by Cindy Bell
When Ally stepped out of the elevator she found a small crowd in the lobby. It only took her a moment to recognize that it was reporters. The mayor’s wife stepped out from a door that lead to the staircase and several of the reporters shoved their microphones in her face. She waved them away as she tried to get past them. A photographer lunged forward in an attempt to get a picture. Ally recognized him right away. After Mrs. Malcolm left, Ally walked up to Ralph.
“Hey, what are you trying to get a picture of?”
“You again?” He frowned. “What now?”
“I’m just curious, what’s the big story around Mrs. Malcolm?”
“The big story is that she’s become one of the prime suspects in the deputy mayor’s murder.”
“Why is that?”
He slipped his camera strap over his shoulder. “Rumors of an affair, lots of reports of loud fights, she and Julia even got into it once at a barbecue.”
“I hadn’t heard that. What happened?”
“Martha had a few too many, called her some terrible names, and demanded she admit to the affair.”
“And?” Ally leaned closer to him.
“And, she didn’t admit to it. Either she was sober enough not to, or there was nothing to admit.”
“You’re the one with an eye for detail. What do you think?”
He scrunched up his nose and then lifted the camera to his eye. Ally shifted from one foot to the other as he stared at her through the lens. Then he lowered the camera and nodded.
“I think that a man like Mayor Malcolm can have any woman he wants. I’ve followed Julia’s career, and I’ve followed Mayor Malcolm’s career. Never once have I caught them in a romantic interlude. That tells me that either they’re very good at hiding it, or there is nothing to catch.”
“Still not an answer.” Ally crossed her arms.
“There are no answers in life, sweetheart, just assumptions and intentions.”
Ally considered his words. She watched as Martha’s car drove away. If the affair between Julia and Mayor Malcolm actually took place the mayor’s wife had motive. Julia’s own husband had motive. If Julia was threatening to make the affair public the mayor had plenty of motive as well. But there was one person who weighed heavily on her mind. There was no avoiding it anymore, she needed to look into Scott’s eyes to try to figure out if he was involved in Julia’s death. In the back of her mind she could hear Luke warning her not to take such a risk, but just as she would have if he were there to give the advice, she ignored it.
Chapter Nine
Instead of calling ahead Ally drove straight to the address that was still stored in her phone. When she arrived at the business, she noticed that it was a small rectangular building. For some reason she expected it to be larger. She took a deep breath and braced herself for the argument that would ensue. However, when she stepped inside she did her best to put on a sunny smile. She hoped that Scott’s wife wouldn’t recognize her when she walked up to the reception desk.
“Hi there.”
“Hi?” The receptionist looked up at her with a raised eyebrow. She was not the person that had been at the cocktail party with Scott. She was quite young, probably still in her teens.
“Do you think I could get a minute with Scott?”
“Why?” She chomped on a piece of gum.
“We’re just old friends. I just want a minute of his time.”
“Let me check.” She snapped her gum and picked up the phone. She uttered a few quiet words then hung up the phone. “Mr. Brally will see you now.”
“Great.” Ally walked towards the door of the office. She couldn’t help but notice that the door frame was created out of recycled material. Her mind wandered off as she considered the amount of things that could be made from everything she threw away.
“Hello?” The voice boomed and drew her attention.
“Hi.” She smiled at the man who stood up from behind his desk. Despite his loud voice he had a friendly smile on his face. She held his gaze as she sat down across from him. “Thanks so much for agreeing to see me.”
“Old friends? If I’m not mistaken we barely even met.” He narrowed his eyes.
“You’re right. I’m sorry, I just needed a chance to speak with you.”
“Is this about Julia?’
“Yes, it is.”
“Then I think your time is better spent with the police. I don’t have anything to say about it.”
“You didn’t exactly hide your feelings about her.”
“I was drunk and making stupid comments. There’s nothing to it. So why are you really here?”
“Honestly, I just wanted to get your side of things.”
“My side of things?” Scott asked.
Ally sat back in her chair and sighed. “Operating a small business in a small town means I hear just about every rumor that flies around. Lately I’ve been hearing quite a few about you.”
He shifted in his chair. His shoulders lifted and his jaw tightened. His entire demeanor changed so suddenly that it shocked Ally.
“Oh? What have you heard about me?”
“Just that you are pretty tough to deal with sometimes. And perhaps you had a bone to pick with the deputy mayor.”
He stood up from his chair. Her heart lurched and she slouched back in her chair. As he rounded the desk her eyes widened. Would he hurt her? The flash of heat in his eyes indicated that he might. As she stared at him he met her gaze with a stern tension in his expression.
“Did you come here to accuse me of murder?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You don’t have to. I know how to read a situation. Clearly, the only reason you wanted this meeting was because you suspect me. I’m honestly disappointed.”
“I’ve already told you, Mr. Brally, I came here to hear your side. I didn’t say that I believed any of these rumors, just that I’ve heard them. In my experience the best way to find the truth is to go to the source, so that’s what I did. I’m sure you can appreciate that.”
“I can, but I’d prefer that you automatically grasped that I would never be involved in such a thing.”
“Never? What about the rumors I’ve heard about you intimidating people?” She stared him straight in the eyes. His lips tightened, then curved into a smirk. He leaned back against the desk right in front of her.
“So, after hearing the things you did about me it didn’t give you the idea to avoid me?”
“I’m not easily frightened. I’m sure what I heard is partly false and exaggerated. Am I wrong?”
“It doesn’t matter what’s true and what’s not. All that matters is that I had nothing to do with Julia’s death. So, you’re in the wrong place.”
“I’d like to believe that.”
“Then do.” He narrowed his eyes.
“What if I tell the police what you told me?” She stared back at him. “About how you wanted to shake things up a little bit.”
His nostrils flared. “You go right ahead and do that. It won’t lead to anything, because there’s nothing to find. Now get out of my office.”
Ally stood up from the chair. She didn’t wait to be asked twice. As she hurried out of the office she heard his voice boom behind her.
“Kristy, you are so close to being fired! Use your brain once in a while!” He slammed the door to his office. Ally rushed outside to her car. Had she just antagonized a dangerous man? She wondered what the consequences might be.
Chapter Ten
On the drive to Freely Lakes Ally’s heart continued to pound. The memory of the anger in Scott’s eyes was intense. The fairly friendly man she’d met over chocolate tarts at the cocktail party was not the man she saw in that office. There was no doubt in her mind that he could be involved in Julia’s death. She parked and walked up to her grandmother’s apartment.
“Ally, I was worried about you. What have you been up to?”
“I went to see Scott Brally.”
“Alone?” Charlot
te asked.
“Yes.”
“I wish you hadn’t gone there alone. What did you find out from him?”
“The only thing I found out is that Scott Brally has a temper, and he has no problem with showing it.”
“So, what next?” Charlotte frowned.
“Here’s the problem.” Ally sighed. “We’ve got Mayor Malcolm, his wife, and Scott Brally, all of them look good for it.”
“But it was Mayor Malcolm that gave her the poisoned glass of champagne.”
“Yes, maybe that’s the key to figuring all of this out.” Ally pulled out her cell phone and looked through the pictures that she had taken of Ralph’s photos. She looked at the one with the champagne glass on the podium. “There’s something about this picture that has been bothering me. Something is off about it.” Ally scanned through the photos that she had.
“What?” Charlotte leaned close.
“I’m not sure, yet.” Ally shook her head, then she tried to relax as she looked at the glass on the podium. “It’s the glass!” Ally jumped so fast that she almost dropped her phone.
“What?” Charlotte looked over at her. “What do you mean?”
“I knew there was something off about this picture. I knew it.” Ally displayed the picture of the champagne glass on the podium. “The glass, it’s different from all the other glasses that were used that night. It has a diamond pattern etched into the glass.”
“How can you know that for sure? They might have used one set of glasses for the general public and one for the important politicians.”
“No, I checked through the other photographs. All of the glasses that I saw were the same. So, why was this different glass there?”
“Hm. That’s a good question.” Charlotte narrowed her eyes. “Maybe the person giving the speeches gets a different glass.”
“I thought of that but this was Mayor Malcolm’s glass not Julia’s.”
“Maybe the mayor got a special glass because he’s the mayor.”
“It’s possible. But what if the murderer brought it in from outside.”
“If they laced the glass with the poison before they brought it in it would make the murder well-planned and deliberate,” Charlotte said.
“Exactly.” Ally flipped through the few photographs she had managed to take snaps of on her phone. “The mayor is the one that handed her the glass. Maybe he brought it from his own stash. Maybe it was too difficult to poison a glass at the party, so he had to bring it with him.”
“Well, if he did bring the glass in that would mean that he could have laced it with poison before the dinner even began. No risk of someone seeing him do it. But, it’s still a huge risk to his career and his freedom to kill Julia at all. It’s still very likely that someone else brought it in from outside and it was intended for the mayor.”
“Don’t you see though?” Ally pointed to the picture of the glass again. “This is our smoking gun. If we can find a glass that matches this one, then we’ll know where the glass came from, and have a good idea of who the murderer is.”
“If it didn’t come directly from the kitchen.” Charlotte raised an eyebrow. “It is possible that they ran out of glasses or a glass used in the main restaurant got mixed in with the ones used for private parties. It’s easy to go down a road of assumptions, but we need to be sure that if it was the mayor that poisoned the glass and deliberately gave it to Julia that we have proof before we make any accusations.”
“Well, there’s only one way to do that.”
“Ally?”
“Look, I tried to get into Mayor Malcolm’s office once and failed. There’s no way that I’m going to get into his home. But I do think I could get a quick look around his office after hours.”
“That is a huge risk.”
“I know.” Ally frowned and tapped a fingertip along the table top. “But we don’t have much choice. This is the type of man that will get away with murder if we’re not careful. We need to find a way to get undeniable evidence, and that means taking the big risks.”
“Ally, you’re talking about the mayor’s office. No.” Charlotte stood up from the table. “No, absolutely not.”
Ally looked up at her with a furrowed brow. “Mee-Maw, you have to let me grow up sometime.”
“I let you grow up when you moved away and married that, ugh.” She rolled her eyes. “No, not again.”
“That was different.”
“No, it wasn’t.” Charlotte put her hands on her hips. “I knew he wasn’t good enough for you. I knew he was going to hurt you, but I kept it to myself. I thought it was more important to let you make your own choices, and I hoped that I was wrong. But I’ve regretted it every day since. You can’t imagine how I’ll feel if you end up in jail.”
Ally sighed and rubbed a hand along her forehead. “Mee-Maw, I know you mean well, but this is important.”
“It is, but you don’t have to risk so much, Ally.”
“Mee-Maw, I’ll be fine.”
“Don’t do anything to get yourself into trouble.” Charlotte met her eyes. “And if you need my help let me know. I have a trick or two up my sleeve.”
“Of course, Mee-Maw, I’ll call you tonight.” Ally turned and left the apartment. She couldn’t let her grandmother put herself at risk, at the same time, she had to do what she thought was right. It was too late to do anything that night so she decided she would go home and have a good rest and decide what to do tomorrow.
Chapter Eleven
Ally spent the next day at the shop. Her grandmother was taking the day off to spend it with the social committee at Freely Lakes preparing for a movie night.
The day at the shop was busy and there were several customers. Ally kept herself occupied between customers by preparing a tray for an upcoming party as well as arranging some gift baskets. She tried to convince herself that it was a good thing the shop was cleared, and that in time Julia would have her justice. But the more she overheard the chatter in the shop, the more concerned she became.
“Even if he did do it, we’ll never know.” Mrs. Thompson from the laundromat uttered those words as she purchased a box of chocolates. The man beside her grunted.
“You’re right about that. It’ll be one more thing swept under the rug.” He shook his head. “I can’t say it surprises me, politics is a dirty game.”
“Only if the players are.” The two walked out of the shop together. A few hours later some high school students arrived to take advantage of the student discount. As Ally handed them their order, one of the girls in the group rolled her eyes as she looked at her phone.
“Can you believe this? They still haven’t made an arrest. It’s been all over the news.”
“Do they know who did it?” One of the boys peered over her shoulder.
“Everyone thinks it was the mayor, but no one is making a move on the man.”
“Who would?” He shook his head. “Just your average American corruption.”
It struck Ally that these young teens were even more cynical than she was about the chances of Mayor Malcolm being arrested if he was found to be the murderer. She couldn’t allow that.
By the time Ally closed up the shop she was determined to find out the truth, no matter what risk she had to take. She headed home to get some supplies and to feed Peaches and Arnold. The moment that Peaches jumped up onto the counter to wait for her food, Ally noticed the way that she stared at her.
“Don’t start, Peaches. This is something that needs to be done. I’ll be just fine.” Peaches flicked her tail back and forth in a sharp warning motion. “Stop. Mee-Maw already gave me the lecture. Someone has to be willing to stand up to this man, and apparently that has to be me.” She added a little extra food to Peaches’ dish just in case she ended up in handcuffs. Then she tended to Arnold.
Ally changed into black clothes and sneakers, grabbed a flashlight, and headed right back out the door. The best thing was not to stop to think about it, if she did she might change her mind.
When she parked outside the building that housed the mayor’s office, she wondered how she was going to get past security.
Ally’s best idea was to create a diversion. She noticed that there was a floodlight not far from the entrance to the building. As she expected it was triggered by a motion sensor. She thought about it for a moment, then smiled. When she rummaged in the trunk she knew exactly what she was looking for. It was a cat toy she’d purchased for Peaches and intended to give to a charity as it was the most annoying thing she’d ever bought. A big fluffy gray mouse. It wound up and rolled across the floor, when it hit a wall or a piece of furniture it would change direction and continue to roll.
In the store Ally thought this would be an amazing toy that would save her from hours of bobbing a mouse on a stick for Peaches to chase. However, once the mouse got started, she discovered how frustrating it was. Wherever she walked that mouse managed to be under her feet. In the middle of the night, when nothing should have been moving in the house, the mouse would begin whirring and bumping into things. Even worse, Peaches didn’t want anything to do with it, however Arnold was enamored. He barreled after the mouse every time he saw it. Arnold, much less graceful than Peaches, also bumped into things and knocked them over.
It wasn’t until Ally took the mouse away that she finally got some decent sleep again. Now she hoped that it would be as effective on concrete. She wound it up and set it between two parking blocks near the floodlight. As she had hoped, the mouse triggered the light every time it rolled past. Since it just changed direction and continued back and forth, the light began to flicker on and off every fifteen seconds or so. The rest of the parking lot was dark, so the flood light drew a lot of attention. She hurried to the front door of the building and ducked into the shadows created by the canopy over the door.
After a few minutes a security guard came to the door. Ally held her breath as she wondered if he’d take the bait. When he stepped all the way out, Ally slipped her foot inside the door to keep it open. Once he was far enough away, she inched the door open and squeezed inside. The door fell shut behind her. She ran for the elevator and hoped that he would be occupied long enough not to notice that the elevator was in use.
