Corpse in the Crystal Ball (17 page)

“Is there something wrong, Miss Meadows? You look as
though you’re in shock?” she asked almost knowingly. But how?

I snapped my jaw closed tight and pasted on a brilliant smile. “No, nothing, not at all, really, I’m fine. Just a little warm. It’s warm in here, don’t you think?”

Fuller frowned at me. “It’s spring in upstate New York. Sixty-five is hardly warm.”

I fanned myself. “Must be a hot flash.”

“At what, thirty-something?” Abby asked with an evil smirk.

“Twenty-nine, and yes. Early menopause. Runs in my family.” A lie, but I had to say something. Fuller was looking as though he were ready to call backup and haul me away to a private interrogation room.

At the mention of menopause, Fuller cleared his throat, temporarily forgetting his suspicion of me. I didn’t need to get into any more trouble with him, or he would have me pulled off the case for good.

I chose that moment to satisfy my own suspicions. “May I use your bathroom to splash some water on my face. You know, cool off a bit?”

“Sure. Down the hall to the right.” Abby studied me curiously.

“Thanks.” I hurried down the hall, listening for a second.

Fuller had started talking with Abigail, so I continued a tad farther to her bedroom. I glanced in the door, and just as I’d suspected, all the evidence of her obsession with Mitch was long gone. That was when I noticed the big stuffed pig on her dresser. I picked it up, and sure enough, there was a nanny cam inside.

How had I not noticed this that night with Mitch? Well,
there was my answer right there. Mitch distracted me. Something I couldn’t afford right now if we were ever going to solve this case and clear his name. So Abigail knew Mitch and I had been in her trailer, snooping around.

The question was, what did she plan to do about it?

I came out of her room, popped into the bathroom quickly, and then ran into her as I walked out the door. I yelped. “Oh my, you scared me.”

She blocked my way with a hard look on her face. “Just seeing if you needed any help.”

“Nope, I’m good. I found everything I needed.”

“Good for you.” She paused on purpose, and then finished with, “I hear hot flashes can really do a number on you if you’re not careful. No one wants to be down for the count.”

“Oh, trust me.” I stiffened my spine, knowing darn well she wasn’t talking about hot flashes taking me out, but I wasn’t about to cave to her veiled threat. “It would take a lot more than an annoyance like a hot flash to take me down.”

“Annoyances can be deceiving. You might not be as strong as you think.” She gave me “the look” again.

“Don’t you worry about me. I always come out on top, but thanks for your concern,” I said, suddenly understanding what her look meant.

She finally considered me a threat!

What I had once insanely sort of longed for, I now realized was not a pleasant thing at all to experience. And if I were honest, I’d admit the loony made me nervous no matter how tough I acted.

I quickly led the way back to her living room with Abigail hot on my heels, not giving her a chance to respond,
though I could feel the daggers she was shooting from her angry eyes, piercing my back like shards of jagged crystals. Her hatred for me was stronger than any negative energy I’d ever felt. Too bad I couldn’t cleanse her and be done with it.

“Anyway, I’m sure you’ve heard about the death of Isabel Gonzales,” Detective Fuller continued, and I let out a breath of relief. Fuller might be onto something about the whole not-going-it-alone theory. I’d never been happier to have a partner than at this very moment.

Abigail’s face flashed with what looked like genuine surprise, distracting me from my thoughts. “N-No, I hadn’t. I got back late last night. I haven’t had a chance to read the paper yet or watch the news.”

“Okay, so where on earth were you for the past few days, then? Mars?” I interjected on a scoff, assuming my role was bad cop and refusing to let her think she’d rattled me. “It’s pretty much made the headline news everywhere.”

“I was at my cousin’s house out in the country, if you must know. Why? Am I under suspicion or something?” It was her turn to look uncomfortable.

“Something like that,” Fuller added, glaring at me like I had three heads and he wasn’t happy about my role as bad cop. “Everyone in town heard you threaten Isabel in Gretta’s Mini-Mart.” He addressed his comment to Abigail. “You told her she’d be sorry and you would show her. That was the day she died. Then you disappeared. We simply want to know where exactly you were on the night of the murder.”

She sighed. “Like I told you, I went to my cousin’s house out in the country and—”

“She doesn’t have TV or Internet or phone? Sounds like Mars to me.” I cut her off, pouncing, hoping to rattle her for
a change, but earned another scowl from Fuller instead. “We tried to contact you, but you didn’t answer your cell phone or e-mail.”

“That’s because they actually
didn’t
have TV or Internet or phone, Miss Smarty-Pants. My cousin is a hairstylist. She’s been trying to give me a makeover for years. After Isabel Gonzales made me feel like total crap, I decided to take my cousin up on it. And as far as my cell goes, there’s no service that far out in the country.”

I snorted as though I weren’t buying her story, even though I was secretly worried I was losing another suspect.

“Look, my cousin’s husband just bought a new tractor. His sons are too young to drive it, but that didn’t stop them from trying. Only they took out the utility pole and the fence around the chicken coop. I offered to pay her for the makeover, but she just asked me to bring along the chicken wire since the stores are so far away from them.”

A gleam of satisfaction glittered in Abigail’s eyes. “I couldn’t wait to get back into town to show Isabel I was just as good as her. I had no idea she’d been murdered. Can’t say I’m sorry or surprised, but I didn’t do it and I can prove it. Just go visit my cousin. She’ll vouch for me. Any more questions?”

“Yes, no, maybe …not exactly,” I stammered, blowing out a puff of disappointment. So where did that leave us now? Other than Mitch, we had no more suspects.

To say I was concerned would be an understatement.

Lunchtime in Divinity in springtime was a sacred thing, I was finding out. After the long cold winters we had in
upstate New York, people came out of hibernation every chance they got. And since most people still worked in their proverbial caves, coming out of hibernation usually occurred at lunchtime. Sunday afternoons were the busiest.

Nikko’s had an outdoor patio, and so did Papas. Of course Fuller had headed straight to Nikko’s, but I told him I’d meet up with him later. I chose to take my lunch break at the park. With flowers on the verge of blooming and everything around me turning green, I just needed to be outdoors.

Apparently, I wasn’t alone.

Selena Gonzales sat on the bench, facing the swan pond, her long, wavy dark brown hair falling past her shoulders. She looked as elegant and graceful as the swans, gliding across the pond. I carried the lunch Granny had insisted on packing me and approached the bench.

“Mind if I sit?”

Selena jerked as though startled and then looked up at me with wide almond-shaped honey eyes. I felt like a frumpy ugly duckling with my spiky blond hair, boring tan cotton pants, and cream blouse.

“Sure, have a seat. I’m sorry. My mind was somewhere else.” She scooted over on the bench to make room.

“Where’s Mit—uh, Detective Stone?” I asked casually, trying to remember I had a purpose for putting myself through this torture. A case to solve.

“At the gym. He’s going stir-crazy with nothing to do. And I have to admit, he’s driving me crazy, too. He won’t let me do anything or go anywhere with my sister’s killer still on the loose. He’d have a fit if he knew I were here, but it’s too nice a day to stay cooped up.”

“I agree.” I pulled out the enormous chicken salad
sandwich Granny had made, along with the grapes, cheese, crackers, veggie sticks, and homemade pita chips. “Want to split my lunch? You’ve met my granny. She loves to cook and take care of people, but the woman is insane if she thinks one person can eat this amount of food.”

“Your granny is wonderful, and I’m starved. Thank you so much.” Selena took half of my sandwich, and we both ate in silence, nibbling on the rest of our buffet in heaven.

“Oh, yeah, Granny Gert rocks,” I finally said, totally and blissfully stuffed.

Selena laughed, then grew serious. “So how’s the case coming along? I’m really worried about Mitch.”

“You and me both. At first I thought maybe someone killed your sister in a crime of passion. No offense, but she ticked off a lot of people in the short time she was here.”

Selena looked off into the distance, and a sad expression blanketed her lovely features. “That doesn’t surprise me.”

“The main suspects I had all turned out to have alibis …except for Detective Stone. I’m running out of leads.”

She looked pensive for a moment. “Did you ever consider maybe you’re approaching the case the wrong way?”

“How do you mean?”

She looked me in the eye. “Maybe it wasn’t a crime of passion.”

I hadn’t really thought about that. “But why would anyone else in town want to see her dead?”

“Who says the murderer has to be someone who lives in town? I hate to say it, but Isabel made a lot of enemies wherever she went. Why can’t the murderer be an outsider?”

I thought about that. “You know, I think you might be onto something. Why not, indeed?” Renewed hope filled
me. “But why, though? What reason would anyone have for wanting to see Isabel dead other than she made them angry?”

“I know one,” Selena said, sounding almost bitter. “Money.”

I wrinkled my nose. “Money? How so?”

“How do you think she lived that lavish lifestyle since she got out of jail?”

“I have to say I never really thought of it. I know she was arrested for embezzling money from that electronics firm, she went to jail, and they went under.”

“And why do you think they went under? Because the money she embezzled was never found.”

“Oh my gosh,” I said on a breathy whisper.

“Exactly,” Selena hissed, looking downright angry now. “My sister came back home and started spending money left and right. She was never a saver, so I know for sure she didn’t have legitimate money put away. She never would admit it, not even to me, yet she lived the high life when she got out. And I know for a fact she didn’t have another job.”

Selena stood, her teal skirt swaying as she began to pace. “With no job and no family taking care of her, Isabel was on her own. I was the only one to go see her when she was in jail. She knew things weren’t easy for me, yet she never once offered to help. I was good enough for her when she was in jail, but when she got out, she forgot all about me …until she needed my help once more when someone was after her.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, not quite knowing what else to say.

Selena forcibly relaxed and took a deep breath, sitting back down on the bench. “It just frustrates me, you know?
I did everything for her. We’re twins, but she was the most selfish person I know. Even with me. All I wanted was to be there for her, be close to her. But it didn’t do me any good. In the end, I was nothing to her, and now she’s gone.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, Selena. I’m sure you did all you could.” I squeezed her hand, feeling sorry for her. She really was a nice person and didn’t deserve everything she was going through.

She looked down at my hand and then up at me. “You have no idea,” was all she said, and then she stood up to leave. “I better get back before Mitch finds me missing and does something stupid.”

“It was good talking to you,” I hollered after her.

She looked over her shoulder, smiled distractedly, and kept walking.

When she was out of sight, I flipped open my cell and called Detective Fuller.

“Fuller here.” He muffled a burp. “What can I do you for?”

“I think I’ve got a new lead. Isabel’s death wasn’t a crime of passion from someone she ticked off in town. I think it was a crime of greed from an outsider.”

“Come again?”

“Isabel was arrested for embezzlement, and the money was never found. When she got out, she was living the high life. I think someone knew she hid the money until she got out, and they killed her for it.”

“Not bad, Meadows. Not bad.”

“Thanks, so now what?”

“Now we check out the bus station, train station, airport, and hotels for any outsiders that came into town around the time of Isabel’s death who might have had a connection to
her. We’ll also ask around town if any outsider stayed at a hotel or with one of our own citizens around that time.”

“Okay, so what does that mean exactly?”

“Divinity’s not that big. People notice outsiders. If we find a connection, we just might find our killer.”

I sucked in a breath. “And Detective Stone would be off the hook?”

“Precisely.”

“Then what are we waiting for?”

“Lunch to be over.”

I laughed. “Fine. I’ll meet you at the station in twenty minutes.”

“Done.”