Legacy of blood, p.18
Legacy of Blood, page 18
part #2 of A Zoey Callaway Mystery Series
David Christie had said he would make the arrangements to pick up the bodies from the medical examiner’s office and get me the death certificates.
I got back into my Jeep and fished for the key to Adrianna’s house, but couldn’t find it. What the hell?
I emptied out my purse and checked all the nooks and crannies, but the key was gone!
I called Nate and told him that I needed to get into Adrianna’s house to pick out some proper clothes for her funeral, and that the key she’d given me had disappeared.
“Are you sure you just didn’t misplace it?”
“Positive.” I shook my head. “I’ll check when I get home. Maybe it just fell out of my bag.”
“I’ll meet you there in a few minutes. Oh, by the way…Jason said he’d bought the candy for you. Something about a date night, and that he left them in his truck. When he got up the morning Adrianna’s body was found, his truck window had been busted out, and the candy stolen.”
“Sounds kind of lame.” Date night? We’ve never had one before.
Nate chuckled. “It did to me to. But his truck window had been busted. Of course, he could have done it himself.”
“Okay. I’ll see you soon.”
When I pulled into Adrianna’s driveway, even the house looked sad. The grass hadn’t been cut, and the curtains were closed. Mail was spilling out of her mailbox by the front door, so I grabbed it and leafed through while I waited for Nate. I tossed the bills in the front seat of my truck because the attorney who was handling her probate would need to submit them to the court. Once I knew who he was, I’d drop it off to them.
Nate showed up a few minutes later and gave me a hug when he joined me on the porch.
“That was really nice of you to arrange for their funerals. I’ll be there and get the word out.”
“Thanks.” I smiled up at him.
He pulled the house keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door, then stepped aside to let me go first. I paused just inside the front door and looked around. Everything appeared to be in the same state it was on the morning I found her body.
When I got to the bedroom door, I stopped. Had I really thought I could just march in here and get her clothes without having a reaction?
Zoey, sometimes you are such an idiot.
I bowed my head and took a minute to push out of my mind the visions of Adrianna’s corpse lying on the bed.
Nate touched my shoulder. “You okay? Want me to do this?”
“Oh, heavens no.” I shook my head. “I want the clothes to at least match.”
I forced myself to move into the room. Diverting my gaze from the bed, I stepped over to her dresser and started opening the drawers to get her some undergarments. I have to say, I was shocked at the ultra-sexy and skimpy bras and panties in the top drawer of her dresser. She didn’t seem the type. I couldn’t help but notice the designer labels, and wondered how she afforded such expensive lingerie on her low salary.
In the next drawer, I found what appeared to be everyday lingerie. I didn’t want to give David Christie at the funeral home a heart attack, so I chose a plain pair of black undies and a plain black bra.
“Damn it!” I shut the drawer. “I forgot to bring something to put her clothes in.”
Nate was leaning against the door jamb, watching me.
“I have a large paper evidence bag in my truck. Will that do?”
I glanced over at him. “Perfect. Thanks!”
He disappeared, and I heard the front door open and shut as I pulled her double closet doors open. Since I wasn’t familiar with her closet or wardrobe, I figured the easiest way to find something would be to push all the clothes to one side and go through them one by one until I found something suitable.
I had to admit, I had clothes envy as I plowed through her designer apparel. There were many dresses that I didn’t think were suitable for a funeral, but I pulled out a few things that could work. Even then, I kept going because I was hoping I’d come across something that wasn’t too casual or too fancy. I wanted to find the perfect outfit.
The last item hanging in the closet was a black dress that looked like it would work. I lifted the hanger off the rod and held the dress up in front of me to see where the hemline would fall. Adrianna and I had been close to the same height, so if it wasn’t too short for me, it would be fine for her.
The length hit me just below the knees, which told me it would hit just above the knees on Adrianna. Perfect.
As I went to hang the other clothes back up, I noticed the drywall on the sidewall of the closet had been cut in such a way that it formed a small door.
Nate reappeared in the doorway, carrying a paper evidence bag.
“Here you go.” He came over to where I was standing.
“Set it on the floor. Look at this?” I pointed toward the closet.
He followed my finger and furrowed his brow when he saw the door-like cuts in the drywall. I reached out and pulled back the flap of drywall. Laying on one of the cross beams was a little black book and a cloth makeup bag. I grabbed the book and pulled it out of the closet to look at it in better light. We exchanged quizzical looks.
Written in Adrianna’s neat hand were what looked like initials, dates, locations, and dollar amounts. I handed the book to Nate and reached back in to get the makeup bag. Unzipped the top and found what had to be thousands of dollars.
“What the hell?” I looked at Nate.
He whistled. “I better get the crime scene boys over here again.” He frowned. “They obviously missed some things.”
He took the bag out of my hand and left the room. I followed. He went over to the kitchen counter and started counting the cash. I picked up the black book and examined it in closer detail. Couldn’t make heads nor tails out of it, but I knew enough to know it didn’t contain the type of information that a bookie would write down.
I reached into my purse on the counter, grabbed my cell phone and took a picture of the first page of the notebook.
“You know,” he said, “you really shouldn’t be doing that.”
“I know.” I didn’t dare look at him. “Do you want me to stop?”
“Yes. Actually, I do. You don’t have to erase the picture you took, but no more. It’s evidence in a murder investigation, and I could get fired.”
He snatched away the notebook, strode out to his truck, and came back in with two evidence bags. Sealed the book in the bag and wrote down the required information. He then put the cash back into the makeup bag and repeated the process.
“Ten thousand dollars.” He wrote the number on the bag. “Where would she get that kind of cash?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged.
Things were beginning to come together in my head, but I didn’t want to say anything to Nate until I was sure.
I went back into the bedroom, gathered up the clothes for Adrianna, and put them in the bag Nate had provided. By the time I got back out into the living room, the crime scene techs were there, and gave me a weird look when I came out of the bedroom with an evidence bag. Nate explained the situation to them.
“I should go,” I said. “I have to get these to David at the funeral home.”
“Dinner later?” he said.
“Sure.”
“I’ll pick you up at six.” He gave me a quick kiss at the door.
When I got home, Atlas bounded up to the door and gave me a rowdy greeting. Karma meowed her displeasure at being disturbed. I’d been really busy lately, and felt bad that I hadn’t spent a lot of time with them.
While Atlas ran around in the backyard, I gave Karma a few treats, which seemed to mollify her cranky mood.
I searched the house, but couldn’t find Adrianna’s key anywhere. What the hell?
Atlas got a treat when he came in, and then I grabbed my cell phone and headed for my office. If my hunch was right, I should have confirmation within seconds.
I opened the picture of Adrianna and ran it through an image search. When the results popped up on my screen, I almost vomited. She had been an escort—and a high-priced one at that. Her online persona was Gracey Merlot, which is why it never popped up in any of my research. She’d worked for an escort service in Detroit. The pictures of her on the website, in her sexy lingerie, were too much for me to bear, and I closed the website.
It all made sense—the designer clothes, fancy underwear, the book with the initials and other information.
Adrianna had been a high-class hooker.
26
Just as I reached for my cell phone to tell Nate about Adrianna being a call girl, my doorbell rang and sent Atlas into a frenzy. He was barking, whining, and wagging his tail so hard I thought he was going to knock himself over.
When I opened the door, Frank and Bea were standing on the porch, and I invited them in.
“We’re engaged!” Bea held out her hand to show me the vintage diamond ring that adorned her finger.
“Oh, my gosh!” I gave each of them a hug. “I’m so happy for both of you.”
Frank was beaming, and he never let his gaze wander too far from Bea.
“I was so nervous,” he said. “I thought for sure she was going to turn me down.”
“Oh, pshh.” Bea kissed his cheek.
“This calls for a celebration!” I walked into the kitchen to open a bottle of wine, and poured three glasses, then handed one to them both. “Sorry it’s not champagne.”
“This is perfect,” Bea said.
We toasted to their engagement.
“So when’s the wedding?”
They exchanged glances.
“We’re not sure.” Bea looked at me. “What would you think of a summer wedding in the park?”
“Perfect. Frank?” I looked at him.
“Whatever she wants is fine with me.”
Good answer.
We sat around and chatted for an hour. And when they left, I shut and locked the door behind them.
I was thrilled. Bea and Frank both deserved to be happy, and to have someone. I did, too, but my prospects weren’t looking good.
I went back to my office to call Nate.
“She was an escort,” I said.
“Yeah, we figured it out. I was just about to call you. This opens up a whole new group of suspects. We’re working to decipher her code for the men she met.
“Well, it helps that she wrote down the places she met them, right?” I started to wash out the wine glasses.
“Yes. Some of my team is going to try to get any security footage these places may have. It’s going to be a long night. Can we do dinner another time?”
“Of course. I’ll just run up to Gil’s and grab something. Good luck.”
I was disappointed that I’d have to eat alone yet again, but knew it was more important for Nate to track down who Adrianna had been seeing.
I grabbed my bag and set the alarm before heading out for the short walk to Gil’s. I was halfway down the street when I heard someone coming up behind me. I whirled around and saw Jason.
“Hey, wait up.” He broke into a trot.
I stopped and waited for him.
“Where you going?” he said.
“Dinner,” I snapped, and glared up at him, fists at my side. “Why were your fingerprints on the candy box at Adrianna’s. And why did you say the candy was for me? You’ve never bought me a box of candy in your life!”
“Zoey, I can explain.” Sadness washed over his face. “Can I buy you dinner?”
I shrugged and started walking. He took a hold of my arm and turned me to face him.
“Zoey, I didn’t kill those girls. Please say you believe me.” His eyes pleaded.
I stared at him for a long minute. “I believe you didn’t kill those girls. But I don’t believe for one minute that box of candy was for me.”
“I can work with that. Let’s go to the Blue Bass.”
We walked the rest of the way in silence. When we got to the restaurant, Jason requested a quiet table in the back corner. He pulled my chair out for me and then settled in across the table. We each ordered a glass of wine. I excused myself to use the ladies’ room and asked him to watch my purse. A couple minutes later, I returned to the table.
“Listen.” He leaned forward over the table. “The candy was for you. I know I’ve been acting like a real jerk the last few weeks, and I’m sorry.”
The waitress delivered our wine.
“So you were going to use the candy to try to apologize?” I took a sip of the wine.
Jason waved the waitress away and told her we’d order in a few minutes.
“Yes. And I was planning a special night to take you out and try to make up for my behavior. But someone broke out the window of my truck and stole the candy. It had to be the same person who killed Adrianna. The poor girl.” He shook his head.
“You know she was an escort, right?” I stared at him.
“What?” His eyes flew open wide, and his jaw dropped.
I explained what I’d found out.
“Unbelievable,” he said.
“It is.” I nodded.
The waitress came back to our table, and we ordered dinner and another glass of wine.
“So what has been going on with you lately?” I said. “Why have you been so mean to me?”
He reached across the table and took my hand. “Because I love you, Zoey.”
“Wait! What?” I pulled my hand away. “You’ve been treating me like crap because you love me? That doesn’t even make any sense.” I shook my head, sat back in my chair, and folded my arms across my chest.
“Here’s the thing.” He took a gulp of wine. “I always imagined I’d grow up and marry a woman who wanted to be in a more traditional relationship. You know, the man goes to work. The woman stays home and takes care of the house, the kids, and is involved in her women’s groups or whatever.”
“Huh? This isn’t the 1950s, Jason.”
“I know. But that’s how my family worked.” He shrugged. “I guess it’s what I was used to. I wanted that, Zoey. I wanted that so bad.”
“Go on.”
The waitress delivered our salads, and I dumped the dressing on mine.
“Then I met you. You were different, you know? Independent, impulsive, smart, beautiful.”
I smiled.
“And when you said you liked me, I felt like I’d won the lottery. But then you kept putting yourself in danger, and it broke my heart.”
“Why?”
“Because if something happened to you, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. I tried everything to discourage you. But nothing worked.” He looked into my eyes.
I used my fork to shuffle the lettuce around in the salad bowl.
“But that’s who I am, Jason. I’m not going to change. Not for you. Not for anyone.”
“I understand that now.” He wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I want you back, Zoey. Every time I see you with Nate, I get so jealous I can’t stand it.”
Before I could respond, the waitress sat our dinners down on the table.
“Jason,” I cut into my steak, “you know I care about you. But I need some time to think. You’ve gone out of your way to make my life difficult lately.”
“I understand. At least you didn’t shut me down completely.” He winked at me and smiled.
We both worked to keep the conversation light while we ate. He told me about how the renovations were going at the Rockford house, and I loved the way his eyes lit up when he talked about it. It seemed more like the Jason I’d fallen in love with.
“The funeral for Adrianna and her father is tomorrow,” I said. “Are you coming?
“Yeah, for sure. Can we go together?”
I nodded. “Pick me up at nine. The service is at ten-thirty, but I want to make sure everything is perfect.”
“It’s a good thing you’re doing.” He nodded. “You really are an amazing woman.”
I felt myself blush. “Thanks.”
We finished dinner, and I tucked a couple of bites of steak into my bag as a treat for Atlas. After Jason paid the bill, we started home. As we strolled along, I looped my arm through his and put my head on his shoulder. He made me feel safe. It was one of the things I liked most about him.
He walked me to my door and gave me a soft kiss goodnight. After he left, I let the dog out and gave him and Karma a couple treats. Before letting Atlas back in, I fished through my purse to get the bit of steak for Atlas. Once I pulled the napkin out of my purse, something pinged when it hit the kitchen countertop.
The key to Adrianna’s house. What the hell? I could have sworn I’d looked everywhere in my bag.
Atlas was barking at the back door, so I slipped the key back into my bag and gave him his treat.
As I got ready for bed, I thought about what Jason had said. I knew I loved him, but I wasn’t ready to trust him again. At least, not for a while. Nate was a great guy, but the Boy Scout vibe could get boring after a while. Besides, Nate and I hadn’t even talked about entering into a relationship, and I wasn’t sure what we had. My guess is that we were just going to be friends. I wondered how Jason would deal with that.
I went to my office and turned on the laptop. While I waited for it to boot up, I pulled out Bea’s genealogy file and scanned through it. My mind kept going back to Inspector Martinelli, and why he had arrested Bea’s relative.
I did another search to find out more information about Martinelli. But this time I dug deeper. It took a while, but I managed to find an old Ph.D. thesis about the way bureaucracy and organizational structure destroyed police efficiency, on an obscure website that quoted Deputy Chief Inspector Martinelli: “We have a few suspects in the Jack the Ripper case. Aaron Kosminski, Jacob Levy, and Walter Sickert. We just need to be vigilant, and I truly wish the women who worked in the brothels, or on the street at night, would take this more seriously…”
