Megan didn't know what to say. She had never seen -- or heard -- Alice so intent on causing somebody else harm. She could understand it, but she had never expected it from such a quiet, meek woman.
"Alice, I promise I will do everything in my power to help. And whoever did this will be brought to justice. The police will handle the arrest, and the courts will handle the punishment. I will be there to assist in any way I can. Now is there anything you need?"
"No, no. I'm well taken care of. And my daughters are both coming in from out of state sometime today, so things will be easier for me when they arrive. At least then I won't feel guilty about going home to grab a quick shower and a short nap. Oh, there’s always somebody here, but it's different when there's family."
Megan nodded her head in understanding and patted at the woman on her back. Alice looked at the younger woman and saw the kindness in her eyes.
"You go on and go about your business, Megan. The best thing you can do for me is to be actively looking into catching these thugs that hurt Lewis."
After making sure that the woman was sincere, Megan took her leave. As she looked back, she hoped Alice would get a small nap before the next entourage of visitors arrived in the waiting room. She was almost to the exit when she heard her name called and turned to see Sheriff Green waving to her. She stopped in her tracks and waited for him to catch up.
"Did you just come from Alice? How she holding up?"
"Amazingly well. She's got a little feisty mad going on and I think that's helping her. By focusing in on the injustice, she's not dwelling on her husband on life support. There's been no change in Lewis’s condition."
Sheriff Green nodded his head, agreeing with her comment, before he spoke.
"Megan, I considered what you said about him seeing the reflection of his attacker in the window and I think you're right. When he wakes up, he'll be able to identify whoever put him in the ICU. I’ve got an officer posted by his room at all times, just to be on the safe side. Has Zoe made any progress on the files from Joe’s office?"
"I'm on my way there next, Sheriff. If she found anything, I'll call you right away. When she's finished there, I will take her over to Joe's house with me. Maybe between the two of us, we can do a comparison of the files that have been disturbed from both offices and see if anything is consistent."
The sheriff nodded his head in agreement and was about to say something to her when his radio squawked. Speaking into the mouthpiece, he answered, and she heard Deputy Young report that there had been another attempted car break-in along Main Street. The sheriff listened for a moment and then responded to the deputy with instructions. With a frustrated sigh he shook his head at Megan and complained.
"I don't know if it's a tourist, or it's because the tourist are here, but suddenly Citrus Beach is having a rash of car break-ins. All in public places, and all in broad daylight. You be careful out there, Megan, lock the car when you reach your destination, and don’t leave your valuables in plain sight."
Megan assured the sheriff she would take all the precautions necessary to keep herself and her property safe. After a few more comments, the two took their leave of each other, each ready to start on their next task.
When Megan reached the car dealership, she was surprised to find that Owen was not in that day. She felt a sense of relief, there was something about the younger man she did not like. She couldn't put her finger on it, but he made her uneasy. Waving to a couple of the other sales associates as she walked by, Megan headed to Joe’s office to check on her young assistant, and find out how she was progressing with the job assigned to her.
When Zoe saw Megan walked to the door she got to her feet and greeted her boss with excitement. Grabbing her hand, she pulled her over to the stacks of files she had sorted on the desk.
"I haven’t attempted to file anything yet, but I want you to see what I've discovered." Picking up one of the file, she pointed to the label on the file.
"Each of these files has the same label. And I remember Joe saying that the label meant the file regarded a car that had recently purchased or leased.” Putting the file in her hand back down, she picked up another one and showed Megan the different label.
"This label indicates a new vehicle that has either just arrived or is coming onto the lot. Inside each of these files, Joe has a checklist of everything that needs to be done to the vehicle before can be put on the sales floor for sale."
Megan nodded her head, she understood the difference in files and waited for the younger woman to continue.
"Okay, this is gonna sound really stupid, but the files that have the most amount of stickiness to them, which I'm assuming is from the jelly doughnuts, or that smell like cigars, are the files of the cars that have not been put on the sales floor yet."
Megan looked at her young assistant, pleased with the work she had done. This was a good solid lead, but now Megan had to figure out what to do with it and what it meant. Taking the file from Zoe's hand she opened it up to look at it for herself. Sure enough there was evidence of sticky substance on the paperwork, and the aroma of cigar assaulted her senses as she opened the file. Megan knew for a fact that Joe did not smoke cigars, he was a pipe smoker, and he would never smoke in his office or on the sales floor. He firmly believed in not disturbing the famed new car smell buyers wanted. Megan figured he was right; she would never buy a car that smelled of cigars, pipes, or even jelly doughnuts.
Megan thought for a moment and realized with the information she had just been given, she could go to Joe's home office and do her own detecting. Zoe had plenty of work to do here. From the looks of some of the files, the young woman would be busy duplicating the files with clean paperwork. There was no way she would let sticky, smelly paperwork make its way into Joe's filing cabinet.
"This is great work, Zoe. And you've given me the next step to take. I think you know what needs to be done here, so I will leave you to it. Joe is due back over the weekend, and I would love to see his office back in order for when he arrives. You think this is doable?"
"I'll make it doable. Leave it to me, Megan. When I'm done Joe won't even know anything had happened here."
Megan laughed and gave the woman a quick hug and thanked her for her hard work before turning to head out the door. Joe’s house was next on her list of stops.
Chapter 18
Now that Megan had completed all her stops and was on her way to Joe’s house, she wished she had brought Barney with her. She hesitated before heading over the causeway to the beach, debating whether she should go back to the house and pick up the dog. A second later she decided that by the time she got him and then drove to Joe's house she could be done and driving home instead. She scolded herself for the nervousness that she felt. She'd been to Joe's house hundreds of times before by herself, without the dog or anyone else, and had never had any problems. Today would be no different. Reassuring herself, she glanced out the window as she drove over the main road that connected the island to the mainland by a series of bridges and causeways.
Like any other sunny day, plenty of people lined the edges of the bridge casting out their fishing nets. Some were serious fishermen, but just as many were there to enjoy the outdoors and the company of the other fishermen as they each bragged about their latest catch. There was a small parking area and as Megan drove by, she noticed the food truck parked there. As if on cue her stomach rumbled. On a whim, she pulled in to grab a quick snack. She knew the truck vendor, and his food was always good. As a matter of fact, most of it was provided by a local caterer who also provided food for most of the high-end parties on the island. The contrast between the clientele she served was a constant joke between her and Megan. The man who drove the food truck was the caterer’s younger brother, and he greeted Megan with a wave. Giving her a warm smile, he asked how she had been and why Barney wasn’t with her.
"I had to leave him home today. I was up at the hospital for a while visiting Lewis."
"Yeah, that's
a darn shame about Lewis. Can't believe it happened over here on the island. You know, there seems to be a bit of a crime wave going on."
"What do you mean," she asked puzzled.
"Oh, you just missed it. Some tourist had his brand-new car broken into while he was fishing. The thieves didn’t get anything, but they sure made a mess of his car. And from the looks of the wet sand, one of them stepped in the water before he tried to get in the car."
Megan looked at the man in front of her, curious about what he meant about the wet feet and asked him about it.
"Well where the guy had his car parked, it was really close to the dock and the only way he would've tracked wet sand into the car was if he had stepped off the dock and gotten wet. There's no other way for those wet footprints to show up. Talk about a clumsy crook."
The young man laughed as he handed Megan her order, and when she asked, he pointed to the spot where the car had been parked. Thanking him, she wandered away from his truck to examine the area in question. As she walked around she clearly saw the tire tracks next to the dock. Her friend was absolutely right. It would be impossible for someone to have gotten close to that side of the car without going off the side of the dock. Megan shook her head, puzzled by the obvious clues some burglars left behind: jelly from a doughnut, the scent of cigars, and now sandy footprints. If she didn't know better she would've thought, they were deliberately leaving a trail for somebody to follow.
Megan finished her snack about the same time she finished her inspection. Wiping the crumbs from her fingers on the back side of her jeans, she headed back to her own car and continued on her way to the beach house. There was little traffic, and when she pulled into Joe’s driveway she realized that she had passed no one on her way. Tucking her purse under the seat she grabbed her keys and headed to the front door. Looking around her she saw no one, and after unlocking the door stepped inside quickly, closing the door behind her and relocked the door. She was furious with herself for being so nervous, but she couldn't help it. Something felt off about the whole situation.
As she walked into the home’s foyer, she could still see evidence of the police investigation, but she ignored it and made her way to Joe's office. Her goal today was to go over the paperwork and see if she could match anything up to what they had found at the dealership. She was pleased to see a light on in the office. Whoever had been there last had made some effort to straighten the mess left behind by the intruders. Of course they didn't know where everything went, but least the chairs were upright, the lamp was back on the table, and the cushions were back on the sofa. The return to normalcy helped calm her nerves.
Sitting down in the big leather chair, she grabbed the first pile of paperwork and pulled it towards her. Now that she knew what to search for it didn't take long to sort the paperwork into piles similar to Zoe’s back at the dealership. Twenty minutes later she had a stack of paperwork solely dealing with the cars that had not been processed through the dealership showroom yet. Pushing the other paperwork to the side, she settled back into the chair to make herself a little more comfortable and began to go over each file in more depth. It was clear to her that the cars in question were all brand-new, never driven. They were mostly cars designated to be leased to potential customers. She noticed that they were either very high end, expensive cars or more off-road cars; the type that a tourist would rent for a long vacation or a winter break down south. Very few of the cars in the stack were run-ofthemill, family-style cars.
She stared at the paperwork in her hands, wondering what it all meant. But as hard as she stared at the papers, no answers came to her. There was something there in the back of her mind, but she just couldn't grasp it. As if to push it even further from the front of her mind, her cell phone rang, distracting her completely.
Glancing at the screen, she saw that the call was from Janice. She answered it before it could ring a second time.
"Hey Janice, what's up?"
"Not much. Things seem to be running pretty smoothly. However, I just got a call from the post office notifying me that they have a package there that needs to be picked up and signed for. I can't get away. I know you're out and about, would you mind stopping by on your way back to the office? It would really help out."
"Not a problem, it's right on my way. I think I'm just about finished here. I'll swing by and pick it up before they close. Any idea what it is?"
"Not a clue. But it is addressed to you. It's probably something you ordered online. Have you been clothes shopping again?"
Megan could hear the teasing in her assistance voice. They both knew she had a habit of sitting in front of the computer late at night, ordering what she couldn't find in the local shops.
“Guilty as charged. But this time it’s not for me. I found some really cute outfits for Sammy, and a hat for Toby so he can match Paul and Aiden when they go driving in their old cars.”
“Ahhh, playing the favorite aunt. Good for you.”
“I’m surprised at how fast they arrived, if that’s what I’m picking up.”
The two talked for a few more minutes, and then Janice said goodbye. Pushing the end button on her phone, Megan glanced around her and moaned when she realized that she had indeed lost her train of thought. Whatever she had been on the tip of figuring out was lost, for the time being.
Well, there's no sense sitting here trying to figure it out. The harder I try, the further away the thought will stay. Mumbling to herself, Megan pushed back the chair, and grabbed the pad of paper that she had used for notes as she had looked through the files. If she was going to pick up that package, she needed to get a move on.
Out of habit, she walked through the entire house, checking that the doors were locked and lights were turned off. She had a feeling when Joe came back he was going to want to make some changes to the plans to the terrace and possibly even his office. She knew her customer well, and he wasn't going to want to be reminded of the attack on the Lewis every time he entered the room. With that in mind, she started mentally planning a new design in her head. When she was sure the house was secure, she locked the front door behind her. Getting in the car, she headed back towards Main Street and the post office.
She arrived at the post office to find it bustling with people trying to get their packages out and pick up their mail before the doors closed for the night. Megan walked to the line for the counter and soon engaged in conversation with those around her. Megan had an easy personality that made conversation run smoothly between her and strangers. Friends stopped as they left the building to say hello or ask a question. Lewis's attack was the most prevalent topic of conversation, but Megan also heard some grumbling about the upswing in car break-ins. She was about to comment herself when she was interrupted by the voice of a young man next to her.
"You see Megan, if everyone drove a little red scooter like me, they wouldn't have to worry about car prowlers." Megan looked over and saw Aiden's assistant, Jake. Giving him a hug she laughed along with him.
"You're right about the scooter, Jake. What about your old VW bug?"
"Ha, that's funny. No respectable car burglar would try to break into my old car. There's an advantage to driving a clunker."
Two of them shared a laugh, and then Jake continued out the door. Megan watched the young man walk away, his arms full of mail to be dropped off at Aiden's office before he continued home. Jake was handling the office for Aiden while he was out of town.
"Next."
Megan was surprised to find that she was the next in line and she quickly walked up to the counter. Stating her business, she waited while the clerk went to the back room to pick up her package. It wasn't long before she was back in her car, looking at the return address and trying to figure out what it was. She didn't remember ordering anything from the company listed. She resisted the urge to open the box, instead placing it on the seat beside her and then headed towards her home.
Pulling into the property through the secure gate at the front, Me
gan drove the vehicle to her own parking spot. There were still a few of her employees around who were getting ready to leave and she waved goodbye to them as she walked towards her house. She couldn't believe it was quitting time already. She had spent the entire afternoon doing errands and searching for clues about Lewis’s attack.
She greeted Barney with lots of love as she entered the house, but didn't stop long. Her curiosity was up, and she needed to find out what the box held. With a pair of scissors from the junk drawer, she proceeded to carefully cut the tape and open the flap of the box. Inside she found another box and pulled it out to open.
Again the box was lined with tissue paper, on top of the tissue paper was a simple note with the words, Use your sleuthing skills, see you on Friday and I’ll explain if you can't figure it out.
The note had no signature, but Megan recognized Aiden's handwriting. Curious as to what he’d sent this time, she opened the tissue paper and stared down at its contents, a bewildered expression across her face.
Okay Aiden, I may have some skills, but I'm not Sherlock Holmes. What are you trying to tell me, she thought.
Reaching into the box she pulled out the items, one by one. They made no sense; as a matter of fact they seem to come from opposite ends of the spectrum. When she had everything out of the box and on the table she took a hard look at it, but was unable to figure it out. Ray-Ban sunglasses, warm wool socks, a tube of lip balm, sunscreen, and another pair of gloves (this pair a finger-less style) were scattered across her table. Pulling the last item help from the bottom of the box, she found the softest blue blanket she’d ever felt. There was something heavy inside of it and she unwrapped it to find her favorite bottle of wine.
Now she was thoroughly confused, but in a good way. Laughing she gave up trying to figure out what Aiden was up to. She knew it had to be a wonderful surprise.
Chapter 19
Thursday
A Tank Full of Trouble: A Citrus Beach Mystery (Citrus Beach Mysteries Book 5) Page 9
