"Ellie, sorry, I didn't know who else to call, but I need advice. I know you and Russell are dating, but I didn’t want to get the police involved with this until I knew for certain that it was something that needed more serious help,” Leigh said. “Someone’s been following me. I’m staying with John’s parents, but they’re at the funeral home picking out… well, they aren’t home right now. This car has driven past the house twice this morning alone. It could be nothing, and I know I’m probably just being emotional after everything that happened. What do you think? You probably know a lot about this sort of thing since you’re involved with the sheriff. What should I do?”
“What does the person look like?” Ellie asked.
“I’m not sure. They haven’t gotten out of the car, and I wasn’t close enough to see into the car windows. Should I confront them?”
“That might not be safe. I think you should put a call in to the sheriff’s department, just in case.”
“There goes the car again. You’re right, I probably should just call—hold on, they’re pulling into the driveway. I’ve got to go.”
She hung up, leaving Ellie with a silent phone and a feeling of worry in her stomach. Calling out to her employees that she was leaving, she grabbed her purse and hurried to the door, making another call as she moved. When she got the sheriff department’s answering machine, she let out a hiss of annoyance. The elderly secretary, Mrs. Laffere, was probably on her lunch break. She left a message, then called Russell’s cell phone. This rang through to voicemail too, so she left another message. She hesitated for a moment, considering dialing 911, but decided that this probably wasn’t that extreme an emergency. Like Leigh, she didn’t want to blow things out of proportion.
She also didn’t want to be responsible for the woman getting hurt if something did go wrong, which was why she was about to head over to the house herself. As she started her car, she placed a third call, this time to Shannon. Her friend answered, and Ellie was relieved not to have reached another machine.
“Where do John’s parents live?” she asked. “I’ll tell you why later. It’s important.”
“Unless they moved, they’re in that subdivision by the park. Their house had a couple of stone lions at the end of the drive. It’s been years, though, and they might have sold the place. It was a big house for just the two of them.”
Ellie thanked her and hung up. It would have to do. The subdivision that she had mentioned wasn’t far away from the pizzeria, and she was turning down the road only a few minutes later.
The house was easy enough to find, if it was indeed the right one. Two aged stone lions sat guard at the end of the driveway. There were two cars parked there, one of which was rusty in patches and looked out of place. Ellie parked behind it and got out. She hurried up the brick porch steps and knocked on the door. No answer came, after a few seconds she tried again. Still nothing. She hesitated a moment longer, then tried the doorknob. It was unlocked. She opened it a crack.
“Hello?” she called. She heard a murmur of voices, but couldn’t make out what they were saying.
"Hello?” she called out again. “Leigh, it’s Ellie. Can I come in?”
There was a pause, then she heard her name. She followed the sound to find two women seated in the living room. Leigh was on the couch, and in an armchair across from her was the blonde woman who had left the reception so suddenly.
She froze, trying to assess the situation. The woman didn't appear to have a weapon. Her mascara was runny, and her eyes were red. There was a purse on the table next to her with a crumpled tissue poking out the top.
“Sorry, Ellie, I didn’t mean to worry you. You came all the way here just to check on me? That’s so kind of you.”
“I couldn’t get in touch with Russell, and I knew I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you after all of this,” Ellie said. “I’m sorry, it looks like I overreacted. I’ll get going.” She made to leave, planning on placing another call to Russell the second she left the house. Their missing witness had been found.
"No, no, you can stay. This is Britney. She came to apologize.”
"Sorry if I frightened you,” the woman said to Leigh. "I just wasn't sure how you'd react when I showed up. I kept losing my courage and driving away before I parked. I can see how that might have seemed odd.”
"Why did you sneak out like that at the wedding?” Ellie asked. "Everyone has been looking for you.”
"I just freaked out. I wasn’t invited, and I thought I might be in trouble if I was there when the police showed up.” She darted her gaze back to Leigh. “That’s why I came to apologize. I shouldn’t have crashed the wedding. After what happened, I realized how stupid and petty it was of me to think my being there would somehow change his mind. I should have just been happy for him. He was obviously happy with you.”
Leigh took a shuddering breath. Ellie saw tears at the corner of her eyes. “We’re quite the mess, the pair of us, aren’t we? Here I'll show you where the bathroom is. There's tissues in there, and on the way back we can grab a strong drink from the kitchen. Would you like one, Ellie? You drove all the way over here; you're welcome to stay.”
"No—” Ellie paused mid-sentence. It might be better if she stayed. For all she knew, Britney could be the killer. Leaving her alone with Leigh might put the other woman in danger, especially if Leigh had been the original target, as Shannon thought was possible. "I mean, sure, I'll stay. I won’t have a drink though. I'll have to head back to work after this. Thank goodness my employees were there to cover for me.”
The two women left the room, leaving Ellie alone with the empty chairs… and a purse. She bit her lip, staring at it. It was Britney's, and her fingers twitched with temptation. She needed the woman's last name, at least, and her address. Russell would still want to question her. Ellie glanced in the direction the two women had gone. She heard the clink of glasses. If she was quick, she might have time.
She hurried over to the purse and pulled it open. She grabbed the woman's wallet and looked at the driver’s license. Britney’s last name was Elmwood. She took a quick picture of the license with her cell phone, then put it back. As she made to close the bag, something caught her eye. It was an empty plastic bag—no, not empty. There was a residue of white powder inside it. Her heart beginning to pound, Ellie snatched the bag just as she heard footsteps in the hall behind her. She stuffed the bag into her pocket, took a seat on the couch, and was pretending to be intently focused on a magazine when the two women returned.
Ellie tried to act normal for the next twenty minutes, but she kept losing track of the conversation. She couldn’t keep her thoughts from the plastic bag in her pocket. The white powder could be anything, she knew. The woman could've had a powdered donut for lunch, for goodness sake. However, if she had to bet on it, she would put the odds on the powder being some sort of poison. If luck was on her side, she could just have found the murder weapon.
CHAPTER NINE
* * *
Immediately after leaving Leigh, Ellie went to the sheriff's department. Russell was still out, but she convinced Mrs. Laffere to let her wait in his office. He returned a good half an hour later. She jumped up as soon as the door opened, and fished the bag out of her pocket. He took it, looking confused.
"I heard that you called,” he said. "I was just about to call you back. What is this?”
"This is evidence,” Ellie said. "It’s a long story, but I found John’s ex and took that out of her purse.”
The sheriff took a closer look at the plastic bag. He saw the white powder, and his brow furrowed. He dropped it onto the table as if it had burned him.
"You took it out of her bag?” he said.
"Yes. I didn't mean to steal anything, I was just looking for her license so I could get her full name and then I saw it. I thought it might have something to do with how John died. She seemed pretty upset about his death, and I still think it's possible that she might be the killer. She went to see Le
igh. I stayed until she left to make sure she didn’t try anything.”
"Ellie,” he said slowly, “this could have been evidence, but now, even if it was full of drugs that could have been used to murder John, I can’t use it against her.” Russell’s voice raised slightly. “By taking it out of her bag, and especially by touching it with your bare hands, you destroyed its worth as evidence. Is there any proof that it’s hers, other than your word? I’m guessing not. There’s a reason we do things a certain way. You might have just let John’s killer walk free."
Ellie was shocked. Russell had never gotten angry at her before, not like this. He had gotten upset when she did something that put herself in danger, but this was the first time she had seen his grey eyes look so hard and cold when they gazed at her. At first, she felt stung by his words, then felt a rush of anger.
"I was just trying to help,” she snapped. “She could have tossed this in the trash at any point, and then you wouldn’t have had it at all. You know, I tried to do the right thing and call you before going over there. It’s not my fault you didn’t answer.” She pursed her lips, considered saying more, then decided that she might regret it if she did. Turning on her heel, she strode toward the door and showed herself out.
She was certain that Russell would call to apologize after cooling down, but her phone was still silent by the time she pulled into the pizzeria parking lot. She fretted, wondering if she should apologize, then decided that they both needed time to think about what they were going to say. It was time for her to get back to work. She would deal with Russell and whatever had just happened between them later. Right now, she had a business to run.
Russell still hadn’t called by the time she left work that evening. Ellie knew that arguments were a normal thing in any relationship, but she couldn’t help but feel that this was different. She had spent the past few hours coming to terms with the fact that she had screwed up. He was right, she had messed up the case. Even if the bag did test positive for the type of drugs that could be used to kill a person, Russell probably wouldn't be able to use it as evidence. There would be no way to prove that it really had come from Britney. If that turned out to be their only evidence and a killer walked free because of it, she would never be able to forgive herself.
"I'm such an idiot,” she muttered as she got into her car. "I doubt he’ll ever forgive me. I wouldn’t blame him. I should have just kept out of it.”
She drove through town, not sure where she wanted to go. At first, she pointed the car toward the sheriff's department, then losing her courage, she drove around the block. She wasn’t ready to see Russell again, not yet. Pushing the issue wouldn’t help matters at all, she knew. It would be best if she just went home, but she couldn't stand the thought of pacing around her room over and over again for the next few hours until she fell sleep, worrying about all of this. She wished she could go to Shannon, but once again ran into the problem of her being his sister-in-law. It didn’t feel right to share their personal issues with a member of his family.
She ended up driving aimlessly around town. The community center, now the scene of two deaths, was dark and empty. The marina, by contrast, was busy as the last few fishing boats docked for the evening. She sighed as she cruised past the sheriff’s department again. Russell’s truck was still there. If they hadn’t just been fighting, she would have stopped by with a tall cup of his favorite coffee. She passed the building again, then cruised down a different street, passing the now empty calzone shop. Suddenly she stomped her foot down on the brake, then slammed it into reverse, parking sloppily in front of the building.
The Sold sign was gone. In its place was a sign that said Hot Diggity Dawg—Coming Soon! It looked like she had finally discovered which restaurant would be moving into the space. At least it wasn't another pizza place. A hot dog restaurant? I’m going to have to stop in for lunch and check out the menu myself when they open, she thought. Hopefully the owners are pleasant. Though anyone will be better than Jeffrey and Xavier.
Her curiosity about the new restaurant lifted some of her concern about her and Russell’s fight. It was a reminder that life did go on, and she had to move on with it. Trying to imagine what Hot Diggity Dawg might look like when the renovations were done, she pulled a U-turn in the street and headed for home.
CHAPTER TEN
* * *
Ellie was still buoyed by the news about the new restaurant in town when she got back to the Pacelli house that evening. She was able to set her incident with Russell aside for the moment. She pushed through the front door, greeted Bunny, stopped by Marlowe's cage to greet the big bird, then headed into the kitchen to see her grandmother.
Nonna was sitting at the kitchen table opening her mail. She looked up as her granddaughter walked in, welcomed her home, then went back to reading the letter in her hand. The kitchen smelled like blueberries, maple syrup, and bacon.
“What did you make?” Ellie asked, walking over to the stove. She saw a plate of fresh blueberry muffins sitting on top.
“Well, I was in a breakfast mood, so I made bacon and muffins, and poured maple syrup over the lot,” Nonna said. “You can have the rest of the muffins. Feel free to take some to work tomorrow. You must get tired of having pizza for lunch every day.”
“Sometimes it’s nice to mix it up a little,” Ellie admitted. She noticed her grandmother's attention was already back to the letter. “Any news?” she asked, hoping that that it wasn’t anything bad.
“It’s from my friend Gerry,” she said. “She moved to Florida a couple of years ago with her husband, and she wants me to come and visit. It would be nice, but I don't think my old bones are up to being hauled across the country.”
"Hey, I'll go in your place,” Ellie joked, smiling. "Not too long ago, I was thinking how nice it would be if you had a place in Florida that we could go to visit during the winter months.”
"I always thought that would be wonderful,” Nonna said. "I always wanted to buy a home in Florida, even just a little place that we could rent out for half the year, but your grandfather loved this town too much to ever leave. He probably would have done it for me if I pushed the issue, but I loved him enough not to.”
"You know, you still could do it,” Ellie said. "Imagine, spending winter somewhere without three feet of snow on the ground.”
The older woman chuckled. "Oh, don't tempt me. Like I said, I'm too old. I wouldn’t make it halfway there.”
"What are you talking about?” Ellie said. “With a plane ticket, you'd be there just a couple of hours.”
"And then what?” Nonna asked, putting the letter down. “I would have to rent a car, and, well, I haven't driven for almost a year. I probably need to renew my driver’s license, and I’m not sure if they would issue me a new one. Besides, I’d probably get lost down there. I don't know how to use those GPS systems, and I’m too old to wrestle with a map while I’m behind the wheel.”
"I really would love to visit Florida, even if it's summer when we go,” Ellie told her grandmother. “We could both use a vacation.”
Now more than ever, she thought.
"I could visit some of the friends that have moved down there over the years. Some of them even live in the same retirement community,” her grandmother said softly, as if to herself. She looked down at the letter again. "No, I really shouldn’t. If I go there then I might be tempted to stay. I do love this place. It’s my home.”
It might be good for her to get away from the house and town that are so filled with memories of her husband, Ellie thought. It must be hard for the older woman to look ahead to the rest of her years when she was so surrounded by reminders of the past.
"I’ll tell you what, Nonna,” Ellie said. "I'll do some research online, and find some fares, then maybe we can talk about going. Like I said, we could both use a vacation, and I think it would be wonderful for you to be able to see your friends. Maybe I'll be inspired with some new pizza ideas while we’re down there.”
; Ellie turned back to the stove and the muffins. She put one on a plate and set it in the microwave. While it was heating up, she grabbed the butter off the counter and scraped off a bit with a knife. She took the muffin out of the microwave, and joined her grandmother at the table. She wasn't that hungry, but she had never been able to turn down a freshly made blueberry muffin.
"So, how are things going with you and that sheriff of yours?” Nonna asked, apparently done with Florida talk for the time being.
Ellie's fingers hesitated as she tore into the muffin. The last thing she wanted to talk about just then was Russell. Would he ever forgive her for her mistake? She knew how seriously he took his work, and this case in particular was personal for him.
Still, her grandmother needed an answer. "I haven't seen much of him recently,” she said honestly. "He's been so busy with the case.”
"You mean that poor man who died at his own wedding?” her grandmother asked. "Was it murder?”
"They don't know yet. They're still waiting on the autopsy.” She took a bite out of the warm, buttered muffin. Perfect.
"That poor man, killed just minutes after saying his vows.” Her grandmother shook her head. "It seems so cruel. I’m thankful that my own wedding went smoothly. When your time comes, I’m sure it will be just perfect.”
"No, no, I think I'm too old to get married,” Ellie said. “I’ve already tried it once, and it didn’t exactly work out. I'm not unhappy being single.”
Garlic Artichoke Murder (Papa Pacelli's Pizzeria Series Book 11) Page 4
