Pickled (An Alex Harris Mystery) by Elaine Macko

wife and it’s come to my attention that Mrs. Dupre likes men. So, was Humphrey blackmailing you?”
    “Wait. What do you mean she likes men ? What men?” Tony asked, his hands now firmly on his hips.
    “You thought you were the only one?” I shook my head. “Sorry. No. Can we get back to Humphrey and the blackmail?”
    Tony Moretti sighed in resignation and ran a hand over his short hair. “The man was bleeding me dry. I have a good military pension and I did well in my business after that, but these are supposed to be my golden years. I had to tell my wife I took up poker to explain where all the money was going.”
    “So I guess you’re pretty happy he’s dead?”
    He leaned in to me and put one hand on the back of my chair. “You’re a nosy sort, aren’t you? Humphrey’s dead and the way I see it that ends my problem. Did I kill him? No. Am I happy he’s gone? You bet. And if what you say about Marie is true, then I’m done with her as well.” He straightened up and caught his wife looking our way. He put on a big smile and gave her a wave. “You wanted to know if I killed Humph. I didn’t. I hope that’s the end of this. No way my wife has to know any of it. Got it?”
    I watched him walk away. Despite the bravado, Mr. Moretti didn’t scare me. But if he thought his blackmailing troubles were over, he had another thing coming, because if Terry Roder was blackmailing Marie and God knew who else, it was only a matter of time before he got to Tony.

 
     
     
Chapter 24
     
     
    I sold a few more calendars while I watched the women play. Astrid Kaufman was one of the players and she was pretty good. A few minutes later, the game broke up and the women walked off the court while a group of men walked on for their game. Howard and Fred were playing against Norbert and a man I didn’t know.
    “What a good idea coming to the game with your calendars,” Astrid Kaufman said.
    “Two birds with one stone. I actually came to talk with a couple people about the murder, but I had some calendars in my car. You play a good game.”
    Astrid used a hand towel to wipe sweat from her face. “Thanks. You saw the food I served on Saturday night. Well, I like eating it as much as the next person and playing pickleball keeps me fit. Wow! Good call,” Astrid yelled over to the court. “Humphrey liked to pull that nonsense all the time. He would foot-fault, get caught doing it, and then threaten to withdraw his monetary support if they called it.”
    “What’s a foot fault?” I asked.
    “See the guy in the blue shirt?”
    “Sure, that’s my grandmother’s friend, Fred.”
    “Well, he failed to stay behind the baseline while serving. Humphrey wasn’t the best player out there and he liked to inch up. He’d get called out on it, of course, but he paid no attention. Rules didn’t apply to Humph. When he’d come into our shop, he’d cut in front of the line, always jiggling those coins in his pocket.” Astrid gave a quick shake of the head. “He’d make a scene so I usually came running from the back and took him aside and helped him just to get him out of the place. He was a braggart as well. Liked to tell me about all his wheeling and dealing like I had time to listen to that stuff. Amazing how someone like him managed to have what he has.”
    “What do you mean?” I asked.
    “Have you been to his house?”
    “Yes, a few times now.”
    “Of course, you’re helping Sophie. We all got invited to a BBQ at his place over the summer. No one wanted to go except to see the place. Right on the beach and all the stuff in it. Furniture, art, you name it. How does such a horrible man amass such wealth?”
    I watched Fred hit the ball over the net and high-five Howard and then I turned back to Astrid. “Yes, he did have a lot of stuff, but so far I haven’t met one person who cares that he’s dead. He had to know no one liked him. Maybe that’s why he became such a bully.”
    Astrid looked at me with a