When Walt and Danielle arrived at Frederickport Vacation Properties, they found Leslie alone in the front office at her desk.
“Good to see you’re back. How are you feeling?” Danielle asked.
Leslie smiled up at Danielle. “Much better, thanks. You here to see Adam?”
Together, Walt and Danielle stood by Leslie’s desk. “Yes. Is he here?” Danielle asked.
“He’s in his office. You can go on back.”
The door to Adam’s office was open, but instead of stepping inside, Danielle and Walt stood in the open doorway while Danielle knocked loudly on the doorjamb and called out a hello. Adam looked up from his desk, where he had been sorting papers.
“Hey, come on in!” Adam stood, waved them in, and watched Walt and Danielle enter the office. He motioned to the two empty chairs facing his desk. Before sitting down, Walt shook Adam’s hand while saying hi.
“So, what do I owe this visit? You decided to buy some investment property?” Adam sat down behind the desk, facing the couple.
Danielle grinned. “Maybe some other time. We were just in the neighborhood and figured we’d stop and say hi. And I wondered if Mel said anything to you about the email I sent her about the wedding.”
Adam returned Danielle’s grin. “She did. In fact, she emailed me a copy. Looks like you might have a career as a wedding planner.” Danielle had sent Melony an itemized list of all the things that needed to be done for the wedding, including suggestions along with a breakdown of what Danielle could do for Melony.
“Lily helped me,” Danielle said.
“With Lily doing Joe and Kelly’s wedding, maybe you two need to go into business together,” Adam teased.
Danielle flashed Adam a grin. “I’ll consider it. By the way, Kenny gave us his business card when we were in here, in case we need a handyman, and Bill seems super busy lately. I’m assuming he’s good, since he works for you?”
“Kenny knows his stuff. I’ve been happy with him.”
“Have you known him for a long time?” Walt asked.
“A couple of years.” Adam shrugged.
“Do you know anything about what he did before he worked for the library?” Danielle asked.
Adam let out a sigh. “You heard something about Kenny’s past, didn’t you? One thing about Frederickport, can’t keep secrets in this town.”
“I don’t agree. Frederickport is good at keeping secrets,” Danielle argued.
Adam arched his brows. “How do you figure?”
“Let’s see, for years Daisy Morton assumed her sister’s identity while hiding her sister’s body next door to Marlow House. Then there is that secret tunnel under Beach Drive—”
“True,” Adam interrupted. “But they didn’t stay secrets, did they?”
“They did for decades. What’s Kenny’s secret?” Danielle asked.
Adam studied Danielle. “So you didn’t hear anything?”
“Someone might have said something about him spending time behind bars,” Danielle said.
Adam leaned back in his desk chair. “He told me when he applied for the job, so it wasn’t really a secret from me. And I checked out his story. After all, I have to trust someone before I send them into a renter’s house to make repairs.”
“The story isn’t true?” Danielle asked.
“Yeah, it’s true, the part about his time behind bars, anyway. He worked at a warehouse and got involved with some sketchy co-workers. He let these friends store some boxes in his garage, but what he didn’t know, it was stuff they ripped off from the warehouse where they all worked. Someone tipped the cops off that they’d find stolen merchandise on the property. He didn’t have the best public defender; the guy talked him into making a plea deal, which included testifying against the guys who put the hot merchandise in his garage and serving some time.”
“If he didn’t realize the stuff was hot, and he cooperated with the police, why did he get sent to prison?” Danielle asked.
“Like I said, he didn’t have the best public defender. After he told me his version of the story, I asked if Mel could talk to his attorney. He agreed. After she did, Mel said the public defender was a freaking idiot. Anyway, Kenny’s a good guy. Frankly, Bill and I did some pretty stupid crap when we were younger that could have gotten us locked up.”
“Did he ever find out who tipped off the cops?” Walt asked.
“He’s pretty sure it was the ex-girlfriend of one of the guys who had ripped the stuff off. She knew what her boyfriend was doing, and after she caught him cheating, I guess she figured she’d burn him. Of course, it didn’t just burn her ex.”
“Do you know if Kenny had any kind of personal relationship with Betty Kelty?” Danielle asked.
Adam frowned. “Whoa, that’s quite a leap from storing hot merchandise to murder suspect. That is where you’re going. Right?”
“No,” Danielle lied. “Someone said they dated for a short time.”
“Who told you that?” Adam asked.
Danielle shrugged. “I don’t remember.”
“Well, that’s a new one on me.”
Instead of going home, Walt and Danielle stopped at the police station and found the chief in his office with Brian. Danielle told them what Adam had said about Kenny and rehashed the conversation she’d had with Millie.
Brian glanced at his watch and then looked at the chief. “Kenny should be here any minute.” He looked at Walt and Danielle and said, “I spoke to him on the phone earlier, and he agreed to come in and talk to me again.”
“I’m assuming you’re going to talk to Becca and her husband again?” Danielle said.
“Yes. I called them already,” the chief said. “They’re coming in tomorrow morning.”
“Where’s Joe?” Danielle asked. “Isn’t he here?”
“Joe left for home early,” the chief said.
“Everything okay?” Danielle asked.
Brian and the chief exchanged quick glances before looking back at Danielle. “This morning Charlie Cramer called Joe; he wants Joe to go see him,” the chief explained.
Danielle looked at the chief. “Is he going to?”
“That’s what I asked,” Brian said.
“And then this afternoon, Kelly called. She was rather upset because she received a letter in the mail today—from Charlie.”
“Why would Charlie be writing to Kelly?” Danielle asked. “Was he trying to persuade Kelly to talk Joe into seeing him?”
“The letter was written before Charlie called this morning,” the chief explained. “And it wasn’t about Joe going to visit him. It was about how Charlie was looking forward to their wedding.”
Danielle frowned. She looked from the chief to Brian and back to the chief. “Why would Charlie be looking forward to the wedding? It’s not like he’s going to attend.”
“I didn’t read the letter,” Brian said. “But from what Joe told us before he left, it sounded like Charlie assumed he would be out on bail when they were getting married, and he was looking forward to being there.”
“Well, that would be kind of awkward. Since Heather is going to be there and he was planning to burn down her house with her in it,” Danielle said.
The desk phone rang. The chief answered the call. After he hung up, he said, “Kenny’s here.”
Brian sat across the interview table from Kenny, whose folded hands fiddled nervously on the tabletop.
“It surprised me you wanted me to come in again,” Kenny said. “Not sure what else I can tell you. I haven’t seen Betty since I quit a month ago.”
“The last time we spoke, you implied your relationship with Betty was strictly a work relationship.”
Kenny shrugged. “It was.”
“Are you saying Betty and you never had a more—personal relationship?”
Kenny visibly swallowed and glanced around the room. He shifted in his chair and then said, “Umm, what are you getting at?”
“Someone has come forward with information that says your relationship was more intimate than what you suggested. It would be a good idea if you weigh your words before you explain the nature of your relationship with our murder victim.”
“Do I need a lawyer?”
“It’s your right to have one.”
Kenny let out a snort and slumped back in the chair. “Yeah, right. The last time I got a lawyer, I ended up spending almost a year behind bars for something I didn’t do. But yeah, Betty and I had a relationship, one that ended before I quit the library. And I didn’t mention it before because I had nothing to do with her death. And if you’re wondering if I killed her because she broke my heart, I broke up with her. She didn’t break up with me.”
“Why did you break up with her?”
“Because she didn’t want anyone to find out about our relationship. Which at first, I didn’t mind, because I figured Josephine would frown on her protégé seeing the ex-con janitor. I was good enough to clean the toilets and do some repairs, but as nice as Josephine was to me, I wasn’t stupid, and I cared enough about Betty that I didn’t want to jeopardize her career. And I confess, there was something a little hot about a secret forbidden relationship. But then I realized Betty didn’t want to tell her family either, not because she worried about losing her job, but it embarrassed her to be dating me. But it sounds like she told someone. Who was it?”
“That doesn’t matter. When did you break up with her?” Brian asked.
“It was a couple of weeks before I quit. After I broke up, she got all bitchy.” He paused a moment and said, “Not bitchy enough that I wanted her dead. Listen, I really don’t want to get railroaded a second time for something I didn’t do. Hell, I cared about her. I wouldn’t have hurt her.”
“Were you in love with her?” Brian asked.
Kenny considered the question for a moment. Finally, he shook his head. “No. It wasn’t love. Like I said, I cared about her. We had some fun. And while I didn’t mind the sneaking around, keeping it from Josephine, I’ll admit that when I realized she was ashamed of me, well, it kind of threw ice water on the relationship, if you get what I mean. I don’t know about you, but if a woman I care about starts looking at me like I’m crap, well, I start feeling like crap. And frankly, I don’t need that in my life. So I broke it off with her, but I sure as hell didn’t kill her.”
“And you have no idea who might have wanted to hurt her?” Brian asked.
Kenny shook his head. “No.”
“And no idea who might have taken the letter opener?”
“No. To be honest, I didn’t even realize the damn thing existed before Betty said it was missing. I don’t even know what it looks like.”
“You didn’t see it when it was in the display case?”
“If I did, I don’t remember. I never paid much attention to the displays. For one thing, it’s not like I was ever involved with setting them up; Betty did that herself. And she kept the case locked. Yeah, I had access to the key, but I never had a reason to open the case. I wasn’t responsible for dusting it or anything. Betty always made it clear no one was to touch the displays because they might break something or screw up how she had them arranged. She was sort of obsessive about it. You can ask Josephine.”
“What do you know about her relationship with Dave Hammond?” Brian asked.
Kenny frowned. “Becca’s husband?”
“Yes. Were they friends?”
Kenny shrugged. “He was married to one of her close friends, but from what Betty said, she wasn’t a fan. She once told me it creeped her out how he looked at her sometimes.”
“Looked at her how?” Brian asked.
“I asked her that too,” Kenny said.
“And what did she say?”
“She said he looked at her like a predator.”