by Lynn Cahoon
“Now you’re pushing it. That’s all I’ve got for you, but I want to make sure you understand, if Paula didn’t kill Ben, someone else did. And that someone else is still out there. So you need to stay out of this investigation. Okay?” Greg held my gaze until I nodded.
“Figuring out who has been messing with my aunt is taking up my time anyway.” I stepped toward the coffee bar. “I’m just glad you’re not arresting Paula. Do you want something to drink?”
“Large coffee would be great. And this doesn’t mean Paula’s off the hook. I’m just trying to tie up some loose ends here. Hopefully, one of them leads us to Ben’s killer.” He sat down next to Toby. “I saw your report. Nothing else to add?”
“No lights, no cars. Nothing.” He sipped his coffee, then yawned. “I’ll take a nap as soon as my shift’s over if you want me to go back tonight.”
“I think we should.” Greg glanced over at me. “Jill’s convinced that this time, the girlfriend didn’t do it. And I’m beginning to agree with her.”
“No problem, Boss.” Toby stood and refilled his cup. “So, what’s happening on the Jackie front? Have the calls stopped yet?”
I shook my head as I took Greg his coffee, then sat at the table next to him. “No, she got another one this weekend. After she went to a meet where he didn’t show. It’s like he’s trying to keep her off-balance.”
“A good con artist does that exact thing. I replaced her phone, so he shouldn’t be able to reach her, but we have a tracker on the shop phone. So if she gets a call, she needs to call it in. Immediately.” Greg stared at me.
“You tell her. She takes directions from me about as well as she takes my business suggestions.”
“I’ll remind her.” Toby glanced at the clock and went to the coffee bar, where he put on his apron. “She likes me.”
“Everyone likes you,” Greg grumbled. He turned to me. “So what are your plans today? Do I need to be worried?”
“I’m meeting Amy for lunch. Then home to Emma. I think I’ll do laundry today. Are you coming home for dinner?” It was better I didn’t mention the fact that Amy was bringing copies of Paula and Ben’s parking applications. The exercise probably wouldn’t turn up anything anyway.
“Maybe. I have a meeting in Bakerstown this afternoon to tell the district attorney I don’t feel I have enough to charge Paula. Which he’s going to fight, because he wanted to get this closed and off the books before election next month.”
“But you can’t charge her if she didn’t do it.” I knew the district attorney liked closing cases, especially murder investigations in small tourist towns. Having killers wandering the streets was bad for business, and bad for donations to political campaigns.
He stood and paused at the table. “That’s what I’m working toward. Do me a favor and be careful today. I don’t want to be worrying about you with all this on the table.”
“Believe me, I’m pretty well out of ideas on who could be conning Aunt Jackie. And besides my talk with Darla, I’ve stayed out of trying to get information on the murder.”
Greg shook his head. “And visiting both the Senior Project and Doc Ames. And if I checked your history on the laptop, I bet I could list a few more stops.”
“The visit to both of those spots was to help Aunt Jackie. I can’t help it if Doc Ames likes to chat.” I thought about my laptop and let Greg’s comment go at that. He would find Ben’s name in my searches.
We said our goodbyes, and with Toby already set up, I headed out to Diamond Lille’s to meet up with Amy. She’d already arrived, so I weaved through the tables and plopped down in the other side of the booth. Amy was eating fried green tomatoes and had a chocolate shake sitting in front of her. A vanilla one sat at my side of the booth. “I take it you’ve had a bad day.”
Amy looked up and wiped the grease from her mouth before speaking. “Good! You’re here. I was worried about your shake.”
“I can see that.” I glanced at the menu. I should get a salad since this was my second visit to Diamond Lille’s this week. But the French dip was calling my name. I compromised and got the sandwich with a side salad when a new waitress came and got our order.
“And for you? Are you good?” The girl’s name tag said “Trixie,” but I knew Trixie had left a few months ago. This woman was probably just using that tag until Lille got a new one made up. Lille liked to conserve both energy and money by reusing as much as possible.
“No way. I haven’t even ordered my lunch.” Amy rolled her eyes in my direction, then ordered Lille’s special Ham-oneer, a double cheeseburger with a slice of fried ham on the top. It was pretty amazing. After the waitress left, she handed some folded papers to me. “That’s a copy of both parking permits and the occupancy permit Paula filed a few years ago. Apparently, she moved from Bakerstown and he moved in just about a year ago.”
I glanced over the information. Everything was pretty basic and information I already knew until they got to references. Paula had completed hers with friends and relatives. When she filled out the form for Ben, she’d put herself and a few people I’d met at the Senior Project. “The handwriting is the same, so Paula must have completed these.”
“I agree. And from what I saw on Ben’s application, the guy didn’t have any friends or relatives in the state to put down on the page.” Amy finished off the last tomato in two bites, then set the plate to the side of the table.
“Or Paula didn’t know any of them.” I considered this lack of information another clue. A clue I’d told Greg I wasn’t going looking for, so how did I get him to ask the same question and get the same nonresponse? “It’s curious, that’s all.”
“I could list many of Justin’s friends and coworkers. A few of the phone numbers are in my contact list. So why, if they were living together, didn’t Paula have this information?”
The not-Trixie dropped off our lunches and set down a variety of ketchups and sauces. “I’ll be right back to refill your water glasses. But is there anything else I can get you?”
I glanced at the steaming au jus on my plate. “I’m good. What about you, Amy?”
“This is fine.” Amy dismissed the girl without a look. “Are you going to give those papers to Greg?”
“I don’t know.” I didn’t want to admit I’d just told him I wasn’t investigating the murder. There had to be another way to get him the information. “It’s complicated.”
“Then I’ll uncomplicate it. I made a second copy. I’ll drop them off with Esmeralda this afternoon. It will give me a chance to get away from Marvin. That guy is driving me crazy.”
As Amy went into all the current sins of her boss, my phone rang. Glancing at the display, I saw it was Sadie. “Hold that thought.” I pointed to my phone. “Sadie’s calling.”
“Tell her I said hi.” Amy dug into her burger as I answered the phone.
“Hey, Sadie, what’s happening?”
“Oh, Jill. I’m so glad I reached you. I don’t know what to do. It’s a complete mess.” Sadie sounded like she was on the verge of tears.
“Calm down, Sadie. What’s a mess?” I watched as Amy devoured three French fries at the same time.
“The house; someone broke into my house.”
Chapter 14
I’d gotten my lunch to go and hurried over to Sadie’s house after instructing her to stay outside and call 911 immediately. I’d been shocked to hear that she’d called me first, but then again, I knew my friend. She probably hadn’t wanted to make a big deal out of the break-in if it wasn’t a real problem. Sadie saw the best in everyone. Which was her greatest strength and one of her weaknesses.
Sometimes people weren’t looking out for the best of humankind. Only what seemed to be the best for themselves. Greg called me jaded. I called Sadie naïve. We were both probably a little right and a little wrong.
I found her sitting outside her
house on the front step, talking with Greg’s other deputy, Tim. Tim had beat me there and had a South Cove police cruiser parked in Sadie’s driveway, right behind the purple PT Cruiser she used for deliveries for her business, Pies on the Fly. When she saw me, she stood on shaky legs and waited for me to come closer so she could hug me.
“Oh, Jill. I feel so violated. How could someone do this to my lovely little house? Why?” She sobbed into my shoulder as I looked at Tim.
“Tell me what happened.” I got Sadie back to a sitting position and handed her a pack of tissues I had in my tote for just such emergencies.
“I was out doing my deliveries for most of the morning. I finished baking around six and went inside to take a little nap. Then, about nine, I left to do my deliveries. I dropped Paula off at the church. She’s been helping out Pastor Bill with some clerical work until she can go back to her own job.” Sadie repeated the words like she’d studied them from rehearsing a play. “I got home just after twelve. I walked right in. Oh, Jill, what if he’d still been here?”
“He?” I glanced at Tim, who shrugged.
“Typically, it’s a guy. And he’d have to be pretty strong to bust in the back door like that.” He looked down at Sadie and put a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll run up to Bakerstown Hardware and get you a new door and lock. I’ll call in some buddies of mine and get it installed right after work.”
“Oh, Tim, that would be so amazing. I’m not sure I’d feel safe in my own house if I couldn’t lock the door.” Sadie smiled up at the younger man with tear-filled eyes. “You are such a good man.”
“Now you don’t worry about anything. The crime lab should be here in a few minutes. Do you want to go somewhere with Jill until we have this place back to normal?” Tim was talking to Sadie but looking at me.
I nodded at his unspoken question. “Yes, let’s go hang out at the shop for a while. I can get you some food from Diamond Lille’s and we’ll have lunch.”
“That would be lovely. Maybe it would take my mind off what happened.” Sadie stood, blowing her nose gently. She peered at my takeout bag. “It looks like you already have a lunch. I didn’t disturb you when you were eating, did I?”
Before I could answer, she shook her head. “Of course, I did interrupt something. You were already at lunch, weren’t you?”
“No worries. I was eating with Amy when you called. She had to get back to City Hall anyway.” I glanced over at Sadie. She looked like she hadn’t eaten yet. That I could fix. I couldn’t do a lot of things, like run down a suspect, but I could feed my friend. “Tim doesn’t need you here, so let’s go hang at the shop. If he has a question, he can reach us there.”
Sadie picked up her purse and started walking toward me. “Do you think I should call Nick at school? I don’t want to worry him, and he has midterms coming up, so I’d rather not.”
“You can tell him the next time he calls. Besides, by then, you’ll have more information and you’ll be stronger. He could probably hear your fear if you called now.” I took Sadie’s arm and lead her down the street toward Main. I would call Tim or Greg later to see when they thought Sadie could come back. And there was the issue of Paula. It was a bad time for a break-in. Of course, maybe there’s no good time for a break-in. I felt Sadie pause, so I quickened my step toward the shop. “We really miss Nick at the shop. I know it’s just part-time work until he gets out of school and a real job, but he’s part of the CBM family now. And besides, he’s very perceptive for his age.”
“I raised a good boy.” Sadie smiled, but the action looked strange on her pasty-white face. “I can’t believe Tim is taking care of my door after work. He attends service with his fiancée at the church. Her name’s Winn. She’s in my woman’s bible study group. Very personable. She’s getting a business degree over at the college.”
I knew Sadie was chattering due to her nerves, but I was happy to learn more about Tim and his girlfriend. He’d been working for Greg for a while now and not once had I seen the guy out socially. And in a small town, that’s saying a lot. Greg said he had a second job in security at Bakerstown College, so maybe that’s where he’d met this Winn. I added in things like, “You don’t say” and “You got that right.” By the time we’d reached the shop, I could hear Sadie’s nervousness leave her tone.
After sitting down at one of the tables, she took my arm. “Sorry I’m such a chatterbox today. I didn’t even let you get a word in edgewise. I guess I’m more shook up than I wanted to admit.”
“No problem. What can I get for you? My treat.”
Sadie rattled off a drink and cookie order and took out her phone. “I need to talk to Pastor Bill and have him make arrangements for Paula. With all that’s going on with her, she doesn’t need my misfortune to deal with. I’ll bring her back to my house tomorrow, after things are back to normal.”
I walked over to the coffee bar, where Toby had already made Sadie’s drink and poured me a cup of coffee. He paused at the dessert bar. “Tim called me and told me you were coming over. Can I call in a food order for Sadie?”
“Please. I don’t think getting her on a sugar high is the best bet.” I set my lunch into the small fridge under the coffee bar. “I’ll figure out what she wants, and if you could run, I’ll watch the shop.”
“No problem.” He handed me a plate with four cookies. “A few to keep you occupied. Tim says it’s weird. According to what Sadie told him, there doesn’t seem to be anything missing.”
“Do you think maybe you were watching the wrong house last night?” Paula had to be the reason Sadie’s house had been broken in to. Or something the thief thought Paula had at Sadie’s. Unless the culprit was just looking for her double chocolate brownies, Sadie lived a pretty low-key lifestyle. I called it being a minimalist. She said she just didn’t need a lot.
“Believe me, the thought had crossed my mind.” He lowered his voice. “Do you know where Paula is right now? I think Greg is going to want to talk to her.”
“The church. According to Sadie, she’s working with Pastor Bill. But I think they’re going to put her somewhere else tonight.” I was glad Sadie wasn’t bringing her back. And if I could talk her out of the woman coming back at all, I was going to try. But with most of life, some things were out of my control.
Toby followed me with the drinks as I took the cookies back to the table. “Sadie, give Toby your lunch order and he’ll call it in and run to get it.”
“Just get me the soup and sandwich special. Tuna on white, please.” She patted Toby’s arm. “Thank you so much for handling this. I could go myself…”
“But Jill won’t let me.” I smiled, finishing the sentence for her.
Sadie laughed. “You are a pretty intense person. I’d never want to get on your bad side.”
“I have to take care of my friend, right? Besides, who will make these amazing cookies if you’re not around?” I decided to see what she knew about the murder. “So, how’s Paula?”
Toby shook his head as he walked away to call in the order. I thought I heard him mutter something like “Leave it to Jill.” Or maybe it was “Leave it alone, Jill.” But I ignored both directions and focused on Sadie.
“She’s still shook up. Of course, the fact that her work friends are being just awful doesn’t help. Can you believe they are telling people that Ben wanted to break up with her? According to Paula, they were making wedding plans. Sometimes people just want to gossip, you know.” Sadie sipped her drink, and I saw some color come back into her face. “Anyway, she’s starting to put her life together. The good thing was, they hadn’t combined much of their financial lives. Which was for the best. Until marriage, you shouldn’t deal with someone else’s money problems. I guess Ben had a lot of debt Paula was worried about.”
“That is a good thing.” I just wanted to keep Sadie talking. Maybe something she said would bring to light a new lead away from the idea th
at Paula had killed her boyfriend. It was sad to say, but the fact that Sadie’s house was hit might just give Greg the ammunition to convince the district attorney not to charge Paula.
At least that was the hope.
* * * *
Tim called at about five and said the lock had been replaced and Sadie could return to her home. Since Aunt Jackie had just come down and joined our group, Toby offered to walk Sadie home.
“Thank you for being such a good friend.” Sadie hugged me. “I know you’re concerned that having Paula with me isn’t safe, but really, it’s the right thing to do.”
“Tomorrow. Not tonight, right?” I met her gaze. “If it’s an issue of money, I’ll pay the hotel bill for the rest of the week if it keeps people from breaking in to your house.”
“Now, Jill, we don’t know that’s why the break-in occurred.” Sadie laughed and looked at Toby for support. When he shook his head, she sighed. “Okay, so it’s a strong possibility. And I’ll leave her where she is tonight. I could use some sleep.”
“Someone will be driving by a few times tonight just to make sure everything’s okay. But if you even hear a squeak, you better call 911.” Toby waited for Sadie to nod before turning to me. “Greg said to tell you that he would be home for dinner, but this development changes his plans.”
“Now, you tell Greg he doesn’t have to be ruining his evening just to check on me,” Sadie protested.
I held up a hand. “Sadie, have you ever met my boyfriend? Me telling him something is like talking to a brick wall. Besides, I’d be worried if he didn’t check on you. So don’t ruin my sleep, okay?”
“You are as tenacious as you are beautiful.” Sadie hugged me again. Then she put a hand on my aunt’s shoulder. “You take care of yourself and this stubborn niece of yours. I’ll see you tomorrow morning for your next delivery.”
I watched them walk out of the shop, then turned to my aunt. “It’s been a crazy couple of weeks around here.”
“You could say that.” Aunt Jackie sipped her coffee. “That woman is as sweet as the desserts she makes for us. Whoever broke into her house has to be as mean as a snake. Bad things shouldn’t happen to people that good.”
