Blues at 11 by Rebecca Grace

Author:Rebecca Grace [Grace, Rebecca]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Suspense, Contemporary
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Published: 2014-08-31T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-One

Who killed Rick Wells?

I studied the dry erase board Sam and I had nailed to the wall of my office before Hank returned to pick up his father. It listed time, location, and method of Rick’s murder. Below it Sam delineated columns for suspects and motives. He assigned me to post the list I started and begin assigning possible motives to each name. His instructions were to allow my imagination to run wild.

Digging out a fresh supply of colored dry erase pens, I began with my favorite possible culprit: Bobbi the Bimbo. Under motive I wrote with a fiendish smile, “Rick decided to come back to me and she went ballistic.” A nice thought, but was that stick figure strong enough to swing a bat with much force? I recalled her heaving the heavy ceramic vase at me. “Sure as hell could,” I muttered.

What about a motive for her father, the silver-haired Pilgrim? He helped me at the police station, but why had he been there? I put a question mark under motive. I’d come back to him.

Next came the golden Pixie. I’d seen that woman in a sleeveless dress. She had the defined muscle tone of someone who could swing a mean bat. But why? Another question mark.

I began to copy down Jennifer’s name and stopped. No motive. Unless there was something I didn’t know. Hey, she was trying to pin it on me. Did that mean anything? I finished her name and assigned another question mark. I did the same with her husband, Ian.

In big letters and with much glee, I wrote down Carl. Motive was easy. “Stolen money?”

I hesitated before transcribing the next names from my list. Delia and Walter. How could they be suspects? A pang of guilt pinched me. They might not even know about Rick. I’d left messages on her cell, but maybe I should try Walter’s office. Maybe they had a number where he could be reached. Grabbing my notebook, I made a note to call his office. I liked the idea of action steps. So would Sam.

Moving back to suspects, I entered the sales clerk, Darryl. While Rick employed a series of clerks who drifted in and out, Darryl had been a constant presence. He worked as a movie extra and kept hoping for the big show biz break. At times he exasperated Rick with tardiness and sick calls. Maybe he was on drugs. Maybe he’d been stealing. All good motives.

Per Sam’s instructions I listed people from the memorial service, like the old man from Geneva. Peter called him El Patron, a mob figure. Was he a customer? Did Rick owe him money?

I made another note on my new Action Steps page: check mob guy. That was probably too obvious, but it was someone besides me I could point out to police. “Mob Guy” with a question mark went on my board.

Other people who were at the service didn’t make sense as suspects so I didn’t list them. There was the curly haired woman whose name I couldn’t recall, much less assign a motive.

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