by Ella White
“You always hated when a good book is ruined for you.” Rachel rolled her eyes. “To be fair, the more I hear about Harrison Bell, the less I want to read his books.”
“He’s that much of a creep?” At her daughter’s nod, Vickie resumed. “But that shouldn’t be a reflection on his writing, is it?”
“Sure, but it makes me not want to support him by buying his books.”
Vickie found she couldn’t argue this point, so she took her place at the front counter as they waited for Matthew to arrive. Gwen had called them to let them know she had delivered Rachel’s message, so they knew he was on his way. He had been thrilled at the prospect of speaking with another blogger, according to Gwen, so Rachel’s plan seemed to be working so far.
Rachel felt a wave of disgust and annoyance as she watched Matthew Bae walk into the café. She remembered him from the night before of course, but that had been in a large group. Now she had to face him one on one.
The biggest problem with Matthew was his haughty nature, which could be felt and seen everywhere he went. He held his chin up and looked down his nose at everyone around him, and glanced around to see if anyone had noticed him. He looked irritated when no one in the coffee shop seemed to acknowledge his presence. Matthew pulled his hair behind his ears, and Vickie noticed the streak of gray in his brown hair, just like Harrison had. When he realized no one was going to bow down at his presence, he walked up to the counter where Vickie was counting receipts.
“Hello, Mrs. Matheson,” he greeted. “Do you remember me?”
She only vaguely recalled him, and only in the context of his badgering Harrison with questions about his novel, not letting anyone else get a word in edgewise. She wasn’t about to tell him that though.
“Hello, Matthew,” Vickie responded. “How can I help you today?”
“I was supposed to meet someone here today.” He glanced around as he said this. “Someone named Rachel? She was here at the reading last night too?”
Silently thanking the stars at he didn’t know Rachel was her daughter, Vickie pointed to the woman in question. “She’s the brunette over by the window.”
Matthew turned to look at her, and his demeanor immediately changed. He smoothed his short brown hair down and put on a smile before sauntering over to her.
“Hello, miss.” He kept his voice in a low tone. “You wouldn’t happen to be Rachel?”
“I am.” She stood to shake his hand. “You must be Matthew Bae. I remember you from Mr. Bell’s reading last night.”
“In this very establishment,” he responded with a grin. “I’m glad you reached out to me about Mr. Bell’s arrest for your blog. I am the topmost expert on Harrison Bell and his works, after all.”
“Thank you for meeting with me.” She sat back down, wiping her hand on her napkin under the table. “Shall we get down to business?”
“Yes, let’s.”
“First things first,” Rachel said as they sat. “How long have you followed Mr. Bell and his works?”
“About six years now.” He straightened his shoulders. “I first read his book Murder in the Mansion when I was in an airport waiting for my flight. It was love at first sight, so to speak. Do you believe in love at first sight?”
“It depends,” she replied vaguely. “You’ve read his most recent book, Power, Wealth and Murder, of course?”
“Besides hearing his reading last night? I have.” Matthew leaned forward and put his chin in his hands. “I read it six times before he started his tour this year.”
“That’s a lot of times. You must have it memorized by now.”
“At the very least. I have analyzed it for symbolism, political context, characterizations, motifs, themes…just to name a few. I could go on about it if I really wanted to.”
“Well, I won’t need you to go over the whole book itself.”
“True. You were here last night after all.” He started drawing with his finger on the table. “Maybe we can trade ideas sometime? Not for the blog?”
“Um, sure…”
Noticing her daughter needed something to cut off the current direction of the conversation, Vickie came over with an order pad. “Hello you two. What can I get you today?”
“I’d like a peppermint tea,” Rachel answered, more quickly than probably necessary. “What would you like some tea too, Matthew?”
“Call me Matt.” He smiled, showing off his pearly white but crooked teeth. “And I’ll have a dark iced coffee.”
“Good choices. I’ll be right back.”
Vickie wrote down the orders and walked away. As she turned, making sure the young man couldn’t see her face, she frowned, mentally snapping her fingers at being wrong. As she began to heat the coffee and teapots, Tyler snuck out from the back of the shop and headed over to Rachel. He began to rub his body against her legs.
“You don’t like tea, Matt?” Rachel hoped she didn’t sound too leading with the question.
“Eh, it’s not my thing.” At her skeptical look, he continued. “Okay, fine. I actually hate tea. I’m much more of a coffee person. I hope that’s not a problem?”
“Oh not at all,” Rachel replied with a shake of her head. “You just struck me as more of a tea person.”
“Nah. Even before I learned Harrison Bell’s favorite coffee, I didn’t like tea much. Not that there’s anything wrong with tea. I’m just not fond of it.”
“Everyone has different tastes. Literally.”
“Maybe its different tastes that bring people together?”
Rachel kept herself from sputtering. “I take it Mr. Bell drinks coffee a lot?”
“All the time,” he answered. “He hates tea. His assistant tried to give some to him last night, and he got really pissed at her.”
Vickie, who was overhearing the conversation, suddenly felt really bad. It had been her idea for Kate to bring tea to Harrison instead of coffee. He must have taken it out on her. Another reason Kate had been stressed out.
Unbeknownst to Rachel, Vickie could see Matthew beginning to slide his foot toward her leg, apparently with the intention of rubbing it. Vickie was about to go over and try to distract them again (after all, she didn’t want this guy creeping on her daughter), when Matthew’s foot touched Tyler instead. The cat meowed piercingly and dashed out from under the table. He turned and hunched his back, hissing at Matthew and fluffing his tail. Matthew, meanwhile, saw the cat and hopped up onto his seat.
The young man cursed. “Cat! There’s a cat in here!”
Rachel jumped a little at his scream but quickly calmed down as she saw what he was yelling about. “Oh that’s just Tyler. He’s the shop cat. He’s harmless.”
“Yeah, that’s what the crazy cat lady who lived next door to me said.” Matthew refused to move. In fact, he looked like he was going to climb up the bookcase to get away from the cat. “And that cat hated me! He kept trying to claw my eyes out.”
“Tyler won’t do that,” Rachel reassured him, although it clearly wasn’t working. She leaned down to pet Tyler on his head. “He’s a good kitty.”
“I’m sorry, Matthew! I didn’t mean for him to scare you,” Vickie said as she walked up with their drinks. She placed the cups on the table before picking the kitten up. “Sorry, buddy. I’ve got to put you in the back for a while.”
Tyler meowed in protest, which was ignored as his human flung him over her shoulder to take him to the back room. He stared at the scared human who had nearly kicked him and took some satisfaction in the fear still in his blue eyes.
Matthew slowly lowered himself back into his seat and took a sip of his coffee to calm his nerves. He let out a sigh.
“Ah, nothing like a nice cup of coffee.” He was obviously trying to regain his composure, but his shaking hands betrayed him. “You’ll have to excuse me, Rachel. I didn’t get a cup this morning, so I’ve been moving slowly today.”
Rachel took a swallow from her own drink. “Why didn’t you have coffee this morning?”
“Don’t tell Gwen that,” Vickie advised as she returned to the shop. “She gets kind of testy when people question her cooking.”
“The rest is fine. Just the coffee is terrible.”
“Anyway, let’s get to the murder mystery.” Rachel redirected the conversation. “What was the crime scene in the book like?”
“Well, you heard it for yourself at the reading,” Matthew stated. “To make a long story short, the victim was poisoned at the bar he regularly visited. He was later lead to a back alley and stabbed in the chest with a pair of garden shears. The killer left an origami bird on the body as a calling card.”
“Why do you think he bothered to use poison if he was only going to stab the victim later?”
“Because the killer wanted a feeling of control,” he described. “The poison would have killed him eventually, but it was much more satisfying to directly kill the man. Some might consider it an oversight on the part of the criminal, but he was really just trying to cover all his bases.”
“Could the poison have been just to make sure the victim died, in case the stabbing didn’t completely kill him…somehow?”
“It is possible to stab someone without actually killing them. There are plenty of torture techniques that work that way. Shall I describe some of them to you?”
She recalled her mother telling her about the dark and gory exposition Matthew had written on Harrison Bell’s blog, and she really didn’t want to get into that kind of detail at the moment. She didn’t have the stomach for it.
“Maybe next time,” Rachel avoided the question. “What do you think the significance of the origami bird is?”
“As I said, it’s a calling card for the killer,” Matthew explained. “Looking from the character’s perspective, he was probably thinking he would kill again, possibly multiple times. He did believe he was invincible and could commit the perfect murder after all. It would’ve been a way to connect the murders together.”
“Was he taunting the police?”
“Of course. What’s better than mocking the very people who are supposed to catch you? Of course, it was his arrogance that got him caught in the end.”
Vickie watched as their conversation continued, taking notes of her own regarding Matthew’s behavior and specifically how he spoke about the killer from the novel. It was almost as if he was the novel’s criminal…
Chapter 7
“Why don’t you and Jason call it a night, Kim?” Vickie recommended as they wiped down the front counter. “I can take care of the shop tonight.”
“Our shift doesn’t end for another hour though.”
“If you’re worried about not getting your pay, I’ll make sure payroll still includes the next hour.”
“But there’s still so much to do,” Kimberly protested. “We have to wipe down the tables, put up the chairs, record the sales receipts, and clean the coffee pots…that mess from when the espresso machine exploded is still in a few places…”
“I can take care of it, really,” Vickie insisted. “You all have done enough for me today.”
“Are you sure?” Kimberly asked doubtfully.
“If I really need help, I can get Rachel to give me a hand.” Vickie felt like she had to throw her two employees out of the café. “Really, I can get it.”
“If you’re sure?” Jason asked. She nodded emphatically. “Okay. See you tomorrow boss.”
The two gathered their things and headed out the door just as Rachel was leaving the employee’s lounge.
“I’m going to need to scrub my ears out,” Rachel complained. “And my eyes. And my mouth.”
“He really isn’t a pleasant man, is he?” Vickie agreed as she counted receipts.
“I never want to conduct an interview like that again.” Rachel gave Tyler a long stroke along his back, scratching the spot right in front of his tail. “And who doesn’t like cats? I mean, really?”
“If he’s had a bad experience with them, I can’t really blame him,” Vickie sympathized. “I couldn’t be around dogs for a long time after I was bitten as a child.”
Rachel looked up at her while Tyler purred at her attention. “I never knew that.”
“I never told you.” She finished with the receipts and put them back in the front cash register. “I didn’t want you to have any bad associations with dogs.”
“Is that why we have a cat? You never wanted a dog?”
Vickie gave Tyler a scratch as well. “I think that’s just because I’m more of a cat person. Your father is more of a dog person.”
“Is that why he gets so annoyed with Tyler?”
“Oh he loves this cat, and you know it.”
The bell at the front door rang, signaling someone coming into the shop. It was getting close to closing time, and this was the only time the store activity really started to slow down. There were only two other people in the shop right now, excluding Rachel and the employees. Since it was such a strange occurrence this late in the day, everyone’s heads spun to look at the door.
The café was suddenly presented with a colorful dress and shoes, all of which were patterned in some kind of tie-dye or something similar; Vickie wasn’t sure what the kids called it these days. She instantly recognized the woman as Kate by her outfit long before she saw her face. Kate looked like she had finally gotten enough sleep, based on the relaxed expression on her face. The bags under her eyes had greatly reduced over the day; they were still present, but Kate’s appearance was much more rested and tranquil than when Vickie and Rachel had visited her that morning.
She walked up to the counter and smiled. “Hi, Vickie, Rachel. How are things?”
“Not too bad,” Vickie replied, closing the cash register. “Can I get you something?”
“No, thanks. I’m fine,” Kate replied. “I was just wondering how your investigation was going. I heard you met with Matthew Bae earlier?”
“We did,” Rachel answered. “We found out where he was staying and arranged a meeting. I talked to him about a bunch of stuff involving the murder in Mr. Bell’s book.”
“He probably didn’t shut up about it, did he?” Kate smirked at the thought.
“You have no idea,” Vickie commented before pausing. “Actually, you probably do since he follows Mr. Bell everywhere.”
“He’s more obsessed than anything!” the daughter exclaimed. “It sounds like he’d give up his own life in a heartbeat if it meant he got to be Harrison Bell.”
Kate shook her head. “Who would want someone else’s life?”
“Is that a rhetorical question?” Vickie cocked her eyebrow. “He’s a successful author, probably worth millions.”
“I can vouch for that,” Kate said with a nod. “His estate is worth millions. Even if he is guilty of killing that man last night, he can afford the best lawyers available. He’ll probably get off with a lighter sentence.”
“You really think it’s him?” Vickie wondered out loud.
Kate glanced around the café, noting the last two customers had finished their drinks and left. “Maybe we should talk about it?”
“Certainly,” Vickie responded. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like something to drink at least?”
“I think I’ll take you up on that after all.” Kate sat at the same table Rachel and Matthew had been sitting at earlier. “Do you have ginger tea? I’ve been having some digestive issues lately.”
“One ginger tea, coming right up!”
Tyler walked over to the table and hopped up, taking his normal spot on the nearby windowsill. Kate saw him there and smiled.
“What a pretty cat.” She reached over to pet him. Uncharacteristically, Tyler ignored her, continuing to stare out the window. “What breed is he? Is it a he or she?”
“He, and his name is Tyler,” Rachel answered, taking her seat from be
fore as well. “He’s a Russian Blue.”
“He’s yours?”
“My mom’s, but he hangs around the café a lot, so he’s kind of everyone’s.”
“Lucky kitty.” Kate continued to stroke his back, but Tyler just kept staring outside. He didn’t seem remotely interested in her.
“He’s usually much friendlier than this,” Rachel commented.
“Well, maybe he just needs to get to know me,” Kate reasoned. “I like this little town. I’m thinking about moving here permanently, so I might be around more.”
“Here we go.” Vickie returned with a tray carrying a few cups. “Ginger tea, and a couple of peppermint teas for us, Rachel.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Rachel took a few quick gulps of the drink and sighed. “Nice.”
“That hit the spot,” Kate said. “Anyway, we were talking about Mr. Bell.”
“Yes. You said you thought he might be Anthony’s killer?” It still hurt Rachel to talk about Anthony in past tense.
“I’ve been keeping an eye on Mr. Bell’s finances, like I always do,” Kate explained. “Just hearing about the murder last night has driven up the demand for copies of his novel. It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours, but the publicity has doubled the book’s sales.”
“I can’t say I’m surprised,” Vickie added. “It’s just been word of mouth—”
“More like word of internet,” Kate interrupted.
“—but the only official news reports have been very vague about the murder itself,” the older woman continued without pausing. “Reading the book is the closest thing they can get to learning about Anthony’s murder.”
“But surely Mr. Bell wasn’t just trying to increase his sales,” Rachel rationalized. “I mean, the book’s already a best seller. It’s at the top of the list for crying out loud! Why would he put his freedom and life on the line for more money?”
“Oh, you might be surprised by what Mr. Bell would do for more money.” Kate clicked her tongue. “Part of the reason he hasn’t hired a second assistant is because of the money it would cost. He always wants more and more of it. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if that was his motive.”