Colder Than Death

cops. Listen, I need to talk to Perry. Why don’t you go inside?”

Clint nodded and went into the front entrance of the Home just as Perry was getting out of his vehicle. He slammed the car door and strutted towards me.

“What are you doing here, Perry?”

“I’m taking a guess that the killer might show up. I want to check out everybody who comes in.”

I nodded, then for Quilla’s benefit more than from my own curiosity, I said, “Have any leads?”

“The trail gets cold the second the killer walks away from the body. Girl’s been dead nine years. I got the Sheriff’s office to send me a criminalist and fingerprint person to dust the mausoleum and what was left of Brandy Parker’s clothes for prints and whatnot. Nothing. Apartment she lived in was rented three months after she disappeared and everything she owned went to Goodwill.”

“Who authorized that?”

“Her sister. I’m in the process of trying to track down her friends, people she hung out with, co-workers, neighbors, the usual. So far, not much. Broad who was her best friend back then is dead too. Relocated to Nevada. Vegas. Became a blackjack dealer. Got hit by a limo after walking out of the casino where she worked.” Perry shook his head. “Trying to track down a couple of people she worked with, but I don’t expect much. She was only nineteen when she disappeared. Had a couple of two-bit jobs. Waitress in a coffee shop. Barmaid. She lied about her age to get it. Owner of the coffee shop remembered who she was. One detail. She never picked up her last paycheck. As for the bar she worked at, it’s changed ownership three times. Same with her neighbors. It was a dump where mostly college age kids rented. No leases. Month-to-month. Everybody who was there when she was most likely has moved on. I have Wendell checking further.”

“What about some of the men she was involved with?”

“Best I’ve been able to piece together is that she wasn’t ‘involved’ with anyone so to speak. I’m hoping it wasn’t a one night stand that got out of hand.”

“Why?”

“Kind of hard to track down some quickie in a back seat from close to ten years ago,” he sneered. “Two of the bars she hung out in have changed ownership. One burned down. Another shut down.” He spit, aiming towards the grass, but hitting the pavement.

“You’ve found out an enormous amount of information for such a short period of time. I’m impressed.”

“Doesn’t matter,” he said grimly. “Part of me thinks I won’t find out much more than I have already. Nobody knows anything about this woman. Not even her sister. It might be a different story if I could find someone who knew the answers to some hard questions about who Brandy Parker was.”

“Did you talk to her niece? Quilla Worthington. I understand that you know her.”

Perry sneered. “Little bitch hangs with a bad crowd. If these kids can’t find grass or cocaine, they’ll settle for getting high on Robitussin.”

“The cold medication?”

“These assholes call it “Robo.” They like that heavy metal crap. Dress in black. Wear leather. Put rings in their noses and ears and lips. One girl has a spike in her tongue. I have Greg on special assignment to keep an eye on them.”

“Special assignment?” I said, feeling queasy in my stomach and more than a little sorry for Quilla. She liked Greg Hoxey, thought he was her friend. I wondered how she would feel upon learning that Greg was scamming them.

“Greg has made friends with them. They love his ass. You saying the niece knows something?”

“She was very close to her Aunt. If anybody could help you find out more about who Brandy Parker was, Quilla could. And I happen to know that she’d be willing to cooperate.”

“Oh yeah?” he said sarcastically. “How do you know that? And how do you know all this crap about her?”

“She rode out to the cemetery with me to pick out the grave site. We talked. The one thing uppermost in her mind is finding the person who killed her Aunt.”

“Talking to her can’t hurt, I guess.” He looked at me as if he were giving me an evaluation. “That’s twice now.”

“Twice what?”

“Only positive things I’ve had to work came from you. That cemetery buff stuff and now this info about the niece. I never would’ve even considered finding out if the kid knew anything. Christ, she was just a little shit when her Aunt disappeared. She taking the death hard?”

I nodded yes. “She seems to be the only one.”

“Meaning?”

“I didn’t see much grief coming from her mother.”

“Should I consider the mother a suspect?”

Perry let the question slip out so matter-of-factly, that I was speechless. You’re asking me? I thought to myself. I wasn’t used to receiving compliments from Perry Cobb. I felt like the child of an alcoholic getting a pat on the head from daddy on a sober day.

“Look, Perry, I don’t know anything about solving crimes and having feelings about who should or shouldn’t be a suspect. Based on years of doing business with grieving individuals, all I can tell you about Suzanne Worthington is that her behavior was typical of at least a third of those I’ve dealt with. Some are devastated and can barely get through the arrangements process. Others are so calm and collected you’d think that instead of picking a coffin they’re selecting drapes. Suzanne made no bones about her feelings for her sister. She’d dealt with her being gone years ago. Finding the body was anti-climactic. That’s not to say she won’t fall apart when she realizes her sister’s remains are in that locked coffin or that she won’t lose it at the burial. But if you want my gut feeling: Suzanne Worthington didn’t kill anybody.”

Perry bit down lightly on his upper lip. “I wonder why she didn’t tell me to talk to her daughter.”

“She probably doesn’t have any idea how much the kid knows. This is a mother and daughter who don’t communicate going on. Besides, Suzanne wants to get this over with. She’s not the kind who likes intrusions.”

“Who does?” said Perry and almost at the precise instant he uttered the words a car pulled into the lot. The headlights swathed Perry and myself, blinding us for a few seconds. By the time I could see the car, a BMW, it had pulled alongside Perry’s cruiser.

Three doors opened almost simultaneously and I watched Suzanne get out of the front passenger side, her husband slide out of the driver’s side and Quilla step from the right side of the back. As if she couldn’t stand to be near them, Quilla darted ahead of her mother and stepfather. I checked my watch. 6:50. I couldn’t take my eyes off of what Quilla was wearing.

A black dress. Down to mid-calf. Low cut. As she got closer I saw her shoes. Red high heels, spikes, actually, about four inches. As she got closer I could make out the fishnet stockings. Her hair was up in a sophisticated sweep and she wore make-up. Heavy. Too much mascara around the eyes that made her look older and a little glamorous. Earlier in the day she looked younger than her fifteen years and not very attractive.

But now she looked exquisite.

More like she were going out on a date, rather than to a Funeral Home to visit the dead body of the person she had loved more than anyone else in the world.

Chapter 11

As Quilla came up to me I heard her mother’s voice in the background. “Quilla would you please wait so we can all go in together.” Quilla kept moving. She strolled past Perry until she came to a stop in front of me.

“Hi, Del,” she said with an inflection that made me think she was genuinely glad to see me.

“Hi,” I said with equal enthusiasm. It was good to see her. She glared at Perry. He stared at her and said, “I’m sorry about your Aunt,” with a heartfelt sincerity.

“Thanks,” she said with more sarcasm than gratitude. I knew she didn’t believe him. “Find out who killed her