“Oh,” was all Holly could say.
“Listen to me. You stay where you are. I’m sending a car to get you.”
“Is that really necessary?”
“Ms. Donnelly, stay where you are until a Pineland Park police car comes to get you. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, sir.” Holly rolled her eyes and made a face at Ivy.
“Ms. Donnelly, if you leave the house again to talk to a material witness in this case, I will arrest you for interfering in a police investigation. Do you understand me?”
“Yes.” Holly sighed.
“And this time I won’t release you until the investigation is over.”
“Fine. And you’re welcome for the information, Detective.” Holly disconnected before he could reply.
Ivy smiled. “I think he’s in love with you Holly.”
“Ivy…”
“I know, I know. Shut up.”
54 SPEED DIAL
“You think that was funny, huh?” Manelli snapped looking over at Rivera.
“No, sir,” Rivera said, turning her head to look out the passenger side window.
“Call headquarters. Have them send a squad car over to Hackensack Hospital. Give them that lunatic’s phone number and have them call her to tell her they’re on their way. Then call Dina Hagel and tell her I want to see her.”
When Rivera finished, she glanced over at Manelli, grinning.
“What’s so amusing, Rivera?”
“It’s just some of the female patrolmen were talking about Ms. Donnelly, that’s all.”
“Why?”
“They weren’t sure why you arrested her, seeing as how you released her the next morning without questioning her. But now I understand.”
“What do you understand?”
“Why you arrested her. The same reason you threatened to arrest her just now. She sounds like a handful.”
Manelli didn’t say anything and kept his eyes on the road. They passed exit 140 and would be back in Pineland Park in less than an hour.
“The girls said the Donnelly woman was kind of cute for her age,” Rivera said.
“I didn’t notice.”
“She’s about your age, isn’t she, sir?” Rivera pushed.
“If you want to go back to writing parking tickets, Rivera, just continue this line of questioning.”
Manelli’s phone rang. Rivera hit the speaker phone button.
“Detective Manelli, this is Officer Jensen. The Stiles family just got back home.”
“Good. Keep the patrol car there, Jensen. Officer Rivera and I are on the Parkway and should be back in Pineland Park in about forty minutes. We’ll go directly there.”
“Yes, sir.”
In thirty minutes, Manelli pulled up in front of the Stiles residence. He and Rivera got out of the car and went up the walk to the red-brick Georgian home. Manelli rang the bell.
“Yes?” A rather tall woman in her early forties answered the door. Her beads perfectly matched the pink jacket and short set she wore. “Can I help you?” she asked through the screen, making no move to open the door.
“Ma’am, I’m Detective Manelli. This is Officer Rivera. We’re with the Pineland Park Police Department.” Both displayed their badges for her inspection.
“Police?” she said carefully comparing the photos on the badges to the faces in front of her.
“We have some questions to ask you regarding the murder of Mrs. Edna Hagel. May we come in?”
“Edna was murdered! That can’t be! When? How?”
“May we come in?” Manelli repeated.
“Of course. Of course, come in.” Renee Stiles opened the door wide. “Let’s go into the living room.”
She closed the door and followed Manelli and Rivera into the living room. “Sit down. This is just awful. Was Edna murdered in her home next door?”
“Yes, she was.”
“That explains the police car across the street. I noticed it when the limousine dropped us off. This is just unbelievable. What happened?”
“Someone switched Mrs. Hagel’s medication which brought on a heart attack.”
“Are you sure she didn’t just make a mistake herself?”
“She was also stabbed with a gardening tool to make it look like the gardener killed her,” Manelli said.
Mrs. Stiles’ eyes widened. “What! Who would do such a thing?”
“That’s what we’re trying to find out. Where have you been for the last few days, Mrs. Stiles?”
“Me? I was on a cruise with my daughter. We just got back a little while ago.”
“How long ago did you book the cruise?”
“We didn’t book it. It was a gift.”
“A gift from whom?”
“My brother, Richie. He won a trip for two and had to work, so he came over and said Rita and I--Rita’s my daughter--should use it. He said no reason it should go to waste.”
“When did you learn about the trip?”
“Just the day before we left.”
“Why did your brother wait to the last minute to give the trip to you?”
“Wait a minute. Why are you asking me that?”
“Please just answer the question, Mrs. Stiles? Manelli said.
“Richie said he was hoping he could get someone to cover for him at work, but at the last minute they backed out.”
“Where does your brother work?”
“Evergreen Landscaping.”
Manelli paused, remembering the logo on the matchbook cover scan. “Is his last name Stiles?”
“No. Stiles is my married name. My maiden name was Mazer.”
“Does your brother have a key to this house?”
“Yes. This house belonged to our mother and father. When I divorced, Rita and I moved in with them. Richie lived here then, but he got his own apartment before Mom and Dad died. But why all these questions about Richie? You can’t think he’d have anything to do with this.”
“We think your brother may have been in your house while you were away and may have seen something that could help us find the murderer,” Manelli replied.
“I guess that’s possible. Richie comes and goes when he pleases. I actually told him to drop by and check on the place while we were away. To even stay here if he wanted.”
“Where does your brother live?”
“Clifton.”
“The exact address, please,” asked Officer Rivera.
“2200 Van Houten Avenue. But he’s not there.”
“Where is he?”
“When we got back we found a message Richie left saying he was leaving for his cabin in the Catskills to go fishing.”
“When?”
“The message was dated yesterday.”
“How can we reach him?” Manelli asked.
“You can’t. The cabin’s in the woods. No electricity. No phone.”
“But he has a cell phone, doesn’t he?”
“There’s no coverage where the cabin is. Richie has to hike down the mountain to use his cellphone.”
“Can you give us the exact location of the cabin?” Rivera asked.
“There’s no real address, but somewhere we have directions. Rita?” Mrs. Stiles called, turning toward the kitchen.
A teenage girl with purple hair and three rings pierced through her right nostril came in the room.
“Rita, these people are detectives from the police department.”
Rita’s eyes opened wide and the color drained from her face. Manelli had seen that look before. He wondered what she’d been up to. Probably smoking pot.
“Do you remember where we put the directions to Uncle Richie’s cabin in the Catskills?”
Rita finally exhaled and said, “I--uh --I dunno. Why?”
“Because Mrs. Hagel’s been murdered and the detectives think Uncle Richie may have witnessed something. They need to reach him.”
Rita looked relieved and the color began to return to her cheeks. Mrs. Stile’s continued. “Remember I a
sked Uncle Richie to give us something to let us know where he goes when he’s fishing or hunting?” Mrs. Stiles turned to the detectives. “I realized one day that if something happened, and we needed to get in touch with him, we had no idea how to reach him or even how to tell someone where he was, so I asked him to write something down for me.”
“Yeah, right,” Rita said. “Wait a minute.” She left the room and the familiar sounds of a junk drawer being rifled through came from the kitchen. Rita returned with a piece of paper and handed it to her mother.
“Yes, this is it. It’s even got a map. See,” she said, handing the paper to Manelli.
“Can we borrow this?” Manelli asked. “Officer Rivera will scan it and return it to you.”
“Certainly,” Mrs. Stiles replied. “Detective, should we be scared? Do you think there’s a crazy killer running loose in the neighborhood?”
“I wouldn’t leave any windows or doors unlocked if I were you.”
“This is just awful. I can’t believe it. And Mrs. Hagel was such a lovely person and a good neighbor.”
“One more question, Mrs. Stiles. Did your brother ever do work for Mrs. Hagel?”
“No. Richie tried to get her to hire Evergreen, but Edna preferred to work with day workers. I’ll never understand it. Dina told Richie her grandmother liked the day workers because they did exactly what she asked them to. Edna was a bit of a bleeding heart, I think.”
“Dina Hagel knew your brother?”
“Yes. They went to Pineland Park High School together. They even went to the prom together. But Mr. Hagel put an end to that. He didn’t think Richie was good enough for Dina.” Mrs. Stiles raised her eyebrows and wiggled her head from side to side.
Manelli stood up and got a business card out of his pocket. “Thanks for your help, Mrs. Stiles,” he said, handing her the card. “If you hear from your brother, please have him call me.”
“I will,” she said as she followed him and Officer Rivera to the door.
On the stoop outside, they heard the door locks turn. Manelli looked at his watch. 8:15 PM. He looked at the map and handed it to Rivera. “Have a squad car sent to Mazer’s apartment. If he’s there, tell them to bring him in for questioning. Then find out how long it’ll take to get to the last spot you can drive to on that map,” Manelli said as they got in the car.
Rivera placed the call, then loaded the information into her GPS and said, “Three hours and twenty minutes to the parking area on the map.”
“You got hiking boots?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll pick you up at 9:00 AM tomorrow,” he said.
“Cool. What about Dina Hagel?”
“She’ll probably lawyer up and call us on Monday anyway. In the meantime, I think Richie Mazer mugged Ivy Donnelly and very well may be the one who plunged that garden knife into Mrs. Hagel’s chest. He probably ran the Nowicki woman off the road, too.”
“Because the matchbook Holly Donnelly found was from Evergreen Landscaping and Mazer works for Evergreen, right?”
“You caught that, huh? Very good, Rivera,” Manelli said as he headed to her apartment building. He dropped her off and drove home. After pulling into the parking spot in front of his apartment, he got out his phone and called Holly’s cell number. It went straight to voice mail. Figures. He tapped in the house phone.
“Hello,” Ivy said.
“Hello, Ms. Donnelly. I see you got home safe and sound.”
“Yes, we did. The two policemen you sent were just dolls. We drove in the police car with Officer Watson and Officer Jefferson drove Holly’s car home. I’d never been in a police car before.”
Manelli smiled. “Glad you enjoyed it. Is your sister there?”
“Holly? Uh--she went to bed.”
“Could you wake her? I really need to talk to her.”
“Uh,sure. Hold on.”
Manelli could picture the scene--Ivy handing Holly the phone, Holly shaking her head, refusing to take it.
“Hello,” Holly finally answered.
“Just wanted to make sure you got home, Ms. Donnelly.”
“Yes, your policemen delivered us home safely.”
“I’m really glad to hear that. Now, I think our call got cut off in the car before, because I know you wouldn’t hang up on me, and I just want to make sure, we’re clear about what staying home means.”
“We’re clear.”
“Good. I’ve got your cell number now, so why don’t you keep your cellphone on you at all times. In fact, I’m going to put you on speed dial number 1, and I think you should do the same with my number. I’ll feel a lot better knowing you’re just one touch away.”
When Holly didn’t say anything, he smiled. “You still there?”
“Yes.”
“So you’ll put me on your Speed Dial?”
“Whatever you say, Detective.”
“Hmm. I like the sound of that.”
“Good night.” For the second time today, Holly disconnected before he could say any more.
This time Manelli laughed out loud as he put the phone back in his pocket.
55 HOUSEBOUND
“UGH! I can’t stand this. I feel like a prisoner.” Holly dropped onto the patio chaise, pulling off her gardening gloves.
Ivy handed her a glass of ice water and sat down on the loveseat. “It’s better than being in a hospital bed.”
“I know you’re right, but what kills me is we don’t even know what’s going on. I mean, what are the police doing today? What are they doing with the information we gave them? Have they arrested Dina Hagel?”
Ivy sighed. “I’d like to know that, too, but no sense making yourself crazy.”
“On the bright side, we got a lot of weeding done today.” Holly smiled. “I’m always amazed at how much we accomplish together.”
“It is better working as a team.”
Holly’s smile turned into a frown. “I just realized that your flight back to South Carolina is just three days from now.”
“I know. I looked at my ticket on the dresser this morning.” Ivy took a long draught from the water glass.
“We didn’t get to do anything we planned. I’m so sorry.” Holly shook her head.
“Don’t be. We can always tour historic homes and go see plays. We actually got to do something amazing this week. We helped Juan and Leonelle.”
“I guess we did, didn’t we? Listen, I know I promised not to bring it up, but I really do want you to move up here with me.”
“I know you do, but…” Ivy looked down at her lap then back up at Holly. “I don’t want to.”
“Why not?” Holly asked, her facial expression registering disbelief.
“I love you, Holly, but after taking care of Dave and all those years of being the primary caregiver for Mom and Dad, I need a little time to be on my own. It’s funny, but after all that’s happened since I got here, I actually feel--I don’t know--a little braver, a little more confident that I can take care of myself. Besides, I think you need to deal with some issues on your own, too.”
“Like what?”
“Like why you’ve never moved on after your break-up with Brian.”
“I’ve moved on.”
“In ten years, you’ve never had another relationship. That’s not moving on.”
“I can’t help it if I haven’t met anyone.”
“You’ve met Nick Manelli.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“How can you not see that he’s interested in you?”
“What do you want for lunch?” Holly asked, standing up.
“Changing the subject doesn’t change things, Holly.”
“Hey, I know. Let’s go down to the Boathouse Café.”
“Manelli told us not to leave home.”
“We can see home from the Café. C’mon. Let’s shower and change. I’m up for a veggie wrap and a double scoop of ice cream.”
“That does sound, pretty good. I guess you’re right. We ca
n see the café from the house and vice versa. Just make sure you take your cell phone. Did you put Manelli on speed dial, like he asked?”
“IVY! Were you listening to our conversation?”
“Yes, I was, which is why I know this man is crazy about you.”
“We’re not going to discuss this.” Holly picked up her glass and went in the house.
***************
“What a gorgeous day!” Ivy said as she licked the outside of her mocha ice cream cone.
“Yeah, it doesn’t get much better than this. You sure I can’t talk you into staying at least through the fourth of July?”
“No. I have just enough time to go home and get in some groceries and prepare for your visit. You drive down with Lucky like we planned. You know you love the pool and the Greenville Fireworks. There are some new restaurants downtown I’m dying to try, too.”
“Yeah, I guess we must keep up the tradition. After these past two weeks, some time poolside does sound appealing.”
The sisters finished their ice cream cones, watching the geese paddle around the pond.
“I have to use the rest room. I’ll be right back,” Ivy said.
“Okay. I’ll wait for you here.”
Holly sat watching as some mallards glided by. At least she and Ivy got this one perfect day at home. She started making a mental checklist of things she needed to do before leaving on her drive to South Carolina in another week. Stop the paper and the mail. Pack.
About five minutes went by and Ivy hadn’t returned. Must have been a line. Holly looked at her watch. 2:15 PM. When a few more minutes passed, she got up, threw her water bottle in the recycle bin, and went in the back door and through the Boathouse, out the front and around the side. She tapped on the Ladies’ Room door, and heard a flush. She stepped back and waited for Ivy to finish. When the door opened, a young girl emerged.
Where’s Ivy? Holly walked along the outside of the boathouse to the back deck. Ivy wasn’t there. She ran up the steps and into the café. No Ivy. Trying to keep the panic she felt out of her voice, she asked at the counter if they’d seen her sister. When the girls working the counter said no, Holly started to tremble. She ran back out the front door and scanned the park. No sign of Ivy. Dear Lord! Please don’t let this be happening.
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