The Scent of Lies: A Paradise Valley Mystery (12 page)

Closing the door on that chapter of her life wouldn’t be easy, but it had to be done so she could move on and find happiness in the future. Getting rid of Evan’s clothes didn’t just make room in her closet—it made room in her life, for other things and other people.

If it wasn’t for the suspicions and questions that had recently surrounded Evan’s death and his secret life then maybe she could close that door more easily. It was almost like he was reaching out from beyond the grave, sticking his size-eleven foot in the almost closed door, and shouting, “You can’t close this door on me just yet, Emily!”

* * *

Alex phoned Emily and told her Delia’s arraignment was scheduled for ten o’clock. Despite her niggling questions about Evan, she was determined to get her focus back on Delia. Finding Ricardo’s killer would have to take priority over finding Evan’s for now. Armed with a notebook and a micro-recorder, she rushed to the county courthouse over in Boise.

Making it through the metal detectors inside the massive entrance, she located the courtroom number Alex had given her. The gallery was more than half full. She assumed most of the people being arraigned that morning would be drunk drivers, burglars, and the like—stupid people doing stupid things over the weekend. She thought about how Evan used to say, “If stupid hurt, most people would stop.”

Court was already in session, with an attorney standing at the defense table next to his client, a thirty-something man with long, dirty brown hair, wearing an orange jumpsuit. The judge ordered his bail to be set at two thousand dollars and banged his gavel down.

Emily easily found Alex, seated on the end of the second row, along the aisle on the defense side, reading through some papers, and she took a seat beside him, smoothing down her gauzy floral skirt. “I’m not late, am I?”

“No, they should be bringing Delia out soon,” he whispered as he stuck the papers in a leather portfolio.

“Were you able to see her this morning?”

“Yes, I met with her about an hour ago.” Alex adjusted his tie.

“How’s she doing?”

“As you can imagine, she’s scared, but she’s a strong lady.”

A sheriff’s deputy escorted the scraggy prisoner in the orange jumpsuit out the side door as another deputy walked Delia in, dressed in a similar fashion.

“We’re up.” Alex buttoned his suit jacket with one hand as he rushed to the defense table.

With Alex vacating his seat, Emily’s view of the gallery opened up and she noticed Colin sitting right across the aisle from her. He looked back at her and offered a slight smile. She pulled her white cardigan snug around her chest and her head snapped straight ahead, as she noticed her heartbeat quicken. She might have given her visceral reaction more thought if her attention hadn’t been required on the proceedings taking place ahead of her.

The charges were read and Delia was asked by the judge, “How do you plead?”

“Not guilty, Your Honor.”

The Assistant District Attorney, Allison Laraway, argued that Delia was the prime suspect in her husband’s brutal murder, that she was found kneeling over his body, the bloody knife clutched in her hand, and that she was a woman of means and therefore a flight risk. She requested that bail be denied.

Alex counter-argued that Delia had explained how she’d found her husband that way and in a state of shock had pulled the knife out. He reported that she had no criminal record and did not have the financial fortune that ADA Laraway was trying to make her out to have, that most of her money was tied up in her home and her business. Further, he’d said, as a sign of good faith, Delia was willing to surrender her passport.

Bail was set at one million dollars and the judge ordered Delia must surrender her passport prior to her release. The banging gavel echoed like a harbinger of destiny, and then Emily watched Alex say something to Delia before the deputy escorted her from the courtroom. Words of encouragement perhaps.

Emily rose quickly and stepped into the aisle, bumping into Colin doing the same, her shoulder brushing against his firm chest. A spark of electricity shot through her body as they touched. “Sorry,” she said.

“No, my fault,” he apologized, reaching out to steady her, but she pulled back.

“Emily.” Alex interrupted the brief encounter, and Colin turned and hurried out.

“Let’s step outside and talk.” Alex walked her out into the hall. “I need you to go to Delia’s house—here’s her key and instructions where to find her passport —while I go to the jail and confer with her again. Bring it down there, and then I can arrange for her bail.” He peered down at his watch. “After that, why don’t we plan on meeting back at my office in a few hours to talk about our next move? I should have her out by this afternoon.”

“Okay.” She turned to leave.

“Wait.” He reached out for her arm. “Was Colin talking to you about the case?”

“No, we just bumped into each other, literally.”

“I just want to make sure you don’t say anything to him that could hurt Delia’s case. He’s a skilled detective, and he might get you talking more than you realize.”

“Don’t worry, the only thing I have to say to that man is that he’s on the wrong track and he needs to be out hunting for the real killer.”

* * *

Emily arrived at Delia’s home and noticed several police vehicles.
I wonder why they’re still here.
She couldn’t just leave—she needed the passport—so she rang the doorbell before using the key. The door swung open and she was assuming it would be some generic uniform cop. “Colin? I...I wasn’t expecting you,” she stuttered.

“I guess we’re equal then,” he grinned, “because I wasn’t expecting to see you here either. I’m sure you’re aware this is a crime scene. The team is still processing it, so I came to let the housekeeper in to pack some things she forgot in her rush to get out last night.”

Emily saw the young woman walk up behind Colin.

“I have my things, now. Thank you for letting me in,” Marcela said.

Colin and Emily stood to the side to let her by. Emily watched as the woman dashed to her car, and then she remembered that she’d wanted to talk to her. “Marcela,” Emily called out, “I want to talk to you!”

Marcela turned and waved at her as she got in and drove off.
Did she not hear me? Or understand what I said? I’m sure she speaks English.

“So, is there something I can do for you, Ms. Parker?” Colin asked as he filled the doorway, bringing her attention back to her reason for being there.

“I came to get Delia’s passport. It’s up in her bedroom.”

“Then it’s a good thing I’m here,” he teased, “otherwise you wouldn’t be allowed in just yet.” His gaze locked on hers until she blinked and broke free.

“When will they be finished? Delia will want to come home this afternoon.”

“I don’t think they’ll be too much longer.” He stared down at her, like he was studying her eyes, only not in a suspicious way, more intimately. It made her uncomfortable.

“Are you going to let me in or not?” she blurted.

“Oh, yes, of course, sorry.” He opened the door wider and motioned with a sweep of his arm. “Come on in.”

“I’ll just be a minute.” She started to climb the stairs.

“I have to stay with you—”

Emily turned to protest.

“Crime scene,” he said, pointing to the yellow tape still strung across the living room archway. He followed her up the stairs, close on her heels.

“Oh, all right. It’s not like I’m going to take anything besides the passport.” She continued up the staircase. “Anyway, while I’m here, I wanted to ask you if you know where Marcela is staying. Alex told me he wants to ask her some questions.”

“She was just here. You could have asked her yourself, Madam PI.”

She turned and frowned at him then continued to climb the steps. “I tried, you saw. I called out to her and she waved and drove off.”

“Yeah, I don’t know what that was about. Maybe she didn’t understand what you wanted. Anyway, don’t sweat it. She told me she’s staying with a cousin a couple of towns over. I have the phone number of the place at my office.”

“Do you think you could call me with that number, if it’s not too much to ask?” she asked, reaching the second floor landing.

“I don’t see why not,” he replied, grinning again. “Why don’t you give me your phone number?”

She pulled a pen out of her purse, grabbed one of his hands, and wrote her number on his palm. “There,” she said, turning and hurrying down the hall. She could hear Colin’s deep laugh thundering behind her.

They reached the bedroom together and he stood by, arms crossed, leaning against the door frame, while Emily retrieved what she’d come for. The passport lay in a hidden drawer inside Delia’s jewelry box perched on her massive cherry dresser. Colin craned his neck to see what Emily was doing.

“A hidden drawer? What else does that woman have hidden in this house?” he asked.

“I don’t—” Emily remembered Alex’s warning not to talk too much to Colin about Delia’s business. She frowned at him and shot him a disapproving look.

“What?” he asked with a shrug and a slight frown.

“You’re very crafty, Detective Colin Andrews, very crafty.” With passport in hand, she breezed past him and bounded down the steps.

“Emily!” he called from the top of the stairs. She turned and looked up at him when she reached the bottom.

“Would you like to have dinner sometime?”

“With you?”

“Of course, with me.”

“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.” Emily thought he was probably only asking in order to pry information from her. Besides that, she didn’t appreciate how he seemed to look down his nose at her as an investigator. She didn’t want to like him, but with the way she felt when he came near her, she wasn’t sure she could stop herself from giving him whatever he wanted. So, she tossed him an off-handed wave as she dashed out the front door.

Sliding behind the wheel of her car, her heart was beating a bit harder than usual and there were goose bumps popping up on her arms.
That man does something to me.
If only he wasn’t on one side of this murder case and she on the other, things might be different.

Hearing Colin’s invitation in her mind again, she fought down the smile that was trying to spread across her face as she drove off to meet Alex at the jail and hand over the passport.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Emily walked into Alex’s office for their meeting and found him and Delia sitting around his desk and talking.

“Just in time,” Alex said, looking up at her with a smile.

Emily bent down and gave Delia a quick hug. “I’m so glad to see you’re out.”

“No one more than me,” Delia assured her.

Emily took the other chair across the desk from Alex. “So, what’s our next move?”

“I was just telling Delia she wouldn’t be able to get back into her house until later today when the police give us the all clear,” Alex said.

“Yes, I know. I ran into Detective Andrews when I was there picking up the passport.”

“Well, I’m sure I can find something to busy myself until then,” Delia replied.

“I’ve asked ADA Laraway to turn over a copy of all the evidence they’ve collected,” Alex said to Emily. “We need to see what they think they have on Delia. I need you to go down there and pick up the file so we can start building our case.”

“All right. What else?”

“I’m assuming the police interviewed all the neighbors, but I’d like you to go and talk to them, as well. Bring Laraway’s file back here first.”

“Okay, I’m on it, unless there’s anything else.” Emily made some notes in her leather-bound notebook.

“I think that will keep you busy for a few hours.” Alex smiled. “Off you go.”

As Emily got up, Delia grasped her hand and squeezed. “Thank you for believing in me.”
 

Emily smiled in understanding, returned the squeeze, and then hurried out.

* * *

Her legs tired as she climbed the expansive stairs of the County Courthouse offices, but Emily felt a sense of importance in what she was doing and pressed on. Sure, picking up evidence and taking it to Alex was just a runner’s job, but after that she would be interviewing neighbors, asking questions, digging for the truth. That excited her.

She entered the suite of cubicles and offices of the District Attorney and his staff of Assistant DAs and administrative assistants. She approached the receptionist. “Good afternoon, my name is Emily Parker. I’m from attorney Alex Martinez’s office, and I’m here to pick up a file from ADA Laraway on the Delia McCall case.”

The young woman picked up the phone and Emily overheard her relay the information to Miss Laraway. “She’ll be right out,” the receptionist said as she hung up the phone.

A nearby door opened and Emily spun around at the sound of a man and woman laughing. She recognized that laugh. Sure enough, there was Detective Colin Andrews walking out the door behind ADA Laraway. Emily knew flirting when she heard it, and she could see the ADA was definitely doing it with Colin. Not that she should care.

Colin stopped short when he saw Emily. His amiable chuckle was replaced with a startled expression that rapidly melted into a warm smile. He looked happy to see her. At least, that is how Emily took it, which made her heart flutter and her cheeks warm. She instantly returned the smile, but quickly put her serious face back on.