by Cindy Bell
“Brad? Brad!” Charlotte followed him towards the back of the store. “I really don’t have time for this. Can you please help me with my ring? I have a meeting I need to get to.”
“A meeting?” He turned to look at her. “I think there’s someone burglarizing my shop and you’re more concerned about a meeting?”
“Oh dear, you think someone is trying to rob you?” Charlotte clutched her purse. “Let’s take a look.” She pushed past him into the entrance of the storage area. “It was probably just a rat. I see some droppings right there.”
“Droppings?” He took a step into the room. “That’s just dirt.”
“Are you sure? Rat droppings can easily look like dirt.”
“There are no rats in my shop.”
“How do you know that? It’s only been your shop for a short time. Have you even gone through everything that’s in this room?”
“No, of course not, because I got interrupted by you.” He narrowed his eyes. “Did you find your ring?”
“I think so, but I need a closer look to be sure that it is the right one.”
“All right, let’s take a look.” He followed her back to the front of the shop.
She pointed out a ring through the thick glass. “It looks like that one, but the glass is so dirty it’s hard to be sure.”
“The glass is not that dirty.” He shook his head and opened the sliding door on the back of the shelf.
As he pulled out the ring she pointed out, Charlotte stole a glance towards the back hallway. She hoped that Ally would take the opportunity and get out before Brad got any more suspicious.
“Is this it?” He held up the ring.
“No, I’m sorry that’s not it. It looks similar, but that’s not it. Are you sure you don’t have any more jewelry somewhere in the shop?”
“No, this is it. Are you sure that Dean had your ring?”
“I suppose it’s possible that he gave it back to my granddaughter, Ally. I’ll have to ask her about it.”
“That might have been something to do before you came here and disrupted my day.” He rolled his eyes and placed the ring back in the display case. “Do find out, as I’m sure that Dean would have left some kind of record of the ring.”
“You may be right. Dean was always reliable that way.”
“Hm.” He locked eyes with her for a moment. “There’s not a single thing about you that I trust. Please leave.”
She stared back at him for a moment. “I’m sorry that you feel that way. I’m a very trustworthy person.”
“The door is that way.” He pointed to it.
“It’s probably a good thing that you’re closing the shop as you don’t seem to have the personality to interact with customers.”
“You know nothing about my personality, lady." He shook his head and started to walk back towards the storage area.
Ally inched her way out from under the shelf, and did her best not to knock anything else over in the process. Just when she thought she was clear, she discovered that there was yet another problem. The door to the storage room was now shut, and she wasn’t sure that she could open it without making a sound. She grabbed a cloth that looked a bit like a handkerchief from a nearby pile of junk and used it to turn the knob as slowly as she could. Once she pulled the door open she looked up and down the hallway. She could hear her grandmother still speaking to Brad, which was a relief, but she knew she didn’t have much time to get out. Once she made it into the hallway she headed straight out the back door. The moment she made it out, she looked back over her shoulder, and caught sight of Brad headed for the storage room. She hurried around the corner of the building, and saw Charlotte drive the car towards the edge of the parking lot. She jumped right into the passenger side and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Wow, that was close.”
“I’ll say, what were you thinking?” Charlotte shook her head.
“Me? You’re the one that went inside the shop.”
“So did you.” She raised an eyebrow. “Or was that someone else’s foot that I saw peeking out from underneath that shelf?”
“You saw me?” Her eyes widened.
“I did, but Brad didn’t. What were you doing in there?”
“I just wanted a chance to get inside. I thought maybe, just maybe there would be some shred of evidence that would give us a direction to go in.”
“And did it?” Charlotte glanced over at her.
“Unfortunately, no. The only thing I came out with is this.” She held up the handkerchief to show her grandmother. “It’s not exactly going to solve any crimes.”
“Maybe not.” Charlotte laughed. “Is it clean at least?”
“I hope so.” Ally looked at the handkerchief again, then froze. “Mee-Maw, there’s initials on it.”
“Initials?”
“TC.” She looked over at her grandmother. “Troy Culpepper?”
“Oh, wow. That’s possible. But it could be someone else’s initials right?”
“It could be, but this was laying right on top of one of the boxes. If it does belong to Troy, I don’t think it should have been in there. Maybe when Dean was killed, Troy came in through the back, and hid in the storage room.”
“Maybe. The police probably wouldn’t have noticed it in that overstuffed storage area.” She frowned. “I think it could be a good clue. I wonder if Luke could get some evidence off it to prove that it belongs to Troy?”
“I’ll text him.” Ally pulled out her phone and sent a text, along with a picture of the handkerchief to Luke. “Hopefully, he’ll find something. From what we’ve learned about Troy, he did seem to have some issues. Maybe he had a problem with Dean that we don’t know about.”
“Yes, maybe he did. Now that we know how fast he could have gotten back here, I think we definitely need to consider him. Now, I’d like to go home and rest.”
“Sure, we’re almost there.”
“No, I mean to Freely Lakes. If you don’t mind, Ally, I need a little time to myself this evening.”
“No, I don’t mind. I understand.”
“And don’t forget about Arnold’s appointment tomorrow. It is an early appointment so we can make it back in time to open the store.”
“I can go in and get things started at the store if you would rather take Arnold yourself.”
“No, I’d like you to be there. You haven’t met the vet, and I want to get your opinion of her. I’m not so sure she’s the right fit. She doesn’t seem very fond of pigs.”
“Not fond of Arnold? How is that even possible?” Ally laughed. “Sure, no problem. Arnold and I will pick you up in the morning.”
She pulled into the parking lot of Freely Lakes and gave Charlotte a kiss on the cheek.
“Perfect, see you in the morning.”
Ally waited to be sure that her grandmother got inside, then headed back towards the cottage. It still felt a little strange to her to be living there without her grandmother, but she knew it was best for both of them.
As soon as she was settled on the couch she breathed a sigh of exhaustion. It had been a close call at Dean’s shop, and her heart still pounded from it. As she began to relax from the day, her cell phone rang. She checked and saw that it was Luke.
“Hi, just who I was hoping to hear from.”
“I’m glad you feel that way, because I have some bad news for you.”
“Oh no, what?”
“There’s no way we’re going to get anything we can use off that handkerchief, and even if we did, it’s not going to place Troy at the scene.”
“Why not?” She frowned. “I found it in the storage room at Dean’s shop.”
“Right, but it’s not there now. Your word isn’t enough to place it there.”
“Great.” She ran her hand across her forehead. “So it is useless.”
“Not entirely, even though we can’t get evidence off it, we can assume that it does belong to Troy, and that if you found it in that storage room, then he wa
s there at some point, and likely recently. It may not prove anything, but it certainly gives us a direction to go in.”
“That’s good at least.” She breathed a sigh of relief. “So, do you think it could have been Troy?”
“I’m reserving judgment on this until I get more information.”
“Always the logical thinker.”
“And, how exactly did you end up in the storage room in Dean’s shop?”
“Uh, that’s kind of a long story.”
“I’m sure it is.” He sighed. “And I’m sure you’re too tired to tell me tonight. What is your day like tomorrow? Can we get some time together?”
“Sure. I have to take Arnold to the appointment with the vet in the morning, then the shop, but by dinner time I should be free. Want to come over and I’ll cook?”
“No, let’s go out. I don’t want you to have to cook after working all day.”
“I don’t really consider making chocolates work.”
“Well, it is, and you need to be able to have a little fun, too. Where would you like to go?”
“Surprise me.”
“All right.” He laughed again. “Goodnight Ally, try to get some rest.”
“I will, thanks. Good night, Luke.” She hung up the phone, then stretched out on the couch. As tired as she was, she doubted she would be awake for much longer. The thought of going out to dinner with Luke gave her something to look forward to.
Chapter 14
The next morning Ally woke up a little early. She made sure Arnold had plenty to eat and that his snout was clean. Arnold snorted happily as she put on his harness and leash. Once Peaches had her breakfast, Ally and Arnold headed out to the car. She put down his blanket in the backseat along with one of his favorite toys. He curled up on the seat and yawned.
“Oh, sorry to disturb your beauty sleep.” Ally grinned. She started the car and drove in the direction of Freely Lakes. When she pulled up she grabbed her phone to text her grandmother, but before she could Charlotte stepped out through the door.
“Were you waiting for me?” Ally popped open the door for her.
“Maybe. I’m a little nervous about Arnold’s appointment.”
“Why? He seems very happy and healthy.”
“I know, but I just wonder if he’s getting enough exercise.”
“I do take him on walks.”
“True, but Arnold has always been a runner. Once in a while I would take him to the dog park to let him run, but then a few of the dog owners got a little upset because he spooked some of their dogs.” She rolled her eyes. “He’s just a little pig, but so very scary apparently.”
“Aw, that’s too bad. Maybe I’ll try taking him again sometime. If anyone tries to chase us off, I’ll just tell them he’s a hairless dog.”
Arnold snorted from the backseat.
“I think he’s offended.” Charlotte laughed.
“Sorry Arnold.” Ally glanced at him in the rearview mirror.
He snorted again, then rested his head on his blanket.
“Did you get any sleep last night?” Charlotte glanced over at her.
“Some.”
“I didn’t.” Charlotte sighed. “I keep thinking about Jeff in jail.”
“I know it must be hard, Mee-Maw.”
“What else can we do? I feel like we’ve hit a dead end.”
“There is one more thing we can do, Mee-Maw. We can take another look around the outside of the store. If we believe that Troy may have had something to do with this, and that he was hiding out in the storage room, then he probably took the same path I did to get into the storage room. Or maybe Troy wasn’t involved, but the killer might have still hid out in the storage room. We can search the ground around the outside of the store and see if there was anything left behind. It’s a long shot, but it’s worth a look, don’t you think?”
“I think so. I don’t know what else we can do. I feel so helpless, knowing that Jeff isn’t the killer, and yet he’s likely going to trial for it.”
“Not if we can stop it.” She patted the back of her grandmother’s hand. “We’re not done yet, Mee-Maw.” She glanced at her watch. “We still have a half hour before Arnold’s appointment. We can pass by the shop right on our way to it. Why don’t we just go on the way?”
“All right, that sounds good.” Charlotte looked over her shoulder at Arnold. “Want to go for a longer ride, buddy?” She rubbed the top of his head. “We can let him get a little exercise before the appointment, too, maybe he’ll be calmer for it then.”
Arnold snorted happily.
“He misses you.” Ally grinned. “Sometimes I think he is wandering around the house looking for you. Then you come over, and he’s thrilled.”
“I miss him, too. Especially his snoring. It’s hard to fall asleep without it.”
“Seriously?” Ally laughed. “When he insists on sleeping in the bedroom with me I have to wear ear plugs!”
“You get used to it.” Charlotte leaned back over the seat and stroked his ear fondly. “At least I did. So what do you think we’ll find at the shop?”
“I don’t know, maybe just something that the police overlooked? I find it hard to believe that a murder could be committed without a single trace of evidence.”
“Yes, so do I. But it seems this murder was committed and all the wrong evidence was left behind.”
“We do know that it’s possible Troy made his way back to the shop by using the back roads that run through his farm.”
“That’s true, but we have no way to prove it. And even if he did make it back, there’s still no evidence that we can use that he was ever even at the shop.”
“And we still haven’t found another possible murder weapon.”
“Don’t remind me.” Charlotte sighed. “I hope we’ll be able to find something.”
“Here we are.” Ally parked in front of the shop. It was dark, with no sign of anyone being there recently. “Great, it looks like Brad isn’t around today.”
“Good, Arnold can have a walk around.” She opened the back door and grabbed Arnold’s leash as she guided him down off the back seat, and out the door onto the sidewalk.
“I doubt we’ll find any footprints, since it’s been so long since the crime. But maybe the murderer was in a rush and left something behind.”
“All right, I’ll start over here, by the parking lot, you start by the building.”
Ally began to walk along the edge of the building. She searched the dirt for anything that might be out of the ordinary. She looked at the brick wall for any sign of clothing or marks that might have been left behind. When she came up empty, she even got down on her knees and began to look through the grass and dirt. She was peering at a piece of plastic between two blades of grass, when she heard Arnold squeal and snort.
“Arnold, stop that!” Charlotte grunted as she tried to control him with the leash. “Come back here!”
No matter how hard she tugged, he pulled at the harness until he made it a few steps closer to the dumpster.
“Don’t let him get into the trash, Mee-Maw! If we leave a mess behind, Brad will point his finger at us first.”
“It’s not as if I’m trying to!” She huffed.
Arnold lunged forward and went straight for the dumpster. Instead of stopping near the trash, he began to dig in the dirt on one side of the dumpster.
“Arnold!” Ally grabbed his leash that was still in her grandmother’s hand and tried to pull him away from the dirt. “What in the world are you looking for?”
“Wait, Ally, let him go. Maybe he saw something that we didn’t.”
“All right.” Ally glanced up. “Did you hear a car?”
“A car? How can you hear anything over Arnold’s squealing?”
“Let’s see what you found, boy.” Ally crouched down beside him and peered into the dirt. “Mee-Maw! It’s something metal.” She brushed the dirt aside, and discovered a long cylinder shaped metal object. The more dirt she brushed away
, the more familiar the object looked. As she realized what it was, she gasped. “Mee-Maw, it’s a…”
“A ring mandrel.” The voice came from just behind her. Ally jumped to her feet and spun around to find Troy just a step away. Instant fear flooded through her body. There was no question in her mind now that Troy was the killer, and there he was, just a breath away from her.
“Mee-Maw! Run!” Ally moved in front of her.
“No, don’t do that.” Troy cleared his throat and Ally noticed the small knife in his hand for the first time. It was mostly concealed against his leg. “We don’t want this to get messy, do we?” He looked between the two of them.
“Troy, put the knife down.” Charlotte stared at him. “You’re not going to use it.”
“What I will do and won’t do, that’s for me to decide.” His eyes grew cold. “Now please, hand me the mandrel, Ally.”
Ally’s hand shook as she reached back down into the dirt to pull it out. “Troy, we don’t even know if this is yours. I mean, the police won’t be able to tell.”
“I think they will, since it’s engraved. A gift from Silvio when he made me assistant manager. I was so proud, when he gave me that. He even had the cleaning cloth embroidered with my initials. Little did I know that his kindness would turn out to be a huge risk for me. Give it to me please.” He held his free hand out. Ally placed the mandrel in his palm, and drew her hand back fast. Her eyes fixated on the knife for several seconds before she blinked and forced herself to look away. Troy had no reason to keep them alive, so she believed the only chance for their survival was to keep him talking. Maybe someone on the street would notice their plight.
“Phones on the ground, ladies, and don’t try to tell me you don’t have one, I know you both do.”
Charlotte and Ally reluctantly tossed their phones down on the ground.
Arnold sniffed them with interest.
“You killed Dean?” Charlotte studied him. “But why? What did he do to you that would turn you into a murderer?”
“What did he do?” He chuckled. “All my life, I failed at everything.” He shrugged. “School wasn’t my cup of tea, as my mother would say. I couldn’t hold down a job. My personality conflicted with people, that’s the polite way they put it. Then, Silvio hired me. He took the time to really teach me step by step about the costume jewelry supply business. He didn’t judge me, he didn’t throw me out like the rest. Instead he taught me how to deal with my anxiety and turn it into something good. Then he even promoted me. Finally, I was in charge of something, and not constantly waiting for the ax to drop.”