Claus for Alarm

by Gretchen Allen

  Chapter 12

  “Thanks for meeting me.” Teddy pulled a chair out so Charlotte could sit.

  “It’s nice to see you again,” Charlotte responded. She meant it, sort of. It was Emmy that made her feel uncomfortable, not Teddy.

  “Did you want to eat?” Teddy asked, sitting across from Charlotte at the deli where they’d agreed to meet.

  “I think I’ll just order a coffee for now. What is it that you wanted to talk about?”

  Teddy called a server over and ordered two coffees.

  “I know it’s been a long time since I’ve been here in Partridge Point, and things didn’t end well between Hannah and me, but if I know her at all, I know she’d want someone to figure this out. The last time we talked, I told you I thought someone was maybe framing her for Kira’s murder, but something happened that made me second guess that.” Teddy’s voice was low as he looked around the deli.

  “Is something wrong?” Charlotte asked, wondering why he was whispering. If he felt the need to be secretive, meeting in a public place wasn’t the best option. However, Charlotte wasn’t too keen on meeting him alone, either. It wasn’t as though there was something wrong with Teddy. More like, Charlotte didn’t know him very well and still hadn’t found out why he’d left town in the first place.

  “There might be.” Teddy nodded. “Did you ever have the chance to meet Norm Dade?”

  “I met him at a cookie exchange meeting,” Charlotte told him, pausing to let the server deliver their coffee. “I wasn’t aware at first that he was Kira’s husband, though.”

  Teddy sighed, swirling his spoon in his coffee for much longer than necessary. “When I left, their relationship was strained, to say the least. I thought that might have changed, but it turned out that I was wrong. Norm came to see me last night.”

  “Oh?” She noticed that Gabby and Teddy had used the same phrase while describing the Dade’s relationship.

  “A while back, Hannah told me that Norm was planning on running for mayor. He never ended up doing it for whatever reason, but I always suspected that it had something to do with Kira. She and I dated back when we were kids for a short time before Hannah and I got together. I’m not sure she ever got over it, and I think it bothered Norm even years later.”

  “What are you saying?” Charlotte sensed Teddy wasn’t enjoying the conversation. “How is this related to Hannah? Was Kira the reason you two split up?” Charlotte thought back to the day of the meeting when she saw the two of them talking.

  “I don’t think that Kira would have ever tried to split us up. I’m saying that I think Norm may have killed his wife.”

  “What on earth would make you think that? Because he didn’t run for mayor two years ago? Why would either of them have been at Hannah’s house in the middle of the night, anyway?”

  “It wasn’t quite the middle of the night, but I see what you’re saying. Is it crazy to think that Kira was following me and thought I might be going to Hannah’s and then Norm was following her, and…”

  “Yes. I think that does sound crazy.”

  “I hope I don’t sound full of myself or anything because I don’t want to come off that way to you of all people.” Teddy’s eyes were wide, looking panicked.

  “Me of all people? Who the heck am I, but some old lady who thinks nine p.m. is the middle of the night?” Charlotte chuckled at her own joke.

  “Hannah doesn’t get close to many people.” Teddy shrugged. “So, you think my idea is dumb?”

  “I don’t think it’s dumb. I think it makes perfect sense that Norm would kill his wife because he thought she was going after an old flame. Well, let me be clear. I don’t think that’s normal at all. I think it’s awful, but for this particular situation, it fits. However, I don’t think that the whole, who was following who thing is right. You didn’t go to Hannah’s. You came to my house.”

  “Yeah, I guess.” Teddy swirled his spoon again. “Then Norm would have had to get inside Hannah’s, steal a knife, then go back outside to kill Kira. That doesn’t work, but it does make sense that he’d kill his wife because he was jealous, and do it in Hannah’s yard so he could run for mayor and not worry about going against her.”

  “Actually, it could work.” Charlotte thought about Franco and when he’d told her that she never locked her doors. Then she went even further back to the night she first met Hannah and remembered that she’d told Charlotte not to bother locking the door behind her. Under any other circumstances, that wouldn’t have meant much of anything, but when it gave basically anyone the ability to let themselves inside Hannah’s house because her door was unlocked, it changed everything.

  “That goes back to Norm framing Hannah and him killing his wife. How sure are we that he really had a reason to do either of those things?” Teddy asked.

  “I’m not sure of anything, to be frank. The part about Norm and Kira, maybe, but I don’t know,” Charlotte shook her head, now doing more fidgeting than Teddy. The problem was that anyone in town could have gotten in Hannah’s house. It was just time to determine who would have wanted to kill Kira and possibly frame Hannah at the same time.

  “Did you have any other ideas?” Teddy asked, looking hopeful.

  Charlotte finally decided to trust him. She didn’t feel the same about his mother but would keep that to herself for now.

  “Gabby Raye? She told me she went into Hannah’s house all the time,” Charlotte began.

  “For her yoga rug.” Teddy nodded.

  “I think it’s a yoga mat, but yes. She admitted to not only having access to Hannah’s house, but she was also a bit smug about how she was her stand-in for mayor. Do you think it’s possible she’d have killed Kira to take over her job for good?”

  “Sounds possible, but why was Kira at her house to begin with?” Teddy pointed out the obvious. “Not to mention, if Gabby Raye wanted the job, she could have run for mayor herself at the last election. She’s been Town Administrator for like ten years. I never thought she wanted to be anything but that.”

  “People change. Gabby Raye and I share a love for Christmas, but I believe that’s where our similarities end. I don’t think we’ll have our answer about who killed Kira until we know why she was there. Any ideas on how to figure that out?” Charlotte asked.

  “Is there any way we can talk to Hannah?”

  “No. I’ve tried. They won’t let me talk to her at all. What if we talk to Norm?” Charlotte perked up at the idea.

  “I just told you I think he might have killed his wife. Are you sure that’s a good plan?”

  “How about I do some digging and see if I can meet up with him about the cookie exchange. He was there for the meetings. I don’t know why, but he was. I can figure something out just based on that.”

  Charlotte already had ideas swirling in her head. She’d bake a bunch of cookies and bring them to Norm’s house. She could claim that she was confused and wasn’t sure where to bring them since hands had changed. She’d do it on a day the senior center was closed, too, so it would make more sense that she couldn’t just have tried to bring them there. Charlotte wasn’t eager to meet with him alone, but she’d have to hope for the best and let Teddy know where she was going, or maybe Franco would be a better idea for that job.

  “I’d like to keep helping. After you talk to him, will you fill me in on what happened? I want to do everything I can for Hannah. None of this is fair.”

  “I like how concerned you are about her. I feel the same way, but I have to ask again, why did you leave her? I want to say that she’d appreciate you looking out for her, but I’m worried about the fact that you came back and want to act like nothing happened. You hurt her a lot, and she also didn’t deserve that.” Charlotte stuck up for Hannah, realizing even more how much she cared for her.

  “We had different views for our futures. Hannah needed to focus on her career, and I didn’t want to get in the way of that,” Teddy finally admitted the truth.

  Charlotte wasn
’t surprised to hear that Hannah wanted to put her career first. She had a big job, and a lot to focus on. A relationship could get in the way of that.

  “You could have told her that instead of leaving her high and dry, wondering what she did wrong all this time.”

  “Yeah. I could have, and I should have.” Teddy’s face was red. “I made a lot of bad choices when it came to Hannah.”

  “Sounds that way,” Charlotte agreed. She wasn’t trying to be rude, but it did sound like the truth.

  “Will you contact me if you decide to talk to Norm?” Teddy asked.

  “I can do that,” Charlotte agreed, putting some money on the table for her coffee.

  “No, no. I’ll take care of that. It’s the least I can do,” Teddy offered.

  Charlotte let Teddy pay, promising him again to call after she spoke with Norm. She’d decided to call Franco and let him know she was going, so someone would be aware of where she was just in case something bad happened. After her conversation with Teddy, she was only moderately sure of a few things. Several people had a motive to kill Kira, and even more people had the opportunity. Teddy still had feelings for Hannah, and finally, she had absolutely no idea why all the people in Partridge Point even pretended to be friends with one another. There were more secrets in this town than she’d ever seen anywhere else and she’d been a lot of places over the last sixty-odd years of her life.

  Chapter 13

  “I know I saw you out and about the other day using Miss Sutton’s car. What made you call me?” Burt asked, opening the door for Charlotte.

  “I wanted the company. It’s been a rough week,” Charlotte admitted, sliding into the passenger seat.

  “Well, I’m glad you called. Where to?” Burt asked, turning the heat on high, once he’d gotten himself settled in the car.

  “I’d like to go to the market and maybe stop by the town offices. Not in that order, of course.”

  Burt nodded. “Is that why you didn’t want to use Miss Sutton’s car?”

  “Basically, yes. I’d like to stop and talk to Franco for a moment and wanted to avoid any trouble.”

  Charlotte had decided that she was going to talk to Norm. She would go to the market, get a few more ingredients to make some cookies, baking what Norm had written down the day of the meeting as his favorite. She knew it didn’t really matter what kind of cookies she baked, but it couldn’t hurt to have some that she knew he liked. Charlotte wanted to let Franco in on her secret and that she’d be stopping by Norm’s house later that day.

  “Got it. I’ll take you anywhere you need to go, but I’d like to make a quick stop first,” Burt said.

  “Okay.” Charlotte was easy to please, but she’d never been on a taxi ride where she’d had to make a stop for the driver before. Not too long later, they pulled up to Dean’s gas station again.

  “You know, it’s probably better that you try to remember to get gas in your car before you pick people up,” Charlotte said, half kidding.

  “We aren’t here for that.” Burt chuckled. “Look.”

  Charlotte looked, seeing the holiday decorations that Dean had hung. “You brought me here to see the decorations?” she asked.

  “I sure did,” Burt said, eagerly.

  “Why, Burt, that’s one of the kindest things someone has done for me all year.” Charlotte felt the chill that she got every so often, much less recently, once again. The Christmas magic was back.

  “It wasn’t hard to see that you needed some cheering up. I know Dean didn’t do much, but it’s something. You don’t know him, but for a guy like Dean, this is a pretty big deal.”

  “It looks lovely,” Charlotte said, still not over Burt’s kind gesture. She had to admit that he was right. She did need to see the decorations. With Christmas only a few weeks away, Charlotte’s life normally looked much more festive. Unfortunately, murder had gotten in the way of that. Charlotte opened the door of the taxi, then shut it again quickly.

  “What’s wrong?” Burt asked. “You can go inside. I don’t mind waiting.”

  “Ahh. No, that’s okay. I’ll thank him another time. I really should be getting to the market.”

  When Charlotte opened the door, prepared to thank Dean for decorating and tell him how great of a job he did, she saw that Norm was inside. She was glad she got a glimpse of him before she went inside herself. It might have foiled her plan for later.

  “Don’t you want to stop at the town offices first?” Burt asked.

  “Yes, that’s right. I do,” Charlotte responded, fiddling with a button on her coat.

  Burt gave her an odd look before pulling the taxi out of the lot. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m great!” Charlotte told a half-truth. “Thank you so much for bringing me here. It’s inspired me to go back and get the rest of my decorations set up. Things might feel dark around here for obvious reasons, but I don’t need to let it get to me. I love Christmas, and I don’t want to lose that feeling.” In reality, Charlotte probably would go back home and set up the decorations that had arrived in the mail, but the rest she was going to keep to herself. Burt seemed out of the loop, or at least professional enough not to talk about the murder, and Charlotte didn’t want to involve more people, anyway.

  “You’re the boss,” Burt said.

  “I won’t be long,” Charlotte said when they’d arrived at the town offices.

  “Alrighty. I’ll be here.”

  Charlotte left Burt and went into the town offices just like she’d done a couple of times before. She’d met the same cheerful young woman behind the desk, but this time her response shocked her.

  “I’m sorry, Franco isn’t available.”

  “I don’t mind waiting,” Charlotte said with a smile.

  “Perhaps I misspoke. Franco isn’t in today.” The woman had barely looked up from her computer screen. It’s not like she and Charlotte were friends, but previously, the woman had been very kind.

  “Oh, what a shame. I hope he’s not sick or something. It’s that time of year.” Charlotte felt bad.

  The woman looked around. “Listen, don’t repeat this to anyone because I will deny that I ever said it, but Franco was let go today. Don’t ask me why, because I can’t tell you all of that, but let’s just say, his loyalties lied where other’s thought they shouldn’t.”

  Charlotte’s jaw dropped. “Let go, as in fired?!” she asked a little too loudly.

  The woman behind the desk held her finger to her lips and rolled her eyes. “If I wasn’t clear before, I shouldn’t have told you anything about it. So, please, stop shouting it from the rooftops.”

  “Sorry.” Charlotte cringed. “I’m surprised, is all. You said something about his loyalties. Does that mean Hannah?”

  “That means I can’t tell you anything else, other than Franco isn’t here today. Now, if there’s nothing else I can help you with, have a great day!” the woman said, back to her friendly demeanor.

  Charlotte noticed someone heading toward them. The secretary was probably told to give that response to anyone that asked about Franco. Rather than stirring the pot, Charlotte told the woman to have a nice day, and went back outside. She was torn between going to the market and carrying on with her plan to talk to Norm, or getting Burt to take her home so she could go see Franco. It couldn’t be that hard to locate his address.

  “All set?” Burt asked when Charlotte returned.

  “Good to go. I’m ready for the market.”

  Charlotte decided on the fly that she’d get both things she’d wanted to do taken care of. The only thing that changed, was that she was going to have to risk going to Norm’s on her own without telling anyone. What could really happen, anyway? Even if he was the killer, it was very unlikely that he’d do anything to Charlotte not only in the middle of the day, but in general. She had no intention on talking about Hannah, or Kira, or anything. She’d go, offer her condolences, and bring along some cookies with her. That couldn’t cause too much harm.


  Burt and Charlotte went to the market, this time Burt came inside with her. He pushed her grocery cart, helping her take down items that were on the top shelf.

  “I could get used to this,” Charlotte joked. “Thanks for the help.”

  “No problem at all. That’s what I’m here for,” Burt replied.

  “Well, it’s a first for me to have a taxi driver that goes grocery shopping with me and does all the heavy lifting.”

  Burt laughed. “I suppose it is a little out of the ordinary, but I’m glad to do it. I like spending time with you. I hope I don’t offend, but you remind me of my mother.”

  Charlotte loved hearing that. It made her feel good to be told that she reminded someone of a person in their life they cared about deeply.

  “No offense at all. I think that’s wonderful. I don’t have any children of my own, and it’s nice to hear.”

  “I didn’t know you didn’t have kids,” Burt commented.

  “No reason for you to. I’m happily married, and my husband and I have spent our lives dedicated to our business. It’s been a great life, truly.”

  “Do you ever feel lonely?” Burt asked. “I’m sorry. That was out of line.”

  Charlotte gave a smile. “It’s okay. I don’t mind. Sometimes I feel that way, but mostly I just do my best to make friends wherever I go. I try hard to invite people into my life that are both old and young so I can enjoy a bit of everyone.”

  “I like that idea. I know someone in town that you may get along with. She’s about your age, and is basically alone. Her husband died years ago, and her son moved out of town. She lives on my street. I can introduce the two of you if you’d like,” Burt offered. “I know you will only be here for a few more weeks, but maybe you two could spend some time together. I think you’d make great friends.”