Lucy readily agreed, and suggested that she expand her calls to others that she knew were active in both the community and the art of social gossip. She knew from experience that there were a certain few that knew more about what was going on in Citrus Beach than even the town leaders did. And she could start with her neighbor, the queen of gossip. Looking at Paul and Megan, they all grinned and laughed out loud … “Charlotte Potter!”
“And that leaves you and me to talk to Leslie Black. Do we approach her at the office, Aiden?” Megan asked.
“I’m thinking that I would like to look around her home and ask some questions from her neighbors first. Then, I want to get her away from the office to talk to her. I think she will be more willing to talk if she is in a more casual atmosphere. We’ll ask her to meet us for lunch.”
“That sounds good. Let’s take her back to the Yacht Club. Maybe if she is there, she’ll feel a little guilty about the hit and run attempt on me yesterday!”
“I don’t know about that, Megan. She didn’t come across as someone with a very strong conscience. If anything, she might be a little put off that yesterday’s attempt was unsuccessful. Maybe we can use that to our advantage.”
With everyone agreeing to Aiden’s plan of action, they split up and headed out to work on their assigned tasks. Promising to call Aiden if they came across anything of interest, they decided to meet up at Megan’s at dinner time.
Lucy gave her husband a quick kiss goodbye and got behind the wheel of her car to leave. They had driven to the diner separately, not sure of what the day’s plans would be. Turning on her radio, she waved to the others and pulled out to head home. Her first stop was going to be her neighbor, Charlotte Potter. If anyone knew what was going on in town, she would be the one to ask.
Mrs. Potter was a fixture in the town. For years, she had been the librarian and then when she retired, her days were spent at the Garden/Historical Society, sharing her knowledge and love of both town and gardens with the next generation. She had watched most of the children in town grow up into the adults that now ran the town businesses and government. Because of this, she had a special place in the hearts of most of the townsfolk, and it only seemed natural that many spent time talking to her about what was going on in their lives.
Lucy and Paul had found themselves essentially adopted by the woman when they moved next door after their wedding nine years earlier. She had taken them under her wing, giving Lucy advice as needed and sneaking treats to Paul as she saw fit. Smiling to herself, Lucy looked forward to her visit with her loving neighbor.
Within half an hour, Lucy was in Mrs. Potter’s well-tended garden sitting across from her on a comfortable wicker bench. Mrs. Potter listened closely to what Lucy had to tell her, only occasionally asking for clarification. When she finished, Mrs. Potter nodded her head and was silent as she went over Lucy’s tale. After a few moments, she spoke her mind.
“Everyone is in such a hurry to change things around here, and of course they think that their way is best for the town. I spoke a number of times with John. He was a nice man, rather impatient, but polite and interested in what I had to say and about the future of Citrus Beach. Like most youngsters his age, he thought he had all the answers and that his uncle and the other members of the town council were too far behind the times. He had a vision for the town, I’ll give him that, but he just didn’t understand that good things take time to be done properly.”
“What kind of plans did he seem to be working on, Mrs. Potter?”
“He never came right out and said, but he did ask a lot about the type of tourists that we get during the season and how they like to spend their money. He questioned why there weren’t more businesses to drawn them to Citrus Beach. Tourist Traps, I call them. But JT, he seemed to think they would be the answer to making Citrus Beach completive with Palm Beach or Orlando. Why? I asked him. It’s our quiet charm that people are attracted to. There are plenty of towns up and down the coast that can provide excitement for the tourist. He didn’t like that answer, said that was the way things were done twenty years ago and Citrus Beach needed to ‘get with the times.’”
Mrs. Potter did not have much more to add about JT’s business ideas or practices, but she did mention that she had also met Leslie Black once.
“She was with JT at one of the fundraisers that the Garden Club put on. She acted like she was so much better than the rest of us. Put on airs that she was so high and mighty. But she slipped up a time or two … that girl is not from the better side of the tracks, if you know what I mean. She sure liked to boss JT around too. Tried to control who he talked to and where he spent his personal time. I know his aunt did not like that woman, didn’t trust her she said. Julie Travels is a sharp woman, and she could see something was off about Leslie Black.”
After a few more questions, the conversation turned more personal, and Lucy knew she would not get any further information from Mrs. Potter. The woman loved to gossip, but she would never spread false or spiteful rumors about anyone.
Meanwhile, Paul had stopped at the office of Scooter’s Inspections before he went out to check on his own crews. Scooter’s Inspections was owned by George Scooter, a second generation of building inspectors. Since his business was the only one of its kind within fifty miles, George knew most of what was going on and what was proposed to happen in the town before most people did. Often he was doing inspections for the bank so they could approve a loan for a business or a business expansion even before the building permits were pulled. If there were something in the works that John had been working on, George would know about it.
“Hello, Paul! How’s your bride? I know my wife has been keeping her busy with jewelry orders; she’s trying to get gifts for all our nieces for the holidays. I leave all that up to her and just sign the checks when she asks.”
“Lucy has been doing great, thanks for asking, George. I saw your boys at the soccer game last week: they are looking even better than last year!”
“They sure are! And they love the game. They have taken on a group of younger boys from the church and are showing them how to play. It makes you proud to see your kids giving back freely to others.”
The two men discussed soccer for a few moments. George’s twin high school boys were co-captains on the school’s team and the whole town was known to come to the games to cheer them on.
“I hear Megan had some trouble out on the island. Is everything okay? It must have scared her silly, seeing a murder like that! The Travels boy was liked by many around here and having him killed in broad daylight has made a lot of people nervous. Some of us are actually locking our doors when we are out. Did I hear right that some fool tried to run her down in town yesterday too? ”
“Yeah, you heard right. Scared us, but just made Megan mad! And determined to find out what is going on. You know how stubborn she is; I almost feel sorry for the driver when she does find him.”
George and Paul shared a laugh but quickly got serious.
“Is there anything I can do to help, Paul? You know we look out after our own, so word is spreading to keep an eye on Megan for safety’s sake. You have the look of a man on a mission, so I’m assuming that you came out here for a reason.”
“There are … we figure that JT was killed due to something he was working on … either through his uncle’s firm or on his own. Have you heard of anything new being planned in or around town that would involve island property? Or maybe a large selection of commercial property outside of town?”
“As far as I know, most of the island property is pretty well locked up in trust or already developed. There are a couple of larger pieces that are gonna need a lot of work on them, but I hear they are priced way too high. The only other piece of land over there that large is Neptune’s Trident. Over here on the mainland, there are still lots of properties to develop and then of course there are all those acres of Citrus Groves. I haven’t heard of anyone looking at large or multiple properties. But you know,
now that you are making me think about it, David Ross over at the D&D Realtors office mentioned to me that he has had someone from down south looking at almost every property he has listed. I remember now, because David felt like this person was trying to avoid using local services; he was even bringing in an inspector from down south.”
“Did David say where down south they were from? Or what kind of property they are focusing on? I’m sure not happy to hear about this.”
“He just said from the south. They seem to be honing in on large properties close together. Oh, and David and his wife, Dorothy are pretty frustrated because he was working with a buyer’s agent. As good of a Realtor as David is, he doesn’t like the fact that he can’t ask the buyer direct questions about their wants and needs. Give David a call and see what he has to add. This could eat into your business, as well. I would really like to know who thinks they can come into a small town and not be up front with the people who are going to be their neighbors and consumers: someone with a big city attitude for sure!”
Paul nodded his head in agreement with George and made a mental note to talk to their Realtor’s friend, David later that day. The two men talked a while longer and then, after promising to keep George in the loop, Paul left to head out to check on the progress of the crews.
Chapter Nineteen
While Lucy and Paul had been busy getting information from their local contacts, Megan and Aiden drove over to the small townhouse that Leslie Black was currently renting on a side street off the main riverside business district. The townhouse was within walking distance of Travels Investments and most of the residents on the street were also employed at one of the businesses along the river. It seemed most of the homes on the street were either townhouses or small single-family homes, with well-kept lawns and simple landscapes. A few had a fresh coat of paint, and all seemed well maintained.
There were a few cars parked along the curb, and Aiden pulled in behind an older compact Honda Civic and turned off the engine: they were across from Leslie’s place. He made no move to get out of the car, just looked around at the neighboring homes, taking stock of the neighborhood. There were a few children playing in one of the front yards and he could hear dogs barking through the open window. The house closest to Leslie’s seemed to have the most activity, with kids running in and out the front door, letting out the sound of country music each time the door opened.
“Aiden, we can’t just sit here. Someone will get curious about what we are doing, or worse we’ll frighten them and they’ll call the police. This is a small town, you can’t watch what’s going on from your vehicle; you have to actually get out and engage someone in conversation. Come on, let see what the neighbors know.”
Not giving Aiden a chance to respond, Megan opened the door and climbed out of the truck. He tried to stop her, but she had the door closed before he knew what was happening. This was not how he usually liked to work; he preferred to take his time, assess the situation, and make a plan. Obviously, that was not how things were going to happen when Megan was involved. Mentally shrugging his shoulders, Aiden decided to follow her lead. It was her hometown, and she had been on the mark with everything so far. Quickly he jumped out of the truck and caught up with her.
Megan decided to take the most direct route to information: the most active house on the street. Luck would have it be Leslie’s most direct neighbor, as well. As they went up the front walkway, Megan caught a basketball that had accidentally been thrown in her direction. Dribbling it a few times, she tossed it back to the two youngsters who were playing catch with it.
“Nice catch, Lady! Sorry, we didn’t mean for it to hit you.”
“Not a problem, kids. Listen, is your mom or someone else home?”
Nodding to Megan, the young girl looked at her brother and then let out a yell that would make glass shatter for her mother and directed the visitors to the front door.
“Hey, Mom, some people are out here to see you! Just go up and bang on the door. My mom is inside with the neighbor talking.”
Megan and Aiden exchanged a look, hoping the neighbor wasn’t Leslie Black playing hooky from work. They were relieved when two young women came to the door, and neither of them was the woman they were there to inquire about. It took a moment, but when one of the women spoke, Megan recognized her as one of the local caterers her clients often used for small parties. The woman recognized Megan right away, and seemed happy to invite her and Aiden into her home.
“Megan, what a nice surprise! What in the world are you doing here? Come on in. Oh, this is my neighbor Rose Stone. Kids, outside! Out of Ms. Cassidy’s way. Play nicely please, and let the adults talk.” In one breath, she managed to invite, introduce, and dismiss those around her.
“Aiden, this is Kayla Spinner, one of the best caterers I’ve ever worked with! Nice to meet you, Rose.” Megan responded and then continued.
“Kayla, we had no idea who lived here, but I’m really glad it’s you. I know you’re not one for gossip, but we are trying to find out as much information as we can about your other neighbor, Leslie Black. She’s new to town, and I don’t know much about her, other than she works at Travels Investments. Do you have a few minutes to talk to us?”
“It’s nice to meet you both. I should go and let you all talk.” Rose acknowledged the introductions and walked towards the door.
“Wait, Rose. You live on the other side of Kayla, right? Maybe you can help us too. If it wouldn’t make you feel uncomfortable….” Megan stopped her before she opened the door.
Rose and Kayla exchange a look and then Rose nodded her head and moved to head back in the direction the two women had just come from. Entering the kitchen, Kayla motioned for everyone to take a seat at the table, which was loaded in the center with a large assortment of finger foods.
“Don’t mind our mess. We were just sampling some of my newer recipes to decide which to include in my fall menu. Help yourself, I’d love your opinion too!”
Aiden smiled at the spread before him and did not hesitate to reach out and sample from the tray closest to his seat. Without asking, Kayla poured glasses of ice cold water for everyone and sat down with her guests. Looking over at Megan, Kayla seemed puzzled.
“Megan, why do you want to know about Leslie? She hasn’t come to you about investing any money has she?”
“No, why would you ask that?”
“Well it seems as if she has been trying to get most of the small businesses in town that provide services to the islanders to invest with her in some new and upcoming development. The only problem is that she is asking for a lot of money, but she isn’t very forthcoming with any specific information. Almost everyone she’s asked has either put her off or turned her down completely.”
“Kayla, did she give any hint at all as to what the money would be used for?”
“The only thing she would say, Megan, was that it would go towards generating more jobs and tourism in Citrus Beach.”
“The thought of more jobs is always good, but when she included tourism with the deal, most of us were turned off.” Rose broke in, before Kayla could continue.
“Well, at least not the mass of tourists that she was portraying! None of us mind visitors to the town, and most of us have directed our businesses to make them feel welcome, but none of us wants to see a new Vegas at our back door! And that was the feeling Leslie was aiming for, a playground for people with lots of money to spend on quick getaways.”
“Rose is right. We want a tourist that is going to appreciate and value what we have here. And we want to keep our town family friendly!”
Both women seemed ready to get worked up about the ideas Leslie had proposed and Aiden quickly interjected into the discussion before it could become a rant and he would lose their focus on details.
“Was Leslie able to provide you with any details at all or let you know who the main backers of this project were?”
“No, she was very good at evading any direct questions. She did
keep mentioning Travels Investments, John II in particular. That seems really strange, because most of us know how the councilman feels about large development of our area. Now I don’t know his nephew very well, with his being so new to town, but I just can’t see him standing behind such an idea,” Kayla answered.
“Can you ladies tell us anything else about Leslie other than her business proposal? Did she socialize much, or have a lot of visitors?”
Megan saw both women hesitate when Aiden asked his last question. She knew Kayla was in a position that would let her see and hear a lot of what went on at the social events of the town, but she also understood that it was not in her best interest to broadcast what she observed. Like Megan, there was a tremendous amount of trust placed in her by her clients to respect their privacy, and it could hurt her business if word got out that she was gossiping about what went on in their homes to others.
“Kayla, it’s okay. Nothing you say will go any farther than the four of us. We are just trying to find out what Leslie Black was up to and how it could possibly tie into JT’s murder. The Travels know that we are doing this, they asked us to help, so you are not betraying them.”
“There really isn’t much to tell, Megan. Leslie kept to herself. She wanted nothing to do with the neighborhood. We both tried to get to know her, invite her to our cookouts—“
“That is so true. She wanted nothing to do with us. And she couldn’t stand to have the kids around. She was actually a little mean to them when they happened to come into her yard. Anyone who could be mean to Kayla’s kids is just not a nice person. I mean Kayla’s kids are so sweet, you can’t help but like them.” Rose interjected quickly, before Kayla’s tendencies to say only nice things got in the way of what she knew as the truth.
Murder For Neptune's Trident...A Citrus Beach Mystery (Citrus Beach Mysteries Book 1) Page 15
