The Death Card: A Liz Lucas Cozy Mystery (2 page)

“Thanks, Roger, I’ll call
you later.” She ended the call. “Seth, I’ll meet you at the station. I need to
tell Emily she may have to handle dinner by herself. Come on Winston, we’re off
to the police station.”

Leroy knocked on the front
door of Madame Dika’s house. There was a sign on it inviting people to come in
and wait until it was their turn for a reading. Leroy wasn’t there for a
reading. He wanted to see if Madame Dika could tell him something about Seth Williams,
the chief of police of Red Cedar. He was considering running against Seth in
the upcoming election for police chief and he knew Seth visited Madame Dika
with regularity. He hoped that if he could find out something negative about
Seth, he could use it in the campaign

A
few moments later the front door was opened by Madame Dika. “Yes, may I help
you?” she asked in a heavy foreign accent.

“My
name’s Leroy Moore. I’m the deputy police chief in Red Cedar. May I come in?
I’d like to talk to you for a few moments.”

“What’s
it about?” she said in a voice that insinuated there was no way she was going
to let him into her home.

Leroy
swallowed and said, “I’d like to ask you some questions about Seth Williams.”

“I’m
sorry, I don’t know anyone by that name,” she said closing the door.

“Better
open that door, or I’ll arrest you,” he said in a loud voice. “It’s against the
law here in Red Cedar to conduct any type of psychic business without a license
from the city. That includes palm readers, crystal ball gazers,
fortune-tellers, tarot card readers, and numerous other types of phony scams. I
checked you out before I came out here, and you don’t have a valid license
according to the records at city hall.”

Madame
Dika immediately opened the door, and Leroy walked in and looked around.
“Always wondered what these fortune tellin’ places looked like,” he said.

“This
is not a fortune-telling place. I am a tarot card reader, and my qualifications
are impeccable. I’m from a distinguished line of tarot card readers in Romania,
the finest in the world. We are not fortune tellers,” she said haughtily.

“Whatever.
I want to know about your meetins’ with Seth. I know he comes out here a lot,
and you gotta know somethin’ about him. I’m thinkin’ of runnin’ for police
chief against him, and if you got any dirt on him, I want to know all about
it.”

“Number
one, I don’t have any dirt as you call it on him and number two, why would I
tell you anything about a client? That’s privileged information.”

“There,”
Leroy said. “You just admitted he was a client of yours. That’s a start. Here’s
the thing. I came into a little money yesterday. Longshot pony I was bettin’
heavy on came in, and I got some what do you call it? Oh yeah, got me some
disposable cash I’m willin’ to share with you for a little information. How
does five thousand dollars sound in exchange for that information I want?”

“You’ll
have to leave. There is nothing I can tell you about Chief Williams. You can’t
possibly think I’d take a bribe from you and tell you about a client of mine.”

“Lady,
don’t think you’re legit. In fact, I suspect you’re a complete fraud stealing
money from unsuspectin’ dupes. It wouldn’t bother me none to close you down and
arrest you for violatin’ the city ordinance that regulates folks like you. Don’t
know what you’re practicin’ out here but be willin’ to bet it ain’t legit. So
let’s make a deal. You tell me about Seth, and I don’t run you in.”

She
opened the door and indicated he should leave. “I want you to get out of my
house. What I do is an art, not some kind of witchcraft, and I would never tell
you anything about a client of mine.”

“I’ll
leave for now but I want you to think ‘bout what I said. Let me put it this
way, you don’t tell me somethin’ by tomorrow night, then I’m comin’ out here
and haulin’ you in. Here’s my phone number. After you think about it, I’m sure
you’ll change your mind. Jail ain’t a real nice place for a looker like you.
Funny things happen in there,” he said smirking as he walked out the door.
“Talk to you soon, Madame Dika.”

*****

As soon as he drove away,
Madame Dika picked up her phone and pressed in a number. “Yes, Madelina? What
is it?” a voice on the other end asked.

Tears
streamed down her face as she tried to talk, “Annntttonnn, he’s going to arrest
me.”

“Stop
crying and tell me what you’re talking about. Who is going to arrest you and
for what?”

She
took a deep breath, blew her nose, and said, “A deputy police chief was here
demanding that I tell him about my sessions with Seth Williams, the Red Cedar
chief of police. I refused, and he said if I didn’t tell him by tomorrow night,
he’d arrest me for violating a city ordinance that requires me to be licensed.
He even offered me five thousand dollars as a bribe.”

“That’s
a lot of money. Wonder where a deputy chief of police in a small podunk town
like Red Cedar gets money like that. What did you tell him?”

“I
told him to get out. I told him what I did was an art, not some form of
witchcraft. He said he had a longshot horse come in yesterday and it paid big.”

“All
right, Madelina, I’ll take care of it for you. Don’t worry about it. What’s his
name?”

“He
said it was Leroy Moore, and he was the deputy chief of police in Red Cedar.
What are you going to do? He told me bad things happen to people in jail.
Anton, I can’t go to jail.”

“You
don’t need to know what I’m going to do. All you need to do is continue with
your readings. You won’t be seeing him again.”

“I
hope you’re right. If I was arrested, he’d probably find out about the time I
spent in prison, and I can’t go back there. If it hadn’t been for you paying
people off when I was in prison, I don’t know what would have happened to me
while I was in there.”

“Madalina,
I told you not to worry about it. I’ll take care of you. You don’t need to know
the specifics. All you need to know is that he’ll never bother you again.”

“Oh,
Anton. I’m so lucky to have a brother like you. What would I do without you?
Thank you. You’re really sure I’ll never see him again?”

“Yes,
I’m very sure.”

Relieved,
Madame Dika hung up the phone. Moments later, disquieting thoughts began
filling her mind.

What
if Anton can’t do anything? What if he’s just saying that? We haven’t been
getting along lately. What if I’m arrested and I go to prison again? What if
mother finds out? I promised her I would never disappoint her again. It almost
killed her when she found out I went to prison for that little incident in Los
Angeles. I can’t have that happen. Anton is my brother, but I know he’s not the
most reliable person. I suppose the only person I can really count on is me. I
better take care of this. I can’t go to prison again.

She
heard the sound of a car door closing, and she quickly got ready for her next
reading.

Leroy had just left Madame Dika’s
when his cell phone rang. He looked at the monitor and saw the name “Ratface.”
He was tempted to ignore the call, but he knew from past experiences Ratface
would just continue to call him. He pulled over to the side of the road and
took the call.

“Hey, Ratface. Got any hot
tips for me?” he asked.

“Only hot tip I got for
you is to tell you one last time you better get the money to me, or there won’t
be any more tips for you. Ever. This is the last time I’m asking you for the
five grand you owe me. No more playing the ponies with me if I don’t have it by
tonight. Understand?”

“Look, Ratface, I’ve got a
sure thing goin’ this afternoon,” Leroy pleaded. “I’ll be able to pay you, no
problem. This thing I have goin’ should make me a lot of money. Guy gave me a
tip on a horse. He’s guaranteed me I can’t lose. Give me until tomorrow night.
Once I win I’ll have to go into San Francisco to pick up the money. Horse is
running at Golden Gate Fields. I’ll get the money to you as soon as I get it.
Promise.” He held his breath waiting for Ratface’s answer.

“This is your last chance,
policeman. If I don’t have the money by tomorrow evening, you won’t ever have
to worry about making a bet again, because you won’t be alive to make it. Do I
make myself clear?

“Very. You’ll have the
money by then.”

After he ended the call,
he sat for a moment, his heart pounding so loudly in his chest he could barely
hear the traffic as it passed by his car. His thoughts were a jumble, trying to
figure out how he could get the money. He’d told Ratface he had a sure bet, but
what he didn’t tell him was that he needed the five thousand dollars to pay
Madame Dika for her information, and he couldn’t use it to bet on the sure
thing horse at Golden Gate Fields. As he was sitting in his car frantically
trying to think of a solution he remembered being notified awhile ago that Tom
Rice was on parole. An idea began to form in his mind, a way to not only get
rid of his debt to Ratface but to get rid of Ratface himself. He was desperate
to get out from under the debt he owed Ratface, and if he had to take some
risky chances, so be it.

A few minutes later he
pulled into the police station parking lot and walked down the hall to his office.
He turned on his computer and pulled up the file on Tom Rice. He remembered it
as if it had happened yesterday. He and Tom had made an agreement. Tom told him
when Leroy arrested him for beating his wife that if he didn’t tell anyone
about the narcotics Leroy found in his trailer, the amount of which made it
apparent that Tom had been dealing drugs, he would do any favor Leroy needed
once he got out of prison. Leroy decided it was time to take him up on his
offer.

He found the contact
information in the file the parole officer had sent to him. Tom was living in
San Francisco and had found work on the docks. He was a big man and big men
were always welcome at the port. It was Saturday around noon, and he hoped Tom
wasn’t working and was at home.

Leroy pressed Tom’s number
into his cell phone so there wouldn’t be a record of it on the police station’s
phone. In a moment a deep voice answered, “Tom Rice here.”

“Tom, it’s been a few
years. This is Leroy Moore. You probably remember me. I was the policeman who
arrested you for beating up your wife a few years ago. You might also remember
that I didn’t mention the drugs I found in your trailer. At the time you tol’
me you’d be happy to help me when you got out. Matter of fact, I ‘member you
said you owed me one. Well, think I need to collect on it.”

“Yeah, I remember. Just
out of curiosity, how did you find me?”

“Your parole officer sent
me the information after you were released from prison. I kind of forgot ‘bout
it ‘til now. I need you to take care of somethin’ for me. You won’t need to
travel very far. What I need done is right there in Frisco.”

“All right. Tell me what
it is. A deal’s a deal, and since you kept your end of it, I’ll keep mine.”

Leroy told him he wanted
Ratface to go away. He didn’t care how Tom did it, he just wanted Ratface out
of his life permanently. Leroy gave him Ratface’s telephone number and
suggested Tom call him and tell him something had come up, and Leroy couldn’t
meet with him. He told him to tell Ratface that he had the money Leroy owed him
and to make an appointment with him the following evening. He told him he
didn’t care what happened then, in fact he’d rather not know.

“You don’t even need to
think about it. I’ll take care of it for you and then my debt to you will be
paid in full. Right?”

“Yep, that’s right. Don’t
ever need to see each other again.”

“Fine by me. Good night,”
Tom said, ending the call and putting his phone on the table next to his chair.

I can’t believe that
stupid cop thinks I’d do a favor for him. Yeah, might have told him that when I
was arrested, but he’s the reason Lily took all the drugs and divorced me.
That’s not even including the time I spent in prison. And this guy wants me to
take care of someone for him. No way. No favors for the guy who put me in the
big house. Think what I’ll do is call this Ratface guy and tell him what Leroy
wanted me to do to him and then wipe my hands clean of the whole thing. Serve
him right. He screwed up my life, might as well screw his up.

He picked his phone up
from the table and pressed in some numbers.

When Liz arrived at the police
station she saw that the chief’s police cruiser was already parked in front of
the building. She parked and opened the van door for Winston. “Come on boy, I
promised Roger you’d come with me. Normally I’d feel completely safe in a
police station, and I wouldn’t need you, but Leroy probably felt the same way
and look what happened to him.”

They walked in and found
Seth waiting for them in the reception area. “He’s down this way. Follow me,”
Seth said as he started down the hall. Liz followed him through a door with the
words “Deputy Police Chief” on it and saw Leroy slumped back in his chair,
bright red blood on the desk and floor. She gasped. It was obvious from the
location of the bullet hole that Leroy had been shot in the chest. Winston
growled and stood as close to her as he could get, in full protection mode.

“There’s a lot more blood
here than I would have thought. I never did see Mark after he was killed, and
the mayor’s wife didn’t have any blood around her,” Liz said.

“Yeah, death ain’t never a
purty sight.”

“Seth, why don’t you call
the sheriff and the coroner while I look around? I don’t think we want some
stranger to walk into the station and find this.”

“Ya’ got that right,” he
said, pressing numbers into the phone. “Wes, looks like Leroy bit the big one.
Better bring the wagon and come to the station.” A moment later she heard him
talking to the sheriff. “It’s Seth, Keith. Gonna need your help. Looks like
Leroy done gone and got hisself murdered. Don’t want anyone thinkin’ I’m tryin’
to do a cover up since a few people around town heard us arguin’. Thought you
better handle the investigation of this case.” He listened a minute. “Yeah, I’m
here at the station with Liz Lucas. We was gonna have a meetin’ ‘bout providin’
some special protection fer some guests of hers. See ya’ in a few.”

While Seth was talking to
them, Liz had been looking to see if anything seemed out of place or unusual.
She noticed a day planner on Leroy’s desk. She opened it by inserting a pen
from her purse in it so her fingerprints wouldn’t be on it and saw the name
“Tom Rice” scrawled under today’s date.

“Seth, who’s Tom Rice?”
she asked. Seth had dropped down on the floor and was on his hands and knees
looking to see if anything had rolled under the desk.

“Name of a guy who went to
prison a few years back. Leroy was the one who arrested him. Neighbor called
and said there was a lot of yellin’ goin’ on out at the trailer park where he
lived. Sure ‘nuf. Leroy went out there, looked in the window, and saw him
beatin’ the tar out of his wife. Leroy arrested him, and he went to prison. Why
do ya’ want to know?” he asked as he grabbed the desk for support in order to
help him get his considerable weight off the floor.

“That name is written
under today’s date in the day planner on Leroy’s desk.”

“Dunno why he’d write
Rice’s name down. Guy was in prison for three years. Long gone. Maybe he was
jes’ thinkin’ ‘bout old cases.”

That seems odd. Think I
better tell Roger about that.
“Did you find anything under there?” she asked looking
over at Winston, who was continuing to growl from deep in his throat.

“Not a darned thing
‘cepting some dust bunnies. How ‘bout you?”

She walked over to where
Winston was pawing at the carpet. “Looks like Winston spotted some kind of a
card on the floor. It looks like a playing card. Do you have any gloves? I’d
like to pick it up, but I don’t want my fingerprints on it.”

“Sure. We keep them in all
the offices, jes’ in case we need to look at somethin’ and don’t want no
fingerprints on it. Here ya’ go.”

“Thanks,” she said,
pulling a latex glove over her right hand and reaching for the card. She looked
at it and then turned to Seth. “Were you in the room very long when you
discovered Leroy?” she asked.

“Nah. Looked in the door
and saw he was deader ‘n a doornail. Why?”

“Well, from what I
remember from the only tarot card reading I’ve ever had, this is the death
card. It shows a skeleton dressed in armor riding a white horse. I’m sure it’s
the death card. Yes, it even says death on it in small letters. Did you pick it
up at Madame Dika’s? You must have come in here and dropped it.”

Seth walked over to where
Liz was standing and looked at the card. He visibly paled. “Liz, that sure ‘nuf
is the death card, but it ain’t mine. I tol’ you. I saw Leroy from the door. I
was never in this room, and believe me, Madame Dika don’t let no one take one
of her cards. That’s the truth. What do you think it means?”

“I don’t know. If it’s not
yours, it must have been Leroy’s. Did he go to her for readings?”

“Not that I ever knew
‘bout. I slipped one day and mentioned I was goin’ out to her place after work.
He thought that was ‘bout the funniest thing he’d ever heard. Never stopped
teasin’ me ‘bout it. ‘Tol me he might be goin’ out there someday and arrest her
for practicin’ witchcraft. Nah, he’d never go to her for a readin’. He even
thought people who did yoga were practicin’ a religion against God. He was
really uptight ‘bout things like that. Didn’t believe in anything he thought
was airy fairy or what do they call it these days, New Age? Naw, couldn’t be
his.”

“Seth, who cleans the
police station, and when is it cleaned?”

“We use the Susie Spit ‘N
Polish group. They usually come in real early on Sunday mornin’s, so it’ll be
clean fer the week.”

“Well, if they were here
this morning, and from the looks of the empty wastebasket, they were, then that
means this card was dropped on the carpeting after they had been here. I’m
assuming they vacuum when they come.”

“Yeah, they always do
that. Look real close, and you’ll see the row marks from the vacuum cleaner.
That’s how I can always tell they’ve been here.”

“In that case either the
murderer or Leroy was responsible for the card being dropped on the floor.
Let’s not say anything to the sheriff about this,” she said, putting the card
in her purse along with the glove.

They heard the sheriff’s
voice and another voice. “We’re down the hall, Keith,” Seth yelled, walking out
of the room. A moment later, a man with a sheriff’s badge walked into the room
accompanied by his deputy. “Liz, this is Sheriff Keith Brown. Sheriff, this
here’s Liz Lucas. She owns the Red Cedar Spa.”

Keith extended his hand.
“It’s nice to meet you Ms. Lucas. My wife and daughter have been to your spa
several times and really enjoyed it. I understand you and Seth were meeting
here to discuss some special protection for your guests. Is that when you
discovered Leroy?” he asked.

“Yes,” Seth said. “I saw
Leroy’s car out front, but didn’t see him when I walked in. Ms. Lucas came in a
moment later, and we found him in here, jes’ like this, lights out.”

A man Liz recognized as
the coroner from when the mayor’s wife had been murdered in one of her cottages
at the spa walked into the room. “Hey, Wes. Jes’ like I ‘tol ya’ on the phone,
Leroy here bit the big one.”

“Ms. Lucas, Seth, I’m
going to have to ask you some questions. Let’s go in your office, Seth, and let
Wes do what he needs to do,” Sheriff Brown said.

For the next hour they
answered questions. “Seth, where were you today?” the sheriff asked.

“I’ve been out in my
patrol car arrestin’ speeders all day.” He took a book of tickets out of his
pocket. “See? Got a bunch of them. Sunday’s one of the best days, cuz them
tourists is all hurryin’ to git home.”

“This has to be the only
town in the county that still uses a ticket book. I’m going to have to trust
you because there’s no computer time marks to indicate when you gave people
those tickets. I’ll probably have to talk to you further, and there may come a
time when you’ll be considered a suspect. Tell me why you and Leroy were
arguing.”

“Ain’t real happy ‘bout
this, Keith. Sure could make some problems for me in the upcomin’ election.
‘Tol ya’ Leroy was thinkin’ ‘bout runnin’ against me, but I was purty sure it
was nothing more than that, jes’ thinkin’ ‘bout it.”

“Ms. Lucas, I don’t think
I’ll need to talk to you any more. Obviously you just happened to be in the
wrong place at the wrong time. It’s been nice meeting you.”

“Thank you, and please
tell your wife and daughter I would love for them to come back to the spa. Next
time they visit the spa, have them tell the receptionist to call me. I’d like
to meet them.” She turned to Seth, “I’m leaving. We can talk about the private
protection another time. Give me a call when you have a little time.” She
motioned for Winston, who had been quietly standing next to her the whole time,
to come. They walked out the door and got in her van. She couldn’t wait to get
home and tell Roger about the death card and Tom Rice’s name prominently
written in Leroy’s day planner.