by Cindy Bell
“Okay.” Colin glanced towards the door of the study, then looked back towards her. “I went there to speak to Nigel. I knew he would be there, and I knew that my father wouldn’t be, so I went to the farmer’s market to speak to him.”
“Did you argue?” Ally studied him.
“No. Not exactly. He wasn’t happy to see me, but he was willing to talk. I wanted to mend things with him, and bring him back into the family. He actually listened.” He cringed and shook his head. “I know this will be hard to believe, but Nigel told me that he had something very important to tell me. But he wanted to speak to both me and my father about it at the same time. From his tone, I knew it was something bad. I tried to get him to tell me, but then the booth got busy. I decided to leave to get my father. I thought maybe he would be willing to talk to Nigel if he knew that it was important. I drove over to the neighboring farm where my father was meant to be. By the time I came back Nigel was gone.”
“Did you come back with your father? Did you speak to him at the other farm?” Ally pressed.
“No, I didn’t. I couldn’t find him. When I called him he said that he and Linda had finished the tour and went to a nearby coffee shop. I mentioned what Nigel had said, and he blew up at me. He said he would never speak to Nigel again and that I shouldn’t either.” He swallowed hard.
“Sounds like he was pretty worked up.” Charlotte frowned.
“Yes, he was.” Colin nodded. “So was I to be honest. When I got back to the farmer’s market the police were already arriving. I didn’t realize why until I got to the booth.”
“Did you speak to the police then?” Ally asked.
“No, I didn’t. I couldn’t get near Nigel, and I guess I was afraid of being accused. So I took off. Maybe that was a mistake.”
“Maybe, but maybe it was a good thing.” Ally met his eyes. “If you had spoken to them they might have arrested you on the spot. I think you need to be careful about what you say and to whom,” Ally suggested. She had learnt this firsthand when she had been suspected of murder.
“I realize that now. I don’t think it will matter what I do or say though, the police have me in their sights and they’re not going to give up until I’m in handcuffs. I’ve never been arrested in my life. I’ll admit, I’m scared.”
“I don’t blame you for being afraid, Colin. I’ll see if I can find out anything for you and see if I can help you,” Ally said.
“Thank you. That’s good.” He stood up and offered his hand. “You have no idea how good it feels to have someone on my side. I feel like the whole town is pointing its finger at me.”
Ally shook his hand and then released it with an encouraging smile. “Try not to get too caught up in that. I think you should contact a lawyer in case. I’m sure this will all get straightened out.”
“Thanks for your time, Colin.” Charlotte offered her hand to him. “And again, I’m sorry for your loss. Remember that even though all of this is happening, you will still need time to grieve.”
“Thank you for that, Charlotte. I feel like I can’t begin to accept my brother’s death with all of this hanging over my head.”
As Colin walked the two to the front door, Ally noticed a man standing in the long hallway that led to another section of the house. He didn’t speak a word to either of them. Ally looked quickly away. Colin didn’t seem to notice him. Once Charlotte and Ally were through the door Colin began to close it. Before he got it shut all the way Ally heard a raised voice.
“How could you have done this? How? Am I just supposed to accept this from you, Colin?”
The shout was so loud that it caused Charlotte and Ally to freeze at the bottom of the steps. Colin pushed the door closed.
“Who is yelling?” Charlotte frowned.
“I think it was his father, Bob. I saw him in the hallway when we were leaving.”
“Do you think we should check on Colin?” Charlotte asked.
“I’m not sure if we should interfere and they are both quiet now, but did you hear what he said? Was he asking Colin how he could have killed his brother?”
Charlotte sighed as they walked towards the car. “I hope not. If that’s the case then we might have just taken the wrong side.”
“I’m not sure that I’ve taken a side. But it’s hard for me to believe that Colin would be angry enough to hurt his brother.”
“It’s hard for me to believe, too. However, Bob on the other hand.” Charlotte tilted her head towards the front door of his house as she opened the door to Ally’s car. “I think he might be hot headed enough to kill anyone if they crossed him.”
“That’s a good point.” Ally climbed into the car and started the engine. “He wasn’t far from the farmer’s market either.”
“No, he wasn’t. And when Colin went looking for him he wasn’t at the farm.”
“He claimed to be at a nearby coffee shop.” Ally drove down the long driveway. “Well, it can’t be too far from here. Maybe we should see if we can find it.”
“I think that’s a good idea. We could use the coffee before we open the shop.”
“Here, do a search on my phone to see if there are any coffee shops listed nearby.” Ally handed her the phone. Charlotte looked at it for a moment. Then she began jabbing the letters on the screen.
“I don’t know how to do this.” She sighed with frustration.
“That’s okay.” Ally pulled the car over and showed her grandmother what to do. “Looks like there’s one two miles down the road.” Ally checked her phone to see if there were any other nearby coffee shops. When she did she saw that the next closest one was over ten miles away. “The one only two miles away has to be it. It’s not far at all.” Ally smiled and pulled out onto the road.
Chapter Four
Within minutes Ally and Charlotte were at the coffee shop. She and her grandmother walked up to the shop. It was a small place with only a few tables and a long coffee bar. The woman behind the counter was young with a bright smile and wore her red hair in a tight braid.
“Morning. Welcome to Mainbry Café, would you like to try our flavor of the month?”
“Just two regular coffees, please.” Charlotte glanced at Ally. “Why don’t you find us a seat?”
Ally nodded and walked over to one of the small tables. While her grandmother chatted with the waitress she placed a call to Luke.
“Hi Ally, how are you?”
“I’m hoping that you won’t be upset with me.”
“Why would I be upset?” He paused. “Wait, I’m not sure that I want to know.”
“It’s not too big of a deal. I met with Colin Dean this morning.”
“Oh? From what I’ve heard he might be arrested soon for his brother’s murder.”
“Are you sure?”
“Well, you know how Mainbry is being, I can’t be absolutely certain, but that’s the rumor. Why would I be upset with you about that?”
“Because I might have told Colin that I’m going to see if I can help him find out who the murderer is.” Ally cringed, she knew that Luke would not like her investigating, but she hoped he might help if he knew the truth.
“What?” Luke’s voice raised an octave. “Why would you tell him that?”
“Because I believe he’s innocent and I know what it is like to be suspected of committing murder when you are innocent.”
“I don’t think you should get involved, Ally. Not that it proves anything, but Colin’s fingerprints were on the bag of cookies found in the egg booth. Not to mention the family feud being his motive and the fact that he was at the market. Colin looks very guilty from a police point of view.”
“I know he does. But you weren’t there with me today, Luke. I don’t think he did this. I think he’s a broken-hearted brother who might be arrested for his brother’s murder and I have to try and help him.”
“Ally, please be careful.”
“Yes, I will be.” Ally glanced over at her grandmother. She had the coffees in her hands, b
ut had not stopped her conversation with the waitress.
“Ally, Colin has a lot against him. Sibling rivalry can be vicious,” Luke said.
“I think that maybe there was no sibling rivalry. At least that’s what Colin claims. He said he was there to apologize to his brother, and to draw him back into the family business. He made it seem as if he was a protective big brother to a wayward young man. In fact, he even asked if we noticed anything at the market that could help with the investigation. He seemed relieved when I said that I would see what I could find out.”
“Really?” Luke cleared his throat. “That doesn’t sound like someone who feels guilty. But it also sounds like it might be a cunning plan to throw suspicion off him.”
“Maybe it is,” Ally said thoughtfully. “Murderers can be quite clever and calculating, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here.”
“Why do you think that?” Luke asked.
“If the person who did this was clever, then why was the murder so sloppy? Why kill Nigel right there, with so many people around? The risk of being caught had to be huge. So why would anyone take that risk?”
“Yes, it does seem rather impulsive of the killer. It feels a bit like a crime of passion. Which again puts Colin in the spotlight. Or even his father or stepmother. Unless…did Nigel have a girlfriend?”
“Not that Colin mentioned. But they had been estranged for some time. Maybe there was someone new in Nigel’s life that Colin didn’t know about.”
“Ask his co-workers. That’s the best way to find out anything about anyone.”
“Oh really?” Ally asked. “Is that the best way to find out things about you?”
“No.” He paused in such a way that made Ally think he smiled. “The best way is just to ask me.”
“I don’t know, you strike me as the strong, silent type.”
“I’ve learned that saying too much can get me in trouble.”
“Well, I’d like to know a lot more about you.”
“I want to know more about you, too. Like, if you’re going to step on my toes when we dance.”
“Oh, you think you’re pretty clever don’t you?” Ally laughed.
“I would like to tell you to stay out of this, but seeing as we both know that’s not going to happen, just promise me you’ll be cautious with all of this. If there’s any chance of Colin being the killer he could turn on you very quickly.”
“I’m being careful. I promise. Oh, I have to go, Luke. Let me know if you find out anything new, please.”
“I will try.”
Ally hung up the phone just as her grandmother walked up with the coffees. She sat down across the table from Ally.
“Who was that?” She set a coffee in front of Ally.
“Thanks for the coffee, Mee-Maw. It was Luke.”
“Anything new?”
“Just that he’s not happy that I’m sticking my nose in this and Colin might be arrested sometime soon.”
“Well, I have something to tell you.” Charlotte leaned across the table and lowered her voice. “Bob is a liar.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, I asked the young woman at the counter if she remembered who was in here yesterday. I didn’t even get to describe Bob and his wife before she stopped me. She said they were closed because they decided to run a booth of specialty coffees at the farmer’s market. They knew that their regular customers would be at the market. So, if the shop didn’t open, then how did Bob and his wife have a coffee here?”
“Oh, that is a very good question. I doubt they would have driven much further just for coffee. So, if they lied, why did they lie?”
“To cover up for the fact that Colin couldn’t find them at the farm they claimed to visit. His father had to come up with something fast. He probably didn’t know the coffee shop was closed.” Charlotte sipped her coffee. “I’m more suspicious of Bob than Colin.”
“That may be the case. Especially if that was him today that we heard lose their temper,” Ally said.
Charlotte clucked her tongue and added some sugar to her coffee. As she stirred the liquid with a long, thin, red stick Ally’s mind drifted. She thought back to the day before and all the people she had seen at the farmer’s market. As she sorted through her memories of the faces that she saw in search of Bob’s, she recalled one particular man that had left quite an impression.
“Wait a minute!” Ally looked across the table at her grandmother. “I don’t know if Bob was there, but I do remember something interesting.”
“What’s that?”
“That guy that almost tripped on Arnold. He was wearing a shirt with the Dean family farm emblem on the back of it!”
“Oh.” Her grandmother nodded. “Yes, now I remember. It must have been one of Bob’s employees.”
“I think he was and he bought cookies that morning.”
“I don’t remember that,” Charlotte said.
“But why would one of Bob’s employees have been at the farmer’s market, on Tyler’s property? I am sure, that if Bob didn’t want his sons involved with Tyler, then he would not want his employees involved with him either.”
“He probably wouldn’t,” Charlotte said.
“I wonder if I could get some information about him from Colin.”
“Maybe he’ll also know if Nigel had a girlfriend.”
“Don’t you think if he had a girlfriend she would have come forward by now?” Ally said.
“Well, she might have seen the police, we don’t know. Also, if she was someone new in Nigel’s life, she might not have ever met his family. He may have told her horrible things about his family, too. We can’t know what.”
“Of course, Nigel may have been single, too.”
“True, but something tells me he wasn’t. I noticed the way his hair was trimmed and his fingernails were clean. A man who works on a farm doesn’t always worry about those types of things.”
“That’s a very good point, Mee-Maw. I’m surprised you were able to see that. You’re so observant.”
“I learned all of my detective skills from you, my love.”
“Hm. Mee-Maw, are you trying to butter me up?”
“Maybe.” She lifted an eyebrow. “Are you going to go with Luke to the dance?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t really have anything to wear, and it seems a little high school, don’t you think?”
“What’s wrong with that?” Charlotte shrugged. “Trust me when you get to be my age you’re going to wish you were back in high school, even with all the drama.”
“Maybe.” Ally frowned. “I’m just not sure that I’m ready for it.”
“Ready for what? Dancing?”
“Please Mee-Maw, you know how intimate dancing can be. I can barely look at him without blushing, how am I supposed to hold it together with his arms around me?”
“You’re not.” She smiled. “That’s the point. You’re supposed to let it flow.”
“And that’s what I’m not ready for.” Ally winked.
“What is holding you back, Ally? Are you afraid he will hurt you?” Ally froze at the question. Her grandmother could be quite blunt when she wanted to be.
“I’m not sure that’s it. Sometimes I worry I might hurt him. I just think the whole idea of a relationship, there’s just so much pressure around that. I really enjoy Luke being part of my life.”
“Ah.” Charlotte took her hand with a subtle press to the back of it. “You’re worried that if things go wrong you’ll lose him.”
Ally stared into her eyes. “Is it that obvious?”
“Only to those with experience in these things. But that settles it,” Charlotte said.
“Settles what?”
“You’re in love.”
“Wait a minute, Mee-Maw, we haven’t even had a date yet.” Ally laughed.
“No, you haven’t. But he’s still important enough to you that you will do everything you can to protect his place in your life.”
“Because we’r
e friends.”
“If you say so.” Charlotte offered a wistful smile. “When you’re young, Ally, you always think you have forever. But love doesn’t always wait.”
“Please, stop talking about love.” Ally shook her head. “But I understand what you’re saying. It feels like I’m standing at the edge of a waterfall, fighting the current.”
“Mmhm.” Charlotte met her eyes. “And when you give up the fight, when you let go and crash over the edge, I promise you, it will be the most glorious experience of your life.”
“What if it’s not?” Ally bit into her bottom lip.
“That isn’t as important as the possibility that it might be. Would you really trade the chance at an experience like that for a permanent battle with the current?” She tapped the back of Ally’s hand. “One day you won’t have a choice anymore. Either the water will run dry, or your knees will buckle.”
“Maybe. But it’s not today.”
“Maybe not,” Charlotte agreed.
“With Luke’s job he’s always getting called away. It feels like we have this deep connection, but we don’t actually know much about each other. Our likes and dislikes, our pasts, our hopes for the future.”
“Oh, I like that you’re thinking about the future.” Charlotte grinned.
“You know it wasn’t that long ago that you weren’t so sure about Luke.”
“I think he’s proven on more than one occasion that he can be trusted. Of course I’ll have to do a more thorough investigation before things get too serious.”
“I imagine he’d love that.” Ally laughed.
“I’m serious though, Ally. This is a nice time for you and Luke. You may think you’re still fighting, but you’re already going over the edge. Take some time to really get to know him. You won’t get this time back.”
“Thanks for the advice, Mee-Maw.” Ally smiled. “I’ll call now to see if Colin knows if Nigel had a girlfriend and to ask him about the man from the Dean farm that was at the market.” Ally dialed Colin’s number and waited for him to answer. She pushed her fingertips along her coffee cup and twirled it.