by Maci Grant
“What?”
“There are five ice cream shops by the same name. One other in this state and three more in surrounding states.”
“That is rather odd. Were you able to tell who owned them?”
“That’s where it gets even more interesting. I was able to trace the owners of all four of the other ice cream shops back to the Peddles. One is owned by a nephew, another by a distant cousin, and the third is owned by a great-niece.”
“What about the fourth?”
“The fourth is an odd one. The name is Jarod Peddle, but I can’t figure out how he’s related to Gill and Martha.”
“Interesting. Well, they are relatives, so they may want to know of Martha’s passing.”
“Can I come over and tell you what I found out in more detail?”
“Sure, that would be great. I’m stopping by Gill’s house to see if I can pick up a few of the things he needs, then I’ll be home. I’ll text you when we get there.”
“Okay. Sounds good.
Blu hung up the phone and followed Chief Pitman out of the parking lot.
As she drove she noticed that there was a man walking down the street in the opposite direction. At first she thought he was the real estate agent, because he had a camera hanging around his neck. Then she noticed that he looked quite a bit older than the other man. She shook her head and focused on driving.
Chief Pitman stopped at a quaint cottage that was about three streets away from the beach. Blu could see Martha’s touch all over it, as a garden rambled from the corners of the house right up to the street. There were tiny little statues mixed in with the bushy flowers.
Chief Pitman walked up to the side of her car. “I’ll unlock the door, then stay with the kids while you go inside.”
“Thanks a lot.”
He walked up the short path and unlocked the front door, then walked back to the car. “Just don’t take too long. I do have somewhere else I need to be soon.”
“Okay, I won’t.”
Chapter 19
Blu pushed the door to the house open. It felt strange to walk into someone’s house without being invited. Even though she felt so close to the Peddles, she’d never actually been inside their home before.
Just like outside, Martha’s taste sprawled throughout the house from afghans on the couch to doilies on the side tables. She noticed that Gill had one little corner that was dedicated to sports memorabilia, not for one particular team, but for all of the games he had attended. Blu smiled as she looked it over, but she knew that she couldn’t linger long.
A large picture of the couple—perhaps when they’d been in their sixties or so—hung over the fireplace. Their hands were intertwined and their shoulders touched—not in a pose, but in what looked like a very natural stance for them. That was not the type of couple that ended with one of them murdering the other. Blu couldn’t help the thought that solidified everything she thought she already knew about the couple.
Blu found a few books that looked like they might belong to Gill. Then she started to look for his shoes. They weren’t by the front door. She walked to the master bedroom. The bed was made. The curtains were drawn.
Blu’s heart flipped as she realized that the bed had not been slept in since Martha’s death. For a brief moment Blu thought she could sense Martha there with her.
“Who did this to you, Martha? Who took you from him?”
She opened the closet door with the intention of looking for the shoes, but also to snoop. On the floor of the closet were several shoeboxes. Blu opened one to find that it was filled with paperwork, not shoes.
She noticed that each of the boxes had a label on it—Peddle 1, Peddle 2, and Peddle 3. She frowned. It was an odd way to keep records, but nothing that was going to point her toward a killer.
She pushed the boxes aside and looked behind them. She noticed that in one corner of the closet the carpet lifted up. Curious, she pulled it back. There was a large photograph in a plastic ziplock bag. Blu pulled it out to take a closer look.
The face itself was so shadowed that she couldn’t make much out, but the figure appeared to be in his teens. She wasn’t sure what to think about it. Why would the Peddles go to so much trouble to hide this particular photograph?
A knock at the door reminded her that Chief Pitman was still waiting for her. She turned away and started to leave the bedroom when she bumped into a large sewing table. A pile of yarn toppled over. As she began to gather the yarn she noticed something that appeared to be hidden beneath the yarn. She was curious about what was underneath.
When she got to the bottom of the pile there was a large embroidery that looked like a photograph. Only half of the face was etched into the material, with a needle pinned where Martha had left off. A wave of sadness caused Blu’s eyes to prick with tears.
“I’m sorry that you never had a chance to finish this, Martha.”
She piled the yarn back up and looked around the room for any sign of Gill’s shoes.
“Blu, let’s go. I have to get home.”
“Okay, I’m just looking for the shoes.”
“Maybe by the back door?”
Blu nodded and walked through the house to the back door. When she reached it, she saw no shoes by the door. She was crushed. The one thing Gill had asked her for she wasn’t going to be able to provide.
When she stepped back out of the house she shook her head. “They aren’t there, or at least I can’t find them.”
“Well, maybe he can tell you where they are exactly the next time you see him. Until then we really need to get going. I’m supposed to be meeting Shawna this afternoon to help her move her artwork from the basement for the art show tomorrow.”
“Shawna? She lives with you?”
“Yes.”
“Oh. Is there a reason?” Blu knew that she was being nosy, but she couldn’t help herself asking now that the chief seemed to be warming up to her a bit more.
“It’s not my story to tell, Blu. Remember, keep me up-to-date on anything that you find.” He locked the door, then tipped his hat at her.
“Yes, I will.”
Blu got into the driver’s seat of the car and started the engine. Joey and Marley were restless in the backseat.
“Marley, stop poking me or I’ll arrest you!”
Blu drove back to the beach house, anxious to get the kids home where they could play.
Blu texted Maddie to let her know that they were home, then prepared a quick lunch for the children.
Her mind circled the events of the day piece by piece. As she set a cup of orange juice in front of Joey, she thought about the amount of times Martha and Gill must have shared a meal.
She was certain that he wouldn’t have gone to all the trouble of luring her outside behind the dumpster. So who did? Was it the woman from the mall? Was it the real estate agent, in the hopes of rattling her? It seemed a little extreme to Blu to think of a real estate agent killing someone who stood in his way, but then he had said that he didn’t get to where he was by being nice.
Blu turned toward a knock on the front door.
“You two stay put. I’ll be right back.”
Chapter 20
Blu left the kitchen to open the front door.
Maddie walked in with her laptop in hand.
“Where are the kids?” Blu looked past her.
“It’s family fun day so Penelope has them for the day. Wait until you see what I found.”
“What is it?”
Maddie set her laptop on the kitchen table for both Blu and her to look at.
“Using the addresses of each of the shops, I managed to find pictures of them. I tried finding them on maps first, but there weren’t any pictures. Then I stumbled across this treasure trove.” She clicked on a link and a website opened up.
“Whoever runs this site has an interest in photography. He has thousands of pictures on here, as well as one of each of our ice cream shops.”
“Including Gill’s
?”
Maddie clicked on another link.
Blu stared at the picture. She recognized the image right away from the one of hers that she and Maddie had been looking at the other day.
“I think it’s the picture that he took when yours was taken. I think he just cropped out everything but the name of the shop and the roof,” said Maddie.
“I wonder why?”
“See that.” Maddie pointed to a tiny ribbon of light.
“That’s right where the horseshoe would have been!”
“Exactly. Now look at these.” Maddie pulled up the pictures of the other shops. On each of the pictures just below the sign for the shop, there were horseshoes.
“Look at this—there are horseshoes on the front of each of these buildings. They’re not hidden like the one on the Peddles’ shop was.”
“Horseshoes? What kind of sense does that make?” Maddie shook her head. “It’s an odd decoration for an ice cream shop.”
“Not if it’s an ice cream shop for horses.” Marley giggled.
“Can horses eat ice cream?” Maddie tapped a finger against her chin. “I’ve never really thought about that.”
Marley laughed harder.
“Marley, horseshoes are also seen as a symbol of good luck. That’s why Mr. Peddle has one on his shop.” Blu smiled at her.
“So he put them on all of the shops?”
“Well, if he’s connected to these shops, somehow then I guess he did. I think he also has one tattooed on his arm, but I couldn’t see the whole thing.”
“Huh. Pretty superstitious, I guess.”
“If these people are related to the Peddles, why haven’t any of them come to town after Martha’s death?”
“Not everyone is close to their family.” Maddie shrugged. “Maybe they’re distant enough relatives that they don’t feel the need to make that type of connection.”
“Maybe. It’s an odd connection for them to all have an ice cream shop with the same name but not be close enough to even be concerned about Martha—or Gill, for that matter.”
“There’s only one way to find out for sure. I can get you the contact information for all of the current owners. Then you can go from there.”
“What about the name of the photographer? It must be the same man that was in my photograph. Is there any way to find out who he is?”
“As far as I can tell, it’s not one of the owners of the ice cream shops. It must just be an admirer. I’m afraid my tech savvy has its limits. I’m sure there’s a way, but I don’t know how. There isn’t even an e-mail address to contact him on the website—no name, no identifying information at all. His photographs are from all over the country, so that doesn’t even give me a clue as to where he might live.”
“Hm. Maybe the police could find more information?”
“Maybe. Give Chief Pitman a call and give him the website.”
“I’m sure he’ll think it’s a long shot, but he did say to share information.”
“I’ll let you make that call. I have to pick up a few things and I have an appointment at the salon. Just call me if you need anything. I should be able to have that contact information to you soon.”
“Thanks, Maddie. Just send it when you get it. Then I’ll start making calls. Someone has to know something about all of this.”
“You know the one person who knows everything about it.”
“Yes, I do. Gill, but he’s not talking.” Blu sighed.
She began to gather the lunch dishes. Maddie left and the kids settled on the floor in the living room with a deck of cards.
Blu dialed Chief Pitman’s phone number.
“Hello? I’m in the middle of something.”
“I’m sorry to interrupt, Chief Pitman. I had some information that you might want to know about.”
“That’s great, because I have some information too.”
“You go first.”
“You’re not going to like it.”
Blu frowned. “What is it?”
“I had the tests run on that shoe. It is blueberry on the shoe.”
“Okay. Well, we expected that.”
“Yes, we did, but what we didn’t expect was that the shoe would belong to Gill.”
“What? His missing shoes? Someone must have stolen them.”
Chief Pitman sighed heavily. “Blu, that’s what you may think but a jury is going to think that Gill tried to ditch his shoes after killing his wife.”
“You know that’s not true. Clearly someone is framing him. This must be very personal.”
“I’m trying here, Blu, but every shred of evidence is pointing directly at Gill.”
“I have a website to show you. I’m going to text you the link. On it are photographs of ice cream shops, all with the same name as Gill’s. They’re in different states.”
“What does that matter?”
“Well, the owners all have some kind of connection to Gill, even if it’s distant, except for one. There are also horseshoes on each of the buildings.”
“Horseshoes? What does that matter?”
Blu remembered that she hadn’t yet told Chief Pitman about the horseshoes, or about the photograph with a man taking a picture of the ice cream shop. “There’s a horseshoe on the roof of the Peddles’ shop. It’s hidden.”
“I knew it! I knew AJ was hiding something from me the other day. You were up on that roof the whole time, weren’t you?”
“I was. But don’t be upset with AJ. I asked him not to tell anyone. I didn’t think the horseshoe meant anything at the time.”
“Well, it sounds like it might now.”
“I believe that Gill also has a horseshoe tattooed on his arm.”
“He does. Get this, it has his own name on it.”
“He had his own name tattooed onto his body?”
“Yes. We documented it when he was brought in.”
“Do you think your techs can find out who this website belongs to?”
“I can try. But I don’t see why we need to know that.”
“Just trust me on this one.”
“I will, Blu, but pretty soon I’m going to have to officially press charges against Gill. I can’t hold off much longer.”
“I’ll see what I can find out.”
Chapter 21
Blu spent the afternoon doing some research of her own. When Maddie sent her the e-mail with contact information for each of the owners of the shops, she didn’t hesitate to get to work. The kids were occupied with a movie, and Blu was ready to make some progress on the case. She set up shop on the dining room table so she could keep an eye on the kids and also make her calls.
Blu called the first name on the list—Vance Peddle.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Vance? My name is Blu and—”
“—I don’t want to buy anything.”
“I’m not selling anything. I’m calling you about your cousin— Gill Peddle?”
“Who?”
“Gill Peddle. He owns an ice cream shop too.”
“Oh. I’m sorry I don’t know him.”
“Are you sure? Your ice cream shops have the exact same name.”
“Well, Peddle is probably a pretty common name. Anyway, I didn’t name the shop.”
“Would you mind telling me who did?”
“We got this letter in the mail with all of the deed information and the money needed to open the shop. Actually, it was sent to my mother, but she put it in my name. I’ve been running it ever since.”
“Do you think I could speak to your mother about it?”
“I’m afraid you can’t. She passed away three years ago.”
“I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you. This shop is all I have left of her, so I’m not even going to think about selling it.”
“Oh, I’m not calling for that reason.”
“Good. I’ve had some strange character skulking around here trying to take pictures and make offers. I told him I had no int
erest.”
“Really? Do you know the name of the real estate agent?”
“I threw him off of my property. His name was Ken.”
Blu’s eyes widened. Was it possible that the same real estate agent was trying to buy another Peddle ice cream shop in an entirely different state?
“And you’re sure you’ve never heard of Gill or Martha Peddle?”
“I’m afraid not. I don’t have much family.”
“Alright, thank you for your time.” Blu hung up the phone before Vance could question her further.
Her mind raced as she wondered what Ken might be up to. She recalled that he’d said that he was looking out for the interests of his client. Who was his client?
She placed a quick call to Maddie.
“Did you find anything?” Maddie asked as soon as she picked up the phone.
“I’m not sure yet. I was wondering if you could work your magic on a real estate agent named Ken Buchman. Can you find out what his specialty is and who he might have as a client?”
“I’ll see what I can do and e-mail you what I find.”
“Thanks, Maddie!”
Blu hung up the phone and continued to make calls to the current owners of the ice cream shops. As she went down through her list she heard many similar stories. All of the shops had been left to the people now running them by a distant or estranged relative— someone they claimed not to know at all. None had ever met Gill or Martha, or even been to their ice cream shop. When she got to the last name on the list, Jarod Peddle, she wondered what his story would be.
He picked up on the second ring.
“Hello?”
“Hi, is this Jarod Peddle?”
“Yes, it is.”
“My name is Blu, and I’m calling about your ice cream shop.”
“Oh, it’s closed today.”
“That’s fine. I was actually calling to speak with you. I was wondering if you are familiar with a man named Gill Peddle.”
“No. Well, not really. I mean he left me the ice cream shop.”
