Night Of The Living Dandelion Part 28

The two again shared a look; then Alison said, "Because he murdered Dana."

And I'd been worried about being tactful.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE.

I glanced from Alison to Becky. "Jerry murdered his wife?"

They nodded in unison.

"Do you have proof?" I asked.

"No," Alison said, "but in the last months before she died, she told us that if something happened to her, we should tell the police Jerry did it. So we told them, and they acted like we were airheads. Turns out both detectives we talked to knew Jerry through the pharmacy."

"Everyone thinks Jerry's Mr. Nice Guy," Becky said. "He's an expert at hiding his true personality."

"Except in front of us," Alison added. "He hates us. He did everything he could to keep Dana away from us. We'd steal her away from work at lunchtime so he didn't know."

"Dana went along with that?" I asked.

"She was scared every moment," Becky said, "but she went along with it."

"Did he physically abuse her?" I asked.

Alison tapped her temple. "He played mind games with her. He'd be sweet for a few days. Then he'd accuse her of having affairs, of turning their son against him, of hiding money so she could leave him-"

"While he was actually the one being sneaky," Becky finished. "When Dana found out, she confronted him. It caused a big fight that ended with her telling him she wanted a divorce. The next thing we heard, they were taking a trip to Australia to fix their marriage."

I saw Alison roll her eyes, so I said, "You don't believe that?"

"Dana wanted out," Alison said. "Their marriage was beyond repair. The only reason she would have gone was to let him down gently."

"Then Dana got a blood clot on the way home and ended up in intensive care," Becky said sadly, "giving Jerry the perfect setup."

"How conveniently it all worked out for Jerry," Alison said.

"You don't think it's possible that the nurse gave her too much heparin?" I asked.

"Sure, it's possible," Alison said, "but it's more probable that Jerry knew Dana wasn't going to stay with him and planned a way to kill her that would make him appear innocent."

She'd just voiced my theory. "Do you think Jerry is one of those guys who can't stand the thought of Dana being with anyone else?"

"With Jerry, it would be about the money," Becky said.

"He was a control freak," Alison said. "He watched every dime Dana spent. He'd go berserk if she bought a new lipstick before the old one was gone."

"Are you absolutely sure Dana was going to leave him?" I asked.

"That's how she was talking before they left," Becky said. "After she got on that plane for Australia, we never heard from her again, so there's really no way to know what she was thinking then."

"Of course she was going to leave him," Alison said to her friend. "She told us so."

"She could have changed her mind," Becky argued.

"No way," Alison retorted. "She was determined to get away from him."

Both women took sips of coffee, as though they needed to calm down.

"I think it's time to tell you why I wanted this meeting," I said.

Over the last of the coffee, I explained the investigation into Lori's murder. Neither Alison nor Becky was offended by my ruse, and both were delighted that Jerry was finally being investigated.

"Do you think Lori found something that proved Jerry murdered Dana?" Becky asked.

"That's the only way it makes sense for him to kill Lori now," I said. "We're going to interview Jerry again, so I hope I can get him to let something slip. And that reminds me. You mentioned that Dana caught him sneaking around. Do you know who the woman was?"

"He wasn't having an affair," Becky said.

"That we know of," Alison amended. "Dana found out he was gambling again. He'd gotten them into deep financial trouble about six months earlier and had supposedly sworn off gambling. But a few weeks before Dana died, someone she worked with saw Jerry at the boat."

At the word gambling, my ears began to buzz. "Do you know which boat?"

"The Calumet Casino," Alison said.

That was quite a coincidence.

"Then she found out he'd been going there on a regular basis," Alison said. "He had been able to hide it because he handled their finances. Once Dana looked into it, she found out they were up to their ears in debt again."

"Do you know whether Jerry took out an insurance policy on Dana before she died?" I asked.

The women glanced at each other. "No, but we've wondered that for years," Becky said.

"Even if he didn't," Alison said, "with the settlement he received from that lawsuit, he has to be set for life. First thing he did after the case was over was to get himself the biggest, fanciest truck money could buy. For a guy supposedly grieving over his wife, Jerry has been one happy camper."

As soon as Alison and Becky were gone, I called Marco. "I've got great information on Trumble. I'll tell you about it when I see you. Is it okay for me to come down by myself?"

"No vigilantes in sight, but I'd still rather come get you."

"Is Vlad there?"

"You want him to come get you?"

"No, silly. I was just checking to make sure he hadn't had a problem getting to work."

"Are you referring to the incident with the men in the white van carrying baseball bats, which you somehow forgot to tell me about?"

"I'm sorry, Marco. There's too much going on. I can't keep track of it all. I guess it was Vlad's story to tell anyway."

"Luckily it had a happy ending. I'll be right down."

As I kept pace with Marco, I told him about my meeting with Dana Trumble's friends, their strong beliefs about Jerry being responsible for Dana's death, their surprising revelation about Jerry's gambling at the Calumet Casino, and our speculation as to whether he might have used both the insurance money and the settlement money to pay off his gambling debts.

"I'll see what I can find out about that," Marco said. "And we'll need to watch those security videos again, to see if Jerry was there Tuesday night. I'll call the casino and see if we can go in at lunchtime tomorrow."

"We'd be cutting it close. I have to see my foot doctor at two. Can you make it later?"

"Are you sure you want to take all that time off, Abby? I can watch the tapes. I'll head over there as soon as I drop you off at Bloomers in the morning."

"You're right. I've been gone a lot. I'd better stick close to the shop."

Marco had saved the back booth for us, so as I made my way through the crowd ahead of him, I caught Vlad's eye and smiled. He winked. Two women sitting at the bar thought he had winked at them and nearly fell off their stools.

I glanced to the left and saw Kyle at a nearby booth watching our progress. He lifted a hand in greeting.

"How's it going?" Marco called to him.

I eased into the booth, making sure not to b.u.mp my tender ankle, while Marco went to put in our food orders and bring back beers. I saw his head bartender pull him aside to tell him something, so when Marco returned with our drinks, he said, "One of my distributors phoned and needs to talk to me. I'll be right back."

Marco headed toward his office, and a moment later, Vlad sat down across from me. Every female in the place swiveled to watch as he leaned toward me. "How's your ankle?"

"It's back to its normal size. Thanks for not mentioning it to Marco. No sense stressing him over nothing, right?"

Vlad gave me a nod, his cool gray gaze saying, Don't worry. I know how to keep a secret. Which was why I still didn't feel safe in taking him off the suspect list.

"I feel like an idiot," Vlad said. "I didn't pay you for the plants this afternoon. Okay if I stop by the store tomorrow?"

"Sure."

"Have you heard how Jillian is?"

"She's better. Claymore texted a little while ago that the antibiotic is working, and she's giving everyone at the hospital a hard time."

"Is that good?"

"It means she's becoming her old self again."

"Give her my regards," he said, rising.

"Will do."

Vlad did a visual sweep of the room before starting through the crowd, as though checking for danger. It was something I'd seen Marco do many times, a vestige from his Special Ops training, he'd told me. As Vlad made his way to the bar, I saw more than one woman slip him a business card. I also saw Kyle frowning as he watched Vlad.

Marco slid onto the bench beside me. "Got it all straightened out," he said, reaching for his beer.

"Do women give you their business cards?"

Marco gave me a puzzled look. "What?"

"I saw several women give Vlad their cards, so I wondered if it happens to you."

"All the time."

"What?"

"All the time." Marco leaned toward me until our foreheads were touching. "And I throw them all out."

"Nice save."

He unfolded a piece of paper and turned it to face me. "Look what I picked up today. A copy of Kyle's time sheet."

"Just so you know, Kyle is sitting at the front booth."

"I know. See this? He was on duty last Tuesday from three until midnight, and back on duty Wednesday morning at eight. He could have easily made it to the boat before Lori left Tuesday night. His alibi doesn't hold up."

"Then why isn't he being investigated?"

"You know how it works. The chief prosecutor is looking for a quick arrest and a simple conviction. Vlad's practically got a target on his back. All we need is one d.a.m.ning piece of evidence on one of our suspects, Abby, and we can make it go away."

"Dinner's served," Gert said, setting plates of pulled pork sandwiches and potato salad in front of us. "Need anything else?"

"This will do. Thanks, Gert." Marco picked up the big sandwich with both hands, while I tried to attack mine in a more ladylike fas.h.i.+on, cutting bites with my fork and knife.

"Anyway," Marco said, "I got to thinking about that photo of the Vlad look-alike taken in the casino parking lot. There had to be two people involved-one to take the photo and one to pretend to be Vlad-so my first thought was that Kyle might have enlisted the help of one of the other EMTs. So I checked the time sheets, got the name of the paramedic who worked with Kyle last week, and arranged a meeting for tonight at the Daily Grind."

"How did you convince him to come?"

"I told him I had evidence that linked him to the murder investigation. It was a long shot but it did the trick. So we'll visit Willis's neighbors first, then hop over to the casino at eight o'clock to catch Holloway, then return to meet with the paramedic."

I yawned, thinking about the late night. "Sounds like we'll be busy all evening."

"We need to get this investigation moving, babe."

"I'm not complaining."

"Yes, you are."

"Yes, I am." I leaned my head against his shoulder. "I really wanted us to have free time together this week, Marco. But that's okay. I understand this is important."

Marco put his arm around me. "It is important, Suns.h.i.+ne. I appreciate your understanding. Who knows? Maybe we'll find that piece of evidence tonight."

Lori Willis had lived in a neighborhood of bungalow houses just west of County Hospital. The houses were small and affordable and therefore popular among the hospital's huge nursing and administrative staff. Lori's white aluminumsided house sat on a corner, with her backyard ab.u.t.ting the yard of the gray-s.h.i.+ngle house whose occupants had decorated their lawn with plastic geese and spotted fawns, along with half a dozen bird feeders.