Wendy Delaney - Working Stiffs 02 - Sex, Lies, and Snickerdoodles by Wendy Delaney

Author:Wendy Delaney [Delaney, Wendy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery: Cozy - Humor - Deputy Coroner - Washington
Publisher: Corvallis Press
Published: 2014-07-22T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

After walking three blocks to Hot Shots Espresso, I sat at the picnic table facing the Feathered Nest and sipped a mocha latte while I waited for Kelsey to open up shop.

Since the sun had yet to rise above the eastern shore of Merritt Bay, I had plenty of time to review my notes and come to the same conclusion that I’d come to yesterday and the day before that. Nothing anyone had told me trumped Joyce Lackey’s statement that her husband had killed Russell Falco.

Since the Lackeys lived less than five minutes away from the Falco house, and Pete could have caught Russell making his house call Monday night, I wouldn’t have been at all surprised to find out that he had taken a knife to Russell’s tires as a prelude to Friday’s tirade of warnings to stay away from Joyce.

At least I wouldn’t have been surprised if Pete hadn’t convinced me that he didn’t have anything to do with it.

So if he didn’t do it, who did? And why wouldn’t Russell have reported what happened to the police? From what Andy had said, it certainly seemed as if his brother had been upset and angry. If that had been the case, the natural thing to do would have been to call the police. Trying to put myself in Russell’s head, I’d only want to avoid the police if I didn’t want to be hassled about something. As far as I knew there were no open warrants for Russell. That led me to the more likely conclusion—he knew the responsible party and wanted to handle the situation himself.

One person he might have talked to about that situation was opening her door across the street.

I waved to Kelsey as I approached. “Good morning!”

She smiled, a courteous pleasantry devoid of warmth. “You’re here early.”

She wasn’t giving me the stinkeye that I’d received from Nate an hour earlier, but that didn’t mean she was any happier to see me. “Yep, I stopped for a latte and hoped that I could pick your brain about something you mentioned Sunday.”

The electronic buzzer sounded as we stepped inside her shop. “About Russell,” she said, her voice mainly breath.

No one wanted to talk to me about Russell Falco this morning. Tough. I had a very loud clock ticking over my head and I wasn’t leaving without some answers.

I followed Kelsey to the mahogany counter where she stowed her shoulder bag below the cash register. She motioned to one of the two wooden stools behind the counter and I took a seat. “Specifically, I need to know if he told you about any problems he was having with anyone last week.”

Several silent seconds ticked by, a little furrow above her delicate brows the only indication that she’d heard me.

“You mentioned Sunday that he told you that someone slashed his tires,” I added with the hope that she’d bite on the tasty morsel I was dangling in front of her.

Instead she sucked in a breath while her eyes pooled with tears.

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