by Lynn Cahoon
“I don’t know. Have you talked to him lately? The man acts like he got up on the wrong side of the bed. He came in for our monthly meeting and about bit my head off for missing some report. That’s one of the reasons I’ve been working so many hours. Bill wanted more reports.” He glanced at the clock and leaned over to give me a quick kiss. “I’ve got to go. See you at home.”
As he was walking out of the shop, I almost felt bad about not telling him what I planned on doing. On the other hand, he couldn’t tell me no if he didn’t know. Better to ask forgiveness than permission would be carved on my tombstone.
Two more hours and Deek would be here to take over. I pulled out my clues notebook and started making a list of questions I wanted to ask the gang. Maybe this old incident had nothing to do with why Levi was killed. But I didn’t like the fact that Greg refused to talk about it. Didn’t he always say that knowing the victim was the best way to figure out why they were killed?
I’d made my notes, cleaned the front of the shop, and completed next week’s book order and still had an hour on my shift. For a Friday, this was turning out to be a slow day. I took a book off the Advance Reader Copy pile and curled up on the couch. By the time Deek showed up, I was lost in the world of fantasy built by the author. I half expected my barista to show his elfin ears and talk to me in the ancient language, rather than his surfing lingo.
“Dude, it’s totally dead out there. I hear a bus crashed down the road on Highway 1. I don’t think we’ll see any traffic for at least three hours.” Deek pulled his bike bag off his shoulder and deposited it behind the counter. He plopped down next to me on the couch. “I read that book earlier this week. The critics are saying he’s the new Tolkien, but I wouldn’t go that far.”
“I’m enjoying it.” I slipped a bookmark to mark my place and then I put the book into my tote. I should have time tonight to finish reading, especially if, as I suspected, Greg would be late. “So how did you get here if the highway is closed?”
“I’m coming from the north. My mom has a house in Bakerstown. The wreck was south of here.” Deek sat upright. “Hey, I just wanted to tell you that I’m really digging the job. The kids are great and it’s like you’re paying me to play and talk about my favorite books.”
“You’re doing a good job.” I looked around the empty shop. “Make sure you have your plans set up for the next book club. And write up a proposal for a young adult author visit when you have time. We haven’t done one for a few months.”
“Who do you want me to propose?”
I stood and stretched. “Not my job. I want you to figure out who to invite.”
“Cool, I can do that.” The grin on his face told me that he thought it was more than just cool.
My cell rang. The caller ID showed it was Amy. “Hey, what’s up?”
“I found the file you were looking for.” Amy paused. “I think you need to see this.”
I stepped toward the door. “See what?”
“Just come by.” Amy disconnected at her end.
CHAPTER 13
It took me just a few minutes to run over to City Hall. I was out of breath when I pushed through the front doors and saw Amy talking on the phone. She waved me over to her desk. I took a bottle of water out of the cooler that Mayor Baylor kept in the lobby with a big sign: WELCOME TO SOUTH COVE, PLEASE HELP YOURSELF. The free water really was for official visitors only, but what he didn’t know got me a bottle every visit. I sank into her visitor chair and cracked open the bottle and waited for Amy to get off the phone.
“Mrs. Davis, I’m sorry, but no one in the police station or the mayor is available right now. Kids like to splash and play in backyard pools. I’m sure no one’s being killed.” Amy rolled her eyes as she listened to another barrage of complaints from the speaker on the other end of the phone.
I set the bottle down and Amy pushed a file toward me. I opened it and started reading. The application was pretty standard: name, address, what kind of shop they were opening, financials, and then near the bottom, I saw it. Vladimir Petrov had an immigration sponsor listed as part of his record.
“Levi Wallace?” I looked at Amy who nodded and my gaze dropped back to the file. I couldn’t believe what I was reading.
She covered the mouthpiece of the phone and whispered. “The phone number isn’t Levi’s.” She waited for me to look back up at her. “The outgoing message was in a woman’s voice, although she didn’t give her name.”
I sank back into the chair and re-read the business application. Had Jessica lied when she’d said she didn’t know Vladimir, or his daughter? My thoughts circled around the reason why Levi would be Vlad’s sponsor. Could the little girl have been right? Could Jessica be the sister Vladimir claimed was still in Russia? I wondered who I needed to talk to, Jessica or our newest business owner. Or could this just be one of the rare instances where Levi had done something nice without any other reason? Maybe I should just tell Greg or Terrance?
Amy finished her phone call, promising to send a car out to Mrs. Davis’ house as soon as there was someone available. I was pretty sure the chore would fall on Tim since Toby was off for a couple of days. “So where was the file?”
Amy smiled and glanced back at the mayor’s office. “See, that’s another weird thing. The Mayor had it in his locked middle drawer. Lucky for us, I have a key just in case he needs something out of the desk while he’s gone.”
“So why would Marvin have the file hidden in his desk? Isn’t it policy to file it in the file room?”
Amy took the file and pointed to a spot on the top. “The other weird thing is the mayor and Bill have both signed off on the business, but there is no date stamp. Every application that comes into the office is date stamped by me before it goes to anyone else for approval. I never saw the application.”
I thought about what this might mean. To Levi’s death? Probably nothing. To the mystery of where Jessica came from? Maybe it explained a lot. I didn’t know why they would try to keep their familial relationship a secret.
She handed me a new file and I opened it, confused. “It’s a copy of the other one. I’m putting the original back into Marvin’s desk. If you have to tell people you have it, I understand, but it might cost me my job.”
“Greg’s supposed to be getting the file too, so maybe he could force Marvin into giving it up without you getting involved. I’ll ask him.” I stuffed the file into my tote. “I’m not sure it’s anything but I do think it’s weird.”
“Where are you off to now?” Amy looked at an incoming e-mail and shook her head. “Tina has a list of promotions she wants done for the campaign. It’s a year away but Tina wants to be prepared, just in case someone dares to run against Marvin in the election.”
“Who does she think wants the job?” Greg had told me he was so not interested in politics. And no one on the council had expressed wanting to give up their real life to become mayor. Mayor Baylor may have been a pain, but at least we knew what we got with him.
Amy shrugged. “Actually, I think she has a few other people on her watch list, including Bill. I think he’s tired of keeping the mayor in check.”
“I’m heading to The Castle to talk to Brenda.” And a few others, I silently added. “Greg’s been asking me to help with the investigation, but he doesn’t seem too interested in the information I’m finding. I think he’s jealous that he can’t be working the case.”
As I thought about his actions, I wondered if I’d nailed the problem. I’d never known Greg to be jealous over anything. Especially not something as stupid as an investigation where neither one of us had the legal ability to do anything.
I walked home to get my car. It was too far to hoof it to The Castle. Besides, I wanted to let Emma outside, so she didn’t have to hold it in. My phone message machine had a flashing light. Yes, I still had a real message machine with a tape. My aunt didn’t even use one. My message machine had come from the prior owner of the house, Miss Emily. I had added my own
outgoing message, but the machine had let me store the earlier one. It was silly, but knowing I could at least listen to her voice, comforted me.
I pushed the button and for a few seconds, all I heard was silence. Then I heard the hesitant voice. “Miss Gardner, this is Josh Thomas. Your next door neighbor in town?” He paused and then kept talking. Like I’d really could have forgotten Josh in the last two days. “I’d like to talk to you about some weird things I’m seeing around town. I don’t want to involve the police unless it’s absolutely necessary. Maybe it’s just cultural differences I’m observing.”
The phone went dead. Great, I had another place to stop. I bet Josh just wanted to talk about the wind machines that would keep the ocean smell out of town. Or more likely, he didn’t like the kids who were hanging around the bookstore in the afternoons reading and mostly drinking water. I’d let that go, but Josh could be persistent and I didn’t want Deek to have to deal with our frantic neighbor.
I got Emma back into the house and took off toward the highway. Heading north, I could reach The Castle just a couple of roads after turning onto the road, but I got to see the ocean for a bit before I had to turn off and head inland.
The sea gulls were playing in the wind and I thought about Emma and our usual runs on the beach. Next week, I promised to myself and my dog. I was at the front gate in less than ten minutes. The ticket booth was shuttered with a big closed sign in the window. I guessed Terrance had sealed up the place after Levi’s death or at least didn’t want a ton of tourists walking through potential crime scenes. I was sure that Brenda was going to start squawking about the length of time they’d been unable to have tours. It had to affect her bottom line which as a nonprofit was hard enough to meet.
I stepped over the chain blocking admittance and headed to Brenda’s office. I’d start here and maybe I wouldn’t need to talk to the family about Levi’s past discretions. I liked wishful thinking—it kept me upbeat and positive, even when I knew my conclusion was totally off.
Fifi, her oversized standard poodle, met me at the door and leaned into me to say hello. Brenda sat at her desk. “You know she’s not going to let you go until you pet her. You’re one of her favorite people from town.”
“I’ve missed seeing her.” I rubbed the dog’s tight curls, scratching her behind her ears. “How’s the circus? Do you expect to be released from the whole investigation scene anytime soon? I saw you had to close for tours. That stinks.”
“You’re telling me. And not only am I not getting the tours, now the accountant over at Levi’s office is making noises about maybe not covering these expenses. He charged the bachelor party on his personal card and luckily, I’d already billed that out before all this happened. I’ve been on the phone with his company all morning trying to make sure they will be paying for the food and lodging costs. These people are costing me a fortune.” She patted the desk in front of her. “Come sit and talk. I didn’t get to see much of you last weekend. What’s been going on?”
I wanted to ask besides the dead bridegroom? but thought it might be considered rude. I postponed talking about the elephant in the room or the dead guy in the pool and focused on something I knew she’d expect. “I missed you at the Business-to-Business meeting.”
“I know but I actually have a good excuse. Terrance came by and wanted me to walk him through the weekend events one more time.” She held her right hand up in a salute. “Scouts honor.”
When I didn’t respond, she dropped her hand and shrugged. “Okay, so I suggested Tuesday morning might be a good time for him to stop by.”
“I knew it.” I shrugged. “Really you didn’t miss much. Bill was in a bad mood. Josh had a list of complaints about the city departments and our new business owner, Vladimir of Russian Collectibles didn’t show up.”
“So basically, business as usual, except for Bill. He’s usually Mr. Sunshine. Mary’s been out of town a lot visiting the grandbaby, maybe that’s got him twisted.”
That idea hadn’t occurred to me. I’d have to ask Aunt Jackie if she knew if Mary was in town this week. The two of them were BFFs and before my aunt started planning this wedding twenty-four seven, the women acted more like Thelma and Louise, without the car chase. “Maybe. So how are things here? I bet the gang is itching to go home.”
“The former bride-to-be stays in her room. The only time I’ve seen her leave is for walks around the grounds with the older woman, Lois? And of course, she met with that nice man. The guy who missed your meeting. What did you say his name was? Vladimir?”
“Wait, Vladimir came to The Castle to meet with Jessica?”
“He brought her a small bouquet of flowers to express his sympathy. It was really sweet. She walked right up to him and laid her head on his shoulders and cried. I haven’t seen her be that connected with anyone since she arrived last week with Levi.” She tapped her pen on the desk. “I guess he found out through the town gossip mill?”
I thought it was more than that, but I didn’t want to spread my own gossip without knowing the truth. I just went with the basics. “That was nice of him.”
A chime announced an e-mail coming into her computer. She glanced at the heading and sighed. “I don’t know what the board wants from me. They know I can’t open the museum part until the police say I can and yet, I get daily e-mails asking for an update.”
“The board sounds concerned. Wasn’t the place doing well?” I tried to make my questions sound conversational.
“You know nonprofits. We’re always living on a tight budget. I admit, the strings got a little tighter this year, but nothing we wouldn’t have bounced back from.” She stopped tapping her pen and pointed it at me. “You’ve heard the rumors about the society selling The Castle, haven’t you?”
“Guilty as charged. Are they just rumors?” I decided to put my cards on the table.
“Mostly. I mean, the board did entertain a few ideas about switching this up to a full-time hotel rather than just renting out a few rooms here and there.” That’s why they allowed me to accept the bachelor party. It was supposed to be a trial run of what a full-service hotel might entail.” The phone rang and she picked up the receiver rubbing her neck as she answered. “The Castle, Brenda Morgan here.”
I heard part of the conversation, then she put the call on hold. She turned toward me. “Sorry, I’ve got to take this. I’ll come into town soon and we can do lunch. My treat.”
I stood, knowing I’d been dismissed. I wondered if it was another board member on the phone. Did Levi’s death change the fact he’d bought the place? Or did it disband the whole deal? These are the things I wanted to know but didn’t have time to ask. “Sure, I’ll see you soon.”
As I walked out of the cottage holding Brenda’s office, I ran straight into Lois and MaryAnne.
“What are you doing here?” Lois gave me a quick hug and nodded to the patio around the pool. “We’re going out to meet Allison and the rest for a few drinks before dinner. Want to join us?”
“I’ve got my car so I can’t drink, but I can hang out for a while.” I fell into step with the women. “So what have you been up to?”
“A big fat nothing.” MaryAnne took a drag off her cigarette and blew out the smoke. “I’ve gone through more cartons here in a week than I typically do at home in a month.”
“I hear quitting is hard.”
She barked out a laugh. “Dear, I don’t want to quit. I just don’t want to be smoking nonstop because there isn’t anything else to do.”
We were getting close to the pool. I put my hand on Lois’s arm. “Hey, can I ask you a question?”
We stopped in the middle of the courtyard where the fountain sat. The path went off in four directions around the fountain. She pointed to the brick ledge around the bubbling water. “Sit down, we don’t have to rush.”
MaryAnne narrowed her eyes, but kept walking. “I’ll see you out by the pool.”
When she was out of ear shot, Lois leaned closer. “I’m glad
she left. She never could hold a secret. So did you find out more about the deal?”
“I’m still working on that. But my question goes back farther. Back to high school actually.” I didn’t want to show all my cards right now, especially since I could see by the look on her face that I’d hit a nerve. “Did you go to the same high school as Levi and Greg?”
“Of course I did. Everyone here did. Well, except Allison. She was home schooled, but even if she had gone to Foster High, she would have gone years after we did. The girl’s a lot younger than Mikey, but I guess you knew that.” Her gaze darted back and forth, showing me her nerves.
“So, tell me about what happened to Levi?”
Now, she just stared at the ground. “It wasn’t his fault. He didn’t do anything to that kid.”
“You know that for a fact?” If I acted like I knew what she was talking about, I might get more information than if I kept asking general questions.
“Of course. Look, the guy kept picking on Levi. Everyone picked on him. So one day, Levi played a trick on him. Some sort of chemistry prank that caused the guy’s face to turn blue.” Lois’s lips curved at the memory. “Then the guy sucker punched Levi in a parking lot after a chess tournament. Levi went to the hospital and the guy disappeared. I guess he was worried that Levi would turn him into the cops.”
“Wait, I thought he was found dead.” I thought about the article. It had said that Levi was cleared of any wrongdoing in the death.
“The guy was stupid. He went out to his father’s hunting cabin and accidentally shot himself. Even the coroner said that it was an accident. His dad was part of the city council though and was convinced that his little boy couldn’t have died that way. It was sad, really.”
“Hey you two, the drinks are flowing. What are you doing out here?” Butch stood at the edge of the path leading to the pool. “Is Greg coming out too?”
“Actually, Greg’s working and I need to get back. I’ve got to take over for my aunt’s shift, she’s not feeling well this evening.” I waved off the margarita he tried to hand me. “Thanks for the talk, Lois. I needed some advice.”
