He harrumphed and said, “It should be. Those classes cost me a small fortune.”
I snorted. “You know you don’t care. You complain, but there’s no chance that you would refuse Meredith anything her heart desires.”
His face turned a light shade of pink, and he agreed in good humor as he brushed me away. “Get out of my office, I have to call Judge Moore.”
Bun and I made our exit with Bun talking nonstop while we walked through the police station. Outside, I scooped him off the step and tucked him into the sling that hung off my shoulder.
“I guess you convinced Carver there’s something worth looking into, huh?”
“Surprisingly enough.”
“Are we going to the Gazette now?”
“We are, and then I want to see if Mr. Peterson’s in his office before going to the market for a few items. You’ll have to stay in the car at the market, okay?”
“Sure, I have a lot to think about anyway.”
“Like what?” I drove into the Mayfair Center complex and parked in the visitors’ section.
“I’m trying to make a connection between Frank, Felicia, the Eriksons, Clarke, and the drug trade.”
“It might take you a while to connect those dots. I’ll be right back, okay?”
“Can’t I go in with you? I could pick up something that you might miss when you and Alvin get to talking.”
“Okay, come on.” I held the sling open for him to climb in. We set off for the city council’s office in the humongous building that housed so many other city-related offices.
Directed to Alvin’s suite, Bun and I rode the elevator to the third floor. The door opened and we stepped into the corridor. I turned left, walked past a few official-looking businesses, and ended up in front of glass doors with the Windermere city council’s logo on them.
Alvin entered the foyer, where a smartly dressed secretary sat behind a semicircle-shaped counter. He handed the woman a sheaf of papers and then turned to me.
“Good morning, Juliette.” His greeting warm, I matched mine to it and proceeded to follow him into his office.
“I see you have your pal with you.” He reached out to scratch Bun’s head, but Bun ducked back into the sling.
“Something’s off with this guy. Take care, Jules, he’s dangerous.”
“I guess he isn’t very sociable today. Sorry about that, Alvin.”
I took the seat Alvin motioned to as he walked behind his desk and sat down facing me.
“To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?”
I smiled and said, “I have a question for you. My friend, Jessica Plain, is in the process of purchasing Della Meeny’s cottage. Would you happen to know if Della had any relatives? Jess would like to meet them.”
He leaned forward, his hands lightly folded, and said, “She had no children that I know of. No husband, either. I think she was single all her life. If she had a family, they didn’t live in Windermere.” He paused a moment, then said, “Frankly, I have no idea about her background. She worked here for quite some time. As you know, Della wasn’t an easy person to work with, and I believe she was about to lose her job.”
“What, specifically, was her job, if you don’t mind my asking.”
“As weird as it sounds, Della was in charge of community relations. She was good at the paperwork end of it, but didn’t have the personality for it. Della had an assistant, a college student interning at our offices. That young woman did the footwork and attended meetings Della disliked so much.”
“I see. What’s her name?”
“Felicia Brandt. She’s an asset when dealing with our community projects. She and Della weren’t related that I know of if that’s what you were thinking.”
“Not at all. I was merely asking about Della on behalf of Jessica. I can’t imagine who would be capable of dealing with a person as strong-willed and cranky as Della was.” I readied to leave.
Alvin walked me to the door. “I hope you’ll consider helping us out in future programs, Juliette. You are one in a million, and we need more community-minded people like you to help us out.”
“Thank you, and thanks for your time. It was good of you to see me on such short notice.”
Bun and I went on our way without looking back. I could feel the bad case of jitters Bun was in the midst of. The vibration of his body filtered through the leather sling.
In the elevator, I murmured, “Are you all right?”
“Don’t be fooled by his charm and false pleasure at seeing you. He’s a bad, bad man.”
“Okay. I’ll take your advice. Alvin does seem too good to be true. Our next stop is the Windermere Gazette.”
We placed the ad, set the date, and went to the market. Bun was quite happy to remain in the car while I shopped. Unwilling to leave him alone for long, I raced through the market as if the devil rode my heels.
Back in the car, Bun glanced up and then snuggled back down into the leather sling and closed his eyes. I’d tuckered him out.
Our trip back to the farm uneventful, I parked in my usual spot, and let Bun run free before taking the groceries into the house.
The door opened as I reached the top step. Jess took a couple of the bags from me and Bun raced inside.
“I’ll give him a snack,” she said.
“What’s going on? Were you looking for me?”
“The sheriff called, he wants to speak with you. He said it’s important.”
“All right, I’ll call him while you take care of Bun.”
She nodded and assembled a meal for Bun while I dialed Jack’s number.
“Where are you?” Jack asked.
“Home, why?”
“I just spoke to Jessica. She said she didn’t know where you were.”
“I said I had errands to run, Jack. Geesh. What’s so important that you had to talk to me right away?”
“The information you passed on proved fruitful. Good job in coming to me with it, rather than acting on your own. It seems the Eriksons have come into large sums of money that quickly disappear from their accounts.”
“Well, well. I guess I learned that purely by accident. What else did you find out?”
“Not at liberty to say.”
“What?”
“Hold on a minute.” The sound of his voice became muffled as though he’d put his hand over the speaker. Suddenly, he was back on the line. “I was interrupted. Sorry.”
“You have my undivided attention.”
“I’m in the process of a warrant approval from the judge to look into Denton Clarke’s accounts, and whatever else I can find out about him. Thanks, Juliette, great job. I have to go, the other line is ringing.”
The phone went dead. I hung up and found Jessica staring at me.
“What’s happened?”
“Let’s have a bite to eat and I’ll fill you in.”
She made a couple of sandwiches while I looked in on the rabbits. By the time I entered the house again, the food was on the table.
We sat down, munched away, and in between eating and drinking, I explained the morning’s happenings.
“There’s never a dull moment in your life. Smart of you to take the information you gleaned to Sheriff Carver.”
“That’s what he said. He’s also looking into the Eriksons and Denton Clarke.”
“Gosh, my hopes for a relationship between you and Denton are dashed. He’s quite sweet on you, Jules.”
“Don’t be fooled by him. People who launder money aren’t dumb enough to become involved with someone like me, who can’t refrain from poking into things I shouldn’t. The last thing Denton needs in his life is a snoop.”
“Is he looking forward to our lecture?”
“He said we’ll have a full house. However many that is.”
“I’ll bet it’s a roomful. Denton didn’t mention using the auditorium, did he?”
“Good lord, no. If that happens, I think a case of stage fright will be the outcome for me. I�
�ve never been a public speaker, have you?”
“Once or twice in college, but not to a huge audience, only to my classmates. Let’s not get jumpy about this, or we’ll both be wound up tight before we even get there. By the way, what did Alvin say about Della?”
I gave Jessica an overview of the conversation between Alvin and me, then dropped the subject. I left out the part about Felicia Brandt. No sense in bringing that up. Jess would only think I had returned to sleuthing and I didn’t need a lecture about it.
“Smart of you to keep Felicia out of the conversation. We’ll look into things on our own, being careful not to find ourselves in another situation like the one at the lake. The next time somebody wants to see you for a private conversation, invite them here, and call Carver or Adam for our safety.”
Jess and I went back to work while Bun took a turn in the exercise run. Once he was situated, I brought Petra from of her cage and took the kits to join her in the playpen. They were the only rabbits there. It was time Petra exercised and introduced the little ones to more than their hutch. Petra kept them in sight the entire time they moved about the pen. I took the opportunity to give her hutch and cage a thorough cleaning.
With gloves that reached past my elbows and donning a heavy rubber apron, I emptied the hutch and cleaned the inside. I washed down the cage, emptied the fecal tray, and then put all of it back together again. I gazed at Petra, as she herded the kits into a group and then stood guard over them. I took it as a sign to return them to their home.
I spoke to Petra in a soft tone of voice, smoothed her lovely coat, and picked up the kits as I opened the pen door for Petra to accompany me back to her hutch. Surprised when she did, it dawned on me she wouldn’t let them get away from her. We reached the hutch, I tucked the kits inside, and then put Petra in with them. She settled down without a backward glance.
A few minutes later, Bun said, “I’m ready to leave this run. I’m exhausted.”
“You’ve had a busy day, that’s for sure. I’ll finish feeding the other rabbits. After that we’ll take a bicycle ride if you want.”
Chapter 21
Our ride was refreshing. When we reached the lake, I turned the bicycle toward home just as it started to sprinkle. Damp from the raindrops, I rolled the bike into the barn, then entered the house with Bun hopping beside me. The house phone began to ring.
I didn’t recognize the phone number but answered the call. “Hello, Jules speaking.”
“This is Eve McPherson.”
“Hi, Eve, what can I do for you?”
“You can tell the sheriff to back off, that’s what you can do. He’s been here asking questions about your medallion and the person to whom it belongs. Felicia Brandt is the owner, I told him that, and now I’m telling you.”
“Did you attack me at Lake Plantain a few days ago?”
There was a long pause before she asked, “Why would I do that?”
“I have no idea, but somebody called claiming they were you. The person asked if we could meet for a private conversation. Was it you, or someone pretending to be you?”
“It wasn’t me,” Eve insisted. “Were you injured?”
“I was. I’m all right now, but I could have been seriously harmed.”
She’d instantly calmed down and sounded pensive when she said, “I’m sorry you were hurt.”
“I wouldn’t have told the sheriff you wanted to meet me in private if the caller hadn’t sounded like you. Their accent wasn’t as noticeable as yours is, though.”
“Juliette, I’m so sorry. I didn’t do it and I don’t know of anyone who would. If I can be of any further help with the medallion, please let me know.”
Eve’s change of heart and attitude was evident in the tone of her voice. I thanked her and rang off, knowing for certain Eve wasn’t the culprit. If I was in danger, she might be, too. I wanted no responsibility for bringing harm to anyone else and reported the call to Sheriff Carver.
As the day sailed toward twilight, I made supper for myself and fed the animals their dinner. Jessica had evening appointments where she visited housebound owners’ homes instead of seeing their pets at the clinic. After a solitary meal, I returned to the barn and tended to a few leftover chores, then looked the rabbits over before I called it a night. I locked the barn and shop doors on my way out.
No classes were scheduled for the evening, which left the farm quiet. Bun and I hung out in front of the TV for a while before Bun said, “I’ve been thinking about connecting the dots. The main dot is Felicia. The rest of the lines seem to emanate outward from her. Frank was involved with her and went from being Mr. Nice Guy to a secretive man who often took off and never mentioned where he went. Maybe he told Felicia but didn’t tell the rest of their friends. We also have Denton Clarke. We know he’s involved in illegal activities of sorts. I’m not quite sure how that came about, but Carver will get to the bottom of it for us.”
“Where else do the rest of the lines intersect? I can visualize a pattern of dots, but I can’t connect them all. I do believe it all starts with Felicia.”
“Felicia’s a forceful woman; I realized that at the egg hunt. The others don’t seem to care for her much, but they tend to listen to what she says. The one person who shows disdain for her is Rob Brayton, and that’s evident when they’re in the same group. If either one is at your lecture, it would be worthwhile to keep an eye out to see how they act toward each other. It might show us whether Rob truly dislikes the woman or not. After all, we only saw them at the egg hunt.”
“Good idea. A different setting could tell us more than what we have previously witnessed. If both Rob and Felicia are present, I’ll try to do that. It will be a hectic evening if all the students that registered are there. Thank goodness I’m not handling this on my own, and Jessica will field some of the questions asked.”
“Too bad I can’t be there.”
He sounded so wistful, I said, “While you’d be my extra set of eyes and ears, I don’t think it would be wise for you to go.” I’d be giving my half of the program and Jessica would give the other, then together, we would hold a Q and A session. Even if Bun remained with Jess during my half, he was a distraction for me.
Disappointed, Bun went off to bed. I made a cup of tea and sat at the table to drink it while reviewing my lecture again. Headlights flashed as a car approached and parked at the walkway. I peered out the door window and saw Sheriff Carver coming my way. The automatic lights came on and I opened the door to greet him.
“Come in, Jack.” I stepped back as he walked by and hung his hat on a coat hook before he sat at the table.
“Would you like a cup of coffee?”
“No thanks, I stopped by to discuss what we found out about Denton Clarke and his association with the Eriksons.”
I took my seat, sipped my cooling tea, and waited.
“The tech guys at the station couldn’t find irregularities in Denton’s bank accounts. It seems he lives pretty close to the vest financially. You’re right about professors not being wealthy. With the education professors are required to have, you’d think they’d make serious money.”
“Does he have accounts in just one bank, or did your people search wider than local banks?”
“They searched far and wide and found nothing. Then one of the guys called a friend at the FBI office in Boston and called in a favor. We’re still waiting for the results of their search. If Denton has an offshore account, they’ll find it.”
“I’m certain you’ll hear from them soon. The FBI will probably want to take over that end of the investigation if accounts are found. Are you prepared to let them have it?”
“I may not have a choice. Once the FBI gets involved, they pretty much do whatever is needed, whether local officers like it or not. Agents even step on the toes of the state police, and you know that doesn’t go over well.”
“I hope they don’t get in the way of our finding out who murdered Della and Frank. I think those two killings are
connected.”
“It would seem so. I spoke with Eve McPherson the other day.”
“I know, she called me this afternoon—madder than a wet hen, too, I might add. I’ve come to the conclusion she didn’t strike me at the lake.”
“We agree on that. I tend to think it has nothing to do with Eve, but somebody wants us to think so. It’s a red herring of sorts. If we centered our attention on Eve, then we would waste precious time. As it stands now, the murders have gone cold and the longer that continues, the less likely it will be to find the killer.”
“You think it was one person?”
“Don’t you?”
“I’m not sure. The deaths might have something to do with drugs, money laundering, and Felicia Brandt. Frank Poland changed dramatically after becoming involved with Felicia and now he’s dead. There didn’t seem to be any love lost between the college students and Della Meeny, either. They were forced to put in time at the egg hunt due to misbehavior, and Denton Clarke arranged for them to do community service. Every way you look at this situation, all the same people are involved. The only one I don’t consider part of it is Rob Brayton.”
“I’ve reached the same conclusion. After speaking with Alvin Peterson, I realized Rob was assigned to keep an eye on all the students who worked at your station. Alvin said he felt it was the best way to make certain there weren’t any issues throughout the day.”
“Rob stayed in the background and didn’t get involved with the others much. Now and then, he’d make a remark to Felicia, causing her to become annoyed. It seemed odd, but I didn’t think much of it at the time.”
“Rob comes from a wealthy background. The others don’t. He considers himself above them. I can’t figure out what he’s doing in our local college instead of a university. He’s smart enough and certainly rich enough. It might be worth a look.”
“You do that, Jack. Let me know what you come up with.”
With a sudden change of subject, Jack remarked, “Meredith has been yammering on and on about this shop open house you and Molly have arranged. Is that a good idea right now? You were attacked, the college kids are taking Molly’s classes, and there are two murder cases open.”
Hop 'Til You Drop Page 18