Murder of a Creped Suzette

“I have no idea.” Flint kissed her. “The only thing my love juice has been inside lately is a rubber.”

An idea skittered through Skye’s mind, but she needed to think about it. Was what she was considering even possible ?

“So you’ll tell the cops we were together?” Flint asked, nibbling Kallista’s neck.

“I guess I have to.” Kallista hugged him.

“Are you afraid of Rex?”

“I don’t think so.”

Skye could see the calculating look on the woman’s face even though Flint couldn’t.

“I’m sorry you won’t be able to get as much of his money as we originally thought.” Flint wrinkled his brow.

“Oh.” Kallista’s expression conveyed satisfaction. “I think I’ll do all right.”

After another minute or so, Skye stepped back into the interrogation room. “Sorry, guys. We need to wrap this up.”

While Skye escorted Kallista back to Wally’s office, she asked the other woman, “Did Flint flush the condom he used last Monday afternoon at the RV?”

“You eavesdropped on us?” Kallista’s tone was outraged. “That’s not fair!”

“I don’t enjoy intruding in your personal life,” Skye said, hoping to soothe the other woman’s indignation. She was used to teenagers who thought everything done to them was unfair. “But this is important. You want Flint to go free, don’t you?”

“Yes, but when I say he was with me, that will do it.”

“Not with the DNA evidence hanging over his head,” Skye reminded her. “So, about that condom?”

Kallista was silent, a pout marring her beautiful face.

“I’m ready to help,” Skye said. “Are you ready to be smart?”

“He didn’t flush it,” Kallista muttered. “The plumbing in the Airstream can’t take stuff like that. He usually just wraps them in toilet paper and tosses them in the trash.”

“Does Rex know how to drive a steamroller?”

“Uh-huh.” Kallista nodded. “He worked construction during the summers when he was in college.”

“I wonder why the police didn’t find that out when they did the background check.”

“He was paid off the books.”

“Oh. Okay.” Skye stopped halfway up the stairs. “Wait. One more question. What do you have on your husband? Why will you still get money from him even after admitting your affair with Flint?”

“That’s two questions.”

“Look, I can help Flint or not.” Skye raised an eyebrow. “Your call.”

“Fine.” Kallista tossed back her hair. “Last Monday afternoon, when I got back to the RV, I noticed the bathroom was a mess, with garbage from the wastebasket scattered all over the floor.”

“And?”

“And I was cleaning it up when Rex got home. He didn’t realize I was there because the bathroom door was shut nearly all the way, but I saw him change clothes from the skin out and bundle what he’d been wearing in a paper grocery sack—we like to recycle, so we don’t use the plastic ones.” Kallista twisted her glossy lips into a thoughtful frown. “Him putting his clothes in the bag seemed weird to me, so I followed him, and I saw him toss the sack into the Dumpster by the bandstand.”

“Damn!” Skye swore. “I bet that trash was picked up already and the bag is long gone.”

“Nope.” Kallista’s smile was triumphant. “I took it out after he left and hid it in the trunk of my car for safe keeping.”

“That was smart.” Skye guessed that Kallista’s motive was leverage when she sued for divorce. The blonde probably figured she’d get more from Rex through blackmail than if she did the right thing and turned the evidence over to the police. And she’d made no secret of her hatred for Suzette, so she wouldn’t care if Suzette’s killer was ever brought to justice.

“I only pretend to be dumb so guys will like me,” Kallista confided.

Skye cringed at the idea that women still thought they had to hide their intelligence to be popular with men, but she didn’t comment. Instead she asked, “Did you look inside the bag?”

“Yep. His clothes were covered in blood.”

After requesting that the dispatcher keep an eye on Kallista, Skye asked Wally to step out of his office and filled him in on what Kallista had revealed.

“Didn’t she realize she could be arrested if she withheld evidence in a murder investigation?” Wally fumed.

“I don’t think it even occurred to her.” Skye shrugged. “Is Kallista in trouble?”

“No.” Wally sighed. “If she testifies against Taylor, she won’t be charged.”

“Anyway,” Skye said, “I think after Rex killed Suzette, but before he ran the steamroller over her, he went back to the RV, retrieved the used condom from the trash can, and somehow inserted the semen into Suzette.”

“And he did that because he didn’t know it was Flint’s semen.” Understanding dawned in Wally’s eyes. “He would never have implicated his star attraction. He thought Kallista was sleeping with one of the musicians.”

“Exactly.”

“But why did he kill Suzette?” Wally asked.

“My guess is she rejected him one too many times,” Skye answered. “And remember, Rod told me that Suzette was getting worried because Rex had started to say he loved her.”

“Hmm.” Wally nodded. “I see.”