Helena Goes to Hollywood: A Helena Morris Mystery (27 page)

This guy was so very clearly not on my side of things that I wanted to slap him. “I’m not harassing your cousin. I just wanted to make sure he didn’t know anything more after the wild chase he sent us on to San Bernardino.”

“He was just trying to help. Sometimes the answer is staring you right in the face. So simple it’s overlooked. That’s what I’ve found in my time on the force.”

“All two months?” I turned on my heel and strode to my car. I got in and Sonia and Jordan did as well. “You’ve called a tow?”

“Lupe called the mechanic I use. He’ll handle it.” Sonia leaned in. “Are you okay?”

“Fine, but we’ve got a problem.” I pulled out into traffic.

“I know, they’re still after me.”

“And the cops don’t believe you at all.”

“What?” Jordan yelped from the back. “That’s the dumbest thing since chasing OJ down the road at ten miles an hour. They just want the attention.”

“They’re serving a search warrant on the mansion tomorrow.” I didn’t know what impact the information would have.

“Oh.” Sonia sounded defeated.

“They’re running out of suspects and you’ve got the best motive and the worst alibi. The circumstances of the divorce mean you might’ve hired someone to do it. Ricky did his best. I’ve been doing everything I can. But at this point they’ll at least question you again.”

“I told them everything last time. Damn it, Hel, I just got attacked.” Sonia let the tears roll.

“I know—they’ll probably try to say you arranged it to keep up the innocent façade. That’s why they’re still searching for the guy. They want him to turn on you.”

“I didn’t hire someone to attack me or kill Danny. This is insane!” Sonia kicked at the floor mats. “I can’t go to jail.”

“I know it’s crazy. But you need to prepare yourself. They’re going to search the house tomorrow and take you in for questioning at the same time so you’re not there when they search. You need to hire a lawyer.” At least my sister had money. The right lawyer could get her off.

“Tomorrow?” Her voice went cold.

“Ricky called me earlier. We’re out of luck and options, Sonia. I’m sorry.”

She shook her head. “It’s not your fault. Someone out there is after me and I don’t know who it is. If I hadn’t come to Hollywood this never would’ve happened. I can’t change it now so I have to live with it. Tonight we’re going to enjoy life.”

“No, tonight we’re interviewing lawyers so you don’t get questioned alone. He’ll be at the mansion waiting with you tomorrow. He’ll do the talking. I should’ve had you lawyer up immediately.” I shook my head.

Why was I so stupid? Most of the time the legal system worked but when it came to personal stuff, you needed to play defense early. I thought innocence would be enough.

“I’ll call my lawyer, it’ll be okay. But I want Emmy and Jordan and you over tonight. Food and nails and gossip—I want some fun before hell takes over my life.” It was a statement, not a request.

I parked in the driveway of Sonia’s mansion and we piled out. If it were me I’d be a nervous wreck and having my lawyer there all the time. Reviewing my case, my facts, and my defense. I’d be hunting for the truth, not pretending reality wasn’t coming.

We were so different and tonight Sonia would eat, drink, and be merry—for tomorrow she would probably be arrested.
I’d
be pretending to enjoy tonight while my brain worked double time to find the lead or angle that could set my sister free.

G
athered around my sister’s dining room table, I looked up at the massive chandelier as my toes dried. The San Bernardino Sisters were free and I was at a dead end. Todd and Ricky both insisted I sit out and wait for the LAPD to do its job. I hated waiting. We could be a bunch of sitting ducks here.

Sonia surfed the web on her laptop while her feet soaked. “You took a picture with a Queen Bee at the funeral? Hel!”

I rolled my eyes at her. “He promised not put up any pics of you or Danny if I did. It’s a picture, that’s all. He’d better be keeping that agreement.”

“They had some pictures of the house where the murder happened but nothing of Danny or Sonia.” Emmy exfoliated Sonia’s feet and glanced at the screen. “You look great in the picture.”

Like I cared but maybe there was something? “Can I see the pictures of Danny’s house?”

Sonia seemed relieved to push the laptop away. She’d been clinging to Danny’s stuff and then wanting to put it out of her mind. Hopefully she was coming to grips with reality.

I clicked on a few pictures, police milling about and the coroner’s truck. So far Keith had kept his word and I was rather surprised. One of the pictures was just the house, no sign of my car or any police. Maybe it was much later in the day? No, no police tape on the door. I clicked for a closer look.

In the bottom left corner of the picture I saw an odd car and it snapped in my mind. I could be wrong but my gut said I’d cracked it. I looked for a date and time stamp on the edges. Nothing. Grabbing my sister’s cell I got a hold of Harriet’s cell number. She in turn gave me Keith’s number. As the phone rang, I drummed my newly polished nails on the table while Emmy waved at me with a grimace.

I was in the zone and the world fell away. I had to get there, find some proof. Alibi to the contrary—I knew who the killer had to be.

“Queen Bee Keith.”

He actually answered his phone that way? “Hi Keith. It’s Helena Morris.”

“Hel! Honey...when can we do lunch?” he asked.

“As soon as Danny’s killer is behind bars, and you’re going to help me make that happen.”

Sonia gave me a look and I waved her off.

“I’m all yours. How can I help?” Keith sounded skeptical.

“You’ve got a picture of the house up on your site. There’s a silver Lexus SUV in the foreground on one. The plate was cut off a bit.”

“My picture sources are confidential. They don’t kill people and it ruins the story,” he said sarcastically.

“I hope they don’t kill but I need to know if there’s a time and date stamp on that photo anywhere and the plate number.”

Most people wouldn’t want that on their pictures but professionals used it to track their work. I imagined paparazzi might keep it on for their own defense proving when they took a picture.

At least I hoped they were that smart. “Help me out, Keith.”

“Take a chill pill and let me look.” He laughed. “Like that? We’re going to be doing a whole eighties theme next month. Everything eighties and I’ll even find your yearbook picture.”

“My hair in high school was high and I loved orange neon. Can you check please?” I tried to be nice but I had a bad feeling about it all.

I covered the mouthpiece. “Sonia, Myra and Norm take over Danny’s place tomorrow, right?”

She nodded. “I called Myra and said they could go back tonight. Police cleared it. Faith left a message that she’d gotten her stuff out already and Jordan supervised the service. I couldn’t face getting his stuff. Just the furniture and appliances left. They’ll have to replace the floor.” She swallowed hard and took a deep breath.

Emmy tried to sooth my sister but I simply didn’t have the luxury of helping just then. “Keith, help me out here.”

“Got it. Seriously, do you know how many photos I have? I’m looking at the original. Enlarging and yes, it has a date stamp with time. Ten ten in the morning on the day of the murder. The plate says MrFix1. Sad. Does it help?”

“Yes! Send the uncut photo to my phone, please. I have to get the plate run. Now tell me why a paparazzi would be taking pictures of my sister’s ex’s rented house
before
the murder?”

“You’d been spotted there before. He was probably just making some rounds. Some paps take a shot and a lot of mine go out of the box on hunches. Not every shot is a moneymaker but if he’d found you there or the killer it’d be worth a mint.”

I didn’t get it but I could accept it as routine in their business. “Okay, thanks.”

“Sending. So I helped you crack a case?” he asked.

“You and your magic website, I think so. Thank you.” I disconnected from him and opened the picture.

I knew there would be more payback to give the queen but right now I had to check. The time stamp was clear and the uncropped picture had more of the car. I had a good idea who killed Danny.

“I’ve got to go.” I shoved my feet into some flip-flops, got up and grabbed my purse. “I want to check out the house one last time.”

“Why?” Sonia asked.

“You’ll ruin your nails,” Emmy called.

I shook my head. “Just a feeling. I want to make sure nothing was missed. Tell Emmy about your tattoo idea. Maybe she knows a good place to get one. We’ll go, soon.”

I headed out the front door and turned the security system on behind me.

I’d texted Ricky and he was running the plate as I arrived at Danny’s old rental. They’d cleaned out everything belonging to him. Sonia had sent his parents a package and let Faith have a few things.

When I pulled up a block away and spotted that silver SUV I knew I had them. No proof yet beyond the circumstantial. I didn’t want to spook them so I parked my car a block back and walked. I took a photo with my cell of the car with the plate and sent it along with Keith’s picture to Ricky.

Two seconds later my phone vibrated. “It’s Norm Andrews’ car. He owns the house. So what?” he asked.

“He did it. I’ll explain later—just meet me at Danny’s house now.” I disconnected but kept my phone out. As I neared the house I thought about pulling my gun. Ricky was on his way. Maybe I could stall them. Was it just Norm or had he dragged Myra into it? The gun was my last resort.

I’d learned what damage pictures could do so I had great evidence. I went around back and found the sliding door open. Quietly, I eased my hand with cell in and took a pic of Norm with his hand under the sink.

I stepped in. “Eager to get back to work?”

“What are you doing here? I’m just cleaning up.” His face went white.

“Sure, because you’ll get this place rented again fast? You have to change the floor and Myra said the place wasn’t remodeled. You have a lot of work to do.” I tried not to look at the stain.

The floor was old and some sort of tile that had soaked up the brownish red hue.

“Sonia said you were all done here. What do you want?” Norm asked.

“Pull out whatever is stuffed under the sink,” I instructed.

“It’s nothing—I just wanted to check it. They had some plumbing issues and sinks get clogged easily.” Norm stepped closer to me.

He lied well, but stepping toward me was a mistake. It showed he was more afraid of what I’d find in the sink than me. Something was in there.

“The police are on their way,” I said.

“Why? I own this home. I’m not trespassing, Danny was a good friend to Myra and me.” He wasn’t going to move or cooperate.

I had nothing to tie him up with and I didn’t want to pull my gun until I had to. Norm was big. I could take him but he had tools. Backup would be good. Ricky needed to get here now!

“I’m not worried about trespassing. It’s the whole murder thing I’ve got a problem with.”

His face became hard and his eyes darted for the potential exits. Behind him there was nothing. “I didn’t murder anyone.” Norm took a step closer.

“Don’t run. The police will be here any second and we’ll just see what they find. Your dad was a contractor, right?”

I’d had Todd run Myra to ground but she had a super background check. Nothing criminal or obvious but I did my homework back when she was just the agent. Checking out her husband hadn’t occurred to any of us. Now Myra was writing a book?

Norm’s smile turned to a frown and his head tipped just a fraction of an inch toward the sink.

“So? Plumbing isn’t a crime. You can’t hold me here, you’ve got nothing. It’s not like you’re even a cop,” he said.

“I’ll do what I have to do. Why did you kill Danny? He wasn’t leaving Myra. He had some talent and he would get work.”

“And I thought you were more interested in your sister’s stalker.” Norm leaned on the counter. “Why couldn’t you leave it alone? My wife had a great thing with that couple. Big money and Sonia had to go and ruin it. That was bad enough but Danny cheating made it worse. Myra gave so much.”

The money. It really was all about money. “You stalked my sister too. You wanted her to what? Run back to Danny for safety? Try to get them together and Myra might get her super couple back? Greedy bastard.”

I’d bet he stashed the knife in the plumbing. Maybe the disposal, maybe the sink pipes—people went with what they knew best. Those were places police weren’t going to take apart without clues and evidence leading them there. Most people wouldn’t go there first but he owned the house. Why not hide it under their nose; if it was found, blame the killer. If not, he could dispose of it once the heat was off. Norm had those skills even in the panic of hiding stuff.

“Why kill Danny? Then there’s no way to recoup my wife’s losses.” He stretched back on the counter, proud of himself.

“And you’ve had a week of trying to get to my sister until you finally realized I won’t go away. I’ll be her bodyguard twenty-four seven and keep the perimeter on her so tight you’ll never get a chance. So you’re making sure to get rid of the evidence now that the rumor of your wife’s book has gotten out.”

“You ruined everything! I had to get rid of Danny or he’d drag Myra down. He wasn’t playing ball and getting good press. Being sympathetic. Myra tried so hard to remake his image and he just wanted to be a depressed loser.” Norm glared at me.

He grabbed a wrench from behind him on the counter and lunged at me. I reached around the weapon and grabbed his wrist. The element of surprise worked; attackers expected people to move away, not come in closer. Twisting his arm, I ramped up the pressure on his thumb joint and he dropped the wrench.

He grabbed for my throat with his other hand. I hooked his thumb and bent it back.

Cursing, Norm went down on his knees.

“Police! Let him go,” a gruff voiced shouted.

I let go and stepped back and Norm lunged for the wrench. I heard a shot and looked behind me. Ricky’s bullet found a home in Norm’s calf.