Trouble on the Books

by Essie Lang

  “Then how do you know the police have him?”

  “Buddy Hodgson saw them pull up to the main dock in their boat, and they had Matthew with them.”

  What to do? What to say? She didn’t want Edie confronting Chief Stone again, but that’s just what might happen. She heard herself asking, “Do you want me to stop over at the police station? I’m not very far away.”

  “Oh, yes please, Shelby.” She could hear the relief in Edie’s voice.

  “Okay.”

  “I know you probably think I’m just being silly, but I have a terrible feeling about this.”

  “Well, you have to promise me you’ll stop worrying if I agree to do this. How about it?”

  “Fine.”

  “Just see that you stick to that,” Shelby said, hoping to tease her aunt into a better mood. “I’ll let you know what I find out.”

  She hoped Edie couldn’t hear the worry in her voice. This certainly wasn’t good news, but even more worrisome was the question of why they’d brought Matthew back in. She refused to believe he was the murderer. He couldn’t be. Could he?

  Chapter Eighteen

  Shelby hoped to find Chief Stone in her office, but if not, she decided she would next try the chief’s house. She probably wouldn’t be very welcome after the last visit with Edie, but she had to try. She headed home for her car.

  As she figured, the CLOSED sign hung on the door of the police station. Even though it was the weekend, Shelby had learned that they kept regular hours thanks to the addition of several part-time officers for the summer months. She’d hoped someone, Chief Stone in particular, might be found behind a desk, but that obviously wasn’t about to happen. She groaned getting back in her car and was about to leave when the police SUV turned into the lot. However, it was Lieutenant Chuck Fortune in the driver’s seat. Shelby waited until he had parked, then jumped out of her car.

  “Hi, Lieutenant Fortune. I’d been hoping to find the chief here.”

  “Nope. She had to go out of town on business.” He leaned into the front seat and pulled out a laptop computer and his jacket.

  “That’s too bad. I wanted to talk to her. Do you know when she’ll be back?”

  “Sometime later tonight, she said.” He straightened to his full six-foot-plus height and shut the door of the SUV, clicking it locked.

  “Oh. I hope everything’s all right.” Surely she hadn’t transported Matthew someplace out of reach?

  He nodded. “As far as I know. She’s not one for sharing much, you know. She’s over in Clayton, so it won’t take her long to get back once she’s finished her business.”

  Shelby mulled over the fact that she wouldn’t get any information until the next morning at the earliest. And also the news that Chief Stone had had to go to Clayton. About what? Something to do with the case? Wasn’t that where Matthew was from?

  She had already turned to walk back to her car when she looked back and asked, “Is Matthew Kessler still being held? I assume he’s not here.” Where would they keep him when the office closed?

  Fortune looked a bit surprised. “Not with it locked up, he’s not. Last I heard, the chief was going to drop him off at the State Police office on Route Twelve on her way out of town.”

  “Do you think I could talk to him? Would they let me?”

  “Probably not. It’s not as if he’s under arrest, but since you’re not a relative or otherwise involved, I doubt they’d agree. If he’s still there, that is.”

  She thought about asking Fortune to make the call but then decided she’d drive there herself instead. It was probably less than ten minutes away.

  “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a pile of phone calls to make before leaving, and I know Taylor has something special planned for dinner tonight.” A wide grin spread across his face at the thought.

  Shelby smiled back. “Thanks. Enjoy your dinner.”

  She got back in her car, checked the GPS on her phone, then turned right on Walton Street. After about ten minutes, she pulled into the parking lot of the NY State Police. The building looked imposingly official and she had second thoughts about going inside, but only for an instant. She glanced around the room before walking over to the counter, where an older-looking uniformed officer sat. He watched her approach, and when she asked for Lieutenant Dwayne Guthrie, he told her he was off duty. So she tried asking if she could speak to someone being held there, namely Matthew. He motioned her to have a seat in the waiting area while he picked up the phone. After a short discussion, he waved her back over.

  “He’s no longer here,” he told her, watching her reaction.

  “Really? He’s been released? Everything’s okay then?”

  The officer shrugged. “All I know is someone from the CGIS came and got him. I wasn’t here, so I don’t have all the details.”

  Shelby felt her jaw drop. Zack. Was it Zack? It had to be, although she probably shouldn’t assume he’d be working on this all alone. She thanked the officer, and as she walked back to her car, her mind played with the reasons the Coast Guard would want Matthew. Obviously she’d been right about the smuggling. They couldn’t still believe Matthew was involved. Or could they? And where were they keeping him? She tried calling Zack, but it went to voicemail, which made her even more agitated. She checked her watch. It was getting sort of late to head to his office, even if she’d known how to get there. She started the car and pointed it in the direction of Alex Bay. On a whim, she went straight down Church, turning left at the end, in search of Zack’s house. How hard could it be to find with that red paint? He could at least give her an explanation and update.

  She spotted his black Jeep Cherokee in the driveway and a light shining in his living room. Was he entertaining? And where was Matthew? She just had to know. She parked beside his Jeep and made her way around to the front steps, pausing a moment before ringing the doorbell.

  Zack opened the door in an instant, leading her to believe he’d seen her pull up. She thought briefly and gratefully that she hadn’t paused to put on lipstick or check her hair. No need for him to think she’d glammed up just for him. This wasn’t a social call, after all.

  He grinned. “Now, this is an unexpected pleasure. Come in.”

  “You may not feel like that for long.”

  “Uh-oh. I guess that means this has something to do with the case.”

  She’d followed him into the foyer and then waited for him to turn to face her. “Yes, it does. I’m wondering what you’ve done with Matthew Kessler.”

  Zack looked amused. “I haven’t done anything with or to him. What makes you think I did?”

  “I was just over at the State Police building, after checking at the local police office, looking for him. I was told the CGIS had taken him in. That’s you.”

  “Well, thanks for thinking of me as the face of the Coast Guard, but I didn’t ‘take him in.’ I gave him a lift home, or rather, to the shuttle.”

  “He’s back on the island?”

  “That he is. Now, can I interest you in some dinner? I just put together a pasta carbonara and I’m really a great cook, if not a modest one.” He looked hopeful, but Shelby wasn’t to be deterred.

  “But why would you even do that unless you wanted some information from him? Maybe something to do with smuggling?”

  Now Zack looked annoyed. “Is that a no to my invitation?”

  Shelby felt a bit off balance. “I’m sorry, yes, it’s a no. I’m having dinner with Edie, and she’d heard Matthew had been taken to the station yet again and was worried about him. So, here I am.”

  “Well, you can report to your aunt that he’s home, has not been harmed, and although it’s against my better judgement to tell you this, we asked him a few questions and that was the end of it. But, if I know Chief Stone, Matt Kessler will probably be questioned a few more times before this case is closed.” He glanced back at the kitchen. “You know, this really is none of your business, and if you continue poking your nose in, one or the o
ther of the enforcement agencies is eventually going to either make certain no one talks to you or even charge you for interfering. Take that as a friendly warning.”

  “Friendly? Friendly would be helping me understand what’s going on.”

  “What do you think is going on?”

  “I think that either Loreena’s murder is tied to a smuggling operation or there could be two separate things happening at once. I mean, why else would you be involved if it’s not smuggling?”

  “I can name any number of reasons. The CGIS is not a single-issue agency, you know. And I am part of only one of its many facets. In fact, why don’t you stop by one day when I’m in the station and I’ll be happy to show you around. It will probably be an eye-opener. Now, I don’t mean to be rude, but my dinner is getting cold.”

  She straightened her spine and bit back the urge to point out he was being rude. Sort of.

  “Fine. I’m sorry to have just barged in. Enjoy your meal, and thanks for the invitation.”

  He nodded, and she left as quickly as she could manage without looking like she really wanted to run.

  She felt his eyes on her even though he’d shut the door. She didn’t look back as she made her way back to the car and drove off. She went straight to the Mango Lagoon, picked up the order Edie had phoned in, and then drove on to Edie’s, trying not to think how foolish she’d acted at Zack’s.

  Edie had the table all set when Shelby arrived. While unpacking the food, she explained about tracking Matthew through the various agencies to finally find out he was back at his house.

  Edie looked perplexed.

  “I thought you’d be relieved that he’s not being held,” Shelby said.

  “I am, believe me I am, and I’m grateful to you for finding out, but I wonder why he hasn’t called to tell me. I think I’ll give him a ring. You go ahead and eat, Shelby. I’ll just go in the other room and call.”

  “No, I can wait. I’m not starving. You stay right where you are, and I’ll go outdoors and enjoy what’s left of the sunshine.” She walked to the door before Edie could object.

  It truly was a beautiful spot, and Shelby tried to picture her dad as a young boy playing in the yard. Somehow she couldn’t get beyond the young boy part. She could imagine Edie climbing one of the many trees or lying on the grass looking up at the stars. Shelby wanted to try that one night. Maybe after she moved in with Edie.

  When had she made that decision? She was struck by the sudden force of her conviction on the matter. She’d wanted to be on her own and Edie had finally conceded, but Shelby knew she’d have to find someplace for the winter. It did seem natural to move into the family home, aside from the fact that there’d be little privacy. Now, when had she decided to stay?

  She heard Edie calling and went back inside. She tried to determine from Edie’s face if it had been a gratifying conversation. She finally asked, as she removed the lids from the containers, “What happened?”

  She heard Edie sigh. “He’s done in, that’s why he went home. In fact, he’d fallen asleep on the couch as soon as he sat down. I shouldn’t have disturbed him. It’s just that I worry about him. I was afraid he’d get depressed again. It was a long journey out of depression for him when his wife died.”

  Shelby wasn’t sure what to say. She wasn’t used to dealing with such intimate or dramatic details of someone’s life. She’d always viewed others’ lives from the outside.

  Finally, Edie started dishing out some food onto her own plate. “I hope I’ve thanked you for doing all this, Shelby. I’m hoping the fact that they let him go means that’s the end of it. Matthew seems to think there’s nothing for them to go on and told me not to worry.”

  Shelby filled her own plate and nodded. “I guess that’s good advice.”

  “I’m a Cox, Shelby. You must know by now that we’re a worrying lot. That’s why I’m hoping you’ll stick with it, and maybe you’ll be able to dig up something that will lead us, and the police, to the killer.”

  She looked so hopeful that Shelby nodded, although deep down in the pit of her stomach, the food suddenly wasn’t sitting so well.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Shelby slept fitfully that night. She knew it was all because of her talk with Edie. And then there’d been her encounter with Zack, of course. How could she stick her nose in any more than she already had? She wasn’t a trained investigator, nor was Edie, and she was certain the police would not be pleased. In particular, what would Tekla do if she found out? What could she do? Shelby didn’t want to find out. And besides, Zack had warned her, and for some reason, that seemed to have more of an impact on her than anything else.

  She’d checked the work schedule for the main store before going to bed and knew that Cody was opening that morning. She wanted to talk to him a bit more about the smuggling theory, so she had made sure Taylor would be able to open the castle bookstore. Then she grabbed a latte on her way to Bayside Books, arriving twenty minutes before opening time, and let herself in. She wandered around checking the shelves, then turned on the computer to take a look at the pending orders. It seemed like a lot of books to be ordering, which would translate to a big invoice coming due soon, but if the books were selling, they needed to get them in.

  Cody walked in as she was sitting there and looked totally surprised.

  “I didn’t know you’d be in today, Shelby. I thought Trudy was coming in at noon.”

  “I just dropped by and won’t be staying long. I’m curious after our talk the other day about the possibility of smuggling. Have you had any more thoughts about that?”

  She watched as he tossed his backpack into the back room and came back with a cup of coffee in his hand. Today his bow tie was red with black horizontal stripes running through it, worn with a short-sleeved black cotton shirt. She looked down at her own black jeans, not even skinnies, and loose-fitting T-shirt. She definitely had to start upping her game. Couldn’t have the employees looking more professional than the boss. The thought made her smile.

  “I have been doing some more reading and thinking,” he said. “And I’m glad you’re here, because I thought of something I should’ve told you before.” He looked so intense as he leaned toward her, and yet excited, too. His normally straight and thick hair had curled around his ears, still damp from the shower. She noticed he was wearing a small silver stud in his left earlobe, either something new or she’d never been this close before.

  “What should you have told me?”

  “Well, you know I took some books out of the library about the area and its history?” He didn’t wait for her response. “I wasn’t the only one. Loreena Swan was there, too, looking through the same stacks.”

  “Did you talk to her?”

  “No. She was focused, man, didn’t even seem to notice that I was there.”

  “When was this?”

  “A couple of days before she died.”

  “Do you think she was checking on the same kind of information? Did she have a hunch about some smuggling using the grotto? Do you think it’s tied in to her murder?” Shelby knew these weren’t questions she should really be asking Cody, but she was mainly thinking out loud.

  He shrugged. “No idea, but it seems sort of strange that even though she’s lived here all her life, or so I hear, she was looking through the section about the Bay and the castle, and on that particular day. Don’t ya think? I mean, who knew more about the history of the area, so why would she bother looking it up unless something new had happened?”

  “I agree. Now, if there was a way to know what it meant, I’d be thrilled.”

  He sat down on a pile of boxes, looking dejected. “Yeah. We’ll never know.”

  Shelby roused herself. “Back to the smuggling. Do you think it’s possible there’s current-day smuggling going on?”

  “I guess so. Anything’s possible, right? You just have to have the means, method, and motive.” He paused to grin. “I know, I’ve been reading Christie again. Why not ask that C
oast Guard guy?”

  Shelby chuckled. “I’ve tried. He thinks it’s none of my business.”

  Cody smiled, showing off a perfect set of white teeth. “He’s probably right. But maybe we don’t need him. Maybe we could stake out the grotto and see for ourselves.”

  Shelby almost choked when she heard that. “Uh, intriguing idea, but where would we start? We have no idea if it’s happening, for starters. And if it is, we don’t know their schedule. And even if we did, we’d have to figure out what to do about Matthew. I mean, do we tell him or go behind his back? And I know he’s keeping an ear open for stray boats, so it would be awfully hard to get to the island without his knowing.” Shelby had stuck her hand in the air and was counting off the reasons on her fingers as she went along. She now spread her hands wide and shrugged. “I can’t even begin to figure out where to start.”

  Cody grinned. “You’re probably right, but you do agree? There is a chance that someone is back in the smuggling biz? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have asked me.” He looked pleased with himself.

  “You got me there. You’re really into this. What are you planning on studying at college?” Something to do with law, she’d bet.

  “Business, which I think sucks. It’s mainly because that’s what my dad wants me to do.” He tugged at his left earlobe, not looking too happy.

  “Gee, that would be great, having a business student working here in the summer. I might expand your duties.” She raised her eyebrows. The question was out there.

  He looked surprised. “Oh, yeah … I want to stay working part-time; it’s just I don’t think you should count on me doing anything great for you in the business end of things.” He leaned a bit closer to her and lowered his voice, even though they were alone. “What I’m really hoping is that once I’m on campus, I can switch into something real cool. Dad will blow a gasket, but it is my life, right?”

  Shelby didn’t want to get on the bad side of Mr. Tucker, although she’d never met him, but she could see that Cody needed some reassurance. She’d never been one for parents interfering in their kids’ futures. But she was also his boss and felt it wasn’t her place to get involved in this discussion.