Good, Clean Murder (13 page)

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Mid-morning
Wednesday Jane’s phone jangled. She was having a quick doze after her early
morning work. Yesterday’s hunt for clues had turned up nothing further, as Jake
had had an emergency social call and didn’t immediately run to get the autopsy
report. The call was from Isaac, inviting her out tire shopping. Romantic?
Maybe not, but certainly more fun then replacing her spare on her own.

She dug through
her closet for something remotely cute to wear. It was a bust. She’d stick with
what she already had on and do something with her hair instead. She stared at
herself in the mirror. Nope. It was already in a ponytail and there wasn’t much
more she could do with her straight hair. Braids, maybe, but she wanted to look
young and hip, not young and in grade school.

She added a little
lip-gloss to her make-up free face before she left her room. She went straight
to the front room, but waiting there for Isaac made her feel desperate. She
went into the kitchen. She didn’t want to start cleaning something and make
herself look like she didn’t care about his time, but she didn’t want to be
waiting by the door either. She checked the coffee pot. It was still half-full
so she dug around for a travel mug and filled it up. She thought about pouring
it back into the pot and re-enacting the “pour the coffee” moment over and over
again until he arrived, but there was a knock on the door, so she didn’t have
to.

She ran to answer
it.

Isaac stood at the
door, a smile on his face, and a small bouquet of daffodils in his hand. “I
picked these on the way out. My mom might kill me, but I thought after the day
you had, you could use them.”

“Thank you.” Jane
took the flowers. She smiled up at Isaac. “Whatever you do, don’t tell your mom
you picked them for me! I don’t want her to hate me before we meet.”

“Neither do I. Are
you ready?”

Jane grabbed her
coat and purse from the closet. “Lead the way.”

They both climbed
into her Rabbit, leaving Isaac’s car parked at the curb.

“So how are things
with the Crawfords?”

“We found some
interesting information yesterday.” Her face flushed. Did she tell him that
Jake kissed her or not? She didn’t know what he would think about it. She
hadn’t liked it. She had made him stop. But then, there was that brief moment
when he was so sad that she almost wanted to kiss him again, but it had been
nothing.

It had either been
nothing or it had been a good reason to move out.

“Like what?”

“We found a travel
itinerary. Pamela had a trip planned with Marjory, her sister-in-law. They
should have left the morning I found them.”

“Was that the
first you had heard of it?”

“Yeah, it was.”

“Seems odd.
Wouldn’t you have needed to know her schedule?”

“No, not with Bob
working from home.” The tire shop seemed miles away.

“I assume Marjory
hasn’t said anything to you about it.”

“No, but I was
thinking it might have been related to the deaths. Don’t you think so? I mean,
it just seems like too many coincidences all together. Do you think Marjory
killed them and planned to get away?”

“She didn’t leave,”
Isaac said.

“That does punch a
hole in my idea.” Jane drummed her fingers on the steering wheel.

“Does Jake think
she had anything to do with it?”

“No. Not that he
tells me, at least.”

“So…speaking of
Jake, how is he grieving?” Isaac gave her a sidelong glance. “Have you been
able to find a way to serve him?”

Now was the
moment. Her heart was in her throat, but she had to tell him. “He’s not doing
well, I don’t think. Last night he seemed to finally have a real emotional
experience. That seemed good.”

“That is good. It
means he feels safe with you, and he should. You are pretty great.”

“Yeah…” She didn’t
know where to start. It wasn’t really Isaac’s business. He didn’t need to know.
She went back and forth on it. If Isaac was one of her girl friends, she would
tell him. If he was her boyfriend she would tell him, but he was neither. He
was someone she’d maybe like to have for her boyfriend.

Where did that put
him on the “tell” list?

“Do you want to
talk it through? I’ve got some solid grief counseling classes under my belt.”
He grinned at her again.

Jane took a deep
breath and then plunged in. “So he was crying really hard and I gave him a hug
and he kissed me but I told him to stop and he didn’t do it again.” She got it
all out in one breath, staring straight ahead.

Isaac was silent.

“I wasn’t
expecting it. I mean, I’ve known Jake since forever and he’s never shown any
interest in me. I don’t believe he’s interested now. He was just acting out.”

Isaac was still
silent.

“Anyway, I put my
foot down and made it absolutely clear that that was unacceptable and
inappropriate.” As she tried to clear herself of wrong doing she was very glad
she hadn’t mentioned being alone and on a bed at the time of the kiss.

“What a jerk.”

“Yeah. That’s kind
of been his M. O. since his parents died. He definitely needs counseling.” Jane
steeled herself for the worst, and then turned to look at Isaac. His face
looked sad.

“Is Phoebe staying
there now?” Isaac asked.

“She is, and
Marjory. And I’m on the third floor in the old servants’ bedrooms.”

“Good. But if he
should do anything—try anything like that again—you know you could call me if
you needed help, right?”

“Thanks.” She let
out a breath that she had been holding. It was okay. He didn’t think she was
responsible for the kiss.

At the tire shop
Isaac let Jane fumble her way around, picking a tire and paying for it. The
shop strongly encouraged her to buy all four, or at least two. Not knowing
exactly how she was going to pay off her slowly mounting credit card bill, she
refused.

The drive back to
the Crawford house was equally silent. Jane turned on the radio. If the drive
to the tire shop had felt like miles, the drive back felt eternal.

She pulled around
back and parked in her usual spot. While she was turning off her car, Isaac got
out, and opened her door for her.

She kept her eye
on Isaac as she got out, but he looked distracted, his eyes darting from her to
the house.

“Would you mind if
I come in with you?” Isaac was looking toward the house, not at her as he
spoke.

“Not at all. Come
on in.” She let him in through the mudroom door, wondering if it was late
enough to offer him lunch.

They stepped
through into the kitchen where Jake was sitting, in his boxers yet again,
eating a bowl of cereal. Isaac joined him at the island.

“Jake.”

“Daniels.”

Jane hovered in
the door.

Isaac leaned
forward. “About Jane.”

“She’s a good
girl, that one.” Jake slurped a spoonful of cereal. A bit of milk dribbled down
his chin.

“She’s a really
great girl, and you need to leave her alone.”

“What’s this?”
Jake let his spoon fall into his bowl. Droplets of milk splashed onto the black
counter.

“I know things are
rough right now.” Isaac bobbed on the balls of his feet, like a boxer. “But
that’s no reason to be a jerk.”

“What’s his
problem?” Jake looked past Isaac.

Jane cringed and
shook her head. “Hey, Isaac, can I fix you some lunch?”

“My problem is
that you need to keep your hands off of Jane.”

“Oh. I see. Is she
yours then? You, like, own her or something? You met her like yesterday and now
she’s yours? Sure. Why not? You can have her. She doesn’t like to have fun
anyway.” The look on Jake’s face was a mixture of boredom and superiority, and
yet, Jane thought she saw pain in his eyes.

“She’s a lady.
Don’t forget it.” Isaac rocked back onto his heels. He crossed his arms on his
chest, and for the first time Jane noticed his thick, muscled arms. Phoebe had
said he looked good in a tank top—she wasn’t exaggerating.

“I won’t,
Coach
.
She made it perfectly clear to me that she is a lady and I am nothing but a
big, dumb boy. Why you know about it now, well, I can guess why. But it doesn’t
matter, does it? I’ve been firmly, resolutely, and completely rejected.”

Isaac gritted his
teeth, his jaw flexing. “I’m glad to hear that you know it.”

“Walk out with me,
Isaac, okay?” Jane led Isaac outside. “What was that about?”

“I’ve known that
kid for a long time and I don’t trust him. When I brought you home yesterday
and realized where you were staying, I wasn’t comfortable with it.”

“You shouldn’t
have let him know that I told you about the kiss. He’s in a really bad place
right now. What if he won’t trust me anymore?”

“What if he tries
something worse? I couldn’t live with myself. He had to know you have someone
looking out for you.”

Jane pursed her
lips. She was surprised to find that protective jealousy was a bit ugly.
Flattering, but not attractive. “I understand what you’re saying.”

“I’m sorry you’re
mad at me, but I’m not sorry I did it. Just remember you can call me, anytime,
okay?” He raised his eyebrow, hope written on his face.

Jane nodded. She
was melting. He was looking out for her, after two long years of mostly looking
out for herself. “I really wish you hadn’t said anything, but thank you for the
thought behind it.”

“See you in class
tonight?”

“Yes, Mr. Daniels.
I’ll see you in class tonight.”

Isaac grinned,
then strode down to the street, to his car.

Jane stared at the
big house. Go back in and face Jake or let him cool off first? She decided to
get in her car and drive to her next client.

Jane felt like she
had scrubbed every inch of the Laurelhurst neighborhood into hygienic
submission before she finally got back to Jake. He was waiting in the office
with the autopsy report. Jane’s shoulders ached from scrubbing the stained
grout in the tile surround of a new client’s garden tub. She rolled them back
and forth in an attempt to stretch the tight muscles.

The oiled leather
furniture gave the room the dignified aroma a hundred-year-old mansion
deserved. A light breeze blew fresh spring air in through the opened window,
rustling the papers on the desk.

“Cute boyfriend.
Kind of tough, but kind of smart at the same time.”

“I just met him.
He’s hardly my boyfriend.”

“Well he and
I
didn’t just meet, and I’d bet money that he
thinks
he’s your boyfriend.”

“He doesn’t. Just
forget about it.”

“Why did you
tattle on me?” Jake’s eyes still had a look of pain in them. That moment when
he’d cried and kissed her had been his first sincere moment with her.

“I’m sorry. I
really am. I didn’t say anything bad, I promise. It’s just, that I
am
interested in him. I really didn’t know if I should say anything or not, but if
it had come out in some other way, that I had been kissing you, it could have
been worse.”

“Were you afraid
I
would tell on you? For shame. You can trust me.” His eyes sparked with humor
again, the hurt look mostly gone.

From the way his
face relaxed, she guessed Jake had only been scared someone else knew he had
been crying.

Jake stuck his
hand out.

She shook it, half
expecting him to pull her in for another taboo kiss, but he was as good as his
word.

“Do you have the
autopsy report?” Jane asked when their moment was over.

“Here it is. Are
you ready?” Jake sat cross-legged in front of Jane. He held the report in front
of him like a menu. “For bruising: Pamela Crawford has one bruised wrist that
looked consistent with finger tips, like someone had held her real hard. She
also had a bruise on her shoulder, cause unknown.” Jake cleared his throat and
turned to the next page. “Robert Crawford had bruising and burns on his chest
from trying to electrify him back to life, plus bruising on his collar bone,
cause: unknown.”

“That’s not what it
says,” Jane said.

“It is a highly
accurate paraphrase.”

“Okay, so they
have some bruising. What else does it say?”

“The medical
examiner says the bruising is consistent with a light altercation between two
adults, quite possibly, I am adding myself, these same two adults.”

“Or those two
adults and a third, unknown person.” Jane leaned forward, resting on her elbows
to stretch her back.

“Yes, of course.
It is always possible that there was a third person in the room the night before,
getting into a light altercation with my parents.” Jake rustled his papers in
an officious manner.

“What about the
cause of death?”

“Now here is the
suspicious part. The reason, I am sure, for the continued investigation.”

Jane sat up.