A VENEER OF MURDER (Mrs. Fix It Mysteries Book 3) (3 page)

Kate leaned against the bars. “Weren’t you at the reception?”

“No, I’d left. I was walking home. You know how I love to walk.”

Celia walked the town every morning before her part-time job as administrative assistant to the mayor. She was a retired nurse and had spent a few years home before being hired a few months ago.

“So you were out walking when they think it happened? Surely someone must have seen you.”

“They haven’t found anyone, and as far as I knew, no one was out.”

“I walked to the library and there were a few people out and about. It was still light enough for a walk after dinner,” Kate said. “So all they have is that you had a fight with Meghan?”

“Well, there’s more.”

“Oh?”

“The letter opener used to kill her was mine.”

“Yours? How did it get in the library?”

“I don’t know. I lost it at a meeting a week or two ago. I’m not sure.”

“Only your prints were on it?”

“Sadly, yes. I don’t know where it was during that time, but I didn’t have it.” Celia rose. She walked toward Kate. “Please help me, Kate. You seem to be good at these things. Find the murderer.”

Kate was going to anyway. That person had snuffed out the life of her friend, and Kate couldn’t sit by and let that person go free. “I will, Celia.”

Kate mulled over the letter opener as the murder weapon. Why had the person targeted Celia? “Other than Meghan, have you had a fight with anyone lately?”

“The only run-in I’ve had was with the new mayor’s wife.”

Kate groaned. She’d been hearing things about the woman. Kendall Stuart was new money and thought she was better than everyone else. Kate suspected that the woman had come from nothing and was just a snob now that she’d married well. Mayor Harvy Stuart, her husband, was elected to fill the position after his brother was killed by a local reporter. He wasn’t quite the politician that his brother was, but he wasn’t doing any harm at this point.

Kate suspected that he wouldn’t get elected again. His wife would be the biggest reason. The woman wore tight leopard skin jumpsuits that Kate didn’t even know they still made. She wasn’t your typical politician’s wife. She was loud and told people what to do.

“What was it about?”

“Nothing that huge. I just told her she couldn’t barge in while Harvy was on the phone. That was by his request. His wife included. He had business to attend to and she just walked in on those impossibly high heels.”

Kate knew the ones. To her they defied gravity. Or Kendall did. She hadn’t had a chance to meet the woman, but she suspected it wouldn’t be long before she did. At some point, everyone needed a handyman.

“She’s the only person you argued with?”

“Other than that biker dude that’s been hanging out on Main Street.”

Kate instantly thought of the suspicious man at the café who had been watching her. “Why him?”

“His motorcycle came a little close to me on my walk one day. I’ve healed finally from the last time I was hit. I don’t want it to happen again.”

“Understand. Did he threaten you?”

“No, just leered at me.”

Kate doubted the man leered at a woman old enough to be his mother. A sneer was more likely, but Celia had probably been upset at the time.

“Okay.”

“You’ll snoop?”

“I’ll do my best. And I’ll let Carly know that you’re okay.”

“Not like she’ll come and see me.”

It was a contentious relationship between mother and daughter. Kate never enjoyed being in the middle of their squabbling. “I’ll see you later, Celia.”

Chapter Two

Kate left Celia and drove to Carly’s florist. Her friend was probably just opening the store. She parked her truck, then climbed out. The bell above the door rang and Kate’s nose was hugged with the scent of vanilla coffee and fresh flowers.

Carly always had great coffee on hand. Kate didn’t stop by every day, but when she was she would indulge. Carly handed her a mug and Kate breathed in the aroma. “Yum.”

“Did you see my mother?”

Kate shifted onto a stool. She only had a few minutes, but she was going to enjoy this coffee. “Yes. She’s fine.”

“Are you going to snoop like you usually do?”

“Celia asked me the same thing. Yes. I’ll look into it, but I do have a job that I have to do.”

“I’ve seen your truck everywhere lately,” Carly said. She was counting money as they talked.

“I have been busy. It’s great. I actually have some disposable income.”

“Where are you off to today?”

“Jessica’s house.”

“Isn’t she on her honeymoon?” Carly asked. She put her money in her register, then closed the drawer.

“Not yet. They’re doing a weekend away. Dean is busy with projects. He told me that they’ll take a real honeymoon later in the year,” Kate said.

“What are you doing at her house?”

“Staging it for sale. It’s my new line of work besides fixing things. I seem to have a knack.”

“Did you learn it?’

“No, I just read a few books. The real estate agents are clamoring for me now. I staged a living room as a test and they were happy with it. The house sold the next day,” Kate said.

“And you barely decorated your house.”

Kate laughed. She didn’t have throw pillows or any accents like that in her own house. “None of the agents asked to see my place before they hired me.”

“Good thing.”

“I don’t spend much time at home anyway.”

“Nope. I guess you don’t. As a business owner, I understand that.”

“Have you met Kendall Stuart?”

Carly rolled her eyes. She liked most people, so if she had a problem with someone, the issue was most likely with that someone. “She came in here demanding a flower that I’d never heard of.”

“A flower that you’ve never heard of? I can’t believe it.”

Carly hadn’t gone to college. Instead she’d worked for the florist’s previous owner. The woman had taught her everything, and when she retired, she sold the place to Carly. Carly then renamed it, but not much had changed except that the flowers were of a little higher quality than they had been. Not that Kate could tell. She didn’t know a begonia from a buttercup.

Others raved about the flowers.

“Turns out, she was calling it by the wrong name. She showed me a picture and I told her what it was really called. She left in a huff. Came back and asked to speak to the manager.”

“Bet she wasn’t happy when you told her that you were the manager and the owner.”

Carly laughed. “On the bright side, I do have a standing order from her husband for flowers to be delivered.”

“Where are they living?”

“They’re renting a house over on Kent Street.”

Not a ritzy neighborhood, but not the wrong side of the tracks either. “I would have expected somewhere fancier than that.”

“From what I heard, there was nothing available on short notice.”

“Why did Harvy run for mayor since he didn’t even live here? And why did town council appoint him?”

Carly shrugged. “Who knows? He won’t get elected again. Not with that wife.”

“Not from what I’ve heard either.”

“Why did you ask about Kendall?”

“I had asked your mother if she’d had run-ins with anyone else besides Meghan. She said Kendall.”

“Why would you ask that?”

“Because someone framed your mother.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Carly hugged her. “I forgot that you and Meghan were friends.”

That came out of the blue. “Thanks.”

“You doing okay? Here I am worried about myself and you’re grieving.”

“Our friendship was just starting. I’ll be okay.”

“Okay, so you think someone framed my mother.”

“Yes, the murder weapon was hers.”

“Not that letter opener that she’d been complaining she’d lost.”

“You’ve talked to your mother recently?” Kate said.

Carly seemed to avoid her mother as much as possible. “Mom and Dad had Larry and me over for dinner.”

“You’re that serious?”

“It isn’t like they don’t know him.”

“Yes, but now your father is looking at him as a potential son-in-law. That’s a whole new ballgame. How did it go?’

Larry’s father was in jail for murder. Ken was a cop. Not a good combination.

“My dad was a little stern at first, but I did point out that Larry had nothing to do with what his father had done.”

“And of course he gave in because you have him wrapped around your little finger,” Kate said.

Carly laughed. She knew it was true. Everyone knew it was true. It was probably why Carly and her mother didn’t get along. It was sad, really. Kate’s mother had died when she was young. She missed her every day. Her father had moved to Florida last year.

Kate was without family since her boys were away. She couldn’t imagine being emotionally estranged from them. Her thoughts drifted to Greg. She might be emotionally estranged from him at this point. He’d been gone more than five years. How was she supposed to hold on to the love she had once had for him when each time she learned something about him, it didn’t match the man she had married.

“You and Larry are doing well?”

“Yes, we are. He’s the best man I’ve ever dated.”

Larry had had a thing for Kate, but she’d made it clear that nothing was going to happen until she knew where her husband was. She’d nudged him in Carly’s direction knowing that he was a good man, and she hadn’t had too many of those.

“I’m happy for you.”

“You seem sad when you say that, Kate.”

“I am. I just wish that part of my life was a little more settled.” Nothing she could to about it now. “I better go before I get melancholy.”

Kate finished her coffee then scooted off the stool. Carly hugged her again. “Thanks for letting me know that my mother was okay.”

“No problem, and I’ll let you know if I find out anything else.” Kate walked to the door. “Do you know what time your mother left the reception last night?”

Carly looked to the ceiling for a moment. “I think it was eight or so. Not too long after you snuck out.”

“Thanks.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to see if anyone saw her when she walked home. Give her an alibi.”

“Oh, makes sense.”

Carly was putting together an arrangement when Kate left. She’d have to order some flowers when Meghan’s next of kin made the funeral arrangements. As far as Kate knew, the only relative she had was her brother, Clem. He had been Dean’s foreman on his last project. They had renovated an office building outside of town.

Kate would offer her condolences, but she had no idea where the man lived.

***

Kate parked her truck on the street in front of Jessica’s house. The largest SUV Kate had ever seen was parked in the driveway. It wasn’t Jessica’s car. As flashy as hers was, this dwarfed it both in size and gaudiness. The wheels looked to be gold. Gold? Kate didn’t know enough about cars to know if that was even an option.

Jessica stood on her stoop, and based on her body language, she wasn’t happy with the person in front of her. Not having seen Kendall Stuart up close, Kate couldn’t be sure, but she’d bet that was who was standing in front of Jessica.

The woman stood on heels that probably should be illegal. She towered over Jessica, who wasn’t short by anyone’s standards. If Kate was in the mix, she’d be a member of the lollipop guild. She waited on the driveway, not sure she wanted to get into the fray of the conversation. She didn’t like confrontation too much, and two women fighting made her shiver.

Kendall wore a tank top meant for a much younger woman, along with leopard print Daisy Dukes. Her chest threatened to spill out with each movement of her body. The woman clearly had no shame, because she didn’t have the body for the outfit.

Kate took a deep breath, contemplating if she should weigh in on the conversation. She took a moment to listen.

“The house is not for sale yet. There are still some items to take care of,” Jessica said.

“I don’t care about those things.”

She took off her movie star sunglasses, then tucked them onto the top of her head. From this distance, Kate could see the woman’s false eyelashes. It made Kate’s eyes water just thinking about them. She’d tried to wear them once when she was a teenager, but had done such a bad job that they’d fallen off…before her date with Scott, thankfully.

“Well, you can’t come in.”

“This is the house I want. No need to go through a real estate agent. We can take care of the transaction. Just between us. I can pay cash,” Kendall said.

Kate didn’t think that sounded right, but it wasn’t her property to sell. All she wanted to know was if her services were still needed or not.

Kendall moved toward the door, but Jessica blocked her. “I don’t have time to play around. I have an appointment and then I have a meeting. Please leave, Kendall.”

“We’re family, Jess. Can’t we just do this transaction?”

Why did she want the house so badly? Was it just the size?

“We’re hardly family.”

“I’m married to your late husband’s brother. We’ve spent Christmas together for the last five years,” Kendall said.

“Begrudgingly. Kendall, you never liked me. You made that clear. I’ve always been below you. Never good enough for Dudley.”

“That isn’t true.”

“Yes, it is.”

Right now, Kate wanted to be anywhere but here. She didn’t want to be part of this family drama, but she was trapped on the driveway. If either of them turned slightly, they would see her. Besides, her truck announcing her business on its side was parked in plain view.

Kate rubbed a spot between her eyes. A headache was beginning, and she wasn’t even halfway through the morning. She sighed.

“I’m not letting you in, Kendall. You can wait like everyone else for when it goes on the market.”

Kate sneezed. She’d felt it coming but couldn’t stop it. The two women turned to her. Jessica was embarrassed, wringing her hands. Kendall was not. She sailed past Jessica, who had stepped out of the doorway.