to talk about him, I really didn’t think I was going to like him. But at the funeral he was really sweet. He gave me his email address and said he’d like to keep in touch.”

“Does he know your married?”

“No.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at her. “This doesn’t make any sense. I thought Melanie was your friend? Why would you get involved with your dead friend’s husband so soon after her death?”

“It’s not like I planned on it. These things just happen.”

“Bullshit,” I said. “There’s more to the story. Why don’t you just level with me?”

She leaned closer and lowered her voice. “Remember what I told you the other day about Gregory’s unfortunate problem?”

“You mean his penis size?”

She nodded. “Well, I like small.”

“What?”

“My husband is too big. Most women think bigger is better, but not me. It hurts like hell; for me, the smaller the better.”

I shook my head in disbelief, yet I was inclined to believe her. It was too bizarre to be a lie. Besides, Asian women, or petite women of any nationality, have smaller “anatomy,” so it made perfect sense that she’d prefer a smaller penis.

“Are you in love with Gregory?” I asked.

She glanced toward her house again. “I really need to get back inside or John will wonder what’s going on.”

“He has no idea you’re involved with another man?”

“No, and I’d like to keep it that way. But now he’s going to ask questions. I really wish you hadn’t come here tonight.”

“I apologize for interrupting your family time, but I have a problem with people who lie to my face.”

“Just because I didn’t tell you about me and Gregory, doesn’t mean I lied.” Something changed in her expression. “Wait a minute. I know why you came here. You think I poisoned Melanie, don’t you?”

I shrugged. Since she brought it up, I figured I might as well tell her my theory. “Did you and Gregory plan the whole thing? To kill Melanie and frame Jasmine?”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Maybe Gregory promised you a cut of the life insurance money.”

She pursed her lips but said nothing for a few seconds. Then finally, she sighed. “I know how this might look. Yes, I was at the office when Melanie died and yes, I’m screwing her husband. I don’t blame you for thinking what you’re thinking, but I swear I didn’t kill her. So, what will it take to get you off my back?”

Was she offering me a bribe? “What do you mean?” I asked.

“What do I have to do to prove my innocence?”

I wondered if this was a trick question. Was she trying to throw me off balance by cooperating? “First of all, you can tell me the name of your client.”

“Why?”

“I need to confirm that you never stepped out of your office during the session on the night of April third.”

“If I tell you his name, will you promise to leave me alone?”

“That depends on what your client tells me.”

She paused. “His name is Frank Dobbs. He lives in Hampton. But you can’t tell him I gave you his name.”

I made note of it. “Do you have his number?”

“Of course I have his number, but I’m sure you can find it. That is part of your job, isn’t it? Now, if you’ll excuse me, my family is waiting.” She turned heel and trudged back to the house without saying another word.

When I got back in the car, Carter said, “How’d it go?”

“Well, she admitted to the affair, but nothing else. She gave me her client’s name. Frank Dobbs.”

“Good work,” he said. “I’ll contact him as soon as possible.”

“Amy’s more worried about her husband finding out about her affair than anything else. Big John probably has no idea his wife prefers party franks.”

Carter raised an eyebrow. “Party franks?”

“Bad joke,” I said. “Forget I said it.”

Chapter 24

When Carter dropped me off at home, it was almost 9:00pm. There was a message from Candice. She wanted to know how things were going with the investigation.

When I returned her call, I said,  “Sorry it’s so late. We’ve had a busy day.”

“What happened?” she asked.

“Gregory is having an affair with Amy Chang.”

“What? Are you sure? Isn’t she married with kids?”

“Yeah. She claims the affair started after your mother’s funeral. According to Gregory’s emails, I tend to believe it’s true.”

“How did you read his emails?”

“Carter has his ways,” I said. She didn’t need to know that Carter broke into Gregory’s house to get that information.

“So, what does this mean?” Candice’s tone was growing more agitated. “Did Gregory and Amy kill my mom so they could be together?”

“Well, it’s a theory. But I have no proof that Gregory and Amy had any contact before your mother’s death.”

“So what do we do now?”

“Well, Carter is going to contact Amy’s client, the one who was there on the night of April third. If he tells Carter that Amy left the room at some point during their session, then she would have had the opportunity to go to your mom’s office and switch the joint but, even so, I’m not sure how we can prove that.”

“I can’t believe Amy would have an affair with Gregory. She has a gorgeous husband and adorable kids. I’ve seen the pictures in her office. Why would she risk losing her family to be with Gregory? Makes no sense.”

I was about to tell her the reason, but decided it wasn’t important. The size of Gregory’s penis was a topic I’d rather not discuss anymore.

“Actually, Candice, there’s something you can do to help.”

“Sure, anything.”

“Greta Stone won’t return my calls. I was thinking of showing up at her office, to see if Melanie ever gave her the first draft of the manuscript. But, maybe you’ll have better luck. Since you’re Melanie’s daughter, she’d be more inclined to give you a copy if she has it.”

“Okay, I’ll call her first thing in the morning,” she said,  “but, I’m pretty sure Mom never completed the first draft. She would have told me.”

“Either way, it’s worth a shot.”

As soon as I ended the call with Candice, I poured myself a glass of wine and reclined on the sofa. I needed an hour to decompress with some mindless TV. Just as soon as I grabbed the remote, however, my cell phone chirped.

It was Carter. “Hey, Sarah,” he said. “I just talked to Frank Dobbs. He told me that he doesn’t remember Amy leaving the room during their session on the night of April third.”

“Do you think he’s telling the truth?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “He could be lying for her. Or maybe he doesn’t remember correctly.”

“If Amy had him in a deep hypnotic trance, she could have left the room for a short period of time,” I said. “He wouldn’t remember it when he woke up.”

Carter made a scoffing sound. “Bottom line is, Amy has an alibi. In fact, everyone we’ve talked to so far has an alibi.”

“Great,” I said with a sigh. “We’re right back to square one and it all comes back to Jasmine. I think it’s time we pay her another visit tomorrow.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” he said. “I’ll pick you up around ten.”

After talking to Carter, I wasn’t in the mood for TV anymore. I finished my glass of wine and turned on my laptop.

After spending so much effort trying to prove that Gregory was guilty of something, I’d neglected to delve further into Jasmine’s personal life. Had I overlooked some important details?

I knew that Jasmine had a clean record before the incident with Melanie - but what about Raul and Derek?

I decided to do background checks on both of them.

Raul had no criminal record but his brother Derek was a different story. According to my online resources, Derek Thompson had been arrested twice. The first arrest was in 2012 for dealing narcotics. The other arrest was in 2013, for assault. No jail time, just a fine and six months of probation. I was starting to wonder what other trouble he might have been into.

And then it came to me. Of course. He had to be selling pot. The marijuana plants were still there for Raul’s use. I imagined that Derek helped himself to the leftovers. Maybe he took over Jasmine’s clients.

But even if that were true, I could not see how it pertained to Melanie’s death.

By ten o’clock, I was utterly exhausted. I shut off my laptop and slipped under the covers. I was out instantly.