by Diane Weiner
“Susan, it’s so nice to see you here. Are you enjoying retirement?” asked Sandra.
“I am. I’ve been scrapbooking, cooking, and working out. It’s nice to have time to explore hobbies.”
“I can’t wait,” said Sandra. “One more year after this one.”
“I came to help out at the teacher appreciation luncheon. Are they setting up yet?”
“I think so. You know the way,” said Sandra.
When Susan arrived, the teachers’ lounge had already been decorated with hearts and white ribbons. There was a large vase full of red and white carnations in the middle of the table with a handwritten sign inviting the teachers to take one.
“Hey, Jody. What can I do to help?” asked Susan.
“There are trays of enchiladas on a cart in the cafeteria kitchen. Can you go get them? We’ll set them up here.” There was a long, folding banquet table at one end of the lounge. One of the volunteers whom Susan didn’t recognize was busy folding napkins.
“I’ll go get some ice,” said Susan. There were pitchers of iced tea and bottles of soda already on the table. Miss Hadley came in carrying a large bowl of tortilla chips. Susan wondered if they were baked or fried.
“Hi, Susan. Nice to see you here again,” said Miss Hadley.
“It feels good to be back. Even better since I can socialize a bit with my old friends, have some lunch, and then go home. No classes to worry about,” said Susan.
“I hear you,” said Miss Hadley.
“Susan, can you run back to the cafeteria and get the tray of rice and beans?” asked Jody.
“Sure, I’ll be right back.” The Mexican food smelled delicious. When she returned, the desserts had been set up and there was a large bowl of salad ready to serve. Something about the bare salad being next to the key lime pie seemed out of whack, but she was sure the teachers would love this feast.
“It’s show time,” said Jody. She tied on her checkered apron with the dog bone appliqué. Susan thought the apron looked familiar which was odd since it was quite unique. She picked up a serving spoon and stood behind the enchiladas.
Every teacher made a comment as they were served.
“This is so delicious,”
“I’m too full to teach,”
“I’ll have to skip dinner.”
The teachers enjoyed the midday treat and reluctantly went back to their classrooms. Susan hadn’t seen some of them in nearly a year and it was nice to catch up on their lives. Kim was newly engaged, and Cindy was expecting a baby. Pam just found out her son was accepted at Yale. This is the part of working I miss, thought Susan. When they’d finished serving, she helped Jody clean up.
“Here, take some key lime pie home for Mike,” said Jody. “Oh, and these sugar cookies I made. There are just a few left.”
“Did you frost these with funfetti icing? They look so festive,” said Susan.
“Oh, at the last minute I decided to use up the can of frosting that had been sitting in my fridge,” said Jody.
“He’ll love these.” Susan wrapped up the cookies and pie and headed home.
“On second thought, I have a whole pie here. I think I’ll stop by the station and give Lynette a piece. It’s on the way.”
When Susan got outside, she noticed that it was beginning to snow. She was ready for it to be spring. She turned on the car radio and learned that a blizzard was brewing. I guess before I see Lynette I’d better stop at Shop Rite and get some extra water and batteries, she thought.
Susan drove a few minutes out of the way and pulled into the parking lot of Shop Rite. She had to circle the lot three times before finding a parking space. Inside, the store was wall-to-wall people. Susan thought that these shoppers should have known enough to already be prepared. After all, this was New York and it was winter. Then it dawned on her that she was here amongst them.
The store had already sold out of C batteries and only a few cases of bottled water remained on the shelves. She threw a loaf of bread, a few cans of tuna, spaghetti, and a box of graham crackers into her basket. At the last second, she threw in a package of Oreos. The checkout lines were insane. It took twenty minutes to get up to the register. When she came out of the store, she realized that it was snowing harder.
Susan hated driving in the snow. It took her twice as long as usual to get from the store to the police station. When she finally got to the station, Lynette was on the phone.
“Hi, Jackson.” Susan wondered if she should be nice and offer him a slice too. “Jackson, would you like a slice of key lime pie?” asked Susan.
Jackson looked surprised at the offer.
“Sure, thank you. I love key lime pie,” he replied.
“The roads are getting bad,” said Susan.
“I heard this is supposed to be a pretty bad storm. You be careful driving home,” said Jackson.
Lynette hung up the phone and approached them.
“You’re never going to believe this,” said Lynette. “That was the head custodian at Westbrook. He was clearing snow away from the drains out in the parking lot in anticipation of this blizzard they are predicting. Guess what he found?”
“What?” said Jackson and Susan in unison.
“Vicky’s Epi-pen from her office. It was still in the original prescription box with her name on it. It was wrapped inside of a plastic bag, so just maybe we have a chance of getting some fingerprints.”
Chapter 58
Carolina walked into her kitchen. She still expected to see her mom in there cutting up salad vegetables or stirring sauce on the stove. She wondered if that would ever stop. She couldn’t believe they still hadn’t found her Mom’s killer.
“I bought some canned foods and extra batteries,” said Araceli. “Also, more Cheerios and shelf stable soy milk. We probably won’t get the blizzard. You know they always hype up these storms and most of the time, thankfully, they never come. Anyway, we’re prepared.”
“Thanks, Araceli. Becky is coming by in a little while with my paper. She finished it more quickly than I expected. I can’t wait to turn it in and have it off of my mind.’’
“I’ll be upstairs watching TV if you need me.” Araceli carried a basket of clean laundry upstairs with her. Carolina sat at the table and began texting her friends. Then she plugged her phone into the charger so it would be fully charged in the event they lost electricity. She couldn’t imagine what people did during electrical outages before the days of cell phones. At least she’d be able to stay in touch with her friends, listen to music, and play games if the electricity went out. A short time later Becky arrived.
“It’s starting to look bad out there. I wanted to get this to you now in case the roads get impassable. It’s a hard copy in case you can’t access your computer during the storm,” said Becky.
“Thank you. I’m excited to see it,” said Carolina. She and Becky sat down at the dining room table. While Carolina was reading the paper, the lights blinked on and off. “Oh no, I hope the electric holds up.” Carolina continued reading. “Not again.” This time the electric stayed off. She could barely see.
“I’ll go get the flashlight from the toolbox,” said Becky. She groped her way to the sliding door and started to open it. She realized her mistake immediately.
“How would you know about the flashlight, or the toolbox?” asked Carolina. Her fight or flight hormones were kicking in. She started to bolt for the door but Becky grabbed her arm.
“It’s not what you think,” said Becky.
“Let me go. I’m calling the police right now.” Carolina felt around for her phone, then remembered it was on the charger.
“Carolina, no. You don’t understand,” said Becky.
“I understand. You’re the one who’s been snooping around my house these past few weeks. What do you want anyway? We don’t keep cash in the house.”
“Carolina, I’m your Aunt Becky.”
“What?” Carolina was completely puzzled.
“I’m your mo
m’s younger sister. Your mom and I were in the middle of a horrible feud over our mom’s, actually your Grandma Rosie’s, gem collection. She was suing me and I was suing her back but I couldn’t stand the relationship being so strained. I moved here at the end of last summer and tried to patch things up with Vicky, but she refused to see me. Then I thought, maybe I’ll just give her half of the collection but I knew our mom must have had a good reason for keeping it from Vicky. I decided to find out what my big sister was really like. I hate to admit it, but I spied on her, followed her to see what kind of life she led.”
“Did you kill my mom?” asked Carolina. Her hands were sweating.
“Of course not. I was as surprised as anyone when she wound up dead. Someone must have been very angry at her. I wondered what evil Vicky had done and I wondered if you were following in her footsteps. That’s when I decided to follow you and see what you were all about.”
“So it was you who snooped around the house. You were inside the house the night I came in with Mrs. W.”
“Yes, I’m sorry I scared you,” said Becky. “I was too embarrassed to face you that night. You do need to make sure you latch that storm door out on the porch and lock your windows for heaven’s sake.”
“We’ve been looking for you and here you were right under our noses,” said Carolina. “We were trying to find a relative to come stay here until my Dad got out of rehab. The Department of Children and Families was threatening to put me in a temporary foster home.”
“I’m so sorry. If I’d known I would have come forward. There was an email from someone claiming to be a police officer but I assumed it was a prank.”
“Well, you’re here now.” Carolina’s pulse was just about back to normal.
“Of course, I’ll stay here while your dad is gone. I want to have a relationship with you and your dad. I also came to a big decision.”
“What kind of decision?” asked Carolina.
“I sold the gem collection for a lot of money. I kept a few special ones. I had a sapphire necklace made for you. It’s your birthstone, right?”
“Yes. Thank you,” said Carolina.
“I’ve already set up a college fund for you and I had my financial advisor invest the rest of your share in a trust fund that you can access after you turn 21.”
“Are you kidding?” said Carolina.
“It was the right thing to do. You’re a good person, Carolina, and you have some wonderful goals in life. More importantly, we’re family. You’re my only niece. If Grandma Rosie had known that she would have done the same. She just didn’t trust Vicky with money.”
“I can’t believe this. I’m so glad you’re here,” said Carolina.
“Me too,” replied Becky.
Chapter 59
It was a good night for scrapbooking, thought Susan. Mike was working late and the snow falling outside made the house seem extra cozy. Susan pulled out the envelope of pictures she’d snuck out of Carolina’s house. She had gotten a brilliant idea. She would make a scrapbook of Vicky’s life for Carolina. She had recent pictures of Vicky from school and Carolina had practically handed these to her on a silver platter the day she went over to her house to look for clues. She cut the border of a snapshot with her funny jagged scissors and glued it onto the scrapbook page, then searched for her next addition.
Here’s the one of Vicky’s best friend and her son, she thought. Something bothered her about that picture. What was it? Suddenly the apron with the dog bone appliqué screamed at her from the photo. Now she remembered why Jody’s apron looked familiar. She wondered how it was possible that Kara and Jody would have the same quirky apron. Then she focused on the boy in the picture. He would have been around Jody’s age. Jody did come from upstate. Maybe she and the boy had been friends or maybe they’d gone to school together. The boy was strange looking, kind of like a tortured soul. Jody seemed to gravitate toward those kinds of kids. She was always trying to help them. She peeked outside. It wasn’t snowing all that hard. Curiosity got the better of her. She tried calling Jody but it went to voice mail. I’ll just have to drop by her apartment, she decided. She’d gone over there to return the pie dish and it wasn’t very far.
There had to be a logical explanation. Kara and Vicky had been living in the same town after college according to Carolina. She pulled on her boots and scraped the snow off the windshield of her car. Oh my God, thought Susan. Maybe that boy was baby boy from Vicky’s contact list. What if Jody found out that her friend was being abused by Vicky. I know Jody would have tried to intervene, thought Susan. It was snowing a bit harder now but Jody didn’t live far. Susan had to drive slowly but she made it safely to Jody’s apartment. She knocked on Jody’s door.
“Susan, I’m surprised to see you here.” Jody was wearing well-worn sweats and had her hair pulled into a ponytail.
“I tried to call but your phone went to voicemail,” said Susan.
“I must have forgotten to turn the sound back on. Come sit down. What can I do for you?” asked Jody.
“I know this seems silly and that I must have too much time on my hands, but remember the apron you were wearing for the teacher appreciation luncheon?”
“Yes. What about it?” said Jody.
“It’s so unusual. I mean, I’ve never been in a store and seen an apron with a dog bone appliqué. It looks like it was hand sewn.”
“And…what is it you want to ask? It belongs to my mom. She left it when she came to visit last month,” said Jody.
“Your mom lives in Ithaca, right?” asked Susan.
“Yes. What does that have to do with anything?”
“Well,” said Susan. “I was at Carolina’s one day and we were looking at photos of her mom. I took some of them to turn into a scrapbook for her. Anyhow, there was a photo of her mom’s best friend Kara. Kara was wearing that apron. I noticed because I’d seen an episode of the Martha Stewart Show where they showed how to personalize clothing with appliqué. I was exploring sewing as a hobby but even with my bifocals it was impossible to thread a needle. Caused more stress than it was worth. I just couldn’t figure out why you had the apron. Did you know Kara? You both lived in Ithaca and you had the exact same apron.” Right on cue the power flickered and the house became dark.
“Here. I’ll light these candles,” said Jody. “No, I never knew anyone named Kara.”
“Are you sure? Did your Mom know her?” asked Susan.
“I said no. Can I get you some hot chocolate? You must have been freezing outside.”
“That would be nice,” said Susan.
“Good thing I have a gas stove,” said Jody. She grabbed a flashlight from the kitchen drawer.
“Are you sure you didn’t know Kara? Something about that apron keeps nagging at me,” said Susan.
“Why do you keep pushing me on this? It’s just an apron. It’s just a coincidence. Here, have some hot chocolate.” Jody handed the mug to Susan. Susan noted a hint of annoyance in Jody’s voice. The ring tone of her phone startled both of them. Susan saw that it was Lynette and figured it might be important.
“Hi, honey. Um, yes that’s right. I’m all snuggled up at home just working on my scrapbook. It’s nice of you to check up on me. Yes, Dad’s still at work. Are you home? What? You found a match to the prints on the Epi-pen? Whose prints are they? Do they belong to someone we know? Okay, finish up and get yourself home. I’ll call you later.”
“Was that your daughter?” asked Jody.
“Yes. Great news. They found a match to the prints on the Epi-pen they found in the parking lot. My daughter and her partner are on their way to make an arrest.”
“That’s great,” said Jody. Did she tell you who the murderer is?”
“No. Lynette can be a stickler for rules. She can’t tell me anything until after they make the arrest. There was a young boy in the photo,” said Susan. Maybe you knew him?”
“I told you to let it go,” said Jody.” I’m beginning to lose patience. Maybe you should
leave before the storm gets worse.”
“It’s weird,” continued Susan, without missing a beat. “A dog bone appliqué. It couldn’t be a coincidence. You have to have some connection with Vicky’s friend Kara. Maybe you knew the boy in the picture.”
“I said DROP IT.” Jody’s voice was loud and abrasive.
Susan had never heard Jody speak in the tone of voice she was using. Now Susan was confused. Something strange was going on here.
“You did know him, didn’t you?” said Susan.
“Leave this alone. You’re butting into something that doesn’t involve you,” said Jody. Susan detected sweat on Jody’s brow. She couldn’t imagine why since it was freezing in the house. Susan noticed that Jody was breathing harder now too.
“I’m thinking that maybe you two were friends. Maybe you were trying to protect the boy. Were you protecting him from Vicky? Was she doing things with him that she shouldn’t have been doing?” asked Susan. Suddenly Jody grabbed her car keys and bolted out the door to the driveway. Susan followed closely behind her.
