Killer Scents (17 page)

Chapter Nineteen

The make-up artist lay on the ground, a single gunshot to his forehead. The guy really did a great job, but he couldn’t chance him leaking his new identity
to anyone
.

It took a few seconds to change the message on his answering machine
.
A
family emergency
has
called
me
away,
so
please leave a message and your number...
.

Thank goodness his keys were on a side table. He didn’t relish the thought of having to put his hand in his pants pocket. He dragged the body to the bathroom and hoisted it up
and over
in the tub, drawing the curtain closed behind him
once he’d finished
.

Outside
,
the rain had stopped
,
and the sun streamed through a break in the clouds. He glanced around before dropping the artist’s set of keys into the waste bin.

Now to find Buddy.

A glimpse in a store window made him stop and smooth the moustache under his nose.
It felt a little odd, having never been able to grow one.
He
’d
tried many times, but it simply wasn’t in his genes.

It took the better part of the day hanging out in the streets before he spotted the dealer and casually
swaggered over to where he stood.

The tall, tattooed man eyed him suspiciously. “What do you want?”

He managed to convince the guy to step into an alley.

“I need a shot of blocker. Can you
help?”

The dealer
narrowed his
eyes
and
looked down his nose at him
. “What do you need that for?”

“That’s my business. Can you do it or not? I’ll pay double your usual asking price.” He
peeled off a few hundred from the roll of bills he pulled out of his pocket and held the money out to him. With his
free
hand
, he
c
over
ed
the
gun stuffed down the waistline of his pants. “I’ll give you the same amount when you hand over what I need.”

The dealer stepped back, laughing. “How do you know I won’t kick your ass and take that wad of cash?”

He glared at
the man, staring intently into his
eyes
. “By the time you take one step toward me, I’d put a bullet
in your head
.” He lifted his shirt enough to show his piece.

The dealer held up his hands. “Whoa
,
buddy. No need for any of that shit.”

“Can you do it or not?”

“Of course I can. Why don’t you go have a
cup of
coffee at that shop across the road? Sit at the bar. I’ll be there shortly.”

He gave him a curt nod before crossing the street.

Randy stood with his back to the wall and lifted the edge of the curtain
slightly
. Becca stood at the end of the long driveway talking to Jacob. If she saw him checking up on her she’d freak, but if his hunch was right, the
re was a very real possibility the
killer watched their every move.

News of the missing journal prompted the team to start from scratch. It always bode well to have an object in mind when conducting a search.

“Hey
,
Randy, come take a look at this.” One of the officers called out to him from the top of the staircase.

Randy’s
heartbeat
fluttered
as
he climbed the staircase two steps at a time.  The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end
as if
the wind had whispered
across it
.

The officer ushered him through the master bedroom to a
door
off
to the
side. “What is this?”

“It’s the doc’s sitting
room
.”

A
strong sense of intruding caused him to pause in the doorway. He shuddered involuntarily, a little
spook
ed to see
the woman’s
things exactly how she’d left them five years ago. Given the layer of dust coating everything
, i
t didn’t look like the professor ever let his staff
in to
clean.

“Mable? Do you think you can spare a minute or two so I can ask you a couple of questions?”

The woman
looked up at him, a stack of freshly laundered towels in her hand. “Yes,
just
let me put these away first.”

The housekeeper waddled up the hallway and disappeared into the m
aster en-suite
. Seconds later
,
she reappeared and he crossed the distance between them.

“Is there somewhere we can sit and talk?”

“Come to the kitchen with me
.
I’ll
pour
you some tea and I can finish preparations for the professor’s supper.”

Randy welcomed the reprieve and sat on a chair at a huge island in the well
-
organized kitchen. The
aroma
drifting
over from
a big pot on the stove set his stomach growling.

“That smells pretty good.”

The housekeeper’s demeanor changed with the compliment, her eyes bright and alive. “Do you like soup?”

He
nodded.

“Here
,
I
’ll
give you
some
and you can talk.”

He
didn’t argue, practically drooling when she put a steaming
bowl
and two wedges of bread slathered in butter in front of him.

“Thank you.”

She smiled.

“How long have you worked here?” He dipped a corner of his bread in the dark broth. A medley of beef and vegetables exploded in his mouth. “Oh...now this is good soup.”

Mable giggled. “Thank you, it’s the professor’s favourite. I’ve been here for over twenty years now.”

He
looked up briefly. “So you knew his wife?”

“The doctor was an angel. Oh
,
how she loved her husband. They shared the kind of love you see in movies.” She sniffled. “He isn’t the same man he once was
. It’s
like something went missing the
day
she died. Sadly, he loses his will to carry on
the more time goes by
without her.”

She took a picture down from the wall and
passed
it to him.

Randy saw what she meant. The professor in the picture was tall and proud, a hand lovingly rest
ing
on his beautiful wife’s shoulder
.
His other
arm
encircled a
young man of about twenty.
He didn’t recall seeing him in any of the
pictures scattered throughout the house.

“Who is this?”

“That is Jeffery, their son.”

He dropped his spoon in the empty bowl. “I didn’t know they had a kid. I don’t think we’ve ever heard the professor talk about him.”

“It’s another sad story, I’m afraid.” Mable took the tissue out from her shirt cuff. “I think this is the last
photo of them together.”

“Why is it a sad story?”

“Jeffery hasn’t set foot in this house since his mother died.” She
dabbed at the corners of her eyes
. “He took it very hard.”

“Where did he go?”

“Jeffery still works
here
, mostly in the fields, but refuses to set foot in this house. The memories are too painful for him, and the professor re
jects any offer to
clean or dispose of anything Pauline left behind.”
She shrugged.
“Sometimes he stays in the bunkhouse after a long day in the fields, but his place is about a mile or so down the road, in the middle of the property with fields on both sides of him. I go there once a week and clean up a little. I often leave him a pot of soup like this. He
’
s a very kind and gentle man.”

“I didn’t see him the day we came and talked to the workers
.
” Randy didn’t talk to
the son
. He would have
remembered
since the guy would be
so different from the rest.

“Is Jeffery
working here
today?”

“I saw him
leaving
very early this morning. I think he
took a drive
into the city.”

He
stood. “Thank you so much for the soup. I think it’s the best I’ve ever had.” He leaned across the island and kissed her rosy cheek. “I’ll leave you alone now to get on with your day.”

He
blew out a long breath
and went in search of the chief.

Why does it feel like everyone is keeping Jeffery a secret? Not even Jacob mentioned him.

“How did we miss something like this?” Randy slid a photo across the table.

Becca’s jaw dropped.
“That’s him!
I’m not going crazy.
That’s the guy I told you I saw standing at the back of the greenhouse. Who is he?”

“Jeffery Davies.”

“How can that be?
Why didn’t the professor or anyone
else
mention him?”

“Apparently he hasn’t set foot in the house since shortly after his mother died.” Randy teetered on the back legs of his chair. “The guy even lives on the property about a mile or so down the road.”

“Are you saying you think he’s our killer?”

He shrugged. “Well, I definitely think we need to pay him a visit.”

“How do you want to handle this?” She could
n’t
sit still.

“Why don’t we just go out there and take a look around?”
He
gathered all of his papers and stuffed them in a file.

“Let’s take the bikes
,
”
she
suggested. The rain stopped long ago
,
and the sun
had
dried the roads.

“Why not
?
I
t’s not like we have
enough
on the guy to arrest
him
or issue a warrant.”

“I’m going home to clean up a bit. Do you want to meet here?”

“I’ll drop you off and
go
get
my bike.” Randy
picked
up the file and put a hand
on
the small of her back. “I think a ride is just what the doctor ordered.”

She
smiled. “Copy that. I’ll meet you
back
at the shop.”