| |
“NO WAY, COULD IT HAVE been Ned,” Dana insisted later that evening while she stirred the meat sauce to make the spaghetti in her kitchen at the Victorian.
“So who do we have as possible suspects then?” Katie said, setting the table.
“There’s Tiffany...”
“His lover with the emotional outburst problem according to Gerdie Sue?”
“Yup. She’s acting mighty suspicious. And so was Kim, Ned’s ex wife.”
“You mean, you think Kim would try to destroy his store because if she couldn’t get half of it, she’d make sure he couldn’t have it either?
“Could be cuz, or...” Dana paused, thinking. “It could be that Kim was hoping that Ned would be killed so that she could collect on his insurance. According to a manicurist at Bea’s Salon, Kim was there recently complaining about all her debts and how she didn’t think that Ned was being fair in the divorce settlement.”
“Really?”
“Yup. Really.”
“But Dana, dear. She’s his ex wife. She stands to gain nothing.”
“Correction, she’s not his ex wife, not yet. If he dies before the ink is dry at the courthouse, technically, she’s still his bride.”
“Oh my goodness, that’s true! I never thought of it like that. Damn you’re good, cuz. No wonder you’re able to work out all those crazy scenarios in your murder mystery riddles on that blog of yours.”
“Thanks, cuz. But not always. Sometimes, the characters in my riddles baffle me, too. Like the ones in this crime.”
“Like who?”
“Well, maybe someone close to Chuck could have bumped him off.”
“You think we’re looking in the wrong direction at possible suspects?”
“Possibly.” Dana turned off the stove.
“But who else could have done it?”
“Well, rumor has it from Bea’s Salon that Chuck’s in a bit of marital trouble himself.”
“Really? Geez is anyone in a loving stable marriage these days?” Katie asked.
Dana grinned. Then her smile quickly faded. She remembered what it had felt like when she caught her then fiancé cheating on her with her own now former BFF. It was a steak knife to her back and her heart. She just couldn’t wrap her head around the betrayal or her heart around the heartbreak. It was unthinkable. Still, she was glad that she found out before she said “I do” to that frog of a cheater.
She’d grown up thinking of fairy tales and happily ever afters, and she knew they did exist. But instead of the frog turning into a prince after that magical kiss like in that fairytale, her handsome prince turned out to be a toad after she’d given her heart to him. Still, Katie’s own parents have been happily married for like ever. So not all marriages were total disasters.
But what was that saying about once bitten, twice shy. It would take a lot for her to trust a man again.
“Well, your folks are in a stable marriage,” Dana said.
“True. But then again, they do spend time apart.”
“Do you think that’s why their marriage is so stable?” she grinned.
Dana knew that sometimes Uncle Merv and Aunt Petunia could sometimes get on each other’s nerves or on opposite sides of a debate, but they loved each other to bits. Still, Aunt Petunia travelled to Florida a lot where she owned a few properties. Uncle Merv never liked Florida, or too much sun for that matter. He was pale as a ghost, but whenever they were together they’d be the cutest couple in the world.
“Perhaps, that’s why they are together so long. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?” Katie said.
“What did you just say?” Dana’s ears perked up.
“Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Katie looked perplexed.
“That’s it!”
“What’s it, cuz? Oh, no what are you up to now?”
“Absence! There’s someone missing from this picture.”
“There is? And who might that be, cuz?” Katie placed her hand on her hip.
“His mistress.” Dana frowned and went to the table. She pulled out her laptop and flipped it open. She then tapped the keys on the keyboard of her MacBook.
“His mistress?”
“Yup. Remember, Gerdie mentioned something about Chuck’s wife wanted to kill him because he was seeing someone else, running around town. I wonder if that mistress woman had anything to do with it or knows something. She would be the closest person to him, not his wife, right?”
“I guess so, but just how do you intend to find that information?”
“Online, of course.”
Katie playfully rolled her eyes. “Really now, cuz?”
“Really. And I bet that blue button might have something to do with her, too.”
Dana tapped away and pulled up whatever she could find on social media and various search engines on Chuck and his relationships. She came across a few sites that seemed interesting and pondered for a moment.
Hmmm.
“Well, would you look at this.”
“What is it?” Katie said eagerly looking at Dana’s screen.
“There’s picture on Chuck’s Facebook post of him with his arms around someone.”
“Why on earth would he post a picture of himself with another woman? I’ve seen a picture of his wife and that’s not her.”
“Well, his profile doesn’t state whether or not he’s in a relationship.”
“Well, that must really get his wife feeling all cozy and confident. Her beloved husband has a profile as a single guy posting selfies of himself showing off his muscles and pictures of himself with different women.”
Dana eyed the picture closely, zooming in on her computer to make the image larger.”
The woman in the picture wore sunglasses and a hat and she wore a revealing bikini. It was taken somewhere on a beach.
Dana gasped.
“What is it, cuz?”
“That’s Ned’s wife, Kim.”
Katie took a closer look. “No way! Are you sure?” Katie tilted her head to the side and squinted her eyes as if that would make the image more clearer.
“Yup, I’m sure. Look over there. She has a beauty mark on her left cheek.”
“Oh, my goodness, so does Kim. But that doesn’t mean it’s her.”
“But look at the profile. Look at her face. That chin, those cheeks and...that watch? She always wears that antique gold watch bracelet. It’s the same one.”
“Whoa. Wait a minute. You are one observant chick, cuz! Never saw that before.”
“Oh, I did. As Detective Troy always says it’s good to be observant and notice things. Besides, you know how much I’m into antiques. I couldn’t help but notice that she wore a one of a kind antique gold watch that looks like an expensive Edwardian era bracelet. I’ve always been fascinated by it.”
“Wow, I guess it really is her then. But what on earth would she be doing with Chuck?”
Dana shrugged then shook her head. “I really wish I knew. This really baffles me. Kim saw me with the poker. She knew it was there at the store.”
Dana’s heart pounded in her chest at the thought.
“But she would know it was there since she’s Ned’s wife,” Katie said.
“Right. So she was reminded of it being there. She could have easily taken the poker, knowing Ned’s fingerprints would be all over the weapon.”
“And because she was seeing Chuck, she would have ample opportunity to be with him and then strike him over the head with it.”
“But why? What would be her motive?”
“Because he was supposed to kill her husband and failed miserably and now he could pinpoint her as the person who hired him to bump off her husband?”
“True. But something just doesn’t quite add up.”
“Dana, what on earth doesn’t add up? She bumped him off, plain and simple. He flunked at bumping off her hubby so she bumped him off instead.”
Dana shook her head and playfully rolled her eyes. “Do you really think that’s what happened, Katie?”
“And why not? You’ve written way more crazy cases than that on your mystery riddles blog.”
“True.”
“And aren’t you the one that keeps on yapping on about truth being stranger than fiction?”
“True, too. However, I’m not sure if we’re in the right direction. There was that mystery guy outside the store, too.”
“Oh, boy. Here we go again. Why do you have to make things so complicated? The answer is staring you right in the face.”
“I believe you’re right, Katie. But I’m not quite convinced that Kim is the answer. There’s Tiffany and the mystery guy, too. I’m going to have to take a closer look.”
“At what?”
“That’s just it...I don’t know yet.”