Loose Screw (Dusty Deals Mystery) (26 page)

He turned and headed to the doors.

“Wait, how did you get here so fast?” I yelled after him.

He stopped and turned back my direction. “Police work, Lucy. I was doing my job.” He shook his head slightly. “Darrell Deere witnessed the murder. We knew we were after Malone. Unfortunately, he had checked out of his hotel, and we didn’t know where he’d gone, but we did know when his plane left this morning.  So we waited for him here. We had a nice easy arrest planned, but something changed that.” He gave me a pointed look and stalked out.

Chapter 27

I left the airport and drove to Dusty Deals. I had a hard time concentrating on anything, even the most mundane activities. To be honest, I was pretty proud of myself. Pumped actually.

I had taken control of the situation. I had thrown myself into Malone’s path and stopped him from leaving. Sure, the police already had the place staked out, but I didn’t know that. He even confessed. This was going to be a great story, and one way or another, I was going to write it.

So, Blake was a little annoyed. He was a big boy. He’d get over it—wouldn’t he? Anyway, it wasn’t like we actually had a relationship or anything. I’d go on just fine and dandy without him. As I’d told Rhonda multiple times, I didn’t need a man, especially one as opinionated and bossy as Blake.

I would need to talk to him again though. There
was
the story to think of. He’d surely tell me more than he would Marcy.

I called him at the station.

He sounded less than thrilled to hear from me. “Lucy, what do you want?”

This wasn’t going to be easy. I decided to try meekness. “I hoped you could fill in a few details for me,” I replied.

The phone almost vibrated with his annoyance. “A few details. What I want to know is what you thought you were doing this morning. Are you crazy?” He took a breath. “Never mind, don’t answer that.”

Hey
, who did he think he was? I mean, I discovered the body, my shop was broken into, I almost had my head caved in,
and
I tracked down the killer. I deserved some information. Didn’t I?

I dumped the meek route. “You don’t have to be insulting. Surely, you can tell me something. I figured out most of it on my own, and I heard Malone confess. I just need you to iron out a few details.”

Blake cleared his throat. “What do you want to know? I will give you a few details, but this is not for the paper, agreed?”

At this point, I would have belly danced nude down the Gulch to get information, but I stuck with my righteous act. “If you insist,” I replied stiffly.

“I do.”

He started slowly, but with a few helpful questions from me here and there, Blake spilled most of the info, including what he had learned from Darrell the night before.

“Darrell found his grandmother’s diary back in February. She talked about the ruby and how she couldn’t stand to wear it after Garrison died.”

Yadda yadda
. I knew all this but was afraid to interrupt.

“She said she was putting it somewhere safe and mentioned the medicine man set, but not the weasel. The way she worded it, Darrell just thought there was some kind of clue in the set, maybe written inside the shirt or something.”

Blake continued, “Anyway, he knew if he showed too much interest in the set people would talk. He was afraid he’d lose the ruby to his brother and sister, or at least have to split it with them. He was in Denver for some kind of bike ride and, while he was there, hired Crandell to work as a buyer’s agent.”

I couldn’t contain my questions. “Wasn’t he afraid Crandell would rip him off? Did he tell him about the ruby?”

“No, he didn’t tell him about the ruby. He just said he wanted to buy the set in secret and made up some reason why. I don’t know about the rip-off part. I think it was a little naïve of Darrell, but I guess he was desperate.

“He paid Crandell enough money upfront to cover airfare and hotel. Darrell didn’t expect the set to sell for more than a few thousand. When it went for forty, he was shocked. Crandell called him from the Civic Center and told him Ed wouldn’t release it without bank verification. Darrell wired the money into Crandell’s account, and by the time Frankie called Crandell’s bank, the funds were there.”

“Okay, that explains Darrell and Crandell, but how did the Malones get involved? Why was Crandell talking to them and Bill about buying the set?” I’d never understood this part of it, and now knowing Darrell had paid for the entire set, it was even more confusing.

“Well, I think that goes back to Darrell being naïve. My guess is, Crandell just got greedy. No one can say for sure, but Crandell probably thought he could sell off small parts of the set without Darrell noticing. Crandell was definitely working Bill and the Malones for side offers.

“Bill had enough sense to keep away from him, but Marie Malone wanted the set bad—not for the same reason as Darrell, but she still wanted it. Her husband wasn’t any more interested in dealing with Crandell than Bill was, but he met with Crandell to make his wife happy and to keep her from doing it herself. That’s when things got sticky, for Crandell that is.

“Malone met with Crandell for the first time Monday morning at Cuppa Joe’s, after he sent his wife shopping down the Gulch. According to Malone, Crandell wanted an extravagant price for the whistle and weasel. This fits with what Bill told us too. Anyway, Malone turned him down and told him to stop calling his wife. But when Crandell was leaving the meeting, he ran into Marie Malone outside Spirit Books. That’s when Rhonda saw them. Marie was upset her husband hadn’t bought the pieces. Crandell arranged to call her later after she had time to work on her husband more.”

The next part of the story I knew. Still working both sides, Crandell went to lunch at the Mexican Rose where Rhonda and Silas saw him meet Bill Russell. Rhonda left, but Silas stayed to talk with him. According to Blake, when Silas left, Crandell drove to Ed’s office and picked up the medicine man set. He called Darrell from there and arranged to meet him between four-thirty and five p.m. at Darrell’s office. Darrell told him to dress less conspicuously and to enter through the alley entrance. He also told Crandell to leave Helena as soon as the final exchange was complete.

Crandell went back to his hotel where he changed into jeans, packed up his things, and made two phone calls. First, he made arrangements with Marie Malone to meet at Cuppa Joe’s at four-thirty. Then he called Silas to see if he could stay the night with him.

Blake continued, “This is when the fat got thrown in the fire. Marie asked her husband to reconsider meeting Crandell’s price. When he found out she’d arranged to see Crandell again at four-thirty, he hit the roof. Apparently, she’s recovering from a breakdown. Malone thought Crandell jerking them back and forth would cause her to relapse. He dressed for their dinner at the Brass Spur and left her at the hotel.

“Malone ran into Crandell in the alley as they were both approaching Cuppa Joe’s. According to Malone, Crandell’s death was an accident. He said Crandell waved the feather in his face, then tucked it into the outside breast pocket of Malone’s blazer. The two argued. Push came to shove, and Crandell wound up with a knife in his chest. Malone says he panicked and left.”

I jumped in. “That’s when he stepped in the horse manure, but how did he make it back to his hotel to get Marie and still get to the Brass Spur by 5:30? There had to have been some blood to clean up.”

“He likes to wear leather driving gloves. Those and his jacket were both stained with blood. He dumped them in a trashcan he saw sitting in front of a house on his way back to the hotel. He didn’t really have to take any extra time to clean up.”

“What did he tell his wife? Did she know he killed Crandell?”

“Not according to Malone. She knew he was meeting with Crandell, but he told her he had entered through the front and Crandell was a no-show. He just said he spilled some coffee on his blazer and stuffed it in the trunk. She didn’t question him, but I think she knew something was wrong, especially after she found the feather.”

“Where did she find the feather? I knew she didn’t get it that morning, because Crandell didn’t have the set yet.”

Blake answered, “She found it stuck between the car seats. Malone thought he’d thrown it out with his blazer and gloves. He didn’t check to make sure it was still in his jacket pocket when he dumped everything. When I found the feather in her suitcase, he assumed she was telling the truth, and Crandell had given it to her earlier that day. He didn’t know Crandell didn’t get the set until after lunch.”

“But she covered his alibi.”

“She’s his wife. It’s not unusual for people to lie to protect their spouse. I probably would have been more surprised if she’d turned him in.”

I was still curious about one thing. “So, did you know all along Malone did it?”

“No, but I knew something wasn’t right with them. Especially after I interviewed Ed and learned Crandell didn’t pick up the medicine man set until around three. Then I knew Marie Malone was lying about the feather. I was hung up on the motive, though. I thought for sure it was the set. When the Malones didn’t have it, I got stuck.”

“So what broke it for you?”

Blake paused. “Darrell. If you and Betty hadn’t bashed him upside the head, I never would have looked in his direction. I never would have found that damn medicine man set in his office, and Darrell never would have come forward as a witness to Crandell’s death. He saw the whole thing.”

Ah the glory
, I took a minute to revel in this unexpected praise before jumping back in with questions. “So he actually witnessed the murder?”

“He was watching for Crandell out his office window. He saw Malone and Crandell arguing. When Malone left and it was obvious Crandell wasn’t getting up, Darrell hotfooted it down to the alley to look for the medicine man set. He didn’t find it near the body, so he took Crandell’s car keys and looked for his car. A rental in that little lot was easy to spot. He grabbed the bag with the set, tossed the keys into the drainage grate, and left. He was in such a hurry to get away before people started leaving work at five, he missed the weasel, which had rolled out of the bag.”

“So the fingerprints on the keys and car were Darrell’s?” I asked.

“Yes, and Mr. Deere was not too happy about being printed.”

I felt so sorry to hear Darrell had been inconvenienced. “Obviously he didn’t find any signs of the ruby in the items he had. That must have been when he realized it was in the weasel, but by then it was locked inside the police station. When he saw Silas with me and the weasel at Cuppa Joe’s he must have about split a seam.”

Blake replied, “That is a fair estimation. He broke into your shop to get the weasel before you sold it to someone else, but Kiska and the couple in the street scared him off. By the time you called him about the note, he was getting desperate. He says he came to your office to make an offer on the weasel.”

“Oh, yeah. Most people make offers with a cane poised above my head. Gives a whole new meaning to driving a hard bargain.”

“He claims he just got excited. He said he wasn’t threatening you.”

“Ask Betty. Kiska was holding him off.”

“Not according to his version. He said he was protecting himself from Kiska.”

“Kiska? Be serious. He wouldn’t hurt a fly. Darrell was going to pummel me.”

“Kiska is intimidating to non-dog people, Lucy. I don’t doubt Darrell was a little worried.”

I wasn’t about to buy that. As far as Mr. Deere was concerned, my rose-colored glasses were shattered. Blake, however, refused to see Darrell’s less-savory side. We hung up on only a slightly less frosty note than we began the conversation.

The man was impossible. He admitted I helped him by clobbering Darrell, but then he chose to believe the attacker instead of the attackee. And to even insinuate Kiska might have been at fault, well, that was unforgivable. I was better off without him; Blake, that is.

I tromped back to my office and made a few notes. Even though Ted had told me I was too close to be objective, and Blake had made me swear our phone conversation was off the record, I was writing the story. I would convince Ted, and hopefully Blake would relent. Even if I had to stand in line with all the other reporters for the “official statement,” I still had my own first-hand experience to use. That would be enough to write a killer article (pun intended) if I had no other choice.

I made my notes and stared at the wall. I couldn’t get into the shop owner thing after all the excitement. My head was spinning. It was Sunday. Rhonda would be at home.

I left Dusty Deals and drove to her house. She and Nostradamus were enjoying a picnic in their backyard. I filled her in on all the developments since I’d last seen her. She, of course, was mainly interested in Blake and the details of every conversation I’d had with him. Shaking my head, I left her to her picnic and went in search of the jacket I’d left at the Antebellum Friday night.

My buddy Steve was working the front desk. I don’t think he remembered me.

“Did anyone turn in a coat the other night?”

Steve stared at me blankly.

“Can I go look for it?”

He waved me up the stairs.

It took a few minutes to find my jacket stuck between two stacks of folding chairs in the small conference room. I tugged it out and walked to the curved staircase. As I started to descend, I saw Blake standing at the bottom. I let my coat trail behind me as I walked slowly down the steps.

“How’d you know where I was?” I asked when I reached the bottom step.

“I called Rhonda.” He stood quietly watching me.

I took another step down onto the floor less than a foot away from him. He pulled off his cowboy hat as he reached for me. Before his lips met mine, he whispered, “I must have a screw loose.”

Okay, okay it wasn’t the most romantic line I’ve ever heard (well, it probably is in the top five that have actually been directed at me), but it was the best I was going to get. And, when it comes right down to it, I did get my man so… frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.