“Say hi to Jake,” Ashley replied.
The detective gave her a wave then exited.
Chapter Thirty-One
Once the detective was gone, Ashley called her mom back as she walked into the kitchen and fired up the stove.
“So how’s Uncle George?” Ashley asked.
“He’s slowly getting better. He tried to talk to Sandy this morning. When he was attacked, he remembered hearing someone in his yard and went out to investigate.”
Ashley listened with great interest. “And?”
“Unfortunately, that’s the last thing he remembers,” April said.
“Did George get a look at the intruder?” Ashley asked.
“I don’t know. Sandy asked him that, but he seemed confused and hasn’t said another word.”
“Hopefully, he will. That would really help the police,” Ashley said.
“Yes, dear. It would. But it’s more important that he heals. We don’t want him getting grilled just yet.”
“Of course not. “I’ll go visit him later today,” Ashley said.
“Okay, honey. Take care. Everything okay?”
Ashley paused. She didn’t want to tell her parents about yesterday’s old mill escape just now. There was too much going on. She didn’t need them worried any more than they were already.
“I’m fine. Going to get to work. Love you.”
“Love you too, honey. But Sean said you shouldn’t be alone there and that you were coming over here.”
“I will,” Ashley replied. “I just have to wrap up a few thing with my next catering job. Then I’ll pay Uncle George a visit. Plus, Detective Jackson was just here and said he had a suspect in custody. I’m sure if anyone else was hanging around, they wouldn’t try anything.”
“Please, take care. And call me after you see your uncle,” April replied.
“No worries, Mom. Talk soon.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
It was all closing in on her. Ashley’s mind was racing. She was missing something—she was sure of it. Even more, she had a feeling that the answer was in front of her face. Ashley started to cook with a fury. Could she break this case?
A little while later, still having more questions in her head than answers, Ashley drove to the hospital. She walked in the lobby and checked in at the front desk.
When she got to George’s room, she saw a nurse taking his temperature. Ashley smiled at her uncle. George looked at her, but he seemed to be in a fog.
“Hey, Uncle George,” she said.
“I’ll be finished in a minute,” the nurse said.
“Take your time,” Ashley responded.
As soon as the nurse left, Ashley took her uncle’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. He weakly squeezed back.
“How are you feeling today?” she asked.
“Okay,” he mumbled.
His eyes fluttered open and shut.
“Don’t try to talk if it’s too hard for you,” Ashley said.
She was eager to ask him about the person he might have seen in his backyard before he had been struck, but it was pretty clear that he wasn’t capable of conducting a conversation.
He opened his eyes, and they were wet. Some tears rolled down his face.
“Hey, it’s okay. The most important thing is that you get better. We all love you and are waiting for you to get back on your feet,” Ashley said.
She bent over and gave him a kiss on his forehead.
Her uncle tried to mouth some words.
Before he was able to say anything, he started coughing. He tried to speak again, but no words came out.
A moment later, he slowly raised his arm and pointed to the door.
Ashley whirled around. Much to her surprise, there was no one there. Was George seeing things?
“Try to rest now,” Ashley said. “There’s no need to talk. We can discuss things later when you’re better.”
She gave him another smile, but he kept flickering his eyes at the door and tried to speak again.
Finally, he whispered, “Her.”
Ashley was thoroughly confused. “What?”
George mouthed one more word. “Man.”
Her uncle suddenly began coughing again.
A few seconds later, the nurse walked into his room with his medicine. She put a hand on his chest and reached for some water to give it to him.
“Now, now, take this, and I’ll get you something for that cough, too,” the nurse said. She turned to Ashley. “Did he just start to cough now?”
Ashley nodded. “Yes, when he was trying to speak.”
“It’s best that he rest now. The worst thing for him is to get worked up,” the nurse said.
“Of course. I’m going to take off now. Bye, Uncle George. See you soon. Love you,” Ashley replied.
George started to reach for Ashley’s hand, but he unable to reach it. His arm flopped back down. He seemed to have a look of fear in his eyes.
Ashley quickly glanced at the nurse. “He seems really upset. He had tears in his eyes and was gesturing to the door. Has this just started to happen?”
“He has been through a great deal of trauma. That would upset anyone,” the nurse replied.
Ashley glared at the nurse. “Of course he has been through a great deal of trauma. Why else would he be here? I’m talking about his emotional state now. He seems to be afraid.”
The nurse drew a blank. “I can’t imagine what he would be afraid of. He’s getting the best of care here. But if you have any concerns, please talk to the head nurse.”
She started to leave the room.
“What’s your name?” Ashley asked.
“Ellie,” the nurse replied. She left the room quickly.
Ashley turned back to her uncle. “Are you afraid of something?”
Her uncle’s tears were still visible on his cheeks, and his eyes were fluttering rapidly. She stroked his hair and squeezed his hand. His eyes slowly closed, and his heavy breaths were calming down.
“Go to sleep, Uncle George. You’re going to be okay,” she said. She quietly shut his door on the way out then dashed down the hall to the nurses’ station.
“May I please speak with the nurse in charge of this unit?”
The nurse at the desk greeted Ashley. “She’s out on break. May I help you?”
“I’d like to talk about my uncle in room 2B. I just paid him a visit, and he was trying to speak to me. He started to cry, then coughed, before trying to point to the door. He also seemed afraid when the nurse came in to give him his medicine. I’m very worried about him.”
“Did he manage to say anything to you? Looking at the notes here, I see that it says he’s only spoken a few times to his wife—and briefly, at that.”
“Yes, he said ‘her’ then ‘man.’ But he really looked afraid,” Ashley replied.
“I can assure you that Nurse Ellie is very competent and has a good rapport with her patients. We’ve never had a complaint about her.”
“That may be, but I noticed something panicky about him. And when he said those two words, he looked scared.”
“Her? And Man?” Maybe he’s trying to speak about his visitors,” the nurse said.
“What visitors? My family and I have been his visitors.”
“Maybe he was trying to talk about that nice couple who were here yesterday.”
Ashley’s eyes widened. “What couple? My parents? Was it a tall, thin, brown-haired man and a short lady with blond hair?”
The nurse shook her head. “Oh, no. The man had red hair, and the lady was a brunette.”
Ashley froze. “I have no idea who those people are.”
“Let me check for you. They were very polite, as I remember.”
A red-haired man and a brunette woman. Who were they?
Ashley waited as the nurse checked the names of who came into her uncle’s room.
“Here we go,” the nurse said. She showed the computer to Ashley. “They came for a visit at nine in the
morning. The woman’s name was Caitlin Harding, and the man’s name was Peter Rutherford.”
“Oh no!” Ashley cried out. “Do you have copies of their IDs?
The nurse shook her head. “I’m sorry. I only have their names. We don’t require IDs. Were they not supposed to be in there with your uncle?”
“They are never allowed in with him again!” Ashley sputtered. “You need to update your policy and ask for IDs. We may be a small town, but this is the twenty-first century! From now on, no one is allowed in there with him but the immediate family!”
In a panic, Ashley ran for the door.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Peter Rutherford—who was that? Ashley ran outside and called Detective Jackson. Unfortunately, she got his voice mail.
Ashley left a message. “Detective Jackson, this is Ashley Crane. A man named Peter Rutherford was in my uncle’s room at the hospital yesterday. He has red hair. Could this be the man you were chasing in your car? I need to know immediately. Please call me.”
After hanging up the phone, Ashley quickly dialed Nate Thompson’s number. She was put right through.
“Thompson here.”
“Nate, a redheaded man named Peter Rutherford and Robert Anderson’s old mistress, Caitlin Harding, went to pay a visit to my uncle yesterday,” Ashley said. “My uncle was fearful when I visited him this morning and said “her” and “man.” The family has not authorized any outside visits. How did they get in, and how does this tie in with who you have in custody?”
“I wouldn’t know how they got in. You need to question the hospital. That should have never happened. As for Caitlin Harding, we’ve already questioned her, and she had nothing new to add to what she testified years ago. She repeated everything verbatim from the court transcript that I reviewed. It was if she had memorized what she said on the stand. As for the man, the guy we had in custody is Gerald Hastings, not Peter Rutherford.”
“What’s the name of the red-haired man that Detective Jackson apprehended yesterday?”
Thompson sounded confused. “You mean the guy he brought in and later released?”
“I thought he was in jail,” Ashley said. “That guy who was chasing us.”
“I see that he brought in a guy for questioning yesterday, but I was out. Like I said, that man was later released.”
“Is that man’s name listed?”
“I don’t have that info at the moment,” Thompson replied. “I’ll tell you what, though. I’ll check with Detective Jackson about it later today.”
“Please do. I’m really confused,” Ashley said.
“I told you this is a difficult case, Ashley. All this happened years ago, and whoever is involved is going to fight to keep from getting arrested. I would tell you to stay as far away from this case as you can, but I know you won’t listen.”
“Nate, we’ve been over this,” Ashley said. “And can you put a guard at my uncle’s room? I can’t have anyone getting in there again and scaring him.”
“Will do. I’ll call you back after I speak with Jackson.”
“And please find out why Caitlin Harding was there yesterday, too,” she said.
***
As soon as Ashley finished with Thompson, she called Detective Jackson again. This time, he picked up.
“Detective Jackson? I just spoke with Detective Thompson, and he says you brought a guy in then released him? But you told me you apprehended the red-haired guy who was chasing us. Is his name Peter Rutherford?”
“Thompson was out at the courthouse,” Detective Jackson replied. “I didn’t make a big deal about it yet, because as I told you, we might not have any evidence to hold this guy. Just because he was driving fast behind you doesn’t mean he was the guy who broke into your place, stole your cat, and hid her at the old mill. This suspect also doesn’t have a prior record. I questioned him for a while, but unfortunately, I had to let him go. I planned to tell Thompson about it later. Before you get too worked up, though, let me tell you, the guy’s name was not Rutherford.”
“What was his name?” Ashley asked.
“I can’t give you that information just yet. Even though we couldn’t hold him, we are still investigating everything. I consider the man’s identity to be very sensitive information until we conclude our search. You may be sharing a lot of info with Thompson, but that’s not my MO,” he said.
“Well, someone visited my uncle at the hospital yesterday and scared the wits out of him, and he had red hair. Not to mention the man was with Caitlin Harding—Robert Anderson’s old mistress. Now, sharing info may not be your MO, but my MO is finding out the truth.”
“I understand why you’re upset, and I sympathize with you, but I can’t talk any more about what happened yesterday,” Detective Jackson replied.
“Yet you’ve asked me to give you info from my family to help you in solving the case.”
“Yes, I did. Remember, I’m the detective. You’re just taking it upon yourself to get involved. Besides, anything you tell me will help your uncle. Don’t forget that.”
Ashley sighed. “I get it, but—”
Jackson cut her off. “I wish that I could talk more, but I’m knee deep here. I’ll talk to Thompson and give him all the info on the guy from yesterday. Maybe he can help you narrow down who was in your uncle’s room. Bye.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Ashley called the hospital and spoke to the head nurse. She told her a guard would be at her uncle’s door soon and to call her immediately if she noticed anything strange. After getting off the phone, Ashley headed off to her parents’ house to fill them in on what had transpired. Once she was done, she would let them call Sandy and explain everything to her.
Ashley didn’t want to be the bearer of this recent bad news to her aunt. As she drove over to her parents’ house, she felt fatigued. Her whole body ached. She hoped that she wasn’t coming down with anything. It was probably just a buildup of anxiety and stress. Ashley had to find a way to rally for her upcoming catering job. In addition, that evening, she needed to get a full night’s rest.
On the way over to her parents’ house, glancing out her window revealed a changing landscape of soft beauty. The colors in the trees were beginning to deepen, and the air was getting chillier. Row after row of houses had some early leaves falling in their front yards.
Her parents’ street was quiet. She knew her mom would be home, but she wasn’t sure if her dad was at his part-time job. She was relieved when she pulled in and saw both their cars. It would be best to get this over with all at once.
Chapter Thirty-Five
As soon as she entered the front door, Ashley smelled something wonderful baking. She could tell by the aroma that chocolate was one of the main ingredients. Was it her mom’s brownies that she smelled?
Ashley called out as she walked in. “Mom!”
April came down the stairs with a basket of laundry. “Hi, honey. I was just about to put a load of wash in.”
“I wanted to fill you in on what happened when I visited Uncle George.”
April headed down to the basement. “Okay. Let me get the wash in first.”
Ashley headed out to the garage to look for her father. Burt was hammering a window frame on his workbench.
“Hello!” he shouted.
“Hey, Dad. Whatcha doing?”
“This pesky frame keeps catching when we try to open the bedroom window. I’m straightening it out. There we go.” He held the frame up and eyeballed it. “Hope this works.”
“I want to talk to you and Mom about what happened when I visited Uncle George.”
“Good. By the way, you’re just in time for your mother’s brownies. Although I have to warn you, I’ve got dibs on at least four of them,” Burt said.
April joined Burt and Ashley in the garage. “Dear, that’s way too many for you. Remember what the doctor said about your heart and sugar.”
He grinned. “My heart loves sugar. That’s all there is to it. Can
’t break up a love affair.”
“You are so stubborn. I’m talking to your doctor about your eating habits. The way you’re going, you won’t last another year.”
April headed back to the kitchen.
Burt shouted as his wife walked away. “Go ahead. Rat me out, woman! I bet the doc would eat the brownies, too!”
“Well, Dad, she’s only worried about your health, you know,” Ashley said.
Ashley could barely keep from laughing.
Burt made no apologies. “I can’t resist her good food. And I’m not living on kale and egg whites. I’d rather kick the bucket sooner rather than later than eat like a Hollywood starlet.”
“You have to be careful. We want you around for a long time,” Ashley said.
“You can look at my picture and talk to it after I’m gone. I plan on heading into old age enjoying myself,” he grumbled.
April then popped her head through the garage door. “Warm brownies and cold milk. Come and get it.”
***
Burt sat down at the kitchen table and noticed two small brownies on his plate. Ashley had two bigger ones. She glanced at her father. He was staring at her plate like a little kid eying the prize. That was a perfect time to distract him and tell them what went on at the hospital.
After going into detail about the visit and her calls to the two detectives, both Ashley’s mother and her father were silent for a moment. She knew it was hard for them to wrap their heads around it all.
“Have you spoken to your aunt about this?” Burt asked.
“No, I’m going to let you and Mom do that. I’m always the bearer of bad news.”
“We understand, dear,” April said. “But I’m really upset about this. How can we be sure George will be left in peace to recover?”
“I’ve asked Detective Thompson to put a guard at his door. I don’t think anyone will be able to get in now,” Ashley replied.
Ashley Crane Cozy Mystery Boxed Set Page 44