Money, sadly, was more likely to keep one up than the death of a man you barely knew.
Her father had been quite upset earlier when Darwin came to inform him of his tenant’s death. The two had spoken privately, another act that raised Dani’s suspicions. Afterwards, the door to Arthur’s suite had been locked and the key handed over to Sheriff Darwin.
As she was thinking about this, a sudden chill climbed up her spine. She opened her mouth to scream but no sound came out. From her position on the roof, she could see the balcony of Arthur’s suite, as well as its floor to ceiling windows. For a split second, she’d suddenly seen a flashlight bob around inside the room.
Almost immediately, the light seemed to vanish. But Dani was sure that she hadn’t imagined it.
A braver woman would probably have run over to the balcony and confronted the thief. Dani, however, choosing discretion over valor, immediately picked up her phone and dialed the sheriff.
She saw the window open even as she held the phone to her ear and a dark figure crept out onto the balcony. She thought it was a man - the physique seemed to imply it - but the person was dressed from head to toe in black, including a dark ski mask that covered their head. She couldn’t be entirely sure.
Before hearing him answer, she hung up her phone. By the time Darwin could arrive, it would be too late. The thief would have gotten away. Making up her mind in seconds, she decided to ignore her sweating hands and beating heart, and to give chase.
For now, she crept up on the figure, who was trying to climb off the balcony. With a loud yell of “Help! Dad! Help!” Dani jumped down, landing on the thief. She felt a sudden, sharp pain in her ankle and a rather jarring blow as the thief connected his flashlight to her head. For a second, her vision dimmed, but her hands had reached out to grab at the thief. She grasped at the figure’s jacket and her hand felt something cylindrical in the pocket. Still yelling loudly, aware that lights were coming on around the house, Dani yanked at the pocket, trying to grab whatever the thief had stolen.
With a muffled curse, the thief hit her again, viciously bringing the flashlight down on her face. This time, Dani was overwhelmed. Darkness seized her, propelling her into a deep sleep.
*****
Chapter 5
Awakening
“Dani?” Someone was hovering above her and she reached out her hand to grab them, still confusedly thinking about the thief. Something cold and metallic was in her hands. Something star shaped. She blinked. The sheriff’s badge? What was going on?
“She’s alive and well,” another voice said. “Can’t say that about poor Arthur, sadly.”
Her vision came back into focus. She was in a hospital room with flowers on her bedside and bright afternoon sun shining all around her. Her worried father jumped up from the chair by the door as she tried to sit up. Darwin Scholl, Sheriff of Innocence, stood looking at her, an amused smile on his face.
“Can I have that badge back, Dani, or are you planning to keep it?” he asked.
“Oh…I…of course.” As always, the sight of him made her feel flushed and jittery, rather like a preteen girl. It was embarrassing enough to have a crush on Darwin. It was even more embarrassing when he reached out to take the badge and her clumsy fingers dropped it to the floor.
“You’ve given us all quite the fright,” a voice to her right said. Dani turned around to see her older sister, Sharon, smiling down at her. Sharon’s face was a more elegant version of Dani’s - the same cheekbones, the same almond eyes, the same dark hair - and yet her jawline was cut as fine as marble, her eyes a hazel-green instead of mud-brown, and the proud arch of her nose reminded one of a queen, unlike Dani’s own, more pixie-like features.
“I’m a little confused,” Dani said. “How did I get here?”
“Darwin had to carry you,” her father said. “I ran up when you started screaming and I found you collapsed on the ground. I’d no sooner called the ambulance than the sheriff was at our door, claiming you’d called him.”
“I’m so sorry, Daddy,” Dani said. “You’re alright, aren’t you? Your heart-”
“It’s ticking along just fine, don’t you worry,” Harry Hedley replied. He leaned down and kissed his daughter’s cheek. Dani winced a little as he did. Darwin, who was pinning back the badge, caught her eye as she did, and his face went from amused to watchful instantly.
“So, our kiddo plays the hero once again,” Sharon said. “I hope you did to his face what he did to yours, Dani.”
“My face? He did something to my face?” Dani put her hands on her face and winced again as they came in contact with a swollen cheek.
“It looks cute,” Sharon said. “Half of your face is all cheekbone, the other half is a round, little tomato.”
“We should get her a Phantom of the Opera mask,” her father commented. Dani smiled. In her family, normalcy meant teasing the other person ruthlessly. She’d have been far more worried if they’d kept up their concern.
Once upon a time, she and Sharon had been distant. Since the murder those couple of years ago, however, they’d slowly begun to warm up to each other. Now, though the sisters didn’t stay in touch as much as they should, they did have genuine conversations and idle banter instead of the cold, stiff words they had once exchanged.
Dani felt rather warm and fluffy as her family joked around her.
Then, as memories of the night before began to return, she caught Darwin’s eye again.
“Right,” Darwin said. “If you two would give me and Dani some time alone, I’d appreciate it.”
Sharon and her father exited, giving Dani a few anxious looks as they left.
Darwin shut the door behind them, drew up a chair and took a notebook out of his pocket. “Ready to answer some questions?” he asked.
“Actually, could you hand me my phone first?” Dani asked. “I want to see, well, I want to see how bad it is.”
“It’s like Sharon said,” Darwin replied. “Half of you is all glamorous, the other is a cute potato.”
“Sharon said tomato. See? I can’t trust your word. I’d like to see for myself.”
Darwin bit his lip, then handed her the phone. She opened the front camera, and gave a little groan. A large bandage covered her head, while bruises climbed from her neck to her hairline on the right side of her face. There was some swelling, too, and Sharon had been partially right. She did look rather like a tomato - a big, hideously ugly one.
“He really did a number on me,” Dani said. “Will you catch him soon?”
“I don’t make promises I can’t keep,” Darwin said. “But you can bet I will pursue this seriously. Do you have any description of him? Are you sure it was a “him”?”
Dani frowned. “Yes. I’m very sure. I mean, it was definitely a man. I can’t tell you anything else, unfortunately. Not the color of his eyes or hair, not what he looked like. Nothing. I can tell you that he was dressed completely in black from head to toe and that he had a medium sized physique.”
Darwin nodded and wrote that down. “So no distinct tattoo that would help me narrow the lead? Sad.”
“It was too dark for me to say anything. He could have a tattoo covering his entire face and I wouldn’t know. But I do think he was left handed,” Dani said.
Darwin raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
“I mean,” Dani shrugged. “The right side of my face is all swollen, so I’m guessing he struck me with his left hand. Just conjecture.” She looked down at Darwin’s hand and smiled. “Why, it could have been you, Sheriff. You’re left handed.”
He gave her a crooked smile. “Should I arrest myself or will Ellie’s word be a good enough alibi?”
“Don’t worry, it wasn’t you. The thief couldn’t have been more than a few inches taller than me. You’ve got at least half a foot on me.”
“That’s a relief. Now seriously, Dani, is there anything else you remember? Anything at all?”
“I grabbed onto his jacket and there was something cyli
ndrical inside,” Dani said. “I don’t know what it was, though.”
Darwin nodded. “I do. It was a photographic roll. Negatives.”
“Negatives? Film roll?” Dani gaped at him. “Darwin, nobody has those anymore. It’s all digital these days.”
“Yep. But you grabbed onto the cylinder and managed to tear out a bit of the film. When we found you, you had it clutched in your hand,” Darwin said. He took out a ziploc bag from his pocket, and showed her.
She stared at it. The plastic film was mostly grey. Film negatives always made the lightest areas of the photographed subject appear darkest and the darkest areas appear lightest. This negative was mostly a light grey. The photo it would have created would be of a man in a suit. Attached to it was another negative, torn in half, this one showing the same man with his arm around someone. All she could see of that someone was a shoulder, some curly hair and a small ear.
“Did you convert them into photographs yet?” Dani asked.
Darwin nodded. “It appears that it’s a photo of Arthur in his younger days. The second photo - the one torn in half - has him with his arm around a woman, we think. But we’re not entirely sure, since just the shoulder is visible. Whoever it was is wearing a leather jacket in the photo. We don’t know anything else. I mean, there’s curly hair and an ear but it could be a man, a woman, even a child… anybody. Right now, we think it’s a woman but that’s just...”
“Just conjecture?”
“That’s right.” Darwin nodded.
“How’s this for conjecture - Arthur didn’t die a natural death, did he?” Dani asked. “Somebody murdered him.”
“Well, I can’t comment on that,” Darwin said.
“It was poison, wasn’t it?” Dani asked. “Probably in the beer?”
Darwin remained silent.
“Oh, come on, Darwin! You know I didn’t do it, don’t you?”
“I do, but I’ve got to do my job,” Darwin shrugged. “Sorry, Dani. Really.”
Dani grumbled something uncharitable under her breathe and Darwin laughed. “You’re one of a kind, Dani Hedley.”
“Now why do I feel like that barely qualifies as a compliment?”
“You’re a hero,” Darwin said. “Either that or you’re an idiot. You actually jumped down from the roof to Arthur’s balcony! You could have killed yourself with that stunt alone.”
“Hey, I’ve got good aim. I did land on the thief,” Dani said. “So, whoever it is, he may be bruised, too.”
Darwin’s voice was full of admiration. “That’s true. I bet he will. That’ll teach him not to tangle with you again, I’m sure. In the meanwhile, your face is all bashed up and you’re going to need a crutch to get around for the next month.”
“I am?” Dani was dismayed. She tried to roll her ankle and winced in pain. “I guess you’re right. Now I do remember landing on it a bit…funkily. That’s an inconvenience I could do without.”
Darwin put a hand on hers. “Just promise me, you won’t get into any scrapes for awhile? I don’t think the thieves in our town could bear it!”
Dani smiled. “I don’t make promises I can’t keep.”
*****
Chapter 6
Tofu or Not Tofu
Almost as soon as Darwin left, Dani’s next visitor stepped in. Allie had scrubbed off all her make up, and consequently, her eyes looked rather baggy and mournful as she walked in. Her curly hair floated about her shoulders and, while she wore a business-like blouse with grey slacks, her shoes were black with little neon skulls pasted on.
Instead of flowers, she bought Dani a coloring book and crayons. She shrugged when Dani looked at them quizzically, wondering if Allie needed a reminder that she wasn’t ten.
“I broke my leg skiing last year and I was bored witless in the hospital. Believe it or not, coloring will give you something to do. It’s relaxing, almost meditative,” Allie said.
Dani flipped through the book, which contained intricate designs - entwined flowers, owls made out of stars and dolphins jumping out of teapots. “This is actually really beautiful,” she said. “Thank you, Allie. That’s very thoughtful of you.”
Allie smiled and sat down next to her bed. “I heard someone broke into your house? Arthur was your tenant, right? There are all sorts of rumors floating around town.”
So Allie had come to check up on the rumors as much as she had come to check up on Dani. Interesting.
“I’m glad it wasn’t, I mean, I feared the worst when I heard,” Allie said. “The thief could have killed you. How did you even see him? Do you have any idea who he is?”
“Oh, I was sitting on the roof, an old habit. Clearly not the best habit. As for who he is, we have no clue, except that he’s left-handed.” Dani smiled. “But enough about me. How are you? How is everyone at Mace and Cage? Is the play still on?”
“You know the saying,” Allie laughed. “The show must go on!”
“So, who will replace Arthur?”
Allie bit her lip. Her eyes shifted a little. “Well, we’re negotiating with Paul, so far.”
“Paul Ford? He was the man you originally fired when Arthur became available, right?”
“Exactly,” Allie said. “Which puts us in a delicate position. He knows we need him desperately and he’s milking it for all its worth.” Her voice was growing more heated as she talked and Dani noticed that her hand had curled into a fist. Her left hand.
“Men like him disgust me! Why can’t he understand that whatever we did was for the good of the company? We weren’t tossing him aside. We were doing what was best! If he had any team spirit he’d come back to us now that we need him! People these days just don’t have any… any loyalty!”
“Indeed,” Dani said, a little dryly. She rather thought that from Paul’s perspective, he’d been treated badly and was now getting his well-deserved revenge. The word revenge made her mind leap to another track.
“So, how did Paul react when you told him that Arthur was going to replace him?” Dani asked. “He must have been upset.”
“Upset? Upset doesn’t begin to cover it! For days, he harassed us non-stop. When we first told him, he raged and threw a chair through our basement window! Can you believe it?”
Dani stared at her. “Really?”
“Oh, yes. He was furious. He acted as though we were ruining his life. Dante tried to console him, telling him that there would be other plays, but he was inconsolable. He screamed and cried and said that we were all idiots. Then, he picked up a chair and threw it. He’s lucky nobody got hurt. I was ready to call the cops on him!”
“I’m sure you were.”
“Yes, and then the next day he comes in drunk and starts crying and begging Dante to reconsider. You’d think after all that he’d be happy to come back now. But no. He’s acting high and mighty. Honestly, I just don’t know what is wrong with him. Sometimes I think he’s a little…mad.” Allie put her finger to her head and made a circular motion.
Listening intently, Dani put a hand under her chin, winced when she found it hurt, and pulled it away. “So, was Paul at the party yesterday?”
“I did see him there but we didn’t speak,” Allie said, looking suddenly surprised. “I’d gone into the kitchen to grab a soda from the fridge since I didn’t want more beer and he was there. Pretty jumpy, too. He stormed past me without saying a word.”
“What was he doing?” Dani asked, excited.
Allie’s brows knitted together. “What was he doing?” she murmured to herself. “He was looking through the drawers. I guess he was trying to find a knife or fork? Why do you ask, anyway?”
“No reason,” Dani said.
“Well, I didn’t have time to think about it. Arthur’s death overshadowed everything. Oh, what a terrible way to die!”
Dani nodded. “Agreed.”
“But at least he died doing something he loved,” Allie said. “I always think that’s how I’d like to go, too. Keel over while directing.”
�
�Don’t say that,” Dani said. She knocked on the wooden stool next to her. “Brings bad luck.”
“Pcht. I’m not a superstitious sort and neither should you be. Death can come at us anytime, anyplace. Like Arthur. He would never have guessed that he’d have a heart attack in the middle of a party!”
“So you think it was a heart attack?”
“Had to be, right? Or a stroke, maybe?” Allie shrugged.
“Right,” Dani said, not wanting to correct her. After all, Darwin hadn’t confirmed anything, really.
There was a knock on the door and Dante stepped in. He had his hair piled on top of his head in a bun, but he was freshly shaved, making him look a little more feminine. Dani gave a little start as she saw the newly formed bruise on his cheek.
“Been in a bar fight?” she asked, struggling to keep her voice casual.
“Me?” Dante touched his cheek automatically, then laughed. “Not a chance. I got this fighting off aliens to save the president’s life.”
“Can’t you ever give a serious answer to a serious question?” Allie asked, clearly frustrated. “You need to put some ice on that, Dante. How did you get it?”
“Forget it. I walked into a doorjamb. I was just wondering if you were ready to leave? I can give you a ride now that I’m done with my good deed of the day.”
Seeing Dani’s confusion, Allie explained. “Dante’s father is in the hospital temporarily. He had a small heart attack a few days ago. Dante was visiting.”
“Pity the wrong person had to die,” Dante said.
Allie gave a little gasp and so did Dani. Dante only shrugged. “I know I sound cruel, but if you knew my father, you’d wish the same thing. Horrible man. Best thing my mother ever did for me was to divorce him.”
“Dante, be kind,” Allie said. “He wasn’t that bad.”
“Oh, he was and he is. You know the first thing he did on seeing me today? He laughed and asked if I want to borrow money now that my “stupid play” is going to die. Can you believe that? He’s actually happy that I won’t succeed. Let’s not waste time talking about him.”
Exposed Negative: A Small Town Cozy Mystery (Shot & Framed Book 2) Page 3