Murder & Spice and Everything Nice: Ivy Bloom Mysteries

by Caryn Thomas Mitchell

  “No, just tired. Do you think I could go to bed now…Ivy?” she smiled shyly.

  “Yes, of course, I’m tired myself,” I said leading her to the bedroom. She dropped her small satchel at the side of the bed, and I showed her where she could find the bathroom, towels, and a spare toothbrush.”

  “Thank you, I don’t have much with me, I’m afraid. The few things I had were lost in the fire, I have some clothes though, so I’m set. I’m sorry but I’m just so tired.”

  “No problem at all. You go ahead and get some sleep,” I smiled in what I hoped was a reassuring way.

  “Thank you, um…Ivy, I really appreciate this,” she smiled shyly as she closed the bedroom door behind her.

  “So what’s the scoop here, Drake?” I whispered.

  “No scoop, I told you,” he hissed back at me.

  I glanced toward her door, “I know that’s what you said, but I don’t believe you.”

  “Well, I did think if maybe she trusted us, well, you, she might be forthcoming about anything she knows.”

  “So you want me to informally question her?”

  “No, I definitely do not want you to do that. Just be friendly and nice and see if anything interesting comes up.”

  “Uh huh, sure. Oh, hey, listen, I did hear something interesting earlier. I heard that Nedra had a pocket buyer for the compound property. The sign is just for show, she has her mark. Uh I mean buyer.”

  He laughed, “Her mark, huh? Pull in those claws, Ivy.”

  “I didn’t really mean it that way, she’s just so…focused, you know?”

  “You mean greedy?”

  “No, not at all…well maybe a little. I mean I know you have to work like 24/7 in real estate to stay on top but her! She hasn’t got a friend in the world, just clients and her bank account. I think her husband practically lives in Boston.”

  “He seems to,” Drake nodded. “You wouldn’t happen to know who this ‘pocket buyer’ is would you?”

  “No clue, we’ll find out soon enough I guess.”

  “Yeah, and I’m going to have some questions for them when we do,” he pushed himself away from the counter he had been leaning on. “I’m outta here, long day, long night, I gotta get some sleep. Let me know if you hear anything else,” he nodded his head toward the bedroom.

  “Yes sir, I sure will,” I said, ushering him out.

  I was tired, but wired, and I had more questions than ever. It was time to make a few phone calls, and see what I could dig up on my own.

  The thing about living in New York City, well one of the many things, is that you end up knowing people who do all sorts of random jobs. In just my building alone we had a fire walker, a congressional aid, a senior administrator at a school for clowns and…a private investigator.

  A private investigator who never slept.

  I had picked his brain a couple of times when I was ghost-writing a murder mystery series, and now that I had a real mystery on my hands I was hoping he could help.

  He picked up on the third ring, “Hey Gerry! How’s it going?”

  “How’s my favorite author turned bookstore owner?”

  “Well, it’s been exciting, I guess,” I said, and proceeded to detail the events of the past couple of weeks.

  We had a deal, Gerry held on to a dollar of mine, kept it in a filing cabinet, so at a moment’s notice he worked for me. Usually it was just information about cases I was researching to base my books on, stuff like information on basics about how to run a license plate or do a skip trace.

  This time I needed more than that and I outlined it for Gerry and gave him the names I had jotted down.

  “How big a hurry for this?” he asked.

  “Not too big, but within the week would be awesome,” I said. He laughed.

  “Okay then, I’ll get right to work on it.”

  With that out of the way I turned off the light and tried to sleep.

  Chapter 15

  It took a few days to hear back from Gerry. Long days. Days when everywhere I looked I saw a suspect.

  Having Daisy stay with me was both no trouble at all, and troubling. On the no trouble at all front, she was so quiet that most of the time, I had to check to see if she was actually home. She kept her door closed and was as quiet as a mouse. When she rose in the morning, she made me coffee, then she usually disappeared for a few hours. This was a whole other conundrum, should I follow her, ask about her day, stay out of her business?

  I knew she had lied about the phone. Amos wouldn’t have allowed one if he’d known. Why did she have it, and how had she gotten it? Where was she off to during the day and what was she doing? She walked so I couldn’t very well follow her and when I offered a ride she declined.

  In the meantime the clean-up at the compound had begun, that could be where she spent some of her time. The women had been allowed to comb through the debris, under the watchful eye of the Fire Marshal, to see if there was anything they could save and use. The answer was pretty universally no, there was nothing of any value left.

  I had heard the walls were scheduled for demolition, and decided to go join the crowd of rubber neckers, not because I really need to see walls knocked down, but it might be interesting to see who shows up.

  Drake was, of course, front and center. He was there with a couple of other cops, mostly they were keeping the rest of us from getting too close.

  People were parked all along the road, some were standing, others were sitting in their cars, or on their cars, watching the action. Nedra was there, keeping an eye on her little gold nugget of a property. Gigi was there with Jennifer, and they waved and walked toward me.

  “Crazy, right?” Gigi said.

  “It’s so weird,” Jennifer remarked as she watched the machines begin to knock down the wall that had surrounded the estate. “Crazy that it all began with finding him in the driveway of the bookstore.”

  “It is crazy to think we’ve come this far and we still really don’t know what happened to him.”

  “Where will they all go?” Jennifer asked.

  “Well, some seem to have left town already, at least that’s what I heard from Drake the other day. Others are looking for jobs, planning to hang around here. They haven’t got cars, or much experience working, but the Cape is a good spot if you want to be restaurant help or work in a boutique. They’ll figure it out, maybe some will go home.”

  “Maybe, but if my parents had sent me here to hide me, I don’t think I’d be going back.”

  I smiled at Jennifer, “We are lucky to have you, I can’t imagine what those parents were thinking.”

  “Thanks Aunt Ivy, I wasn’t fishing for a compliment, but that’s nice of you to say.”

  Gigi smiled at her daughter, and I thought of all the young women whose lives had been forever changed by living in this compound. As the walls came down, I imagined their spirits being freed of the ball and chain that living here must have been for some of them.

  “How’s Daisy?” Gigi asked me.

  “Mysterious,” I said shaking my head, “she slips in and out so quietly I never even know if she’s there, and I have no idea at all what she is up to when she’s gone, which is most of the time I think. Honestly it’s hard to tell. She eats and sleeps there, but there’s no chatter, no conversation to speak of. I never hear her on a phone, although I know she has one. I don’t know, the whole thing is weird. I mean, she’s no trouble, so I don’t need her to leave. I was thinking of asking her to work in the store if she’s going to stick around.”

  “Unless she’s the killer,” Jennifer said, waggling her eyebrows.

  “Well, right, if they arrest her, then her bookseller career would be short-lived.”

  “Whose bookseller career?” Drake had walked up to join our little group.

  “Daisy’s,” I supplied, “should she decided she wants one, which doesn’t seem to be the case.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She’s never home, she goes out eve
ry day and doesn’t come back until dinner time.”

  “Sounds like she already has a job,” Drake said, his face gave away nothing even as he made the remark.

  “Right? It sorta does. I haven’t asked what she’s up to because, well it’s none of my business. I’ve got a store to run, but seriously, it’s kind of mysterious.”

  “Thanks for the update. Have you found out anything else?”

  “Me? I’m not on the force, that’s your job.”

  “Yeah, I know, but you are a nosy little thing, just thought I’d ask.”

  “No, nothing yet, I’ll let you know though.”

  “Good enough,” he waved at us, see you later ladies.

  “Well, that was weird,” Gigi whispered.

  “Kinda, I can’t tell with him, he’s sort of awkward anyway, so it’s hard to say.”

  “He’s not wrong though, you are nosy.”

  “I prefer to think of it as being inquisitive, and it’s not a crime.”

  “Nope, and it saves me the trouble, you get the reputation for being nosy and I still get all the good gossip!”

  “Right, sisterhood.” I laughed. “I’m going to go back to work, I’ll catch you guys later. Jenn, are you on to work for the weekend?”

  “Yep, I”ll be there,”

  “Definitely the best niece on the planet, see you later!”

  I drove home over the gently winding roads, appreciating the leafy greenery that waved to me along the roadside. Such a pretty place to hide such terrible secrets, I mused. My tires crunched on the seashell driveway as I drove up toward the house and pulled around back to park.

  Just then my cell phone went off and glancing at the display I touched the screen to answer, “Hi Gerry, I was just thinking about you.”

  “That’s what they say about the Devil isn’t it? Think of him and he appears?”

  “Something like that, what’s up? Do you have any answers for me?”

  “I do indeed and you’ve got a couple of doozies on your hands out there, are you sitting down?”

  Chapter 16

  After I got off the phone with Gerry I pondered my list. Tapping my pencil thoughtfully I made little doodles by the names.

  Well, no sense in prolonging it, first thing in the morning I would go confront a few pretenders.

  First up, Daisy.

  The next morning, before she could slip out for the day I knocked on her bedroom door.

  “Yes,” she was so quiet I could barely hear her.

  “Daisy?’ I pressed open the door, “I wanted to ask you a question.”

  “Sure, how may I help you?” she said as I walked in. Daisy was dressed in street clothes, I had never seen her in them before. She wore black slacks and a collared shirt, she looked all business. I turned to look at the closet to see what other clothes she might have stored in there but the closet was empty. She had her small bag on the bed and it looked as though all of her belongings were tucked inside.

  I wasn’t sure how to ask in any way that was even a little elegant, so I just blurted it out.“I just wondered, are you a cop?”

  She looked at me, eyes wide.

  “Because I have some information that says you are. And, to be honest I’m not sure it’s any of my business and maybe you aren’t supposed to tell me, except you’re staying here and two people died on my property, so um what the heck is going on?” I finished all in one breath.

  Daisy looked stunned and I could see for a minute she wasn’t sure what to say to me, then she squared her shoulders, sat on the bed, and began to speak.

  The whispery child like voice was gone and in its place was a polished and professional sounding young woman.

  “Yes, I am. It’s an investigation into Father Amos’s cult. Well it was an investigation. It’s hard to investigate something where the chief suspects have died and their place of business has burned down. I mean, who does that happen to?” she said shrugging with her palms upturned, “anyway, he was doing so much out of there, babies, adoptions, unwed mothers, women detoxing from drugs, we weren’t sure what was legal and what wasn’t and we’d had some, well, a lot of tips that he was a little too close to the line of legality, so I became a member in order to find out,” she looked up at me. “I would ask you to keep it to yourself, at least until I can get out of town? It’s an open investigation, so I hope you’ll understand if I don’t talk specifics with you.”

  “You’re leaving?”

  “Well, yeah,” she shrugged, “there’s no one left to talk to here, I sent all my files back to the home office already. I’m not really sure much can come of it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, like I said, Amos and Ruth are gone, the property’s been burned down, and will be sold soon if it hasn’t been already. I don’t really have a reason to stick around.”

  “But two people are dead!”

  “I’m not local law enforcement, Ivy. That particular problem isn’t the focus of our investigations, although the reasons for someone to kill them are, or might be” she tilted her head, “but until we know who the someone is, I’m taking a bit of a backseat here. And with the compound gone, and the women all split up, this isn’t the best place for us to use our resources, or that’s been the decision anyway,” she concluded.

  “So, that’s it, you’re just out of here?”

  “Yeah, I have a few things to clear up today, but after that, I’m gone,” she stuck out her hand, “it’s been nice to know you, and stay here, you were always very kind.”

  “Thanks. I guess. Are you sure you can’t stay and help untangle this?”

  “It’s not up to me, actually, but no I really can’t. I’m needed back at my desk, and with the information I got there’s more we can do with databases than we can with boots on the ground here. For now.”

  “Wow, okay, well, thanks…I guess. Um, can I give you a lift anywhere?”

  “Oh, no, I have a ride coming. Really, you’ve been very kind, thanks for everything. I’ll probably be back here at some point, I’m not sure when. To tell you the truth I’d love to come just sit and read in the store downstairs. You’ve done such a nice job with it, I hope you do well.”

  “If people would stop dying here I’m sure we’d do great,” I said as we left her room.

  “People dying here is over. I’m pretty sure anyway. You’ll do well here. I’ll be back sometime, I’d love to get to know you as me.”

  And with that, she was gone. So, my sleuthing had worked but essentially turned up nothing. At least not so far. I half laughed to myself, this was my own private version of a game show. On to the next reveal.

  Chapter 17

  Drake’s car was in the parking lot of the squat brick building that was the police station. I went in the front door and spoke to the officer who was acting as gatekeeper.

  “Is Drake in?”

  “Ivy, good to see you. Yeah, I think he’s here, I’ll call.”

  What was this guys name, I couldn’t recall. Pete? Dominick? George? No idea, his badge listed only his last name, Starier.

  “You can go on back, you know where it is?” he asked as he flipped through the papers on his desk.

  “Yep, thanks,” I said, hoping that leaving out his name wasn’t glaringly rude, and walked back to the rear of the building. I hadn’t been in Drake’s office in a long while, but it was right where I remembered. Down the hall, last office on the left. He kept the room pretty spare, no photos, no mementos, no citations. The walls were empty and stark. His desk though, and every available surface, was a jumbled mess of papers and file folders, so at least that looked human.

  “Nice place you’ve got here,” I said as I leaned against the doorway.

  “Yeah, thanks,” he said, not looking up.

  “So, what are you working on?”

  “Ignoring you, mostly, I have my hands full here, what can I do for you?” he said as he looked up.

  “So, Daisy was a cop?”

  He sighed,
“Come on in, sit down,” he said as he waved his hand to indicate I should come past the front door.

  I walked in and looked from one of the two available chairs to the other trying to figure out which pile of debris would be easier to dislodge. Looking up, Drake noticed and relieved one of the chairs of its burden by moving the pile of debris to an open spot on the floor. Why didn’t I think of that?

  I sat and looked at him, “Well?”

  “Well, what?”

  “You don’t think that was the sort of thing you might have mentioned before you asked me to let her stay at my house?”

  He scrubbed his hand through his hair and I noticed the bags under his eyes. He looked tired, I almost felt sorry for him, but not quite. No one begged him to be a cop, he could’ve done something less stressful. I just couldn’t imagine what. It seemed like other than high school he had always been a police officer, probably he couldn’t imagine doing anything else either.

  “What?” he said, “it’s not like I asked you to house a murderer. She was a cop, undercover, no danger to you, probably you were safer with her there.”

  “Is that why you asked her to stay with me?”

  “To keep you safer? I wish I could tell you yes, because then you’d leave me alone,” he glared at me “but no. She needed a place to stay, I knew you wouldn’t say no, and I knew you wouldn’t be in any more danger with her there than you are already, which by the way is probably none.”

  “What’ve we got?”

  “We? What’s this ‘we’ stuff?”

  “Look, I’m involved, I don’t really want to be, but I am. It happened at my place.”

  “I know, but that doesn’t make you privy to the innards of the investigation, it just makes you unlucky. Unless you’re an accomplice.”

  “Do you think I am?”

  “Do I think you’re what?”

  “An accomplice? Or a murderer? Unlucky? Involved? You know,” I sighed, all these years later and he’s still so exasperating.