Клео Коул - Murder Most Frothy

“Yes, ma’am. She sure was worried about Mr. Mintzer.”

I was glad it was too dark for everyone to see me redden. And I thought Alberta was a suspect. Some amateur sleuth I turned out to be .

I moved to Jim’s side. He was glaring at the man in handcuffs. We followed as Thomas led him back to the house.

I looked at the shooter, then at Jim. “So this man, he’s—”

“Meet my partner, Kenny Darnell. Apparently his mother made a miracle recovery and he’s back, shooting bullets instead of photos.”

Alberta and David met us at the edge of the mansion’s lawn.

“I’ve called the police,” Alberta told us. “They’ll be here in a few minutes.”

David followed Jim, the guard, and their prisoner into the house. I lingered behind to speak with Alberta.

“You suspected David was in trouble all along, didn’t you?” I whispered.

Alberta nodded. “Yes, ever since that poor young man was shot in his bathroom. Then David got sick and I was certain someone was trying to do him harm.” The maid leaned close and whispered, “David is frail, but he’s not that frail. I knew someone was trying to poison him.”

“Why didn’t you say something to me? To David?”

“Well, I’m sorry to tell you, Clare, that I was suspicious of you all along.”

“Me? Oh, goodness.”

“And as far as telling David what I thought…well, you don’t know David like I know David. The man is just stubborn. If you want to do something to help him, you have to do it behind his back. David hates sentiment, probably because he’s more sentimental than most of us. All along, I felt so guilty, Clare. David is like a son to me, and I felt I’d let him down—”

“How?”

“I wasn’t there, at the Fourth of July party. I wasn’t there for him. I had a date, you see—”

“A date?”

“Shhh!” Alberta said. “I don’t want David to know. He never would have approved my entertaining a gentleman overnight in the mansion. It’s nothing serious, really. Only a summer fling.”

“So that’s why you were dressed so nicely, with makeup and jewelry? That’s why I heard voices in your room?”

“Please don’t tell him, Clare.”

“Alberta, my lips are sealed.”

From inside the house I heard a struggle, then Kenny’s voice. “Let me go, you asshole!”

I entered the kitchen, which was more crowded than I’d expected. Joy and Graydon Faas had arrived. They’d come to the kitchen, drawn to the commotion, no doubt.

“Why did you do it?” Jim demanded of his partner.

Before I could step in, Jim Rand lashed out, slapping his partner hard across the face. Kenny Darnell reeled from the blow. Then he stood tall, spit blood, and sneered. “Screw you, Rand.”

“Now, now,” David fretted, wringing his hands.

Thomas Gurt continued to grip the cuffed prisoner by the arms, his face remained impassive.

Jim saw my shocked expression. For a flashing moment, he looked sheepish. “He won’t talk.”

I stepped forward, until my eyes caught Kenny Darnell’s. He was a good-looking man with dark, curly hair, a squarish face, and an even tan. His defiant blue gaze met mine.

“Jim,” I said, holding Darnell’s gaze, “you don’t have to make him talk. I’ve already figured out what’s going on and I’m going to tell Detective O’Rourke everything.”

“You don’t know shit, bitch,” Kenny replied.

Jim stepped up and raised his hand again. I put myself between them.

“Oh, god,” David moaned, stroking his temples.

“Listen to me, Kenny. I know you lied and told Jim that your mother was sick in Queens. It gave you an alibi for being far away from the Hamptons when the shootings occurred. You knew your mother would lie for you. You also needed someone to frame for the murder.” I turned to face Jim. “Who better to pin it on than you, Jim Rand, his own partner. By using your MO, the wet suit, the flippers, Kenny knew he could implicate you in the crime. He was probably planning on hiding that rifle among your personals. Some friend, huh?”

“Shut your mouth—” Kenny began.

“You shut yours, Darnell,” Jim warned. “Or I swear to god—”

“Two problems arose,” I quickly cut in. “First, Kenny killed the wrong man. Then the storm swept in on the night of the murder and washed away the flipper prints. The cops had no evidence beyond the casings Kenny deliberately left at the scene. Now Kenny had a problem. He still had to kill David and pin it on you, Jim, so for Treat’s murder he had to go to plan B and frame someone else.”

“You mean, this man framed that drug dealer the police arrested?” David asked.

“Yes,” I said and turned to Rand. “Jim, didn’t you tell me that Kenny took photos for the police—traffic accident photos, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right, Clare.”

“So Kenny knows the score out here with the cops,” I said. “He probably has friends among them, so he knew what was going on with the investigation into Treat’s murder. He knew they wanted to solve the crime fast, pin it on a shooter. He also knew from his policemen friends that Treat had drug connections. I’m guessing it was Mr. Darnell himself who tipped the police about the rifle in the drug dealer’s trunk—the guy in Hampton Bays. It was you who tipped them, wasn’t it, Kenny? What did you do, make an anonymous phone call?”

Kenny sneered. “You think you’re so smart.”

I nodded. “Smarter than you, it seems to me, because I never thought Treat’s murder was solved. The police did. They dropped their guard. So did David. Now you could strike again and get the job done right.”

I faced Jim Rand again. “Tonight, Kenny used your MO like last time, only this time, he made sure to do it on a night with no storm. And, as I said, he was probably going to stash tonight’s rifle among your belongings.”

Jim shook his head. “Why, Kenny? We had a good thing going.”

Kenny’s face twisted in disgust. “We had nothing going. This business was my idea from the beginning. I brought you in. But you were always expendable.”

“You were a washout, you prick. In the SEALs and out. You ran up debts with your sports betting, couldn’t get a loan from a bank, or don’t you remember? I was the one who put up the capital for the equipment, the rentals.”

“Yeah, well, this business was my idea,” Kenny said, “and I decided I didn’t want to split my profits anymore.”

“You punk, you ran up sports betting debts again, didn’t you?” Jim said, closing in on his partner. “You were desperate for money. So desperate you had to do something like this.”

Darnell looked away. “I didn’t know how the hell I was going to get rid of you without making you my competitor. So I decided to kill two birds with one stone. Make a little extra money and send you away for a while. So I put an ad in Soldier of Fortune and I got a bite—to kill David Mintzer.”

“Oh, gawd,” David moaned.

Despite David’s distress, I could see this interrogation was actually going pretty well. The only thing I needed to hear now, the only thing we all needed to hear, was Kenny confess who had hired him. I folded my arms, shook my head, and began to pace.

“Kenny, the only thing I can’t figure out,” I said, “is why your first attempt was during a big party. You could have killed David on the beach, on the street, anywhere—”

“Oh, gawd,” David moaned again.

Kenny smirked at me. “So you’re not so smart.”

“I don’t know, Kenny. Doing your hit at a big party like that. All that room for error. The chance of getting caught?” I turned to Jim. “Maybe your partner washed out of the SEALs for a reason. Maybe he’s just stupid.”