by R A Wallace
“Of course, that’s not the only place I’ve seen him,” Misty said.
Megan turned to look at her. “Him who?”
“That Alva guy. I saw him a couple of times.”
“At somewhere other than the off-road trail?”
Misty made a face. “I’ve had a bad string of luck when it comes to jobs lately. I was working at the bank.”
Megan nodded. She knew that. “You saw him there?”
“Well, not him. I saw LeAnn at the bank.”
Megan was confused. “LeAnn?”
“She’s married to Gabe, right?” Misty asked. She didn’t wait for an answer. “That’s why I was surprised to see her with another man. I mean, I guess she and Gabe aren’t really together anymore. Right? That’s why she wanted a bank account just in her name.”
Megan shook her head and waited for Misty to tell the story in her own way.
“I saw LeAnn at the bank when I worked there. Then I went to work at the gas station. I saw a lot of people there as you might imagine. That’s where I saw that Alva guy with LeAnn.” Misty lowered her voice and leaned a little closer. “It was obvious they were more than casual acquaintances.”
Megan felt her brows go up as her phone buzzed.
“I saw Gabe at the gas station too but he was by himself,” Misty said.
Megan checked her phone. The message was from Jessilyn and said she was attaching the pictures from the Chase that Megan might want to use for the town web site. Jessilyn warned her that some of the pictures might need to be cropped to remove people who hadn’t signed permission slips to have their likeness used.
“I just got some pictures from the Chase,” Megan murmured as she scrolled through the attachments Jessilyn sent.
“The boys had a great time,” Misty said.
Megan stopped at a picture. She moved the focus to the two men in the background. “Are these the men you’re talking about?” She held out her phone.
Misty pointed. “That’s the Alva guy. That’s the guy that was killed.” Misty got excited. “Look. You can see what I mean. Look at the dog. See how his fur is up. He looks like he’s ready to attack his owner.”
Megan zoomed in on the picture a little more. It was obvious that the two men were arguing. The anger on their faces was clear. She had to admit, it looked like Misty was right also. The dog looked ready to tear Alva apart. She forwarded the picture to Erica.
***
LeAnn showed surprise at finding Megan on her porch when she opened the front door.
“Mind if I come in?” Megan moved forward without waiting for a response.
LeAnn backed away from the door then led Megan to a small living room. There were boxes everywhere. LeAnn was packing to move.
“I saw the for sale sign out front,” Megan said.
“That’s why you’re here?” LeAnn looked confused.
Megan lowered herself into an uncomfortable chair. “No. I’m here because I have a few questions. I also thought that you might want to talk.”
“About what?”
“Alva.”
LeAnn sank slowly into a chair across from Megan. She dropped her head into her hands.
“LeAnn, I know that you were seeing him.”
LeAnn lifted her head. She looked tired. “Can I pick them, or what?”
“Did you? Pick him?”
“Well, I guess I didn’t mean that literally. I mean, we just ran into each other one day. We started to talk. We hit it off.” LeAnn looked away.
“Did you tell the police any of this?” Megan asked gently.
LeAnn shook her head. “They didn’t ask.”
“No, I imagine they didn’t think to. Still, it was relevant. Don’t you think?”
LeAnn turned to look at her. “Why?”
“LeAnn. You know about the baseball bat, right?”
LeAnn wrapped her arms around herself. “I told myself that it didn’t make any sense. I knew Gabe would never do that. He’d never kill someone with his old bat and leave it there.” Her eyes went to Megan’s. “Then I told myself that I hadn’t seen it in years. There was no way it could have come from here.”
“Do you really believe that?” Megan asked.
LeAnn nodded once then stopped. She shook her head slowly. “No. I guess not.”
“Was Alva here? Would it have been possible for him to get the bat?”
LeAnn kept her eyes down but she nodded again. “Yeah. He could have found it.” She turned her head toward the garage. “Probably out there. He said he’d help me pack things up out there.”
“You understand that we have to tell the police now?”
LeAnn kept staring at the garage. “He asked me about Gabe a lot. I just thought he was jealous, you know? I just never thought.” She covered her mouth with her hand and shook her head.
Megan reached for her phone.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Emma was curled up on the pillow beside her head. Megan looked up at the ceiling and smiled. “This was a good idea.”
Dan rolled onto his side and spread his hand across her belly. He could feel the kicking. “Looks like someone doesn’t agree.”
Megan put her hand on her other side and rubbed. “It’s not as bad now as it was earlier.”
“I feel like we’re playing hooky,” he said.
“It’s a rain day. You couldn’t be out working in this anyway. Besides, everyone needs to take a break every now and then. We did manage to get some more greens from the garden before the rain started. I’m not feeling too guilty.”
“I like taking breaks with you,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else on a rainy Saturday afternoon.”
He shifted his head to look at her. “Thanks.”
“For what?”
He propped his elbow on the bed and held his head up. “For figuring out what was going on with Gabe. He might never have told us.”
“Would you have believed him if he did?”
He hesitated before answering. “I’d like to think so. You have to admit. Things did look pretty bad.”
“They did. Your parents never gave up on him. They even went out to the Chase just so they could watch what he did there.”
He pretended to frown. “Given that he was hawking a web site for gambling there, I’m not sure that worked out well for them.”
She laughed. “Still. You know what I mean.”
He rubbed her side. “Yes. I do. Actually, that’s what I told Gabe.”
“Before or after you threatened to beat him up?”
“After. He was willing to make a sacrifice because he didn’t want to see a horde of locusts come in to take advantage of us. I told him I didn’t want to lose the town I remember from my childhood either.”
“Having your identity stolen is bad enough,” Megan agreed. “From what Erica told me on the phone this morning, that group had a history of way worse. Several federal agencies are now taking a close look at them. I suspect they will be facing a lot of other charges when all is said and done.”
“Whatever happened to the dog at the campground?”
“The one that was barking the night of the murder? A couple that camp there all summer took it in. They’re planning to keep it.”
“That was nice of them.” Dan felt another kick. “The dog was barking at the killer, I take it.”
“Yes. From what Erica and Jerry can piece together, the dog was barking during the actual murder. He must have realized something was going on.”
“What’s going to happen with LeAnn?”
“Nothing, really. She came forward voluntarily to share what she knew.”
“But not when they initially went out to her house to question her about the bat,” he said.
She turned her head to look at him. She felt the small black cat stir. “Whose side are you on?”
“No, I know. I don’t want her to get into trouble either. She’s had it hard enough already.”
“Apparently that’s what G
abe said when he argued in her favor.” She turned to look at him. “I think he’s grown some since he moved back here.”
“Yeah. I think so too.” He felt another kick. “Did the killer confess?”
“Alva? Yes, he did. He said that he was tired of making pennies on the dollar. I guess Ken always dealt with the same bad guys figuring it was safer that way. Alva wanted to go wide and put this data out to the highest bidder. They argued over it and Alva lost his temper.”
“How did he actually manage to get Gabe’s bat?”
“He went through LeAnn’s garage and stole some things out of there. She didn’t know it at first, of course. She never paid a lot of attention to what was in there.” She shifted her weight trying to find a more comfortable position. “When she decided to sell, he offered to pack up whatever was in the garage hoping she wouldn’t notice that he’d already taken things out of it. That’s when he took the bat. She may have never noticed what was missing if the police hadn’t made her go through the boxes.”
“I guess I missed it when I moved his stuff out. I doubt Gabe has even gone through the boxes I dropped off at the garage.”
Megan finally stopped moving. Emma gave up and jumped off the bed. “The whole idea was pretty ingenious.”
“Having an online gambling site where everyone willingly logs in to give up their financial information? Yeah, I thought so too.” He looked at her. “Not that I would have been interested.”
“Yeah, I was never one for gambling either.”
“There’s one thing I haven’t figured out yet,” he said. “How is it possible that everyone who gambled was happy? Didn’t they lose money?”
“Everyone I spoke with said they broke even.” Megan smiled. “I asked Erica about that. She wouldn’t confirm or deny my theory, but I’m pretty sure I’m right.”
“Give me a clue.”
“It’s all in the math, right? That’s all gambling really is. It’s a game of probability.” She turned her head to look at him again. “Name one person we know who would understand that kind of math.”
He smiled. “Madison.”
“Has to be. The fact that she’s engaged to Jerry…”
“The police department couldn’t have afforded to pay for her services,” Dan interjected. “She must have donated the time.”
“Brad helped with the code.”
“Another freebie.” He pointed at her. “They stole some of your code.”
“It was all for a good cause.”
“It was.” He rolled onto his back and looked up at the ceiling. “Do you think we’ve waited long enough?”
“Probably. It should be cool enough by now.”
He was standing before she even realized he was going to move.
“That was fast.” She held out her hands.
“I really want to get some.” He helped her get out of the bed. “Maybe with a scoop of ice cream.”
“If I had known you would like oatmeal cake so much, I would have made it sooner.”
“I think we should start at the beginning of your grandmother’s cookbook and work our way through all of the recipes.”
Megan’s Recipe
Oatmeal Cake
Pour 1 1/2 cups of boiling water over 1 cup of quick oatmeal and let stand.
Mix together:
1 stick of butter
1 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of white sugar
2 eggs
Add oatmeal mixture, then flour and spices.
1 1/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Pour mixture into oblong cake pan which has been greased and floured. Bake 350 degrees until almost done (about 30 minutes). Spread topping over top of cake and return to oven and bake 15 minutes longer.
Topping:
1 stick of butter, melted
2 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup nuts
1 cup coconut
Notes: Use a 13x9 pan for the full recipe. This recipe can be halved for a smaller cake. Use an 8.5x6.5 or 8x8 pan for a half recipe. If nuts and coconut are omitted for the topping, use 1/4 cup of melted butter, 1 egg, and 1/2 cup brown sugar. For a half recipe, bake for 25 minutes, add topping, bake another 10-13 minutes. Megan uses old fashioned oatmeal instead of quick.
Books by R. A. Wallace
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Indigo Investigations Cozy Mystery Series
Callie Indigo heads the private detective agency Indigo Investigations. When she isn't working a legitimate case, she's often talked into helping out friends and family. Her life becomes even more complicated with the appearance of Greyson Divine, who teams up with Callie to solve cases. This cozy mystery series includes a female sleuth, friends, and family.
Teaberry Farm Bed & Breakfast Cozy Mystery Series
Megan is the main character in the series but interacts with a wide range of other characters in the fictional town of Teaberry. A difficult first marriage ended in the accidental death of her husband. She supports herself with her bed and breakfast, produce from her farm, and her tech skills as a web developer. Over time, she discovers that the love of her life was in front of her all along. Main characters in the series are multigenerational.
