Two Bites Too Many

by Debra H. Goldstein

  Sarah wasn’t sure how much Harlan would want her to tell Eloise, but she felt comfortable in her presence, so she decided to be completely honest. “This has been and is a difficult time for her. Not only was finding Mr. Knowlton a shock, but now it seems she is the prime suspect.”

  “What! Why?”

  Sarah decided not to mention the fingerprints quite yet. “Because she found Mr. Knowlton. Chief Gerard seems to think her being the only one seen, in a locked room, with the victim automatically makes her the guilty party.”

  “Poppycock. Chief Gerard is barking up the wrong tree. Your mother wouldn’t hurt a fly. Besides, there were plenty of other people in and out of the office all day.”

  “That’s what I thought, too. Can you specifically remember who might have gone into Lance’s office after my mother and I came out? Surely there were other people in and out before my mother found him.”

  Eloise rested her hand under her chin. “Well, while your mother and you talked in the lobby and you were on your phone for a few minutes, Alvin stuck his head in and Amanda Taylor, Bailey, and I were all in and out a few times. Between getting Lance ready for the council meeting and finalizing everything so he could sign off on your sister’s loan application before the meeting, there was lots of coming and going.”

  “Mr. Knowlton had time to review the file and approve the application before he was killed?”

  Eloise smiled and shook her head. “Don’t be ridiculous. Mr. Knowlton didn’t need to go over the details. If your mother guaranteed the loan, that was good enough for him. He was going to find out later why Bailey denied it, but right after the two of you left his office, he buzzed my desk and told me to get the paperwork ready for his signature. Mr. Knowlton planned to sign it before he left for the meeting, but he apparently never got to it before I heard your mother’s gut-wrenching shriek.” Eloise turned her face toward the window. “The form is still sitting on Mr. Bailey’s desk waiting for his signature.”

  Sarah didn’t want to upset her further, but she needed to know who else might have gone in or out of the president’s office. Gently, she asked again.

  Eloise still faced the window. “I wasn’t watching his door for the entire time the two of you talked because I went to the storage room to get another package of copier paper for my desk copier. I can’t say for sure if anyone else went in or out while I was gone, but there definitely were others who went in after your appointment.”

  “Who?”

  “Mr. Howell may have gone in. He was standing at the teller counter while you were on the phone, but I don’t know if he simply made a counter transaction or stopped and said ‘Hello’ to Mr. Knowlton, like he usually did.”

  “Thomas got to the city council meeting before me, but I never saw him here at the bank.”

  “Well, he was here for a few minutes. He waved at me as I returned to my desk. It makes sense he got to the meeting before you because I think he left the bank while you were on the phone with your back to us.”

  “You saw me on the phone?”

  Eloise smiled. “Sarah, part of my job was to see everything in the lobby. If I remember correctly, you didn’t leave for at least five more minutes after you finished your phone call and then your mother came over and visited with me for a while.”

  Sarah acknowledged Eloise was right. “But you said some folks definitely went in. Who were they?”

  “I don’t know. As I told Chief Gerard, I heard voices that didn’t belong to Lance coming from his office. Whoever I heard may have gone in through the lobby or the alley during the time I wasn’t sitting at my desk.”

  “Surely the security cameras recorded anyone coming and going from the lobby or the alley while you were away from your desk.”

  Eloise bent her head closer to Sarah’s. “From what I understand, there may be a problem with some of the security camera tapes, but I’m sure I heard more than one person’s voice between the time your mother and you came out of Mr. Knowlton’s office and your mother screamed.”

  “What happened after my mother screamed?”

  “Those next few minutes were confusing. We all reacted to her bloodcurdling shriek because it didn’t stop. I ran toward Mr. Knowlton’s office and opened the door. Mr. Bailey and Alvin were behind me.”

  “Mr. Bailey? I thought he was at city hall.”

  “He was back and forth running things over there for Mr. Knowlton, beginning when your mother and you were in Lance’s office.” She pointed to a stack of folders sitting atop her bookcase. “He was here in his office, about to take those folders to city hall, when we heard your mother scream.”

  Sarah apologized for interrupting and encouraged Eloise to continue her tale.

  “As I was saying, Alvin had more ground to cover getting across the lobby than I did. Mr. Bailey came from this office.”

  “It must have been horrible seeing Mr. Knowlton and my mother.”

  Eloise nodded. “It was. He was so still. Your mother just stood there, behind him, screaming he was dead. Mr. Bailey and Alvin confirmed he was gone while I led your mother out to the chairs where you found us. While Alvin called for the police and Mr. Bailey ran over to city hall to tell everyone what happened, I stayed with your mother and kept anyone else from going into Mr. Knowlton’s office.”

  Comparing the sequence as Eloise described it to the other versions she’d heard, a few things didn’t make sense to Sarah. “I understand you also made coffee.”

  “Not then. We always keep that small table set up with coffee and water for our customers. While your mother and you were in the office with Mr. Knowlton, Amanda straightened up the table while I made a fresh pot of coffee. It’s one of those machines where you change out the coffee filter and pour a pot of water into the reserve chamber.”

  “Was the extra water already there?”

  “No, I had to go to our kitchenette to get it. That’s how Cliff Rogers was able to get into Mr. Knowlton’s office while you were in there. I had gone for water and was about to pour it into the coffee machine when I saw Cliff near my desk. Amanda said she never saw him slip behind her, but when Alvin and I realized where Cliff was headed, we both tried to stop him. Unfortunately, he was enough steps ahead of us that neither of us could catch him before he got into Mr. Knowlton’s office.

  Eloise took both of Sarah’s hands and gazed into her eyes. “Sarah Blair, don’t you worry. I’ve known your mother for a lifetime. She’s not a murderer. We’ve all told Chief Gerard how Mr. Knowlton always had people coming and going through that door, especially on council days. I also told him I heard Mr. Knowlton talking with people, but I don’t know who, after I went to get the copier paper. Eventually, he’s going to have to look beyond your mother.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Outside the bank, Sarah checked her watch. Exactly time for both the bank and Harlan’s office to close. No wonder Eloise had wrapped up their conversation. But what a conversation. There was so much she wanted to share with Harlan before her mother and he met with Chief Gerard, but she needed to get the time line straight in her mind to see what other questions it might prompt.

  Sarah made her way to one of the benches in the square and pulled a pen and paper from her purse.

  Cliff and Jacob go to see Lance. (Why was Jacob there?)

  Maybelle and I arrive at the bank but must wait in the lobby because Cliff and Jacob are in Lance’s office. I overhear Cliff threaten Lance and then see Cliff and Lance leave through the lobby of the bank.

  Maybelle and I are ushered into Lance’s office. Maybelle gets into it with Lance. Lance calls Bailey to bring the Southwind file in. He sends Bailey out of his office, through the lobby, to get ready for the council meeting. Lance and Maybelle continue their discussion.

  Eloise goes to make coffee. Amanda is helping clean up the coffee table.

  Cliff barges into Lance’s office with Eloise and Alvin at his heels. Cliff knocks over Maybelle’s purse and the things on the desk. Lance ushers E
loise and Alvin out through the lobby and then sends Cliff out the same way.

  Lance agrees to review the Southwind file before the meeting. He shows Maybelle and me out via his door to the lobby.

  Maybelle and I talk and I call Emily.

  During this period, Eloise goes in and out of Lance’s office and observes Amanda, Alvin, and Bailey do the same. At some point, she leaves her desk to get a ream of copier paper. She also reports seeing Thomas Howell at the teller desk and hearing voices, other than Lance’s, coming from his office. Whose are they? How did they go into the office?

  I go to the council meeting.

  Either before or after I leave the bank, Bailey returns and goes into his own office. How many trips did he make to city hall?

  Maybelle visits with Eloise then goes around the bank building and enters from the alley, through Lance’s private office door. Maybelle says it was ajar. She finds him dead and screams.

  Eloise, Alvin, and Bailey all run into the office. Alvin calls the police; Bailey goes to inform the city council, and Eloise takes Maybelle to a chair.

  Reviewing her list, Sarah realized she especially needed to make Harlan aware of the unknown voices Eloise overheard and that more people went in and out of the office than originally thought. Surely those points would cast substantial doubt on her mother being the only one to use the alley to enter the supposedly locked room. They might also add credibility to her mother’s assertion the door was open.

  She hit Harlan’s number on her speed dial, but her call went to voice mail. Sarah thought Eloise’s details important enough to leave Harlan a quick summary. She only hoped when he finally called back he’d be so excited about what she’d learned he wouldn’t think about what time she must have left the office to see Eloise.

  Sarah thought about going to the police station to try to intercept Harlan but thought better of the idea. Her family’s relationship with Dwayne Gerard left a lot to be desired. No sense being the one to come in and challenge his investigative integrity. Better to share the information with Harlan and let him use it in a subdued, but effective, legal manner rather than pinning the chief into a corner. There was no telling how he might react if he felt his chance of being named to the permanent position was jeopardized.

  She stretched her neck, not realizing how tight her muscles were. There wasn’t anything else she could do for her mother until she heard from Harlan. That left her needing to get ready for tomorrow’s YipYeow organizational meeting. She still had to come up with an agenda, refreshments, and a way to keep all the different factions focused on their unified goal of raising money for the animal shelter rather than their private agendas.

  There was no question compromise would be key to tomorrow’s meeting, but she believed it could be achieved if everyone remembered what they were doing was for the good of the animals. Hopefully, any differences of opinion raised would be as easily resolved as when there was unanimous acceptance of Anne Hightower’s suggestion at the city council meeting to name the event YipYeow Day. Her logical argument was that like restaurants were named things like Foodbar because they sold food and liquor or Dessert Bites because they specialized in bite-sized desserts, YipYeow uniquely represented the sound of the dogs and cats the shelter helped and many of the animals that would be paraded.

  Sarah swallowed and hit her sister’s name on her phone. She needed to know if she should stop at the grocery on her way home for a brownie mix or the ingredients for a chocolate velvet pie if Emily wasn’t going to come through with her promised treats tied to cats and dogs. Plus, Sarah wanted to share the information she’d learned from Eloise.

  Emily answered her phone without giving Sarah a chance to say “hello” or to explain why she was calling. “Sarah, I’m tied up right now, but stop worrying, you’ll get the treats I promised. You already picked up cold drinks, coffee, and tea, right?”

  “Yes, but you said something about having catnip tea, too?”

  “I was going to send you a recipe, but when I thought more about it, I decided it wouldn’t be a good thing to serve. Some people consider catnip tea something taken only for medicinal reasons. We don’t want anything to distract from planning the event.”

  Sarah was relieved not to have to worry about making a special kind of tea. She began walking toward home while they continued talking. “When are you going to bring the snacks? I want to make sure I’m home or if you come earlier than I get off work, you leave me the instructions for heating and serving.”

  “You don’t have to do anything except be home at least an hour before everyone comes. Marcus already has the sweet potato puffs with directions how to heat them. If he doesn’t handle that himself, he’ll tell you what to do. He’s making dog- and cat-shaped cake and cookie treats. He will already have plattered them for you. Don’t worry, Marcus will get you through tomorrow night.”

  “Marcus?”

  “I reminded him you made Southwind a key sponsor of YipYeow Day because it was making human and dog treats for the event but suggested he could get even more exposure if he prepared refreshments for tomorrow night and invited the volunteers to the pub, which I’m sure will be open by then, to a post-event to celebrate the success of the day. He loved the idea, so he and Jacob are making the sweets tonight at Jacob’s place while Grace and I already made more than enough of the sweet potato puffs. You’re covered, but do me a favor.”

  “Anything. You’ve saved me from serving store-bought or, worse, going into my kitchen and creating a disaster. What do you want, oh, savior?”

  “Massage his ego a bit tomorrow—give Marcus a shout-out or something.”

  “Won’t you be at the meeting to do that?”

  “Sorry, I’d hoped to get away in time for the meeting, but Grace and I are up to our necks getting ready for Friday’s post-funeral reception and trying to generally get things under control here. It’s a worse mess than we anticipated. We think we can pull it off, but it’s going to be a long couple of days. The main thing is my favorite cook of convenience doesn’t have to worry about the YipYeow meeting. Marcus has your back.”

  “And I am most grateful. I know you and everyone else can’t understand how you can love everything about food preparation and kitchens while I tremble and break out in a cold sweat when I think about turning on the stove.”

  “Let’s analyze that some other time. Gotta go. Love you.”

  “Love you, too.” Sarah wasn’t sure Emily heard her response before hanging up. Not a big deal, but if they’d learned anything the past few months, it was how much they couldn’t and shouldn’t take loving each other for granted.

  Relieved she didn’t have to whip up anything for the meeting, Sarah continued walking. As she turned onto Main Street, she intentionally stayed on Mr. Rogers’s side of the street in case she spotted Fluffy. Approaching Mr. Rogers’s house, she still hadn’t caught a glimpse of the dog or any other living soul. At his house, she stopped and called the dog’s name. She wasn’t sure if her name really was Fluffy or if that was what Mr. Rogers had, for some reason, christened the pup.

  Not getting an answer, Sarah abandoned the sidewalk and walked up his walkway. There wasn’t any sign of the dog in the part of the yard she could see. In fact, the house looked deserted. No light shone through his front windows. She wasn’t surprised. Now that his wife was gone, the house always looked dark and abandoned. The aloneness of one person wandering in the space of a house like Mr. Rogers’s was one of the reasons she had no desire to live in the big house on her own property. The more intimate carriage house and having RahRah for company suited her far better.

  Maybe Mr. Rogers’s urgent need to coax Fluffy into his house and the safety of the shelter was tied to the changes in his own life. His nephews arguing about his home and independence had to be frightening and underscore some element of loneliness. Sarah promised herself to reach out to him more. As for Fluffy, she certainly hoped Mr. Rogers was able to coax the pup back up on his porch for food and water.
Whether human or animal, there was nothing worse than being scared.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  The next day, between Harlan’s full calendar of clients and an unusually high number of motions and pleadings needing to be typed and filed, should have whizzed by until it was time for the YipYeow organizational meeting. Instead, sweating out whether Harlan could convince Chief Gerard that arresting Maybelle was premature and would reflect badly on him if he was wrong made the day drag. When Harlan finally succeeded in getting the chief to stall for a few more days, Sarah was relieved, but it still didn’t remove her nervous anticipation about the meeting.

  Now she stood between her dining and living rooms sweating the final thirty minutes before her guests arrived. Marcus was whistling in the kitchen, where he was heating the sweet potato puffs. Considering Emily was out of pocket, stuck at the Howellian, his happy tune was a relief to Sarah. Even better were the goodies he’d brought. Beautiful trays of cat- and dog-shaped cookies and animal-topped petits fours.

  She’d set up a beer, wine, soda, and water bar at the far end of the dining room and moved every chair she owned into the living room. There wasn’t anything else she could think to do.

  RahRah brushed against her leg. She picked him up and surveyed the rooms once more. “RahRah, that’s it. Everything’s set up for tonight except putting you in my bedroom. Believe me, you’d rather be in there than with some of the people who will be here tonight.”

  Placing him in her bedroom, she took it as a good sign when he burrowed into the towel she lay on the end of her bed. She hated locking him up during the meeting, but she knew at least one person coming would make a fuss if he ran free. Jane, her ex-husband’s bimbo, who almost always was a thorn in Emily’s or her side, was probably going to be opinionated enough tonight without giving her something else to complain about. Considering Jane’s past interaction with RahRah, they were both better off being separated by the bedroom door.