Wicked Beginning: An Ivy Morgan Mystery Books 1-3 (49 page)

“I’m sure I can help you,” Ivy said. “Um … .” She broke off, tapping her chin as she thought. “Come on. I think I have something right up your alley.”

So much for her afternoon of solitude, Ivy thought as she led the woman toward the far end of the nursery. That was one of the hazards of owning a business, though. The customers always came first.

“Can you see me?” Rick looked uncomfortable as he stared at his computer screen.

“I can see you,” Jack replied, sharing an amused look with Brian. “Can you see me?”

“Yes, you’re just as ugly as I remember,” Rick muttered. “Put Ivy on. She’s pretty to look at.”

“Ivy is home resting,” Jack said. “She doesn’t want to Skype with you.”

“I don’t want to Skype with me either,” Brian said. “It’s weird. This is one of those things perverts usually do.”

Jack snickered. “This is my partner Brian Nixon,” he said by way of introduction. “That’s Rick. He’s a complainer.”

“I don’t know why you’re so high and mighty,” Brian shot back. “You’re a complainer, too.”

“Isn’t that the truth?” Rick lamented. “All I ever heard from him was complaints about the lab taking too long … or the computers breaking down … or a witness lying to him.”

Brian smirked. “You’re lucky. All I hear about is Ivy Morgan. I’ve known her since she was a kid. It’s a little disconcerting to see him mooning over her the way he is.”

Jack scowled. “Can we get back to the topic at hand?”

Brian and Rick ignored him.

“I don’t know,” Rick said sagely. “I saw her this morning, all cute with her hair standing on end. I can understand why he’s mooning over her.”

“We all can understand why he’s excited to be with her,” Brian said. “What we can’t understand is why she’s lowering her standards to date him.”

Jack knew they were teasing, but the words irked him. “She happens to think I’m charming and manly.”

“She didn’t think you were so charming forty-eight hours ago, did she?”

Jack faltered. “Can we please get back to the situation at hand?”

“He’s anxious to get back to Ivy,” Brian explained, his eyes twinkling. “He’s taking her pizza and giving her a massage.”

“Wow. You turned into an over-sharer,” Rick mused. “I can’t believe I’m actually seeing it.”

“It’s a Shadow Lake miracle,” Brian taunted, causing Jack to growl. “Okay, to the business at hand before Jack blows an artery … did you come up with anything on your end regarding Janet Simmons’ death?”

“Yes and no,” Rick answered. “We canvassed the neighborhood. The last time anyone saw Janet was at least six weeks ago.”

Jack leaned back in his desk chair and rubbed his neck. “Six weeks? What about the smell?”

“That house was locked up tighter than a drum,” Rick said. “Someone put plastic wrap under the front and back doors to block drafts.”

“Meaning someone knew what they were doing,” Brian said.

“I’m not so sure about that,” Rick hedged. “The coroner is putting Janet’s death around the last few days of May. He says he can’t give me a better estimation because he simply doesn’t know due to the state of the body.

“This mummification thing is new to all of us,” he continued. “The coroner said that whoever put the plastic wrap under the doors and closed up all the windows might not have been planning to mummify Janet. They might have been merely trying to block off the smell.”

“That actually makes more sense,” Jack said. “The smell should’ve overpowered the neighborhood given how close the houses over there are. The killer was trying to buy time.”

“Well, in buying time, the killer also preserved a lot of evidence,” Rick said. “There’s fibers and trace evidence on Janet’s clothing. The clothing is sort of … melted … to her skin, so it’s going to take a little time to separate it.”

“Thanks for that visual before dinner,” Jack said dryly.

“I’m sure once you see Ivy that will fly right out the window,” Rick shot back. “Because of the state of the body, if the killer touched Janet, there’s a good chance we’ll be able to find prints.”

“That only helps us if the killer has a record,” Brian pointed out.

“Not necessarily,” Rick countered. “I think we are all leaning toward Laura for this. It’s a sad state of affairs, but there’s no reasonable explanation for Laura not to notice her mother was dead for six weeks. If it was Laura, we have her prints on record because she used to work as a volunteer at an area elementary school.”

“Unless … .” Jack broke off, conflicted.

“Unless what?” Brian prodded.

“What if Laura is dead, too? Just because she wasn’t at Janet’s house and we haven’t found a body elsewhere, she could be dead if someone is trying to tie up loose ends in Marcus’ world.”

“You talked to her, though,” Brian pointed out.

“I talked to a woman,” Jack clarified. “I’m not sure I can say with any amount of certainty that I was talking to Laura. It’s not like I spent a lot of time with her.”

“Well, that’s an interesting theory,” Rick said. “If you didn’t talk to Laura, who did you talk to?”

“I have no idea,” Jack replied. “No matter how I try to wrap my head around this, I can’t see Laura as a killer. If she lost her mind, maybe I can see her taking shots from a distance at Ivy. I don’t see her being proficient enough with a handgun to shoot Ivy’s tire out, though.”

“That’s true,” Rick said. “I remember her being a bit of a hippie.”

“I used the term ‘bohemian’ with Ivy and she had a fit because she thinks she’s bohemian,” Jack said.

“Did you kiss and make up?”

Jack scowled. “Don’t go there, Rick … and yes.”

Rick and Brian exchanged amused smirks.

“Also, I remember Laura and Janet being close,” Jack added. “No matter how angry and bent on revenge we want to think Laura is, could she really kill her mother? Could she really walk up to a uniformed police officer on the street and plug him in the chest?”

“That’s a good point,” Brian said. “Okay, for the sake of argument, let’s say Laura is dead. Who would care enough about Marcus to go on a rampage to avenge him? Besides that, why go after you? Marcus is the one who tried to kill you. You didn’t do anything to him.”

“You said yourself that some people believe Marcus was framed,” Jack said. “What if someone thinks I’m the one who framed him?”

“I don’t see how that works, but we’re obviously dealing with a nut,” Rick said. “I still think the easiest answer is Laura. Maybe she took some gun classes. I can check around and see if anyone registered under her name around here. It might take some time, though.”

“Let’s take this a step further,” Brian suggested. “What if we’re looking at this the wrong way? What if whoever is going after Jack isn’t doing it because they’re trying to avenge Marcus’ death and restore his honor?”

“Why else would they be doing it?”

“What if Marcus had a partner and they’re going after Jack because they believe he ruined whatever side business they had going on?”

“Huh,” Rick said, tilting his head to the side as he considered the suggestion. “That’s a mighty interesting theory. You know, after Jack was shot and Marcus was laid to rest, a couple of us got together for beers one night. We theorized then that Marcus could have a partner. The problem is, we have no idea who it could be. Other than Jack, Marcus pretty much kept to himself at the department.”

“I’m not necessarily suggesting that Marcus’ partner was a cop,” Brian said. “What if he had a girlfriend?”

“I think I would’ve known about that,” Jack replied. “He liked to boast about his sexual conquests. They were numerous and varied. He didn’t like to stick with a woman more than a few nights. In fact, he usually only returned to them if he thought he could talk them into doing something really filthy.”

“Oh, well, thanks for that,” Brian muttered. “Now I’m going to be wondering what kind of demented things he was doing for the rest of the night. No! Don’t tell me. I’m happy living in ignorance.”

“If Marcus had a girlfriend, I have no idea who it was,”  Rick said. “The only person who might know is Laura, and we can’t decide if she’s a suspect or another victim.”

“Maybe I just want to believe she’s a victim,” Jack mused. “I just can’t imagine her killing someone. She never showed any inclination that she could do something like that.”

“I agree on that front,” Rick said. “This brings me to the really uncomfortable portion of today’s festivities, though, and I feel really weird even bringing this up. I think you should have all the information, though, so … .”

“What?”

“I pulled the files from Marcus’ death,” Rick said, licking his lips. “I went through everything. One of my biggest problems with this case is the timeline. Jack was shot right around ten at night. Emergency personnel got to him quickly and he named Marcus as his shooter before losing consciousness.”

“I remember,” Jack said, grimacing. “I thought for sure I was going to die once I closed my eyes.”

“Don’t get morose,” Rick chided. “You didn’t die … and God rewarded you with a hot woman. Do you see how that works?”

Jack rolled his eyes.

“There was nothing out of the ordinary in the file, but something bothered me about it,” Rick continued. “I went through the recovered items. There were none. Marcus’ wallet burned along with everything else in the car. There was no record of his gun being in the car.”

“So, what happened to it?” Brian asked.

“I have no idea,” Rick answered. “Police tracked down Marcus on the freeway less than one hour after Jack was shot. Somewhere in that time Marcus made a stop. I think if we find out where, we’ll find our culprit.”

“He probably dropped the gun off so it could be destroyed,” Jack said. “He couldn’t be caught with that gun after my death … and I think he assumed I was already dead when he left. I closed my eyes and held my breath and pretended to be gone.”

“That’s what kept you alive,” Rick said. “There’s one other thing … .”

“What?”

“There’s something off about Marcus’ autopsy,” Rick explained. “I wanted to go through it sheet by sheet in case there was any mention of a gun in his pocket. I thought maybe it got lost at the coroner’s office or something.”

“Well, don’t keep us in suspense,” Brian prodded. “What did you find?”

“There’s only one signature on Marcus’ autopsy when there should be two,” Rick replied. “The coroner who signed it was fired about three months ago for stealing from the deceased.”

“What do you think that means? It’s probably just an oversight.”

“I agree,” Rick said. “It would be remiss not to at least float the other theory, though.”

“What theory is that?”

“The one where maybe Marcus didn’t die in that fire and he’s still out there,” Rick said. “We’re trying to track down that coroner, but he’s apparently fallen off the face of the earth. What if Marcus didn’t die and someone else was in that crash? The coroner easily could’ve lied in exchange for money. I wouldn’t put it past him.”

Jack hopped to his feet, his heart pounding. “I … um … need to get to Ivy.”

“Are we done?” Rick asked.

“I don’t like this,” Jack said. “I don’t want her alone.”

“Go,” Brian said, waving him off. “We’ll catch up tomorrow morning.”

Jack nodded. “Yeah … I … yeah.” Jack strode out of the room without looking back, his mind busy.

Once he was gone, Brian and Rick focused back on each other.

“Do you think he’s still alive?” Brian asked.

“Probably not,” Rick said. “I didn’t want to leave Jack exposed if it’s a possibility, though. Marcus would definitely have revenge on his mind. Jack toppled his entire empire. He was selling drugs while working as a police officer. He was apparently making big money.”

“Could Marcus kill his own mother?”

“Marcus shot Jack without blinking twice,” Rick said. “I think Marcus is capable of almost anything.”

“Well, see if you can track down that coroner,” Brian instructed. “I’m going to call all of the hotels and inns  in this area again and ask about any guests – including males. We’ve been going on the assumption that this was done by a female for almost a day now. I would hate to think we were wrong.”

“There still has to be a woman involved,” Rick reminded him. “Jack talked to someone on the phone.”

“Maybe he talked to the real Laura and she’s involved in this with her brother.”

“Maybe,” Rick said. “We basically have a whole lot of theories and no facts right now. You keep in touch and I’ll do the same. We have to keep Jack safe.”

“That won’t be easy,” Brian said. “He’ll die to keep Ivy safe.”

“That’s the way he’s made.”

“I THINK
you’ll be happy with your choice,” Ivy said, smiling at her customer as the woman paid for her new bush with cash. “Hopefully that will cut down on your mother’s spying.”

“That would be nice,” the woman said, bending over so she could lift the plant. “I don’t suppose you could help me carry this to my car, could you? It’s heavier than I thought.”

“Oh, sure.”

Ivy moved to help the woman, but her father appeared and nudged her away with his hip.

“Don’t even think about it, little missy,” Michael chided. “You were told not to lift anything heavy with that shoulder.” He shot a bright smile in the customer’s direction. “I can carry this for you.”