Killer Listing by Vicki Doudera Read Free Book Online

that?”
    “She’d give a look, kind of an amused face with her eyebrows way up, whenever he named-dropped about famous Floridians. You’ve heard of the Ringlings?”
    “As in Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus?”
    “Yes. They’re a big name in these parts. Here’s the short version: John Ringling and four of his brothers started their operation in the late 1800s, and bought Barnum and Bailey in the early 1900s. A few years later, John Ringling jumped on the Florida land boom and bought a big chunk of the Sarasota Keys. Eventually he and his wife Mable owned nearly a quarter of Sarasota’s total area. They built a Venetian Gothic mansion on the water during the roaring twenties, plus a museum to house their art collection. When John Ringling died in the late 1930s, he left it all to the state.” She took a breath and waved her hand in the air. “I used to volunteer at the Ringling Art Museum in case you’re wondering how I know all this.”
    “It’s interesting. How does John Cameron fit in?”
    “He claims to be a distant cousin of Mable Ringling, but I have my doubts. I think he married Mitzi because she has a fortune. I’d never say this to my friend, but I don’t think John Cameron ever loved her.”
    Darby ate a few bites of omelet in silence, thinking about Mitzi Cameron’s loveless marriage. “Why is she in a wheelchair?”
    Helen rose from the table and cleared her plate with a shaking hand. Darby listened as it clattered against the countertop. The older woman poured herself more wine and sat down with a sigh.
    “The accident happened when Alexandra was two. John and Mitzi were out on the Gulf, just for a few hours, you know? Mitzi decided to go skiing. There was no spotter, and they crashed with another boat. Mitzi was badly injured. She lost the use of her legs and sustained some internal damage, as well.”
    “God, what a tragedy.”
    “Yes. She was unable to have more children, and that was a real blow. The next year they adopted Jack, and he seemed to give Mitzi a new outlook on life.” Helen’s face brightened. “That’s the year I moved to Sarasota. He was such a cute baby and Alexandra loved him from the start. They made a beautiful little family: the dark-haired mother and daughter and the blonde boy and his father. If only John could have been happy, they might have had a chance. But Mitzi’s condition was not something he could accept, nor could he unconditionally love an adopted child. If their marriage was shaky before the accident, it was in shambles following it.”
    “And yet they have stayed married?”
    “Mitzi is a devout Catholic. He’d have to commit some major crime for her to divorce him.” She finished her Chardonnay and sighed. She looked exhausted.
    “I guess that explains the enormous estate,” Darby said, clearing the remaining dishes from the table.
    “Yes,” Helen said sadly. “Casa Cameron is a big, empty, black hole of a house. John and Mitzi can avoid seeing each other for days, even weeks.”
    _____
    After doing the dishes and saying goodnight to Helen, Darby retreated to Helen’s cheerful guest room and checked her phone and e-mail messages. Two calls from Maine, but none from California, where she worked as a top-selling broker for Pacific Coast Realty. She checked her watch and figured the time difference. Enrique Tomaso Gomez, her capable West Coast assistant, would be relaxing in front of one of those home decorating TV shows, a glass of Napa Valley Zinfandel in hand. She smiled, thinking of the man who had served as her assistant for nearly three years. He deserves his off time , she thought. I’ll call him tomorrow.
    The messages from Maine were also not pressing, and Darby found her thoughts straying back to Casa Cameron and Kyle’s murder. Helen’s stories about Mitzi and her early life with John Cameron had whetted Darby’s interest in the family. Where did Kyle Cameron fit in? What had she seen in Jack Cameron, and why had