“So let me get this straight,” Stormi mused. “This lawyer is in our small town at 9pm on a weeknight staring in the window of an ice cream Shoppe at his client who has collapsed and he doesn’t do anything? And this is the same lawyer that helped him get a settlement with Landry’s and was also representing him against the Parker’s?”
“You got it,” Paige announced. “Wow, I did not expect this.”
“So are you going to take the tape to the police?” Sam asked.
The three of us looked at one another. I could almost see the little cogs turning in Stormi’s head. Paige too appeared as if she was mulling over the situation with great intent. I knew Stormi would want to explore this just as much as I would. We both loved a good mystery, and finding ourselves in the midst of one was too glorious to give up now.
Paige on the other hand was the down to earth rational thinker of the bunch so it floored me when she said, “Let’s wait.” She turned to Sam and Colton. “Now don’t tell anyone we have this tape. It’s probably nothing, but you know how gossip flies in a small town and we wouldn’t want to get anyone in trouble unnecessarily right?”
The kids nodded in agreement.
“Thanks so much Colton for helping us out,” Paige continued then looked at her watch.
“Isn’t it time you two went and did what kids do during the summer?”
“We know you want to get rid of us so you can talk about the tape,” Sam chortled.
“That’s right Miss Smarty Pants so you two skedaddle,” Paige said as she scooted them out the door.
“I’m surprised you don’t want to turn this in to the police,” I said as I continued to look at the now blurry image of Reginald Brooks.
“Wouldn’t it be something if we confronted him and he confessed!” Paige exclaimed.
“Now you’re starting to think like us,” Stormi stated. “We can’t have that. One of us has to be level headed. If we’re all three flying off the handle hard telling where we’ll end up.”
“Likely in the hoosegow,” I said pushing down the monitor on my laptop to close it. “So how do you propose we get Mr. Reginald Brooks Esquire to town and meet with us?”
“I’m not sure,” Paige answered. “Let me think on it.”
She wouldn’t have to think long because to our surprise Mr. Brooks would come to us.
*****
Paige left the store soon after our little powwow to volunteer at the library in the children’s room. She said she’d return later that day. That left Stormi and I to further discuss the tape and Mr. Brooks between our afternoon customers. Eventually we were so busy filling orders that the tape and what was on it got lost in a flurry of orange pineapple delight cones and strawberry and banana smoothies.
I was honestly glad for the respite. It was only a few months ago the town was rocked by the murder of Miss Greta Haglemier. Now here was another homicide right in my own ice cream Shoppe. As much as I liked to sit on my porch and read a fascinating mystery, I wasn’t sure how I felt being in the middle of one. Especially one hitting so close to home. But then the amateur sleuth in me would win out and like a puzzle, I had to try to fit the pieces together.
Stormi was always my partner in crime. We loved reading mysteries together so we could compare notes to see if we could figure out the culprit before the end. Every year we’d choose several whodunits, get together with hot cocoa and scones in the winter or iced tea and muffins in the summer, and have our own little book club. Years later Paige joined our little group and enjoyed it just as much as we did. We never thought that the three of us would be thrust into not one but two real life murder investigations. But here we were. Maybe all the mystery reading and solving over the years had actually prepared us for these fascinating cases. Who knows, but whatever it was, we were in the thick of it now.
Around 3pm, we had our normal afternoon lull so Stormi and I wiped down the tables and decided to take a break and rest our weary feet.
“I need a new pair of Sketchers,” Stormi announced as she hobbled to the ice cream case to scoop a dip of almond mocha into a cone. Her pink and yellow tennis shoes could blind a person a mile away.
“What colors do you want this time?” I asked knowing whatever colors she chose they wouldn’t be muted. “Oh and get me a dip of coffee please.” I was busy standing behind the counter looking through my ice cream cake orders.
Stormi grabbed two cones, holding them both in one hand and the ice cream scoop in the other. She scooped one dip of almond mocha into one cone and was preparing to land the scoop of coffee into the second cone when it splat on the floor.
“Wow, that’s not like you,” I said as I looked up at her. She was staring at the front of the store. I followed her gaze and gave a start. There he was….Mr. Reginald Brooks standing at the front door of my Shoppe looking in.
“Crimony,” Stormi muttered still holding the cones in midair, one with ice cream and one without.
When he saw us staring at him, Mr. Brooks opened the front door and walked in. He wore a dark suit with a stunning red tie that set off his grey hair and perfect haircut. I quickly ducked down to clean up the mess on the floor then popped my head back up as he approached the counter. I nudged Stormi so she’d come out of her spell and stop staring at Mr. Brooks. The almond mocha that made it to the cone was now melting, streaming down onto her fingers. She walked over to the sink and dumped the ice cream into it, threw the cone away, and washed her hands.
“Good afternoon ladies,” Mr. Brooks said with a smile.
“Afternoon,” I said warily not sure why he was here. Of course, he could simply be here to order a smoothie, or as Stormi was probably thinking, here to kill us all. Ugh!
“What can I get for you today?” I asked trying to smile. I could see Stormi turn around at the sink and stare at him.
“Actually I have a few questions for you,” he said.
Questions? For us? Stormi took a move towards her weapon of choice, the stainless steel ice cream scoop.
“I noticed there is a vacancy right next door. A for lease sign in the window. Do you happen to know the people who own the property? The phone number on the sign is somewhat smudged.”
We both stared at the man. He must have thought he entered a town where people go inexplicably mute.
“Ladies? Is there anything wrong?” He asked taking a step backward.
Finally, I found my voice. “Oh no,” I stammered. “I was trying to think of the name of the owner.” I looked at Stormi. “Isn’t it Hanson?”
Stormi looked at me. “Yes but the owner doesn’t live around here.” She looked back at Mr. Brooks and asked, “Why do you want to know?”
“I’m interested in leasing the place,” he answered. “I’m getting older and I’d like to settle down here in Caesar’s Creek away from the city life of Atlanta. That way I can take on fewer cases but still remain busy. I was driving through town when I happened to see the for lease sign and thought I’d stop and retrieve the number but it’s too difficult for me to distinguish so I thought maybe you ladies might know the owner.”
I could tell Stormi wasn’t sure if she believed him or not. I didn’t know if I did either.
“No, we don’t know the owner,” I replied. “Like I said, he doesn’t live around here although he does own some properties in town. Sorry we can’t be of more help.”
I hoped my non-help would be enough to move him out the door. No such luck.
“Oh that’s alright. I’ll stop in at city hall and see if they can provide me with the owner’s number,” Mr. Brooks answered as he turned to walk towards the door.
Stormi and I breathed a sigh of relief, and then he turned back around.
“While I’m here I should partake in one of your ice cream delicacies,” he replied. “Can I have a blueberry smoothie?”
“Why of course,” I answered stiffly. I turned to grab a scoop of fresh blueberries when I heard the familiar door chime.
“What the heck?” Pai
ge blurted. “I thought we were all going to confront him together!”
I stood holding the scoop of blueberries while Stormi was shaking her head at Paige. Mr. Brooks turned around and stared at Paige who was now looking from Stormi back to him.
“Excuse me?” Mr. Brooks asked quizzically.
“Paige,” I said dumping the blueberries into the sink. “Mr. Brooks came by to inquire about the office next door that’s for lease.” I tried to give her a look, like ixnay on the apetay, but it was fruitless.
Paige turned and grabbed my open/closed sign hanging in the window and turned it over to closed.
“Whatever, he’s here now so what better time than to see what he has to say for himself.”
Paige was bound and determined to follow this through.
“Tara, go get your laptop,” Paige said to me, then she turned to Mr. Brooks. “Mr. Brooks have a seat.”
“What is going on here…I demand to know,” he insisted.
“Mr. Brooks, we have you on surveillance tape the night of the murder of Mr. Jenkins standing right outside this window,” Paige announced to Mr. Brooks who know looked stricken. He sat down at the nearest table.
I brought out my laptop from the back and handed it to Paige who set it down on the table in front of the lawyer.
“You don’t have to show it to me,” Mr. Brooks replied looking at the floor. “I’m sure I know what’s on it.”
“You looking through the window at us trying to save Mr. Jenkins,” Stormi affirmed.
“Well yes, I think you were trying to save him. I wasn’t all that sure since you all seemed to be in hysterics,” he added.
“Now we weren’t that bad. We were just nervous and it came out wrong….” Stormi said her voice trailing.
“That’s besides the point Mr. Brooks,” Paige interjected. “What were you doing staring in at us? Why didn’t you help?”
“By the time I looked in I could hear the sirens approaching,” he explained. “I don’t know CPR and didn’t feel like I’d be of much use. So I stayed out of the way.”
I looked at Paige and Stormi. It seemed plausible.
“What were you doing in town so late?” I asked as I sat down across from him. Stormi and Paige remained standing on either side of me.
“Well I suppose it doesn’t matter now since my client is dead, “Mr. Brooks sighed. “I came to town to talk to Mr. Jenkins concerning the lawsuit against the Parker’s.”
“So you had access to his pill bottle!” Stormi announced accusingly.
“I’m sure I did,” Mr. Brooks agreed. “However, I did not poison the man. On the contrary, I was trying to help him.”
“What do you mean?” Paige asked as she pulled out the chair beside me and sat down.
“I wasn’t happy with the lawsuit he’d brought against the Parker’s. It was a minor accident and I felt the two parties could work it out. The Landry Department store case was different. Mr. Jenkins did suffer from that event and Landry needed to make things right. Since they were a huge department store located in 30 states, I knew they would have no difficulty with a hefty settlement.”
At this point Stormi sat down as well. Mr. Brooks continued.
“Once I had time to look over the lawsuit against the Parker’s, I honestly didn’t feel right pursuing it. So I came down to see Mr. Jenkins to talk him out of it. After some persuading, I convinced him to drop the case. He was to meet me at my office the next day to sign papers dropping the lawsuit. But before I left, he told me there was something else he wanted me to do.”
The three of us sat on the edge of our seats. We must have looked like ravenous dogs waiting for the next hotdog morsel to drop.
“He wanted to change his will. His son was the sole beneficiary and it seems they had a blow up and Mr. Jenkins wanted to remove him. I told him that maybe he should take a few days to think it over. Sometimes a cooler head can change one’s perspective, but he was adamant and wanted me to have the necessary paper work ready the next day.”
“When we parted, Mr. Jenkins said he was heading to the ice cream Shoppe in town to satisfy a craving. We said our goodbyes while I took a phone call. As I was driving through town I saw his car and decided to stop myself and grab a shake for the long drive back to Atlanta.”
“When I walked up to the store window and saw what was going on…well, I think I was in shock,” Mr. Brooks admitted. “I’m very ashamed you ladies saw me on the tape staring in through the window like a lump of coal.”
“It did seem strange,” Stormi said shifting in her chair. “We thought maybe you were making sure the old guy bought it…so to speak.”
“Oh no,” Mr. Brooks assured us. “I would have no reason to hurt Mr. Jenkins. He was one of my best clients.”
“We’re back to square one,” Paige said leaning back in her chair.
“I take it you ladies are amateur sleuths attempting to solve the crime?” Mr. Brooks asked.
“In a way, yes,” I admitted. “As you can tell we’re not very good at it.”
“On the contrary, I think you’re very good. I would have been just as suspect as you all were at seeing my image on your video tape.” He looked around the room. “Where are the cameras?”
“Hidden behind the walls,” I answered. “I’d even forgot they were there.”
At that moment the front door of the Shoppe opened and we three jumped. Trixie stuck her head in.
“Girls, are you closed? I was hoping for a fudge ripple cone!”
“No Trix,” I said getting out of my chair. “We were having a meeting but it’s over now.”
Paige stood up and turned the sign in the window back to open.
“I’ll get Mr. Brooks’ smoothie…that is if you still want it?” I asked.
“Of course,” he answered. “I hear you have the best smoothies in town.”
“They do,” Trixie exclaimed. She was wearing white capris and a brown top. She always looked so chic. She was 30 years older than I was but I felt dowdy next to her.
“Girls, have you heard?” Trixie continued. “Poor Mr. Parker was taken into custody for the murder of Mr. Jenkins just a short while ago.”
“Oh no,” I moaned. “What type of evidence do they have?”
“The police aren’t divulging, but the rumor mill says they found cyanide at the store.”
“Of course they did,” Stormi barked. “He sells insecticides so there’s going to be some kind of cyanide poisoning there, I suppose. I’m telling you it’s that son of his. He got word Mr. Jenkins was tossing his hinny out of the will so he had to get to him first.”
“How do you know he was taking his son out of the will,” Trixie asked as she licked the fudge ripple melting down her cone.
“Oh well, I,” Stormi stammered. “Like you, I heard it through the rumor mill.”
Trixie nodded not quite believing her but letting it go all the same.
“Alright, I’m off girls. Have a great day,” Trixie said as she walked out the door. I had a feeling she was in a hurry to spread the latest gossip.
I handed Mr. Brooks his blueberry smoothie. “So do you have the tape here?” He asked.
Before anyone could answer I blurted out, “No…I thought I did, but actually I don’t.”
The girls gave me puzzled looks.
“That’s too bad,” Mr. Brooks said as he pulled a straw from its paper wrapper. “I wouldn’t have minded seeing how silly I looked.”
“You didn’t look too bad,” Stormi offered. “Kind of like a statue.”
“I see…well I shouldn’t take up anymore of your time. I’m still interested in the office next door so we may become neighbors in the near future,” Mr. Brooks said as he walked out of my Shoppe.
“Okay, what gives?” Paige asked. “Why didn’t you want him to know the tape was here?”
“Simply because he seemed too interested in it,” I explained. “I think we need to take another look at that tape.”
“Okay, after w
e close let’s take another peek,” Paige agreed. “Why don’t we invite Teresa Parker over to look at it too? It might give her hope about her husband.”
“That’s fine by me,” I said. I felt sure there was something on that tape we missed. “We might need Colton as well.”
“Okay,” Paige said. “I’ll make some calls and get everyone here by closing tonight.”
*****
By 9pm, everyone, except Sam, was assembled at the store, including Teresa Parker who looked rattled. Her normally combed hair appeared tousled and she seemed out of it. Who could blame her? Her husband had been accused and arrested for murder. It had to be upsetting. Colton set up the laptop on one of the Shoppe’s tables and we gathered around. I had Teresa sit down next to Colton.
A Frozen Scoop of Murder - The Bundle Edition (Books One to Six): Cozy Mysteries Page 8