by Leena Clover
“People lie for a reason,” Jenny said.
“Yes,” Heather nodded. “And most likely it’s something silly.”
“We’ll see,” Jenny sighed.
Heather texted Duster to meet her a block away from the coffee shop. Molly and Jenny were waiting for their order.
“I might be taking a page out of Heather’s book,” Molly said shyly.
“Plain English, please,” Jenny said, rubbing the charm around her neck.
“I downloaded that dating app Heather uses,” Molly admitted. “I may be going out on a date myself.”
“That’s great, Molly,” Jenny said brightly. “Have you shortlisted any profiles? Show me, now!”
Molly handed over her phone to Jenny. “This is the profile I like best.”
Jenny took one look at it and burst out laughing.
“Are you kidding me, Molly?”
“What’s wrong with him?” Molly asked seriously.
Jenny looked over her shoulder and leaned forward.
“This is Chris. Chris Williams. Heather’s beau.”
“He’s not her beau any more if she’s dating other people.”
“You know they have an understanding…”
“He’s put his profile out there. He’s up for grabs. I’m going for it.”
“What’s got into you, Molly? Is this some kind of reverse psychology to get Heather back on track?”
Molly teared up.
“Heather doesn’t know what she has. It’s not my fault if she gives up the best thing that happened to her.”
“You really want to do this?” Jenny asked incredulously.
Molly crumpled a bunch of tissues and stirred her coffee vigorously.
“I’ve always liked Chris.”
“You mean you have a crush on him?” Jenny asked, wide eyed. “Since when?”
“Since high school.”
“But weren’t you dating someone else at that time?”
“Have you seen Chris?” Molly flung her hands wide. “He was the captain of our football team and he got good grades.”
Jenny recalled the old yearbooks from Heather and Molly’s school days. Chris Williams had been one good looking kid.
“He’s handsome … I’ll give you that.”
“Handsome is as handsome does, Jenny,” Molly said. “Chris is a good person.”
“Won’t this be awkward?”
“It’s up to him,” Molly shrugged. “He will handle Heather if necessary.”
Jenny tried to size up the girl sitting before her. Molly was tall and scrawny. The Coke-bottle glasses she wore made her eyes look frog like. She barely paid any attention to her appearance. But she had a heart of gold.
“Go for it,” she said softly.
“You mean it?” Molly asked eagerly. “I need your support, Jenny.”
“Let it play out,” Jenny advised. “But be prepared for any consequences.”
“I know I barely have a chance,” Molly said meekly. “But I need to give it a shot.”
Heather breezed in before they could say anything more. She had a silly smile on her face.
“Duster invited me to his beach house this weekend.”
“Haven’t you already been there?” Jenny asked her.
“Yes, but I am going alone this time,” Heather said stoutly. “And staying over.”
Jenny and Molly teased her mercilessly. Molly gave Jenny a knowing look.
Heather was craving Chinese food so they decided to get take-out from a restaurant next door.
“What’s going on between your aunt and Jimmy Parsons?” Heather asked Jenny in the car.
Jenny had ordered enough food for a dozen people. Jason always got them Chinese food from the city so she had texted him to come to her place for dinner. She called Star and told her not to cook anything. She assumed Jimmy would stick around for dinner too.
“They are getting along fine,” Jenny said with a smile.
“Aren’t they really old?” Heather crinkled her nose.
“Age has nothing to do with love,” Jenny preached. “And I think there’s some history there.”
“There’s hope for all of us then,” Molly said meaningfully.
“Yeah, even you, Molls,” Heather laughed.
“You don’t have to be so nasty,” Molly bristled.
“Give it a rest, girls,” Jenny snapped.
“Are you still thinking about that man?” Heather asked.
“I can’t wait to go talk to him.”
Jason was sitting on Star’s porch, waiting for them.
“Finally!” he said, looking relieved.
“Something wrong?” Jenny asked, sensing his mood.
“Walt had an accident.”
“Who’s Walt?” Molly asked.
“Asher’s oldest,” Jenny reminded her. “The one who lives in a retirement community in Florida.” She turned to Jason. “What happened? Is he alright?”
“Walt took his wife and sisters to Williamsburg. They were on their way back home. Someone rammed into him, tried to run him off the road.”
Jenny’s eyebrows shot up. “Someone’s out to get Asher’s family,” she said.
“Hold on now,” Jason said. “Let’s not jump to conclusions. It could have been a crazy driver. We know the roads are full of them.”
“I have a gut feeling about this,” Jenny insisted. “I need to call Adam.”
She dialed Adam’s number and spoke to him in a rush. She hung up five minutes later, red in the face.
“He doesn’t believe me.”
Jason’s phone rang just then. His face turned grim as he listened to the voice on the other side.
“That was Linda,” he said. “Someone broke the windows of the greenhouse and pulled all the plants out of the pots.”
Jenny placed her hands on her hips and glared at Jason.
“What do you say now?”
Jason was already dialing Adam.
“I’m going over to Linda’s,” he said, getting up. “Adam’s coming there too.”
“I will go with you,” Jenny said.
“Sorry,” Jason said. “Adam forbid me from bringing you along.”
“He can’t do that,” Jenny roared. “I can go where I want. As long as Linda wants me there, Adam has no say in the matter.”
“I am requesting you to stay put,” Jason said. “Please, Jenny. We don’t know what’s going on. Just stay here with Star and the girls. Don’t make me worry about you.”
“Do you promise to give me an update as soon as you learn something?” Jenny asked.
“You are the first person I will call,” Jason sighed.
He looked at Molly and Heather.
“Why don’t you girls stick around? Have dinner? All that food’s getting cold anyway.”
Star had come out while Jason was talking. Jimmy tagged behind her.
“Don’t worry about Jenny, boy,” she boomed. “I can take care of her.”
Jenny was lost in thought as she ladled General Tso’s chicken on to her plate. It was her favorite. Her aunt and Jimmy had both opted for the sesame chicken. Molly was munching on Crab Rangoons.
Heather twirled some lo mein noodles around her fork and looked around.
“Didn’t we get some shrimp?”
“I’m saving it for Jason,” Jenny said. “It’s his favorite.”
“And what’s Adam’s favorite?” Heather laughed.
“Adam likes Sichuan chicken,” Jenny said with a straight face.
“Did you buy out the whole restaurant, Jenny?” Star asked. “There’s enough to feed an army.”
“She was thinking of Adam and Jason,” Heather quipped.
“So what if I was?” Jenny asked belligerently. “We are just wasting our time here.”
“What’s got you rattled, girl?” Star scowled.
Jenny was quiet after that. The girls loaded the dish washer while Jenny scooped up some ice cream for dessert.
“How long has Ir
a Brown been living in town?” she asked Jimmy as she served the dessert.
“He rented the place in April,” Jimmy said, trying to remember. “He came here around Memorial Day.”
“Was he here for the July 4th holiday?”
“I think he was,” Jimmy said sheepishly. “I don’t remember.”
Jenny realized Jimmy probably hadn’t been sober at that time.
Heather snapped her fingers.
“You know what? We ran a search on David Gold but we didn’t run one on this professor fellow.”
“You’re right,” Jenny said eagerly.
She switched on her laptop and ran a search on Ira Brown. The results showed he was a professor in a small college in Maryland. He taught history and his area of research was Jewish Studies. Jenny could find no mention of birds.
“He lied to us, see?” Jenny looked up in triumph. “He’s got nothing to do with birds.”
“Many people come here to watch the birds, Jenny,” Star reasoned. “They want to forget about their everyday lives for a while. The birds are their escape.”
“But look what he teaches at the college,” Jenny pointed out. “How could he not know David Gold?’
“Didn’t we already establish that?” Molly quizzed. “Who do you trust more at this point – David Gold or Ira Brown?”
Jenny thought of David’s frank face and open attitude. There was something guileless about him.
“I trust David,” she said.
“Let’s check the old man’s social profile,” Heather spoke up.
She pulled Jenny’s laptop toward herself and began pulling up different social media portals. She pulled up a bunch of photos of Pelican Cove.
“Look at these,” she said, turning the screen so that the others could see clearly. “I know all these places. They are around Pelican Cove. You need a boat to get there.”
“He takes a kayak out pretty much every day,” Jimmy prompted. “At least, that’s what he told me.”
“Any photos from July 4th?” Jenny asked.
Heather showed her a few photos of the barbecue. Ira Brown was wearing a blue vest proclaiming him to be a volunteer.
“What was he doing volunteering at the parade?” Molly asked. “Tourists don’t do that.”
“Ask Barb Norton,” Star ordered. “She was in charge of the volunteers.”
Jenny made a quick call to Barb. Barb played some part in every event that happened in Pelican Cove. Jenny spoke for a few minutes and hung up.
“Ira Brown was a volunteer on the catering crew,” Jenny confirmed. “Barb said they were short of volunteers and he seemed very eager.”
“That puts him on the spot,” Heather said.
Jenny tried to hide her excitement.
“So where was he during the awards ceremony?”
Chapter 21
Heather got busy downloading photos off the Internet.
“What are you doing now, Heather?”
“Many people posted photos of the July 4th parade online. I am getting all of them on your computer. We can look through them and try to spot your professor.”
Heather was ready with the photos a few minutes later.
“Look, these are from the parade itself,” Molly pointed. “There he is, standing close to Linda.”
“What’s he doing there?” Jenny wondered.
They spotted Ira Brown in different places through the day. He was flipping burgers on the grill, diverting traffic, eating ice cream and sitting under the big marquee. He was easily recognizable because of his blue vest. He was alone in all the photos.
“What about the awards ceremony?” Molly asked.
“I saved the best for last,” Heather said grimly.
They scrolled through dozens of photos featuring the awards ceremony. They spotted many people they knew in the crowd but Ira Brown wasn’t one of them.
“Where was he, huh?” Jenny asked triumphantly.
“He could have gone to the bathroom,” Star said meekly. “Why don’t you talk to Barb again? She will have more photos of the whole event.”
Jenny spent some time talking to Barb Norton.
“She’s bringing over the photos,” Jenny said as she hung up. “There was an official photographer for the whole event. If Ira was at the awards ceremony, he has to be in one of those photos.”
Pelican Cove had no traffic to speak of and distances were short. Barb Norton arrived fifteen minutes later. The girls rifled through the photos while Star took Barb aside and gave her a spiel about why they needed to see the photos urgently.
The girls looked up at the same time and shook their heads.
“He has no alibi!” Jenny exclaimed. “Wanna bet he’s our guy?”
Barb Norton was sent home and the girls tried to watch a movie. Jenny was restlessly awaiting some word from Jason.
“What’s taking them so long?” she wailed for the third time in an hour.
Finally, they heard a car drive up outside. Jenny rushed to the door. Jason came in, followed by Adam.
“How is Linda?” Jenny burst out. “And the other Cohens?”
“Everyone is fine,” Jason said. “Nobody was hurt.”
Adam’s face was ashen and he leaned heavily on his cane.
“Why don’t you sit here?” Jenny said, pointing to an arm chair with an ottoman.
She held herself back from helping Adam. He asked her for some water and pulled out a bottle of pills from his pocket. He popped a couple of pills and sighed heavily.
“You boys must be hungry,” Star said, giving Jenny a meaningful glare.
Food was heated and Jenny barely contained herself while Jason and Adam wolfed the food down.
“Wait till you hear what we found,” Jenny said finally. “Ira Brown has no alibi for the awards ceremony.”
“Who is Ira Brown?” Adam asked with a frown.
“Ira Brown is the top suspect. He lied to me about a lot of things. You need to bring him in for questioning.”
“You can’t tell me what to do, Jenny,” Adam growled. “Don’t interfere in police business.”
“But…”
“No buts.”
“You’ll be sorry you didn’t listen to me,” Jenny said, her hands on her hips. “Ira Brown is your guy.”
“I’m getting out of here,” Adam barked, struggling to get up.
“Calm down,” Jason said sharply. “You can both have your say.”
He looked at Adam.
“Let’s hear what the girls found out.”
Jenny gave Adam a brief version of what she had discovered in the city. She explained how Ira Brown had access to the old photos of the real Asher and how he had lied about knowing David Gold.
“And he wasn’t at the awards ceremony,” Heather butted in. “Isn’t that when Asher was killed?”
“You mean the man we know as Asher Cohen,” Adam snorted.
“Yes, yes,” Jenny snapped. “Our Asher.”
Adam let her ramble on for some time. Jenny finally stopped talking.
“Are you done?” Adam asked sarcastically. “Do you want to know what we found out?”
Jason cut to the chase.
“Todd Buckler confessed.”
“What?” a bunch of voices chorused.
“He had a grudge against all the Cohens. Asher wouldn’t give him money and Dawn’s siblings almost talked her into leaving the farm.”
“So what did he do?” Jenny breathed.
“He trashed the greenhouse today,” Jason explained. “He told Dawn they were through. He was fleeing back home when the police caught him.”
“We have a confession,” Adam repeated. “Todd was always a strong suspect. He doesn’t have an alibi for the time Asher was killed.”
“But did he confess to killing Asher?” Jenny demanded.
“He said he hated Asher and wanted him out of the way.”
“That’s not the same as a confession.”
“No, but he’ll fess up eventually.�
�
“I think you need to talk to Ira.”
Jason spoke up. “I agree with Jenny. I think the man is hiding something.”
Adam held up his hand.
“I’m exhausted. Let’s discuss this tomorrow morning.”
He thanked Star for dinner and limped out without saying a word to Jenny.
“Adam is so stubborn,” Jenny fumed. “Why doesn’t he believe us?”
“Let him sleep on it,” Jason said mildly. “He’ll come around.”
“We might be too late,” Jenny moaned.
Heather let out a yawn and that set everyone off. The girls left and Jason sat with Jenny on the porch.
“I wish I could take you away from all this,” he murmured.
“Why?” Jenny asked. “I love it here.”
She sidled closer to Jason and they sat there, staring at the waves lapping against the beach.
Jenny was up at 5 AM as usual. She headed to the café and started baking her first batch of blueberry muffins. Her favorite customer, Captain Charlie, arrived at six as usual. She chatted with him as she served him his coffee and muffin.
She reeled back in shock when the next person in line stepped up to the counter.
“Mr. Brown!”
“Good Morning,” Ira Brown greeted her cheerfully. “How about that muffin?”
“You are up early,” Jenny said as she wrapped his muffin for him. “Going somewhere?”
“I’m driving up to the city,” Ira Brown smiled. “Got a meeting at my college.”
“But you are coming back?”
“In a day or two…”
“How about a hot breakfast before you hit the road?” Jenny asked. “I’m making crab omelets.”
Ira seemed to waver.
“I need to be on my way.”
“It won’t take long,” Jenny assured him. “Why don’t you have a seat? Your food will be out in a few minutes.”
She rushed into the kitchen and dialed the police station.
“Adam,” she said urgently. “He’s getting away.”
The clerk told her Adam wasn’t in yet. Luckily, he walked into the café just then.
Jenny almost dragged him inside.
“That’s him by the window,” she whispered. “Ira Brown. He’s leaving town. You need to talk to him now!”
“I thought about what you said,” Adam nodded. “You may have a point.”
