by Jennie Marts
“I walked by your house every day, waiting for you to show up or to see if I could learn anything about what was going on. You didn’t come back, so the next week, I knocked on your mom’s door and told her I was looking to do some yard work to pick up extra money for college. She hired me, and I spent the next few days working in your yard. She would offer me iced tea and I would sit on the porch with her and talk. I’m pretty sure that her tea had a little extra juice in it. I used to sit and talk like that with my dad and knew how to steer the conversation the way I wanted, which was toward you. She told me everything that was happening in Coopersville, and I knew they were still looking for me. Once I realized you were okay and that you’d moved on, I took off.”
“Wait,” Piper said. Even though it seemed Johnny was speaking only to Edna, the rest of the book club was listening intently. “What do you mean by ‘moved on’?”
Johnny looked sadly at Edna. “She knows what I mean.”
Edna took a sip of her coffee, which was cold by now. “He means that I ‘moved on’ because, three weeks after his so-called death, I married Frank.”
Sunny gasped. “You did?”
“Oh for goodness’ sakes, Sunny. You knew I married Frank. He only died five years ago. We’ve been your neighbors for as long as you’ve lived in your house.”
“I already saw that coming,” Maggie said. She was always the one who leaned over in the movies and whispered too loudly that she’d already figured out the plot.
“Well, yes,” Sunny said. “I knew you were married to a guy named Frank, but I guess I wasn’t connecting all the dots that it was this Frank.”
Edna huffed. “And you’re responsible for teaching the future leaders of our country.”
“All right now, Edna. Don’t be mean,” Cassie admonished. “I’d figured out that you eventually married Frank but didn’t realize it was that same summer.”
Edna shrugged. “We both missed Johnny so much. We spent the next few weeks together, grieving our mutual loss. It was just the next logical step.”
John raised an eyebrow. “Oh, was it?”
“Hold on,” Maggie said. “I’ve never known Edna Allen to do anything ‘logical’ in her life. There’s got to be more to the story. Did you really believe that Johnny had shot Weasel/Warren/whatever-his-name-was?”
“No, of course not.” Edna toyed with the handle of her coffee mug. “Donna was in the hospital and her family wouldn’t let us talk to her. Frank and I threw around every possible scenario we could think of, but we both knew in our hearts that Johnny couldn’t have shot Weasel, at least not on purpose. It has taken sixty years, but now I finally know the truth about what happened that night.” She looked at John. “Thank you for that.”
Officer McCarthy cleared his throat. He had quietly listened to the whole tale, refilling his coffee cup and eating the piece of pie that Cassie had placed in front of him. “Regardless of what your story is about how things went down that night, the fact remains that there is an outstanding warrant for your arrest. There’s no statute of limitations for murder. I’m going to have to take you in.”
“What? You can’t,” Sunny said. “You just heard what happened. John’s innocent.”
“That’s not for me to decide,” Mac said. “I’m an officer of the law, and I’m duty-bound to arrest him.”
Maggie turned toward John. “Unfortunately, he’s right. But I’ll be happy to represent you. I’ll try to get you out on bond as soon as possible.”
John nodded. “I understand. I knew that if I came back, I was taking a chance on getting myself arrested.”
“Then why did you come back, you old fool? You could’ve just sent me an email from a coffee shop, called me from a burner phone, found a way to contact me that would have kept you hidden.” Havoc sat in Edna’s lap, and she absently stroked his fur as she admonished John.
He eyed her thoughtfully. “You know why I had to come back, Eddy. I needed to see you. To see your face. To ask you what happened after I left. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who’s kept things hidden all these years.”
Edna looked from Mac to John. Anyone that knew her well could see the wheels turning in her head. She stroked the little dog’s fur and looked intently at John. “Just so you know, if you ever have to go away again, even just for a little while, Havoc could stay here. He would be well taken care of.”
John nodded. “Thanks, I appreciate that.”
“Well, you better just get it over with it,” Edna said to Mac. She pushed her chair back and set Havoc on the floor. Picking up the coffee cups, she headed for the sink. “It is your civil duty and all that.”
John stood up and held out his hands.
Mac reached for the handcuffs attached to his belt.
Crash!
The group turned as one as the cups Edna had been holding hit the floor and shattered. Edna grabbed for the counter as she crumpled to the floor.
Mac was the first to move, his quick reflexes grabbing her before her head hit the floor. Jake was moments behind him, and the Page Turners rushed to her side, all carefully stepping over the broken glass on the floor.
Edna’s head lay cradled in Officer McCarthy’s lap.
Jake reached for her wrist to gauge her pulse. “Her heart-beat is steady,” he reported.
Slowly Edna’s eyes fluttered open. “Where am I? Am I dead? Is this heaven?”
“No,” Cassie assured her. “You’re not dead. You just fainted.”
“Oh good, I’d hate to think I’d have to spend all of eternity in this kitchen. I should have changed that wallpaper years ago.”
“Take it easy, Miss Allen.” Mac’s voice held the authoritative tone of someone used to being in charge. “I think we should call an ambulance. You may have suffered a stroke or broken something in your fall.”
“Oh, I don’t think we need to go to all that fuss. Just let me lie here a minute.” Edna looked around at the broken glass that Sunny was already sweeping up from the floor. “Who broke something?”
“You did,” Maggie answered. “You dropped the cups before you collapsed. We’re hoping that’s all you broke. Can you move your legs? Your arms? We know you can move your mouth.”
Edna stuck her tongue out at Maggie. “I hated those old cups anyway. And I think I can move everything.” She waved her arms and legs, making an imaginary snow angel in the dust bunnies on her kitchen floor. “Yep, everything’s fine. Why doesn’t somebody help me up?”
Mac gingerly helped her to her feet, a concerned look on his face. “Are you sure we shouldn’t call you an ambulance? You may have had a heart attack.”
“I doubt it. I just went to the doctor and my heart is as healthy as a horse,” she told him. “It’s all that Zumba and salsa dancing I do. Good cardio, you know.” She turned her back to the policeman and gave the Page Turners an exaggerated wink. “It must have just been all the excitement. Or maybe low blood sugar. I’ll just eat another piece of pie, and I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
A low whine arose from the living room, and they all turned to see Havoc sitting by the front door. A quick glance around the room revealed that the little dog’s fugitive owner was nowhere in sight.
Chapter Fourteen
The next evening was the routine night of the Page Turners book club meeting, and you could guarantee not one of the members was going to miss it.
They gathered around the table in Sunny’s kitchen. Cassie and Piper wore their yoga gear, having just come from a class they were taking together at the Y.
Maggie looked fashionably sharp, still in the charcoal-gray power suit she wore to court that day. The coral blouse accented her tanned skin and her dark hair fell in shiny waves down her back. She might look like an ad for Lawyer’s Weekly, but her sharp intelligence made her a formidable foe in the courtroom.
Her sleek leather briefcase sat at her feet, and Havoc sniffed at the front pocket. As if remembering the little dog’s reputation, Maggie lifted the briefcase and set
it on the counter.
Edna had brought the dog over, and it spent the last fifteen minutes chasing Sunny’s golden retriever, Beau, around the back yard. Beau now lay on the floor, his energy spent while Havoc raced around the kitchen in a frenzied attempt to sniff everything in sight.
The scent of cinnamon and vanilla filled the air as Sunny pulled a fresh batch of snickerdoodles from the oven. Using a spatula, she moved the soft, warm cookies to a cooling rack. As fast as the gals were grabbing them, she could have saved herself the step and dumped them right into the mouths of each book club member.
“So did you hear from John today?” Cassie asked Edna as she reached for a cookie.
“No, not yet. But I spent the afternoon in the attic digging through boxes and found the jewelry box that he sent me all those years ago. I never threw it away, I found it packed into a trunk of old mementos.”
Edna pulled a jewelry box from her bag and set it on the table. It was ordinary to look at it, a small wooden box that could be found at any drugstore.
Piper reached out and ran a finger down the side of the box. “What’s so special about this box?”
“I’m not sure,” Edna said. She lifted the lid to reveal a blue velvet lining. Otherwise the box was empty. “But I felt like John was trying to give me a clue last night. He said this box would give me all the answers I would need.”
“The answers to what?” Maggie asked. “How to buy a cheap jewelry box?”
“There was a note from Johnny inside of it, and all I ever cared about was reading his words. I never really gave much thought to the box itself. Maybe the answer is somehow in the box.” Edna pulled at the lining and the ancient adhesive easily gave way. She peeled it all the way back and gasped at what was underneath.
Under the lining, taped to the bottom of the box, was a flat gold key. Edna tugged at the corner of the tape, releasing the key. She held it up for the others to see.
“A key,” Piper said. “What the heck is it to? A secret apartment where he’s been living? A locker at an airport? How does this answer anything? It just brings up more questions.”
Edna narrowed her eyes as she studied the key. “Remember, he sent me this key back in 1955, so I doubt it would be anything like a locker at an airport. It has to be to something that would be around and stay the same for a long time. It looks like a safe deposit box key. That would be a great place to hide something.”
“The only bank in town that’s been around long enough would be the Pleasant Valley Bank and Trust,” Maggie said.
“Ohhh, wait.” Cassie pointed at her bag hanging off the back of Piper’s chair. “Hand me my purse.”
Piper handed her the bag, and she dug out a large set of keys with a jeweled handbag charm hanging from the ring. She rifled through them, then held up a flat gold key. “I have a safe deposit box at that branch. Here’s my key. It looks just the same.”
“Johnny said he hid the gun and the rest of the money. He was in Pleasant Valley for several weeks but the murder happened in a different state.” Sunny nibbled on a cookie as she talked out her mental reasoning. “Maybe he hoped a bank teller wouldn’t recognize his name, or he wore a disguise or something. It was sixty years ago. You probably didn’t need all the crazy five forms of ID like you do now. People were more trusting. Plus he was cute and charming. He could have gone into the bank and sweet talked a teller into setting up a box for him using a fake name or even in Edna’s name. If he was sending you this clue, maybe he put your name on the box rental agreement.”
Edna turned the key over in her hand. “What if the gun and the money is in this safe deposit box? He said he never touched the gun, so it could still have Donna’s fingerprints on it. Or her DNA. What if the gun is the key to proving his innocence, and it’s just been sitting in a bank for the last sixty years?”
“If ballistics could match the bullet that killed Weasel to the gun that John had, that would be admissible in court,” Maggie explained. “We need to see what’s in that box.”
Edna looked at her watch. “It’s five thirty. How late do you think they stay open? We should call them.”
“No need,” Piper said, holding up her phone. “I just googled them, and they stay open until six.”
“It’s just off Fourth and Main. If we leave now, we can be there in five minutes.” Cassie grabbed for her purse and shoved another snickerdoodle into her mouth. “Let’s go,” she said around a mouthful of cookie.
Five minutes later, the Page Turners walked into the Pleasant Valley Bank and Trust. The lobby smelled like old paper and canned air freshener. A Neil Diamond song piped through the sound system and with the original gleaming gold teller stations, it felt like stepping back in time.
Sunny approached the closest bank teller. She looked about twelve and was chewing gum hard enough to throw her jaw out. Her cell phone was in her hand, and it appeared the text that she was sending was more important than any customer. “Excuse me, can you help us with a safe deposit box?”
The teller looked up, and her smile of recognition was filled with a shiny set of braces. “Oh, hi, Miss Vale. Remember me, I’m Veronica Howbert. I was in your second grade class.” Now that her head was up, she looked around at the rest of the group.
“Oh my goodness. Why yes, of course I remember you, Veronica. And now I feel about as old as this bank. We were wondering if you could help us with getting into a safe deposit box.”
Veronica looked at the big clock above the door and frowned. “We close in about fifteen minutes. You might want to come back tomorrow.”
Edna bustled forward. “Listen, missy, we drove like a bat out of hell to get here. Your bank is open for another fifteen minutes, so if you can spare time away from texting about what you had for lunch today, I’d like to see my safe deposit box. Now.”
The teller slid off her stool, opened a drawer, and pulled out a set of keys. “Okay. Geez, it was just a suggestion. Do you know your box number?”
“I forgot it. And like you said, it’s getting late and I’m not getting any younger. Can you look it up for us, Veronica? It’s under…” Edna looked at Sunny.
“Edna Allen,” Sunny said. “Check for a box under the name Edna Allen.” Sunny leaned toward her and whispered, “If John gave you a key, I’m sure he would have put it in your name.”
“But my name wasn’t Edna Allen then. It was still Anderson,” Edna whispered back.
Sunny shrugged. “If it works, it’s one more mystery to ask John about.”
“Shh.” Maggie gave them a glare and a quick shush.
The teller punched a few keys on her computer and came up with a number. “It’s box 67, and it’s registered to you and a John Adams. Is that the one?”
“That’s it,” Edna said, and smiled sweetly at the girl. “Can you possibly push a couple more buttons and tell us the last time someone was in this box?”
The girl glanced at the clock and let out a sigh. “I guess. They updated our computers about ten years ago and manually added all the safe box activity from when each box was purchased. I can usually print out all the activity.” She clicked a few more keys. “Actually, it’s only been accessed twice, ever. Both times in the summer of 1966. Do you want me to print off the statement?” She asked the question as if Edna were requesting she move the pyramids, one stone at a time.
“Sure, if it’s not too much trouble for you.” Edna waited while the girl hit print and handed her a single sheet of paper. She folded it and stuffed it in her purse. “Thanks so much for going to all that work. Now can we see the box?”
Veronica unlocked a steel door and led them into a large vault room. “I can only take one of you in to get the box, but we have a viewing room and the rest of you can wait in there.” She pointed to a door on their left just outside the vault.
A viewing room? That made it sound like a funeral. Was that a premonition? Would the contents of this box give her a heart attack, and she was about to die?
Edna handed the
girl the key that she had taken from the jewelry box and watched as she inserted both keys into the box and turned the lock. Edna held her breath, hoping the key would work. She had waited sixty years to hear the truth about what happened the night that Johnny disappeared. And this box could hold the proof to back up his words.
Johnny’s story made perfect sense to her. In her head, she could clearly hear the snide tone of Donna’s annoying voice, threatening Johnny and making him feel worthless. It had been so long ago, but she could feel the fear that he had felt as he fled the only town he’d ever lived in, leaving behind his girl, his friends, and the only family he had.
With a click, the lock turned, and Veronica opened the rectangle door and pulled a long box from the slot. She carried it back to where the Page Turners stood, and Cassie opened the door to the viewing room. It was a small room with a table and two chairs and a framed print of George Washington on the wall.
Veronica set the box on the table and backed out of the room as the others crowded in. “You have about ten minutes. I don’t mean to rush you or anything, but the bank closes at six, and I have a date tonight.”
The door closed behind the bank teller. Edna looked at the picture of George Washington, as if gathering strength from the founding father. She took a deep breath and lifted the lid.
The box contained two items. A yellowed newspaper article from the Coopersville Gazette dated July 12, 1966 and a clear plastic dry-cleaning bag. Edna gingerly lifted the bag from the safe deposit box. It held a white sport jacket, now faded to a dull beige and stiff with dark brown stains.
“Is that blood? Weasel’s blood?” Piper asked, covering her mouth with her hand. “I think I’m going to throw up.”
Edna set the bag down, and it made a dull thud as it hit the table. “It’s too heavy. There’s something inside the jacket. It’s got to be the gun.”
Sunny reached for the top of the bag, but Maggie slapped her hands away. “Don’t touch it. It’s evidence. I think we should call Mac now.”
