Free NAILED by Elaine Macko Page B

bring it to your table when it’s ready,” a perky young woman in a pair of tan shorts and an Oceanic T-shirt said.
    We took our iced teas and went back to our table. As soon as she took a sip, Shirley got right to it.
    “Is Sam okay?”
    “She’s fine. She told John everything and luckily for her, the place where she parked while spying on her husband had security cameras, so her alibi held out.”
    “Well, that’s a relief.”
    “Yes, but now John wants to know where Michael was that night. We know he wasn’t home and not at the office, obviously. And he had some issues with the victim.” I spent a few minutes telling Shirley about meeting Jenna’s sister and going to the office of Connecticut Custom Homes .
    “I hope you’re not planning on interviewing the illegal Eastern Europeans Victor was hiring. If they’re being smuggled in, I can guarantee you whoever is doing the smuggling will not look kindly on you interfering. They have some serious mobs in that part of the world.”
    “I agree. I wanted to tell John about it last night, but then he would know I went out to visit with Mr. Hachmeister. No, I’ll have to find another way to let the police know what’s going on at Connecticut Custom Homes . Maybe an anonymous tip to the station. But if it turns out that Victor was killed by one of them, then I’ll just be going around in circles with my own investigation.”
    “True, but there’s a good chance he wasn’t. And besides, you love this stuff.”
    I smiled. “I do. I really do.”
    “Well, I have some news that might help you find other suspects you can toss to the police as well, but first Michael.”
    “Okay,” I said hesitantly.
    “Remember what you said yesterday about Michael that you wanted to know what I find no matter where it leads?”
    I closed my eyes for a second and then placed my elbows on the table and leaned my head on my hands. I tried John’s trick of counting to ten and then looked up at Shirley. “Oh, God. What did you find out? Tell me. I’ll decide whether to let my sister know after I hear what you have.” I held up my hand. “No. Never mind. I don’t want to know. Wait. Okay. Just tell me and get it over with.” I glanced at a couple of tables around us. People were looking at me like they had paid money to be here and I was the show.
    “Are you sure?” Shirley asked, clearly amused at my antics like the rest of the patrons in Oceanic.
    “Yes, go ahead. I’m one hundred percent ready. Make that eighty percent or closer to sixty.” I closed my eyes again and scrunched up my face like I was waiting for Shirley to slap me.
    “Well, it’s not good, but it’s not bad, either. At least not yet.”
    I opened one eye and looked at Shirley. “What does that mean?”
    “After I left you yesterday, I went over to his office. I saw his car, so I waited a while and then he came out and I followed him to Branford.”
    I opened my other eye. “Branford? What the heck was he doing in Branford?”
    “Do you really want to know?”
    I took a big gulp of tea and coughed because, well, it was a big gulp of very cold tea, much too much to swallow at one time. I wiped my mouth with a napkin. “Okay. Hit me with it.”
    “He met a woman.”

 
     
     
Chapter 22
     
     
    I gasped. “Sorry. Go on,” I said with a lump in my throat.
    “They met at a little restaurant on the main street. She was already there when he arrived and he kissed her on the cheek. I couldn’t go in because Michael knows me, so I had to watch from my car and people kept moving around inside obscuring my view. They sat across from each other and talked, but I didn’t see any hand-holding or anything like that.”
    “So, who is this skuzzy skank?” I asked none too kindly. “Sorry. I’m upset. I’m sure she’s a lovely woman. I can’t believe this.”
    “I don’t know who she is, and the truth is, she didn’t look like a skuzzy skank at all. She looked, well, normal. Mid forties, I’d