Steaks and Suspects

by Gretchen Allen

  “I just left them where I found them. You were looking for them?” Joss asked, feeling curious.

  “Well, when I called you for help and you didn’t answer, I called Lilly. She rushed right over to help me, the doll. I told her about the letters as we worked, and when we finally stopped for a break, I tried finding them to show her. They were gone. It’s like they, poof, up and went away. Kind of like how they arrived, too, actually.” Rachel shrugged. “Oh well, don’t know how they got there, don’t know how they left. I had half a mind to tease Joss saying she was so tired, maybe they never even really existed. She just imagined them all in her head or something.”

  “Who’s Lilly? I knew someone with that name once, she was awful,” Dina said.

  Joss chuckled at Dina’s honesty. In fact, she hadn’t met Lilly and already thought she was pretty awful.

  Rachel quickly explained the story about Lilly and how she came to be, but not as quickly as she was interrupted by Dina.

  “You let a complete stranger in your home? What’s the matter with you? Are you a dope?”

  “I’m sorry, what?” Rachel asked, looking offended.

  “Never do that. You don’t know what kind of weirdos are lurking around just waiting to cause trouble. Now, enough of that, back to me. What do you guys think?” Dina held up her poster board. “The periwinkle gown, right? That’s got to be the one.”

  Joss couldn’t believe Rachel. She was either lying or really clueless. There was no way Joss made up the letters. Rachel might not have read them, but she saw that they existed. The letters were written by Isa, the same woman that may or may not have been murdered. However, one thing that couldn’t be ignored at that moment was Dina and her periwinkle gown. She looked at Rachel, who had a similar look on her face, and nodded.

  “I think the periwinkle is the only option. The others don’t even hold a candle to that gown,” Joss said, smiling at Dina.

  “Maybe someone should hold a candle to all three of them,” Rachel muttered.

  Joss stifled a laugh, remembering she didn’t trust Rachel, and that she didn’t want to hurt Dina’s feelings.

  “I have to take care of something. Dina, do you mind helping Rachel?” Joss asked. “I’m sure she came in here to eat, not to chat.”

  “Of course,” Dina agreed.

  Joss barely heard the women as she was already halfway to the office, phone out, with Tyla’s number on the screen.

  “You aren’t gonna believe this,” Joss whispered into the phone.

  After explaining everything to Tyla, Joss got the answer she was hoping for. Tyla’s mom knew Mrs. Krispin, Rachel’s neighbor, from their book club, and since basically everyone in Lemon Bay had lived there for most of their lives, Joss wasn’t surprised that she’d been able to find the connection she needed. If Lilly claimed to have lived there before she did, then it was possible that Mrs. Krispin would remember the family. Maybe Joss would be able to learn something about Lilly without ever actually having to meet her.

  Chapter Six

  Joss eyed the display laid out in front of her. There was more food here than at the last catering job she’d done. Mrs. Krispin apparently went all out for her guests, even if Joss was the only guest.

  “I don’t even know where to begin,” Joss said, holding a glass in her hand.

  “Have a little bit of everything,” Mrs. Krispin said, beaming. “I even put out several plates just in case you were the type that didn’t like your food to touch.”

  Joss laughed. “My food can touch, but thank you for the thought.” She picked up what looked to be a sugar cookie and poured herself a glass of milk. “Everything looks wonderful, but you didn’t need to go through all this trouble just for me.”

  “Pish-posh, young lady. It’s no trouble at all. I know it’s been many years since I’ve seen you, and you may not remember coming here as a little girl, but you and your Gran Pearl used to visit me often. There were always goodies, and you always loved them. Don’t stop now.”

  “Don’t worry. I still love them,” Joss said, piling two wafer cookies and a croissant on her napkin. She didn’t need all the sweets, but she had half a mind to think that Mrs. Krispin would be offended if she didn’t take them, anyway.

  “So.” Mrs. Krispin clasped her hands together. “What can I do for you?”

  Joss took a bite of her cookie before she began. “I’m not sure if you know, but your new neighbor, Rachel, she’s the sister of the guy that I’ve been seeing.”

  “Of course. She’s lovely, and if I remember correctly, that brother of hers sure is a looker.” Mrs. Krispin waggled her eyebrows in the most hilarious way.

  Chuckling, Joss continued, “well, a few days ago, a woman came to Rachel’s house saying that she was looking for you, and…”

  Mrs. Krispin interrupted, “Honey, if someone was looking for me, I’d have known it.”

  “Okay, but she said you weren’t home.” Joss sat her glass of milk down on the kitchen table.

  Mrs. Krispin paused, obviously pondering something. “I rarely go out unless it’s to the market. I suppose I could have been there. Do you know the woman? I hate to think I missed out on a guest. Did you know that I always wanted to open up my own bakery?” she asked, gently sliding the glass back toward Joss. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t in the cards for me. I never had the money when it counted.”

  It was clear to Joss that she was going to have to go about this in a different way than she’d planned. Mrs. Krispin seemed to be leading the conversation and was more concerned about not being home than anything else. She’d been right, though. Joss didn’t really remember coming to her house with her Gran Pearl when she was younger. Maybe vaguely, but considering the amount of food she had right now, and the mention of what it was like many years before, Joss got the vibe that Mrs. Krispin liked to entertain.

  “I don’t know the woman,” Joss said, finally able to get a word in. “I never actually met her; this is just based on what Rachel and Ryan told me. She said she grew up in your house and just hoped you’d let her in to see it. When you didn’t come to the door, she ended up at Rachel’s, looking for some information about when you’d be home.”

  Joss sat, eagerly awaiting a reply. She barely realized that she was shoving all sorts of cookies and various pieces of bread in her mouth. Apparently, she’d very recently become a stress eater.

  “Mrs. Krispin?”

  “Hmmm?” the older woman mumbled.

  “Mrs. Krispin, is everything okay?” Joss asked.

  “I can’t be sure.” She looked perplexed. “You see, my grandparents built this house themselves many years ago. The only people that ever lived here were members of my very own family. What did you say this woman’s name was?”

  Joss was taken aback but didn’t want to make Mrs. Krispin nervous. “Her name is Lilly.”

  “Lilly what?”

  “I didn’t ask,” Joss said, embarrassed.

  “Either way, there was never a Lilly living here. My mind may be a little mushy from time to time, but I think I’d recall that.” Mrs. Krispin frowned.

  Joss nodded. “Maybe she just had the wrong house. I don’t know how old she is or anything, but if it had been years since she’d been in the neighborhood, it’s possible that she was just mistaken.”

  Knowing what she’d just said wasn’t anything she actually believed, Joss took another cookie. This time, taking a huge bite so she had an excuse not to talk for a moment. Thankfully, good ol’ Mrs. Krispin didn’t seem fazed in the slightest.

  “What a shame,” she said, shaking her head slowly. “I missed a visitor. Drat.”

  “You wouldn’t even have known who she was, though,” Joss pointed out.

  “A visitor is a visitor when you’re my age. I’d have invited this Lilly person in and offered her whatever I had on hand. Truth be told, that’s usually quite a bit. What day did you say this was?” Mrs. Krispin raised a finger. “Hold it. I’ll be right back. I have receipts I can
check for what day I would have gone to the market. I’m certain I was home all last week and this one as well.”

  Joss nodded, taking another bite of her cookie.

  “I’d have known if someone came here. I stand by that. Just hold your horses,” she called as she made her way down the long hallway off of the kitchen.

  Joss sighed. Mrs. Krispin seemed pretty adamant that she’d been home in the recent days, and it seemed pretty likely that she’d have answered the door, even for a stranger. Of course, she’d said as much, but still, things weren’t adding up.

  As Joss waited for Mrs. Krispin to come back, she heard a knock on the door. “There’s someone here,” Joss shouted.

  “Well, let ‘em in, then. Good grief,” she yelled back, Joss almost able to see the eye roll from across the house through the tone in Mrs. Krispin’s voice.

  “Joss? What are you doing here?” Rachel asked when Joss opened the door. “Did you get caught up with Mrs. Krispin? Boy, that woman can talk.”

  Joss tried not to show her annoyance. “Mrs. Krispin is lovely. I didn’t get caught up with her.”

  “Oh. So, you came here on purpose? I just figured you came to see me, but I wasn’t home and you ended up here.”

  “Like Lilly, but vice versa, you mean?” Joss asked, this time not holding back.

  “Please tell me you did not come here asking about Lilly,” Rachel huffed.

  “What difference does it make if I did?” Joss asked.

  “No difference, really.” Rachel shrugged. “You’re obviously just a busybody who can’t find anything better to do than worry about everyone else’s business. I have no idea what my brother sees in you.”

  Joss stood, mouth agape, staring at the woman in front of her. She hadn’t known Rachel for long, but from what she thought she had known about her, she was wrong, dead wrong.

  “Rachel, please, come in,” Mrs. Krispin said, coming up behind Joss.

  “I can’t today. I’m sorry. I have to go call my brother.” Rachel gave Mrs. Krispin a bright smile, and at the last second, shot a devious smirk toward Joss.

  “Such a sweet girl,” Mrs. Krispin said. “Now, would you mind helping me sort through these receipts?”

  Chapter Seven

  Joss sat alone at her table inside of Wok’s China House. She’d just requested her third cup of coffee. She’d been waiting, obsessively glancing between the old clock hanging on the wall and her phone, for Ryan to arrive, for the last twenty minutes. She was starting to think that it was just time for her to go; that Rachel really had called Ryan and told him to stay away from her. The thing was though, even if Rachel had every right to do whatever she wanted, Joss didn’t feel as though she’d done anything wrong. She might have been being a little nosy, but she loved Lemon Bay, and any sort of drama that occurred there, murder or not, was something Joss wanted to get to the bottom of. Small towns thrived on gossip, and if a scandal came about, it was like the end of the world. Joss took it upon herself to try and stop anything like that from happening before it happened. She convinced herself, once again, that she hadn’t done anything wrong, and that Rachel didn’t know her well enough to have an opinion Joss had to worry about. Nonetheless, Ryan still hadn’t shown up, and she did care about what he thought.

  Resolving to finish her coffee and head out, Joss was shocked to see Ryan finally enter the restaurant.

  “Sorry, I’m late. I got caught up at work and didn’t even notice the time. I hope you aren’t mad,” Ryan explained, looking worried.

  Joss smiled. “I’m not mad. I’m glad you’re here.”

  The waitress came back to the table, looking equally as shocked as Joss was that her date had shown up. She took their orders and promised to be back soon with Ryan’s beverage. The two chatted about the weather, about the upcoming town official elections, about an event at Ryan’s work in a couple of months that he thought the diner might like to cater. Small talk; awkward small talk at that. Joss hated small talk between friends. It felt awkward, and when she felt awkward, it showed.

  “Are you sure everything is okay?” Ryan asked. “You seem distracted.”

  “Maybe a little,” Joss admitted, pausing as their server delivered their meals.

  “What’s up. Is there anything I can do? Is it because I was late?” he asked, not taking his eyes off of her.

  “Sort of. I’m not mad you were late or anything,” she clarified, seeing the look on his face. “I just wasn’t sure you were even going to come.”

  “Why wouldn’t I?”

  Joss explained what happened with Rachel, half assuming he already knew.

  “You thought my sister told me to stay away from you and that I listened?” Ryan exaggerated the words.

  “A little.” Joss looked at her plate.

  “First of all, she’s my sister, not my mother. And for what it’s worth, my mother would love you. Rachel didn’t tell me anything. She’s protective of me, for good reason, too. But don’t let her scare you. She knows how much I like you, and no matter what she believes, she wouldn’t ruin that for me. You aren’t dangerous or openly cheating on me… right?” Ryan asked.

  “Of course not!” Joss’ voice was high, oddly thankful she could worry about potential murder instead of meeting Ryan’s mother. “I like you, too, by the way.”

  “Good. Now that we worked that out, why don’t you tell me more about why my sister thinks you’re a busybody.”

  Joss realized that she hadn’t told Ryan anything about what had happened since the day Christopher came into the diner. She told the story, every minor detail that she could remember, to Ryan, enjoying every second as she watched him put the pieces together just as she had.

  “Well, that seems all tied up with a pretty little bow, now doesn’t it?” Ryan looked impressed.

  “For the most part.” She nodded. “It’s like I walked into something that should be so obvious, but there are so many gaping holes that it still doesn’t make sense.”

  “From what I gather, not that I like to speculate, but, this Isa woman didn’t die of natural causes. She was killed, left in the woods to make it look like an accident. Since it did look like one, it was cut and dry, she had her funeral and everyone moved on as much as they were able. That is, until you randomly come across some mysterious letters with her name on them, which are now missing. I’d say that could be a coincidence, but enter in the even more mysterious, Lilly the Liar, and we have quite the story.”

  “Right?” Joss sighed. “You met Lilly, what did you think of her?”

  “She was helpful. It was a little weird at first because complete strangers typically aren’t so quick to jump in and help, but she seemed nice and normal. I don’t see why she’d lie, though. What would be the point of saying she used to live next door? Unless you were right, and she was just casing the neighborhood? I should call my sister and see if she can look around to see if anything else is missing besides the letters.”

  Joss purposely left out the fact that Rachel had acted so strangely about the letters, and she planned on keeping that part to herself. She wasn’t entirely sure what it meant, if it meant anything at all, but she certainly wasn’t going to openly tell Ryan that she thought his sister was being sketchy.

  “It does make sense. Thieves would totally go around the neighborhood pretending to be something they aren’t just to learn about who is home and when. Since she was inside Rachel’s house, she knew what was in there that may have been valuable. I hate to think you guys just let her in so easily, but if it’s true and that’s what she was doing, it makes sense she’d just disappear for a while, hoping everyone forgot about her so she could come back and hopefully go unnoticed.”

  “I can’t believe we were so dumb,” Ryan scolded himself. “I should know better than that.”

  “You were both worried about the flood. You weren’t thinking about anything but making sure Rachel’s things were safe. Don’t get down on yourself about it.”

  Joss mean
t what she said, she didn’t want to see Ryan upset, but at the same time, it really was stupid to let a stranger in like that.

  “I’m definitely going to call Rachel when we’re done here. She can call you whatever she wants, but I think you’re right. You’re on to something, and I don’t think you should give up. What can I do to help?” Ryan asked.

  Joss knew Ryan’s decision was because he knew how much Joss enjoyed getting to the bottom of things that weren’t good and right, but also partly because his sister was involved, and he had finally realized that things weren’t at all what they’d seemed to be in the beginning.

  “I’d kind of like to see what else I can find out about Isa and her death. There has to be something we can do to find out if it really was accidental. Something more than a few photos on the Internet. If we can prove she was killed, maybe we can figure out what we’re missing. Maybe Lilly is related to Isa or something,” Joss said, a bit surprised that she’d even had that thought.