Designer Detective (A Fiona Marlowe Mystery) (19 page)

“I guess we can’t call him. He never carried a
cell phone.”

“Let’s walk a little closer.”

Ever game, Opal followed me through the line of
cars.

“Don’t you think you should make contact with
the police?” I said.

“I guess I should. Where would they be?”

“Follow me.” Off we went through the cars and
groups of gawkers to find the police. A better opportunity presented itself
when we caught sight of Hudson.

“Hudson. Hudson.” I waved with hands high over
my head, trying to catch his attention. He was talking to a man and woman who
looked familiar. Maybe they were family, someone I had seen at the wake. It
turned out to be the tall guy with the dumpy but cheerful wife. I wondered if
she knew what her husband did in his spare time.

Hudson caught sight of us and came hurrying
over. “Miss Opal, Miss Marlowe. I’m so glad to see you. I wanted to come to your
assistance, but I had my hands full with the fire. I’m glad to see you are both
all right.”

“Good to see you didn’t get caught in the fire.
Do they know what started it?” I asked, innocently.

“No, but apparently it started in the upper
story on the west wing where Albert’s rooms are. The damage is confined to that
wing but there’s also water damage.” He looked in the direction of the house.
“It was such a lovely mansion. Hopefully, it can be restored.”

“So the insurance money will go to rebuild?”

“Yes, of course.”

But that meant no insurance money to split
among greedy family members. Keen to be on my way and remove myself from harm’s
way since I didn’t know where Cody and his friends were, I said to Opal, “I
forgot something in the truck. You wait here. I’ll be right back.”

Before she could say anything, I fled to the truck,
hoping I wasn’t running too hard to stir up suspicion. When I looked back, Opal
and Hudson were walking toward the house with the niece and nephew. Jake and
the boys were nowhere in sight.

I jumped into the cab of the truck, retrieved
the keys from the visor where I saw Jake stow them and powered up. I tried to
make a U turn in the street but it took several back and forth tries, and I
worked up a good sweat in the process. Finally, I was on my way to the Washington
Capital Beltway. If they’d try to track me down they’d go to Dulles
International. At the Beltway I headed north to Maryland and Baltimore-Washington
International Airport. We could all play the same game.

* * * * *

I sat in the VIP lounge at BWI and gave Olympia
a call.
 

“Where are you?” she said.

“At the airport.
Where
are you?”

“Still packing.
I
leave tonight.
How’d you get away so quick?”

“Long story best told on the beach, watching gentle
blue waves roll in, sipping a glass of bubbly.”

“That’s my girl. When does your flight leave?”

“I’m not sure. I’ll call you when I have the
details.”
Superstition dictated that my
plans would go awry if I told them to anyone. I kept looking over my shoulder
expecting Jake, Cody or Opal to materialize. I heard my name and ducked down in
the seat. Surely, it had to be a different Fiona. I sat with hand shading my eyes
waiting for the voice to evaporate.

“Fiona, it is you,” said a bright, squeaky
clean voice.

I looked up. There stood one of my blaringly
gay decorator friends who I ran into in the oddest places, like the VIP lounge
at BWI.

“Bobby, how are you? It’s been ages. Where are
you headed?”

He batted a hand at me. “I’m on my way to Fiji
on a little job and then some R and R. It’s the most divine place. Have you
been?” He plopped down on the armchair facing me and chattered away, not
pausing for answers.

He stopped after I didn’t say a word. “Are you
all right, Fiona? Like I was saying, you must try Fiji.” He paused and frowned.
“Fiona, I’m not sure but I heard on the news, you know, the airport TV that the
police are looking for a woman named Fiona. I didn’t catch the details. No, it
can’t be you.”

My mind snapped to attention at the mention of
Fiona and police.

“There’s more than one Fiona in this world,” I
said with a laugh I didn’t feel.

He shrugged. “I must be mistaken. But you might
want to check it out. Anyway, I just got back from Minneapolis and do you
believe it was snowing when I left.”

“Really?
But, Bobby,
did you catch a last name for this Fiona person they are looking for?”

“I don’t remember. I thought of you then
dismissed it when the announcer said something about a fire.”

Damnation, now what had happened? How did my
name come up, if one of my so-called friends had not offered it to the police?

“No,” I said, “of course, that’s not me. Now what
were you saying about Minneapolis?”

My mind focused on my next move. I had to check
out the news report, so I slithered out of Bobby’s monologue on the mid-west as
soon as I politely could and
hightailed
it to the
nearest TV. Bobby hadn’t been kidding. After cycling through all the usual exciting
news of the day, there was a short blip on a major fire in McLean. Police were
looking for information on one, Fiona Marlowe, who may have perished in the
fire.
 

What game was the Jesse James gang playing now?

It was time to call Jake and tell him where to
pick up his truck. Maybe he could tell me more.
  

He picked up on the first ring. “Fiona?”

“Your truck is parked at BWI airport, section
A3. Why is my name in the news?”

“You haven’t been answering your phone.”

“No.”

“You stole our rig.”

“Borrowed.
I just
borrowed it. The keys are under the floor mat.”

“Listen, Fiona. You have to come back.”

“Can’t do it.
I’m on
my way to Moscow.”

“No, you aren’t. You hate cold weather. I can
find you in Sydney.”

“I’m not in Sydney. Why is my name on TV news?”

“We suggested the police put out an APB on you,
because maybe you had been in the house decorating when the fire broke out and got
trapped in the flames.”

“Very clever of you, Jake, but it won’t work. Tell
the police you found me. I’d like my name taken off the TV news.”

“Fiona.”

I waited. “I’m hanging up now. Take my name off
the damn TV or . . . . “

“Or what?”

I hung up.

The phone rang back, and I let it go to
messaging. I waited, considering my options while watching harried travelers
scurry through the airport. Curiosity overtook me, and I listened to the
message.

“Fiona, we’re in a bit of a jam here. We need
you to testify that Hudson was with you on the night of the fire. I mean, me,
Cody and Opal, we need you to testify that we all were with you.
 
The police suspect Hudson. I know how much you
like Hudson. Come back to help him out.”

I was the alibi.
Very clever.
 
 

I phoned Jake.

“Where’s Hudson now?”

“Right here, I’ll put him on.”

“Miss Marlowe, how good to hear your voice.”

“Hudson, are you being charged with arson?”

“Not yet. The police have not finished the
investigation. But they seem less friendly now than when they came to
investigate Mr. Lodge’s demise.”

“Where are you?”

“In a hotel.
We’ve
been asked not to leave town. We are wanted for more questioning.”

“What’s your alibi?”

“I was at the same party at your place with
Jake, Cody and Opal. You will cover for me, won’t you, Miss Marlowe?”

“I don’t know. I have to think this over.”

“It would certainly help. I would be forever
indebted to you.”

“Hudson, you need to get away from that bunch.
You are small potatoes in this caper.”

“No, Miss Marlowe. I’m the big potato, as you
say. I’m the one with the money.”

How dumb of me not to make the connection.

“Did you make a deal with the family?”

“Yes.”

“They get a cut of the money?”

“Yes.”

“How much?”

He lowered his voice.
“Quite
a bit.
But the estate was left to me, and I can’t get the money if I go
to jail for arson, can I? This complicates matters now that the house will have
to be renovated before I can sell it.”

“I’d hate to see you go to jail. But something
doesn’t make sense to me.”

“Yes?”

“How did you set the fire?”

“Accomplices,” he said in a mere whisper.

“And they will go un-named.”

“Yes.”

“Are you going to tell me
who’s
black mailing you and why?”

He cleared his throat. “Jake wants to talk to
you.”

“Hudson, wait . . . . .”

“Fiona,” Jake said, “
are
you going to help us? What can I promise you?”

“You don’t seem to understand that I am trying
to separate myself from the Wild West show.”

“Opal said she’d give you a nice little place
she has on the ranch and a few acres, if you’ll help us out.”

That was a clever bribe. I didn’t answer and
Jake said, “She also needs her house redecorated. She’d like to engage your
services.”

“Really?”
I said. This
sounded lucrative. I’d never been bribed before, but I could see its
advantages. I’d always nursed a hankering for a place out west. I wondered what
Opal’s spread looked like. I pictured herds of cattle, cowboys on horseback
looking like the Marlboro Man, big skies,
rattlesnakes
.

“She says you have free reign, no budgetary
limits. What do you say?
A nice decorating job, a little
place out west, get
away from the big city.”

The lure was too good to pass up. “What’s my
guarantee that you’ll make good on these bribes.”

“Bribes?
Fiona, these
are incentives.”

“What’s to keep you from backing out after I
show up and perjure myself?”

Jake didn’t answer at first. I pressed the
phone closer to my ear. “Jake?”

“How about my word?”

“How about a signed contract
for redesigning Opal’s house and a deed to her little place.
Photos
would be nice, too, just to make sure I like it. Let me talk to Opal.”

“Right, here she is.”

“Fiona, it’s true. I want you to have this nice
bunkhouse that’s sitting empty on my place. It’s got a pretty view of the
mountains and a tree. It doesn’t sit too close to my house and is on a little knoll
so you won’t have to worry about spring flooding. You’ll like it. I’ve been
meaning to find just the right person to live there. I’ll write out a contract
and a letter deeding the place to you.”

“It’s a deal.”

The drive around the Capitol Beltway gave me
time to have second thoughts. It was late. I was tired. By the time I arrived
at the Marriott Tysons Corner in Virginia where the Wild West show was staying,
I had decided my return was a bad idea. As I drove by the front entrance in
that humongous truck, looking for a parking space, I spotted Alice under the
portico. I did a double take. She was in profile, standing alone by the door. But
it was her. I needed to talk to that woman.

I found a place to park which, unfortunately,
was at the end of a long row of fancy cars, the only place big enough for the
monster truck. Even though it was dark, I put on my sunglasses, shouldered my
bag, and, carefully, made my way toward where I saw Alice standing. She was
gone. I hurried inside, gyrating in all directions but at the same time trying
to be cool behind the Hollywood glasses. I almost collided with Jake who came into
the lobby from the bar.

“Fiona, you are a princess.” He pulled me into
his arms and hugged me till I cried time out.

“Wait,” I said, “I’ve changed my mind. I can’t
do this. I could end up in jail.”

“We all could. But let’s not worry about that
now. The important thing is that you are here.” He released his grip and his
hands drifted down my arms. “You want to share my room? It has a king bed,” he
said, with a twitch of his lips. “We wouldn’t have to get close. We could just
be friends.”

I laughed. “Is this part of the incentive
package?”

“Part of my incentive package.”

I studied him and saw hope in those big browns.
I hated to turn him down but I had my standards. Trouble was they were
slipping. But I had to be strong.

“Thanks, but I snore, and I always sleep alone.”

“Too bad.”
He still
held my arms, seeming reluctant to turn me loose. “You’re going through with
the alibi, aren’t you?
 
We’re counting on
you.”

“I have to think it over. We need to talk about
how this is going to play out and when I have to perjure myself and what the
consequences are. Our stories all have to be straight.”

“Right.
No problem.
Opal, Hudson and I have already thought it through. You tell the police that all
of us including Hudson were at your place for a little party and that we all
had a little too much to drink so we all stayed over.
Very
simple.”

“Sounds more like an orgy than a party.”

He shrugged. “Whatever. I know how much you
like Hudson. You’d be saving his ass.”

“Put it that way, I have to do it.”

“That’s my girl.”

“By the way, you didn’t see Alice around here,
did you?”

“Don’t tell me you’re back on Alice. You have
Alice on the brain. Why would she be here?”

“That’s what I want to know. I saw her when I
pulled in. She was standing out front, alone. I went right by her. By the time
I parked and came in, she was gone. I thought maybe you saw her in the bar.”