Costume Catastrophe (Zoe Donovan Mystery Book 21) (6 page)

“You can trust me and you can trust your instincts.”

Zak was right. Neither he nor my Zodar had let me down in the past, and there was no reason to believe either would do it now.

Chapter 4

Wednesday, October 26

I was sure I wouldn’t sleep at all that night, but, miraculously, I slept like a baby. Unfortunately, that resulted in my oversleeping and needing to scramble to get ready for work on time. Zak had left a note saying he’d fed all the animals, walked the dogs, and taken Alex and Scooter to school. He hoped I’d have a good day and also hoped I’d leave the sleuthing until either he or Levi could be with me. Both Zak and Salinger had assured me that everything that could be done was being done to track down both the killer and the potential second victim. They also reminded me that the notes could still be pranks written by a truly sick individual who for some reason had inside knowledge that Joey was dead and decided to play a cruel trick.

Honestly, I doubted that was the case, and I really didn’t think they believed it either, but it was sweet that they were trying to help relive my worry. And while my natural instinct was to grab the bull by the horns and not wait for anyone, I had no idea where to even begin to look for the second victim. I had a busy day coming up at the Zoo, so sleuthing would have to wait until evening.

Or at least that was what I thought when I left the house.

“Zoe’s Zoo, Zoe speaking,” I answered the phone later that morning.

“Zoe, it’s Margo Waverly.”

“Margo. What a surprise.” Or was it an intentional coincidence? “I was sorry to hear about Joey.”

“Yes, well, that’s why I’m calling. Your buddy Sheriff Salinger came by this morning and asked me a bunch of questions regarding my finances and my argument with Joey about alimony. I swear, he made it sound like I was a suspect.”

I sat down on the edge of my desk. I could almost visualize the look of indignation on the buxom blonde’s face as she spouted her dismay at the quite logical turn of events. “I guess it’s natural for law enforcement to question the spouse—or in your case ex-spouse—of a murder victim, especially when there was discord between the two of you.”

“Why would I kill the rodent? I need the alimony he paid me every month, which is why I was so irate when the checks stopped coming. Without the income Joey provided I’ll need to get a job. Can you believe that? A job!”

“A lot of people have jobs,” I pointed out.

“Well, not me. I married Joey right out of high school, which meant I wouldn’t have to bother with something so common as the need to support myself. I didn’t want to work then and I don’t want to work now.”

“Maybe you can find something you enjoy doing.”

“Very unlikely. So, will you talk to Salinger?”

“Talk to him?”

“Call him and tell him I didn’t do it and to please leave me alone. When he left he was muttering something about needing to see life insurance policies and savings accounts. He’s forgetting that I’m grieving and need my privacy in order to properly mourn.”

I decided to ignore the poor-me speech and ask the question I really wanted an answer to. “Joey was murdered on Monday afternoon. Do you have an alibi?”

“I told the sheriff I was napping.”

Based on the way she said the word I was pretty sure she didn’t mean sleeping. “Were you napping alone?”

“Of course not.”

“Did you tell the sheriff who you were napping with?”

“No. He didn’t ask and I didn’t say.”

“Sheriff Salinger might not have picked up on the fact that
napping
doesn’t necessarily mean
sleeping
, which is why he didn’t ask, but I am asking.”

Margo hesitated.

“It might get you off the hook,” I said persuasively.

“Oh, all right. If you must know, it was the new tennis instructor they have over at the community center. I really don’t want this getting out. The man might be a good tennis instructor, but he’s not really my type.”

“And exactly who is your type?”

“Wealthy.”

I took a deep breath. Why had I never realized how self-absorbed the woman was? “I have no control over how Sheriff Salinger runs his investigations. I would suggest that you cooperate and show a bit more grief if you don’t want to be considered a suspect.”

“Like I said, I think I already am a suspect. He even had me write down some random words like
died
and
follow
on a piece of paper. I mean, really! What was that all about?”

Good for Salinger. He was trying to track down the author of the note. I wasn’t certain he’d be asking all the suspects for handwriting samples. “Look, I can’t help you with Salinger. If you’re innocent I’m sure it will get sorted out. Now I have to go. I hear someone in the waiting area.”

With that, I hung up. Margo was clueless, but I hadn’t picked up on a killer vibe from her. Plus she hadn’t gotten why Salinger wanted the handwriting sample, which she would if she’d authored the notes, and she seemed to have an alibi. I called to Charlie, who had been sleeping under my desk, and headed to the reception area, where I’d left instructions for anyone who came in to ring the bell.

“Tommy?” I greeted the tall, dark-haired man I’d had such a crush on in high school.

“If it isn’t little Zoe Donovan.”

Tommy picked me up in a giant bear hug.

“I heard you were going to be in town for the big game. It’s so good to see you. What has it been? Five years?”

“’Bout that.”

Tommy Payton had been the quarterback of the high school team when I was in school. As one of a dynamic trio, along with Joey Waverly and Levi, he’d enjoyed quite the level of local fame.

“I guess you heard about Joey.”

“That’s why I’m here, actually. I can’t seem to get any information about what’s going on, but I was told that more often than not you’re in the know when it comes to local murders.”

I took a step back and took in how good Tommy looked. He’d been a babe in high school, but with a few added years of maturity he was downright gorgeous. Of course he still couldn’t stack up to my Zak. “Unfortunately, it’s true that I do seem to get involved in the local murder scene more than most. To be honest, though, I don’t know a lot about this specific case. All I know is that Joey was killed between three and five on Monday afternoon and his body was found by Levi last night at around five-thirty.”

“How’d he die?”

“Shot in the back.”

Tommy frowned but didn’t respond.

“I know the two of you were close. Had you talked recently?” I wondered.

“No. Joey and I had a falling out when I was in town five years ago and we hadn’t spoken since. I almost didn’t come now, but I decided it was time to let bygones be bygones. I’d hoped we could mend fences, but I guess we’ll never have the opportunity now.”

“No, I guess not. Did you just get into town?”

“Couple of hours ago. I texted Levi, but I haven’t heard back. I hoped we could meet up later.”

“I’m sure he’d love to see you. He’s in class right now. He’ll probably return your text as soon as he can. We all need to get together while you’re here. Maybe go to dinner or something.”

“Sounds good. If you hear anything more about Joey let me know.” Tommy pulled a business card out of his pocket. “My number is on this.”

“Okay. Sorry I don’t know more. Have a good rest of your day and we’ll get together later.”

I called Zak and let him know Tommy was in town and that we should plan a get-together. Zak said he’d like to catch up with Tommy but had some information regarding Joey that he felt we should go over as soon as we could manage it. We agreed to meet back at the house as soon as we both got off work. Tiffany had called to say she’d ended up having a late night and therefore would be late coming in, and the dog runs weren’t going to clean themselves, so I made sure the note to ring the bell was clearly visible and headed to the back of the shelter.

I’d never noticed how much a baby otter looked and acted like an excited puppy until Todd Binder of all people brought one in that afternoon. Talk about a coincidence. First Margo called and then Todd showed up. It was almost like my suspects had gotten together and decided to make it easy on me by coming to me so I didn’t need to find time to go to them.

“Where did you find him?” I smiled as the baby sucked at the bottle I held while he wagged his tail at a million miles an hour.

“Near the river behind my house. He was alone on the grass. I have no idea where the mom is. I looked around but couldn’t find her so I brought the little guy to you. I knew you’d take good care of him.”

“And I will. What a cutie.” I could feel my heart melt as the baby pawed at my leg, as if to thank me for the meal. “He’ll need special care for a few weeks, so I’ll probably take him home with me. Alex is going to be thrilled to have a new baby to foster.”

“I’m just happy I found him before one of our resident predators did.”

“Me too. I’ll call Scott and have him stop by to take a look at the little guy.”

“I saw Scott earlier. Before I found the otter. He was helping to set up the maze in town, but he was gone by the time I went back by. He did say something about helping Levi with football practice. It seems the whole town is getting into the excitement surrounding the big game.”

“Yeah, everyone really has pitched in. Did you by chance speak to Levi today?”

“No. Why? Is he looking for me?”

I set the baby inside one of the cat crates so he could nap now that he had a full stomach. “He was going to ask you about the fight you had with Joey. We heard his bar fighting had become a real problem.”

“Yeah; he’d changed so much since high school. Seemed like he’d been going steadily downhill the past few years, but the problem that led to all the fighting seemed to appear a few months ago. The drinking and the paranoia alone were enough to make a guy want to avoid him.”

“Paranoia?”

“Joey had all these crazy ideas that had absolutely no basis in reality. He came into the bar one night all freaked out that someone was following him. Another time he came right up to me and punched me in the face after accusing me of sleeping with Margo. Like I could afford to sleep with Margo.”

“She’s
charging
people?”

“No. That came out wrong. Margo wants to hook a rich guy who’ll take care of her, so she only dates men with money. Young or old, short or tall, fat or thin, as long as you have bank she’ll get in bed with you, but if you’re broke, you’re out of luck. She makes sure everyone knows what she’s looking for so men without adequate assets won’t waste her time.”

“I see.” I looked at the clock. I really did need to finish the cleaning. “I have to run, but before I do, can you think of anyone specifically who would have wanted to kill Joey?”

“Sure. I can think of three or four guys Joey pissed off. In fact, at least two of the guys I was hanging out with on Monday had been in fights with Joey over the past few months, but I was hanging out with them when he was killed, so I guess I’ll have to assume they didn’t do it.”

“Can you think of anyone you weren’t with who might have a motive?”

“You might want to talk to Clint Masterson. He didn’t show on Monday, and he actually has the bank to have slept with Margo. I could see the two of them coming to blows.”

“Okay; thanks.”

Clint Masterson didn’t seem the type to either engage in bar fights or sleep with women like Margo, but I didn’t think it would hurt to have a chat with him.

I decided to let Tiffany lock up. She’d offered to because she’d come in late, and the cleaning and chores were finished, so all she had to do was keep an eye on the front desk until closing. If I left now that would give me a chance to track down Clint Masterson before I was supposed to be home for the evening. I decided to drop Charlie and the baby otter at the house before heading back into town. After speaking to Margo and Todd I doubted either of them were the killer, and other than Clint’s, they were the only two names I had. Clint owned a car dealership and I hoped he’d be in that afternoon.

“Can I show you something?” a nicely dressed salesman with a big smile asked the moment I walked onto the lot.

“I’m here to see Clint.”

“He’s inside.”

I smiled at the man and continued on into the showroom. Clint had opened the car dealership a couple of years earlier. Prior to that, residents of Ashton Falls had to go down the mountain to Bryton Lake if they wanted to buy a car. I wasn’t sure how the dealership could sell enough cars to be profitable in our little town, but so far they’d managed to keep their doors open, and I’d noticed a lot more new cars on the road than I’d seen in previous years.

“I bet you’re here for that yellow Mustang,” Clint greeted me with a phony let-me-sell-you-something
smile.

“No. My car is fine.”

“Nonsense. You’re married to the richest man on the mountain and you drive a two-year-old car? Cute young thing like you needs to be seen in something fast and sporty.”

“I’m not here to look at cars,” I assured him. “I wanted to speak to you about Joey Waverly.”

“I heard what happened. Do they know who did it?”

“Not yet. I understand you and Joey had an altercation in recent weeks.”

“I hate to speak ill of the dead, but it seemed like Joey had gone totally mental during the last couple months of his life. He was an angry and paranoid man who picked a fight with everyone he came into contact with.”

Angry and paranoid. I was beginning to pick up a pattern. “When was the last time you saw him?”

Clint paused. “I guess a week or ten days ago. He came into the bowling alley and accused me of spying on him. Why in the world would I spend even one minute of my life spying on that guy?”

I frowned. “Spying?”

Clint shrugged. “That’s what he said. The guy was mental.”

Todd had said Joey thought someone was following him and now Clint said Joey thought he was spying on him. Seemed crazy to me, but then again, the man was dead. Maybe his paranoia hadn’t been unjustified after all.