by Leena Clover
“Almost everyone in town has signed the petition. Over 90% of the people have said no to that dispensary. I think the Newburys are going to be disappointed.”
“I feel bad for the people who really need that medicine,” Jenny said. “But I guess some of the concerns people raised are real too.”
Jenny packed a couple of chocolate cupcakes in a box and took them over to Jason. He loved chocolate.
“How are you, Jenny?” he asked, lighting up as he opened the box she handed over.
“Have you talked to Adam yet?” Jenny asked. “What does he say about our theory?”
“You know Adam,” Jason shrugged. “He said he’ll work on it. We have to give him a couple of days before we press any further.”
“He’s had his two days,” Jenny fumed. “Time’s running out.”
Jason licked chocolate frosting off a fork and nodded.
“What do you want to do?”
“Let’s go talk to him now.”
Adam frowned when Jenny entered his office.
“I’m busy now. Come back later.”
“We just need a few minutes, Adam.”
She sat down and Jason followed.
“Did you find out anything more about Gianni?”
“Not yet,” Adam admitted. “I’m drawing a blank.”
Jenny leaned forward, her eyes shining with an idea.
“What if you ran his fingerprints? Have you done that yet? He might have a criminal record.”
“Let me get back to you on that,” Adam promised.
He ushered them out of his office, looking irritated. Jenny walked out, feeling hopeful.
“If Gianni was going around using a false identity, we will find that out soon enough.”
“Fingers crossed, Jenny,” Jason said, heading back to his office.
Jenny went back to the café. She had a big order for a birthday cake. She needed to start baking if she wanted to have the cake ready on time.
Adam came to Seaview for dinner that evening. Jenny was happy to see him. She tried to forget his boorish behavior from that morning. Adam always stressed that he wanted to keep his professional life separate from his private life. Jenny decided she would try the same. She was mad at Sheriff Adam but she was happy to see her beau Adam for dinner.
“This is like an impromptu date,” Adam said, handing her a bunch of roses from the garden.
Star and Jimmy had gone out for a drive.
“It’s just you and me,” Jenny said with a blush. “Do you want to eat out on the patio?”
“It’s kind of chilly outside,” Adam said, rubbing his palms together. “I can build a fire in the pit.”
They finally decided to eat in the cozy breakfast nook. Jenny lit candles and served the simple pasta dinner.
Adam dunked his crusty bread in the clam sauce and stared into Jenny’s eyes.
“Do you miss having me here?”
Jenny’s smile was answer enough.
“Won’t be for long,” Adam said cryptically.
They decided to go for a walk before dessert. Jenny went upstairs to get a wrap for herself.
“I don’t want to spoil the mood but I have some more news for you, Jenny. The prints came back. They belong to a man called Joe Torres.”
“What else?” Jenny asked eagerly.
“I will know more tomorrow,” Adam promised.
The next day, Jenny waited impatiently to hear back from Adam. She packed some lunch for the two of them and walked over to the police station.
“I’m still working on it,” Adam said, chewing on his chicken salad sandwich. “I learned a few random things but I haven’t pieced it together yet.”
“I’ll hold on a bit longer, I guess,” Jenny said reluctantly.
Heather called when Jenny was about to sit down to dinner.
“Guess who just booked two rooms at the Bayview Inn?”
“Who?” Jenny played along.
“Ann Davis and her son Ricky. They are coming here in the summer.”
“So Ann wasn’t kidding when she said she missed the Eastern Shore.”
“Apparently not,” Heather agreed. “You think they are still interested in Seaview?”
“Ann is the one who sold me the house,” Jenny reminded Heather. “Keith was the one who wanted to hold on to it. But he’s gone now.”
“Will you invite them over?”
“I don’t know, Heather, we’ll see.”
Jenny let Heather prattle on for some time. She was pleased to see shades of the old Heather.
“Your dinner’s getting cold,” Star called from the table.
Jenny giggled and hung up. She loved living with her elderly aunt. It made her feel younger and reminded her of the times she had spent summers in Pelican Cove as a teen.
Jimmy regaled them with stories of some of his tenants. With tourist season coming up, he had his work cut out for him. He fixed up all the cottages, and added a fresh coat of paint.
“Sounds like you’re going to be pretty busy, Jimmy,” Star said, stirring a spoon in her soup.
Jenny had made pea soup with fresh peas and mint from the garden. She paired it with lemony grilled chicken breasts in a garlic butter sauce.
“This is my usual spring routine,” Jimmy shrugged. “I’m used to it.”
“What do you think about taking a trip?”
“Now?” Jimmy asked. “There’s no way I can get away right now.”
Star said nothing and took a few bites.
“Do you need to go somewhere?” Jimmy asked a few minutes later.
“Frank had this great idea,” Star hesitated. “Spring time is really beautiful in the mountains.”
“But your specialty is seascapes,” Jimmy pointed out. “That’s what the tourists buy year after year.”
“I know. But a mountain landscape would be a great addition to my work. Frank says a diverse portfolio makes the artist look more experienced.”
“He would know.”
“Of course he does,” Star said. “He’s painted mountains, deserts, canyons and beaches in every possible season. I trust his opinion.”
“What are you saying?” Jimmy asked quietly.
“It’s a three day trip. That gives us four or five plein air sessions. I can book a room in town and drive up into the mountains in Frank’s bus every day.”
“Doesn’t sound like you need me there,” Jimmy grumbled.
Star grasped his hand.
“Of course I need you, Jimmy. It will be fun.”
“You really want to do this?” Jimmy asked.
“I’ve been painting the ocean and the salt marshes for years. I like the thought of trying my hand at something new.”
“Let me think about it,” Jimmy said.
“You’re going anyway, aren’t you?” Jenny asked her aunt later.
“Frank’s a talented artist. I can learn a lot from him.”
“Is that all?” Jenny asked. “I think you have a tiny crush on him.”
Star refused to comment on that. Jenny hoped her aunt would decide not to go on the trip. She wasn’t too keen on sending her off with a stranger.
Jenny spent another busy day at the café, working on a few special orders. Barb Norton came in during lunch. She tasted the chicken noodle soup Jenny placed before her and pronounced it delicious.
“What brings you here, Barb?” Jenny asked, setting down a plate of crab salad with the fat free crackers Barb preferred.
“Sit down, Jenny,” Barb ordered. “Spring Fest is just a few weeks away. Have you thought about it yet?”
“I guess we’ll put up something just like last time.”
“You haven’t signed up for it yet,” Barb admonished. “I need to have your final menu by the end of the week. I am going to review all of them. I might ask you to make a few changes.”
Jenny mumbled something under her breath.
“We don’t want everyone offering the same thing,” Barb said. “If you are working on
any new recipes for the festival, arrange a tasting session in the next two days.”
“That’s not enough time,” Jenny protested.
“Serve it at the café that day,” Barb ordered. “I’m sure you can do it.”
Barb gave Jenny a few more pointers about the upcoming festival while she ate her lunch.
“It’s hard to choose between your cupcakes or donuts,” Barb said. “No waffles. We’ll have funnel cakes.”
Jenny finally got a chance to eat her own lunch. Jason rushed in when she had barely taken two bites.
“Adam wants us,” he said.
“Can I finish eating?” Jenny asked. “I’m starving.”
“Sure. I’ll join you if you have another of those.” Jason looked greedily at the sandwich she was eating.
They scarfed down their food in a few minutes and started walking toward the police station.
Adam was just finishing his own lunch. He tossed everything in a trash can and turned around to beam at them.
“I have some news.”
Jenny’s neck muscles were taut with tension.
“Good news or bad news?”
“Relax, Jenny, this will take a while.”
Adam handed over a bottle of cold water. Jenny guzzled the water and looked questioningly at Adam.
“Your hunch paid off. Joe Torres, Dr. Joe Torres, lived in a small town in New Mexico. He was arrested for medical fraud.”
Jenny slammed her fist on Adam’s desk.
“That’s more like it. What else did you find out?”
“I talked to my counterpart over there,” Adam explained. “Gianni, or Joe, whatever you call him, was one of the top doctors in the town. He had been running scams for years.”
“What kind of scams?” Jason asked.
“Wrong diagnoses, double billing, there’s a long list. He finally got caught. One of his patients reported him and he was arrested. But they never found enough evidence to convict.”
Jenny sucked in a breath.
“He must have been tipped off.”
“That’s what they think,” Adam agreed. “The charges didn’t stick so they had to let him go. His reputation suffered though and he lost his medical license.”
“That must have been a big blow,” Jason said. “What did he do after that?”
Adam shrugged.
“They didn’t exactly keep tabs on him. There is no record of him after that.”
“So Dr. Joe Torres just disappeared?” Jenny pressed.
“Something like that, Jenny. There is no address for him in that town so all we can surmise is he went somewhere else.”
“He took on a new identity,” Jenny said. “But the question is, how many other identities did he have before becoming Gianni Costa.”
“Does that matter?” Adam asked.
“We don’t know how many people he hurt,” Jenny pointed out. “If we want to find these people, we need to track down everything Gianni or Joe did.”
“She has a point,” Jason said, backing Jenny up.
“That’s like looking for a needle in a haystack,” Adam sighed.
“Are you up for the challenge?” Jenny asked him.
“We can’t be sure this has any relevance to the current crime,” Adam said stodgily. “It’s not my job to uncover the fraud he did.”
“Are you going to throw Heather under the bus just because you can’t do your due diligence?”
Jenny stood with her hands on her hips and glared at Adam.
“Be careful, Jenny. I don’t care for your allegations.”
“Neither does Heather,” Jenny snapped. “Heather may not have an alibi but I know in my heart that she is innocent.”
“You’re talking like the amateur you are,” Adam said hotly. “Feelings don’t matter in an investigation. We have to deal with hard facts.”
“I will find hard facts for you, Adam Hopkins,” Jenny challenged. “I will find facts you cannot ignore.”
Chapter 18
“I always knew that man was up to no good,” Betty Sue Morse declared. The Magnolias were huddled together on the deck of the Boardwalk Café. Coffee cooled in cups as the women mulled over what Jenny had just told them.
“What did Heather see in him?” Molly wondered out loud.
Heather sat with her hands in her lap, looking suitably contrite.
“What are you going to do next?” Star asked Jenny.
“I’m going to find out everything I can about this man, Joe Torres.”
“You’re a whiz at Internet research now, Jenny,” Heather said meekly. “Let me know if I can help.”
“I have something in mind for you,” Jenny said cryptically.
Molly and Heather followed Jenny into the kitchen on the pretext of getting some food.
“What’s the plan?” Molly asked, looking radiant in a new peach top.
She hadn’t talked about Chris in a while but Jenny guessed the new couple was doing well.
“Heather needs to remember what happened that night,” Jenny said.
Heather opened her mouth to protest. Jenny held up a hand.
“I know, I know, you were drunk! So this is what I propose. We are going to get you drunk again and try to retrace your steps. That might jog your memory.”
“I promised myself I would never be that intoxicated again.”
“You have to make an exception this time, Heather,” Jenny said smoothly. “Your life may depend on it.”
“So when are we doing this? Chris and I have a hot date tonight. We are going to Virginia Beach.”
“Cancel that date,” Jenny ordered. “We need you with us.”
Molly agreed easily.
“You really think this idea will work?” Heather asked.
“We won’t know until we try.”
They agreed to meet at Seaview around 5 PM.
Jenny didn’t get a chance to do her Internet research until she got home later that afternoon. She fired up her laptop and started running searches on Dr. Joe Torres. He turned out to be a popular doctor. But all the records she saw were about four years old. She started checking the social sites. Joe or Gianni appeared with a woman on his arm. There were several photos of them smiling and laughing together, at parties or at the beach. The woman was labeled as Maria or Maria Torres.
Jenny guessed the woman was his wife. The woman stopped appearing in the photos about five years ago. Jenny decided to dig deeper. She looked for other news in the region for those dates. She found some news items about a missing woman, none other than Maria Torres.
Maria had been on vacation with her husband when she disappeared. Her husband, a well known local doctor, had been devastated. The news articles printed Maria’s life history. Maria had been born Maria Juanita Lopez Garcia. She had been the only child of aging parents. Her mother died when she was in high school. She had been working at the local gas company when Joe Torres saw her and fell in love with her.
A massive search had been mounted for Maria but she never came back. Many theories had been proposed. One of the theories accused Joe Torres of killing his wife and disposing of her body. It had been deemed fantastic by most people. Joe Torres was so popular in his town that no one had been willing to believe a word against him. Then he was arrested for fraud. He had been released later but the damage had been done. He lost his medical license.
Jenny couldn’t find any references to Joe Torres after that. She figured he had simply relocated to another state and taken on a new identity.
Molly and Heather arrived before she had time to process all the information.
“What are we drinking?” Molly asked.
“You and I need to be sober,” Jenny told her. “Heather’s going to get drunk.”
“Come on Jenny, we can at least have a cocktail each.”
Heather chose her poison. They went into the kitchen and made strawberry daiquiris.
“Do you have something to nosh on?” Heather asked.
“You’re on
a liquid diet tonight, babe,” Jenny teased. “Forget about food.”
They watched a chick flick to while away the time. When Heather finally looked ready to pass out, Jenny drove them all to The Steakhouse.
“We are going to walk to Gianni’s house from here,” she told Heather.
Heather stumbled a few times but they reached the doctor’s house twenty minutes later. Jenny had arranged for the door to be unlocked.
“This door was slightly ajar that night,” Heather slurred.
They went in and sat down in the living room.
Heather looked around with bleary eyes.
“Gianni was sitting right there,” she pointed at an arm chair. “There was a bottle on the coffee table.”
“What kind of bottle?” Jenny asked.
“A fancy glass bottle full of a brown liquid.”
“A crystal decanter?”
Heather shrugged. Then she sat up.
“There was a big sound, like someone banging into something.”
“What did you do?”
Heather rubbed her eyes and looked at Jenny. She was beginning to sober up.
“I think I saw a shadow right there.” She vaguely pointed somewhere off the living room. “And I definitely heard a sound in the kitchen.”
“What did you do?”
“I told Gianni but he just laughed at me. Told me I was drunk.”
“What did you do then?”
“Gianni was drinking from a glass. I grabbed it and took a sip. Then I blacked out.”
“Do you remember when you woke up?”
Heather shook her head.
“I don’t. Now can we please go home? This place is creeping me out.”
“Let’s go,” Jenny agreed, helping Heather up from the couch.
They walked back to Jenny’s car and got in. Jenny promised Heather a fresh pot of coffee and all the spaghetti she could eat.
Heather woke up with a headache the next morning. She went to the Boardwalk Café for breakfast. Jenny had promised her a cure for her hangover.
“Here you go,” Jenny said, setting a plate of home fried potatoes before her. “Tell me when you are ready for eggs.”
Heather polished off the big breakfast and sat back to enjoy her third cup of coffee.
“Did you remember anything else?” Jenny asked.
“I remember waking up,” Heather replied. “It was dark outside. Gianni was sprawled on the couch.”