“Do you have any suspects in the death of Charlotte Fleming?” Sully asked.
Before the detective could answer, a second knock came at the duplex door. Once again, Sully got up to answer it. A man with freckles and bright red hair, not nearly as tall nor as muscular as Sully, stood on the small porch. His brown eyes were small, and crescent-shaped lines dented his sallow cheeks framing a thin-lipped mouth. Sully guessed the guy to be about fifteen years his senior.
“Is Charley here?” the wiry man asked.
“Leon?” Charley called from the living room, evidently having recognized the voice.
“Yes,” the man said, and as Sully stepped back, he entered the apartment. “Hi.” He raised his freckled right hand and stood somewhat gawkily in the living room. “I just stopped by the shop. What happened to it?”
“Someone vandalized it,” Charley said as she and the detective both stood.
At that point, Detective Groves thanked them for their time, gave Charley his card, and said he’d be in touch. Sully walked him out to his car. When Sully asked again, the detective shared with him that they had no viable suspects in the shooting. As they spoke, he confided that not only had the three young women in the cave tunnel deaths been strangled, but what had not been released to the press was the fact the victims had stab wounds to the heart.
“Thank you for the information,” Sully said.
“You’re welcome.” Detective Groves handed Sully his card and asked him to call if anything else should happen. “In themeantime, remind Miss Cooper to be careful. As I told her a few minutes ago, she fits the profile of the strangler’s victims.”
“Right,” Sully said, shaking hands with the detective. “Thanks again.” Then heading back to the apartment, he heard the guy named Leon speaking.
“Yeah,” he said to Charley as she stood a few feet away from him in her living room. “Your shop is so messed up, you gotta rename itLittle Shop of Horrors.”
With a strained glance at Sully over the somewhat insensitive joke, Charley said quietly, “I’ll consult my business manager about that.”
Seeing Sully, he asked Charley, “You have a business manager?”
“Yes, I do. Leon Lefeld, this is Sullivan Custis, a friend of mine.” Then with a smile at Sully, she added, “Leon works part-time for me.”
Sully gave Lerfeld a dismissive nod and said to Charley, “Let’s go see about putting the new locks and knobs on the doors downstairs.”
“Is that how the bad guy got in?” Lerfeld asked, seemingly becoming more attuned to the seriousness of the situation. “He broke the locks?”
“Yes,” Charley replied. Then turning to Sully, she said, “Leon took a horticulture class with Heather, Yolanda, and me.”
“I can’t believe Heather and Yolanda are gone,” Lerfeld said and bowed his head.
“Neither can I,” Charley agreed softly. “Leon, Sully owns the ranch next to mine out in the country.”
“Oh,” Lerfeld said. “Did you get to look around your ranch the other day?”
“Yes, it’s wonderful, and I met my new neighbor,” she said and smiled at Sully.
Sully smiled back at her and grabbed up the plastic bag holding two new locks with the drill and screwdriver set he’d had in the back of his truck. He headed out of the apartment, with Charley locking the door and Lerfeld following them down the sidewalk. In the shop, Charley and Lerfeld got to work cleaning up while Sully tackled the front door. Sully wondered how it was that Leon Lerfeldjust stopped by the shopwhen it was closed.
“You live around here, Leon?” Sully asked after he’d installed the lock on the front door.
“Yes, I moved back here after spending twelve years near Pueblo, Colorado. I inherited the house of my uncle who raised me,” Lerfeld replied, a broom and dustpan in hand. “He left me a monthly income as well, so I’ve been taking some long-overdue college classes.” Then, as if he knew what Sully was getting at, he said, “My house is only a few blocks from here. I was heading to lunch and planned on asking Charley to join me.”
“My mother was slowing down and hired Leon a few months ago. After she passed, Leon stopped by a few times when the shop was closed to see if I’d like to go to lunch.”
“Did you two meet at the university or in the flower shop?” Sully asked.
“The university. That’s how Charley knew I’d be qualified to work here, and she recommended me to her mother,” Lerfeld said. “I attended Charlotte Fleming’s funeral to pay my respects to her, of course.”
Sully frowned. “Of course.” Sully suspected Lerfeld had become interested in Charley at the university and hoped that in addition to the job, the lunches and funeral attendance would be a way to ingratiate himself to her.
“I’m happy to help Charley anyway I can,” Lerfeld added.
Sully clearly saw lust in the red-haired man’s dull eyes as he ogled the gorgeous girl, but Charley seemed oblivious. Lerfeld was too old for Charley in Sully’s opinion. But Sully said nomore and headed to the side door to remove the old lock and doorknob. With Lerfeld helping Charley, by the time Sully was finished his work, they had the shop returned to order.
