Vanilla Vices

by Jessica Beck

  “So I’ve heard,” I said. “However, I disagree with your valuation.”

  “You know what? You’re more like your mother than you seem,” he said, and I could tell that he wasn’t paying me a compliment.

  I chose to take it as one, though. “Flattery will get you nowhere,” I said with my fake smile repeated. How far could I push him on price? I knew that depended on how badly he wanted the place, and the only way to truly find out was to haggle with him, whether I chose to ultimately sell it all to him or not.

  “Okay, maybe it’s worth a little more than a grand,” he conceded. “How about ten thousand?”

  Had I just raised his bid for the building and its contents tenfold without even breaking a sweat? “Give me a figure for the land, too,” I said.

  “Eighty thousand, lock, stock, and barrel,” he said.

  I just shook my head.

  “Ninety.”

  “No thanks.”

  After a moment, he frowned at me and said, “One hundred thousand dollars, and that’s the best I can do. It’s only half an acre of land, for goodness sake. For that price, I can buy land somewhere else and avoid the hassle of dealing with all of that junk inside.”

  “I’ll consider it,” I said.

  That just managed to anger him more. “Be honest with me. You don’t have any intention of selling this place to me, do you?”

  “I don’t care who it goes to, but you’re not the only interested party,” I said. It wasn’t true, at least as far as I knew, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t nudge him a little more.

  “Okay. I’ve got another offer for you. You keep whatever of value that you find inside. I’ll take the empty building and the land, all for the original hundred-grand offer. You might be able to make a few thousand if you can sell the junk inside, and that will be pure gravy for you. You wouldn’t even have to report it to the other heirs if you didn’t want to,” he added slyly. “Do we have a deal?”

  I was saved from defending my honor by the state police inspector’s arrival.

  “What are you doing here, Mr. Frost?” Inspector Black asked him the moment she approached us.

  “Just doing a little business with the estate’s executrix,” he said.

  “Not this afternoon, you’re not.”

  “Hold on one second. She was about to accept my offer,” he stammered.

  “Sorry. You heard the inspector,” I said with a smile. “We’ll have to continue this discussion at a later date.”

  “I need an answer right now, Suzanne.” He was a bully at heart, but sadly for him, I knew how to deal with bullies.

  “Are you sure about that?” I asked him sweetly. “Remember, no is just as definitive an answer as yes.”

  He got it immediately. “Tomorrow is soon enough.”

  “Until then,” I said.

  After he’d driven off, Inspector Black asked me, “What was that all about?”

  “Evidently Frost has been trying to buy this property for years, but Dan wouldn’t sell it to him. Now that the original owner is dead, though, he’s trying to make a deal with me.”

  Black frowned, but she didn’t say anything for a few seconds. Evidently our minds were thinking alike. Frost could have murdered Dan for his property, figuring that the executrix might be an easier nut to crack than the original owner had been. The developer hadn’t counted on dealing with me, though. “Are you wondering if he just gave himself a motive for murder, too?” I asked her.

  “You have got to butt out of my case,” she told me insistently.

  “Hey, it’s a free country. If I choose to speculate about what happened to my friend, nobody, not even you, can stop me.”

  “Do you give your husband this hard a time when he’s in charge?” she asked me, showing a human side for once.

  I decided to answer it in kind. “You shouldn’t take it personally. The same went for my stepfather when he was chief of police, too,” I said. “The difference is that my husband knows when to use me as a resource instead of shutting me out.”

  If she got the hint, she clearly chose to ignore it. “Where is this note?”

  “It’s inside,” I said as I led her to the counter where I’d left it. Thank goodness I’d had the presence of mind to hide the copies I’d made and remove the original from the copier. I had a feeling she’d want to confiscate everything if she had the opportunity.

  I reached to get it when she put a hand on mine. “Leave it right where it is.” After putting on some disposable gloves, she picked up the envelope, read its message, flipped it over and examined the back, and then slid it into a plastic evidence bag.

  “What do you think? Was I right to call you?” I asked her.

  Before she could answer, we both heard a noise upstairs. Inspector Black didn’t even hesitate as she pulled her revolver from its holster and started for the stairs. “Stay right here.”

  “Hold on a second. My friend Grace is up there,” I said.

  Inspector Black scowled for a second as she reholstered her weapon. “I suppose she’s an executrix, too.”

  “No, she’s just here helping out a friend.”

  “Ms. Gauge, you need to come down here right now!” the inspector called out.

  Instead of complying, my best friend asked me from above, “Suzanne, are you okay?” I heard footsteps approaching from upstairs, and then Grace came down with one hand behind her back.

  “I’m fine. You remember Inspector Black,” I said.

  Grace nodded. “I do. Hello.”

  “Just out of curiosity, what are you holding behind your back?” the inspector asked her.

  “In my defense, I didn’t know it was you,” Grace replied as she brought out a heavy wooden cane.

  “What were you going to do with that?” Inspector Black asked her.

  “If you were someone who wanted to hurt my friend, I was going to club you into unconsciousness with it,” Grace said matter-of-factly. She didn’t crack the slightest smile as she said it, and I was proud of her for coming to my defense when she thought I might be in trouble.

  “Good to know,” the inspector said, and then she turned to me. “You two need to leave the premises immediately.”

  She’d said it so nonchalantly that it caught me off guard. After a moment to collect myself, I asked, “Why should we do that? I have a legal right to be here, and I can choose to bring anyone with me that I want.” I felt as though I was on sound legal ground, but I might have to call Teresa Logan to be sure. I might not be the woman’s biggest fan, but I didn’t doubt that she was an adequate attorney, and that appeared to be what I needed at the moment.

  “It’s simple. You’re going to leave because I’m resealing the crime scene,” she said with a hint of a smile. “Your discovery leads me to believe that there may be more clues here than we first thought. I’ll be sure to let you know when we’re finished.”

  She tried to usher us out the front door, but I wasn’t about to move. “I’m not going anywhere until I call my attorney.”

  “Fine. Do it from outside, though.”

  Grace looked at her and said, “You should know that you’re going to have to arrest us to get us to move, and I can assure you, we won’t go peacefully. Once we’re booked, do you think for one second that we’re going to cower in a corner? What does it possibly gain you to bully us into leaving before Suzanne can make one phone call? She’ll be entitled to it from jail anyway, so why not save us all the trouble?”

  “Fine,” the inspector said after considering her options much longer than I cared for. In the end, arresting and jailing the two of us was going to be more trouble than her empty threat had been. We’d won this battle, but the war was far from being over.

  I dug out the card Teresa had given me and hoped that she was back in her office. After four rings, she answered. “Loga
n and Associates. How may I direct your call?” she asked. I wondered who her supposed associates were, but it was no time to ask her about it.

  “Teresa, it’s Suzanne Hart. We’re at Aunt Teeks with State Police Inspector Black. She has just informed us that she is resealing the crime scene and that we are to exit the premises immediately. My question for you, is can she do that?”

  Teresa didn’t even hesitate. “Suzanne, listen to me carefully. You have certain rights as the estate’s executrix, but her rights trump all of yours. Do as she says.”

  I’d suspected that would be the case, but I’d been a little surprised at how quickly she’d folded to the threat. “You didn’t mention Dan’s will to anyone else, did you?” I asked her.

  “No, of course not. Did someone say that I did?”

  “It’s just that Jeffrey Frost came by the junk shop, and somehow, he already knew that I was handling the estate.”

  “That’s easy enough to explain. I had to file papers at the register of deed’s office. He probably got the information from one of the clerks. We can talk about that later. Right now, you need to leave Aunt Teeks.”

  “Grace, too?” I asked.

  “Of course Grace, too.”

  “Thank you for the legal advice. I trust you’ll bill the estate.”

  “This one’s on the house. Just go.”

  I hung up and turned to Grace. “Come on. We’re leaving.”

  “I have a hunch we all already knew that,” Inspector Black said.

  “Be careful about gloating over your victory,” I said as Grace and I walked out together. “Grace and I did our civic duty by turning that information over to you, and you’ve chosen to reward that by barring us from the shop. In your mind, do you think that will make us want to cooperate with you in the future, Inspector?”

  “Holding back information in a criminal investigation is obstruction of justice,” she said.

  “Only if we know that it’s evidence,” I said.

  “Maybe you should call your lawyer back and discuss that with her,” Inspector Black said as she held out her hand. “The keys, please.”

  I had no choice. As I started to hand them to her, I thought about “accidentally” dropping them so she’d at least have to bend over to pick them up, but in the end, I decided to take the high road and just do as she’d asked.

  The state police inspector took them without a thank you, locked the doors, and then headed for her car.

  Grace and I stood right where we were. “You should have just thrown those keys into the woods,” Grace said.

  “I did think about dropping them,” I said, “but I like your idea better.”

  “Save it for the next time,” Grace said with a smile. “Are you ready to get out of here?”

  “We might as well,” I said. “I don’t think there’s a chance we’re going to be allowed back inside for a while.”

  “Maybe we won’t need to be,” Grace said with a cryptic smile.

  “What do you mean?” I asked her as the inspector returned after getting something from her car.

  “Later,” Grace said as Inspector Black stretched crime-scene tape across the door. For good measure, she also put an official seal across both jambs, barring entry. It wouldn’t stop someone determined to break the law, but for me, it might as well have been closed with iron bars and a moat of fire.

  Chapter 11

  “Ms. Hart, you and Ms. Gauge need to let me do my job,” the inspector said after she finished sealing the place up.

  “I don’t see how you can possibly claim that we’ve done anything but that,” I said. “Frankly, I’m not thrilled with your tone of voice. Like two good citizens, we called you the moment we found evidence we thought might be helpful to your investigation.”

  “I apologize if I’ve offended you,” she said. Her inflection showed that she was as sincere as I’d been, meaning not at all.

  “Of course. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have places we need to be,” I said.

  “You’re excused,” she replied.

  As we walked back to my Jeep, Grace whispered, “Don’t say it, Suzanne.”

  “Say what?”

  “Whatever it is you’re thinking right now,” she answered.

  I decided that Grace was probably right, though it was odd having her rein me in instead of urging me on. Once were back in the Jeep and driving away, I said, “The problem is, I don’t know where to go now. I’d planned on spending the rest of the afternoon and most of tonight at Aunt Teeks, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen now.”

  “Do you honestly think there are any more undiscovered clues there?” she asked me.

  “We’ll never know now, will we?”

  “Pull over into that empty spot,” Grace said as she directed me to an open space along the road.

  “Why? Do you want to discuss something with me? Is that what you were smiling so oddly about back there?”

  “I need to show you something,” Grace replied.

  “I’m not in the mood for games. If you have something I need to see, then just show me.”

  “Just pull over. Do I need to remind you that I can be just as stubborn as you are?” Grace asked.

  I knew that if it wasn’t a draw, it was still too close to call. The only reason I’d been arguing with her about parking in the first place was that our confrontation with Inspector Black had left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I hated being told what I could and could not do, especially by someone who had the authority to back the order up.

  I pulled into the spot Grace had pointed out and then went so far as to turn off the ignition. As I turned toward her, I said, “There, you have my undivided attention. Now, what’s so important?”

  She held out her phone and showed it to me with a gleam of triumph in her eyes.

  I looked and saw that it was her home screen, a picture of a white sandy beach with deep-blue water dancing along its edge.

  “That’s cool.”

  “What? It’s not supposed to be cool,” she said as she glanced at her screen. “Oh, I didn’t select it yet.” She did something with her phone, and then she showed it to me again.

  “What do we have now, snow on the mountaintops?” I asked her. Then I looked at the picture.

  The beach was gone, and there was no mountain in sight, adorned with snow or otherwise.

  But what was there made me take a quick breath before I spoke again.

  It was a photo of a photo, ironically enough. I was sure that a great many teenagers wouldn’t recognize the original product, having taken pictures with their phones all of their lives, but this was an actual Kodak moment, a print that someone had gone to the trouble of having developed. Only it wasn’t an entire photo but one that had been raggedly, perhaps angrily, torn in half. Dan, not that much different than the man I’d recently sold my entire stock of vanilla donuts to, was in the frame. The background looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Fall leaves surrounded him, and one tree in particular stood out. Could the photo have been taken that recently, or was it from last year or even the year before? The thing that really captured my attention, though, was the sleeve of the arm still in the photo on Dan’s right side. It was an odd pattern, and I couldn’t tell from Grace’s image if it belonged to a man or a woman.

  “What do you think?” Grace asked me.

  “It might be a clue.”

  “Then again, it might not,” she said, letting her enthusiasm dampen a little. “I was so excited about finding it that I couldn’t wait to show it to you.”

  “Where was it?” I asked.

  “Tucked in the front pocket of one of Dan’s shirts. Either the shirt was brand new, or he never wore it much. I’m guessing it was new. That means that this happened fairly recently.”

  “The photo or the tea
r?”

  Grace frowned a moment before she spoke. “I never even considered that possibility. So what you’re saying is that this might be old news.”

  “No, I think you’re on the right track,” I said. “If he had this in his shirt pocket, I’d say that he tore it recently. Does that look like an angry tear to you?”

  Grace studied the picture. “I’m not exactly sure what an angry tear would look like and how it would differentiate from a happy one. A tear is a tear, isn’t it?”

  “I suppose so, but my point is that if he wanted to excise the other person from the shot calmly, wouldn’t he use scissors? Tearing the other person out of the shot is kind of symbolic, isn’t it?”

  “I suppose so,” Grace replied after giving it a moment’s thought. “Who exactly does that arm belong to, though?”

  “I have no idea. Does that background look familiar to you?”

  “I’m not sure. It looks kind of like a park, doesn’t it?”

  “I suppose so, but it doesn’t look like ours.”

  “Come on, Suzanne. Are you implying that you know every tree in our park? I’ve lived here all of my life, too, and while there are a few trees that have distinguishing characteristics, this isn’t one of them, at least not to me.”

  “No, it’s not like I’ve named them all or anything. It just doesn’t look familiar to me. I could be wrong, though. It might help if I saw the actual photograph fragment. I’m guessing that you left it behind, since you showed me the photo of it on your phone.”

  “After the lecture we got for even being there, I was afraid that the inspector was going to strip-search us on our way out.”

  “Grace, tell me the truth.”

  “Okay. I figured a photo of the picture would be enough. I felt a little uneasy about taking what might be real evidence from the crime scene. There are some lines that even I won’t cross,” she added with a grin.

  “Admit it. You’re just a good citizen at heart, aren’t you?” I asked her with a grin.