by Jessica Beck
“We’re going to do our best,” I said.
“I’m sure you are. Well, I’ll let you go. I just wanted to catch you up to speed about where things stood.”
“Thanks for the call. I’m sure we’ll be chatting again soon.”
“You can count on it,” Rebecca said.
“What did she have to say?” Greg asked as I walked back into the kitchen.
“Ellen’s free, at least for now,” I explained as I took a bite of the apple pie Greg had put out on the counter. “Was that for me?”
“Sure, why not?” he said with a grin as he got a piece for himself. “Have you and Moose had any luck so far?”
“We’re just getting started,” I said after I took another bite. “You know how it goes. We do the best we can, but we don’t have a lot of control of the investigation. All we can do is keep digging and hope that something turns up.”
“You’ll find a way,” Greg said. “I have faith in you both.”
“Not misplaced, I hope,” I answered with a smile.
“Never,” he replied, matching my grin with one of his own.
“Ellen, I’m surprised to see you came in today,” I said at the door of the diner the next morning.
“Why wouldn’t I come to work?” she said. “I can’t sit around the house all day waiting for the kids to get out of school. I’d go stir-crazy.”
“I understand that, but maybe this isn’t the best idea. You know how people talk in town. Are you sure that you’re up to it?”
“Please don’t make me go,” Ellen said, her voice pleading. “I need this.”
I put on my brightest smile. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy to have you, if you’re sure. Just promise me one thing. If things get too rough for you, you’ll take off. Is that a deal?”
“It is,” she said. “Thanks, Victoria.”
“I should be thanking you for showing up. Martha’s coming in later with Moose to take my place, and I know that you two get along great.”
“Martha’s a peach,” she said as she tied her apron on. “I’m guessing that you and Moose are going to keep digging into Gordon’s murder, aren’t you?”
“You don’t mind, do you?”
“Mind? I’d pay you if I could afford it. I don’t have a great deal of faith in Sheriff Croft. He seems to be focusing all of his attention on me.”
“Don’t sell him short,” I said. “He’s a good cop. I’m sure that once he convinces himself that you didn’t have anything to do with what happened to your ex-husband, he’ll go after the real killer.”
“I hope you’re right, but in the meantime, I’m glad that you and Moose are looking into it. Do you have any leads so far?”
I looked around at the two tables with customers, and I lowered my voice. “Do you really want me to get into that here and now? You’re just going to have to trust Moose and me to do our best.”
“I do, believe me, I do. I just thought I might be able to help.”
“We’ll take all of the help we can get,” I said. “Do you have any ideas about who might have wanted to hurt him?”
“You need to talk to Sam Jackson,” she said. “He’s hated Gordon for years.”
“What exactly happened between them?”
“All I know is that there was a business deal that went bad.”
“What kind of business were they in together?” I asked.
“They were selling marijuana, and evidently Gordon left town with Sam’s share of their profits. I didn’t approve of it, and Gordon swore to me that he stopped, but I found out later that he’d been lying to me. Sam was furious when he found out that Gordon had run off, and I was afraid for my life until I convinced him that I hadn’t known anything about it.”
“We’ve got Sam on our list, but we didn’t have any luck tracking him down yesterday,” I said. “Moose and I are going to try again today. Is there anybody else we should talk to?”
“No, no one that I can think of.”
“How about Mitchell Cobb?” I asked.
“Mitchell? Why would he want to kill Gordon?” She looked honestly surprised by the mere thought that her former classmate could be involved.
“I understand Gordon stole you from Mitchell in the first place,” I explained.
Ellen shook her head. “Is that what he told you? Nobody stole me from anyone else. Sure, Mitchell asked me to the prom, but he understood when I told him that I decided to go with Gordon instead. It was stupid of me to do it, and I always felt bad about ditching him like that, but it’s not like we were ever a thing, you know?”
“He never asked you out after Gordon left town for good?” I asked.
Ellen smiled softly. “Oh, he asked me half a dozen times, but I always said no. It wasn’t anything against Mitchell. I just wasn’t interested in dating anyone for a long time after Gordon broke my heart.”
“Until Wayne asked you, right?”
“Wayne is a dear man,” she said softly. “The kids absolutely love him.”
“And how about you?”
She reddened a little. “I’d better clear that table.”
“You didn’t answer my question,” I said.
“How about that?” Ellen asked, but that was all that she would say.
I had a hunch that Wayne had indeed found his way into her heart, and I hoped that Gordon’s murder hadn’t killed the romance before it had a chance to bloom. Ellen had been through a lot, and she deserved a little happiness in her life. As long as neither one of them had killed Gordon, they both had my blessing, for what it was worth.
Ten minutes later, I looked up from the cash register to see Jessie Blackwell walk into the diner. I was surprised to see her after the confrontation Moose and I had with her the day before at The Harbor Inn.
Putting on my best smile, I said, “Sit anywhere you’d like.”
“Actually, I came by to talk to you,” Jessie said a little uncertainly. “Do you have a second?” She glanced around and saw that Ellen was waiting tables. “And if we could speak outside, I’d greatly appreciate it.”
I wasn’t sure how much latitude I was going to give the woman, but then again, if she decided to hole up at the inn, I might never get the opportunity to speak with her again while she was still in town. “That would be fine. Give me one second, and I’ll meet you on the bench out front.”
“Thank you so much,” she said, the relief obvious on her face.
“Ellen, can you cover the register for a few minutes?”
“What is she doing here?” Ellen asked me.
“She wants to talk, and I can’t afford not to hear what she has to say. You want us to find out who killed Gordon, don’t you?”
“Of course I do.”
“Then I need to do this. Are you going to be okay?”
“I’ll be fine,” she said as she nodded.
“Good,” I said as I squeezed her hand. “I shouldn’t be long.”
“If it helps me and the people I love get out from under this mess, take all the time that you need.”
I walked out and found Jessie pacing up and down in front of the bench. She obviously had something on her mind. “What can I do for you?” I asked.
It startled her, and I doubted that the woman had even noticed me coming out of the diner. “First of all, I owe you an apology. I snapped a little when you showed up on the path yesterday. I was trying to wrap my head around the fact that Gordon was really gone, and then there you and your grandfather were, confronting me out of the blue.
“Jessie, how did you and Gordon get along?” I asked gently.
“We were engaged to be married,” she said, the words rushing out of her in a well-rehearsed tone of voice.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“Gordon was an interesting man,” she said after a moment’s reflection. “We didn’t always see eye-to-eye, but I genuinely cared for him.”
“Can you say the same about his feelings for you?”
It wa
s a dangerous thing for me to say, but I wanted to see how she’d react. That might tell me more than the answer to any question I could ask.
Instead of blowing up, she just shrugged. “Now you sound like my father. He never trusted Gordon’s motives. In fact, Daddy insisted that Gordon sign a prenup.”
“And did he?”
“He hadn’t yet, but he promised to do it once we got back,” she said.
I didn’t put any stock in the dead man’s promise. Gordon had evidently given up on the battle, but he hadn’t conceded the war, as far as I was concerned. “Are you and your father close?” I asked.
“Not that much since Gordon came into my life, but we still talk once a week. As a matter of fact, I was speaking with him not a minute before you and Moose showed up on the path.”
It was time to probe a little deeper. “We didn’t mean to, but Moose and I overheard part of that conversation.”
That earned me a sharp look from her. “What exactly did you overhear?”
“You said something about not thinking that he was bluffing, and that someone promised to bury you. Were you talking about Gordon?”
“I’d rather not explain,” she said. “You’re taking it all out of context.”
“Then give me a little background,” I said. “We’ll do our best to help you.”
“Why would you say that you’d do that?” she asked. “It’s common knowledge how you feel about your waitress.”
“We all want to find out who killed Gordon, don’t we?”
“Of course we do,” she said dismissively. “I got the impression yesterday that you wouldn’t be all that upset if I’d been the one who killed him, though.”
“That’s not true,” I said, stretching the truth a little. “While it’s true that Ellen’s a part of our family, we just want to know the truth.”
Jessie shook her head. “The truth isn’t always that easy to uncover, is it?”
“Well, all we can do is keep digging until we find it,” I said. From Jessie’s demeanor, and the words she’d used, I decided to play a hunch. “Jessie, were you afraid of him?”
She looked as though I’d caught her for a split second, but then she quickly composed herself again. “Nonsense. We were engaged to be married. I cared very deeply for him.”
Why didn’t I believe her? “Do you have any idea who might want to see harm come to Gordon?” I asked.
“I believe the police have a list of suspects long enough to satisfy anyone,” she said. Again, it was a strict avoidance of answering my direct question. Had this woman been an attorney in another life, or did she always play things cagey?
“But do you know anyone who might have done it?”
“No,” she said, one of the few direct answers I’d gotten out of her.
It was time to try a different line of questioning. “How long are you staying in town?”
“The sheriff has asked me to stay a few more days, and I’ve decided to indulge him. Daddy has offered me his lawyers, but I told him I’d be fine on my own.”
I didn’t doubt that for one moment. I was certain that the woman could handle herself in any interrogation, if the way she acted with me was any indication. There was no need to shield her from the police.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have several places still to visit,” she said.
I couldn’t just let her get away. I hadn’t even had a chance to ask her about her alibi yet, but there was clearly not going to be time to do that now. “May we visit you at The Harbor later? I know that my grandfather would love to speak with you, and I’m sure that he’d be appreciative to hear your apology personally.” It was the only ploy I could come up with to ensure that we had access to her again once we narrowed our line of questions for her.
“Of course,” she said. “Just call first, would you? I hate to be caught off-guard.”
“We will. I promise.”
“Excellent.” She glanced back into the diner, and then Jessie asked me, “Do you think I should say something to Ellen? Things were said between us before Gordon died, and I now regret getting involved in their domestic issues.”
“I’m not sure how receptive she would be to an apology just now,” I said honestly. I didn’t want to put Ellen through anything she didn’t have to endure while so much was going on. “Don’t get me wrong. She has a good heart, but this has all thrown her for a real loop.”
“I understand how she feels,” Jessie said. “Would you mind conveying my apologies to her directly, then? She might be a little more receptive hearing it from you. Please?”
“I’ll tell her,” I said, not at all sure how it would go over with Ellen. Still, it was the least I could do. I believed that Jessie was sincere about at least that much, and that she regretted the trouble she and Gordon had caused Ellen since they’d come to town.
“That’s all that I can ask,” Jessie said, and then she walked away.
I went back into the diner, took a deep breath, and decided that the longer I put it off, the worse it was going to be.
I needed to convey Jessie’s message, no matter how unpleasant Ellen’s reaction might be.
As I walked inside, I looked back over my shoulder. Jessie was heading toward a nice car, but that wasn’t what caught my eye.
Wayne, my favorite mechanic and Ellen’s current boyfriend, sat up in the car he was driving after she passed him, and as soon as Jessie pulled out of the parking lot, he was right behind her.
What was the man up to?
I didn’t know, but I was going to make it a point to find out the next time I had a chance to talk to him. That was all we needed, more people trying to solve Gordon’s murder and getting in our way. Moose and I had it covered, and at least we had some experience investigating.
All Wayne would do was mess things up.
Chapter 8
“Is she gone?” Ellen asked me as I walked back into the diner.
“She just left,” I said. “Do you have a second?”
Ellen surveyed the tables, checked the order window, and then nodded. “We’re in the middle of a lull. What did she have to say?”
“Among other things, she wanted to apologize to you,” I said.
Ellen’s gaze flared, and her face flushed a little. “What happened? Was she too afraid to face me herself? Why did she send you to apologize to me?”
“She asked me if she should speak with you directly, but I wasn’t sure that it was all that good an idea. I offered to tell you myself, and if that was the wrong decision, you shouldn’t hold it against her.”
“Are you actually on her side, Victoria?” Ellen asked loudly enough to get the attention of our diners. Great. I’d been trying to avoid a scene, and now I was the direct cause of one.
“Lower your voice,” I said, and she nodded. “You shouldn’t even have to ask me that question. I was thinking of you when I volunteered to convey her message, but if I was wrong, I’m sure she’ll talk directly to you about it. I was just trying to help.”
Ellen nodded. “I know you were. I’m sorry I snapped. I can’t help myself. When I think about Gordon trying to take my children away from me, with that woman’s deep pockets behind him, it makes me so furious I could scream.”
“You’re going to want to fight that impulse,” I said, trying my best to smile gently. “We don’t need any help painting you with the ‘Angry Ex’ brush. Half the town probably thinks that if you did do it, you were defending your children, and I’m fairly sure none of them blame you for what happened to Gordon.”
Ellen looked around the room, and a half dozen folks looked straight down into their plates. “Do you honestly think that many people in town believe that I’m a murderer?”
“I misspoke,” I said, realizing how damaging that must have sounded to Ellen. “I’m sure most of them believe in your innocence.”
“But not all of them,” Ellen said. “Not by a long shot. I’ve lived in Jasper Fork my entire life. How could anyone think I was capable
of murder?”
“Don’t forget that plenty of them have believed it of me in the past,” I said, “so don’t feel like they’re picking on you. Ellen, it’s one of the reasons that Moose and I are searching for Gordon’s killer. The longer it takes for an arrest to be made, the worse it’s going to get for you and your family. Trust me on this one, there are more consequences from being convicted in the court of popular opinion than any trial.”
“I know you’ve been in the center of these things before,” Ellen said. “I thought I understood how you felt, but that was foolish of me. Until I started feeling the scorn of folks I thought were my friends, I had no idea how crushing the weight can be.”
It was bad timing, but Margie Brewer chose that moment to pay her bill. As she handed Ellen a ten for a five-dollar tab, she said, “Keep the change, and hang in there. Even if this thing goes to trial, you just need one mother on the jury to keep your freedom.”
“I didn’t kill him, Mrs. Brewer,” Ellen said.
“Of course you didn’t, sweetie,” Margie said as she patted Ellen’s hand, and then she walked out of The Charming Moose whistling.
“She just called me a cold-blooded killer, didn’t she?” Ellen asked me.
“Not exactly,” I said.
“It was close enough, and you know it. You and Moose need to figure this out, Victoria, and I mean fast.”
“We’re doing the best we can,” I said. “Are you sure that you’re all right?”
“I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t a little shaky,” Ellen said, “but I’m not going anywhere. Folks need to see that I’m not hiding in some corner, afraid of what might happen to me.”
“That’s my girl,” I said as I squeezed her shoulder. “We’ll figure this out.”
“I hope you’re right,” she said, and then Malcolm Mason waved his coffee cup in her direction, and she grabbed a full pot as she headed off in his direction.
As I watched Ellen flit among our customers, I knew that she was right. Moose and I had to find the killer, and we had to do it before the town decided collectively that Ellen had taken that pipe to her ex-husband. I knew that Margie Brewer had been trying to be supportive, but she’d just confirmed my worst fears. If enough folks in town believed that Ellen was a killer, there would be no changing their minds later, even after the real murderer was brought to justice.
