As people streamed towards the exits, Madeline waded her way through the crowd down to field level. She gave a quick wave to the team and waited for the family to arrive. About ten minutes after the last out was called, the family with the home run kid approached. She handed the little boy and his siblings bags of goodies and congratulated him again on a great catch. She led the family through a side gate next to the dugout onto the field. Some of the players were still hanging around, including the player who hit the home run.
“Hey! David!” She called, waving him over. The little boy got an excited look on his face and grabbed the ball he caught from his father. “This little fan caught your first inning home run ball. How would you like to take him on a trip around the bases?”
David smiled at the kid and his family. “Of course! And when we get back, I’ll make sure to sign that ball for you.” He took the kid by the hand and led him towards home plate. The parents quickly grabbed their cellphones and started taping the whole interaction. Madeline had called up to the videographers of the game to make sure they captured this for the website later.
Davis chased the boy around the bases and even gave him a signed bat on the way off the field. The kid couldn’t stop smiling from ear to ear. Even his parents looked a little awed by the whole experience. She led the family towards the front gate, with them thanking her the entire way out for the experience. She let them know that it wasn’t a problem, and that the team couldn’t wait to see them at a future game. She gave the little boy a handshake and waved as he skipped his way through the parking lot.
Smiling, Madeline turned to head back to her office. She again got the feeling that someone was watching her. She didn’t see anyone earlier, but maybe now with the thinner crowd she could spot the person giving her the creepy feeling. She pulled her cellphone out of her pocket and pretended to check emails while turning slowly in a circle. She tried surreptitiously glancing off the screen to see if she could notice anyone paying special attention to her.
There! A dude with his hat pulled down over his eyes was definitely glancing up every few seconds at her. Come to think of it, he looked sort of familiar too. It was definitely the guy that Tom was arguing with behind right field the other day. She pretended to keep checking her cell phone as she began walking nonchalantly towards him. As soon as she got within ten feet however, he took off in the other direction at a steady brisk walk. Not a run, but still fast enough that she couldn’t call out to him before he made it to the exit gate.
She shivered. Super creepy. Some rando watching her while she worked. Well, just one more thing she would have to tell Davis about at happy hour. She walked back to her office to make sure everything was on track for the next few days. After happy hour was the season ticket party, and she was glad that she brought her dress to change into later, that way she didn’t have to rush home. Opening Day was always the hardest day of the season, but now that it was over, she had confidence the rest of the season would run smoothly. She had a few emails from people wondering if there was any information on the murder, but after quick searches, she found they were all local reporters. She sent back a standard reply that the police were investigating and all other questions should be directed to them.
Madeline looked up and glanced at her clock, saw it was approaching four and knew it was about time to head over to the restaurant. She ran a quick comb through her hair and pulled it back in a headband, popped some mascara on her eyelashes, and grabbed her purse. Stopping to say goodbye to her parents, she swiftly exited the offices and headed towards Centerfields.
Chapter Eight
Madeline arrived at Centerfields within two minutes of leaving her office. One benefit of the restaurant being attached to the stadium was the proximity to the office so Happy Hour could get started quickly. Entering the lobby of the bar, she looked around to see if the security team had made it over yet. In the back of the bar where there were pool tables and dart boards, she saw Davis waving her over. She picked her way through the early evening crowd, many of whom were at the game earlier, to the group of people in the back.
Next to Davis were two guys from his security team. Playing darts was the only female member of his team, Esther. While her name implied an elderly woman, Esther was actually in her late twenties and one of her oldest friends. After leaving school she joined the local police force. After several years there, she decided to quit and start a family with her high school sweetheart husband. Security detail with the Abington Armadillos provided her with the chance to use her skills but the schedule was much less demanding so she could spend time with her family.
Esther looked over as Madeline joined the group and came running over with her arms outstretched. “Maddie! It’s so good to see you! I’ve been on vacation so I was sad to miss your first couple of days. I heard it was exciting!”
Madeline smiled at her friend and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, real exciting. Finding a dead body and then my brother becoming a suspect. All leading up to the most important day of the season, Opening Day. So yeah, exciting would definitely be a good way to describe it.” She gestured to the bartender and ordered a glass of Pinot Grigio, her wine of choice. She made a pact with herself only to have one drink with the security team; she had a busy night still ahead of her with the season ticket gala and wanted to keep her eye on the ball. Metaphorically speaking, of course.
The guys racked up a quick game of pool, so they split into two teams. Esther and Madeline on one side, Davis and his friend/co-worker Brandon on the other. After a few quick games of pool, the guys accepted their losses and they all retreated to the high top tables piled with appetizers. The group talked about the success of the day when Esther checked her phone and jumped up.
“Guys, I hate to be the first to leave, but Danny’s picking me up with the kids now. See you all in the morning!” She grabbed her bag and exited out the front of the restaurant.
Once Esther had left, the party started to wind down until Davis and Madeline were the only two people left. They made their way to the front door where he stopped her with a hand on her arm. Standing outside the door in the cool spring air, it almost felt like they had been on a date and he was about to kiss her goodnight. Just her overactive imagination.
“Maddie, I wanted to let you know that it looks like your brother will no longer be a true suspect in Chris Dailey’s murder. From what he told me, he has a pretty decent alibi. He was out for drinks the night before and went home to pass out. He mentioned something about a meeting in the morning not in Abington, so I think he was away from the ballpark when the murder occurred. He doesn’t really have any reason to lie to me, so I’m going to take him at his word. We can now try to get on with our lives and let the police do the dirty work of finding the actual culprit.”
Madeline smiled at Davis. “That’s good news. But, well, I did want to ask you about what you and William Chase were arguing about at the game. I’m glad you rescued me when you did; he seemed pretty drunk and out of control. But then he looked pretty agitated with you, too.”
Davis sighed and shook his head. “You just can’t help yourself, can you? He was mad because I interrupted you guys. He said he had something really important to tell you. Do you have any idea what he meant? I told him to make an appointment through Eliza during business hours.”
She tapped her chin and tried to think about what he would’ve wanted to tell her. “No, I can’t think of any business I have with that guy. Maybe he saw me pick up that note he dropped this morning and wanted it back. It just seemed weird that he was at our game this afternoon when he has a game himself tonight.”
“Look, I have to get going. You have my cell, right?” Madeline nodded at him. “Call me if you need something or if anything weird happens again to you. There are things in this mess I’m just not sure about and I would rather not spend my time worrying about you.” Davis looked at her for a charged minute, patted her on the arm and turned towards the parking lot. “See you at the gala toni
ght. I’m running home first and I’ll be back.”
She watched him walk away. She decided that after things calmed down and the season was in full swing, she was going to ask him on a proper date. Go big or go home. She resolved to tell Eliza all about this afternoon’s excitement at the first chance she got.
Madeline gathered her purse over her arm and decided she had time to go back to the office before the gala started. She could change in her office. Before she could push the door open, a woman wrenched the door from her hand and came barreling into her. The woman was a bit older than Madeline with stringy blonde hair, heavy black eye make-up, fake tan, long nails, and the works. She ran into the lobby of the restaurant, banged into Madeline, and went sprawling. As she fell backwards, her purse went flying in the air and landed on some seats next to the hostess stand. Madeline reached down to help her up and noticed she was crying.
“Ma’am, I’m sorry, are you okay? Let me help you with your stuff.” Madeline grabbed the woman’s purse and started shoving things that had fallen out into it. The woman sat on the floor of the restaurant crying. Looking down at all her things strewn about the floor, Madeline wondered who she was. She had lipstick, mascara, a prescription bottle, loose tissues, a pack of cigarettes, and a hastily bundled together pack of notes. She shoved everything in the bag and went to grab the woman’s arm.
The woman jerked her arm away from her and stood up unsteadily. “I’m fine. It’s just a bad week that’s all.” She wiped her hand across her face. “My boyfriend was murdered here at the stadium and no one wants to help me get information. They keep telling me to go to the police. But the police are no help at all! I just want to know what happened!” Her voice got steadily louder until she was yelling and creating a scene in the lobby of the restaurant. People leaned out of their booths to see what the ruckus was about.
Madeline looked over at the hostess and pointed at a corner booth out of the way of the main entrance. She nodded and Madeline led the woman over to the empty seats. She settled her down into the booth and grabbed the closest waiter. “Can I get a coffee for this lady? I’ll pay for it, just bring it quickly.”
He scurried off in the direction of the kitchen. She looked back at the lady in the booth who was alternating sobbing loudly and sniffling into her napkins. Madeline knew she should probably leave it alone, but her innate curiosity pulled her in the direction of the sobbing woman. She might know more about why Chris was killed. If the police didn’t want to help her, the least Madeline could do was listen. And if she found anything out, she could pass it on to Davis and the police immediately.
She sat down across from the woman and put on her best sympathetic face. “I’m Maddie, are you sure you’re okay by yourself?” She made eye contact with the weeping woman and tried to convey understanding.
The woman sniffled into her napkin. “Thanks for helping me back there. It’s just frustrating to not have answers, you know?”
Madeline nodded.
“It sucks to have someone you know and cared about murdered. It wasn’t like he was that bad of a guy. He was cleaning up his act for sure. By the way, my name is Ashley, did you know Chris?” She looked at Madeline with mascara tracks on her face.
Uh-oh. Madeline didn’t want to tell her that she was the one who found Chris’ body. That might just push her over the edge. She wondered if there was a plausible story she could tell Ashley to help her open up more.
“Um, well, I didn’t know him all that well. He was friends with my brother, Ben.” Not a complete lie. She rationalized that they knew each other so they might have been friends in another life. Just at this moment, they weren’t anything before Chris was killed. Other than apparently fighting over baseball stuff.
“Ben? I think I know that name.” Ashley sniffled and blew her nose again. “Either way, I know Chris had his issues, but he was always good to me. He couldn’t help it if people were always expecting the worst of him!” She grabbed another pile of napkins but before she could burst into another round of tears, her coffee was unceremoniously plopped down in front of her. The waiter hightailed it away from the crying lady without checking to see if there was anything else they needed.
“Why don’t you tell me a little bit more about Chris? It might help you feel better.” Madeline crossed her fingers under the table. She hoped that Ashley would take the cue and spill her guts about her boyfriend. She didn’t seem suspicious of Madeline asking all these questions, so Madeline decided to press her advantage as much as possible.
Ashley leaned back into the booth with a heavy sigh. “Chris and I met a few years ago. He had just gotten out of prison for some gambling thing, I think. He was so sweet. We met at the packie down by my house. I live in South Boston.” She got a dreamy look in her eye, but she had stopped crying. “He picked me up right then and there. We fell in love almost immediately. He wasn’t a bad guy, he really wasn’t.”
She grabbed Madeline’s hand, pleading. “He just fell into the wrong crowd. I know he was trying to get straight and not get involved in the whole gambling thing again. He promised he had changed. And now I can’t even get the police to tell me anything because I’m not ‘family.’” She held up air quotes as she said the last word with a disgusted look on her face.
Even though Madeline did not have the best feelings towards Chris, she felt bad for the poor woman. Obviously, she thought he was a good guy and was now having a hard time dealing with his death. Madeline couldn’t imagine how that felt. Losing someone to an act of violence must be hard. Then being shut out of information? That must feel ten times worse. Plus, Madeline had a feeling that Ashley had a hard life and that little bit of happiness with Chris was special for her.
Madeline patted the woman’s hand. “I’ll see what I can find out for you. I’m friends with someone who knows things about the case. Can you think of anything, of anyone, who might want to hurt Chris? I can pass that information along if you don’t feel comfortable talking to the police.”
Ashley shredded the napkins in her hand. “The police already spoke to me once. I gave them as much information as I could. He didn’t really introduce me to any of his friends. I mean, I met some at a game we went to in Barnstable, but he said they were just some guys he grew up with. WAIT!” She looked up at Madeline with surprise in her eyes. “Something weird did happen the other day.”
Madeline sat up straighter, thinking it might be important. She felt like maybe she was about to bust this thing wide open.
Ashley continued. “We were down on the Cape walking along the beach when Chris got a phone call. He walked away saying it was business. I heard him yelling into the phone something about a shipment not being received on time. I didn’t think anything about it because he was always working on something. But he sounded really angry. When I asked him about it later, he said it was nothing to worry about. Just some guy not doing his job correctly. So, I let it go. Looking back, maybe it was something serious.” She started crying again.
Madeline looked around the crowded restaurant to see if anyone was making a move to help her with the weeping woman. Everyone in the restaurant avoided her gaze.
Madeline cleared her throat. “I think you should call the police and tell them that story. It could be important. Maybe they’ll even give you more information.” Madeline looked at the woman who was putting a mound of napkins against her face. “Ashley, is there anyone I can call to help you get home? You seem upset and I don’t want you driving around on your own.”
Ashley blew her nose again and pulled out her cell phone, looking down at the texts that had just come through. “It’s okay. My friend AJ is on her way here and should be meeting me soon.” She grabbed Madeline’s hand. “Thank you so much for listening. It has just been a lot. I need some sort of closure, otherwise it’s like Chris won’t get any justice. I couldn’t handle that.”
Madeline patted the woman’s hand and pulled a business card out of her pocket. Luckily it wasn’t her team cards. She still
had cards printed from her last job. For some reason she didn’t want Ashley to think she was fishing for information to use against her for the protection of the team. “Ashley, if you need anything, don’t hesitate to call me.”
She grabbed the card out of Madeline’s hand and looked up at her gratefully. Looking behind Madeline, she waved at someone approaching the table.
“Be safe, Ashley.” Madeline headed towards the front. All told, that little detour cost her another hour. It was now only about half an hour before the gala was set to start. Standing in the front of restaurant, she rummaged in her purse for her keys. Something on the floor caught her eye. It was a piece of paper, crumpled in a ball. She laughed a little. Second piece of paper today that she found. Picking it up, she found it had the same handwriting as other things Ashley had in her purse. Opening the paper fully, she found that it was a list of names. Some were crossed out, others had stars next to them. One thing they had in common? They were all on Madeline’s list of suspects in Chris Dailey’s murder.
Granted, she wasn’t the police, so she probably shouldn’t have a suspect list. She just couldn’t let it go. Maybe it was the years of mystery reading, but she really felt she could help in the investigation. People liked her; they’d talk to her more readily than the police. She couldn’t be in any danger yet. She just started, so she shook off a little fissure of unease and stuffed the list into her purse and headed back to the office.
Chapter Nine
Madeline hurried back to her office to change into her gala dress. No time to investigate that list she found, so she stuffed it into the top drawer of her desk and grabbed the dress hanging on the back of the door. The gala itself tended to be pretty casual, no big ball gowns, no tuxedos, no super fancy jewelry. Unless the ticket holders wanted to go that fancy of course. Madeline chose a black tea length cocktail dress and a team scarf wrapped around her neck. She was thankful she had remembered to bring her outfit to the ballpark that day. She would’ve been late otherwise.
Murder at First Pitch Page 6
