“A customer at the shop said she saw a guy with a tattoo on his neck run out of the woods the morning Prudence was killed. It just so happened Jolene recognized the description of the tattoo and pointed us here.”
“So you came here to confront him by yourselves? Do you know how dangerous that is?” A cloud of anger passed over Jake’s face.
“We called you on the way,” Fiona winced. Her impulsive actions often got her into trouble.
Jake scrubbed his hands through his hair. “It’s just that you could have gotten hurt. This guy could be a killer.” He touched her arm and her stomach did a somersault making her feel a little queasy again but for a different reason. “I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you.”
Fiona’s heart clenched. She opened her mouth to say something.
“Cooper, get over here.” Overton bellowed from the side of the trailer.
Jake did a half shrug, and put his hand on her knee. “I guess we’ll talk later.” He stood up and walked toward Overton.
Fiona stared after him.
Talk later?
She was busy wondering just what that meant when Overton strolled by on his way to Morgan who was giving a statement to Brody Hunter.
“Well, well, look who seems to be mixed up in another murder.” Overton stood in front of Morgan, a smug look plastered on his face.
Fiona stood up and crossed the yard, putting her arm around her sister. “What are you talking about? We came to visit and found a body. Morgan called 911 for crying out loud!”
Overton took the toothpick out of his mouth. “A perfect way to cover up that you’re the killer.”
“That’s ridiculous!”
“Is it? I think it gives me enough to bring your sister in and question her.”
“What?” Fiona sputtered. “Why would Morgan want to kill Josh?”
Overton narrowed his eyes. “I don’t know. Maybe he saw her kill Prudence and she was trying to silence him. Which means you’re probably in on it with her. Looks like I’ll have to bring you both in.” Overton crooked his fingers at another one of the uniforms who scurried over.
“Cuff these two and put them in the car.”
Brody eyed Morgan uncertainly. The officer grabbed Fiona’s elbow and she jerked it away.
“Unhand my clients!”
Delphine Jones came flying up the driveway, her purple and orange caftan billowing out like the mainsail of a frigate.
Brody and the other officer stopped in mid-cuff, looking between Delphine and Overton in confusion.
“You again.” Overton shoved the toothpick back in his mouth.
“What’s going on here?” Delphine demanded.
“We came to visit and found him dead, then called 911.” Fiona nodded toward the side of the trailer where Josh’s body lay.
Delphine turned to Overton. “My clients were simply reporting that they found the body, like any law abiding citizen. I hardly see how that gives you cause to handcuff them.”
Overton swooshed the toothpick around in his mouth and glared at Delphine.
Fiona watched the two of them stare each other down. Delphine must have won because Overton eventually said, “Let them go. We can take their statements here.”
Then he turned on his heel and stormed back behind the trailer.
***
Fiona and Morgan suffered through a battery of questions. By the time they were done Fiona wanted to take Overton’s toothpick and shove it down his throat. Thankfully, Delphine stayed by their side to make sure the interrogation didn’t veer off track.
In between the questions, the medical examiner had arrived and was updating Overton with information. Like the size of the knife, the fact it was serrated only three quarters of the way and that it had a distinctive scrolled hilt. Fiona filed it all away for later use, figuring it might come in handy to identify the killer.
Fiona caught herself looking for Jake several times. Overton had kept him busy investigating the scene but the few times their eyes met, Fiona had felt a familiar zing at the pit of her stomach. Her heart warmed knowing Jake was looking out for them.
“Looks like we’re done … for now.” Overton snapped his notebook shut and glared at the girls.
“So my clients are free to go, then, right?” Delphine said it as more of a statement than a question.
Overton gave her a look of pure hatred and Fiona knew that if it wasn’t for Delphine, she and Morgan might be spending the night in a cell. She wondered if Delphine had something on Overton that caused him to tread carefully around her and toe the line.
“They can go,” he said to Delphine, then turned to Morgan and Fiona. “But don’t leave town.”
Fiona made a face behind his back. “Don’t leave town?
How cliche can you get?” Morgan and Delphine laughed.
“My job here is done, so I’ll be on my way. If Overton harasses you about this any more, call me right away.” Delphine turned and headed toward her car.
Fiona watched Delphine flutter down the driveway. The woman had really come in handy. Fiona congratulated herself for having the good sense to hire her even as her mind tried to calculate how much of the five thousand dollar retainer they’d already blown through.
“Let’s go home, I’m exhausted.” Morgan covered a yawn with her hand.
Fiona glanced around the yard. Only a few cops remained.
“Jake already left with Brody,” Morgan said looking at Fiona out of the corner of her eye.
Fiona’s cheeks burned. “I wasn’t looking for Jake.”
“Right.” Morgan led the way to the car.
“It’s kind of scary. I’ve lived here my whole life and I don’t think there’s been more than four or five murders the whole time. Now there have been two in less than a week. They have to be related.” Morgan snapped the seatbelt into place.
“It would seem that way, but why would someone want to kill Josh?” Fiona backed her truck out onto the road, and put it into drive for the short trip home.
“I was thinking about that. I wonder if he did witness Prudence’s murder and the murderer killed him so he wouldn’t talk.”
“Or, maybe he was the one who killed her, and then someone killed him for revenge.”
“Like who?”
“Maybe Ed. Maybe he really did love her?”
Morgan pursed her lips. “Maybe. Or, it might not have anything to do with Prudence’s murder. Jolene said he was a bad apple and into some shady stuff. Maybe one of his deals went bad.”
“I can’t believe Overton was trying to pin it on us. He really has it in for us … well mostly for you. Why do you think that is?”
Morgan shrugged. “Who knows? I get the feeling he’s had his eyes on us, watching us, since he came to town and investigated Mom’s death. It’s creepy.”
Fiona sighed as she pulled into their driveway. “Well, I guess there is nothing we can do except try to get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow I have to get some of my projects at the shop out of the way so I can get Anastasia’s set done by Friday. Tomorrow night Jake and I are supposed to meet with Cal to see if anyone has tried to pawn or sell Prudence’s necklace. Wanna come?”
Morgan glanced sideways at her, a smile tugging the corners of her lips. “Oh, I’d love to but I can’t.”
Fiona’s brow creased wondering what Morgan found so amusing. “Okay, I’ll just go with him then. Maybe Cal will have a lead on the jewelry and Jake will have a better idea of who killed Josh Gray …
and why.”
Fiona felt a blast of cold air as Jake held the door of
Reed Pawn and Antiques
open for her. She slipped inside, rubbing her arms for warmth.
Her gaze went immediately to the front of the shop where she could see Cal squinting into a magnifying glass that he held about two inches away from a coin sitting on the glass display case that doubled as a counter. Cal looked up, smiling when he recognized her. His dimples and sparkling blue eyes highlighted the boyish good looks.
“Jeez, Cal, it’s so cold in here, I can see my breath.” She made a big show of blowing out for effect.
Cal laughed. “Sorry, sometimes it can get pretty heated in here when I am negotiating so I like to keep it frosty.”
“How was your trip?
Who was it this time? Sophie? Janice? Amanda?”
“Actually, none of the above.” Cal grimaced at Fiona’s raised brows. “Hey, I can’t help it if my social calendar is too full. It’s a real problem trying to fit all the ladies in, you know.”
Jake laughed. “Sounds like a problem I wouldn’t mind having.”
Fiona felt a momentary pang in her stomach. Jealousy? No, probably just indigestion from wolfing down a jalapeno burger at home before Jake picked her up.
“Cal, this is my friend Jake.” Fiona ignored Cal’s raised eyebrow and watched the two shake hands.
“So, what exactly is it you guys are looking for?”
“Apparently a necklace was taken from Prudence Littlefield when she was murdered. It was an initial necklace, a gold ‘P’. We were wondering if you had heard of anyone trying to sell it. We’re hoping to get a line on the killer to help out Morgan’s case.”
Cal looked out the window, his brow creased in thought. “You know, I think something like that came in while I was out. Let me check out back.”
Cal disappeared through a door and returned a split second later with a small transparent bag in his hand. “Is this it? These two items came in together the other day.”
Jake held the bag up and Fiona stood on her tiptoes to peer into it over his shoulder. She felt her breath catch when she saw it held a gold chain with a large ‘P’ in script and a chunky ring.
“Looks like it could be, but I’m not sure about the ring.” Jake said.
Cal put a black velvet jeweler’s square on the top of the glass display case and emptied the pieces out onto it.
“The necklace and charm are both 18K gold and the ring is 14K.” Cal read from the slip that had been in the bag.
“Ed said Prudence’s necklace was 18K. Who consigned these?”
Cal glanced at the slip “Joshua Gray.”
Fiona gasped. “Then he must have killed Prudence.”
“Maybe,” Jake said, “But what about the ring?
It’s way too big for Prudence and Ed didn’t say anything about a ring being missing.”
Fiona bent down to get a better look at the ring. It had what looked like a family crest on it — a shield, a crow and two sheaves of wheat crossed in an X.”
“Maybe he stole it from someone else.”
“Maybe. I’ll call into the station and see if anything like that has been reported stolen.” Jake looked at Cal. “You better set these aside. They may be part of a police investigation.”
Calvin raised his brows and Jake added. “Besides, your consigner was found dead last night, so I don’t think he’ll be needing the money.”
***
“But why would Josh Gray want to kill Prudence Littlefield?” Fiona asked Jake as he pulled his Suburban away from the curb in front of Cal’s store.
“I’m not sure. That’s what we need to figure out.”
“But now that we have this evidence, Morgan will be in the clear, right?”
“Not necessarily.”
“What? But Josh had the necklace.”
“That doesn’t really prove anything. Someone could have given him the necklace, or he could have found it in the woods after the murder.”
Fiona’s heart dropped. She looked out the window at the passing scenery of downtown Noquitt. It was prime tourist season now and the streets were loaded with people walking down the sidewalks and browsing through the shops. But Fiona didn’t see any of it. She was busy worrying about what was going to happen to Morgan.
Jake startled her out of her reverie by putting his hand on her knee.
“Don’t worry, we’ll get to the bottom of this and find the real killer.”
Fiona’s heart melted when she saw the genuine concern in his gray eyes.
“Thanks.”
She noticed he didn’t remove his hand and her heart started beating a little faster. A few minutes later, Morgan was the furthest thing from her mind as Jake pulled the truck into her driveway.
Fiona pushed the door handle. It opened smoothly this time, much to her disappointment. She was surprised when Jake turned off the engine.
Should she invite him in
?
“I’ll walk you to the door,” Jake said. “With all the things that are happening around you girls, you can’t be too safe.”
Fiona nodded and slipped out of the car, waiting for Jake to come round the front. Her heart skittered in her chest when he put his hand on the small of her back to lead her up the walkway to the porch.
They climbed the steps and she stopped at the door. She turned to say good night and realized he was standing close. Very close. Her stomach flip-flopped. The urge to run away swept over her. She felt like a teenager on her first date—awkward and unsure of what to do.