“Because, we have a murderer among us and they need to be caught. We’re a small town and we take care of our own.”
“I’m from Atlanta, it’s not like that there. We tend to just let the police do their job.”
“I know. And I hope you can forgive us for waiting to properly welcome you to our small town. It takes time for the locals here to accept outsiders”
Amber plunked her hands down into her lap. “I understand and it would have been just fine if not for Donna’s murder. But after she turned up dead, everyone immediately assumed it was me because I was an outsider. Even the police. That was just too much with everything else I was dealing with and I should have kept my composure a little better. But that is water over the bridge now.”
“I feel terrible you had to deal with those issues alone, at least your father is here with you. Please, let me know if I can do anything to help. I feel so awful about how this happened.”
“Thank you. You’re the only one to actually talk with me, like a friend. I really do appreciate that.”
“You’re more than welcome. This tea is real good.” I took one last long sip. “But I should be going now. I have a business to run. You should come on by, hang out with everyone.”
Amber smiled. “I think I will just keep to myself till this all blows over, thanks.”
“Well, if you change your mind, I owe ya a drink in return, so your first one is on the house.”
“Thanks, but you won't make much money if you give away the drinks.”
“It’s the least I can do. You know, a kind of small welcome gift.”
Amber laughed. “Thanks.”
Robert emerged out of the front door, looking formal in a suit and tie. “Good morning ladies, fine day to be alive.”
I smiled at him and said, “Yes it is. But I wish Donna was here to enjoy it with us.”
Amber grumbled, “I don’t want to talk about her or the murder if that’s okay.”
Robert patted her shoulder. “It’s alright, dear. We need to be going anyway. Amber and I have business to attend to and apologize for cutting this visit short.”
I stood. “That’s fine. I was just leaving anyway. I have a business to attend to myself. Thank you for the tea and hospitality.” I nodded to both of them and navigated my way around the cats as I walked down the front walk.
I left feeling guilty. Amber must have experienced loneliness and fear with the death of Donna. Edith and I thought she was a little unhinged when we saw her outside the crime scene. But I realized she was pretty composed after learning of the Elias and Donna affair.
My walk back was a blur as my mind was lost in thought. Before I knew it, I stood in front of The Grumpy Chicken. I entered and saw business had picked up. Seemed the town was coming to life again, but I saw the Edith and Lily table was empty and the boy's regular bar stools were vacant. I guessed that Guardrail, Dog, and Digger went back to work and Edith and Lily were likely making their daily rounds of the Main Street stores.
Dixie was humming behind the bar making drinks. “Hey, look who’s back. Bones and me were starting to wonder if you got lost. Maybe you even forgot where the place was.”
“You’re in a good mood. What happened? You get a date with a millionaire GQ model or something?”
“Nope, not that good. Elias came back just after you left and paid his bar tab from yesterday. He apologized for forgetting about it and squared up, plus a big tip. You might want to know what he told me too”
I chuckled. “So you want to play detective too?”
Dixie winked at me oddly. “Who better. Bartenders get dumped on with all kinds of personal stuff.”
“So, what did Elias tell you?”
“He has an airtight alibi. Was at the waffle place with Johnnie Gilbert. He drank coffee and played with his phone, chatting when Johnnie had to work the grill and couldn’t talk to him. The police confirmed it with Johnnie and Elias said they would confirm it with his phone records too.”
“Holy digital! Of course, phone records. I didn’t think of that. Where did Piper go?”
Dixie snorted. “Are you kidding? After hearing Elias has an alibi, everyone is going nuts trying come up with a new suspect list. Everyone is in your office now, arguing.”
Chapter Fourteen
I scurried through the swinging door into the kitchen and made a beeline for my office. But I was stopped short. The whiteboard on the wall was now full of writing. On the left side was a list of people with percentages scribbled in beside their name. To the right of each name was a comment, that clearly was a list of possible motives for each person.
I burst into my office to see Ida at my desk working furiously on her keyboard. Lily and Edith were sitting on five gallon pails and Dog, Digger and Guardrail were arguing while playing with the soft tip darts in my office. I demanded, “Who used the whiteboard for non-pub business?”
Edith looked at me puzzled. “Why, all of us of course, dear.”
I eyed Dog. “And is that your handwriting for all those percentages written next to the names?”
Dog flinched. “What, can’t I contribute?”
I growled, “No, not like that. That could be considered gaming. I can’t have that associated with the pub. You need to erase all of it, now! And I mean erase it so it is completely gone, no shadows!”
Piper put her hand on my shoulder. “Ginger, we’re just trying to help. You don’t have to be so hard on us.”
“I don’t want to lose my business, so no I’m not being too hard on you.” I paused, then continued, “But I’m sorry, Dog, if I was a little terse.”
Dog squinted at me. “Terse? Funny word. But seems about right. Apology accepted. I’ll go erase it. I don’t want to hurt you or the chicken.” He left to do the chore.
My voice shrank a little, “Thanks. So what else did you find while I was gone. Seems Elias has a good alibi.”
Ida looked up from her screen. “Yeah. And I am trying to double check his phone records.”
I was afraid to ask my next question. “Is that legal?”
Ida chuckled. “Well, no. You must have heard about all the hullabaloo about the government collecting metadata on cell phones. It's a touchy subject. But phone records are just another database that can be accessed.”
“Um, what does that mean Ida. I don’t want the FBI showing up here.”
“Don’t worry, I covered my tracks really well and no one can trace what I’m doing.”
I pleaded, “It’s not that I doubt your abilities. We all know you’re good. It’s just what we don’t know all the ways the government can track us. They always keep the best tools secret so you can’t be sure they’re unable to track you. I don’t want to do anything illegal here that they can find.”
Ida shot back, “Well, too late. I just found his records.”
I tilted my head back in resignation. “SON of a chain gang! I’m just trying to get sent to jail this week!”
Ida touched her chin. “I just used your network, so technically, it was accessed from my laptop and I would be the one to go to jail.”
Guardrail piped up, “See, you worry too much. Ida has it covered. Now we need to figure out who could have done this, we’re out of suspects.”
Digger objected, “No, Ida may have overlooked something with her logic. We could still be accessories to the hacking crime, maybe.”
Guardrail punched Digger in the arm. “Quiet, you’re not helping.”
Edith held her hand up. “Now, now. And stop with the Punch and Judy tactics Guardrail. Let’s be civil. We’ve pretty much ruled out Amber and Elias now. They were our two best suspects. But the third was Silus Palmer, of Palmer Properties. Seems we need to give him a harder look.”
Lily added, “They’re out of Savannah. And Silus is pretty well known there.”
I asked, “How do we learn more about him? And where was he yesterday morning?”
Ida answered. “Already did. I checked his email and he had a busy
schedule all day yesterday in Savannah. Hard to confirm if he attended all the meetings on his schedule, but I am working on it.”
Digger added, “Well if Dog is right, a guy like him could have hired a hit man, right?”
I looked to Edith and Lily. “That would mean a stranger would have come into town and murdered Donna. Then they would have had to make a get away. Is that possible without being seen?”
Edith answered me. “It was broad daylight. Would’ve been real hard, especially with the Holland place not far from the strip on Main Street. But I guess it’s possible. And maybe they didn’t make a get away because they’re still here, hiding.”
I nodded. “I agree. Dog’s theory may be more credible now.” I could hear him scrubbing the whiteboard, but the commotion stopped.
Dog stuck his head in the office door. “See, ya should listen to me more.” Then he went back to work.
I turned my attention back to Ida. “This phone records thing with Elias has me thinking. This is a small town. Is it possible to determine who was on the cell towers yesterday around the time of the murder?”
Ida exhaled like a popped balloon. “You thought hacking Elias’ individual phone records was too dangerous. So you don’t want to even discuss trying to access the towers and everyone who was on them yesterday morning.”
Then a new idea fluttered through my head like a butterfly and I couldn’t ignore it. “What about this? I go talk to Elias and just ask him about Palmer. He might know something and be willing to tell us.”
Piper added, “I think Elias is back at the waffle place again. Seems he’s friends with Johnnie, but he is really spending so much time there because he has a crush on the new waitress there.”
I grabbed her wrist, “Come with me and I want you in journalist mode when we talk to Elias.”
The gang watched as Piper and I left. We made our way across the street and headed straight to the waffle place. Potter's Mill had three good lunch and dinner spots, including The Grumpy Chicken, but breakfast belonged to Johnnie Gilbert and his waffle place.
We entered to see Elias sitting at the counter talking with Johnnie. We took the stools on either side of him.
Elias smiled. “Well, the night prowlers.”
I tried to use my most contrite voice. “We’re sorry about last night, honest. But now we were hoping you could answer a couple of questions for us. The developer helping to build the business you wanted to start, Palmer Properties, is an unknown to us. Can you tell us a little about him?”
Elias’ smile faded. “You just don’t give up, do ya? Alright. Donna did some work with him in Savannah and suggested him when I started going forward with my robotics business. The operation was going to need some space, so she agreed to develop the lot out near the house and build the office slash manufacturing slash warehouse I would need.”
I shrugged, “That all sounds pretty straightforward, so why bring in a developer?”
“Well, it required contractors, and some specialized equipment. Silus Palmer has connections and he agreed to help Donna make the contacts. He even sent a letter to her with all the people to call. Silus never came out to Potter’s Mill or did anything beyond that. Oh, except the sign. I went down to the town hall with the paperwork Donna gave me for the sign. Silus had filled out some forms, or something, to have his name listed as the developer. Donna felt it would help get the contractors on board if they saw Palmer’s name. That’s it. Well one more thing, Donna did say that Silus may get some kickbacks from the contractors he recommended. So there was a little money in it for him too.”
Johnnie had gone back to working his kitchen but came out to the counter. “Look at this young man! Flirting with my waitress all the time, now he has two pretty ladies sitting on either side of him. Some guys have all the luck.”
Elias laughed. “I’m not sure you want these two surrounding you, Johnnie. They have bad habits like sneaking up on your house in the middle of the night. And they ask ALOT of questions.”
Johnnie chuckled, “I heard about that! Is it true, did the cats take down Digger?”
Piper broke her silence, “Look, we were just trying to help the police find a murderer. Maybe we pushed it a little too far last night. Maybe. But I’m not going to apologize for caring about who killed Donna. And yes, Digger was accosted by some kitties.”
Elias rolled his eyes. “Well, after all these questions and having some fun at Digger’s expense, are we done?”
I jumped back in, “No, one more question. Did you see anything out of the ordinary yesterday, a stranger or unusual car?”
Elias nodded his head no and raised his eyebrows, “No, not that I recall.”
Piper then asked, “I know you think we’re being nosy, but did you give your phone to the police?”
He turned to look her in the eyes. “How did you know that?”
“Just a guess. You mentioned to Dixie that your phone records would show you were here yesterday morning. Easiest way to do that is check the phone itself.”
Elias said, “Yeah, I need to get a new one as a matter of fact. They told me they might keep my old phone for a while.”
Johnnie’s look turned serious, “I have to be honest, all this checking alibis and the murder yesterday, it just doesn’t feel right in our small town.”
I pinched my lips then said, “That is well said Johnnie, and I agree. We apologize for intruding and thanks for the chat.”
I rose and Piper followed my lead. We left silent till we were on the sidewalk.
Once outside, Piper looked at me from the side of her face. “What was that all about? And why did you end the our conversation so quickly?”
“It’s pretty obvious Silus Palmer was doing Donna a favor. They may have done some business in the past and seemed to be friendly. But it just doesn’t add up that over a project where only a sign was erected, with no other money exchanged, someone would be driven to murder. And Elias confirmed Silus was trying to help by supplying contacts and using his name to bring in the needed contractors. Easy money for Silus to just let them use his name and do nothing else. If it went bad, what exposure or loss does Palmer suffer, nothing. Silus Palmer had little motive to kill Donna.”
Piper chuckled, “Sometimes we think alike. I had the same thought, but I was going to ask a few more questions to confirm it. You said you wanted journalist mode, you should have let me work.”
“No time, we should get back to make sure Digger and Dog haven't turned my pub into a gambling hall or Ida hasn’t hacked the pentagon.”
Piper stopped and looked me in the eye. “If Ida checked Elias' phone records, why can’t she check Silus, and everyone else we suspect?”
“Like you said, sometimes we think alike, it’s why I wanted to head back.”
She smiled at me and we crossed the street with a new sense of urgency. We burst back into the office and Ida was working alone. The rest of the crew had gone back to doing their business as normal.
I asked, “Can you check the phones for Amber, Silus Palmer, and Robert too?
Ida shrugged, “Sure, will just take some time.”
I knew I would regret it, but I said, “Do it.”
Ida went back to her screen and keyboard. Piper looked at me weird and asked, “Don’t you think the police already did that? And why add Robert?”
“We have pretty much ruled out Amber and Elias. Silus Palmer just doesn’t add up. So we have to go back to the beginning. And the lover is always suspect number one.”
The door to the office opened revealing Lily and Edith. Lily said, “We saw you come back, what did you learn?” She closed the door behind her.
“That Silus Palmer is not a good suspect. He has no real motive and likely has an alibi.”
Edith asked, “So where does that leave us? We’re out of suspects!”
“No, we are checking the phones for Amber and Silus Palmer to confirm what we have learned. But I also want to see the phone records for Robert Harlow.”
Edith’s face went white and Lily whined. Edith finally said, “We saw him doing his business as normal yesterday, and he didn’t look guilty at all. Remember? Plus, the police found he was in town all morning, seen by multiple people. How could he be a suspect?”
Lily added, “And he has very dreamy eyes.”
The office door flew open once again. This time it was Digger and Dog. Dog Breath said in a defensive tone, “What are we missing?”
Lily answered, “That Piper and Ginger have lost their minds. They want to start checking Robert again.”
Digger asked. “So, why is that a big deal.”
Edith said, “It’s silly! He’s such a gentleman. How could someone who dresses so nicely do something so dastardly like murder Donna? And he wouldn’t get a dime till he married her, so he had no motive to kill her till they were hitched. And most important, he has an alibi.”
Digger replied, “Maybe it’s him, or his daughter. I still think we ruled her out too fast. Why can’t it be a girl?”
Guardrail burst into the already overcrowded office, “What did I miss?”
Dog rolled his eyes, “I just asked that!”
Guardrail added, “And?”
Digger tried to help. “Ginger wants to look at Robert again. But Lily thinks she’s lost her mind.”
Guardrail chuckled. “Well, Ginger may have lost her mind, but that’s nothing new. So, what happened to the Palmer developer guy?”
I answered, “Didn’t pan out. Looks like he has an alibi. And there is no motive for him.”
Guardrail folded his arms, “So we don’t know squat is what you’re saying.”
Piper answered him, “That’s one way to put it, albeit not fit for print. But sums it it up about right.”
I hung my head. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this. But Dog, can you recreate what was on the whiteboard, minus the percentages? I repeat minus the percentages.”
Dog flinched his shoulders. “Sure, should be pretty easy. I have it pretty much memorized.”
A Frosty Mug of Murder (The Grumpy Chicken Irish Pub Series Book 1) Page 10
