by J A Whiting
Lorraine hesitated for a moment. “I don’t think Grace would have minded if I tell you since you’ve been hired to look out for the girls. Vanessa and Maddy each got one hundred thousand dollars a year.”
Claire and Nicole exchanged a quick look of surprise.
Claire made sure her voice remained calm and even. “I can understand that the parents might have argued about it. It is a substantial amount of money.”
“Grace wanted the money to go to the girls and not into Ronald’s secret bank account.” Lorraine shook her head. “It’s so very difficult to believe how things have worked out … Grace is gone, Ronald is … I don’t even know what to say about Ronald and what he’s become. How I wish things could go back to the way they were.” Lorraine sighed and looked from Claire to Nicole. “I’m so very glad you’re helping Vanessa and Maddy. Don’t let Ronald take their mother’s money from them. Please, look out for the girls.”
10
Claire hurried over the sidewalk to get to the chocolate shop in time for her shift and as she rounded the corner, she almost plowed right into Robby who was hurrying to work just as quickly as she was. They chuckled when they saw who they nearly collided with. Robby held the door and Claire stepped out of the heat and into the cool air of the café.
“Are you in any more upcoming musicals? I can’t wait to go again.”
“I think I have a new fan,” Robby joked.
“You definitely do. You’re fabulous. I think I’m going to be your manager.”
“I don’t pay much.”
Claire winked. “You will when I make you rich and famous.”
“Do you have any experience?”
“None, but I’m a fast learner.”
“I think I’ll pass.” Robby kidded. “You’re probably a better baker than a manager.”
They joined Nicole in the back room to prepare more of the day’s bakery items and the back and forth banter between them filled each one with energy and good cheer. Customers streamed in and out of the shop all morning and the three workers could barely keep up.
Robby carried out a tray of sweets to replenish the bakery cases. “You need to hire more help. It’s more than we can handle.”
“I don’t know.” Nicole wiped down the counters and the tabletops. “I’m not sure I can afford another employee. Maybe I’ll dock your salary so I can pay for additional help.”
“Cut my pay, huh? It might be time to give my notice.”
Nicole laughed. “Don’t you dare.”
When Robby headed to the back room, Claire sidled up to Nicole. “We need to talk about what Tony and Augustus brought up in the deli yesterday. I never considered those things.” They discussed what the men had said about a possible intruder or that Vanessa and Maddy might have had something to do with Grace Dodd’s accident. “I told you what they said about Maddy … she could have imagined a person in the yard when her mother fell.”
Nicole’s face took on more and more of an alarmed look. “I don’t want to admit it, but all of those things are possible and as much as I’m horrified by it, we really can’t dismiss any of it, can we? I’ll be devastated if Vanessa or Maddy are involved.” Placing clean dishes on the shelves over the counters, she asked, “How can we figure out if Vanessa and Maddy were on the trains they said they were on?”
Claire cut slices into an enormous chocolate mousse cake. “I don’t think we can, but we can look up the times the trains run. We could see how long it takes for the commuter rail train to get to Greendale from the city. That would tell us if Maddy could have been home in time to play a part in the incident. We can also check to see if there really is a train back to Boston when Vanessa said she changed trains to return to the city.”
Nicole leaned back against the counter. “If Vanessa pushed her mother from the window, why would she ask us to interview people?”
“It could be she’s trying to deflect attention to another suspect. She acts outraged and says things that make her father look bad. She could be trying to throw people off her trail.”
Nicole groaned. “I’ve just reconnected with Vanessa. I hadn’t seen her for years. How awful it would be to renew a friendship with her only to discover she’s a murderer.”
“We’re checking everything so we can eliminate suspects. I’m sure Vanessa is innocent of any wrong-doing, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t look into it. Don’t the police always look at family members first? It’s standard operating procedure, isn’t it? In order to cross them off the list?”
“You’ll have to ask Ian. I don’t know anything.” Nicole gave Claire the eye. “What about your intuition? Can you eliminate someone by shaking hands with them?”
Claire let out a sigh. “I don’t think so. I can pick up on deceit or some foreboding, but not all the time. Since I’ve been meeting Tessa, I feel like I don’t pick up on things as easily as I did before.” Claire had met Tessa, a part-time psychic and intuit, in the chocolate shop when she’d come in one day for a coffee and dessert. Tessa was teaching Claire how to control her impulses and intuition so that Claire was in charge of the skill and the skill wasn’t in control of her. When her abilities started to strongly manifest during the previous month, the whole thing frightened Claire. She wanted to be able to stop random feelings from percolating up. She wanted to be able to employ her skill when she wanted to use it.
“Why is that happening? Your skill isn’t going away, is it?” Nicole poured a cup of tea for herself.
“Tessa said it happens sometimes when a person is learning to filter out unwanted impressions. She said the skill should return to normal eventually.”
“Oh, great,” Nicole said. “Now we’re on our own with only our normal abilities. I don’t think it will be enough.”
Claire smiled. “We’re pretty smart and we’re good at reading people. I think we’ll be okay.”
Nicole held her mug in her two hands and made a face. “If you didn’t have your witchy powers, we wouldn’t have figured out half of what we did on that last case. We might have gotten killed.”
“Please don’t call them witchy powers.” Claire shuddered. “It’s nothing like that. It’s being open to someone’s feelings. I bet you could do it, if you tried.”
“No, I could not.” Nicole shook her head. “And it’s definitely more than being open to feelings. It’s … witchy.”
Robby brought out another tray of chocolates from the back room. “Who’s a witch?”
“Claire,” Nicole said with a straight-face.
“Oh, yeah, I know.” Robby placed the chocolates in the display case.
Claire put a hand on her hip. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Straightening up, Robby held a chocolate between his thumb and index finger and looked at Nicole. “This one has a dent in it. Can I eat it?”
Nicole narrowed her eyes. “Did you put the dent in it?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Go ahead then.”
“When am I ever a witch around you?” Claire demanded.
Robby put the whole sweet into his mouth and mumbled, “Not that kind of witch. You know, the other kind.”
Claire glared at the young man. “What are you talking about?”
Swallowing the chocolate, Robby cleared his throat. “Last month, Nicole made you and I hold hands so you could try to sense something from me. Remember? Well, you did sense something. When we left the shop that day, you wished me good luck on the try-out.”
Claire continued to stare.
“I never told anyone about that try-out.” Robby stared back at Claire. “No one. But, you knew.”
“I … I….” Claire blustered.
“You don’t need to make up some silly story to deny it.” Robby started for the work room. “It’s no big deal. My grandmother could do stuff like that.” He chuckled. “We all called her ‘Witchy Wynonna.’ Hmm. Maybe I’ll start calling you ‘Clairvoyant Claire.’”
Claire turned to Nicole with a pale face
. “Look what you’ve done.”
With a wicked smile, Nicole busied herself with the cash register. “Clairvoyant Claire has a nice ring to it.”
“News flash.” Robby stuck his head out from the back room. “I just got an alert on my phone. State Representative Victoria Lowe has been found dead in her Boston townhouse. Whoever she is.” He retreated back into the work room.
Nicole and Claire looked at each other with open mouths.
“Victoria Lowe.” Claire’s heart pounded like a hammer.
“Dr. Dodd’s lover.” Nicole’s hand flew to her chest as she called to Robby. “What was the cause of death?”
“It didn’t say,” Robby spoke from the back room.
“I’ll text Ian,” Claire said, heading to the rear of the store to get her phone. “I’ll ask if he knows anything.”
“No need.” Nicole noticed a man entering the shop. “Here he is now.”
Claire turned and her heart skipped a beat when she saw Ian near the door. Dressed in a dark, fitted suit, the detective moved like an athlete as he approached the girls. “Have you heard?”
Claire nodded and when several customers came in, she, Ian, and Nicole moved to the work room and Robby went out front to handle the orders.
“Robby gets news alerts on his phone,” Claire said. “He just told us.”
Ian kept his voice low. His dark brown eyes were filled with concern. “I think it would be best if you two stop interviewing people about Grace Dodd’s death.”
“You think it’s dangerous?” Nicole wrapped her arms around herself.
“I don’t know, but better to be safe than sorry. We don’t know what we’re dealing with yet. The deaths of Mrs. Dodd and Representative Lowe could be coincidence. Until we know more, I’d feel better if you stay clear of it.”
“How did she die?” Claire asked. “Are you able to say?”
Ian hesitated. “I’ll just say it wasn’t from natural causes.”
Nicole let out a gasp as Claire’s stomach lurched.
“What’s going on?” Nicole whispered. “Did someone kill her and Grace Dodd?” She sank onto a chair.
Claire held Ian’s eyes. “Do you think Vanessa or Maddy could be in danger?”
“The investigation has only started. We don’t know much. If we find out there’s a link between the deaths, then we’ll make a determination if anyone else might be at risk.” Ian’s phone buzzed in his pocket and he removed it to read the message. “I need to go.” He looked from Claire to Nicole. “Keep a low profile for a while, okay? Stay safe.”
When Ian left the room, Nicole looked up at her friend, worry etched over her face. “Could you talk to Tessa? I have a feeling we’re going to need your skills in top form very soon.”
Anxiety flashed through Claire’s body. The mess was getting bigger.
11
Claire collected the Corgis from Tony’s market, took them for a long walk, and as the sun headed for the horizon, she returned home to her apartment to cook dinner. The condo apartment was located in a brick townhouse at the edge of Beacon Hill in a small neighborhood of historic brownstone townhouses known as Adamsburg Square. The neighborhood had several cobblestone streets, brick walkways, and old-fashioned streetlamps. Claire’s place had a large living room with three enormous windows and a sliding glass door that opened to a small garden with a bit of grass, two shade trees, and a patio all enclosed by a high white fence. There was a large dining room, a beautiful kitchen, a small private basement, and two bedrooms.
Sitting on the small brick patio under the branches of the big tree, she and Nicole ate homemade pizza and green salad as the dogs rested near the fence that separated the townhouse’s outside space from the building next to Claire’s.
“Did you get that loose picket in the fence fixed yet?” Nicole cut a piece from her pizza slice.
“No,” Claire laughed. “Having the unattached picket worked out well for me last month. I’m thinking of leaving it the way it is.” In the middle of another mystery, Claire was attacked in her home and the Corgis pushed through the fence and ran to Tony’s to alert him to the trouble. Tony made calls that sent the police to the townhouse just in time to help Claire.
“Probably a good idea,” Nicole agreed.
After finishing the food, Claire brought her laptop out to the patio table. “Let’s look up the train schedules from Boston to Greendale to see what time Maddy would have arrived at home.” Tapping at the keyboard brought up the subway and commuter rail times. “Here it is. We left the Opera House around what time do you think?”
Nicole calculated. “The show finished, we met Vanessa and Maddy in the lobby and talked. They both had to leave to catch the trains, so I’d estimate we all left around 10:30pm.”
“Okay.” Claire scanned the time schedule. “Maddy would have caught the 10:50 train and arrived at the Greendale station around 11:20.”
“Walking to her house from the station would only take about five minutes,” Nicole said. “Vanessa called us around midnight so the timeframe works.”
“If she took a cab,” Claire surmised, “then Maddy probably would have arrived at the house around 11pm. Plenty of time to argue with her mother.”
“I don’t see how we’d be able to figure out whether or not she took a cab. Maybe the police can get information about fares to Greendale that night.” Nicole nodded at the laptop. “Look up the trains to New York. I hate doing this. I feel like a spy, like I don’t trust a friend.”
Claire brought up the next schedule. “You really don’t know Vanessa that well. It’s been years since you hung out with her in high school. People can change. We have to consider every angle.”
Scanning the time schedule, Nicole pointed. “The last train is at 9:30pm.”
Claire looked at her friend. “We were in the concert hall at 9:30.”
“Oh, no.” Nicole’s face paled.
“Did we mishear?” Claire tapped at the keyboard. “Maybe she took a bus.” Checking the schedules of five different bus companies, the two sat staring at the screen in silence.
“No bus departs the city for New York around the time Vanessa said she was leaving.” Nicole’s shoulders sagged.
Claire’s neck muscles tightened with tension. “We need to ask her about this.”
“How can we bring it up? This is terrible. Did she go home, fight with her mother, and then take off to make it seem like she was returning from the train? It would explain her father’s weird behavior. He could have heard the argument. He might be trying to protect Vanessa.” Nicole placed her hands on her stomach. “I feel sick.”
“Vanessa might be the person Maddy saw from the window.” Claire rubbed her temple and a wave of dizziness washed over her. “But, maybe not.”
“Why are you saying that?” Nicole sounded hopeful.
“I get the impression Vanessa wasn’t there when her mother fell.”
“An impression? Like a special impression or a normal person’s impression?”
With a frown, Claire cocked her head. “I am a normal person.”
“That’s debatable.” Nicole smiled. “Which is it? Is it an impression that other people might pick up on or not?”
“I don’t know.” Claire gave a shrug, and then brightened. “But Vanessa’s story must work out. The police had to have checked on it. It must be okay. Let’s talk to her.”
Nicole agreed, but told Claire that she would have to be the one that brought it up. “Look up Representative Lowe. See if there’s any news about her death.”
Claire did an internet search and several articles came up. “Here’s the most recent one.” Scanning the new story, she said, “State Representative Victoria Lowe, age 53, was found dead in her Beacon Hill townhouse this afternoon. Preliminary reports indicate that Ms. Lowe was discovered at the bottom of the staircase leading to the basement. An anonymous source reported that Ms. Lowe had apparently broken her neck from a fall down the stairs. A laundry basket was found next
to the body.”
Nicole grimaced. “How awful. She must have fallen on her way down to the laundry room.”
Claire narrowed her eyes. “Or she was pushed.”
“Oh.” The word came out of Nicole’s throat like a moan. “Someone might have placed the basket next to her to make it look like an accident.”
“I wonder where Dr. Dodd was when Ms. Lowe took a tumble.”
Nicole made a face. “Two dead women and they both had a relationship with that man.”
“Suspicious, isn’t it?” Claire leaned back from the laptop. Shadows gathered in the yard and the little white twinkling lights strung between the tree’s branches sparkled on.
“Why would he kill both of them? I can see him having a fight with Grace over his affair, but why on earth would he then kill his lover?” Nicole slid the laptop closer. “Does it say who found the body at the bottom of the stairs?”
A warm breeze fluttered the leaves while the girls read through the article.
“It doesn’t say.” Claire noticed the Corgis sitting at attention and a ripple of worry slipped over her skin.
“Maybe Ian can tell us.”
Nicole’s phone buzzed with a text. “It’s from Vanessa. She wants to meet. She’s not far from the chocolate shop. What should I say? You want to meet her?”
“Sure. Ask her if she’s okay.”
Nicole pressed on her phone screen. “I sent it.”
In a few seconds, a new message arrived, Nicole lifted he eyes after reading it. “She says she’d rather talk in person.”
“Okay.” Claire stood to clear the table. “Let’s go, but I want to take the dogs along and I’d like to take a detour.”
Leading the way into the Beacon Hill neighborhood, Claire found Victoria Lowe’s townhouse and the foursome slowed as they approached the building. A few young gawkers stood across the street under a lamplight staring at the house. The dogs whined as they got closer the house.
“How do Bear and Lady know something bad happened here?” Nicole asked softly.
“Maybe they smell it.” Claire had no idea how the Corgis seemed to know and sense things.
