| |
DANA SPUN ON HER HEELS as she made her way up to the Maison Apartments. She’d called Kerry earlier and told her to meet her there.
“Is Mr. Terrence here, Kerry?” Dana asked.
“He sure is, why?”
“I think I know who Lichelle’s killer is.”
“You do? That’s great, Dana. Well, thank goodness for your sleuthing skills,” she teased. “So you think it’s Mr. Terrence?”
“Let’s just say, he has a lot of explaining to do,” Dana said.
Kerry opened the door with her key to the Maison and walked through the main entrance with Dana.
Dana glanced up the wooden staircase leading up to the second level. She drew in a deep breath.
“Here goes,” Dana sighed.
When she reached to the top, she noticed the steps creaking. “He must have heard the sound of Lichelle’s killer,” Dana said almost under her breath. It was definitely an inside job. There was no way anyone could walk in the old Victorian converted apartment complex and not hear a sound. The creaking sound of the house was loud enough to wake up the dead at Berry Cove Cemetery.
She looked at Kerry and sucked in a deep breath. Dana then knocked on the door.
The door swung open. A disgruntled Mr. Terrence stood at the doorway. “What do you want? Is that cat here?”
“Um...no. My kitty isn’t here. Um...Mr. Terrence, I...I realize the police caution tape is gone now. Is it possible to go back to Lichelle’s apartment? Has it been cleared out yet? I need to get something.”
Mr. Terrence eyed Dana suspiciously. “What for?”
“Oh, it’s just a personal item.”
He frowned. “Fine.” He then went to his counter and grabbed a set of master keys and walked down the corridor to Lichelle’s apartment.
He opened the door then he walked away and left them alone.
“Kerry, you go in first,” Dana said, nervously.
“Sure.” Kerry stepped inside and walked into the living room. Dana followed suit.
“I notice that you didn’t trip on that extra step.”
“Excuse me?” Kerry looked confused.
“When I first came in here with Detective Troy the other day, I almost tripped and fell from that extra step. Most people do that if they haven’t been in this unit before. But you knew to avoid it. I thought you said you were never in here.”
Kerry’s eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”
“Birgitte Gianina.”
“What?” Kerry spun around. Her face reddened. Her eyes wide. “What did you just call me?”
“By your real name, Birgitte Gianina.” Dana kept her saddened eyes on Kerry.
“Are you crazy?” Kerry placed her hands on her hips.
Dana walked over by the counter. “It all makes sense Birgitte. The clues pieced together to make a complete puzzle.”
“What puzzle? You’re insane!” she protested loudly.
“Am I? Or are you?” Sorrow touched Dana’s voice as she tried to swallow hard. She could not believe what she was about to confront Kerry with. But she had to do it. Kerry needed help. She needed help badly.
Dana drew in a deep breath.
“It all started with the loud music, didn’t it?”
“Loud music?”
“Yes. When Troy came by to visit, my kitty hissed loud but it wasn’t to do with Troy. Gerdie Sue and I were just talking about loud music. That’s what triggered it.”
“Okay, now I know you’ve lost it completely. So this is about your silly cat?”
“No. Not exactly.” Dana couldn’t believe that she almost gave away her secret and Truffles hidden psychic ability. She had been thinking out loud when she’d told Kerry about Truffles hissing when Troy walked in.
“You’re trying to get your life back on track. You’ve had a rough time growing up in Switzerland.”
“Switzerland?” Kerry recoiled. Her eyes narrowed with contempt as she glared at Dana. “I have no idea what you’re talking about?” Her arms were defiantly folded tight across her chest.
It hurt Dana to have to confront Kerry like this. The girl whom she’d always admired as a sweet hard-working university student. A frequent patron of her Grandma Rae’s café. But a crime was committed. Whether Kerry wanted to face the truth or not.
“The fact that you were not able to take loud noises when the construction crew started working tipped me off. Then there was the fact that you were living in the apartment beneath Lichelle and she was notorious for blasting her music loud. Her friend, the landlord didn’t do anything about the loud noise. You needed a quiet place to study, and you needed a good night’s sleep to keep your job. It all seemed simple.”
Kerry looked at Dana incredulously. “Are you crazy? Do you really think I would kill Lichelle over loud music.” She laughed out loud.
“No. I don’t think you would. In fact, you didn’t kill Lichelle over the loud music?”
“Then what are you babbling about?”
“Two o’clock in the morning.”
“Two o’clock in the morning?”
“Yes. You’d had enough. You needed sleep and Lichelle continued to blast her music. Mr. Terrence said that you were banging on the door loud enough to wake up the dead.”
“So?”
“So, you told me the other day, Kerry, that you’ve never been in Lichelle’s apartment. But then when I spoke to you another time, you told me that Lichelle’s place was a dump! How on earth would you know that without stepping inside?”
“I saw from the opened door.”
“No. You saw from inside. There’s no way to see exactly. You came up here and she opened the door. You pushed your way inside and turned down the music yourself.”
Kerry continued to eye Dana with contempt. “So what? I didn’t kill her.”
“Yes, you did. Not that night. But you were plotting to silence her. Not over the music.”
“What?”
“No. You made a fatal mistake when you got up out of bed and ran upstairs to Lichelle’s apartment. You forgot something important.”
“What was that?”
“To put in your brown-colored contact lens.”
Kerry froze.
Dana remembered when she went to Lichelle’s apartment with Truffles in the cat stroller and when Troy said he had police contacts everywhere, Truffles hissed loudly. The word contacts was a key factor in the crime, wasn’t it? But not that kind of contacts, a different kind.
“Yes, that’s right. There was a note near Lichelle’s computer about Switzerland and Bright Blue.” Dana drew in a deep breath. Her heart pounded hard against her chest. “Then it all hit me when I went and searched online for Switzerland and Bright Blue. At first, I had assumed that each was separate. I thought she was simply planning on taking off to Switzerland after she got whatever money she thought she could get from her inheritance. But I was wrong.”
“And you’re still wrong.”
“Actually, no. I remembered what Gerdie Sue told me about Lichelle being spoiled and her father sent her off to Switzerland for a few years until she was expelled from her fancy boarding school. You were in Switzerland that time, too. That’s why Lichelle recognized you—those unmistaken bright blue eyes of yours.”
“What?”
“Yes. The online search came up with Switzerland’s infamous Bright Blue Eyed Bandit. A girl gang of bank robbers who were notorious and got away with robbing banks. Trouble was, there was a security guard fatally shot during one of the robberies. Now an outstanding bounty still exists for one million dollars leading to the arrest of the Bright Blue Eyed Bandit.” Dana reached into her tote bag and pulled out the sheet of paper with Kerry’s picture on it—only she had her natural hair color and her light blue eyes.
“Here she is. Wanted. Dangerous and Armed. Birgitte Gianina. White blonde hair and bright blue eyes that were unusually light blue. So rare, it would make you the most recognizable person on the earth as light blue eyes like these are rare. Now you dyed your hair jet black and now, I know, that you wear contact lenses. Non-prescription dark brown to hide the true color of your eyes. I remember you buying the contact lenses solution at the market”
Kerry paced nervously for a moment. Her chin locked. Her lips pinched together. What was she thinking?
Dana sucked in another deep breath, trying to calm her heavy beating heart. “When you confronted Lichelle about the music. She’d instantly recognized those light blue eyes of yours and your face. You knew you had to silence not just the music. But you had to silence Lichelle. She used to live in Switzerland. She could easily identify you once she saw you out of your lenses. It was two o’clock in the morning. You didn’t have time to put your dark brown contact lenses on—something no one in this town has seen you without. You moved here a few years ago to escape your past and change your name and your looks—your whole identity. But you made that one mistake. You just got up out of bed at 2 a.m. and stormed upstairs without thinking. That’s why Lichelle wrote down Switzerland. She looked you up to be sure. She was going to notify Swiss authorities there and collect the reward money. You couldn’t allow her to do that. So you sneakily waited for the right moment. You knew you had to get a copy of her key. And when she was in line at our Cozy Cupcakes Giveaway promotion, you pick pocketed her key—which was no big deal for you since you’re a professional thief. You took it right out of her handbag and went next door to Jimmy the locksmith, telling him that you were cutting your own key for your boyfriend.”
Kerry sighed heavily.
“It was all an elaborate scheme, wasn’t it? You heard when Lichelle told everyone she was allergic to peanut oil. You knew about the conflict between Lichelle and Gerdie Sue—it seemed like the perfect opportunity, so you tried to frame Gerdie Sue but she had an airtight alibi. So then you tried to frame me, because you heard about me solving mystery riddles and how involved I was in solving this case and you didn’t want to take a chance that I would figure this one out.”
Kerry laughed a nervous laugh. Her eyes were reddened with moisture. “Bravo!” She clapped and shook her head. “Nice story, Miss Mystery Riddles solver. So what if it’s all true. So what if I killed that witch. She was a no good troublemaker sticking her nose where it didn’t belong. Too bad, no one is here to hear your story.” Kerry grabbed a sharp nail file from her purse and moved closer towards Dana who instinctively took a step backward.
Just then Troy and another cop stormed into the room. “Freeze!” Troy’s tone was fierce and loud and caused Kerry to flinch. “Don’t even think about it.”
Kerry froze. Her face fell.
“We’ve got everything on tape. And we’ve already contacted Interpol,” Troy added. “Kerry, I’m placing you under arrest for the murder of Lichelle Sampson. You have the right to remain silent...” Troy continued to read off her rights as his fellow officer cuffed Kerry.
“I was trying to get my life back together,” Kerry seethed as she was cuffed. “I wanted to change my ways. But nooo, that stupid witch had to step in and ruin everything for me. Why couldn’t she just have consideration for her neighbors? No one would have known I was here if she hadn’t blasted that stupid loud music at all hours of the night. No one else would have recognized me.”
“No matter how you look at it Kerry, crime never pays.” Dana shook her head with pity for Kerry.
With those words, Kerry was hauled off from the premise and into a police cruiser.
“Great work, Dana! You okay?” Troy’s calm words interrupted Dana’s daze.
“Yes, I’ll be fine, Troy. Thank you.”
“Oh, no. Thank you for your tremendous help in this case, Dana. I can’t thank you enough. We really appreciate it. You really pieced this puzzle together. We should have you as part of our team.” His smile was warm and genuine.
“Thanks, Troy,” Dana said quietly. “But you know me. I love my cupcakes and my cozy life away from the bad guys.”
He grinned. “I don’t blame you. I would love to always have you around on the job, but as you can see it can get pretty dangerous.”
“It sure can.” Dana smiled back.
Troy smiled before leaving.
Dana felt as if she’d just ripped off a bandage off her shin that was very painful. The truth really did hurt, didn’t it? She hoped that would be the last time she was ever involved in solving a murder that involved someone that she knew.
We think we know our neighbors. Dana shook her head.