If Hooks Could Kill

CHAPTER 9


“What was that about?” Mason said when it was just the three of us. Peter had rushed in, waved to North that they were leaving and barely called a “thank you” to me before they went back out the front door. As the door shut, both Barry and Mason stared at me.

“I have no idea,” I said with a shrug. I’d been avoiding having Mason come over while Barry was staying at my house, but Mason had taken matters in his own hands and just walked in.

“Look at you,” Mason said turning his attention to Barry. “Your cast is off and you’re good as new. I hear you’re back to work and driving. So, then you’ll be moving out.” Mason turned to me. “Then Molly can get her stuff out of storage and life around here can go back to normal.” Mason stepped closer to me and put his arm behind me on the counter. It wasn’t around me exactly, but it made a point. Barry’s eyes rested on the position of Mason’s arm.

“When?” Mason asked staring squarely at Barry.

Jeffrey had drifted out of the room as soon as North was gone. I was glad he wasn’t there to see this confrontation. Barry hesitated, but something in his posture said he was standing his ground. “I don’t know exactly. I haven’t gotten the okay from my doctor yet.” To punctuate it, Barry moved his leg and grimaced in pain. Was it real or imaginary?

The whole exchange reminded me of something I’d heard about parking spots. When a man saw that someone was waiting for the spot he was in, he took much longer to pull out than if there was no one waiting.

“It’s a little crowded here,” Mason said, gesturing toward the rest of the house. “Molly, your message said you wanted to talk to me about a murder. I’m here to help.”

“C’mon,” I said to Mason. He was right, it was too crowded in the kitchen and awkward with a capital A. I led Mason out of the kitchen, across the living room and through the den. As he soon as he went through the doorway into the hall that led to my bedroom, I heard him sigh.

“Finally into the inner sanctum,” Mason said. “I’ll close the door behind me.”

“I know more than he does,” Barry said. I hadn’t realized Barry was right behind Mason until I heard his voice. Mason pulled the door to the hall shut before Barry could follow.

That was a laugh and a half. When had Barry ever been willing to share what he knew? From him it was stay out of it. The cops have it covered, blah, blah, blah. Mason had always been a better source of information.

“This is more like it,” Mason said walking into my bedroom. He looked around and suddenly seemed a little disappointed that with the small couch and wing chair, it looked more like a living room than a den of inequity. “Hmm, no round bed with mirrors on the ceiling,” he joked touching the basket of yarn next to the wing chair.

He sat down on the couch and I took the chair, but after a moment I got up. “Let’s go get some food or something,” I said. “I’m too tense here. I feel like Barry is standing by at the door.”

I wasn’t too far off. Barry wasn’t standing by the door to my wing of the house, but the chair he picked in the den wasn’t far from it. He had the TV on, but it was obviously all a ruse. Barry watching a dancing competition? His head swiveled as Mason and I walked through the den toward the living room, but he didn’t say anything.

“You need to remind Barry that he gave up all claims on you,” Mason said when we got into his car. “Even though I’m glad he did, I still think he’s nuts. If a woman said she didn’t want to marry me, but wanted to keep things as they were, I’d never tell her it had to be all or nothing.” Mason paused a moment. “I think Barry’s forgotten that he chose nothing.” Mason started the motor and pulled the car away from the curb.

We continued our conversation when we got to a small bar/restaurant that served the best thick-crust pizza. We ordered a large one with cheese and a salad to share.

“When he was laid up, it was no problem. He had people who came over and took care of things and who took him whereever he needed to go. I barely saw him. But now that he’s up and around and back to work, it’s gotten all strange. I said something to him about being ready to move back to his condo. He gave me the same story about needing his doctor to okay him going up and down stairs. But I’m sure it won’t be long.” I paused a moment and then told Mason how Barry had frozen when he saw me struggling with the kids stealing the e-readers in the afternoon.

Mason appeared stricken. “I wish I’d been there. I would have helped you. It sounds like Barry needs to get his edge back.” We’d finished off the salad and the pizza arrived in the black round pan. The waitress set it on its own little table after serving us each a piece. For a few minutes we were lost in pizza heaven. The tomato sauce was homemade and the mozzarella made a creamy counterpoint to the zesty sauce. And the crust. It had a little crunch and a delicious buttery flavor.

“Maybe when he takes care of the two cases he’s working on and gets back to his old job, it’ll come back.” I helped Mason and myself to another piece of the delicious pizza.

Mason shook his head. “He can’t go back to his old homicide job until he gets his mojo back. If he hesitates at the wrong time, it could get him killed. And anybody working with him. I’m sure he knows that.” I felt my shoulders slump. I knew what Mason was saying was true.

“So, tell me, sunshine, who got murdered this time?” Mason said trying to change the subject.

Between bites, I told him about Kelly. The whole story—how Adele, Dinah and I had gone over to her house in the morning and now she was dead.

“Are you three suspects?” Mason asked.

“No. The cops don’t even know that we were there.” I paused and had visions of Adele talking to Eric. “Yet, anyway.” I looked at the two slices still in the pan and debated whether to have one or not. Mason read my thoughts and scooped up one and dropped it on my plate, before taking the last one for himself. “I’m not really worried about being a suspect. I’m more concerned about Dinah. The murder happened a half block from her house. According to Adele, even though it looked like a robbery gone bad, the cops are zeroing in on Kelly’s husband. You know who he is. Dan from the Hollar for a Dollar store. Oops, I mean More Bang for Your Buck. I suppose it could have been him. Actually I hope it is him instead of some random robber with a gun.”

“So, she was shot?” Mason said. “You’d think someone would have heard something with all those people around.”

“It is odd.” I said.

With the pizza finished, we ordered espressos and a vanilla gelato to share.

“Sunshine, I hate to say anything, but you do seem to keep getting caught up in murders. Maybe I should be worried,” Mason joked as he picked up the small cup of strong coffee. Then his smile faded. “I know I shouldn’t joke. It’s serious business. Your crochet friend is dead.”

I tasted a spoonful of the gelato. The creamy sweet taste was a perfect contrast to the espresso. “If there’s anything you can find out, I’d appreciate it. I’m concerned because Dinah lives down the street, but there’s something else.” I stopped. I knew I should be better than this, and not stoop to Adele’s level, but . . . “Adele is making this huge deal out of being the information source. I just need some little edge. I’m not proud of it, but any minute she’s going to start referring to herself as Adele Poirot, or Sherlock’s sister, or Adele Drew.”

“I get the picture,” Mason said, reaching over and touching my hand. “I’ll see what I can find out.” He squeezed my hand and let go. When I looked up, I was surprised to see the good humor had drained from his face.

“What’s the matter?” I said. He started to say “Nothing,” and then stopped himself.

“Old habits die hard,” he said. “I’m still getting used to the idea of talking about things, instead of just dealing with them.” He paused and took a breath. “It’s the wedding disaster and my ex-wife.” The words came out with a rush of air as though they’d escaped. He shook his head with dismay. “At least if she’d told me right away about the problem, I might have been able to do something.” Now that he’d begun, the words flowed and the frustration was clear in his tone. “You don’t know her, but it’s her typical MO. She’s going to take care of something, but only makes a mess of it. I can’t trust her to do anything on her own.”

“I know a little about event planning,” I said. “Maybe I can help.” Mason grinned at my comment and we both rolled our eyes. My events often ended up a little offbeat. They were always successful but there might be a police raid or the fire department could show up.

Not exactly what you’d want for a wedding

“Thank you for listening—and for getting me to talk.” His eyes were warm and I felt closer to him than I ever had. “All of this just reminds me of why we got a divorce. I think I’d rather talk about your murder,” he said. “The robbery gone bad thing is a common cover-up. It probably was her husband, the Dollar King. So I don’t think you have to worry about someone going after Dinah.”

“Okay,” I said, but I couldn’t help wondering. What if it wasn’t him? I thought back to the conversation of the two prop guys. They clearly knew Kelly and they certainly had access to her place. Could they have killed her? But why?