“Excellent deduction, detective,” Mary said.
Jake pulled out a sheet of paper. “Any idea what this means?” But before Mary could answer, the Shark snatched the paper from Jake’s hand.
“Let’s get information, Detective Cornell,” Davies said. A hard edge to her voice that perfectly complemented her entire being. “Not give it. We’re all done here,” she said. The Shark turned her full attention on Mary. “Stay away from me, Cooper. This is your last warning.”
The Shark stormed off with Jake in tow.
But it didn’t matter. Mary didn’t really care what the Shark threatened to do. She’d gotten a good look at that sheet of paper in Jake’s hand. A part of her wanted to believe that Jake had done it on purpose, to give her the information but make it look like he’d done it accidentally. Her heart lightened a little bit and she almost smiled.
Mary had seen that piece of paper, and she had read it. So she knew what she had to do.
It had been three little words. But words that tied this murder into Uncle Brent’s.
The note had been in big block letters.
He really bombed.
Chapter Twenty-One
“I always knew your career choice would blow up in your face,” Aunt Alice said as she let Mary inside the house. Mary rolled her eyes. A man in a pair of black slacks and a black turtleneck rose from the couch to greet her.
“This is Whitney Braggs,” Alice said. “Whitney, this is my niece, Kojak.”
“Mary, actually.”
“Nice to meet you Mary Actually.”
Oh God, Mary thought. Everyone’s a comedian. Braggs smiled at her and Mary noted the brilliant white teeth, the smooth, tanned skin and the perfect white hair. This guy was probably in his late sixties, but he clearly took good care of himself.
“Really, though,” he said. “I know you’re a Cooper. Brent and I went way back. I’m sorry for your loss.” His voice was smooth and cultured. He sounded like a radio announcer.
“Mary, can I get you anything?” Alice said. “A drink of water? An application to a local community college?”
Mary had been released several hours ago. The prognosis had been good. No broken bones. A slight concussion, most likely. Right now, she just felt sore and tired.
“Ladies,” Braggs said. “Since you’re both slightly incapacitated, allow me.” He escorted Alice to a chair. Even though she was walking now, it wasn’t a very steady gate. Mary didn’t bother waiting for him. She sat down on the yellow chair next to Alice. Alice asked for iced tea and Mary asked for a Diet Coke. Mary caught a waft of subtle, expensive cologne.
Once Braggs had left for the kitchen, Mary turned to Aunt Alice. “So is the sex good with him?”
Alice looked at her out of the corner of her eye and answered in a soft voice.
“Why, would you be jealous?” she said.
“Looks like you didn’t even ruffle his hair.”
“He got so excited there wasn’t time…”
The return of Braggs with the drinks cut Alice off.
“Whitney says that a group of Brent’s friends are all coming to town,” Alice offered.
“There go our property values,” Mary said. “Buy your polyester shirts and Sansabelts now, before they’re gone.”
“Some of them are actually here, living here,” Braggs said. “But yeah, there are a few out-of-towners. You know, we were all pretty close back in the day,” he said, his face thoughtful. Mary thought he was a pretty good actor, too.
“When you say ‘we’, who are you talking about?” she asked.
“She’s a p.i.,” Alice said. “She asks questions all the time. Let me know if she starts bugging you, I’ve got a muzzle for her, it has her monogram on it…”
“Yeah,” Mary said. “And I’ve got her ball gag in my purse.”
“No, no, no,” Braggs said. “That’s fine, that’s fine,” he said, holding out his finely manicured hands. Jeez, Mary thought. The guy’s got better nails than I do.
“Just some friends who all started together way back when,” he said. “We sort of cheered each other on, critiqued each other’s jokes. If one of us got a job, he’d try to get some of us hired, too, or at least submit our material.”
“So you guys were all comedians, or what?” Mary said.
“Most of us did stand-up. All of us wrote material, too, and tried to get jobs on TV. shows. You know, talk shows, variety shows, sitcoms. Some of us did, some of us didn’t.”
“Did you?” Alice asked.
“I had some early success,” he said. His expression was one of careful modesty. “A few little roles on the Dick Van Dyke Show, and others. But then I went into commercial voiceover work.” He smiled. “Visa. The only card you need.”
“Yes, that’s you! I thought I recognized your voice. That’s impressive!” Alice said.
“So are the royalty checks,” Braggs said with a wink.
“Sorry about my last payment,” Alice said. “I swear I mailed it out in time, but the frickin’ mail is so slow!”
“I heard her say the same thing to the cable guy,” Mary said. “Let me ask you something, Mr. Braggs.”
“Please, Whitney.”
“Did you ever know a Barry Olis?”
“Yes! I knew Barry,” Braggs said, surprise in his voice. “I tried to track him down, too, but couldn’t find an address.”
“Well, he’s now in multiple locations,” Mary said. Alice and Braggs gave her a blank look.
“He was in the apartment that exploded,” she said. “The one that nearly took me with it.”
“Oh, dear God,” Braggs said. Mary noted that his face went slightly pale. Although, with his tan, it was more like it went slightly taupe.
“Do they know who did it?” he asked.
“They know the killer has a really good sense of humor,” Mary said.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
She shook her head. “Nothing, it’s not important.” Mary then thought of something. She gestured to both Aunt Alice and Braggs. “So did you two know each other? Why did you come here, to her place? To see what happens to upholstery gone bad?”
“I knew Brent had a sister in town, he’d mentioned that,” Braggs said. “A few phone calls and I found the particulars. I missed the funeral.”
“Too bad, it was a good show,” Mary said. “A regular laugh fest.”
“Coopers just can’t be serious about anything,” Alice said. “Especially her,” she said, then lifted a cane and pointed it at Mary.
“So do the police think Brent’s and Barry Olis’ murders are connected?” Braggs asked.
“I’m not exactly the person they like to share intimate details with,” Mary said. “In fact, they keep warning me they’ll take my license away. I think they feel threatened.”
“Do they know it’s a cosmetician’s license?” Alice said.
“Okay,” Braggs said. “Then let me ask you this, Mary. Do you think the murders are connected?”
“They’re tied together more tightly than Alice’s black lace bodystocking.”
“It’s not black, it’s fire-engine red, baby,” Alice said, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.
“Oh, boy. This is serious,” Braggs said, resting his chin in his hand and looking out Alice’s picture window. There wasn’t much to see out there, Mary thought. A few houses. Not a whole lot of inspiration. Nonetheless, Braggs sat straight up and clapped his hands together.