by Jessica Beck
“You did a remarkable job of it,” I said, meaning every word of it. “But I’m curious about something. Did you just uncover all of this, or did you know some of it before we came by the office yesterday afternoon?” Her answer would be quite telling, no matter which one was true. If she knew so much before Moose and I came by, then she’d held out on us, but if she’d found out in the interim, that meant that she must have found some kind of diary or journal afterwards. Roy didn’t strike me as the type of man who would record his thoughts on paper, but then again, I’d been wrong before.
“I knew quite a bit of it before,” she admitted, “but I wasn’t sure how much I could trust you with the information. Like I said, though, I asked around, and several people in town told me that I could count on you.”
“We thank you for your faith,” Moose said. “Did you share any of this information with the sheriff?”
“I tried, but he didn’t seem all that interested in my speculations, so I finally just shut up. I had the distinct impression that he didn’t like me.”
I knew that Sheriff Croft liked to keep a bit aloof when he questioned folks he considered suspects, so I was sure that was what Kelly had experienced. It was interesting to me that Kelly made his suspect list, but then again, I could see how he might believe that her working for Roy and putting up with the man on a daily basis for seven years was plenty of motive for murder.
“I’m sure he was just doing his job,” I said.
“I have a question for you, Kelly,” my grandfather said. “Who do you think killed your former employer?”
“Honestly, it could have been any one of them,” she said as she frowned. “It’s sad, isn’t it?”
“What’s that, the fact that Roy was murdered?”
“Yes, of course there’s that, but I mean the idea that so many people wanted to see him dead. I’d hate to think that you’d be able to come up with a list like that if something ever happened to me.”
“Did you ever hear Roy mention anyone named Loretta Jenkins?” Moose asked in passing.
The secretary/receptionist frowned in concentration, and then she shook her head. “No, not that I can think of right offhand.” After a moment’s pause, Kelly asked, “Could that be the L.J. he had an appointment with last night?”
“It would make sense if it were,” I said. I wasn’t ready to tell her that Loretta claimed to be Roy’s daughter. Springing it on her might come in handy later.
“Could you describe her for me?” Kelly asked.
“She’s a petite woman in her early thirties with jet-black hair and brown eyes,” I said.
Kelly looked at me curiously. “Are you sure?”
“That’s as good a description as I can give,” I answered. “Why?”
“Well, I don’t know her name, but that sounds exactly like the woman I told you about earlier that’s been stalking Roy for the past two weeks. I wanted to call the sheriff, but Roy wouldn’t let me. She has to be the same woman.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me in the least,” Moose said.
“The police should definitely talk to her, then. She made me nervous every time I spotted her nearby.”
I was about to respond when my earlier fears were realized. I didn’t know if it was merely coincidence, or if it was by plan, but when I saw the sheriff walk into the diner, I knew that it didn’t matter one way or the other.
All that really counted was that Moose and I were busted.
“I didn’t expect to find the three of you chatting at this time of day,” the sheriff said as he approached us. It was clear that it was a direct jab, and given the circumstances, I didn’t know that I could blame him.
“Kelly just dropped in all on her own for a cup of coffee and a chat,” I said. “We were honestly surprised to see her visiting the diner.”
Kelly looked at me a little oddly as she said, “I didn’t realize that my absence here in the past was all that big a deal.”
The sheriff stared at her a moment, as though he were analyzing the situation. “Let me get this straight. You came in here of your own free will, is that right? No one called you and invited you, did they?”
“No, I did it on my own. Why, does it matter?” She looked confused by the line of questioning, which just added to our credibility.
“Not really,” the sheriff said. “Do you mind if I pull up a chair and join you?” As he asked it, he did as he’d threatened and started to sit.
“Actually, there’s no need. I have to go,” Kelly said as she abruptly stood. “I forgot all about it, but there was someone I was supposed to meet earlier, and I’d hate for them to think that I stood them up. What do I owe you for the coffee, Victoria?”
“Today, for you, it’s on the house,” I said. After all, it was the least I could do after she went out of her way to add to our knowledge pool.
“Thank you. That’s most gracious of you.”
After she was gone, the sheriff said, “You know, I don’t think Kelly likes me very much.”
“Then the feeling must be mutual, because she doesn’t think you like her, either,” I said. “As a matter of fact, she just told us that you intimidate her.”
“What else did she happen to tell you while she was here?” the sheriff asked.
“Are you fishing for information?” Moose asked.
“Well, I hate to be picky about it, but in a way, you are still on my time.”
Moose just shrugged. “It seems to me that you could drop a few nuggets our way as well. It’s not asking all that much, when you consider how much we’ve been giving you lately.”
I wasn’t at all sure that my grandfather was handling things the proper way, but the sheriff surprised me when he smiled. “You make a good point. Okay, here’s something interesting that I just found out. The poison used in your cake was just on Roy’s piece. The lab analyzed the rest of it, and it was all clean.”
“What kind of poison was used?” I asked. “Can it be traced in any way?”
“I’m afraid not. It was just common rat poison,” he said. “It’s probably in a hundred basements and garden sheds around town, and the chemical makeup is so generic that there’s no way in the world to track it back to the owner unless we find a box of it at one of our suspects’ places, and unless we get more of a reason to ask for a warrant than that, we aren’t even going to be able to look.”
“We might be able to handle that for you ourselves, unofficially, of course,” Moose said.
“I’m going to pretend that you didn’t just suggest that,” Sheriff Croft said.
“That’s fine with me, but does that mean you don’t want us to do it, or you’d just rather not know ahead of time?” Moose asked.
“Breaking and entering, even if it’s only a storage shed, is never acceptable as a form of investigation,” he said stiffly. “Frankly, if I thought I really had to explain that to you, I would never allow either one of you near another murder investigation as long as I was sheriff. Do we understand each other?”
“Hey, it wasn’t my suggestion, so don’t scold me,” I said.
Moose shook his head. “That’s the way to show a united front, Victoria.”
“If there’s anyone in town who doesn’t know that I’ve always got your back, they must be living under a rock, Moose.”
My grandfather patted my hand. “Not only do I fully realize that, I greatly appreciate it.”
“I’m glad we got that settled. Now, if you two will excuse me, I’ve got to follow up on a few more leads while I still have time to do it alone,” the sheriff said. “Unless there’s something else you would like to share with me.”
I nodded. “Get out your notebook, because Kelly just told us a ton of stuff that she said she never mentioned to you.”
After Moose and I brought him up to date, the sheriff nodded as he closed his notebook. “There’s some good information there.” He started to get up, but then abruptly sat back down again. “I’m going to tell you something else th
at isn’t public knowledge, but it is a matter of public record, if you know where to look. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t let anyone know how you found out about it, though.”
“We are both the souls of discretion,” Moose said. How he did it without smiling broadly was beyond me.
“Okay,” the sheriff said. “It turns out that Mayor Mullins isn’t nearly as wealthy as he likes folks to believe. His family fortunes have taken a substantial turn for the worse in recent years, and the amount he lost in his deal with Roy Thompson was just about enough to push him over the financial edge.”
“Well, well, well,” Moose said. “That’s interesting indeed.” My grandfather looked at his watch, and then he smiled broadly.
“Why does that make you so happy?” the sheriff asked him.
“It doesn’t, at least not specifically.”
“Then why are you grinning like a hyena?” he asked.
“It’s noon, Sheriff. That means that your suspect list is now officially fair game.”
“I knew that I’d probably have reason to regret the deal I made with you two yesterday. I just didn’t realize that it would happen so quickly.”
“Don’t worry. We won’t do anything we shouldn’t,” I said.
“Victoria, you shouldn’t make promises that I have no intention of keeping,” Moose said with a broad grin. “Sheriff, we’ve shown you time and time again that we can be a real asset to your investigations. You need to trust us.”
“I do, in my own way, or I wouldn’t be here right now,” the sheriff said as he stood. “All I can say is that you should both be careful, and happy hunting.”
“Right back at you,” Moose said.
After the sheriff was gone, my grandfather looked at me. “So, what do you say? Are you ready to get started?”
“Let me grab something to eat first,” I said. “I’ve got a hunch that we’re in for a long afternoon, and I don’t want to face it on an empty stomach.”
I expected a little resistance from my grandfather, but I was quite pleased when he said, “That’s a sterling idea. Let’s have your husband whip us up something quick and filling, and then our stomachs won’t be rumbling with hunger when we start interviewing suspects.”
“Did you have anything in particular in mind?” I asked as I started for the kitchen.
“No, why don’t we just let him surprise us?”
“I’m game if you are,” I said.
After we told Greg that we wanted quick bites, he made us grilled sandwiches that fit our preferences. I had a simply delightful ham and provolone cheese sandwich grilled perfectly, while Moose had Greg’s wonderful chicken salad. My husband also ladled out bowls of soup for each of us. I got Greg’s homemade chicken noodle soup that had never been anywhere near a can, while Moose got Greg’s chili that he loved so much.
We pulled up a few stools in the kitchen as we ate so we wouldn’t be in the way of Ellen and Martha as they took care of our customers. Greg barely listened to our strategy session as we ate, and it appeared to me that he was just happy having us as company. I worried about him working mostly by himself at the grill in the kitchen while everyone else was out in the dining room, but he didn’t seem to mind. In fact, I think that overall, he was pleased with the situation. Working back there, Greg had the advantage of having the folks he loved nearby, and he could catch an occasional glance and hear a word here or there, all the while maintaining his own domain in back.
It made him happy, and that, in turn, gave me great joy.
It was so perfectly lovely back there that I almost hated leaving him and going out into the real world, but Moose and I had no choice.
It was time to start interviewing more people in order to find the killer who had tainted one of my husband’s finest creations and used it to kill a man.
Chapter 9
“How should we handle this?” I asked Moose as we parked in front of Sylvia Jones’s place near Molly’s Corners. It was a pretty stately manor on the outskirts of town, with a long and winding drive that went past an expansive pond with a freshly painted gazebo perched on its edge.
“I think we should hit her head on,” Moose said. “Let’s not beat around the bush. Let’s ask her for an alibi straight away.”
“You always were one for the direct approach,” I replied.
“Hey, it’s been known to get results in the past,” my grandfather said with a grin.
“Sure, but we’ve also gotten kicked out of a few places before the engine of your truck even had a chance to cool off.”
“You’ve got a point. What do you suggest?”
“Well, she did just lose her ex-husband, no matter how she felt about the man. Why don’t we start with our condolences and see where that gets us?”
“Okay, that might just work,” Moose said. “If we’re going that route, you can take the lead.”
“Wow, did I seriously just win that easily?”
“Hey, I can bend when I need to,” he said.
I decided to leave that one alone since I’d gotten my way.
We approached the massive front doors, and I rang the bell.
Before anyone answered, Moose looked around and asked, “What do you suppose they pay in property taxes every year on this place?”
“I can’t imagine,” I replied as the door opened.
I’d heard rumors that Sylvia had a butler on her staff, but I’d never really believed it. If this refined older man dressed in a suit was on her staff, I’d have a story of my own to tell when I got back to the diner. “May I help you?” he asked gravely.
“We’re from Jasper Fork, and we came to offer Sylvia our condolences,” I said.
Moose nodded solemnly behind me, and I was hopeful that he was indeed going to let me handle this interview, though I knew that his decision to let me lead could change at any second.
“I’m sorry, but Ms. Jones is not receiving visitors at this time.” He spoke with ultimate authority, as though his word required immediate acceptance with no room for discussion.
“I completely understand,” I said. “It’s just that we feel that it’s important that she knows that the citizens of Jasper Fork are feeling her loss as well. After all, Roy was a cherished member of our community.”
I could see Moose’s eyebrow shoot up out of the corner of my eye, but I hoped that the man acting as a gatekeeper didn’t.
“Who is it, Peter?” a woman’s voice asked from inside the home.
“Mourners,” he replied.
“Show them in,” she said after a moment’s hesitation.
If Peter was surprised to hear the news, he didn’t show it. “Please, come in.”
As he stepped aside, Moose and I walked into a grand foyer behind him. There was a massive staircase centered in the space, and a chandelier hanging down that must have cost more than our diner. Sylvia Jones was wearing an elegant black dress as she approached us, and so help me, a black lace veil covered her face, though just barely.
“We’re so sorry for your loss,” I said as Peter discreetly left the room.
Sylvia nodded. “Though it’s true that Roy and I parted ways many years ago, the man was never far from my heart.”
Wow. That was giving their divorce a spin that any New York PR flak would be embarrassed to try, but Sylvia pulled it off without a moment’s hesitation. This woman was going to be more formidable than I originally thought.
“Had you seen him recently?” Moose asked. I had to give my grandfather credit. It was a pretty subtle way of finding out just when she’d last seen her ex-husband.
“As a matter of fact, we spoke on the telephone yesterday,” she said.
So, that put her in touch with him the day he was murdered, but it wasn’t what Moose had asked her.
“How about in person?” I asked.
“I’m not certain, but it had to be several days ago,” she said. “While it’s true that our split was less than perfect, we’d begun to grow closer over the past few month
s. I’m just sorry someone took the opportunity for us to reunite away from us.”
I was going to need hip-waders if she kept this up. No one had whispered a word about Sylvia and Roy being anything but bitter enemies, but here this woman was trying to convince us that they were on the road to reconciliation.
“What’s with the get-up, Mom?” Asher asked as he walked through the door without waiting to be announced. He was tall and thin, with sharp features and tight little brown eyes. “Come on. Are you seriously going to try to play ‘grieving widow’? I doubt anyone who knows you is going to buy it.” He seemed to notice us for the first time. “And who exactly are the two of you?”
“I’m Victoria, and this is my grandfather, Moose,” I said. “We’ve met before, actually.”
“Sorry, but I don’t remember you,” he said dismissively, and I didn’t doubt it was true for an instant. I was pretty sure that I wasn’t the kind of woman who ever made it onto Asher’s radar.
“We run The Charming Moose,” I said. “Surely you’ve heard of our diner in Jasper Fork. As a matter of fact, I’m certain that I’ve seen you around the place, and recently.” This was my way of asking him if he’d been standing outside the diner earlier when Kelly had come by.
He started to say something, and then changed his mind. “You’re mistaken, because it doesn’t ring any bells.” What a lie that was. It appeared that the son was much like the mother, and I doubted that I could trust either one of them.
Sylvia recoiled when she heard me identify our diner. “Asher, these are the people who killed your father.” Her features hardened as she asked us, “You’ve both got a lot of nerve showing up here. What are you really doing here?”
I knew I had to keep my voice calm and level in light of the accusation. It was tough, but I took a deep breath, and then I said, “Well, first of all, it’s important that you realize that we didn’t harm your ex-husband, and second, we already told you why we came. My grandfather and I wanted to tell you that we were sorry for your loss.” I turned to Asher and added, “We’re so sorry about your father.”