She wiped her eyes, and Vicki handed me the closeout paperwork off the printer and then grabbed a tissue for Kelsi. Kelsi smiled and took the tissue and Vicki sat beside her.
“You’re not a horrible person,” Vicki told her. “You were just stuck in a bad marriage.”
Kelsi raised her eyebrows in doubt.
“I think the jury’s still out that, excuse the cliche,” she chuckled lightly. “So, now I know that James signed the contract in Africa, and faxed it Brent to as soon as we got home.”
“So he did sign it?” I clarified.
She cocked her head. “There’s the silver lining. But, then we got back home, and Roy was smuggling stuff in for Brent, and snuck it in my luggage because he thought the Feds were onto him. Turns out he was right. So, we get to the show, and then…”
She sighed and shook her head again. She wiped her eyes with the tissue. “James was always very possessive of his trumpet. No one could touch it. But, that night, James and Roy got into a big argument, and Gary stole the mouthpiece on the trumpet. Roy had to go Flagstaff to get another one, and in the meantime, Gary coated with that Devil’s Breath plant, believing it not to be traceable. All during rehearsals, James used the new mouthpiece. But, right before taping, Gary switched it the mouthpiece to the identical poisoned one. When the gear was packed, I remember Gary giving this whole song and dance about how important the trumpet was to James, and how he was going to make sure it was packed properly in its case. I thought it was sweet of him. Now I know why.”
“So,” I said. “He poisoned your husband to defend your honor?”
Kelsi sighed. “In a nutshell, yeah.”
“Does he have a documented history of mental illness?” Vicki asked.
“Who knows?” she said. “That family, they don’t believe in doctors, or therapists or anything like that.”
“Right,” I said. “Off the grid.”
“Off the grid,” she snorted. “The police have said they’re giving him a full psych evaluation.”
“Anything we can do to help?” Vicki asked.
Kelsi smiled. “Well, you scared the shit out of Brent Levinson. I called him the day you asked me to. As soon as I said your name, he hung up. And, then the next day, a courier shows up with a check for half a million.”
I laughed. “Well, you got one hell of a life insurance payout from La Vista, I guess.”
“There you go,” she shrugged. “Silver lining.”
I handed her the paperwork to close out her file, and as she signed we got another visitor.
“Well,” I rose to greet Jim Hurley. “We’ve got the busy morning today.”
Jim smiled big and cleared his throat. “Uh, well, as you know, we break ground this weekend.”
“Yeah,” I smiled. “Glad to hear it. We’re excited.”
Jim nodded and cleared his throat again. “Some of the...uh...well, given that it’s Teddy Roosevelt’s land and all, some of the construction workers wanted to make an event of it.”
“An event?” I asked. “What kind of event?”
“They want to have a little groundbreaking party tomorrow afternoon,” he said. “You know, you guys are a big deal in town.”
“Us?” Vicki answered. “We’re a big deal?”
“Yeah,” Jim said. “People like you guys. Look, the construction crew just wants you to be at a party tomorrow afternoon for the groundbreaking. Can you do it? It would really mean a lot to them.”
I glanced at Vicki, and we both shrugged.
“Uh, sure,” I said. “We can make an appearance, I guess. If it means that much to the construction crew.”
“It does,” Jim nodded. “It really does.”
“Okay,” I said. “We’ll be there.”
“Around four,” he said. “Make sure you’re there. The guys, they have a gift for you. So, it’s important.”
“A gift?” Vicki asked. “What kind of gift?”
Jim shrugged. “I can’t...anyway, just make sure to come.”
“Done,” I said.
“Thanks,” he rolled his eyes. “My guys can be kind of sentimental sometimes.They’re good guys, so I try to take care of them.”
We laughed and he left the office.
“Well,” Kelsi said as she finished signing all the paperwork. “You’re the popular ones.”
“Apparently,” I said.
“Well,” she smiled and handed the paperwork back. “Thanks for all your help.”
She rose and offered her hand and I shook it.
“You guys have really come through for me on all counts,” she said. “I couldn’t have survived this without you.”
“Thanks, Kelsi,” I said. “Glad we could get you some answers. Bring the kids by later. Have some photos taken.”
“Yeah,” she said. “We should.”
She smiled and left the office, and I turned to Vicki.
“Well,” I said. “Another adventure wrapped up.”
Vicki’s wiped a tendril of hair out her face as she typed away on her laptop.
“Another one wrapped up,” she said.
Then, her face lit up.
“Oh my gosh,” she said. “It’s coming today.”
“What?” I asked.
“The conference table,” she said.
“We bought a conference table?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said. “I only bought that one at a thrift store because I was tired of shopping for office furniture and we were running low on our startup budget. Now that we’ve had more money coming in, I ordered it.”
“I like our conference table,” I muttered.
“It’s an old dining table,” she said.
“Well,” I said, “it was when we got it. Now so many memories. Brooke, Julianna, Chloe…”
“Landon’s documentary,” she supplied.
“Ha,” I smiled. “Landon’s documentary. Jerry’s Hindu music.”
We both laughed.
“Those were some fun days,” she said. “Jerry’s Hindu music.”
“How many Jitters cups and Fifth Street Bistro have
