The following blog entry is one chapter in “Broken Hearted Killers,” a serial novella written by 16 Writers Who Kill. To read the complete story, please begin with Chapter One, published on the WWK blog on February 2, 2023.
By Marilyn Levinson
Helen breathed a deep sigh of relief when Gus showed up at
Iris’s condo ten minutes later.
“This really isn't a good idea, us being here,” he said as
soon as he entered. “You should call Detective Torres and let him know what
you've discovered.”
Helen dismissed his
comment with a wave of her hand. “And tell him I entered Iris’s condo, a
definite no-no in his book? No thank you. Besides, his men were already here
and had access to whatever I’ve discovered. Only,” she grinned, “they probably
have no idea what any of it means. Like we do.”
Gus eyed her with interest. He was a policeman, after all,
and the instinct to follow leads that helped solve homicides had never left
him. “That's true. We know the people who were closest to Iris.”
“Which means we probably can find out who murdered her.”
“I'm listening.”
Helen led him into the living room and sat down on the sofa.
When Gus was settled at the other end of the sofa, she held up the red caboose.
“Where did you get that?”
“In the freight elevator coming up to Iris’s condo.” She held
it out to him, but Gus raised a hand. “Just a minute,” he said as he pulled
plastic gloves and a baggie from his pocket.
Helen smiled. “I see you came prepared.”
“Old habits.” Once Gus had his gloves on, he examined the
small caboose carefully.
“The third miniature train car connected to Iris’s murder,”
Helen said. “My neighbor Renee found one car here. Another miniature car was
left with Charles when he was clobbered. This one was inside the padding of the
freight car I rode up in to get here. It was dislodged when I grabbed the
padding as the elevator jolted to a stop.”
“Interesting,” Gus said. “Why leave two mini train cars
close to Iris’s condo? Unless the caboose got misplaced somehow and he or she
needed a substitute. And he happened to be carrying around more than one train
car.”
“Let’s come back to that later,” Helen said. “This is the
red envelope Renee told me about. I don't know why the CSI team didn't take it
with them to test for fingerprints but notice the return address.”
“Philip’s. Either he murdered Iris—for some reason I can’t
imagine why and wants to get caught—or someone is trying to frame him.”
“Because they’re angry at him?” Helen asked.
“Or they think he’d make a good patsy.”
“What are you doing?” Helen asked as Gus pulled another
plastic bag from his pocket and placed the envelope inside.
“The police left it so it’s fair game to take it for clues.
I still have connections with the department and can have someone check the
fingerprints on the envelope. I expect it will have several pairs of prints.
None of them will mean a thing if the person isn't in the system.”
Helen smiled. Calling Gus had been the right thing to do.
But first she had to check something. “Gus, tell me honestly—did you marry Iris
recently?”
His answer was a loud guffaw. “Helen honey, I just got
divorced and don’t plan to marry again, at least not in the near future and
never to someone like Iris. But why would you ask something like that?”
“Because a realtor said Iris had just bought a two-million-dollar
home as a gift for her new husband. She didn’t know his name, only that he had
a full head of silver hair.” She felt herself blush. “And he was good looking.”
“Well, thank you, Helen, but I swear it isn’t me.” Gus
stood. “You sure found some interesting bits of information I’ll be happy to
pursue.”
“Wait! There’s one more. Perhaps the most important one.”
Helen showed him the photo of Iris and Charles looking at model trains while
Ashley glared at them.
Gus held the photo in his gloved hands and studied it
carefully. “Interesting. What do you make of this?”
Pleased to be asked her thoughts on the matter, Helen said, “For
one thing, it opens up the possibility that either Iris or Charles or both of
them have an interest in model trains. That would mean either one or both might
own model trains.”
“Good deduction,” Gus said. “We’ll have the red caboose
checked for prints, of course. But Iris is the victim here. And so is Charles.”
“In which case, I’m afraid my deductions lead to me Ashley
Ahlgren. Look how angry she is, seeing Iris and Charles together.”
Gus raised his eyebrows. “Does Ashley have the hots for
Charles?”
“From what this picture tells us, I’d say she does. Or did
recently. I know my neighbor Renee has a crush on Charles. We’ll have to check
that out. Renee was the person who found Iris this morning. Maybe she was angry
to find out that her friend had married the man she cared for.”
“Okay, but getting back to Ashley, I thought she’d set her
sights on Philip.”
Helen grimaced. “Maybe that’s because she realized she
couldn’t have Charles and, as she told you, if her ex-husband knew she had a
significant other he’d leave her be.”
“And Iris made a point of telling her she was going to go after
Philip herself to make sure he was no longer interested in Ashley.”
Helen nodded. “Iris was malicious.”
“Yes, she was.” Gus studied Helen. There was pity in his
eyes. “Especially when she went after other women’s men.”
# # #
Oh, it's coming together so nicely!
ReplyDeleteAh, more leads to follow. Where will they take us?
ReplyDeleteSo good! I hope it isn’t Gus… :) I like him!
ReplyDeleteI love how Helen and Gus’ relationship has been portrayed. So many puzzle pieces to fit together!
ReplyDelete