Tied With a Bow and No Place to Go (Tizzy/Ridge Trilogy Book 3) (17 page)

Clyde Lee interrupted. “This about the ribbons?”

Ridge nodded.

“The whole colored ribbon thing may sound kinda sick, but my
brother wasn’t a pervert.” Clyde Lee hooked a thumb in his pocket and leaned
against the doorjamb. “When Jay Roy was sixteen, the neighbor’s granddaughter
from California came to visit for a month that summer. She was eighteen. I was
married. My younger brother, Billy Rex, worked nights and slept days. That left
Jay Roy to pal around with her. Well, one thing led to another and one day
while having a picnic, they. . .you know. It was his first time. According to
him, when he dropped his pants, she pulled the ribbon from her hair and tied it
around his—you know. For the rest of her visit, he collected ribbons from her.
I guess it warped him somehow.” Clyde Lee sighed. “Charlotte has always loved
flowers and had a chart with definitions of what each color meant. Jay Roy
copied those meanings and assigned one to every local conquest. It sounds
weird, but I didn’t see the harm in it. No worse than keeping a black book. I
appreciate you not mentioning this to my sister.”

“I understand. So he only used the ribbons with classmates?”

“That’s right.”

“Do you happen to remember the California girl’s name and if
he used the same color all summer?”

“It was Sandra. Sandy. Sandy Porter. And she used the same
color. Black. That’s where he got the idea.”

Ridge made the notation, then asked, “Did she come back to
visit more over the years?”

“No. She went away to college, then a year later, her
grandfather died and the grandmother went to live with Sandy’s parents.”

“Can you think of anyone who wanted to hurt Jay Roy?”

“No. Not a single soul. But—he slept with married women, so
I’m guessing, if a husband found out, no good could have come from that.”

“Do you know any of those women?”

“Funny thing. My brother didn’t go looking for women. They
came to him. He kept to the local crowd and slept with his exes and had an
on-going affair with Molly. It’s been a while ago, but he also had a tryst with
our illustrious Mayor Lounell Patton after she was married.

After taking time to conduct some personal business at
Bloomin’ Crazy, Ridge headed back to the police station with a spring in his
step. For the first time, a person of serious interest topped his list.
Actually, two—Lounell and Doyle Patton.

When he entered the building, Rita waved at him while she
finished a phone call. “Was Charlotte at the flower shop?”

“Yeah. She and a brother, Clyde Lee. I found out the reason
for Jay Roy’s ribbon fetish. The day he lost his virginity, the girl tied one
on his manhood. Somehow, the act stuck with him.” Ridge searched his shirt
pocket for something. “I’ll be right back,” he said and disappeared down the
hall. In a few seconds he returned with the color chart. “Clyde Lee said the
girl used a black ribbon. It says here the color stands for mystery, power, and
authority. It’s also considered sexy and sophisticated. It sure evoked power
over Jay Roy.”

“Did Charlotte or Clyde Lee speculate about who killed him?”

“No, but get a load of this. Jay Roy had a fling with
Lounell after she and Doyle married. If he knew, that’s a definite motive. Then
there’s the land deal with Jay Roy. Any word on oil or gas people interested in
the place?”

“Not yet.”

“Well, lust and greed rate high on the list of motives for
murder; so if the affair happened, Doyle moves up as a suspect.”

“I never heard talk of an affair and that’s strange, because
in a town this size, it’s hard to keep that sort of thing a secret. Maybe it
didn’t last long.”

“I’ll go back to wait for Kassie, when she gets here, send
her to me.”

“Will do.”

Back in the room again, he picked up the papers left on the
table from Janie Sue’s earlier interview. Shuffling through them, he stopped at
the ribbon report and ran his finger along the page until he came to black.
Eighteen ribbons. He listed Sandra Porter’s name next to the color.

To refresh his memory regarding Kassie Shields, he read back
over his notes and referred to the chart once more. Although she claimed Jay
Roy’s choice of green had to do with her eyes, the definition listed, among
other attributes, calmness, wealth, and generosity. He laid the paper aside and
returned to Rita.

“Tell me everything you can about Kassie Shields, please
ma’am.”

Lips curled into a smile, Rita glanced up at him. “Married
Jay Roy right out of high school, which was probably why the marriage didn’t
last.”

“And her family?”

“Dad’s an attorney. Still practices family law. Her mom’s a
retired school teacher. There’s one older sister. Thrilled doesn’t begin to
describe her family’s emotion when Kassie divorced Jay Roy.”

“She was more affluent than he?”

“Oh yes, and generous. My mom said Kassie showered him with
gifts. A shotgun. A fancy watch—and that’s just the things Mom remembered.”

“Do her folks live here?”

“Yes. If you go north on 314, when the road Y’s to the left,
take that and they live a mile farther on the right. Real nice place.”

Ridge scratched the back of his neck and tried to picture
the lay of the land. He’d only lived in Brownsboro a year, so he wasn’t
familiar with every road. “If you kept going straight, you’d be close to Jay
Roy’s house. Right?”

“Correct.”

The door pushed open and Kassie made her entrance.

“Hello, Mrs. Shields. Come on back.” He strode down the
hall, and Kassie followed. Stopping in the doorway, he motioned for her to
enter. “Take a seat. I’ll be right back.” He stepped to the next room where
Willie Nelson perched. On a table next to his cage, sat a radio, so Ridge
flipped it on, lowered the volume then went back to Kassie.

“Why am I here again? How many times are you going to
question me? I’ve told you everything I know,” she said.

“I’ll question you as many times as it takes. “He flipped
open his notebook and pretended to study the page. “Do you visit your parents
often?”

Kassie sat on the edge of the chair, her bulging metallic
purse in her lap. She did a quick head jerk. “Pardon me? What does that have to
do with Jay Roy’s death?”

“Answer the question.”

“Of course I do. I come at least once a week. Sometimes
twice. Why?”

“I’m curious. I understand they live a short distance from
Jay Roy, you said during our first meeting, you’d not seen him for six months.
That’s strange in a town this small and your parents so close to his residence
you’d not run into him more often.”

Kassie fidgeted in her seat, eyes averted. She twisted the
handle of her purse as if wringing water from it. “Well, maybe it wasn’t six
months. I lose track of time. Could have been longer. Could have been less.”

He stared at her for a long moment, then made a note in his
book. In the next room, the DJ announced, “Here’s a number one hit from 1995,
for Willie Nelson. Luckenbach, Texas.” Ridge lost his concentration for a
moment. Damn, naturally they’d play a Willie song. He braced for a duet.
Moments later, the song started, and both Willies sang.

“What is that awful sound?” Kassie asked.

With difficulty, Ridge regained his composure. “We have a
parrot and he’s a Willie Nelson fan. Ignore him. Do you have any idea what Jay
Roy did with the ribbons he used with you and the other ladies?”

“No.”

“Really? You’re intimate with a guy who ties a green ribbon
around his penis four hundred sixteen times and you don’t have a clue what
happened to any of them?”

She sat up, spine straight as a ruler. “What do you mean
four hundred and—what did you say—sixteen?”

“Yep. He kept them. Every last one. And if your color was
green, that’s the number of times you had relations with him. If he used a
ribbon each time. Did he?”

Staring into space, her expression froze. He repeated the
question. “Did he?”

She snapped from her trance. “Did he what?”

“Use a ribbon every time?”

“No. Not every time. So there were four hundred sixteen
green ones?”

“Yes.”

“How many red ones?”

His lips stretched into a thin line. “I’m not at liberty to
say.”

“Well, it stands to reason Molly would have more. She
married him twice.”

The terrible feeling of being a rookie cop flooded back.
First Ridge leaned toward Doyle as suspect number one, but now Kassie moved up
the ladder. He had enough investigations under his belt not to waffle back and
forth, but for some reason, he couldn’t make up his mind. After fifteen more
minutes of questioning, Ridge ended the interview.

He gave Kassie time to leave the building, then went to
speak to Rita again. But before he could say anything, Neely Simpson rushed
through the door.

“My Hummel’s were heisted!” she said, trying to get her
breath back. “I can’t believe it. What am I going to do? How can I attend the
Conference without Little Tooter, Kitty Kisses, Chick Girl, Goat Herder, and
the others?”

“Where did this happen?” Rita asked.

“My hotel. I didn’t want to leave them in the car. I thought
they might get too hot. I asked the manager if he thought they’d be safe and he
assured me his employees were honest as the day is long. Those were his exact
words. Well, they’re not! I’ve called Joe Mac to come and get me.” Tears rolled
onto her cheeks.

Ridge glanced at Rita and mouthed, ‘Joe Mac?’

She mouthed back. ‘Husband.’

Ridge nodded and focused on Neely, trying to be sympathetic,
but Hummel theft didn’t rate high on his list of corruption and he wasn’t that
good of an actor.

She must have seen through his feeble attempt, because she
stopped shaking and her eyes twitched. “They may just be figurines to you, but
they’re worth a lot of money. The box stolen is valued at several thousand
dollars.”

“I understand they’re important to you, but aren’t you
staying in Tyler?” Ridge asked.

“Yes.”

“The theft occurred in Smith County. That’s out of our
jurisdiction.” He saw no reason to mention a Texas Ranger could investigate
anywhere in the state of Texas. He’d leave it to the local guys to look for
figurines. He had a murder case to solve.

“Oh. Okay. Can I leave the rest of my collection here until
I go home?”

“Certainly,” Rita said. “I’ll put them in the holding cell”

“I’ll bring them in from your car,” Ridge said, then spoke
to Rita. “Since Mrs. Simpson is early, check and see if my next appointment can
change to an earlier time.”

Thirty minutes later, he reviewed what he’d written during
Neely’s interview. 2008, last time to see Jay Roy. 1977, sex last time, for a
total of three times. Color, pink. Meaning fragile. That fit.

Ridge palmed his cell phone and punched in CSI Mitchell’s
number, as he returned to Rita’s desk. Voice mail picked up on the third ring.
“Hey, Ted. Get the tech department to go back a whole year on Jay Roy’s phone.
When they’re done, fax the report to the Brownsboro PD. Thanks.”

“What’s that about?” Rita asked.

“I need to see who Jay Roy had contact with in the last
year. Right now, I’m grasping at any and every possible situation.”

“Did you mark Ms. Hummel Collector off the suspect list?”

“Yeah. She doesn’t have a motive. Were you able to get in
touch with Mary Jo Whittaker?”

Rita checked the time. “She’ll be here any minute.”

“Know her history?”

“Not much. She’s a horse trainer and lives in Shreveport.”

Ridge craned his neck toward the door. “That must be her.”

Rita stood to get a better view. “You’re right.”

Mary Jo pushed open the door, stepped inside and offered her
hand along with an easy smile. “Nice to see you again, Officer Cooper.”

“Thank you. That way and to the right. After you,” he said
and gave a flourish with his hand to point the way.

Tall and thin, dressed in jeans, cowboy shirt, and boots,
she looked good for a woman her age. She had her long brown hair pulled into a
ponytail and Ridge couldn’t help but notice how it swayed in time with her hips
as she moved.

Instead of taking a seat, she went to the small fridge and
opened the door. “Do you mind if I get something to drink? I’m parched.”

“Not at all. Help yourself.”

She removed a bottle of water, unscrewed the cap and gulped.
Removing the bandanna from around her neck, she wiped her mouth with it, then
stuck it in her back jeans pocket. A spider crawled across the floor. She
smashed it with the tip of her boot, then pulled out a chair and sat.

Ridge watched her move around with ease and reminded himself
this was a woman who worked with two-thousand pound animals every day, so a
two-hundred-pound Texas Ranger wouldn’t spook her. “Describe your relationship
with Jay Roy.”

She removed the lid from her water again, took a long, slow
pull and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “My family moved here the
summer before my senior year. They rented a house not far from the Hobbs place.
I met Jay Roy after we got settled and we had a wild five days. Sex on a
blanket.” She giggled. “That sounds like a drink you’d order at the beach.” She
regained her composure and continued. “Under an old tree on the back side of
his property. After that, school started and we both moved on. By now, I’m sure
you know he did a crazy thing. I thought it was sorta cute and believe me, his
tally-whacker deserved a ribbon—if you get my drift.”

Ridge checked his list for five ribbons. Once he found it,
he smiled at the color meaning. Appreciation. She sounded thankful. “Your color
was peach?”

“How’d you know? Oh, wait. Let me guess. He kept a list.”

“Yes.”

She grinned. “God. That sounds like him.” Then, she lost her
smile. “Oh no. He didn’t make notes, did he? I mean positions and such?”