The Dana Potter Cozy Mystery Collection

by Liz Turner

  The rug beneath the coffee table also appeared to have been moved, and the sofa wasn’t lined up with the indentations in the carpet from where its legs appeared to have formerly rested for a long period of time. Even the pictures on the walls were crooked or had been taken down entirely.

  Whatever the perpetrators had been looking for, Inspector Allister knew it wasn’t simple money or pawn shop goods. The offender somehow knew Angela and was looking for something specific.

  “You haven’t moved any furniture recently?” he asked.

  “Nope,” Angela answered. “He even moved the beds and my wardrobe a bit while he was digging around. And let me tell ya, I say ‘he’ because that wardrobe is not an easy lift.”

  “I see. Now about what they may have been looking for—do you have any valuable possessions that you hid it well enough for someone else to have to look this hard for it?”

  “No. I didn’t keep much with me when I left for college, and I haven’t really gotten the chance to get anything of sentimental value back from my mom. That is, if she didn’t sell it already.”

  “Did you have any money lying around, or any valuables that weren’t taken that could have made a thief a lot of money if sold?”

  “That’s just it—I did.” Angela furrowed her brow. “One of the drawers he dug through in the kitchen had an envelope with about three hundred dollars in it. He opened it but didn’t take any for some reason.”

  “What was that money for?”

  “My mom. I used to save up whatever I had to spare and send it to her. It was usually about a hundred dollars, but about three months ago, I stopped sending her money. I didn’t stop saving it though.”

  “Why did you stop sending her money?”

  “I’m sorry, but what does this have to do with my house getting broken into?” Angela asked. “I told you, we’re looking for a man. Besides, if my mom had done this, she definitely would’ve taken the money.”

  “That’s why I’m trying to establish what else may have been of value in this apartment. It seems your relationship with your mother was strained, so I’m trying to determine what role that relationship could have potentially played in this crime,” the inspector explained.

  “Auntie already told you about her boyfriend.”

  “Yes, but I’d like you to tell me more about her. Your mother. So can you tell me, what does she value?”

  “Well, I dunno, really. I know she used to value my dad a lot. She was never right after he died. She sacrificed a lot of opportunities to be with him—at least that’s what my aunt tells me. She values companionship and really doesn’t like to be alone. But as for what she might try to steal, I really can’t think of anything.”

  “Yeah, she never was fond of material possessions,” Dana chimed in. “She didn’t waste money on useless things, and she surely didn’t care what anyone thought of what she had, which made it easy for her to live a simple life when she met Angela’s dad.”

  “Angela, would your mother have any reason to tell her new boyfriend where you live?” the inspector asked.

  “Well, he’s been over here once,” Angela said. “They came to town when they first got together so that I could meet him. I tried to be civil and invite them over for dinner. He didn’t pay attention to anything but himself and my mom though. It was just awkward, really.”

  “Do you recall anyone mentioning something about a possession you own during that dinner?”

  “No.”

  “Yes, they did. Remember?” Roger interjected. “Right after dinner, your mom asked if you still had your father’s bible.”

  “Oh yeah, that’s right! And I said I’d have to look for it, but only because I didn’t wanna offend her by telling her I didn’t have it anymore.” Angela paused and turned toward Dana. “Ya know, I kinda wish she had bothered to tell me that it was my father’s bible before I sent it to you, Auntie!”

  “Was she asking for it back?” the inspector asked.

  “No. Just reminiscing, I think. It was the only thing she really ever gave me, and I had no idea it was my father’s until she suddenly felt the need to talk about him right in front of her new boyfriend.”

  “Was it unusual for her to talk about your father?”

  “Definitely. She hardly uttered his name after he died. Then suddenly, something about having a new boyfriend made her feel okay to talk about him again. That was the first time I’d heard her talk about him without crying afterwards. I kinda think that might be why she didn’t tell me the bible was his when she gave it to me. She made it sound important, but I thought she was just trying to remind me to be good while I was away at college.”

  “And you can’t think of any reason why she might want it back?”

  “No. I mean, she had obviously moved on. To me, it just seemed like her awkward way of telling me, ‘By the way, that bible I gave you was really from your father, but I couldn’t bear to tell you.’ She didn’t seem to want it back. And I can’t say that old thing would be worth tearing up my apartment for…”

  The inspector faced Dana. “Miss Potter, you have that bible now?”

  “Yes, I do.” She gazed at her niece. “I kept it because I felt one day you might want it back, after finding out why your mother gave it to you.”

  “Miss Potter, can you think of any reason your sister might have wanted that bible back?” the inspector asked.

  Dana shook her head. “I don’t believe she wanted it back, either. But if this bible is the reason Angela’s apartment was torn apart, I best go back down to Pippin to get it.”

  “That’s a long drive, Auntie,” Angela said. “Do you need me to come with you?”

  “No, I don’t mind a long drive to think and wrap my head around a few possibilities,” Dana responded. “Now Roger, you keep my niece safe while I’m gone.” She paused for a second, turning back to the inspector. “Before I get ahead of myself, do you got any other questions for me?”

  “Yes. What’s the significance of this bible, as far as why your sister held onto it?”

  “Well, Clementine married that John Carter right after she got out of high school, like the two crazy lovebirds they were,” Dana said. “They were madly in love, and I think at the very least, losing him must have made that bible mean a lot more to her. But then, thinking about it, I remember there was a handwritten note in the bible that I translated when I first got it. But I can’t remember for the life of me what it said.”

  “Well, I don’t know if this is a lead, but if you really wanna drive all the way to Pippin and back for that bible, it’s up to you,” the inspector said. “I would like to see it, at least. Have you heard from your sister yet?”

  “No. I sure hope she answers soon though, or else she’s about to become a missing-person report broadcast all across Georgia.”

  “Wait—no one’s heard from Mom?” Angela asked, her eyes wide.

  “Not since Keisha talked to her on the phone yesterday morning. But we can’t say for sure if something’s wrong yet,” Dana said. “So don’t worry your pretty little head.”

  Angela glanced from her aunt to the inspector. “Should I try calling her?”

  “Hmm. I think that would be good,” Inspector Allister replied. “That way, we can determine if she’s not answering her phone because it’s off, or if she’s just specifically blocking calls from Miss Potter.”

  Angela dialed Clementine’s phone number, but just as it had with Dana, the line rang once before going straight to voicemail. Angela’s eyes shone with confusion, worry, and anger all at once.

  “If it’s going straight to voicemail with you as well, I’d say her phone is off, more than likely,” Inspector Allister said. “At this point, it’s up to you how we proceed. We can file a missing person’s report. However, if this is normal behavior for her, we can just wait until—or if—we connect her to the crime, and then get a warrant to search through her bank history and potentially locate her that way.”

  “I think we
should file a missing person,” Angela said. “I don’t think she’s involved in this. If anyone is, it’s her boyfriend, and last I heard, she was with him. I don’t trust that guy… And no, it’s not normal for her to leave her phone off, especially for more than a day. I may not be on great terms with her at the moment, but that doesn’t mean I don’t wanna know she’s safe.”

  “I agree,” Dana said. “Well then, I’m fixing to drive back to Pippin. I should be back by nightfall. Inspector Allister, please work on locating my sister while I’m away.”

  “Of course,” he said. “I have a buddy who’s one of the best on missing person’s cases. Word is he used to be some kind of computer hacker in high school until the Feds caught him and offered him a job, but he refuses to confirm or deny the story whenever it comes up. He probably signed some nondisclosure agreement. Anyway, I’ll be sure to file this as a ‘possibly endangered’ missing person, and I’ll put some extra pressure on him to take the case.”

  “Are you serious?” Angela raised her eyebrows. “The FBI actually offered him a job as a hacker because he broke the law so well? They really do stuff like that?”

  “Well, I’ve heard there’s an intensive background check and psychological evaluation you have to pass in order for them to do something so extreme, but he’s not the first I’ve heard of getting recruited by Feds after getting caught breaking the law.”

  “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,” Roger said, chuckling lightly and shaking his head.

  “Alrighty,” Dana said as she exited the apartment. “Keep me posted, inspector “I’ve got to get on my way if I’m to get back before it gets too late.”

  “Of course. If I find anything, Dana, you’ll be the first to know.”

  ***

  As Dana drove back to her hometown, her worry and discomfort regarding her sister’s whereabouts escalated. She tried to comfort herself by reflecting on how little she actually knew about the situation, reminding herself to not jump to conclusion. But it was no use. Knowing so little about Clementine’s new boyfriend is what worried her so much in the first place.

  “Why is this arrogant Italian man so interested in dating Clementine, anyway?” she muttered to herself. “She doesn’t have anything valuable. She’s not young and interesting—she’s old and jaded! I’m not saying she’s not a wonderful person, but she’s too feisty and she’s got nothing of physical value to offer a man like that, to my knowledge. What could he possibly want from her?”

  Dana ran several scenarios through her head regarding what may have happened the night before. She considered different motives Anton or Clementine could have for the break-in, all the while trying to avoid personal biases presented by Roger and Angela, for it didn’t help that she had nothing but their perspectives to draw from.

  After the first several hours of driving had passed, Dana’s foot cramped and her head pulsed from the stress of the last few days.

  For one thing, it had been a long time since she’d had to drive for so long, but the real source of her stress was her sister.

  Dana sighed. She hadn’t felt so many mixed emotions since Clementine first ran off with John Carter.

  The sun was low in the sky when Dana finally got home. She hadn’t accounted for how long it would take to get back to Pippin when she promised to be back in Atlanta by that evening.

  She opened the door and slowly climbed out her car, keeping as much pressure off her foot as possible. “I’m getting too old for this,” she muttered. “My back and knees can’t take much more driving…”

  Dana felt the stares of the neighbors following her from their kitchen window as she approached her front door. She laughed. There wasn’t much anyone could do in this town without the neighbors taking note. Still, she had to wonder what happened to make them watch her so closely. It may be normal to pay attention to the strange things happening next door, but she wasn’t sure why something as simple as her getting home was of their concern.

  It made her wonder if something happened while she was gone too…

  When she got inside, she quietly closed the door. Without turning on the lights, muscle memory guided her to the kitchen, up the stairs, and into her bedroom. If there was someone in there who didn’t know the layout of her home, she wanted to catch them by surprise.

  “Aha!” Dana yelled, flipping on the lights.

  The room looked exactly as she’d left it, right down to the half-full glass of water. There was nothing out of place, and the window was still locked and sealed.

  “I guess the kids was right. I am turning into a crazy old bat, paranoid and senile as can be.” She shook her head. “But is that gonna stop me from checking the rest of the house? It sure ain’t! And I’ll be sure to keep talking to myself as I go! Yeah, that’ll scare any intruders outta here, won’t it? Where you at, ya little thieves?!”

  Dana laughed to herself as she scurried through the rest of the house, checking for anything out of place. Unlike Angela, she knew for certain that she’d closed and locked every entrance in her home before leaving.

  After finding nothing out of place, Dana returned to her room.

  “All right, coast is clear.” She scratched the back of her head. “Now, where’s that old bible?”

  Dana dug through her wardrobe and looked under her bed until her room practically resembled Angela’s ransacked home. Finally, she remembered putting the raggedy old bible on the bookshelf in the dining room so that Angela would see it. She hoped it would bring Angela the closure she needed over the death of her father.

  “I wonder what made this old thing so important to Clementine that she’d pass it on to her daughter,” Dana pondered. “She’s not one to hold on to things, so there has to be something that made it special to her… Something a little more significant than it belonging to her husband while he was alive…”

  Dana flipped the bible around, searching the cover for any signs of value. To her, it didn’t seem to match the bibles she’d seen growing up. She knew it had to be very old, the golden writing on the cover and inside pages written in Italian. She recalled being puzzled by the language when she first got her hands on it, and how she’d talked to someone about it and had parts of it translated. Yet, she just couldn’t remember the translation.

  Still, the thought nagged her, for she knew there was something more to the bible. As she carefully flipped through the pages, a slip of paper fell out from near the front cover. Dana picked up the paper and shouted out in joy after reading what was written on it.

  “That’s right!” she said. “And what is this… Oh, I think we’ve just found our answers! I thought it had something to do with this old thing! I better let the inspector know what I’ve got here. But first, I’ve gotta stop by the church for a chat with Mrs. Cleveland.”

  Chapter 5

  The Important Bible

  Mrs. Cleveland helped tend to the church grounds on most evenings, so Dana knew she was likely there now. If she remembered correctly, it had been a close friend of Mrs. Cleveland’s who helped translate the note in the book for Dana. She needed to talk to this man again to confirm her suspicions before taking the bible back to Inspector Allister.

  When Dana got to the church, Mrs. Cleveland and everyone else who was usually there were nowhere to be seen.

  Something’s different tonight, Dana thought. As soon as she entered the chapel, she realized why.

  A man and woman she didn’t recognize were kneeling in prayer. It wasn’t unusual for the rest of the town to give strangers privacy when they entered the church grounds.

  Dana smiled at first, but then her heart skipped a beat when the woman shifted her weight, permitting Dana a glimpse of her face. Her jaw dropped. Although the woman was a stranger to most in town, Dana knew exactly who she was.

  Who the couple was…

  They weren’t at all who she’d been expecting to see.

  “Clementine?” Dana whispered under her breath.

  The man beside Clementine
was just as Angela and Roger had described Anton Renaldo to be. He wore an excessive number of gold chains around his neck and wrists, and an expensive-looking suit. Yet, Dana didn’t find him as overbearing or obnoxious as she had imagined based on Angela’s description.

  Frowning a bit, she couldn’t help questioning several of the scenarios she’d ran through about him on her way back to Pippin.

  Dana walked slowly toward the front of the chapel where she sat quietly in the front pew while she waited patiently for the couple to finish their prayers at the altar. It was somewhat puzzling to Dana to find her sister at their childhood church after so many years. Still, she was glad to see her there; perhaps some time to pray was exactly what she needed.

  Dana hadn’t had enough time to prepare what she wanted to say to her sister before Clementine stood and turned around. As the two of them made eye contact, Dana managed a smile and an awkward wave.

  To Dana’s surprise, Clementine smiled widely, waved eagerly, and ran toward her. “My dear sister!” Clementine threw her arms around Dana, though not quite as aggressively as Angela had the first time they’d met. “You’re exactly who I wanted to see! I went to your house, but you weren’t home. It’s been too long! How are you? You look great!”

  “Yes… I’m glad to see you as well. It’s been quite some time,” Dana said. “I’ve been out and just got home a short time ago. How long have you been in town?”

  “We’ve been waiting here for hours! But I suppose that’s my fault. We should have told you we were coming. I just didn’t know what to say It’s been so long since we last talked.”

  “Yes, but it’s lucky you’re still here. As it happens, I also have an important question—for the both of you, actually,” Dana said, though she kept her gaze on Clementine. “Do you recall giving an old bible to Angela? An old bible she didn’t know used to belong to her father until recently?”

  “Yes. And before you get angry with me, I know I was wrong to wait so long to tell her the truth about that old thing. It’s my fault if she’s thrown it out already…”