He almost smiled. 'I am allowed to arrest you.'
'Not here, we're not in Archers Rest.'
Jesse opened his mouth to speak, then closed it and headed toward a blue sedan parked up the street. I followed him.
'So we know where he got the money he was going to pay the doctor,' I called after him.
'No we don't. We know he walked into the place with seven grand. We don't know where he got that.'
'Blackmail?'
Jesse shrugged. 'Maybe.'
'But not Natalie.'
Jesse stopped and turned toward me. 'Why not Natalie?'
I told him about my visit with Natalie and though he was clearly upset with me for going to her apartment, he listened.
'So Marc knew he wasn't the father' was all he said when I finished.
'I think so.' I was excited now to have someone to talk to about the case. 'One thing bothers me, though. He had nearly three times the amount he offered the doctor.'
'Why does that bother you?' Jesse asked. 'He was keeping the rest for himself.'
'Yeah, but this was so important to him. You would think he would have put everything he had in the pot. He was a gambler, after all. It's not like he was putting money toward his retirement. What do you think?'
Jesse unlocked his car. 'Go home, Nell.'
'Did you find the rest of the money?' I asked as Jesse got in his car.
'Go home, Nell,' he said. 'This isn't the kind of neighborhood you want be in.'
Jesse closed his door and started the car, but he didn't go anywhere. I realized he was waiting for me, so I got back in my grandmother's car and pulled out of the spot. He pulled out after me and followed me the entire way back to Archers Rest.
When I stopped in front of the quilt shop, Jesse waved and drove past. I sat in the car for a minute before getting out. I was about to walk into the shop when I got another idea Jesse wouldn't like. I turned and walked up the street.
CHAPTER 41
Marc's apartment was above the pharmacy, in the center of town. I walked up the steps and tried the door. Locked. I knew it couldn't be that easy. I went back down the stairs and into the pharmacy.
'Hi,' I said to the pharmacist. 'I'm Nell Fitzgerald. Eleanor Cassidy's granddaughter. Is Mrs. Avallone around?'
'Bernie,' the pharmacist called out. Bernie walked out of the back room. 'Hi dear, what can I do for you?'
'Do you own this building?' I said. 'I mean I know you own the pharmacy, but do you own the whole building?'
'That's an odd question,' she said. 'Yes, dear, I own the whole building.'
'So you have a key to the apartment upstairs.'
'Why, are you looking for an apartment?'
'I'm just…' I tried to think of a lie, but I'd run out of them. 'I'm just snooping. Is Marc's stuff still in there?'
Bernie walked into the back room, leaving me standing by the counter feeling confused and stupid. But only a moment later she was back out holding a key. 'Jesse asked me to keep things the way Marc left them until he was done with the investigation. But he's been through the place three times, so I assume he's done.' She handed me the key. 'Trying to get Ryan off the hook, I assume.'
'Is that what your psychic intuition is telling you?'
'Maybe.'
I ran up the stairs to Marc's apartment and opened the door. The apartment was small and messy. There was only one room with a large unmade bed, dirty white walls and a microwave on a small countertop. Paper was everywhere. There were travel magazines, car brochures and half a dozen credit card bills with PAST DUE stamped on them spread across the bed.
I stood in the room looking at the mess. I pressed the message button on Marc's machine and listened to a woman thanking Marc for the lovely night they'd spent together. The night she was referring to was the night before he'd been killed-the night he told me he had spent alone. Susanne had said it perfectly-I had dodged a bullet.
'What should I be looking for?' I asked myself. 'Where would someone hide fifteen thousand dollars?'
There was a small painted bookcase in the corner of the room that seemed as good a place to start as any. There were at least a dozen books on architecture, a couple of dog-eared paperbacks and a stack of paper. I took each book out one by one and flipped through them. There was nothing. I went through each slip of paper. It was an odd collection of receipts, women's phone numbers and assorted jewelry-mostly single earrings. There was a note on pink paper: 'Please come tonight. I'm desperate,' but no indication who had written it or when.
'Find anything?'
I jumped. Jesse was standing in the doorway.
'How did you find me here?' I was a little annoyed, even though I had no right to be.
'When I followed you back to town I parked down the street and waited for you to go into the shop. When you didn't, I followed you.'
'I didn't see you,' I said.
'You weren't supposed to.'
I could feel my face turning red, so I decided to change the subject. 'Is this anything?' I showed the paper to Jesse.
He examined it. 'It's something, but it's not enough of something to matter.'
'You don't think it's a clue?'
He smiled. 'We like to call it evidence. But I don't think this qualifies.' He sighed. 'I'll put it in an evidence bag, just in case.'
I started to move toward the door, knowing I was going to be thrown out anyway. 'I'm sorry, Jesse. I just thought I would look to see what was here.'
Jesse came toward me, so I stepped back. I moved toward the wall near the door and he stood only an inch from me. 'We're in Archers Rest now, Nell,' he whispered, his warm breath hitting my cheek. 'Do you know what that means?'
'You can arrest me.'
'Don't make me do that. Please, just go home.'
I paused for a moment, enjoying the way his aftershave smelled. Jesse had a strong presence, and standing this close to me, I felt protected and excited at the same time. It seemed to me that Jesse's breathing had sped up slightly, but I couldn't be sure. I was about to lean in and press my head against his chest when I realized just how stupid I was being. Jesse was on the verge of hauling me off to jail, not asking me on a date. I took one more step back, and as I did my foot caught on something. I bent over and picked up a key. I held it up.
'It's probably his apartment key,' he said.
'He would have had that with him,' I said. Jesse opened the door and tried the key in the lock. It didn't fit.
'Would it be the key to the shop?' he asked.
'Wouldn't he have had that with him too?' I said, but I took the key and compared it to my shop key. It wasn't a match.
'It's seems like that one,' Jesse said as he pointed to another key on my chain. I compared the two keys. It was a perfect match.
'What does that open?'
'My grandmother's house.'
'So Eleanor gave him a key to the house.'
'I don't think so.' I grabbed my cell phone and dialed the house. 'Hi. It's me. Did you give Marc a key to your
