Jamie Quinn Cozy Mysteries Collection

Chapter 20

"So, what do we do next?" I was so excited, I couldn"t think straight.

"Well, I don"t know about you, but I"m on my way to talk to Rosa Michaels," Duke said.

"Okay, I"ll call Marian Wolinsky and try to set up a meeting with her. Let me know what you find out from Rosa. And Duke?"

"Yeah, Darlin"?"

"Try not to hit on her. I hear she has a jealous husband!" I laughed and hung up before he could say anything.

It was way past lunch time and I was starving, so the first thing I did when I got in the house was make a sandwich--a peanut butter, banana, and honey sandwich, to be exact. Now, I know what you"re thinking, you"re thinking that sounds gross, but you shouldn"t knock it "til you"ve tried it. I mean, it"s not like I suggested you eat a sardine sandwich. Yes, somebody actually eats those. If you Google sardine sandwich, recipes pop up, I kid you not.

After a delightful dessert of dark chocolate (it"s good for me, right? I heard that somewhere), I hunted up Marian Wolinsky"s phone number, which I"d copied from Spike"s probate file at the courthouse. I thought about calling Grace, but decided to wait until I heard from Duke. I was dying to hear what Rosa Michaels would say to him.

So--you know how you imagine what a person looks like after hearing their voice on the phone? Well, the opposite is true, too. Once you"ve seen a photograph of someone, you think you know what they sound like. I"m only telling you this because when I called Marian Wolinsky, the biker chick with multiple tattoos, I was blown away. She sounded like an educated New Yorker, with an attitude to match. I thought for sure I had the wrong Marian Wolinsky, but no, it was her. When I told her I was Adam Muller"s lawyer, she said, "I have nothing more to say, I already talked to the cops." Before she could hang up, I told her I was also Adam"s cousin, and that we were worried he was suicidal, and how much I"d appreciate a few minutes of her time. She softened her tone then and agreed to speak with me, for Adam"s sake. We decided to meet at the Starbucks on Young Circle at four-thirty.

I arrived early and waited for Marian to rumble in on a Harley, but she drove up in a new VW, her tattoos discreetly hidden by long sleeves. She was wearing a lot of make-up and her hair was swept back into a high ponytail. She looked like the sophisticated sister of the girl on the website. I wasn"t sure which one was the real Marian.

I introduced myself and we ordered coffee. She took hers black, no frou-frou Frappuccino for her.

"How"s Adam doing?" she asked. "He"s a good kid. Everyone at the Screaming Zombie liked him." She was tapping her long nails on the table, antsy, like she couldn"t wait to get this over with.

"Adam"s not doing well, I"m sorry to say. Finding Spike"s body was quite a shock for him. He"s having nightmares and he"s not eating…"

She looked sympathetic. "Well, it"s no wonder. Adam and Spike were such good buddies. Between the music and the dogs, those two had a lot in common. Adam even got along with Beast, who is not the friendliest dog, believe me." She pronounced "dog" as "dawg".

"Marian, I promise to make this fast, but can you answer a few questions for me?"

"I"ll try," she answered without much enthusiasm.

I pulled out Susan Doyle"s list of questions. "Did Spike have any enemies?"

She laughed hollowly. "Sure, he had a lot of enemies--he was kind of an asshole--but nobody who would"ve killed him."

"Did he owe anyone money or did anyone owe him any money?"

"Nobody owed him any money, but the Screaming Zombies thought he owed them money. They didn"t like that he used the name of the band for his store. They were suing him, but they couldn"t have killed him. "

"Why not?" I asked, wondering how she could be so sure.

"Because they didn"t have the guts! I know those guys for a long time; me and Spike go way back, and I"m telling you they are too chickenshit for that."

"Could it have been a robbery gone wrong?" I asked, sticking to Susan"s script.

"Nah. There was nothin" missing. I"m the bookkeeper, so I would know." She finished off her coffee.

I knew she was ready to bolt, so I gave up on the questions and asked her point-blank, "Who do you think killed Spike? Best guess."

"I"ll tell you who did it--I think it was Steve Michaels. He and Rosa were always fighting like crazy, yelling and screaming, and she just filed for divorce. He was super jealous."

"What"s that got to do with Spike?"

"He was sleepin" with her."