“It won’t hurt to hear more,” Carlita said. “I can use all of the help I can get.”
“Then I’ll see you in about an hour.”
Carlita thanked her friend for thinking of her before disconnecting the call.
“Was that Glenda?” Mercedes stood in the doorway.
“Yes.” Carlita repeated what her friend had said. “There’s a meeting at Mark’s inn on the river in about an hour. I figured I would run down there to hear what they have to say.”
“I’ll go with you.”
Mercedes and Carlita made it to the inn with a few minutes to spare. Because of the large turnout, the group assembled in the enclosed courtyard.
Glenda’s husband addressed the crowd and then motioned to a woman standing next to him. “I’m going to turn this meeting over to Elizabeth Portsmith, the Riverfront District’s Historical Society Director. Elizabeth.”
A tall woman, thin and with shoulder-length hair smiled at Mark before taking the mic. Her eyes scanned the crowd. “Thank you all for coming. After meeting with several of the riverfront business owners, we came up with a plan to offer a tour of the district’s inns and restaurants. A haunted tour.”
Elizabeth briefly outlined the idea. Carlita grew more excited by the minute. Her restaurant met all of the criteria with the exception of the location. Although Ravello’s was close to the riverfront district, it wasn’t technically on the river.
Mercedes tugged on her mother’s arm. “This is perfect, Ma. Our place is haunted. It’s close to the river. I think we should sign up.”
“We’ll see.” Carlita didn’t want to get her hopes up. Several owners raised some excellent questions. There was a detailed discussion about the nuts and bolts of putting a tour together.
Finally, Elizabeth suggested another meeting the following week and asked for a show of hands of area owners interested in the new venture.
Mercedes’ hand shot up. “We’re in,” she whispered to her mother.
“I hope so.”
“Perfect. We meet here next week at the same time. For those of you who raised your hands, please forward me your information and topics you would like to discuss.”
The crowd began to clear out while several of the attendees approached Portsmith who was handing out business cards with her contact information.
Mercedes and her mother waited their turn before collecting the woman’s card. She handed the card to Mercedes, but her eyes were on Carlita. “You look vaguely familiar.”
“I own several businesses in Walton Square, including a new restaurant, Ravello’s Italian Eatery,” Carlita explained.
“Ah.” The woman lifted a brow, eyeing her with interest. “You’re also the one the authorities caught on camera sneaking into Darbylane Museum’s storage area yesterday.”
“It was a minor misunderstanding,” Carlita mumbled.
“Uh-huh. Well, you’re not technically in the riverfront district, so I’m not sure you meet the criteria for joining the tour owners. How did you hear about this meeting?”
“Glenda Fox and I are friends.”
“I see. That changes everything. I suppose we could stretch the rules a bit.” She pinched her thumb and index finger together. “I’m assuming the search of your premises didn’t turn up anything.”
Carlita shifted her feet. “No, it did not. I have nothing to do with the missing artwork.”
“But you are a suspect,” the woman gloated.
Carlita could feel her blood begin to boil. Portsmith was intentionally baiting her. “And so is every member of Darbylane Museum’s board,” she shot back.
“Thank you for the card. We’ll be in touch.” Mercedes grasped her mother’s hand and propelled her out of the courtyard. “What was that all about?”
“You heard her. She practically came right out and accused me of stealing the painting.”
“She didn’t take kindly to your comment that she was a suspect, as well.” Mercedes crumpled the business card. “It looks like we can kiss our chances of getting a spot on the haunted tour good-bye.”
“Why?”
“You heard her. She thinks we’re involved in the theft.”
“And she has an ax to grind.” Carlita’s eyes narrowed. “I think it’s time to take a closer look at Elizabeth Portsmith.”
Chapter 15
Carlita texted Glenda, whom she’d seen at the meeting, but with so many people on hand hadn’t been able to make it through the crowd to reach her. “We’re outside on the steps.”
A breathless Glenda joined them moments later. “Well? What do you think? Is the haunted tour something Ravello’s might be interested in trying?”
“Yes, except that Ms. Portsmith doesn’t appear particularly keen on having me or my restaurant join the group.”
“Why not?”
“She doesn’t like me.” Carlita had a sudden thought. “Is Elizabeth Portsmith on the Darbylane Museum’s board?”
“Yes. As a matter of fact, she is.”
“We stopped to get her business card. She all but accused Ma of stealing the museum’s painting,” Mercedes said.
“You’re kidding.” Glenda cast a glance behind her, in the direction of Portsmith who stood talking to a group of business owners. “She’s kind of a pain in the rear, but I can’t imagine she would come right out and accuse you of stealing the painting when she’s never even met you.”
“She also seems to know a lot about the police investigation. She knows the cops searched my property this morning not to mention me being caught on camera snooping inside the museum.”
“Snooping inside the museum?” Glenda smiled.
“It’s not funny,” Carlita said glumly. “Elvira talked me into taking a look around. The surveillance cameras caught me going into a storage area which prompted the cops to issue a search warrant and search my property.”
“It seems as I missed a lot.”
“Yeah. Lucky you.”
“I wouldn’t worry about Elizabeth. The business owners can override her decision. If you want to be part of the haunted tour, I’m certain the group would be more than happy to include you.”
“Thanks, Glenda.” Carlita eyed the woman over her friend’s shoulder. “She’s looking this way. Maybe she’s the one who lifted the artwork. Motive and opportunity.”
“The painting is valuable. Elizabeth would have plenty of connections. Opportunity is there. Perhaps the authorities are taking a closer look at her,” Glenda said. “As far as Elvira, one of these days she’ll get what she deserves.”
“Ma evened the score with her last night,” Mercedes said.
“She ticked me off, so I zapped her with one of her own Tasers.”
Glenda burst out laughing, and even Carlita smiled.
“One of Elvira’s employees pulled a Taser on me. When I called Elvira out, she told me I was making a big deal out of nothing - how it was only a small zap, so I made her eat her words. She went down like a sack of potatoes.”
“I would’ve paid anything to have seen it.” Glenda patted Carlita’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about Elizabeth. Like I said, if enough business owners are interested, you’re more than welcome to join the tour.”
“Thanks, Glenda,” Carlita said gratefully. “And thank you for thinking of me.”
“That’s what friends are for.”
Carlita and Mercedes returned home. The rest of the day passed slowly, despite Carlita working a shift at the restaurant. She kept one eye on the clock, waiting for Astrid to finish her workday.
Elvira was adamant Astrid was not involved in the painting’s theft despite knowing the woman was lying about her identity.
Admittedly, there were a few holes in the theory Astrid was the culprit. She would have to be familiar with the layout of the museum. Whoever swiped the painting was either very lucky or somehow figured out a way to avoid being caught on the surveillance cameras.
How was it possible…unless - going back to it being an inside j
ob. Someone knew something about the surveillance cameras, which helped the thief avoid detection. She remembered Elvira mentioning a power outage. Perhaps the outage was a part of the plan.
Carlita finished her shift at the restaurant with enough time to freshen up. At ten minutes ‘til nine, she and Mercedes made their way to the alley.
Elvira was already waiting for them. “Right on time. This way.”
They walked to the other end of the alley before turning right and making their way to the corner. “We wait here.” Elvira eyed the vacant lot across the street. “They’re finally going to do something with our neighborhood eyesore.”
“Yes.” Carlita gazed at the bulldozers ready to start tearing down the dilapidated structure and ramshackle fence. “They unloaded the dozers at daybreak. I thought we were having an earthquake.”
“I wonder what they’re putting in,” Mercedes said.
“Hopefully, not another restaurant,” her mother replied.
“We gotta clear the area so that Astrid won’t see us.” Elvira motioned for them to gather in the doorway of Carlita’s corner storage unit.
Elvira, who was closest to the sidewalk, inched forward, just far enough to keep a visual of the street. The trio remained hidden for what seemed like forever, and Carlita shifted several times.
Elvira glanced over her shoulder. “You got a problem?”
“Problem?” Carlita shifted again.
“Ants in your pants.”
“My feet are sore. I was working at the restaurant and have been on my feet for hours now.”
“This was your idea,” Elvira said. “I wouldn’t be complaining.”
“I’m not complaining. You asked me why I keep moving.” Carlita closed her eyes and began counting, a regular occurrence when she had contact with Elvira for prolonged periods of time.
She smiled as she remembered the Taser incident and opened her eyes. “I see you’ve recovered from your small zap last night.”
“Don’t remind me. I owe you one,” Elvira said.
“No. I owe you a dozen more zaps for the grief you’ve put me through.”
“Shh.” Mercedes held a finger to her lips. “I see someone coming around the corner.”
“Astrid.” Elvira’s arm shot out. She nearly clotheslined Mercedes and her mother, forcing them back against the wall.
Carlita resisted the urge to bite her.
Elvira lowered her arm. “She’s heading toward her tent.” She motioned them out of the covered doorway as Astrid rounded the corner and turned onto the alley.
The trio tiptoed along as they followed behind.
“I see flashes of light. She’s moving around inside her tent.” Elvira grew silent. “The light went off.” More silence. “It looks like she turned in for the night.”
Elvira straightened her back. “See? I told you that you were barking up the wrong tree, wasting your time on a person of non-interest. Besides, it won’t matter after tomorrow.”
“Why?”
“Like I said before, Astrid only planned to hang around until she had enough cash to get to Paris. She told me earlier she has the money now. She made it sound like she was desperate for cash and would be hanging around for a while, but I guess not. She’s bought her plane ticket and is heading out of town first thing Monday morning.”
“Why not leave tomorrow if she’s in such a hurry?” Carlita asked.
“She doesn’t want to leave me high and dry after I helped her out and put a roof over her head. There’s a festival over in LaFitte Square. It’s a small one-woman job. She’s covering until six tomorrow night.”
“So she’s staying an extra day to help you out,” Mercedes said.
“Sort of. She also said she needs to take care of something before she takes off.”
“Which means she takes care of this something either tonight or sometime tomorrow after work,” Carlita said. “It will still be worth it to keep an eye on her.”
“Suit yourself. Like I said, you’re wasting your time. I have better things to do.” Elvira left Carlita and her daughter standing on the corner.
“Maybe Elvira is right, and we are on a wild goose chase.” Carlita stared at the dark tent. “We can’t stand here all night.”
“Wait a minute.” Mercedes snapped her fingers. “I have an idea.”
Chapter 16
“What happened to the portable motion detector we bought when we caught someone breaking into the pawnshop?”
“It’s in our apartment, in the hallway closet,” Carlita said.
“We can set it up on the balcony facing toward the parking lot. If anyone moves, including Astrid, it’ll alert us.”
“That’s a great idea.”
The women returned to the apartment. Mercedes made a beeline for the closet. She dug through several of the storage bins before finding the small, rectangular box. “I still have the app on my cell phone.”
Mercedes tested the batteries and device before stepping onto the balcony. She placed the box in the corner, facing toward the alley in the direction of Astrid’s tent.
“Now let’s see if I’m able to get a visual.” She fiddled with the front of her phone. “Success. Check it out.” She shifted the phone so her mother could see the screen. “If there’s any movement, the phone will chime.”
They returned to the living room to wait.
Carlita turned the television on. She flipped through the channels while her mind wandered. She remembered the investigators’ search of the apartment and properties.
How was it that almost one hundred percent of the time Elvira was directly involved in some sort of crisis surrounding her and her family? She set the remote on her lap and turned to Mercedes. “Do you think we should move?”
“Move? Why would we move?”
“To get away from Elvira. She causes us more grief than anyone I’ve ever met.”
Mercedes laughed. “Ma, where would we move? This is our home. If anything, maybe you could offer to buy Elvira out and then evict her.”
“That’s a thought.” Carlita mulled over the idea. She’d sold off almost all of the gems she and her children had found in order to get her businesses up and running. Now, all but Ravello’s was turning a tidy profit.
She hoped that would change soon and Ravello’s would surpass even the pawnshop as their primary breadwinner. She also made a small amount from her investment in Pete’s pirate ship venture. The money was Carlita’s “slush fund” for small projects.
With Shelby’s health issues and her joining the family businesses, Carlita was even more aware of the weight on her shoulders in making sure her family and children were able to support themselves.
She sometimes wondered what Vinnie would think if he could see her now. She hoped he would be proud of her…proud of her not only for learning how to take care of herself after his sudden death, but taking care of her family…their children too.
Carlita had also worked hard to keep her promise to her husband on his deathbed…to get their children…their sons “out of the family.” She had been successful in getting Tony out.
Technically, Paulie, her youngest, was never “in the family.” Paulie lived in Clifton Falls along with his wife, Gina, and their three children.
Vinnie, on the other hand, was Carlita’s biggest concern. Her eldest son not only had not gotten “out of the family,” but he’d recently married Brittney, Vito Castellini aka “The Godfather’s” daughter. Vinnie was in deep with the family.
Carlita was beginning to wonder if she would ever be able to keep her promise concerning their eldest son. “I need to call Vinnie to see if there’s still a hit on Castellini and the family.”
“I almost forgot about the hit. Vinnie brought trouble our way just in time for Tony and Shelby’s wedding.”
“I wish he was down here and not up in Jersey,” Carlita lamented. “Your father is probably turning over in his grave and blaming me.”
“It’s not your fault, Ma. You’v
e done the best you could. Vinnie is a grown man.”
Mercedes’ cell phone chimed. “We got something.” She tapped the screen. “I can’t tell who it is, but someone is on the move. They’re coming this way.”
“Let’s go.” Carlita tossed the remote on the sofa and scrambled to her feet. She grabbed her keys from the stand by the door and ran into the hall.
By the time they reached the alley, their target had already turned the corner and was walking at a fast clip. Mercedes and Carlita picked up the pace and began jogging to keep up.
The person stepped under the streetlight where Carlita was able to get a clearer look. “It’s Astrid. Let’s keep following her.”
The duo stayed far enough behind to keep out of sight until Astrid turned right. “She’s heading toward the museum,” Mercedes said.
They jogged to the next corner. Astrid was still moving quickly, occasionally glancing from side to side. They followed her for two more blocks until she turned again, skirting a row of cars parked curbside and along the wrought iron fence that surrounded Darbylane Museum.
“She’s heading to the back,” Carlita whispered.
Astrid turned onto the narrow alley that ran behind the museum and then paused when she reached a row of dumpsters.
“Get back.” Mercedes pushed her mother to the side of the building and into the shadows. They stood motionless, watching as Astrid approached the center dumpster. She turned around to check behind her before placing both hands on the top ledge.
Astrid heaved herself up, teetering for a brief moment before disappearing inside.
“She’s inside the dumpster,” Carlita gasped.
Mercedes pressed a hand across her mouth, waiting for Astrid to emerge. Several long moments passed before she popped out of the dumpster. She vaulted over the side, landing lightly on her feet.
“She has something,” Mercedes said. “It looks like a bag.”
Carlita watched in horror as Astrid unfolded the top of the bag. She pulled something out and shoved it in her mouth. “She’s eating food from the dumpster.” A wave of guilt washed over Carlita, ashamed of herself for suspecting the poor, homeless woman was a criminal. “This is terrible.”
Swiped in Savannah: A Made in Savannah Cozy Mystery (Made in Savannah Mystery Series Book 12) Page 12
