Rear-View Murder: A Gemma Stone Cozy Mystery (6 page)

Detective Patterson opened the box and studied the ring for a moment. “How could this help?”

“It probably belonged to her. It might help you track down...”

“Miss Stone, let me explain something to you,” he began speaking as slowly and carefully as Detective Temple had the day before. “First of all, you don’t know who this ring belonged to or how it got in your car. It looks expensive, so we know she didn’t purchase it, and I doubt any of her ‘customers’ bought it for her. Secondly, she was a hooker, a street person, nobody special. We don’t know that she was killed...”

“But the blow on the head?”

“Maybe she fell. She could have died of an overdose and some John just dumped her in the trunk of that car because he didn’t know what else to do with her.”

“But you don’t know that and this ring might help...”

“It’s true that I don’t know anything concrete, but I don’t have the resources to investigate what may or may not be a murder, especially for a person that no one is even looking for,” he explained patiently.

“So, you’re not going to try to find out who killed her?”

“We don’t know that she was killed,” the detective reminded her and read down through the last bit of information in the folder. “The car was a repo, picked up out of the long term parking lot at the airport. It sat in the lot behind the bank until it went to auction. That was at least six months. There is no way to know when or where she was put in that trunk.”

“The person who owned the car?”

“Dead end. Bank couldn’t locate him. Repo guy just happened to stumble across it at the airport.”

“But you might be able to...”

Detective Patterson shook his head slowly and leaned in to plant both elbows on the table. “Ms. Stone, I’m just trying to be honest with you here. The reality is that I’m not even going to try, at least not right away. The investigation into this is moving to the bottom of the list unless other bodies start showing up in trunks of cars. I’ve had two homicides already this morning and three from yesterday that we’re just getting started on.”

“So you’re not going to do anything?” Holly said, sitting forward slightly. It was the first time she’d spoken.

“Not right away. You can check back with us in six months or so. And once your car is processed, we’ll ship it back to Gypsy Hill but...” He held up both hands in surrender.

“But the ring...” Gemma felt like she had to make one last effort.

“Keep it. Call it a consolation prize. Again, we don’t even know that it belonged to her. It was just in the car,” he said, again, an apologetic little smile.

“Thank you for your time,” Holly said, standing abruptly. “We’ll be in touch.”

Gemma thought Holly was giving in much too easily, but she stood as well and the detective led them out of the building without another word.

“Can you believe this?” Gemma said, getting angrier by the minute. “They don’t even care.”

“I can believe it,” Holly said, starting the engine. “This is a big city, Gemma. In their eyes she was just a hooker, a non-person, not really worth their time.”

“She was a young woman with her whole life ahead of her,” Gemma argued.

“Probably the best thing we can do is make sure her family gets that ring back. That might help give them some closure,” Holly reasoned, working with the navigation system on her SUV.

“It shouldn’t be hard to find the Sparrow family in Louisa,” Gemma said. Suddenly a chill ran up her spine making her shiver. She hugged herself with both arms. Parking garages always gave her the willies and this one seemed darker than usual. “Let’s get out of here.”

They talked quietly during the hour long drive but Gemma’s thoughts kept going to Opal’s family. She dreaded seeing the pain of loss in their eyes. Returning this ring was the least she could do for a young woman she never knew and that no one else seemed to care about.

The Sparrows lived in a modest farmhouse just on the outskirts of Louisa, complete with a white picket fence and cattle grazing in the field nearby. A red barn sat not far from that where a short, heavy set man unloaded bales of hay from a trailer.

“Are you sure you’re up to this?” Holly asked, when they pulled into the gravel driveway.

Gemma took a deep breath as two women stepped out onto the porch, watching them curiously. “I have to be. For Opal.” It was good to have a name for her.

“Okay, let’s do this,” Holly said and opened the door.

A big yellow dog with a friendly grin on his face barked and ran circles around them as they walked up the front steps. Now Gemma could see that one woman was older, probably Opal’s mother. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun, her dark gold hair tinged with gray.

The other woman was young, maybe eighteen, slender and petite with long blonde hair that hung straight past her shoulders. This had to be Opal’s sister. She watched them with big blue eyes that looked anything but innocent.

“Can I help you?” the older woman asked, drying her hands on the apron that covered her dress.

“Yes, ma’am, are you Mrs. Sparrow?” Holly asked.

“I am. This is my daughter, Natalie,” she said.

“We’re here about your other daughter, Opal,” Gemma told them.

The older woman pulled herself up to her full height, her face growing stiff, her eyes cold. “Opal is dead. They called just a few hours ago to tell us.”

“Yes, ma’am, and we’re so sorry for your loss,” Gemma told her, reaching into her purse. “I found something of hers and I wanted to give it to you.” She held the small box out to Mrs. Sparrow.

When the older woman made no move to take it, Natalie reached for it. She took it carefully from Gemma as if she was afraid to touch her.

“Are...were you Opal’s friends?”

“Not really,” Gemma told her.

Natalie opened the box and peered inside. Her eyes grew wide and she handed it to her mother. Mrs. Sparrow finally reached into the box and took out the ring, holding it in the palm of her hand.

“We thought it might be a family heirloom or something and...”

Both women were shaking their heads.

“I’ve never seen this before,” Opal’s mother said and then looked at Natalie. “Have you?”

Natalie shook her head in response and they placed the ring back into the box.

At that moment, the man who had been working out by the barn opened the screen door and stepped onto the shaded porch. He wore a white t-shirt soaked through with sweat but the angry look on his face made Gemma take a step backwards.

“This is my husband. Opal’s father,” Mrs. Sparrow said.

“You cops?”

“No, sir. My name is Gemma Stone and this is Holly Blake,” Gemma said, realizing they hadn’t introduced themselves earlier. “We found this ring that we thought belonged to Opal. We wanted to return it to you.”

He didn’t even bother looking at it, in fact, never took his eyes off of Gemma and Holly. “Where did you find it?”

Gemma wasn’t about to tell them their daughter was in the trunk of her car. “Near her...”

“I told them we’d never seen it before,” Mrs. Sparrow said cutting Gemma off.

“Then we don’t want it,” he said. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have to make some arrangements for our daughter.”

“Yes, sir,” Holly said. “We’re sorry to take up your time and, again, we’re sorry for your loss.”

Gemma longed to stay, to talk to Natalie maybe learn something more about Opal. “Do you have a picture of her?” she asked quickly. “I’d like to see what she looked like.”

Natalie glanced quickly at her parents but it was clear, as far as they were concerned, the conversation was over. They turned and went inside the house together, and the screen door slamming shut behind them sounded like a gunshot.

“I have her graduation picture,” Natalie said quietly. “Just a minute.”

She left them standing on the porch.

Mr. Sparrow’s voice reached them when Natalie went inside. Gemma couldn’t make out his words but she knew he was hurting and that she and Holly were merely intruders on his family’s grief. Thankfully, Natalie returned in just moments with a large photograph in a frame and a smaller one. She offered them both to Gemma.

“She was my big sister,” Natalie said. “But she was always in trouble of one kind or another. Boys. Sneaking out at night. Drinking. Running away.”

“Drugs?” Holly asked.

“No, she never got involved in drugs.”

Gemma took the large photo and gazed into the face of a pretty young woman with honey colored hair curling around a heart shaped face. She had the same blue eyes as her sister but they were hard and cold, defiant even at this young age, as if she’d already suffered through several lifetimes.

“Right out of high school, she left for Richmond. We didn’t hear from her until she got arrested for prostitution. Mama paid her bail and she came home for a while. But things got bad again. She and Dad had a big fight and...” Natalie finished with a shrug.

“Did your parents file a missing person report?” Holly asked

Natalie shook her head. “Mama wanted to but Daddy wouldn’t let her. He put all of her pictures away in a drawer as if she was already dead.”

“Can I keep this one?” Gemma asked, holding onto the smaller photo.

“Sure,” Natalie said. “Nobody will miss it.”

Gemma’s heart ached for this broken family and especially for the young woman standing in front of her. “Listen, here’s my business card. If you ever need anything, someone to talk to, give me a call.”

Natalie took the card, looked at it briefly. Just as she opened her mouth to say something, the screen door squeaked open and her father stepped onto the porch again.

“Natalie, we have to leave soon,” he said, looking at Gemma and Holly instead of his daughter.

“We’re leaving now. Thank you for your time,” Holly said.

“And, again, we’re so sorry about the death of your daughter,” Gemma told him. She wanted to say more but she knew from experience there were no words that would make dealing with the loss of his oldest daughter any easier.

Back in the vehicle, Gemma stared straight out of the windshield, afraid that if she said a word, she’d start to cry. Crying would not help Opal. They’d been driving for about twenty minutes when Holly’s voice broke into Gemma’s thoughts. “So what are you going to do with her picture?”

“I thought I’d give it to Detective Patterson. Maybe remind him that Opal was a person. Maybe remind him that his job is to protect and serve.”

Holly barked a laugh. “Gemma, honey, I think he knows that and he knows that Opal was a person. You heard him. They’re overwhelmed.”

“Then maybe we could help?” Gemma said, studying her best friend’s face for a reaction.

“Help how?”

“Show it around to some of her friends,” Gemma said with a shrug. “Maybe they’ll know something about the ring.”

“Are you talking about investigating her death?” Holly asked, glancing from the road in surprise.

“Her murder,” Gemma corrected her. “Opal was murdered and I need to know who did it and why.”

Holly was quiet for a few minutes. “Gemma, you can’t put this family back together, no matter how hard you try.”

“B
ut I have to try. Just a little bit,” Gemma protested.

“Gemma, are you crazy?” Holly squeaked. “Richmond is a big city and what you’re talking about doing is beyond dangerous.”

“We’ll just talk to some of her friends and...”

“Her friends were hookers and drug dealers and gang people. She probably had a...a...what do you call it?”

“A pimp?” Gemma asked.

A picture of a swaggering black man wearing a silk suit and a fedora popped into her head. He would be wearing lots of gold chains and he would be driving a Cadillac. Yes, she’d seen these men on TV or in the movies. They were always mean to their girls, took all their money and forced them to take drugs.

“Yes. A pimp. These are scary people, Gemma. And they hang around a scary part of town.”

“We’ll be careful,” Gemma promised. “All you have to do is let me out of the car, drive around the block and...”

“No. Absolutely not,” Holly’s tone was sharp, the look on her face fiercely protective. “You are not going to go out onto the street alone like that.”

“You look just like your mom right now,” Gemma told her.

“I do not,” Holly shot back and then Gemma saw her take a peek in the mirror. “Okay maybe I do.”

They were silent for the next few minutes. Gemma watched the scenery fly by until she saw a sign for a diner up ahead. Sadie’s Place sounded good. “Let’s stop and eat. I’m starving.”

The gravel crunched under their feet as they crossed the empty parking lot. A little bell over the door tinkled announcing their arrival. Once inside, Gemma felt as if she had taken a step backwards in time. It was a small diner with a black and white checkered floor and an old-fashioned juke box right near the door. A stainless steel counter dominated the room, with stools upholstered in red leather. Three tables filled the center of the room and booths ran along the far wall, all done in the same shiny stainless and red leather.

And it smelled heavenly, making Gemma’s mouth water.

A heavy set red haired woman came out from the kitchen. “I’m Sadie. Find yourself a seat and we’ll take good care of ya.”

Gemma chose a booth near the window and Sadie appeared with menus immediately. “Sweet tea to drink?” she asked.

“Yes, that would be fine,” Gemma said and Holly agreed.

“Is this place great or what?” Holly asked, looking around at the photos of Elvis and James Dean and Buddy Holly.

“It’s like going back in time,” Gemma said.

By the time Sadie returned with their drinks, they were ready to order. When Sadie retreated to the kitchen again, they sat there looking at each other.

“So?” Holly asked, plopping her straw into her icy glass and taking a sip.

“So what?” Gemma asked as she did the same and closed her eyes. The tea was perfect, cold and sweet.

“How are we going to and find Opal’s, um, friends?”

“You mean you’re going to help?” Gemma gasped.

Holly shook her head. “I’ve known you since we were toddlers. The one thing I do know is that when you get something in your head, you’re going to do it come hell or high water.”