The Death Card: A Liz Lucas Cozy Mystery (8 page)

“Roger, I’m sorry to bother you so
late at night, but I’m really troubled by some things I discovered today.”

“Liz, how many times do I
have to tell you that you’re never a bother to me? I love it when you call. The
only thing I care about when you call me this late is that you’re okay. Are
you?”

“Yes. I’m fine, but there
are a couple of things I can’t seem to reconcile. I went to Madame Dika’s for a
reading earlier this evening…”

He interrupted her before
she could finish her sentence. “Liz, you might remember that Madame Dika did
prison time. What part of staying away from a convicted felon do you not
understand?  She broke the law once, and who knows what she might do again? You
were there yesterday and had a reading. Why did you go back today?”

“I feel she’s at the
center of Leroy’s death. I don’t know whether she did it or not, but I want
your opinion on a couple of things. First of all, I bumped into her brother,
Anton, when I was there. He’s the one whose picture you emailed me.”

“Where was he?”

Liz told him about how
she’d almost run into Anton in the hallway when she’d left the bathroom. Roger
listened and then said, “That’s another reason I don’t want you to go there.
Sean told me there was talk he was dirty, but the authorities hadn’t been able
to come up with anything definite on him. Sounds like a pretty unsavory family
to me.”

“Yeah, well, Roger, if you
didn’t like that, I’m pretty sure you’re not going to like what I’m about to
tell you. While I was waiting in the reception area for my appointment with
Madame Dika, I snuck into Anton’s bedroom before he drove up. I opened the
nightstand drawer that Jessica had said the gun was in. Using my cell phone, I
took a photo of the serial numbers on the gun, and a few minutes ago I compared
those numbers with the numbers Seth gave me this morning. The numbers on the
gun in the drawer, and the numbers that are on Seth’s gun are the same.”

“Liz, that very well could
be the gun that killed Leroy.”

“I know. There are a
couple of other things.” She stopped talking for a moment and took a deep
breath to get her courage up so she could continue. “First of all, when I opened
the drawer it came out pretty far, and I saw a small notebook behind the gun. I
took a Kleenex from my purse and picked it up because I was curious. I know
some people keep a notebook next to their bed so they can write down their
dreams or thoughts. I wondered if he was someone who did that. Instead what I
found were pages and pages of numbers. On each line in the notebook were
sixteen numbers, a space, and then three more numbers. I was scared and not
thinking very rationally, but the bottom line is I put the notebook in my
purse. I also took a photo of some kind of a small electronic device that was
in the drawer.”

“You did what? I don’t
believe you did that! What if he’d caught you? I agree. You definitely weren’t
thinking rationally. Was Winston with you?”

“Yes. He went over to the
window and started growling, and then I heard a car pulling into the driveway.
I looked out the window and recognized Anton.”

“Liz, I don’t want to even
think what he might have done to you if he’d found you in his bedroom with the
nightstand drawer open.”

“You’re not the only one,
Roger, but there’s something else I want to tell you.”

“Why am I not surprised?
Okay, tell me all of it and know that my blood pressure is rising with each
word.”

“Roger, it wasn’t that
bad.”

“Let me be the judge of
that, Liz. I’m not sure you’re capable of realizing the amount of danger you
exposed yourself to. Okay, out with it.”

She told him how Madame
Dika was missing the Death card from her deck, and it was identifiable with the
initials “MD.”

“Liz, didn’t you tell me
when you and Seth went to the police station that you searched Leroy’s office,
and you found a Death card?”

“Yes. That’s what I’m
telling you. The missing Death card from Madame Dika’s deck has to be the one I
found in Leroy’s office.”

“I agree that it would be
quite a coincidence if it wasn’t from her deck, but how can you be certain?”

“She told me she used a
special tarot deck for Celtic Cross spreads, which is what I had. It’s kind of
a reading where it tells you about your past, your present, and what you can
expect in the future.”

“Liz, spare me the details
of the reading, and just tell me how you know the card you found came from her
deck.”

“I was getting to that.
She told me it was her great-grandmother’s deck and her name was Madame Dika.
She said she had been named for her and that the initials on each card had been
put there by her great-grandmother. When I got home tonight, I looked at the
Death card I’d put in my desk after I’d found it in Leroy’s office and the
initials MD were on it. I didn’t give it to Sheriff Brown. It has to be the
Death card missing from Madame Dika’s deck.”

For a moment Roger was
quiet. “You realize you should have given that card to the sheriff. Not only
are you in danger, but now you’re telling me you deliberately withheld evidence
that could be crucial to the investigation. Liz, do me a favor. Try not to do
anything about this case tomorrow. I’ll cancel my appointments for tomorrow
afternoon, and I should be at the lodge between one and two in the afternoon.
Can you do that for me? It really would help me lower my escalating blood
pressure.”

“Roger, after what
happened to Joe, my deceased husband, I’m not finding this conversation all
that funny.”

“You’re absolutely right.
I was trying to be humorous, and instead I came off as very insensitive. I
forgot your husband died of a heart attack probably caused by sky high blood
pressure. I apologize.”

“Roger, I’m sorry I was
testy. It’s just that there’s so much going on right now. All right, I promise
I won’t do anything actively, but I think I told you that Lisette is going to
give Leroy’s ex-wife a massage tomorrow morning, so I may have some more
information for you when you get here.”

“Liz, you said you took
photos of the gun’s serial numbers and the electronic device. I’d like you to
take a photo with your cell phone of a couple of the pages of the numbers in
the notebook and also the Death card, then email me those plus the photos of
the serial numbers and the electronic device.”

“Sure. I’ll send them in
the next few minutes. Why do you want them? I can show them to you tomorrow
when you get here.”

“Some ideas about this
whole thing are floating around in my head. I want to talk to a friend of mine
who’s a captain with the San Francisco Police Department. If what I’m thinking
is true, this case might just be a lot bigger than either one of us or even the
sheriff thought. And if Madame Dika and Anton start comparing notes, you might
find yourself at the top of a list of people they want eliminated. Lock all of
the doors in the lodge tonight and keep Winston with you.

“You do remember what
happened with the Brandy Boy incident when you walked onto the front porch of
the lodge and left Winston and your gun in the lodge. Please don’t do anything
like that. If he’s not with you, he can’t protect you, and your gun is useless
if it’s not with you. Just humor me and promise. Please?”

“I promise, but I think
you’re being a little melodramatic about all this.”

“Liz, you may have
forgotten what I do for a living. It’s called being a criminal defense
attorney. I am well aware what criminals are capable of doing and what
motivates them to do it. I don’t want you to end up being a statistic. Am I
making myself clear?”

“Very much so, and the
message has been received. I love you and can’t wait to see you.”

“Love you too. Sleep
well.”

The next morning Liz had heard the
front door of the lodge close several times, and she knew that the guests had
probably finished breakfast and gone back to their cottages, getting ready for
their massages, facials, or other treatments. Some of them would be getting
ready to go back to wherever they called home, refreshed from their stay at the
Red Cedar Spa.

“Come on, Winston. Let’s
go upstairs and see Bertha.” The big dog walked over to her, sat down beside
her, and licked her hand. Liz knew that was his way of telling her he’d love to
chew on one of the marrow bones she kept in the refrigerator for him. When
Roger had arranged for her to have a guard dog, the man who had trained Winston
and delivered him to her told her he always kept marrow bones on hand, so his
dogs could chew on something that helped keep their teeth plaque free. He told
her the best way to do this was to brush the dog’s teeth twice a day, but he
found that took too much time when you had as many dogs as he had, and he’d
become a big believer in giving his dogs marrow bones. Liz didn’t know if it
helped Winston’s teeth, but he’d never had any dental problems, and he clearly
loved the bones.

“Okay, Winston, this
morning you get a bone. I know how much you love them,” she said as they walked
up the stairs to the kitchen. “Morning, Bertha. Be with you in a minute, but I
have a very good dog here who would like one of the special bones I keep for
him in the refrigerator.”

“As good as that dog is,
he deserves a whole sack full of them. I always feel better when I leave here
for the night knowing he’s with you.”

“You’re not the only one.
Roger insists I take him with me wherever I go, and honestly, I have to say I
do feel safer when he’s around. Is there anything new going on at the spa or
here at the lodge that I should know about?”

“No, nothing comes to
mind. Do you want a cup of coffee? I made a fresh pot thinking the guests would
want seconds or thirds, but nobody seemed to want any more this morning.”

“Please.”

“Liz, I was talking to my
husband last night about Leroy’s murder. He and Leroy went to school together,
and they go way back. Their parents were friends as well. I’d forgotten that he
knew Leroy, and that most people would consider them to be good friends.
Anyway, Hank told me something interesting. The two of them met from time to
time at Gertie’s Diner for lunch. Last Saturday they met for lunch and Leroy
was all excited. He told Hank he was going to get the goods on Seth and run
against him in the police chief election,” Bertha said.

“That’s kind of what Seth
told me. He said Leroy was, as he put it, ‘feeling his oats’ and thinking about
running against him. He said they’d even had words about it.”

“Hank told him he was
crazy to run against Seth and asked what he meant by he was going to ‘get the
goods on Seth’? Leroy told him Seth spent a lot of time at Madame Dika’s, and
that he, Leroy, had gone out to her place that morning to talk to her.”

“That’s interesting. When
I talked to her she acted like she didn’t know him.”

“That’s not what he told
Hank. He said he told her he would pay her $5,000 if she told him something
about Seth that he could use in the election.”

“Wait a minute. My
understanding was that Leroy owed money to everybody, including his bookie.”

“Hank was curious about
that, too. He always had to pay for their lunches, because Leroy was constantly
broke, but Leroy said he’d had a big payday at the track, and he told Madame
Dika that if she didn’t tell him what he wanted, he’d close her down because
she was in violation of a city ordinance prohibiting fortune-telling and other
similar types of activities like tarot card reading. He told her she had until
5:00 p.m. Sunday to tell him, or he’d arrest her.”

“Bertha, that information
is dynamite. If it’s true, and I have no reason to doubt Hank, that means
Madame Dika should be a prime suspect in Leroy’s murder. She certainly had a
very good reason to kill him based on what you just told me.”

“That’s what I told Hank.
Hank is certain she’s the one who did it. He can’t think of any reason why
anyone else would do it. He knew Donna and Leroy didn’t get along, but he’d
owed her back alimony almost from the time they were divorced, so why would she
suddenly do something like kill Leroy at this late date? No, Hank’s convinced
it was Madame Dika, and he made me promise I’d tell you first thing this
morning so consider yourself told. You probably know a lot more about this than
I do, but it does make sense.”

“I agree, it sure does,
but I don’t know what to think about it. You’re right in that I do know a few
things I’m not at liberty to talk about right now, because they’re part of the
investigation, but please tell Hank I really appreciate finding out about the
conversation he had with Leroy. Roger will be here this afternoon, and I’ll run
it by him. With his background in criminal law, I use him as my sounding board,
and he’s a huge help.”

“Hank will be glad I told
you. I’ve talked long enough, and I need to get to the office. I’ll be there
for the rest of the day if you need anything.”

“Bertha, the gods must
have been smiling on me the day you applied for the job as the manager of the
spa and lodge. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Yeah, you probably say
that to everyone who works for you,” she said laughing as she walked out of the
kitchen.

“Winston, I wasn’t
kidding. She’s the best thing that ever happened to this spa and lodge. Now I
need to get serious about what we’re going to have for dinner tonight. Roger’s
coming this afternoon, and I don’t want to spend a lot of time cooking while
he’s here, plus I’d really like to talk to him about my reading yesterday. I
think he’ll be happy with what Madame Dika told me about our future together.
At least I hope so.”

Liz spent the next several
hours cooking and preparing food for dinner as well as for the following
morning’s breakfast. She made a list of things for Emily to do when she got to
the lodge that afternoon. She was so immersed in what she was doing she almost
ignored the knock on the door. When she realized someone had knocked several
times she walked over to it and asked who was there.

“It’s Lisette. May I come
in?”

“Of course, Lisette.
Sorry. I get skittish when a murder’s been committed, and the killer hasn’t
been caught, so I’ve been keeping the door locked. How did it go with the
massage you gave Donna Morris?”

“That’s what I want to
talk to you about. I don’t know if you’ve met her, but she’s a very beautiful
woman. She’s one of those women who doesn’t even need make-up to look stunning.
High cheekbones, big blue eyes, and I think she’s a natural blond. She has
gorgeous pale blond hair that looks like it’s naturally wavy. Really
beautiful.”

“That may be what Leroy
saw in her, but if she’s that beautiful I wonder what she saw in him.”

“I never met him, but just
from the two times I’ve been with her I don’t think anyone’s going to ever
mistake her for a Rhodes Scholar, if you get the drift of what I mean.”

“I do. What, if anything,
did she have to say?”

“She told me again how
happy she was she’d be getting the back alimony that was owed to her. I asked
her how long she’d been divorced, and she told me for over four years. She said
the last few months have been the happiest in her life. She told me she and a
man named Anton were going to get married very soon. She said she’d like to get
married right away, but he told her he wanted to make sure he had enough money
to keep her in a very good lifestyle. She mentioned they were going to live in
San Francisco after they were married. Evidently he has a room at his sister’s
home here in Red Cedar, but he hates her because she’s always telling him what
he should do, and she doesn’t approve of his friends. Donna said something must
be wrong with his sister because she’d met a number of his European friends,
and she liked all of them.”

“Lisette, did she tell you
they met at his sister’s home after Madame Dika had given Donna a reading?”

“Yes, she did, but it sure
sounds like he doesn’t like his sister. Donna said Anton was the one who told
her she could get her back alimony from the proceeds of Leroy’s insurance
policy and that could be her wedding present to him. She told me she remembered
saying something to Anton awhile ago about how the city or police department
had a life insurance policy on Leroy. She was surprised he’d remembered,
because she’d totally forgotten about it.”

“I can’t thank you enough,
Lisette. Here’s the tip she would have probably given you after her massage. Is
there anything else?”

“Yes. She told me the most
fun thing about Anton was that he was constantly showering her with gifts. She
said rarely did a few days go by without the UPS truck pulling up and delivering
a package to her from him. She told me he’d given her jewelry, fur coats,
clothing, and a lot of other expensive things. She said he was completely
different from Leroy who had never given her anything, because he spent every
penny they didn’t need for food or rent on the horses. I guess this guy Anton
must really be wealthy.”

I find it hard to believe
a waiter makes enough from customer’s tips to shower his girlfriend with gifts
like that. Something’s not right here. I need to remember to tell Roger when he
comes this afternoon about these things: the restaurant; Anton; and Donna.

“Lisette, you better get
back. It’s probably time for your next appointment. As I mentioned yesterday,
I’d just as soon this stayed between us.”

“Of course, Mrs. Lucas. My
lips are sealed.”