Easter Buried Eggs (Black Cat Cafe Cozy Mystery Series Book 10)

by Lyndsey Cole

“So, you see, that’s why we’ll have an opening for you, Thelma.” Dawn smiled and picked up the paper again.

  “You’re saying Sylvia’s not just a suspect but you think she’s the murderer and won’t be coming back here to Golden Living?” Annie hoped her face conveyed the appropriate shock.

  “Well, I don’t know for a fact, but don’t you agree that it’s awfully suspicious that her gun is the murder weapon? And then she fainted at the sight of the detective? What do you think?”

  Annie leaned back in her chair. “But she was in the closet, hiding, at the time of the murder. How could she kill Forrest while she was hiding in the closet and find time to stash the gun?”

  Dawn flicked her wrist. “Are you serious? The fact that she was even in my office was odd. She and I had already had our little chat about her apartment. Why did she come back a second time?” Dawn leaned across her desk and lowered her voice. “I think she followed Forrest into my office, shot him, and then hid in the closet until you found her.” She sat back with a satisfied look as if she’d wrapped up a present all nice and tidy.

  “Why would she kill Forrest? She liked him.” Annie tilted her head and scrunched her brow.

  “She wanted…oh, I don’t have all the answers. Who knows why anyone does anything? Now let’s—”

  Thelma put her hand up as if she was asking permission to speak. “My friend Sean told me that Sylvia had to move because she was out of money. I didn’t think it had anything to do with that poor boy who was murdered.”

  “You’re friends with Sean Woodman?” The color in Dawn’s face turned to a washed out shade of gray.

  What did that mean? Was Dawn afraid of Sean for some reason?

  Thelma stood. “I think I’m done here. I’m not sure I like the way you treat those in your care.”

  “Wait, Mrs. Dodd. Thelma.” Dawn was at Thelma’s side easing her back into the chair. “I’m sure we can work something out. You’ve got the wrong impression of Golden Living.” She closed her door. “I rarely make an offer so generous, but if you sign today, I’ll give you a big discount.”

  Thelma winked at Annie while Dawn’s back was turned. “I’m listening.”

  “Okay.” Dawn spread papers out so both Thelma and Annie could see. “Right here,” Dawn used her pen to circle a number, “is our usual price for the apartment that will be available.” She crossed that number out and scribbled a much lower number before she looked at Thelma and smiled. “It’s a fantastic deal, but I can’t hold the opening. You have to sign now or lose it.”

  “Oh, I don’t know.” Thelma hemmed and hawed.

  “This is how it works. With your signature today, it reserves a spot and you agree to sign over your property to Golden Living. Of course, we only use a portion of the money for the buy in and the rest will fund the monthly payments for as long as you live here.” Dawn smiled and pushed the paper closer to Thelma.

  Thelma picked up a pen. She chewed on the top. “That money will be in an account for me?”

  Dawn nodded. “It’s all spelled out at the bottom. Right here.” She pointed to a paragraph of tiny print.

  “In my name?”

  “Along with Golden Living.”

  Thelma looked at Annie. “What do you think?”

  Dawn’s jaw clenched. This was why she tried to get Annie to leave. Dawn knew it would be harder to get a signature while Thelma had someone else to bounce the decision off of.

  “Well. It’s all very interesting, Thelma.” Annie shuffled the papers together. “I think you should have your son advise you on this. He’s the one who thinks you shouldn’t be living alone.”

  Dawn tried to grab the papers back from Annie but she couldn’t quite reach them once Annie sat back in her chair. She safely slid the papers into Thelma’s big bag. “Do you have any more questions for Dawn?”

  “I think I have enough to think about for now.” Thelma stood. “Oh, yes, one more question. How often do you have robberies here? I don’t want to have to worry about my valuables.”

  Annie wondered what, if any, valuables Thelma was referring to or, more likely, Thelma was on a fishing trip.

  “Robberies? Oh heavens, no. Golden Living is safe and secure.”

  “Sylvia said your safe was cleaned out when that poor boy was murdered. I wondered if that was the whole motive. What was stolen? Money?”

  “I don’t think you can believe what Sylvia said, now can you?” Dawn spread her arms out with a gesture that she wasn’t hiding anything. “After all, why would the police have her as a suspect?”

  “So, nothing was stolen?” Good for Thelma. She wasn’t letting Dawn get away answering a question with a question.

  Dawn shuffled the papers on her desk. “Something from the safe is missing but I’m positive it will turn up.”

  “Oh, I hope so because Sylvia told me that you keep a lot of cash in your safe which seems kind of reckless.” Thelma kept her gaze on Dawn.

  “Oh, haha. She must have been referring to the deposit that went to the bank that day. I like to have cash on hand in case anyone needs a bit of help. It’s easier than getting them to the bank sometimes. They write a check to Golden Living and I give them the cash. I can assure you that all the money is safe and sound at the Catfish Credit Union.”

  “Wonderful. I’ll be back in touch after I have my son look everything over. He’s an accountant, by the way, and he’ll probably have more questions for you.” Thelma turned to Annie. “Seany is expecting us, we’d better go now.”

  Annie didn’t miss the muscle spasm in the corner of Dawn’s eye as she shifted the Black Cat Café cake box from her lap to her arm. This conversation had not gone the way Dawn had hoped.

  21

  Roxy was happy to be moving again as Annie and Thelma headed down the bright tiled hallway toward Sean Woodman’s apartment.

  “Do you think this cake will be a good enough bribe to get us inside his apartment?” Annie asked Thelma.

  “I’ll get us in. Don’t worry. The cake will just be an extra reward.”

  Annie knocked on Sean’s apartment door and waited. “Maybe he’s not here.” She knocked again.

  Just as Annie was about to check the sunroom to see if Sean was sitting in his corner, the door opened. His wheelchair blocked them from entering. “I’m busy.”

  “Oh, Seany. I really need to talk to you about moving to Golden Living. You were always so good with numbers, and the information Dawn gave me just doesn’t make much sense.” Thelma cocked her head and raised her eyebrows. “Are you sure you can’t spare a few minutes?”

  The muscles in Sean’s jaw clenched but he moved his wheelchair out of the way. “Come in then.”

  “Annie has cake, too. Can you make us tea?”

  “Are you serious, Thelma?”

  “Yes, I am. She has coconut cake with lemon curd filling. If I remember correctly, you love lemon. Am I right?” Thelma made her way into Sean’s apartment and sat in a chair at his table.

  Annie and Roxy followed and she put the cake box on his table. She sensed some anger behind Sean’s words and decided it was smart to just let Thelma handle the visit as she felt was best.

  “I do love lemon,” Sean admitted. “I have coffee already made. That will have to do.” He got out three cups, not giving a choice in the drink department.

  Annie moved Thelma’s walker off to one side. With her back to Sean, she tried her best to see what was on his computer screen but it was only numbers that made no sense to her.

  She opened her cake box.

  “Plates are over there,” he pointed to a cabinet. “And forks are here,” he slid a drawer open.

  Annie carried the plates and forks to the table where Sean already had the coffee, sugar, and cream. She cut three pieces, handing one to Martha and then Sean before she sat with her own piece.

  “Now, tell me what Dawn offered you.”

  “How do you know she made an offer, Seany?” Thelma sipped her coffee but kept her eyes on S
ean over the rim of her cup.

  Sean sighed with exasperation. “Dawn always makes an offer. Especially when she thinks she has a customer with plenty of money. I’ve done some background checking on you Thelma—”

  “You what? Are you working with Dawn?” Thelma’s cup clattered on the saucer and almost tipped over.

  “Working with her on what?” Sean’s eyes went between Annie and Thelma. “That’s an odd question.”

  “Well, it’s odd that you would do a background check on me, Seany. All you have to do is ask. Don’t go doing a sneaky-peeky thing.”

  “I’m looking out for your welfare, Thelma. I’ve learned that Dawn has a habit of, let’s just say, not being up front about everything she tells prospective new residents. The more information I have about your finances, the better I can help you get the best deal from her.” He looked directly at Thelma. “I want to help you.”

  “Oh.” Thelma’s eyes cut to the side to look at Annie. Thelma managed a quick eyebrow wiggle while Sean was focused on his piece of cake. This was an unexpected direction and could mean exactly what Sean was saying about helping, or he could be in cahoots with Dawn. Or, did he have something else up his sleeve?

  “In that case,” Annie finally found her voice, “are there set rates for apartments or does she throw out numbers to pull new residents in?”

  Sean savored another forkful of the coconut cake. “I’m not privy to what offers she makes, but I do know that prices that people actually buy in with are all over the place.”

  “And how about Sylvia’s situation? She’s been told her money is running out and she’ll have to move. Does this happen often?”

  “Unfortunately, it does. That’s why I want to look out for Thelma’s money.”

  Annie leaned toward Sean. “Exactly what do you mean by looking out for her money? Do you intend to manage it for her?”

  “What? I told you yesterday I try to stay out of other people’s business but, for old time’s sake, I don’t want to see Thelma get taken advantage of. I can give her sound advice.”

  Annie ate some cake and drank some coffee. She didn’t know what Sean’s game was and she wasn’t sure what to ask next. This was all so unexpected.

  She gathered her thoughts and decided to get some concrete answers. “Why do you have Sylvia’s Norman Rockwell lithograph? You and Forrest were working together to take advantage of people here?”

  Sean’s nostrils flared. “I’m not sure inviting you in was a good idea. This is exactly why I don’t get involved with other people. With all the rumors and misinformation that’s spread around here, it’s enough to make me lock the door and never leave again.”

  Annie sat back. “Well, how about you tell us what’s really going on, then. Shed some light on why people like Sylvia are running out of money, why you and Forrest appeared to have some kind of friendship and,” Annie stared at Sean, “why you go into Dawn’s office at night.”

  Sean pushed back from the table. He maneuvered his wheelchair expertly through his sparsely-furnished apartment and opened a locked cabinet.

  Okay, this was creepy, Annie thought. Roxy was on her feet watching Sean’s movements. What was he planning to do? Annie pushed back from the table, ready to stand and flee if necessary. Thelma put her hand on Annie’s arm and shook her head.

  “Maybe you can help me after all.” He returned to the table with a notebook. “I did buy Sylvia’s lithograph, but not for the reason you think. I plan to return it to her. And I did get friendly with Forrest, but again, not for the reason you think. Forrest had a scheming mind and all he cared about was schmoozing up to the vulnerable people here, find out what they had of value, and giving them pennies for it when they were short of money. By letting him think I liked him, I would buy those valuables for safe keeping. Forrest was never happy with the amount of money I gave him but he had no other option to unload anything for a quick turnover of cash in his pocket.” He held up the notebook. “It’s all in here.”

  Annie blinked. “I need another cup of coffee.”

  Sean actually smiled. “Bring the whole pot over. We’ll all need it.”

  Thelma patted his arm. “You’ve really surprised me, Seany. In a good way.”

  “Thelma?” Sean said.

  “Yes, Seany?”

  “Please stop calling me Seany. I hate it.”

  Thelma smiled and nodded.

  Annie refilled everyone’s cup with the remaining coffee and sliced more cake. She even remembered she had dog treats in her pocket for Roxy.

  “Okay. The cake is gone. Let’s get to work,” Sean said. “Now that I know I can trust the two of you, maybe we can finally unravel what’s happening here and clean this place up so good people don’t have all their hard-earned money stolen from under their noses.”

  “How did you decide you could trust us?” Annie asked. She still wasn’t one-hundred percent sure she could trust Sean.

  “When you told me that Sylvia was being forced out, I got furious and decided whoever is behind what’s going on had to be stopped. You were so concerned about her, I suspected you might dig into what was going on. Am I right?”

  Annie nodded.

  “But when Thelma said she was meeting with Dawn, I got worried. Worried about you, Thelma. Showing up today with your questions made me realize I had to get someone to help me put everything together before someone else got hurt…or killed…and the coconut cake with lemon curd filling didn’t hurt.” Another rare smile softened Sean’s face.

  “Do you know who killed Forrest?” Annie asked.

  “That little weasel? I don’t really care. He got exactly what he deserved.”

  “I think it’s connected to the money scam going on here,” Annie said.

  “I didn’t think of that. He was always involved in a lot of little deals. I didn’t think he was smart enough to carry out stealing big chunks of money.”

  “Well, maybe he wasn’t involved, but he might have known who was,” Annie suggested. “That information could have gotten him killed.”

  Sean nodded. “He did have a habit of sticking his nose where it wasn’t wanted.” He looked at Annie. “Kind of like you. I thought you were in cahoots with the management when you first showed up. You’d better be extra careful who you rub the wrong way.”

  “Yeah. I hear that a lot.” Annie looked at Sean’s computer set-up. “Golden Living uses the Catfish Credit Union. Is there any way to see if they’ve made big deposits lately?”

  “I’m good with hacking but I’m not sure I can crack the security of a bank. What else do you have?”

  Annie put Sylvia’s financial statements on the table. “How about this? Is there any way to see where these big deposits ended up?” Annie pointed to the large amounts that had been recently withdrawn from her account.

  Sean quickly skimmed the documents. “Holy Toledo. Someone left quite a trail. Do you think Sylvia will give me permission to access her account? I’ll need her log in information and password.”

  “She’s in the hospital,” Thelma told Sean. “She fell and has a concussion.”

  “Oh. I’ll play around and see what I can find. I have her account number so that’s a start.” Sean pushed away from the table. “I’ll get started on this now.”

  A loud knock sounded on Sean’s door. He checked the time. “It’s probably my dinner getting delivered. I don’t eat at the dining hall.”

  He opened the door and a young woman wearing a Golden Living shirt smiled at Sean. “Your dinner, Mr. Woodman. And a delivery from the pharmacy.”

  “Thank you, Sally. What’s on the menu tonight?”

  “I’m not sure you’ll like it, sir. The weekend chef forgot you’re a vegetarian so you won’t want the entrée, but there’s a delicious salad loaded with spinach, avocado, cranberries, and tomato, plus risotto and applesauce.”

  “I’ll be fine. It’s not the first time this has happened.” Sean took the tray and closed the door.

  “That’s a
nice service,” Annie said as Sean wheeled himself back to the table.

  “You get what you pay for, I’ve discovered. I give Sally a little extra to bring my dinner to me.”

  “She doesn’t work seven days, does she?”

  “Unfortunately, no. On her days off I rely on Dawn or Gloria to deliver my meal. They usually remember.” He shrugged. “I always have something on hand if a meal doesn’t show up.”

  Annie’s phone beeped with a text message. “It’s from Martha,” she said as she tapped the screen on her phone. “This doesn’t sound good. Detective Crank is hanging around waiting to question Sylvia.”

  22

  Thelma decided she should go home and get some rest since there wasn’t anything she’d be able to help Sylvia with at the moment. After Annie brought Thelma to her house, she dropped Roxy at home so she wouldn’t be stuck in the car at the hospital for who knew how long. Plus, she wanted to see Jason.

  As soon as she stepped inside, the wonderful aroma of garlic hit her nose. The table was set for two with exactly what she expected the night before if she hadn’t ended up with last minute guests.

  Jason leaned over the table, lighting two tall white tapers. “Good. You didn’t bring anyone extra tonight.” His warm smile melted her heart, and when his arms circled her body, Annie fell right into his strong embrace.

  “What are you cooking? As soon as my nose got a whiff, my stomach reminded me to send down something delicious.”

  “Nothing too fancy—pesto and fresh linguine with a salad. Would you like a glass of wine first?”

  Annie hesitated. She knew Martha was expecting her at the hospital, but would it be horrible if she relaxed for an hour with Jason?

  “Your non-answer is telling me that something has come up.” He held Annie at arm’s length and waited for a reply.

  “It’s Sylvia. She fell at Golden Living and is at the hospital. Martha went over there about an hour ago and I suppose I should go see what’s going on. She’s expecting me.”

  “You don’t sound especially sure about that.”

  “I’ll take that glass of wine, eat dinner, and head over later. I doubt there is anything I can do for her now, anyway.”