I rested my elbows on the table and propped my face in my hands. To anyone watching, I was just a regular person having a conversation with a patron of the event.
“You say that you processed the crime scene, and you’re confident that you didn’t miss anything. But the crime scene cleaners found the trench coat from the Columbo costume and the deerstalker hat that Blitz wore shoved into the back of the oven in the kitchen. They said you released the crime scene. If that’s true, then how did those items get there?”
Chapter 20
DETECTIVE NICHOLS’S EXPRESSION changed from annoyance to defensive. “No way. Not possible.”
“According to the men I spoke to two days ago, it’s not only possible, it’s the truth. And if there’s evidence that someone else was in that kitchen with Blitz when he died, then I think you’re going to have to lay off Ebony as your main suspect.”
She sat up straight and looked around at the crowd. “This is an open investigation and I’m not going to discuss suspects with you. But since you brought up Ms. Welles, where is she? I don’t believe I’ve seen her here yet.”
“We were out of town yesterday and maybe she didn’t find out about the memorial in time to come.”
“You knew about it,” she said.
“Gina Cassavogli came to the store this morning.”
“And you didn’t mention it to Ebony? Seems kind of odd.” Her tone was calm and inquisitive, not snitty or accusatory, as I would have expected. But despite her even tone, the insinuation was there. She found it curious that Ebony had chosen not to attend the memorial to honor Blitz, her most recent client. And while I knew Ebony was innocent, I found it curious too.
The detective pushed her plate away from her. “You didn’t come over here so we could talk about Ms. Welles’s decision to stay away from the memorial, so let’s get back to these costumes. Where are they now?”
“They were being incinerated. From what I understand, that’s how these things work. The fire hall was left unattended for two days after the murder. The cleanup crew dealt with the whole place, not just what was left in the kitchen. Food was left out, garbage was overflowing. I watched them carry at least a dozen bags of hazardous waste out of the hall before they declared it clean.”
“Was it?”
“The owner proclaimed that it was.”
“What about you? Did you agree?”
I could have lied or pretended that I didn’t know, but what would have been the point? Going on that walk-through hadn’t been against the law, and besides, it was clear that Nichols knew I’d been there. As long as she was treating me with respect I’d return the favor.
“Yes. They did an excellent job. You’d never know a crime took place inside the building.”
She stared at me as if trying to read my thoughts. Just in case she could read my thoughts, I put forth the internal musings that Ebony was innocent interspersed with the fact that I wasn’t interested in her boyfriend. After several uncomfortable seconds, she sat back in her chair and crossed her arms.
“Are you staying much longer?” she asked.
“No. I want to offer my condolences to Black Jack and Linda and then I’ll leave.”
“I meant in Proper City,” she clarified.
“I don’t know.”
“If you do, plan to get used to me poking around your business. I like to know the residents of the town so I can protect them.” She gave me a quick smile, lobbed her trash in the aluminum can that sat to my right, and then stood up and walked away.
I’d never had a police officer tell me that he or she planned to poke around my business, and I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Now hardly seemed the time to discover that I was somehow special.
Black Jack and Linda Cannon stood off to the side of the crowd. For the first time since I’d arrived, they were alone. I approached them with a nonthreatening manner.
Recognition flashed across Black Jack’s face and he stepped toward me. “Hello there, little lady,” he said. “Margo, right? Have you met my wife, Linda?”
“No, I haven’t,” I said. I held out my hand.
“Hello,” she said.
Linda Cannon’s face was vacant. Her eyes were dilated and her cheeks and mouth drooped slightly. Not having met her up close and personal prior to today, I wasn’t sure how much of it was because we were at a memorial for her recently deceased son and how much of it was the result of a heavy dosage of antidepressants to keep her emotions under control. Whatever was responsible for her expression, it was creepily effective in hiding whatever she might have been feeling.
She took the tips of my fingers with her own and held them for a few seconds before letting go. Her skin was cold to the touch and I flinched.
“I’m very sorry for your loss,” I said. “Both of you.”
Black Jack put his arm around Linda. “Thank you,” Linda said. “It was lovely for so many of Blitz’s friends to turn out today. How did you know my son?”