by Rose Pressey
“Exactly. So, what‘s he up to?” I asked.
“See, I told you that guy was bad news. You need to tell the detective about this and fire Hunter right away.”
My stomach turned at the thought. I hated that now I would have to confront him with this. I had to fire my first employee. But I supposed it had to be done.
“What if he has a good explanation for this?” I asked.
“What could that possibly be?” Mary Jane asked.
I shrugged. “I have no idea.”
I pulled out my phone and dialed the detective.
“Is everything all right?” he asked when he picked up.
“Well, I’m fine, but there’s something I need to tell you.”
“What’s that?” he asked.
“I found text messages on my employee’s phone.”
I recounted the incident to the detective.
“So now I have to tell him he’s fired,” I said.
“Oh, no, you can’t do that,” he said.
“Why not?” I asked.
“We can’t let on that anything is wrong. Not until you find out why he has those text messages. Don’t say anything about this to him until I’ve had a chance to speak with him.”
I sighed. “Yes, I suppose you’re right.”
“You understand not to tell him, right?”
A noise came from the back area. I momentarily freaked out.
“Yes, I understand, but I think he’s back,” I said.
“Just act normal and call me back. Let me know what happens,” the detective said.
“Okay, I’m on it.” I hung up the phone.
Mary Jane and I hurried over to the kitchen.
“Just act normal,” I said.
I had wanted to get the phone back into my office and on the desk before he returned, but now that wouldn’t happen. How would I explain to him that I had the phone? I would just pretend that I hadn’t seen the text messages, although he’d probably be suspicious.
Hunter was coming through the back door when Mary Jane and I emerged through the other door from the main area. He had the funniest look on his face when he saw us. For a brief second, we just stared at each other, no one saying a word.
“I suppose you came back to find your phone,” I said with a chuckle.
He studied my face for a moment. “Yes, I forgot it. I accidentally left it. I don’t know where it is.”
“I found it,” I said. I hoped he wouldn’t ask where, but he had to know where. I stretched out the phone toward him. “Here you go.”
“Sorry about that,” he said.
I knew that he was trying to gauge my reaction, but I wouldn’t say a word about where I’d found it.
He took the phone from me and then said, “Well, I guess I’ll be on my way now. Thanks again.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I waved.
He smiled. “Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
It was as if he’d gotten something over on me. He was proud of himself. Little did he know that I had already told the police about this. I would get the last laugh on this. Unless of course he was the killer, and then killed us. Then I definitely wouldn’t get the last laugh, but I digressed.
When he walked out the door, Mary Jane looked at me. “That was extremely awkward.”
“Yes, but we made it through. Do you think that he’s suspicious?”
“Definitely suspicious,” she said.
“That’s not what I wanted to hear,” I said.
“I’m only telling the truth.” She held up her hands.
Mary Jane and I walked back into the main area of the shop.
“We just have to get through this until the detective figures out what is going on,” I said.
“I hope it doesn’t take long.” Mary Jane stood beside me at the counter. She reached down and picked up the realtor’s card that I had left on the counter. “So what’s the deal with this woman?”
“She’s definitely strange, and that’s about all I know,” I said. “Oh, and like I said, she wants to buy this place.”
“That’s definitely strange, and I get a weird vibe from her too.”
“You’re beginning to sound like you get a weird vibe from everyone, Mary Jane,” I said.
She laughed. “Well, that’s true. Let’s look her up.”
Mary Jane pulled out the laptop and fired it up. She typed in the realtor’s name and the information.
“That’s odd,” she said.
“What did you find?” I asked as I leaned closer to take a look at the screen.
“There’s nothing on here about her.”
“That is weird.”
“A realtor would have lots of information about houses they have listed for sale. With a website and contact information on how to find them.”
“Exactly. Are you sure you didn’t type in the name wrong?” I asked.
Mary Jane pointed at the screen. “I’m positive. It’s exactly as it is on the card.” She showed me the card and then I looked at the screen.
“You’re right. This is extremely weird.”
“You should’ve told the detective about her too. Maybe you’ll have to call him back.”
“I don’t want to seem crazy by calling again.”
“It wouldn’t be for this. This is important. He’s working on the case.”
“Just the same, I think I’ll wait. This is something I can look into myself.”
Mary Jane sighed. “If you say so….”
Chapter 17
“So how do you plan on finding this woman?” Mary Jane asked.
“That’s a good question. I have to assume that she gave me an incorrect name if she’s really not a realtor,” I said.
“Well, you can start with searching for her. Maybe she gave me the right name. Maybe there’s a logical explanation for why she isn’t online.”
“That’s true,” I said.
“Perhaps she’s just getting started and hasn’t listed anything.”
I hadn’t thought about that, but maybe Mary Jane was right.
“So we should just look for her name without the realtor part,” I said as I pulled out my phone and typed in to see if anything came up. “Look, I think this is her Facebook page.”
Mary Jane came closer and peered at the screen. “Does that look like her?”
“Yes, it does. She’s maybe a little younger in this photo, and her hair is down, but I’m almost positive it’s her.”
“The name matches, so she gave you the right name. That’s a good thing. Maybe it’s all innocent enough,” Mary Jane said.
“Yeah, I just need to call this number and see if she answers. Maybe I’ll ask some questions… of course then she’ll think I really want to sell the building. If she really has nothing to do with the murder, then I’ll feel bad for wasting her time,” I said.
“Yes, but this is for a good cause,” Mary Jane added. “Do you think there’s some connection between the murder and this building?”
“I suppose anything is possible, but what would it mean?” I asked.
“We have to think about what we know so far.” Mary Jane tapped her index finger against her bottom lip. “About what happened before the murder.”
“Well, either Mr. Sutherland was coming back here to tell me something, or the person who sent the flyer had asked to meet him here. If it’s the latter, then that leads me to think maybe it was something about this building. Though I still think that’s a bit of a stretch.”
“What are the odds the realtor came in here out of the blue wanting to buy the building when Mr. Sutherland had told her no?” Mary Jane asked.
“There’s something else bothering me. Why does Hunter keep going into my office?”
“We need to get to the bottom of that. Plus, someone broke in and messed up the kitchen.”
“Do you think maybe they were looking for something?” I asked.
Mary Jane’s eyes widened. “That would make sens
e. That’s why they went to the back and it was all messed up. They were looking for something that’s in the kitchen.”
“And coincidentally Hunter spends all his time in the kitchen.”
“Do you think he’s looking for something too?” Mary Jane asked.
“That’s what we have to find out,” I said.
“When was the last time you spoke with Mr. Sutherland?” Mary Jane asked.
“Well, let’s see…” I tapped my finger against my bottom lip. “I guess it was the day that I signed the closing paperwork with him. He told me to enjoy the building and good luck with my business.”
“That sounds normal enough. Anything else?” Mary Jane asked.
“I asked him what he was doing now that he’s retired. He said that he was going away to a tropical paradise.”
Mary Jane frowned. “Where was that paradise?”
I shrugged. “He didn’t say.”
“He never got a chance to go,” Mary Jane said around a sigh.
I shook my head. “That’s terrible.”
“Sounds like maybe he was trying to get away from here.”
“Maybe he was trying to get away because he knew someone was trying to kill him,” I said.
“But how did he know that? Did he get threats?”
“Perhaps,” I said with a quick of my eyebrow. “Letters, telephone calls, anything like that.”
Text messages? I hadn’t told Mary Jane about the message.
“I wonder if he knew the person who was leaving the messages,” Mary Jane said.
“We have to figure this out,” I said.
“Before it happens to someone else.” She looked at me.
“Meaning before it happens to me?”
“No, not you,” she said with a wave of her hand. “It could happen to me too.”
I busied myself with filling up jars and straightening around the shop. I didn’t really want to think about the fact that someone might be coming after me, but I was curious if any of what Mary Jane had talked about was true. Was Hunter looking for something in the back of the shop? What could it be? Mary Jane and I needed to take a look around back there.
A crashing sound came from the back room. Mary Jane and I exchanged a look.
“What if someone came back?” I whispered.
“We should call the police right away.”
“We have to check it out first. I don’t want to panic and call the cops if it was just a pan falling.”
Mary Jane and I eased over to the door. We tiptoed so if there was a person in there they wouldn’t hear our footsteps against the hardwood floor. Once we got to the door, Mary Jane and I paused. I motioned that I’d ease the door open first and peek inside the room. The last thing I wanted was to burst in and find the killer back there. Ever so slightly I pushed on the door. I was so nervous that my knees shook, and I could barely catch my breath.
I didn’t want to be shot just for looking into the kitchen. For all I knew the killer could be hiding back there and waiting for me to step into the room. Maybe Mary Jane was right and I needed to call the police right away. Still, I wanted to be brave and not jump to conclusions over a little noise. It could’ve just been a dish that was too close to the edge of the counter and fell off by some kind of vibration.
When I leaned over and looked into the kitchen, I spotted him.
I closed the door. “It’s Hunter.”
“What’s he doing?” Mary Jane asked.
When I peeked inside the room again Hunter still hadn’t noticed me. He had no idea that I was watching him. I wanted to keep it that way too, but I also wanted to continue to watch. I had to see what he was up to. He was looking through things that he had no reason to search through. He was frantically searching for something, like he was trying to hurry up before I caught him.
“What do you think he’s looking for?” Mary Jane whispered.
I shrugged. After I’d caught him in my office, and now this, I was highly suspicious. I knew he was up to something. What was he looking for? I had just come right out and ask him, but the detective didn’t want me to confront him with any of this until he’d had a chance to speak with him. We watched for few more seconds and then I motioned for Mary Jane to step back. She followed me out into the main area of the store. We needed to discuss our next move. Mary Jane and I huddled together.
“All right, I say we go in there and just confront him,” Mary Jane said with a pump of her fist.
“No, no, the detective doesn’t want us to do that,” I said.
“Well, you need to call the detective and ask him what he wants you to do, because this could be a dangerous situation.”
I blew the hair out of my eyes. I didn’t know what to do. I was so confused. Before I had a chance to make any decision though, Hunter walked through the door. Mary Jane jumped, and I caught myself before I screamed. He had a strange look on his face when he saw us.
We stared in silence for a moment., then I said, “Hey, how’s it going?”
I asked that as if this was a totally casual moment. Should I say anything to him now that I had the chance? That was what Mary Jane wanted me to do, but no, I would stick to my plan and tell the detective first.
“Fine. How about you?” he asked, eyeing me up and down.
“Everything’s good here,” I said with a forced smile.
“I’m just finishing up back there,” he said.
Again, Mary Jane and I stared at him, as if we’d forgotten how to speak.
“Well, I’ll get back to the kitchen.” Hunter motioned over his shoulder.
“Sure, I’ll show you what I need done in just a second,” I said.
He gave a thumbs up and then headed back toward the kitchen. As soon as he was out of the room I turned to Mary Jane again.
“That was weird,” Mary Jane said.
“You can say that again,” I said. “He acted like he wasn’t doing anything wrong.”
“That’s because he didn’t know we saw him. He’s so shady. I knew it from the very beginning.”
“Yeah, well, I should’ve listened to you, I guess.”
Mary Jane smiled. “Yes, you should’ve listened to me, and I suspect that you’ll do that from this point forward.”
“Maybe,” I said.
“So, what’s your plan?” she asked.
“I guess I’ll call the detective and explain to him. I’ll see what he wants to do. Otherwise we’ll just act totally normal, and wait until we talk with him.”
“How can I act totally normal around Hunter? It will be extremely difficult because he’s not normal. It’s hard to act normal around him. Does that make sense?” Mary Jane asked.
“I get what you mean,” I said.
The doorbell jingled, and we looked over immediately. We were definitely on edge. It was a customer, so I knew that I had to get to work. I would have to deal with the Hunter situation later.
“Welcome to the Sweet Shoppe,” I said with a huge smile. “May I help you?”
The woman asked for various kinds of gumdrops, so I led her over to that section. I was helping her when I noticed Hunter look out from the kitchen. I wondered what he was up to back there. A few more customers entered and before I knew it a couple of hours had passed. Then Hunter came back to the front area.
“I’m going to go ahead and take a break, if that’s okay?” he asked.
“Sure, absolutely,” I said.
I couldn’t wait for him to get out of there because Mary Jane and I had a plan. We were going to search that kitchen and see if we could locate what he was looking for. That was assuming that he hadn’t found it—I figured if he had he wouldn’t still be looking. So as soon as he was out the back door Mary Jane and I hurried into the kitchen area. Now we could take a look around.
Mary Jane placed her hands on her hips. “So where should we look?”
“We’ll search in every little area, I suppose, but the space is pretty wide open. I’m not sure where anything could be
hidden. Not that I would know at least.”
Mary Jane went to drawers and started opening them. She moved around the inside contents, but I didn’t think we would find this mystery object in someplace so easily visible.
“Nothing in there,” she said, closing the last drawer.
I stood in the middle of the space looking around, hoping that something would magically jump out at me, and that I would get the answer to my question. After looking for some time, we found nothing.
“We should get his address from his job application and go to his place,” Mary Jane said.
“Do you think we should?” I asked.
Mary Jane nodded. “Definitely.”
“It has to be just the right time though. We can’t go right now,” I said.
Chapter 18
Mary Jane drizzled frosting over top of a batch of chocolate bonbons. “Did you notice the tan line of Heath’s hand?”
I whipped around to look at her. “What are you saying? You think he is the killer? That is crazy. Lots of people have tan lines. Heath has one too.”
She wiped her hands on her apron. “He does?”
“Yes, he does. Besides, Heath is so nice. He would never be a crazed killer,” I said.
“I’m just saying there are crazed killers who seem perfectly normal.”
“Why would Heath want to kill Mr. Sutherland? What would be the motive?” I asked.
“Perhaps it was some kind of dispute over the building.”
“He said Mr. Sutherland had approached him about buying the building.”
Now Mary Jane was putting crazy thoughts into my head. I just had to push them out because there was no way I would believe Heath was capable of doing something so horrendous.
“I’m sure it’s nothing,” Mary Jane said.
Still there was a hint of doubt in her voice. A flash of the killer came to mind. Was the killer the same height as Heath. Sadly, I believe that was the case.
“You’re not upset with me for mentioning that are you?” Mary Jane asked.
“No, of course not. I’d rather not think about it though.” I grabbed a bag of trash and headed out the back door.
“Consider it over with,” she said with a smile.