by Kate Young
“I can manage. And please don’t start in on my working for Uncle Calvin again. You’ve known for ages I’d work in the field in some capacity.”
“I’d hoped it was a phase.” Mother sighed.
“Well, it isn’t. I enjoy it and I’m good at it. If I could just borrow your car for a few more days, that’d be great.” I got up and walked to the refrigerator, opening the door. There was half a gallon of skim milk, an old Chinese takeout carton, some leftovers I’d brought home from Mother’s last week, and a couple containers of Greek yogurt. Something had most definitely spoiled. I retrieved a wild berry fruit on the bottom and checked the date. I had two days.
“I’m not going to harp.” Tonight, she meant. “You could do something more with your life is all I’m saying. And if living near your cousin and ex is too much, you can always come home. Go back to school and find another path. You might even meet a nice young man while you’re at it.” There it was. Mother always wanted me to move back home until I found a husband.
“I’m thirty-one. I can’t live at home. I love y’all, but I need my independence.” I stirred the yogurt.
Mother, Daddy, and Gran would be having coffee cake or pastry in the great room by now. Well, Mother wouldn’t touch hers, but Daddy and Gran would be enjoying theirs immensely. I frowned and glanced at my watery, fat-free concoction. It was worth the sacrifice, but I’d surely be stopping off at Hugs with Mugs, my favorite coffee shop to purchase a yeasty, sugar-covered treat ASAP. Everyone needed a splurge day. Mother’s stocked pantry was one of the things I missed most about living at home. I sure could use a hunk of chocolate cake right about now.
Mother sighed again. “I’m proud of your strong will and determination, honey. I just worry about you.”
“No need to worry. I’m fine,” I said, to convince myself as much as her.
“Hold on a second.” Another huff. “Your grandmother would like to speak to you. Where your persistence comes from isn’t a mystery. I’ll speak to you later, darlin’.”
Gran ranted for a solid twenty minutes on the audacity of Ellen and her disgusting behavior. I could always count on Gran to be on my side, no matter what. Once we put the world to rights, I let her go with a promise I’d keep her apprised on what I found out about Carol. She’d heard from one of Carol’s in-laws, a great-aunt or something, while at the senior center, that Carol had been spotted coming out of that cheap motel on the outskirts of town and driving a new car.
Chapter Three
Morning brought cloudy skies, rumbling thunder, and Melanie Smart. She woke me up pounding on my front door at an ungodly hour. I tied my robe and swung open the door to see my best friend sunburned to the color of a lobster. Her blonde hair was pulled into a bun on the top of her head, and she wore a pink floral shirt with a giant teddy bear on it.
I met her bloodshot chocolate-brown gaze. “Wow.”
She rushed past me and tossed her duffle bag onto the floor in front of the kitchen bar. “Don’t say a word. I’d hug you, but I stink, and I’ve had the worst night. My plane had mechanical difficulties. We were stuck in Newark for four hours. When we were finally called to board, I sat next to a woman with a screaming child, with an ear infection, who threw up all over me and inside my Chanel bag.”
Both my hands went to my mouth.
“I know—it’s the only good thing I got out of my marriage. I could have cried.” She shook her head, despair written all over her face. “Then I had to change in the tiny airplane bathroom into the only thing I had in my carry-on. This was meant to be a joke present for you.” She pulled at the hem of the ghastly floral shirt tied in little knots.
Then she threw herself down on my sofa. “Do you have my spare key? I don’t want to wade through vomit to find mine.”
“You poor thing,” I fussed. “Your hair looks damp. Is it raining?”
Her hand went to her hair. “Oh, yeah, um, a little.”
“Maybe we can clean your bag.”
She pointed to the once-gorgeous little bag, now covered in dried red and yellow chunks.
“I’m so sorry,” I breathed.
Melanie hung her head.
“I’ll go get your key. You want me to brew some coffee? I’d offer you breakfast, except I have nothing in the house.”
She waved off my offer, and I went upstairs to retrieve her spare key. When I came back down, she had dozed off. I wasn’t sure whether to wake her or not. The keys rattled and she startled awake with a snort.
“Sorry. Here you go.”
She yawned and took the keys from me. “Thanks. Don’t worry about waking me. I’ve got to get back on my work schedule anyway. I have to be back at the shop tomorrow.”
Melanie owned a specialty cookie store called Smart Cookie. She and her cousin opened it five years ago, and it had done very well. Everyone who worked there was either a Smart or related to a Smart. It was a real family business.
“Did I see Kevin’s car outside parked across from your mom’s car?”
I nodded. “I’m borrowing Mother’s car because mine bit the dust. For good this time.”
“Poor Bessie. She was a good car.”
I nodded, and we both gave her a moment of silence.
“And Kevin moved in practically next door to us.”
She bolted upright. “What?”
I ran my fingers through my tangled hair. “He and Ellen moved in last night.”
“Ellen, as in your cousin, the Wicked Witch of the West, Ellen?”
I started for the Keurig. “The same. I still don’t know how I’m going to react to this. It isn’t that I want Kevin back or anything. I just don’t want him with her. Or living so close to me.”
“Of course not.” After her divorce to the world’s biggest poser, Melanie prided herself on being able to spot a loser a mile away. “He has to be doing this to get your attention.” She joined me in the kitchen. My news seemed to energize her. “Ellen doesn’t hold a candle to you, and his desire to throw the relationship in your face is proof he isn’t over you. Living in a small town it’s hard enough to avoid exes, but this, well, this just takes the cake.”
“There’s a country song in there somewhere.” I closed the lid on the pod and opened the refrigerator to retrieve the almond milk creamer.
“What’s that smell? It isn’t me, is it?” Horrified, Melanie began sniffing herself.
“No. I need to clean the refrigerator out. Some leftovers are way past their prime.” I slid a mug in front of her and repeated the process for myself.
“Other than Kevin and Ellen lowering the standard of our community, what’s been going on? How did the club meeting go last night? Did y’all talk about the e-mail Carol sent? That was some creepy stuff.” She fingered the printouts of the dumping grounds Amelia gave me and the map I’d printed out after I’d hung up with Gran last night. Dismayed, I’d needed something to take my mind off Kevin. It’d done the trick. I’d highlighted the interstate where the bodies had been discovered, and I wondered how many others had yet to be found.
We sipped our coffees while I filled her in on everything. Like myself, Melanie was both intrigued and uneasy.
“Do you think Calvin can help with these?” Melanie finished off her coffee.
My shoulders rose and fell. “His time needs to be invested on revenue-generating cases. I plan to ask, but I’m not holding out much hope.”
“We could do it. You have access to everything you need.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know, Mel. He’s funny about his encrypted software.”
“Doesn’t hurt to ask.”
We moved on and discussed Carol at length, and Melanie agreed with Patsy that our friend was probably after attention. A half hour passed like a blink. It always did when Mel and I were together, and I needed to get ready for work.
“Want to go have Mexican food this evening? I’m dying for a margarita and chimichanga with extra guacamole.” Melanie hopped off the bar stool. “And don’t eve
n say a word about calories. I’m declaring today an all-out splurge day. We both deserve it.”
“Sounds good.” I rinsed our mugs and put them in the dishwasher.
“That doesn’t smell like spoiled food to me.” Melanie picked up her duffle bag and paused close to the door. “It’s coming from this suitcase.”
“Really? Maybe something spilled on it in transit from the airport.”
Melanie glanced over at me. “I’m lost.”
“This is your luggage, isn’t it?” I pointed to the large, soft-sided navy spinner suitcase. “They delivered it to my house by mistake.”
She shook her head. “It looks like mine. But older. I bet the stupid airline sent the wrong bag, and by the smell of it, the owners smuggled in some rancid cheese or something.”
Melanie leaned forward and lifted the tag on the top of the bag, pinching her nose. How in the world had I not realized this bag reeked last night? She dropped the tag as if burned. “It says Carol Timms!” She bumped the bag as she leaped backward, and the suitcase toppled over with a loud thump. Two fingers popped out where the zipper hadn’t been closed tight.
“Oh my God!” I fell back into a squeaking Melanie.
Melanie went pale as a ghost. Her eyes grew wide, and one of her mental-patient giggles escaped her lips. “Call someone!”
“What if the person is alive? What if it’s Carol?” The room began to spin a little, and I fought to gain my balance. “We have to help her.”
With trembling fingers, I stooped down and unzipped the bag, hoping and praying that whoever was inside was still alive, knowing it wasn’t possible. The smell of what could only be described as death overwhelmed me, and I covered my face with my arm. Never in a million years would I forget the scent or the way the woman lay crumpled inside. Rigor mortis froze her in a position no living person could manage. Carol Timms was undeniably dead.
Melanie giggled again, then fainted, falling forward into me.
I rolled Mel off me and scrambled away from the body. Somehow, I managed to keep my thoughts coherent enough to locate my phone and dial 911. I hardly recognized my voice as I pleaded for the operator to send help. And I vaguely remembered calling Uncle Calvin after Mel came to.
Law enforcement in Sweet Mountain wasn’t a large force, and I was familiar with most of them. Even more familiar with the chief of police, who hadn’t shown up. Men in blue and medical personnel filled my living spaces as Melanie and I sat at the dining room table, trying not to glance back at the covered body on the floor. Mel and I had already given our statements.
“I can’t believe this,” Melanie whispered. “I’m sorry I passed out. I’ve never seen anything like that before. I’m usually so good in a crisis. You know—the solid one.”
I reached over and hugged her. “Of course you are.” She wasn’t, but I let her have her fantasies. “It’s like a nightmare. It still hasn’t sunk in.”
“I keep seeing her fingers sticking out …” She let out one of her disconcerting high-pitched giggles, then slapped both hands over her mouth.
Officer Taylor narrowed his eyes in our direction.
“She isn’t being disrespectful. She giggles when she’s frightened.” I’d hardly spoken to the man since our school days, and I didn’t want him to get the wrong idea about my friend.
“I think I recall something about your nervous laugh from high school.” Officer Taylor’s gaze zeroed in on Mel, and she nodded.
“It’s an affliction, really.” Mel cleared her throat.
I patted her shoulder, and Taylor’s attention seemed to linger on her face.
After the body had been taken away, Melanie gave her account and was allowed to go to her apartment and shower and change. Calvin, Officer Taylor, and yours truly were left at my dining room table. Calvin sat back with his arms folded across his chest. His weathered face showed no emotion, but his green eyes were intense, full of warning.
The officer began questioning me about earlier, when Carol had been alive. I couldn’t stop the tears as I gave the account in detail.
The heavyset man jotted everything down on his little pad. He scratched the thinning hair on top of his round head with the back of the pen. “So, you didn’t actually speak to Mrs. Timms?”
“No, sir. I didn’t get a chance. She peeled out of the parking lot.” I wiped my cheeks. “It was her, though. No doubt about it.” I crossed my legs and laced my fingers together over my knee to keep my leg from shaking.
“Other than the camo hat, did the other person have any distinguishing marks? Hair peeking out from under the cap? Small or large person? Man or woman?”
I shook my head. “I think they were slumped down a little. Might have been tall, trying to appear short. That’s clearly speculation, of course. I didn’t see any hair, but I was covered in cold blue raspberry slushy and didn’t pay all that much attention until they were driving away. I couldn’t see their face—” Suddenly, I recalled the person adjusting the cap lower. I uncrossed my leg and scooted to the edge of my seat, placing my hands on the table. “They were light skinned. I remember the hand pulling the bill of the ballcap down. The fingers were thin and white-ish. Now that I think about it”—I bit the inside of my cheek as I considered—“they were unnaturally white, like they were wearing gloves.”
“Where did you go after that?”
A little taken off guard by the question, I stuttered. “I-I called a tow truck and they dropped me off at my mother’s house.” I shouldn’t have been nervous. I’d studied enough homicide cases to know that in the beginning everyone was a suspect. Especially the one who found the body. The authorities wouldn’t be doing their job properly if they didn’t investigate everyone.
“And then you spoke to Judge Timms?” The officer wiped his forehead. He had the look of a man sweating out a night of heavy drinking.
“Yes. Calvin had a meeting off-site, so the calls were forwarded to my cell. He expressed an interest in hiring us to locate his wife. He had apprehensions regarding the police taking the matter seriously. That’s when I told him about seeing Carol, and he asked me to report it to the police. I left a message with someone at the station.”
“Why would you accept delivery of an unknown piece of luggage?” The officer sounded suspicious.
“Well, first of all, I was startled by my ex-boyfriend moving in practically next door to me. I’ll admit I wasn’t in my normal headspace. And it wasn’t as if a delivery man handed it over. It was waiting on my front stoop. Melanie had told me her luggage had been lost by the airline. Naturally, I assumed they’d gotten her address mixed up with mine. It happens all the time—the address mix-up, I mean. I’m six one six, and she’s six one eight. She gets my packages, and I get hers.”
“I see.” He scribbled a few things down. “But you didn’t open it last night? Didn’t notice the odor?”
I fiddled with my hands under the table. Uncle Calvin reached under and gave my hand a quick reassuring squeeze. “I’m ashamed to admit I don’t always clean out my refrigerator in a timely manner. I figured something had spoiled. I planned to take care of it after work today. Then you know the rest. Melanie came in and we discovered Ca …” I couldn’t finish. Poor Carol. Who could do such a horrible thing to her? Why? And what was an even more terrifying question: Why would they deliver her to me?
He got up and retrieved a bag marked “Evidence” and placed it on the table in front of me. Inside were the copies Carol had printed out and the map I’d marked last night. He didn’t say anything as he walked over to my bookshelf and took notice of the titles I stocked. Calvin gave me a pointed glare that told me to keep my mouth shut until a question was asked. I obeyed and sat quiet as a mouse until the officer rejoined us at the table.
“Can you explain why you have these maps and images of skeletal remains?”
“I belong to a club called the Jane Doe Book Club. We read murder mysteries and watch films about them while trying to discover the culprit before the book or
movie ends. We read both fiction and true crime novels. Carol e-mailed the members with these docs.”
“Melanie belong to the club as well?”
I nodded.
“An odd fascination with crime and death for such a pretty young woman like Miss Smart.” His eyes narrowed. “And for you.”
“Is there a question in there somewhere, Taylor?” Calvin asked in his laid-back sort of way that said, “I don’t need to raise my voice to mean business.”
“Cousins, I’ve allowed you to remain here out of professional courtesy. You interject again, and my courtesy won’t remain.”
“If your questions don’t end soon, I’ll have a lawyer here, and your courtesy won’t be required.” The two men faced off in a silent staring contest.
Several long seconds passed.
Officer Taylor broke eye contact first. “You said Melanie Smart’s luggage went missing.”
I nodded.
“This her bag?”
“She told you it wasn’t. She has one like it, but it’s newer.”
“Uh-huh. I’m going to need contact information of everyone in your club.”
I looked over at Calvin, never feeling more thankful for him in my life. His guidance was invaluable. He nodded and I pulled up my contacts list on my phone, jotted down the info on the officer’s pad, and slid it back over to him.
“Do you have somewhere else you can stay?”
I nodded.
“I’ll need the address of where you’ll be and the keys to your townhouse.”
“Okay.” I’d taken a firm stand on not moving. Now, after seeing poor Carol deceased and in my personal space, Mother was going to get her wish.
Chapter Four
The front porch light shone like a beacon as I pulled Mother’s Cadillac into the driveway. I wouldn’t even attempt to park it in the garage. My daddy, who was very particular, would pull it out and repark it anyway. He had a garage system.
Uncle Calvin pulled in behind me. I turned the ignition off and took a couple of little breaths, holding each one for a few seconds. I checked my reflection in the rearview mirror. My hair was up in a messy bun. A few strands had escaped and looked planned, so I left them. In Sweet Mountain, you learned from an early age that beauty does matter—to be gorgeously groomed before leaving the house. It became an impulse always to look my best. Now it seemed ludicrous to be concerned about such matters.