Authors: Sarah Biglow
Debts and Debtors: (A Geeks and Things Cozy Mystery Novella #3) (Geeks and Things Cozy Mysteries) (5 page)
Kalina texted AJ to let him know he should close up the shop for the night. She’d swing by afterwards to double check the register and handle the books for the day. The lights were on in the living room of her sister’s house when she pulled into the driveway. She pulled in behind Daniel’s car and took the front steps two at a time. She didn’t bother knocking, instead choosing to make a bold entrance. She found her sister and Savannah sharing a bottle of wine in the living room.
“You know doors are meant for knocking, right?” Jillian said before proffering a third glass.
Kalina waved dismissively at the offered glass. “I just figured you’d want to hear what I have to say.”
“Is it about Thomas?” Savannah’s cheeks were flushed from the alcohol.
“Yes. I was having dinner with Chris and he told me that Thomas left the real estate firm a few months ago and was working for the developers who are putting up the hotel and condos on the waterfront.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Jillian scoffed.
Savannah’s cheeks flushed more and her eyes grew bright with unshed tears. “I feel awful.”
“Why?” Kalina sat down on the couch beside the woman.
“I just remembered that he had left the firm. I didn’t realize he didn’t work for the same type of company anymore. Oh God, am I going to get into trouble with the police?”
“Of course not,” Jillian interjected, shooting Kalina a look that clearly said ‘she better not get in trouble’.
“I think if you just sit down with Detective Harper and tell him whatever you’ve remembered, he’ll understand. After all, you’ve had quite a shock the last couple days.”
Savannah nodded and rubbed at her nose with her free hand. The tension in the room eased a little but Kalina was still on edge. She needed to probe a little more about some of the other information she’d gathered.
“There’s something else that Detective Harper found.”
“What now?”
“The gun that was found with Thomas’s body … the one used to shoot him was registered to him.”
“That isn’t possible. He didn’t keep weapons in the house. Thomas hated guns.”
Kalina leaned in a little closer. “Did you have a gun?”
“God, no!” The wine glass slipped through her fingers and smashed against the coffee table, spraying the carpet with red wine and glass shards.
Jillian jumped into action, rushing out of the room and returning moments later with a dustpan and brush to sweep up the shards. She glared at Kalina but Kalina stayed put. Savannah curled into herself on the couch and dabbed at her eyes.
“You could help,” Jillian snapped.
Just as Kalina opened her mouth to fire back at her sister, her phone buzzed with an incoming call from AJ. He must still have been at the shop. Without excusing herself, she stood up and left the living room.
“Hey, you should be home soon, right?”
“Yeah I’m on the way but I wanted to tell you something.”
“OK. What is it?”
“I did what you’d do and did some newspaper digging. There was an article back in the summer about the fear that the property would displace people in the area. And I have a friend, Adrien Parker and his family are moving because the bank foreclosed on their house. And get this … when I mentioned Mr. Chase, Adrien got all pissed off. Said that was the guy who showed up and forced them to accept the foreclosure.”
“Where do they live?”
“Um, not far from the waterfront.”
“Thanks, AJ. You did great. Now get your butt home before your mother has a heart attack.”
Her nephew hung up and Kalina studied the blank screen for a moment. Things were starting to make sense. She didn’t know much about foreclosures and the like but she did know someone who did and she was going to pick their brain as soon as she could make an excuse to get out of the house. But first she needed one final answer from Savannah.
“Who was that?” Savannah asked as soon as Kalina walked back into the room.
“Oh, that was nothing. Just someone calling the shop’s main number. It forwards to my cell. I actually need to get back but I wanted to ask you one last thing. Did you notice if any of your neighbors had been moving away or getting foreclosed on recently?”
“No. Why would you ask that?”
“Well, I was just wondering why someone would spray paint ‘Traitor’ on your front door, that’s all. Sorry about the wine, Jill.”
Kalina climbed back into her car and let out a sigh. If Thomas Chase was working for the developer and forcing people out of their homes so the hotel and condos could be built that would definitely brand him a traitor, especially to families living on the waterfront. And it might give someone a motive to want him dead. She didn’t quite believe that Savannah didn’t know that her husband had changed careers and had gone from selling people homes to ripping them away from families. She pulled out her phone and dialed the switchboard number for the police station.
“Ellesworth Police Department,” Jimmy said on the other end of the line.
“Hey Jimmy, it’s Kalina. I need a favor from you.”
“Sure, what’s up?”
“Do you know anything about debt collection and foreclosures?”
“Some. My brother Alex knows more.”
His brother worked as a firefighter in town. A family of public servants. “Is he off shift today?”
“I think so. Why, what’s going on?”
“I’m just curious about some things. With the big development going in on the waterfront I want to be more informed about how it’s happening. Can you guys swing by Geeks and Things in say an hour?”
“I’ll give him a call. Should I let Detective Harper know?”
“That’s not necessary.”
“If you’re sure. I’ll hopefully see you in an hour.”
“Great, I appreciate it.”
Tossing the phone on the passenger seat, Kalina headed back to the shop to make sure she was ready for her late-night visitors. A part of her felt bad leaving Chris out of this investigative mission but he had other things to worry about. Besides, he needed to get some sleep.
Waiting for their arrival gave Kalina time to settle the day’s bookkeeping. The shop had done well in profits. Black Friday was officially a success. The bell above the front door jangled and she looked up to see Jimmy and Alex stride in side by side. Alex was older than Jimmy by at least six years and had a broader build.
“Thanks for coming over, guys. Why don’t we grab a seat in the back?”
They settled around one of the tables strewn with pieces of Settlers of Catan. Jimmy fiddled with a few pieces while Alex sat with his arms crossed over his chest.
“So what do you want to know about debt collection?”
“How it works. Why someone might get involved in it.” She pulled out a pen and notebook Chris had given her to take notes.
Alex rubbed his chin. “Well, you get into it for the money. See when the bank or a credit card company has a client who isn’t paying their debts off, they sell the debt to a collector on the cheap. A five thousand dollar loan might get sold for one thousand. Then the collector goes to the debtor and offers to wipe the debt clean if they pay twenty-five hundred. The collector nets fifteen hundred of that for himself.”
“And the bank or the credit card company doesn’t get anything for it?”
He shook his head. “No. They get the money on the front end when they sell the debt package.”
“So someone would have to actually have the money to buy the debt in the first place and then they make it back with collecting on the debts. Pretty lucrative if you don’t mind ruining people’s lives.”
Kalina nodded as she scribbled down the example he’d given. It still didn’t seem like a career a mild-mannered guy in his 60s would suddenly take on. It was also suspicious that Savannah wouldn’t have known if her husband made a huge purchase.
“You know … we found a receipt for a money transfer in the study at the Chase house. Something like thirty thousand dollars,” Jimmy said.
Kalina leaned forward, pen poised to write. “Who was it to?”
“Didn’t say. Just had bank information on it.”
Alex cleared his throat and eyed his younger brother. “I don’t think you should be sharing details about an ongoing case, Jim.”
“Right, of course. Just forget I mentioned that.”
Kalina gave Jimmy a smile. “Don’t worry about it. I appreciate you guys explaining the debt collection stuff though.”
“That kind of life can be dangerous too. You try to collect from the wrong person and things could go sideways fast,” Alex said and stood up.
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Kalina muttered.
“I need to get home. I’m on shift tomorrow,” Alex announced and Jimmy followed his brother out.
Kalina barely stifled a yawn as they left. It had been a busy day and she’d been running on adrenaline more than she’d realized. She rubbed at her eyes and yawned again. Time to go home and sleep on the information she’d gathered. Maybe things would make more sense in the morning. Before she turned out the lights and headed home she set a reminder in her phone to check city planning records in the morning.
The next morning Kalina woke with a headache. It had taken far too long to fall asleep the night before and her dreams were filled with disparate pieces of the Thomas Chase puzzle. She dragged herself out of bed and into the kitchen for a much needed cup of coffee. Her phone beeped at her to remind her of the task she’d set. Thankfully, the town made all building plans digital when they were approved; it made fact checking as easy as a couple mouse clicks. She downed her first cup of caffeine in record time, pouring herself a second cup before she settled in front of her laptop in the living room. She had to move some boxes off the couch so she had a place to sit.
“OK, let’s see what we’ve got,” she muttered to herself and found the listing of most recently filed plans.
She didn’t have to look very long before she found the plans for the condo and hotel layout. It loaded in a new tab and she had to blow it up to read any of it. She wasn’t an expert with building plans but it was pretty obvious that the layout of the building stretched over a large section of the waterfront, including the Chase residence. In fact, it was right in the middle of the whole thing.
“Damn.”
The little pieces of information she’d been gathering were all starting to fall into place now. The developer had likely hired Thomas because they needed his land to build the hotel and they thought getting him to collect on debts would get them what they wanted. Whether they expected his neighbors to turn on him and run him out of town or some other scenario, they likely counted on him handing things over to them before long. She doubted they’d intended to kill him. The guilty party could have been one of his neighbors but it didn’t explain the gun registered in his name. Perhaps a trip to the only pawn shop in town was a good idea. She also wanted to head back out to the waterfront and see if she could talk to anyone whom Thomas might have tried to collect from.
Kalina forced herself to eat something before racing off for her day of investigation. Her curiosity was so overpowering at times that she forgot to eat. But fainting in the middle of things wasn’t going to do anyone any good—least of all her—so she hastily downed a banana and some soggy oatmeal before heading out to her first stop. The pawn shop sat on the edge of town closest to the highway. In fact, it wasn’t that far from her sister’s place now that she thought about it. The parking lot was small—only three poorly marked spaces in front of the dimly lit front window. It gave her the creeps but she squared her shoulders and strode in.
“Well, I never thought I’d see you set foot in here,” a deep baritone said from behind the front counter.
Blake Jansen had been a few years ahead of her in school and, much like her, had inherited the family business. He was big but in a non-threatening way. It was all belly fat and smile lines.
“Hey, Blake. How’s it going?”
“It’s going. I hear your place is hopping.”
“People love their comics and nerdy stuff.”
“What can I do for you today?”
“You may not be able to tell me but I was wondering if you know Thomas Chase.”
“Real estate guy? Yeah, he helped my parents sell their place before they moved down south.”
“His wife asked me to check if he’d been in to buy or sell anything recently. They came into some money recently and she’s just worried he might be trying to sell off some antiques.”
“Nope. Can’t say that I’ve ever seen him in here.”
“Really? Because she said she also found a gun case in his closet.”
“Well, if he bought a gun, it wasn’t through me. That I’d remember. There isn’t anyone less likely to come into this place than him.”
“Does anyone else work at the shop besides you? Maybe he came in when they were working?”
“I was out a few days last month with the flu. Had my cousin’s kid cover for me. I’ll check the receipts for you.”
Kalina leaned on the countertop. “Thanks. I know his wife will really appreciate it. I’m just hoping to put her mind at ease.”
“How do you know the current Mrs. Chase?” Blake asked as he pulled a rolodex of cards from beneath the counter.
“She was friends with my sister in college.”
“That so?” He flipped through some cards.
“Why? Is there something I should know about her?”
Blake shrugged and continued to sort through the cards. “I heard she majored in theater. Fancied herself something of an actress. If she’s worried her husband’s been pawning stuff, I wouldn’t necessarily believe her.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Yep. I was honestly surprised she married Mr. Chase. I never thought he quite got over his first wife and I can’t say I see what he does in her.” He stopped flipping. “Well, I’ll be damned.”
Kalina tried to lean over to read the card he now held in his hand. The handwriting was too tiny and slanted for her to get a good look upside down.
“What is it?”
“Says he bought a handgun last month.” Blake handed over the card for her to look at.
She pointed to the bottom of the card. “Is this his signature?”
“Looks like it. I guess I was wrong about them both. Sorry to say.”
“Thanks. You’ve been really helpful. Do you mind if I take a picture of this just so I have proof for Savannah?”
“Normally I don’t go handing things like this out unless there’s a warrant involved but it can’t hurt just this once.”
Kalina whipped out her phone and snapped a picture, making sure to get a good image of the signature. She had been with Nadine when she’d signed the final documents with Thomas on the Larrabees’ family home and this signature looked slightly off. After her next stop she’d definitely share what she’d learned with Chris. As much as she hated to admit how cliché it sounded, she was beginning to suspect that Savannah had a hand in Thomas’s death.
“Thanks again for your help,” she said before heading back to her car and the fresh air.
Armed with this new knowledge, she made the short trip to the waterfront and started browsing for houses with foreclosure and for sale signs until she spotted Leslie Mayfair sitting on her front porch with a for sale sign stuck into the small front lawn. Kalina would have preferred someone else to question but this was what had presented itself. It wasn’t Kalina’s fault that Leslie’s former fiancé had turned out to be a vengeful murderer.
“Hi, Leslie,” Kalina greeted as she left the driver side door open.
“Oh hi.”
Kalina gestured toward the sign. “I didn’t know you were moving.”
“I was. The bank was going to foreclose but…”
“What happened?”
“The man they sent to collect on my debts offered to forgive them completely. He said he respected me and the value I add to this town too much to force me out.”
“He just forgave them,” she snapped, “just like that?”
“Yes.”
“That wasn’t Thomas Chase was it?”
Leslie nodded. “How’d you know?”
“I’d heard he’d gone into debt collection.”
“Well, he said it sickened him what the town was doing with the development company. He said I wasn’t the only person he had forgiven. Since the bank doesn’t have any claim on this place anymore I don’t have to move.”
“And I’m guessing they can’t build the hotel and condos if you’re still here.”
“Nope.”
“I never said I’m sorry about what happened over the summer.”
Leslie’s eyes shone with unshed tears but she smiled. “I don’t blame you, you know. I should have seen what was going on right in front of my face. The man I loved wasn’t real. Just a façade.”
“Still, it wasn’t fair that he ruined your life too.”
“I appreciate that.” Leslie stood up and smoothed out the creases in her pants. “Can I ask why you were asking about Mr. Chase?”
“I realized I’ve been so busy getting my life sorted out I didn’t know what was happening in town and I felt I should take more of an interest. This is home, after all.”
Leslie glanced around the property and sighed. “Yeah, it is.” With a grin she crossed the short distance to the sign and yanked it free, tossing it aside.
Kalina turned to get back into her car when she caught a hulking figure in the distance. She had an idea who would be lurking around this area and it sent shivers up and down her spine.