Fish, Chips, and Murder

by Patti Benning

  It was just before ten, and neither of them had to be at the nursing home until eleven, but Autumn knew from experience that they wouldn’t have much spare time to look around for the missing purse once their shifts started.

  “Sure, just let me put on some comfortable shoes.”

  She reappeared a moment later with nothing but a single key in her hand. Autumn waited while she locked the door, then hid the key under a fake rock in the garden.

  “It feels weird to be leaving without my purse,” Emily said. “Thanks again for picking me up today. I really appreciate it.”

  “That’s what friends do,” Autumn said. “I’ve lost my purse before, and I know how frustrating it can be. You don’t realize how much you depend on all of that stuff until it’s gone.”

  “It’s driving me crazy,” Emily admitted. “I realized this morning that even if I had my car keys, I wouldn’t be able to drive because I don’t have my driver’s license. And if I don’t get my cell phone back, I’m going to be missing a lot of people’s phone numbers and a lot of photos. I can always email people from my laptop, but it’s just not the same as having a phone. What on earth did people do before phones?”

  Autumn grinned. “Honestly? I have no idea.”

  Autumn drove them both to the nursing home. Even though she could tell that the other woman was worried about her purse, Emily seemed cheerful. It was hard to be upset on such a nice day, just like it was hard to imagine the purse being gone for good. Surely Emily must have simply misplaced it somewhere?

  Autumn parked toward the back of the parking lot, deciding to leave the closer spaces for the visitors. The entire left side of the parking lot was taken up by construction vehicles, and she spared a moment to glare in their direction as they walked toward the door. She had never worked next to a construction site before and hadn’t imagined that it would be quite this disruptive. She had grown used to the peace and quiet that surrounded the nursing home, but all of that was a distant memory.

  “Is Mr. Holt in?” Emily asked as she entered the keycode into the number pad to unlock the front door. “If we can’t find my purse, we should make a police report, right? He will probably have to be here for that.”

  “I’m sure we can make a police report without him,” Autumn said distractedly as she pulled open the door. “But yes, he should be here today. I think he has a tour planned for this morning.”

  Autumn knew that her status as Nick’s girlfriend affected the way that many of the other employees saw her. Even though she wasn’t an authority figure herself, everyone knew that she was close to the person who ran the nursing home. She didn’t always like it; if people were going to be nice to her or ask her opinion of things, she wanted them to do it for her, not because of who she was dating, but she couldn’t deny that it came in handy whenever Nick was out of town. She didn’t mind giving advice or being the one to ask Nick’s opinion on something whenever a problem arose.

  “Do you want to start looking in the kitchen?” Autumn asked Emily. “Maybe we missed it last night. I’ll go put my purse down, then I’ll join you.”

  “Sure.”

  They split up, each of them heading a different direction. Autumn walked straight to the staff office, shooting a glance of the common area on her way through to see if her aunt and uncle were there. Neither of them were around, so she made a mental note to go and find them later and tell them all about their search for the missing purse. She pushed her way into the staff office, beginning to wonder if she should leave her purse there are not, after what happened to Emily’s purse. We still don’t even know if it was stolen –

  She broke off mid-thought. Blinking, she rubbed her eyes, wondering if she was imagining things. There was Emily’s purse, hanging on the peg that she always left it on. What on earth was it doing there? They had both thoroughly searched this room the evening before, and while she knew that her brain sometimes played tricks on her, she didn’t think that both of them would have missed the purse hanging exactly where it was supposed to be after nearly an hour of frantic searching.

  Realizing that her mouth was gaping open, she snapped it shut, looking around the room suspiciously. Had someone slipped in and dropped the purse off this morning? What was going on?

  Spinning on her heel, Autumn walked out of the office and made a beeline for the kitchen, where she found Emily. The younger woman looked up at her, surprised by Autumn’s sudden appearance.

  “You need to see this,” Autumn said, not waiting for a reply as she turned back around and hurried out of the kitchen.

  CHAPTER THREE

  No one, not even Nick, had an explanation for why Emily's purse was hanging on the exact hook where she swore she had left it the day before. All Nick could do was point out the similarity to the case of the resident’s missing purse.

  “This is just like that,” he said. “She said her purse was missing, we all spent the day searching, and then she found it next to her bed, where one of us would have found it if it had been there the whole time. Something is definitely going on. I know that the two of you wouldn't have missed this last night.”

  “Is anything missing?” Autumn asked, watching Emily dig through the bag.

  “I had some cash in here, and it's gone now, but my cards are still here, and so is my phone, and my keys.”

  “How much cash?” Nick asked, frowning.

  “Maybe ten dollars?” Emily said. “Not much, anyway. I don't usually carry cash with me.”

  “So, someone stole the purse to get ten dollars out of it, then put it back without touching anything else?” Autumn said. “That doesn't make sense.”

  “Maybe they were hoping to find more cash,” Nick said.

  “But why wouldn’t they take the cards or her phone? I've had my purse stolen before, and the thief took everything of value out of it. They didn't just take some petty change and then put it back.”

  “I don't know,” Nick said with a sigh. “Maybe it wasn't stolen after all. Maybe someone found it wherever Emily left it and put it back. Not that I don't believe you, Emily, but it does seem kind of strange that someone would go to the trouble and risk of stealing a purse out of the staff room, only to take some cash out and then put it back.”

  “Maybe,” Emily said, her voice doubtful. “I guess it's possible that I spent the cash on something without thinking and just don’t remember it. But I don't know why I would have left the purse somewhere else. I don't carry it around with me during the day.”

  “I don't think that she would have done that either, Nick,” Autumn said. “I have no idea what's going on, but I don't think that we should ignore the fact that this isn’t the first time something like this has happened here.”

  “I know,” Nick said with a sigh. “I agree with you and Emily, Autumn. Something is going on. I just wish that it wasn't. If someone is stealing from people at the nursing home, then chances are it's either one of the residents, or a staff member. We really can't afford to lose any more staff members, and I hate to think that one of the residents would do something like this.”

  “It could be a construction worker,” Autumn pointed out. “Not that I'm trying to blame them for something, but we shouldn’t ignore them either.”

  “They really aren't supposed to be coming into the nursing home, though,” Nick said. “They have a porta potty outside, and don’t eat meals with us. They aren’t supposed to come inside unless it's an emergency.”

  “One of them comes in pretty often to visit his grandfather,” Autumn said. “He was having lunch with him yesterday. He was still in his uniform, but since he was visiting a relative, I thought it would be fine if he stayed.”

  “Of course, we can't tell people not to visit just because they happen to be working on the construction crew. You said he's been coming in a lot? What's his name?”

  “Percy Green,” Autumn said. “He’s been visiting Archie Green.”

  “If he comes in today for lunch, will you keep an eye on him?
” Nick said. “I'll keep an eye out in the office, too. I'll leave my door open, so I can see the staff room. If someone has been stealing items from the staff and residents, we want them caught as quickly as possible.”

  “I'll keep an eye out,” Autumn promised. “I’d better get to work now, though. It's fish and chips day, and I'm making homemade tartar sauce.”

  “Make a plate for me,” Nick said. “I'll stop by and grab it during lunch. That sounds great. I’ll walk with you to the kitchen. I think my tour is here. At least, I’m guessing that was them buzzing at the door.”

  She followed Nick out of the office, walking with him toward the front doors. He punched in the code and opened them, greeting the two people on the other side warmly.

  “Bella and Teddy Jameson, I presume?”

  Bella, a pretty woman about a decade older than she and Nick nodded and shook Nick’s hand. The elderly man who Autumn guessed was her father ignored them, his eyes darting around the entrance way instead.

  “Come on in. I’d like to introduce you to Autumn Roth, one of our two cooks. She cooks most of our weekday meals. You’ll get to know her quite well if you end up moving in.”

  “It’s nice to meet you,” Bella said. “How long have you been working here?”

  “Since Christmastime,” Autumn said. “I hope to be around for the long haul.”

  “The website says that every meal is freshly made. Is that true? You don’t use any frozen or canned food?”

  “Almost everything is made from scratch. We do usually use frozen dinner rolls, but it is rare that anything else in a meal is premade. I do make the bread from scratch during holidays.”

  “That sounds better than most places,” Bella said. She nudged her father. “What do you think, Dad?”

  “Well, if the food’s decent then it will be better than living with you.”

  Bella blinked, then frowned at him. After a moment, his face lit into a grin, and she rolled her eyes. Autumn chuckled.

  “We would love it if you wanted to stay for lunch,” Nick said. “Guests are always welcome.”

  “We can’t today,” Bella said. “This is just a quick look at the place to see if we like it. If we get on the waiting list, we’ll come back another time for a longer tour, and we will stay for a meal then.”

  “I’m sure you’ll fall in love with the place,” Autumn said. “It was nice to meet you both. I’d better get going, though. I have to start on lunch. I’m sure I’ll see you around.”

  Excusing herself, she made her escape. She had helped Nick on a couple of tours and had quickly learned to tell whether it would be an easy tour or a hard tour. She didn’t envy Nick on this one. Bella seemed like the sort of person who would question everything and take every answer with a grain of salt. Not that Autumn could blame her, of course. After all, she only wanted what was best for her father.

  Autumn returned to the kitchen, glad that Emily had found her purse, even if she was still puzzled over exactly how it had happened. While she didn't like thinking that one of the staff members or residents might be stealing from people at the nursing home, even she had to admit that it was unlikely that Percy was the culprit.

  True, she had seen him frequently visiting with his grandfather at mealtimes, but since he was already on the property doing the construction work, that made sense. Of course, he would want to visit with his grandfather while he was nearby. She didn't see how he could have gotten into the staff room or the resident’s personal room to steal the purses, or how he could have managed to sneak back in to put the purse back later.

  Still, she had promised Nick to keep an eye on him if he came back, and she would keep her word. Whatever was happening, it was better to solve it quickly. Even though this thief didn't seem to be doing much harm, she knew that they couldn't risk losing any more staff members or getting any bad publicity for the nursing home, especially not now that they were sinking so much money into the new wing.

  Fish and chips day was one her favorite days each month. It wasn't the healthiest meal, but everyone loved it. Even though Autumn baked the fries instead of deep frying them and offered baked fish as well for the people with higher cholesterol, it was one of the less healthy meals that they served, which meant that it was one of the most popular, too.

  She got to work, humming as she heated up the oil and preheated the oven for the fries. She took her time slicing and seasoning the potatoes before putting them in the oven. Homemade fries were an art form, and she had learned how to get them just right, without being too crispy or too soggy. When the time came to make the fish, she made extra, knowing that Nick would favor the fried fish over the baked. She decided to make a plate for herself as well, since she probably wouldn’t get a chance to go home before dinner.

  While the fish and fries were cooking, she began spooning coleslaw and cottage cheese into small, single serving bowls and placing them on the counter. She had gotten much better at multitasking in the kitchen ever since she had started working there, and barely thought about it as she switched back and forth between her various tasks.

  She finished the fish just as the residents began to file into the dining area for lunch. Emily arrived in time to help her bring the food out to everyone. While she carried plates, Autumn looked around for Percy, but didn't see him. Wanting to do her best to uphold her promise to Nick, she stopped by Percy’s grandfather’s table.

  “Hi, Archie,” she said. “Will Percy be stopping in today?”

  “I don’t think so,” he said. “The fish is great, by the way. I think it gets better every time.”

  “Thanks,” she said, giving him a bright smile before walking away.

  She allowed herself to relax slightly now that she knew that Percy wouldn’t be in. At least if he didn't visit today, she wouldn't have to try to follow him around. That meant that she would be able to sit down with her aunt and uncle at lunch instead of worrying about her promise to Nick.

  No sooner had she taken a seat with her aunt and uncle then another one of the residents came over. She made a beeline for Aunt Lucy, her hands on her hips.

  “Where is it?” she exclaimed. “I know you took it.”

  Aunt Lucy looked up at her, shock written across her face. Uncle Albert came to her rescue.

  “Natasha, what are you talking about?”

  “She took the King of spades out of my card deck. I saw her fiddling with them while we were playing last night. She was cheating so that your team would win. I want my card back.”

  “She did no such thing,” he said. “I’m sure the card is in your deck somewhere.”

  “It’s not. I checked. My granddaughter gave me those cards at Christmas. I want my King of spades back.”

  Before the argument could escalate, Autumn stood up. “I’m sure it’s around somewhere,” she said. “I’ll help you look for it after lunch, okay? Right now, we should let people eat before the food gets cold.”

  Natasha glared at her, then walked away in a huff. Autumn sighed, sitting back down. It seemed that cash and wallets weren’t the only things that had gone missing of late.

  The rest of the day passed by in a blur of dirty dishes, mopped floors, and cooking. Nick joined her after dinner, helping her clean up while her aunt and uncle chatted with them.

  Once the dishes were done, Autumn hugged her Uncle Al and Aunt Lucy and bade them good night. “I'll bring them back to their room,” Nick offered. “I want to stop in and do some rounds, anyway. I'm going to ask people if they've noticed anything small go missing over the past few days.”

  “Okay. I'll wait for you. We can walk out to the parking lot together. I don't really want to go out there alone, not with everything that's been happening.”

  “I'll be quick,” he promised with a kiss.

  As he escorted her aunt and uncle away, laughing at a joke her uncle had made, Autumn smiled. There was no doubt about it, Nick was a keeper.

  She made her way to the staff room and grabbed her purse off th
e hook, sitting down at one of the tables and leaning back in her chair. Even though she hadn't started working until eleven, it had been a long day. She could hardly wait for the weekend, when she wouldn’t have to work at all. It would be nice to sleep in a little, spend some time with Frankie, and get outdoors and enjoy the nice weather.

  I should see if Alicia and Bonnie want to do anything this weekend, she thought. She wanted to do something active and outdoorsy, like going on a hike, which she knew her dog would be thrilled with as well. It would be good to have a girls’ day out. She hadn't seen her friends as much recently, not with how busy she had been with work.

  She dug through her purse for her phone, deciding that she might as well make plans now, but couldn’t find it. Frowning, she stood up to pat her pockets, but quickly she realized that it wasn’t on her person. Had she brought it into the kitchen with her? She didn’t see how it could be gone. Nick had been in his office for most of the day, keeping watch on the staff room, and besides, the thief hadn’t been interested in Emily’s phone at all, and it was a newer model than Autumn’s.