by Cindy Bell
“Aren’t you worried that might upset Luke?”
“No, I’m worried about making sure that the right person pays the price for Emma’s murder. The rest can be sorted out later.”
“All right, then what’s our next step?” Charlotte tucked the money back into the box. “Other than finding a safe place to hide this?”
“I think we should follow him. We already know that he wasn’t on the road like he claimed to be during the time of Emma’s murder. Let’s find out what he was doing in the city. Maybe that will give us a clue as to what he’s really up to.”
“I suppose we need to pay Mrs. Bing a visit then.” Charlotte smiled. “We can stop by the shop and pick up some chocolates.”
“Perfect.” Ally nodded. “As for this box, I have the perfect place.” She took a few pictures of the passports then tucked them back into the box as well. She sealed it shut, then opened the cabinet under the sink. She tore open Arnold’s big bag of pig feed enough to shove her whole hand inside along with the box. After a little digging she managed to get it almost to the bottom. She doubted that any burglar would look there. “That should do it.”
“Clever.” Charlotte nodded. “Let’s see if we can find out what that man was up to.”
The two drove to the chocolate shop. Charlotte put together a sampler box and tied it with a cheery pink bow. As they left the shop to head to Mrs. Bing’s house, Ally was startled when she almost walked into someone.
“Excuse me.” She drew back.
“I’m sorry, Ally, I didn’t mean to startle you.” Mrs. Bing smiled at her. “It’s just that I saw your car, and I thought maybe you were opening the shop. I felt like some chocolate.”
“Well, then you’re in luck.” Charlotte smiled as she stepped around Ally and held out the box. “We were just about to bring these to you.”
“You were?” Her eyes widened with glee. “Thank you!”
“Chocolates, for just a little bit of information.” Charlotte held on to the box a moment longer and then released it into Mrs. Bing’s eager hands.
“Sure, anything. What do you want to know? Pete down the street is going to have to paint his truck because his son-in-law got drunk and…”
“Nothing about Pete.” Ally smiled and patted her hand. “We just need to know what Jack was up to when you said you saw him in the city the day Emma passed away.”
“Oh.” Her lips tightened for a moment. “Yes, I think it was him that I saw in the city.”
“Did you see where he was going?”
She sighed and shook her head. “I’m not sure that I should say.”
Ally’s eyes widened. If Mrs. Bing wouldn’t gossip about it, then it had to be something serious. “Mrs. Bing, we’re trying to figure out exactly who Jack is. We believe he might have been lying to Emma. Anything that you can tell us could be helpful.”
“I’m sure he was lying to her. That poor woman.” She clucked her tongue.
“How are you sure?” Charlotte stepped closer to her. “What did you see?”
“I was going to say hello to him, and ask him about the yard sale. However, before I could get to him, he met this woman at the entrance of an apartment building. She was young, blonde, and dressed far too fancy. He took her hand, and then they disappeared inside the apartment building. I’m afraid he might have been cheating on Emma.”
“Mrs. Bing, did you tell Luke this?” Ally searched her eyes.
“No, I couldn’t. I don’t think it’s right to talk about things like that with men. It might give them ideas, you know.”
“Ideas?” Ally stared at her.
“Like, that if Jack could get away with it, then maybe he could, too, and since he’s your boyfriend…”
“Okay, okay.” Ally cleared her throat. “Enough of that. Do you remember what apartment building it was?”
“I do, it was Elm’s Point.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Bing, you’ve been very helpful.” Ally smiled.
“Oh good, I’m so glad. I do like to be helpful.” She clutched her box of chocolates and hurried away.
Once she was gone Ally looked over at her grandmother. “So, Jack might have had a secret life.”
“A secret girlfriend.” Charlotte nodded. “And that gives us another suspect. Perhaps the secret girlfriend found out that Jack was married and she decided to eliminate the competition.”
“I think it’s possible.” Ally narrowed her eyes. “But maybe he wasn’t just having an affair. Maybe the fake IDs are because he had other secret lives. Maybe he even has more than one family.”
“Oh, that’s terrible,” Charlotte said.
“Poor Emma had no idea what he was up to. We’d better see if we can try to find this woman. I don’t think we have enough to bother Luke with it.”
“I don’t either. Let’s make sure that Mrs. Bing actually saw what she thinks she saw. She might have even confused Jack with someone else.”
“Maybe. But she’s pretty good at spotting people.”
Chapter Seventeen
As Charlotte and Ally started off towards the city, Ally drove past Jack’s house. She wanted to see if she could have a quick look inside so that she could try to find some more information about him. When they drove past his car was in the driveway. Ally thought that maybe he was never going to leave the house again.
On the rest of the drive Ally thought about how much Emma wanted to be with her husband. She was willing to sell her house and change her lifestyle just so that she could spend more time with him. In turn Jack had been cheating on her? It was a terrible thing to think. She parked in the vast parking lot of Elm’s Point.
“How are we ever going to figure out who she is and which apartment she’s in?”
“One step at a time, Ally. Let’s head inside and see what we can find out.”
“Okay, Mee-Maw. I have a picture of Jack that I took of one of his fake passports on my phone that we can show around. If he’s met her here more than once then someone might remember him.”
As they walked towards the front door Ally noticed that the building had a doorman.
“Let’s ask him, maybe he can help us,” Charlotte said.
“Good idea. You do the talking, Mee-Maw, you’re much better with people than me,” Ally said as she handed her phone to Charlotte
“Excuse me, Sir, can you please tell me if you’ve seen this man?”
The doorman leaned close and peered at the picture of Jack on Ally’s phone. “He looks familiar, but I see a lot of people come and go. Unless he’s a resident here, I won’t know much about him.”
“Maybe you would be more familiar with a woman who he might have been meeting? Young, blonde, pretty?” Charlotte asked.
He laughed. “There are a few of those in here. Now that you mention it though, I have noticed that one of our new residents meets with quite a few people. Your guy might have been one of the people that she met with. Why are you interested?”
“We’re looking into something for a friend.” Ally smiled warmly at him. “We’re trying to be discreet about it.”
“Oh, okay. Well, you can ask her yourself, here she comes.” He gestured to a woman who walked towards them with two large bags of groceries in her hands. Ally stepped in front of her with her hands held out.
“Please, let me take one of those for you.”
“No thanks, I’m fine.” The woman tried to step around her. Ally saw her chance to get any information disappearing.
“Wait, I was wondering if you might be able to help me with something.”
“Today’s my day off. Call my number and leave a message and I’m sure we can set something up.” She smiled at Ally.
“I’m afraid this is the only time I have available. Is there anything I can do?” Ally held her breath. She had no idea what she was even asking for.
She sighed and looked into Ally’s eyes. “Are you failing your Spanish course in college or something?”
“Spanish?” Ally blinked. �
��Uh, yes, I’m really struggling.”
“All right, come up with me. I can do a quick run through with you, but it’ll cost extra, and this is the only time that I’ll do it on my day off.”
Ally smiled. “Thank you so much.”
She handed Ally one of the bags. She and Charlotte followed after her into the elevator that would take them to her apartment. Ally considered telling the woman the truth, but she wanted the opportunity to look around inside her apartment.
“So, what level of Spanish are you in?” The woman led them from the elevator to one of the apartments.
“The first one.”
“Really?” She paused and glanced over at Ally. “A late-in-life college student?”
Ally scrunched up her nose. “I just took a few years off.”
“Oh, I see.” She unlocked the door and gestured for them to follow her in. “Just set those down on the counter please. We can get started as soon as I put the frozen things away.”
Ally looked around the apartment while she had the chance. If there was any doubt in her mind about the woman’s profession it was erased by the assortment of language text books that adorned her shelves. Clearly she was a tutor or teacher of some kind. She didn’t notice anything in the living room or kitchen that would indicate that Jack had been in the apartment for any length of time.
“Excuse me, do you mind if I use the restroom?” Charlotte smiled at the woman.
“Sure, it’s down the hall on the right.” She pointed to the only hallway in the apartment. Charlotte nodded to Ally before she headed down the hall. Ally knew that her grandmother would be conducting her own hunt. She glanced around for anything that would tell her the woman’s name. She noticed a piece of mail on the coffee table addressed to Connie Baker.
“I’m so sorry to trouble you like this, Connie.”
“Like I said, I don’t mind, but you’ll have to pay double. How far have you gotten in Spanish class so far?”
“Actually, I’m not here for a lesson.”
“What?” She stared at Ally.
“I’m here to ask you about a man named Jack.”
“Jack?” She narrowed her eyes. “Well, that’s a pretty common name, but I can’t think of anyone that I know personally called Jack. Is this some kind of scam? I invited you into my home, how could I be so stupid!”
“Wait, please, it’s not a scam.”
Charlotte stepped out of the hallway in time to see Connie pull out her cell phone. “I’m calling the police right now.”
“Hold on, we’re just here because a friend of ours recently died. We believe she might have been murdered. If you don’t want to help, that’s fine. But this is no scam,” Ally said.
“Murdered?” Connie dropped the phone on the counter. “Why do you think I can help?”
“This is the man we’re asking about.” Ally held out her cell phone with Jack’s picture on it. “Are you sure that you haven’t seen him?”
“That’s not Jack. That’s Philip.” She looked up from the picture and into Ally’s eyes. “I’ve been teaching him Mandarin.”
“Philip,” Ally said. “That was the name on one of the passports.”
“Wait a minute, are you saying that I’ve been working with a murderer?”
“We don’t know that for sure yet.” Ally frowned. “We do know that he lied about where he was when his wife died.”
“He’s married?” Connie winced. “He told me he was single. That he traveled all over the world for business, and that was why he needed the lessons.”
“He was definitely not single.” Charlotte put her phone away and glanced back at the woman. “Did he tell you anything else about his work or where he was traveling?”
“No, I’m afraid not. We didn’t talk that much. He would show up right before it was time for his class, and leave right on time as well. He always paid cash. You think he killed his wife?”
“We’re not certain.” Ally jotted her phone number down on a piece of paper and handed it to her. “Please call me if you think of anything else that he might have mentioned.”
“Sure, I will. But he really doesn’t strike me as the type of guy who would kill someone. Honestly, I get a lot of businessmen as clients, and they can be rather abrasive. Philip was always polite and quite kind.”
“But also attending your classes under an alias.” Charlotte quirked a brow. “If you see him don’t hesitate to contact us.”
“Should I be afraid of him?” She looked between the two women. “Are the police looking for him?”
“Not just yet.” Ally sighed. “I’m afraid we’re really getting ahead of ourselves. Just be cautious. I wouldn’t teach him any more classes right now.”
“I don’t intend to. Thank you for the warning.”
“We’ll get out of your hair.” Charlotte gestured towards the door.
“Thanks for the information, Connie.” Ally pulled the door closed behind her. The pair rode the elevator down to the lobby and hurried past the doorman.
“What a nice woman, don’t you think?” Charlotte looked over at Ally as she drove away from the apartment building.
“Yes, she did seem nice enough.” Ally stared hard through the windshield.
“What is it? I know that look.” Charlotte tilted her head to the side and studied her granddaughter.
“I just don’t understand why he would be learning a new language. He lied to Emma and told her that he was on a trip for work, and yet he was in the city learning Mandarin.”
“Maybe he needs a new language for work. We did consider that he might be a spy. If he is then we might need to tread more cautiously.”
When Ally pulled into the driveway, Luke’s car was parked in front of the cottage.
“Ally.” He stepped out of the car just as she did.
“Luke, you look so serious, what is it?”
“I found something out about Mavis.”
“What?” She walked over to him and Charlotte joined them.
“I’m only telling you this because I want you to be cautious. She spent some time in a mental hospital a long time ago. She has also had a few complaints made against her over the years because she was acting suspiciously. She does have a history of mental health problems. If she comes near you, you should let me know. She could be experiencing a psychotic break or something.”
“Okay. I will.”
He gave her a tight hug then kissed her cheek. “So far your hunch seems to be panning out. I have to get back to the precinct.”
“Thanks, Luke”
He smiled at Charlotte then returned to the car. As Ally unlocked the door to the cottage her grandmother leaned close.
“Looks like Mavis might just be our main suspect.”
Chapter Eighteen
After thinking about what she knew about Emma’s death all the way through dinner and a television show she couldn’t focus on, Ally threw her head back with frustration.
“We were supposed to solve this by now. I just can’t make the pieces fit together.”
“Just try to get some sleep tonight, Ally. The funeral is tomorrow, and we need to be there to show our support for Emma.”
“Along with her killer?” Ally shook her head and wrapped her arms around her body. She was so frustrated that Emma would be laid to rest before they found out exactly what had happened.
“I know it feels horrible, Ally, but yes. We need to be there. If the killer is there we might be able to spot them if they do something suspicious.”
“I hope so.”
“There’s still time, Ally. We’ll find her murderer.”
“Yes, I know you’re right.” Ally stretched and yawned. “I’m going to try to get some rest, I promise.”
“I think we both need some rest.” Charlotte kissed her cheek and gave her a warm hug. “I’m so glad that we have each other, Ally.”
After her grandmother went to bed in her room Ally made her way to the couch. Peaches jumped up and nuzzled close
. Ally closed her eyes. She wanted to feel tired, and ready to go to bed. She wanted the murderer to be found before Emma’s funeral. But that was impossible the funeral was tomorrow.
Ally’s eyes opened in reaction to a sharp rapping sound on the living room window. Peaches raised her head sleepily, but Arnold charged into the living room. Ally stared at the dark window for a long moment. At first she thought the contorted face was some kind of ethereal figure. Then she realized it was Mavis. She had her nose squashed against the window. She knocked again, just as loud. Ally patted Arnold’s head to soothe him and proceeded cautiously to the window.
Maybe she was wrong. Maybe Mavis did have something to do with Emma’s death. If she did, then she could only have one purpose for being there so late at night, to get rid of Ally who suspected her. When she reached the window, Mavis pointed to the door. Ally’s heart skipped a beat. Was this what Emma experienced? Maybe Mavis came over unexpected, asked to be let in, and then found a way to get behind Emma. Was that her plan now? Ally reached for the doorknob and swallowed hard as she turned it. Sure, Mavis didn’t look very intimidating, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t off balance enough to do her harm.
“Mavis, what are you doing here this late?”
“It’s Emma’s funeral tomorrow, you know?”
“Yes, of course I know. That doesn’t explain why you’re here. Is something wrong?”
“I can’t sleep, thinking about it. Emma was so good to my Marley I can’t let this go. I really thought you were someone that I could count on. I can see now that is not true. You’re just as lazy as the rest,” Mavis said as she leaned on her cane.
“Lazy?” Ally stared hard at her. “I turned over every rock. I couldn’t figure it out. That doesn’t make me lazy.”
“Every rock?” She stared back, right into Ally’s eyes. “Because from where I’m sitting there’s still one rock that hasn’t been flipped at all. What is it? Are you afraid of him?”
“Do you mean Gary?”
“No.” Mavis shook her head.
“Do you mean Jack?” Ally’s chest tightened.
“Yes.” Mavis sighed.