A Justified Murder Read online

  At nine, Sheriff Flynn went home looking better than when he’d arrived. Laughter had healed some of his misery.

  Sara quickly dressed and put on makeup. She truly believed that the use of cosmetics was a sign of respect for other people. She was considerate of what they had to look at.

  The study door was still closed when she went past it. It was dark outside and she loved the feeling of being the only person awake.

  She’d been intrigued by the forensics people finding a tin marked Sylvia’s Tea. Had it been there when they’d seen the house? Was it in one of her photos but they’d not seen it?

  She put the pictures on the big TV in the family room and started going through them. There was a spice rack in the kitchen and it did have some small boxes of herbal tea. One of them was metal and it was turned so the label didn’t show. No one had thought to turn it around.

  She was annoyed with herself for missing something so blatant. Why hadn’t her curiosity been piqued by an unlabeled tin?

  She sat on the couch and watched the other photos go by. Had she missed things in them too?

  When the photo Jack had taken of the man came on the screen, she paused.

  “That’s Lisa’s friend.”

  Sara turned to see Zelly standing behind her. She had on the sweatsuit Kate had lent her. Zelly said that she wanted the pink negligee she’d seen in Kate’s drawers, but she was told no.

  “I take pictures too.” Zelly sat down by Sara. “I have selfies from everywhere.”

  Sara had to stamp down her urge to walk away from the woman. She didn’t like her and Virgos have a hard time dealing with people they can’t stand. “You know him? And Sylvia’s daughter, Lisa?”

  “I just saw him for a minute, but Lisa is nice.”

  None of them had considered that this unappealing woman knew something about the case. “When did you meet her?”

  “It was like this. I mean early morning. Mom said that I could live in a black room and I’d still know when it was four a.m.”

  “Me too,” Sara said. “Interesting things happen this early.”

  “Yeah. One time when I was about six, I—”

  “Lisa,” Sara said. “I’d really love to hear about her. If it was Sylvia’s daughter, that is.”

  “I don’t know. She said her mother used to own the house.”

  “Yes!” Sara felt her heart speeding up. “Tell me everything. From the beginning.”

  “Well, it was like I told you. No wait, I told Jack. Or maybe it was Kate. Anyway, I thought I was going to live with Janet but she said no. But I did stay one night.”

  “And you woke up early?” Sara encouraged.

  “Yes. I was looking out the window. My mom and I always lived in an apartment so I wasn’t used to flowers. Palm trees scare me because of the coconuts. Did you know that people get killed when they fall on your head? They can—”

  “You were up early,” Sara said.

  “Oh yeah. There’s a little, uh...building in back of Janet’s house and I saw someone there so I went out to say hello. That’s when I met Lisa. She was looking for something. She—”

  “What was she looking for?”

  “Her mother’s book. Well, not really a book book, but a flash drive. She said her mother wrote the book. Can you imagine that? I have trouble writing a text but she—”

  “Did she find it?”

  “No,” Zelly said. “She had a metal tool with her and she was going to take up the floor but she said she’d better not. I think she was afraid she’d get in trouble.”

  “What kind of trouble?”

  Zelly looked at Sara as though she was an idiot. “It wasn’t her mother’s house anymore, was it?”

  Sara had to bite her tongue to not point out that Zelly had been staying on a boat that didn’t belong to her. “Did she tell you about the book?”

  “Oh yes. She said it was her mother’s last book and it would show that what happened was just...”

  “Just what?”

  Zelly put her fingers on her temples. “Just-something. Ask Kate. She’s good with words.”

  “I am too. What did the word sound like?”

  “Longer.”

  “It was longer than ‘just?’ Oh. Justified?”

  Zelly nodded.

  Sara leaned back on the couch. “Lisa said that if she found the last book her mother had written it would show that what had happened was justified.”

  Zelly smiled. “That’s it exactly. You’re good with words too.”

  “Thank you.” Sara looked up at the screen. “So when did you see Carl?”

  “He came to the fence and told her she had to leave. I don’t think he saw me. He’s really skinny, isn’t he?”

  “He is,” Sara said. “What else was said? What else did you see?”

  “That’s all. I don’t think Lisa liked that I saw her there, and she didn’t want Carl to see me.”

  “How do you know his name?”

  “Lisa said it. She stepped in front of me then said, ‘Carl, you scared me.’ Then she grabbed her bag and left.”

  “That’s everything?”

  “All of it. She picked up the gun and ran out.”

  Sara drew in her breath. “She did what?”

  “Picked up the gun. It fell out when she grabbed her bag. I know it’s easier to reach a gun if your bag has an open top but it’s not safe to do that. I tell my friends that all the time.”

  “That’s, uh...good advice.” Sara was blinking at her. “So, Lisa had a gun with her. A pistol?”

  “Probably a .38. Looked like one. I like those. Not as much kick as a .45.”

  “Yes, of course. The kick.”

  “Hey! Do you think maybe Lisa killed Janet? If she did, that makes me really mad. I don’t know what I’m gonna do now. Janet was going to pay for the lawyer I need to get to Gil. She said he ought to marry me, then I’d have a place to live forever. I left Asheville to come here for him so Gil owes me for that, doesn’t he? He ought to pay my expenses. Janet said—”

  She stopped because Sara stood up. “How about if you and I keep what you told me to ourselves?”

  Zelly stuck out her lower lip. “Now you sound like Mom and Janet. They were always saying that to me.”

  “What did Janet tell you to keep secret?”

  “About staying on the boat. I had to sneak in and out of it. I still don’t know why I couldn’t stay with her. She had room or she could have gone online to get me a motel.”

  Sara was standing, looking down at her. “Did you ever see Janet with a computer?”

  “Yeah. All the time. She had three of them. I asked if I could use one but she said no. Right after that she said she had to go get some keys then she was going to put me on a beautiful boat. You know what? After she left I looked for a computer but couldn’t find any of them. Which is strange because her place was really clean, so they should’ve been easy to find. If you ask me, that house of hers was too clean. It needed some pictures around the place. My mom had pictures of me everywhere.”

  “You want some breakfast?”

  “Sure. You have any Frosted Flakes?”

  “Fresh out, but I can make you an omelet.”

  “Eggs. Yuck. But okay. Then maybe we can go see Gil. I bet he’s gonna be surprised to see me.”

  “Oh yeah,” Sara said. “Real surprised.”

  * * *

  Sara got Zelly nestled in front of the TV and put on a surfing movie about Laird Hamilton.

  “He’s old but he’s hot,” Zelly said. “Do you remember things like that?”

  “I do remember last night, yes.” Sara smiled at the young woman’s look of confusion, then went to the kitchen to start breakfast. She mixed up a batch of carrot muffins for people who were not on the keto diet—which was everyone