Magnolias, Moonlight, and Murder

by Sara Rosett

  Waraday knelt down and peered into the dark space. Nita bobbed behind him, trying to look, too. “Now, why would she put that one in there?” she asked.

  Waraday twisted around and looked at her. She explained about the other notebooks she had at her house.

  “I’ll send someone out to pick those up.” Waraday stood and turned to me. “How long have you lived here, Mrs. Avery?”

  “Since January.”

  “Ten months. You waited almost a year to see why this drawer didn’t work?”

  I laughed. “I’ve got a preschooler and a toddler. Some days I don’t even get to bring in the mail, much less open it. That drawer wasn’t a priority. Nathan scratched his arm on it today and I decided I’d take care of it, so that’s why I found it now.”

  “We’ll have to check the rest of the cabinets.” Waraday’s mouth quirked down and I could tell from his tone he wasn’t happy. I couldn’t tell if he wasn’t happy that the notebook had been missed in the original search or if he wasn’t happy to have the new evidence. I was surprised at his reaction. You’d think he’d be excited to find something a missing woman had hidden in her house. It had to be important. Why else would she hide it, and not her other notebooks?

  The door to the garage opened and Mitch stepped inside, sweaty and covered with bits of grass.

  I hastily performed the introductions and said, “I found a notebook that belonged to Jodi taped under one of the cabinets. Detective Waraday is calling in a team to look at the rest of the cabinets again.”

  Mitch paused a moment, shook his head, and said, “Figures.” Then he headed to our bedroom. “I’ll be in the shower. Ask them to save the master bath for last.”

  He took that much better than I thought he would. I noticed Waraday watching Mitch’s receding back with a funny expression. I’m sure most husbands wouldn’t be so blasé if their house was about to be searched.

  I smiled brightly. I wasn’t about to tell Waraday that this wasn’t the first time our house had been searched. “Mitch is so easygoing. Nothing fazes him. Could you wait until after nap time to call your people in?”

  “You’re going where?”

  “The homeowners’ meeting. Networking opportunity, remember? For Everything In Its Place. If you’ll stay home with the kids tonight, I’ll go and network. Unless you want to go, too. I can call Anna—”

  “Are you kidding? Saturday Night Football is on. You go network your heart out and I’ll hold down the fort here.”

  Sports trumped the HOA meeting for Mitch and if I wasn’t looking for paying organizing clients I’d probably have stayed home, too, because we were renters, not homeowners, but I shrugged into my denim jacket and walked a block to Coleman’s house.

  I’d never been to a homeowners’ association meeting before, but I discovered that they were very much like the spouse club meetings—old business, new business, food, and chatting.

  I tried to focus on Coleman, who was wearing his usual golf casual attire minus the visor. He stood in front of the fireplace with a sheaf of papers. If those papers were the agenda for tonight, I was in trouble. I wouldn’t make it home until after midnight.

  We’d gone around the room and introduced ourselves, said where we lived and what we did, so I’d been able to mention Everything In Its Place at least once, so that was good. Coleman finished talking about the need to bag leaves so they wouldn’t clog the drains. He straightened the papers and said, “Now, let me again reiterate the importance of getting permits for any, any, type of flyer or notice that you want to post in the neighborhood.” He held up the stack of paper and fanned through it. “I pulled these flyers down in the last two days. The covenants are what keep Magnolia Estates…”

  The flyer thing again. It was kind of pathetic, really. He probably spent several hours a week pulling down garage sale and lost dog notices. I shifted around on the bar stool, my concentration drifting again. I was surprised to see Nita Lockworth seated on the couch, her back straight and head tilted to one side, her bright eyes fixed on Coleman. I knew she didn’t live in Magnolia Estates and figured she must be here in case Coleman tried to shut down the search. Even though the bones didn’t belong to Jodi, the search was still on. Nita wanted to capitalize on the renewed interest in Jodi. Nita had stayed at our house until Waraday’s search was complete. The technicians hadn’t turned up anything else and since they’d confined themselves to the cabinets and closets, they’d finished pretty quickly.

  I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned. It was the woman I’d sat beside at the Find Jodi meeting. She jerked her head in the direction of the kitchen, which caused her frizzy mustard-colored hair to dance. “Want to help me with the food?” she asked quietly.

  “Sure.” I slid off the bar stool and followed her around the corner into the kitchen, trying to remember her name. I wished Abby was with me. She was a people person and could remember the name of practically every person she’d ever met. But there was no way she was going to come to an HOA meeting. She lived on-base.

  “You remember me, right? From the Find Jodi meeting?”

  “Yes, of course, except I’ve forgotten your name,” I admitted.

  “Colleen. Colleen Otway,” she said as she opened the refrigerator and pulled out a tray of fruit. “You looked like you were about to fall asleep in there.”

  “I was. Thanks for the escape. What can I do?”

  “Just take the plastic off these and help me set out the cups.”

  We worked quietly for a few seconds as Coleman’s voice droned on in the next room. When we had the food and drinks set up on the island I asked, “So, is he almost done?”

  “Oh no. He could go on for hours. He was a politician, so he can talk endlessly and never say a thing.”

  “He was in politics? I didn’t know that.”

  “City politics. He was the mayor for years and years. Ever since I was a kid. He’s retired.”

  She went to the door and nodded to someone, then came back into the kitchen. “Nita will cut in when he gets to the new business and tell him the food is ready. Everyone will stampede in here and that will end the meeting.”

  “Good plan. I didn’t realize you lived in Magnolia Estates.”

  “I don’t. I live in an apartment complex out near the interstate. Nita and I crashed the party. We brought food, which no one can turn down. We both know we have to be here to make sure we can do the search.” She went still, listening. “There’s Mrs. Nita’s voice.”

  We both went to the door. “…so you can see that it’s in the best interest of the homeowners of Magnolia Estates to have the search. The area of the search will be restricted to the tracts of undeveloped land and the group will be instructed not to search around homes.”

  Coleman pointed the stack of papers at Nita. “You’ve already had searches in the neighborhood. We can’t have a horde of people swarming over undeveloped land. The liability—”

  A commanding voice from the back of the room interrupted Coleman. “I own one of the undeveloped lots in Phase Two.”

  Beside me, I felt Colleen tense as she saw the speaker was Scott Ezell. I hadn’t finished reading Jodi’s profile on him and I made a mental note to find that article. Colleen took a deep breath and was about to speak, but Scott continued in his reasonable and confident tone. “I have no problem with a search. In fact, I think it’s a good idea. It will help all of us feel more comfortable about the lots we’ve purchased and settle any questions there might be about whether investing in the next phase in Magnolia Estates is a smart move or not.”

  Coleman was at a loss for words. I could tell the idea that someone might not want to move to Magnolia Estates had never entered his thoughts. I glanced at Colleen. She had a perplexed look on her face as she stared at Scott.

  Dorthea jumped in. “I think a search is a good idea, too. I move we vote on a search of the undeveloped land.”

  “I second the motion,” Scott said quickly.

  Coleman looked frustrat
ed as he asked for a show of hands in favor of the search and almost every hand in the room went up.

  “Wonderful.” Nita sprang up from the sofa and patted Coleman on the back. “It’ll work out fine, I’m sure. I think I saw some delicious refreshments in the kitchen.”

  I moved out of the doorway as people began to file into the kitchen. I shifted over to the table with the drinks and checked my watch as I grabbed a can of Diet Coke. Another meeting wrapped up neatly, but this time it was thanks to Scott and Dorthea. I’d make it home in time to tell Livvy good night. She might be in bed at seven-thirty, but that didn’t mean she was asleep. She stayed awake as long as she could to prove to us that she wasn’t sleepy and her bedtime was way too early.

  I moved across the room to greet Dorthea. “Did you and Scott have that planned? The call for a vote?”

  “Oh no, honey. I just thought the timing was good. Better to get an actual vote taken and get it over with.” Colleen joined our group and Dorthea said, “How have you been? Haven’t seen you in an age.”

  “Fine,” Colleen said shortly, her narrow gaze fixed on Scott, who was piling his plate with food from the trays. “I’m amazed Scott said he wanted a search. Why would he say that?”

  “Why wouldn’t he want a search?” Dorthea asked.

  “I don’t know. He was so helpful and it makes me mad he keeps showing up. He’s always at the Find Jodi meetings and everyone knows he couldn’t stand her. Why is he so concerned now?”

  This was something new. I raised my eyebrows at Dorthea and she gave a minimal shrug, so I asked, “He and Jodi didn’t get along?”

  Colleen said, “He hated her.”

  An Everything In Its Place Tip for an Organized Party

  Lists are essential when it comes to party planning. Keep everything together, either in your handheld computer or in a binder or folder. Here are some lists that will help you stay on-task:

  Guest List with space to note RSVP. Generally, about half the number of people you invite will attend your party.

  Menu. Make a detailed list of food and drink you’re planning to serve, then use recipes to make shopping lists.

  Shopping Lists. Make at least two lists. One for nonperishable items like decorations, favors, and paper items that can be picked up one to two weeks before the party. Make a second list of perishable items, like food, ice, fresh flowers, and balloons. It’s also helpful to have a separate shopping list for each store.

  To-do List. Jot down items like clean house, mow yard, weed flower bed, remove breakable knickknacks from the fireplace mantel, etc.

  Returns List—to keep track of rented and borrowed items.

  Thank-you Note List.

  Chapter Ten

  “That didn’t come across in the profile Jodi wrote about Scott for the newspaper,” I said.

  “That was before the whole Jackson Hollow issue.”

  “Jackson Hollow?” I’d heard that name somewhere, but couldn’t place it.

  “The old development near the base,” Colleen clarified.

  “Oh, that’s right,” I said. “We looked at a couple of houses there when we first came here.” Actually, a drive through the neighborhood was all it took for us to decide we needed to keep looking. The houses in Jackson Hollow were tiny postwar bungalows that needed some major sprucing up.

  “Scott wants the city to condemn the houses and turn the property over to the base.”

  Dorthea added, “They’re practically at the end of the runway.”

  Before we moved to North Dawkins, I’d heard about the space issues—encroachment was the term the military used—around Taylor. Every couple of years the military had a commission assess the military installations and recommend which ones needed to be expanded and which ones needed to be closed. Encroachment was one of the factors the commission considered.

  “You said Scott wants the property condemned. Is it Scott or the group he works for, STAND?”

  “Of course, he’s the director of STAND,” Colleen snapped, “and he says he’s doing it for the good of the community, but he wants those houses gone.”

  “So what happened? Jodi didn’t agree with him?”

  “Jodi covered the city commission meeting where Scott made the proposal. She reported exactly what Scott wanted. Then she did what any good reporter would do. She went out and got the other side of the story. She interviewed several people who lived there. Scott hated that. Letters poured into the newspaper and most of them were on the side of the Jackson Hollow people.”

  Dorthea shook her head and said, “I’d forgotten all about that dustup. The city commission, cowards that they are, decided they needed a study to evaluate whether or not they should condemn the land. It took them until this summer to decide which consultant to hire. The report isn’t due until January. Such a waste of money, if you ask me.”

  “So that must have calmed things down,” I said.

  “Hardly,” Colleen said. “The commission didn’t decide to hire a consultant until after their next meeting, which was where Scott and Jodi got into it.”

  “Got into it?”

  “He accused her of slanted reporting, playing up the sympathy angle.”

  “This was during the meeting?” I asked.

  “During the comment time. After the meeting they had a shouting match in the parking lot.”

  “Wow,” I said. “That doesn’t sound like the Jodi I’ve heard described so often.”

  Colleen took a deep breath. “She did get a bit carried away. She was passionate about doing her job and doing it right. Saying she wasn’t fair…that was low. Scott deserved to be shouted at. Jodi had reported both sides of the issue. Scott didn’t like it that the interviews with the Jackson Hollow neighborhood put him in such a bad light. That’s why it doesn’t make sense that he’s so involved now.”

  “So what happened after the shouting match?” I asked.

  “Jodi wrote her article about the commission meeting and she followed up with the Jackson Hollow people.”

  “She went right back and wrote another article? Scott wouldn’t have been happy about that.” I looked across the room at him, devouring a plate of food. Now that he wasn’t speaking in that self-assured tone, he didn’t look like a threat to anyone. Instead, he looked like the IT guy you’d call at work when your computer refused to boot up.

  “Does Detective Waraday know about their disagreement?”

  “Oh, he knows about it, all right,” Colleen said. “Has he done anything about it? No.”

  “Nothing?”

  “He interviewed Scott. He interviewed everyone who knew Jodi, but nothing’s come of it.”

  “Seems odd, though,” I said. “Scott’s the first person I’ve heard of who had any disagreement with Jodi…”

  “I know.” Colleen pounced on my words. “I think he had something to do with her disappearance. That’s why he’s always around, hanging out at the meetings. He wants to keep track of what’s going on. Oh, here’s Mrs. Nita. Tell Ellie what Detective Waraday said when we told him about Scott.”

  Nita pursed her lips. “Yes, that was a bit disheartening. Detective Waraday sees their argument as a small contretemps. As he’s told me, there’s nothing else there to investigate, no indication that he was ever near Jodi or had any contact with her except at those two city council meetings. There’s no physical evidence, and physical evidence is what counts with Davey. He’s very methodical and since he’s eliminated Scott, I think you can, too, Colleen.”

  “Eliminated him?” Colleen said, her voice squeaking. “He’s not a suspect at all?”

  “Apparently he has an alibi. He was out of town the weekend when Jodi disappeared.”

  “Where?” Colleen demanded.

  “Washington, D.C.”

  Colleen still looked disbelieving and made a move in Scott’s direction, but Nita put a hand on her arm. “Fortunately, we have some new physical evidence, thanks to Ellie.” She described the notebook, then turned to me. “I want
ed to thank you for calling me today and then allowing me to stay at your house until the search was over.”

  “It wasn’t a problem at all.” Hey, it was her house—technically—so it seemed like the least I could do. “I’m just glad we found her notebook. Have you been able to transcribe any of it?”

  “Yes, several pages. I’ve e-mailed them to Davey.” She shook her head slightly. “I don’t know if the notes will be that helpful to the investigation. The first pages are more details about the Halloween story she was working on. I’m afraid Davey wasn’t as enthralled with her notes as I am, which is completely understandable.”

  “Well, I’m interested and I’m just a…bystander. Otherwise, why hide it? It must be important.”

  “My thoughts as well. And I know Davey will get to it. He requested someone to transcribe it, but I think it will take a while. He was preoccupied when I talked to him this afternoon. He does have other issues besides Jodi.”

  “Of course. At least you’re on it.”

  “Yes, I am,” she said firmly, then tilted her head and blinked her dark eyes as she studied me. What had been a conversation shifted to something else that felt a bit awkward. As she examined me, I felt as if I were under a microscope. She was assessing me. “Ellie, you’ve shown an interest in finding Jodi. I truly do appreciate all your help with the flyers.”

  “I’m glad I could help.” It did feel good to know that my organizational skills could contribute to finding Jodi, even in a small way.

  “Would you be interested in helping in another area?”

  “Yes.” Sometimes I got myself a bit, well, let’s say overextended, because I didn’t like to tell people no. It was the hardest word in the English language for me to utter, but at the moment, I didn’t have a lot going on. “I’d love to help.”

  “What I’m thinking of wouldn’t be directly for the Find Jodi search. Coordinating the Find Jodi campaign does take quite a bit of my time. What I need help with is the notebook. If I e-mail my transcription to you, would you match it with the articles she wrote? Since it would be to help me stay organized, I’d pay your going rate for organizing.”