one about him looking into a job in another town. He just expected her to move with him if he went? How could he not have mentioned any of this to her?
Sighing, she sat down at her kitchen table and put the scrap of cloth she had found next to the folded financial documents from Vivica Chartrand's house. She smoothed the pages out, ready for her to pore through them. Speaking of secrets.
She had a feeling she knew exactly who this stained cloth belonged to. The question was, did it mean what she thought it meant. Setting it aside for the moment she turned to the paper statements. Vivica's ghost had been very insistent that they were important. Time to find out.
The first few pages were bank statements of Vivica's. Her bank account had drained slowly and steadily over the last few months, large withdrawals at a time, until there was almost nothing left. Less than two hundred dollars in the savings account, nothing in the checking. Interesting, but not unusual for someone of Vivica's advanced age who was living on a fixed income.
The next page was a separate bank statement that didn't seem to match up with the others. Darcy set it aside.
The bottom two pages were an unfinished application for a remortgage of Vivica's home. She'd never filed them. The pages were typed and not in anyone's handwriting. Vivica had never struck Darcy as the type of person to type out anything. Brianna the rabid reporter lady had found a letter in the trash bin of Vivica's room, and that had been handwritten, not typed. It didn't seem to Darcy that Vivica had filled out this paperwork. It hadn't been Vivica who wanted to get a loan from the bank.
More likely, whoever killed Vivica had been the one who filled these papers out trying to pressure her into getting another mortgage from the bank. Whoever she had been giving money to had wanted even more from her. But Vivica had already decided she couldn't give any more money to that person. That's what the letter in the trash had said. Her bank account was almost empty as it was. It made sense that she would finally say "no more."
And cutting this person off, whoever it was, had gotten her killed. Darcy could picture the scene now. In her kitchen, this person had brought Vivica the mortgage application paperwork to sign. She refused, but being the meticulous woman she was, she filed the papers neatly on the dining room table with her other financial documents. Vivica tells this person she's cutting them off, that there's no more money to give. Maybe she even shows them the bank statements.
Then in a rage, that person stabs her in the back and kills her.
That didn't eliminate Aimee as a suspect, though. In spite of her suspicions, Darcy had to admit that a freeloading wanted fugitive living in Vivica's home made a very good murder suspect. She needed more proof that Aimee wasn't the killer if she was going to be able to prove her hunch to Jon.
Darcy felt a frown come over her face as she leafed through the papers again. What was she going to do about Jon and their relationship? She turned the pages over in front of her, one at a time, as she weighed the pros and cons of him taking this job in Oak Hollow, trying to be fair minded—
Wait a minute.
She turned the page she had just read over again, and read it more slowly. Yes. It was exactly what she thought it was. A page from a bank account that wasn't Vivica's. This bank account had over five thousand dollars in it. It was an offshore account, untraceable except by the account number listed on the page next to the account holder's name. The person this account belonged to had no need to beg or borrow money from anyone. They already had more than enough.
The name at the top of the statement wasn't Vivica's. It was Aimee Tinker.
So there it was. Darcy leaned back in her chair, feeling the kink in her neck from sitting hunched over the table so long. It had been
Sighing, she sat down at her kitchen table and put the scrap of cloth she had found next to the folded financial documents from Vivica Chartrand's house. She smoothed the pages out, ready for her to pore through them. Speaking of secrets.
She had a feeling she knew exactly who this stained cloth belonged to. The question was, did it mean what she thought it meant. Setting it aside for the moment she turned to the paper statements. Vivica's ghost had been very insistent that they were important. Time to find out.
The first few pages were bank statements of Vivica's. Her bank account had drained slowly and steadily over the last few months, large withdrawals at a time, until there was almost nothing left. Less than two hundred dollars in the savings account, nothing in the checking. Interesting, but not unusual for someone of Vivica's advanced age who was living on a fixed income.
The next page was a separate bank statement that didn't seem to match up with the others. Darcy set it aside.
The bottom two pages were an unfinished application for a remortgage of Vivica's home. She'd never filed them. The pages were typed and not in anyone's handwriting. Vivica had never struck Darcy as the type of person to type out anything. Brianna the rabid reporter lady had found a letter in the trash bin of Vivica's room, and that had been handwritten, not typed. It didn't seem to Darcy that Vivica had filled out this paperwork. It hadn't been Vivica who wanted to get a loan from the bank.
More likely, whoever killed Vivica had been the one who filled these papers out trying to pressure her into getting another mortgage from the bank. Whoever she had been giving money to had wanted even more from her. But Vivica had already decided she couldn't give any more money to that person. That's what the letter in the trash had said. Her bank account was almost empty as it was. It made sense that she would finally say "no more."
And cutting this person off, whoever it was, had gotten her killed. Darcy could picture the scene now. In her kitchen, this person had brought Vivica the mortgage application paperwork to sign. She refused, but being the meticulous woman she was, she filed the papers neatly on the dining room table with her other financial documents. Vivica tells this person she's cutting them off, that there's no more money to give. Maybe she even shows them the bank statements.
Then in a rage, that person stabs her in the back and kills her.
That didn't eliminate Aimee as a suspect, though. In spite of her suspicions, Darcy had to admit that a freeloading wanted fugitive living in Vivica's home made a very good murder suspect. She needed more proof that Aimee wasn't the killer if she was going to be able to prove her hunch to Jon.
Darcy felt a frown come over her face as she leafed through the papers again. What was she going to do about Jon and their relationship? She turned the pages over in front of her, one at a time, as she weighed the pros and cons of him taking this job in Oak Hollow, trying to be fair minded—
Wait a minute.
She turned the page she had just read over again, and read it more slowly. Yes. It was exactly what she thought it was. A page from a bank account that wasn't Vivica's. This bank account had over five thousand dollars in it. It was an offshore account, untraceable except by the account number listed on the page next to the account holder's name. The person this account belonged to had no need to beg or borrow money from anyone. They already had more than enough.
The name at the top of the statement wasn't Vivica's. It was Aimee Tinker.
So there it was. Darcy leaned back in her chair, feeling the kink in her neck from sitting hunched over the table so long. It had been
Similar Books
