Jam Up and Jelly Fright

by Donna Walo Clancy

  The cats were tearing up and down the hallway between the living room and the bedroom. Tabby heard a loud crash from the far end of the hall. One of the cats had jumped up on her dresser and slid on the linen, taking the linen and everything else that was on the top of the dresser straight to the floor. The stopples had come off all the perfume bottles, and the liquids mingled together forming a puddle on the wood floor.

  “Bad cats,” Tabby yelled as they took off up the hallway to hide in the spare bedroom. “Geez, it stinks in here.”

  Tabby walked over to open the window. As she pushed it up, a white piece of paper caught her eye. Pushing the window up as far as it would go, she saw that the screen had been cut and a white envelope had been pushed through the hole. She set the envelope on the bed and headed for the back door to her apartment.

  Standing on the porch, she reached over the railing in the direction of her bedroom window. She could just reach the lower corner of the screen where it had been cut. Anyone even a little bit taller than Tabby would have had no problem reaching the window.

  Returning to her bedroom, she sat down on the bed and picked up the envelope. She flipped it over in her hands, but there were no exterior markings on it.

  Then she remembered that Greg had seen a figure at her back door one night last week. Could this have been what the person was doing? Was he leaving this in her window so that no one else would find it? She carefully opened the envelope.

  Tabby pulled out the folded papers and three driver’s licenses fell out at the same time. She noticed that all three were for male drivers and had all expired in the seventies or early eighties. Each of the men were around the same age, thirty to forty, and all the licenses had been issued in Massachusetts. She set them down and turned her attention to the folded papers.

  One paper was a map of the Pelton cornfield. Red dots littered the hand-drawn map which gave the old farmhouse as the center starting point. Tabby assumed that the map was showing where Anthony had found the bones. Two of the red dots had a small skull drawn next to them.

  The letter was from Anthony Capri. He wanted Tabby help to find out what had happened in his cornfield, but he was too afraid to go public asking for said help. He feared for his life and for his wife’s life.

  He knew Tabby trusted Sheriff Puckett, but he claimed he couldn’t take the chance of bringing in the law when he didn’t know himself who he was dealing with. He had a gut feeling the Boston Mob was involved and knew that they had many law officials in their pockets.

  He found the enclosed licenses, along with many other wallets and personal items in a secret room in the old farmhouse. Anthony was sick to his stomach with the thought that all these men might be corpses in his cornfield.

  He was traveling to Boston to research the history of the property as related to the Boston Mob Families and would return on Saturday. He asked her to keep a watch over Isabella for him while he was gone. He knew he might endanger her for involving her in this matter and he apologized. The letter was signed, “I trust you explicitly, Tony Capri.”

  At the bottom of the page was a line that caught Tabby’s attention. “Look behind, look around, but don’t forget to look inside.”

  Tabby set down the letter and sat there thinking. Suddenly, she remembered that her jelly was still on the stovetop. She ran for the kitchen, but it was too late. The jelly was scorched on the bottom and would have to be thrown away. Putting the pot to soak, Tabby decided to get up early in the morning to remake the second batch.

  She showered, got in her favorite sweats, and pulled out her laptop to see what she could find out about the men who were pictured on the licenses before she turned them over to the sheriff in the morning.

  Two of the three men had last lived in Springfield, Massachusetts; the third in Dorchester, a suburb of Boston. Alex Martinelli was from Springfield. Tabby wondered what his tie might have been to the Pelton farm and if he knew about the bodies that were buried in the cornfield. Just how were Alex and Isabella related?

  Tabby was beginning to believe that Isabella was not as innocent and as weak as she pretended to be. She slipped up and used the Peletroni name in her conversation the morning she left the apartment. Tabby next step was to find out more about Mrs. Isabella Capri.

  She set the apartment alarm and went to bed. The cats were still hiding in the spare bedroom. Tabby knew when she woke up in the morning the cats would be snuggled up next to her leg and everything would be back to normal.

  10

  Tabby woke up early the next morning to cook and replace the second batch of jelly that she had burned the night before. She decided to open the store at its normal time and not be closed for Labor Day Monday. It would be a slow shopping day, but she would be open like all the other businesses in town. She had called Janice the night before about the change of plans, and she said she would come in at nine. Tabby would deliver the jelly to the diner, and then drive out to talk to Isabella once Janice arrived for work. While the jelly cooked, Tabby made copies of everything in the envelope.

  She also needed to go to the registry of deeds to research the ownership history of the Pelton farm. Hopefully, the local records would contain enough information that Tabby could start to put things into perspective. Then she remembered that the registry would be closed today because of the holiday.

  Janice was more than happy to man the store for the morning while Tabby ran errands. She was thankful that she wasn’t going to lose a whole day of pay because of the holiday.

  The jelly was dropped off at the diner and Tabby decided to get herself a caramel coffee at the Cup. It was strange not to see Gladys on the first stool at that time of morning. Donald, her husband, was in his normal place eating his breakfast not bothered by the fact that his wife wasn’t allowed in the Cup anymore.

  He waved and smiled at Tabby and went back to eating. She was glad that he wasn’t mad at her for his wife’s expulsion from the coffee house. She really liked Donald Twittle as much as she disliked Gladys Twittle. She grabbed her coffee and drove out of town toward the Pelton farm, or should she say the Peletroni farm?

  Tabby pulled up to the log cabin and got out and knocked on the door. No one answered. She knocked again yelling out that it was Tabby who was on the other side of the door. Still no answer. She walked around the house peering into the first-floor windows. If anyone saw her, she would say that she was worried about Tony’s wife as he had asked Tabby to keep an eye on her. There was no sign of Isabella that Tabby could see unless the woman was hiding on the second floor and just not answering the door.

  With no one around, Tabby decided to go poke around in the barn to see if she could find the hidden skulls. She knew the sheriff had looked around, but she had to ease her own curiosity by searching for herself. Walking directly to the hay bales, Tabby checked behind the bales where Anthony supposedly hid them, around the bales, and then she even climbed to the top of the piled-up bales looking for the skulls.

  Then she remembered the last line of Anthony’s letter; behind, around, and inside. She pushed the top hay bales around, and in a hollow square formed by the bales themselves, she found the two skulls. She pulled them out of their hiding place and climbed down to the barn floor.

  Checking out the door to make sure no one was around, she took the skulls and placed them in her car trunk wrapping each one carefully in beach towels she kept in there for summer swimming. She heard a vehicle coming up the dirt road. Slamming the trunk closed, she had just enough time to climb up on the trunk lid like she had been waiting there for someone to come home.

  A dark blue sedan pulled up next to Tabby’s car. Isabella was glaring at her through the car window. She opened it and waved the young woman over to her car.

  “What are you doing here, Tabby?” she demanded.

  “Anthony asked me to check on you to make sure you were all right,” Tabby answered honestly.

  After all, he had asked her to do that so Tabby wasn’t lying.

 
“I appreciate that you are trying to keep your word to my deceased husband, but I am fine and do not need to be checked on, thank you,” Isabella said, softening her attitude slightly.

  “I also wanted to tell you that I would be clearing the decorations out of the old farmhouse and then I will return the keys that Anthony entrusted me with,” Tabby stated.

  “Have you found a new location yet?”

  “No, we haven’t, but we are working on it. The problem is there is just not a lot of old buildings around Whipper Will Junction,” Tabby explained.

  “I’m sorry you are having such problems, but my Anthony should have discussed it with me first before he offered the use of our property,” Isabella said, her attitude returning.

  Tabby decided to go for it all. She wanted to catch Isabella off guard.

  “Were you afraid that someone else would find bones while walking the property?” Tabby asked, staring her down.

  Tabby could tell that her directness had taken Isabella back a notch. It took the woman a few seconds to compose herself and find an answer to Tabby’s question.

  “My husband was not right in the mind. He loved his horror stories and sometimes he had trouble telling the difference between reality and his written words,” Isabella claimed. “There were no bones except in my dearly departed husband’s mind.”

  Tabby knew different as she had Tony’s evidence hidden in her trunk. Either Isabella was a great actress, or she truly did not know about the bones her husband had found. Tabby couldn’t tell which it was.

  “Just get me the keys this weekend,” Isabella requested. “I am leaving for a week to bury my husband and want this place locked up and no one on my property for any reason.”

  “That’s nice,” Tabby said as she hopped down off the car. “Is Mr. Capri being buried with his family?”

  “He has no family except for me. He will be buried in our family plot in Hingham as soon as they give me his body back,” Isabella replied, disgusted. “I do not understand why they are holding my Anthony.”

  “He was murdered,” Tabby answered. “Don’t you want to know who killed your husband?”

  “He was not murdered as you say; his heart stopped. There were no gunshots or knife wounds on his body. Why would you say this?” Isabella demanded.

  “He was young, seemed to be in good shape, and his death just doesn’t make any sense,” Tabby answered. “He died right after he found the so-called nonexistent bones in the cornfield. The whole situation seems suspicious.”

  “Garbage, all garbage,” Isabella insisted. “Finish your business emptying the farmhouse and do not check on me again. Good day!”

  “I’m sorry for your loss, Mrs. Capri. Anthony seemed like a nice man, and I won’t bother you again even though I made a promise to him,” Tabby stated.

  She drove away under the watchful eye of Isabella. Tabby went straight to Sheriff Puckett’s office with the skulls to prove Anthony wasn’t as crazy as his wife claimed. She also gave him the envelope that had been slid through the bedroom screen. He was going to get a warrant to search the cornfield where the red marks had been drawn on the map.

  She returned to her shop. Tabby looked around for Thelma and suddenly realized that it was Labor Day and she was gone for the weekend. Janice was sitting behind the register looking rather dismayed. She was ready to take her lunch hour as her nerves were frazzled from several mysterious phone calls the shop received while Tabby was gone.

  “It was the same voice each time,” Janice started. “He kept saying that he knew the real story and it was important that he talk to you.”

  “The real story about what? Tabby asked. “Did you recognize the voice?”

  “No, I didn’t, but it was definitely a male speaking,” Janice stated.

  “Why don’t you take a long lunch? Go enjoy the autumn scenery and eat on the gazebo,” Tabby suggested.

  “I think I will,” Janice agreed.

  Janice quickly exited through the back door which left Tabby to man the shop alone. She kept waiting for the phone to ring, but it never did. Two hours later Janice returned, and Tabby went upstairs to cook a couple of batches of her new apple butter. Forty-eight jars later she went down to help Janice close the store.

  Tabby went out to take down the open flag when she noticed Gage, the clerk from the grocery store, hanging around the front of the alley next door. He looked down and scuffed his feet when he saw Tabby watching him.

  “Hello, Gage,” she said, waving.

  He looked at Tabby and then disappeared down the alley. She shook her head and walked back into her shop. Janice was ready to go when she noticed the strange look on Tabby’s face.

  “What’s up, boss?”

  “What do you know about the three kids staying at the MacAvey’s place for school?” Tabby inquired.

  “I’ve met them when I was shopping, but other than that, I don’t know anything about them,” Janice stated. “Why?”

  “One of them was standing outside the shop near the alley, and when I said hi and waved, he took off. His name is Gage.”

  “Sorry, I can’t help you. I’m out of here; see you tomorrow,” Janice said, heading for the door.

  “Catch you tomorrow,” Tabby replied.

  Tabby locked up behind her employee and started to close the register for the day. She was counting the money when a loud knock sounded on the back door.

  “Who’s there?” Tabby asked through the wooden barrier.

  “It’s me, Gage. Please open the door. I know who killed Anthony Capri,” he pleaded.

  11

  “Are you alone?” Tabby asked.

  “Yes, please let me in before anyone sees me,” Gage begged.

  Tabby unlocked the door, opened it an inch and looked around. Gage was standing by himself on the rear loading dock. She opened the door wider and invited him in.

  Before he could open his mouth to say anything, she hit him with a question.

  “You’ve been calling the shop all day, haven’t you?” she asked.

  “Yes, it was me,” he admitted quietly.

  “You spooked my clerk with your weird phone calls. Why didn’t you just tell her who you were and leave a number to call back?”

  “I don’t want Isabella or any of her goons knowing that I am talking to you?” he answered nervously.

  “Isabella?”

  “Yes; I think she killed Anthony Capri,” he stated firmly.

  “Why would Isabella kill her own husband?” Tabby asked, shocked at the accusation.

  “Because Anthony Capri is my father from a former affair that he had while married to Isabella and she is furious about the whole thing.”

  “But that had to be a long time ago. How old are you?” Tabby inquired.

  “I’m twenty years old, and yes, it was a long time ago. Isabella doesn’t care how long ago it was. She had been disgraced and, in her family, that is unacceptable. She had to get revenge, and she killed Anthony Capri.”

  “Are you sure that Anthony was your dad?”

  “My mother just passed recently, and I found the love letters and my birth certificate that she hid from me all these years. I am sure he was my father, and I came here to go to school to be in the area and get to know him better,” Gage said.

  “How did Isabella find out?”

  “I went to the farm to apply for a job that was opening for a field hand figuring I could work closely with my dad. She recognized my last name and asked who my mother was. I told her, and she freaked out.”

  “I have to admit, you do look a lot like Anthony,” Tabby admitted. “What is your last name?”

  “Salmeri; Gage Salmeri. My mother’s name was Angelina Salmeri.”

  “And you say Isabella recognized your mother’s name?” Tabby asked.

  “I could tell by how her face contorted and turned red. She screamed,” he never told me he had a son.” Then, she screamed even louder telling me the job was not available to someone like me and demanded
I leave Whipper Will Junction and go back to my trashy mother,” Gage said, tearing up.

  “It does sound like Isabella was furious and knowing how she treats people around town, I can picture her lashing out at you, but why do you think she killed Anthony?”

  “As I was walking away, she screamed that someone would pay for this treachery. No one disgraces a member of the Peletroni family and gets away with it; it’s the family way.”

  “So, you think she killed Anthony because of you?” Tabby asked.

  “Yes, I do. I’m afraid she’s going to come after me next,” Gage insisted, scuffling his foot.

  “Anthony used to do that,” Tabby said, smiling.

  “Do what?”

  “When he was talking, he used to move his foot like you’re doing right now.”

  “Really?” Gage asked, smiling. “I’m like my dad?”

  “Yes, you are, more than you know,” Tabby answered. “Do you really think that Isabella will come after you if you don’t leave Whipper Will Junction?”

  “I’m afraid of her; not only her but her family as well. My Mom used to tell me stories about the Peletroni family and they weren’t nice ones. She wanted me to know what kind of people I would be dealing with in the future if I pursued getting to know my dad.”

  “You’ll have to sit and tell me some of those stories some night,” Tabby insisted.

  “I will, but right now I have to get back to work. I just wanted you to know what I thought in case something happens to me like it did to him.”

  “Gage, you be careful and stay away from Isabella. Stay with your friends and don’t go anywhere alone. Do you understand me?”

  “Yes, ma’am. I’ll stay in town where there are plenty of people around to see me. Although, from what my mom told me, that didn’t help the men that disappeared because of the Peletroni family henchmen,” Gage said, sighing. “I’m surprised my dad was alive as long as he was.”