it?"
She glanced around the area as if checking to see if others might be listening into our conversation. With the way gossip spread around here, I didn't think she was overreacting in the least.
She finally settled on my face and shuffled back into my personal space. "Karen's an avid scrapper. One day at a workshop, I saw her hacking away at a photo like she was kinda angry about it. After she left I looked in the trash and found the remnants of the picture. She'd cut Gary 's face out leaving a gorgeous blonde in the trash. Maybe he was stepping out on Karen."
What? This was nuts. "I don't think this is anything, Verna. If he were having an affair, Karen wouldn't have a picture of him with the woman. And she sure wouldn't want to cut it up and put part of it in an album she was working on."
"Unless she hired someone to follow him and take pictures."
"Karen wouldn't do something like that."
"Never know what you might do when your man is cheating on you."
"Okay, so let's say he was. What were the two of them doing in the picture?"
"Standing outside the Alamo ."
"Well there you have it. A tourist spot. Probably Gary 's sister and maybe Karen doesn't like her. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about any further." I bid her goodbye, and with the thought of Karen as a suspect dancing through my mind, I retrieved the note pad and went into my office.
I laid the pad on my desk and studied my notes from Karen. Karen whose name now went onto my note pad along with the information Verna had told me. Below that, I added Daisy's comments about her warning at work and argument in the shop. At this point—very preliminary to be sure—Daisy was the clear-cut suspect. A suspect I'd include on the list even though I really didn't think she had it in her to kill a man. I didn't agree to work on this for her, but I could try to clear her name as I helped Karen.
My first task was to find out what Gary did in the wee hours of the morning after he left home. I'd start by talking with Nathan Jacobs to see if Gary had arrived at work. With luck, Nathan would provide information to give me a clear direction to proceed.
On the internet, I located the phone number for Pacific Pickles. I bookmarked the page in case I wanted to look at it again and dialed. A perky receptionist agreed to connect me with Nathan. As I waited on hold, I hummed along with the elevator version of Barry Manilow's It's a Miracle, thinking a miracle was just what I needed right now.
"Nathan Jacobs," the deep, very professional voice split through Barry's a true blue spectacle line.
Somehow, I didn't think Mr. Jacobs was a true blue spectacle. In fact, I was hoping for a rather normal, run of the mill pickle factory manager. A talkative one. "Hi, Mr. Jacobs. My name is Paige Turner. I'm a friend of Gary and Karen Buzzy."
He drew in an audible breath and exhaled slowly. "Terrible news about Buzzy. We're all still reeling from it. How's Karen doing?"
Could he have played into my needs any better? "Actually, that's why I'm calling. She asked me to help find out why Gary was at the ball field this morning instead of work. The police will investigate, of course, but I think she feels less vulnerable by asking me to help. I was wondering if you might have seen Gary this morning."
"Me? No. He worked on a different floor so I rarely ran into him."
Odd. If Gary was a personnel manager and Nathan the accounting manager, surely the two interacted quite often. Was he trying to distance himself from Gary because he had something to do with the murder? I noted this on my pad. "Do you remember the last time you saw him?"
"No, not really. Listen, I have to go. I'm sorry to cut you short, but I have a meeting in a few minutes."
He wasn't going to get away from me that easily. "Maybe I could come by tomorrow to talk with you. It would mean a great deal to Karen if I could tell her you're willing to see me."
"Don't know how I can help, but. . . well. . . okay." I heard fingers
She glanced around the area as if checking to see if others might be listening into our conversation. With the way gossip spread around here, I didn't think she was overreacting in the least.
She finally settled on my face and shuffled back into my personal space. "Karen's an avid scrapper. One day at a workshop, I saw her hacking away at a photo like she was kinda angry about it. After she left I looked in the trash and found the remnants of the picture. She'd cut Gary 's face out leaving a gorgeous blonde in the trash. Maybe he was stepping out on Karen."
What? This was nuts. "I don't think this is anything, Verna. If he were having an affair, Karen wouldn't have a picture of him with the woman. And she sure wouldn't want to cut it up and put part of it in an album she was working on."
"Unless she hired someone to follow him and take pictures."
"Karen wouldn't do something like that."
"Never know what you might do when your man is cheating on you."
"Okay, so let's say he was. What were the two of them doing in the picture?"
"Standing outside the Alamo ."
"Well there you have it. A tourist spot. Probably Gary 's sister and maybe Karen doesn't like her. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about any further." I bid her goodbye, and with the thought of Karen as a suspect dancing through my mind, I retrieved the note pad and went into my office.
I laid the pad on my desk and studied my notes from Karen. Karen whose name now went onto my note pad along with the information Verna had told me. Below that, I added Daisy's comments about her warning at work and argument in the shop. At this point—very preliminary to be sure—Daisy was the clear-cut suspect. A suspect I'd include on the list even though I really didn't think she had it in her to kill a man. I didn't agree to work on this for her, but I could try to clear her name as I helped Karen.
My first task was to find out what Gary did in the wee hours of the morning after he left home. I'd start by talking with Nathan Jacobs to see if Gary had arrived at work. With luck, Nathan would provide information to give me a clear direction to proceed.
On the internet, I located the phone number for Pacific Pickles. I bookmarked the page in case I wanted to look at it again and dialed. A perky receptionist agreed to connect me with Nathan. As I waited on hold, I hummed along with the elevator version of Barry Manilow's It's a Miracle, thinking a miracle was just what I needed right now.
"Nathan Jacobs," the deep, very professional voice split through Barry's a true blue spectacle line.
Somehow, I didn't think Mr. Jacobs was a true blue spectacle. In fact, I was hoping for a rather normal, run of the mill pickle factory manager. A talkative one. "Hi, Mr. Jacobs. My name is Paige Turner. I'm a friend of Gary and Karen Buzzy."
He drew in an audible breath and exhaled slowly. "Terrible news about Buzzy. We're all still reeling from it. How's Karen doing?"
Could he have played into my needs any better? "Actually, that's why I'm calling. She asked me to help find out why Gary was at the ball field this morning instead of work. The police will investigate, of course, but I think she feels less vulnerable by asking me to help. I was wondering if you might have seen Gary this morning."
"Me? No. He worked on a different floor so I rarely ran into him."
Odd. If Gary was a personnel manager and Nathan the accounting manager, surely the two interacted quite often. Was he trying to distance himself from Gary because he had something to do with the murder? I noted this on my pad. "Do you remember the last time you saw him?"
"No, not really. Listen, I have to go. I'm sorry to cut you short, but I have a meeting in a few minutes."
He wasn't going to get away from me that easily. "Maybe I could come by tomorrow to talk with you. It would mean a great deal to Karen if I could tell her you're willing to see me."
"Don't know how I can help, but. . . well. . . okay." I heard fingers
Similar Books
