ôYou werenÆt together?ö asked Chase.
ôIf you really must know, Dennis slept on the couch last night,ö said Carlotta, with a seething glance at her errant spouse. ôAnd if itÆs up to me, heÆd better get used to it.ö
ôBut, darling, with my bad backàö
ôYou should have thought of that before you started fooling around with your whores!ö Carlotta spat.
ôBut I neverà I mean, I didnÆt evenà Oh, darlingùhow can you be so cruel!ö
ôCruel! YouÆre the one being cruel, Dennis. And on the evening of our wedding anniversary, too!ö She turned to Chase and Odelia. ôWe were going to organize a big party here at the club for our fifteenth wedding anniversary, but of course thatÆs all off now.ö
ôCaterers have been booked,ö Dennis murmured, looking in the dumps, ôa live band is going to playùthe HootenanniesùIÆve got the hippest DJ of the moment booked for the nightùDJ Carl Quickù invitations have been sentùtwo hundred of themàö He sighed, and chanced a quick glance to his wife, but her implacable expression spoke volumes.
ôSo no one can actually vouch for your whereabouts last night?ö asked Chase.
ôUnless I crawled down through the window, Dennis would have noticed if I left the house. And I would have noticed if he crept out during the night, since the garage is right underneath the bedroom. But why would he sneak out to murder Valina? She gave him everything he needed. An unlimited supply of backstabbing, home-wreckingwhores!ö
ôHoney, please!ö Dennis pleaded. ôWhat will people think!ö
ôTheyÆll think youÆre dog excrement, Dennis, and theyÆd be thinking correctly.ö
ôDarling!ö
ôSpare me the phony tears,ö said Carlotta, holding up her hand and turning away again.
ôDid any of you drop by Valina Fawn at any point yesterday?ö asked Chase.
Carlotta frowned.ôWhy would I want to go near the woman? And to think she was a member of the same book club and never even hinted that sheÆd lured my husband to his doom. Talk about duplicitous.ö
ôYou, Dennis?ö asked Chase.
ôNo, I certainly didnÆt go anywhere near the place yesterdayùor any other day.ö
ôDo you know Norwell Kulhanek well?ö
ôIsnÆt he EmmaÆs husband?ö asked Carlotta. And when Odelia nodded, she said, ôI donÆt think IÆve ever met the man. IsnÆt he a computer programmer or something?ö
ôHeÆs the lead programmer on the Valina Fawn site,ö said Odelia.
This seemed to come as a surprise to Carlotta.ôSo Emma and Valinaàö
ôEmma isnÆt involved in the site. At all,ö Odelia was quick to say.
ôOh. Well, at least thereÆs that.ö
ôI never met the man,ö Dennis muttered miserably when Chase gave him an inquisitive look. ôAnd as far as I know, neither he or Emma are members here at the club.ö
There didnÆt seem to be a need to ask the Brooks if they could think of anyone who would want to harm Valina. It was obvious there were plenty of candidates to choose from.
ôIÆm going to need to list of all your members,ö said Chase now.
ôWhy is that?ö asked Dennis.
ôBecause of the way she was murdered, of course,ö said Carlotta. ôHavenÆt you been paying attention?ö
ôHowàö Dennis began.
ôShe was shot with an arrow, Dennis! Straight through the heart. And if you ask me, the killer was much too kind. He should have shot her through the spleen. Very painful deathùor so IÆm told.ö
As we walked back to the car, Chase was studying the list Dennis had printed out in his office. He whistled when he spotted one particular name.ôAdra Elfman,ö he said, ôand if memory serves, I think I saw a Mr. Elfman on ValinaÆs list of clients.ö
ôThere could be others,ö said Odelia as she opened the door so we could hop into the car. ôWe better cross-reference both lists. We may come across a few more surprises.ö
Chapter 12
ôCarlotta Brook is an Olympic archer,ö said Odelia once we were en route. ôShe actually won Olympic gold in her discipline.ö
ôAll the more reason to put her on our list of suspects,ö Chase grunted as he checked the GPS display. ôAnd by the looks of things her husband could be next.ö
ôYes, she seems to be very upset with Dennis at the moment.ö
ôUpset! If looks could kill the man would already have died the most excruciating death. She said the killer was being kind.IÆm being kind by not arresting her on the spot.ö He frowned. ôDo you think I should have arrested her? Just to make sure she doesnÆt kill Dennis?ö
ôI really donÆt think Carlotta is a killer,ö said Odelia. ôSheÆs the only one who readTears in the Mud from cover to cover and even supplied Mom with some apt questions to discuss in book club.ö
ôYour point being?ö
ôThat sheÆs a deeply sensitive and romantic soul, who wouldnÆt hurt a fly.ö
ôYou can like a book and still be a vicious killer, babe. One doesnÆt exclude the other, as I think prison librarians will tell you.ö
ôDo you think Carlotta killed Valina, Max?ö asked Dooley.
ôToo soon to tell,ö I said. ôThough she certainly had motive and means. I donÆt know about that key card, though. Seems unlikely that she had access to Norwell yesterday. Though she and Emma are both members of MargeÆs book club, but unless Carlotta dropped by EmmaÆs yesterdayà No, Norwell spent all day at the office, and he took his key card with him. So that seems to be out of the question.ö I frowned. ôThis whole thing seems to revolve around that key card. Who had access to it and when?ö
ôHe had it when he went to work in the morning, so whoever took it,ö said Dooley, ômust have taken it at the office somehow.ö
ôWhich narrows down our list of suspects considerably.ö
Odelia, whoÆd been listening to our conversation, said, ôIt does, doesnÆt it? We better check in again with Norwell. Have him go through his day, from the moment he arrived until he went to bed. Whether he dropped by a shop, or the fitness club, or even took the dog for a walk. We need to know when the killer had the opportunity to get that key card.ö
ôUnless Norwell is our guy,ö I said. ôIn which case itÆs pretty obvious how he did it.ö
ôYes, obvious, but not necessarily true,ö said Odelia.
She pored over the two lists now, the Brookwell member list and the Valina Fawn client list.ôThere are too many names here to do this on the fly,ö she finally admitted.
ôI already sent both lists to one of my officers,ö said Chase. ôTheyÆll handle it.ö
WeÆd arrived at the cozy little home of the Elfmans, Adra and Gene. A nice apron of green with plenty of colorful flowers fronted the house, which was obviously well-kept. Chase parked his squad pickup and we all got out. Moments later we were sitting in a small but pleasantly furnished living room, Odelia and Chase sipping from cups of coffee, and Dooley and I being fed a piece of cold chicken that tasted quite delicious.
ôI like being a detective, Max,ö said Dooley. ôPeople are always so nice to us.ö
ôThatÆs because they donÆt want to go to prison,ö I said. Though we werenÆt always received in this way. Some people, when they opened the door and found a cop flashing a badge in their faces, slammed the door shut and made a run for it through the backdoor.
Of course both Adra and her husband Gene were probably not sprightly enough to try and shake off Chase when he was in full pursuit mode. Very rare is the criminal who can shake that man off once he gets going. Except Usain Bolt, maybe, whoÆs no criminal.
ôI take it youÆre not here to talk about book club?ö asked Adra.
ôNot exactly,ö said Odelia. ôI donÆt know if you heard what happened to Valina?ö
AdraÆs face crumpled. ôHorrible news. The mailman told us this morning.ö
ôTerrible business,ö Gene agreed with his wife.
Both of them were seated in matching armchairs, strategically positioned in front of a large television. For their guests the sofa offered satisfactory seating, and for me and Dooley there was always the carpet.
ôI would have expected them to have a dog,ö said Dooley. ôA small one, you know. Like a Yorkie or a Pekinese or even a Chihuahua.ö