by Cindy Bell
“We’re right behind you.” Mrs. Bing followed after her, along with Mrs. Cale.
“Wow, did the temperature just drop in here?” Charlotte raised her eyebrows as she rubbed her arms.
“I don’t think so.” Ally gazed at her. “I can check the temperature if you want.”
“Ally, I meant that their attitudes changed quite a bit when I came out here.” Charlotte folded her arms and glared at the door. “Not that I should be surprised. The rumors are already flying.”
“Is that what the tension between you and Mrs. White was about? I’ve never seen you two stare each other down like that before.” Ally collected the empty coffee cups and the tips that the three women left behind.
“I think her opinion is that if Jeff hadn’t given Henry the knife none of this would have happened. I tried to tell her that he was sure he gave Henry the replica, but I don’t think she believed me.” Charlotte sighed as she stared out through the front window of the shop. “Unfortunately, I think Jeff is going to face the same attitude from a lot of people.”
“You make a good point.” Ally narrowed her eyes. “You know, Henry claims that he didn’t know he had the real knife. He claims that he didn’t see who gave the knife to Jeff. Today when he was on the bridge, I thought he was just blinded by grief. But what if I’m blinded by something else?”
“What do you mean?” Charlotte gazed back at her.
“I don’t know Henry very well. I’ve only really interacted with him when he came into the shop once and on the bridge, but I don’t know him on a personal level. Do those few glimpses of him and his life really warrant me believing that he’s innocent?” Ally leaned against the counter as she frowned. “You know Jeff, not just a little, you know him well. We both know that he is innocent in all of this. But am I fooling myself by thinking that Henry is innocent, too?”
“I can’t tell you what to think about that, Ally. You’ve always had very good instincts about people. But we can’t know everything about everyone.”
“Maybe I could find out a little more about Henry if I tried.” Ally bit into her bottom lip. “After today, I think I’ve built a bit of a bond with him.”
“I think so, too. But getting him to talk may still be difficult.” Charlotte glanced around the empty shop. “But this may be your chance.” She pointed to the door as Henry walked towards it. “I’ll stay in the back, he doesn’t need to know that I’m here. That way if anything strange happens, I’ll be here.”
“I just hope I can get something worthwhile out of him.”
“Just be you, Ally. You have a personality that puts everyone at ease.” Charlotte gave her a pat on the shoulder, then headed to the kitchen.
Ally took a deep breath and tried to have faith in her grandmother’s words. Would she be able to put him at ease? When he stepped through the front door, her heart skipped a beat.
“Hi Henry.”
“Ally, I just wanted to come and say thank you.” Henry nodded. “If it wasn’t for you, I don’t know what I would have done.”
“I’m just glad it worked out okay.” Ally smiled slightly. “Can I get you a coffee, some Devil’s Food Cake?”
“Thank you.” Henry nodded. “I’m glad I came to see you. It’s better than being at home, staring at a wall. I thought I’d be happy when I was released, but now I just have no idea what to do.” He frowned.
“Were you questioned?” Ally made the coffee and cut the cake.
“Thoroughly.” Henry sighed. “Not that it will do me any good. I can’t remember what I need to remember. Everything I say and do just makes me look more guilty.”
“You might have the clue to what happened, but maybe you just can’t remember.” Ally moved along the counter towards him as he sat on a barstool. She placed the cake and coffee in front of him.
“I’ve been trying.”
“Henry, you have to think.” Ally’s gaze locked to his. “I need you to walk me through every second before the scene where Martin died. Even the most insignificant detail could explain what happened. Don’t leave anything out.”
“Ally.” Henry rubbed the heels of his palms into his eyes, then groaned. “What do you think you’re going to get out of me that Luke didn’t already?”
“The difference here is that Luke had a job to do. His job was to find evidence against you, and to catch a killer. My job is to help you figure out what really happened and prove your innocence. I’m on your side here, Henry.” Ally sat down beside him.
“No, you’re not.” He looked up at her suddenly. “I’m not stupid. I know what this is really about. I’ve heard about Jeff being arrested. That’s your grandmother’s boyfriend, isn’t it?”
“Please Henry, it has nothing to do with that. I just want the truth. Yes, I believe Jeff is innocent. But I believe that you are innocent, too.” She stood up and began to pace. “It comes down to this, Henry. You look guilty because you had the weapon in your hand, Jeff looks guilty because he supposedly handed the murder weapon to you. In order to find the truth, we need to know exactly what happened with that knife and how it got into your hands.”
“I thought I had the replica.” Henry squeezed his eyes shut. “It never even occurred to me that I might have a different dagger. But when I think back now, I can remember that it felt a little heavier when I pulled it from my belt. But I never thought it could be real, I swear, Ally!”
“I hear you, Henry.” Ally paused in front of him. “Listen to me. I only want to help. You said you had the knife on your belt? Did you have it on there the whole time?”
“You know, my knife went missing before that scene with Martin. Then Jeff gave it back to me.” Henry frowned as he shook his head. “It didn’t leave my belt after that.”
“Are you sure?” Ally stared into his eyes. “Are you sure that someone didn’t bump into you? You didn’t set it down for just a second?”
“Well, I—” Henry cleared his throat as his cheeks reddened.
“You remember something, don’t you?” Ally tried to hold his gaze as he tried to avoid hers. “What is it, Henry? Tell me.”
“Right before the scene, I had to use the bathroom. I knew I only had a few seconds, and the belt is tricky, so I took it off and left it outside the bathroom. But I was only in there for a few seconds. I’m sure no one could have gotten to it.” Henry frowned, then looked up at Ally. “I was in such a rush to get to the stage, it’s possible I didn’t notice if anything had changed about the belt.”
“Was this before or after Jeff gave you the knife?” Ally held her breath as she thought she already knew the answer.
“It was after. It was just a minute before I was due on stage.” Henry ran his hand back through his hair. “I didn’t even remember it until now. I have a nervous bladder, so it’s just routine for me to go right before I go on stage. I didn’t think about it.”
“Does anyone else know about this habit?” Ally narrowed her eyes as she considered the possibilities.
“Everyone does. I had to go pretty often during rehearsals. It became a bit of an issue for Leanne and she wasn’t shy about telling me that.” Henry rolled his eyes. “Martin would taunt me a bit about it. He said I always had the problem, even when we were younger. Which is true, I did.” Henry’s cheeks reddened as he looked down at his hands. “I think it made me a little less confident on stage. That’s probably why Martin outshined me every time.”
“It’s an important detail.” Ally nodded. “It means that someone else had the opportunity to replace the knife.”
“Sure.” Henry stood up. “I guess that gets Jeff off the hook.” He stared into her eyes, left some money on the counter, then turned and walked out of the shop.
Chapter 12
Charlotte winced as she heard Henry’s parting words. She met Ally as she stepped through the door from the kitchen into the shop.
“Are you okay?”
“I don’t think Henry is.” Ally’s cheeks flushed. “I feel like he thinks I jus
t tricked him.”
“You were just trying to work out what happened, Ally. Now we know more than we did before. There’s another bit of time where the knife could have been switched. Yes, that does help validate Jeff’s story, but it also casts Henry as innocent. If someone targeted that moment to switch the knives, it might be because that person wanted to frame him.” Charlotte glanced up at the clock. “I’m going to go have a chat with Jeff. If there was something that Henry didn’t recall, then there’s a good chance there’s something that Jeff didn’t recall as well.”
“Good luck, Mee-Maw.” Ally hugged her. “I hope you come up with something, because a bathroom break isn’t going to fix any of this without proof.”
“I know.” Charlotte sighed, then hurried out the door. On the drive to Freely Lakes she rehearsed in her mind the way she would speak to Jeff. However, each attempt at opening the conversation seemed harsh and controlling. Would he shut down before she had the chance to learn anything new?
When Charlotte knocked on his door, he answered quickly. Had he seen her walk up?
“Hi Charlotte.” He opened the door wider for her. “I’m sorry about earlier.”
“Don’t be.” Charlotte followed him into the apartment. “I understand why you are upset.”
“Come, sit.” Jeff gestured to the couch.
“First, I think we need some wine.” She winked at him. “Do you still have that bottle I brought over last week?”
“Yes, it’s in the fridge.” He followed her into the kitchen. “Wine sounds perfect. So far it’s been a rather rough day.”
“It sure has.” Charlotte poured them each a glass. “We need to talk.”
“Ouch.” He trailed after her as she walked into the living room with the two glasses of wine. “That sounds like a loaded statement.”
“It could be. Here.” She handed him his glass of wine, then sat down beside him on the couch. “Jeff, if you’re trying to protect someone, you need to tell me. I can find a way to help you.”
“I’m not trying to protect anyone, Charlotte.” Jeff took a sip of his wine, then set it down on the coffee table. “I thought you believed me.”
“I do believe you. I guess I just don’t understand how you can have no idea who handed you the knife.” Charlotte sighed as she studied him. “You must have at least looked at the person.”
“Everything was in such a rush. Someone said my name, I turned around, and that person thrust the knife into my hand. I didn’t even look up at who it was. I do think that it was a man, though.” Jeff frowned. “Don’t you think that if I remembered I would say something? Do you think I want to go to prison for something that I didn’t do?”
“Don’t say that.” Charlotte smiled. “You’re not going to prison. Even if you did hand Henry the wrong knife, that doesn’t mean that you are responsible for Martin’s death.”
“But I didn’t.” Jeff pulled away from her and stood up from the couch. “I didn’t hand him that real dagger. You told me you believed me, Charlotte.” He stared down at her. “Has that changed now?”
“No, it hasn’t. I’m just saying, even if it was true, it wouldn’t make you responsible.” Charlotte stared up at him as her heartbeat quickened. “Jeff, I’m on your side. Don’t you know that?”
“I don’t know what I know, anymore.” Jeff shook his head, then walked towards the door. “I’m sorry, Charlotte, I need to clear my head.”
As Charlotte watched him step out the door and leave her alone in his apartment, she thought about stopping him. There were things she could say that might make him turn back. But what was the point? He felt as if his life was in ruins, and panic was a normal reaction to that. She’d just questioned him. He had a right to be upset. She pulled her feet up onto the couch with her and closed her eyes as she considered the possibilities. She could wait for him to come back, and hope that he’d calmed down by then. She could insist that he recount to her every thought, every action, every feeling of that night. Or she could simply trust him. She could believe that the knife that he handed to Henry was the replica. She could assume that the switch with the real knife happened after Jeff handed Henry the replica knife. If she believed that, then she needed to find out who made that switch.
Unfortunately, there were more suspects than witnesses, and the only person who might be able to give her a clue as to who was after him, no longer had a voice. Her eyes flew open. She knew exactly what she had to do. It was clear that someone wanted Martin dead that night. She didn’t believe that it was Jeff, and she doubted that it was Henry. No, Martin couldn’t speak from the grave. But the best way to find out who might have wanted Martin dead, was to find out more about him. As a popular actor, parts of his life had been splashed through magazines and television interviews, but that wasn’t the Martin that she wanted to get to know. In order to find out the truth, she had to find the aspects of his life that he fought hard to keep hidden.
Charlotte set the wine glasses in the sink, grabbed her purse, and walked straight back to the van. As she did, she swept the parking lot for any sign of Jeff. Perhaps he would resent her for the way she questioned him. If he did, so be it. She still wouldn’t let him suffer for a crime that he didn’t commit. She slid the key into the ignition. Before she turned it, she glanced at her phone. Should she call Ally? She didn’t want to put her into any position that might create a conflict with Luke or put her at risk. She turned the van on and drove towards the center of Freely.
* * *
Ally stood outside the hotel room door and wondered if she should really follow through with her intentions. Luke had mentioned that the police had already conducted their search. But that didn’t mean that no one would notice her presence there. She reached for the door knob.
“Ally? What are you doing here?” Charlotte stepped around the corner of the hallway and stared straight at her granddaughter.
“Uh, just observing.” Ally shifted from one foot to the other.
“Sure.” Charlotte raised an eyebrow. “Did you plan to observe from the outside or inside?”
“Mee-Maw, I just want to get an idea of what Martin might have been up to, or into, something that could give me a direction to go in when it comes to suspects.” Ally frowned, then glanced back at the door. “It’s not like I could have gotten in anyway. I’m sure it’s locked.”
“That’s true, you couldn’t have gotten in.” Charlotte smiled as she held up a small keycard. “But I can.”
“Mee-Maw! Where did you get that?” Ally stepped closer to her, then looked down the hallway in both directions.
“The night manager is a friend of mine. I told her that Martin had something of mine, and I wanted to get it back before they cleared the room.” Charlotte winced. “It’s never fun to not tell a friend the whole truth, but sometimes it is necessary.”
“You should have told me what you were planning.” Ally crossed her arms and met her grandmother’s eyes. “You shouldn’t have tried to come here on your own.”
“Isn’t that a bit hypocritical?” Charlotte released a soft chuckle. “Or did I miss a phone call from you inviting me to this little break-in?”
“Okay, maybe we were both in the wrong.” Ally smiled as she let her arms fall back to her sides.
“I have a feeling that Jeff is reaching his breaking point. I’d love to have some good news to give him.”
“I’m not sure what we might find, but I hope we find something.”
“Enough talking, we need to get inside before someone notices.” Charlotte frowned. As she was about to slide the keycard into the slot on the door, she noticed the door was slightly open, it hadn’t clicked all the way shut. “It’s open.” She took a deep breath and pushed on the door.
“Do you think the police didn’t lock it?” Ally stepped into the hotel room behind her grandmother, just as Charlotte took a sharp breath.
“Is this how the police conduct their searches?” Charlotte shook her head as she looked over the room. Every
drawer was pulled out and overturned. The contents of the drawers were scattered and spread out on the floor. The bedding had been stripped from the bed, and the mattress flipped up to rest against the wall. Even the bath towels had been torn off the railings and tossed on the floor.
“No way. This isn’t from the police.” Ally pressed her hand against her stomach as a sick feeling twisted through her. “Someone else was here, someone who was looking for something.”
“Maybe the same person that arranged Martin’s death?” Charlotte turned to look at her granddaughter. “What could they have been looking for?”
“I’m not sure, but clearly they were desperate.” Ally gestured to the vent on the ceiling that had been torn open. Packages of food and dishes littered the counters of the small kitchenette. “Whoever it was even emptied the trashcan.” She pointed at the garbage on the tile floor.
“Maybe they’re worried that Martin had left some clue behind as to who his killer is?” Charlotte began to pace through the hotel room, careful not to touch anything.
“I don’t know, Mee-Maw, but if there was some kind of clue left behind, I doubt that whoever did this missed it. There’s nothing left untouched here.” Ally pulled her cell phone from her pocket.
“What are you doing, Ally?” Charlotte turned to face her.
“I have to tell Luke about this. His team is going to need to search the place again. Maybe whoever broke in left something behind that will tell us who they are.” Ally placed the phone to her ear.
“Ally!” Charlotte’s eyes widened. “We’re the ones that broke in, remember?”
Ally’s stomach flipped as Luke answered the phone and it dawned on her that she would need to give some kind of explanation for why they were in the room in the first place. In her panic, she hung up the phone.
“Mee-Maw, you’re right, we have to get out of here. You have to give that keycard back to your friend.” Ally walked towards the door, then held it open for her grandmother. As her cell phone began to ring, her head spun. Was there any way to back out of this now?
