Hot Stuff

“They were serving margaritas on the trolley, and they mixed up too many, so when everyone left I had to drink some.”

“You had to?”

“It was the polite thing to do.”

Sharon turned to Cate. “If you found the body in the stairwell, why are the police swarming all over your condo?”

“It’s possible that the dead man was in here first. My door was unlocked and things were disrupted.”

“That’s sooo creepy,” Julie said. “I’d totally freak if I thought a dead man had been walking around in my apartment. My Aunt Margery kept my Uncle Lester in the living room for two months after he died. She said it kept her from gettin’ lonely. Of course he didn’t walk around, but he was there all the same, laid out on the living room couch. Truth is, every time I saw my Uncle Lester alive he was on the couch, and he didn’t look so different when he was dead. And then one day my Uncle Lester wasn’t in the living room no more, and everyone said Aunt Margery buried him in the backyard. We didn’t know for sure since no one was present at the burial, but there was a big patch of garden dug up. Aunt Margery always planted late-season cabbages there and they grew like the dickens.”

Sharon and Cate didn’t know what to say. They stared at Julie and their mouths dropped open slightly.

“I always felt a little funny eatin’ them cabbages,” Julie said as an afterthought.

Kellen moved behind Cate and put his hand on the small of her back. “Ladies,” he said to Julie and Sharon.

“Howdy,” Julie said.

Sharon nodded.

“The police are getting ready to clear out,” Kellen said to Cate. “Is there anything you need to add to your statement?”

“No,” Cate said. “I can’t think of anything else.”

“Would you like some company tonight?” Sharon asked Cate. “Julie and I could sleep over, so you wouldn’t be alone up here. Or you could come down to my apartment.”

“Thanks for the offer, but I’ll be okay,” Cate said. “I have Beast.”

“Call if you change your mind,” Sharon said.

Minutes later Kellen closed and locked the front door, and he and Cate stood for a moment appreciating the silence. The crime scene people were working in the stairwell, but everyone was out of the condo. A police strobe flashed against the living room window. The strobe originated from a lone squad car parked four floors below on the street. The strobe blinked off, and Cate sighed in relief. It was close to midnight.

“Are you really going to be okay alone in this condo tonight?” Kellen asked.

“Sure,” Cate said. “I’ll be fine.” And she burst into tears.

Kellen gathered her to him and held her close, resting his head on hers.

“I don’t know why I’m crying,” Cate sobbed. “I didn’t even know that dead guy. And nothing’s missing or broken in Marty’s condo. And I’m really pretty safe when I throw the bolt from the inside, right?”

“Right,” Kellen said.

“Why am I blubbering like this?”

“Emotion,” Kellen said. “Sometimes it just has to come out. You held yourself together when we found the body and during the whole police investigation, and now you can relax and let the emotion escape. It’s like a safety valve.”

“Why aren’t you crying?”

“I’m a big strong man. It would be unseemly for me to cry like a little girl.”

“Will you cry when you’re alone?”

“No. I’ve seen a lot worse than this.”

Cate snuffled and hiccupped and went to the kitchen in search of a tissue. She blew her nose and stared at the butcher-block knife holder on the granite countertop. The large carving knife was missing. She looked in the dishwasher. Not there. She looked in the silverware drawer and the junk drawer. Not there.

Cate went back to the living room where Kellen was straightening furniture. “The large carving knife is missing,” Cate said.

Kellen looked over at her. “Are you sure?”

“Pretty sure. I looked in all the drawers, and I can’t find it.”

“The body in the stairwell didn’t have any knife wounds.”

Cate shrugged and did one of those hand gestures that said I dunno.

“It’s late,” Kellen said. “And we’re both tired. I think we should go to bed and clean this up in the morning.”

“I have to get the blood off the floor tonight.”

“I hear you. Where do you keep the mop?”

“It’s not your problem.”

“It is my problem,” Kellen said, wrapping his arms around Cate. “I really like you. I mean, really like you.”

“I like you too,” Cate said. “But I’m not sure I trust you.”

“Smart woman,” Kellen said. And he brushed a kiss across her lips, and then he gave her a second kiss that lingered and deepened and turned very serious.

Cate felt the need curl into her, and she instinctively pressed herself against Kellen. His hand immediately moved to her butt, holding her in place.

“Oops,” Cate said. “I didn’t mean to do that.”

“It’s done,” Kellen said. “You can’t take it back.”

“It was an accident.”

“I liked it.”

“I can tell,” Cate said.

Kellen looked down at her. “Still too soon?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, how about this… I clean your kitchen floor, and you go to bed. When I’m done I’ll sleep in Marty’s room. Tomorrow morning I’ll buy you breakfast, and we can talk.”

“That would be really nice of you. I wasn’t looking forward to dealing with the blood. I’ll owe you.”

“I’m counting on it,” Kellen said.

Kellen was on the couch, text-messaging on his BlackBerry when Cate emerged from her bedroom with Beast.

“Did you sleep okay?” Cate asked Kellen.

“Yes. And I had a chance to comb through the condo again. And again, I found nothing. Marty steals expensive jewelry. He needs to keep it someplace until he moves it out to a fence. There’s no safe here. Not even a strongbox. Where does Marty keep the jewelry?”

“He keeps his personal jewelry in the top drawer of his dresser. I’ve never seen any other jewelry in the condo. Maybe he uses a safety deposit box at his bank.”

“I’ve been through his records. I can’t find any evidence of a safety deposit box. No receipt. No reference to one. That doesn’t mean one doesn’t exist, but usually someone as organized as Marty keeps paperwork on file.

“The only item of interest that I found in my search is a key. One single key on a gold key chain. It looks like a house key. Does Marty have a partner?”

“You mean like a boyfriend? I don’t think so.”

“He never brought anyone home?”

“No. I’m sure he has friends, but he never brought anyone here. Maybe Marty has a second condo.”

“If he does it isn’t under his name. I’ve checked tax records.”

“Beast and I are going walking,” Cate said. “We’ll be back in a half hour. You promised to take us to breakfast.”

“We can do both simultaneously,” Kellen said. “I’ll walk Beast with you, and we can eat breakfast burgers in the park.”

It was a little after eight in the morning and traffic was moving on Cate’s street when they all trooped out.