by Cindy Bell
“Okay, take a few deep breaths, Mee-Maw. Whoever it was we’re going to get to the bottom of it. Why don’t you stay with me at the cottage tonight?”
“No, that’s okay. I’ll be fine.”
“Come on Arnold, Peaches and I would love the company.”
“Okay.” She nodded and glanced at Arnold in the backseat. “Sounds like a plan.”
“Good.” Ally reached across the car and hugged her. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here when it happened, Mee-Maw.”
“It’s okay, Ally, you’re here now.” She kissed her cheek, then pointed to the ignition. “Let’s get out of here. I’m almost out of bug spray.”
Not long after they got to the cottage, Charlotte was sound asleep in bed. Ally tried to sleep with Arnold by her feet and Peaches right on her belly. As tired as she was, she couldn’t sleep. She used her phone to search to see if she could find any information on the phone number listed on the key card, but she couldn’t find any. She decided that she would try call the number in the morning.
Then she tried to find any information she could about the men at the cabin. With no names to go on, and not even a certain connection to any particular drug dealer she had no idea who she was looking for. However, when she conducted a search on the cabin in the woods with the coordinates the professor gave her she made a discovery that caused her to sit up fast. Peaches screeched and jumped off her lap.
“This can’t be right.” She stared at the screen. “The cabin belongs to Professor Shumer.” She sank back down against the pillow and stared up at the ceiling. “That means that he may be the one who is running drugs, and he may also be the person that killed Shane. Could a man who claimed to care for Shane be the person who took his life?” She recalled the strange conversation she had overheard on the phone when she called him. It appeared as if he was doing his best to hide something. But if he was trying to hide something why would he give Ally the address of the cabin? As she fell asleep she decided that she would look into Professor Shumer first thing in the morning.
Chapter 14
Ally woke to the lovely scent of brewing coffee. She padded her way into the kitchen just as toast popped up from the toaster.
“Mee-Maw, you didn’t have to make breakfast.”
“Maybe not, but I wanted to. How did you sleep?”
“All right, once I fell asleep. I found out something very interesting. Apparently that cabin we saw in the woods is owned by Professor Shumer.”
“What?” Charlotte poured them both a cup of coffee. “That’s odd. Is it possible he doesn’t know what’s happening at his cabin?”
“I highly doubt that.” Ally pursed her lips and blew a ripple across the top of her coffee. “I think he knows exactly what is going on in that cabin, and maybe he asked Shane to keep an eye on the men. Maybe Shane wasn’t there to film birds at all.”
“That would be horrible if it’s true.” Charlotte clucked her tongue.
“It would be. I couldn’t find any information listed about the number on the key card so I’m going to call it and see if I can find out where it is for,” Ally said as she dialed the number.
“Okay, lucky the shop is closed today so we can do some investigating. I’ll just feed the pets.”
The phone rang three times before it went to voicemail. “You have reached Mazzalli’s Box Storage Geraltin.” The recorded message continued to say that they were closed and gave the opening hours. Mazzalli’s Box Storage. Could Mazzalli’s Box Storage be owned by Mario Mazzalli?
Ally went straight to her computer and did a search on the business. She gasped when her suspicions were confirmed. The company was owned by Mario Mazzalli. She turned around to tell her grandmother what she had found when her phone rang. She saw it was Luke.
“Hey Ally, I just wanted to check in and see how you are.”
“I’m good thanks, Luke.”
“Did you find out anything new?”
“How about the fact that the cabin in the woods is owned by Professor Shumer? What do you make of that?”
“Huh. I never would have guessed that. You think he might be caught up in all of this?”
“I don’t know what to think anymore.”
“Okay, call me if you need anything.”
“Thanks Luke.” She hung up the phone and looked over at her grandmother.
“Did he have any new information?” Charlotte asked.
“No.” Ally shook her head. “But it seems to me that we have another prime suspect. Mario Mazzalli. That key card belongs to a business he owns along the Geraltin Pier.”
“But how does that relate to Shane? Do you think that Mario and Professor Shumer are working together?”
“I’m not sure yet, but we’re going to have to look into it. I say we take a drive to Geraltin and see what we can find out about the key card. Maybe we can figure out which storage box it belongs to and take a look inside.”
“That sounds like a good plan. While we’re in Geraltin we could also check in on Keith and Ken, who are the brothers of Shane’s ex. They don’t live far from there.”
“Yes we could! See, we work great together, that’s why we make a great team, Mee-Maw.”
“One of the many reasons.” She smiled.
Ally held up the key card, then climbed into the car. “Let’s see where this leads.”
“Great, now let’s hope we can get that container open.”
While Charlotte drove, Ally continued to search for information on Professor Shumer. She noticed pictures of the cabin on some of his social media pages.
“Mee-Maw, listen to this. Professor Shumer posted this two weeks ago with an old picture of the cabin. ‘Throw back to a time when I actually had the time to use my cabin in the woods. It’s been about three years since I had the time to spend there.’”
“Do you think he’s lying?”
“I don’t know. It was empty. It wasn’t as if anyone was using it even for a vacation home or a fishing getaway. There was nothing there besides empty boxes.”
“If he hasn’t used it in three years it’s possible that he cleared out all of the furniture and personal items. But it’s also possible that he allowed these men to use it as a place to store drugs.”
“Sure it is, but if he did that, why would he tell us about it and post about it on social media? I would think he would want the least amount of attention on his cabin.”
Charlotte parked in the parking lot of the Geraltin Pier. Geraltin Pier was populated by fishing boats and boasted several businesses in the space that led up to the pier. One of them was Mazzalli’s Box Storage. She opened the door for her grandmother and then stepped inside behind her. The office was filled with bags and boxes. A young man who wore a bright orange shirt, which matched the color of the sign that hung over the door, paused the moment he saw them.
“How can I help you?” He heaved a large bag from his shoulder and dropped it to the ground. As soon as he looked up at them, Ally recognized him. All of a sudden Ally’s main suspect slid right out of focus. It was Karen’s oldest brother, Keith.
“Keith?”
“Yeah.” He glanced down at his name tag, then up at her.
“We have a few questions for you.”
“About renting a box?”
“Actually, we’re here because we found something that relates to this business.”
“Did you? What is it?”
“Keith, I understand your sister was dating Shane Smithson, not long ago.”
“Why are you bringing that up?” He clenched his jaw.
“Did you know that the owner of this business had a vendetta against Shane?”
“The owner of this business?” He chuckled. “The owner of this business also owns about a million others. Okay maybe not a million, but it’s a chain and he owns other businesses as well. It’s not as if I even know him.”
“It seems rather coincidental that both you and your boss had a grudge against Shane.” Ally narrowed her eyes. “You two
never discussed it?”
“Like I said, I don’t even know the guy. As for Shane, no I’m not heartbroken that he’s dead. But my sister is. He hurt her, but I would never have killed him. She loved him, and even though he hurt her, she’s still grieving over his death. So, if you want to keep accusing me that’s fine, but it’s not going to get you anywhere.”
“If that’s the case then you should be able to answer a question for us that might help us figure out who is behind his murder.” Charlotte leaned forward on the desk. “I know what it’s like to want to protect someone you love from pain, but the truth is that Shane must not have been that bad of a man if your sister loved him enough to still grieve his death. So why don’t you do the right thing and help us?”
“Look, I’m not interested in getting fired. If it’s something that I can do that doesn’t put my job at risk then I’ll see what I can do.”
“All we need to know is what locker this key card opens. If you can tell us that, we can open it ourselves, and you will have no responsibility for what happens after that.”
“Let me see the key card.” He held out his hand.
“Are you going to run it?” Ally clutched it tight between her fingers.
“Yes, obviously.”
She glanced over at her grandmother who nodded. “It’s the only way we’re going to get any information, so you might as well give it to him.”
“Here you go.” She dropped it in his palm. He stared at it for a moment. Ally held her breath. If he was involved in the murder he certainly wasn’t going to do anything to implicate himself. With a quick swish of his hand he ran it through a scanner attached to the computer on the desk. He tapped the keyboard once, then nodded.
“It opens box four.”
“Great, let me have it back please.” Ally held out her hand.
“Uh, I can’t just let you open the box without some ID that proves you are the owner of the box.”
“I think you already know we’re not the owners.” Charlotte put her hands on her hips. “Now, hand that over young man.” She thrust her hand out, palm up.
“As I said, no.”
“So you do have something to hide.” Ally shook her head. “I knew it. Maybe your sister is heartbroken and you don’t care about her feelings, you just wanted an excuse to get rid of Shane.”
“Stop it, I’m not a murderer. I just don’t want to get fired. My boss isn’t the type that you cross.”
“I thought you said you didn’t know him.” Ally looked into his eyes.
“I don’t know him personally, but I know of his reputation, and I’m not about to cause myself any problems. So no, you can’t have the key card, and you both need to leave the premises before I call the police and let them know that you are trying to force me to open a box that doesn’t belong to you. I’m sure Geraltin PD would love to hear about it.”
Charlotte grabbed Ally by the wrist. “Let’s go, Ally. He’s clearly not going to help us.”
“No, I’m not leaving here without the key card. Please give it back.” Ally thrust out her hand and stared him hard in the eyes. The back door opened and Keith’s brother Ken walked in. Ally noticed that he was also wearing a bright orange shirt.
“I can’t do that. You don’t have a container registered under your name,” Keith said.
“Ally, let’s go.” Charlotte gave her arm a firm tug. Ally’s heart pounded. She wanted to jump right over the counter and snatch the key card from him. It was their only lead.
“I will find out if you had something to do with Shane’s death,” Ally said with determination.
He smirked and shook his head. “Whatever you say, Detective.”
Charlotte directed her out the door. As soon as they were outside, Ally growled. “I can’t believe I lost the key card! Now what are we going to do?”
“It’s okay, Ally, he wouldn’t have let us use it even if we had it. Now we know that it belongs here, and that Keith and Ken work here. Let’s go home and regroup.”
“Yes, okay.” She nodded and headed towards her car. At least they seemed to be making some progress, but she really wished that she had been able to look inside the storage box.
Once in the car Charlotte looked over at her. “Shane’s funeral is tomorrow. Let’s focus on honoring him, okay?”
“You’re right.” Ally gazed out the window as Charlotte started the car. “It would be nice to know who his killer is before then though.”
“Yes, it would.” Charlotte drove away from Geraltin Pier.
Chapter 15
Shane’s funeral was to be held at the Blue River Church. The moment she found out Ally offered to supply some cakes and other chocolate delights for the gathering at a small restaurant after the funeral. The Smithsons were happy to accept. When she and her grandmother returned to the shop, they opened it only long enough to lock the doors again.
“Are you okay with being here, Mee-Maw?”
“Yes I am. I’m just wondering how much we need to make.”
“Honestly, with Shane growing up here and living in Geraltin I’m going to guess that people from both towns are going to be there as well as people from some of the other towns that he worked in. We’re going to need quite a bit.”
“All right, let’s get to work.” Charlotte rolled up her sleeves and washed her hands. Ally followed suit.
As they prepared chocolates and other desserts the two discussed the case and where it might lead.
“I think the funeral tomorrow may be very telling. I’m curious about who will show up. Will Professor Shumer show his face there even if he’s the murderer?”
“I wonder that, too. He claims that he was friends with Shane and he said he was going to give a speech at his funeral so it would be strange if he didn’t.”
As they finished the chocolates, Ally slid the trays into the refrigerator. She glanced at her watch and then looked at her grandmother who was just ending a call on her cell phone.
“Why don’t we go home now, Mee-Maw?”
“I just arranged to be picked up here for a dinner date.”
“That’s nice.”
“He’s going to drop me off at the cottage later.”
“Okay good. I’ll stay here with you until he gets here.”
“No ambush!” Charlotte raised an eyebrow.
“All right, all right.” Ally watched through the front window for Charlotte’s date to show up. A few minutes later a silver Buick pulled up outside the shop. Ally started to open the door to greet him, but Charlotte slipped past her and waved.
“Have a good evening, sweetheart.”
Ally watched her disappear into the car and tried not to pout. It was hard to feel pushed out of Charlotte’s life, but she knew that her grandmother deserved her privacy, just like she allowed Ally to have hers. After her grandmother left, Ally locked up the store. With cautious steps she made her way across the parking lot to her car. Luckily there was no sign of a man in a mask.
Ally drove directly to Karen’s house. Now that she’d spoken to Keith she wanted to hear Karen’s side. She parked in the driveway, then walked up to the door. The house was small but tidy, and Ally noticed that the curtains were drawn. She knocked on the door, then held her breath. A few seconds later a woman opened the door. She was quite a bit younger than Ally, and looked remarkably like her brothers. Her eyes were red and swollen.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Ally.” She offered her hand. “I’m a friend of Shane’s.”
“A friend?” She narrowed her eyes. “I knew all of his friends, and I didn’t know you.”
“Well, we just spoke in passing, it wasn’t exactly friendship.”
“So why are you here?” She rested her head against the door frame and stared at Ally.
“Shane used to come into the chocolate shop I run.”
“Oh, Charlotte’s Chocolate Heaven, you own it?”
“My grandmother does.”
“He loved that place, a
lways used to bring me chocolates from there. What do you want from me?”
“I know that you and Shane were a couple not long before he died. Are you holding up okay?”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“I just mean that I’m sure you must be upset about his death.”
“Oh.” She wiped at her eyes. “Maybe I am. What’s it to you?”
“I’m not here to cause you any more pain than you’re already dealing with. I just wanted to talk with someone who I thought knew Shane very, very well. You two were close weren’t you?”
“Yes, we were. Of course we were. We were in love.”
“I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.” She sniffed.
“Did you notice anything different about Shane lately? Maybe after he broke up with you?”
“What?” She narrowed her eyes. “He never broke up with me.”
“Oh.” Ally furrowed a brow. “I’m sorry, I must have misunderstood. You and Shane were still together when he was killed?”
“Not exactly. We decided to take a small break while he finished school. But we weren’t broken up, we were just on pause.”
“So why did your brothers go to the university and threaten him?”
“They do whatever they want, I have no control over them. They found me crying, and I tried to explain, but they both lost it and said they were going to make him pay.” She grimaced. “But that was just talk. They didn’t hurt Shane.”
“Are you sure about that? Do you know where your brothers were that night?”
“At the movie screening, just like everyone else.”
“You were there, too?”
“No. I stayed at home. I didn’t want to risk running into Shane. We were just on a break, but I didn’t want things to be awkward. Especially seeing as my brothers were there.”
“Are you sure your brothers didn’t go there looking for him?”
“I’m sure. They had nothing to do with Shane’s death.”
“Okay. Is there anything else that you think might be relevant to working out who killed Shane?”
“No, I can’t think of anything.”