by Jessica Beck
“Let’s see if Momma and the Chief will let us nose around Chester’s apartment for clues,” I said. “I was hoping that it wouldn’t come to that, but right now, we’re all out of other options.”
“Do you think he’ll let us?”
“If we ask him? Probably not. I don’t plan on being the one to put it to him, though. I’m going straight to my mother.”
“What makes you think that she’ll be able to get his permission?” Grace asked. “Scratch that. The chief would walk through fire for her.”
“Not only that, but Momma practically begged me to investigate Chester’s murder. I can’t see her refusing us permission to search his place, can you?”
“We won’t know until we ask,” she said.
I pulled out my phone and dialed my mother’s number, and as I did, I found myself hoping that she’d agree and that Grace and I would be able to find something that might help us figure out who had murdered the librarian on the day before his retirement.
“Momma, it’s Suzanne.”
“You don’t always have to identify yourself. I know my own daughter’s voice, Suzanne.”
Uh oh. She was in a bad mood; that much was clear from her tone of voice. “Maybe this isn’t the best time to ask you for a favor.”
“I’m sure that I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said. “What do you want?”
“We need to check out Chester’s place. Could you ask your husband if it would be okay for us to look around?”
Momma surprised me by laughing when she heard the request, and I could hear a muffled conversation with her husband: “I told you that she’d ask.” Speaking to me again, she said, “The key is under the third flower pot on the left. Don’t worry about disturbing anything. Jake has already had one of his deputies check the place out.”
“It wasn’t Stephen Grant by any chance, was it?” I asked, and I saw Grace’s interest in the conversation perk up at the mention of her boyfriend’s name.
“How should I know who he sent?” Momma asked, that mood back again.
“Thanks for the permission,” I said, determined to get off the phone as soon as possible.
“Just find whoever did this,” Momma said in a low voice. “Not knowing is making our lives absolutely miserable.”
“Are you two having problems?” I asked her, and then I immediately regretted posing the question.
“Suzanne, you’ve been married before, so I shouldn’t have to tell you that the first year is always the most difficult one. Good-bye.”
I found myself holding a dead phone, so I slipped it back into my pocket.
“That went well, didn’t it?” Grace asked me sarcastically.
“How could you tell?”
“I could hear your mother from all the way over here. Let me guess. Is there trouble in paradise?”
“No comment,” I said, refusing to get into it with Grace. “All that matters is that we’ve got permission to search Chester’s place, and we’d better go do it before either one of them changes their mind.”
“I’m all for it,” Grace said as we hurried back to my Jeep. “What do you think we’ll find?”
“I don’t know, but we can’t do much worse than we have so far, so it’s not like there’s much for us to lose.” Apparently my mother’s mood was influencing my behavior as well.
If Grace noticed, she didn’t comment, which was one of the things I loved about her. “That’s the spirit!”
I just hoped that something would turn up.
If it didn’t, I was going to have to refine my one last idea, or give up our investigation before it really even had a chance to get started.
Chapter 11
“I can’t believe how small this place is,” Grace said as she looked around. “It reminds me of the old joke about having to go outside to change your mind.”
“It’s modest, all right,” I said, “but at least that should make it easy to search.”
The key had been exactly where promised, and Grace and I had let ourselves into the late Chester Martin’s humble little cabin. Nestled in a stand of cypress trees, the place had been hard to find at first. The rustic siding had been painted the exact same shade as the trees, and I had to wonder if that hadn’t been Chester’s intent all along. For a pretty social and outgoing guy, he was apparently a bit of a recluse in his private life.
“Suzanne, do you want the combination kitchen/dining/living room, or would you like the bedroom/bath/closet area?” Grace asked me.
“It’s your call,” I told her.
“If you don’t mind, I think that I’ll stay out here. Good luck. Should we meet back up in three minutes after we’ve tossed the place?”
“Let’s at least try to be neat,” I said. “After all, Momma and the Chief will be coming back soon enough to go through everything.”
“That’s true,” my best friend said as she opened the first cabinet door she came to in the kitchen.
As she began to work, I headed back for the bedroom, wishing that one of us would find something that the police had missed.
I didn’t have much hope for that happening, though.
I was nearly finished when I stumbled across something that was not exactly a clue—at least, I didn’t think so at first. Then again, I didn’t know what to think when I found it. Something had slipped under one of the drawers of a dresser jammed into Chester’s closet, and it took me a full ten seconds to dig it out from beneath the wide array of hanging costumes the man owned. I was tempted to take a photo of Chester’s outfit selection and send it to Emily. I thought she’d done a thorough job of outfitting Cow, Spots, and Moose in the past, but Chester could have taught her a thing or two about costume creation and design. It was clear from the fancy sewing machine, as well as the yards of unused fabric and myriad spools of thread, that the librarian had enjoyed making his own outfits, but none of that had attracted me.
I’d found a postcard, and what was on it left me more baffled than I’d been before I’d found it.
The full-color photograph on one side of the card sported a dense campfire filled with heavy flames, an odd enough image to send someone else, but on the reverse side, in the small space reserved for a message beside Chester’s name and address, were three words written in bold block letters that matched the address: STOP OR BURN.
I was staring at the message trying to figure out what it might mean, so I didn’t even hear Grace come in. It startled me when she asked, “That’s kind of an odd message to send through the mail, isn’t it?”
“I was just thinking the same thing,” I said as I studied the card a little closer. It had a Forever stamp on it instead of a standard postcard stamp, so that wouldn’t help us figure anything out about how old it might be. There was a cancellation stamp over it, but the ink was too faded to easily read.
“What’s the date it was sent?” Grace asked as she took a closer look for herself.
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” I said as I headed back to the closet. I’d seen a deerstalker hat hanging on a pegged board with several other unlikely pieces of headwear, but this one had been different. Hanging from its peg was a monocle as well, and when I retrieved it, I saw that it was a magnifying glass. “This might help,” I said as I held the magnifier up to the cancellation mark. It was a little clearer now, and I could actually make out the date a little better.
“When was it sent?” Grace asked eagerly.
“Three days ago,” I said as I reached for my phone.
“Who are you calling?”
“Jake needs to see this,” I said. “Any objections?”
“No, not a one,” Grace said quickly, which was a good thing, because I wasn’t about to change my course of action. It was one thing withholding information from Chief Martin, but I was not about to do it with Jake.
I got him on the fifth ring, just before I’d been about to hang up.
“Hey, Suzanne,” he said hurriedly, and I knew that I’d ca
ught him at a bad time. “Is it urgent?”
“No, it can wait,” I said. “Are you okay?”
“Fine, just busy right now. Talk to you later.”
He hung up, and I returned the monocle to the peg where I’d found it earlier.
“Is he too busy to talk to you, Suzanne?”
“Apparently,” I said as I took a sheet of paper from one of the empty notebooks and folded it in half. Placing the postcard inside the fold, I held onto it, not that there would likely be any viable fingerprints still on it. Still, I hoped that Jake would appreciate the effort. “Did you have any luck searching your part of the cabin?”
“Not really. After looking through his things, I can tell you that Chester Martin was a man of simple tastes. I found twelve cans of chicken noodle soup in his pantry and three jars of peanut butter. Add those to the three loaves of bread he stored in his freezer, and I’m betting we know what the man ate every lunch and dinner that he was here.”
“What did he have for breakfast?” I asked half in jest.
“I’m glad you asked,” Grace answered with a smile. “There were three cartons of power bars and eight cans of pear halves in natural juices.”
“Well, we’ve got his dietary habits covered,” I answered. “Anything else?”
“No, I came up empty. What did you discover besides that postcard?”
I showed her the variety of costumes hanging in the closet, as well as the sewing machine. “Apparently, Chester was a man of many talents,” I said. “I’m pretty sure that he made all of his costumes himself.”
“Okay, but none of that information is all that useful, is it?”
“No, this search has been pretty much a wash. In fact, we could say that about the entire day, couldn’t we? I’ve got a feeling that no one’s going to cooperate with our investigation unless we do something drastic to shift the balance more in our favor.”
“You know me; I’m all for dramatic acts. Are you ever going to tell me what you have in mind? Talking out loud about it might help clarify your thoughts.”
“Why not?” I asked. “It’s clear that it’s our last hope of doing any good at all with this murder investigation.”
As I drove Grace back home, I told her all about the plan that had been brewing in my mind. I wasn’t sure if it was reassuring or not, but she was extremely enthusiastic about trying it out after I explained it all to her. I wasn’t quite so willing to jump on board myself yet, though. First, I needed to talk it over with Jake and get his blessing.
After all, if my plan worked, it would drastically alter the course of his investigation as well as ours.
Chapter 12
“Hey, stranger. Are we eating together, or should I go ahead without you?” I asked Jake after I dialed his number from the front porch of my cottage. The place had been empty when I’d arrived, but it really hadn’t come as that big a surprise, given my boyfriend’s work ethic.
“If you can hold out that long, I can be there in half an hour,” he said.
“I’m not trying to guilt you into coming back here,” I said in a soothing manner. “I know how you get when you’re working on an investigation.”
“Right back at you,” he said, and I swore that I could hear the smile in his voice.
“I’m not denying it,” I said, adding the hint of a laugh. “How’s it going on your end?”
“The truth is that no one in this town has any desire to tell me anything,” Jake said flatly. “Frankly, I expected to get a little more cooperation than I’m getting right now.”
“Have you considered the possibility that no one’s talking to you because they know you’re not a state police inspector anymore?”
“How could they possibly know that?”
“Jake, you weren’t trying to keep your voice down when you told me. Someone could have picked it up without you even realizing it.”
“Maybe, but I’m still a law enforcement officer,” he said. It sounded as though he was a little hurt by the lack of intimidation his new office held.
“Of course you are,” I said.
“How did Phillip Martin ever manage to do it? I’ll be honest with you. His job is tougher than it looks.”
“You should tell him that sometime,” I said.
“Maybe,” Jake replied in a tone that told me that he might admit it to me, but that was as far as he’d ever be willing to go.
“If you have the time, why don’t you come back here, eat a little, and then you can regroup.”
“The first part sounds good, but I have no idea what I’m going to do next.”
“I actually have a thought that might interest you,” I offered timidly.
“Go on, I’m listening. Don’t keep me in suspense.”
“I’d rather talk to you about it face to face,” I answered.
“Fine. I’ll see you soon, then.”
“I can’t wait.”
After we hung up, I started digging through the cupboards, the fridge, and the freezer to see what I could make us to eat. I ended up going with omelets because they were easy and fast and I knew that Jake liked them as much as I did. The best part was that I could wait to start cooking them until he showed up. In the meantime, I chopped up a green pepper, a little ham, part of a leftover onion, and a few bites of turkey we had left over from an earlier meal. After that, I grated some cheddar and mozzarella cheese, and then I tucked everything back into the fridge.
As I closed the refrigerator door, my cell phone rang. Was Jake canceling on me already?
“Hey, Suzanne. It’s Shelly Graham.”
“Hi, Shelly. I was just talking about you not half an hour ago.”
“That’s why my ears must have been burning, then,” she said lightly. “I just wanted to touch base with you and tell you that I’m back at the lodge. I never realized how isolated this place was with no guests or staff. I mean, I come up sometimes in the winter to check on things during our off season, but it’s just weird being here alone this time of year.”
“How would you feel about having some company?”
“Are you and Jake coming up? That would be great. I’ll give you my best room, the honeymoon suite, not that I’m trying to put ideas into anyone’s head. I—”
“I appreciate the offer, but that’s not what I’m talking about. Shelly, what would you think if we brought our suspects with us there?”
After I explained the plan, she readily agreed.
“How are you going to get them all to show up?”
“I haven’t quite figured that part of the plan out yet, but I’ll come up with something.”
Shelly hesitated for a moment, and then she finally said, “If you can manage it, it sounds perfect. Let them try to weasel out of what they did up here. I’ll start getting the rooms ready the second that we hang up.”
“Hold on. I have to get Jake to approve of my plan first.”
“Suzanne, from what I’ve heard, you shouldn’t have any problem convincing him that this is a good idea,” Shelly said.
“I wish I had your faith in me. Like I said, don’t do anything yet on my account.”
“Okay. Out of curiosity, how many rooms do you think you will be needing?”
I counted the suspects in my head, making allowances for the fact that Maggie and Nathan would most likely be sharing a room. Or not. “I’d say five max.”
“That’s just fine, because I’ve got ten rooms we can use. When will you know for sure?”
That’s when I heard the front door open.
“Hang on one second.” I put the phone to my chest as I called out, “Jake, is that you?”
“It had better be,” he said as he came into the kitchen. “What’s for dinner?”
“One second,” I told him, and then I pulled the phone back to my mouth. “Listen, I’ve got to go. I’ll call you back later when I know more,” I said, and then I hung up.
“Who was that?” Jake asked curiously.
I ignored both of the q
uestions he’d recently asked and wrapped my hands around his neck. Pulling him in for a kiss, I waited until it was over before I said, “I’m fine; thanks for asking. How are you?”
“Well, I’m better now,” he said, and then he moved in for another kiss.
“I thought you were hungry,” I said as I playfully pushed him away. Both of us were in infinitely better moods now. Why wouldn’t we be? After all, we were together again.
“I am,” he said as he sniffed the air. “I don’t smell anything cooking. Aren’t we eating here?”
“We are,” I said as I turned a burner on and put the skillet on it. After it heated up, I dropped some butter in the center and watched as it sizzled.
“What can I do to help?” he asked.
“I’ve got it covered. Why don’t you go wash up? We’ll be eating soon.”
“Glad to,” he said.
I cracked five eggs into a bowl, added a splash of milk, and then I whisked them a little with a fork until they were mixed together. After that, it was just a matter of adding them to the hot butter in the pan. As the egg mixture began to set, I got out my filling, and five minutes later, we were ready to eat.
I just hoped that Jake went for my plan.
If he didn’t, I wasn’t at all sure what either one of us was going to do about furthering our investigations.
“What’s this?” Jake asked as he walked into the dining room a minute later. He had the postcard I’d found in his hand.
“I found it at Chester’s place,” I said. Jake started to speak, but before he could, I added, “It was stuck under a drawer, and it was nearly impossible to find. I called you about it, but you were busy, remember?”
“That’s good that you found it,” he said a little too evenly for my taste. “I’m going to have to have a talk with the officer who searched Chester’s place.”
“It wasn’t Stephen Grant, was it?”
One eyebrow shot up. “No, it was the new man, Blake. Why do you ask?”
“No reason,” I said, glad that we hadn’t gotten Grace’s new boyfriend in trouble with his new, if temporary, boss.
