A High-End Finish(21)

“Tell the truth. Did you think I did it?”

“No!”

“It’s okay if you did. The new police chief thinks I did it.”

She gasped. “No, he doesn’t.”

“He did for an hour or two last night. I was the one who found the body, after all. And plenty of people overheard me threatening him.”

“You’ve never been a violent person. I can only imagine that awful man must have hurt you pretty bad.”

“He did,” I said quietly. “And what hurts even more is that I bought into his whole act.”

She buried her face in her hands. “Oh, God, it’s all my fault.”

“And we’ve come full circle.”

“Okay, I’ll stop,” she said, holding up both hands like a traffic cop. “We will never talk about Jerry Saxton ever, ever again.” She swept her shaggy bangs off her forehead and straightened her shoulders, refreshed and ready to change the subject. “So, what’s up? Why are you here? Not that it isn’t a thrill to see you.”

I laughed softly. “I want to talk about Jerry.”

“Shannon!”

“I just need to know how you met him. Why did you set me up with him? Who introduced you? Did one of your friends tell you he was a good person?”

She looked puzzled. “I didn’t tell you? He came into the store a few weeks ago and introduced himself. He was so charming and gorgeous that I immediately thought of you. I wanted you to meet him.”

“So nobody recommended him to you as good blind-date material.”

“No.”

I nodded and drained the last of my coffee. “And you didn’t ask anyone about him after you met him.”

“You mean, did I do something smart like gather some character references? No. I got a positive feeling about him from the very beginning. He was such a good listener.” She rolled her eyes in disgust. “So much for my ability to judge character.”

“You’re a perfectly good judge of character, Lizzie. So am I.” I stood and gave her a tight hug. “I guess we had to find out the hard way how charming a sociopath can be.”



Being a good citizen and informing the police of a new clue didn’t turn out as well as I’d hoped. I had driven directly to the police department and politely requested a few minutes to talk to Chief Jensen. Naturally, the infuriating man completely misinterpreted my news.

“Are you conducting your own murder investigation, Ms. Hammer?”

“Of course not,” I stammered.

“Sounds like it to me,” Chief Jensen said.

“I’m just trying to help. I came across some information that might be useful and I thought you should know about it.”

“Information? Is that what it’s called?” He sat back in his chair. “Sounds more like gossip to me.”

The man made me so angry! Yes, he was gorgeous, and yes, my heart did beat a little faster whenever I looked into those searing blue eyes of his, but enough was enough.

“So what if it is?” I jumped up and paced in front of his desk while I talked, waving my arms for emphasis. “Gossip can be informative, right? And I thought you’d want to know that my men witnessed Mrs. Boyer and Jerry Saxton carrying on with each other. I thought that was information you could use.” I stopped abruptly and shook my finger at him. “And you’re a fine one to talk about gossip. Apparently you listened to plenty of gossip concerning my fight with Jerry Saxton on the beach the other night. I’ll bet you found it highly entertaining.”

“I found it highly motivating.”

“Motivating?” I was puzzled for a second, but then I realized what he was saying. “Ah. As in a motive for murder. Really, Chief? Haven’t we moved beyond all that?” My shoulders drooped and I slid back into my chair. I was mostly playacting for his benefit, but part of me was bummed. When would he stop giving me grief?

His lips twitched but he refused to smile. “Why didn’t you file a police report after the fight?”

I scowled, mostly at my own forgetfulness. “I meant to. I told Lizzie I would. You can ask her. Liz Logan. You know her, right?”

“Yeah, I know her.”

Of course he did, I realized. She and Hal had provided my alibi for the night Jerry was killed. “Well, you should ask her. She was going to come with me to the police station to file the report, but I got caught up in work stuff and forgot. Next thing I knew, the guy was dead.”

“We’ll follow up on your information.” He sounded so condescending, I was surprised he didn’t put air quotes around the word information.

“That’s great,” I said, trying to keep the sarcasm out of my voice as I stood to leave his office.

He stood also. “Thank you for coming by, Ms. Hammer.”

I tried to hide my shock. He was being courteous?

“I mean it,” he said, reading my expression. “I realize it wasn’t easy for you to share what you heard, so I appreciate your effort.”

My head was practically spinning from the warm cordiality. “You’re welcome.”

? ? ?

I was driving out of the police station parking lot when I remembered that my new tenant, Wendell Jarvick, would be arriving around noon. I had only an hour to prepare myself for another onslaught of negativity. Having just dealt with Chief Jensen, I figured today was my day to confront people in grouchy moods.