Break-ins and Bloodshed

by Danielle Collins

  She’d relayed all of this information to the officer who interviewed her, but she was sure he likely saw her as some woman from the neighborhood, he’d all but said as much. No need to dispel his thoughts at this point, she wasn’t interested in becoming a person of interest if she relayed the information that she’d kind of been staking out the house next door.

  That was a fact that bothered her the most. Why this house? Had there even been a robbery? Or was it murder plain and simple? Then again, murder was never simple. The key to this was who the victim was.

  “Well, we can go.”

  “Don’t they need to interview me again or something?”

  “You might be called down to the station in a few days, just depends on if they figure out what happened here or not.”

  “Any luck on that?”

  Ralph eyed her as they walked down the narrow pathway toward the front of the house. “Not much yet. The portable fingerprint reader wasn’t working, so they’ll have to run her prints when they get back to the morgue.” He paused as they exited to the sidewalk in front of the house. “What makes you so sure that this house wasn’t next on the list? It looks like a few things were possibly taken. Some blank space on walls and things like that.”

  “Well…” She turned to look at both houses. “Look at this house.” She pointed to the dark one. “It’s an ideal target. Dark, no one seems to be home, the alarm system didn’t look to be activated.”

  “Do I want to know how you know all this?” he asked, looking at her through a narrowed gaze.

  “Observation of course.” She winked. “Plus, the pattern.”

  “Right. The pattern. Do you really think a criminal is going to stick to a pattern like that, though?”

  “I’m not sure,” she mused, looking back between the houses, “but can you deny the fact that my pattern brought me here?”

  Ralph gave a conciliatory shrug. “You’ve got me there.”

  They walked back to where Henrietta had parked, and Ralph gestured to the passenger door. “May I?”

  “How’d you get here?

  “One of the detectives brought me along. I was down at the station chatting, something I do every once in a while, and the call came in. Your call. I about had a heart attack.”

  “I was fine. The culprit was gone by the time I got into the house.”

  “Still…” He shook his head. “Glad you’re okay. Speaking of, are you up for a little investigation?”

  Henrietta smiled. “I’m always up for investigation.”

  “I just didn’t know what to think, you know? I mean, here you move into a neighborhood like The Cliffs and you think that things are going to be safe, and up until this point, they were, but now I’m just not so sure.”

  Henrietta listened as Mrs. Mercury rattled on about the issues of safety at The Cliffs. She had a right to be nervous, seeing as how she was the third house that was broken into.

  “I told Frank to install the security system, I mean—get broken into once, shame on you, get broken into twice, and you’re just getting what you deserve. Well, not really.”

  “Hold up there, Mrs. Mercury, one moment. What do you mean broken into twice?”

  “Oh, I assumed Frank told you? We had a break in about two weeks before the theft.”

  “You did?” Henrietta saw Ralph’s eyes bug out.

  “Guess Frank didn’t tell you. Yup.” She shook her head, absentmindedly rubbing down the counter for the third time since she’d invited Henrietta and Ralph into the kitchen for cups of tea. “Sure enough, we came home to find the back door unlocked. It is very unlikely we left it unlocked. Anyway, nothing was taken and we found ourselves fortunate, but goodness me if it didn’t scare the living daylights out of me. I told Frank right away that he needed to get us a security system. I’m ashamed to admit we were one of those people who had a sign but no real service.” She made a face.

  “So you got the system when?” Henrietta asked, taking a drink of her English breakfast tea.

  “The very next day. We weren’t going to waste any time with it. That is, I made sure Frank set it up the next day—you know how men are.” She winked at Henrietta as if to share in some cosmic secret about men. “He got right on it, and the guy came out the next day. Set everything up, even cameras.”

  “Really,” Ralph said, his eyes raising to the back door and the lawn beyond.

  “Yes. We thought we were in the clear until we came home from an overnight trip to Canada. We often go up to British Columbia for a relaxing long weekend, but this time, we just wanted an overnight trip. I had some shopping to do and—”

  “When did you know something was wrong?” Ralph interrupted her long-winded story.

  “Almost immediately. Well, not exactly.” She shrugged good-naturedly. “If I’m honest, we had dinner and watched a few shows then, as we were getting ready for bed, I went to put away my earrings in the safe. Sounds extreme, I realize that, but no one can be too careful. Anyway, I went to put them in only to open it up and find everything was gone.” Her hand flew to her chest. “That is the worst feeling, to be sure, but thankfully, we were insured. Then again, money can’t replace your great-grandmother’s pearls.” She let out a long sigh.

  “I’m so sorry to hear of the loss,” Henrietta said, resting a hand gently on the woman’s shoulder.

  They chatted a few more minutes, then made their good-byes. On the way back to her car, Henrietta shot Ralph a look. “Can you believe that?”

  “That we got that woman’s full life story within the span of fifteen minutes?”

  She grinned. “No, that all three houses experienced a break-in before they were robbed!”

  They slid into the car and Ralph turned to look at her. “All three?”

  “Yes. Remember the first house said that they’d had trouble with a neighbor’s cat getting in through the dog door.”

  “Yes…” He looked confused.

  “I don’t think that’s what happened at all. I have a feeling someone left the door open long enough for the cat to come in.”

  “Another break-in.”

  “Exactly.”

  “But…” His eyes lit up. “You think this has something to do with the alarm company?”

  Henrietta shrugged. “I’m not sure, but I wouldn’t rule it out. Each house is protected by the same company, and that is more than a little suspicious to me.”

  “I agree. I think it’s at least something worth checking in to.”

  “What I don’t understand is why someone would break in once only to break in again.”

  Henrietta pondered this as well. “If your house is broken in to, what’s your response?”

  “To get better security.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Ah, another point against the alarm company.”

  “Where to next?” she asked, turning the car on.

  “I think we should call it quits for the day.”

  “Giving up already?” she said, tossing him a grin.

  “Not so much giving up as taking time to reassess. We’ve gotten a lot of good information and hopefully, we’ll find out who you found in the house today, which may shed some light on the rest of the investigation.”

  Henrietta nodded solemnly. “I’ve been wondering about that too. But I do think it’s wise to call it a day. I should get back to the shop and see how Olivia is doing. Then I’ll reassess my pattern. Perhaps I missed something.”

  “Or there never was a pattern.”

  Henrietta tried to suppress a grin as she turned onto the street where Ralph’s office was. She knew he was just giving her a hard time, but she didn’t mind. She had a feeling she hadn’t been wrong, but they would have to wait for the body to be identified to add another piece to the puzzle. Perhaps then things would start to fall into place.

  3

  Henrietta woke to darkness. Sepia, her cat, had jumped on the pillow near her head and was purring loudly enough to wake her. She wanted breakfast an
d wasn’t willing to wait any longer.

  “Yes, yes, I hear you,” she said, running a hand over the Flame Point Siamese who stared back at her in the lamp light, her blue eyes saying, Less petting, more feeding.

  Sighing, Henrietta pushed herself from bed and went about getting ready for the day. She fed Sepia, made breakfast and a big mug of coffee, then perused the newspaper from the day before. Here in Heart’s Grove, the news could usually wait. Though she had a feeling the news of the dead body she’d found would be front and center in the Daily.

  She shuddered. The sight of the poor woman lying face-down in the kitchen had remained in her mind, keeping her up past her bedtime. Thankfully, she’d fallen into a relatively restful sleep and felt ready to tackle the day.

  Making her way downstairs, she turned on lamps as she went and then booted up the computer as she went about a light dusting of the smaller antiques that cluttered the tops of larger pieces.

  She wasn’t one to fill every nook and cranny of her shop with stuff, but she did like having a large array of things for customers to choose from. You never knew when someone might come in looking for the perfect knickknack and find it amid the larger pieces of antique furniture that Henrietta often hand-picked for the shop.

  An hour later, after Henrietta had organized her most recent sales, updated their website with a few new additions, and sent out her biweekly newsletter to her online subscribers, she heard the front bell ring.

  Olivia walked in, her short hair and blunt-cut bangs nearly obscuring her pale blue eyes. She looked frazzled and Henrietta wondered if it had anything to do with her boyfriend Nelson. Olivia had moved to the area a little under a year ago after meeting Nelson online. It seemed as if they were still adjusting to living in the same city, though Henrietta often wondered what Olivia saw in Nelson.

  To be fair, he had a good job, but he was still living in his mother’s basement, claiming that he was saving money, but when she did get to see the peevish man, he often seemed to take advantage of Olivia’s kindness and sweet ways. Still, it was none of her business, though she’d be ready and willing to give advice to her young employee should the woman ever ask.

  “Good morning,” Olivia called out, her messenger bag thudding onto the table in the breakroom. “You going to be gone again today?”

  Henrietta waited until the young woman came out of the back. “I think I may. Will that be all right? Was it too much to handle on your own yesterday?”

  “Oh no,” she said, smiling. “I just wanted to know. We did get a box of books from Mrs. Whipple and I wanted to research them to see what price we could offer, but I can do that later.”

  Henrietta considered the time. It was nearing nine o’clock, which was when they opened, and she had a feeling Ralph wouldn’t be around until later. “Why don’t you start on it now? I’ll keep an eye on the shop and then when I leave, you can come out. Sound fair?”

  “More than.” Olivia smiled and turned, but she paused at the door, the curtain that separated it from the rest of the shop half-closing in the doorway. “Henrietta, may I ask you a question?”

  “Of course, dear,” she said.

  “It’s a little personal.”

  “I don’t stand on ceremony.” She laughed. “I think we can safely call one another friends even if we are employer-employee. Don’t you agree?”

  “Yes.” Still, she hesitated a moment before finally asking her question. “Why did you never get married?”

  “Oh my,” Henrietta chuckled. “That is a big one. And yet there is a short answer.”

  “Which is?” Olivia prompted.

  “I was never asked.”

  “Never?” Olivia’s eyes grew wide.

  “No. Not to say I wasn’t in a few relationships that could have ended in the question. It’s just that I saw we were on different paths and closed the door before it was too late.”

  “I see.”

  “Why the question?” Henrietta asked.

  “Just curious.” Olivia twisted the hem of her shirt around her finger. “I suppose I wonder what a relationship that lasts really looks like. I mean, don’t get me wrong,” she rushed to explain, “Nelson is great, but…”

  Henrietta tempered her grin. Finally, the topic of Nelson had come up, and she hadn’t even had to finagle her way to it. Then again, she needed to tread carefully here. She didn’t want to tell the young woman what to do, but she hoped she could show her a few things about her situation.

  “You see—” The front door banged open.

  “Henri? Henri, I’ve got news!”

  Henrietta huffed out a breath as she saw the instant Olivia shut down. There would be no more talk of Nelson today.

  “In the back,” Henrietta called out.

  “Ah, there you are.” Ralph came into the open space in front of the counter with the register and grinned at Olivia. “Hey there, Liv.” His chin was covered in a few days’ growth of beard, and he looked like the cat who’d caught the mouse.

  “Hi, Ralph,” Olivia said with a wide smile. “I’m guessing this means you will need to go earlier?” she asked Henrietta.

  “Perhaps.” She turned to Ralph. “What’s this all about?”

  “They got an I.D. on the woman. The body—” He paused, grimacing. “Sorry, Liv. It’s not pretty conversation.”

  “I saw the paper this morning.” She shrugged. “Such a terrible thing. Killed during a robbery?” She visibly shivered.

  “Is that what the papers say?” Henrietta looked to Ralph.

  “Sure is. But look at this.” He held out what looked like an arrest sheet.

  A wan face stared back at her, stringy dark brown hair framing her round features. She looked extremely unhappy, then again, it was a mug shot. Henrietta scanned down the sheet to see that the woman’s name was Mary Sharp, she was originally from Idaho, and she was a convicted felon known for robbery.

  “The police think they have their robber.”

  Henrietta frowned. “How is that possible?”

  “She’s clearly been convicted for the same crime before.”

  “Well, yes, I see that, but they must be looking for someone else.”

  “Not exactly.”

  “What?” What Ralph was saying boggled her mind.

  “They are saying cause of death looks like a fall.”

  “A fall? Like, she fell on something and killed herself?” Henrietta couldn’t help the incredulity in her voice.

  “When she fell, she knocked over the vase.”

  “And the footsteps?”

  Ralph shrugged. “Doesn’t sound as if they are pursuing that very much. Personally, I think they want to wrap it up quickly so the residents feel safer.”

  “But the house was robbed! Where did the stuff go?”

  “Actually, it wasn’t.”

  “What?” Henrietta’s mind was spinning.

  “The house had previously been cleared of anything of importance since the owners only use it as a summer vacation home. Everything goes into a safe and, when checked, it was all there. Mary died and that’s the end of the story.”

  Henrietta faced Ralph. “Surely you don’t believe this.”

  He grinned. “You know I don’t. And that’s why we’re continuing our investigation.”

  She felt relief at his words. The police may want to close this case, but they would do so at their own peril. There was clearly something more going on here, and Henrietta wasn’t going to rest until she discovered what that was.

  “You’re sure you can get us in here?” Ralph asked, eyeing the impressive three-story mansion looming before them.

  “I am relatively certain.”

  “And how do you know this guy again?”

  “We used to date.” Surprisingly, Henrietta felt a blush fill her cheeks.

  “You what?”

  She felt Ralph’s gaze on her and fumbled with putting her keys in her pocket. “It wasn’t a big deal. He was just a nice guy and…it was a long time ago.
”

  “Sure.” Ralph didn’t sound convinced.

  “Shall we?” She pushed out of the car and turned toward the large house.

  The previous day, she hadn’t made the connection of the Alastair house to Everett Alastair, the man she’d dated for a short while several years ago. He’d been handsome, eloquent, and charming, but there had always been something off about him, something she couldn’t put her finger on, but it had bothered her enough that she’d called it off after only a few months.

  To be facing his large house now and hoping for a way to talk with him about the break-in at his house seemed a strange twist of events. She wondered how he’d react to her showing up at his house, a place she’d only been once before.

  “You all right there, Henri?” Ralph asked.

  “Just fine,” she said, forcing a smile. She would make it through this in the least awkward way as possible. “Just let me do the talking at first.”

  “No problem there,” Ralph said, a hint of humor in his voice.

  She ignored it as they approached the front door and rang the bell. Nervous jitters fluttered in her abdomen, but she pushed them aside. This was business, not pleasure. She wasn’t meeting him again as someone he was going on a date with but as someone asking him questions about the robbery at his house.

  All of those logical thoughts flew out of her mind the instant he opened the door, standing there in a pair of relaxed jeans and a plaid flannel shirt rolled up on his forearms. His salt and pepper hair, and the charming creasing at the corners of his eyes made her remember why she’d accepted his invitation to dinner in the first place.

  “Hello, Everett,” she said.

  “Henrietta? What are you doing here?” His gaze flickered to Ralph but landed solidly on her.

  “I—uh, we’ve got some questions for you about the break-in.”

  “Break…” His brow furrowed.

  “Hi, Ralph Gershwin, private detective. This is my partner Henrietta Hewitt, as you already know. We’re investigating the rash of break-ins in the neighborhood. We were wondering if we could ask you a few questions.”