The Dana Potter Cozy Mystery Collection

by Liz Turner

  “What makes you think she’s thrown it out?”

  “I don’t really know, but I’ve wondered if she did since that night I asked her about it and she couldn’t give me a straight answer on where it was. I assumed she probably threw it away because she was angry with me.”

  “Well luckily, I happen to know for certain she didn’t throw it away,” Dana said. “As it so happens, she sent it to me, thinking I’d find a better use for it than her. I held onto it for her, and I still have it. But I have to ask—what made you want to come see me after so many years? Do you no longer loathe this town?”

  “Well, we got here a couple hours ago on somewhat of a whim,” Clementine said. “I guess it was mostly an impulse decision, with me being so close to home for the first time in so long. I just wanted to tell you… I realized it was my fault I’d pushed you away all those years ago, and I didn’t want either of us to die leaving things the way they were between us. I would hate to lose you the way I lost John, but I think it would hurt even worse knowing that I never got to tell you how much I love you, and I’m sorry…

  “When we got here, we knocked on your door, and when you didn’t answer, I had a bit of a meltdown. As you can see, there were a lot of strong emotions pushing me to come here. And even more strong and painful feelings overwhelmed me after arriving. Anton calmed me down, and we came here to church to pray. We’ve been here ever since, praying for forgiveness and miracles to bring my family back together… And it seems that prayer was answered because here you are.”

  Dana sighed. Although she wanted to believe this really was a miracle, it wasn’t unlike her sister to hide behind her family’s belief in God to cover her true intentions. In the past, Clementine over-explained her intentions to cover the fact that she was lying before anyone had the chance to accuse her of as much. In fact, Dana attributed her sister’s behavior to her belief that there was no such thing as a coincidence. Even with the tears in Clementine’s eyes, Dana couldn’t shake the feeling that this was too much of a coincidence.

  “Have you stopped by Atlanta recently? Ya know, to try talking to Angela?”

  “Yeah, that’s why we came here,” Clementine said. “We were in Atlanta for several days trying to talk to her. We spent the whole time trying to repair the damage done between me and my daughter, but no matter how hard we tried to reach her, she refused to answer her door. I tried calling her, knocking on her door several times…I even tried asking her neighbors if they’d seen her. But nothing came of our time there.

  “So next, I thought I’d come back here… Try to patch up some older wounds… But then you weren’t home. I cried while we sat outside your house until the neighbor come out and said you’d been out of town for a couple days and asked what we needed. They didn’t know how long you’d be gone, so it was Anton’s idea to pray over it, and that’s why we’re here now.”

  “I guess that’s why the neighbors were watching my house when I got home…”

  “Yeah. The people here have always been like that, haven’t they? They probably thought we were trying to rob you and kept an eye out.”

  “As much as I hate to admit it, I’m glad they did,” Dana said. “Because I’ve been with Angela this whole weekend, and it appears someone broke into her house just before the two of us got back to Atlanta last night. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

  “Actually, I would,” Anton said, speaking for the first time. “Sorry, I missed the introductions. I’m Anton Renaldo.”

  “Charmed.” Dana shook his hand. “And what would you know about this break-in? Because if you were knocking on her door regularly like you say, you would have noticed the door was ajar. Either that, or you’re the last to see the home secured before the break-in. That means you’re both witnesses in an open investigation and everything you tell me right now better be the truth.”

  “Before you get the wrong idea, let me explain,” Anton said. “I think it may have something to do with a family heirloom. You see, there’s an old bible Clementine’s late husband brought back from Italy, and it was a highly valued treasure in my family until it came into Mr. Carter’s possession. I only wanted to see it, but I made the mistake of telling my cousin that Angela had it. I wouldn’t put it passed him to try to steal it.”

  “Does your cousin live in Atlanta?” Dana asked.

  “No, he lives in New York. But he has the means to make a trip like that.”

  “But we know you both were in Atlanta, and you just admitted to going to Angela’s home several times around the time it was broken into,” Dana said.

  “Yes, but we already knew—or I suppose we assumed—it was gone by then,” Clementine said. “Why would we try to steal what we already believed to be gone?”

  “All right… Well, I hope you know I’m taking a huge leap of faith by trusting you here, Clementine, after all we’ve been through. You’d both better follow me. I left it at my house for safekeeping.”

  Clementine’s eyes widened. “You mean you’ve had it all this time? Why would she give it to you? Did she not know its value? Or was it simply because she was angry with me and thought you’d appreciate it more?”

  “I think she intended for it to be a kind gesture toward the aunt she never got to know,” Dana said. “Perhaps there may have been some spite toward the mother who never let her know me, but her intentions were kind. Luckily, I knew there’d come a time when she’d forgive that mother and want it back, so I made sure to store it for her, nice and safe.”

  “I hope you’re right about that. You always were wise in that way, Dana.” Clementine smiled, although somewhat sadly.

  “Well, I’m excited to see this book, considering all the history and meaning it has for both our families now,” Anton said. “Thank you for keeping it safe for us, Miss Potter.”

  “Yes, of course,” Dana said as they headed out the church. “But as much as you may not like it, I’ll have to give the inspector a call to let him know he needs to look into the whereabouts of your cousin… Oh dear, that reminds me! We filed a missing person report on you, Clementine! No one had seen or heard from you in a couple days, and Angela and I were both worried. I better let everyone know you’re here with me, and that you’re safe.”

  “Oh no, I’m so sorry! I was just in the church for most of the day,” Clementine said. “Sorry to scare you both!”

  “It’ll be fine, I’m sure,” Dana said. “But if you’ll excuse me, it’s best that I make this phone call immediately. The inspector mentioned a friend on a federal level who he intended to involve in tracking down where you went off to, so we best call it off before we have the FBI knocking at my door!”

  “Wow…” Clementine said. “I’ll have to keep all this in mind if I ever get it into my head to ignore your phone calls. Sounds like you’ve made quite the connections since we last talked!”

  “Yes, it seems so.” Dana waved her hand, gesturing for them to leave. “You two go on ahead to the house while I make this call.”

  Anton and Clementine quickened their paces, and Dana pulled out her phone. She had three missed calls from within the last ten minutes—one from Inspector Allister and two from Angela.

  Her heart sank. She hoped they found something good that she didn’t already know.

  She hurriedly dialed Inspector Allister’s number, and he answered after a single ring.

  “Ah, there you are Miss Potter. Good to hear back from you so quickly!”

  “Yes, I see that you and Angela both called. I hope it’s not bad news. And truth be told, I’ve got quite a bit of news for you as well. You may find much of it essential for this investigation.”

  “Yes, indeed. But you give me your news first.”

  “I’ve found the bible in question, and it appears that it originally belonged to Anton Renaldo’s family back in Italy, but it came into John Carter’s possession while he was overseas. Furthermore, it seems that Mr. Renaldo and my sister intended to make a family visit, becaus
e I ran into them at the church in Pippin. So we won’t need to press that missing person’s case any further.”

  “I see,” Inspector Allister said. “As it happens, that was the news I had for you too. My friend owed me a favor, so I had him hack into your sister’s and Mr. Renaldo’s phones, bank history, and such. Although your sister’s phone was dead for much of the timeframe in question, Mr. Renaldo’s wasn’t, so he was able to track it to a street in Pippin not far from your residence.

  “When Angela first called you, she was worried they knew the bible was there somehow and were coming to rob you. Then we found good news. While my friend was at it, he hacked into several security cameras from the surrounding area, and we found that there’s a camera at a nearby business that can catch silhouettes entering and exiting the apartments here. It’s not a lot, but it was enough to give us general images of everyone who entered or exited Angela’s apartment and at what times.

  “Two figures that we believe to be your sister and her boyfriend did stop by several times, but it was another man who broke into the home, not even two hours before you all arrived. We know this for certain, because Mr. Renaldo’s card was used at a gas station several hours away from here, not even twenty minutes after the man broke into Angela’s home. I suppose this means we’re back to the drawing board for suspects, but at least we know it wasn’t your sister or her boyfriend, right?”

  “That’s a relief!” Dana said. “Everything you say matches what Mr. Renaldo told me. And what’s more, we don’t have to go back to the drawing board to find a new suspect quite yet.”

  “What did you find out?”

  “Mr. Renaldo’s cousin knew Angela had the bible, and Mr. Renaldo assured me that this attempt to steal the bible back for their family was not an uncommon behavior for this particular cousin. He believes his cousin had the means and motive to find his way to Angela’s apartment, and I’d say everything we’ve got so far points to that same conclusion.”

  “You got a name for his cousin?”

  “I will in a hot second,” Dana said. “Thank you for your help, inspector. I’ll call you back shortly with more information on this cousin.”

  ***

  Anton and Clementine were sitting on the chair swing, holding hands when Dana arrived. The behavior took Dana aback—not because it was inappropriate, but because she couldn’t recall seeing her sister so happy in a long time. Although Dana knew Clementine loved John, the stresses of their impoverished life had often put Clementine on edge.

  For the first time since hearing about this man, Dana was happy Anton and Clementine had found each other.

  “All right, looks like you guys are off the hook,” Dana said, approaching them. “We’ve found evidence that the story you told me at the church was true.” She shifted her gaze to Renaldo. “Unfortunately though, this means your cousin may be responsible for this after all. If it’s all right with you, I’m gonna need his full name and date of birth to give to the inspector.”

  Anton glanced at Clementine. “Uh…”

  “Before we do that,” Clementine said, “can you show us the bible, please?”

  Dana blinked. “Dear, I don’t think you understand the severity of this situation. Your daughter’s home was broken into and ransacked looking for this bible! I need to contact the inspector with any leads we might have before we do anything else. Otherwise, the thief may be on their way here to try to steal it again right now.”

  “Is Angela okay?” Anton asked.

  “Yes, Angela’s fine,” Dana said. “A little shaken up, but she’ll be all right. Now, please help me to understand this situation. Why do you think your cousin may be responsible for this break-in?”

  “Because he’s very interested in our ancestry,” Anton said. “He’s gone to Italy more times than I can count. And let’s just say he’s got a particular attitude when it comes to a family that prevents him from seeing right from wrong. All that matters to him is getting what he wants in the end. He’s stolen things in the name of family before.

  “When I told him my girl’s daughter had our family’s old bible, he wasn’t excited the way I was. He started calling my girl’s husband a thief and a liar, and he claimed John Carter stole the bible from our family, so our family still had a right to the thing. It sounded like he wanted it back, but I didn’t realize he had the resources to find where Angela lived.”

  “And what’s your cousin’s name?” Dana asked.

  “Alberto Renaldo IV. If we wanna get technical with it, he has no right to the thing because the bible was given to my father by Alberto’s grandfather. I have more right to it than he has, but I’m not planning to take it the same way he did.”

  “He resides in New York?”

  “Yeah, Stanton Island. I’m sorry to say I don’t know his birthday, but I’m sure there aren’t many men named Alberto Renaldo IV.”

  “Okay,” Clementine said. “Can we see the bible now?”

  “Well…” Dana sighed. “I suppose there’s no reason not to. Give me one second to find it… And are either of you hungry? I’m fixing to make a bite to eat before I head back to Atlanta to get this bible back in the right hands.”

  “Sure,” Clementine said. “One thing I could never deny, no matter how much I said I hated this place, is that I never stopped missing Mama’s cooking.”

  Dana placed a pot of water on the stove to boil and hurried upstairs to her bedroom. She shifted her clothing around in her wardrobe, revealing the bible’s new hiding place. She then casually returned downstairs and placed it on the kitchen table in front of Clementine.

  “Wow…” Clementine stared at the cover like she’d seen a ghost. “Thank you.”

  Anton stared over her shoulder, mesmerized as she opened the book. “I can’t believe I’m actually seeing this,” he said.

  Chapter 6

  A Recovered Treasure

  Clementine carefully flipped through the bible’s first few pages before stopping in the same spot as Dana not even an hour earlier, viewing the Latin handwritten inscription. “I had this page translated,” she said.

  “So did I,” Dana said, placing the scrap of paper that had fallen out of the bible earlier that evening on the table for Clementine to read.

  To my devoted nephew, Antonio.

  This is my gift to you, to remain in our family for eternity.

  With love,

  Alberto Renaldo

  Clementine put one hand over her mouth and stared at the paper fragment with tears in her eyes. If what Angela had said was true, this was probably the first time in a long while Clementine had been able to look at the bible or read the inscription without crying over the loss of her beloved husband.

  “I don’t think John knew what this inscription said when he found it,” Clementine said, “but it seems to have fallen out of the Renaldo family’s hands long before he came across it. He said he found it in a curious way while he was traveling across Europe.”

  “You may be right about that,” Anton said. “Our family lost a lot of our possessions during the war. I’m certain this was just one of many items left behind as my family they fled their homes. I must say, I’m grateful to Mr. Carter for finding it.”

  “Yes,” Clementine said. “He found it in an old church in a small abandoned Italian town. It always puzzled him that no one had come back to remodel the town in all that time. He envisioned our family going there one day and maybe starting a new life, building a family as we rebuilt the town. Obviously, that was a poor man’s dream, and he never got the chance to live it out… But still, this book meant a lot to him—and to me—because of the dream it symbolized for our family.”

  “It was the same way for my family,” Anton said. “Really, you both have no idea how much it means to me to have set eyes on a treasure as important as this one.”

  “Not to diminish the value, but what makes this bible so valuable?” Dana asked.

  “My grandfather, Antonio—the man this is addressed to�
�came into a large fortune from the metal work he did in World War I,” Anton explained. “This book was given to him by his uncle just prior to the start of World War II. Now, it wouldn’t have been so valuable, except that his uncle knew my grandfather already had everything he could ever want. Knowing that, he decided to give him an item of almost no financial value, but of significant eternal value.

  “Family is everything to the Renaldo’s, and my grandfather told stories of this bible saving his life and motivating him to move forward, no matter how dark circumstances seemed around him. At the start of World War II, my grandfather lost everything he owned. He had to start over from scratch—which wasn’t too hard during a war, with his skill set—but he knew the value of this bible was far greater than any physical possession. He always believed this bible was an eternal gift and that the meaning behind it would remain in our family forever, whether he held its truths in his hands or his heart.”

  “But that’s not all,” Clementine said. “Aren’t you at all wondering how Anton and I met?”

  “Well, I suppose I would like to know…” Dana said.

  “When John brought this bible back to the States, he had it upraised. The librarian suggested insuring it for thousands of dollars, but John wanted to know who Mr. Renaldo was before doing anything with it. He always meant to have the message translated and follow its tracks back to the original family who owned it, but he died before he ever had the chance.

  “You know how I was after John died. I wasn’t well… And then Angela decided to go off to college, and I had no idea what to do with myself! At first, when I found this book in his things, I thought maybe I should try to sell it. But then, I couldn’t bear the thought of losing something so dear to him. So I gave the book to Angela before I was ready to talk about it, simply because I wanted to keep myself from being tempted to sell it again.

  “When I finally got my head on a little straighter, I remembered John’s mission. I didn’t want to be the one to betray his wishes, but by then, Angela and I were already on shaky grounds. I’m not like you, Dana; I don’t have the gift of strong speaking. Every time I tried talking to her, it ended in a fight and I never got to say what I meant to.