Murder the Tey Way: A Golden Age of Mystery Book Club Mystery (The Golden Age of Mystery Book Club Mysteries 2) (3 page)

BOOK: Murder the Tey Way: A Golden Age of Mystery Book Club Mystery (The Golden Age of Mystery Book Club Mysteries 2)
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“Five-eleven? One hundred and eighty pounds?” Joy reeled off. “Wearing a black woolen hat?”

Gayle nodded.

“We should call the police,” Evan said.

“Why bother?” Tim asked. “There’s nothing they can do. Or will do.”

“They should have it on record that an intruder trespassed in Lexie’s backyard.”

“Yes,” Marge agreed.

“I’m going home!” Felicity sounded on the verge of tears.

I glanced around the room. No one was in the proper state of mind to talk about books. I decided to call it a night.

“I’m sorry for the way things turned out. You’re welcome to come back here Saturday morning. We’ll finish our discussion of
The Daughter of Time
and talk about
Brat Farrar
. Does that suit everyone?”

The book club members all nodded.

“Wonderful!” I exhaled a breath of relief. I wasn’t sure how I‘d have resolved matters if one of them couldn’t make it. “And meanwhile, I’ve plenty of refreshments. You’re welcome to stay and have coffee and cake.”

Only the Billingses, Tim, and Sadie took up my offer. I saw the others out, and told Joy we’d talk tomorrow.

“Good, because I need to run something by you.”

“Okay.”  I paused then said, “I wonder what that peeping Tom was after.”

“I don’t know,” she said, giving me a peck on the cheek, “but something tells me we haven’t seen the last of that guy.”

 

 

CHAPTER TWO

 

“Lexie, wake up!”

I burrowed under my quilt to escape from the maddening person in my dream.

The maddening person shook my shoulder hard. “You have to get up!”

I blinked my way into consciousness. In the dim light, I saw Gayle hovering over me, her eyes wide with fear.

“What’s wrong?”

“There’s a man in your backyard!”

I sighed as I slipped out of bed and into the early morning chill. Seven o’clock, my clock said. My alarm was set to go off in an hour since I didn’t have to be at the university till eleven, but I had to calm my sister before she had an all-out heart attack. I didn’t want a strange man in my backyard, especially with that peeper from last night. But neither was I especially worried. Ryesdale residents often gave themselves permission to cross their neighbors’ yards. Joy, who lived two houses from me in the opposite direction of the Roberts sisters, did it often enough when she stopped by for a visit. And I had faith in the alarm system Al had installed when I’d moved in.

I peered out the window. “He’s gone.”

Gayle pointed to the extreme left. “He’s lying face down on the lawn. Just beyond the patio.”

“Oh!”

She gripped my arm so tightly, I knew there’d be marks. “Do you think he’s dead?”

Now I was worried. “I’ve no idea.”

I raced into the kitchen, my sister behind me close as a shadow. I peered out the picture window. The man lay face down on the lawn. He hadn’t moved.

I spun around to stare at Gayle. “How did you know he was out there?”

She stared down at the floor. “I woke up hungry, so I made tea and toast. He was there when I looked outside the kitchen window.”

“What time was this?”

Gayle shrugged. “I’m not sure. Only minutes before I woke you up.”

I opened the kitchen door and stepped into the cold, damp air. I crossed the cement patio to kneel beside him. My heart hammered so loud, I was sure Gayle, who had followed me outside, could hear it. I placed my fingers on his neck. No pulse. He was dead, all right, though I saw no head wound or bullet holes in his windbreaker jacket. Whoever had killed him had done it face-to-face.

Peering closer, I saw blood had trickled from under the torso and onto the ground. A black cap lay a few feet away. I started to hyperventilate. This was the man Joy had chased last night! There was something familiar about him and his cap, but no name came to mind.

Who had killed him? 

Why was he here?

I rose unsteadily to my feet and stumbled backward into Gayle.

“Is he dead?” she asked, helping me regain my footing.

“Yes.”

I stood there panting, too shaken to walk. Finally, I crossed the patio on rubbery legs. When I got to the door, I realized Gayle was still beside the body. I turned in time to see her reach out as if she meant to turn him over.

“Don’t touch him!” I shouted.

For a minute I thought she was going to ignore my order, then she followed me inside.

I lifted the phone to dial 911. Gayle grabbed my hand. “Don’t call anyone!”

“I have to call the police.” When she refused to relinquish her hold, I stepped back. Suddenly, I was afraid of my baby sister.

Gayle’s face crumpled. “Don’t look at me like that. I didn’t kill that man. I don’t even know who he is.”

“Then why don’t you want me to call the police?”

“Call them after I’m gone,” she shouted over her shoulder as she ran to the front door.

I chased after her. “Where are you going? A man was murdered. The cops will want to take your statement.”

Gayle burst into tears. “I can’t talk to the police. I can’t!”

She allowed me to lead her back into the kitchen, where I sat her down on a chair and brought her a glass of water. She gulped it down, then started crying harder. Something was terribly wrong, something to do with the dead man outside.

“What’s going on? Why did you drive across the country as if the devil were chasing you?”

Her sobbing grew louder. She gasped for breath, then started to cough.

I wrapped my arms around her. “Sweetie, what is it? You’re here, safe inside my house.”

“That man out there. He...he…”  She was hiccupping so badly, she couldn’t finish her sentence.

I swallowed the fear rising in my throat. “You recognized him?”

“I don’t think so. But he followed me here. He must have!” She covered her face in her hands.

“From Utah?”

A banshee wail filled the room. “Of course! That’s where it began.”

I handed her a fistful of tissues.

“Gayle, you came here so I could help you, because it’s safe.”

“But it isn’t safe. That man—”

“That man, whoever he is, didn’t hurt you.”

She whimpered, making small mewling sounds. “Shawn will send someone else. I know he will.”

“Who’s Shawn?” I rubbed her back in small circles the way she liked when she was little. Her muscles felt as taut as the strings on a tennis racket.

“Shawn Estes. He’s a cop.” Gayle raised her tear-stained face to me. “That’s why you can’t tell them I’m here. He’ll find out. He’ll—”

“Sshh. Everything will be all right,” I crooned, though I hadn’t the foggiest idea what she was talking about. What was important right now was calming her down so she could tell me what she was running from.

“Do you know Shawn well?”

She shook her head. “He was Chet’s friend.” She snorted. “Some friend he turned out to be!”

I paused, then asked, “You want to tell me what happened?”

Gayle inhaled deeply. Her body was still rigid, but she was beginning to relax.

“When I started making jewelry, I often bought supplies in Chet’s store. He was always helpful and made useful suggestions. When we ran into each other at the local bar or the coffee shop, we’d chat. About nothing specific, but I always felt good after a  talk with Chet.”

She gave a little smile. “He finally asked me out. A month later, we were spending nights at each other’s place. We were falling in love, Lexie.”

“Chet sounds like a really good guy,” I said.

“He was. And now he’s dead.” Gayle’s eyes darted up at the clock. She shot to her feet. “I have to go.”

“How did he die?” I asked softly.

She sat down and sank into herself. “Shawn killed him.”

“Oh.”

“I heard them arguing.” She looked directly at me for the first time since she’d awakened me half an hour ago. “It was about six-thirty Monday night. I was outside Chet’s house, my arms full of groceries because I was going to make us a nice steak dinner. Chet said he wasn’t going to do something any longer, and Shawn said yes, he was, if he knew what was good for him. I think they were talking about their poker games, but I’m not sure. I think—” she hesitated, “there was something fishy about those games.”

“Why do you say that?”

Gayle bit her lip. “The games were never regular, like every Friday night, and they held them in different places. Never the same place or in someone’s house. And Chet was different just before a game. Excitable. Like someone had given him a shot of something.”

“Do you think they were scamming marks, and Chet wanted to stop?”

Gayle nodded. “That’s exactly what I think.” She grimaced as she remembered.     “I put my ear to the door, but nothing was happening. I went around the side of the house to peer in through a window, when Chet cried out in pain. I wanted to run inside and take care of him, but I was afraid to. If Shawn had hurt him, then he’d hurt me, too.”

“You did the right thing,” I murmured.

My sister’s breath grew ragged. “Finally, Shawn raced out of the house. I stayed out of sight until he drove off on his truck, then hurried inside. Chet lay crumpled on the floor. His hand covered his stomach where blood had poured from. But he wasn’t moving. His eyes were wide open. He looked terrified.”

“As you must have been.”

“He was dead, Lexie! I dropped the bag of food and ran back to my car. I stopped by my house to pack a bag, grab my charge cards, and started driving east. I must have driven seventy, eighty miles when my cellphone rang. It was Shawn.” She swallowed.

“He knew you’d been to Chet’s because he saw the bag of groceries,” I said.

“Probably.” Gayle let out a laugh that was anything but funny. “By then he’d  been called to investigate Chet’s homicide in his ‘official capacity.’ He said I should come back to town, that I’d be treated well. He’d help me hire the best lawyer. For a minute I didn’t know what he was talking about. Then I realized he was speaking as though
I
was murder suspect number one. I forgot to be afraid and did the stupidest thing.”

She pressed her lips together. “I told him I knew he’d killed Chet. Shawn laughed. He said since I wasn’t coming back on my own volition, he’d be sending out someone to take care of me.”

“So naturally you thought Shawn sent the dead man after you.”

Gayle nodded. “To kill me.”

My baby sister was terrified. I had to protect her.

“Gayle, we’ll go to the police! They have safe houses. And we’ll hire the best defense lawyer.”

Gayle gripped my arms and shook me. “You can’t protect me, Lexie. No one can! Not from the likes of Shawn Estes.”    

This time I made no attempt to stop her from leaving the kitchen. My first impulse was to call Brian to ask for his help. The trouble was the murder had been committed in Utah where Shawn was a police officer. He had jurisdiction there. He could have Gayle sent back to Utah where he’d kill her to keep her quiet. She was right. I wanted to help, but could offer no protection.

I went to the closet in my office where I’d installed a tiny safe. I removed the five hundred dollars I kept there for emergencies and shoved it in a number ten envelope. Gayle was already in the hall, her duffle bag in hand.

“Take this.” I handed her the money. “It’s all I have, but if you wait, I’ll run to the bank and get more.”

Gayle peered into the envelope. “Thanks, Lexie. This will be fine.”

“You mustn’t use your credit card.”

“I won’t. I had cash in the house. I’ll be okay.”

She threw her arms around me. We held each other in a fierce grip. Finally, I let her go.

“Do you know where you’re headed?”

“Maybe. But I’m not telling you.”

I gave her a bittersweet smile. “In case someone asks me. Like the cops.”

“Right. When you call to tell them about him,” she gestured with her head toward the backyard, “please leave me out of it, if you can.”

I nodded. “Of course.”

“I’ll call you soon,” she told me without my having to ask.

“Don’t use your cell phone.”

“Of course not. Soon as I leave here, I’m destroying it and buying a disposable phone.”

I watched her drive off, then called the police.

They arrived in a matter of minutes—one unmarked car and two squad cars. My heart thumped as I watched Detective Brian Donovan step out of the unmarked car. I was happy to see him and worried at the same time. Conflicting thoughts and emotions sparred inside me.
Keep Gayle out of it
, was my mantra for the day. Then there was the matter of the dead man lying in my backyard, whoever he was.

“Hello, Lexie.”

I nodded, too flustered to meet Brian’s pale blue eyes. Sexy eyes. Sexy body. Lust streaked with guilt because I found him hotter than Al. Al, who wanted a permanent relationship, while Brian wanted…

I hadn’t the foggiest idea what Brian wanted.

“Lexie?”

I jumped when he touched my arm.

“Sorry. “

“When did you notice the body in your backyard?”

“Shortly after I woke up, around seven-thirty.”
A small lie,
I told myself.

“Did you go outside?”

“Yes.”

“Touch the body?”

I nodded. “I felt his carotid artery. No pulse.”

The men followed Brian through the kitchen door and across the patio. They moved like robots, I decided, stifling a giggle.
Bad Lexie!
I scolded myself, then realized my nerves were stretched as far as they could go. I turned on the faucet and put up a large pot of coffee.

A few minutes later, Brian returned to the kitchen. He sat down at the table and pulled out his notepad.

“Know who he is?”

“I couldn’t see his face, but he doesn’t look like anyone I know.” I handed him a mug of coffee and poured one for myself.

Brian added two spoons of sugar and stirred. We sipped in silence. Then he asked, “Are you sure you don’t recognize him?”

I heard a roaring in my ears. I ignored the warning and took the bull by the horns. “You mean because he’s lying dead in my backyard?”

“For starters.”

I shrugged. “I wonder if he’s the same guy who was out there last night, spying on our book club meeting.”

BOOK: Murder the Tey Way: A Golden Age of Mystery Book Club Mystery (The Golden Age of Mystery Book Club Mysteries 2)
4.6Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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