by Cindy Bell
“And what about Colin?” Ally took a step closer to him. “Did you ever see Colin and Nigel fight?”
“Not until everything went sour, when that woman moved in. Before that Colin and Nigel were always at each other’s sides. I rarely saw one without the other. That’s the thing. Colin would never do this to Nigel, there’s no way. Maybe it wasn’t Zac either, but I know for a fact it wasn’t Colin.”
“Thanks, you’ve been a big help to us,” Ally said.
“Please just keep my name out of this. All right? In fact, you’re better off forgetting we ever had this conversation. If you’re able to get somewhere because of it, that’s great, but the information never came from me. Don’t want to lose my job and certainly don’t want to lose my life. Understand?”
“Yes.” Ally nodded.
As he walked away Ally turned to Charlotte.
“You know him?”
“Yes but not very well, he moved to Mainbry with his parents about five years ago. I don’t know if we can completely trust the information he’s given to us. I don’t know if he’s changed, but I know he was arrested a couple of years ago for stealing. His parents’ work at the hardware store in town. They are private but nice enough.”
“Do you think he had something to do with Nigel’s death?” Ally asked.
“Maybe, I don’t like judging people by their history, but I think he was way too eager to give us the information.”
“We can look into him more, but presuming the information he gave us was correct I think we need to talk to Tyler and find out if Zac was actually meeting with someone at the farm and if he was, whether he knows who he was meeting with.”
“I think you’re right, but not now,” Charlotte said. “We need to open the shop.”
“Can’t we just swing by Tyler’s farm first?” Ally asked. “It’s just the next farm over.”
“No, we’ll be late and it’s a short opening day today anyway.”
“You’re right,” Ally said as she started the car and drove off Bob’s property. “We certainly found out a lot of information.”
“That, we did.” Charlotte smiled.
“So, what do you think about Linda and Bob?” Ally asked.
“I don’t think he knows about the affair which means that wasn’t his motive.”
“No, me neither,” Ally agreed. “Like she said he chose her over his son.”
“Unless, he found out about it recently and he was so angry he killed Nigel.”
“It’s a definite possibility.”
“But now we know that the affair is a reality not just a rumor, Linda certainly has a motive.”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I was thinking.” Ally nodded as they pulled up to the shop.
“Right on time,” Charlotte said as she looked at her watch.
Ally opened the shop but all her mind could do was sort through the details of the murder.
Chapter Nine
After they had locked up for the day and Ally had dropped Charlotte off at Freely Lakes she headed home. She pulled up outside the cottage just as her phone rang. She saw it was Luke and answered quickly.
“Hi, Luke.”
“Hi, I’m still working, but I just wanted to check in and see how you’re going.”
“Good, I found out a few interesting things today.”
“Oh, I hope you haven’t been getting into too much trouble.”
“No, but I want to speak to Tyler, apparently Zac’s been having meetings with someone at Tyler’s farm. I want to see what Tyler knows about it.”
“How do you know that?”
“When I went to see Bob and Linda this morning…”
“What? You went even though I told you not to.”
“I just wanted to pay my respects.” Ally spoke quickly so Luke couldn’t interrupt again. “Someone working on Bob’s farm just came over and told us that Zac was meeting with someone on Tyler’s farm.”
“Really?” Luke asked skeptically.
“Absolutely.”
“I think you need to be very careful. Let the Mainbry police handle this. I don’t think you should talk to Tyler.”
“Okay.” Ally tried to change the subject. “How did the bust go last night?”
“It was a bust.”
“I know, but how did it go?”
“I mean, the bust was a bust.” He laughed. “Nothing there but a bunch of dirty rabbit cages.”
“Ew. I bet that wasn’t a fun thing to find.”
“No, it certainly wasn’t. I definitely needed a shower.” He shook his head. “For anyone that thinks law enforcement is about glory, they need to be faced with what I saw last night.”
“I’m glad I didn’t see it.”
“You would have been,” Luke said. “I have to go. I have to work late. Stay safe, please.”
“I will.”
Ally got out of the car and opened the cottage door. When she was inside the cottage she tried to focus on the facts of the case and sort through everything. When that didn’t work and she couldn’t think clearly, she tried to coax Peaches into playing. She waved her favorite string around. She tossed her bell ball. Peaches stared at the ball as it skidded across the floor. Then she looked up at Ally and blinked.
“I know, I know. I’m not in the mood for this either.” Ally sighed and picked her up. She carried her to the couch. The moment that she sat down Peaches settled on her lap. Ally stroked Peaches’ soft fur and chewed her bottom lip.
“I know that I should stay right here, Peaches, but doesn’t every second count? Isn’t there always a good reason to investigate?” She smoothed back the fur on the top of the cat’s head. Peaches looked up at her and sniffed. “Yes, I know. Mee-Maw said she will go with me later. But that’s later. That’s not right now.” She scratched the underside of Peaches’ chin. “Would it really be that big of a deal if I just went over there to speak to Tyler real quick?” Peaches meowed rather loudly.
“Oh, you too?” Ally frowned. “I can take care of myself you know. Besides, Arnold has to eat. I need to get over there while the stand is still open or I might not get any food.” She smiled and scooted Peaches off her lap. “See, I have no choice, I have to go.” She left out the fact that that was not the only place she could buy pig food. Peaches wound her way around Ally’s feet as if she might try to stop her. But Ally was used to her cat’s antics and easily sidestepped her. As she grabbed her purse she thought about texting Luke or her grandmother to let them know where she was going. But she didn’t want to deal with an argument. She was just going to buy pig feed, that was all. She would be careful. She repeated these things in her mind as she walked to her car, got in, and began to drive.
Her heart fluttered a little once she was on the road. She hoped that she would be able to find out something from Tyler before it was too late and Colin was arrested. She rounded the corner to the front of the farm and pulled up to the dusty roadside stand. She again considered whether she should text Luke to let him know what she was doing. But she decided not to, she only had the intention of getting some pig feed and driving back.
It was just dumb luck that Tyler was in the back of the farm stand with a clipboard. As she walked up she noticed he was documenting every item in the stand.
“Excuse me.” She paused in front of the stand and waited for Tyler to finish counting. He cleared his throat then looked over at her.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there. Have you been waiting long?”
“No, just a moment or two. I’m here to take advantage of your sale on pig feed.”
“Oh, it’s a great one. We have the big bags on sale as well.”
“I see that. I’ll take one of those.” She handed him the money for the large package and smiled. “Is Zac around to help me get it into the trunk?” She groaned. “I’m not sure I’m strong enough to lift it in myself.”
She watched Tyler’s reaction closely. He froze when she mentioned Zac’s name. He turned back to face her.
“Who?” He narrowed his eyes.
“Zac. I’ve seen him around here on the farm. Isn’t he a farmhand?” She looked past him towards the barn.
“Not for me he’s not. If you give me a minute I’ll help you with it.”
“Are you sure? I know I’ve seen him here a few times. In fact, I think I’ve seen him talking directly to you.” Ally embellished the truth to try to get more information out of him.
“I think you’re mistaken. I don’t have anyone on my staff named Zac.” He sighed and turned around fully to face her. “If you’re talking about the kid that keeps hounding me for a job, no he doesn’t work for me. He’s always hanging around here hoping for me to hire him.”
“Why don’t you?” Ally kept her voice casual, as if she was just maintaining the conversation.
“I don’t have anything against the kid really, but he works for Bob, and he was always hanging around Nigel. I don’t know, there’s just something off about him. I don’t hire anyone that I don’t trust. There have been some strange things happening around here lately. I can’t be too cautious.”
“That makes sense.” She lingered for a moment. She wanted to ask him more questions, but she remembered Luke’s advice to be careful. “I guess he must be working for a different farm too then.”
“A farm other than Bob’s?” Tyler looked up and narrowed his eyes.
“He has to be working somewhere else to be flashing the kind of cash that he has on him.” She shook her head. “I assumed he was moonlighting on your farm, but I guess not.”
“No, definitely not. Here, let me get this.” He grunted as he hefted the bag up off the ground and carried it towards the car. Ally popped the trunk. “I stapled your receipt to the bag. The sale is on until next Monday if you want to stock up.” He dropped it down into the trunk.
“Thanks.” She nodded at Tyler. He tipped his hat to her then walked back to the farm stand. Ally closed the trunk and climbed into the car. Why was Tyler so suspicious of Zac’s intentions?
Chapter Ten
On a hunch Ally decided to stop by the flower shop again to talk to Tracy. Maybe she could give her some information about Zac. She hoped she might know if there was anything further to what Tyler had said about Zac’s involvement with him. She parked outside the flower shop and headed inside the shop. When she opened the door to the shop she was greeted by an empty room. There were plenty of bouquets scattered around, along with other trinkets, but there was no one behind the counter. She walked up to the counter and peeked past it.
Though she could see a few shelves and a storage area, she still didn’t see anyone who might work there. As she started to turn away she heard raised voices just outside the side door. She moved a little closer to it so that she could make out what was being said. She peered around the door frame and she could see that Tracy Flowers was talking to a tall, older man. His face was red with anger.
“I checked three times. I don’t play around with that pesticide, and you know it. You are the only other person that has access to it. So, how is there so much missing, Tracy?”
Tracy shied back from him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You must have miscounted. Why would I want anything to do with something like that?”
“I don’t know why, but I do know that it is missing, and because of that I think that you must have taken it. I know I didn’t take it. So what am I supposed to think, Tracy?”
“You need to stop accusing me of things. You’re being crazy. It’s a pesticide, I don’t even have my own garden!”
“Don’t play dumb with me, Tracy. When I hired you I told you what that stuff was capable of, that’s why every bag had to be signed in and out and its use had to be documented. Now I have bags that weren’t signed out, that are missing and can’t be found. If you don’t tell me what you did with them, I’m going to have to report this to the police.”
“No, you can’t do that!”
“What else can I do, Tracy?” He narrowed his eyes. “Whatever you’ve done, I don’t want it coming back on me. I really thought you were better than this.” He shook his head.
“Please, you can’t go to the police. I’ll do anything you ask me to do. Just don’t call them.”
He stared at her hard. Ally thought he might even strike her, but instead he hung his head.
“I will give you three hours to return the bags or tell me where they are, after that I’m going to the police. That’s it. That’s your last chance. Understand?”
Ally’s eyes widened as she heard Tracy begin to cry. She knew Tracy was saying something, but her voice was too muffled for Ally to hear. Ally saw the man start to walk towards her so she stepped back from the door. A moment later the man who she presumed was the owner of the shop burst through the door. He pushed it with such force that Ally had to jump further back from it before it collided with her. His face was coated in sweat, and he barely looked at Ally. It was easy to see that he was quite disturbed. She backed away a few more steps, and bumped into one of the displays. He looked up at the sound of the items as they knocked together. He paused when he saw her.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize we had a customer. Did you need help with anything?”
“No thank you, sorry. I was just looking.” Ally didn’t stick around to have a discussion with him. She was just in time to nearly run into Tracy who was headed to the car parked in front of Ally’s.
“Excuse me.” She sniffled and continued past.
“Tracy? Are you okay?” Ally touched her arm. Tracy turned to look at her. She blinked, then seemed to recognize who Ally was.
“What do you care?” She narrowed her eyes. “Everyone is out to get me. First you accuse me of murder, now my boss is accusing me of theft.”
“I think that you need to come clean if you’re involved in this somehow, Tracy.”
“I’m not involved in Nigel’s death. I just did it for some money. I had no idea what Zac was doing.” She wiped at her eyes and shook her head. “I have to go.” She climbed into her car without another word.
Ally got behind the wheel of her car and watched as Tracy pulled out of her parking space. After a few seconds Ally followed after her. She wanted to know where Tracy planned to go and what she planned to do. As she trailed Tracy’s car, Ally’s cell phone began to ring. She ignored it as she was afraid she might lose track of Tracy. After three more turns Tracy began to slow down. Ally turned down a side street just in case Tracy spotted her. She drove around the block and saw that Tracy had parked in front of one of the duplexes on the street. She parked several spaces away. For some time she watched the car and the duplex. Then she remembered the phone call. She checked it to see that it was her grandmother who had called.
Ally considered calling her back, but she wanted to check out who Tracy was meeting. She walked quietly up to the duplex, then crept around the corner. The quiet sounds of a neighborhood getting ready for the evening filtered through her thoughts. Car doors slammed, and kids were called. She doubted that anyone would notice her spying. There was one small window not far from the corner. When she peered through the glass she could see Tracy and Zac. They were close enough to the window that she could hear them, too. Ally crouched down in front of the window so that she could just see inside and listened close.
“I need the rest of it back, Zac. I need it now.”
“I think you need to calm down. Did you tell him that you were the one that took it?”
“No, he doesn’t know for sure. You told me that we could get away with this. That no one would even know if it was missing. You said that we would never be caught.”
“Yeah, well it didn’t work out that way did it?”
“Why?” Tracy lunged at him. “What happened to Nigel, Zac? What did you do to him?”
Zac grabbed her by the shoulders and snapped her body back and forth. “You’re acting crazy. No one knows that you did anything. If you just keep your mouth shut everything will be fine.�
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“No, I don’t want anything to do with this anymore. I want the poison back. I want to make sure that it is accounted for, now.” She flinched. Ally assumed that Zac might have squeezed her shoulders too hard.
“Are you nuts? You want to go to jail for this? He’ll have us both arrested. Then what? Nigel isn’t here to pay for our lawyers.”
“You did this. You pulled me into all of this. You said you had forgotten to place Bob’s order on time. That you just needed to use it until the order came in and then you would replace it. But you never planned to, did you?”
“You are just as involved in this as I am, I didn’t see you turn down the money.”
“What did you do with the poison, Zac? Is that why Nigel got hurt?” Tracy’s eyes widened at the realization.
“Don’t talk about that here. In fact don’t talk about it at all.”
“This is nuts, not me. I never agreed to any of this. No one was ever supposed to get hurt.”
“You better keep your mouth shut or you’re going to be the next one that gets hurt.” He stared into her eyes. “You understand?”
“All right, all right. I understand. I won’t tell anyone anything.” Her voice shifted from enraged to fearful.
“You need to do more than that. You need to make yourself scarce for a while. It’s time that you let this all die down. I can’t trust you to keep quiet. So whatever you have to do to get out of town, you just need to do it.”
“Won’t that make me look even more guilty to my boss?”
“You are guilty, aren’t you?” He moved closer to her until she was pinned back against the front door. “You want to act like you’re so innocent in all of this, but the truth is that you are the one who let me take it, aren’t you?” He poked a finger hard into her shoulder. “Before you try to cry victim in all of this remember that you are guilty. No one forced you to do what you did.”