Case of the Secret Life

by L C Lang

  “I know it was. And my grandmother really enjoyed running it. It kept her busy, especially after my grandfather died. And she really loved tea.”

  The woman laughed. “Yes, she did. She had some kinds of tea I have never heard of.” She sighed. “Well, guess I should get back to your request. Are you licensed and bonded?”

  “Yes, I am.” I pulled the documents out of my purse and handed them to her.

  “I need to make a copy of these. Just a moment.”

  I waited while the woman went to the Xerox machine and copied the two pages. Then she brought them back to the counter and handed them to me. Then she finished writing on the application paper. Next, she told me the charge. I wrote out the check and handed it to her. She finished the documentation. Then she informed me it will take a couple of days to process the license and then they will mail the license to me.

  I thanked the woman and then walked out the door. I breathed a sigh of relief. Now, to the next thing on my list. I got in my Cherokee and headed for the DMV. Five minutes later, I pulled into the lot. I got out and headed inside the building. Once I told the clerk behind the counter what I needed, all it took was ten minutes and a check for the change of address for my driver’s license and license plates. I need to renew my driver’s license next year, so my new address will show up on that one. No point in spending more money right now. I thanked the woman and headed out the door again.

  It is time for lunch, so I got in my Cherokee and headed to a diner about six blocks away. I have been to the diner before with my grandmother, but the last time was a couple of years ago. Hopefully, the food has not changed much, because I liked what they had.

  I parked half a block down, grabbed my purse, got out of my Cherokee and walked to the diner. When I walked inside, it knew the lunch crowd had not arrived yet because not too many people are inside. So, I found a booth and sat down on the side where I can look out the front window. A few moments later, a woman came to the table with a menu in her hand.

  The woman is in her late forties, has short and curly dark brown hair and is wearing a uniform of black slacks, a tan short sleeve shirt and a black apron. The nametag on her shirt says her name is Roxie. She looks familiar and I wondered if she is one of the owners that I remembered who owned the diner. There is a smile on her face.

  “Welcome,” Roxie said. She looked at me. “Somehow you look familiar. Do I know you?”

  I shook my head. “No, I doubt you do. A couple of years ago I came here with my grandmother for lunch. Although you might remember her. Sadie Miller. I think she came here often.”

  Roxie nodded. “I do remember her. And, yes, she did come here a lot. You must be her granddaughter.”

  “Yes, I am. My name is Sasha Harman.”

  “Nice to meet you Sasha. I am Roxie Russo. My husband Pete and I own this diner. Pete is also the cook, along with Ken as an assistant. Cindy is our other waitress, along with Diane who comes in part-time.” She paused a moment. “I was really sorry to hear about Sadie. She was a sweet lady. Are you living in her house now or are you here to sell it?”

  I nodded. “Yes, I am Sadie’s granddaughter. But, no, I am not selling her house. She willed it to me and I am living in the house now. I just moved here yesterday. And in case you are wondering, I am not reopening the tea house.”

  Roxie laughed. “That was going to be my next question. Guess you have already been asked about that.”

  I nodded again. “Yes, I have.”

  Just then, three women came into the diner. Roxie looked at me and laid a menu down on the table.

  “Well, looks like it is getting busier with the lunch crowd beginning to come in. What would you like to drink?”

  I told her what I wanted. She nodded as she wrote it down and then she walked away. I looked down at the menu and made my choice. When Roxie came back with my drink, I gave her my order. She wrote it down and then said she would be back in a few minutes with my order. Then she went to the three women who had come in and were sitting in a booth on the other side of the room.

  While I sat waiting, I thought of a few more things I need to do, so I got out a notepad and wrote them down. Now that I have the internet again, I also need to do the three background checks that came in. I have enough money to live comfortably for a while, but I need to keep the income coming in. Hopefully, my business will take off soon.

  Then I looked out the front window and knew the lunch hour is getting closer. There is more traffic on the street and more people walking on the sidewalks. Won’t be long until the diner will be crowded.

  Even though there are several store I would like to check out, I cannot do it today. I have three jobs to do and I have to make sure my office is ready for the furniture delivery tomorrow. And I have more plans to make. More lists to make out too.

  A few minutes later, Roxie came back with my meal. I thanked her and then began eating. While I ate, I watched the people who are now coming into the diner. Petersburg is a town of about thirty thousand people, so I knew I would not meet too many of them. I just hoped to have enough business. If not, I may have to think of an alternative business. Maybe I will have to do that anyway to keep myself busy during times when business is slow.

  I finished my meal. The food is just as I remembered, so I will definitely come here again. Roxie had left the bill when she delivered my food. I stood up and went to pay for my meal. Then I remembered a few things I need to get at the grocery store, so that is my next stop.

  I headed out the door and went to my Cherokee. Once I finish shopping, I will head home. Then it will be time to check what I still need to do to open my business. It is time to get proactive and come up with a business plan. I am getting excited about beginning to work. Who will be my first client?

  CHAPTER 3

  When I got up the next day, I began getting excited. The furniture arrives this afternoon. So, after breakfast, I cleaned the room, including washing the floor. I even polished the serving bar. Then in mid-morning, I got a call from the company that the delivery truck would be here just after noon, which was a lot sooner than I had figured. But, the news made me even more excited. Now I will be able to get the boxes emptied this afternoon and get my business set up.

  I ate a couple pieces of leftover pizza for lunch and then paced the floor of my empty office. While I paced, I figured out where I wanted everything to go. While I walked, I also kept watch out the front window. Finally, the truck arrived.

  The truck backed into the side driveway and parked near the office door. I opened the office door and stepped outside, leaving the door open. Two men got out of the cab of the truck and went to the back door. While one man rolled up the door of the truck, the other one had a paper in his hand. He approached me.

  “Are you Sasha Harman?” the man asked.

  I nodded. “Yes, I am.”

  “This is the order sheet. You might want to check off the items as we bring the furniture inside. Then, if everything is here, you can sign it and then I will give you your copy.”

  I thanked him. When he went to the back of the truck to help unload the furniture, I looked down at the paper in my hand. I mentally counted the items and then looked at each of the items listed. It was everything I had ordered. I just have to make sure they brought everything, so I grabbed a pencil from the center drawer of my desk and got ready.

  The two men then began bringing out the furniture from the back of the truck and then brought them into my office. I stepped back from the door and as they brought each item in, I told them where to place them. The order consisted of one six-foot long dark oak desk, a high back black leather chair, two four drawer locking filing cabinets, two oak and leather club chairs, a five foot tall and six foot wide dark oak bookcase and a small sofa.

  I checked off each item as they brought them in, so once they were finished, I told him that I had received everything I ordered. Then I grabbed a pen, signed the paper and handed it back to the man who gave me the papers. He tor
e off the back page and handed it to me. I thanked both men. Then they walked out the door. I closed and locked the door behind them. Then I blew out my breath. I now have an office.

  Now I have more work to do. First, I want to clean the furniture. Then I have boxes of office supplies and equipment I need to put away. I also have one box of books my father had in his office that need to go into the bookcase. I thought about getting an armoire, but I have the shelves and drawers in the serving bar and the shelving unit, so I have plenty of storage space for everything that needs to be stored.

  I went into the kitchen and got another slice of pizza and a drink, heading back to my office. I sat my can on the serving bar and then ate my pizza, while I plotted what I have to do. Once I finished eating and taking a long drink, I went into the living room and found a music channel with my favorite music on the television, cranked up the sound and then I got to work.

  Took fifteen minutes to clean the furniture. Then I began opening each of the boxes. The first thing I pulled out is the curtains that were in my father’s business, with the rods still attached. There are hooks on the wall, so I took the rod to the window, attached it to the hooks and then straightened out the curtains. Thankfully, the wall color is a neutral pale tan color, so the light blue curtains will work just fine. And, the amount of windows in my father’s office matched the number of windows in my new office.

  An hour later, all of the boxes are empty. All of my business supplies are in the serving bar. My surveillance items are in the cabinets under the shelves. All of the files from my father’s office are in one of the filing cabinets and the books are in the bookcase. I breathed a sigh of relief. My office is now set up. My laptop is sitting on top of my desk, with my printer/fax machine combo is sitting on a small table I found in the living room, is now sitting next to the desk, under the window.

  I had one more thing to do. I had taken out the boxes with the china cups and saucers that my grandmother had used. I want to display them as a memory to my grandmother, so I began putting them up on the shelves of the shelving unit. A cup, saucer and a teaspoon. The three cups and saucers all fit on the shelves. I got out my cell phone and took a picture of the shelves with the cups and saucers. I will send it to my mother. I think she will be pleased with what I did for her mother’s memory.

  With my office ready to go, now all I need is a sign with my business name and do some advertising. But, that will have to wait until I get my business license. For now, I have some work to do. I sat down on my chair, opened my laptop and turned it on. Then I accessed my business email account.

  I have three background requests to do. In the past, I always made sure I completed them by the next day and I want to keep up that service, so I need to finish them today. I had just accessed the first request when I heard a knock on my front door.

  I got up and headed for the door. When I opened the door, I was surprised to see a woman close to my age, along with three small children, standing there. The youngest child she was holding.

  “You must be Sasha,” The woman said.

  I nodded. “Yes, I am. Do I know you?”

  The woman laughed. “No, I am sure you don’t. My name is Sandy Wilson and these are my three children. Marie, Caroline, and the Bobby. We live next door.” She had pointed to each of the girls as she introduced them. Bobby was the baby she is holding.

  “It is nice to meet you. Would you like to come inside?”

  “I would love to.”

  They walked inside and I closed the door behind them. Sandy looked around the room. The two older girls headed for the couch and jumped up on it, sitting down. Sandy sat down on the end of couch next to the girls, sitting her baby boy on her lap. I sat down in the club chair next to the couch.

  “This house has not changed,” Sandy said.

  I nodded. “No, it hasn’t. Have you been in here before?”

  Sandy nodded. “Yes, I have. Many times. Sadie and I were friends and I watched over her as much as I could. I was sorry when she died. She was a sweet lady.”

  “Yes, she was. She left me the house. Turned out, the circumstances in my life changed, so I decided to move here.”

  “I am glad you did. Sadie talked about you a lot. I am glad you didn’t change anything in here. But, what about the tea room?”

  “I love the furniture my Grandmother Sadie had. But, I am not going to re-open the tea room. Instead, I turned it into my office. I ordered some new furniture and it came in today.”

  Sandy nodded. “I noticed when the truck came. Sadie mentioned something about her son-in-law being a police officer, who started his own private investigation business.”

  “Yes, he did. It was in Indianapolis. I worked for him once I got out of college.”

  “Are you going to start your own private investigation business here?”

  I smiled and nodded again. “Yes, I am. I am licensed and I applied for a business license yesterday. I already have some of accounts that I brought with me. I do background checks for three companies in Indianapolis.”

  “Wow. We do have one private investigation company here in town, but they have been a bit unconventional and most people will not go to them. I am surprised they are still open because they have a bad reputation.”

  Hopefully, that means I will get some business. “That’s too bad to hear. Reputation and honest business practices are very important if you want to succeed.”

  Sandy nodded. “That is very true. Most of the businesses in town are honest. That one sure isn’t.”

  “So, what does your husband do?” I asked.

  “He is a lawyer. He just made partner a year ago.”

  “That’s great. I’ve heard that is hard to do unless you start your own law firm.”

  “Yes, it is. He started working there right out of law school. That was five years ago. He loves it. Close enough to Indianapolis, but in a smaller town. We got married a year after he started working there. If you ever need a lawyer, let me know. Bob works all kinds of cases.”

  Just then, the little boy sitting on Sandy’s lap scrunched up his face and then let out a good one. Then he giggled. The smell permeated the entire room. Even the two girls held their noses.

  “Sorry to cut this visit short,” Sandy said, a guilty look on her face. “Bobby needs a diaper change and I didn’t bring a diaper bag with me.” She stood up. “Maybe we can meet again?”

  I stood up and headed for the door. I turned and smiled at her. “I would love that. I don’t know anyone in town, so I would love to have a friend.”

  “I would love that too. Usually, I don’t have any adult to talk to, except Bob when he gets home from work. But, guess I better get home before he smells up your house.”

  We said goodbye, then Sandy and the girls walked out the door. After I closed the door, I had to fan the air. Then I headed for the kitchen, got out a can of air spray, and sprayed a good dose around the living room. Who knew a little boy taking a dump in his diaper could smell that bad. Maybe I should be glad I do not have any children. Although, I had to admit, Sandy’s kids were cute and the girls sat quietly. Sandy had taught them well.

  I walked back into my office. I have work to do, but I looked around the space that used to be the tea room. Would Grandma Sadie be pleased with what I have done with the room? Whenever I came to see my grandmother, she never mentioned what would happen to the tea room, even after she had gotten too old to keep up with it. I was sure Grandma Sadie would have wanted me to reopen the tea room again, but tea is not my thing. Still, what happened to the tables and chairs that my grandmother had in here?

  CHAPTER 4

  With determination to find the answer of the missing tables and chairs, I decided to wait a few minutes on doing the background check jobs. I grabbed my cell phone and put it in my jean’s pocket. I picked up the keys to the office door and the keys for the shed. Then I headed out the office door, making sure the door the door locked behind me. I opened the squeaky gate and headed towar
ds the large wooden shed at the back of the yard.

  While I walked, I knew I needed to check the shed anyway to find out what tools and supplies are inside it. While I walked, I looked at the rest of the back yard. There are a few trees I the back yard, all of which are beginning to change their color and will loose their leaves soon. I certainly hope I can at least find a rake inside the shed. A lawn mower would be nice too, but I am not going to push my luck.

  When I got to the shed, I put my hand on the door knob and twisted. The door is unlocked. That’s not good. I pulled the door open, hoping no one has stolen what is inside. But, the shed is not empty. Actually, one quick look told me I hit the jackpot. The shed is loaded with a lot of tools on racks on the side walls, a rake and two shovels, and a newer looking small riding lawn mower, with an accompanying gas can. I also found the tea room tables and chairs, covered with canvas tarps.

  Except for one chair that a man is sitting on.

  I sucked in my breath. He is not supposed to be in here. It scared me for a moment, before I realized the man’s chin is resting on his chest. His shirt has a large spot of dried blood on the front. Whoever put him in here must have had a sense of humor. The dead man is sitting upright on the chair with his right leg crossed over his left leg.

  From what I could see, he appears to be in his mid-forties and has full head of light brown hair. He is wearing jeans and a long sleeve light blue chambray shirt. There are two holes in the middle of the large blood spot. Whoever shot him, hit him right on target, with one bullet hole right over his heart. There is no blood on the floor, so he did not die here. From his condition, he died a day or two ago.

  I stepped out of the shed and took a deep breath. I know what I have to do, but I need to take a few minutes to focus on what happened here. I walked back towards the house, taking deep breaths while I walked. This is not the first time I have seen a dead body, but it is always a surprise when I do see one.

  At the gate, I turned and looked at the yard. A chain link fence goes all the way around the property line. The chain link fence is six feet tall. Too high to put a body over it. The gate is the only access to the back yard. I walked through the open gate and sat down on the top step that led to my office door. I took another deep breath and slowly blew it out. My third day here. Not exactly what I wanted to happen.