by Molly Dox
Maybe one day she’d go back to school and…she let that thought fade as she pulled up to the development. Turning onto the main feeder road, she followed it around until she found the street she was looking for. Poppy laughed on seeing the mailbox. There was a good chance she’d have picked that out as being his, with the big mouth bass mailbox and the nets and lobster crate around the base. This was a fisherman’s house or a seafood store owner’s house for sure.
Poppy parked her car out front. There was a car in the driveway. She wondered what happened to Sal’s truck. He had a king cab blue pick-up truck she always saw parked around on the side of the building at his shop. It wasn’t here now. Did someone start using it? Did they sell it? She hoped it was the right place. She double checked the address, looked at the mailbox again for reassurance. Poppy picked up the gift bag and headed to the front door. One last deep breath and she rang the doorbell. A bevy of chimes went off. She was nervous, knowing what her true intentions were. It was kind of wrong to use her for information, right? Except, what if it led to the killer? See, then it could totally be seen as a good deed. Poppy cleared her conscious and waited for someone to answer.
She saw a shadow coming down the hallway through the side window beside the door. There was a sheer curtain over it for a sense of privacy. The woman waddled. Yep, that had to be her.
When the door opened, the woman looked confused. “Do I know you?”
Poppy held out the gift bag. “We met at the funeral. I just wanted to come by and drop this off.”
“For me?” She looked at the older woman. “You didn’t have to do this.”
“I know. It’s just, well, with everything you’ve been through; it’s the least I could do. If it brings a smile to your face, then I guess it was worth it.”
She stood awkwardly, not sure whether to invite the woman in or not, so Poppy took control of the situation. “Was it Diana, Dana….I’m so bad with names.”
“Diana,” she said and opened the door wider. “Would you like to come in?” She wasn’t even sure why she was asking, but the woman did just bring her a gift.
“Oh sure, thanks,” Poppy said, walking past her, glancing around. “I’m not disturbing you, am I?”
“It’s not like I have much else going on. I’m due any day and I can’t seem to concentrate on anything. I guess company would be nice.” It was just weird.
“Oh, wonderful! I’ve been thinking about you ever since I saw you there, you poor dear. How are you holding up?”
Diana slid her hand over her belly. No fingertip missing. Poppy glanced at her other hand. Again, all fingers were intact. “Is that an engagement ring? Were the two of you about to get married?”
Somehow an hour had passed and Diana was spilling her life story. She didn’t realize how bored and lonely she’d been lately. She needed to keep a low profile with Sal’s brother, so they’d been avoiding each other as much as possible.
Diana spoke. “He saved me from an addiction. Sal turned my life around. I worshipped the ground that man walked on. But he just always pushed off a serious commitment. Would never agree to marry me….anyway, I was so angry and crushed. Here I was pregnant, about to have our baby, and still nothing. When I was cleaning through some of his stuff, I found this.” She stopped to stare at the ring. “He wrote out a card and everything. It was sweet. It said ‘to the mother of my child’ and was tucked in one of his drawers. I think he was going to ask me after I gave birth. He never got to, but I couldn’t help but put the ring on.”
“It’s beautiful,” was all Poppy could say. She kept her mouth closed about eavesdropping on Diana’s conversation with Sal’s brother. Poppy finally said good-bye and wished the woman good luck on her life’s journey. With both fingertips intact, and the fact that the woman was a waddle duck, she couldn’t see the woman being the one who killed Sal. Not after he saved her. Of course, she did sleep with his brother. She’d need to learn more about his brother another day.
Chapter 7
On the way back home, Poppy decided to drive by the seafood shop and see if there was any activity. Was the shop closed for good, was his partner planning on keeping it open? Poppy never even realized Sal had a partner. Sal had been the face of the seafood market for so long that she just assumed he was the only owner.
Pulling up to the shop, she saw his truck was still there. She felt a chill run up her spine on seeing the dead man’s truck. It was hard to believe he was gone. The sign on the door had been turned to the side that said ‘closed’ and the lights were off. As she turned to leave, a truck pulled into the parking lot, a big loading truck. She realized some of the distributors might not have realized he’d been found dead. Those were deliveries that wouldn’t be made today.
Poppy drove out of the parking lot onto the main drive and started to drive home. “Oh, fudge. I forgot to pick up bread,” she said aloud. At the next turnaround, she headed back the other direction. Passing the seafood shop, she was surprised to see activity by the truck that was now parked next to the building.
It was an empty building. What was going on? She couldn’t very well pull back in and ask what was going on. And it’s not like there were a bunch of trees or shrubs for her to hide her truck behind. She’d swing around and drive by one more time. If she did any more than that, somebody might notice. Poppy was frustrated she couldn’t see more of what was going on, but something seemed weird. Was Sal’s partner going to open back up? Maybe that’s all it was.
Finally, she gave up and went to pick up the bread she’d meant to grab earlier. While Poppy was at the store, she grabbed a bag of jelly beans for Reggie. Poppy herself wasn’t a huge fan of jelly beans, though she liked the licorice flavored ones that were white and black more than the rest.
When she got home, she found Martin sitting on a kitchen chair, staring at the wall. “Dad, are you okay?”
“Eh? Who knows? I’m really tired. I don’t know if it’s old age or if something is wrong.” He sounded foggy.
“Dad?” Poppy moved in closer, her heart thumping hard in her chest. “Do you think you need to go to the hospital? What’s going on?” She wasn’t ready to lose her father.
“I just, I don’t know. I don’t feel right.” He leaned forward, folded his arms on the table, and placed his head down.
“Do you need an ambulance or a nap?” She was torn between not knowing if something was seriously wrong or not. “If you don’t feel right, I’m going to call an ambulance.”
“It might be a good idea,” he said. He shifted, went to stand up and then fell to the ground, his legs giving out on him.
“Dad!” Poppy ran to his side, dialing frantically on her phone. He was conscious, but confused.
**
Panda met them at the hospital. Martin Pepper’s blood sugars had spiked hard. He wasn’t used to having to pay attention to them, but his body was demanding it. After getting his sugars lower, they gave him instructions to see an endocrinologist about Diabetes.
Poppy’s entire world crumpled up into a little ball when she thought she might lose him. As crazy as he could be at times, and as much of a pain, she loved that man with everything she had. It was time for her father to give up his cake and whiskey habit, get control of his carbs, and learn about the new bully in his system called Diabetes.
Happy to bring him home, Poppy finally sighed with relief. Panda followed them home and went inside. He’d sit with his father for a while, just to make himself feel better.
“I was reading Sal’s autopsy report, and it says they took his liver’s temperature. They were able to place the time of death somewhere between eight and ten the night before he was found. It’s a real shame about all of that happening. I thought about Sal today when the guys at work were tossing around the idea of having a clambake.” Panda stretched his long legs out in front of him. He’d gotten used to tucking his head down when passing under some doorframes. He wasn’t quite sure where he’d gotten his height from. His dad was tall, but P
anda sprouted up way taller than him, and his mom’s side of the family was squatty.
Chapter 8
Reggie scooped a handful of jelly beans out of the bag and popped them into his mouth. He picked the report back up and continued reading. There were some interesting details that came out during the investigation into Sal’s death, though it was still ongoing. Reggie was privy to the insider information due to his status.
Normally, financial information wouldn’t be dug up, but when it came to a homicide, any information they could get helped. It turned out that Sal had multiple bank accounts. He had a checking and savings account, and then another account that had odd patterns. Large sums of money entered and left. Larger sums of money than a seafood guy should be making. Something was fishy, and possible something criminal. Though, maybe it was a lottery payout. Maybe he’d won a lottery and quietly collected on it. He was sure the detectives were already on it, but reading the report left him hanging and wanting more details.
He smiled to himself thinking of Poppy. He’d caught the bug; the need to know. He knew why she did it; it’s just that he needed to be more cautious with his being a sheriff. Of course, if he happened to leave the report on the table by accident, she could have a look.
**
When the newspaper arrived, nobody expected the headlines they saw. A truck had been stopped and searched when it pulled into the little seafood market that was temporarily closed. Tucked in crates, they found massive batches of blow.
“Sal was dealing drugs?” Poppy’s eyes popped wide open, trying to take in the news.
Her father called out from his recliner, “See that, he was trying to drug me. I told you he was trying to kill me.”
Reading the article, it mentioned that the driver, Charlie Rivers, had been arrested. His picture was at the bottom of the article. “Pops, Charlie. They arrested Charlie. He was driving the truck.”
“What? Our Charlie wouldn’t do stuff like that. There’s got to be a mistake.” He shook his head and walked over. “Let me see that.”
Poppy held up the paper, showing him the picture. “It’s Charlie.” Charlie Rivers was Poppy’s cousin. Things were getting ugly…messy and ugly. “It says he refused to talk, and that he was taken into custody. You better call Uncle Rick.”
“I’m not talking to that no-good loser,” he grumbled. “Not after what he did.”
Poppy sighed. Her Uncle Rick was out of town on business when her mother died. He never made it to the funeral, and her father never forgave him.
“Fine, I’ll call him.”
“Don’t you dare,” Martin sniped.
“Dad…maybe you should…never mind.” It felt pointless. She stood and headed outside, bringing the paper with her. Finding Reggie, she handed him the paper.
“I’ll trade you,” he said, handing her the report he was going to leave out later.
“Wow, now it makes sense,” Reggie said under his breath.
“What makes sense?”
Reggie pointed to the report he’d just handed to Poppy. “The bank account that had large sums in it; he was moving drugs.”
Suddenly things got a little clearer.
“It’s baffling. He was voted business owner of the year last year for all his charitable donations,” she said.
“With drug money, it changes things, doesn’t it?” Reggie shook his head. “I just don’t get it. If he had a successful business, why would he….I guess it doesn’t matter when money talks.”
“Wow. Just wow.” Poppy sat down. “I think I need to go visit Sal’s girlfriend again. Maybe she could shed some more light on things.”
“Do you think she’ll talk?” Reggie asked.
“I don’t know, but I’m not above trying.”
Reggie looked at Poppy, the small lines around his eyes only giving him more character, “I’m going with you this time.”
Chapter 9
When nobody answered the door, Poppy had a thought. Maybe Sal’s girlfriend had gone into labor. She’d check the hospital next. Sure enough when she got there, Diana was resting after giving birth. Poppy gently knocked on the door before entering.
“What are you doing here?” She recognized the older woman from their visit.
“I stopped back to check on you, but you weren’t there. I thought I’d give the hospital a shot. How’s the baby?” She wanted to come off as motherly and non-threatening. If her guard was down, she’d be more willing to talk.
“See for yourself,” she answered, nodding toward the door. A nurse was bringing Diana’s baby to her.
“Oh, she’s precious.” Poppy looked at the tiny face and smiled. Never having kids, it wasn’t something she regretted, but on seeing the sweetness, she felt a gentle tug inside.
“She’s perfect,” Diana mewed.
“Diana, I’m not going to lie. I came here to talk to you about something. It’s about Sal.” She hesitated only long enough to watch the woman’s reaction.
Diana glanced up at Poppy, her muscles stiffening, and then back down at her child. “What do you want from me? Really? What is this about? I don’t have the energy for this.”
Poppy sat beside the hospital bed on the armchair. “Did you know about the drugs?”
Diana’s face dropped. She turned away, not wanting to look at the woman. “Who are you? Are you a cop?”
“No, I’m a friend of Sal’s, and I want to help find who is responsible for his death. Please help me.” Poppy appealed to the woman.
“He used to stuff the drugs inside of the fish and wrap them in butcher paper. He was trying to get out of it. Once I got pregnant, he realized how risky it was. Before it was about the money, but knowing there’d be a kid…anyway, he’s not a bad guy. He just got caught up in stuff. I can’t say anything else. I just can’t take that risk.” She looked to Poppy. “I can’t talk to you anymore. I hope you find who did this, or somebody does.”
Poppy nodded and left the room. Reggie was waiting in his truck. “You were convinced you’d get her to talk. Did you?”
“As a matter of fact,” she said, flashing a grin. “It’s got to be related to the drugs. She said he was trying to get out of the drug business. I’m guessing someone wasn’t happy about that.”
“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Reggie turned the key in the ignition and fired up his truck.
“Yep, let’s go. Wait, I have no idea where he lives.”
“I already got the information,” he said with a wink.
“Well, look at you, being all ahead of the game. Wait; what if he’s not home. Surely, he has to work somewhere. Do you know where?”
“We’ll wait. That’s what detectives do. It’s not all rush in all the time, a lot of it is sitting and waiting for the opportunity. I better stop and pick up a couple of drinks. We could be there for hours.”
“Hours?” Poppy’s jaw slacked. “I don’t have hours. I need to be at the resort.”
“So you want me to do this one without you?” Reggie questioned, already knowing the answer.
“No. I want to go, but I’ve got things to do.” Poppy sulked. “Fine, just be careful, and tell me everything.”
“How about I wait until after check-ins, and then you can come with me?” he suggested.
“Really? You’ll wait for me?” A smile slid across her face.
“Be ready by five. It gives me time to eat lunch this way. I’m starving,” he answered.
“Come back to the office, I’ll make you a sandwich.”
Reggie smiled at the offer. “Sounds good; I’d be a fool to turn that down.”
Chapter 10
Pulling up to the address he’d jotted down, Reggie turned off the ignition. “This is it.”
“I have no idea what to say to this man. Maybe we’re in deeper than we should be. We should probably call the police with the information we have so far.” Poppy wasn’t even sure why she was so nervous. Maybe it was in knowing that drugs were serious business and it landed Sal in the
lake, a dead man. The word ruthless came to mind. Would she be next if she stepped on too many toes?
“Cold feet?” Reggie asked.
She nodded. “I think so.”
“Do you want me to leave?” He’d leave it to her to decide.
A black car pulled into the driveway as they were speaking. Poppy held her breath. “It’s him.”
“Let’s do this.” Reggie was already getting out of the truck. She heard him holler to the man. “Excuse me, sir, can you help me with something.”
The man turned to look at who was calling him.
Reggie flashed his badge, which took Poppy by surprise. “I need to ask you a few questions.”
Bill Hopkins froze, and then quickly regained himself. “Talk to my lawyer,” he said.
“That’s not necessary; it’s just a few simple questions about your neighbor down the road.” Ooh, smooth move. Reggie impressed himself with that one. He watched the man visibly relax.
“My neighbor? Whatever it is, I don’t know anything about my neighbors.” He stood at the door, keys in his hand, which allowed time for Reggie to get closer.
“Yeah, there’s a guy down there, complaining that you were causing a racket the other night. He said something about a loud banging around two in the morning. Says he’s thinking of pressing charges, something about disturbing the peace. He doesn’t seem too stable though. Do you know anything about a Julian Krantz? You wouldn’t know what he’s talking about would you?” Reggie continued his bluff and pulled a made-up name out of his hat. His gaze fell to the man’s hands. Reggie swallowed hard. His finger…