Page 84 of Pied Sniper

“What was your first clue? Not knowing her real full name or the notes she had scrawled on her palm?”

“All of the above. I’m going to shout at Lucas. He should have vetted them. We need to track down the actual relatives, not the people with their eyes on the money pot. Get in and let’s get out of here while I still have wheels,” said Solomon as we reached the SUV. Minutes later, we were heading back into town. “I think that’s the worst motel I’ve ever visited and I didn’t even go inside. I want to burn my sweater.”

“Don’t. I like it, but please wash it. I think I have a tip,” I said, checking my phone. “Lily says there’s a small group in the bar shooting their mouths off about the news report currently showing on TV. She says they’re saying Tiffany is a lousy liar and one of them claims to be her sister.”

“Could be another wild goose chase.”

“Lily says some of the things she overheard were very detailed and she thinks there might be some truth in it. We should check anyway.”

“If Lily’s hunch is wrong, she’s buying us lunch.”

By the time we got there, Lily was hopping from one foot to the other in her excitement. “They’re right over there in the corner,” she said. “They came in for brunch now that I’m debuting earlier opening hours. We were pretty quiet until the news came on TV and they reran last night’s press conference. That was a welcome relief because the zoo story is scaring away my customers. Anyway, then the brunette said her sister did some crazy stuff in her time but this had to be the craziest. I didn’t pay attention at first because she kept calling herRose.”

I glanced at Solomon. “That’s Tiffany’s real name! Makes sense her sister would call her that.” I filled Lily in on the name change and she nodded.

“I didn’t think much of their conversation at first because of that but then, they started talking about her and I figured they were using her surname for some weird reason. She might have had a grandparent living here and that’s why she moved. They mentioned something to do with an inheritance.”

“An inheritance is news to us,” said Solomon, “but not unsurprising.”

“The brunette said she wouldn’t talk to the police because she didn’t want to get involved in the madness. You should catch them. It looks like they’re leaving.” She nodded to the group getting up from their seats but before we could walk over to detain them, the main doors opened and the man from last night stepped in. He started walking towards them until he glanced at us and stopped. Solomon stepped forward and the man turned abruptly, shoving his way through the doors, knocking past a couple who just tried to enter.

“Stay with them,” growled Solomon as he took off after the man.

The group were all standing, and none failed to notice the commotion. They looked quizzically from the swaying door back to me, then to Solomon, as he darted through the doors.

“Wait!” I called out, hurrying over to them and cutting off their exit. “I need to talk to you about Tiffany. About Rose.”

“I don’t know who that is,” said the brunette, trying to push past me until I sidestepped.

“I overheard you,” said Lily.

“Eavesdropping is a rude habit,” sniffed the brunette.

“Only if you hear something about yourself,” retorted Lily.

“I really need to hear what you know about Tiffany,” I told her as I thrust my card at her. “I’m not a crazy fan. I’m a private investigator and her manager hired me to find her. I was told she didn’t have any family but now I know that’s not the case. Are you related?”

The brunette sighed. “I’m Catherine Busch. Rose is my sister. My younger half-sister, that is,” she said, waving to her friends to wait. They hovered, watching me with growing curiosity. “We have the same dad but she’s ten years younger and we didn’t grow up together, so I wouldn’t call us exactly close.”

“Why didn’t you call the tip line?”

She frowned. “Why should I? I don’t know anything relevant to the case. I barely know Rose. OrTiffany.”

It was my turn to frown. “But you’re here?”

“In Montgomery? I live here!”

“Huh.” I pondered that for a moment, wondering how the pieces snapped together. “So Tiffany –Rose— has ties to the area? I was told she might have a grandmother here.”

“Very loose ties. Our dad comes from here so they visited us a few times, mainly to see our grandma, my dad’s mom, but Granny passed a few months back. I wrote to Rose and told her Granny was ill but she didn’t come or respond.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

“That’s more than what Rose said when she finally showed her face! She just wanted to know where her cut of Granny’s money was. She got furious when I told her there wasn’t any. Everything Granny owned was swallowed up by her medical bills. We had to sell her house to cover everything.”

“What happened after you told Tiff—Rosethat?”

“She insisted she needed the money and accused me of stealing it and keeping Granny away from her. I told her to get an accountant and a lawyer to follow every last penny. I wasn’t a thief and never kept Granny from her. Granny asked to see her more than once but Rose never came. Neither did our dad.” The brunette scoffed and shook her head. “It would have broken Granny’s heart to see Rose pretending to be an orphan. I’ve seen her say that online.”

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