Stella sighed, and the atmosphere in the room thawed a bit. “I really don’t have anything helpful to add. Like Sarah said, it was dark and the person ran fast.” She accented the word person a little more than necessary.
“Okay, then,” Awesome said. He looked like he wanted to say more but then seemed to remember he had an audience.
I guessed there would be some major groveling going on later tonight.
“Doesn’t this let Anil off the hook?” I asked. “He was in police custody when Melba’s house was broken into and this happened.”
“The incident at Melba’s house could just be an opportunist. He might have known the visitation was going on so a lot of people would be preoccupied with that. Isn’t that why you two were going by?” Awesome asked.
I glanced at Stella. She shot dagger looks at Awesome. He certainly wasn’t doing a good job of worming his way back into Stella’s good graces. I thought about telling him that we were out for a drive because it was hot in here and that we planned to go to Bedford Farms. But that sounded flimsy even to me, since it was in the other direction.
“I asked Stella to go with me. I was just curious about where Melba lived and what her life was like.” I snapped my mouth shut before I added that Anil had begged me to look into it for him. That wouldn’t help his cause any.
We heard a noise at the door. It was the crime-scene people.
One of them took a look at the mannequin and said, “We’re going to need a bigger evidence bag.”
It made us all laugh and broke the tension in the room. After they took pictures, they pulled the ski pole out of the mannequin’s chest.
“Is this yours?” one of them asked me.
“No. I don’t ski,” I said. My parents skied, but I’d never enjoyed it.
“Could it have come from the swap?” Pellner asked.
“It could have,” I answered. “But lots of people ski around here, so it could have come from anywhere. It’s a vintage pole. Leather handle, bamboo shaft, and a leather and bamboo basket.” The basket was the round part at the bottom of the pole that kept the pole from going too far down in the snow. Ski poles today had ergonomically designed handholds, and the shafts were constructed of aluminum or carbon fiber.
“Vintage poles are popular for decorating cabins and ski lodges. My grandparents had similar ones in their attic.” It dawned on me that this pole might be the partner to the ski pole that had been stuck in Melba’s chest. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to picture it. But the horror of seeing Melba dead had driven anything more than the vaguest impression of what the ski pole looked like out of my head. “How’d they get the pole through the mannequin’s plastic?” I asked.
One of the crime-scene people examined the hole in the mannequin. “It looks like someone took an ice pick or something else sharp to get through it.”
“Ice pick?” I asked, my voice quivering, as I imagined someone taking an ice pick to a mannequin. It seemed like they’d have to be very angry to do that.
The crime-scene people left with the mannequin and ski pole. Ryne put the empty coffeepot and mugs back on his tray and took off, too.
“How do you think they got in?” Pellner asked.
“I don’t have any idea. I know I locked the door,” I said.
“Sarah had to unlock it when we got back,” Stella added.
“You don’t have a key hidden anyplace?”
“No. I know better than to do that,” I said.
Stella made a funny little noise.
“What?” Pellner asked her.
“I used to take care of the cat for the people who lived here before Sarah. They left a key on the ledge of the door frame.” Stella glanced at me. “Maybe it’s still there.”
We all went out in the hall. Awesome felt the top of the door frame and pulled down a key.
“Oh, no. Sarah, I’m so sorry,” Stella said.
“It’s okay.” At least one mystery was solved. I took the key into the apartment, and everyone else followed me back in.
Pellner looked around the living room. “I’ve got everything I need for now,” he said. “Are you going to be okay, Sarah? Maybe you should spend the night somewhere else.”
“I’ll be fine.”
Pellner nodded at Awesome and Stella and left.
“Why don’t you come sleep on my couch?” Stella said.
“I’m not going to let someone scare me out of my home.” I gave her a quick hug. Awesome stood awkwardly after Stella walked out without even glancing at him.
“For goodness’ sakes, go after her. You don’t have an ounce of common sense.”
“You’re right. I don’t,” he said as he hustled out the door. He called out to Stella as he trotted down the stairs.
I locked the door after him and heard him call out to Stella again. I carried one of my kitchen chairs to the door and wedged it under the knob. I doubted it would actually keep anyone out, but at least the noise of it falling over should alert me to trouble. After I washed my face, I lay down on the bed, fully clothed. I stared up at the ceiling, wondering if I’d ever manage to sleep again. The curtains in my bedroom blew in on a gust of wind, like they were reaching out and trying to grab me. Normally, I liked to watch them billowing, but this wasn’t a normal night.
I grabbed my phone off the nightstand and called the hospital. The recorded message said that Seth had been released. That, at least, was good news.
Chapter 19
The Wednesday morning paper had a head shot of Anil, with an article about his arrest for the murder of Melba Harper. The more chilling photo was one of him staring almost adoringly at Melba at a school board meeting. I stared at that photo for a long time, trying to decide if I believed Anil’s story that they were just good friends or if, as the article insinuated, there was something more going on.
Anil was in jail when the mannequin was placed in my apartment, so maybe the police really did have the wrong guy in custody. Or somehow something I’d done in the past couple of days had sent Melba’s killer after me. Because it had to be her murderer—the police still hadn’t mentioned the murder weapon and it hadn’t been talked about around town, as far as I knew. The mannequin was sending a message. One that had me wondering if I should get out of town for a few days. Maine was nice this time of year. Of course, I couldn’t do that until my lasagna tasting was done for Angelo and my garage sales were done for my clients. Leaving wasn’t an option.
That reminded me that I needed to line up someone to go eat dinner with me tonight. I couldn’t ask Carol or Stella again. They’d think I was nuts. Obviously, the DiNapolis were out. I could call someone on base, but why look farther than right next door? Besides, I had the perfect excuse.
I knocked on Ryne’s door. He answered, fully dressed, and it looked like he was ready to leave for work. He looked down at me with his big green eyes.
“Can I help you?”
I wondered if he regretted moving in here. Things had been a little nuts in the past few weeks. “I wanted to thank you for helping out last night. Any chance you’re free for dinner?”
“Since I just moved here and know only three people, my uncle, you, and Stella, I am free for dinner. What did you have in mind?”
“There’s a great Italian restaurant in West Concord. Belliginos. Meet me there at seven?”
“Cheating on the DiNapolis?”
That’s what Carol had said too. What’s with everyone? I guessed I’d left enough food at his door for him to know how often I ate there. “Broadening my horizons.”
“You think going to a different Italian restaurant is broadening your horizons? What about Indian food or Chinese or Mexican?”
“I’ve just been craving lasagna lately. Do you want to go or not?” I asked.
“Sure. Beats another can of soup here.”
* * *
I finished reading the newspaper as I sipped a cup of coffee. There was a short paragraph about Seth being released and a quote from him t
hanking his well-wishers and saying he was eager to get back to work. I decided to call Nichole to see how he was really doing.
“He’s staying with his folks in Beacon Hill while he recovers and the damage to that dreadful little house of his in Bedford can be repaired,” Nichole said after we’d exchanged greetings.
Beacon Hill was a beautiful neighborhood of old brownstone homes in Boston. Seth would have plenty of people to take care of him there. I resented her calling his house dreadful, because it was amazing, even before I’d helped decorate. And it was a heck of a lot closer to where he worked than Beacon Hill. I managed to keep all those thoughts to myself and thanked her for telling me.
“He plans to start working from home tomorrow and hopefully will be back in the office by the end of the week.”
I was surprised Nichole was being so, for her, chatty. Maybe it was to make sure I understood that she was in the loop and I wasn’t. “Does Seth have any idea who did this to him?” I might as well try to take advantage of her willingness to talk.
“Humph.”
Really? Who actually humphs at someone? I managed to keep myself quiet.
“He doesn’t. He was attacked from behind and passed out when he was stabbed. I’ll be going over old cases with him to see if it’s revenge for putting someone away. And obviously, his office and the police will be doing the same.”
“Of course. I hope they catch whoever did this soon.”
“Oh, we will,” Nichole said before hanging up.
I finished the rest of my coffee before my thoughts turned to who I’d upset in the past couple of days. I moved restlessly around the apartment, which was warming quickly. I was guessing the person Stella and I followed last night wouldn’t be too happy with me. But it didn’t seem possible that he would have gotten a clear glance at me at Melba’s house or when we followed him.
There was the woman with the fake stuff at Bedford Farms Ice Cream the other night, but unless she followed me home, she’d have no idea how to find me. That left all the other people I’d come across in my search for the stolen items. And Mike. We’d gone from a somewhat friendly relationship to an adversarial one in a very short time. The mannequin did seem like something he’d do to scare someone. Not me, I hoped. We were friends, sort of. He said he’d help me, but not how. Still . . . I couldn’t rule him out.
Maybe I’d been too obvious in my sniffing of the school board members at Melba’s viewing. It was possible that had set someone off. And really three of them had had smells that masked their smell—roses, bourbon, and cigar smoke. Maybe someone had seen me sniffing them and didn’t like it. But that left a whole roomful of people and no way for me to know who it could have been. For now I’d concentrate on the school board members. Even though I didn’t think there was a snowball’s chance it was Betty Jenkins, I’d look into her life just in case. But how was I going to manage all of that? Maybe Nancy Elder would help, and Stella had said she wanted to see me, anyway.
* * *
After taking a quick shower and throwing on a pink polka dot sundress, I hustled up the stairs of city hall to Nancy Elder’s office at nine. She would be on top of what the school board was doing. Plus she’d lived in Ellington all her life and she was politically savvy.
Nancy’s office was empty, but the door was open and the lights were on, so she hadn’t gone far. Calling the room plain, utilitarian, or small was overstating the facts. Nancy had done her best to give it some warmth by bringing in a rug with thick swirls of bright reds. It didn’t help. An ugly pipe angled across one corner of the room but had been painted the same shade of off green as the wall to try to disguise it. The joints in the pipe had rusted, and a large damp spot had spread across the ceiling, where the pipe disappeared. No one could accuse the town of wasting funds here. And I suspected Nancy kept the office like this so the good people of Ellington would know that.
“Can I help you?”
I turned to see Nancy striding down the hall toward me. Her chin-length hair bobbed around her head. In a past life she must have been a drill sergeant. She had the voice and commanding presence.
“Oh, it’s you, Sarah. Good. Come in,” she said when she reached me.
She had stacks of paperwork on her desk. Behind her was her wall of fame. Photos of her with John Kerry, Patrick Duval, and Tom Menino when they were respectively a senator, a governor, and a Boston mayor. There was a picture of her throwing out the first pitch at a Red Sox game, and there were plaques from various organizations.
Nancy sat in the chair behind her desk. “Have a seat.”
“Stella said you wanted to see me. Is it about New England’s Largest Yard Sale this fall?”
Nancy leaned forward and placed her arms on her desk. “Let’s cut the BS. We both know why you’re here. You want information about Melba.”
I sat back, stunned. “You asked me to come. I thought—”
Nancy waved a hand to cut me off. “This looks bad for our town, so what’s your plan?”
I opened my mouth and tried to speak, but nothing came out. I was used to people telling me to butt out, not asking me what I planned to do. This had been a very strange week. “My plan? The police made an arrest.”
“It’s ridiculous to think Anil would kill someone,” Nancy said. “I want you to get this matter cleared up as soon as possible.”
“Me? Isn’t this better suited for the police?” I’d just told Anil the same thing the other night.
“Well, as you know, we are down one chief. It’s a small department, and resources are strained. Plus, people seem to trust you. To tell you things.” She picked up a pen and tapped it on a pad of paper. “I don’t trust that state trooper to get to the bottom of this. He doesn’t know this town or how to handle its people.”
“I’ve already been threatened.” Maybe that would get Nancy to back down.
“You mean the mannequin last night?”
I nodded.
“You are made of stronger stuff than that, aren’t you? Were you really planning to let that stop you?”
When put that way, no, I guessed I wasn’t.
“I’m assuming you want to continue to be in charge of our fall event—New England’s Largest Yard Sale.”
I nodded again. “Are you saying if I don’t find out who did this, I can’t run the sale?” It had been a large chunk of my income last year. I needed that money.
“I’m not saying anything. But I’d like this cleared up within a week.”
I was astounded. First, that Nancy thought I was the key to solving this mystery. Second, that I wasn’t going to get to do the sale if I didn’t solve it. And third, that she’d given me a week to do so.
“I have a meeting in thirty minutes. Let’s not waste time.” Nancy glanced at her watch as she spoke.
“Okay then.” Finally, I could form words again. “Was there any unusual strife among the school board members?”
“Since the people of Ellington voted down the bond issue and the one-cent sales tax last fall, there have been some heated arguments about the budget.”
“Is that anything new? Aren’t there always money issues with a school system?”
“Yes, but the arguments were getting uglier. Anil wanted to drop arts programs and sports. He’s very academically oriented with his kids and does a lot of tutoring. Melba was vehemently against that. She believed those who didn’t excel academically still could find a place to shine through the arts or sports. Lance sided with her.”
“Did that surprise you?” I asked.
Nancy folded her hands on her desk. “Not particularly. He played football and basketball at Ellington. All his kids have been on various sports teams.”
“What about Betty Jenkins?”
“The woman has a spine of steel and lots of opinions.”
That surprised me. She always seemed so pleasant to me. “So where did she stand?”
“She was going along with Melba’s idea to increase classroom size, cut vacation days,
and scale back their health insurance by getting rid of dental and eye care.”
“What? I thought I’d always heard that Melba was a big supporter of teachers.”
“She was, but she’d rather cut teachers’ benefits and perks than programs. Of course, the teachers weren’t happy to hear that.”
Ugh. Adding every teacher in Ellington to the list of suspects was mind boggling.
“However, she was hoping to work something out with the teachers and reintroduce the bond and sales tax next year. When everyone realized what a drastic impact not having either would have.”
Okay, so maybe take the teachers off the suspect list. “What about the other two men on the board?”
“Rex Sullivan and Mac Danucci?”
I nodded.
“Both businessmen who were more middle of the road. They thought a five percent cut across the budget would be best. That way everyone and everything suffered equally.”
Time to change tactics. “Do you know why her house was broken into?”
“You didn’t hear this from me,” Nancy said.
“I could probably find out whatever you’re going to say at DiNapoli’s.”
Nancy shook her head. “Not this time. It’s a well-guarded secret.” She got up, looked out in the hall, and closed the door before retaking her seat. “Someone was in the middle of a search in Melba’s home office when you and Stella arrived.”
That wasn’t too surprising. It seemed like anyone would surmise that from what had happened. I waited for a moment to see if Nancy would join the chorus of “What were you thinking by going there?” but she didn’t. “Maybe they were just looking for valuables,” I said. “It could be someone who knew the house was empty and decided to take advantage of that.” That’s what Awesome had said last night.
Nancy shook her head no again. It sent her hair swinging around violently. “There was an iPad sitting out in her living room, although a laptop was missing from her desk. They could tell because the cord was still there. Some files were scattered around on the floor. The person was definitely searching for something.”
I Know What You Bid Last Summer Page 12