by Cindy Bell
When Ally got back to the cottage she had a quick shower and climbed into bed. Peaches hopped into bed with her. Ally pet the cat as she stared into the dark. In her mind she went through what she knew about the murder. It was clear now that Nigel’s body had been moved. She even knew how it was moved. But that still didn’t tell her who killed him or where he was killed.
There were many open fields around the farmer’s market, but that would have been a very visible place to commit the crime, but it was still possible. If Nigel went back to the barn to get more eggs as Harry claimed, then that was a perfect place for the murder to happen. Maybe someone met up with Nigel in the barn. They used a hay knife to commit the murder. Then they piled him up in a wheelbarrow, covered him with a blanket, and tossed him behind the booth. That was probably how the eggs were broken. If Nigel had any left at the stand his body probably fell on them.
There would not have been a commotion and on the busy farm no one would have thought twice about a man pushing a wheelbarrow. She turned over in her bed and pulled Peaches close. If that was the case then the crime of passion might not have been a crime of passion. It might have been a premeditated, cold-blooded murder. But what was the motive? Who was the murderer?
Chapter Eight
When Ally woke the next morning she only had a few minutes to get dressed before she had to pick up her grandmother. The shop didn’t open until ten so they would have plenty of time to speak to Bob and Linda before she needed to be there to open it. She rushed around to feed the cat, the pig, and herself. However, when she went to get the pig feed out she noticed how light it was. In all of the commotion she had forgotten to buy more. She filled Arnold’s bowl with what was left of the emergency supply.
“Sorry buddy. I promise I will pick some up for you today.” She tossed the bag in the trash and picked up her keys. She hurried to her car and drove to the chocolate shop to pick up a box of chocolates for Linda and Bob.
Then she drove as quickly as she could without breaking the speed limit to Freely Lakes to pick up her grandmother. As she drove there she thought about what she would ask Bob and Linda.
When Ally pulled up her grandmother was just walking out the front door. She smiled at Ally as she opened the passenger side door.
“Wow, right on time. Not a second late,” Charlotte said.
“Morning Mee-Maw,” Ally said.
“Did you find out anything else about the murder?”
“Well, I had an interesting visit with Harry last night.”
“Harry?” Charlotte looked over at her. “Wait a minute, you mean Harry Tuck?”
“Yes.” Ally nodded.
“You went to see him last night?” Charlotte stared at her across the car. “By yourself?”
“I had some questions for him. He gave me a lot of information actually, including that Nigel had an affair with Linda.” She glanced over at her with a satisfied smile. “That’s a surprise, right?”
“It is! But you shouldn’t have gone there alone.”
“He was pretty harmless.” Ally shrugged. She decided to keep the details to herself as she didn’t want to upset her grandmother.
“I still don’t think you should do things like that,” Charlotte said. “It makes me worried. You should have got me to come with you.”
“You were busy and I can take care of myself.” Ally smiled. “I promise.”
“I’m not trying to tell you what to do, Ally. I know that would never work, it never has. But I am always available for you, dear.”
She couldn’t help but smile at her grandmother’s words. “I know that, Mee-Maw, but I didn’t think it was that big of a deal, so I just went and checked things out.”
“But you didn’t have to do it. You can be a little impulsive, Ally,” Charlotte said. “I just worry that it can put you in danger.”
“You’re right. I tend to be a bit impulsive. But I’m glad that I did go. Because he was drunk and talkative.”
“Oh, that makes me feel a lot better.”
“The important thing is that I’m fine.” Ally smiled at her. Charlotte shook her head, but offered her a smile in return. For the remainder of the drive Ally filled her in on what she planned to talk to the Deans about. “We need to try and get Linda alone so we can work out if Nigel and her were really having an affair.”
“Just tread carefully, sweetheart,” Charlotte said.
“I will, of course. I’m also going to ask about the coffee shop. Okay?”
“Yes. I think that’s a good idea.” Ally picked up the chocolate box, stepped out of the car and walked towards her grandmother. When she reached her grandmother Colin walked towards the car.
“He hasn’t been arrested yet,” Ally said in a hushed voice to her grandmother.
Ally smiled at Colin as he walked up to her. “Ally, I wasn’t expecting to see you today.” He glanced over at Charlotte. “Morning Charlotte.”
“We just wanted to have a quick word to your father and stepmother. Give them some chocolates,” Ally said.
“I think that you should reconsider. My dad is not in the best of moods. He just found out that it’s likely someone is intentionally poisoning our crops.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Do you think Nigel might have been involved?” Ally recalled what Tracy said about Nigel sneaking on to his father’s farm.
“No way.” Colin shook his head. “Nigel might have been angry at my father, but he would never do anything to hurt the farm. It may look like a piece of land to you, but to us, it’s a part of our beings. It’s got our blood, sweat, tears, all mixed into the soil, not to mention the only memories Nigel and I have of our mother. I know my brother would never have done anything to harm this land.”
“Then maybe he knew who was?” Ally glanced across the field.
“Maybe. As I mentioned he did say he wanted to talk to me and my father about something important the day he died. But like I said, today would not be a good day to talk to my father about it.”
Ally frowned. “Colin, we just want to drop off the chocolates and see if he knows anything that will help solve the murder.”
“Just be gentle, he’s in a shocking mood,” Colin said. Ally wondered if Bob was often in a shocking mood and made enemies.
“If your father is hiding something it’s going to have to come out. You want your brother to have justice don’t you?”
Colin sighed and retreated a step. “Yes. I do. But I can’t be involved in this.”
“You don’t have to be.” Ally smiled at him. “As far as you’re concerned you never saw us today.” She tilted her head towards the path that led to the fields. “We’ll be gone before you get back.”
Colin frowned and met her eyes. “Ally, this is my family.”
“I know it is, Colin. I will remember that. I promise.”
He nodded and then walked down the path. Ally started to walk towards the main house, but Charlotte grabbed her gently by the wrist.
“Just be subtle,” Charlotte said.
“I will be, I promise.”
Ally and Charlotte continued towards the house.
When Ally knocked on the front door it took some time for anyone to answer. When someone did, it was Linda. She looked impeccable in a light blue dress with high-heeled sandals to match. As soon as she saw Ally and Charlotte she smiled, she looked a little confused.
“Morning Linda,” Charlotte said. “This is my granddaughter, Ally.”
“Nice to meet you,” Linda’s smile grew wider.
“Linda, we just wanted to give you these,” Charlotte said as she handed her the chocolates. They include your favorite, the milk hazelnut chocolates, as well as a few others.”
“Oh, thank you. That’s so sweet,” Linda said. “How much do I owe you?”
“Nothing,” Charlotte said and shook her head. “I just wanted to give you something during this trying time.”
“Thank you.”
“We were wondering if we could see Mr. Dean
as well, to express our condolences,” Charlotte said.
“Okay sure,” Linda said hesitantly. “I’ll see if he’s available.”
Linda ushered Charlotte inside. She was followed by Ally. Linda showed them to a small study.
“I’ll just go see if he’s free,” Linda said as she walked out of the room. Once the door closed, Ally turned to Charlotte.
“The secret power of chocolate.” Ally smiled.
“Clever thinking, Ally,” Charlotte said.
As they waited Ally decided to snoop around the study. There were several pictures on the shelves of the brothers when they were young as well as with their mother. She smiled fondly at the sight of one where Colin was wrapped in her arms. A pang of grief struck her. Not only did Colin lose his mother at a young age, as she had, but he also lost his brother. It was no surprise to her that he was protective of his father. They turned towards the door as it swung open. Bob stepped inside with Linda on his arm.
“What is this about?” Ally turned to face him. Bob narrowed his eyes. “I remember you. You were here talking to my son.”
“Yes, I was,” Ally said.
“We are sorry for your loss,” Charlotte said. Bob didn’t respond he just looked angry.
“Thank you again. These chocolates look delicious,” Linda said softly trying to break the tension. “I’ll get us some drinks.” She started to leave the study.
“If you don’t mind, Linda, I just had a question for both of you,” Ally said.
Bob crossed his arms. “What question?” Linda wrapped her arm around her husband’s.
“Where were you and Linda at the time of your son’s death?”
“At the coffee shop,” Bob said. “Why is it important I already told the police this?”
“We were having a coffee.” Linda smiled. “We were sharing a pastry as well.”
“Was it Mainbry Café?” Ally looked between the two of them.
“Yes, that’s where we always go. What does it matter?” Bob said.
“It matters, Sir, because Mainbry Café was closed on the day of the farmer’s market. It’s not possible that you were there.”
Bob’s face tensed. “Well, then we must have gone to a different one.”
“Which one do you think?” Ally narrowed her eyes. “Maybe you have a receipt from the shop?”
“Never mind that nonsense. What are you implying? That I may have had something to do with my son’s murder?” His voice raised with every word that he spoke. Charlotte moved closer to Ally.
“I’m not implying that at all, Sir. I just wondered why you would say you were there if you weren’t,” Ally said.
“I don’t have to answer this,” Bob replied.
“Why would you lie?” Ally asked.
Linda sighed. “Just tell them, Bob. It’s no big deal.”
“Invasion of privacy is always a big deal.” Bob shook his head.
“You even lied to your oldest son, Colin.” Ally lifted an eyebrow. “Why?”
“Because no son likes to hear that his parents are holed up in the car having some fun, okay?” Bob rolled his eyes. “Linda and I hadn’t had much alone time together in a while and after our tour of the farm we were a little frisky…”
“Farm equipment does it to Bob every time.” Linda winked. “Something about the roar of the tractor I think.”
“Linda. That’s more than they need to know,” Bob said impatiently.
“Sorry.” She grimaced. “The point is, we were having some private time, and Colin didn’t need to know about that.”
Ally felt awful and slightly embarrassed.
“Now, please leave,” Bob said. “I’ve had a terrible morning and I didn’t kill my son.”
Ally was about to object but Charlotte jumped in. “Of course. We didn’t mean to intrude.”
Charlotte grabbed Ally’s arm and guided her towards the front of the house. Linda followed after them.
“Thanks again for the chocolates, Charlotte,” Linda said.
“I’m sorry we imposed on you.” Charlotte frowned.
“Linda, I don’t mean to talk about private things, but there is a rumor going around that there was something going on between you and Nigel,” Ally said softly, trying to sound casual and not accusing.
The color drained from Linda’s face. “We didn’t get along that’s all. He missed his mother.”
“Really? Because I heard there was more to your relationship than that,” Ally said. “I heard that you were having an affair.”
“That is complete nonsense!”
“Are you sure because it is certainly going around,” Ally said.
“It’s complicated. It’s not what you think,” Linda whispered.
“So you did have an affair,” Ally asked.
“It was over so quickly,” Linda said as she steered them further away from the study. “I love Bob.”
“Does Bob know?” Ally asked quietly.
“Of course not. He would never understand.” She got tears in her eyes. “It wasn’t my fault. It was before I even met Bob. I didn’t know Nigel was his son until we were engaged.”
“You’ve managed to keep it from him all of this time?” Ally asked with surprise.
“I’ve had to. You can’t tell him.” She begged in a soft voice.
“Don’t worry we won’t,” Charlotte said.
“He chose me over his son. He would never forgive me.” Tears rolled down Linda’s cheeks. Bob walked out into the hallway.
“What are they still doing here?” he demanded pointing at Charlotte and Ally.
“We were just leaving,” Charlotte said.
“What’s wrong?” Bob put his arm around Linda who was crying. “Did they upset you?”
“No, I’m just upset about Nigel.” Her voice wavered over every word.
“Why did you upset her? Leave now!” Bob demanded.
“Don’t worry we’re going.” Charlotte grabbed Ally’s hand and led her out of the house.
“I hope Linda’s okay,” Ally said as they walked quickly towards the car.
“Hey, wait a minute!” A man waved to them from the nearby barn. Ally froze near the door and then turned to look back at the man. She squinted to see if she recognized him. She couldn’t recall seeing him before. Charlotte turned towards him. The man jogged up to them then paused a few feet away.
“Bruce, what can we do for you?” Charlotte asked.
“I heard that you’ve been asking a lot of questions about Nigel’s death,” he said quickly.
“Do you have some information?” Ally shifted from one foot to the other and lifted her chin.
“Yes, I think I do.”
“What is it?” Charlotte asked.
“It’s about Zac. I noticed something about him. Look, the detectives that were here, they seemed bent on their idea of what happened. I just don’t want to get involved in the investigation. But this has been bugging me ever since Nigel turned up dead.” He frowned. “I don’t really know if I should say something or not, but I feel like if I don’t, I’ll regret it.”
“What is it?” Charlotte leaned closer to him.
“You can tell us,” Ally said, she was so intrigued. “It won’t be linked to you.”
“Are you sure?” He looked from Ally back to Charlotte. “I mean, if Zac finds out it was me that outed him, I don’t think he’s going to like it very much.”
“It’s going to be just fine, Bruce. Just tell us what happened,” Charlotte said sweetly.
“The thing is Zac got promoted, and sure that comes with a salary bump, but the money he has been flashing around is more than he could be making on his salary.”
“What do you mean by flashing?” Ally asked.
“I mean wads of cash, everywhere he goes he whips out a wallet stacked with hundreds. When he gets drunk he starts buying rounds for everyone in the bar. He acts like he’s a millionaire.” He shook his head. “There’s just no way that could be right.”
&n
bsp; “Where do you think he’s getting the money from?” Charlotte raised an eyebrow.
“All I know is that he’s been going over to Tyler’s farm on a regular basis.”
“We know that he was meeting with Nigel.” Ally looked up at him. “Isn’t that why he’s been going to Tyler’s farm?”
“No, I know he wasn’t going there to meet Nigel every time. It was always late at night, or early in the morning when Nigel either would have been in bed or out in the fields. Plus a few times that I’ve seen Zac sneak off over there, I’ve seen Nigel at the same time, alone. I don’t think he was going there to meet Nigel.”
“Then why?” Ally looked in his eyes. “Who else would he be meeting with?”
“I think someone’s been paying him off.”
“Paying him off for what? Does he know something he shouldn’t?” Ally thought back through what she knew about the murder to try to figure out who Zac might be blackmailing.
“I think he’s getting paid to do things that he shouldn’t be doing. What those things are, I can’t be sure. But I know if he was getting that kind of money it had to be something illegal.”
“And you think he was involved with the murder somehow?” Ally looked back up at him.
“I don’t know. I mean Zac had a temper sometimes. Sure Nigel and Zac were best friends, but they were different, you know?”
“Different how?” Charlotte prompted.
“Nigel could get frustrated, but he always had this moral code that he followed. When we would all go out for drinks he was the type of guy to stay sober to keep an eye on all of us. Drive us home. When a few of the guys would get into fights he would always find a peaceful way to settle the disputes. Zac is the type of guy that will do anything to get ahead. He came from just about nothing, and he’s thirsty to be rich. He wants that life. I don’t know why. I like the simple things myself. But Zac was always trying to come up with some way to get rich. I just have a feeling that maybe Zac was up to something illegal, maybe Nigel found out about it. Of course I don’t know that for sure. It’s just something that’s been bugging me. I’m not even sure if any of this will help. But you know, Nigel was a good guy. He helped me out more than once, and I hate to see his murder go unsolved.”