by Leena Clover
“She’s my aunt, Jenny. Can’t you please help us out?”
“I promised Nicky I wouldn’t get involved,” she told Jason. “He just left for the city.”
Jason stood up and began pacing the floor.
“I suppose you promised Adam something too.”
“Adam has nothing to do with this!”
“Just meet her once,” Jason pleaded. “For my sake. That’s all I am asking.”
“Okay Jason, I will go meet Linda Cohen. No strings attached.”
“Agreed,” Jason said with relief. “When can you get away?”
“Not until later this afternoon,” Jenny sighed. “I have a busy day ahead.”
A large group of tourists came down the boardwalk and climbed up the steps of the café.
“I think that’s my cue,” Jenny said, getting up. “You can stay here as long as you want.”
Jenny didn’t get a chance to talk to Petunia until later that morning. The Magnolias arrived for their coffee break. Betty Sue was knitting something with green wool. Heather carried their black poodle Tootsie in her arms.
“She won’t bother anyone,” she promised Petunia. “I’ll keep an eye on her.”
“Is something wrong with her?” Jenny asked with concern.
Her husband had retained custody of their aging terrier Cookie. Jenny missed him every day. She yearned for a pet of her own.
“Toots is a bit moody today,” Heather explained. “So I brought her along.”
Tootsie looked up when she heard her name and yawned.
Betty Sue and Heather pampered Tootsie and paid attention to her slightest yelp. She knew that very well.
“Jason was here bright and early,” Petunia reported. “He was out here with Jenny for a long time.”
“Hot date?” Molly teased.
“I wish!” Jenny smirked. “Linda Cohen wants to meet me.”
“Didn’t I tell you she was a Stone?” Betty Sue said, looking up from her knitting.
Star heard them discuss Jason’s proposal as she walked up the café steps.
“You’re doing it again, aren’t you?” she asked.
“I just agreed to go meet her,” Jenny explained.
Jason came to the café later to pick Jenny up. They drove up into the hills to a large estate.
“Isn’t this where Ada Newbury lives?” Jenny asked, referring to one of the richest women in Pelican Cove.
“You’re right. All the larger estates are in this part of town.”
Jason drove through large iron gates and pulled up in front of an imposing three story colonial. A group of people sat in the living room. One of them waved at Jason and looked curiously at Jenny. Jason escorted her to a tiny elevator in an alcove.
“Asher had this put in for Linda,” he explained.
The room Jason took her to had tall glass windows that provided a sweeping view of the ocean. Jenny spotted the lighthouse in the distance. Linda Cohen sat in her wheelchair, staring outside. She looked devastated.
“Hello Linda,” Jason said, clearing his throat to get her attention. “We are here.”
Introductions were made. Linda’s face took on a hopeful look.
“Jason has told me a lot about you,” she began. “He didn’t have to, of course. Your food has made you famous. But people can’t stop talking about how you solved those two murders.”
“It was nothing, really,” Jenny mumbled. “I just got lucky.”
“Want to try that luck for me?” Linda asked.
Her eyes filled up and the expression on her face was so pathetic Jenny couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. She took Linda’s hand in hers.
“Mrs. Cohen, I am sorry for your loss. I only met your husband a couple of times but I liked him.”
“He couldn’t stop talking about that chocolate cake,” Linda said with a smile. “He stole a slice as soon as you brought it over. Said it was his birthday. No one was going to tell him when to eat his own cake.”
Jenny felt mollified.
“That’s nice to know.”
“Asher had an eye for people,” Linda continued. “He said you were a smart cookie. You could dig yourself out of any hole.”
Jenny looked at Jason pleadingly. He went and stood behind Linda and put his hands on her shoulders. She patted his hand, getting the message.
“I asked Jason to bring you here. I’ll get to the point. I need your help, Jenny. I want to know what happened to my Asher.”
“The police…” Jenny began.
“I know the police are doing their thing. If I hadn’t been stuck in this wheelchair, they would probably have carted me off by now. That’s what happened to your aunt, isn’t it?”
Jenny gave a slight nod.
“I’m not an investigator, Mrs. Cohen.”
“Call me Linda, please.”
“Okay, Linda. I just go around asking random questions. Some might think I browbeat them. There is no guarantee I will find anything.”
“I know that,” Linda said, leaning forward in her chair. “I am willing to take that risk.”
“And I don’t know what I will find,” Jenny said next. “What if someone in your family comes under suspicion?”
“I don’t care,” Linda said strongly. “Whoever did this deserves to be caught.”
“I can’t stop working at the café,” Jenny warned her. “Petunia depends on me. This is the busiest time for us.”
“Jason explained all that,” Linda said. “I won’t be keeping tabs on you, Jenny.”
“It’s settled then?” Jason asked hopefully.
Jenny felt cornered. She didn’t like to be put on the spot in this manner. At the same time, she was intrigued. One look around the room told her Asher Cohen had been loaded. Had someone killed him for money?
“I’ll give it a shot,” Jenny said weakly. “I just hope you don’t expect miracles.”
Linda grabbed Jenny’s hand and thanked her profusely. Then she pleaded fatigue. Jason pressed a button and waited for a nurse to arrive. Jenny promised Linda she would come see her soon.
A tall, skinny man accosted them as they stepped out on the large wraparound porch.
“What brings you here, Jason?”
Jenny observed the man while Jason exchanged pleasantries with him. He was well preserved for his age. Jenny guessed it to be anything between 65 and 70. His head was sparsely sprinkled with blonde hair and his piercing blue eyes should have given her a clue to his identity.
“Jenny, this is Walt,” Jason said, turning around to look at her.
“Walter Cohen,” the man said, offering her his hand. “I’m the oldest son.”
“Do you live here?” Jenny asked.
“Oh no. I am just here for the centennial. Or was. What a waste, huh? We traveled all the way from Florida and for what? Just to watch the old man croak?”
Jenny thought Walter’s comment was in poor taste.
“Walter’s your cousin?” she asked after they got into the car.
Jason drove out of the Cohen compound.
“Not exactly. Walter is Olga’s son. That was Asher’s first wife.”
“What happened to her?”
“She died in childbirth, sometime in the 1960s.”
“How did Linda come across Asher?”
“Linda has known him all her life. He went to work for her father when he first got here. My uncle taught him everything he knows about construction.”
“He must have been old when he married Linda.”
Jason agreed wholeheartedly.
“Some called it robbing the cradle. But Linda was in love with him. There was nothing to be done.”
“How many kids did he have?”
“Five from the first wife.”
“Five? And Linda took them on? How old was she at the time?”
“She’s about Walter’s age. The kids were grown. They didn’t really need a mother.”
“Does she have any kids of her own?”
�
��Three,” Jason confirmed. “That’s eight kids and who knows how many grand kids and great grand kids.”
“That’s a big family.”
“Three generations over a span of a hundred years,” Jason shrugged. “Sounds about right.”
Jason himself had never been married. In his late forties, he had given up any hope of being a father.
“That’s a whole lot of suspects,” Jenny mused.
“You think someone from his family harmed him?”
“Greed is always a big motive, Jason.”
“Want to get dinner somewhere?” he asked.
“It’s been a long day. I think I just want to turn in early today.”
“As you wish, Madame!” Jason said with a mock salute.
Star had cooked dinner. She dished up the steamed fish and chickpea salad Jenny liked.
“So you’re putting yourself in danger again.”
“She looked so distraught. I couldn’t say no.”
“What about your own life, Jenny?” Star asked, spearing a piece of fish with her fork. “You have the café, and the renovations at Seaview. When are you going to find the time to play Nancy Drew?”
Chapter 5
Jenny fried a batch of crab cakes for the Magnolias. It was crab season and most tourists ordered anything with crab in it. The Boardwalk Café was famous for its crab dip and crab salad sandwiches. Jenny wanted to up the ante and try something a bit more gourmet.
“They are here,” Petunia said as she spied Betty Sue Morse walking in, clutching her knitting against her chest. Heather followed, biting her nails.
Jenny gently flipped the crab cakes in the pan and ladled them on a plate lined with paper.
“Have you tried this dipping sauce?” she asked Petunia.
Jenny had come up with a delicious mango chili sauce to go with her crab cakes.
“Our health conscious customers will love it,” Petunia nodded happily.
“Let’s see what the girls think about it,” Jenny said, taking the platter of hot crab cakes out to the deck.
“Something smells yum,” Molly said, breathing deeply.
“What’s the matter with you, girl?” Betty Sue asked Heather.
She had barely looked up when Jenny placed the plate of crab cakes before her.
Molly was smacking her lips as she licked the sauce off her spoon.
“You can bottle this sauce, Jenny,” she crooned. “It’s sweet, then it’s hot, then it’s sweet again. And that garlic!”
Molly’s praise barely registered on Jenny’s mind. She was looking at Heather.
“I’m going to start dating,” Heather said suddenly.
“Does this mean you are going to take Chris seriously?” Jenny asked.
“It’s about time!” Betty Sue snapped. “You have run that boy ragged.”
“I’m not talking about Chris,” Heather said in a small voice. “I want to see other people.”
“Are you breaking up with Chris?” Molly asked incredulously.
“I’ve never gone out with anyone else,” Heather burst out suddenly. “How do I know Chris is the right man for me?”
“He’s held your hand in good times and bad ever since you were a kid,” Betty Sue scowled. “That’s how you know.”
Heather looked at Jenny, begging her to understand.
“How do you want to go about this, Heather?” Jenny asked. “Join one of those dating sites?”
“I have no idea!” Heather cried. “I just need to go out with a guy who’s not Chris.”
“You’re being a fool,” Molly said flatly. “You’ll never find anyone as good as Chris Williams.”
“I want to find that out for myself,” Heather said. “I want to go on a bad date.”
“Do you also want to be mistreated by some idiot out there?” Molly asked, incensed. “Do you want to be rejected by someone who doesn’t have a lick of sense?”
“Easy, Molly,” Jenny said. “I kind of get what Heather’s saying.”
She sat down next to Heather and put an arm around her shoulders.
“What will you tell Chris?”
“I don’t know,” Heather sighed. “I haven’t thought that far.”
“Then it’s time you did,” Betty Sue snapped, her needles moving in and out as she glared at Heather. “Think ten times before you hurt that poor boy.”
Jenny changed the subject.
“What do you know about Asher Cohen?” Jenny asked Betty Sue. “You said something about him the other day.”
“He came here after the big war with his wife and baby. Asked my Daddy for work. Wasn’t skilled at anything. Old man Stone gave him a job. That’s Jason’s great uncle.”
“He told me about that,” Jenny nodded. “Were you friends with the Cohen kids growing up?”
“I didn’t mingle much with those kids. Linda and I hung out for a while, although she was younger.”
“She means she stuck to the Pioneer families,” Heather clarified. “What a lonely childhood you had, Grandma.”
“We did what we were told,” Betty Sue grumbled. “We didn’t go questioning our parents.”
Jenny sensed another argument brewing.
“How are the crab cakes?” she asked her. “Have you tried one yet?”
“I thought I liked that strawberry cheesecake you made,” Betty Sue said between bites, “but you have surpassed yourself, Jenny.”
“Go ahead and write it up on the specials board,” Petunia beamed.
“Maybe you should take some for Adam,” Molly suggested, cutting into her third crab cake.
Jenny walked to the police station a couple of hours later.
“I brought you lunch,” she told Adam, placing her straw basket on his table.
“Something smells good,” he said approvingly.
“I met Linda Cohen yesterday,” Jenny said, arranging three crab cakes on a bed of salad. She drizzled her special mango sauce over them and placed the plate before Adam with a flourish.
“Should I be worried?” Adam asked, cutting a crab cake into two.
“She looked so wretched, I couldn’t say no.”
“I see.”
“You don’t agree? I’m just humoring a poor widow. She can’t do much herself, being indisposed.”
“Who said I don’t agree?”
“So you’re cool with this?”
“I’m cool with anything, as long as you don’t meddle in police work, Jenny.” Adam wolfed down another big bite of the crab cake. “And you promise to stay out of trouble.”
“It’s not like I go asking for it.”
Adam locked eyes with Jenny, giving her a scorching look. Jenny felt herself melt.
“You barely escaped some attempts on your life, Jenny. I couldn’t handle it if something happened to you.”
“I’m fine,” Jenny said confidently. “All I’m going to do is ask some questions. Judging by the size of their family, I will still be asking questions in December.”
Adam muttered something about the police doing better than that.
“These crab cakes are amaze, Jenny. I learnt that word from the twins.”
“How are they doing? I miss Nicky already.”
“Nick’s rubbed off on them. Now they are looking for a job in the city too. I heard them talking about it last night.”
“Any updates on Asher? Did you get the autopsy reports?”
Adam Hopkins was in a good mood. He didn’t snap at Jenny.
“I sure did. And you won’t be getting a look at them.”
“Am I seeing you later tonight?”
“You might,” Adam said, giving her a quick wink.
Jenny liked walking on the beach after dinner. The beach her aunt’s cottage stood on offered one of the few flat stretches of shoreline in town. Adam went to the same beach with his dog Tank. Jenny and Adam had a standing date, unofficial of course, to meet on the beach every night.
Jenny walked out of the police station and decided to go meet Jas
on. She needed to get some background on Asher Cohen. Jason seemed to be the best source of information.
“Hi Jenny!” Jason greeted her. “Can I get you something to drink?”
Jenny opted for iced tea and Jason pulled out a bottle from a small refrigerator.
“It’s not fresh brewed like yours,” he apologized.
“No problem,” Jenny said, guzzling the cold drink.
“Are you busy right now?” she asked.
“I’m always busy,” Jason sighed. “But it can wait. Tell me what’s on your mind.”
“What can you tell me about Asher Cohen? I thought you would know, since your aunt married the guy.”
“I guess I know more than the townspeople.”
“So tell me,” Jenny said, leaning back in her chair and folding her hands.
“Asher Cohen came to Pelican Cove some time after the war. Late 1940s would be my guess.”
“It was Morse Isle then, wasn’t it?”
“You’re right. The town of Pelican Cove hadn’t been formed then.”
“Did he come here alone?”
Jason shook his head.
“You remember his first wife, Olga? He came here with Olga and little Walter. Walt was just a baby, barely two years old.”
“You weren’t born then, were you?”
“Of course not,” Jason rolled his eyes. “All of Olga’s kids were born before me. I was just a few months old when Linda married Asher.”
“You’re rushing ahead,” Jenny said. “Let’s go back to 1948.”
“Asher started looking for a job,” Jason continued. “He had been an engineer before the war and he was a quick learner.”
“Betty Sue said he went to her father for a job.”
“I don’t know about that,” Jason said. “All I know is Linda’s father, my dad’s uncle, took him under his wing.”
“He must have flourished,” Jenny mused. “He had all those kids.”
“Asher was smart. He gained some experience working with the Stone family. Then he set up shop for himself. Cohen Construction played a big part in the rebuilding effort after the big storm of 1962.”
“Did your uncle resent him for it?”
“I don’t know,” Jason quipped. “I wasn’t even born then.”
“What I mean is, did Linda’s father face any losses because of this new business?”