Mayes, Casey - A Deadly Row

After we ordered, I said, “You were going to bring me a present today, weren’t you?”

Lorna looked surprised. “Can you believe it? I left it on the counter at home.”

Was she lying, or had it just been an excuse to pick my brain about Zach’s investigation again? If it was, it was going to bite her this time.

“You’ve got to tell me what it is,” I said. “I’m just dying to know.”

“It’s a frame of your first puzzle that ever ran,” she said. “I called the Lenoir Dispatch and they dug a copy out of their archives for me. I hope you like it.”

The first paper my syndicate had sold a puzzle to was indeed a small, independent paper in the city of Lenoir. I’d been as proud of that puzzle as I could be, but I’d forgotten to save one for myself.

“That’s really thoughtful,” I said. “Thank you.”

“It would have been even better if I’d brought it with me,” she said. “I’ll have it messengered over to you today.”

“I’d appreciate that,” I said. “What made you think of doing it?”

“You broke up my relationship with Grady. I owed you something out of gratitude. It was the wake-up call I needed to save me from my bad choices. Grady was exactly the wrong man for me at the wrong time, and I don’t know what would have happened if we’d stayed together.”

“I told you, I didn’t say a word to him about you.”

“I didn’t know that when I had the newspaper framed, though. For whatever reason, splitting with Grady was what saved me.”

Our food arrived, and as we began to eat, I realized that I’d stalled long enough. I had to pressure her, and do it fast, before she walked out.

I finished a bite of my omelet, and then I asked, “Aren’t you going to ask me about Zach’s investigation?”

“You made it pretty clear the last time that you weren’t comfortable discussing it with me,” she said.

“Funny, but I never thought you’d give up that easily.”

She waved her fork in the air. “I thought about what you said, and you were right. It really never was any of my business.”

“You might be surprised.”

“Why is that?”

“Zach still has you on his list of suspects.” I said it as flatly as I could, but Lorna looked at me as though I’d just lost my mind.

“Come on, that’s not amusing at all.”

“It wasn’t meant to be,” I said. “You had a reason to want Cindy and Hank both dead. Zach can’t ignore that just because we’re friends.”

“I told you before. I didn’t kill anyone,” she said loudly enough to attract attention to us. Was one of the folks watching us the cop sent there to protect me? I certainly hoped so.

“You don’t really have an alibi for Hank’s murder though, do you?”

“I have one for Cindy’s,” she said.

“Really? What is it?”

She ignored the question. “If I’m really a suspect, why hasn’t anyone pressed me about an alibi? The two murders are tied together, if the Observer has it right. I couldn’t have killed Hank, because I didn’t kill Cindy.”

“It’s easy enough to say, but can you prove it?”

Lorna threw her napkin down on her plate, though her meal was less than half eaten. “I don’t have to sit here and listen to this. To think I tried to do you a favor.”

“Do yourself one,” I said. “Tell me your alibi, or tell the police.”

“You wouldn’t sic your husband on me, would you?”

“Try me,” I said, trying my best to press her into saying something she didn’t want to tell me.

“I was with Davis Rawles all night, okay?”

That was shocking to hear. I’d known about Lorna and Grady, but I’d never suspected Davis. “Excuse me if I don’t believe you,” I said.

“Believe what you want to.”

“He’s a married man, Lorna.”

“Don’t you think I know that? I’m not proud of myself, and neither is he. Maybe I haven’t changed as much as I thought I had. We were both drinking, and a little harmless flirting went way too far.”

“So, that’s why you didn’t tell the police your alibi.”

“You want to know the truth? They never asked. I figured it was because Davis cleared me, and none of his cops wanted to step on their boss’s toes.”

“Zach’s going to talk to him to confirm your story; you know that, don’t you?”

“What do I care? Let him.” She stood, and loomed over me for a second. Where was my protection? Was she getting ready to strike, even in a crowded dining room? “Savannah, you and I are through. I thought we could really be friends this time but I was wrong.”

“Is that it?” I asked, the relief washing over me.

“What more did you expect, a dramatic drumroll? Good-bye, Savannah.”

“Bye-bye,” I said almost merrily.

I WENT BACK UPSTAIRS TO OUR SUITE. I SUSPECTED ZACHwould already be gone, but he was still there, waiting for me.

“I thought you’d be at the station by now,” I said as my husband hugged me tightly.

“I wouldn’t have been able to concentrate. I should have gone downstairs with you.”

“I was protected all the time, remember?”

Zach paused and grinned. “Did you spot her?” “Who are you talking about?”

“The detective I sent.”

All that time, I’d been imagining a big, burly cop, when a woman had been guarding me instead. “No, I didn’t.”

“Then she was doing her job well. What did Lorna say?”

“She claims she was with Davis the night of the murder.”

My husband whistled softly. “That explains why neither one of them volunteered the information. I wonder what Davis’s wife will think when she finds out?”

“Are you going to tell her?” I was surprised by the comment, since my husband was normally the model of discretion.

“Not me, but it’s a small force, and husbands talk to wives. She’ll find out soon enough.”

“You’re going to confirm it with Davis, aren’t you?”

“I have to,” Zach said, “though I’m not looking forward to it. Way to go, Savannah. If this checks out, you’ve just eliminated two suspects with one confession.”

“It wasn’t exactly freely given,” I admitted. “I threatened her with you.”

“However you did it, good work.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Do you mean after I talk to Davis? If it checks out, I’m going to focus on Grady. I was pretty sure he was the killer before, but now I’m almost positive. I just can’t believe one of my closest friends is capable of murder.”

“Are you going to arrest him?”

“That’s the problem. I don’t have enough real evidence yet. But trust me, I’ll get it.”

“Don’t do anything stupid, Zach,” I said. “You know the temper Grady has. He could do anything.”

“Trust me, I’ll be careful. What are you going to do in the meantime?”

“Does that mean I can’t come along with you when you corner Grady?”

He laughed. “Not a chance in the world, and you know it.”

I glanced at the clock. “I don’t feel like waiting around for lunch with Sherry. I’m going to call her and see if I can come by early. I didn’t even have a chance to eat my breakfast.”

“Have a good time, and send her my love.”

“I will. Zach, I meant what I said. Be careful.”

“Always,” he replied as he headed for the door.

I just wished that were true.

I SPENT AN HOUR AT SHERRY’S BUT IT WAS CLEAR TO BOTHof us that I was worried about my husband, and we broke it off early, with the promise that we’d get together after all of this was over.

As I drove back to the hotel, I knew that Zach was closing in on the killer, but I believed in my heart that Grady had to have slipped up making that puzzle for us to decipher. If I could find a signature clue there, it would make my husband’s case that much stronger.