Dying For Dinner Rolls Part 16

Chapter Eighteen.

"Should we call Jose about us almost getting run over?" Annie Mae strode alongside me as we crossed Whitaker Street.

"I hate jumping to conclusions." Although I felt like we were onto finding the killer. I scanned the area, looking for any wayward vehicles. I didn't want Annie Mae to worry; I was fretting enough for both of us and then some. "That could've been a student driver. When Timmy and Teddy learned to drive, they spent more time curb hugging than staying on the street. I'm just saying."

We walked down Park Street then took a right on Barnard. Before long, we stood in front of a three-story brick colonial home.

"Whoa. It's gorgeous." Annie Mae climbed the red brick stairs.

"My dad looked at one like this a long time ago."

"Did he want to move?" Annie Mae pushed the doorbell.

"No. He wanted to get some investment property and rent it out to college students, as extra income."

I heard a click then the rattle of a chain hitting against wood. The door opened to a lady of average height and build with short brown hair. She wore light green scrubs. "Good evening."

"Hi. I'm Catherine Thomson, and this is Annie Mae Maple."

"I'm Karen." She shook our hands.

"Are you a relative?" Annie Mae asked Karen.

"No. Although I've been working for the family for years, I feel like a relative. So, what can I do for you ladies?"

"A long time ago, my father was a business partner with Micky Zwick."

"Oh?" Karen squinted as she looked at us. "So you're friends of his?"

"Sort of," Annie Mae answered.

"It's a long story." I glanced around, trying to find words to figure out what I wanted to say. "If at all possible, I would like to talk to him."

Karen shook her head. "That's impossible."

"He's dead?" Annie Mae asked.

My heart skipped.

"Oh, no. No. He just took his medication. It knocks him out." Karen brushed a hair from her eyes.

"Is he ill?" Annie Mae asked.

"He has been suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The only thing we can do is ease his pain." Karen guided us into the foyer.

"Lou Gehrig's disease," Annie Mae whispered to me as we entered the house.

I asked Annie Mae, "How did you know that?'

"In the play Thirty Three Variations, the main character, Dr. Katherine Brandt, suffers from it," Annie Mae answered me.

The house smelled of rubbing alcohol and wood cleaner. We stood in a foyer.

Karen closed the door behind us. "May I offer you anything to drink?"

Annie Mae shook her head.

"No, thanks," I said. "I'm so sorry about Mr. Zwick."

"He has a few more years left, at this rate. He's in good spirits and seems to have accepted his condition." Karen led us into a sitting room.

"Can I leave my name and number for him? He can call me when he gets up." I dug in my purse.

"It's of urgent business we speak with him. We're investigating," Annie Mae said.

"Are you working with the police department?"

"No," Annie Mae mumbled. "But we are good friends with someone in the department. Not that that is either here nor there."

"Let me get you my information." I took a pen and tore the address part of my deposit slip from the back of my checkbook. I wrote my cell number and my maiden name on the back, along with my dad's name. "Please have him call me when he can."

"I'm not sure when that will be." Karen took the paper from me and tucked it into her s.h.i.+rt pocket.

"It doesn't matter when. Whenever he can call, it'll be fine. Thank you," I said.

Annie Mae put her hands up. "We can let ourselves out. Thanks for your time."

We walked outside and down the front steps onto the sidewalk.

Annie Mae trailed after me. "Thank goodness he's still alive, huh?"

"Yes," I said.

"Unlike the other partners."

"I know. Why did my dad and two of his other business partners all die in the past two months?"

"Although I'm only playing a detective, I can tell you that it's beginning to feel like someone has it out for that business group your dad was once involved in. Not that I want you to worry or anything. But then again, Micky is still alive, and as far as we know, so is Peter."

"Yes. At least for now."

"It could be all one big coincidence, right?"

"Or like you just said, someone has it out for all of them." A pain ran between my eyes. I could feel a strong headache coming on. "If that's true, then who are they, and why are they killing them?"

"And since we seem to be onto them, will we be next?"

Chapter Nineteen.

"Here's the thing. Until I hear back from Micky, its all speculation." We sat in my SUV with the air running. "The only thing we know for sure is that they all knew each other and were once business partners. All of their deaths were different."

Annie Mae asked, "If they were similar deaths, then it would link them to one killer. I guess you're right. It's only conjecture now. What do you want to do next? Since we have no idea when you'll hear from Micky?"

"I don't know." I tapped my dashboard with my finger. "It seems unlikely that their deaths and Lucy's death are connected. She had nothing to do with their business. Someone different killed her."

My phone rang. The caller ID said Jose. I answered. "Hey, Jose. I'm putting you on speaker so Annie Mae can hear, too."

"You gals staying out of trouble?" Jose asked.

"Of course we are staying out of trouble." I rolled my eyes at Annie Mae.

Annie Mae responded. "We almost got hit by a car."

"Did I hear Annie Mae say that a vehicle almost hit you?" Jose's voice rose.

Annie Mae smiled. "Don't worry. Cat saved me with her maternal instincts. She grabbed me and pulled me from getting hit just as the car ran up onto the curb directly at me."

"I'm sure it was a student driver. Kids, huh?" I raised an eyebrow to Annie Mae.

"What about all the business partners getting killed?" Annie Mae said into the phone.

"What?" Jose asked.

I told Jose what I knew about my dad's defunct business and the men involved. "However, there are no leads to who may be killing them off. And I wasn't able to talk to Micky and don't know where Peter is."

"Maybe Peter is the killer of Cat's dad and the other business partners," Annie Mae offered. "He's not going to bother with Micky because of his condition."

"I'm not sure what you have amounts to anything," Jose said. "Might be happenstance."

"But there may be something there, you have to admit that." Annie Mae nodded her head at me.

"Maybe," I said.

Jose sighed. "Listen, forensics gave me results of the lipstick a.n.a.lysis."

"Now we're getting somewhere," Annie Mae said.

Jose continued. "Look likes the lipstick you gave me is a color match with Lucy's note and with the message left on your window."

Annie Mae held her palm up and high-fived my palm.

"I knew it." My heart lightened. We were finally making progress. "What do we do now?"

"Arrest her, that's what you do. Right, Jose?" Annie Mae shook her finger at the phone. "You throw her sorry little b.u.t.t in the slammer."

"No. That's not how it works," Jose said. "I'm in the area now. I'll see if Susie will be cooperative if I stop over and ask her some questions."

"Can we go with?" I asked.

"I don't think she wants to see us after what happened at the store," Annie Mae said.

Jose's voice lowered. "I'm afraid to ask. What happened at what store?"

"I used some acting skills and fell to the ground in Susie's store to get her attention," Anne Mae said. "And then she found out that I really didn't fall. Do you believe she actually accused me of pulling a scam? Of course, we were not conning her, just investigating. Long story short, we sort of had to run out of the store since she wanted to call the police."

Jose took a deep breath. "Let me handle talking to Susie. Whatever it is you all are doing is half-a.s.sed, and I'm surprised you haven't gotten into more trouble."

I added, "Actually, Bert's going to put a restraining order on us if we don't leave him alone."

"Yeah, do you believe that jerk?" Annie Mae said.

I shook my head as I looked at Annie Mae.

"Can't you just arrest Susie? Why do you have to talk to her? She killed Lucy. You have proof now," Annie Mae said into the phone.

"We only have proof that there is a match with the lipstick and the messages. Not that it was her lipstick," Jose said.

"So, what do you want us to do?" I asked Jose.

"Stop. Go home. Let professionals handle this."

Annie Mae said, "But Jose, had it not been for Cat and me doing all that we did, you wouldn't know what you know now."

"Yes. I have to admit, even as haphazardly as you two have been going about whatever detective work you've done, you did find a connection. But it has yet to be seen if that connection amounts to solving a crime."

"But it just may," I said.

"Do you think we'll get a medal of honor or anything?" Annie Mae said. "That'll look great next to all the acting awards I have."

Jose chuckled.

Annie Mae said, "I think you should deputize us."

A fire truck zoomed by, m.u.f.fling Jose's answer.