by Leona Fox
“Are you okay?” Andy whispered softly, running a hand along her back. Ellen nodded and sniffed back the tears.
“Who are you thinking about?” she asked.
“Someone very special to me,” he replied, and the two of them respected the silence again as yet more people joined them on the field.
As the vigil went on Ellen's thoughts turned from her parents to other people she had lost, like all the victims of tragic crimes. She spared a thought for Scampy's original owner, and wondered if the dog remembered him at all. She wouldn't be surprised if he did, for Scampy's heart and his capacity for love was bigger than a great deal of people she knew. As she looked around her eyes fell upon Kelly and Matthew, who were standing together with their arms wrapped around each other. They looked so cozy and at ease with each other, Ellen just hoped she was wrong in her suspicions about him. But she hated the thought that her best friend could be in love with a man who wanted to kill.
There was something comforting about sharing grief with a large crowd. It was times like these when Ellen felt silly for feeling alone, since she could feel how they all were connected by a common feeling. She leaned against Andy and felt the steady tempo of his breathing. The flame of the candle flickered in front of her, and she watched as the wax dripped down, almost as though it were crying. The vigil was a cathartic exercise and when it was over Ellen had to breathe deeply and collect herself. The festival was over for another year, and it provided another opportunity to reflect upon the passage of life.
Hand in hand, Andy and Ellen walked back as everyone else went their separate ways. They started as one undulating mass and slowly split apart, fragmenting into individual lives, until Andy and Ellen were walking alone, still enjoying each other’s company.
“It was strange being at home and seeing everyone get a little older. It made me feel like time is running out,” Andy said.
“I've felt the same thing sometimes. Usually I don't think about it but then I see some young people and they seem so far away from me,” Ellen replied.
“I know. And my family still gives me grief that I never married. I think my parents are disappointed that I never gave them a grandchild, probably another reason why they like my brother more than me.”
“It's not your fault, though. I don't think having kids is for everyone. There's nothing wrong with it.”
“It would be nice to settle down, though. I think that's what I was missing when I went back home, someone to share the trip with, to go to at the end of the day and laugh about how insane my family is.”
“Then maybe you should have invited someone,” she said, wearing a coy smile.
“Maybe I should have,” he replied.
They now were standing in front of Ellen's house and neither of them wanted the night to end. The moon shone upon them and they saw the starlight in each other’s eyes. Their flesh was still touching, and before they knew it they were swept up in the sweet romance of the moment, kissing each other tenderly and warmly. Ellen felt a phoenix-like thrill surge through her. She drowned in his scent and his taste, her senses were alive and her soul was seized by something she had not felt in so long. The kiss seemed to last forever until they broke away and bid each other goodnight. Scampy was happy to see her return, and she was simply happy.
There was a spring in Andy's step and as he saw his fellow officers they looked at him strangely, for they never had seen him so happy. The previous night had been one that ended exactly as he wanted and finally he felt like things with Ellen were going to work out for the best. For so long he had been shackled by things in his past that haunted him, but returning home had given him a new perspective and now he felt reborn. Yet the day ahead would be arduous for he had to question Carrie Malley.
Ellen and Kelly had been adamant that the old woman wouldn't have been capable of committing such a crime. While Andy wanted to believe them he knew that sometimes the deadliest people were often hidden. Still, when he actually met her he could see why Ellen and Kelly felt the way they did. Carrie looked harmless, with a soft demeanor and a caring way of speaking. When Andy announced his arrival she welcomed him in and offered to make him a drink, which he gladly accepted. As he always did when entering a suspect's home, he took note of everything but all he could tell from Carrie's house was that she was tidy and neat, and had a predilection for collecting porcelain cats. All these stood behind glass doors in wooden cabinets and stared at Andy, which unsettled him.
He took a seat on the couch and sank into the soft cushions, which had a flowery pattern on them. There was not a speck of dust that he could see.
“You have a lovely home,” he said when she returned.
Carrie thanked him graciously and set his cup of coffee in front of him, also laying out a plate of biscuits. Andy almost felt guilty about having to ask her the hard questions he needed answered. Sometimes the most difficult thing about being a police officer was placing suspicion upon nice, honest, innocent people. He cleared his throat and took out his notebook, then licked his lips as he leaned forward. Carrie sat herself in an armchair with her hands folded openly in her lap, looking at Andy expectantly.
“Now, Ms. Malley-”
“Oh please, call me Carrie,” she said.
“Okay...Carrie, I need to ask you a few questions that may be a little difficult but obviously we're trying to get to the bottom of this. So any help you could provide would be welcome. I don't know if you're aware of this or not, but so far we've determined the poison was found only in your pies.”
“Oh...oh my, that's not good at all.”
“No, I'm afraid it isn't. Now, do you have any idea how they may have come to be poisoned?”
“Are you asking if I did it?”
“I'm asking if you know who might have had a motive or an opportunity to poison your pies.”
“Well, they were sitting there the entire morning and almost the whole town went to the festival. I can't imagine my competitors actually would poison my pies just so I would lose. It seems the most obvious motive but the competition is an honored one and I'm sure there isn't anyone who would stoop to such underhanded tactics. There's an honor among us you know.”
“I'm sure there is. So you don't think anyone else who entered the competition would have done it?”
“I'm quite positive. I've known them all for years. I'm sorry I can't be of more help officer, but I really can't think who would have wanted to poison the pies. I'd like to meet them, though, and give them a piece of my mind because they ruined a perfectly good tradition.”
“That they did, that they did,” Andy said as he scribbled in his notebook. “There is one thing that would be a help, although I hate to ask it.”
“What might that be?”
“It's just that given that it was your pies that were poisoned that does, unfortunately, put the suspicion on you. So would you mind if we searched your house?”
Carrie's face twisted in horror. Andy imagined she never had been accused of doing any harm to anyone in her entire life. He felt bad at having to be the one to tell her, but over the years he had learned to steel himself and harden his heart against the things that made him uncomfortable, because his job demanded it.
“Well, I...I don't know what to say. What kind of search? Are they going to turn my house upside down?”
“I will tell them to be careful.”
Carrie chewed on her bottom lip and looked away from Andy as she considered his request, before eventually seeming to make up her mind.
“I know that I'm innocent so you won't find anything here. So I suppose there's no harm in it and at least it will get this sorted out quickly,” she said. Andy thanked her and then went outside to tell his officers they were able to search the house.
“And go carefully. She's an old lady, let's not leave things in worse shape than we find them,” he said.
Then he radioed in to the station to keep them updated, remaining outside while the officers searched. From what he ha
d seen he didn't think Carrie did it, but there had to be something he was missing. As he waited a woman came up the street and slowed when she saw Andy hovering outside.
“Can I help you?” she asked.
The woman looked tired. Her shoulders were hunched, there were bags under her eyes and her skin seemed shallow. She also prickled with hostility. Her hair was dyed a dark brown but her roots were clearly showing. Andy got the impression she had given up trying to maintain her appearance, or was at least putting less effort into it than she once did.
“I'm just here about the incident at the festival. I wanted to ask the resident a few questions,” he said, flashing her his badge. “May I ask who you are?”
“I'm her daughter, Justine. What do you mean ask her questions? What is this about?” she asked, shifting her position to a more defensive one. Her tone grew sharper and there was a trembling in her voice.
“Don't worry Justine, it was just a formality. Your mother consented to a search and I'm sure it won't turn up anything. We're just trying to figure out what happened at the festival. Do you have anything you'd like to tell me about that day? I noticed you were a contestant, too.”
“Yeah, I was. I've been entering it for a few years now. If I were you I'd start looking at that Margaret. Aside from my mom she's the other one who has been in the contest for the longest. In fact, she was the one who won it the year before my mother started her unbeaten streak.”
“Your mother doesn't seem to think anyone in the competition would be able to stoop so low.”
“My mother likes to think the best of people. But I think you and I both know that anyone is capable of anything. Anyway, I think I will go inside now and see to my mother,” she said, but as she did the officers came out carrying something in a plastic bag. They walked up to Andy and murmured in his ear, and the color drained from his face.
“Do you want us to tell her, sir?”
“No, I'll do it myself,” he sighed, and moved past the cops to walk back into Carrie's house. Justine followed him, badgering him with questions, which he ignored.
“Ma'am, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to come to the station with me,” he said as he walked back into the lounge.
“Oh, why?” Carrie asked.
“Mom, don't listen to him. He doesn't know what he's talking about,” Justine said.
“I'm afraid we found something in the house and we'd like for you to come back to the station so we can talk about it some more.”
“Could we stay here and talk? I just got some meat out to defrost, you see. If I don't use it today, it'll go bad.”
“Mom, don't talk about your meat, this is serious. Just don't say anything,” Justine warned.
“I'm afraid I'm going to have to urge you to come. Otherwise, I'm going to have to arrest you.”
“Oh...oh my...” Carrie said as the reality finally dawned on her.
She reluctantly agreed to go with him. As Andy led her outside he felt terrible. Justine was raving and shouting at him, telling him he had no right to do this and that he was making a mistake. He shut her out, though. He always had to with people like that. When the evidence spoke for itself he had to follow it, and had to uphold the law, even if it meant an elderly lady was driven to tears.
Chapter 4
Ellen was cleaning the counter at the cafe furiously. The morning was quiet so there were only one or two people in, and when Andy entered Ellen almost wished he would leave. Instead he came up to her, and from the look upon her face he knew she had heard what happened.
“Look, I just wanted to tell you what happened myself, okay? I didn't have a choice. We found the bottle of poison there,” he said.
“Just because it was there doesn't mean she did it. It could have been planted or...or something else.”
“I know. I agree with you, but that is procedure and I can't not arrest her when something so glaring is present. I just wanted to talk to you. I mean...we had such a wonderful evening together and I didn't want this to ruin it. I know sometimes my job gets in the way of things and I was just hoping it wouldn't this time.”
His words, and the look on his face, soothed Ellen's ire and she calmed down.
“I had a wonderful time, too,” she said, her cheeks flushing a little. “But I still hate to think of Carrie being locked up. How is she doing?”
“Not well. I don't think she can believe this actually is happening to her. I get the impression she's never done anything wrong in her whole life. So if there's anything you can think of that would help you'd better do it quickly. Otherwise, she's only going to get worse and worse.”
“I'm sure I can come up with something.”
“Are we good?” he asked, a look of worry on his face.
“We're good,” she replied, and they both grinned at each other.
Andy looked around and, since it was quiet, he leaned in for a kiss, but just as their lips were about to meet the door opened and the bell jingled, distracting them momentarily. Justine had entered and scowled when she saw Andy.
“I'd better go,” he said, and made a swift exit. Ellen's eyes followed him longingly as he left, and then turned to Justine as she approached the counter.
“That man is a monster,” she began. “I can't believe he would just take my mother like that and throw her in a cell. She never would hurt anyone, everyone knows that. I dread to think of the conditions. You don't think it's like the movies, do you? With everyone out to hurt her?”
“I don't think it's like that at all. I'm sure she's fine and this is a misunderstanding. It just needs clearing up, that's all. I know it's not what you want to hear but Andy is just doing his job.”
“Yeah, well, that's not going to help my mother. Everything is just getting worse and worse. And it doesn't help that your arty friend is seducing my husband,” she said bitterly.
Ellen bit her tongue for her instant reaction was to defend Kelly, but at the same time Justine was a customer and Ellen didn't want to do anything that was bad for business. Also, she got the sense that Justine just needed to rant, so was inclined to indulge her.
“I thought you two were divorced?”
“We are,” Justine said bitterly, “but that still doesn't mean we couldn't have worked things out, without her jumping in as soon as it was done. I know her kind. And now, on top of work, I have my mom to worry about and her house to take care of. She'll never forgive me if I don't keep it clean, and who knows when she'll be released?”
“What do you do for work?”
“I just clean offices for a living. Why?” she asked defensively.
“No reason, I was just curious,” Ellen said.
“Am I going to have to answer another dozen questions before I get my breakfast?” she spat.
“Of course not,” Ellen said, then left Justine to mutter to herself.
The woman evidently was troubled and life had taken its toll, but a lot of it was perspective. Justine seemed to be of the opinion that the fates had conspired against her. That was a different story from what Ellen had heard from Matthew via Kelly, but Ellen's curiosity still was piqued about Matthew. She couldn't shake the feeling that perhaps he could have had something to do with the poisoned pies. Part of Ellen wanted to ask her more about him, but given the way Justine had snapped, Ellen didn't think it a smart idea. But as she looked upon Justine, Ellen did feel some sympathy for the woman. After all, her life practically had fallen apart during the last year and now her mother was being held in jail. If Matthew wanted to get revenge on his ex, then it certainly seemed to be working.
As Justine ate her breakfast Ellen made it a point to observe her. Every action that Justine made was done with force, as though she felt she had to fight against everything in the entire world. When she was done she stormed out of the restaurant, and Ellen went to clear the plate away, only to find that Justine had not left a tip. Ellen sighed and wondered if Justine would ever realize that sometimes for good things to happen to you, you had to put
good things out into the world.
But her thoughts soon returned to Andy, and her heart was filled with hope. It saddened her that their kiss had been stolen by Justine. Ellen had to content herself with the memory of the kiss outside her home; the one that had promised so much yet delivered so little. It always seemed like any time she and Andy grew close to one another one of his cases got in the way. She admired the dedication he had to his job, but when he was working a case he rarely had time for anything else. Still, it was difficult to stay mad at him, even though she hated the fact he had to hold Carrie in a cell. She tried to think of a way to help her, yet it was difficult.
Having seen Justine, Ellen was more suspicious that Matthew was responsible. She couldn't understand why anyone else would have wanted to sabotage the pie contest. Poisoning a lot of people seemed a drastic measure just to take Carrie out of the competition but if there was an underlying motive then it would make sense. But she was casting suspicion upon the man her best friend had fallen in love with and she would have to tread carefully. She already had seen how certain actions could impact relationships; case in point, her and Andy. She didn't want to do anything to jeopardize her friendship with Kelly, because when it came to a choice between two people, love usually won out. If it came down to it, she wasn't sure if Kelly would choose her side, not when she was so in love with Matthew.
And, speaking of the devil, Matthew actually entered the cafe at that exact moment. Ellen was startled and hoped he could not read the suspicion that was etched on her face. Matthew came up to the counter and greeted her warmly.
“Good morning Ellen.”
“Morning Matthew, what can I get for you today?”
“I'll just have a coffee, please,” he said.
Then his eyes drifted over the glass cabinet that held all the sticky buns. He licked his lips at the glazed, sweet treats. “And I think I'll have one of those, please,” he said, pointing to one that looked particularly tasty.