Drop Dead Shopper (A Carriage Cove Cozy Mystery Book 2)

by Ella White

  “And it’s a rare book too, but how they got it isn’t important right now,” Susan continued. “The problem is, the book has been stolen.”

  Vickie’s shock mirrored her daughter’s. “Stolen? How could it be stolen?”

  “I don’t know, but the school has been trying to keep it hush, hush.” Susan shook her head and flared her nostrils. “They didn’t even tell the police until I probed them about it.”

  “I can’t believe Charles would’ve kept that a secret,” Vickie said skeptically. “He’s always been an honest man.”

  “And he is. Don’t worry about your friend,” Chief Miles reassured her. “I already checked him out. He didn’t know about the book being ordered or stolen until I confronted him about it.”

  Vickie’s head snapped up to her. “You already talked to him?”

  “Yeah, he’s clean.” Susan waved a hand back to the pile of papers. “But back to this. This book is worth a lot. It’s worth a lot of money to… certain interested parties. If it gets out to the students that it’s gone—”

  “Actually, some of the students already know,” Rachel interrupted. Vickie gave her a bit of a scowl. She was normally more polite than this. “Those biology students I brought over last night? They were talking about it quite a bit.”

  “So it’s already news that this rare book is missing?” Vickie inquired.

  “It would seem so.”

  Susan groaned loudly. “Wonderful.”

  “But what’s this got to do with Lilli’s murder?” Vickie wondered out loud, but then she realized what it could mean. “Hold on. Is it possible the stolen book was what Lilli was trying to tell me about?”

  “That’s what I was thinking too,” Chief Miles agreed. “I think Lilli not only knew about the theft, but who the thief is as well. That’s why she was killed, to keep it a secret.”

  “I doubt this thief wants the book for the knowledge it contains.” Vickie put her chin in her hands. “He or she must be desperate for money. The question is, who’s behind all this?”

  “I still think this Mary Gillan is our best bet,” Susan remarked. “I’ve already got someone picking her up to take to the station for questioning.”

  “She’s not the only suspicious person running around,” Rachel added. “One of the students in our study group got really nervous whenever someone mentioned the stolen book. He got jumpy and suddenly left. Do you remember, Mom?”

  “I do. He became very anxious and left in a hurry.” Vickie could recall the young blonde man with messy clothes vividly. “That is fishy. What’s his name?”

  “Randy. Randy Carter,” Rachel answered. “He’s an undergraduate biology student.”

  Chief Miles took out a pen and wrote the name on her palm. “I’ll have someone pick him up too. I’ll need to get back to the station for questioning. Just thought I’d bring you up to speed.”

  She was about to head out the office door when Vickie jumped up. “Wait! Can I go with you for the interviews?”

  “Why would you want to do that?”

  “I’m already involved. I might notice something you don’t or ask a question you don’t think of.”

  “Unlikely, but if you want. I know you’ve got a knack for crime solving, and you were helpful on the Anthony Lee murder.” Susan ignored the tight gasp Rachel let out at the sound of her dead boyfriend’s name. “I can’t let you into the interrogation room this time, but there’s a room to the side you can watch from. Come with me.”

  Vickie gave instructions to Kimberly and Rachel to watch over the café while she was gone, and she followed Susan to her police car. About halfway to the station, while waiting at a red light, Susan looked over at Vickie.

  “What’s going on with Rachel? I haven’t known her for long, but even I can tell she’s not herself lately.”

  Vickie rubbed the bridge of her nose. “I’m not sure. I think it has to do with work, but she won’t tell me what’s wrong.”

  “Do you think it might have to do with Anthony Lee’s murder two months ago?” Susan reasoned. “It’s never easy to lose a loved one like that, and she was in shock.”

  “It might. She did see a counselor for a while, but it seemed to help,” Vickie explained. “I’m not sure what else it could be.”

  The Chief pulled into the police station’s parking lot. “Well, I hope she figures herself out. Meanwhile, it’s time to get serious.”

  “I’m not in the room, right?”

  “No, but you can be in the adjoining room. I’ll show you.

  Susan led Vickie into the station, where a younger officer instantly accosted them.

  “Chief, we brought in both Mary Gillan and Randy Carter. They’re waiting in Interrogation Room 1.”

  “Excellent. Thank you.”

  Vickie still wasn’t familiar with the building’s layout, so she had to keep up with the Chief’s long stride as they headed for the interrogation rooms. Instead of heading straight into the room, however, Susan led her to another door that was right next to it.

  “This is the observation room.” She opened the door and waved her hand inside. “There’s a one-way mirror inside. You can look in, but the suspects won’t see you.”

  Vickie thanked her and went inside. The window, which took up most of the right wall, allowed her to observe the interrogation room clearly. She spotted the young woman she saw from the leadership class and the young man (or boy, really) from the study group last night. Vickie waved her hand in front of the window, but the two didn’t respond. Mary appeared calm and collected, while Randy was the exact opposite. He was fidgeting with this fingers and constantly gulping the glass of water provided for him. Mary cocked an eyebrow at him and slapped his hands, probably harder than she really needed to. Randy gave her a pitiable look.

  “Calm down,” she commanded. “And keep your mouth shut.”

  Vickie watched as Susan entered through the other door and sat down at the table across from the two students. She nodded to the two of them and placed her notebook on the table.

  “Hello, Miss Gillan and Mr. Carter. My name is Susan Miles. I would like to ask you two a few questions, if you don’t mind.”

  It wasn’t really a question, and Mary seemed to notice the leeway she could use to her advantage. “Just make it quick. I have an exam to study for.”

  “So do I,” Randy agreed, although his voice was much more timid.

  “This won’t take long,” the chief reassured them. Mary didn’t look convinced. “First, can you two tell me about your whereabouts two days ago?”

  “I was at home, studying for my exam,” Mary replied first. “Which I should be doing now.”

  “I was in class,” Randy answered. “English 101 and advanced statistics.”

  “Did you not have class that day, Miss Gillan?”

  “Not until evening. Like I said, I was studying and preparing for undergraduate reviews.”

  Didn’t the students last night say they couldn’t get a review session with her? Vickie tapped her forehead. Why would she prepare for something that isn’t happening?

  “I know that teaching assistants like you don’t have a lot on their plate, Miss Gillan.” Susan wrote something down in her notebook. “How have you been holding up?”

  “I’d be doing fine if I was studying,” Mary asserted, glaring at the chief.

  “How about you, Mr. Carter?”

  Randy took several seconds to think before he answered. “I’m okay too.”

  “How about we skip the pleasantries and get to the reason we’re here, chief.” Mary folded her hands and looked at Susan from under her eyelashes.

  Chief Miles nodded. “I’m sure you’ve heard about the death of your friend, Lilli Graves?”

  Mary closed her eyes. “Yes. An old professor told my class about it.”

  “How does that make you feel?”

  “Why?”

  “I understand that Lilli and you were close friends,” Susan continued, “until recently,
when you two had an argument. What was it about?”

  “The usual. Boys, work, school,” Mary answered nonchalantly. “We had different values, different priorities. Lilli never really understood what it meant to be a real student. All she did was read her fiction books while I was up to my ears in biology, chemistry, biochemistry, anatomy, physics…”

  Her schedule has all that? Vickie never had a timetable with those kinds of subjects. That can’t be easy.

  Susan seemed to have read her mind. “Sounds tough. You must be excellent at time management.

  “Yes, well,” Mary responded. “I have to be if I’m going to get into med school.”

  “Medical school? Really?” Susan smiled at the young woman. “You’re ambitious.”

  Mary didn’t respond, and Vickie wasn’t sure what to make of that. She barely seemed to respond to anything with any emotion other than irritation. In contrast, Vickie noticed Randy had started bouncing his knee and tapping his foot.

  “How about you, Mr. Carter?” Susan inquired. “Wasn’t Lilli the teaching assistant for your literature class?”

  Vickie balked a little at the suggestion. Susan hadn’t mentioned anything like that to her before. Then again, perhaps the chief was probing for information she suspected but didn’t necessarily have. Vickie had read about detectives using this technique. The connection Susan was making made sense, since Randy was a freshman student and Lilli had been a TA for undergraduate literature classes. She supposed it wasn’t much of a stretch.

  “I… I was surprised, but I didn’t really know her that well,” the young man stuttered.

  “Look, if you’re looking for someone to point fingers at, I wasn’t the only one fighting with Lilli,” Mary interjected before the chief could ask another question. “She had a boyfriend, Richard Heller. He’s the Spanish TA. They’d been dating since the start of the school year. Why don’t you ask him about Lilli?”

  The Spanish TA, huh? A plan for their next step began to roll through Vickie’s mind.

  She walked out of the observation room and pulled out her cell phone. She quickly picked out Rachel’s number from her contact list and waited as the phone rang.

  “Hi, Mom.”

  “Hi, Rachel. Do you have plans for the rest of the day?”

  “…Not really. Why? Something up?”

  “The chief managed to get a new lead, and I have an idea of how to follow up on it, but I’ll need your help.”

  “You always do.” Her tone was more joking than exasperated. “I’m still at the café. You heading back soon?”

  “Actually, I’m going to have Chief Miles drop me off at the college again. Will you meet me there?”

  “Am I going undercover again?”

  “That’s the plan.”

  Rachel sighed on the other end of the line. “All right. I’ll meet you in front of the admissions building, okay?”

  “Admissions building. Yes. See you soon.”

  “Bye.”

  After Vickie hung up her cell phone, Susan exited the interrogation room. She spotted Vickie standing in the hallway and raised an eyebrow.

  “I think I’m learning what that look means.” That must have been the closest thing to a joke Vickie had ever heard the chief of police make. “You have an idea?”

  “I do. Do you have anything on those two?”

  “Nothing that I can use to keep them here. They’re free to go, but what’s you plan?”

  “My daughter and I are going undercover again,” Vickie explained. “We’re going to see what this Richard Heller is like.”

  Rather than argue, Susan just nodded. “I shouldn’t need to tell you this, but be careful.”

  “I always am.”

  Chapter 6

  “You know I can’t speak a word of Spanish, right?” Rachel reminded her mother once they returned to the college campus.

  “Don’t worry. I don’t think you’ll need to.” Vickie patted her on her shoulder. “It’s an introductory course. They probably don’t expect you to know a word of Spanish.”

  Vickie and Rachel continued up the stairs of the Foreign Language building. “You’re sure the TA is going to be teaching today?”

  “Charles told me,” Vickie confirmed. “Richard Heller is holding a review session for the class’s first exam. He is Lilli’s boyfriend, and Mary said they were fighting.”

  “So you want me to see if he acts strangely at all?”

  “That’s the idea.”

  “He might act completely normal in front of the class, you know?”

  “True, but it’s worth a shot, isn’t it?” Vickie asked. “Remember, we have the after-class plan too.”

  Rachel grinned. “I remember.”

  Vickie and Rachel arrived at the classroom on the second floor, where a group of perhaps fifteen students occupied the benches and floor as they waited for the room to become available. They got there at the worst possible time, as the lecture inside ended and the students rushed out of the schoolroom. The rush of pounding feet brought back horrible nightmares for Vickie, who could recall trying to get through the halls of the college buildings with huge crowds of students running back and forth.

  Just another thing that was nice about staying in the same classroom, Vickie thought.

  Once the lecture hall was emptied, the next round of pupils piled in. Rachel waited until everyone was inside, not wanting to get caught up in the flow. Vickie followed her, and they both took seats near the back of the room. A few moments later, a stocky young man entered the room. He was younger than Rachel by a few years, although his short height made him look even younger. He scratched his black hair for a second as he dropped his heavy notes on the pedestal and glanced through them.

  “That’s Richard.” Vickie pointed him out to her daughter. “I recognize him from the leadership class.”

  “Okay, I’m in gather-information mode,” Rachel joked. “What are you going to do while I’m sitting here for the next hour?”

  “I think I’ll just go for a walk. Take a stroll down memory lane, so to speak.” Vickie stood from her seat. “I’ll see you in an hour.”

  “See you, Mom.”

  Vickie left the classroom before Richard began reviewing. It wouldn’t work in their favor if he happened to spot her in the classroom. He would recognize her face from her speech the previous day. She left the building, deciding she would prefer to spend the hour at the quad instead of inside a classroom hallway.

  The Carriage Cove Community College had always been a small school, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t busy. Numerous students walked between buildings as they went from class to class. If they were in class, the pupils were studying their notes and textbooks. Vickie had pushed for a library to be added to the campus, but the budget never seemed to allow such a venture. She still wished it were possible.

  The cold winter air meant they all had to bundle up to stay warm, and Vickie was no exception. With her heavy coat, gloves, scarf and hat, she was toasty enough. Some of the students didn’t look so fortunate, as they sat on benches or on the grass as they read. Neither of those spots were particularly warm, nor were they the best places to be studying.

  As Vickie took a stroll around the quad, she noticed a familiar face: Randy Carter. He sat alone at the far end of the lawn at a metal table. Notebooks and texts were spread out all over the surface. Randy was either irritated or angry at his notes, if the glare he was giving the book he was reading was any indication. Vickie cocked her head to the side as she spotted him, and she walked over.

  “Good afternoon,” she chirped. Randy jumped in surprise, his head jerking around to see who was speaking to him. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  “It’s… It’s fine,” he stuttered. He swallowed and gave her a nervous smile. “You’re from the café, right?”

  “That’s right.” She sat across from him. “I thought I recognized you. Are you doing okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” He said this a litt
le to quickly for Vickie’s comfort. “Just, um, you know, studying and stuff.”

  “Biology test?”

  “Yeah, first one of the year.”

  “You know, if you really want to retain this information, you should study in a warm environment,” she recommended. “Take it from an old, retired professor. Being in the cold like this won’t help.”

  “Yeah, I would, but all the study areas are taken.” He ran his fingers through his short hair. “Every class has its first round of exams this week.”

  “Well, the teachers do conspire against you students,” Vickie teased. Randy gave her a panicked expression. “Of course I’m kidding.”

  Randy gave a huge sigh of relief. “Don’t do that. I’m stressed out enough.”

  “Sorry.” He surely was nervous. “Anyway, I wanted to ask you something.”

  “What?”

  “I’ve heard a rumor from some of the other students about a missing book,” she explained. Hopefully she wasn’t being too direct. “I think I heard some of your study group talking about it last night. Do you know anything about it?”

  Unfortunately, her fib had the opposite of the desired effect. Randy stared at her for a split second before gathering up his belongings in the most haphazard way she had ever seen. His scrunched his papers together into a single pile and slammed his books together, not bothering to mark which pages he had been focused on.

  “Sorry, sorry, got to go,” he muttered under his breath. “Got to talk to financial aid. Tuition problems, you know? See ya.”

  Vickie watched him go, completely perplexed by how much of a hurry he was in. Randy took off faster than she thought possible, dropping a few pencils and sheets of paper in the process. He skidded to a halt to grab the items again. As he did so, he looked up at her before rushing off again.

  Vickie frowned deeply. If that doesn’t show he knows something, I don’t know what will.

  She knew she wasn’t going to learn anything new about the case from that angle, so Vickie spent the rest of the hour simply walking around the quad and reminiscing. Her watch beeped ten minutes before the Spanish class was supposed to end, and she headed back in that direction.