by Mary Maxwell
She walked across the store toward the counter, so I followed. The air was thick with the enticing aromas of chocolate and licorice and cinnamon.
“Things here are going well though,” I said. “Julia was in with their munchkins this past Saturday afternoon. She said it was packed.”
Lindy’s face brightened with another grin. “Thank the Lord! Once Dave changes jobs, everything will be fine. We’re tough and patient, so it’ll be okay.”
“There you go!” I gave her another hug. “I love your optimistic spirit!”
“That and my faith get me through,” she said, putting the lollipop back on the counter. “Now, what’s this I heard about you and Dina…” She glanced over at a pair of customers before lowering her voice. “…snooping around town together?”
“You make it sound so nefarious,” I said.
She moved closer. “Is it really about when Evie Hale was kidnapped?”
I nodded. “And Caroline Whitman. The police always thought that the two cases were connected, but they never named a suspect or found Caroline.”
“Until now?” Lindy whispered. “Is that true, too?”
“What have you heard?” I asked.
“Just that,” she said quietly. “One of my regular customers told me they were hiking on Cortez Trail and saw a bunch of cops digging under a tent.”
“It’s all part of an ongoing investigation,” I said. “Everything the CCPD is doing now as well as their efforts ten years ago.”
Lindy giggled. “That sounds like a dodge, Katie. You know that I won’t tell a soul.”
“I don’t really know much,” I said.
“Well, I was Evie’s friend,” she replied. “At least, I was before she got married.”
“Oh, I forgot about that! You were going to be in her wedding party, right?”
“Worst mistake of my life,” Lindy said with a somber tone. “I had one too many at the rehearsal dinner, said something silly and that was the end of it. Evie’s father pulled me aside as we were leaving the restaurant and told me that her mother didn’t want me to be a bridesmaid.”
“What did you say?”
She shook her head. “I’ll never repeat it,” she said. “It was a silly, stupid joke that cut too close to her ordeal. I’d heard it on TV a few nights before and thought it was funny because it involved a runaway bride. But it was a foolish mistake. I never would’ve done it if I’d kept my limit to one glass of wine.”
“Hey, c’mon,” I said. “We’ve all done silly things, with or without the vino.”
“I know, but Evie and I were so close when we were growing up.”
“Didn’t you date Dwayne at one point?”
She grimaced. “Second worst mistake of my life! That guy had two arms, but about fifteen hands. He was just obnoxious beyond compare. I mean, I’d never really dated before Dwayne asked me to go out. He seemed so nice and normal in school, but then…” Her face turned bright red. “Can we please change the subject? This is too much Dwayne and Evie Hale for me. It was bad enough running into them last night, but talking about all of that ancient history today will probably give me a migraine.”
“Hold on,” I said. “You saw them?”
She slumped back against the counter. “I know, right? Like anybody needs to come around the corner on the way home and see two of your worst nightmares right there in front of you.”
“Where was this?” I asked.
She lifted one hand, extended her thumb and motioned to the right.
“At the end of the street,” she said. “I literally turned the corner and barely avoided crashing into them.”
“Just walking down the sidewalk?”
She laughed. “It’s still legal, isn’t it?”
“Well, of course it is,” I said. “The thing is, Evie told me the other day that she hadn’t seen Dwayne in ages and had no plans to anytime soon.”
Lindy’s frown sent deep furrows across her forehead. “Weird. Why would she lie about such a thing?”
“Well, I was asking about her abduction,” I said. “That might’ve made her a little less forthcoming than usual.”
“I guess so. But I wouldn’t know. When I ran into them, we sort of…you know, mumbled and said hello and then Dwayne said they had to go and meet someone for dinner.”
“I don’t suppose he mentioned who they were meeting,” I said.
She put one hand on her hip and gave me a look. “Don’t be silly. They couldn’t get away from me fast enough.” She paused. “Or vice versa. I’ve seen Evie around town a few times, but our paths have barely crossed since the weekend of her wedding.”
“When was that?” I asked.
Lindy made a face. “Three years,” she said. “And they split less than six months later.”
“That’s what I thought,” I said.
“She told me a few days before the rehearsal dinner that she was making a mistake,” Lindy said.
“Really?”
She nodded. “There was someone else, but he was already married.”
“Excuse me?”
“Weird, right?” Lindy asked. “Evie gets engaged to one guy while she’s involved with a married man.”
“Do you know who?” I said.
“Not a clue,” she replied. “But I was obviously not as close to her as I thought. When she told me about being in love with another man, I was literally blown away. I mean, if she’d told me that she was from Mars I wouldn’t have been any more surprised.”
“That is a pretty stunning thing to tell your bridesmaid,” I said.
Lindy smiled. “And if I’d known it would be one of my last conversations with Evie, I sure would’ve asked a few questions before I left that night.”
“About the affair?” I said.
She laughed. “About all of it.”
CHAPTER 25
As I left the bank a short time later, I was thinking about stopping at the CCPD Headquarters to tell Dina about my chat with Lindy when the phone rang. The name on the screen made me smile: Detective Kincaid, Office.
“You must’ve been reading my mind,” I said. “I was just—”
“Someone assaulted Tobias in his shop,” Dina blurted.
My heart shuddered as I asked her to repeat the staggering news. After she did, I added one more question.
“When did it happen?” I said.
“A couple of hours ago,” she told me. “Leslie Weiss went over to see if he wanted a coffee, but Tobias wasn’t behind the counter as usual. There weren’t any customers, so she thought maybe he’d gone to the restroom. After waiting around for a few minutes, she went to the storeroom and called his name. That’s when she saw him sprawled on his back in a pool of blood.”
“How bad is it?” I asked.
“Bad enough,” she said. “For a man his age, Toby’s in good shape, but that doesn’t mean much when someone’s smashing your skull against the floor.”
“Oh, my God. Is he…” I took a breath. “Did he make it to the hospital?”
“He’s still in the Emergency Room,” Dina told me. “We won’t know the details until the doctor finishes X-rays and a battery of tests.”
“Was he conscious?” I asked.
“Not when Leslie found him,” she said. “But he responded to the EMTs after they got there.”
“Did he say anything?”
She laughed softly. “A few things, but most of them weren’t family-friendly.”
“I can only imagine. I’m just glad that he’s…well, you know.”
“I do,” Dina said. “And to answer your question, Toby told the EMTs that someone rang the bell in the back. He went to check on it, but the alley was empty. As he relocked the door, someone slipped a hood over his head and pushed him to the floor.”
“That must’ve scared the bejesus out of him.”
“Out of anyone,” Dina replied. “He gave them a few other details after they had him in the ambulance.”
“That’s fantastic,�
� I said. “What did he tell them?”
“The assailant was wearing black wingtips without socks,” Dina said. “The shoes were speckled with drops of paint and worn without laces.”
“Like a housepainter?”
“Or maybe an artist,” Dina said.
“So the hood they put on Tobias wasn’t too tight,” I said.
“That’s right,” Dina replied. “And the attacker wasn’t alone. Tobias also told the EMTs that he smelled perfume.”
“Okay,” I said. “So a man and woman attacked Toby?”
“From the sound of it,” Dina said, “the guy in the wingtips did the attacking while the woman stood around and smelled like roses.”
“Did either of them say anything?”
“Just the guy,” she answered. “‘Be more careful with what you sell, old man.’”
“That was it?”
“That’s all I know so far,” Dina said.
“Any chance he recognized the voice?”
She sighed, sounding frustrated and weary. Dina and I had been friends since we were teenagers. After more than two decades, I’d learned to understand and interpret nearly every utterance from her mouth, including the nonverbal and a few of the garbled ones. In this case, it sounded like she was ready to get off the phone, slip out of her shoes and put her feet on the desk.
“Tell you what,” she said. “Why don’t we continue this in the morning after Toby’s had a good night’s rest. They’re keeping in the hospital for observation. Just to be on the safe side. I’ll check in with them and give you a call.”
“Sounds like a plan,” I said. “Get yourself some rest, detective.”
“That’s my Plan A,” she said. “As well as my Plan B.”
CHAPTER 26
“This must be fate,” Louella Flint said after she tapped me on the shoulder at Drake’s Deli later that day. “I just left a message for you at Sky High Pies.”
“That’s probably why my ears were burning,” I joked. “How are you tonight?”
She pointed at her stomach. “At the moment, I’m half starved. I was originally going to cook, but realized that I’d probably faint from hunger if I stuck with that plan.”
I stepped aside. “Then you should go before me,” I said, gently putting one hand on her back.
“Oh, aren’t you a dear heart?” She slid around me and looked at the couple directly ahead of her. They’d been debating white, wheat or rye for what felt like an hour.
“Carbs are carbs,” Louella muttered quietly. “Don’t you agree?”
I smiled. “I’ve been that indecisive before,” I said. “Plus, the customer is always right, even when they’re stuck on simple choices.”
She snickered softly. “I don’t disagree, but they can also be poky as molasses in winter.”
After we watched the unresolved pair for a few more seconds, Louella suddenly whirled around and grabbed my hand.
“I almost forgot!” she said. “Dwayne Hale’s in town, Katie! That’s what I said in my message! I saw him going into the drug store this afternoon.”
“Are you sure it was him?” I asked.
Louella made a face. “I worked for that boy’s family for many years,” she said. “Even though he and I are both quite a bit older, I’m positive it was him; the same lazy shuffle, the bad posture, the permanent sneer on his face. I didn’t follow him inside to get a closer look, but it was definitely Dwayne Hale.”
“That’s a pretty intriguing twist of fate,” I said.
“I know!” Louella’s eyes widened. “Don’t you think it’s odd that he turned up when the whole town is buzzing about his sister’s kidnapping from ten years ago?”
“What do you think?”
She inched closer. “I definitely do. In fact, I spoke to Evie a couple of days ago. I wanted to let her know that I was thinking about her because it must be difficult to have all of these awful memories from the kidnapping rekindled by the new scrutiny of her story. So when I called and Evie told me that Dwayne hasn’t been to see her for years, well it seemed a little odd. She hasn’t mentioned him in forever.”
“Did you ask about her brother?” I said.
Louella shook her head. “I didn’t bring him up,” she said. “Evie started talking about her family. Just memories about her childhood, losing her parents and trying to find her way through the world. She kept referring to herself as a failure and a cheat. When I asked why she was saying those things, she changed the subject.”
I smiled. “That does seem like a strange thing for her to say. She’s done quite well for herself in business.”
“That was because she listened to her father,” Louella said. “They had a very explosive rapport, but talking about business and finances was one subject where Evie wouldn’t get mouthy. Sean made some terrible choices with money and business during his final years, but he really was a powerhouse back when I worked for the family.”
“I’ve heard more than a few people talk about the volatile relationship between Evie and her father,” I said. “My mother told me that Evie slapped her dad as they were leaving church one Sunday.”
Louella frowned. “That was probably the second biggest Hale family scandal because it was so public and happened at St. Peter’s. I never even heard what Evie was upset about that morning, but my friends were all buzzing about it by Monday morning.”
“Pretty spicy gossip, right?”
She laughed. “Muy caliente! And it went on for months and months.”
“What finally stopped the rumor mill?” I asked.
“The other big Hale family scandal,” Louella said. “I think you can probably guess what that was.”
“Evie’s kidnapping?”
Louella nodded. “Once everyone heard about Mr. Hale paying the ransom, a huge wave of relief swept through town. But when a few key details got out, the tide began to change.”
“What details are you talking about?”
She glanced around, but everyone else was either busy enjoying their sandwiches or waiting for Colin Drake and his employee to finish their order. The couple with the bread dilemma had finally compromised on one piece of wheat and one piece of white.
“There were discrepancies in Evie’s story,” Louella replied. “Plus, there was another big wave of gossip about Dwayne. He’d been acting peculiar. I mean, even more peculiar than usual. And Evie’s parents never talked about paying the ransom with a soul. They made it quite clear that they considered the matter to be a private family affair that no one else needed to know about.”
“Did their stance change when Caroline went missing?” I asked.
Louella sighed. “Yes,” she said. “They became even less sociable. Sean stopped going to his office, and Rosalind was essentially a recluse for months after that. I think they were grateful Evie had been released unharmed, but they felt terribly guilty that Caroline and her family weren’t quite so lucky.”
“That seems like a natural reaction,” I said. “That must’ve been a difficult time for everyone involved.”
“I just feel so bad for the Whitman family,” Louella replied. “On one hand, they have a final answer about Caroline’s fate. But the new activity around her disappearance must be stirring up some horrible memories from the past.”
“I would imagine that’s true,” I said. “But it’s incomplete closure. They have their daughter’s remains, but still no justice for her.”
“Not yet,” Louella said. “But don’t you feel like that could also change now that the case is being worked again?”
“I sure hope that’s how this turns out,” I said. “In the meantime, I’ll have another chat with Evie. I’d like to see if she’ll be truthful this time.”
“About what?” asked Louella.
I smiled. “Absolutely everything.”
CHAPTER 27
I had just finished ordering spices for the Sky High pantry the next morning when my phone buzzed with a new text from my sister in Denver: Can you talk?
I put down my cup of tea and started a reply: Should I call you or—
The phone rang. It was Olivia.
“Hey, I was just responding to your text,” I said.
“With what?” she asked in a grouchy tone. “Smoke signals?”
“Aren’t you hilarious?” I said. “What’s wrong?”
“Do you know that feeling?” she replied. “Where it seems like you’re the only one left in the dark?”
Caroline Whitman, I thought. She heard about it and wants to know—
“Why didn’t you tell me about Caroline Whitman?” she blurted. “I got an email from one of my girlfriends up there. She said the police found Caroline’s body. Is that true?”
“Yes,” I said. “And I’m sorry that—”
“Where?” she interrupted.
“In a shallow grave near the entrance to Cortez Trail on Mariposa Road,” I said. “Do you remember Maureen Vinton?”
“Are you talking about Mom’s friend from church?”
“That’s her,” I said. “Maureen bought an old briefcase from—”
“I know,” she cut in. “From Tobias Armantrout’s thrift store. My friend told me about that, too. But she didn’t know if Caroline’s murder is connected to what happened to Evie Hale ten years ago.”
“So you remember the back-to-back kidnappings?” I asked.
Olivia huffed. “Why else would I ask about Evie?”
“Grumpy, much?” I said.
Julia suddenly appeared in the office doorway. She held up her phone, pointed at me and whispered Dina’s name.
“Hold on, Liv,” I told my sister. “Just one sec.”
Julia hurried over to the desk and explained that Dina needed to talk to me as soon as possible. I nodded, held up one finger and returned to my sister.
“I’m back,” I said to Olivia. “Thanks for—“
“Don’t lecture me about being grumpy because you didn’t think to tell me about Caroline right away,” my sister snapped. “If the tables were turned, you’d feel the same way.”
“Possibly,” I said.
She grumbled under her breath. “So?” she demanded. “Why didn’t you tell me about all of this?”