A Vicious Cycle

by Eliza Brookes

  “No, she didn’t know. How can you tell if someone is married if they don’t wear a ring, don’t talk about their wife and never bring her around? How would you guess when they start showing an obvious interest in you? Don’t be so pig-headed.”

  “I object,” Matty said seriously, “to being called pig-headed. I may be a little backwards, but I am not pig-headed. Besides, how do you know she didn’t know? You say she read romance novels all the time. She probably thought she was a heroine, saving her poor trapped love from his evil wife who didn’t love him like she did.”

  “I know, because as soon as she found out, she confronted him about it. According to her, he got violent and threw a camera at her. She showed off an impressive bruise to prove her story. After that, she ran away and came home.”

  “Okay,” Matty said somberly, “I was being pig-headed.”

  “I know,” Allegra teased.

  “That professor is a good lead,” he complimented. “I still don’t know why you called me. You know we can’t get involved. If Crane finds out that I’m talking about this case, he’s going to kick me to the curb.”

  “I need your help,” Allegra admitted heavily.

  “You don’t get it, do you?” Matty said sarcastically.

  “No, I don’t. Explain it again,” she said innocently.

  “Allegra,” he sighed, “Crane is deathly afraid of these people. They play golf with our boss’ boss. No one gets away with disobeying them, especially not those of us who have to work for a living. I get what you’re trying to do, but we warned you. It wasn’t going to be easy.”

  “I’m not asking you to do anything more than talk to this guy. He’s a good lead and I would love to see him stand trial for murder.”

  “That’s a little harsh.”

  “He manipulated and lied to an innocent girl, then he physically abused her. She wasn’t the only one either, she says that she only found out about his wife because some other girls went through the exact same thing she did.”

  “Okay, I apologize. The dude is a certified jerk.”

  “I know.”

  “That still doesn’t mean that I’m going to lose my job because of him. Why don’t you go talk to him? You could poke around the campus and make him sweat a little. You could even call him and yell at him.”

  “Matty,” she said in a dry tone, “this man makes a hobby out of seducing young girls then hurting them when they call him out. What makes you think he’s going to care what I have to say?”

  “You have a point. Do you have these written down somewhere? If so, that’s not fair because I am totally unprepared. Greg and I were watching baseball when you called.”

  “Lovely to see our illustrious police force working so hard.”

  “Hey,” he protested, “I helped old lady Wescott find who’s been going through her trash.”

  “Was it a raccoon?”

  “I don’t have to answer that.”

  “Matty,” she pleaded, “I need your help.”

  “Here’s an idea, why don’t you introduce him to dragon lady Sarah or tell the righteous Christopher about who hurt his daughter. They would bring fire and rain down upon that jerk’s head. He wouldn’t know what hit him.”

  “I can’t do that,” Allegra said slowly.

  “Why not? I think that’s a brilliant idea. If someone did that to my daughter and I had the power to do something like that, you best believe that I’d ruin his life. Isn’t that what you want?”

  “I might be wrong about him killing her,” Allegra told him. It did sound like a tempting solution, but she had already thought it through and decided against it.

  “That doesn’t matter. They would still ruin him for what he did. I think he deserves a little payback. Call it Penny’s revenge. I think the little firecracker would have loved that.”

  “She never told them, Matty,” Allegra told him seriously. “She didn’t even confide in her mother. If I’m wrong and he’s not the murderer, they’re going to find out what she did. I don’t think her memory should be tainted like that.”

  “Why do you have to put it that way?” he groaned.

  “All I need you to do is find out if he has an alibi. Discreetly. I don’t think anyone knows she’s dead. Tell me what he says and see if you can find out anything else about her.”

  “I don’t want to lose my job.”

  “You won’t. Do it for Penny.”

  “I don’t know,” he said hesitantly.

  “What if she had been your daughter?”

  “Fine,” Matty sighed.

  Chapter Twelve

  Allegra hung up with a triumphant smile after confirming the details with Matty. He was reluctant, but he was a good man who honestly hated the thought of some experienced professor taking advantage of naïve girls. It was a sad fact, but he had his fair share of run-ins with stories similar to Penny’s. It took a few minutes, but she finally felt ready to continue Penny’s story. The video diary was invaluable to her investigation, but watching Penny took a toll on her. It broke her heart to know how the story ended, and that Penny never got her happy ending. She shook her head and started the next video.

  “Hello weary traveler,” Penny greeted with her friendly smile. Allegra felt herself smile back, Penny’s enthusiasm was infectious. “I’ve been enjoying my foray into the past. I’m not sure if that’s the right word, but it sounds fancy, so we might as well go with it! Okay, so as you know, I’ve been reading my grand-aunt’s diary and it’s about as juicy as I expected. I knew she was exciting, I never guessed how much.

  “Are you ready for the scandal of the century? Well, if my grandmother found out, it would be. Can you believe how outdated she is? I can’t wear shorts in public because she thinks it reflects badly on the family. She would have a heart attack if she knew about Professor Brand. Who knows, she might even disown me. Anyway, back to Ruby’s story.”

  Allegra quickly took out her phone to make a note on the app she was using to keep track of the details of this case. Penny didn’t share her family’s philosophy. It sounded as if she didn’t mind a scandal or two as long as it broke the monotony.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, before I tell you about the scandal, I need to fill you in on a little back story. According to all accounts, Ruby was a beautiful and well-bred young woman with a fortune behind her name. She attracted all sorts of eligible bachelors and apparently my great-grandmother was all for marrying her off to the most eligible man of them all, Lawrence Kinsleigh. Why does that name sound so familiar, you ask?

  “Hold onto your hats, people. Lawrence married my grandmother. I always knew their story was sketchy. Grandfather always said that he fell in love with my grandmother the moment he saw her. That seems a bit weird now, because Ruby talks about him being this great pain who always followed her around like a lovesick puppy. Lawrence was just finished with business school and was about to start out on his own or take over his father’s company. Ruby isn’t very specific, but I think it’s because she didn’t really care about him.

  “Take notes, gentlemen, a woman will never fall for the lovesick puppy who keeps sending them flowers even when they’ve made it clear that they’re not interested. Don’t feel bad for Lawrence, though. According to Ruby, all he could talk about was her family’s company. As you can imagine, this didn’t make her fall head over heels for him. I’m starting to think that Ruby was a romantic like me. I wonder if my grandmother knew about Lawrence? You know, I almost feel sorry for him. Then I think about how my grandmother never let anyone run the company except for her. I don’t think he was a gold digger, I just think he was a little hopeless when it came to love.”

  Allegra sat watching with rapt attention, and she nearly fell over in shock when someone knocked on the door. She quickly paused and jumped up, running to the door before someone decided to try the handle and found that it was locked. She didn’t want to have to explain herself to the members of the household.

  “How can I help?” s
he asked as she opened the door, keeping a friendly smile on her face.

  “I was told to come check up on you,” James said with a bored expression. “You know, I’m not sure how hiding in your room is going to find Penny’s murderer. Is this some new investigative technique I’m not familiar with?”

  “I am making wonderful progress,” Allegra told him stubbornly, pulling the door closer to her to hide Penny’s laptop from view. James frowned at her action and pushed the door open despite Allegra’s clear discomfort.

  “You found the password?” he asked in surprise, “Why didn’t you tell me? Why are you trying to hide it?”

  “You do your job, I’ll do mine,” Allegra shrugged.

  “I can’t argue with that,” James shrugged, looking a little deflated. “What have you found out so far?”

  “That’s a secret,” she smiled thinly, “like I said. You have your job and I have mine.”

  “Fair enough,” James said calmly, “carry on”

  Allegra closed the door carefully and made sure to lock it. She was about to press play again, when she began to wonder about James’ strange behavior. She doubted that Sarah would request two progress reports in one day. The prickly feeling at the back of her neck caused her to put on headphones before she pressed play again.

  “I wonder how the story between my grandparents really played out,” Penny continued, resting her chin on her hand as she spoke. Her eyes had a faraway expression in them and Allegra got the sense that she was enjoying herself. “Did my grandmother know how Lawrence felt about Ruby? Apparently, it was obvious to everyone involved. Ruby’s mother was putting severe pressure on her to marry Lawrence. I don’t understand why though, Ruby could have gotten someone else if he lost interest eventually.

  “There’s another reason Ruby wasn’t interested in Lawrence,” Penny said with a mischievous smile. “She was in love with someone else. That’s right, the beautiful and mysterious Ruby Allerton was in love with a school friend. Can you believe that? I can’t find his name anywhere in the diary, she only refers to him as her ‘hope’. Isn’t that so romantic? She says that they have the same hopes and dreams and that they’re going to run away together. You know, I like to think that Ruby made it. That she and this hope guy managed to escape and run away together. I wonder if she’s still alive, I might have family I don’t even know about. I’m going to read on to find out what happened. In the meantime, I’m going to hide this,” she waved the diary around in the air, “in my safe place.”

  Allegra stared at her own face for a little while after the screen had gone dark. She jumped to her feet and made her way to Penelope’s room to check if she could find Ruby’s diary. After knocking on all the floorboards and checking the air vent decided to go outside and try the tree again. Maybe she had missed something during her initial search.

  Thankfully, she made it out of the house without anyone spotting her and walked to the tree without incident. It was a beautiful day, and she wished that she could spend it doing something more relaxing. She focused on climbing the tree and finding that diary. Penny mentioned that she hid it in her safe place, and she could only think of one besides Ruby’s room. Since she and James had already searched the room, this was the only other place she could think of.

  Allegra was so engrossed in her search, that she didn’t hear the crunch of footsteps. A faint movement from underneath the tree caught her eye, and she froze when she saw an unfamiliar man standing over the grave. She sucked in a sharp breath as she tried not to move or be noticed. He was a handsome young man with dark features and rugged clothing that suggested outdoor work. He stood over the grave with a pensive look on his face and his hands in his pockets.

  She slowly reached for her phone, intending to take a surreptitious picture of the man to find out who he was. She once read a study that said many murderers tended to gravitate back to the scene of the crime. Her hands shook as she steadied the phone and watched the camera focus on his face, her thumb quickly tapped the capture button, but to her eternal embarrassment, her flash went off. Her heart stopped when the man blinked angrily and glared up at her.

  “Hey, I know you’re there. Come down. Now.”

  Allegra clamped a hand over her mouth and pressed herself against the tree, hoping that he would dismiss the flash as paranoia and walk away. Unfortunately, the man wasn’t willing to let it go.

  “If you don’t come down, I’ll come up,” he threatened.

  She watched as he made his way to the tree in determination. Her eyes widened when he grabbed the first branch and she had to make a snap decision. It would be better for her to have the advantage than for him to corner her up there with nowhere to run.

  “Stop!” she yelled, peeking down at him.

  “What are you doing?” he asked angrily.

  “I should ask you that,” she said defiantly, her hands still shaking, “you’re trespassing on a crime scene.”

  “So are you,” he pointed out.

  “Look, if you hurt me, the police will know.”

  “Why would I hurt you?” he asked in confusion.

  “Why did you murder Penny?”

  “Murder Penny?” he echoed in shock, “I never did that.”

  “Then why are you here, like some sort of creep? You could get into trouble for this.”

  “At least I’m not the one spying on people from up in that tree.”

  “I have a very good reason,” Allegra scowled down at him.

  “So, do I,” he retorted.

  “Tell me, or I’m calling for help.”

  “Okay,” he held up his hands in surrender. “My name is Ethan Smith, I’m here because I heard the rumors about Ruby.”

  “How do you know about Ruby?”

  “The same way you do, I found out about her after they dug up her body.”

  “So, you just decided to come visit some random woman’s grave? You’re not making much sense here.”

  “Yeah, I’m starting to realize that,” he sighed. “Look, my grandfather’s brother always spoke about Ruby. Or at least, that’s what my grandmother just told me. It’s been this big family secret for a while now and she just decided to tell me today. Apparently, my great-uncle, Mark, was in love with her or something. My grandmother said that they always met under this tree. They were planning to run away together to get away from her family, but before they could, her room burnt down, and they couldn’t find her body. Everyone thought Mark did it, and it ruined his life. No one would give him a job and some thugs attacked him one night. He didn’t make it.”

  “Mark was her hope,” Allegra realized softly.

  “What was that?” he asked her, looking confused again.

  “Are you sure that she was in love with him?”

  “That’s what my grandmother says. The two of them went to school together or something like that. He had this cheesy nickname for her. Hold on, let me think,” he closed his eyes in concentration.

  “His dream?”

  “Yeah,” he snapped his fingers, “that’s it. Wait, how did you know?”

  “Don’t worry about that. Why are you here now? This has nothing to do with you.”

  “Doesn’t it?” he challenged with a wry smile. “My grandfather spoke about Mark all the time. If someone had found her body all those years ago, maybe Mark would have survived. He thought she ran away without him.”

  “That’s harsh,” she said sadly.

  “You’re telling me,” Ethan shook his head. “I’ve never even met these people but now they’re the reason my grandfather lost his brother. Whoever killed Ruby broke a lot of hearts.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  It was a surprise twist to meet Ethan the way she did, but now she had a more solid idea of what Ruby was doing during her last days. The two quickly went their separate ways, after all, there wasn’t much left to say. After a quick search on the internet, she realized that it wouldn’t be easy trying to find a man who didn’t want to exist after Ruby left hi
m. Her best chance to find out more about the man was to go through the records at the local paper. Thankfully, she had connections that would be able to help her.

  “What are we looking for?” Greta asked, sitting down in front of the camera with her quiet husband, Bud.

  “Anything about a man named Mark Smith,” Allegra told them. “He was about the same age as Ruby and might have made it into the local newspaper once or twice.”

  “It’s a long shot,” Greta said hesitantly, “most of those records haven’t been digitized yet.”

  “You might also not realize this, but most people go their whole lives without being featured in the newspaper,” Bud piped up in his deep voice, “even a small one like the Gazette.”

  “I understand,” Allegra admitted, “but it’s worth looking into. I need to get an unbiased opinion about him. I know he’s not alive anymore, so I can’t ask him for his side of the story.”

  “Well, if he died in the town then we’ll see an obituary,” Greta sighed. “I’ll look through the records, but it might take a few hours.”

  “If you find anything about him at all,” Bud said darkly, “The editor of the Gazette during that time wasn’t known for his unbiased opinion.”

  “Not everyone is such a great editor,” Allegra shrugged, “you’re a rare breed, Bud.”

  “Flattery won’t distract me from the fact that you’re taking a week’s leave on such short notice,” Bud told her sternly, looking at her over his thin glasses.

  “Oh right,” she winced, “about that…”

  “Relax,” Greta told Bud, “you don’t have to pay her for this week. And you’re getting an eye-witness account of one of the biggest stories to hit this town since it was founded.”

  “You are good for business,” Bud told Allegra thoughtfully, “but I expect you to catch up when you get back.”

  “Will do, boss man,” Allegra said cheerfully, “although when I’m done here, I might need an extra-long vacation.”