by Nicole Ellis
A sense of relief came over me. “Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. I know how much this means to Angela and I want to make sure we continue making progress on the decor while she’s away.”
“Uh huh. Stop by when you have a chance. I work from home, so I’m there most of the time. You know where we live.”
“Thank you.”
More of the mourners were coming out of the church now and he walked away briskly toward the car I’d seen parked in his driveway. With his wife suspected of Mindy’s murder, he probably didn’t want to get into too many conversations with her friends and family.
Desi and I walked back to her car.
“See, that wasn’t too bad,” she said as she snapped her seat belt closed.
I rested my head against the back of the seat. “No, not too bad. And at least I was able to talk to Drew about the design plans. If she had any, my life will be so much easier.”
“Do you want me to tag along when you go to his house?” she asked. “I can help you look. I do owe you for coming with me to this.”
I smiled at her. “Sure. I have too much work to catch up on today for other events, but I was thinking about going tomorrow.”
“Works for me.” She drove me back to the Boathouse and dropped me off outside the front door. “See you tomorrow.”
I gave her a little wave and walked inside. It was quiet as Beth had taken the kids home with her. She’d even offered to keep them until after dinner so that I’d have a chance to catch up on work. I peeked into the main room, my stomach roiling at the sight of the Halloween decorations. I wasn’t going to be able to put off decorating for much longer.
9
When we stopped by Angela’s house the next day, a neighbor’s leaf blower heralded our arrival. I parked my car along the sidewalk in front of the house and we got out, just standing there for a minute with our hands in our pockets, neither of us hurrying to approach the door.
“This feels weird.” Desi stared at Angela’s house.
“It does.” I let my eyes dart to the gate to the backyard and shivered. Last time we’d been here, a body had fallen out of a sarcophagus. That was enough to scare anyone away from the house. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the neighborhood kids started rumors about the witch who lived in this house.
With the fog drifting in off the water and surrounding the house, it struck me again how perfect this house was for Halloween. I half expected to see a bat fly out of an upper window or spot a ghost in the attic. Actually, I was surprised that Angela hadn’t wanted to keep the haunted house at her residence, but perhaps her ideas grew too big for a single house and neighborhood to comfortably manage.
We walked up the concrete walkway to the front door. Someone in the neighborhood must have been burning wood in their fireplace because the air reeked of woodsmoke. Before I could even rap on the door, it opened.
“How did you know we were here?” Desi asked.
Drew gestured with thumb at a blinking light in the corner of the porch roof. “The camera notifies me if anyone approaches the house.”
My eyes fixed on the blinking light. “Did the police check the footage from the day Mindy died?”
He nodded. “They did, but it didn’t show anything. The backyard gate is too far over there.” He pointed to the side. “Angela always wanted me to install another camera over there, but I hadn’t done it yet.” He sighed. “Now I wish I had.” He looked at us. “Are you here to look for the haunted house designs?”
“Yes. Is now a good time?” I asked.
“As good as any, I guess. I’ve been having a difficult time staying focused on work with everything that’s been going on.” He motioned for us to enter the house, closing the door behind us.
The inside of the Laveaux house was filled with artwork—paintings on the walls, sculptures in every corner, and decorative chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Next to me, I heard Desi suck in her breath as she took it all in as well.
Drew caught us looking at the art and laughed. “Angela considers our home to be her own personal art gallery. Actually, this is the house she grew up in, so we’re surrounded by her family heirlooms as well as the more modern pieces she’s chosen.”
“It’s beautiful,” I said truthfully. While there was an abundance of art, somehow, in Angela’s house, it didn’t feel forced.
“Thank you.” He led us down a hallway to a back room and turned the old-fashioned brass doorknob. “This is Angela’s studio. If she had any, the design plans would be in there.”
“Thank you.”
He flipped on the overhead light and stepped aside. Desi and I entered the room, halting in the entrance. Just like the rest of her house, this room was covered in art, some still in progress in the back of the room and some showcased throughout the space. Materials for new projects lay in haphazard stacks on every available surface.
“I’ll be right down the hall if you need me.” He disappeared from view.
“Where do we start?” Desi asked, her eyes wide.
“I don’t know.” This wasn’t going to be an easy task. “How about we start with the desk? Maybe she left it there.”
Desi started to sort through all of the items on top of the desk. I moved around to the other side of the large wooden desk and opened up a file drawer. Neat folders held bills and such, but much to my dismay, the plans weren’t there. I pushed the door shut and sighed.
“I take it you didn’t find anything in there.” Desi raised her eyebrows at me. “I sure didn’t. How does one person have so much stuff?”
“Nope. Now what?” The idea of going through all of her stacks was daunting, but I couldn’t picture her storing it somewhere where it could get lost.
Desi surveyed the space, pointing at the back wall. “You look through that stuff and I’ll take this half of the room.”
I nodded.
An hour later, Desi said, “You’ll never believe what I just found.”
I poked my head up from the file drawer I was looking through. “What is it?”
She held up a paper-wrapped object, waving it slightly in the air.
“Ok?” I still had no clue what it was, but judging by the stunned expression on Desi’s face, it must be something big.
She peeled the paper back, revealing a stack of green paper. “It’s forty thousand dollars.”
Files slid off my lap and onto the floor as I stood quickly. “Forty thousand dollars? Are you sure?”
“Uh huh. I counted it. There’s forty bundles of a thousand dollars each.”
I grabbed it from her. “That’s got to be fake, right? A prop for something?”
“I don’t know, those one hundred-dollar bills look pretty real to me.”
I examined the money and handed it back to her. “I’m no expert, but those look real to me too. Who keeps that much cash in lying around their office?”
Desi shrugged. “Angela, I guess. Maybe she’s paranoid about the banks crashing or something. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that much money in person, much less keep it in a drawer.”
“Where did you find it?”
She pointed at a file cabinet in the corner of the room. “In the bottom drawer of that cabinet.”
“Is there more than that?”
“No. Just that.”
“Well, put it back. She would probably be angry if she knew we found it.”
Desi complied. “That’s weird though, right? To keep that much cash in the house?”
“Maybe it’s common for wealthy people to do. I mean, seriously, look at this place. Angela’s family must have done well for themselves.”
“Yeah. After seeing this place, I’m curious about them. I’ll have to find out what her maiden name was and ask Mom if they have any information about the family down at the historical society.” She glanced around the room, as if suddenly remembering why we were there. “We’ve already been here over an hour. Let’s find those plans and get out of here.”
Another hour later, we sat in the middle of the floor, empty-handed.
“Argh.” I looked around. “How is it not here?”
“Maybe she has it with her,” Desi answered.
“At the jail?” She might have a point though. Every time I’d seen Angela, she’d carried a large purse. She could have kept any plans in there.
I slumped against the side of the desk. “Now what? How am I going to get it back from her?”
“I don’t know. Maybe Drew can get it if they let him see her.” She peered at me. “Are you sure she had some sort of written plans for the haunted house?”
“I’m pretty sure she must have. There were too many details and she’s so particular that I can’t imagine she wouldn’t have them written down.” I pushed myself off the ground and held out a hand to her, to help her to standing. I looked around, grimacing. “Now I owe you. Lunch at the Thai restaurant in Everton?”
Her eyes lit up. “Yum. You know I love that place.”
I grinned. “Me too. Let’s find Drew and then we can leave.”
We followed the sound of soft classical rock to a room just down the hall. Drew sat at a modern metal desk, staring at his computer.
“Whoa. This is really different than Angela’s studio,” Desi whispered.
“No kidding.” The dark hardwood floors in Drew’s office were shiny and free of clutter. A lone painting that looked like something Mikey had done hung on his wall. I was pretty sure it was worth quite a bit more than the drawings taped to our refrigerator door. Unlike Angela’s, his desk held nothing but a computer keyboard and monitor.
I cleared my throat and he looked up.
“Did you find what you were looking for?”
I shook my head. “We didn’t. I think she may have the designs with her, if she had already created them. Do you know if you’ll be able to see her soon? Maybe you could check with the police to see if you can get them back or at least find out what she had in mind?”
He stood from behind his desk. “I’ll check with them today. I know how important the haunted house is to Angela.” His face paled. “This must be devastating for her, not being able to manage the event. She lives for Halloween every year.”
I smiled softly at him. “I’ll do everything I can to make this event a success, and I’m sure they’ll release her soon.”
“I hope so.” He fiddled with a piece of paper on her desk and then looked up at me. “I’m sure she didn’t kill Mindy.”
“I’m sure you’re right.” I looked at Desi, but she was checking out an antique oil painting on the wall. Should I tell him about the cash? It wasn’t like Angela had locked the file drawer or anything, so he probably already knew about it. “We did come across something though.”
“What?” He cocked his head to the side.
“Forty thousand dollars in cash. We left it where we found it, in the bottom drawer of that file cabinet against the back wall. I thought you should know. Maybe it should be locked up in a safe or something?” It occurred to me that they probably had some sort of safe in this house, with all of the valuable items.
He leaned against his desk and ran his finger through his hair. “Forty thousand dollars? In cash?”
I nodded.
“I don’t know where she got that kind of money from. Most of what we have is tied up in investments and can’t be quickly liquidated. In fact, that’s why I’m having problems posting the two million dollar bail they’re requesting.”
My jaw dropped. Two million dollar bail?
“But all that money. Could Mindy have been right?” He shook his head. “No, it’s impossible.”
I gave him a sharp look. “What did Mindy say?”
“It’s nothing.” He waved his hand. “I shouldn’t have said anything while Angela isn’t even here to defend herself.”
“Drew. What if whatever it is was why Mindy was killed?”
He sighed. “Fine. Mindy came to the house one day accusing Angela of embezzling money from the MUMs group. Of course, I didn’t want to believe it and Angela denied taking any money, so Mindy dropped it. But now with that money you’ve found, I don’t have an explanation for where it came from. So …”
“So the money we found could be stolen?” I asked.
He reddened. “I’m not saying that. More likely, it’s money Angela hid away in case of an emergency. Her family had a history of not trusting the government and we’ve found stashes of money squirreled away all over this house.”
By this time, Desi was listening intently. “Did you tell the police about this?”
“No!” he said. “I’m not going to tell the police that the woman they think my wife murdered was accusing her of embezzlement.” He shook his head vigorously. “It’s probably all a big mistake. Angela would never kill anyone. Jill …” He hesitated. “You have some experience with things like this, right?”
“Uh. Like what?”
“You know, murder investigations. Angela mentioned to me one time that you’d solved a murder while you were on vacation last month.”
“She did?” I hadn’t thought Angela knew much about me, or cared to know much about me, but perhaps Beth had said something to her about what happened to us at the lake.
“She always knows everything there is to know about the people she works with.” He laughed. “If you hadn’t noticed, she’s a bit of a control freak. Truth be told, the reason she told me about it was because she was upset you weren’t in town to assist her with the haunted house that week.”
I smiled. “I’m sure she’s just concerned about the event.”
“She’s like that with everything.” He looked past Desi to the hallway. “If you hadn’t guessed, this is the only room in the house that’s actually mine.” He made a face. “But I know my wife and she didn’t kill Mindy. Maybe you could find something out?”
Desi and I exchanged glances.
“We’ll do our best,” I said.
He ushered us out of the house and when we were in my minivan, Desi turned to me.
“So, we’re investigating this now? Tomàs is going to kill me if he finds out.”
“I never said we were investigating it. Maybe just asking a few questions to help lead the police to the real killer.” I felt a flush rising up my neck and I started the car.
“Uh huh.” She laughed. “I’ve heard that before.” In a quieter voice, she asked, “Do you really think Angela is innocent?”
I stared straight ahead at the road as I drove. “I do. There’s no way she would have let anything interfere with the Ericksville Haunted House. After all these years of managing it, it’s become a big deal and it’s her reputation on the line.”
“I think you’re right. I’ll ask around at the MUMs leadership meeting. Maybe someone there knows something about the relationship between Angela and Mindy.”
I turned to smile at her. “Thanks, Desi. I owe you.”
“Yep. I’m getting spring rolls and pad thai when we get to the restaurant. Maybe even a Thai iced tea.”
I grinned to myself. Desi and I would do a little sleuthing, but this wasn’t going to turn into a full-blown investigation. That, I didn’t have time for if I wanted to pull off the haunted house in a fashion that wouldn’t make Angela Laveaux come after me as soon as she was released from prison. On second thought, maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to try to figure out what had really happened to Mindy. The world might be better off with Angela behind bars.
“You don’t really think that do you?” Desi asked in horror as I pulled into a parking space at Tasty Thai.
“What?” I turned off the engine and stared at her. “Think what?”
“That Angela should remain behind bars.”
My face reddened. “Oh. I didn’t realize I said that out loud.” I sighed. “No, of course not. I’ll do what I can to get her out of jail.” I opened my car door. “Now, let’s eat some yummy food and forget about all of this for a while, ok?”
“No argument here.�
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10
When I arrived home that day after a late evening at work, Adam was sitting on the couch. The TV was turned on, but he wasn’t watching it. Instead, he was staring at a spreadsheet on his computer. Worry lines crossed his forehead. He was so engrossed in what he was doing that he didn’t notice my approach. Goldie lay at his feet, only looking up for a moment when I entered the room.
I rested my hand on his shoulder. “Hey.”
“Hi.” He glanced at me, turned off the TV and patted the cushion next to him.
“How were the kids? Did you have dinner?” When I’d passed the kitchen, I’d caught a whiff of macaroni and cheese, but he’d cleaned up all of the mess. I’d eaten my leftover Thai food for dinner at my desk.
He nodded. “Mac ’n’ cheese. They both liked it. I got them to bed about an hour ago.”
“Good.” I stepped over his feet and sat down next to him on the couch, pulling my legs up under me as I turned to face him. “What’s going on? You look worried.”
He sighed and shut the lid to the laptop. “I don’t think we’re going to be able to go to Disneyland next summer.”
My heart sunk. Adam and I had been discussing a Disney trip for the last month and I’d really looked forward to going. Luckily, I hadn’t told Mikey about it yet. I’d learned that with young kids, it was best to not tell them anything until close to the date you were actually leaving as they didn’t have much of a concept of time anyway. That alone saved me from countless repetitions of “Are we going tomorrow?”
“Oh.” I peered at him. “Why not?”
He sighed and leaned back against the couch cushions. “It’s too expensive. My practice isn’t in the black yet and we just can’t afford it.”
I nodded. “Ok.”
Starting a solo law practice had been a much more expensive endeavor than we’d anticipated, but I still believed it had been the right decision for our family.
He ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry, honey. I know how much you were looking forward to it.”
“Yeah, I was, but I understand. Besides, maybe we can go next year when Ella’s older and can enjoy it more. Mikey will be thrilled whenever we end up going.” I’d always known there was a possibility we wouldn’t be able to go that year and I didn’t want to jeopardize our finances to do so.
