Debts and Debtors: (A Geeks and Things Cozy Mystery Novella #3) (Geeks and Things Cozy Mysteries) (3 page)

CHAPTER FIVE

Jillian went in search of tissues for Savannah while Jimmy made the call to Chris. Kalina stayed standing, observing the whole situation with a growing sense of unease. A million questions flooded her thoughts. Namely, how had Thomas Chase ended up dead in the last day? At least his death explained why he hadn’t gone home the day before Thanksgiving. Jimmy tapped his fingers nervously against the desk while he waited for Chris to answer the call.

“Detective Harper, it’s Jimmy. I need you to get down to the station right away. We’ve got an ID on the”—he glanced over at Kalina—“case from yesterday.” He paused. “His wife came in to report him missing.”

He nodded his head as Chris said something on the other end of the line. Jillian returned and handed a wad of crumpled napkins from the kitchen area to Savannah. She wiped at her eyes and sniffled loudly while Jimmy wrapped up the call. Finally, he set the receiver back in the cradle and cleared his throat again.

“Detective Harper will be down shortly to speak with you about your husband. I’m sorry for your loss, ma’am.”

Kalina felt bad for Jimmy. He’d no doubt never had to notify anyone about the death of a loved one before. The only other big cases he’d been involved with had victims who didn’t have any living relatives or were already aware of the crime. Thinking back on those cases, Kalina wondered how Nadine was faring. They’d talked and emailed around Halloween and she’d been settling in but the family holidays were probably still rough for her.

“Can I ask … where he was found? And what happened?” Savannah asked between sniffles.

“It’s probably better if you just wait for the detective. I’m not really handling the case.”

An awkward silence fell over the station. Jimmy stood up and hurried back to the front desk, leaving the grieving widow in the care of Jillian and Kalina. For her part, Jillian made soft shushing noises and wrapped her friend in a wordless hug. Kalina moved away, wanting to give them privacy, and she approached the front desk.

“You okay? You look a little freaked out.”

“I’ve never had to tell someone their husband was dead.”

“It’s part of the job, right? They train you for it.”

“I know. I just feel so bad for her. This is supposed to be a time that’s all about family and being thankful and now she’s got to bury the man she loves.”

“I’m sure you could help ease her mind if you shared just a couple details. Nothing gruesome. But maybe if he was alone when it happened?” Sure, she wanted the details herself but she wanted Jimmy to be able to handle things on his own as a cop. Chris wouldn’t always be around to steer him.

He stood up straighter and pivoted to head back to the desk where Savannah and Jillian sat huddled together. He’d only a few steps before the front doors opened and Chris rushed in looking disheveled. His shirt wasn’t tucked in and his hair was more bed-head than naturally tussled. Kalina motioned for Jimmy to continue his task and she spun to stop Chris before he got too far.

“You want to fill me in?” he asked as she smoothed down his hair and straightened his shirt.

“Savannah Chase. Wife of Thomas Chase. He’s a real estate broker I think. She ended up at my sister’s house yesterday because she hadn’t seen her husband in a day and she was worried.”

“Why’d she go to your sister?”

“They’re college friends. I convinced her to come in and report him missing. Looks like there’s a reason he didn’t come home.”

“Thanks.” He gave her a quick kiss before stepping around her and sidling up to the group.

Suspecting the conversation would be longer than the previous one, Kalina grabbed an empty chair and pulled it up. Chris didn’t even comment on her and Jillian’s continued presence during the interview. He retrieved a notepad and pen from his own desk and settled in.

“Mrs. Chase, I’m very sorry to have to inform you that your husband was found last night.”

“Where was he? What happened?”

“He was in an abandoned property down by the beach. He’d been shot.”

Savannah devolved into another fit of hysterics and rocked back and forth. Jimmy visibly recoiled at the emotional outburst. Chris sat patiently, pen at the ready to jot down notes. Kalina had to admit she liked watching him work.

“I’m sorry,” Savannah mumbled into the wad of damp napkins. “I don’t understand who would want to hurt him.”

“Remind me what your husband did for a living.”

“He was a real estate broker in town. Everyone liked him. He’d never hurt a fly. Please, do you have any suspects?”

“We’re still investigating. It would help us establish a better timeline if you could give us some information about the last time you saw him.”

“It was the day before Thanksgiving. He went into work like he always does. He didn’t come home at the normal time but that’s not unusual. He’ll always call me and tell me if he’s running late so I don’t worry.”

“Did your husband call you that night?”

“No. Which is why I started to get concerned. He always called.”

Chris scribbled something on the pad and looked up. “How often would your husband work late?”

“What?”

“Out of a month, how many nights do you think he worked late?”

“A few. I don’t really remember.”

“Can you try to think a little harder?”

“I guess maybe five or six times a month. It didn’t seem that frequent. Why? Is that important?”

Chris cleared his throat and pursed his lips. Kalina could tell he was choosing his next words carefully. “Is it possible your husband wasn’t working late those nights?”

The color in Savannah’s cheeks drained. “Are you accusing my husband of cheating on me?”

“I can’t imagine there was much reason for a real estate broker to work late that often.”

“He’d never cheat on me.” Savannah’s cheeks burned bright red and her shoulders stiffened. Chris had clearly hit a nerve.

“I don’t mean to sound insensitive but you aren’t Mr. Chase’s first wife,” Chris said.

Kalina shot Jillian a confused look. There’d been another Mrs. Chase? Clearly, being away from town during college and afterwards had done her more of a disservice in being in the know on town gossip than she’d realized.

“That isn’t fair, Detective,” Jillian interrupted.

“His first wife died of breast cancer six years ago. It took him a really long time to get over her,” Savannah said, her tone much quieter now.

Kalina tried to hide the shock on her face but quickly realized no one was really paying her any attention. Chris looked down at the notes he’d taken and then back up at Savannah.

“I wasn’t implying anything negative about his first wife. But … it is a little suspicious that a woman such as yourself would be interested in a man like Thomas.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re quite a bit younger than he was.”

Savannah leapt from her chair, her hands balled into fists, and shouted, “Are you calling me a gold digger?”

Chris didn’t appear fazed. “No. I’m merely stating that it might seem strange to some people that there was such a big age difference.”

“We were in love.”

Jillian tugged on Savannah’s arm until the blonde woman sat back down. Her facial features stormed with anger and insult. If Chris had struck a nerve with the implication that Thomas had cheated on her, she was livid with the accusation that she’d only married him for his money.

“I don’t appreciate you dragging me or my husband through the mud like this, Detective. I want to know what you’re doing to find out who did this to him!”

“I apologize, Mrs. Chase. I didn’t mean to upset you. I can assure you we are looking into every lead we can. Was your husband selling any beach-front property that you knew of? Maybe he was meeting a client later in the day out there?”

“He didn’t talk about his work much.”

“So you didn’t know which properties he was currently trying to sell?”

“No. I’m sorry. Not that I can think of anyway.”

Chris tapped his pen against his notepad and stared intently at it. Kalina could tell he was weighing the best option on how to move forward. By the way his shoulders tightened and he leaned forward, she guessed he wanted to continue to question Savannah. But she appeared to be closing herself off.

“Mrs. Chase, I’m going to need you to go to the morgue and make an identification just so we can be absolutely sure it’s your husband. Do you think you can do that?”

Savannah let out a couple more sniffles and dabbed at her eyes. “I think so. Can Jillian go with me?”

“Sure. I’ll have Jimmy go with you.” He waved to get Jimmy’s attention.

Jimmy pulled on his jacket and waited for Jillian and Savannah to stand up and gather themselves. Kalina stayed seated, as did Chris. He scribbled down a few more notes before spinning around his chair.

“Mrs. Chase, just one last question.”

She stopped and looked over her shoulder. “Yes?”

“What company did your husband work for?”

“Eastern Seaboard Realty.”

“Thanks.”

CHAPTER SIX

Chris blew out a breath as soon as they were alone. Kalina scooted her chair over and took his hand in hers, hoping it would help alleviate some of the stress keeping his jaw and shoulders tight.

“That went … sort of well,” she offered with a one-shouldered shrug.

“If it really is her husband, I feel sorry for her.”

“Do you really think someone would want to kill him? A client or something?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. I mean real estate can be rather competitive.”

“I met him once. A couple months ago when Nadine was selling her place. He seemed nice enough and she was happy with the money she got from working with him.”

“What’s your take on Mrs. Chase?”

Kalina arched a brow. “What do you mean?”

“Do you find her credible?”

“If you mean do I think she’s really upset that her husband is dead then yeah. I’d say she’s credible. Other than that, I only met her last night. All we talked about was her husband being missing. Dinner wasn’t exactly full of conversation.”

“Everything all right?”

Kalina let out a sigh. “It was just an argument with Jill about AJ working at the shop this weekend. It will get sorted out.”

“Speaking of which, isn’t today a big sales day for you guys?”

“Yeah. I left AJ in charge.” She glanced at the time. “I should get back. I promised him I’d only be gone an hour.”

“I might bring my nephews by a little later.”

“I’ll look forward to it. And I hope things work out with this case and you get a lead.” She kissed him for longer than strictly necessary. He didn’t seem to mind in the least.

She retrieved her phone and sent off a text to her nephew, assuring him she’d be there in a few minutes so he could take lunch. She hoped the lunch rush wouldn’t be too bad because she had a little research she wanted to do on Eastern Seaboard Realty.

Five minutes later, she pulled in behind the shop. There weren’t hordes of people beating down the doors so maybe she’d get lucky and have some peace and quiet. AJ greeted her at the back door—another sign things weren’t too busy—and grinned at her.

“Things went awesome while you were gone. We made a bunch of sales. I even convinced some people to get more than they came in for.”

“Good job. I’ll take over for a while.”

“I could stay if you want. Just in case.”

She pushed past him into the game room and headed to the front of the store. He trailed behind her like an eager puppy.

“I think you should take a little time off,” she said without looking at him.

“Why? I thought I was doing well?”

“You are. You’re been a great help.”

“So what’s the problem?”

She turned to face him. “This isn’t a punishment, okay? Your mom and dad told me last night that your mom’s been having a hard time with you being away from the house so much.”

“So she put you up to this?”

Kalina kneaded her temples. “You are growing up so fast and before you know it you’ll be out in the world at college and living your own life as an adult. Your mom isn’t ready to let you go just yet. I think she just wants to spend a little time with you. That’s all this is. I promise.”

Her nephew pouted and his shoulders fell as if he’d been scolded. He looked so much younger than his sixteen years in that moment and she had to resist the urge to wrap him in a tight, comforting embrace. Here, she was his boss not his aunt. Hugging an employee would be totally inappropriate.

“It’s only for a couple days,” she said and tried to give him a reassuring smile.

He rolled his eyes and made his way back through the game room. The back door slammed shut and Kalina let out a sigh of frustration. Why did teenage boys have to be so moody? She settled in behind the front counter and checked the transaction log on the tablet and did a quick cash count just to be sure everything looked right. She had to admit she was impressed with the number of sales. She made a mental note to compare next year to see if the holiday weekend was consistent.

Satisfied that the books were temporarily settled, Kalina pulled up the browser on the tablet and easily found the contact information for the realty company. According to the contact page, the company’s main office was not far from the waterfront where Thomas had been found. After deciding to play the part of a prospective client, she entered the number into her phone and hit ‘Call’.

After four rings, a bored sounding woman’s voice answered, “Eastern Seaboard Realty. How can I help you?”

Kalina put on her bubbliest voice possible. “Oh, hi, I was hoping to speak with one of your realtors about listing my house for sale.”

“Hold for a moment.”

The line turned to static as Kalina was put on hold. She pulled the phone from her ear to check that the connection was still good. The timer on the call continued to tick off the seconds. She started kicking her heel against the bottom of the stool while she waited for the woman to come back on the line.

“I’m sorry, all of our realtors have full client lists.”

“Are you sure? A friend of mine referred me. She said the realtor she had was great. Thomas Chase was his name.”

“He doesn’t work here anymore.” Her tone shifted, taking on an edge.

“Are you sure? She only worked with him a couple months ago.”

“Yes. I’m sorry but we can’t help you.” The line went dead and this time the timer stopped and ended the call.

Kalina stared at her phone in confused silence. Her little experiment had only yielded more questions. Did Savannah know her husband was no longer working for the real estate company? When did he stop working there and where had he been going all this time? More importantly, why couldn’t the firm help her even if Thomas was no longer an employee? There was definitely something off about the whole situation. Before she could decide what to do next, her phone screen lit up with a call from her sister.

“Hey, I wanted to let you know that I gave AJ the weekend off.”

“Oh, thanks.” She was clearly distracted.

“How did it go at the morgue?”

“It’s him. It was so awful seeing him lying there like that.”

“Tell Savannah I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah. Look, I need Detective Harper’s direct number. Can you send it to me?”

“Sure. Why, what’s going on?”

“Someone vandalized the Chases’ house. Broke and smashed up a bunch of stuff.”

“Oh, God, is everyone okay?”

“We think it happened while Savannah’s been with us.”

“I’ll get you Chris’s number right now.”

“Thanks.”