“What did he say?”
“I have no idea. Whatever it was, he said it quietly. She was a bit louder.”
“What did she say?”
“I don’t remember the exact words, but something to the effect of she knew where the bodies were buried so he better watch his ass. I guess she wasn’t kidding because he got nice really fast. He started looking around too, like he was worried who was listening.”
“Who was listening? Other than you.”
“Everybody here. This isn’t that big of a place and she was loud. They walked out after that. Dude did leave a hundred on the table though, so it wasn’t a total loss.”
“Did you know who they were?”
“Not at the time, but once I heard about the hot tub massacre thing, I wasn’t surprised to see it was the victims.”
“Did you say, ‘victims’?”
“Yeah, it was that dude and his mistress who got stabbed by his wife.”
“You sure it wasn’t the wife?”
“Positive. In fact, I’d seen the guy here with his wife more than once.”
“Did you tell that to Cassandra?”
He thought about that for a second and then said, “I don’t know. Maybe not. I think I assumed it was the wife until I saw pictures of the actual wife and victim on the news. They seemed like a couple, so I assumed.”
Margot thought about it for a second. She knew Phoebe made some kind of public scene so if Cassandra went asking around, it was possible she could stumble on this incident and not realize the woman in question wasn’t Phoebe. Especially if the bartender was saying it was Tim’s wife yelling at him.
“How about the other woman? You ever see her in here before?”
“Yeah, a couple of times.”
“With Tim Masterson?”
“Yeah, though sometimes with another guy. One time with both of them.”
“What did the other guy look like?”
“Kind of short and overweight, older.”
“Thinning blonde hair and an earring?”
“That’s the dude.”
“How long ago was it the three of them?”
“I don’t know. It’s not something I keep track of.”
“Less than a year? More?”
“I haven’t even worked here a year, so less for sure.”
“Okay, less than a month?”
“Maybe. Not more than two months, if that helps.”
“It doesn’t hurt.”
Margot decided she needed to talk to Derek Helms again. Either the visit here to the lighthouse was a social one or more likely he and Tim Masterson were still in business together in some capacity.
She was looking for a place to park near Helms’ shop when she saw a familiar black Cadillac Escalade parked out front.
Chapter 9
Instead of going inside, Margot watched the SUV. The short guy got out and leaned against the side, just like he had been last night when she exited the Hotel. This time, he smoked a cigarette while he waited.
Unlike Margot, Helms didn’t mace Bobby and stick a gun in Harry’s face. He walked out with Harry in front and Bobby behind. Margot watched him get in the back with Bobby while the short guy got behind the wheel and Harry sat in the front.
She ducked down as they drove past. She let them get a bit ahead and then followed, keeping herself two car lengths back. They drove around the block a few times and then parked back in front of Helms shop. Margot drove past and watched Helms go back inside. She went around the block and when she arrived back at the shop, Harry and his crew were gone.
Margot parked and went back to Helms’ shop. The door was unlocked, and she didn’t knock or ring the bell. Inside were boxes upon boxes of clothing and accessories. Helms was a wholesaler of some sort and this must have been his current stock. Margot plucked a purse out of a box. The label said Gucci, but Margot had her doubts.
“What are you doing here?” Helms asked as he stepped into the front room.
“You sell knockoffs here, Mr. Helms?”
“What makes you think you could tell the difference?”
“I can’t, that’s why I’m asking.”
“You know you already ruined my lunch; can you not ruin the rest of my day as well?”
“I feel like Harry Lee beat me to that.”
Helms looked like he was trying to think of a lie, so Margot told him, “I saw you get into his car and I saw you get out. I thought you dissolved your partnership with Tim Masterson to get away from Mr. Lee.”
“I did.”
“Yet, two months ago you, Rita, and Tim Masterson were having dinner together.”
“What makes you think that?”
“I don’t think it, I know it. Did you use a credit card that night? Did Tim?”
Helms didn’t answer.
“If you did, there’s a record of all of you being there. It’s a busy restaurant, so it won’t be hard to find someone who saw you. Lying right now will just piss me off.”
“I may have exaggerated at lunch about my success.”
“Harry Lee’s offer started to sound better?”
Helms was silent again.
“Unless you killed your wife and Tim Masterson, I don’t care what other crimes you were involved in.”
“I didn’t kill them. I can tell you it pissed me off because I wish I had. Tim was an arrogant bastard who couldn’t tell that he’d be nothing without his daddy’s money and my wife was not only screwing him but planning to leave me as soon he dumped Phoebe. At least, she thought she was. I’m not sure he felt the same way.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Rita was piss poor at sneaking around. I heard them arguing on the phone. I got the feeling from some things she said that this wasn’t the first time they’d gotten in a fight.”
“Okay,” Margot said, thinking this
