Murder of a Creped Suzette

“Well . . .” He put the leftover salad in a Tupperware bowl before placing it in the refrigerator. “The only thing we know for sure is he’s not with Suzette.”

“Unless . . .” Skye squirted soap under the running water and watched the bubbles foam. “The body isn’t Suzette’s and they ran away together.”

“I suppose anything’s possible.” Wally selected a dish towel from the drawer. “But then, who was under the steamroller?” He dried a plate and placed it in the cupboard. “No one else is missing.”

“True.” Skye washed a handful of silverware. “Besides, I can’t really see Owen doing something that wild. Heck—I can’t picture him having an affair.”

“Sometimes the quiet ones fool you.” Wally finished putting away the dishes.

“Yes, they do. They do, indeed.” Skye turned to stare at Wally. “So, what were you trying to tell me when Trixie arrived?”

“Let’s sit down.” Wally led her to the kitchen table and pulled out two chairs. He cleared his throat before saying, “Darleen contacted me yesterday just before I left for Laurel to testify in court.”

“That would be good news.” Skye smiled hopefully. “Wouldn’t it?”

“That depends.” Wally wrinkled his brow. “She said I owe her for all the money I should have paid her when we got divorced.”

“Oh?” Skye remembered Wally saying his ex-wife hadn’t received a penny from the divorce due to the airtight prenuptial agreement she had signed.

“She claimed that now that she has some powerful friends she’s going to get what she deserves from me.”

“And?”

“And if I want her cooperation in writing a truthful letter to support my request for an annulment, I need to bring her two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”

“To Alaska?”

“No.” Wally shook his head. “To Chicago. She’s back in Illinois.”

CHAPTER 14

“Please Remember Me”

“Did you agree to give her the cash?” Skye asked Wally, studying him carefully.

“No. I was in a hurry and I told her I had to think about it.” Wally took Skye’s hands and kissed both palms. “Do you want me to?”

“I’m not sure what I want.” Her first instinct was that Wally shouldn’t give in to Darleen’s blackmail. While Skye was considering how she felt about the matter, she remembered last night’s call. “Oh, my God!”

“What?”

“Someone phoned me last night and left a message for you. He said, ‘Tell your boyfriend what he wants is expensive.’ ” Skye leaped up, ran to the counter, and grabbed the notepad where she’d jotted down the information. “Here’s the number he left.”

“You said ‘he’—so it wasn’t Darleen?” Wally tore off the page and examined it, then tucked it into his breast pocket.

“I’m not sure.” Skye pursed her lips. “It almost sounded like a robot.”

“You can get a gadget from Radio Shack that will disguise your voice.” Wally narrowed his eyes. “Maybe Darleen’s trying to up the ante by involving you.”

“Do you think she’s telling the truth about her ‘powerful’ friends?” Skye asked, part of her not believing Darleen, whom she was convinced was mentally unstable, but another part of her worried that getting mixed up with the wrong kind of people was exactly what Wally’s ex would do.

“Hard to tell.” Wally patted his pocket. “I’ll see if I can have this number traced tomorrow, but odds are it belongs to a disposable cell.”

“I guess we really have no choice but to wait and take it from there.”

“Even if Darleen is telling the truth—which is a big if—and she does have some tough guy backing her up, he’s most likely just egging her on,” Wally reassured Skye.

“True.” Skye bit her lip. “Maybe he thinks getting money from the rich ex will be easy. I wonder if Darleen mentioned you were the chief of police.”

“That is the sort of detail she’d leave out.” Wally squeezed Skye’s hand. “That, and the fact that although my father is rich, I’m not.”

“So where does Darleen think you’ll get the cash?”

“The amount she’s asking for just happens to be the exact sum my mother left me.” Wally’s smile was rueful. “Darleen was always ticked that only my name was on that account, and she couldn’t get her hands on any of it without my permission.”

“Which, of course, you didn’t give her.”

“No.” Wally shook his head. “We were already not getting along and I didn’t think letting her blow my inheritance would strengthen our marriage.”

“True,” Skye agreed. “Well, we can’t do anything about Darleen until you try to trace that phone number.”

“Right.”

“So, what’s our next step in investigating Suzette’s murder?”

“I’ll talk to Owen first thing in the morning.” Wally pulled the pad of paper closer and made a note. “And since we have no other leads, I’ll have my officers tear apart the storage area in the basement and find the file on Suzette’s mother’s death.”

“Shall I talk to the music teacher about Suzette’s father ?” Skye asked.

“Definitely.”

“Anything else you can think of that I should do?” Skye asked.

Wally rose from his chair, pulling Skye along with him and into his arms. “I can think of one or two things.” He leaned down and pressed his lips to her ear. “Let’s see if your ghost will let us try them.”