Firebreak (Josie Gray Mysteries #4)(63)

Josie was on her hands and knees looking through boxes she had pulled out from under the bed when Susan walked into the room carrying a black book in her hands.

“What you got there?” Susan asked.

“He has boxes of memorabilia and letters that date back five years or better. I found a stack of letters in the desk drawer, and there’s more here in these boxes. I found one dated from 2010 from a jilted lover. Check this out.” Josie dug back through one of the boxes, found the letter she was searching for, and handed it to Susan. “Look at the back of the envelope.” Drawn on the back was an ink sketch of a young girl’s face with tears dripping down her cheeks and her bottom lip stuck out in a sad-faced pout.

“The letter’s pretty sappy. The girl basically says Ferris ruined her life when he left her. It’s postmarked Montpellier, France.”

Susan scowled. “What’s the attraction with this guy?”

“I don’t get it either.” She pointed to the black book. “You find something?”

“I did. A leather bank ledger that Ferris writes in faithfully. Each month he records a ten-thousand-dollar deposit into the account.”

Josie’s eyes rose. “You find the sugar daddy?”

“We’ll have to subpoena the bank records. I can’t tell. The deposits started the month after he turned eighteen.”

“Sounds more like a trust fund.”

“He’s also had larger deposits made sporadically. The most recent was a one-hundred-thousand-dollar deposit two years ago, about the time he moved to Presidio. I would assume to buy this house.”

“What a life, huh?” said Josie.

They both heard banging coming from the living room and realized someone was knocking on the front door.

“Is anyone coming to meet you here?” Josie asked.

“Nope.”

Josie walked through the living room and the pounding started again. When she opened the door a thin woman with small pinched features and a very angry expression stood with her hands fixed firmly to her hips.

“Could you not have let the family in first?” the woman said.

“My name is Josie Gray. I’m chief of police with the Artemis Police Department.” Josie motioned behind her where Susan stood looking out at the woman. “This is Deputy Susan Spears with the Presidio County Sheriff’s Department. And you are?” Josie had little doubt the woman was a close relative of Ferris’s.

“I’m Ferris Sinclair’s twin.”

“And your name?”

“Julia.”

Josie stepped outside, forcing the woman to take a step back on the front porch.

“Have you spoken with your parents about Ferris?”

Julia’s chin dimpled and she puckered her lips in an attempt to keep from crying.

“I’m very sorry for your loss,” Josie said.

“Why are you here?” The young woman’s voice came out as a high-pitched whisper.

“We have a court-ordered search warrant, Ms. Sinclair. We’re here to find out what happened to your brother. We’re going to do everything we can.”

“By rooting through his things?”

“That’s not our intent. We’re trying to understand who would want to hurt your brother. Do you know of anyone who would want to cause harm to Ferris?”

Tears fell down her cheeks. She hugged her arms around her thin chest and squeezed her eyes shut. The thin frame that gave Ferris a rakish, handsome look in photographs Josie had seen made Julia look sinewy and harsh.

She pulled her shirt up to wipe her eyes on the bottom of it and revealed a taut belly. Josie looked away toward the street until the woman had returned her shirt.

“Had Ferris told you about anyone who he was worried about? Maybe someone he’d been having a relationship with that had ended badly?”

“Relationships ending badly for Ferris?” She laughed abruptly, though it sounded more like a cough. “He is the most shallow complicated person I’ve ever met. He’s my twin, and I still don’t understand what motivated his relationships.”

“What do you mean by that?” Josie asked.

Julia dug a crumpled tissue out of her purse and wiped her eyes again. She put it back and finally said, “Relationships were like a hobby to him. He played with people like dolls. When he got bored with them he’d throw them in the Dumpster and move on to someone new.”

She seemed to notice Josie watching her closely, and then saw Susan standing in the doorway. “Figuratively, of course. He didn’t actually get rid of people. He just never managed to keep a relationship for more than a few months. A year or two at the most.”

“Did he keep letters and mementos as keepsakes?”

She smiled and dipped her head, apparently realizing Josie was trying to find out what she knew.

“You found his stash,” Julia said. “He’d drag boxes of that stuff out at parties. He’d impress people with the gold box he received from some Arab prince, or the tennis bracelet he received from some young actress. People would dig through his treasure boxes and listen to his stories about hanging out with rich people. I loved Ferris but it was all a little pathetic.”

“What about jilted lovers? He seems to have a fairly big collection of admirers,” Josie said. “Male and female.”