“You would love to cook,” Tori interrupted. “Mrs. O’Brien is a gem. I don’t know what I would do without her.”
After they finished their food, the trio donned raincoats and rubber galoshes before heading to the hall and the exit leading to the rear courtyard.
Droplets of rain splashed Carlita’s face and she tugged on the hood of her raincoat to cover her face.
The women sloshed across the flagstone walkway to a door Carlita guessed was next to Tori’s conservatory / office.
“We keep this door locked for safety reasons.” Tori reached into her pocket and pulled out a key.
Carlita watched her slip the key in the lock. “You must have a key ring as large as a prison guard in a state penitentiary.”
“No. I only have one. It’s a master key.” Tori hurried inside and waved the women in before securing the door behind them. “Byron came up with the bright idea for me to have a master key. I’m the only one who has one, and I keep it with me all of the time.”
The women ascended a steep flight of stairs to the second floor. “All of the employee’s personal space is identical. I’ll show you one that’s currently empty to give you an idea of the layout, and then we’ll make our way to Ava’s room.”
Tori stopped in front of the second door on the right. Using her master key, she unlocked the hall door before stepping inside. Carlita followed behind and Mercedes brought up the rear.
The interior of the room was surprisingly spacious, considering the narrow outer hall. In the far left corner was a small kitchenette. There was a high top table and a trio of barstools next to the kitchenette. To the left and close to the entrance was a room divider and behind that, a full size bed. To the right was another door.
Mercedes pointed to a door. “What’s in there?”
“It’s the shared bath. Each of the employees shares a bath with one other employee. Male shares with male and female with female.”
Carlita stuck her head inside for a closer inspection. “Ah. There’s a lock on each of the doors, inside and out, so that if someone’s inside, the other occupant can’t access the bath.”
“Yes,” Tori confirmed. “It works out perfectly except when one of the employees forgets to unlock his or her door and the other person sharing the bath can’t get in. It doesn’t happen often.”
Tori shut the bathroom light off and with one final glance around, the women stepped back into the hall. “Ava’s room is down here.”
They walked past two more doors, to another door on the right. “All of the women’s rooms are on the right, and all the men’s on the left.”
She rapped lightly on the outer door before inserting her key and unlocking the door. “The crime scene investigators searched Ava’s room last night.”
Carlita followed Tori into the room. “I’m guessing they didn’t find anything.”
“No.” Tori shook her head. “The room was clean, almost too clean. Nothing was out of place. After Iris’ comments, I wonder if Ava had one foot out the door and her bags already packed.” She switched the light on and held the door.
Carlita eased to the left to make room for Mercedes. “Yeah. This looks clean. Maybe she had the charges ready to file and planned to make a quick getaway right after the party.”
“I had no idea she was threatening to file discrimination charges. Whatever for?” Tori shook her head. “We may never know.”
Carlita and Mercedes circled the room, careful not to touch anything.
Mercedes tiptoed into the bathroom. “Who shared a bath with Ava?”
“No one. It was Mrs. O’Brien, but she asked me to move her. Ava refused to pick up after herself. I moved Mrs. O’Brien and Ava had the bathroom to herself.”
“Kind of odd since her room and even this bathroom are tidy,” Mercedes commented.
“Unless she had one foot out the door,” Carlita reminded her.
“True.” Mercedes flipped the light off, and joined Tori and her mother in the main part of the room.
“The closet is over there.” Tori pointed to a small armoire next to the bed.
“May I?” Carlita motioned to the closet door.
“I don’t see why not. The police didn’t tell me Ava’s room was off limits.”
Carlita inspected the contents of the closet. It consisted of three work uniforms, two pairs of black work shoes, a small array of blouses and collared shirts. She pulled open a small drawer. Inside were women’s bras and underwear and in the drawer below it, several pairs of slacks and shorts. “If she was movin’ out, she still needed to pack some of her things.”
She closed the door and then inspected the kitchenette, complete with a small selection of pots and pans, plates, cups and silverware. “You sure hook them up.”
“I try.” Tori smiled. “Most of the employees don’t use their kitchenette except to make coffee in the morning. All meals and lodging are included, in addition to what I think is a fair stipend.”
“I would come work for you if I needed a job,” Mercedes said.
“There’s nothing in here that strikes me as a clue,” Carlita said.
“That’s exactly what the authorities said.” Tori shook her head. “So it looks as if we’re back to square one.” She locked the door to Ava’s unit and the women exited the building.
They started their trek back inside when Tori stopped. “The door to the pool house is open. Patrick must be inside, checking on things. Would you like to talk to him?”
“If you don’t mind.” Carlita motioned Mercedes to follow Tori and they tiptoed around a large puddle of water blocking the entrance.
“Patrick? Are you in here?” Tori called out.
A young man with curly red hair and an engaging smile popped out of the back. “Mrs. Montgomery. What are you doin’ out here in the middle of the storm?”
“It’s almost over.” Tori smiled warmly. “I have two house guests tonight and tomorrow night.” She turned to Carlita. “This is Carlita Garlucci and her daughter, Mercedes.”
Patrick politely shook Carlita’s hand and then extended a hand to Mercedes. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both.”
“Same here.” Mercedes released her grip. “It’s a shame about Ms. Torrez’s murder.”
“It’s hard to believe Ava is dead. I was makin’ my rounds to check on the last minute party preparations. I stopped by here to grab a few more tables for the food. We have a storage room in the back. When I got here, one of the hired security guards was standin’ in the doorway, although I know for a fact I locked the door earlier in the day.”
He explained they pushed the door open and looked inside, which is when they discovered Ava’s lifeless body lying on the floor. “She was cold to the touch, I tell you. I think she’d been here for some time.”
“Does Ava have a key to the pool house?” Carlita asked.
“No ma’am. The only ones with keys are Mrs. Montgomery, Byron, Lucien and of course, me. The investigators took a hard look at the door and there was no forced entry. The window was unlocked, which I thought a bit odd, but again, the door was unlocked.”
“I see.” Carlita lifted her gaze and studied the interior of the pool house. “When was the last time you saw Ava Torrez alive?”
Patrick shifted his feet. “It was early afternoon. She asked for more chairs about three hours before the party started, so I brought a bunch into the main house, to the library. That was the last time I saw her before we found her body.”
“Did she seem distracted or distraught?” Mercedes asked.
“No. She was her usual self.” Patrick paused, as if considering his words. “Look, I was no fan of Ava myself. She was always flirtin’ and doin’ things that were against Mrs. Montgomery’s employee policies, but I had nothing against her, although I can’t say as much for some of the others.”
“Like Iris and Jenny,” Carlita said.
Patrick nodded. “Yes, to name two. Ava didn’t much care for Lucien, either.”
“Or Mrs. Montgomery,” Mercedes muttered under her breath. She pointed to the windows. “Do you mind if I take a quick peek at the windows?”
“By all means.” Patrick waved a hand. “The investigators already went over this place with a fine tooth comb, but you never know. They may have missed something.”
Mercedes walked to the window and bounced up on her tiptoes as she inspected the frame and the window lock.
“All of the locks should be in working order,” Tori said. “This pool house was built less than six months ago.”
“It’s a cool pool house,” Mercedes made her way to the other window, which was also locked, before crossing the room to the two identical windows on the other side. Again, nothing appeared to have been tampered with or pried open. “This is a bust. What about the bathroom?”
“It’s back here.” Patrick motioned for Mercedes to follow him to the back of the pool house. She stuck her head inside the bathroom and studied the interior. It was nice, and even larger than the one she shared with her mother in the apartment. “I could easily live in this pool house.”
“That’s the truth,” Patrick agreed. He silently watched Mercedes finish her inspection and then she thanked him for showing her around. “Is there any other access to this pool house? A rear door?”
“No ma’am.” Patrick shook his head. “There’s only one way in and one way out.” He shut off the light and they returned to the main part of the pool house where Tori and Carlita stood staring at the faint chalk outline on the floor.
“I’ll be cleaning the floor this afternoon,” Patrick promised.
“Thank you for showing us around and telling us what you know,” Carlita said.
“You’re welcome.” Patrick walked them to the door. “If I think of anything else, I’ll be sure to let you know. You’ll be here for a coupla days?”
“Yes. Our apartment repair project should be finished day after tomorrow. We’ll be here tonight and possibly tomorrow night, depending on how quickly they wrap up the repairs,” Mercedes said.
“Then I’ll see you at dinner.” Patrick smacked his lips. “I hear Mrs. O’Brien is making shepherd’s pie, my favorite.”
“She’s your aunt,” Carlita said.
“That she is.” Patrick grinned. “More like a mother.”
“Mother hen,” Tori joked. “We’ll see you at dinner.”
The rain had stopped and all that remained were some stiff southeasterly winds blowing across the inlet.
“We lucked out on the hurricane,” Tori said as she eyed the sky. “We probably won’t get power back tonight, maybe tomorrow.”
“I wonder if we have power at home,” Carlita said. “I need to call Tony.”
When they were safely inside, Carlita thanked Tori for lunch and the tour, and the women made their way upstairs where Carlita had left her cell phone on her dresser.
She’d missed two calls. One was from Tony. She dialed his cell phone first. He answered on the first ring, reassuring his mother that they had weathered the storm and from what he could tell, there was no damage to their property.
He’d decided to close the pawnshop as soon as he found out the storm was headed their way and had sent Josh home. After that, he secured the courtyard furniture and hunkered down in his first floor apartment with Violet and Shelby.
“What about Cool Bones?” Carlita asked.
“I knocked on his door, but no one answered. I don’t think he’s home.”
“I hope he’s safe.”
“I’m sure he is. He may have gone to visit family for the holiday. Oh, before I forget. As I was putting the courtyard furniture up, Elvira cornered me. She was looking for you.”
“She was? I wonder what she wants.”
“I dunno. She said she was going to try your cell phone.”
“That must be my other missed call. Stay safe and call me if you need me. We don’t have power, and Montgomery Hall is running on generators.”
“We lost power a coupla times, but it’s already back on.”
Carlita heard Rambo bark in the background.
“I better get going. I promised Rambo I would take him outside and he’s not letting me forget.”
“Thanks son. I’ll call you later.”
Mercedes waited until her mother ended the call. “So they have power and everyone is safe?”
“Yeah. Tony closed the pawnshop early, so Josh could get home. He even took care of our courtyard furniture. Elvira was looking for me.” Carlita squinted her eyes and stared at her phone. “I missed a call and someone left a message. I bet that’s her.”
Carlita punched in her access code and turned the speaker on before listening to the message. “Yeah. Carlita. It’s me Elvira. I need you to call me as soon as you get this message. I’m working on the Ava Torrez investigation and I have a few questions to ask you.”
Chapter 15
Carlita quickly dialed Elvira’s number. “EC Investigative Services. Elvira Cobb speaking.”
“Elvira, it’s me, Carlita.”
“I stopped by your place to ask you a few questions about Ava Torrez’s death and Tony told me you were staying at Montgomery Hall. I don’t need you nosing around, messing up my investigation.”
“Your investigation? First, Tori asked for my help. Second of all, no one hired you to investigate Ava’s death.” Carlita paused. “And thirdly, I would think you investigating your own security company is a conflict of interest.”
“I admit, EC Investigative Services hasn’t technically been hired, but my company’s reputation is on the line. We were on the clock when the woman died.”
“I planned to ask you a few questions when I got home. You and your people were all over this place the day before the party, not to mention the day of,” Carlita said.
“I can assure you, it wasn’t one of my employees who murdered Ava Torrez. We run a complete and thorough background check on each of them.”
“Including your own sister, Dernice?”
“Dernice doesn’t count.”
“Because you never would have hired her if she wasn’t related to you. She has a criminal record. Wait until the investigators find out she’s been in prison.”
“That may be a problem,” Elvira admitted. “It’s another reason I’m trying to get a jump on the investigation. Have you been able to find anything out?”
“Yes. There are a whole lot of suspects and little evidence. Ava was not particularly popular. Everyone here is a suspect.”
“For good reason. Hang on a sec.” Elvira covered the phone and Carlita couldn’t make out what she was saying. “I’m back. This case is important to me. My reputation is on the line, not to mention Dernice’s neck.”
“We can compare notes when I get back. We’ll be staying here tonight and maybe tomorrow night. It depends on how much investigative work we still have to do.”
“You’re stealing my job,” Elvira whined. “I don’t understand why Mrs. Montgomery asked you to help.”
“Because the Garlucci family has a nose for solving crimes, not to mention the fact that we’re a lot cheaper than hiring a professional investigator and I do use the term ‘professional’ loosely.”
Elvira ignored the comment. “Call me when you get home. Oh, wait. While I was snooping around online today, I found out that Montgomery Hall is one of the most haunted sites in the Savannah area. Apparently, when the construction crews began excavation to build Montgomery Hall, the workers unearthed an ancient Indian burial ground.”
“You don’t say.” Carlita shot her daughter a glance, wondering if she’d overheard. “I’ll keep that in mind.” She assured Elvira she would call her when she returned home and then disconnected the call. “Elvira is investigating Ava’s murder too. She wasn’t happy when she found out that we were staying here and conducting our own investigation.”
Mercedes flopped down on the bed. “That doesn’t surprise me. I’m sure she’s concerned about her new company’s reputation. It can�
��t look good on your resume when someone dies during one of your first security gigs.”
She sat up. “I thought I heard Elvira say something about burial grounds. What was that all about?”
“She claims that while she was researching Montgomery Hall, she found out that during the excavation of the site, the workers stumbled upon an ancient Indian burial ground.”
“What if it’s true?” Mercedes’ eyes widened. “Imagine all of the unhappy Indian ghosts hanging around.” She whipped her cell phone out of her pocket. “I’m going to look it up right now. Thank goodness for cell towers.”
Carlita stepped to the window and stared down at the pool, her eyes drawn to the pool house. Ava Torrez had her share of enemies, but who hated her enough to murder her? Flirting with male co-workers wasn’t a crime, nor was threatening people.
A sudden thought popped into her head. “I need to find out if Ava’s former employer gave Tori any information on her. I’m beginning to suspect she wasn’t let go because the former employer couldn’t afford her. What if she stirred up trouble there, as well?”
“Oh yeah.” Mercedes held her cell phone in the air. “When the construction crew began excavation, they found tomahawks, bones and pottery. They moved the building site back, so they wouldn’t disturb the grounds.”
“So the house technically isn’t on the burial grounds.”
“Close enough.” Mercedes tossed her cell phone on the bed and stood next to her mother at the window. “Somewhere out there are Indian spirits, roaming the grounds. Maybe they killed Ava.”
“Mercedes. That’s impossible. Let’s ask Tori about it during dinner. I’m going to head back to my room to freshen up.” Carlita patted her daughter’s shoulder. “If it makes you feel better, why don’t you leave your bedroom door open? I’ll leave mine open, too, in case you get scared.”
“I’m not scared,” Mercedes insisted. “Just a little freaked out because I think the house is haunted and now I find out we’re next to a burial site.” She followed her mother to the hall. “While you get ready, do you want me to track Tori down to see if she has a file or information from Ava’s previous employer?”
Merry Masquerade in Savannah: A Made in Savannah Cozy Mystery (Made in Savannah Cozy Mysteries Series Book 8) Page 11