A Bone to Pick (Page 22)

“You killed Frank because you didn’t like the painting?”

Pam grimaced. “No, I killed him because when I told him I wasn’t giving him any more money, he said he’d finish the portrait without me and sell it in the art shop in town.”

Then Tessa understood. He’d threatened to put Pam out on display if she didn’t pay him. It was blackmail. “You thought the painting was in the studio, and you wanted to destroy it?”

Pam straightened. “Wasn’t it in the studio?”

“No,” Tessa said. “It’s here in the evidence locker.”

Pam’s head dropped. “I can’t fucking win.”

Logan shifted his weight. “You gave Steve your sleeping pill, didn’t you?”

Pam didn’t answer.

“He didn’t hear you leave the house,” Logan continued. “You knew Dante would be at the beach. It was a clear night, and he’d been working on that painting of the beach in the moonlight. Did you drive there or take the boat?”

Tessa thought about the little runabout tied up at the Rhodeses’ dock. “You took the small boat and used the public dock at the park. That way, no one would see you driving along the road or entering the park.”

The large fishing boat would be difficult for one person to dock at the state park.

“I went there to talk to him. I didn’t intend to kill him. All I wanted was for him to destroy the painting, but he was a greedy little bastard. He laughed at me.”

Logan pressed her. “You took the harpoon from the fishing boat with you, didn’t you?”

Premeditation. Despite what she’d said, she had intended to kill him when she’d left the boat.

Pam started to cry.

Tessa had no pity. Pam had killed a man over her vanity.

“Get back in there.” Two days later, Tessa squeezed out of the chicken enclosure and shut the door in Killer Hen’s face.

She could hear Cate laughing from her seat on the porch steps.

“When does your mom come home?” Cate asked.

“She’s being released tomorrow.” Tessa walked back to the porch, set down the basket of eggs she’d collected, and sat next to her friend. Cate handed her a beer.

She took a long pull.

“Have you found someone to stay with her while you work?” Cate asked.

“No.” And Tessa was starting to panic about the day-to-day realities of managing her mother. “I’m looking into hiring a home health aide, but frankly, they’re scarce on the island, and my budget won’t cover live-in help. I’m waiting to see what medical insurance will cover.”

“I might have another option for you.” Cate’s blue eyes brightened.

“Really?” She latched on to the hope.

“Actually, I can’t take the credit. It’s my grandmother’s idea,” Cate admitted. “She says the knitting group will handle it. Someone will be here to look after your mother while you’re at work. There are enough members so that it won’t be a burden on any one of them.”

Tessa’s eyes misted. “I can’t believe it.”

A smile tugged at Cate’s mouth. “Once the Widow’s Island Knitting and Activist group tackles a problem, it gets solved.”

“They know how to get shit done.” Tessa threw an arm around her best friend’s neck and hugged her. “I know it’s only a temporary solution, but for now, at least I’ll be able to go to work and know my mom is safe.”

“What are you going to do about her nighttime wandering?” Cate asked.

“I’m looking into some options.” Tessa was considering a watch with GPS capabilities, but they were pricey. “For the short term, I bought a hotel room door alarm. I can hang it on her doorknob at night, and it will go off if the door opens.” Tessa didn’t want to think about how much the noise would frighten her mother. But her savings was quickly dwindling. The new Alzheimer’s medication was obscenely expensive and had not been covered by insurance. If only her savings multiplied as quickly as the black-tailed deer of Widow’s Island. But the situation was what it was. Tessa stood and brushed some dirt off her pants.

“Where are you going?” Cate asked.

Tessa picked up her basket. “To take your grandmother some fresh eggs and thank her. Are you coming?”

“Of course.” Cate got to her feet. “Did you ever find out if Dante took money from your mother?”

Tessa shook her head. “I found no evidence that he did. Her bank accounts are untouched, and we don’t have much cash lying around the house.”

“Seems weird that a guy who made his living scamming women would do something nice.”

“According to my mom, she reminded him of his own mother. We located Dante’s—I mean Frank’s—sister. She doesn’t want anything that belonged to her brother. Apparently, he stole their own mother’s money before he left New Jersey. I think the gesture to my mother was an attempt to alleviate his guilt.”

“Your mother can have her painting.” Cate smiled.

“Yes.” Tessa welcomed anything that gave her mother a small amount of happiness. There would be precious little of that in her future.

“What happened to Garcia?” Cate asked.

“We transferred him to the mainland, and he’s been formally charged with breaking and entering and assaulting an officer.” But considering the circumstances and his lack of priors, Tessa doubted he’d serve any time in jail.

“I love getting straight confessions,” Cate said.

“They make wrapping up cases so much neater,” Tessa agreed. “Speaking of wrapping up cases, Sam’s file was delivered from the mainland today. I’ll start reading it tomorrow.”

“You don’t have to rush. You’ve had a rough few days.”

“I know, but these past few weeks, with two murder investigations on the island, I can’t stop thinking of Sam,” Tessa said. “Do you think there’s any chance she’s still alive?”

“I don’t know, but we both know the statistics aren’t in her favor.”

“No, they aren’t.”

Cate’s focus shifted to the road. “Someone’s coming.”

Tessa shielded her eyes and followed her friend’s gaze. An SUV approached. A minute later, Logan’s Range Rover pulled into her driveway. He climbed out.

“I’ll see you at my grandmother’s house later,” Cate said. Then she hurried to her vehicle, kissing her brother on the cheek as she passed him and leaving Tessa slightly suspicious of her hasty exit.

Logan opened the SUV’s cargo hatch and removed two shopping bags.

“What is that?” Tessa asked as he approached.

“A few gadgets I thought might be useful to you.” He set the bags on the porch and lifted out a small box. “These are contact sensors. I can install them on your doors, including your mom’s bedroom door. You can program an audible sound to signal that one of the doors has been opened. You can also have a notification go on your cell phone, and you can set each sensor separately, depending on the time of day.”

“I’d know if she left her room or the house.”

“Yes.” Logan lifted a small white camera. “Motion-sensing cameras. In the event that your mother does leave the house, you’ll be able to see which way she went. I can mount these at each exterior door. I can also put one or two inside so you can check on her while you’re at work. You can watch a live feed on your phone.” Next, Logan held up a slender silver bracelet. “This looks like a piece of jewelry, but it has a GPS tracker inside. You can find your mother anywhere as long as she’s wearing it. The clasp is very hard to open. I doubt she’d be able to get it off by herself.” He paused. “We don’t have to use anything you think is too intrusive.”