criticism personally. I was too worried about Cole’s triumphant expression as he slammed through the door, his thin lips curved in a cruel smile.
Chapter 6
I swung aboard the yellow scooter. I’d warned Cole Clanton that he faced a police investigation if anything happened to Nick, but there were others who found Nick unlovable: the voluptuous Lisa Sanford; her husband, Brian; Albert Harris, who thought he deserved to share in the riches cascading into Phidippus’s pocket; and Nick’s bum cousin Bill Magruder, who would be a very rich young man if anything happened to Nick. I wouldn’t relax until each and every one realized they would be suspect in another attack.
Seriously rich . . . As a motive for murder, it was hard to pick between sex and money, but money might win by a nose.
• • •
Head-high sunflowers, their bright yellow petals brilliant in the October sun, were bunched on either side of the worn front steps. The stately flowers added charm to the shabby old apartment house. I checked the mail slots. More than half were nameless. Bill Magruder was in apartment 6.
The front door opened readily. Midway down the dim hallway, I skirted a cooler outside of one door. My nose wrinkled at the scent of old fishing bait. At apartment 6, I punched a buzzer, held it for several seconds. On the fourth try, the door opened a few inches. “Hey, what’s the racket? How the hell can I sleep?”
“Bill Magruder?”
His face screwed up in disgust, a young man peered out. Also unshaven, blond hair matted and uncombed, he was a bleary version of Nick, the same bony face and sharp features. “Didn’t you see the sign? No soliciting.” He blinked, rubbed his eyes. “Oh yeah.” There was a change in tone. “You looking for me?”
Bobby Mac always says redheads have an edge. Perhaps that’s true. I smiled, but carefully made my smile simply friendly. I wasn’t going to encourage false hopes. “I’m here for your cousin, Nick.”
Bill frowned. “What’s he want? Is he broke, in jail, bad ass against the wall?”
I raised an eyebrow. “Bad ass against the wall?”
“Sorry if that offends you.” There was no apology in his voice. “Nick’s put everybody’s backs up since he hit town.”
“Including yours?”
He gave a little whoop of laughter, though he didn’t sound amused. “Babe, he isn’t my favorite cuz these days. More moola than a mogul and tight as a tick. If you know him, he’s probably told you I’ve hit him up for a stake. All I want is enough cash to get to LA. I got a friend who’s working in the William Morris mail room, and she thinks I can get a spot. I can apply online, but I got to be able to get there. What’s a thousand bucks to Nick?”
“He turned you down.”
Full lips curved lower than a downward parabola. “Yeah.” Bill’s nose wrinkled. “Just because I didn’t give him some bucks when he was in school and he had to lay out a semester.”
“You had money then?”
He shifted from one foot to another. “My mom died and left me some.”
“Why don’t you use that money to go to LA?”
“I tried to win big at the casino. Some people do.”
I forbore to point out that most people don’t. Maybe Bill had learned that lesson.
He gazed at me with admiring eyes, then glanced over his shoulder at the disheveled room. “You got a minute, I’ll throw on some clothes, straighten things up.”
“I’m simply a messenger. Somebody tried to shoot Nick last night—”
Bill’s eyes widened in surprise. Of course he would appear surprised if his finger had pulled the trigger.
“—but the shooter missed. If Nick had died last night, you would be rich. However, Nick made his will this morning. His estate had been left to the Oklahoma Humane Society.” Bill Magruder would have no reason to doubt my statement, and that removed the motive of murder for an inheritance.
Bill rubbed his head again. “I didn’t get in until three. Had to help wash up. A couple of
Chapter 6
I swung aboard the yellow scooter. I’d warned Cole Clanton that he faced a police investigation if anything happened to Nick, but there were others who found Nick unlovable: the voluptuous Lisa Sanford; her husband, Brian; Albert Harris, who thought he deserved to share in the riches cascading into Phidippus’s pocket; and Nick’s bum cousin Bill Magruder, who would be a very rich young man if anything happened to Nick. I wouldn’t relax until each and every one realized they would be suspect in another attack.
Seriously rich . . . As a motive for murder, it was hard to pick between sex and money, but money might win by a nose.
• • •
Head-high sunflowers, their bright yellow petals brilliant in the October sun, were bunched on either side of the worn front steps. The stately flowers added charm to the shabby old apartment house. I checked the mail slots. More than half were nameless. Bill Magruder was in apartment 6.
The front door opened readily. Midway down the dim hallway, I skirted a cooler outside of one door. My nose wrinkled at the scent of old fishing bait. At apartment 6, I punched a buzzer, held it for several seconds. On the fourth try, the door opened a few inches. “Hey, what’s the racket? How the hell can I sleep?”
“Bill Magruder?”
His face screwed up in disgust, a young man peered out. Also unshaven, blond hair matted and uncombed, he was a bleary version of Nick, the same bony face and sharp features. “Didn’t you see the sign? No soliciting.” He blinked, rubbed his eyes. “Oh yeah.” There was a change in tone. “You looking for me?”
Bobby Mac always says redheads have an edge. Perhaps that’s true. I smiled, but carefully made my smile simply friendly. I wasn’t going to encourage false hopes. “I’m here for your cousin, Nick.”
Bill frowned. “What’s he want? Is he broke, in jail, bad ass against the wall?”
I raised an eyebrow. “Bad ass against the wall?”
“Sorry if that offends you.” There was no apology in his voice. “Nick’s put everybody’s backs up since he hit town.”
“Including yours?”
He gave a little whoop of laughter, though he didn’t sound amused. “Babe, he isn’t my favorite cuz these days. More moola than a mogul and tight as a tick. If you know him, he’s probably told you I’ve hit him up for a stake. All I want is enough cash to get to LA. I got a friend who’s working in the William Morris mail room, and she thinks I can get a spot. I can apply online, but I got to be able to get there. What’s a thousand bucks to Nick?”
“He turned you down.”
Full lips curved lower than a downward parabola. “Yeah.” Bill’s nose wrinkled. “Just because I didn’t give him some bucks when he was in school and he had to lay out a semester.”
“You had money then?”
He shifted from one foot to another. “My mom died and left me some.”
“Why don’t you use that money to go to LA?”
“I tried to win big at the casino. Some people do.”
I forbore to point out that most people don’t. Maybe Bill had learned that lesson.
He gazed at me with admiring eyes, then glanced over his shoulder at the disheveled room. “You got a minute, I’ll throw on some clothes, straighten things up.”
“I’m simply a messenger. Somebody tried to shoot Nick last night—”
Bill’s eyes widened in surprise. Of course he would appear surprised if his finger had pulled the trigger.
“—but the shooter missed. If Nick had died last night, you would be rich. However, Nick made his will this morning. His estate had been left to the Oklahoma Humane Society.” Bill Magruder would have no reason to doubt my statement, and that removed the motive of murder for an inheritance.
Bill rubbed his head again. “I didn’t get in until three. Had to help wash up. A couple of
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