Free The Death Card: A Liz Lucas Cozy Mystery by Dianne Harman

of
money. Anyway, she told me she cleans Madame Dika’s house every week. Evidently
her brother lives there most of the time.”
    “You mean the one we saw
at the diner yesterday? If you remember, you told me you didn’t have a good
feeling about him.”
    “That’s the one. Well,
when she was at Madame Dika’s yesterday she heard an argument between Madame
Dika and her brother. She was yellin’ at him and tellin’ him to stop seein’
those gangsters, so Jessica told me. Madame was cryin’ and kept sayin’, ‘You’ll
go to prison just like me, and it will break our mother’s heart. It was bad
enough I had to go. You’ve got to stop seeing them.’ He told her not to worry.
He said that he was just goin’ to work with them for awhile and then he’d have
enough money they could both leave this lousy little town.”
    “Wow! I wonder what he
meant by that.”
    “I don’t know. He slammed
the door and left, but here’s what really caused Jessica to be concerned. She
was cleanin’ his room. She says sometimes it’s real neat like he hasn’t even
been in it, and other times it’s a real mess. This was one of those times. She
was changin’ the sheet, waving it over the bed to make sure it was on straight,
and somehow it got hung up in the nightstand drawer. Jessica told me she tried
to unhook it and couldn’t, so she opened the nightstand drawer.”
    “Why do I have the feeling
there was something in the drawer that scared her?”
    “Because there was. It was
a gun. Jessica said she couldn’t believe it. Her father had been a gun
collector, and she said she thought it was a .45 pistol. She knew that guns
like that could kill about anything. That was just after she’d heard the
argument. She closed the drawer, pretended like nothin’ had happened, and
finished cleanin’ the room. Jessica didn’t know that Madame Dika had been to
prison. Matter of fact, neither did I. She said that plus the gun and
overhearin’ the argument really scared her. Jessica asked me if she should stop
workin’ for Madame Dika. I told her she’d have to make that decision, and I
couldn’t help her with it. I suppose it will come down to whether or not she
can afford to give up the money she makes while workin’ there. I’d be willing
to bet she doesn’t quit. She needs every penny she can get. It’s not easy being
a single mother.”
    “Thanks for telling me,
Gertie. I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do with this information, but I
have a gut feeling it’s important.”
    “Well, since you’re
investigatin’ Leroy’s death and you’d been to Madame Dika’s, thought it might
be of interest to you. I can hear a lot of voices coming from the diner, so I
better get back in there. If I hear anything more, I’ll let you know.”
    “I really appreciate your
help, Gertie. See you soon.”
    Seems to me Seth said that
Leroy was shot with a .45. Seth also lost his .45. I wonder if there’s any
tie-in. Better give Seth a call and see if he’s found his gun.
    “Red Cedar Police
Station,” the receptionist at the police station said. “How may I direct your
call?”
    “I’d like to speak with
Chief Williams. Please tell him Liz Lucas is calling.”
    A few moments later she
heard Seth’s oily voice. “Mornin’, Liz. Find out anything for me?”
    “I’m working on it. Seth,
what’s the police department’s policy on insurance policies on its employees?”
    “Police department don’t
have nothin’ to do with it. The city buys policies on the policemen. Why?”
    “I heard that Leroy’s
ex-wife planned on getting the back alimony Leroy owed her from the insurance
policy the police department had on him.”
    “Nope. It’s a city thing.”
    “Okay, let me ask you
another question. Where exactly were you when you lost your .45 pistol?”
    “Well, it was like I tol’
yer’ boyfriend. I was out at Madame Dika’s.”
    “Where did you park your
car, and did you lock it?”
    “Nah. Never thought