Death Before Diamonds (Sky High Pies Cozy Mysteries Book 10) (3 page)

CHAPTER
4

The next half hour reminded me of
the witness interviews from my time as a private investigator. Rex sat in one
of the guest chairs facing my desk as I ran through a roster of basic
questions. He didn’t fidget or shift on the seat at all. Instead, he kept both
feet planted on the floor, his shoulders back and his chin slightly raised.

“Why do you think that your brother
is missing?” I began.

He took a deep breath. “Because I
haven’t heard from him in over a week.”

“And that’s unusual?”

“Very,” Rex answered. “Theo and I
are real close. Something’s wrong if we don’t talk at least once or twice every
day.”

“Is there a chance he might be
ill?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No way. Even
when he was recovering from surgery a couple of years ago, he called me every day.”

“He called you?”

Rex’s posture stiffened slightly.
“That’s what I said. We always talk on a regular basis, because my brother
knows that helps me keep going.”

“Did you visit him as well?”

“What do you mean?” There was a trace
of something prickly in his voice, a subtle hint of impatience. “I just told
you that he called me.”

“I’m simply trying to understand,”
I explained. “Were you living too far away to visit him while he convalesced
after surgery?”

Rex took another deep breath,
inhaling slowly and blinking at an equally lethargic pace. It seemed like he
was trying to quiet the urge to lash out in response to my question.

“I just couldn’t go anywhere at the
time,” he said finally. “But we still talked on the phone at least once a day.”
He stopped to brush a few beads of perspiration from his brow. “That’s how I
know that something bad is going on right now.”

I leaned back in my chair and
opened the top desk drawer. As I pulled out a pad and started to record a few quick
notes, Rex asked if I believed him.

“If I believe you?” I said
rhetorically. “About your brother?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“Well, I’m trying to understand
what’s going on,” I said. “Considering that we just met yesterday, I wouldn’t
be in a position to—”

“It’s either
yes
,” he
interrupted sharply. “Or
no
.”

I felt a wrinkle of apprehension
slide along my spine. His eyes were suddenly fixed and wide, his fingers
crumpled into tight knots that he pressed against the arms of the chair.

“Yes,” I said, hoping to soothe
whatever anger had inexplicably erupted within him. “I believe you, Rex.”

His chest was rising and falling at
an accelerated pace; his jaw clenched and released repeatedly. I was glad that
I’d left the office door open, and even more relieved that a container of
pepper spray was also in the top drawer.

I was thinking about the sudden
change in his demeanor when I realized that he was responding to my last
comment.

“…because he raised me by himself
after she left,” he said. “I think that’s why we’re as close as we are.”

“You and your brother?” I asked,
trying to slip back into the conversation.

He smiled. “Who else?”

“I just want to make sure that I understand
what you’re telling me.”

“Okay,” he said. “What more do you
need to know?”

I took a moment to gather my
thoughts. He seemed less frenzied, as if the spike in his mood had passed.

“Take me back to last week,” I
said. “What did you do when your brother didn’t return your call?”

“I called again,” he said. “And
again. By the fourth day, I knew something bad had happened.”

“Is your brother on vacation?” I
asked.

Rex shook his head. “No. He came to
Colorado because she’s here.” His eyes narrowed again. “The woman he used to
work with.”

“Do you know her name?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know her last
one,” he said. “She was Arlene back then, although I’m pretty sure that she
changed it once she got out here.”

I made a note and asked about his brother’s
profession.

“Now?” he said. “Or then?”

“How about both?” I smiled. “Beginning
with the current job.”

“He’s been working in sales for the
past couple of years,” Rex said. “But back then he was a security guard for this
fancy jewelry store in Philadelphia.” He suddenly stopped and frowned deeply. “Why
do you need to know all of these things?”

“I worked on a few missing persons
cases in Chicago,” I explained. “I’m just trying to understand your brother’s
background, what brought him to Colorado and why you think he’s disappeared.”

Rex smiled and relaxed. “Is your
memory really that bad?”

I stared at him, trying to
interpret the playful glint in his eyes.

“I’m just joking,” he said quickly.
“I already told you that my brother came here to talk to Arlene.”

“The woman that he worked with in Philadelphia,”
I said.

Rex smiled. “You really
were
listening!”

“Of course. And I’d like to hear
more. Tell me why your brother would travel half way across the country to talk
to a former co-worker. Couldn’t he do that by phone?”

“He didn’t have her number,” Rex
said. “She’s not listed anywhere.”

“Were they close friends in the
past?”

Rex shook his head. “It’s not about
being friendly,” he answered. “She still has property that belongs to other
people, okay? And Theo finally has evidence to prove something about Arlene.”

“And what might that be?”

“That she was involved in what
happened,” he said. “And that she took things that didn’t belong to her and
came out here to go off the grid or whatever you want to call it.”

“What did she take?”

He sighed. “There was a robbery at Diamond
Galleria, okay? Someone died, so it’s a pretty heavy thing. And my brother
suspected all along that she was involved.”

“Arlene?”

“Yeah. The woman he came here to
find.”

“And what is Diamond Galleria?” I
asked.

“The place where she and my brother
worked in Philly,” he said. “It’s a high-end jewelry store on Chestnut Street
in Center City. Arlene was working there when Theo got his job as a guard about
six months before the robbery. He always suspected that she was behind it, but the
police couldn’t prove anything at the time.” He frowned and shook his head.
“Arlene had been going out with the store’s owner, but then he dumped her and
started dating another woman that worked there. The robbery was payback; the
murder was just plain evil.”

“She staged a robbery and murder to
get even for a romance that ended?”

Rex shrugged. “I suppose.”

“Who was murdered?” I asked.

“One of the robbers,” Rex said.
“The one that lived was Arlene’s new boyfriend.”

“And you said that your brother
suspected that she was involved, but couldn’t prove it back then.”

“That’s right.”

“Can he prove it now?” I asked.

“Definitely. Theo met someone who
knows Arlene, and that guy secretly recorded her on the phone confessing to
everything: finding the two thugs to pull the heist, giving them the alarm code
to get in the back entrance, and keeping the diamonds out of circulation for a few
years to try and evade the cops.”

I glanced at the clock on my desk.
I knew that Julia would find me if she needed help with lunch orders, but I
didn’t want to spend hours prying the story from Rex in dribs and drabs.

“Okay,” I said. “When did this
happen?”

“Six years ago,” he answered. “The
police thought my brother was involved on account of he was working that day as
one of the store guards. But Theo did exactly what the robbers said as soon as
it all started. He got on the floor and shut up.”

“And what about Arlene?” I asked.
“Did she comply with their demands?”

He leaned forward. “What does that
mean?”

“Did she do what the robbers asked?”

“Oh, okay. I didn’t know that word.
But yes, she did. She gave them the combination to the vault and then got on
the floor next to my brother.”

“And then?”

He shrugged. “What do you mean?”

“What happened after Arlene got on
the floor?”

“She smiled at one of the guys in
the ski masks,” he said slowly. “The same guy that shot and killed the other
robber as they left the store. That’s why Theo didn’t believe her later when
she told the police that she wasn’t involved.”

“Because she smiled?”

He nodded. “Yes. And then later, people
around town started saying that Arlene and her new boyfriend were behind the
robbery all along. But the police were never able to get any evidence to stick.
A few months after that, she quit her job and left town. My brother talked
about her all the time, trying to figure out if she could’ve been somehow
responsible or—”

“Katie?”

Rex jumped and spun around to see
Harper in the office doorway.

“Sorry to bother you,” she said.
“But a group of twelve just walked in. Can you help me get their orders?”

Rex was out of the chair before I
answered her question.

“I should go,” he muttered, grabbing
his backpack. “I’m taking up too much of your time.”

“Sorry,” Harper said again. “I’ll see
you out there, Katie.”

I smiled and gave her a quick
thumps up. When I looked back at Rex, he was holding a stack of the flyers with
his brother’s picture.

“Maybe you can give these out?”

“I’m sorry we were interrupted,” I
said, taking the leaflets. “We close at three o’clock. Would you like to come
back and finish our conversation?”

“Um, maybe,” he said, slinging the bag
over one shoulder. “I mean, if I can. The car’s been acting weird, so I might
have to take it to the gas station or something.”

I followed him into the hallway.

“I really want to hear the rest,” I
said. “Maybe we can give Deputy Chief Walsh a call and—”

“Oh, that’s okay,” he said quickly.
“I was already planning on telling the police myself. I’ll hope to see you
later so we can keep talking.”

CHAPTER
5

By four o’clock that afternoon, I
was back in my office reviewing notes for the monthly cooking class that I
planned to introduce as soon as I finished sorting out the details. I’d
attended something similar at one of my favorite restaurants when I was living
in Chicago. It seemed like an ideal way to promote Sky High Pies—casual, early
evening gatherings for a small group of guests featuring tasty recipes and a
nice selection of wines.

I was calculating food costs for an
Italian-inspired menu when Harper knocked on my office door.

“You busy?” she asked.

“I’m going over a few things for the
cooking class,” I answered.

She smiled. “Again?”

“I just want to make sure that I’ve
covered everything.”

“You will,” she said. “And you
have. I think it’s time to bite the bullet and send out the mailing. Enough
people have heard about it by now that the first session will probably fill up
lickety-split.”

“You think so?”

She giggled. “I
know
so,
Katie.” She pointed at the phone on my desk. “Trent’s on hold. Said he’s
returning your call from earlier.”

“Thanks. Are you about finished with
the dining room?”

She raised one eyebrow. “I was done
with that ages ago. I decided to indulge my sweet tooth, so I’m camped in a
booth with a sliver of cherry pie, a mini mocha cupcake and a tiny piece of
chocolate fudge.”

“That sounds like fun! I’ll check
on you in a bit to see if you’ve lapsed into sugar shock.”

Harper gave me a frown, burst out
laughing and pirouetted into the hall. As I picked up the phone to greet Trent,
I could still her Harper’s joyful giggling in the distance.

“Deputy Chief Walsh!” I said.
“Thanks for getting back to me.”

“You okay, Katie?” Trent asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Have you been drinking?”

“No! Why do you ask?”

“Because you sound too happy,” he
grumbled.

“Well, I
am
happy,” I said.
“But I can’t say the same for you. Is everything okay?”

“For the most part.”

“And what about the other parts?”

“It’s no big deal,” Trent said. “I
had my annual physical yesterday and the doc told me to lose weight.”

I smiled, but didn’t comment on the
news.

“Like thirty pounds,” he added. “Do
you know how long that’s going to take?”

“No idea,” I said. “How long?”

“Probably about four months,” he griped.
“And that’s only
if
I give up everything that I love.”

“Like ice cream and French fries?”
I said. “Or candy from the vending machine?”

“I don’t love fries, Katie. I can’t
tell you the last time I had some.”

I chuckled softly. “It might’ve
been last Tuesday,” I told him. “You came in for lunch with Tyler Armstrong and
that detective from Fort Collins. You had the tuna melt on sourdough with—”

“Alright, alright!” He mumbled a
few choice words. “I don’t have time to rehash ancient history. What did you
need?”

“Sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to
pile on with your doctor.”

“That’s okay, Katie. I know my
pudge factor’s been going up lately.”

I laughed again. “Well, you still
look devilishly handsome.”

“Cut to the chase,” he said. “What’s
up? Your message was pretty vague.”

“I was wondering if you’ve received
any missing persons reports lately. I had a visit yesterday and again this
morning from someone who said his brother hasn’t been seen since he was here at
Sky High last week.”

“What’s the name?” asked Trent.

“Theo Greer is the one supposedly missing,”
I answered. “His brother’s name is Rex.”

“I don’t know of any reports,” he
said. “But let me check real quick with Dina and Tyler.”

“Okay, thanks.”

While I waited, I opened my laptop
and reloaded the picture that Theo Greer took of himself on the front porch at
Sky High. My eyes went instantly to the vivid purplish red tights on the
shapely legs in the background. As I stared at the colorful workout gear, I remembered
that Julia had told me that they were sold at Simply Chic, Pearl White’s
boutique on Prentice Street.

“It’s worth a shot,” I said to
myself, speculating that the woman could’ve possibly seen or heard something
related to Theo’s disappearance. “I’ll go see Pearl and take a look at the new merchandise.
Maybe that will motivate me to start walking with Viv in the evenings.”

My neighbor, a bubbly dynamo named
Viveca England, had recently started walking after work each day on the track
at Crescent Creek High School. She’d invited me to come along, but I’d found
dozens of excuses so far not to join her:
nothing suitable to wear
;
my
Nikes were lost during the move from
Chicago
;
I get enough
exercise running around Sky High every day.

I was thinking about a few more reasons
to skip the workouts with Viv when Trent returned.

“You still there, Katie?”

“Here I am, Deputy Chief Walsh.”

“Dina was away from her desk,” he
said, “but I talked to Tyler. He’s pretty sure that our last missing persons
case was eighteen months ago when Bernadette Carvel called to report that
Lumwinkle was gone.”

“That
who
was gone?”

“Lumwinkle,” Trent said again.
“Apparently, he’s her lucky garden gnome.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I
waited for the rest of the story.

“But there was a somewhat happy
ending,” he continued. “Denny Santiago found Bernadette’s missing property the
next day. Apparently, Pat and Mickey O’Rourke had painted the little fellow
blue, dressed him in a toga and left him on the front steps of City Hall.”

I smiled. “Was it meant to be a
political statement about Mayor Washington?”

“I have no idea,” Trent said. “And
I’m not about to ask.”

“How did you connect the O’Rourke
brothers to the crime?”

Trent scoffed. “Have you ever met
them?”

“I haven’t had the pleasure,” I
said. “Although I’ve heard a few things.”

“I’m sure that whatever you heard
is true,” Trent told me. “Between the two of them, I’d say you’re looking at an
IQ in the high double digits.”

“Trent! That’s not very nice!”

He laughed. “But it’s the truth. I’ve
got the Lumwinkle report pulled up on my computer. I guess Pat and Mickey had
been enjoying a few pints of Guinness down at The Wagon Wheel that day. On the
drive home, they decided to stop at Tipton’s Liquor Mart for a bottle of
whiskey. As you might imagine, it was all downhill from there.”

“Sounds almost exactly like another
story that I heard about them,” I said.

“No doubt,” Trent agreed. “But that
particular day, when the O’Rourke boys pulled in at Tipton’s, Bernadette was
right ahead of them. She took the last parking space and didn’t appreciate it
when Pat jumped out of his brother’s truck and told her where she could go.”

I sighed. “Yep. That was also in
the story I heard, but it didn’t involve Bernadette or the liquor store parking
lot.”

“Well, pretty much every other
story with those two goes along those lines,” Trent said. “I guess Pat and
Mickey were so peeved about the parking mishap that they stole Lumwinkle from
Bernadette’s front yard late that night, turned him into a Roman Papa Smurf and
left him at City Hall.”

“Okay,” I said. “But how’d you know
they did the deed?”

“Facebook,” Trent said.

“They posted something about it?”

He laughed. “Yep. Video and a bunch
of pictures. By the time they sobered up the next morning, Bernadette had
already filed the missing persons report.”

I decided not to pursue the
incident, even though a few questions had started to gather in the back of my
mind. Instead, I asked Trent if he would be willing to run a license plate
number.

“Why?” he said.

“Curiosity,” I answered.

“Is this related to the visit you
mentioned?” he asked. “From the guy looking for his brother?”

“Actually, it is. Rex Greer was
driving a blue sedan with Pennsylvania plates. I don’t know if his brother is
really missing or not, but I thought it might be worth asking you to check the
tags. My work load is fairly light this week, so I might also do a little
snooping just in case.”

“Uh-huh,” Trent said dismissively.
“I’ve heard that before.”

“You know how it goes. I miss the
old days in Chicago. And I still love solving a good whodunit.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said. “But you can
scratch that itch by watching reruns of
Law & Order
or
NCIS
.”

“Which I do quite often, thank you
very much.”

Trent chuckled. “Which one is Rex
again?”

“He’s the one I met here at Sky
High,” I said. “His older brother’s name is Theo.”

“What’s the number?”

“Hang on,” I said. “I made a note
on my phone, so—”

“Maybe just shoot me a text,” Trent
suggested. “I need to run out real fast and get something to eat. I’ll plug it
into the system after I get back.”

“That would be awesome,” I said.
“What’s on the menu for dinner?”

“It’s not dinner, Katie. I haven’t
even had lunch yet.”

“That might be part of your
problem,” I said. “One of the best ways to lose weight is eating small meals
throughout the day at regular intervals to help regulate your metabolism.”

“Small meals?”

“Yep. There are tons of great menu
ideas online.”

“I’ll be sure and get right on
that,” he said, “as soon as I return from McDonald’s with my teeny, tiny Double
Quarter Pounder.”

“What about the doctor’s orders?”

He grunted. “Soon, Katie. I’ll
start the new diet real soon.”