Deadly Gamble: The First Charlie Parker Mystery by Connie Shelton Page A

knocking at your door will be the police." I
turned away. "Have a nice day," I said sweetly.
    "Uh . . . wait. What did you say your name
was?" He had removed his hand from the door. I noticed a sheen on
his forehead.
    "Charlie Parker. RJP Investigations. Someone
else with, shall we say, a not exactly legitimate connection to
Detweiller has asked me to look into his death. This person is
another Tanoan resident. With the information I've found so far, I
suspect Detweiller had targeted you folks, figuring he'd found a
gold mine."
    "Look," he glanced behind me nervously, "why
don't you come inside a minute."
    I stepped into a cool white hall, from which
I could see a white living room on one side and a white dining room
on the other. The chrome and glass furnishings didn't add any
color. Only brief dashes of black accent pieces kept me aware that
I hadn't fallen into a snowbank.
    "Excuse me a minute," Tompkins said, walking
up a staircase to my right. He returned two minutes later, slipping
his arms into a paisley silk robe. He hadn't combed his curls.
    We took seats in the chilly living room.
Tompkins reclined in a puffy down-cushioned chair. He couldn't
maintain the pose, though. He fidgeted, crossing and re-crossing
his legs, scooting to the edge of his seat.
    "Now what about this man, what was the
name?"
    "Detweiller." Don't play ignorant with me,
bud.
    "Yes, now who was he?"
    I stared at his face for a full minute, while
his eyes darted around the room.
    "How much did Detweiller take you for?" I
finally asked.
    "What makes you think. . ." He drew himself
up defensively.
    "I think Detweiller was a schemer and a con
man. He worked his way into his victim's confidence, then took
whatever he could. With the women, he used sex, with the men, I
imagine there was some kind of money scheme. He played the horses a
lot. Maybe that was it with you."
    "Horse racing? I hardly think so," Tompkins
tone was scathing.
    "What, then?" I stayed patient, letting him
think about it. Two or three plans crossed his mind. I watched them
play out rapidly.
    "Okay," he finally said. "You're right. It
was an investment scheme. And oddly enough it did involve horses."
He chuckled dryly. "I met Detweiller in the Card Room at the club.
He wasn't a member. I was pretty sure of that. I assumed he was
there as a guest. We got to talking. I've always been fascinated by
horse racing. Not so much as a bettor. I was interested in the
horses themselves, the breeding, the bloodlines. Gary picked up on
that and told me he'd done a lot of investing in race horses. Said
he could get me into this consortium that had already bought into
some of the finest champions in the country. He knew all the names,
their records."
    "Because he hung around the tracks all the
time."
    "I found that out later. This guy was
smooth."
    I thought of the picture I'd seen of
Detweiller. I couldn't see how a well-off man like this wouldn't
have seen right through the facade. Then again, why hadn't Stacy
seen through it either? Maybe Detweiller was a chameleon.
    "And you ended up losing your money," I
suggested.
    "Twenty thousand. He had me thinking I was
one of the small investors, too—that most of them were putting in
hundreds."
    "So, when did you find out the whole thing
was a sham?"
    "Just now, really. I'd been calling Gary for
a week, wondering when I would get some word about the investment.
I was supposed to get reports, statements, and so forth. It had
been over a month since I'd given him the money and I was getting
concerned. I'd called for several days in a row, and was really
starting to get mad."
    Mad enough to kill? I wondered.
    "Now wait a minute," he protested, reading my
thoughts. "Yeah, I was mad that he was ignoring my calls. But
twenty thousand dollars is not enough to kill for. An
embarrassment, maybe, but not worth risking my neck over."
    I believed him. Twenty thou was a new
decorating job for the living room to this guy. He wasn't going to
risk this lifestyle over a