“What made it change? Harry Cooper showing up?”
“That was it. Emma didn’t see him so she thought it was my cousin. She didn’t know her father had been impersonating Victor.”
“Did he know Fred Pollock was here?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so. He was still following his daughter’s money and Victor’s. Somehow, he must have found out that Victor had relatives here. I can’t believe someone would even believe such a story but I guess if you’re hooked on drugs and gambling, you’ll do and believe anything, right?”
“I guess so. Probably his brain was half-fried by then anyway. But how much time had passed by? You mean after eight years or so, he finally decided to look for the money?”
“He probably would have found Parson’s Cove sooner but he ended up getting into trouble again. When the police found him unconscious in a gutter, all he had was Victor Fleming’s identification on him. So without doing any checking, they arrested him under Victor’s name. I don’t think anyone cared who he was.”
“Getting back to Harry Cooper’s murder, do you think Fred Pollock took Cooper to that shack after giving him a beating, told him to call Emma so that you would go out there and you would be charged with the murder? Harry would obviously make the call because he didn’t realize Fred was going to lock him in there and he would be dead by the time you got there to rescue him.”
“That’s how it looks to me, Mabel. He made the call, Fred took the phone back, and then locked the door. Maybe he even beat him a little more.”
“Maybe he made sure he was dead. But if you went out right away, the body wouldn’t have been frozen.”
“I didn’t get out right away. In fact, I couldn’t get out until the next day. Don’t forget, I was working two jobs that day so I never got home until almost two in the morning. The only reason I saw the fight was because I was walking from one job to the next. I told Emma it was probably all a hoax anyway because I figured it was that crazy Victor then.”
“Jakie, you have to tell all this to the police. We have to put Fred Pollock away for life.”
“It’s his word against mine. I have no proof and if I tell my story, what is going to happen to my wife? Maybe she could buy him off for awhile but that won’t get rid of him.”
“Did Emma tell you all this? Is that how you know it?”
He nodded. “The first night I was in here, she phoned and told me everything. I asked her to stay in the house, lock the doors, and not talk to anyone. She put much of the story together from the few things her father told her and the rest, she just guessed. That’s why we’re stuck, Mabel, between a rock and a hard place.” His eyes looked as sad as his mother’s had when Reg told her Jakie was being arrested for murder. “I have no idea what to do.”
I was speechless. I didn’t want to tell him that Maxymowich would be arriving in two days. What would happen before then?
If I had known, perhaps I would have gone home and stayed in bed. Or, at least, worn a bulletproof vest.
Chapter Twenty Four
It was dark and cold on the walk home. It reflected my mood. I had the information but I didn’t know what I could do about it. We needed proof.
Without realizing where I was walking, I found myself on Pollock’s street. It still had muddy ruts and you had to watch where you placed your feet.
Well, I suppose I did realize it. Deep inside, I wanted to walk past that killer’s house. I don’t know; what more did we need to convict the man? Jakie was right. It was his word against Fred Pollock’s word. We couldn’t take the Pollock’s past into consideration because Jakie probably spent more time relaxing in Reg’s jail cell than Pollock ever did in any cell. He didn’t even have a criminal record. I guess, in some ways, Jakie was reaping what he had sown except he was reaping too much.
Could we prove Pollock killed Victor Fleming? Not if the guard swore that Pollock wasn’t there. Would Emma testify against him? Not if he threatened Jakie’s family. Besides, what did she have to testify? It seemed there was nothing that she could prove. It did look like Fred Pollock was going to get away with two murders and my best friend’s son and his wife were going to have their lives ruined.
Well, not if I could help it.
I walked up to Fred and Veronica Pollock's front door. Courtesy of the town of Parson’s Cove, the mayor gets his walkway shoveled for free. In fact, if Jakie were not rotting in jail, he probably would have done the shoveling. The light was on in the living room that faced the street. Inside, I could see Veronica curled up on the sofa, reading a romance novel. I knew because she bought it a few days ago from me. I peeked around further and saw his majesty, the mayor, sitting in a comfortable chair, with a newspaper spread out in front of him. There was a small table between the sofa and chair and I saw two drinks, one that looked like whiskey for him and a tall glass of red wine for the town’s reigning queen.
Well, if I had my way, they would not be reigning much longer.
I banged on the front door. After a few seconds, I banged again and then rang the doorbell three times. I looked around through the window and saw her ladyship running from the room.
The door swung open and Fred Pollock stood staring down at me. He was wearing a satin jacket which I guess in the upper circles is called a smoking jacket. To be honest, I thought it looked quite archaic and didn’t think anyone wore them anymore; let alone sold them.
Even in his fancy dress, Fred Pollock looked like a scumbag. At least, to my way of thinking. He was going bald, had the day’s growth of whiskers on his face, and his cheeks were red from too many drinks. His eyes were pale blue and watery and he wore a perpetual sneer on his face. Or, was it just when he looked at me? Fred was not tall. In fact, I believe his wife was a few inches taller. That was why he always wore heels on his shoes. He was loud and boisterous. Most of his conversations were about himself. I hoped the town had someone else in mind for mayor because this one was going to retire soon. Hopefully, for many years.
“Mabel,” he said. Whenever he says my name, I always think he feels like regurgitating. I really believe I have that effect on him. “What brings you to my neighborhood?”
“Well, Fred, I know it’s hard to believe, but my neighborhood is only a couple of blocks away.” I smiled. “I guess that makes us neighbors.” I took a step up. We were about a foot away from each other now and I could smell the whiskey. “Since you are the one who takes care of our little town, I was wondering how you’re doing with that.”
He had an odd questioning look on his face. “You want to know how I’m doing, taking care of Parson’s Cove? Well, I can tell you that I am doing a very good job, Miss Wickles. That’s what the people of this wonderful little place asked me to do. That’s why they voted me in, Mabel.”
“Well, actually no one voted you in. You were a replacement for Reg and it so happens, no one else offered to fill that position. That's the only reason you happen to be mayor. I believe the fine people on the town council had the wrong impression of you, Mr. Mayor.”
He laughed but I think he knew where I was going with that.
“Oh, come now, don’t try to be a hero, Mabel. No one is perfect. Everyone knows that I do my best to keep everyone happy.”
“I don’t think beating someone up and leaving them to freeze to death in a locked fishing shack is doing your best, Fred. I doubt it left Harry Cooper very happy.”
The patient benevolent look vanished from his eyes.
“Listen, Wickles, you are talking nonsense. If you think you can come to my house and make stupid accusations like that, you are sadly mistaken. I would tell you that I’d go to the sheriff but that wouldn’t be worth my while, would it? You and the sheriff are in cahoots. He will believe anything you tell him so I suggest you get off my step and not set foot on my property again or you’ll be sorry. You got that?”
“Are you threatening me, Pollock?”
He laughed. “You can take it anyway you want, Wickles.”
> “I’ll have you know, Fred, I’m not Emma or Jakie Flanders. I do not cringe when you threaten. I am going to tell my little story to the Sheriff, to Captain Maxymowich, and to Jake Flanders. We’ll see then who is the sorry one.”
The door slammed in my face. I slowly walked down the path to the road. It wasn’t until I was almost at the street that it struck me what I had done. Had I said too much? Was Fred Pollock really as ruthless as Jakie thought he was? I guess I would soon find out, wouldn’t I?
I thought I heard Pollock’s door opening again. There was only a faint squeak. Perhaps it was my imagination but I turned anyway. The door stood open and I remember seeing the mayor’s outline in the frame. Did I see him raise his arm? Was there a gun in his hand? I couldn’t be sure because everything happened so fast.
I did hear Fred call out, “Sorry, I didn’t know it was you, Mabel. I thought someone was breaking into my house.”
Chapter Twenty Five
When I opened my eyes, I knew I must be in the hospital. Everything looked white. The real proof, however, was when I looked up and saw Dr. Fritz smiling down at me.
“Mabel,” he said, in his best doctor voice. “Thank you for joining us today.”
“You’re welcome,” I said, having no idea what he was talking about.
I looked around. Nurse Grappley was standing beside the bed, holding one hand, with her fingers on my pulse. My head felt tight so I reached up and instead of feeling my soft silver hair, I felt rough gauze.
Reg was standing at the end of the bed, with a huge grin on his face. In the far corner, I could see Flori sitting with a box of tissue on her lap and tears were running down her face. She was smiling through her tears. Jake was standing beside her, with one hand on her shoulder.
You have no idea how happy I was to see Flori crying.
“Well,” I said. “Instead of all of you just staring at me, I wish someone would tell me what happened.”
Suddenly, the room came to life and everyone started talking at once.
“Just a minute,” I yelled. Everyone shut up. I looked up at Fritzy. “So, Doc, am I going to live? That’s the first question.”
“Of course, Mabel. You have a nasty head wound but it will heal nicely. I did have to cut some of your hair so I could do some stitching but it will grow back in quickly.”
“Okay. How did I get this nasty head wound?”
Reg spoke up. “You don’t remember Fred Pollock taking a shot at you? You didn’t see the gun?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. I do remember turning around because I thought the door was opening but that’s all I remember. Oh yes, he said something about an intruder or something. He thought I was an intruder. He thought I was breaking into his house. That was it. What did he do? Shoot me and then leave town?”
Suddenly, everyone was talking again.
I looked at Reg. “Could you tell me, Reg?”
“He actually took a couple of shots at you but none of them hit you. Thank heavens for that.”
“Well, if none of them hit me, what am I doing here? Why is my head bandaged up like this?”
“You passed out after he fired the first shot and hit your head on the cement walk on the way down.”
“I passed out?”
“Fainted dead away.”
“Mayor Pollock didn’t walk over and fill me full of bullet holes?”
For some reason, everyone started smiling.
Reg laughed. “Pollock had his hands full. The reason you might not have any holes in you is that someone came along and started throwing chunks of dirt and gravel at Fred. One knocked the gun out of his hand, and after a few knocks on the head, he fell down. Right about then, Bob Crackers drove by and saw what was happening. He grabbed the gun and sat on Pollock. While he was sitting there, he called me and the rest is history. You were taken to the hospital and Fred Pollock was taken to jail.”
“And,” Flori piped up. “My son got to go home. All because of you, Mabel.”
“Jakie is home now? That’s wonderful. So now everyone knows the story?”
“Yes,” Reg said. “While Fred was at the station, the boys went through his house. Turned everything upside down. They found a lot of incriminating evidence. It is amazing that he escaped the law this long. He should have been incarcerated years ago. Junior said Fred had called Emma and we found the number on his cell phone. Emma taped every phone call he made to her and she also kept the calls from her father.”
“Good for Emma,” I said. “I knew she was scared when I visited her. Poor thing.”
Reg nodded. “Well, she doesn’t have to be afraid anymore. She can finally have some peace and quiet here in Parson’s Cove.”
I laughed. “Well, don’t forget she’s still married to a Flanders so it might not be all that peaceful.”
Jake laughed the loudest and that’s the first time he ever laughed at one of my jokes. Perhaps, he knew there was a ring of truth in it.
Reg continued, “She told me her life story and it’s a sad one, Mabel. Her mother died when she was very young so she never had a mother or father. Can you imagine being raised by a man like Cooper? She is one strong girl.”
“That’s all changed, Sheriff.” Jake spoke up for the first time. “Emma is our daughter so she’s got a mom and dad now.”
Flori beamed. “And two children besides her own baby. She has a readymade family. Right now, they’ve gone to pick the kids up. Emma was so happy. Junior says that since everyone will know the story in Parson’s Cove within the hour, Emma will stop working at the café, and they're going to splurge on a few things for their new home. Junior is hoping he can find a good job though. He doesn’t want to live off of Emma’s money.”
“I think there might be a job opening at the lumberyard,” I said.
“I doubt it,” Jake said. “I don’t think there’s full time work there for two guys”
I gave him a wink. “Just wait and see, Jake.”
He grinned. “Well, we’ll leave that up to you, Mabel. I don’t think I want to know.”
“So,” I said. “You said that someone threw chunks of dirt at Fred Pollock. Whoever did that probably saved my life. Who was it anyway?”
Everyone grinned. “You should be able to guess, Mabel,” Reg said. “You know who always looks after you, right?”
I smiled. “Of course, it was my hero, Charlie Thompson.”
I had to stay in the hospital for the next two days. Between Flori, Emma, and Delores from the Main Street Café, they kept my store open and running.
On my second day, John Smith came up to visit.
“Mabel,” he said. “This is thrilling. You have solved another murder. When can we start writing?”
“John,” I said. “I don’t think the people here in Parson’s Cove would want their stories put in a book. This is real life here and we don’t want to be portrayed as just fiction. Maybe you could find another town to write about.”
Downcast didn’t begin to describe the look on his face.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I really did think it over. We have some wonderful folks here but I know to make a book interesting, you would have to bring out some negative qualities and little idiosyncrasies in order to make it a good read, right?”
He nodded. “That’s true but I could write it so no one would know who I was writing about.”
I laughed. “Are you kidding? Everyone would know and if they didn’t, they would use their imaginations. No, this isn’t the town for you, John.”
Before he left, I asked if he really wanted to work in a lumberyard.
“Really? You think I like working there? I hate it. I’ll leave as soon as I can find a replacement.”
“Good, I have one for you.”
He left and Nathan came in, grinning as usual. However, he wasn’t alone.
"Mabel," he said, "I’d like you to meet Betty Mae Johnson. She moved here last week and works right here in the hospital. We met in the cafeteria.” T
hey looked at each other and giggled.
Betty Mae was a lovely girl with blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. It didn't seem that long ago that Nathan had run into another girl who worked at the hospital but I knew enough not to ask if Betty knew Shayla. Nathan was obviously once again smitten.
The next Tuesday, I was back at work. My head was sore and my wrist still a bit yellowy-green but it was good to be alive. The weather had taken a wonderful turn for the good and the icicles hanging from the eaves’ troughs were beginning to drip.
Flori came in and had her usual cup of coffee with me at nine. She had baked cinnamon buns the day before just for me because she was sure I had lost weight the two days I was in the hospital.
She walked out the door at eleven and two minutes later, Reg walked in. He had a strange look on his face.
It wasn't until his second cup of coffee that he shared his secret with me.
“You know, Mabel, I think I’m getting too old for trying to solve mysteries. And as happy as I was to see you recover, it made me do some thinking. The times are getting rough. We have had more murders in Parson’s Cove in the past five years or so than we had the twenty years previous. I would like to say that everything will improve, but I doubt it. Parson’s Cove really needs young men to do the job. It will be good to have Jim back in action.” His eyes twinkled. “Especially since he knows how to use a computer.”
“This is quite a coincidence,” I said, “Because the same thoughts were going through my mind. It’s amazing how you start thinking about life when you almost get shot. I think maybe it’s time I started to mind my own business. And this time, I mean it. I have no idea why I thought I could be this junior detective anyway.”
“Now, don’t say that, Mabel. You were always a good detective. It seems to run in your blood. It used to upset me but I think it was because you had those instincts that I didn’t have.”
Frozen Identity Page 15