Finders Keepers Losers Die by Carolyn Scott

has a certain
status in the community, right? People look up to widows. Widows
get respected." She screwed up her nose. "Now that bitch of a wife
gets to be the widow. I hate her. Bitch ."
    Oh-kay. "So you haven't seen any jewelry at
Lou's lately? Or a jewelry box?" I described the box.
    "No. Why?"
    "Sorry, that's classified."
    She made an O with her lips and nodded
knowingly. "Do you know who whacked him yet?"
    People outside of mob movies say whack?
"Everything is being done to find Lou's killer," I assured her.
"But I'm going to need your help."
    Valerie's hips rolled forward in the chair.
"Anything."
    "Can you describe his patterns, routines?
What did he do, who did he see, that sort of thing."
    She stared blankly at me.
    "Did he take a walk at the same time every
day, for example?"
    "Lou never walked anywhere."
    "Okay, so he drove." If only I could get
into the Camaro. "Where did he drive to on Mondays?"
    She cast her eyes to the ceiling, thinking
hard. "Most week days he worked at Doors Galore. They sell
doors."
    I took out the notepad and pen I'd thrown
into my handbag and wrote down the details as she gave them to me.
The owner of Doors Galore was a cousin of Lou's cell mate. He'd
given Lou a temporary job when he got out which had turned more
permanent either because Lou couldn't find other work or doors were
selling like hotcakes.
    I also learned that he ate takeout from
Mama's Pizza or the Chicken Run except for Wednesday nights when he
ate at his mother's and Sunday nights when he ate at Valerie's. I
asked her about The Grotto and any other bars he might have
frequented and she just gave me a blank look. She also didn't know
much about his friends.
    "I think they're still locked up," she
said.
    I thanked her and returned to my car. I
drove back the way I'd come then headed to Blue Vale, a northern
suburb gentrified away from its blue collar roots by young families
caught in the DIY craze. I found Doors Galore on Blue Vale Road
between a McDonalds and a chain hardware store.
    I waited until the attendant finished with a
customer then approached him. "Barry Grimes?"
    He checked me over. "Not another fucking
cop." Grimes was forty-something, in good shape with a fake orange
tan and receding bleach blond hair. He looked like a middle-aged
man trying to recapture past glory, but only succeeding in looking
like a middle-aged loser.
    I didn't think I could pull the wool over
Barry's eyes and pass for a cop so I came clean. "I'm Cat Sinclair.
I work for an investigation firm hired by Lou Scarletti's wife. I
need to ask you a few questions."
    "Yeah? And I need you to piss off. You and
the cops are bad for business."
    I looked around the empty store. Usually a
Saturday morning would bring in the DIYers. "I think the hardware
store next door is probably more of a threat, but I'm no expert on
doors. Neither was Lou Scarletti, except when it came to breaking
them down. Why did you hire him?"
    Barry took a step back and cast his eyes
over me again. His slippery gaze lingered and I felt like I'd just
been slimed Ghostbusters style. Yech.
    "You're a fiery little thing, aren't you?"
He snorted a laugh. "I hired Scarletti because my cousin said he
needed a job. I helped him out until he got back on his feet. No
harm in that, is there?"
    "Three months is a long time to be getting
back on your feet, don't you think? You weren't growing tired of
him sponging off you?"
    "Not enough to kill him, if that's what
you're saying." He looked more amused by my line of questioning
than offended. Not the effect I was going for but I could work with
it.
    "Did he have a locker here? A desk?"
    "No desk, but he stored his stuff in the
office through there. Suppose you want to see it."
    I followed him through the back door to a
small room containing a desk and not much else. No cupboards or
hidey holes to store a jewelry box.
    "So the cops have already been in here?" I
asked.
    "Yep."
    "And you couldn't have told me this before
we came back