Whatever’s in there, it’s probably very private to Arabella. She wouldn’t want me opening it, I’m sure.
Maybe one day she’d get to know Arabella well enough that she could ask her what was in her earring. A small photo of a loved one? Solid perfume? She remembered seeing a pair of earrings that had drops on them to hold solid perfume in an antique store years ago. In the meantime, she would just show it to Thompson before she took it back to the woman’s house.
Ashley headed out to the street and waved at the cop. He smiled at her as she got in and they headed down the street on the way to the station. As they drove, she felt more than ever that someone was watching her. She peered at the house windows as they went by, looking for movement. Nothing. She shook her head.
Good thing I’m getting off the case, she thought. Think I’m finally going nuts with paranoia.
As they turned the corner at the end of the street, a lone figure peered out from the backyard of a house in the middle of the street. The person looked down the street where the car had gone, then quietly disappeared back into the hedges. The person knew a route through the backyards to the apartment building where that woman walking the cat lived. As soon as it got dark, the person would head over there and finish the job.
***
As soon as Ashley got to the station, she thanked the policeman as she got out of the car. She walked rapidly inside and down the hallway to Thompson’s office, and knocked on the door.
“Come in,” he said.
“Hi, Nate,” she said. “Here you go.” She put the two plastic bags with the items on his desk.
He peered at the earring and then the dirty, crumpled handkerchief. “Interesting,” he said. “Your cat found an old rag? Why’s that a clue?”
“Take a look at it. It has the initials J.C. on it. Put gloves on first.”
He gave her a sarcastic grin, and reached for gloves in his desk. “Wouldn’t have thought of that. Thanks.”
“You’re most welcome, sir,” she said. “The earring is most likely Arabella’s. It has a latch in the in back of the drop piece; I didn’t open it as it’s probably personal. Maybe a little photo. But maybe if someone else was in her house that night, it might have someone else’s fingerprints on it?”
He reached in the bag and turned over the handkerchief and frowned. “This could be anyone’s initials, Ash.”
“I know,” she said. “But it’s worth testing for DNA, isn’t it?”
“It looks really old; it’s falling apart. We’ll have to see what we can lift from it.”
He reached for the plastic bag with the earring in it and shook it out. As soon as the earring hit his desk, the latch popped open and white powder spilled out of the drop. Ashley gasped.
Thompson picked up his phone. “Send someone from hazardous materials unit now!”
He stood up from his desk and quickly walked to the door, grabbling Ashley by the arm.
“Let’s move outside until they arrive. Have to be careful not to inhale anything.”
The unit arrived quickly with their hazmat suits on, and set about collecting all the white powder and bagging up the earring. They proceeded to clean up the office and wipe everything down. Thompson had secured another office to talk to Ashley and they sat there while the powder was being tested.
“Maybe it’s nothing,” he said. “But if it’s poison, that was too close a call,” he said.
“Could’ve been closer at my place,” Ashley said. Her face was white as a sheet.
“I had that earring in my pocket until I went to sleep. My cat tried to play with it when I lay in bed, then it sat on my bureau until I brought it here.” She shuddered to think that she had almost opened the latch at home to peek inside.
“If it is poison, why would that nice old Arabella have it in her earring?” Thompson mused. “To protect herself against those people who she said were out to get her? She had a gun too. Heavy duty stuff.”
“Maybe the earring’s not hers,” Ashley said.
Thompson stared at her.
“Maybe somebody else dropped it in the house,” Ashley continued.
“Hopefully, we can start asking her questions within the next couple of days,” Thompson said. “I’ll check with the hospital and see how she’s doing. In the meantime, I want to go over the reports that have come back about the hole in—”
One of the members of the hazmat unit knocked on the door. “Detective, we’ve got a read on the substance.”
“Come in,” Thompson said.
“Potassium cyanide,” the man said.
“Oh my God,” Ashley said. “Oh, my…” She wobbled on her chair and her head fell back.
Thompson jumped up and caught her just before she fainted and hit the floor.
Chapter Fourteen
“I’m okay,” Ashley murmured when she came to.
“Are you sure?” Thompson asked. “Think we better have you checked out.”
“No!” Ashley replied irritably. “I’m okay. I just realized how close I came to opening that earring.”
“Well, you didn’t, so ‘all’s well that ends well’—” Thompson started to say.
“Please, Nate, can we continue going over all the info you found? I’d like to go home.”
Thompson cleared his throat and thanked the hazmat unit members for the report. He sat down again and looked at his friend. It wasn’t like her to sound so irritated. And so defeated.
“Sorry about all this,” he said. “I shouldn’t have asked you to get involved.”
“But you did. And I accepted. End of story. Tell me what you found.”
Still surprised at her attitude, Thompson nonetheless began to go over all the reports that came in. The hole did indeed lead into an underground tunnel. It went off into the woods, where there was another opening deep in a thicket of trees. The examiners could not find anything stored there, nor did there appear to be any human bones. However, samples had been taken of the earth to be analyzed to see if there had been any presence of any remains at one time underneath the ground.
“They also found one more thing,” he said.
“What?” Ashley said.
“This.”
Thompson pushed a clear glassine envelope at Ashley that contained fragments of an earring in it. It was broken, and the drop part was missing, but the remaining pearl and silver clasp was identical to the earring she had found in Arabella’s house.
“So,” Ashley said quietly. “Mary was right. There are tunnels. And it seems whoever is the owner of the earring was in the tunnel at one time, and possibly Arabella’s house too.”
“Appears that way,” Thompson said. “There’s more.”
“Shoot.”
“The white sedan is registered to Beatrice Small.”
“Which explains Margaret driving into her driveway when we were following her. And why she left in a taxi that day. Bet they’ve been buddies for a long time.”
“Right again,” Thompson said. He held out a newspaper clipping photo of the two women when they were quite young at the local garden club geranium show many years ago.
“Beatrice Small and Margaret Dougherty show off their prize geraniums at the gathering of garden enthusiasts this Sunday,” the caption read.
“How lovely,” Ashley muttered. “And I don’t mean just the flowers. They look so pretty and sweet and harmless. Just two young women into gardening.”
“And who knows what else,” Thompson said.
Ashley kept staring at the photo. She then looked at the broken earring in the envelope. Then back at the photo.
“Ashley?” Thompson said.
“I think I know who does know what else,” she said. She got up quickly from the desk. “Please call the hospital and ask if Arabella Lee is ready for questioning yet.”
“Wait a minute, I thought you’re done with the case,” Thompson said. “And you shouldn’t be standing up so quickly after fainting.”
“I am done with the case,
Nate. But I just want to do one more thing. I want to talk to Arabella. And I think she’ll tell me more than she’ll tell you.”
“I’m sure she will. Hang on, I’ll make the call.”
Ashley couldn’t sit down. She stood there as he put the call on speaker and listened while he talked to a nurse at the front station.
“Yes, Detective Nate Thompson here. I wanted to find out the status on a patient, Mrs. Arabella Lee. How is she doing?”
“Let me check detective. Hold on please.” The nurse came back on quickly. “Oh, that patient! She seems to be doing much better. She’s had all the nurses in stitches laughing this morning. She’s eating well and already joking about leaving.”
“Don’t let her leave! I need to talk to her. I’m driving over there right now,” Thompson said. “And please let her doctor know I’ll need to speak with him as well.”
“Will do, Detective. See you soon,” the nurse said.
Thompson stood up and looked at Ashley.
“Sure you want to do this one last thing?” he asked.
“Yeah. I need to.” She walked to the door. “Nate?”
“Yeah?”
“Buy me lunch first? I’m starving!”
He laughed. “As long as you’re good with take-out again. Gotta get to the hospital ASAP before our patient goes on the lam again.”
She smiled. “Take-out was just what I was thinking.”
***
After grabbing their food, they arrived at the hospital and waited for Arabella’s doctor to come out and speak to them. Before too long, a bespectacled and serious-looking doctor approached them with a clipboard. He held out his hand.
“Detective Thompson? Doctor Mason. Please to meet you.”
Ashley put her hand out too. “Ashley Crane. Nice to meet you.”
The doctor smiled at her.
“Thank you for meeting with us doctor. Just need an update on Mrs. Lee so hopefully I can get some questions answered from her today. If not, I can come back—” Thompson continued to say.
The serious-looking doctor laughed heartedly. “Oh, I think she’ll be fine to talk to you. She’s doing pretty well. Her vitals are good, and she’s showing strong improvement from the first time she was in here. Although, we want to keep her in a few more days for observation, she seems to be made out of sturdy stuff. Our nurses are fighting with each other to go in and tend to her. She’s quite the character.”
“Great. We’ll go in now,” Thompson said.
“You better hurry up,” the doctor said. “Meals are going around soon. Don’t think you’ll be able to compete with that. She’s got quite the appetite.” He laughed again and walked down the hallway.
Ashley raised her eyebrows at Thompson.
“My kind of woman,” she said. “Gotta love someone who’s got a big appetite.”
As soon as they walked into Arabella’s room, she gave them a big smile.
“Well, well, looky here. You did keep your promise. No one been into bother me, and they feeding me real good. And I get all the warm blankets I like!” Arabella said.
“Good to hear it,” Thompson said. He approached her bed and gave her a big smile.
“You checking up on the guy watching me? Make sure nobody leave me alone?” Arabella asked him.
“We have two guys in shifts outside your room, ma’am, so each one can get a break now and then. Don’t worry, you’re never alone,” Nate said.
Arabella smiled at him. “Now you as efficient as you are handsome. But don’t worry, I’m past chasing men, but not past looking! Ain’t that right, ladies?” Arabella looked both at the nurse in the room and Ashley as they both laughed. “That’s right, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, even when the goose is past her prime!”
This time Thompson laughed too.
Arabella shot another look at Ashley. “How’s Queenie doing?”
“She’s fine. She’s such a cute cat. She does miss you, though. After I feed her, she walks around the house yowling for you.”
“Awww, you tell that little girl I’m coming home soon.” Then Arabella looked at Thompson.
“The doc said just another couple of days and I can get outta here. That okay with you?”
Thompson smiled again at her. “Of course. But we do need to ask you some questions first.”
“Oh, I know you do!” Arabella said. “That’s why you here. I’m no dummy! But you better hurry up ‘cause I’m getting hungry and this nice nurse here said my food is on the way!”
The nurse laughed again and left the room.
Arabella called to her as she walked off. “Check on how long my food gonna take so the detective knows how long he got to quiz me!”
“I’d like to ask you a few questions too if you don’t mind,” Ashley said.
“No, dear, I don’t. Matter of fact, glad you’re here, seeing as you a woman. Need a woman’s point of view for what I’m about to tell y’all.” Arabella took a deep breath. “Ready?”
“We certainly are,” Thompson said.
Arabella’s mood shifted and her eyes filled with tears. “Just promise you’ll believe me. Or at least try and believe me. If you do, you might be finding the answers y’all need.”
Ashley reached for her hand. “We’re here because we believe you do have the answers. Just tell us everything you know.”
“Y’all won’t make fun of me? Or think I’m crazy?”
“No,” Ashley said quietly. “Not at all. We can’t solve the case without you. You’re the key.”
Chapter Fifteen
Thompson and Ashley listened attentively as Arabella explained what she knew about what had happened a long time ago. She spoke slowly and deliberately about what she had seen and heard. There was no question she was telling the truth as far as Ashley was concerned.
No one could make this all up, she thought. And especially this woman.
Ashley had already thought about many things while working on this case with Thompson. There were people whose motives she questioned, but this woman was not one of them. She felt in every fiber of her being that they were hearing the truth about everything. She glanced up at Thompson from time to time, and she could tell by his face that he believed Arabella too.
And what a story, she thought. Just crazy stuff.
When Arabella finished, she gazed at both Thompson and Ashley, turning her head from side to side to search their faces.
“Both of you got real quiet,” she said. “Cause you don’t believe me?”
Thompson cleared his throat. “No, it’s because we do believe you. And because we’re going to have to get this all wrapped up. According to what you just said, it won’t be easy.”
“Just to make sure you don’t think I’m making this all up, my son Frank kept a journal of all he seen that day and what he learned over the years. Those crazy folks paid a few visits to me to scare me ‘cause they figured he might have told me something. I made a mistake of telling ’em if they kept bothering me, I had his journal and would take it to the police. But they said they’d kill me and I got real scared. Never been that scared in my life. So I handed over the journal to ‘em, but I made a copy first. Think they suspected that tho. It’s one reason I been keeping to myself. I want to stay alive and not raise suspicion.”
Ashley got up and walked to the end of Arabella’s bed and looked directly at her.
“Are you prepared to go with us to that tunnel and show us what you’re talking about?”
Arabella looked right back at her. “Yes, I am.”
“Okay,” Thompson said. “As soon as the doc releases you, we have a date in that field.”
“Now, detective, don’t be getting so forward with me. Don’t want any trouble with your nice girlfriend here.” Thompson laughed. But Ashley stuttered, “Oh no, we’re not—” she started to say.
Just then, the security guard walked into Arabella’s room.
“Detective,” he said. “I’ve got eyes on a man who
’s been hanging around in the corridor. He’s passed by the room a couple of times; now he just got on the elevator. He’s been sweating and cursing under his breath. Something’s not right with him.”
Thompson got up from his chair and walked out with the guard looking down the hallway.
“Are you sure you’re okay here alone, or should I send in someone else?” Thompson asked.
The guard looked concerned. “Hard to tell. Don’t know if he was just weird, or he’s planning something.”
“I’ll send someone else to be with you then. No sense in taking chances.”
Thompson tried to speak as quietly as possible in the hallway to the guard, but Arabella had already heard what the security guard had said when he came in the room.
Now Arabella was frozen in fear. She grabbed Ashley’s hand.
“I knew it! I knew one of ‘em would come after me here! Please don’t go, stay with me tonight,” Arabella pleaded.
Ashley looked up at Thompson to say something.
“Ma’am, we have to go. I’m sending another guard here so you’ll have two watching your room. Another guard with a gun will be far more effective than my friend here. Please don’t worry,” Nate said.
“Can y’all at least wait here until the other guard arrives?” Arabella said. She held on tight to Ashley’s hand.
Thompson sighed. “Of course.”
Ashley could see that Nate was bone tired, and after the story they had just listened to Arabella tell, she realized how important it was to get the case solved as quickly as possible. It would be another long night for the detective.
***
As soon as the new guard arrived, Thompson stood at the door giving him instructions, then gestured to Ashley to come with him. Arabella was laying back on her pillow with her eyes closed, and Ashley gently pulled her hand out from the woman’s.
Arabella opened one eye. “That other guard here?”
“Yes. You’ve got two. Go to sleep now. We’ll see you soon,” Ashley said.
Ashley Crane Cozy Mystery Boxed Set Page 83