Corpse in a Crate

by Winnie Reed

  Joe made a sympathetic noise, reminding me that he wasn’t always a sarcastic know-it-all. “That’s a shame. But you do realize that if anybody’s going to get a fair shake in this world, it’s going to be somebody with the sort of money the Patterson family has. You know that, right? I don’t think you need to start a Go Fund Me for him, in other words.”

  “Don’t get me wrong, I understand the sort of advantages his family has, and what it means to him. But I’m telling you, those detectives did not like him yesterday. I mean, sincerely. I very much got the impression that they got a kick out of seeing him in this situation. Like they enjoyed watching him squirm.”

  He only sighed loud enough for me to hear, but he didn’t offer any answer right away.

  “Come on,” I urged. “Don’t tell me you don’t believe your fellow officers could act that way. He’s from the wealthiest family in the state, and from what I learned last night at the bar, everybody pretty much has to tiptoe around them. They’re afraid they’re going to end up losing their businesses or get into some of sort of trouble. Maybe the detectives who first arrived at the scene yesterday know enough about the way the townspeople have to tiptoe when it comes to the Pattersons, and they find it satisfying that one of them is finally getting his comeuppance.”

  “You know what I think?”

  “No, but I know you’re going to tell me,” I snickered.

  “I think you should have been a fiction writer. I think you missed your calling, I truly do. You have such an active imagination.”

  I gritted my teeth, reminding myself it was probably not a good idea to threaten bodily harm to a police officer. But darn it if he didn’t seem hell-bent on testing me at every turn. “Are you seriously doing this? Are you discounting me, when I was right last time? My instincts were right on the money, and you know they were. Now you’re going to sit there at a little desk, in your little police station—”

  “Not so little,” he managed to mutter.

  I ignored him. “You sit there, and you make fun of me, and you never miss an opportunity to make me feel stupid when really, all I’m trying to do is help somebody who I think is in a pretty bad spot they don’t deserve to be in. Why can’t you tell me you think I’m on the wrong track and leave it at that?”

  “Fine. I think you’re on the wrong track, and you should leave it at that.”

  “I think you’re wrong.”

  At least he laughed. “See? You’re right, I’m a little too sarcastic. I can be a little kinder. But when I try to be nice, you throw things like that my way. You just won’t listen.”

  “Because I was right before, for one thing!”

  “Sure, and now I’m going to rue the day you were ever right because you’ll never let it go. You’re determined to spend the rest of your life thinking you’re some sort of amateur detective. You know what happens to amateur detectives?” he asked.

  “They live long, happy, and productive lives?”

  “Guess again. They end up almost drowning in the Atlantic Ocean, for one thing. Does that strike you as familiar?”

  “I didn’t even come close to drowning,” I sniffed.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know we were measuring how close you actually came to dying that night. My mistake.”

  “I don’t want to talk about that night,” I informed him, and I might have barked a little bit.

  Just like that, he changed. When Joe spoke again, his voice was lower, softer. “You’re right. That was a low blow. I shouldn’t have brought it up. But I need you to see my point. I don’t want you reliving anything like that, not ever. And if this Patterson family really is used to getting their way, you might find yourself wishing you were dealing with somebody like Aubrey Klein again. Do you understand the point I’m trying to make?”

  “Yes,” I muttered, my heart sinking. He was no fun at all.

  “I won’t waste my time telling you to lay off the case, because I know you won’t. I only ask that you exercise a little caution and that you listen to your friend.”

  “Raina?” I asked, puzzled.

  “Yes. Raina.”

  “Why?”

  “For one thing, she might have slightly better judgment than you do. For another, she knows the family better than you do. She understands them. If she wants you to be cautious, be cautious. Got it?”

  “Yes, sir,” I muttered, gritting my teeth again. If I wasn’t careful, I would end up needing a trip to the dentist.

  I ended the call then, since the longer I spent on the phone with Joe Sullivan, the greater the chances that I was going to say something I couldn’t take back.

  It wasn’t that I didn’t understand his concern.

  Frankly, it wasn’t that I didn’t find it flattering, because I did. Who wouldn’t? I believed at the heart of the difficulty he gave me was concern. I would never forget how stricken he looked as I stumbled my way up the beach after fighting for my life. Or how sweetly solicitous he was as I waited in the ambulance to be taken to the hospital.

  I wasn’t about to forget the little shiver that went up my spine when our eyes locked, either.

  But he was just a man, and like all men could be disappointing and would probably end up hurting me in the end. Just like my cheating ex. Just like Deke, whose sudden disappearance from my life still stung.

  Maybe that was just the way it went. People suddenly became close due to extreme circumstances, and when the smoke cleared and life calmed down, they went on their merry way. I guessed I’d been naïve to think anything that developed between us while we were trying to help Robbie avoid prison would mean something real.

  Lola would never disappoint me that way. Lola would be happy to see me when I got home. I was starting to wonder why I’d ever left her in the first place, since this was hardly the weekend either Raina or I had planned on.

  I sank into darker mood than I’d been in before calling Joe as I sat on the front porch of the hotel, watching the world go by. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of Cape Hope. It was quaint like home, and a lot of the people who passed by seemed cheerful enough. The folks coming in and out of the hotel and sitting in the rocking chairs lining the porch made it a point to smile and say hello.

  I smiled back, but my heart wasn’t in it. If I couldn’t get Joe to understand what I was trying to say, if I couldn’t get him to see that there might be prejudice at play in this case, how was I ever going to help

  Nate out of his tough situation?

  Raina’s touch on my shoulder made me jump, and I almost fell out of the chair. “Oh, gosh! I’m sorry! I thought you heard me.” She held her hands up in a defensive, apologetic gesture.

  “Don’t worry about it,” I gasped, a hand over my chest. “It’s been a while since somebody almost gave me a heart attack, so I guess I was due.”

  “Daydreaming?” she asked with a smile, gazing out over the sunny street. Yes, it was the perfect, tranquil spot to weave a few daydreams.

  “Brooding,” I corrected with a shrug. “I guess I’m just in a mood.”

  “I’m sorry.” She took the rocking chair next to mine, arranging the long skirt of her flowy, cotton dress around her. Its pale-yellow color made her toned, tanned skin even more striking. In the thirty seconds or so since she’d been on the porch with me, she’d already gotten a handful of appreciative glances from men passing on the sidewalk. She was so used to it, though, that it didn’t register.

  “What are you apologizing for?” I asked.

  “This was supposed to be a fun, relaxing weekend. But all you’re doing is worrying. That isn’t fair.”

  I waved a hand, shaking my head. “Don’t even worry about it,” I assured her. “Besides, like some people never seem to tire of reminding me, I have a very active imagination. This is as good a reason as any to exercise it, I guess.”

  “Let me guess. Detective Joe.”

  “Who else?” I asked with a shrug. “Maybe he has a point. Maybe my imagination does tend to run away with its
elf sometimes. But he wasn’t there yesterday. He didn’t see what we saw, he didn’t hear what we heard. I don’t think those cops have any intention of helping Nate.”

  I turned to her. “But we can. And we will.” Just her smile alone was enough to make everything worthwhile.

  “And I promise,” she vowed as we stepped off the porch in search of brunch. “Next time, when we take a vacation together, it’ll be an actual vacation. On me.”

  “Now that, I can get behind,” I giggled as we walked side-by-side through the town’s charming commercial district.

  I wasn’t giggling in the back of my mind, where the wheels were turning. I was trying to figure out a way to speed things along, so Nate Patterson could continue work on his project. It was bad enough he had spent so much money bringing the place up to snuff. Missing those prime summer tourists would only end up costing him more money in the long run.

  And of course, the rumors around town about a body being found in his attic wouldn’t help, either.

  Still, I couldn’t help but snicker. “Well, at least I can say with certainty that once this is all cleared up, Nate will have a book chock-full of interested guests.”

  Raina grimaced. “What makes you say that?” she asked, skeptical.

  “Are you kidding? Once word gets out in Cape Hope, which you know it will once my mom gets a hold of this, every one of her friends will want to stay in a bed and breakfast that used to be the home of a dead body. I wouldn’t be surprised if they all wanted to stay in the attic. Maybe Nate should consider turning that into a room, too. Ghost hunters would go nuts over it.”

  “That’s what I love about you.” She linked arms with me, grinning. “You’re always looking at the bright side.”

  Chapter Eight

  “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Raina squinted, peering through the windshield as she brought her car to a stop.

  “Of course. Not too close to the house, it’s the house that’s a crime scene. Not the rest of the land. I just wanted to look around. They were doing a lot of work outside the orchard yesterday, weren’t they? Didn’t we pass a bunch of workers as we rolled up the driveway?”

  Raina nodded. “Yeah, there was a ton of them, pruning the trees and that sort of thing.”

  “Right.”

  “I just don’t see what difference it makes, is all.”

  I sighed. “To be honest, I don’t, either. I just feel like we have to do something, you know? We’re not allowed inside the house, so that’s out. But we might be able to find something around here, someplace. Maybe, I don’t know. Somebody deliberately sabotaged Nate, somehow, and left something behind. It’s as good a theory as any, isn’t it?”

  “Hey, I’m not trying to disagree with you. You’re always better than me when it comes to things like this. I don’t want to get my hopes up and be disappointed in the end.”

  “Try not to put all your eggs in one basket, then,” I suggested. “Go into it with an open mind, like I’m trying to do. We’re just looking around. Two girls enjoying a beautiful day. That’s all.”

  Maybe I’d believe myself if I said that enough times. Maybe I wouldn’t let my hopes get dashed, because of course I was hoping we would find something big. I wanted to find the one clue that would exonerate Nate, or at least make it so the renovations could continue moving forward.

  And maybe I wanted to be a hero. That wasn’t entirely outside the realm of possibility.

  We stepped out of the car, and I noted how much warmer it had gotten since that morning. There was plenty of shade thanks to the trees around us, which helped, but the touch of humidity in the air hinted at the summer to come.

  “What kind of fruit is this, do you know?” I asked, admiring beautiful, new leaves on the branches.

  “Apple, I think. They’ll be blossoming soon, I guess. It’s that time of year, isn’t it?”

  “I think so,” I shrugged. “I’m the only person I know who’s ever managed to kill a succulent, though, so maybe I’m not the best source of information.” Funny, but I found myself thinking of Kevin Patterson, bragging that the only sort of green he was good at was money.

  I couldn’t even brag about that. Unless it had to do with writing or cooking, I wasn’t good at much anything else. I could’ve used a little skill with money.

  The orchard stretched on for acres, and I could see why the workers had been busy there the day before. Even to my unskilled eye, the trees seemed overgrown. They needed to be cleaned up, freed of heavy, out-of-control branches that in some cases almost touched the ground. It seemed so unfair to me that this beautiful land had gone neglected for so long, just because of a vindictive uncle who’d set his nephews up for years of grief.

  “I wonder how right Kevin was about that,” I mused out loud as I wandered with Raina between rows and rows of trees.

  “About what?”

  “About the way their uncle set things up. He didn’t want to make it look like he’d left his nephew with nothing, but didn’t want to actually give anything, either. He must’ve known Nate would never give up the farmhouse if there was any chance of keeping it. Could he really have been that vindictive? Do you think it could’ve been a deliberate dig at Kevin?”

  “I wouldn’t put anything past that family,” Rena grumbled in obvious disgust. “Kevin was never exactly the favorite, that much I know.”

  “Gee, I can’t imagine why,” I snickered. “He’s pretty difficult. Prickly, my mom would say.”

  “Prickly is a good word for him. I can think of a few more. I can’t believe he was so nasty to you last night. It’s a good thing I wasn’t there.”

  “Yes, it’s a good thing you weren’t there, since you’d probably get an angry phone call from your father if he found out you’d gotten in an altercation with a member of the Patterson family. I mean, I get into an altercation, and who cares? I’m not ruining anybody’s lifelong friendships. At least, I hope not,” I added as an afterthought, wincing.

  “No, I doubt it. Nate’s father is by far the most reasonable of everybody in the family. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

  Even so, I reminded myself to be a little more careful next time.

  The ground between the last line of trees and the farmhouse had been turned over by heavy machinery which still sat idle. Just a reminder of how much time was being wasted, time which Nate could be using to his advantage. “It was all so busy here yesterday,” I murmured, shaking my head. “You’d never know it by the looks of things today.”

  I could only imagine he was climbing the walls by now, every second that ticked by symbolizing more and more money slipping out of his grasp. I could only imagine, too, how much money it must’ve cost in lawyers’ fees to secure the rights to the land.

  Though something told me he wasn’t exactly hurting for money. I doubted this would leave him destitute; my brief internet investigation told me he was comfortable enough without this new project of his. He was a major shareholder in several extremely profitable companies, having invested wisely when he came into his inheritance rather than frittering it away.

  That didn’t come as a surprise to me. Raina would never so much as give the time of day to a guy who didn’t have his head on his shoulders. From everything she’d told me and everything I found online, which was nothing but positive and warm, Nathan Patterson was an all-around decent guy.

  “I have to admit,” I murmured as we approached those huge piles of topsoil and the machinery that had put it there, “I’ve had some pretty negative opinions of the wealthy in the past.”

  “No, really?” Raina wore sunglasses, but something told me she was rolling her eyes behind those huge lens of hers.

  “You know what I mean. Obviously, you’re a good egg and I love you to pieces. But you can’t expect me not to draw conclusions about the upper class in general, if only from some of the stories you’ve told me. The way some of them completely throw their lives away the second they come into their money, for instance.”

>   Her forehead creased as if she were in pain. “Yeah, what a waste. Well, not everybody had a great experience when they were growing up. Don’t get me wrong,” she was quick to add, “I’m not entirely defending them. Poor little rich kids and all that. But growing up is tough on everybody, no matter how much money they have. It’s just that the challenges themselves change. The stakes get higher, too. Much higher.”

  That much I believed. She’d once told me the story of two kids she went to high school with who’d been involved in drag racing luxury cars they’d gotten for their sixteenth birthdays. Apparently, that was a thing.

  The driver in question had lost control of the car and flipped it seven times. The way she described it, they had to open the wreckage like it was a can of tuna.

  Both of the kids in the car had died. They’d already been stoned and drunk before starting the race and weren’t wearing their seatbelts when they crashed. It was the sort of thing that kept me up at night, wondering. What was it about people that made them crave something, anything to prove they were alive? Anything to help them stop being bored?

  Boredom was certainly something I had never known growing up. I hadn’t appreciated it at the time, working vacations and weekends at the cafe. Now, as an adult, I saw that it not only taught me the value of a work ethic, but it helped keep me out of trouble.

  Because that was hardly something only rich people had to worry about. Kids from all walks of life got into trouble if left to their own devices. Considering that both my parents were workaholics and always had been, it was either Darcy and me having the house to ourselves all day or working as unpaid labor at the café.

  We came to a stop at the trench which had been dug into the ground. I peered down into the hole. “What do you think they were doing here?” I asked, glancing over at my friend.