Welcome to Spicetown

by Sheri Richey

  “What were their questions?” Cora asked leaning forward.

  “They wanted to know how I knew Denise, how I met her and what our relationship was now.

  “I told them that I just introduced myself a few months after she opened and showed her my plants. I asked her if she would be interested in putting them in her shop.”

  “I was afraid of all this,” Amanda said. “After I found out her products weren’t good, I was afraid it would be bad to do business with her but I never thought it would mean getting questioned by the police. This doesn’t have anything to do with the oils, does it?”

  “No, I don’t think so,” Cora said shaking her head. She didn’t feel like she could share much yet but she didn’t want Amanda to feel that she had caused the police trouble.

  “They didn’t mention that to me,” Bryan said. “They just wanted to know what I knew about her, about her personally, and I really don’t know anything.”

  “Well, you said once that you thought she had a boyfriend,” Amanda said. “Remember? She was yelling at him on the phone.”

  “Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. Some guy named Harvey and I don’t know if he was a boyfriend but she wasn’t very happy with him. I didn’t think to tell the police that.”

  “I think it’s best that you just put this all behind you,” Cora said. “You haven’t done anything to worry about and I don’t think they’ll need to talk to you again.”

  “You know something.” Amanda crinkled her eyes and smiled at Cora. “I understand if you can’t tell me, but I can tell that you know something.”

  Cora chuckled as they pulled up to her house and turned into the driveway.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” Cora said to Amanda. “Thank you for the ride, dear. You drive safely.”

  Bryan started to get out of the car to help Cora to the door but she waved off his assistance and stomped her boots on the front mat.

  Once she was in the house and she saw the light on, Amanda backed out of the driveway slowly. “Do you think I should call the sheriff and tell him about the boyfriend?”

  “No. You’ve basically done that already by telling Cora. The information will get there if it’s important to the case. She has an inside track.”

  §

  “Sorry, it’s so late, Miss June,” Conrad said as June answered the door with a shocked expression on her face. “And I’m sorry to bother you right at the dinner hour, but do you think we can come in?”

  “Certainly, Chief,” June said as she backed into her living room and reached for his coat.

  “This is Sheriff Bell,” Conrad said as June draped their coats over an arm chair by the door. “If you don’t mind too much, I’d like to show him what you have in the garage.”

  Bobby nodded his head and smiled at June. Conrad was pleased Bobby was abiding by his instruction to stay quiet and not alarm June. His usual brusque approach to everything would have either scared or angered her. Conrad offered his assistance on a conditional basis. He wasn’t going to help Bobby get inside if he refused to cooperate.

  “Of course, Chief,” June said wringing her hands nervously.

  “I think it might help him with something he’s working on so I wanted to show it to him.”

  “Okay. Of course, I want to help. Shouldn’t I call Saucy first?”

  “I’m going to visit him next, so I’ll let him know,” Conrad said nodding decisively.

  “I don’t know what help it will be, but you can come through my kitchen here.”

  June reluctantly opened the door and picked up the scissors that were still sitting on the washing machine as they walked through the door.

  “Ma’am,” Bobby held his hands up. “Can you give me those scissors?”

  “What? Oh, these?” June looked down at the scissors in her hand and hesitated. “Sure. Here you go.” June thrust them at Bobby and laughed. “I wasn’t going to get you with them. I thought you’d want to use them to open the boxes.”

  Conrad smiled as Bobby took the scissors and relaxed.

  “I want you to know that stuff out there isn’t my brother’s. I thought it was but when we opened it earlier, I knew those things didn’t belong to him.”

  Bobby followed Conrad to the large box that he had peered in earlier and Bobby nodded discreetly.

  “Ma’am, would you mind if I had some fellows come over and move this stuff out for you? I think I might know who it belongs to.”

  “That’s exactly what I’d like you to do,” June exclaimed. “You can load it all up and dump it at Denise Ivy’s house. That’s where it all belongs.”

  “My guys will get it all cleared out for you,” Bobby said warmly.

  “Will they clean off my car too? It’s all covered with snow because that stuff is taking up all my space.”

  “I think we can arrange that,” Bobby said smiling at Conrad. “Let me make a call.”

  Conrad patted June on the shoulder and led her back inside where it was warm while Bobby called his office.

  “You were right all along, Miss June. Those boxes don’t belong in there and I think Sheriff Bell will take good care of it for you.”

  “Well, I’ll be glad to see it gone, but I hope Saucy doesn’t get mad with me. I don’t want to see him in any trouble.”

  “I’ll explain everything when I go by there. I’m going to leave Sheriff Bell here with you.”

  “That’ll be fine,” June said as Conrad stepped back into the garage and arranged things with Bobby. The sheriff had called his office and had deputies coming with a van to collect the boxes.

  Conrad slipped into his coat as he went out the front door and pulled his phone from his pocket.

  “Bobby is all taken care of. I’m going to talk to Saucy now.”

  “I’m ready. Pick me up. I am watching out the front window for you.”

  Saucy would be more forthcoming if Cora were there. She had known him all her life and Saucy had a lot of respect for her. Lifetime citizens of Spicetown still viewed Conrad as a newcomer sometimes, despite the decade he’d lived there.

  Conrad called dispatch and told Sam he was leaving the sheriff at June’s house and to send whoever was available on patrol over to June’s to coordinate the transfer of the garage contents while he waited on Cora to make her way to the car. She was shuffling down the snow shoveled steps before Conrad came to a stop in the drive.

  “I’m so glad you drive a normal car,” Cora said as she plopped down and reached to pull the car door shut. “I thought I’d never get up in that SUV of Amanda’s.”

  “You should have told Sam to get you a ride. Somebody on patrol could have run you home.” Cora was spry for her age but she was not much more than five feet tall and he had to chuckle. Her remark gave him a vivid memory of trying to get her out of a boat and onto the dock one day when he went fishing with her late husband, Bing.

  “Oh, I hated to be a bother. So, how did it go with Bobby? How was June?”

  “Bobby was the perfect gentleman,” Conrad said straighten his shoulders as he drove.

  “You coached him a little then?”

  “I did. He didn’t like it much, but he behaved.”

  “So, June is okay with it?”

  “Yes. She was worried that Saucy might be mad, but I told her I was going over there.

  “Bobby isn’t going to come after Saucy, is he?”

  “I don’t think so. He really wants Ellis.”

  “He’s short-sighted,” Cora said huffing. “Ellis isn’t running things.”

  “You don’t think so?” Conrad grinned but Cora didn’t notice. He had been thinking the same thing.

  “I don’t. Saucy is involved, but he’s not running it either. Bryan told me that he heard Denise yelling at Saucy on the phone when he was in the store. Saucy is afraid of her for some reason.”

  “So, you think it’s Denise? You’re just mad because she sold you fake oils,” Conrad said chuckling at Cora’s blustery expression. The thought did give
him pause though.

  “Maybe, but I think June knows more than she’s saying. We need Saucy to spill it,” Cora said as they pulled in the driveway. The lights were on in the home and it appeared Saucy was there. “You can be the good cop this time.”

  Conrad tossed his head back as his eyes rolled up. Cora was in detective mode now and she could get feisty when she felt wronged.

  “You are not the bad cop.” Conrad stopped the car in front of Saucy’s garage. “You are the mayor; don’t forget.”

  It was Cora’s turn to roll her eyes as she jerked the car door open. The outside lights came on and Saucy was at the side door before Conrad could reach Cora at the door.

  “Saucy, we need to talk to you,” Cora said before Saucy had a chance to greet them. “Can we come in?”

  Saucy opened his screen door and Cora charged in, not looking back to see if Conrad was keeping up.

  “Evening, Saucy. Sorry for the late hour, but can we talk to you?” Conrad said while Cora took off her coat.

  “Sure, Chief. Is anything wrong?”

  “Well, I need to tell you about my evening,” Conrad said as Saucy guided them to the living room and Cora sat down.

  “Okay.” Saucy stared at both of them solemnly from his chair across from the sofa. Conrad was surprised at his demure reaction. Saucy always offered drinks and rattled on about a dozen different things which made it difficult to get a word in when you had something to say.

  “I went to see June tonight…” Conrad began.

  “Is she okay?”

  “Yes, she’s fine.” Conrad nodded as he noted some anxiety flutter Saucy’s breathing. “I took the sheriff by there, too.”

  Conrad paused expecting Saucy to dive in with a jumble of questions but he said nothing. Cora always grew impatient with Conrad’s gradual approach and had to jump in.

  “Do you know why?” she asked Saucy pointedly. “Do you know why they visited June tonight?”

  “No.” Saucy widened his eyes with fake innocence. “Did she call you? I should have stopped by there tonight but it was so late.”

  Conrad glanced at Cora with a warning in his eyes. She wanted to pounce on Saucy but he didn’t think it was time for that yet.

  “Saucy, the items June has stored in her garage, the boxes… Are those your boxes?”

  Saucy looked down at the floor between them and said nothing. Cora moved to the edge of the sofa where her feet could touch the floor, but Conrad held out his arm to slow her.

  “Were those the same boxes that you had in your garage?” Conrad kept probing for a question that Saucy would answer.

  “Yes, Chief,” Saucy said slowly and took a deep breath. “They aren’t my boxes.”

  “Do you know what’s in them?”

  “No, Chief. I don’t have any idea.”

  “Who do the boxes belong to?”

  Saucy held his head in his hands and looked down at the floor. “June told me to stay out of it. She just wanted them stored.”

  “Who told you?”

  Saucy wouldn’t meet Cora’s eyes and she may think she was playing bad cop, but Conrad knew he was about to see the school teacher come out in her. “The items in those boxes were dangerous. Did you know that? Did you know they could have hurt somebody?”

  “I was just trying to help,” Saucy said innocently. “She needed a place to put some things.”

  “Look—” Cora snapped and Conrad again tried to calm her with a look.

  “Saucy, we know Denise was your step-daughter,” Conrad said glancing at Cora. “What we don’t understand is why you are keeping that a secret.”

  Saucy looked at the floor again, searching for words or a story to fabricate, Conrad didn’t know which, but Cora’s patience was up.

  “Harvey Saltzman.” Cora rose to her feet. “You look me in the eye right now and tell me what’s going on. What is Denise mixed up in and why are you involving yourself in this nonsense?”

  “I don’t know anything about it,” Saucy pleaded. “I was just trying to help.”

  “Since when do you do something you don’t want to do? I’ve known you for fifty years and you don’t just let people walk all over you. Now, what’s with this girl? Why is she dictating what you do?” Cora was speaking louder than necessary but Saucy’s behavior was frustrating her.

  “Saucy.” Conrad breathed in calmly trying to diminish the tension. “We can go ask Denise if you prefer. We know what she’s done and what your involvement has been. We want to understand why you did it. That’s all.”

  Conrad didn’t really know what Denise had done, but he thought Denise was the one telling Saucy what to do.

  Saucy slumped in his chair. “Denise is, was my step-daughter and she, well she is hard to handle. She scares me sometimes. I don’t really know anything, but I felt like I had to help. I didn’t know what was in there, but I thought the stuff might be stolen.”

  Cora lowered herself back to the sofa and relaxed.

  “June is having a hard time. Denise, too.” Saucy said shaking his head and still looking at the floor. “I didn’t know how to help.”

  “June?” Conrad said and glanced at Cora.

  “I’ve tried to help out but I don’t have much. They were working on something but I’m not really included. I don’t know anything.”

  “So, they have Ellis stealing things for them? And you were helping out, too?” Cora started to stand up again when Saucy didn’t respond but Conrad put his hand on her arm.

  Saucy lifted his head and met their eyes. “Denise said she would tell you that I am a child molester, that I molested her when she was little. She threatened to file charges on me and tell you horrible things about me.” Saucy covered his face with both hands.

  “I never did those things, I never, but she is so mean and I knew she would do it. I couldn’t take that. I couldn’t have you think that. June couldn’t stop her. She wanted me to stay out of it. Just store some boxes and butt out. I tried to talk to them. I tried to tell them there was another way.”

  Conrad saw the pained expression in Cora’s eyes as Saucy began to sob into his open hands.

  “Tell us what you know,” Conrad said.

  They all sat in silence until Saucy had calmed, blown his nose and offered them refreshments. Cora pulled a leather folder from her oversized satchel she called a purse and handed it to Conrad as they moved to the kitchen table.

  Cora was quiet as Conrad peacefully extracted all the facts that were known to Saucy and helped him complete his signed statement.

  Saucy shared his limited knowledge of Denise coordinating burglaries for June with Shawn Ellis and helping him sell the merchandise they collected. Denise had started out an honest business person, but when money became tight, she looked for alternative ways to keep her business open. She came to Aunt June for help and was following her lead. That meant using Shawn Ellis to do her dirty work.

  Cora was stricken with the tortured look in Saucy’s eyes as he recounted the way Denise had treated him since she had returned to Spicetown. Her earlier suspicions that Denise was the mastermind did not encompass the level of evil this elder abuse had caused. Now knowing that his sister was behind it all, she saw Saucy’s spirit was broken and he was ashamed.

  As they left Saucy’s house, Cora hugged him and patted his back. She told him she was sorry this had happened to him and tried to reassure him that they didn’t think badly of him at all. Standing in his doorway waving goodbye to them, he appeared a smaller man for the experience. She worried about leaving him alone as they rode to her house in silence.

  “Come in,” Cora said as she turned to open the car door when they arrived at her house.

  “I have to make some calls.”

  “I know. You can do that while I make us something to eat.”

  Conrad nodded and turned off the car to follow Cora into her house. She went directly to the kitchen and Conrad slipped into her living room and called Sheriff Bell for what he hoped would be the
last time that night.

  After dinner Cora nestled herself into her favorite chair in the living room, propped her feet up on the ottoman and tossed the chenille cover over her legs as Conrad sat in what would always be Bing’s chair. Her cat jumped in Conrad’s lap and rubbed her head against his chest just as she had always done to Bing.

  While Cora had boiled some pasta for a quick dinner, Conrad had talked with the sheriff by phone and had one of his officers drop by to pick up Saucy’s statement. Once the sheriff received the information, June was arrested and an arrest warrant was issued for Denise. They would both be taken to Paxton that night.

  Conrad felt Saucy was cleared, and the stolen merchandise was no longer in his town.

  “I have good news and bad,” Conrad said as he stroked Cora’s orange cat, Marmalade.

  “I could use some good right about now.”

  “Well, Darren Hudson tells me that he has a friend in the sheriff’s department who’s working on this case. They went to state police training together. He can find out what’s going on and keep me in the loop because you know Bobby isn’t going to talk to me.”

  “How soon can we expect to hear something?”

  “That’s the bad news. It’s going to take a week to get forensics back most likely. They took prints off the van and they’re doing the same on the boxes and contents. I just hope they can hold on to Ellis with something else until those results come in.

  “Bobby never would tell me what he had, but he had to have some evidence of Ellis doing those burglaries to start him on this trail. Denise and June could be cleared unless Ellis talks. I don’t know that there is any real evidence against June.”

  “What a day.” Cora shook her head in disbelief.

  “Indeed, it was,” Conrad said, but there was relief that the niggling feeling was gone.

  “Do you think Ellis will talk now? If he’s just a gopher in the plan, I would think he would want to sing. No reason to take all the blame.”

  “I expect Denise will try to implicate him when she gives her statement,” Conrad said. “June will probably try to implicate Denise. The problem is that we know Denise and Ellis have a connection. We don’t have anything to tie June to all this except statements from people involved. That’s not going to be enough for a conviction.”