Under the Moonlight collection

by MaryAnn Kempher

  “Do you mind if I pick this up?” Jack asked. “I think I might know the owners. I’ll bring it over to your place later.”

  Yvonne shrugged. “Sure.”

  Jack neatly folded the receipt, put it in his shirt pocket, and began looking through the drawers in Candy’s nightstand. He pulled out a notepad and flipped through it. He squinted and tore a page from the book, setting it flat on the nightstand. Then he took another piece of paper and covered the first with it.

  “What are you doing?” asked Yvonne.

  “There are some indentations on this paper,” he told her. “I want to see if I can pick up the impression of it…maybe see what she wrote.” Jack found a pencil and ran it lightly over the paper. “Wow,” he said. It was clearly another potential blackmail note. He handed the paper to Yvonne.

  “This looks like Candy’s writing.” She read the message. “I don’t understand. What does this mean?”

  “It means someone wasn’t trying to blackmail Candy; it looks like she was the one doing the blackmailing.”

  “I don’t believe it,” said Yvonne. “She was a secretary, not some criminal.”

  “I know this can’t be easy for you, but you have to admit, it looks pretty suspect,” Jack said.

  Yvonne sighed. “Candy did always like to take short cuts. I’m sorry to say that her blackmailing someone for money isn’t as farfetched as I’d like to believe.”

  Jack looked toward the bedroom door, so did Yvonne. They’d both heard it, a noise coming from downstairs.

  “The police?” Yvonne whispered.

  Jack shook his head and held a finger to his lips. He walked out of the bedroom, Yvonne following close behind him down the stairs. Candy’s home had an extra bedroom adjacent to the kitchen. It had been converted into a home office. They could hear someone inside the room, opening and shutting her desk drawers.

  “You there!” Jack called out.

  A man rushed out of the office, the hood on his sweatshirt pulled up and his arm covering his face. He bolted out the kitchen door.

  Jack followed, but the intruder jumped over the yard fence and was quickly gone.

  He returned to the kitchen. “Did you recognize that man?” asked Jack.

  Yvonne shook her head. “I couldn’t even tell if it was a man or a woman.”

  “Damn,” said Jack.

  Yvonne gasped as they entered the office. The intruder had wasted no time. In the few minutes he’d been in the room, he’d wrecked the whole thing. All the books from a nearby bookcase had been pulled and dropped to the floor. The desk drawers were all open and empty, their contents now keeping company with the books.

  “I wonder what he was searching for,” said Jack, looking around the room.

  Yvonne looked crestfallen. “Well, it looked like he left empty-handed. So, let’s sift through this mess. Maybe we’ll find whatever it was. I’d really rather not leave Candy’s things like this.”

  Jack rubbed her shoulder. “No…of course not.”

  They spent the next two hours carefully picking up the things from the floor, keeping watch for anything unusual, but found nothing that appeared out of the ordinary.

  They went back into the living room and had another look.

  “It would help if we had any clue what he’d been looking for,” Jack said, “but it could have been anything. Are you ready to leave? I don’t think we’re going to find anything else helpful at this point,” Jack said.

  “Yes,” Yvonne, “but I almost hate to. I’m afraid he’ll come back…it makes me sick to think of someone going through Candy’s things like that.”

  “I doubt he’ll come back,” Jack told her. “It’s too dangerous, now that he knows people may be coming and going through the house. Whatever he was looking for must be pretty important though, for him to have risked coming inside with a car parked right out front.”

  Jack’s curiosity remained piqued, even as they locked up Candy’s house and left.

  “Maybe he came through the back?” Yvonne said as they walked to the car.

  “Maybe.

  ***

  Elaine Monroe jumped up from her desk chair as her phone rang. The voice on the other end was clearly out of breath.

  “Well?” she asked.

  “I was interrupted,” he huffed, “but I don’t think it was there anyway. I had time to look around and didn’t find anything. I think we’re safe, for now.”

  “She had to have had something,” Ms. Monroe said. “What about her mother’s apartment?”

  “I’ll check there next.” The phone went dead.

  ***

  Jack pulled up in front of Yvonne’s apartment. He quickly got out and opened her door.

  “Walk me up?” she asked. Jack obliged.

  Yvonne unlocked the door and they stepped inside. “Would you like something to drink before you go?” she asked.

  Yvonne flipped on the lights. Her hand flew to her mouth when she saw her apartment. “Oh my God!”

  Jack put his arm up to stop Yvonne from walking further. The apartment was small enough for them to see that every visible room had been trashed. Cabinets and drawers in both the kitchen and living room were opened, their contents on the floor. It bore a striking resemblance to Candy’s office.

  “Stay out here,” said Jack quietly.

  He walked to her bedroom door, slowly pushed the door open wide and went inside. He was back in a few seconds. “Empty,” he said, “but a mess, like out here. Your bedroom window was wide open.”

  Yvonne went to the bedroom door and looked inside, then went into the living room and sat on the couch. “I think it’s safe to assume,” Jack said, “that whoever was here, was also at Candy’s home. Yvonne, someone is obviously looking for something. Something that might have gotten Candy killed. Do you have somewhere safe you can go for now? A friend’s place, maybe?”

  “I’m not leaving my home, Jack. I have a good deadbolt, I’ll be sure to use it. Whoever was here probably got in through the bedroom window, I sometimes leave it open a little. I’ll stop doing that.”

  “I wish you’d change your mind,” Jack said, “but I can see you’re determined to stay. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call me, day or night.”

  Jack walked over to Yvonne’s house phone. “I’m going to call this in, at least.”

  Yvonne jumped up and grabbed his arm. “No!” she said abruptly. “I don’t want the police involved. I’ve been through enough for one day.”

  “Are you sure, Yvonne? I really don’t feel safe just letting it go.”

  “I’ll be fine. I promise. And if anything strange happens again, I’ll call the police myself.” She kissed Jack’s cheek. “You’ve been very sweet through this whole thing. Thank you.”

  Jack didn’t feel so sweet. He felt damn useless.

  “Call me if you need anything,” he told her. “Please. No matter what time it is.”

  Yvonne nodded. “I will.”

  He turned and left the apartment. Getting into his car, Jack headed toward Center Street, in the direction of the address he’d found on Candy’s bike repair order.

  Chapter Fourteen

  As he neared the store, it was obvious he’d entered an affluent neighborhood. The landscaping was sharper and the houses larger and more ornate. The store was in a small and exclusive-looking shopping center filled with upscale boutiques and salons.

  A tiny bell sound played as he opened the door. The shop itself wasn’t huge, maybe the size of a fast food restaurant, but the space inside was wall-to-wall bikes.

  Jack laughed when he realized where he was.

  Scott Mitchell and his brother Alex were standing behind the counter.

  Jack smiled. He knew Alex was the older of the two by three years, but that he and Scott were frequently mistaken for twins. Both men were very tall, with jet-black hair and dark eyes; the resemblance between them was remarkable. The only way to really tell them apart was by the thick mustache that Alex was
proud of, and that Scott often made jokes about. He liked to compare Alex to an 80s crime show detective.

  “Well, look who it is!” Scott said happily as he came out from behind the counter. “Katherine said she ran into you and that you might stop by, but I wasn’t expecting to see you so soon.”

  “Hi, Scott, Alex,” Jack said.

  “Hey, Jack,” Alex said.

  “Yeah, I saw her at Starbucks yesterday,” Jack said.

  Scott laughed. “Of course you did. She’s been trying to eat more healthy, but you know Katherine…she’ll give up just about anything but her coffee. She did switch to decaf, though, so I guess that’s something. You just stopping by to see the place, or are you ready to trade in that old piece of junk you ride for a newer model?”

  Jack laughed. “Even if I was ready, I probably couldn’t afford anything here.” He looked at a few price tags. “Damn…I know I couldn’t afford anything here. I’d have to sell my car first.”

  “Well, you know what they say… You get what you pay for.” Scott said. “These are top-of-the-line, high-quality bikes.” Scott leaned toward Jack and in a low voice said, “Nothing the people who live around here can’t afford.”

  “Hey bro?” Alex said. Jack and Scott turned around. “Heading out soon. I’m meeting Sophie and the real estate agent.”

  “Katherine mentioned you were moving down to Reno,” Jack said. “How’s the house hunt going?”

  Alex began stocking boxes of energy bars in the display case. “They all look the same. If it were up to me, we’d already have a closing date.”

  “If it were up to you,” said Scott, “you’d be living next to a Dunkin Donuts.”

  Alex laughed. “Is it my fault I’m hopelessly dependent on Danish?”

  Jack smiled. “So Scott,” he said, “the shop looks great, but I have to admit, I have an ulterior motive for visiting.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Did Katherine tell you I was investigating a woman’s murder?”

  “She did, actually.”

  Jack took from his pocket the receipt he’d found at Candy’s house and handed it to Scott. “I found this at the victim’s home.”

  “She bought a bike from me?”

  “Looks like it, and dropped it off to have a rack installed.”

  Scott looked over the receipt. “Yep…it’s one of our work orders.”

  “Her mother’s a friend…she’s okayed it for me to pick up the bike.”

  “So you knew the woman who was killed?” Scott asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m sorry Jack. Anything I can do to help. Let me go grab it for you.” Scott disappeared into the back room and returned a few moments later pushing a beautiful new bike.

  Jack whistled at it. “Say,” said Jack, “if you don’t mind me asking, how much would she have paid for one of these beauties?”

  Scott looked over the bike for a second, inspecting the shape and the brand name on the body. “Well,” he said, “this is one of our nicer models. I can look it up, but off the top of my head, I’d say easily thirty-five hundred bucks.”

  Jack nearly choked. “For a bike?”

  Scott laughed. “Yeah, for a bike. Some people take the sport of biking really seriously.”

  Jack laughed, then said, “I think I’ll stick to hiking. It’s much cheaper.”

  “So what are you driving these days Jack,” asked Scott. “You gonna have room for this in your back seat?”

  Jack looked down at the bike and smiled, thinking how much it looked like something Candy would have owned. She did like the finer things in life. He thought. “Yep. Shouldn’t be a problem at all.”

  Scott helped Jack load the bike into his car. When he came back into the store, Alex was coming out of the stock room. “Did Jack leave?” he asked.

  “Yeah, just now.”

  “He took that lady’s bike with him?”

  Scott began straightening the tires on the display bikes. “Yeah. So?”

  “He left her basket here.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah, I needed to take it off to adjust her handle bars. I hadn’t put it back on yet.”

  “Did it have anything in it?” Scott asked.

  “How would I know?” Alex answered. “I didn’t look.” Scott narrowed his eyes at him. “Okay, fine…I looked. There were a few things. Nothing that seemed important. Some lipstick.”

  “Dibs,” yelled Scott.

  “And a few other things,” finished Alex.

  “Oh,” said Scott. “I’m sure it’s no big deal. “Katherine probably has his number. I’ll call him later and let him know.”

  Alex began putting his coat on. “I’d better get going,” he said. “I hope the house is near food.”

  Alex saw Scott roll his eyes. “Hey, I’m only thinking of Sophie. She’s going to want to be near something that stays open late, for those late night cravings she’s bound to start having.”

  Scott turned, surprised. “What are you saying? Is Sophie pregnant already?”

  Alex smiled. “I think so, but she hasn’t told me yet. I have to remember to act surprised when she does.”

  “If she hasn’t told you, how do you know?”

  Alex leaned his elbows on the glass and looked up at Scott. “Okay…remember, a few weeks ago, when Sophie and I came to Katherine’s apartment for the party?”

  “Yeah…” Scott said.

  “Well, while they were all off doing girl things and we waited on the pizza, I went to use the bathroom…and I saw the pregnancy test in the trash.”

  Scott was stunned. “Why didn’t you say anything before now?”

  “I was digesting the information.”

  “And how do you know it was even Sophie’s?”

  Alex thought for a second. “You’re right,” he said. “Maybe it was Katherine’s.”

  “Bite your tongue.”

  “Listen,” said Alex. “Let’s keep this to ourselves, okay. If Sophie is pregnant, she’s going to want to surprise me with the news. If she finds out I already know, she’ll be sore.”

  Scott nodded. “You’re probably right. Women love that kind of stuff. If the test was Katherine’s, she’ll be just like Sophie and want to tell me in some gushy, girly way.”

  Alex opened a drawer and pulled out a book with a pregnant woman on the cover. He thumbed through the pages. “I bought this the other day,” he said. “It’s all about pregnancy. It says here when a woman is pregnant, she can experience mood swings, swollen feet and hands, changes in her sense of taste, and nausea.”

  “Sheesh,” Scott said.

  “That’s not even the whole list.”

  “Better them than us,” Scott said.

  “No kidding.”

  “By the way,” Alex said. “Katherine called while you were outside helping Jack. She wants Sophie and I to come over to her apartment tonight for dinner.”

  “Too bad for you,” Scott said.

  “What?” Alex asked. “Why?”

  “I recommend you eat before coming over. Katherine’s not a great cook on her best day, and lately she’s been trying to cook healthy.”

  “Hmm.”

  “Yeah...lucky me, right? Lately it’s been nothing but tofu this, and grilled chicken that.”

  Alex’s eyes lit up. “Forget the food. Maybe we can figure out who the pregnancy test belonged to.”

  Scott’s eyes lit up, too. He nodded.

  ***

  It was late afternoon by the time Jack arrived back at work. He waved to Nene as he neared the office.

  She waved back. “Jack, come say hello.”

  He sighed. He had a lot on his mind and wanted to bounce all that had happened off of Curt, if he was here. He didn’t have time to socialize, but he knew if he didn’t go to her, Nene would come to him.

  “Hello Ms. Albright.”

  Nene pulled out a platter from the display case. It held various flavored cupcakes, all covered in mounds of frosting an
d pieces of candy decorations.

  “You have to have one of these, Jack. I can’t, because of this stupid diet, so you have to eat one for me.”

  Jack laughed. “If I eat those cupcakes, Ms. Albright, I’ll need to be on a diet with you.”

  “Curt had one…” she teased.

  “You’re a bad influence on us both.”

  Nene waved a chocolate cupcake under Jack’s nose. “Come on,” she said. “Just one.”

  Gaga come out of the back office. “Leave the man alone, Nene.”

  Nene frowned. “Stupid diet. I’m so tired of carrots.”

  “Have a carrot cake cupcake instead,” Gaga said.

  “Ha ha.”

  Jack smiled. “Maybe later,” he said over his shoulder as he turned and walked out. “Hey,” he said to Curt as he walked into the office. “I thought you’d be gone.”

  “Gone,” Curt answered, “and back. Any luck at Candy’s house?”

  Jack sat at his desk. “Not much. We did have a little excitement though.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “We were upstairs when we heard some noise. Sure enough, someone was downstairs in the room Candy had her computer in. I didn’t get a good look at him. He made a mess in there, then ran out her kitchen door. I wasn’t able to catch him.”

  “I wonder what he was looking for,” Curt said.

  “Me, too. We looked around her office, but didn’t see anything worth stealing…unless he’d already gotten away with it. Whatever it was, it was important enough to go looking for at Candy’s home…and then her mother’s apartment”

  “What?”

  “Yeah. When I dropped off Yvonne, we discovered someone had been there too.”

  Curt leaned back in his seat, silent and thoughtful. “Don’t you think it’s time you did some deep digging into Candy’s activities?” he asked.

  Jack stared out the window, a grim look on his face. “I do, but I’m afraid of what I might find. Remember the note I told you about? The one the detectives found?”

  “Sure.”

  “I found the pad that it was written on. She’d written another note. I took an impression of it. I know we’d thought maybe she was being blackmailed, but this one makes it look like maybe it was Candy who was doing the blackmailing.”