Chapter 50
NICHOLAS
To Nicholas’s relief, the monthslong logjam finally broke, and the State Street master plan meeting turned suddenly, shockingly, productive.
“So that’s the quick pitch?” The councilor lowered her glasses and read from her screen. “A pedestrian-friendly city core that connects existing paseos into a vibrant State Street neighborhood with mixed-use buildings and unique tourist appeal.”
“And we’re extending this to the eleven hundred block?” another member asked.
Nicholas said, “From five hundred to twelve hundred.”
“We’re going to piss off a lot of car people,” one of the holdout councilors warned.
Nicholas’s phone buzzed with a text from Sophie, but he didn’t have a chance to respond until he returned to his office an hour later.
She told him to expect yet another meeting of the Marigold Cottages Murder Collective when he got home—and asked him to check the county records of all the suspects.
He texted back ha ha, absolutely not, don’t even joke, then he called her.
“In the future,” he said, while searching the databases, “if you want me to break the law you need to tell me using your words, not in an archived digital format.”
“Did you know that Lily-Ann and Hamilton searched how to get rid of a dead body?”
“What?”
“Just out of curiosity, after … Dedrick and Ybarra.”
“Of course I didn’t know, but I’ve never been less surprised.”
When Sophie put him on speaker, he started reading property tax information, building permits, DBAs, and other legal notices. “Huh. Sexy Jane Sheffield owns more property around town than I expected.”
“Can we not call her Sexy Jane?”
“Jezebel Jane?” He frowned at his screen. “Apparently she inherited the properties from one of her late husbands. So maybe that’s worth a second look.”
Sophie didn’t respond, though he heard her chatting with a coworker in the distance.
“Sorry, I’m back,” she said, a few minutes later.
“I found a business license for Pax Heron,” he told her. “DBA Pax Bodywork. What a boring name. If he were a chiropractor it could be, like Pax Cracks. Ooh, Pax Cracks Backs. What’s wrong with Relax with Pax or—?”
“Is there contact info?” Sophie asked.
Usually she’d play along. “What’s wrong?”
She sighed. “There’s more evidence against CJ. I’ll tell you tonight.”
“Oh. Well, CJ doesn’t show up anywhere. I guess she’s lived the sort of blameless life that doesn’t involve local government.”
“Just a second,” Sophie said to someone in her office, before asking Nicholas, “Can you email Lily-Ann anything important? I’ve got to run. See you at home.”
“Love you,” he said to himself, since she’d already ended the call.
A few minutes later, he discovered that Helene and George Kagant had bought their current house ten years ago, for a small fortune—and half of what it was currently worth. Apparently there was good money in windshield wipers; Frank DeYoung must’ve made an extra fortune by funding their work.
“Last one,” he told himself, then searched for Sunny Wheeler.
He didn’t find much, considering Wheeler was a thousand years old and had lived in Montecito for fifty of them.
The only unusual real estate transaction was Wheeler’s purchase of a fifteen-acre property off Route 192.
Wheeler had immediately transferred the title to VivX Inc.
, which was some sort of life-extension company.
Which checked out for Mr. Fake Funeral on My Birthday.
Nicholas dug around and discovered that VivX had gone bankrupt years later.
Which was weird, considering the amount of money Wheeler had poured into it.
He thought about getting back to work, but the last fifteen minutes of the day wasn’t enough time to get anything done.
So he researched Frank and Karina DeYoung instead.
Somewhat to his surprise, neither Karina nor Frank appeared in connection with any property other than their primary residence in Hope Ranch.
Even more surprising: over the past few years, Karina had arranged for demolition permits and design reviews and CEQA documents, but she’d never followed through.
Which meant what?
That she’d paid for major renovation plans, presented them to Frank, and he’d vetoed them? You marry a guy, think you’re partners, then when you want to upgrade the house suddenly the money is all his? Was that enough to kill an old man for?
He heard Anthony’s voice in his head. “People have killed for less.”