If Hooks Could Kill

CHAPTER 28


It was very late when we left the storage place and headed back to Mason’s house. My car was still parked in front. “You look pretty tired. You’re welcome to the couch, or any of the bedrooms in the house,” Mason said as he pulled into his garage. He turned toward me with a good-natured smile. “No pressure.”

“Thanks,” I said. I opened the door to his car and got out. “But I think I’ll go home.”

Mason walked me to my car and gave me a last chance to change my mind. He leaned in the open window and kissed me. I guess he was hoping to sway me and he almost did, but I started the car and he stepped away.

I automatically turned off Ventura Boulevard as I passed the bookstore. I thought I would just drive past the Donahue house, but I didn’t get that far. Late as it was, I noticed the lights were still on at Dinah’s. I didn’t want to scare her by just knocking at the door, so called her on my cell. Even so, the middle of the night phone call jangled her nerves, but she recovered fast and told me to come in.

“I was just watching television and crocheting. I couldn’t sleep after our trip into North’s trailer,” she said.

“Ha, if you think that’s keeping you awake, wait until I tell you where I’ve been.” I told her about the storage locker and finding the gun. “I’m betting it really is the murder weapon. What a clever place for Dan to put it.”

“You went without me?” she said with disappointment in her voice.

“Be glad I did. Remember how we said that place was probably creepy at night, well it is,” I said and told her about the shadows and the herd of black bugs on the floor.

“So what’s our next step?”

I felt my mouth slide into a smile. I liked the way she said “we.” Dinah was a true-blue friend who had never let me down. Even with her relationship with Commander she found time for us. Everybody in the world should have one friend like her.

“Right now, I need some chamomile tea or I’m going to jump out of my skin,” I said. Dinah apologized for not having any. When I looked out her window, I saw that the night sky was getting lighter and suggested we go up the street to Le Grande Fromage, which opened when they started baking their day’s pastries.

The sky was still mostly dark as we walked up the street and the air felt cool with a touch of damp. I never saw this time of day and was surprised there was traffic on Ventura and people already on the street doing their early morning jogs. Le Grande Fromage wasn’t crowded, but had more people than I would have expected. Stone and his surfer posse joined some of the production crew in line at the counter and I overheard them all talking about getting an early start.

I found a table and Dinah got the drinks. The effects of staying up all night were beginning to hit me. I was leaning on my arm when she handed me the tea. “Do you remember that lamp that was in Kelly’s room? It had a pretty glass shade. The one I said was missing.”

Dinah finally nodded with recognition and I told her it was in the storage locker, too. “I wonder why Dan put that in there?” I was going to say more, but Dinah gave me a loud psst and pointed while hiding her finger with her hand. When I looked up, Dan had just gone up to the counter. I slunk low in the seat.

He was clean shaven and dressed for a day at the store. He seemed in good humor as he ordered his coffee and said something about opening the store early. He certainly had tunnel vision when it came to his business. I wondered what he would do if I dangled Kelly’s key in front of him.

I held my breath as he walked past our table and was relieved when he just waved a greeting before heading for the door.

When he was gone, we went back to talking.

“Why don’t you talk to Barry?” Dinah said.

“Are you kidding, after the episode with the PinchyWinchy. Do you think there’s a chance he’d take me seriously?”

“No, you’re probably right,” Dinah said.

“I have to get to Detective Heather. It is exactly what she needs.”

As the tea began to relax my nervous energy, my whole body began to ache for sleep. I told Dinah I’d call her later and used the last of my energy to walk to the greenmobile and drive home.

I walked in through the kitchen door, hoping I could make it to bed without falling asleep first. Barry was freshly dressed for work and making coffee. He looked up when I passed him.

“Mason called a few minutes ago. He said to tell you that you left your shirt at his place.” Barry scowled as he looked at my day-old clothes. I was too tired to even ask why he’d answered the phone. I responded with a shrug before dragging myself across the house and flopping on my bed.

I fell into a dead sleep for a couple of hours then forced myself up, showered and put on my work clothes before going to the bookstore. Bob took one look at me and automatically made me a black eye. He was right it was a two shots of espresso day for sure.

The jolt of caffeine went right to my brain and I was able to function. As I went through my tasks at the bookstore I considered how to approach Detective Heather. What was I going to do, call her and say, “By the way, last night I happened to be looking in Kelly Donahue’s storage locker and I noticed there was a gun, which probably is the murder weapon.” What if Barry mentioned the Pinchy-Winchy episode? After the look he’d given me when he’d seen me in the morning, anything was possible. Would it have made any difference if I’d explained to him where I’d been? Would he have believed me? I didn’t owe him an explanation anyway. We were just ships passing in the kitchen, I reminded myself.


* * *

It turned out I didn’t have to worry about contacting her, Detective Heather showed up at the bookstore. I saw her head back to the yarn department. On top of being hot looking, smart and a detective, Heather was an accomplished knitter and gave us a lot of her yarn business. She was dressed for work in a fitted navy blue suit and white blouse. I went back there and found her looking through our supply of circular knitting needles, which Adele kept trying to hide. I asked her if she needed help.

Detective Heather turned at the sound of my voice and then gave me a little laugh. “You could help me with something knitting related?”

“As a matter of a fact, I could.” I pointed to the knitted swatches hanging on the bins of yarn. “I did those,” I reminded her. Mrs. Shedd didn’t want to lose any business, so she’d convinced me that we needed to have knitted and crocheted swatches of all of our yarns. Adele wanted no part of anything that had to do with knitting, so I’d done the knitted ones with my limited skill.

I picked up a set of high-end circs, as people in the know called circular needles, and said they were the best and everyone said they were worth the added cost. Detective Heather took them from me and began to look them over. I suggested she take them out and try them.

I got a ball of worsted yarn we kept for such a purpose and laid it on the table. We both sat down together. She began to cast on some stitches while I tried to turn the conversation to the storage locker. There was no easy segue, so I finally just went at it straight on.

“I know where the gun that killed Kelly Donahue is,” I said and told her about the storage locker.

“The key was given to you?” she said with interest. “This could be good. If you let me in I wouldn’t need a warrant.” She wanted to go immediately. She talked to Mrs. Shedd and said she needed me on official police business.

It felt odd getting into her black Crown Victoria detective car and she was silent as I directed her to the storage facility. Even so, I could see a hint of excitement in her expression. The gun was just what she needed to tie the case up and get charges brought against Dan and prove she was right all along.

The storage place wasn’t nearly as creepy looking during the day. Though there still didn’t seem to be anyone around there. I had the invoice with the locker number and the key at the ready as we navigated through the low buildings. When I found the row Kelly’s was in, I felt my heart rate kick up. Detective Heather would have to say something like a thank-you when I handed her the missing clue in her case.

“What number did you say it was?” she asked as we walked past the row of blue metal doors. She was a few steps ahead and was clearly excited. I repeated the number and she stopped in front of a unit.

“Here it is,” she said. She motioned for me to open it. I held out the key and then noticed something alarming. There was no lock on it. Had I forgotten to replace it the night before? I swallowed hard and pulled up the metal door. And then we both looked in.

The locker was empty.