by Cindy Bell
“You’re right, things aren’t going to be the same at all. I’m still having a hard time even looking at his truck.” Brenda frowned.
“Don’t worry, you won’t be looking at it much longer. They’re going to pull it out of here tonight.”
“Wow, so soon?”
“I think whatever relative he had is trying to sell it. I guess it’s a good idea to get it away from where he was killed. Maybe she’ll get better money for it that way.”
“Maybe.” Brenda turned and started walking back towards the truck. Pete started to follow after her but got distracted by Matt. She was relieved and quickened her step to get back to Joyce. When she stepped into the truck, she was hit with the scent of the burnt donuts.
“Ugh, who knew dough could turn so ugly.” She stuck out her tongue.
“My thoughts exactly.” Joyce winced. “Let’s leave all of the windows open.”
Once the truck was as opened up as it could be, they each took a handful of pans and headed down the steps.
“Pete told me they’re going to be pulling Adam’s truck tonight.” Brenda glanced around, then looked back at Joyce. “Do you think we should see if we can take a look around inside before they do?”
“Good thought. Yes. But how are we going to get in?”
“I’m not sure. Did anyone else ever open up for Adam? Some of the other vendors do that now and then if they expect a delivery and they aren’t going to be around.”
“Maybe Matt?” Joyce raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, maybe. Let’s ask him about it later. Right now we have to get to that spot and see if we can figure out our flash.” Brenda nodded.
Joyce made her way carefully down the steps with her arms full. When she reached the bottom, she made her way towards May’s shop. For the first time, she noticed that it was still closed. “Wow, I wonder why May isn’t open? That’s not like her. She hasn’t closed once since we’ve been here. I still have to get Pierce’s suit jacket back.”
“Maybe she was shaken up by what happened.” Brenda tilted her head towards the line of shops. “A few people didn’t open up today.”
“Yes, I guess you’re right. I’ll make sure to check on her when she opens again. Here.” Joyce paused a few steps from the door of the cleaners. “This is where I stood.”
“Okay, I know the area where Adam was, so let me walk over there.” Brenda took the pans with her and paused where she thought Adam’s body had been.
“A little more to the right and back, behind the truck. If Adam was on the ground there, then the killer had to be a few steps away.”
“Oh, you’re right.” Brenda nodded and moved into the new position. “How’s this?”
“Good.” Joyce gave her a thumbs up.
“Here’s the first one!” Brenda swung the baking sheet through the air.
“Yes! That’s it. Well, not quite. It was a bit brighter.”
Brenda went through each of the pans that she had. Every time she swung one Joyce saw a flash, but it wasn’t exactly what she’d seen the day Adam was killed. None of them was bright enough. As she shook her head in reaction to the last one, Brenda walked back towards her.
“Do you want me to go through them again? Maybe the lighting isn’t right?”
“No, I don’t think it’s that. I think it’s because we don’t have the right murder weapon. No point in trying them again. Besides, I doubt most of the pans would have been strong enough to kill him. But after this, I am almost certain that the flash I saw was the murder weapon being wielded. That at least puts us one step closer to the killer.” Joyce looked over her shoulder at the cleaners, then back again at Adam’s truck.
“I’d better go check and see if the smell has cleared out. Are you coming?” Brenda piled up the pans in her arms.
“You go ahead, I’ll be there in just a few minutes. I want to see if there’s anything I missed.”
“All right. Don’t stress yourself out too much. I’m sure if there was anything here to find, the police would have found it.” Brenda walked back towards the truck.
Joyce walked the path to the cleaners and back again. Then for a third time. She observed everything around her. Was there a camera nearby? A surface where she might have seen a reflection without realizing it?
On her way back for the third time, she saw May opening the shop.
“May.” Joyce waved.
“Joyce.” She turned to look at her. “How are you? It’s just terrible what happened to Adam.”
“Yes, I know. I wanted to check on you. It’s unlike you to be closed.”
“Oh, I wasn’t going to open today given what happened, but I decided that it’s better to get on with business as usual.”
“That’s the way I feel, too.” Joyce smiled slightly.
“But I must be honest, I got a very good offer from a buyer to sell the shop just last week, and I turned him down.” May sighed.
“Really?” Joyce’s eyes widened.
“I am reconsidering that decision now, though.”
“Don’t make any rash decisions. Let things calm down a bit.”
“I will, but it’s just so upsetting.”
“It is.” Joyce nodded.
“The jacket you brought in is ready. Would you like to pick it up now?”
“Yes please.” Joyce followed her into the shop.
Once Joyce had the jacket, she walked out of the dry cleaners and began to walk the path back to the truck. As she did, she noticed a delivery van pull up to the hot dog truck. Her heart lurched as she realized that no one had canceled Adam’s deliveries. She walked over to inform the driver, but before she could reach him, the van pulled away. Beside the door of Adam’s truck was a stack of paper sealed in plastic. On closer inspection, she saw that they were menus for his truck. Most of the trucks had them to hand out to customers, especially for catering jobs, and they also delivered them to the surrounding office blocks. Joyce thought the timing was unusual since menus were usually ordered in January when prices were increased.
Unless he had run out early or made a change to his menu, there was no reason for him to order more. Joyce peered through the plastic and discovered that one of the menus was face up. It showed his usual assortment of hot dogs and condiments, but there was also a new section that included hamburgers. It surprised her to see it, because as far as she knew, Adam had never sold hamburgers before.
Using her fingernail, she cut into the plastic just enough to slide out one of the menus. She was certain that it wouldn’t be missed. Still, she cast a guilty glance around to be sure no one was watching. When she opened the menu, she found that Adam had an entire list of various burgers for sale. Her first thought was about Pete, the hamburger truck owner. Did he know that Adam was going to start selling hamburgers? She doubted he would have been happy about it. She tucked the menu into her pocket, then crossed the short distance to her truck. Matt stood in front of the serving window. He laughed at something that Brenda said.
“Matt, just who I wanted to see.” Joyce paused beside him. “Did you know that Adam was going to add hamburgers to his menu?”
“He was? No, I didn’t know anything about that. Pete wouldn’t be happy about it.” He frowned and looked down the line of trucks to Pete’s. “I guess there’s no point in telling him now.”
“No, probably not. Listen, I loaned Adam two bowls a few days ago. I heard that his truck is going to be removed tonight. Do you by any chance have a key so I can get inside and take a look around for them?”
“Oh sure, I have one.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys. After fumbling through the large number on the key ring, he selected one. Joyce handed Brenda the jacket and followed Matt as he walked over to Adam’s truck. “I haven’t been in there since. I know there are things I could box up, to help out his aunt, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I even got some boxes.” He pointed to a stack of boxes beside the truck.
“I can take care of that. Don’t w
orry.” Joyce patted his shoulder.
“You can? Thanks.” He smiled with relief as he unlocked the door to the truck and then stepped back. “Anything perishable has already been removed, but everything else besides what the police took is still in here.”
“Thanks Matt, I’ll get as much as I can boxed up.” Joyce reached down and grabbed a few boxes then stepped onto the truck.
Chapter 7
Once the door to Adam’s truck swung shut behind Joyce, she began to look around the interior. She’d never actually been inside his truck. The décor was typical of a young single man, with a few posters of rock bands and a wall of pinned-up photos. She paused in front of the pictures and looked through them. Since she didn’t know who most of the people were, she took a few photographs of them to look through later. Many were of Adam and the same three or four people about his age. A few were of him and Matt. She took those down and tucked them into her pocket to pass on to Matt. She noticed a small passport-size photo of a lady behind one of Adam’s photos, so she took a photo of that as well. There were traces of fingerprint powder on the counters, the only indication that the truck had been searched and processed.
As Joyce looked through the inventory on the shelves, she noticed that there were hamburger wrappers. He’d certainly decided to add them to his menu. When she walked past the hot dog bins, the smell of them drew her attention. They’d been emptied, but there was still a lingering scent. She reached for a lid and put it on one of the bins. When she reached for the other, she didn’t find it. After looking through the entire truck, she realized that it wasn’t there. The other lid was large, shiny, and made of a thick metal. It had enough weight to do some damage if it was swung through the air. She snapped a picture of the remaining lid, then set about packing boxes.
As Joyce sorted through paperwork and piles of unopened mail, she discovered a small brown package. It had the return address of the comic book store. The top of the package was slit open, as if someone took a look inside without opening the entire package. She peered through the opening and saw there was a framed photograph inside. It showed Adam, with the comic book store’s sign right behind him. He obviously spent a lot of time at the store. She placed the package into one of the boxes, then finished gathering most of the rest. By the time she was done, she was a little winded. She stepped down out of the truck to find Brenda nearby.
“I was just coming to check on you. You’ve been in there for a long time.”
“I know. I got caught up in boxing everything up, I didn’t realize how long I was gone. I hope you weren’t too busy.”
“No, it’s been pretty quiet this afternoon. I’m not sure it’s even worth it to stay open at this point. A few of the other trucks are closing up.”
“What about Pete’s?” She locked the door and tucked the keys into her pocket along with the pictures she intended to give to Matt.
“He is still open. He’s getting most of the customers.”
“It looks like Adam was going to be selling hamburgers for sure. I wonder if Pete knew about it.”
“If he did, he didn’t mention anything to anyone from what I can tell.” Brenda narrowed her eyes as she looked in the direction of Pete’s truck. “Do you think he might have found out?”
“Maybe.” Joyce crossed her arms and watched as Pete handed a hamburger to a customer. “He’s a strong man, that’s for sure. Much larger than Adam. I think I may have figured out what the murder weapon was.”
“You did?” Brenda looked back at her.
“This.” She showed her the picture of the lid on her phone. “The other one is missing. It was nowhere in the truck.”
“That would mean that whoever killed Adam was probably let onto the truck by Adam or had access to his truck.” She frowned and lowered her voice. “The only one we know who has a key is Matt.”
“Matt?” Joyce blinked, then looked in the direction of Matt’s truck. “I hadn’t even considered that. They were friends.”
“Friends get upset with each other sometimes.” Brenda shook her head. “I don’t want to think it either, but it’s something we should consider.”
“Look at these.” She pulled the pictures out of her pocket and held them out to Brenda. “It doesn’t look like there’s any bad blood between them.” One of the pictures showed Matt with his arm around Adam’s shoulders. Another was of the two of them fishing.
“No, it doesn’t. It looks like Matt was trying to be the older brother that Adam didn’t have.” Brenda sighed and handed the picture back. “But things do change, and quickly, sometimes.”
“You’re right. But it’s also possible that Adam invited someone on to his truck that day. Maybe it was someone he trusted, or someone he had a deal with.”
“Like Vince.” Brenda nodded. “Everything seems to lead back to Vince.”
“Unless we’re missing what’s right in front of our faces.” She snapped her fingers. “Adam keeps getting all of the good deals on the street. He’s adding hamburgers to his menu, he’s stocking new supplies, but his business has been about the same. So where is he getting the money to do that? It’s possible that he got a loan, but maybe he got the money from someone else. He doesn’t have family besides his aunt, and as far as we can tell, his friends weren’t in any position to back him. So who do we know that has the money to do that?”
“I don’t know, I guess Pierce, and maybe Cooper.”
“Pierce and Cooper.” She nodded as a slow smile spread across her lips. “Adam was smart. Maybe he thought if he added hamburgers to his menu, he could take out Pete as competition. Maybe Cooper or Pierce offered to help him with that by fronting him the money.” Joyce sighed with frustration. “But why? What would they get out of that?”
“Maybe one of them was an investor?” Brenda led Joyce back to the truck and stepped inside. “We shouldn’t talk about this too much in public. There are ears everywhere. But one thing I’ve noticed with Charlie’s stories is that people with money always want more. Maybe Cooper or Pierce saw an opportunity to make a huge profit off Adam’s truck if he was the only truck that offered both hot dogs and hamburgers.”
“Maybe. I think it’s more likely to be Cooper, he’s the businessman.”
“That’s true.”
“Unless maybe we are looking at this wrong. Maybe Adam got the money from somewhere else. Maybe he had another investor. Adam was already getting the majority of the gigs, even those that Pete went after. Maybe he had a deal with Cooper to get all of those gigs.”
“You think Adam was bribing Cooper?” Brenda shoved her hands in her pockets. “Is nothing sacred?”
“I think I’m going to drop off the key and photos to Matt and then pay a visit to Cooper. You go home and spend some extra time with your family.”
“Wait, I can go with you. It’s better if I do, Joyce.” Brenda grabbed her purse from the counter and turned to follow her.
“No, Brenda. It’s better if I go alone. I want to see if I can find out if he took bribes. If Cooper is involved in this somehow, I don’t want you to be in his line of sight.” Joyce straightened the collar of her shirt and pulled her car keys from her pocket. “I’ll text you an update as soon as I’ve talked to him. I’m not even sure that he’s going to be willing to see me.”
“All right, but if you change your mind, just let me know. I can be there in a few minutes.”
“I can handle this, I promise.” Joyce gave Brenda a quick hug. “It’s best if you go home and see if Charlie dug anything else up for us. Then tonight we can go to the comic book store together to talk to some of Adam’s friends. All right?”
“Yes, okay. Here, take some donuts with you. Something sweet can get you through just about any door.” She packed up some fresh donuts and handed Joyce the box. “Just be careful.” Brenda met her eyes. “Don’t take any risks you shouldn’t.”
“I’ll be good.” Joyce grinned as she took the box, then looked back long enough to wink at Brenda.
&nb
sp; “See, that right there is what worries me.” Brenda sighed and offered a short laugh.
“I’ll text.” Joyce left the truck with her heart full of determination. She wanted to know just how Cooper was involved in Adam’s death, if at all.
When Joyce arrived at Cooper’s office, she wasn’t feeling as confident about her chances of speaking with him. His office was at a large company in a very nice area of town, which meant that he was probably an influential and busy man. Still, she put on her most professional attitude and made her way through the front door. As the receptionist looked up at her with a sour expression, she decided that Brenda was probably right and held out the donuts in front of her.
“A delivery for Melvin Cooper. Does he have a free minute?” Joyce smiled.
“A free minute?” She peeked inside the box and smiled before she looked back at Joyce. “He never has a free minute. But I’ll check to see if he wants to speak with you. What was your name?”
“Joyce, from the donut truck.”
“Donut truck? Yum!” The receptionist picked up her phone. A minute later, she hung it up and nodded to the door to her right. “Go on in, he is between meetings.”
“Thank you.” Joyce picked up the box of donuts and opened it. She held it out to the receptionist. “Would you like one?”
“Yes, please.” She picked out a donut. Joyce took the donut box and walked over to the heavy wooden door. When she pushed it open, she was greeted by the scent of cigars and leather. The office lived up to its scent, with dark furnishings and an embarrassing amount of leather and wood.
“Joyce.” He smiled at her from behind his desk.
“I appreciate you taking the time to meet with me, Melvin, I know you’re quite busy.”
“I don’t mind at all, I really enjoyed that donut, and I see you brought me some other treats today.”
“Yes, I thought you might enjoy some more samples of what we have to offer.” She smiled. “It’s not a bribe, of course.”