Nursing a Grudge is Murder (A Maternal Instincts Mystery) (12 page)

Mom rubbed my shoulder. “Well, you probably are, darling. You don’t know why he was hired. I’m sure it has nothing to do with you.”

“Galigani said they’re first cousins.”

Mom frowned. “Well, that’s probably one reason to hire someone, but if we solve the case first then Barramendi will remember that, won’t he?”

“I want to solve it on my own. Not because my mommy went and spied on the other investigator.”

“I’m not spying. I’m auditioning for a play.”

Galigani returned to the living room. “I have news. Sam Kafer is going to meet us at Lou’s Diner near the Land’s End. We can meet with him then go lift prints off the sign you said was moved.”

Mom pocketed the postcard. “I think I’m going to do it.”

“Do what?” Galigani asked.

“Spy on V.D.” I said.

Galigani kissed mom’s check. “Excellent!”

I sighed. I’d have to resign myself to it. There’d be no talking Mom out of it at this point, especially not with Galigani cheering her on.

Chapter Twelve

Galigani and I decided that we wouldn’t have time for the hike until after our meeting with Sam. Secretly I thought that Galigani would put off the exercise of the hike as long as possible.

As we drove to Land’s End, Galigani filled me in on the details from Officer Ross. The police had lifted some prints from Perry’s TV: one set matched Perry’s fingerprints, another set had no match in the database, and the third print was only a partial, and smeared, at that.

I thought about Jill. She’d been pretty adamant that she didn’t think anyone had really broken into Perry’s apartment. Could Melanie have contrived the entire scene? If she was being abused and trying to hide it, why would she fake a robbery and call attention to herself? It seemed like the opposite of what one would want to do.

Galigani turned into a parking lot that was below the entrance to Land’s End. We circled, looking for a spot. The lot was packed as it served both the hiking area and the nearby restaurants.

“Do you think that someone broke into Perry’s place?” I asked.

Galigani shrugged. “Yeah. I assume it was the same guy who followed Jill and then Melanie.”

“Skull cap man. Me too. What if it was Sam?”

“You mean, the woman made us go on a complete wild goose chase so we wouldn’t think her boyfriend beat her up?”

I grimaced. “When you put it like that, it makes it sound ridiculous.”

“No, no. Believe me. I’ve seen worse. Anything is possible. But it wasn’t Sam’s prints on the TV.”

“How do you know that?”

“He’s got a record. His prints are in the database.”

I let the information sink in. “Record? For what?” I asked, and then added, “And how do you know this already?”

Galigani looked at me as if I was a piece of foreign matter and he didn’t quite understand how I’d ended up in his car. “As soon as you gave me his name I ran a check. That’s what I do. Gather information.”

I nodded and indicated a parking spot that was opening up, hoping this might distract him from my lack of thoroughness as a P.I. intern/newbie/wannabe.

“What do you do? Just run off to meet the guy and hope he’ll play nice and not lie to you?” he asked.

Obviously, he had not been deterred.

I tried not to look offended. “I operate on instinct.” I smiled for good measure, feeling as if I’d been called to the boss’s office, and prepared myself for the lecture that was sure to follow.

Galigani stopped the car, waiting for the other vehicle to clear out of the parking spot. He twisted in his seat and faced me. “You can’t run off and meet with people without doing a check on them first. I thought we’d already had this conversation.”

I grimaced.

Of course we’d already had this discussion. What was I thinking?

“You need to make a checklist. You do that, don’t you?”

I blinked at him. “Yeah, I have a to-do list.”

“No, not to-do. To-do’s change every day or every hour even. A checklist, you know, certain things you need to do all the time when a certain thing happens. New person pops up on the radar, boom, run a background check. Easy as that. It’s not rocket science.”

“Right. I’ll add it to my list.”

He stared at me. “Add it to what list? You just told me you didn’t have a checklist.”

“I mean, I’ll add the note to create a checklist on to my to-do list.”

Galigani’s eyes bulged and he looked as if he would propel himself out of the car right through the roof. I refrained from laughing, knowing that if he thought I was taking his scolding lightly, he’d crack. Instead, I lowered my eyes and tried to look contrite.

Thankfully, he said nothing more on the subject and pulled into the parking spot.
We got out of the car and crossed the street to Lou’s Diner. Galigani and I went inside and found a spot at the counter. Galigani ordered himself a bloody Mary.

“Aren’t you supposed to abstain from alcohol?” I asked him.

He smiled. “No. You?”

The bartender waited me out and I ordered a coffee.

“I can drink. I choose not to.” I eyed Galigani. “I want to be sharp. What about your heart?”

Galigani sat straighter on the barstool. “Look, I gotta have a drink to be able to deal with you.”

“Wow,” I laughed.

Galigani smiled. “They have the best Bloody Marys in the city. You have to try it.”

The bartender set our drinks before us. Galigani pushed his toward me and I took a sip. I had to agree. It was spicy and delicious.

“Yum!” I said.

Galigani nodded sagely.

“So what’s the deal with Sam’s record? What did he do?” I asked. Before he had a chance to answer, the front door opened with a bang.

We turned to look and in between the darkened restaurant and bright sunlight from outside stood the shadow of a large man, tall and imposing. He was about 6’4” and he let the door slam behind him.

“Galigani?” he asked, as he approached us.

I immediately noticed a circular bruise around his left eye. I checked out his hands. No marks that I could see.

“Yes,” Galigani said, rising off of his barstool and extending his right hand. “Thank you for meeting us.” He gestured in my direction. “This is my assistant, Kate Connolly.”

He gave me a firm and aggressive handshake. “I’m Sam.”

I tapped the area around my eye and said, “Ouch!”

Sam fingered the tender spot above his cheek next to his eye. “Yeah, I’m a plumber. Hazard of the job.”

Galigani frowned. “Never knew black eyes were a side effect of plumbing.”

Sam laughed, seemingly at ease with himself. “They are when you’re breaking in a newbie who’s eager to impress you. Guy was swinging a pipe around and talking too. I’m sure you know some people like that? They talk too much. Anyway, he hit me with a pipe by accident.”

I expected Galigani to make a joke at my expense. Something to the effect of how he knew only too well the hazard of breaking in an inexperienced intern, who, incidentally, did talk too much. But he simply said, “We’re looking into the death of Perry Welgan.”

Sam’s brows furrowed. “Why? I thought it was an accident.”

“Well,” I said, stringing out the word while glancing at Galigani for input.

Sam remained standing and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Of course, I’ll be as helpful as I can.” Only his body language didn’t exactly scream
openness.

The bartender approached us and Sam ordered a Bloody Mary. Showed how much I knew. The entire city knew that this was the place to order a Bloody Mary and I’d ordered a coffee!

“Can I have one, too?” I asked.

The bartender nodded. “Folks want to see a menu?”

I shook my head, and he began to mix the drinks.

“What do you want to know about Perry?” Sam asked.

“How well did you know him?” I asked, glancing at Galigani to see how much information I should release.

Sam shrugged. “Good enough, I guess. I mean, Mel and I aren’t that serious, but I’d met Perry a few times, helped him move a couch. That sort of thing.”

Galigani didn’t seem to be giving me any signal to shut up, so I continued. “Can you think of anyone who would want to hurt Perry?” I asked.

“No. Seemed a likeable enough guy.”

“Well, you may know,” I said, “Melanie came upon an intruder at Perry’s place. Maybe there were looking for something or—”

Sam frowned. “What do you mean? Mel came across an intruder? When?”

“Day before yesterday,” Galigani said. “She got banged up pretty good, too.”

At that moment, the bartender presented the Bloody Marys to us with a flourish. “Best in town. Ain’t that right, sir?” he asked Galigani

I tried not to let my irritation show. After all, he was just doing his job, but did the guy really have to interrupt us at the key moment when I wanted to watch Sam’s face?

“Why didn’t she tell me?” Sam wondered out loud.

“When the last time you spoke with her?” I asked.

“She called me from the hospital and told me about Perry. I wanted to pick her up but she told me she was with Jill. We’re getting together tonight…”

He didn’t finish the sentence, only took a sip of his drink and shrugged. “Chicks. Sometimes, I don’t understand them.”

How odd indeed that they hadn’t seen each other yesterday. I would figure that Melanie would want the comfort of her boyfriend on the day she found out her own brother had perished, but then again, with Sam’s bruised eye, who knew how comforting he was?

Galigani’s phone buzzed and he glanced down at the display.

“How long have you and Melanie been dating?” I asked.

The left corner of Sam’s mouth twitched. “Dunno. Don’t chicks keep track of that kind of stuff? Probably about six months or so. Yeah, that’s about right. We met in the spring.”

His attitude about Melanie seemed so cavalier. It didn’t seem like they were too serious. And, if he was responsible for her battered face, I hoped their relationship would soon be over.

Although, how was it that his face was battered too? Could Melanie have hit him? She was so petite I couldn’t imagine her socking this guy in the eye.

Galigani murmured something next to me and I realized he’d received some news on his phone.

I glanced at him.

“Do you hike, Mr. Kafer?” Galigani asked.

Sam shook his head, a look of confusion on his face. “No.”

“Were you working day before yesterday?” Galigani asked.

Sam nodded and took a sip of his Bloody Mary.

“Brent Miles is being detained by SFPD,” Galigani said, indicating his phone.

I took a sharp inhale. This indeed was big news.

Sam looked confused. “Brent Miles? Who the hell is that?”

“Brent Miles owns the restaurant
Philosophie
. Jill Harrington, Perry’s girlfriend, reviewed it, and unfortunately it wasn’t a very positive review. We understand Mr. Miles may have been responsible for placing threatening calls to Jill in addition to perhaps having her followed,” I said.

“We really don’t have any evidence of that,” Galigani interrupted, a strange look on his face that I took to mean, “Shut your trap.”

I busied myself by sipping my Bloody Mary. Oh! It was so yummy.

“Mr. Miles is being investigated because of a related accidental death. It was also a ‘hiking accident’. The night manager of another of Miles’ restaurants fell to his death in Yosemite,” Galigani said.

Sam frowned, his face registering shock. “Are you saying that Perry died because of some…some stupid review Jill wrote?”

Galigani and I exchanged glances.

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Galigani said.

Emotion crossed Sam’s face and he pounded a heavy fist into the bar. “That is ridiculous. How could someone die over a restaurant review?”

Galigani pulled out a notebook and asked. “Can you give me the name of someone who can verify your whereabouts yesterday? You said you were working?”

The way Galigani asked it so calmly made me envy his training. However, no matter how smooth Galigani was, his question caused Sam to erupt.

“Are you asking me for an alibi?” he spat, as he rose to his feet.

Galigani sipped his drink and looked about as nonplused as if he was setting up a golf outing. “I’m not asking for an alibi, I’m asking if someone can confirm your whereabouts.” He raised an eyebrow at Sam. “Do you need an alibi?”

Sam’s face contorted, his eyes narrowing and upper lip turning into a snarl. “You can call Dustin, he’s the newbie that gave me this shiner.” He pulled out his phone and recited a number at Galigani, who diligently wrote it in his notebook.

“Are you finished with me?” Sam asked.

Galigani shrugged. “Unless you think you have anything else to share with us?”

Sam slurped the rest of his Bloody Mary and wiped his mouth with his hand. “No, I ain’t got nothing more to
share
.”

The door to the darkened restaurant opened and a silhouette of a man wearing a dark leather jacket and holding a helmet appeared. The man stepped into the darkness of the restaurant.

Sam took the opportunity to leave, mumbling a good-bye and exiting through the door, his form getting swallowed into the bright sunlight.

The bartender cleared Sam’s glass. “Another?” he asked Galigani.

Galigani shook his head. “Do you know the guy we were talking to?” Galigani asked him.

I studied the man with the helmet in the corner of the café. He was turned away so all I could see was his profile.

“He comes in from time to time,” the bartender answered Galigani. “He’s a tough character, huh?”

“Do you think he hits his girlfriend?” Galigani plainly asked.

The bartender shrugged. “I don’t know his girlfriend.”

“But you know him,” Galigani pressed. “Is he the type of guy who could lose his temper with a woman?”

“Perhaps,” the bartender said—although he said it under his breath and turned as he spoke, signaling us that the conversation was over.

I turned to Galigani. “So you don’t think Melanie was beaten up by the intruder?”

Galigani shrugged. “We need to look at things from all angles. It’s pretty suspicious that he had the bruise and he’s got a record—”

“But the prints on the TV weren’t his,” I protested.