Gone Missing: A Jonelle Sweet Mystery Book 2

by R. Lanier Clemons

  “Would you like something to drink?” Marcella asked, standing behind a breakfast counter. “I have water, Pepsi and uh, something a little stronger if you’d like.”

  Jonelle walked over to the tiny kitchen, grasped the back of one of the high-backed bar stools next to the counter and sat down. “Water’s fine.” Jonelle remained quiet as she accepted a bottle of water. Marcella then reached down, took out a half-filled bottle of white wine, and poured herself a generous glass.

  Jonelle waited until after Marcella had taken a substantial swallow.

  “See, here’s the thing.” Jonelle sighed. “I have no problem with taking your case. In fact, based on what I found out at the theater, there’s something not right about how LucieBlu was treated and I very much want to get to the bottom of whatever’s going on. But, I can’t help you if you won’t be honest with me.

  “Tell me, why did you lie about the police report?”

  Marcella stared into the wine glass. “I was afraid if I told you I didn’t go to the police, you’d tell me to do that first and then come back to see you.” She looked at Jonelle. “Right?”

  “Well, yes. Probably. But that still doesn’t— ”

  “And then that would’ve wasted more time. Plus, with me not being a relative and all, they might’ve just brushed me off. I knew when I met you that you’d get on the case right away.”

  Jonelle had to admit Marcella was right about that. “Let’s start over, you and me. The next thing I want to do is go to LucieBlu’s apartment and have a look around. Do you still have a key?”

  Marcella nodded. She emptied the remaining wine into her glass, opened a cabinet under the sink and deposited the bottle.

  Jonelle covered her concern over Marcella’s drinking by searching for her phone. She pulled it out and checked the calendar. “I may be able to swing by LucieBlu’s apartment on Monday. I’d like it if you could come with me, but if you can’t, I’ll make sure to return the key.”

  Marcella nodded. She put her glass on the counter and went down a narrow hall. She returned a short time later with a single key on a plastic key ring.

  “Thanks,” Jonelle said, depositing the key in her bag.

  Marcella gave her the address and Jonelle wrote it down in the notebook she always carried in her bag. “I can meet you there when you get off work, say around five?”

  Marcella nodded. “I’ll see if anything’s different from the first time I went over there and noticed she was missing.”

  “Great.” She debated whether or not to tell Marcella about the trip to the tavern. As she watched Marcella play with strands of hair, Jonelle made a decision. She couldn’t insist the woman be honest with her, if she wasn’t honest in return.

  “Before I leave, I have to tell you that I went back to where you work, waited until I saw you in the parking lot, and then followed you to Mike’s Tavern.”

  Marcella’s mouth formed a large “O”. “You did what?” She managed.

  Jonelle nodded.

  “Why did you do that? This isn’t about me. This is about LucieBlu. You had no right to invade my privacy.” She balled her hands into fists.

  “Yes, I’m afraid I have every right. If I can’t trust your words, then I have to resort to other means of getting information.” Jonelle made no move to leave. She didn’t care if the woman got angry. “So, tell me about Mike’s Tavern. It looks like a biker bar, at least from the outside. Did LucieBlu ever go there?”

  Marcella twirled thin hair around her fingers so fast, Jonelle was afraid they’d get stuck in there. “Sometimes.” She glared at Jonelle, lips pressed tight.

  “How often is ‘sometimes’?”

  “I guess we went there, maybe three or four times. She really didn’t like the place all that much.”

  “Did she say that?”

  Marcella nodded. “Most times I went by myself.”

  “Why didn’t she like it?”

  Marcella shrugged.

  “So, then, I guess there’s no chance she went there without you knowing? See, while I waited for you to leave I saw you and a burly looking guy with bright red hair, in the parking lot. It looked like you two were arguing. Was it about LucieBlu?”

  Marcella stopped kneading her hair. “You’re spying on me!”

  Jonelle frowned. “This isn’t about you. But you’re the strongest connection I have to LucieBlu right now. You said yourself you don’t want to waste any time. Did LucieBlu meet the guy you were with?”

  Marcella shook her head. Deep lines creased her brow. “He’s a friend of mine, not LucieBlu’s.”

  Jonelle stared at Marcella. “You sure about that?”

  “I’m sure. The few times we went there, she felt everyone was judging her, figuring her for some kinda freak. Her words, not mine.”

  Jonelle decided to take Marcella’s word. For the moment. “Where did she like to hang out?”

  “She liked going to bars where she could mingle with people who understood her better. You know, LGBT bars. There’s a really good one in DC. Not at all sleazy and with great food. They have dancing and sometimes a local band performed. We went there a lot.”

  “Great. I’ll need the name of the place. Since she was a regular, I’m sure someone would remember her.”

  Marcella turned and walked a few steps over to a drawer underneath the kitchen counter. She rummaged through it and produced a business card.

  “Here. This has the name and address.”

  “Thanks.” Jonelle glanced at the card and tucked it in her shoulder bag.

  “You want me to go with you? When you’re ready?” Marcella asked.

  She considered that for a moment. “That might be a good idea. I’ll let you know.”

  Jonelle handed her empty water bottle to Marcella. After a rocky start, she was pleased with the way the day’s events came together. Still, she needed to make sure her client understood a few things.

  “This is the way the investigation is going to work. I’ll give you regular updates on my findings. If I need you to fill in any blanks, I’ll ask for your honest input. If at any time going forward, you lie to me again, no matter how trivial it may seem to you, you’ll need to seek help elsewhere. Understood?”

  Marcella’s hand flew to her mouth. After a few moments, she nodded.

  “Good. Now, I realize you’re paying for my services. So, if you don’t like what I just said and want me to end my involvement with this case, I’ll do so and render you a final bill. What would you like me to do?”

  Marcella walked past Jonelle and stood looking out the sliding glass doors.

  The kitchen clock ticked off the seconds, making it the only sound in the apartment. After a bit, Marcella turned around and faced Jonelle. “I’d like you to continue with the case,” she said in a quiet voice.

  Jonelle tried not to show how relieved she was. “Good. I’m glad we’ve cleared the air.”

  As she turned to go, Marcella’s voice stopped her.

  “Please find LucieBlu. She was—is—a great friend and I hate the thought that she’s hurt somewhere. Or worse.”

  CHAPTER 10

  The next morning, Jonelle sat around the oval conference room table at the agency along with her uncle Marvin, Rainey and the two other investigators, Omar Kamal and Ben Whitfield. This was her first time as a participant in the staff meeting and she fiddled with her necklace, anxious of what the others would think of her first two cases.

  After everyone had poured their coffee and grabbed a donut, Marvin started the meeting promptly at nine thirty. “Okay everybody, let’s begin. First off, I’d like to thank Rainey for turning Willa’s old office into our new conference room. Of course, that meant,” he looked over at Jonelle, “that we had to put Jonnie in the old storage closet. That will change once the expansion goes through.

  “Second, Rainey will pass each of you a copy of the agency’s status report. As you can see, it shows the number of new cases that came in. We’re doing great in spite of, o
r maybe because of, the weak economy.” Marvin paused to give everyone time to glance at the statement. “Anyone have any questions about what they’re looking at?” Marvin asked. He looked over at Jonelle. She shook her head.

  “I’ve got one, Captain.”

  Marvin acknowledged his most senior investigator.

  “Go ahead, Ben.”

  “Well, since we’re handling so many cases, how about a raise?” Ben grinned, mouth ringed in powdered sugar from the two donuts he’d just consumed. Traces of the sugar dotted his gray checked shirt.

  Omar groaned. “Every meeting we gotta listen to him whine about wanting a raise.” He waved a napkin in front of Ben’s face. “Clean yourself up, why don’t you?”

  “Sorry some of us don’t have rich parents,” Ben shot back, ignoring the napkin. “Say, didn’t your family recently buy you a wife or somethin’? Rest of us gotta find our significant others the old fashioned way.”

  Omar threw his pencil at Ben, who ducked and came up laughing.

  “Children,” Marvin said, trying to keep a straight face, “behave yourselves. This is a professional organization. You’re giving Jonelle the wrong impression.” Marvin turned and looked at her. He noticed she took, but did not eat, the one plain donut in the box. “You okay?” he asked.

  Jonelle nodded, her stomach tied in knots.

  “Okay, then. I want to hear a status report on the cases everyone’s working on. We’ll start with Ben.”

  Ben advised the group that he was almost finished with the four security background checks that one of their biggest clients wanted. “Two of them are good to go, but there’s one guy I’m gonna recommend they reject. Dude lied in three places on his app. Got one more to vet before I issue the final report.”

  Marvin nodded and turned to Omar.

  “This lawyer case you gave me Marvin is turning out to be a real pain. One of their star witnesses has been arrested on drug charges, not once, but twice. If they put this woman on the stand, the prosecution is gonna tear her apart. The second witness looks good. I’ve got five more to investigate.”

  “Great,” Marvin said. “Rainey, you got all that?”

  Rainey nodded. “Don’t forget to give me your prelim reports guys. I gotta put all this in the computer.”

  “Oh, one more thing Captain,” Omar said, running brown fingers through thick, black hair. “One of the partners at the firm wanted me to ask if we had the resources to do all their witness investigations from now on. Told him I had to run it by you.”

  Marvin nodded. “Let me think about that. Don’t like to turn down good business, but we’re getting stretched a little thin. That it?”

  “I’m done,” Omar said.

  All eyes honed in on Jonelle.

  “I know this is your first meeting Jonelle, so relax. We only want to know what you’re working on and how it’s going,” Marvin said, smiling at his niece.

  Jonelle took two deep breaths. “Well,” she began. Her stomach growled. She flushed, placed a hand against her midsection and frowned at her notes.

  Everyone waited.

  Jonelle regarded the expectant faces. Rainey winked encouragement.

  “My first case is Sally Piedmont. She’s eighty-four, a widow and some jewelry is missing. She wants me to find out who stole the pieces, and of course, recover the items.”

  Marvin sat back in his chair. “Is that the same woman who contacted us twice before? Why didn’t she go to the police?”

  Jonelle nodded. Oh, boy. Here goes.

  “That’s her. She thinks the culprit is her husband… and he’s been dead for two years,” Jonelle said.

  “So, the items have been missing for two years?” Ben asked, frowning.

  “No,” Jonelle responded. “She believes the jewelry went missing two weeks ago.”

  For a moment, no one said anything. Jonelle stared at her uncle, trying to gauge his reaction. Someone snickered. Was it Ben? Omar?

  “So, instead of referring her, you’ve decided to take the case. What do you plan to do?” Marvin asked, fingers tented under his chin.

  Jonelle explained she’d already conducted a preliminary search of Sally’s house. In addition, she told everyone she talked to the son and contacted a locksmith to install better locks. “I’m taking Sally to the bank to put the remaining jewelry in a safety deposit box. I think she just misplaced the items, but I told her I’d help,” Jonelle said. “I’m going back to do a more thorough search of the house.” She didn’t mention Sally’s daughter Vera or the locked closet.

  “Fine,” Marvin said. “Fill us in about your other assignment.”

  “It’s a missing person’s case. LucieBlu Bonderant is missing and her friend wants to know what happened. I’ve interviewed Marcella Abbott, she’s the friend who hired us. And I’ve talked to a few people at the community theater where she auditioned for a part. There are more people there I need to interview. The director gave me a list of all the productions LucieBlu was involved with. Someone may have a clue as to her frame of mind.” Jonelle paused. “I’m also going to check her apartment and the bar where she liked to hang out.”

  Marvin frowned. “Sounds like another case for the police. Why—”

  “I know that,” she said, interrupting her uncle. “Sorry, but that’s the first thing I told Marcella. Basically, she wants me to investigate because she’s afraid no one would put much effort in trying to find her friend.”

  “Why on earth not?” Marvin asked. “That’s the police’s job.”

  With a huge sigh, Jonelle continued. “Because LucieBlu is an adult, with no relatives in the area. And she’s transgender. Marcella’s worried the police would shove the case aside and concentrate on other things. Whether or not that’s true,” Jonelle added, seeing her uncle ready to object again, “fact is, that’s what Marcella believes. Time is also a factor since Marcella is not exactly sure when LucieBlu went missing.”

  Marvin leaned back in his chair and studied his niece. Silence hung in the air like thick fog on a spring morning.

  Rainey cleared her throat. “Um, Jonelle. Just fill out the preliminary report on both projects with whatever information you have right now. Do you want to bill weekly or wait until the cases are closed?”

  Grateful Rainey had moved on to another topic, Jonelle smiled at the secretary. “I’d like to wait until I close each case. Sally’s should be relatively easy. I’m going over to her house later today to check the new locks and drive her to the bank. It may take more time with the missing person’s case.” Jonelle didn’t mention her reservations about Marcella. She took a sip of lukewarm coffee, grateful her ordeal was over.

  Everyone turned and looked at Marvin. “Well, if that’s all for now, we can get back to work. Anybody have anything else?” He looked at each one in turn. “Jonnie?”

  Jonelle shook her head.

  “Okay then. Meeting’s over. You all take care. Rainey, I’ll be in my office until ten thirty. I’ve got a potential client meeting across town at eleven, right?”

  “He hasn’t called to cancel, so it’s still on,” Rainey said.

  Everyone stood to leave. On the way out, Ben grabbed another donut. Omar looked at him with disgust. “Those things will kill you, you know,” Omar said.

  Ben shrugged. “Dead is dead, dude. I figure I can either die full ‘a broccoli and salad or die full ‘a sugar and bacon. I prefer sugar and bacon.”

  Rainey laughed. “Get to work you two.”

  Jonelle lined up behind the two men.

  Rainey patted her on the back. “You did fine, hon.”

  ***

  Jonelle drove to Sally’s house and arrived just as raindrops splashed on her windshield. She parked in the same spot as before and glanced across the street. Nothing so far. She waited a few beats and then, yep, there he was. Mister Nosey peeking out the window. He moved away as soon as he noticed her watching.

  Purse poised over her head to protect her hair from the rain, Jonelle ran up and
onto Sally’s porch. Once again the elderly woman opened the door before Jonelle knocked.

  “Come in, come in,” Sally said, waving Jonelle inside. “Get out of the rain.”

  Jonelle looked around. Everything seemed as neat as the first time she visited. Before Sally closed the door, Jonelle wanted to see the new locks.

  “Hold on a sec,” Jonelle said. “Let me see what the locksmith did.” The mechanism was a lockable thumb-down deadbolt which would allow Sally to use a key to unlock the door from the inside and outside, or just the outside. “Looks good,” she said.

  A quick glance at Sally caught the woman shrugging. “Would you like to see the one on the back door?” she asked.

  “Sure.”

  Sally led the way through the living room, into the kitchen—Jonelle eyed the refrigerator—past the mud room and to the back door. The lock was the same high quality as the one on the front door.

  Pleased, Jonelle turned toward Sally who stood with a blank expression on her face.

  “Don’t you like the new locks? They’re a whole lot sturdier than just the knob locks you had before.”

  “I guess so.” Sally shrugged. “Too many keys though. I feel like I’m in a fortress.”

  Jonelle didn’t think two extra keys, plus copies of each, was ‘too many’, but kept her opinion to herself.

  As they walked back to the front of the house, Jonelle couldn’t help thinking about the refrigerator shoes. “Any other, uh, problems?”

  Puzzled, Sally looked up at Jonelle.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Any items appearing where they’re not supposed to be?”

  Sally giggled. “Oh, that. No, not today. Nothing is out of place.”

  Oh, that?

  “Well, then. Go get whatever jewelry you want to secure inside the safety deposit box at the bank, and we can leave.”

  Sally patted her purse. “I’ve got everything in here, except for a few good pieces and my everyday earrings and necklaces.”

  Thousands of dollars’ worth of jewelry sat at the bottom of an old straw handbag. Jonelle hoped there wasn’t a hole inside. “Good enough,” she managed. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to deal with a few more keys at the bank,” Jonelle said. “Speaking of which, where are you keeping the duplicate set of keys for the new locks? Did you give the extra set to William?” Jonelle hoped not, but the man was her son, after all.