Chapter 5
It had been a week since we’d arrived in Hollow Pines, and I hadn’t heard much about any developments in Gideon’s investigation, though it had never been far from my mind.
Whenever we were in town, Gideon’s murder was all anyone talked about, not that I blamed them.
According to one woman, it was the first murder they’d had in two decades.
Cade and I had just finished breakfast, and I was sitting at the table with Boo, AKA Lord Berkeley, my West Highland Terrier.
He was getting on in years and lacked the vigor of his younger days, but we were grateful he was still with us.
At the moment, he was sprawled across my lap, sleeping.
Then a knock at the door startled him awake.
He perked up, preparing to bark, and I gave him a pat on the head. “It’s okay, bud. You’re all right.”
Parting the blinds, I peered out into the fading light and spotted a woman I didn’t recognize.
She looked to be in her early forties, her dark hair pulled back in a careless knot.
A pair of worn denim overalls hung loose over a black long-sleeved shirt, the kind of outfit that suggested practicality over style.
She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, as if torn between leaving and knocking, her gaze darting toward the RV and then away again.
Something in her posture—stiff shoulders, arms folded—spoke of someone carrying a heavy weight.
Cade opened the front door, and the woman said, “Is Sloane Monroe here?”
He nodded and invited her in.
Boo studied the woman for a moment. Then, deciding she meant no harm, nestled back onto my lap.
The woman took a seat next to me and said, “My name is Camille. Gideon Belmont was my brother. I heard you two were the ones who found him.”
“We did,” I said.
“And you’re a private detective?”
Cade and I exchanged a glance, both already anticipating where her questions were headed.
“I still take cases on a part-time basis,” I said, “though it’s been a while since I’ve taken on a new investigation.”
“If you wouldn’t mind sticking around town for a while longer, I’d like to hire you.”
“Your sheriff won’t be too fond of the idea.”
“You’ve never let a sheriff stop you before,” Cade said.
For a moment, I just stared at him, stunned he’d said it out loud.
Death had always had a way of finding me.
And we had a rule—no cases when we were traveling.
A rule I’d bent a few times, but not often.
“I try not to get involved in investigations when I’m traveling,” I said.
Cade crossed his arms and leaned against the kitchen counter.
“I prefer you not to take cases when we’re on the road, but we don’t have anywhere else we need to be for a while.
I’ll admit, Gideon’s been on my mind ever since we found him.
And knowin’ you as I do, I’m guessin’ he’s been on your mind too. ”
More than he realized.
If I agreed to investigate Gideon’s murder, it wouldn’t take long for the sheriff to hear about it, and I wasn’t fond of the idea of running into him again.
“Have the police talked to you about what’s going on in the case?” I asked.
“I mean, sorta. Can’t get much out of them. Not that I expected I would. Briggs is a worthless son of a …” She pressed her hand to her lips. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be, though I would like to know why you feel that way about him.”
“He went to school with my brother.”
“Briggs mentioned that when we met.”
“He did, did he? I’ll bet he never mentioned how he and some of the other boys used to bully him for being overweight. Back in school, they called him “Gluttonous Gideon,” and the name stuck long after he’d lost weight.”
Briggs had kept that part to himself.
And why wouldn’t he?
The truth wouldn’t have cast him in a favorable light.
He was a bully.
Perhaps he still was one.
Hearing Gideon had once been overweight came as a surprise. The man I saw was lean and fit, not a trace of fat on him.
“Did the bullying ever stop?” I asked.
“Yeah, it was right after Greg Savage came to town. He helped Gideon drop the weight, and he did. But the bullies didn’t let up, so the two of them handled it—gave those guys a beating. After that, no one bothered Gideon again.”
It was obvious why Camille had come to me. If Briggs and Gideon hadn’t been friends, what reason did she have to believe he’d work hard to solve her brother’s murder?
“What do you say?” Camille asked. “Will you help me?”
I looked at Cade. He nodded, signaling me forward.
“I will,” I said.
“Thank you so much. I already feel so much better, like you’ve lifted this huge weight I’ve been carrying.”
Cade smiled and said, “I’m gonna run a few errands, give you ladies a chance to talk. Come on, Boo, what do you say? Want to go for a ride?”
Boo looked at Cade, his expression one of reluctance.
Then he lifted a paw, and Cade scooped him into his arms.
Once they were out the door, I shifted my focus back to Camille. “What can you tell me about your brother? Is there anyone who had a problem with him when he was alive?”
She bit her lip, thinking. “That’s hard to answer. He left when he was seventeen, and he didn’t return too often. We stayed in touch, but not enough for me to know everything that was going on in his life. The only thing I know for certain is he wanted nothing to do with this town.”
“Then why was he here?”
Camille bowed her head, her expression turning sullen. “Our mother died, and she left the bakery to him, which came as a shock to me.”
“Why?”
“He never had any interest in it.”
“Why do you think she left it to him then?”
“I suppose I’ll never know why, although between us siblings, Gideon was in the best financial spot.”
“How many siblings do you have?”
“Two. I also have a brother, Martin.”
“Does Martin live in Hollow Pines?”
“He does. When Gideon returned to town for our mother’s funeral, the three of us went to the bakery.
Gideon hadn’t stepped foot inside the place for ages, and he wanted to see the condition it was in.
It needed a lot of repairs, and even though he could have used his own money to spruce up the place, he wasn’t interested. ”
If the bakery was what made him overweight—what led to the bullying and that cruel nickname—I could see why he’d want nothing to do with it.
“How did Gideon feel about the bakery being left to him?” I asked.
“Not good. He wanted to shut it down. I offered to take it over because, for me, the bakery holds a lot of fond memories. I tried to find ways to keep it open, and I shared those ideas with Gideon. He wasn’t receptive at first. Then Martin stepped in, giving me some money he’d been saving to buy a house.
Gideon gave me the go-ahead to keep the bakery open while I made the improvements.
He said we’d keep it open another six months and see if it made a difference. ”
“And did it?”
She blew out a frustrated sigh. “It wasn’t a significant enough difference to change his mind, which brings me to the reason he was in town last week. He was here to close the business, and he did close it, on the day he died.”
It occurred to me that if she wasn’t here, hiring me to find the person who murdered her brother, she would have made a good suspect.
She seemed to pick up on my line of thought.
“I can imagine what you’re thinking,” she said.
“And what would that be?”
“You wonder if my brother’s choice to close the bakery shattered me enough to act against him. The truth is, the last time we spoke, it wasn’t pleasant. But hurting him? Never. He was my brother, and I loved him. That love hasn’t changed.”
Tears pooled in her eyes, and I stood, grabbing a box of tissues from an overhead compartment.
I handed it to her and said, “You wouldn’t be here if you murdered your brother.
If you were the killer, and you knew the sheriff wasn’t putting enough effort into solving his case, the last thing you’d want is for me to stick around here.
Speaking of that, how did you hear about me? ”
“From Harlan. He’s a police officer.”
“Ahh, yes. I remember him.”
“We’ve been dating for a few months. That night, after the bakery closed, he came right over. Said he wanted to comfort me, but I also think he was itching to tell me about the so-called hotshot detective who stood up to Briggs.”
“I wouldn’t say I stood up to him. I just didn’t allow him to intimidate me the way I imagine he does with others.”
I paused a moment, thinking about what else I hadn’t asked yet.
“Aside from you and your brother, was there anyone else your brother kept in contact with from this town?”
“He stayed in touch with Greg, and the few times he was in town, they got together.”
“I’m assuming Greg still lives here?”
“Sure does, over on Mulberry Street. Red house, white shutters. You can’t miss it. If you want a good place to start, I’d suggest coming to the funeral tomorrow. Even though my brother wasn’t close to most of the people in this town, they all loved our mother. I imagine everyone will be there.”