A Page Marked for Murder

by Lauren Elliott

  “Darn it!” He dug his phone out of his trouser pocket and glanced at the screen. “Of course it’s Marc.” He shoved it back into his pocket. “His timing is always impeccable. He seems to have an uncanny sense of when it’s the perfect moment to interrupt us.” He rose to his feet. “I gotta go. They found something in Martha’s Bakery.” He bent down and kissed her cheek. “I’ll call you later.” With that, he swept out the door and was gone.

  Addie touched her cheek. The touch of Simon’s lips lingered there. Yes. She had been about to utter the words back to him that he desperately waited for her to say. She was certain this was the moment that it would have happened, but the gravity of what else he said hit her. She dashed upstairs, showered, grabbed Pippi and the tote bag, and raced to her store.

  She made a left turn off Birch into the alley and slammed on the brakes. The area behind the bookstore and bakery were still cordoned off, and Marc’s car was parked in the extra space behind Serena’s tea shop. Addie swung around, managed a tight U-turn, and headed back out, taking a left on Birch. She would cut across on Ash Street and go up the road to her bookshop toward Main Street from the back end. Marc’s car, in addition to two other police cruisers and the back door to Martha’s Bakery being propped open, indicated that parking on the main road in front of her store might be at a premium also. Fingers crossed she’d have better luck parking farther down the street toward the back end of the park.

  When she came out on the roadway that ran by her shop, it was just as she feared. The entire area around her store and the bakery was a stream of endless blue and white flashing lights. She slipped into a parking space farther down the road in front of the park and dashed across the street. Her arm pressed firmly against the basket over her shoulder so as not to jostle Pippi.

  Once on the sidewalk, Addie zigzagged her way through the crowd of curious onlookers who had spilled onto the street to see what all the commotion was. As she drew closer to her bookstore, the heightened activity behind the newly erected yellow tape in front of the bakery became clearer. Blue-jacketed officers came and went as if the bakery had a revolving door. They all deposited evidence bags into the back of the police van before retreating back inside Martha’s Bakery.

  Addie’s pace slowed when her eye caught sight of the sandwich board sitting prominently by her front door. She mentally retraced her steps on Saturday before she left. She was certain she had taken it in. As she drew closer and the OPEN sign on her door came into view, her chest heaved. What the heck? Now that she was positive she had changed to CLOSED before leaving to meet Simon. When the door opened freely in her hand, her breath caught in her chest, and then the aroma of cinnamon chai tea wafted past her nostrils. Of course. A smile touched her lips. This time of the year it was Serena’s most popular blend, and her friend did have a spare key in case of emergencies. She must have figured out the bind Addie would be in today and came to help out. Addie stood on tiptoe and scanned the store for any sign of her redheaded friend. “Serena? Are you in here?”

  A blond head poked out from the last aisle of books along the wall.

  “Paige? What are you doing here?”

  “I’m working,” she said, pushing the book cart around the corner. “I do still have a job, don’t I?” Her face reddened. “That is . . . unless you’ve fired me?”

  “What? Why would I fire you?” Addie placed the basket on the floor, setting Pippi free, and met Paige’s tear-filled eyes. “Oh, honey, come here.” She opened her arms wide and hugged the girl tightly to her. “Of course you’re not fired. I was just shocked to find you here today. I thought—”

  “What? You thought that I was still in jail like both my parents are?”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Addie swung around, flipped the sign back to CLOSED, and locked the deadbolt. “Come on,” she said, removing her jacket and tossing it on the end of the front counter. “Sit down, talk to me, and explain why it’s so important for you to be here today when it’s clear that you’re grieving.”

  Paige glanced at the door and then at Addie. “But what about the customers?”

  “You’re more important to me than they are. Now sit, please.” Addie patted the stool beside her.

  Paige reluctantly abandoned the book trolley. Addie noticed Paige stumble before she dropped with a thud onto the counter stool.

  Addie clasped Paige’s frigid hands in hers. “Your job here is safe,” Addie said, sweeping the girl’s hair from her face. “You don’t have to worry about coming in when there’s so much more going on in your life. You need to take the time to grieve. Brett and you were close once, and he was Emma’s father. . . .” Addie hesitated and swallowed. “Your daughter’s father was just killed. That must be devastating for you and her. You need to be together now, not here.”

  “You’re wrong.” Paige held Addie’s gaze. “Brett and I never were a real couple. I was a naive freshman, and he was an attractive college professor who took advantage of that. I don’t mean to sound heartless because it is sad that a death occurred, but him dying isn’t what’s shaken me.”

  Addie tried to grasp what Paige was saying. Her assistant had always been a very private person, at least when it came to sharing her personal life with Addie. Now whether that was because of the employer-employee relationship, Addie didn’t know, but to hear her words and the matter-of-fact tone Paige spoke them in rattled her a little. She knew from the tidbits Paige dropped over time that she and Brett weren’t close, except for the link they shared with Emma, but this was not the reaction she expected. “What is it then?”

  “It’s what’s going on next door, and the fact that the police could even think my mother had anything to do with what happened.”

  This is what Addie had originally thought, too, but then came the message Simon had received a few hours ago from Marc. She glanced out the window at the police van. Now a shiver raced across her shoulders, and any encouraging words she might have offered Paige in that moment vanished. “What about Emma? Surely she needs to be with her mommy today, or haven’t you told her anything yet about . . . well . . . her father being gone?”

  “Her father?” Paige let out a short, harsh laugh. “She doesn’t know him as her father. He’s had nothing to do with her since she was a baby. My brother-in-law Keith is the only father figure she’s ever had. She never even had my father much in her life until this past week. Both of them are strangers to her. No, Emma’s fine. My sister’s babysitting today, and I’m sure she’ll see Uncle Keith later. She’s happy, don’t worry,” Paige said, her words firm.

  “That’s a relief.”

  “Oh!” Paige covered her face with her hands and sobbed. “I just wish I had gone home Saturday night, and then Mom wouldn’t be a suspect. She’d have an alibi.”

  “What do you mean you didn’t go home Saturday?”

  “I stayed at Elli’s. Her grandmother Vera was babysitting Emma, so we could work down at the beach. When the fight broke out, and I left, we went back to her house. Emma was sound asleep, and we decided it was best if we just left her and I stayed over, too.”

  “Is that why you were released after they took you in for questioning?”

  Paige nodded. “But Mom drove herself home on Saturday night and was alone in the house. There was no one there to confirm what time she had come home, or that she didn’t go out again during the night. Don’t you see if I had only gone home with her and not slept over at Elli’s, Mom wouldn’t be—” Sobs overtook Paige.

  Addie knew from past experience that the police would not consider Paige acting as her mother’s alibi and Martha hers airtight. Especially since both of them were also involved in two earlier heated incidents with the victim and were now considered persons of interest.

  “Paige, I think the only reason you were released as quickly as you were was because you had more than one non-involved witness to verify your whereabouts Saturday night. Both Vera and Elli weren’t part of what went on in the park on Friday or what occu
rred on the beach Saturday.”

  “You know about those?”

  “Unfortunately, I saw both altercations.”

  “As did half the town, which doesn’t help Mom or even my dad.”

  “No, it doesn’t.” Addie studied Paige’s face, pain clearly etching lines that hadn’t been there before. “If you don’t mind me asking, though, who was the other woman involved in the argument on the beach?”

  “That was Amber Carr, Brett’s latest girlfriend.” Paige all but spat out the words. “She’s older than most of his past string of women, so I doubt she’ll be around long.”

  Addie shifted on her stool when movement in front of her window caught the corner of her eye. Two officers, heads together, were reviewing something the taller one had in his hand. “I know it’s none of my business, but the arguments appeared pretty intense. What were they about?”

  Paige lifted her head, her eyes swollen and red. “Brett decided he and that woman were going to be a regular part of Emma’s life. He actually demanded I give him joint custody!”

  “Wow.”

  “Yeah, wow is right. Can you believe it? He hadn’t given Emma a second thought since she was born, and now because his new girlfriend thought it would be fun for them to play mommy and daddy, he wanted custody.” A tear trickled down Paige’s cheek.

  It was clear to Addie why Martha would be driven to stop that from happening, but if Ken hadn’t been part of Paige’s life for so long either . . . “Where’s your dad staying? Why are they still holding him?”

  “He’s staying at my great-aunt Ettie’s house.”

  “Can’t she confirm with the police when he got back there Saturday?”

  Paige shook her head. “She’s deaf now and goes to bed by eight. There’s no way she would have known what time he came in, or if he left again later.”

  “So, neither of them can prove their whereabouts late Saturday night?”

  “No”—Paige stared out the window—“but still. It’s no reason to tear the bakery apart, is it?” She waved her hand wildly in the air, motioning to the officers on the street. “I just don’t understand what brought all that on.”

  Addie thought back to her own arrest and knew a certain amount of what was taking place next door was part of a routine investigation. Combined with Simon’s cryptic message from Marc, though, it appeared the discovery of something in the bakery had escalated the search to more than routine evidence gathering.

  “Well”—Paige swiped the tears from her face and rose to her feet—“those shelves aren’t going to straighten themselves, and since Kalea didn’t come in with you, I’m assuming it’s only the two of us again today.”

  “You know if you want to leave you still can. Maybe go visit your mom. I’m sure she’s in a state over all this and could use the company.”

  “Thanks, but no. They only let me talk to her for about two minutes last night when they released me. Even then, that Detective Brookes hovered over my shoulder every second of it. To be honest, I’d rather be here. It helps keep my mind off it, and maybe I can hear something from someone about what’s going on in there.”

  Addie watched as Paige disappeared around the corner of a bookshelf. The creaking of the book trolley’s wheels was soon the only sound in the store. Addie’s gaze drifted back to the activity outside. She rose to her feet, strolled over to the bay window, and peered out. The police barricade extended to the left side of her doorway. This most likely would deter all but her most die-hard customers from entering the bookstore today. Perhaps it was best Kalea hadn’t made herself available. All Paige or she needed right now was to listen to the constant whining of a bored prima donna.

  Addie caught sight of a dark figure beside the old maple by the park entrance. It was Bill, which meant he’d been released from police custody and hopefully taken off their suspect list. He appeared fixated by the goings-on at the bakery, but his body huddled against the tree told her he also wanted to remain out of sight. If he’d been cleared of charges, why the hesitancy? She bolted out the door. “Bill,” she called as she dashed across the road toward him.

  He spun around and started off in the opposite direction.

  “Wait, I just want to talk for a minute.” He stopped when she skidded up to his side. “I see you’ve been released. That’s great. I knew Marc would see that you just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, kind of like me.”

  “They’re wrong you know, just Addie.”

  “About what?”

  “About Miss Martha. She had nothing to do with that guy ending up dead.” Something in his voice told Addie he knew more than he had said he did before.

  “I know you and Martha are friends, but what makes you so sure that she had nothing to do with this?”

  “Cause there was a man there.” Bill’s face paled. “Never mind, I gotta go.”

  “Wait, Bill.” Addie rubbed her hands up and down her arms for warmth. “Who else was there on the beach when you were collecting bottles?”

  He turned back toward her. “No one. Forget I said anything.”

  “Did you tell the police?”

  He shook his head. “I can’t ever go back there.”

  “Where, the police station?”

  “I can’t go back to jail, ever.”

  “But Bill, if there was someone else there besides you and Brett, the police have to know. They won’t lock you up just because you have information.”

  “No, I’ve said too much already. It was just some guy. I don’t know who he is and can’t give a description anyway. So, it doesn’t matter, but just so you know, it wasn’t Miss Martha he was fighting with that night.”

  “Whatever it is you saw, you still have to tell the police. It could help Martha.”

  “I saw nothing. I just heard something. That’s all. Could have been a dog for all I know. No more police.” He turned and fled through the park.

  Addie thought for a moment of going after him. If he had information about another potential suspect, he needed to tell Marc, but as he disappeared through the library parking lot, she knew it was useless to try to force Bill to talk. He had made it clear he wasn’t going to say anything else about it, at least not today. He had appeared frightened, and she couldn’t help wondering exactly what he did see, or if he did recognize the other man on the beach late Saturday night with Brett. Maybe she could track him down later and ease more out of him, but right now, she was freezing and needed to get back inside.

  As she started back to the road, she hugged her icy arms around her middle and studied the flow of pedestrian traffic. It was clear the police tape was not only a hindrance to her shop but also Serena’s. People were crossing the road when they came to the flower shop on the other side of Martha’s, and then they’d walk along the park sidewalk to the dressmaker and alteration store on the far side of Serena’s before crossing back to the shops.

  This is going to be a long day. Addie pulled the door open and stepped inside to be greeted by the familiar scent of old books, leather, and fresh-brewed coffee.

  Paige, who had been hovering by the window, handed Addie a steaming mug. “When I saw you outside without your coat on, I figured you’d need one of these.”

  Addie took a sip. “As usual, you read my mind. Thank you.”

  “I saw you speaking with Bill. Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah, no, I’m not sure. He seems to be really spooked about something to do with all this”—she motioned to the window—“but he won’t tell me.”

  “That sounds like Old Bill. Say, have you come up with a new plan for the window displays now that the festival is over?”

  “No.” Addie rubbed her temple in an attempt to keep up with Paige’s abrupt shift in focus. “I haven’t even thought about it.”

  “I just so happen to have an idea.”

  “Please share, I need help right about now.” Addie eyed her young assistant warily and wondered if Paige’s erratic thought pattern was a sign that
she wasn’t coping with all this as well as she pretended.

  “You know how the book club is discussing The Secret Garden later this month.”

  Addie’s chest tightened. With everything else going on today, she had completely forgotten about Gloria’s book. “Yes.”

  “Why not do an entire display around that theme. We could re-create the garden scene and showcase the book. I could even get my old copy back from Gloria, and we could use it as a centerpiece, not to sell of course, but we still have a dozen copies in the back we could unload with that display. What do you think?”

  Addie reached a hand behind her and made a grab for the counter to support the unexpected wobble in her knees. “Paige, I guess you never heard,” she said, and went on to relay the information about the missing book.

  Paige shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. It was just some old book my dad gave me. The embossing on the cover is pretty cool, and I did want to give it to Emma when she was a little older, but it’s no big deal if it’s lost. I’ll buy one of the other copies for her.”

  “Paige, I saw that book. Mind you, I didn’t have time to fully appraise it, but from the brief look I did have, it’s a first edition.”

  “And?”

  “And, it’s worth about twenty-five thousand dollars.”

  Addie scrambled to grab Paige before she hit the floor. “Here, sit down. I’ll get you some water.”

  “No, I’m fine. Are you sure it’s worth that?”

  “Pretty sure.”

  “I can’t believe it. My dad left it for me when he took off. I always assumed it was just some old book he had lying around and wanted to get rid of so he didn’t have to pack it. But—”

  “But it appears he left it for you as an inheritance, something for your future.”

  “And you say it’s missing now?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Then he didn’t leave it as an inheritance. Knowing what I do about him, it was more like an insurance policy that he’d want to collect on some day, and I guess that time is now.”