“So looks like Veronica is in the clear,” said Chase as we walked back to the car.
“And so is Adolpho,” Odelia chimed in. “So where do we stand now?”
“For my money, and after what you’ve told me about Veronica’s son, he’s my number one suspect. Apart from Jayme, of course, who is still the prime suspect.”
“But I checked Danny’s locker and there was nothing to tie him to the murder.”
“So maybe he put the murder weapon elsewhere,” said Chase as we all got into the car again. “And I think I know exactly where he might have dumped it.” And as he started the car, I was thinking that we just kept hitting dead ends on this case, one after the other. But time was running out for Jayme, and if we couldn’t find another suspect and tie them to the case, soon she’d go down for the brutal murder and her life would effectively be over.
Chapter 24
The police activity in and around the house of Eddie Tomon was extensive, and most people would have felt extremely annoyed, and might even have lodged a formal protest of having their privacy invaded like this. But Eddie, who was Danny’s real dad and Veronica’s first husband, didn’t seem to mind one bit. On the contrary, as he stood talking to Chase and Odelia he actually seemed to revel in the attention, and was chatting away as if they were old friends he hadn’t seen in ages.
“Some people like to be part of a police inquiry,” I told Dooley as a possible explanation for this anomaly.
“He does seem to enjoy all the attention,” my friend agreed.
“So when was the last time Danny was here?” asked Chase.
“Oh, must have been… two weeks ago? He usually spends the weekends with me, every other week, but since he’s a big boy now, Veronica and I have decided not to be too strict about the arrangement and to let Danny decide what he wants to do.” He gave Chase a grin. “Kids his age prefer to hang out with their friends on the weekend, not with their old man.”
“Was he here on Monday?”
“No, like I said, he only spends his weekends here—never a weeknight.”
“Have you heard about what happened to Dave James?” asked Odelia.
“Oh, absolutely,” said Eddie as he watched a cop bring out a box of something, show it to Chase, then disappear into the house again. “Poor Dave. I liked the guy, I really did. When he met Veronica our marriage had already run its course, so it wasn’t as if he stole her from me or anything.It all happened naturally, you know. We’d been on the verge of divorce anyway, and so when she told me she met Dave James—the Dave James—in fact I remember asking her if she could introduce us, and when she felt that was a little awkward, I asked if she could at least get the guy’s autograph. And she did! I’ve put it on my living room wall. Big original cartoon of Tollie the Turtle, drawn and signed by Dave himself. Not by one of his assistants—cause I know guys like him like to leave the drawing to their minions. But I insisted he make the effort to create an original for me.” He mused, “Guess it’ll be worth a pretty penny, especially now that he’s dead. Dead artists always fetch a better price than living ones—just look at Van Gogh. When he was still alive he couldn’t give his stuff away for free, and now they’re paying millions for his paintings.”
“So do you have any idea who could have killed him?” asked Chase, quick to put in a question while Eddie paused to take a breath.
“Well, now, it’s interesting you should ask, cause I do have an idea, yeah. And you already got her in custody, which is why I don’t understand what you want with me.”
“You’re referring to Jayme Ziccardi?”
Eddie nodded. He was a tall man, and once upon a time had been a handsome man. Now his hair had thinned and his face was lined, but all in all he looked like a nice enough person, which made me wonder how a man like him could have spawned a son like Danny. Then again, kids have their own personality, and it doesn’t always come from the parents.
“Veronica told me all about it. How she discovered that Dave had made a new will, cutting her out of his inheritance, and how he was planning to give it all away to some girl he met. She figured he was probably having an affair with her, which didn’t surprise me. Dave was a great artist, but hewas also just a guy, and guys his age sometimes are old fools. So he’d fallen for this girl and was planning to divorce Veronica and marry her.”
“Jayme is only seventeen, Eddie,” Odelia pointed out. “Don’t you think she’s a little young to have an affair with a seventy-two-year-old man?”
Eddie shrugged.“So maybe it was one of those platonic things. You know, maybe she was his muse. Artists are weird sometimes, Mrs. Kingsley. As if the regular rules of society don’t apply to them. But anyway, Veronica planned to fight the new will, and said she was prepared to have Dave declared insane if that’s what it took. So I guess the girl found out, and figured she needed to head Veronica off, and get rid of Dave before the old will was restored, in which case everything went to Veronica in the event of Dave’s death.”
“So you think Jayme did it for the inheritance?” said Chase.
“Of course she did. Do you know how much Dave is worth? Must be millions, maybe hundreds of millions. That man built himself an empire, him and his stupid turtle.”
“You have a painting of that stupid turtle on your wall,” Odelia reminded him.
“And so I have, and I’ll admit he did a nice job, but it’s still a weird way to make a living: by drawing turtle cartoons. Then again, the world is a little nuts. I mean, there’s kids that make a fortune right now by playing video games. So why not a turtle, huh?”
“Have you spoken to Danny since Dave died?” Chase wanted to know.
“He called me last night. Said his mom has been behaving a little weird.”
“Weird, how?”
“She’s having an affair with his principal now. No wonder the boy is confused.”
“Danny is confused?”
“Sure. Wouldn’t you be? First your mom marries a pensioner, then she starts an affair with your principal? Danny tells me his principal is married with two kids. Plus: he’s his principal! How does the guy expect Danny to respect him when he’s having an affair with his mom? It’s confusing for an impressionable kid like Danny.”
“Did you know that Danny has been extorting money from kids?” asked Odelia, deciding to disabuse Eddie from this roseate picture of his son.
“So he’s got an entrepreneurial spirit. Good for him.”
“He’s a bully, Eddie,” said Odelia. “All the others kids say so.”
“Big words. My son is just trying to make the best of a difficult situation.” He wagged his finger in Odelia’s face. “Don’t you go making trouble for him, you hear? Danny’s got nothing to do with Dave’s death, and he’s got enough problems as it is without you lot piling on.” Chaseimmediately stepped up to the man and towered over him, and Eddie sheepishly retracted his finger. “You know what I mean,” he murmured.
One of the cops walked out and whispered something into Chase’s ear. Chase then gave Odelia a shake of the head.
“Looks like they haven’t found the murder weapon,” I told Dooley. “Or the turtle.”
“So Danny is innocent?” asked my friend.
“Looks like.”
“So Maybe Jayme did kill Dave?”
I heaved a deep sigh.“I’m starting to think that maybe she did,” I agreed.
“And she looked so nice.”
“Even nice people can be killers, Dooley.”
Odelia and Chase wrapped up their interview with Eddie before it got too contentious, and as we rode back to town, Odelia said,“I think I better call Hester and tell her the bad news.”
Chase nodded grimly.“Unless a miracle happens, looks like Jayme will go down for murder one.”
“I really thought she was innocent.”
“Me, too. Guess you never know.”
I noticed how Dooley was intently staring at me, and finally I said,“What?”