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  “Okay. I’ll stop by Duff’s and get the lowdown on what’s going on. Maybe I can make a case against Gafford through Duff.”

  “Do you really think Gafford could’ve killed Mallory?”

  “He’s a good place to start. You don’t plan on admitting you stuck your nose into my investigation, do you?”

  “I was trying to help, remember? Besides, I’m curious as to what crazy Mallory was doing out there on the beach. Ever since I found her…like that…I’ve been trying to get a handle on her kind of crazy.”

  “Her kind of crazy? What does that even mean? Why?”

  “Isn’t it obvious? Mallory picked fights with people, stirred up all kinds of chaos that wasn’t even relevant most of the time. If we don’t try to figure out how crazy thinks, then how do we solve this thing? What’s the point? Before you warn me not to butt in…it won’t do any good. We both know who Louise will blame.” She ran a soft hand across his rough cheek. “You’ve been up for several hours already. You look exhausted. I’m worried about you.”

  He pulled her closer and nuzzled her neck. “You’ve been up that long. This sure isn’t the way I wanted our morning to start out.”

  The rap on the door broke the moment.

  Lando let out a loud sigh. “That’s probably Payce. Let’s hope he’s here to tell me the medical examiner is outside.”

  “I need to get going anyway,” Gemma offered. “Candy to make. If you go see Duff, stop by the shop and take him a box of his favorites for me, will you?” She brushed a kiss across his lips. “Keep me updated, okay?”

  “Will do. Sorry about breakfast. I’ll make it up to you over dinner tonight.”

  “I’m holding you to that, Chief. Come on, Rufus. Let’s pack up and head home.”

  3

  At the shop, Gemma got started on Duff’s chocolate covered cherries. She had two dozen sitting on a tray before Lianne walked in the door.

  “My God, you must’ve gotten here at the crack of dawn,” Lianne began, shoving her purse under the counter. She popped a chocolate drop into her mouth. “Luke told me everything he knew. I can’t believe Mallory’s gone.”

  “Did he mention that Louise thinks I did it?”

  Lianne’s mouth opened but no sound came out. A full thirty seconds went by before she was able to get her voice to work. “He left that part out. Why would Louise think that?”

  “Like mother, like daughter. Mallory and I have been at each other’s throats since first grade. Ask anyone. She was a bully her whole life and Louise, even now, isn’t much different.”

  “No one’s gonna believe you got up in the middle of the night to walk Rufus and murdered Mallory on the beach and took her clothes.”

  Gemma smiled. “Let’s hope not. Louise has a lot of friends here, though.”

  “So do you,” Lianne insisted.

  “No, I have a small but very loyal circle. Louise, on the other hand, has an army, one she’s cultivated over the past three decades.”

  Leia swept into the shop full of news. “Not even nine o’clock and we’re in the middle of a town divided. Mom says Louise has been burning up the phone lines with accusations…about you.”

  Gemma looked at Lianne. “Told you so. Although I thought she’d wait until the body got to the morgue.”

  “We have to counter these attacks,” Lianne directed. “We should make our own calls.”

  Leia shook her head. “Won’t do any good. Lando has to find out who the real killer is, otherwise Louise will make Gemma’s life miserable.”

  “Then what do we do, sit here and take it? Wait for her to say enough bad things that the business implodes?” an indignant Lianne asked. “That’s not me.”

  “Or me,” Leia concluded. “But…”

  “No buts,” Gemma said. “If Louise wants to run her mouth, none of us can stop her. I didn’t hurt Mallory. If people want to believe Louise instead of me, there’s not a thing I can do to change their minds.”

  “You just let them come up to me and accuse you of murder to my face,” Lianne stated.

  Gemma patted her friend on the shoulder before turning back to the chocolate. “Who needs an army when I have friends like you guys.”

  Lando took Payce with him on his second stop of the morning---Mallory’s house at 722 Sands Point. The little two-bedroom shotgun-style bungalow had started out in 1920 as a Sears Roebuck kit house. After getting the keys from Louise, Lando found the inside tidy as a model home.

  “Cute,” Payce commented. “What are we looking for exactly?”

  “Anything that tells us why she was killed.”

  “Her bed hasn’t even been slept in,” Payce pointed out. “And the bathroom looks like it’s been recently cleaned.”

  “Kitchen is immaculate, not even a dirty plate in the sink. Was she spending a lot of time away from here recently?”

  “Sure looks like it. Did you talk to Dale yet?”

  “I spent thirty minutes’ face time with him and he swears he only went out with her that one time.”

  “Do you believe him?”

  “I’ve known Dale since we were running around on the playground together. I don’t see him strangling a woman. Although we all know, at times, Mallory could test the patience of a priest.”

  “So what do we do now?”

  “Use that camera to capture as many details as you can in each room. And remember there’s no such thing as too many photos at a crime scene. You do that while I start the background check on Billy Gafford.”

  The in-depth report gave him the address of where Billy worked. But before meeting with Gafford, he took a drive out to see what Duff Northcutt had to say about his prime suspect.

  Duff was a crusty old soul, who lived on Social Security, and rarely, if ever, made trouble for anyone. But he did have a feisty side that showed people they’d be better off not to mess with him.

  Sure enough, as soon as Lando stepped out of the cruiser, Duff greeted him carrying the shotgun.

  “No need for that,” Lando shouted. He held up the bag of chocolate. “Gemma sent me out here with goodies, your favorite, so I wouldn’t show up empty-handed.”

  “Why didn’t you say so? Come on in. I’ll put on a pot of fresh coffee. That Gemma, Marissa would be proud of her, don’t you think?”

  Lando followed Duff inside the cluttered house. “I’m sure Marissa would be. Look, does Billy Gafford still bother you?”

  “Not in a while because he hasn’t been around much. But make no mistake, that’s one mean hombre. Got a temper to go with his bad attitude. That’s why I don’t intend to let some wet-behind-the-ears asshole bully me.”

  “Why does he try to bully you, Duff?”

  “Maybe because I ran off his dog. Gafford’s got one of those pit bulls that he’s trained to be a guard dog. That little monster killed two of my chickens, even caught him in the act once. So I fired up in the air to run him off. Next day Billy comes storming down here cussin’ me out something fierce and claiming that if I ever fire another shot at his dog again, he’ll kill me. I asked him why he let his dog run loose like that. He just looked at me and said he’d let his dog do whatever he wanted.”

  “Why didn’t you call it in, Duff?”

  Duff looked insulted and wiped his mouth. “’Cause I don’t have no phone. Besides, I can take care of myself just fine. I don’t need nobody worrying about me. Marissa used to, but that was different. She came out here to pay me a social call, to visit, have a cup of coffee without trying to dig information out of me. Why do you want to know about Gafford anyways?”

  “You don’t live in town but I’m sure word will eventually spread. Gafford was dating Mallory Rawlins of late. She was found dead this morning on the beach.”

  Duff slid his frame into the nearest chair. “Well, I’ll be damned. You know Gemma thought Gafford had something to do with those other two women that disappeared. I’ll tell you the same thing I told her. Gafford’s got the rage and the temper for it.”
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  “What else do you know about him?”

  “Gafford works construction out of town. I don’t know what he did with that dog he had, but I haven’t seen hide nor hair of that critter for weeks. Which is fine by me because that dog’s mean, like his owner.”

  Lando spent another half hour drinking some of the strongest coffee he’d ever had in his life before getting up to leave. “Anything I should know about Gafford before I interview him?”

  “He’ll probably be armed. He doesn’t go anywhere without his guns.”

  “Okay. Good to know.”

  Just as Lando started to slide into his cruiser, he spotted an old beat-up vehicle at the edge of Duff’s property sitting in weeds up to its windows. It was so rusted out, he could barely make out the faint writing on the side. “Is that what I think it is?”

  “Yep. A 1957 Chevy panel truck. Used to be owned by Jean-Luc Sarrazin, his major source of transportation he used in his carpentry jobs.”

  Lando began walking in that direction with Duff trailing after him. “The paint’s almost faded out but you can still see the advertising on the side.”

  “Jean-Luc did the paint job hisself to advertise The Coyote Chocolate Company. He swore up and down that it caused business to pick up after he drove that thing all over the county.”

  “I want to buy it. For Gemma. Does she know it’s sitting here?”

  “Not that I know of. She was out here but I think her head was going in fifty different directions that day. Come to think of it, it was coming on dark when she left out of here heading for Gafford’s place.” Duff caught the disapproval on Lando’s face. “Hey, don’t look at me like that. I did my best to talk her out of it. But that’s one stubborn gal you got there.”

  Lando huffed out a breath. “No gal. She’s a headstrong female who thinks she’s Nancy Drew.”

  Duff chuckled. “Sounds like your problem, not mine.”

  “And then some. How much do you want for it?”

  “That thing ain’t run since Marissa parked it there after Jean-Luc died. Said it held too many memories for her to stare at every single day sitting in her driveway. She brought it out here because she couldn’t look at it. I didn’t pay nothing for it and she didn’t ask. So I reckon I can let it go for the same.”

  “You sure? It’s bound to be worth something.”

  “You take it. Fix it up for Gemma. Makes me feel good knowing I can return the favor for all the chocolates I eat. She won’t take money for ’em, you know.”

  “She likes doing things like that.”

  “Like her grandmother, that one.”

  Still eyeing the hunk of junk, Lando scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “First thing is getting it towed out of here. I could send Dale Hooper over later today with his dad’s tow truck, see if he can pull it out of the weeds.”

  “That’ll work. You really gonna fix this thing up?”

  “I’ll give it my best shot.”

  Lando had to go all the way to Crescent City to track down Billy Gafford, only to learn that Billy had been assigned as a runner to go pick up supplies at the local lumber yard. Undeterred, he followed him there and sat in his squad car for an hour waiting until he spotted Billy coming out of the store, pushing one of those massive carts heading for his blue pickup.

  Lando got out, strolled up to the man, who by this time had begun to unload lumber into the bed of his truck. At six-six, Billy looked like he’d have no trouble handling the massive five by five redwood beams by himself, or carrying the heavy posts from point A to point B.

  “You Billy Gafford?” Lando asked.

  “Who wants to know?”

  Lando flashed his badge. “Chief of police. Coyote Wells. I need to ask you a few questions.”

  “What for?”

  “Were you dating Mallory Rawlins?”

  Billy snorted a laugh. “Dating? We went out a couple of times, shared a meal once or twice, slept together afterward. I wouldn’t exactly call it dating. Hooking up? Yeah. Why?”

  Lando sucked in a breath. “Because she’s dead.”

  “What?” Billy almost dropped the heavy length of beam on his foot.

  “I’m sorry, but her body was found this morning on the beach. I need to ask you where you were last night.”

  Billy’s brash attitude fell away. “You think I did it? No way. I was here all day Sunday. Ask anybody on the crew. They’ll tell you I slept in until ten-thirty or so and ate breakfast with a couple of my buddies. Then I did laundry, which had piled up. Took me most of the afternoon. Sunday night I was here playing cards with the rest of the guys I bunk with.”

  “Seriously? That’s your story?”

  “It’s the truth. During the week we stay at the Luna Court Motel. None of us are from Crescent City. The boss was the low bidder on this job and brought in his own crew from all over. Instead of getting up at four o’clock and making the drive from Coyote Wells five days a week like I’d have to do if I drove here from my cabin, I sleep at the motel for the duration of the job like most of the other guys do. You can ask anybody. I played poker last night from seven-thirty to midnight, lost twenty bucks. Then I went to bed.”

  “You have to know I’ll verify everything you just told me, right? You know better than to lie to law enforcement, right?”

  “I don’t care, check it out. I’m telling the truth.”

  “So when was the last time you saw Mallory?”

  Billy’s face tightened. “Okay, here’s the thing. I drove back to Coyote Wells Thursday night to check on my cabin. I texted Mallory that I was coming. We agreed to meet up there…for…to spend some time together. She picked up some fried chicken from one of the restaurants in town and we had sex Thursday night. I left around midnight. That’s the last time I saw her. I swear it.”

  “You were back at work on Friday morning right on schedule? And yet, you want me to believe you didn’t see Mallory over the weekend?”

  “Look, Thursday night I discovered Coyote Wells was a madhouse. People everywhere. I didn’t go back Saturday or Sunday because I…I didn’t want to see Mallory or put up with the traffic. Mallory could be a bit…overwhelming at times. I tried to break it off, several times, but she didn’t seem to understand that I needed a break. She wouldn’t listen.”

  “Except for Thursday night when you weren’t trying to break up with her.”

  “Hey, I just wanted to keep it casual, hook up when I was free. You know how it is. I’m a normal guy. I thought if she was in the mood to hook up, I’d take advantage of it. What man wouldn’t? But Mallory, she wanted more, always more.”

  “So it works out for you now that she’s dead? You wanted to break up and now your problem just rectified itself.”

  “I didn’t kill her. I wasn’t in Coyote Wells the entire weekend. I’m telling you, I was right here. I never left Crescent City after I made it back in time to start my shift Friday morning.”

  “Okay. I’ll check out everything you’ve claimed. But if I find you’ve lied to me, about anything, I’ll be back.”

  Billy’s face went white at the threat. “Can I ask you something? How did she…uh…die?”

  Lando looked into Billy’s eyes. It was at that moment Lando knew Billy hadn’t killed Mallory. “Someone beat her, and then strangled her.”

  “She suffered?”

  “She did.”

  “She didn’t deserve that.”

  “No, she didn’t.” Lando turned to go and then angled back. “What happened to your dog, the pit bull?”

  “My dog?” Billy looked puzzled. “I let him wander through the woods too much I reckon. One night before I started this job he didn’t come back. I haven’t seen him since. That was about four weeks ago.”

  “Did you look for him?”

  “Of course. I even went and grilled that old man who lives down the road from me, the one who got mad when Spike ate a couple of his chickens. I suspect he did something to my dog.”

  “Don’t threaten anybody,
Gafford. Okay? And don’t go anywhere. Stay close where I can get in touch with you. In other words, don’t decide to fly off to Jamaica at the last minute. I may have some more questions for you about Mallory. Routine stuff because you might hold the key to all this.”

  “Me?” Billy nervously swallowed hard. “Okay. Sure. But I don’t have any vacation days coming to me to take off…anywhere. Uh, Chief? Thanks for letting me know…about Mallory. No one else bothered to call me.”

  “You bet.”

  On the drive back to Coyote Wells, Lando pondered Gafford’s reaction to the news and his demeanor. The man seemed genuinely upset, but then most sociopaths could pull off acting normal when the situation warranted it. Even though Gafford’s alibi had checked out, it didn’t mean squat if the guys were simply covering for him. Which is why for now, he put Gafford on the back burner.

  He took a side trip to the county morgue and pulled into the lot. Dr. Jeff Tuttle wasn’t pleased to see him.

  “Are you kidding me? I’ve had this body less than four hours and already you’re bugging me. Get out of here.”

  “Bugging you is the highlight of my day,” Lando sniped back. “Didn’t you know that? I need to know if she was sexually assaulted.”

  “My assistant did a rape kit. But you’ll have to give me longer than a few hours for results. Now get out of here and let me earn my pay.”

  “When do you think you’ll have the full report?”

  “Twenty-four hours for my opinion. Longer for the full lab report. Now go far, far away and bug someone else.”

  4

  By that afternoon, the news about Mallory had traveled like wildfire, spreading to every corner, giving people a reason to gab.

  Gab they did at Captain Jack’s Grill. Mallory’s death was the topic of discussion all through lunch. While that wasn’t a surprise, everyone’s reaction was.

  Standing behind the grill, Leia Bonner couldn’t believe how hard everyone seemed to be taking the news. Even the kidnapping and murders of Collette Whittaker and Marnie Hightower hadn’t left this many people in shock. Not even the death of Marissa Sarrazin had caused such a buzz. And Marissa had been a defenseless elderly woman who’d been viciously attacked in her own garage.