by Jessica Beck
“Is that a threat?” I asked as I decided to stand my ground. I wasn’t about to let him bully me if I could help it.
“It sure is,” he said, and he took a thick forefinger and pushed me. Ordinarily it wouldn’t have been enough to bother me, but he’d caught me off guard, and I stumbled backwards a little.
“Don’t you dare touch me,” I said, feeling the heat rise in my cheeks.
“Then stay away from me and my family,” he said, “or I’ll do a lot worse than shove you. You don’t want to see that, Suzanne.”
He was back inside before I could manage a reply. Having his hand on me, even just his finger, had been unsettling to me, and I felt violated. Bullies pushed. I knew that, but I didn’t have to like it. If Frank Grambling had been the one who’d killed Jude Williams, I was going to make sure that he paid for it.
Grace was just hanging up as I came back to the Jeep. After she said her good-byes, she asked me, “Finished already?”
There must have been something in my face that made her alarmed. “Suzanne, what happened?”
“You didn’t see it?” I asked.
“No, I was busy talking. Sorry. What did he do?”
“It was nothing,” I said, trying to convince myself that it was true.
“Don’t lie to me,” Grace answered severely.
“He pushed me, okay? It wasn’t a big shove; just enough to let me know that he could do a whole lot more damage if he put his mind to it. It shook me up a little, I won’t lie to you.” Almost as an afterthought, I added, “He threatened me, too; us, as a matter of fact. He said if we don’t stop grilling him and his wife, he was going to make us both sorry.”
Grace started to get out of the Jeep when I grabbed her arm. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“He’s not going to get away with that,” she said. “At least not if you let go of my arm.”
“Grace, it’s nothing, and besides, it’s already over. Let’s just get out of here, okay?”
“Are you sure?”
“I am,” I said as I started the Jeep and pulled out. The man was a brute, there was no doubt about that, but that didn’t necessarily make him a murderer.
It didn’t make him innocent, either. I was going to have to keep my eye on Frank Grambling in the future, and that meant not being alone with him if I could help it. He made me nervous. I couldn’t imagine how Lisa felt around him.
“Where are you going now?” Grace asked me as I sped off.
“I thought we might go look for Lisa,” I said.
“After what just happened with her husband? Have you lost your mind?”
“I’m not letting someone scare me away from our investigation,” I said. “But if you want out, say the word and I won’t hold it against you.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” she said.
“Are you sure?”
“As sure as I’ve ever been of anything in my life,” she replied, and there was no doubting the truth of what she was saying.
“Good. Then let’s see if we can track Lisa down.”
“Where should we look?” she asked.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you. Frank said that she was at the grocery store.”
“Then let’s head over there,” Grace said.
As it turned out, we got there just in time. Lisa had already finished her shopping, and she was loading her bags into the car.
I pulled up across from her and got out of the Jeep with Grace close on my heels.
“Need a hand with those?” I asked as we walked up to her.
“No, I’m fine,” she said absently, and then she realized that it was us. “What are you two doing here? Are you stalking me?”
“We were just doing a bit of shopping ourselves,” Grace said before I could answer. It was the right thing to say for two reasons. It might just let us catch her off guard, and it would be hard for Frank to know exactly when we spoke with his wife.
“Then go shop,” she said as she threw the last few bags in haphazardly. “I don’t have time to talk.”
I wouldn’t let it go at that, though. “Lisa, did someone get to you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said defiantly.
“The first time we spoke to you, you couldn’t tell us fast enough about the people who might want to hurt Jude. The second time we chatted, you practically ran away from us. Something happened between the two times we chatted. You claim that you have a happy life with your husband, so if he didn’t threaten you, then who did?”
She looked as though she wanted to tell us; I could see it in her eyes. “I don’t know if I can trust you,” she finally said.
“We won’t tell a soul what you share with us,” Grace said in a reassuring voice. “You can bank on it.”
“I wish I could,” she said. After a long moment, Lisa stared straight into my eyes. “Suzanne, if you or Grace say a word about what I’m about to tell you, I’m a dead woman.”
Finally we were breaking through. “You have our words,” I said.
Lisa looked up and down the parking lot to see if anyone was near, and then she said, “This could be the end of me, but I can’t keep living like this.” As she finished, her cellphone rang.
“Let it go to voicemail,” Grace said.
“I can’t.” She answered the call, and her face went pale. “I understand,” she said at last then hung up.
“Go on, you were saying?” I asked.
“I can’t,” she said. Short of blocking her car with our bodies, we couldn’t stop her. Lisa raced out of the parking lot, her tires screaming on the pavement.
“Who just called her, Grace?” I asked.
“It had to be her husband,” she said.
“Not necessarily. If whoever is threatening her saw her chatting with us just now, it could have been a reminder about what might happen to her.” As I said it, I looked wildly around the parking lot for some sign that someone was watching us. There were a few people loading groceries and a few others heading inside, but I didn’t see a soul who was directly involved in our investigation. “It’s no use. I’m afraid that we might never know.”
“Is Lisa in danger?” Grace asked. “Maybe we should follow her.”
“We could, but what’s the killer going to think if they see us tailing her home? We could put her in more jeopardy than she’s already in.”
“We need to find out who she’s so afraid of,” Grace said.
“I don’t know how we’re going to do that. We can’t exactly get her phone records, and we don’t have any proof that we can take to Chief Martin to get him to do it, either.”
“Well, we have to figure out some way to do it,” Grace said.
“I’m trying, but I don’t have much hope.” My cellphone rang just then, and I found myself hoping that it was Jake again.
It wasn’t, and the person on the other end of the line was not someone I wanted to have a conversation with at the moment.
But I didn’t really have any choice, so I went ahead and answered anyway.
Chapter 19
“Hello, Gabby,” I said. “Listen, I would have called you sooner, but I don’t have anything new to report. Grace and I are doing the best that we can, but it hasn’t been easy.”
“I’m not calling to chide you about not checking in,” she said in that particularly disdainful voice she had. “I need you to come to my shop right now.”
“We’re tracking down clues at the moment,” I said. The last thing I wanted was an audience with her.
“You are in the grocery store parking lot, at least you were two minutes ago when I drove past,” she said. “This can’t wait, Suzanne. Bring Grace with you.”
Before I could say another word, she hung up on me.
“What was that all about?” Grace asked me.
“We’ve been summoned by her highness to ReNEWed,” I said.
“We’re both about to get scolded, no doubt,” Grace said with the hint of a frown. “Doe
sn’t she know we’re doing everything we can?”
“I told her that, but it didn’t seem to satisfy her.”
“I’m shocked,” Grace said sarcastically, clearly not surprised by Gabby’s attitude at all.
“Nevertheless, we need to go over there,” I replied as I headed back to the Jeep.
Grace followed. “Why do I feel like I’m in school and the principal wants to see me?”
“I have the exact same feeling, but we might as well get it over with. If we don’t, she’ll just keep calling, and worse yet, she’ll be even more disapproving.”
“I wouldn’t wish that on anyone,” Grace said. “At least she wants to speak with both of us.”
When we got to Gabby’s gently used clothing shop, I saw that the CLOSED sign was in the window and the blinds had been pulled, even though we were in the middle of Gabby’s regular work day.
Grace studied the sign and the window treatments. “Are we even sure that she’s in there?”
“There’s only one way to find out,” I said as I knocked firmly on the front door.
“We’re closed,” I heard a muffled voice say from inside.
“It’s Suzanne and Grace,” I answered loudly.
“Why didn’t you say so?” Gabby asked as she unlocked the door and let us inside.
As we walked across the threshold, I asked her, “Why are you closed in the middle of the afternoon?”
“Soon, it’s not going to matter one way or the other, so why bother keeping up pretenses now?” I studied Gabby, and she looked as though she hadn’t slept since the last time we’d spoken. Dark circles were under her eyes, and her complexion looked positively waxy.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
“My last living kin was murdered, and the police think I might have done it,” Gabby said. “How do you think I am?”
“Has Chief Martin accused you of anything so far?” I asked her gently. I knew that she was lashing out at me because she was in pain, so I decided to ignore it.
“He comes around here every day with more questions,” Gabby said, rubbing her hands together constantly. “If he didn’t think I had something to do with it, why won’t he leave me alone?”
“He’s just doing his job,” Grace said.
Gabby wheeled on her. “Is it his job to harass me so much that I can’t even sleep at night? Is it his job to ask folks I know around town about me? He’s making my life a living nightmare,” she said.
“He’s just trying to find the truth,” I said, trying to speak in a soothing voice. “Gabby, you told me that you didn’t kill Jude, so you don’t have anything to worry about.”
She laughed, but there was no joy in it. “Suzanne, you’ve been the focus of the chief’s investigations before. If this town starts believing that I’m a killer, then I’ve already been tried and convicted in the only court that really matters.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know what I can do,” I said. What she said was true enough. It was too easy to be convicted in the court of public opinion without a shred of solid proof. “If you want me to talk to the chief for you, I will, but I’m not sure that I’d be able to do any good.”
“If I wanted someone with influence over the man to intervene for me, I would have called your mother, Suzanne.”
I didn’t like that implication, but again, I let it slide.
“Gabby, you called us, remember?” I asked. “If we’re here talking to you, we can’t track down Jude’s real killer.”
“I wanted you to be the first to know about my decision,” Gabby said, softening for just a moment. “We have been friends for a long time, so I thought it only right to tell you first.”
“What’s going on?”
“I just wanted you to know that if you two or the police fail to find the killer in the next twenty-four hours, I’m shutting this place down and starting over somewhere else,” she said. “I’m selling the business, and my house as well. I just can’t stand living under this cloud of suspicion, and if it doesn’t go away quickly, I’m not going to have any choice.”
“Gabby, you don’t mean that,” I said.
“But I do,” she answered as she looked fondly around her shop. “This has been a good life, but I won’t stay if I feel as though the folks in April Springs are constantly whispering behind my back. I’ve given my life to this place. It makes me so sad that instead of being there for my nephew, I was here sending out e-mails to customers I thought might like what I had to offer.”
“Hang on a second,” I said. “You were working while you were here?”
“Yes, I had to do something, didn’t I? Why does it matter?”
“Let me see your computer,” I said.
“What’s going on, Suzanne?” Grace asked.
“Hang on. Let me check something first.”
Gabby led us in back to her office and showed us her computer. “What good is this going to do?”
“You said that you emailed customers that night,” I said. “Did any of them respond to you?”
“Suzanne, I have very selective clients. They know that if they want something I’m offering, they have to respond quickly, or it will be gone. Of course I chatted online with several of them, but no one actually saw me here.”
“Maybe they didn’t have to,” I said. “Call up your account, and go to the Sent Messages file.”
She looked unsure of where I was going with it, but Grace got it instantly. She winked at me and smiled, but we weren’t out of the woods yet.
“Here you go,” she said after a few moments.
“May I?” I asked.
“Go right ahead. I don’t have anything to hide from you.”
I studied her e-mails, taking particular care to look at the time of each of them. After a minute, I looked at Gabby and said, “I’m calling the chief.”
“Why?” Gabby asked. “Did I do something wrong?”
“On the contrary. You were here chatting with customers during Jude’s time of death. You’re in the clear, Gabby.”
“Is it really that simple?” she asked, clearly not believing me.
“Once the chief confirms that the folks you chatted with vouch for you, I can’t see a problem with your alibi. Gabby, working may have just saved you.”
“Then what are you waiting for? Call him, Suzanne.”
I called the chief and explained my theory to him.
“I’ll send someone over to verify all of this,” the chief said. “In the meantime, nobody should touch that computer.”
“Absolutely,” I said. “We’ll all be here.”
He added softly, “That’s good work, Suzanne. I didn’t even think to ask about emailing after she told me that she was alone and that she didn’t see anyone the entire time.”
“Don’t give me too much credit. I just picked up on it during a casual conversation.”
“Still, it was a nice catch. Jake would be proud.”
I felt a twinge at that, but I swallowed it quickly. “Thanks.”
“What did he say?” Gabby asked me as soon as I hung up.
“One of his people is on their way. We’re not supposed to touch anything in the meantime.”
Grace promptly reached out and touched the computer monitor. “Call me a rebel,” she said.
“I’ll call you whatever you want me to,” Gabby said as a smile came tentatively forward. “I don’t know how to thank you two enough.”
“Thank her,” Grace said as she pointed to me. “Suzanne is the real sleuth in the outfit.”
“You’re a team,” Gabby said, “and I’m thanking you both.”
“We’re just happy to help,” I said. “So, does this change your plans in any way?”
“I’m staying,” she said, and then she added, “What am I doing staying closed? I have to open the shop back up. I’m sure you two have somewhere else you need to be.”
“Don’t you want us to wait with you for the police?” I asked her.
“I can
take things from here,” Gabby said as she walked us to the front. “You two have work to do. Just because you proved that I wasn’t the killer doesn’t mean that the real murderer is going to get caught without more work on your parts. Now shoo.”
As we walked out front, Gabby opened the blinds and flipped her sign over. Out on the sidewalk, Grace looked at me and said, “It’s your fault, you know.”
“What’s my fault?” I asked.
“Gabby was ready to leave town forever, and you just single-handedly gave her a reason to stay. Way to go, Suzanne.”
I grinned at my best friend. “I don’t even care. Let her stay. She has as much right to be here as anyone else.”
“I’m going to remind you that you said that the next time she gets on your nerves,” Grace said.
“Go right ahead.” Gabby and I had experienced our differences in the past, but all in all, it was a comfort having her nearby. So much was changing in my world in April Springs that it was nice having something that I could count on. Warts and all, Gabby was one of those things that I relied on to make sure that my world would continue to spin long after all of the births, weddings, and funerals.
“Now it’s time to focus on the last three suspects we haven’t spoken with today,” I told Grace once we were back in my Jeep. “I’m not really excited about doing it, but we really don’t have any choice.”
“Are we really going to talk to Emily again?” she asked me. “Suzanne, she’s not exactly your biggest fan right now, is she?”
“It can’t be helped,” I said, even though I agreed with Grace completely. “If it’s all the same to you, though, I’d rather tackle Peter and Max again first.”
“I can’t blame you for leaving Emily for last,” Grace said as we drove toward Max’s place.
“Listen, if you want to hang back when I speak with Emily, I understand. There’s no sense in both of us getting banned from attending the wedding.”
Grace looked at me with a surprised expression on her face. “Suzanne, were you really under the impression that I would go without you?”
“I just assumed that you would,” I said.
