Free Traci Tyne Hilton - Mitzi Neuhaus 04 - Frozen Assets by Traci Tyne Hilton Page B

should have been.”
    Mitzy opened her mouth to speak but Alonzo beat her to it.
    “Who was the elf?” He tipped the chair forward.
    “A big elf in a red hat. He let Arnold down. He was not a good elf.” The psychic giggled.
    Mitzy groaned. “That’s all you know, then? Two people. One on the ground. Give my thanks to Charlie.”
    “But why did one stay on the ground?” Alonzo asked. “Why was he there at all?”
    The psychic frowned and shrugged. “Who knows why they do what they do?”
    Alonzo stood up. “He was there because Arnold was climbing to the balcony. The other guy must have been belaying him. So he was a strong, young man.”
    The psychic nodded. “This makes as much sense as anything I could picture.”
    Mitzy’s jaw dropped. “So when you say the elf let Arnold down, you mean he yanked on the rope and dragged him down, don’t you?”
    The psychic turned to Alonzo. “What do you think?”
    “I don’t remember hearing anything about climbing ropes. And if he jerked Arnold to his death in anger, would he then have been cold-blooded enough to take the ropes off? It doesn’t add up.”
    The psychic nodded. “Murder never does to good people like us, who wouldn’t stoop to murder.” She opened the front door of her little house-business. “Now you know everything Charlie saw. But if you say he said he saw it, he will disappear and you will never find him again.”
    “I don’t lose track of people that easy,” Alonzo said.
    The psychic laughed and shook her head. “Charlie is already gone.” She ushered them out and shut the door. They heard several locks click behind them.
    They trudged back down the gray, wet, and cold block to their car. “But why did Arnold want to go to the house?” Mitzy asked. “That’s the one thing this all hinges on, I’m sure.”
    “You’re wrong. It hinges on who the second man was. The two men had a fight, and the one on the ground yanked Arnold to his death.” Alonzo opened the truck door for Mitzy.
    “The reason he went to the house tells us who he would bring with him and what they might have argued about. If we knew the reason…”
    “We’d know the killer.” Alonzo revved his engine and then waited for a break in traffic so he could pull out onto Sandy Blvd. “You’re right. We can find out who the second man was, which means we’d know the killer, or we can find out why Arnold went there, which would help us know who the second man was. Either way, our star witness failed to tell us exactly what we needed to know.”
    “Our star witness fed us a story through his sister—or whoever that was. We need Charlie himself.”
    “Good luck with that.” Alonzo pulled out, sliding into two lanes as he did it.
    Mitzy clutched her door handle. “Thanks.”

 
     
     
    9

     
     
    The phone rang first thing the next morning, before Mitzy had finished her coffee.
    “Did you find me the house yet?” Bonnie asked.
    “Not yet. It could take a while to find the perfect place.” Mitzy sipped her coffee. She was actively searching while she had breakfast, but the pickings were slim. “How far out of town are you willing to go?”
    “We want as close to downtown as we can get, but we are willing to go as far out as… well…. we’ll go into outer East County if the right place comes up, but we are sticking to the city limits.”
    Mitzy sighed. Of course they were. “Okay. Well, let me keep looking, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I find something.”
    “The minute you find something, okay?” Bonnie’s voice was tense.
    “Of course. Have a good morning.” Mitzy ended the call and rested her head in her hand. Eleven months of the year she loved selling houses, but whenever a mystery popped up, the clients and their needs were kind of a drag. She wanted to find the perfect foreclosed, modern, huge, cheap house, too—so she could cross Bonnie and Dirk off of her to-do list.
    She shuddered. The mess the squatters had left in the master