Marla was about to call Chief Goodhue to update him on their morning when he called her instead. “I took a chance that you’d be finished interviewing the last two people on your list. It’s a little early, but can you and Rex meet me for lunch in fifteen minutes? I’d like to get an in-person update, plus I’ll have my own updates for you.”
They agreed to meet at a Chinese restaurant a couple of blocks from the condo complex. Goodhue was already there at a back table when they arrived.
“First, tell me about your morning,” he said.
Rex gave a quick rundown on Nell. “Attempted to be open and cooperative, but she’s still grieving her late wife as well as smarting from being fired by the victim a few weeks ago.”
“What’s your gut telling you about her as a suspect?” Goodhue asked.
“Guess it’s possible. She took her role as accountant seriously and was incensed by Eloise Wallace’s supposed misuse of company funds. But if pushed too far, I see her as calling out her former boss to the authorities rather than killing her.”
“And your second interview?” Goodhue asked.
“Grace Adamson,” Marla said. “She maybe had the strongest motive to kill Eloise. The woman essentially stole her company from her. Given that history, I still don’t understand why she’s continued to play on the pickleball team. She said it was because she wanted to stay in touch with Tanner Oliver and Nell Hampton in case there was a chance she could get Essy back.”
Goodhue leaned forward and placed his folded handed on the tabletop. “In other words, you haven’t eliminated anyone yet.” Disappointment underlay his tone.
“There’s no clear-cut suspect, Goodhue,” Rex replied. “The woman stepped on many toes. We don’t want to leap to any conclusion too soon.”
“I appreciate that you’ve had a lot of information to sift through in a short amount of time. You’ve done a great job establishing the basics. Continue to chop away at it. Just, uh …”
“Get it solved as fast as we can,” Rex finished for him. “Though we’re not even close.”
Marla couldn’t believe Rex would admit as much to the chief. Even with Rex now consulting for his former competitor, his relationship with Goodhue didn’t appear to have been repaired. At least not completely. “What Rex meant is that there’s more underlying the ties all six people we’ve interviewed had to Eloise, which we still need to discover. I sense there’s one key piece of information just waiting to be found, and when we do, it will be the key to finding our killer.”
She didn’t dare check out Rex’s expression. He probably didn’t appreciate her attempting to clarify his statement.
“That’s very optimistic, Marla,” Goodhue replied. “Rex and I both know murder cases sometimes take a long time before resolution. Some never get solved. Convincing the public and the media of that is another thing.”
“Marla’s got a point,” Rex said, surprising her with his support. “We’ve got our hands full with this case because there were so many people close to her who hated her. We need to keep going over their statements with them, waiting for one or more of them to slip up. That’s gonna happen, hopefully sooner rather than later. Marla and I are finding our stride working together. She follows up when I don’t see connections and vice versa.”
That was unexpected. Did he not want to cave so soon with Goodhue or did he really mean it? She’d love to ask him that question when it was just the two of them, but she was also learning he’d reveal more in his own time rather than her pressing him.
Goodhue addressed her. “Is that true, Marla? Investigating homicides is replacing your love of acting?”
Oh, boy! She wasn’t expecting that question. “Truthfully, Chief, I have no idea how to reply. Figuring out my own life right now seems even more complicated than this case. But you’ve given me something to hold on to while I repair that part of my life.”
“I appreciate the honesty,” Goodhue replied. “I kinda hope you’ll keep doing what you are now, even after you two put this case to bed. Whether it was all the indirect training you received playing a PI or you’ve just quickly picked up investigation techniques, you’re showing a real knack for it. We’ve been lucky to have your help.”
Rex didn’t say anything, but he didn’t counter Goodhue’s words, either.
“That said, let’s move on to my other news,” Goodhue said. “The autopsy and tox reports are in. Our initial assessment was confirmed. It was arsenic poisoning. There were still traces of it in her water bottles as well as her blood. She died between midnight Saturday night and midnight Sunday. Whoever poisoned her had a rudimentary understanding of how the stuff works. Gave her a dose that didn’t take effect immediately but was strong enough to kill her within twenty-four hours. I’ll send you the details.”
“Arsenic, huh?” Rex said. “I thought the stuff had been pretty much outlawed in most over-the-counter products. Although I guess it could be found in older products. Or labs that don’t mind looking the other way.”
Marla weighed in. “It was the culprit at least once a season on Carruthers. The writers liked it because it was clear and tasteless and supposedly easy to administer.”
“We still need to determine when she came in contact with it.”
“She appeared to be fine at the pickleball match Saturday morning but may have been starting to feel the effects Saturday night. Her assistant, Chloe Reardon, texted her. Eloise replied, but according to Chloe, her response was more abbreviated than usual.”
“Good to know, which means we can proceed on the assumption she was most likely poisoned at the match. The one officer I could spare canvassed the neighborhood and determined no one saw her leave or witnessed anyone arriving during the Saturday through Sunday period. The text to Chloe Reardon that you mentioned was the last activity on her phone. Her security system wasn’t engaged overnight.”
“It would appear she died alone,” Marla said. “How ironic for someone who was so self-involved.”
Marla’s words halted further discussion for several beats.
“I’ve got other information to share with you,” Goodhue said at length, “the background research on the victim and the six potential suspects minus financial data. Had to obtain warrants on those details, so they’re taking longer. My intern did a remarkable job gathering and putting together these profiles in just a day.”
“Good! We’ll combine our debriefing of this morning’s interviews with a review of your intern’s best efforts,” Rex said.
“Then I’ll let you get on with it,” Goodhue said, rising. “Keep me posted. Enjoy your meal.”
“Are you okay with eating here, now that Goodhue has said his piece?” Rex asked once it was just the two of them.
“How about we get our meal to go? I’m anxious to go somewhere private to discuss the reports Goodhue sent us,” she said.
“Sounds like a plan,” he returned.
They didn’t say much during the short trip back to the condo building. Each seemed to be thinking their own thoughts. Marla returned to Kitty’s condo first because she hadn’t seen her sister since the day before.
“There you are,” Kitty said, as if Marla had been gone for weeks.
Marla followed Kitty into the kitchen. “I stopped by to see how your pie presentation went last night.”
Kitty clapped her hands together, pleased with herself. “He literally ate it up,” she replied, chuckling at her own pun. “He ate two pieces then and begged me to leave the rest with him when he brought me home. We were a success!”
“We. At least you give Rex and me credit for our part.”
“Uh … if Hub ever comments about it to you, please keep the part you two played in the project to yourself.”
“Will that ever happen? Neither Rex nor I have yet to meet him.” And if his stint as Kitty’s latest beau, or whatever they were called these days, continued along the same timeline as the rest of her romantic interests, Marla doubted they ever would.
“I need to get past a small issue that Hub had with the pie first,” Kitty said in sweet, coaxing tone.
Small issue? “I thought you said he really liked it,” Marla said, waiting for the bomb to drop.
“We overlooked a critical point.”
“I know I shouldn’t ask, but what was that?” Marla asked.
“The type of flour we used. Even though Hub praised what we made, his first question was whether I used his product. It would have been so easy to say yes, but for some reason, probably your influence, I told him the truth. I’d just started seeing Hub when you and I went grocery shopping, and it never occurred to me that sometime down the road the type of flour we used would become critical. Besides, it’s higher priced than the one we picked.”
“Good for you. It would’ve been so easy to have told him what he wanted to hear.”
Kitty smiled expectantly. “Thanks, but he didn’t drop it there. He wants another pie. This one using Prairie Harvest Flour. He even offered to bring me a complimentary bag.”
This pie thing was taking on a life of its own. “Hold on. You want Rex and me to help you make another pie? That won’t be possible right now. Our investigation of Eloise Wallace’s murder is heating up. We need to focus on it.” If she’d ever wanted to meet this new man in her sister’s life, she wasn’t so sure now. What a demanding jerk!
Kitty’s smile continued. “I wasn’t asking the two of you to do a repeat performance. Hub wants to sit in and watch me make it myself. Tomorrow night.”
Make that demanding super jerk. “He doesn’t trust you to actually use his company’s flour?”
Kitty rubbed her neck. “I suppose that could be his intent, but it’s more likely he’s got some idea in mind for another way to promote his product.”
“Something that includes you?”
“Omigosh, I hadn’t considered that possibility,” Kitty replied. “I’ve been more focused on having to prove my baking skills to him.”
Marla voiced her thoughts out loud. “My sister, the star of flour commercials. Interesting turn of events. You before the camera instead of me.”
“Hold on, besides it not being a done deal, he hasn’t even broached the idea yet,” Kitty said. She tilted her head, apparently picturing herself pitching Prairie Harvest Flour.
“Would you consider it if asked?”
“And you accuse me of leaping to conclusions. I don’t know. Maybe. No, it will never happen once he sees me in action in the kitchen.”
Marla was about to reassure Kitty that she and Rex would help her look good for this new guy when it hit her. Her sister had tried to set her up. “That ‘poor me’ act won’t work with me, sister dear. If you wanted Rex and me to walk you through how to do this, why didn’t you just ask?”
Kitty puckered her lips. “Can’t fool you, can I? You and Rex have so much on your plate right now, I was afraid to come right out and ask for another favor. But I like this guy. I don’t want to lose him over this silly pie thing.”
Marla relaxed her shoulders. “At least you came clean now. Look, Rex and I will need to take a dinner break later on. I’ll see if he’ll agree to eat here while we give you a quick lesson.”
Kitty hugged her. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. Tell me what you want to eat, and I’ll order out while we talk.”
“I can’t speak for Rex. He may feel his helpfulness has run its course.”
“But you’ll still be here, right?”
“Unless something else pops up with the case, yes. But Kitty, even if you can pull off this demo for Hub, you need to tell him you’re not a baker or your relationship is in trouble.”
“I know. I just like this guy so much, I got carried away trying to impress him.”
“I’ll text you when Rex and I decide to take a break. We’ll take you up on that offer for dinner.” She pivoted at the door as a new thought hit. “And it won’t be cheap.”