"A Murder In Milburn", Book 4: Death By Ice Cream (6 page)

“Tsk. I’ve had a grand old life and don’t let anyone tell you any different.” Mrs. Mullally threw up her head. “I’ve gone on tours around the world. I’ve met musicians and artists and bull-fighters. I’ve even kissed a magician, once.”

“Did you date him?”

“I wanted to but couldn’t - he disappeared afterwards!” Mrs. Mullally laughed. “All right, get along. I’ll go give Maynard his walk. He’s been nibbling on my toes trying to catch my attention.”

Nora was slowly regaining her good cheer as she walked into the diner. The croissants had been lovely, buttery and creamy, with a few almonds sprinkled on top. They sat lightly in her stomach, and made her feel like bouncing instead of walking.

Somehow, all the adrenaline from last night had transformed into endorphins. She felt gloriously happy. Yes, terrible things had happened yesterday, but she was
alive
. The weather was finer than it had been in weeks, and every time she took a breath, the fresh alpine air put a new burst of energy through her. In the distance, as always, the Teutons watched over the long flat plains of Wyoming. She was alive, and she was home, in one of the most beautiful places on earth. Not only that, she was on her way to a job she loved, where she got to spread joy by feeding people. What more could she possibly ask for? Privately, she uttered a short
Thank You
to God.

But her good cheer vanished as soon as she stepped into the Diner. There was a crowd of people gathered around the counter, and when she opened the door, every eye turned to her. Tina rushed forward, and embraced her.

“Oh, my God, Nora, I was so scared. I thought… I can’t even tell you what I thought.”

Nora laughed, and hugged Tina back. “Tina, come on, we talked about this already. I’m fine. I was very lucky. Sergio didn’t harm me.”
 

“No,” Tina said. “It’s not that.”

“What?” Nora looked up, surprised. She looked at the crowd. Each person was pretending to be very interested in their phone or paper, but she could tell that they were listening to every word the friends exchanged.

“Let’s go to the kitchen,” Tina suggested.

Nora took great pride in her kitchen. Her countertops were shining chrome, clean enough to eat off. Every shift, she’d disinfect or clean them. She stood leaning against one of them now putting on an apron, as Tina chewed on her fingernails.

“You’re scaring me, Tina,” Nora said.

“I’m scared myself,” Tina said. “Scared and confused.”

“What is it? Come out and say it.”

“Harvey was arrested today,” Tina said. “Half an hour ago.”

Nora felt her stomach drop through the floor. For a moment, the ringing in her ears returned. It was painfully obvious what had happened. Sean had pretended to be nice yesterday, but he’d conned Harvey, somehow. He’d convinced him to hand over that gun. Now he was arresting him to get revenge for all the times Harvey had harassed Sean.
 

Tina was gaping at her, and about to say more, but Nora didn’t want to listen. Dropping her apron on the floor, she stormed out, attracting stares as she went.

She slammed the door of the car and flew away, even as Tina called her name from behind her. This wasn’t going to happen, not when she was around. Sean wouldn’t dare to harass Harvey this way. He just couldn’t! She’d thought yesterday, after they talked in the car, that Sean had been a little nicer to Harvey. Clearly, she imagined it.

Sean - what a hateful, hateful man. Harvey had been right about him all along. How could Sean do this? How could he arrest Harvey for something that was clearly self-defense?

She screeched to a halt, parking her old Toyota haphazardly and slamming the door once again. With large steps she strode into the sheriff’s office. Once again, heads turned and mouths dropped as she stormed in.

“Sean!” she cried. “Where are you?”

He appeared around the corner, his sleeves rolled up, a newspaper tucked under his arm, and a coffee in one hand. “Hey, Nora.” There were bags under his eyes. Clearly he hadn’t slept all night.
 

Probably scheming to harass Harvey
. Nora fumed. “Sean. We need to talk.”

“Yes. We do. I was going to call you down, but Mrs. Mullally told me you were asleep, and with her condition, I didn’t want to tell her any details.”

“Oh, how very considerate of you,” Nora said. “I wish you’d been as considerate before arresting Harvey for what was clearly an act of self-defense!”

“Nora-”

“No, Sean. Let me make something very clear. Harvey is my man. I love him, and if you do anything to cause him pain, well, I’ll make sure it comes back to you.”

“Threatening me in my own office,” Sean said. “Classy, Nora. I didn’t expect this from you. I expected better.”

“I expected better from
you
,” Nora said. “I didn’t think you’d arrest Harvey on some half-baked charges just because you have a grudge against him. I thought you were an ethical man.”

“I’m a perfectly ethical man,” Sean said. “I haven’t arrested or charged Harvey anyway. He’s just being held while we question him.”

“What are you going to charge him with?” Nora asked. “He had every right to shoot a man who broke into his home and was trying to kill his girlfriend. No jury in the world will pronounce Harvey guilty.”

Sean took a sip from his coffee. “Nora, you better sit down.”

“I’ll sit down when you let poor Harvey go.”

“I know you love him, but calm down a little,” Sean said. “Harvey isn’t everything that he seems to be. You know that. He’s more than a little shady.”

“How dare you badmouth-”

“Just be quiet and hear me out,” Sean said. His voice was molten steel, silencing her instantly. “We haven’t arrested him about Sergio’s murder. You’re right, I was a witness. Sergio’s death isn’t going to land him in trouble. But Tiffany’s death might.”

“Tiffany’s death?” Nora sat down, shocked. “What are you talking about?”

“A body was found today at the ice-cream factory,” Sean said. “We’ve identified it as Tiffany’s. Her phone lay on the ground next to her. Half an hour before she’s slated to have died, Tiffany made three phone calls, all to one person. Harvey.”

“That… that’s not true. You’re lying,” Nora said weakly.

“Not only that, but we’ve found traces of her hair in Harvey’s home,” Sean said. “There’s no doubt about it. Tiffany visited him last night.”

“But… but he was with me last night,” Nora said, dumbfounded.

“Come on, Nora, he was acting funny, wasn’t he? I saw the doubt on your face when we came home and he wasn’t there. So where was Harvey? That’s a question he didn’t want to answer.”

Nora bit her lip. Doubt flooded through her. Had Harvey killed Tiffany? Everything Sergio told her was suddenly flashing through her mind. He’d talked about Tiffany visiting Harvey. He’d talked about that. He’d talked about a
Joe
. Who was this Joe?

“This isn’t over,” Nora said. “Harvey hasn’t killed her.”

“I’m not saying anything of the sort,” Sean said, “...yet.”

“Can I see him?” Nora asked. “I’d like to meet him.”

“Not yet,” Sean said. “Stick around if you must, but it’ll be a while before we let him go.”

“Has he… has he called his lawyer?” Nora asked.

“Ah.” Sean smiled. “So you’re not as certain that I’m being harsh and unethical are you now? Suddenly you’re more concerned about Harvey needing a lawyer.”

“I know Harvey,” Nora said. “There’s no way he could have done this. He isn’t a murderer.”

“Are you sure?” Sean asked. “After all, we both saw him kill a man in cold blood just yesterday.”

*****

Chapter 7

Nora’s heart ached a little when she saw Harvey sitting under the dim lights of his holding cell. His face seemed ten years older, and his eyes looked haunted. But as soon as he saw her, his face brightened.

“So you came,” he said. “I thought maybe you’d…” He let the words trail off. “Never mind. It’s so good to see you.” He clutched the bars, and leaned against them.

Nora put a hand over his, and squeezed. She fought hard to keep her tears from flowing. Right now, Harvey needed her to be strong. “So Sean’s finally got you where he wants you,” she said.

“So it seems,” Harvey said. His voice was light, but there was a grim undertone Nora didn’t miss.

“Tell me he’s framing you,” Nora said. “I want to believe it. Tell me that you never even knew who Tiffany was.” Her voice caught a little.

“Nora…” Harvey bit his lip. “I can’t do that.”

“So you did know her?” Nora asked. Her heart began to beat faster.
No
. Harvey couldn’t have killed Tiffany. He wasn’t the kind of man who would ever raise a hand to a woman.

Harvey took a step back. “Nora, I know you. I know what you’re aching to do right now. I know you’ve solved cases in the past, but this time, I want you to stay out of it. You hear me? None of this is your business. I’m going to hire the best lawyer in the state, and I’m going to get out free. But you… all I want is your moral support. Don’t even think of trying to find out motives and … and clues.”

Nora ignored this totally. “Last night Sergio told me that Tiffany had been at your house. Is that true?”

Harvey kept quiet. After a little while, he said, “I’m not telling you a single thing, Nora, not if it’s going to encourage you to play detective.”

“How about as a boyfriend?” Nora asked. “You left me halfway through dinner because you had urgent business. Then it turns out you had a woman come over to your place. Do you know how that looks to me?”

Harvey’s eyes narrowed. “What are you saying?”

“I just want… I just want you to talk to me,” Nora said. “There can’t be lies between us, Harvey.”

“You think I’m lying to you?” Harvey asked. “You think… you think I’m cheating on you in some way?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “Are you?”

“I can’t believe this!” Harvey exclaimed. “After everything that’s happened- how can you believe that? How can you not trust me more, Nora?”

“Then tell me why she was at your house.”

“I can’t,” Harvey said. “I won’t. I promise you, I wasn’t kissing her. I haven’t even looked at another girl since we first started dating, Nora. I love you too much.”

Nora’s heart warmed a little. So did her smile. “I believe that. Thank you, Harvey.”

“There’s nothing else that I’m going to tell you,” Harvey said. “My lips are sealed.”

“Why?”

“Because until I’m out of prison, I don’t want the slightest risk that you hurt yourself,” Harvey said. “This is a complicated situation, Nora, and there might be some dangerous people involved. If something happened to you… you know my worst fear in life is losing you, isn’t it? I’ve lost my mother early, I never really had a father. You’re all I have. You’re all I need. I won’t do anything that would put you in harm’s way.”

“So what do you expect?” Nora asked, angrily. “Do you expect me to just sit with my hands folded while you’re in jail?”

“Yes,” Harvey said. “That sounds like the perfect plan.”

“I won’t do that,” she said.

“It’s an order!” Harvey barked.

Nora laughed. “You really think that’s going to work?”

“I’ll be very angry if it doesn’t,” Harvey said. “You have no right to get involved in this, Nora. This is none of your business.”

“That’s where we disagree,” Nora said. “Whatever puts you in danger is very much my business. Maybe I don’t tell you this enough, Harvey, but I love you too. A lot. I can’t bear the thought of you sitting here in prison, when you’re innocent…” She paused suddenly. “You
are
innocent, aren’t you?”

“I didn’t kill Tiffany,” Harvey said. “I told Sean that already. After I dropped you home, I spent all last night in my office. It looks bad for me, though, because I have no alibi. No one saw me enter or leave my office, after all.”

“Well why did he arrest you? Does he have anything stronger than a weak alibi to charge you with?”

“Tiffany had…” Harvey sighed. “She had some DNA belonging to me under her fingernails.” He turned his cheek to show Nora the long scratch that angled down it.
 

Nora put a hand to her mouth. She’d noticed the cut yesterday, but in the chaos that had followed Sergio’s death, she’d never asked Harvey about it. “Tiffany did that?”

Harvey nodded.
 

“Why?!” Nora exclaimed. “If all you had with her was a business dealing-”

“For the third time, Nora, you’re not getting any more answers out of me,” Harvey said.

Deputy Ellerton came up behind Nora. “Five minutes more,” he said. “Then I have to take you out of here.”

Harvey nodded to the deputy. “I think we’re done. Nora was just leaving.”

“Harvey…” Nora moved closer. He came up to the bars, and she kissed him gently on the lips. “I know you’re a stubborn man, but you’re also a very good man. I believe that with all my heart. You can’t have done this. You’re innocent, and I’m sure that time will prove it.”

“As long as you don’t try to prove it, I’m happy,” Harvey said. He kissed her hungrily, as if he was drawing strength from her. “Wish me luck, Nora. If the lawyer’s worth what I’m paying him, I’ll be out of here soon.”