I didn’t think now was the time to tell her Sergei had an attraction with just about every woman he ever met. “So you two started to see each other,” I prompted.
“Yes. It lasted about four months and then I got a case of the guilts and ended it. I tried to make it work with Bob but that spark just wasn’t there. So, I called Sergei and we started up again a few months ago.”
“And that’s when you confronted Maria.”
“My, you are good at this.” Deanna shifted in her chair crossing one leg over the other. “I went over there on the pretext of just stopping by on my way home. I knew Sergei was at the shop because I called him first. I knew Maria kept epinephrine in the kitchen because she mentioned it once and while she used the powder room I switched out the pens. That was really the reason I stopped by. Once that was done, I told her about Sergei and me and she went ballistic, but I didn’t care. I was tired of waiting for him to make a move. Of course she kicked me out and I left. And then I waited and Sergei never mentioned my visit. I had hoped Maria would ask him for a divorce but she didn’t. Instead she started the blog. So, I switched to plan B. I had already switched the pens so the hard part was done. Then I snuck in through the woods one night and left the ivy. I knew it was just a matter of time before she burned the pile and to my delight she did it while Sergei was away leaving him with an alibi.”
I sat there dumbstruck at Deanna’s calm way of telling me how she murdered someone. “So you didn’t plan on killing her at first?”
Deanna shook her head. “Oh, no. But just in case, I left the pens. I knew I wouldn’t get another chance to be in the house once Maria knew of the affair. I really hoped she would just give him a divorce, but she planned to torture him instead with the blogs. I never realized how devious she was.”
“And Nena? How did you manage that?”
“She was easy. By time I got to her apartment she had had a few too many glasses of wine. I told her I was a good friend of Sergei’s and he wanted me to talk with her. Once I was in, it was easy enough to jab her what with her in an inebriated state. Then I turned up that horrible music so no one would hear me leave or drive off and that was that.”
“And this whole thing with getting my help for the students?”
“Oh, that was real, but it also gave me a chance to keep in connect with you and see if you were getting too close. Just a nice little bonus.”
And if I had gotten too close, like I was now? What? I suddenly felt very trapped sitting behind my desk. And then I heard the sound of people coming in and a moment later my sister, Millie and Marla stood in my doorway.
Deanna turned and saw the three women. “Well, I see you’re busy, Alex, so I won’t keep you any longer. Please have a look at the files and let me know your thoughts.” She said good-bye to everyone and left.
I waited until I heard the front door close and then I took a deep breath. “Oh my God. She just confessed to killing both women. I have it all here.” I pulled out my iPad and checked to see if the recording had worked. The sound of Deanna’s voice filled the room. It sounded more chilling hearing it the second time.
“Why did you let her go?” Sam asked when the recording was over.
“What? Did you want to duct tape her to the chair? What if she had another pen in her purse and jabbed one of us? I couldn’t take that chance. She won’t get far. I’m calling John right now.”
There didn’t seem to be anything else to do. After thirty minutes of sitting alone with a murderer I just wanted to be alone and so I left the office under the startled stares of my office mates and went home.
Sometime around midnight, I heard John come into the bedroom and crawl in beside me. He moved close to me and wrapped me in his arms.
“John, are you okay? Has something else happened?” I whispered in the dark.
“Deanna Moffet went home, closed the garage door and left the car running. She’s dead.”
Chapter Sixty-Nine
A few days before Thanksgiving I stopped by Sergei’s shop. If the news of the murders had in any way sullied his reputation you couldn’t tell by the number of customers standing in line; if anything it seemed to have brought in more people ghoulishly hoping to get a glimpse of the philandering butcher who juggled women like he did pieces of meat. I ordered a half a sandwich and a cup of soup and some tea and took a seat in the little café area. I had a few things to say to Sergei Kravec and was prepared to wait all day if need be.
Ellery Kravec was thrilled her mother’s killer was found and that her father wasn’t going to prison. She felt now that it was all over she could get on with her life and informed me she had gone to the movies and dinner with some friends over the weekend. I knew she would be okay. She even offered to loan me money to expand my business to include an investigation department, but I assured her I was happy with the way things were.
Ryan Reynolds, the former PayAcc employee, not the actor, was arrested for drug trafficking. The shipments from China, in addition to cheap faux vegan products also contained contraband prescription drugs, which, as it turned out, was the true reason for starting the Vegan View. He had planned all along to sell the drugs on the site under the guise of vegan-certified products using an ingenious coding system. The site was of course shut down and Ryan’s TV offer was rescinded. There would only be one Ryan Reynolds up on the big screen and it wasn’t the one from Indian Cove.
George Shruder decided to stay in the home he had lived in all his life and told the developer he would not be joining the campaign to change the area. He liked things just the way they were. He told me he had never been a good brother and felt a lot of remorse because of it, but maybe he could be a good uncle. I thought that sounded like a great plan.
My sister finally made friends with her newest family member and was trying to get me to see little Scopes in a different light. She had her work cut out for her on that front.
Millie and Reuben were blissfully happy living together. She had finally gone to see Sloth where he placed her crossed skis tattoo on her upper back between her shoulder blades. After seeing how sore she was both Sam and I decided to stick with our fake ones for the time being.
Meme and her band of cotton-haired friends continued to reign havoc on the senior community. She was contemplating putting together a calendar of hotties with Walter, he of the best butt contest, to take the January spot.
I finished the last of my sandwich just as Sergei came over to my table.
“I owe you a great debt, Alex. If not for you, I may have been taken to prison for the rest of my life.”
“You don’t owe me anything. I did it for Ellery.”
“I see.”
“You may not be going to prison, Mr. Kravec, but I hope you understand the part you played in the deaths of three women. It may have been a game to you, but your actions put into motion the events that led to your wife’s death. You’re going to have to live with that for the rest of your life.”
I left Sergei sitting there looking properly chastised. It wasn’t enough as far as I was concerned but it was the best I could do.
I walked out into a beautiful autumn day. The season would soon be over and I had missed so much of it so consumed as I was by the murders. The sky was the bluest I had seen in a long time and the air was cold and crisp and I didn’t feel like going back to work. An hour later I walked along the boardwalk, the ocean waves gently fading into the sand, the breeze on my face and Riley tugging at his leash.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Elaine Macko is a transplanted New Englander living in California. From a very young age, she possessed an over-active imagination finding intrigue and mayhem in everyday situations, often with hilarious results.
In the 1980s bored with life in general, Elaine signed up for a six-day vacation to London and Brussels in the dead of winter, and found time to meet and fall in love with a local Belgian man and extended her trip to last 12 years. While living abroad Elaine became a board member of a charitable
organization and taught Mexican cooking classes to the expatriate community. With a love of writing always lingering on the back burner, Elaine decided to try her hand writing a mystery and after several months, completed a draft of her first book, Armed, and moved on to three other books in the series.
Elaine never forgot her New England roots and centers her books in the fictional town of Indian Cove, Connecticut. Each book includes a European connection bringing together her love of both places.
An active member of Sisters in Crime, Elaine takes comfort in knowing that there are many others like her out there spending all their free time trying to come up with inventive ways to kill people.
Contents
Title page
Other Books in the Alex Harris series
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Chapter Fifty-Three
Chapter Fifty-Four
Chapter Fifty-Five
Chapter Fifty-Six
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Chapter Sixty
Chapter Sixty-One
Chapter Sixty-Two
Chapter Sixty-Three
Chapter Sixty-Four
Chapter Sixty-Five
Chapter Sixty-Six
Chapter Sixty-Seven
Chapter Sixty-Eight
Chapter Sixty-Nine
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Elaine Macko, Smoked (The Alex Harris Mystery Series)
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