Murder Makes Wavesd Page 15

  “Is everything all right in here?” Stuart Combs asked with irritation in his voice.

  “Just peachy,” I said, handing him the phone.

  Dorothy was behind him. She shrugged, as if to apologize for allowing the man out of the bedroom. It was time for Dorothy and me to get out of there.

  Chapter 26

  “Did you find anything, Maggie?” Dorothy asked us we hurried out the door.

  I glanced back to see if Stuart was watching us. He was standing at the door watching every move we may. I smiled and waved. He gave a suspicious look but ultimately waved back.

  “I’ll tell you about it when we get in the car,” I said out of the corner of my mouth.

  Dorothy and I hurried into the car and I backed up out of that driveway like the place was on fire. He was still standing at the door watching. I knew he was suspicious, but I was out of there now, so I didn’t care.

  “Well, tell me what you found?” Dorothy said as she pulled off the wig.

  I grabbed my wig and tossed it into the backseat like a frisbee. “There was a number that he had called quite a few times. I got it from his phone and now I need to give it a call.”

  “Well what are you waiting for? Call it now,” she said.

  I glanced in the rearview mirror to see if the realtor had maybe followed us. “I’ll pull over here and call now.”

  I merged over to the side of the road.

  “Oh, look an ice cream shop,” Dorothy said, pointing.

  “Maybe after the call,” I said.

  I was nervous and excited at the same time to make this call, hoping that it would lead to good solid information for me. I dialed the number and waited as it rang.

  “Anyone answering?” Dorothy asked.

  I held up my finger. “Not yet.”

  Dorothy was just as anxious as me. I was just about ready to give up and think that no one would answer when a woman picked up. Now what would I do? I supposed I hadn’t thought about this part. I wasn’t much on planning in advance apparently.

  “Hello,” she said again.

  It was as if someone had taken my voice because I remained silent. Soon she would think this was a prank call, so I had to get my brain to actually function now and make a coherent sentence.

  “I received a call from this number. But I’m not sure who this is,” I said, trying to sound cheerful as if that would make this call sound somewhat legitimate.

  “I didn’t call that number,” she said. “You must be mistaken.”

  “No, it was on my phone.”

  “I don’t know what to tell you. I know for sure I didn’t call.”

  She wasn’t budging on telling me who she was. Perhaps I should mention Jessica’s name and that would refresh her memory. But until I knew who this was, I really needed to keep the conversation a little more polite than to confront her with something like murder right away. I wanted to tell her that I knew what she was up to with Stuart Combs. And that she was somehow involved with a murdered woman’s husband. Okay, that was jumping to a huge conclusion. This could just be a client for all I knew, but the fact that he had made so many calls to this woman was highly suspicious. if he made that many calls to a client, she would probably have him arrested for stalking.

  “Who are you?” she asked with a nasty tone.

  Now she was turning the tables on me. And I wasn’t going to give her my name. No way. Dorothy motioned for me to give the phone to her. No can do. I shook my head. Maybe I didn’t give Dorothy enough credit. But she usually got a bit tongue tied. Even worse than me which was pretty bad.

  “My name is Nancy Dre—. Drewy,” I said.

  See how bad I was with coming up with names? I’d come close to telling her my name was Nancy Drew. That wouldn’t give me away, would it?

  “Well, Nancy Drewy.” She stretched out the name just as I had.

  Now she was just making fun of me.

  “I didn’t give you a call, so sorry I have to go now.”

  In the background, I thought for sure I heard someone call out a name. Had they said Marie? She ended the call.

  “Well, that was a disaster,” Dorothy said. “For heaven’s sake you’ve got to do better than that. What would your uncle say?”

  “I’m pretty sure my uncle would have done the same thing.”

  “You got that right. Neither of you had the savviest phone skills.”

  “Hey, we have other skills and that totally makes up for the lack of phone skills.”

  “You’d better hope so,” Dorothy said.

  “Now what do we do?” I asked.

  “We get ice cream, of course,” Dorothy said, pointing to the shop.

  “All right. Ice cream, but I have to think of something else for this case. I have to find this woman from the phone number. Surely I can track down the information for her.”

  “I think you’ll find a way,” Dorothy said.

  At least she had confidence in me. That helped a lot.

  Dorothy and I got out of the car and headed to the ice cream shop.

  “I’m totally getting sprinkles after this day,” she said.

  “You know what, Dorothy, not only am I getting sprinkles, but I’m getting hot fudge too.”

  Her eyes widened.

  “What can I say? I like to live dangerously,” I said.

  “Sprinkles and hot fudge?” What on the earth has come over you?”

  Even though I was getting ice cream, I couldn’t stop my investigation completely. I was on my phone now trying to locate the number’s information.

  “Can you take a break for two seconds while we get our ice cream?” Dorothy asked. This is too important and I’m in a hurry. It’s matter of life or death.”

  Of course, the guy behind the counter looked at me, probably wondering if maybe he should ask me to leave the ice cream shop. He obviously didn’t want any trouble. Well. I certainly didn’t want any trouble either. I was still searching while Dorothy was placing her order for a banana split with extra sprinkles.

  Now that Dorothy and I had eaten our ice cream, we were just driving. The bright sunshine streaming through the car windows. Passing all the traffic. Palm trees lining the streets. Everything seemed amplified now. Should we go to the office? I felt a bit lost, as if I would never get the answer on how to help Morty. There was no way I could tell Dorothy that though. When I looked down and saw that Reynold was calling, I didn’t know whether to be happy or nervous. The call could go one of two ways.

  “Tell me you have good news,” I said when I answered the call.

  I tried to sound professional and not too panicked. It was my job.

  “I have some great news for you,” he said.

  “I’m listening,” I said.

  He laughed. “I was hoping you would say something like that.”

  I could use the news right now. Dorothy was right beside me so I could tell her right away. “Does this have anything to do with Morty? I’m assuming it does because, well, why else would you be calling?”

  “Hey, I call you for other reasons,” he said. “I could be calling to ask if you’d like to have dinner with me.”

  Okay, I’d fallen right into that one. “Back to the good news,” I said, changing the subject.

  “I got his bail and Morty will be released today.”

  “Are you kidding me?” I asked. “This is fantastic news.”

  “What is it?” Dorothy said, tugging on my shirt.

  “We’re getting Morty out,” I said.

  “They dropped the charges. I knew it,” she said, tossing her hand up.

  “No, Dorothy, they haven’t dropped the charges, but he’s being released on bail.”

  “Oh,” she said with a bit of disappointment.

  “But that’s a start so we’re headed in the right direction,” I said.

  She tried to smile and nodded. “I’m happy. Yes, it’s definitely a start.”

  I knew she was a bit disappointed now, but when she saw Morty
she would be ecstatic.

  “What do I need to do?” I asked Reynold.

  “I’ll take care of everything. You just meet me at the police station so that you can pick up Morty.”

  “When should we meet you?” I asked.

  “How soon can you get there?” he asked.

  “We’re on our way now,” I said.

  “See you soon,” he said.

  I wanted to tell Jake about this on my way. The thought had barely left my mind when my phone rang again.

  “Speak of the devil,” I said. When I answered I said, “Did you get the call yet?”

  “I did just now. I’m on my way there.”

  “We’ll see you there,” I said. “I’m glad that he’s finally getting out.”

  “Me too,” he said.

  “Did you have anything to do with this?” I asked.

  “I may have talked to them, but I don’t know that it had anything to do with the decision.”

  “Well, however it happened, I’m just glad that it did,” I said.

  “Are you sure you’re doing all right? I’m worried about you.”

  “Oh, don’t worry about me. I’ll be just fine,” I said.

  “Yeah, right,” he said with a laugh.

  “I’ll see you soon,” I said.

  After making a left turn, I headed for the police station. I kept an eye out for any signs of suspicious activity.

  “I tell you, Maggie,” Dorothy said. “I was close to making a cake with a file in it to get Morty out of there.”

  “I don’t think that would’ve worked.”

  “Well, why do you think I didn’t do it? The thought had crossed my mind though.”

  I could tell that Dorothy was nervous because she talked with the candy in her mouth on the ride over. She forced one on me too, so I put it in my mouth and finished the drive over to jail. We parked and immediately got out, heading inside. I didn’t see Reynold or Jake yet.

  “Maybe I should’ve put my makeup on before I got here,” Dorothy said.

  “You look fantastic,” I said.

  “That’s what Morty always says.” Dorothy smiled.

  Morty was so sweet that I knew there was no way he could be a killer, besides the fact that Dorothy and I had been with him when the murder had supposedly occurred. All of those things combined let me know that this case against him was ludicrous and would soon fall apart. The faster I found the real killer the faster that would happen. I just knew that someone else had met her there and killed her, so finding out that was the key to solving this case.

  Dorothy and I headed into the lobby and waited for Jake or Reynold to arrive. When the door opened behind us, I turned around to see that Reynold had arrived. He looked handsome as ever wearing a dark gray suit. He flashed a big smile at us and then hugged Dorothy and then me. He certainly smelled good. Kind of like cinnamon and spice.

  “I hope they do this quickly.” I said, moving away from Reynold.

  “We just need to wait for the paperwork,” Reynold said.

  “I can’t wait to see him.” Dorothy pulled out a peppermint candy and handed it to Reynold.

  He took it from her. “I can imagine you’re excited.”

  After a couple minutes, I saw Jake headed our way. At least he didn’t frown when he saw the lawyer, but I supposed he’d expected to see him here. When he stepped into the lobby, Jake motioned for us to follow him. Jake did look as if something was on his mind and I wondered if he’d found out something new in the short time since I had talked to him. But the fact that Morty was still being released was a good sign.

  Dorothy paced across the lobby floor. She had pulled out about ten peppermint candies and dropped them on the floor.

  “Oh, I’m so nervous. I just can’t think straight.”

  Even her hands were shaking.

  “Don't be nervous. They’re letting him out.”

  “What if they don’t? What if they change their minds?” Dorothy asked.

  ‘They won’t do that,” I said. “They've already agreed to it. You just have to have faith.”

  “I don’t have a lot of that right now since Morty has been wrongfully accused."

  “Things will work out. I have confidence.”

  “I’m glad one of us has confidence.”

  Dorothy continued to pace as I picked up the peppermint candies from the floor. It was taking them an awfully long time to release Morty.

  I thought Dorothy was going to pace a hole right through the floor. A few seconds later though, the door opened and Morty appeared. Dorothy let out a screech that almost had random dogs running to the police station. I held my ears. She ran over to him and they embraced in a hug.

  “That is so sweet,” I said.

  “They are the sweetest couple I’ve ever seen,” a woman sitting in the lobby said.

  “That’s relationship goals,” another woman said.

  “Yes, it is,” I said. “Except for the murder charge and the fact that he was arrested. Other than that….”

  The women looked at me with wide eyes.

  “He’s totally innocent though,” I added.

  The women shook their heads as if to say, “Yeah, right, that’s what they all say.”

  Finally, Dorothy released her hold on Morty.

  “Morty, how are you feeling?” I asked.

  “Well, I’ve been better, Maggie” he said. “Plus, I didn't get my medication like I should, so I’m not feeling that great.”

  “Maybe we'd better get you home,” I said.

  Dorothy and Morty stepped out of the police station and I met Jake as he walked out into the lobby.

  “So now what?” I asked.

  “Well, of course, there will be hearing scheduled, but the lawyer will take care of all of that I’m sure.”

  The way he said the word lawyer was with a tad bit of hostility.

  “I know you don’t like Reynold, but I really think he’ll be great for Morty.”

  “No, you’re right. I have nothing against Reynold. He's a great guy.” Jake forced a smile.

  “Well, I should get Morty home. He’s been through a lot.” I gestured.

  “Call me if you need anything,” he said. “We’ll talk later about dinner.”

  “Absolutely,” I said.

  After a long lingering look at me, Jake stepped back out of the room and I headed for the door to the parking lot. The women sitting in the chairs around the room were still watching me.

  “He really is innocent,” I said.

  They forced a smile but didn’t respond. No need to argue the fact. I knew it would be proven soon enough. The only way to get through this was to have confidence.

  Chapter 27

  It was a huge relief to have Morty out of jail, although I knew this wasn’t over yet. We still had to get him off. We sat in the car as I waited for Morty to buckle his seatbelt.

  “I can’t wait to get back to my Cadillac,” he said. “There are a lot of things I can’t wait to do actually.”

  “We’ll have plenty of time for that because Maggie here is going to get you off,” Dorothy said. “All the charges will be dropped. Well, with help from that lawyer she knows.”

  “He’s a good guy. I like him a lot. Detective Jackson? I’m not a fan right now,” Morty said with a click of his tongue.

  I started the car. “Oh, he really had nothing to do with getting you arrested. Although he was there. I promise, he helped get you out of there too.”

  Morty frowned as if he didn’t believe me. Nevertheless, I knew it was true that Jake had helped. It had been all of us working together, I supposed. I backed out of the parking lot and headed down the street.

  “Where would you like to go first, Morty?” I asked.

  “I think I just need to go home and relax for a bit.”

  “All right, your place it is,” I said as I zoomed through a green light.

  The thought of him in that Cadillac again was a scary thought. At least we’d had a bit
of a reprieve. I didn’t want him in jail, but his driving skills were a little scary. Okay, a lot scary.

  “Morty, there was one thing I noticed when I was snooping around. I got hold of her planner and I took some photos of it. Upon further examination, I noticed that she had you penciled in for a meeting previously. Did you meet with her at another time?” I asked.

  “Yes, I did meet with her once. It was about a week before,” Morty said.

  I was surprised that he hadn’t asked me to come along for that meeting as well.

  “Where did you meet her at?” I asked.

  “Did I forget to tell you about that?” Dorothy said with a wide-eyed look.

  “Yes, you did fail to tell me that. That information was kind of vital.”

  “We met at a different condo, but it wasn’t nearly as nice. Dorothy had a feeling we wouldn’t like it so that was why she didn’t even bother asking you to come along for that one,” Morty said.

  “So what happened during that meeting?”

  “Not much. Wait a minute,” he said. “No, I was thinking that maybe someone else was with her, but she was alone.”

  The thought hit me. Maybe this was nothing, but I had known in the past for a realtor to ask for identification when showing a property.

  “Morty, did you give her your driver’s license to the real estate woman?”

  The look on his face gave me the answer.

  “As a matter of fact, yes, I did. And now that I think about it, she didn’t even give it back.”

  “So she had it all along. It was on her when you met her the second time. That’s why it was underneath her. She was probably going to give it back. That explains everything.”

  “Now he has an alibi. He has a reason for that ID being under her. You’re off the hook,” Dorothy said, tossing her hands in the air.

  “Not so fast, Dorothy. We have to prove this. Just because we say it doesn’t mean that they will believe it. I mean, he said he didn’t do it, and they still don’t believe that.”

  Dorothy’s face looked like I had let out all of the air from her balloon. “Now I feel bad again. Thanks a lot, Maggie,” Dorothy said.