Millie knew it was the moment to ask some questions she’d been dreading. She opened her satchel and took out the book. “Flor, you had a better look at Martin than I did. I know he was holding this book. I’m sure you don’t remember the page number, but did you happen to see what section he was looking at?”
Flor inched over and took the book from Millie. She flinched as she opened it but silently flipped through the pages, her face set, until she found what she was looking for. “It was this page. I’m sure of it. I remember because of the drawing.”
She held the book up, displaying the page. Peter and Jody moved from their spots and crawled across the floor to see. It was indeed a memorable page, as it was mostly taken up with a well-executed drawing of a fiddlehead fern.
Millie had a feeling she knew who Detective Allen was speaking to right now.
Flor gave her kitty one last pat on the head and stood up. “I should really get going. My husband’s been frantic ever since I called him about what happened. I told him I was coming here for a moment and he said it was fine, but I know he’s worried.”
Millie stood as well. She had one more question to ask. A question she liked asking even less than the last one. “Flor. Just one more thing. The police kept asking where you were when I was in the bathroom on Monday. You didn’t go anywhere, did you?”
Flor let out a sigh. “Oh, that. It had me so worried, and for nothing. I went out for a…” She twiddled the hem of her skirt in one hand. “I officially quit smoking a couple years back, but sometimes when it’s stressful… I told Chloe I was going to the bathroom. I didn’t want to admit I was sneaking a cigarette. It was a stupid lie to tell, and it came back to freak me out. Fortunately, some of the locals sitting on the veranda saw me on the sidewalk and remembered me being there. What a stupid thing, that a cigarette could get me in the frame for murder.” She laughed. “All the more reason to quit for real, huh?” Flor waved goodbye and left.
A buzzing came from Millie’s pocket.
“Is it Abby?” asked Peter, going even paler than usual once more.
It was. Millie’s shoulders relaxed a little. “She says she’s doing okay. She’s admitted to the hospital overnight for monitoring, but she thinks she’ll get to go home tomorrow. “
Some color crept back into Peter’s face. “You know what we have to do now, right?”
“Find Frank,” Millie replied. “If the police haven’t arrested him already.”
“Exactly,” said Peter. “I mean, they’ll probably get there soon enough. We should probably butt out of it, but…”
“You just can’t help it, can you?” asked Millie. Peter shook his head.
Millie thought about Abby sprawled on the floor. “Me neither.”
“Let’s go first thing in the morning,” said Peter.
“Why don’t you go now?” said Jody. “Take the night off. I’ve got Sheena and Tim coming in later. We’ll be fine here. You can even borrow my car if you like. Go catch yourselves a murderer—or, more likely, get punched in the face by this guy—and then we can celebrate. Maybe with your first tattoo, Millie?”
Millie laughed. “I’ll be in here getting inked as soon as I can figure out what I would want that first one to be.”
“Then it’s settled,” said Peter. “Let’s get ourselves out to Winding Creek.”
12
Chapter 12
“I can’t believe your boss let you borrow her car for this,” said Millie, as they sped along the highway toward the town of Winding Creek.
“She’s pretty trusting,” said Peter. “She let me borrow the car to go pick up stuff for the shop a few times. I think I’m starting to become indispensable at Cats ‘N Tats.”
“That’s great to hear,” Millie replied. She decided against pointing out that, as Jody had just given him the night off, he couldn’t be that indispensable at the tattoo shop.
“When we get to Winding Creek and find Frank,” said Peter, “what exactly are we going to do? Everybody says Frank is a real mean guy. Do you think he’s just gonna let us in to his house to ask him if he murdered somebody?”
“I don’t really know. I guess we’ve got the rest of this car ride to plan.” Millie stared out the window, counting the bachelor’s buttons on the roadside as they sped past.
Peter slammed on the brakes, and Millie lurched forward, her seatbelt slamming into her chest. She spun her head to face forward in time to see a deer bounding away across the road.
Peter took in some shaky breaths. “That was close. I don’t know about you, but I sure can’t use any more shocks today.”
“Me neither.”
Peter eased off the break and sped the car up again. Millie hoped there weren’t any more of those lurking nearby. The last thing they needed was a car crash in Jody‘s car.
“You never really told me, what made you give up the accounting major?” she asked. The question had been on her mind for some time. Now seemed as good a time as any to ask. And to distract herself from the fact that she was probably going to get her lights punched out when she confronted Frank.
“I wondered when you’d ask me,” said Peter. “I was working my tail off at the end of the accounting major. I don’t know what was the final straw, but I knew that life just wasn’t me. None of it was me, the straight As all through school. I did what I was supposed to do, but never what I wanted to.”
Millie let out a low whistle. “I can relate.”
“I’d always loved drawing,” said Peter. “I had never let myself take it anywhere, though.”
“But why leave school for tattooing?” asked Millie. “Why not switch majors and study painting or something?”
“That probably would have been a safer move,” said Peter. “With a degree, I might be able to get into teaching art or something. I had been talking to tattoo artists, and I got connected with Jody. I don’t know. It seemed like an adventure.”
“I can see that.” Millie supposed it must’ve been a relief to leave behind the good-kid, buttoned up life Peter had led for nearly twenty-two years to do something totally and completely different.
“What about you?” asked Peter. “Are you gonna go to grad school for history? That was your undergrad degree, right? Or are you gonna go to school to be a librarian?”
“I’m not sure,” Millie answered. “I’m giving this a shot for now, and then I’ll see where it goes. I guess I like adventure too.”
“You can say that again. Murder investigations and flirting with detectives? I can hardly believe you,” Peter teased.
“Flirting? When was I flirting?” asked Millie.
“Fiddling with your bag, messing with your hair.” Peter gave her the side eye. “For you, that’s pretty much flirting.”
Well, he did have her there. “What about you and Abby?” Millie asked. “That was an awfully long walk around the block.”
“It’s a big block,” Peter protested. “Anyway, at least I’m only interested in one person. I saw the way you looked at Sam.”
“What! I did not look any kind of way.” Millie’s face burned.
“Yes, you did. A detective and a suspect. You are trouble, Miss Mildred.”
She tapped Peter playfully on the arm. “Don’t you call me Mildred, or I’ll start introducing you as Peter Eustace Monroe.”
Peter grinned. “Touché.”
“We’re almost to Winding Creek,” said Millie. “Let’s start at the café before trying to contact Frank directly. We don’t know exactly where he lives, anyway. And we don’t know why he would hurt Abby. Or Pauline. Personally, I think the poison was meant for her.” Peter agreed.
Peter found parallel parking a few steps from the Ridge Road Hotel and Café. They climbed the steps and crossed the wide veranda to enter a much less busy café area than the last time Millie had visited. It was now about four o’clock, an afternoon lull.
Chloe looked up from behind the register. “Nice to see you again, Millie,” she said, though she didn�
�t actually look particularly happy to see her. Whatever the reason, Millie wasn’t concerned. After all, neither Chloe nor the manager, Jack, had been present at the second poisoning. She mentally scratched them from her list of suspects.
“Hello, there.” A man in his late thirties or early forties waved from the staircase where he was descending from the upper floors. “You must be the new bookmobile girl. I’m Jack.”
“Nice to meet you. This is my cousin Peter. We thought we’d stop in for some cappuccinos and see if you all had heard the news from the main library this afternoon.”
“We heard,” said Jack. “Pauline stopped in earlier. I’m sorry to hear about your coworker. Do you know how she’s doing?”
“She’s doing better,” said Millie. “She’s staying overnight at the hospital just to make sure.”
“That’s good to hear,” said Jack.
“Actually, I was hoping to get in touch with Pauline and maybe some of the other folks that were here on the day that Martin passed away,” said Millie.
“Happy to help,” Jack replied. “Just watch your step—unless they’ve already arrested him. Then, maybe we’re all safe at last.”
“You’re sure it’s Frank, then?” asked Peter.
“Who else could it be?” asked Chloe as she started making their cappuccinos. “I honestly can’t think of anyone else who would have a reason to do this.”
“Did you all see anything Frank did on that day besides arguing?” Peter asked.
“I’m afraid not,” said Jack. “We were fairly busy that day. I just popped in and out with the coffee and heard the arguing. We all heard the arguing.”
“Same here,” said Chloe as she poured the milk. “I heard the arguing, and I saw that time when they were all huddled together with all their cups on one table. That’s when it must’ve happened. All of them were there. Technically, it could’ve been any of them, but I don’t see it being anyone but Frank. Like I told the police, they were all out on the deck during that time and nobody left until Martin did.”
Jack frowned. “Actually, someone did leave. It was after you went back inside with the empty coffee pots, Chloe. I was still busy with the creamers. Sadie stepped away and went inside.”
Chloe‘s shoulders stiffened as she steamed the milk. “Oh. That’s right. I did see her. I forgot. She came to the counter and asked for a glass of water.”
Jack shrugged. “Well, that’s all right then. Anyway, it’s not like Sadie would have anything against Martin or Pauline. Frank is the only one she ever had a problem with.”
“Of course,” said Chloe. She set the finished cappuccinos on the counter. “Jack, would you mind ringing them up? I need to check on some things in the back.” And with a toss of her brown hair she hurried off.
Jack rang them up and gave them directions to find the remaining board members of The Wild Wanderers. There was still one thing bothering Millie. “So Ricky—he’s your boyfriend, right?—he said there’s been some things stolen from his place. Do you think that has anything to do with all this?”
“I wouldn’t worry too much about it,” said Jack. “That’s what I told Ricky. I mean, it is unpleasant to be the victim of theft. But I don’t think it has anything to do with what’s happened to Martin and to your colleague.”
They thanked Jack, picked up their coffees, and left. They crossed the veranda and descended the steps in the late afternoon sunshine, each managing to sneeze three times due to the light before they reached the car. “Do you think it’s wise to go talk to this Frank guy at all?” asked Peter. “It sounds like the best case we’re going to get is beaten up and the worst case, murdered.”
“Quite possibly,” Millie conceded. “Let’s just drive around and see if he’s home. If he isn’t… a quick snoop around is probably safer than a direct conversation anyway.”
Peter turned the key and the engine of Jody’s car roared to life. “Too bad we didn’t get more info from the café folks.”
“We got one very important piece of information,” said Millie. “Sadie stepped away from the meeting around the time of the poisoning. Flor and I didn’t see her when we came in. It could’ve been just before we entered the café, or it could’ve been when I was using the restroom and Flor was sneaking her cigarette. But I have a feeling Sadie didn’t come for a glass of water, and for whatever reason Chloe is lying about it.”
* * *
With only a few wrong turns, Peter and Millie followed Jack’s directions and arrived at the winding country road that led to Frank’s farm. But as they approached, they saw multiple cars in the driveway, many of them with flashing blue lights.
“I guess Jack was right,” said Millie. “The police are already on Frank. Let’s turn around and move onto Pauline.”
Peter found a grassy spot where he could turn the car around, but they weren’t ten seconds down the road when another car pulled up behind them from Frank’s property. It was an unmarked gray sedan, but blue lights began flashing through the windshield.
“Oh, boy,” Peter muttered as he pulled over and rolled down the window.
The car stopped behind them and out stepped on a certain brown-eyed detective in a crisp suit. Oh, boy indeed.
Detective Allen leaned down with her hands on the opening of the rolled-down window. “Why am I not surprised to see you two?” she asked. She kept her voice level, but her face was flushed red.
“We’re just –” Millie began.
“Going for a nice drive?” tried Peter.”
Detective Allen shook her head. “Nice try. You’re lucky I don’t arrest you two. We’re going to have a chat about this.” She pulled out her phone to check the time. “8:30. At The Witch’s brew. Be there. Until then, please, go home.”
They didn’t hesitate to do just that.
13
Chapter 13
Millie and Peter got to The Witch’s Brew a bit early and sat in the comfy chairs around the coffee table. At 8:30 on the dot, they heard the tinkling of the wind chimes as Detective Allen arrived.
Graham greeted her at the bar. “Good to see you, Kendra. The usual?”
“You know it,” she replied.
Graham filled her glass. She spotted them in the corner and headed over. It was jarring seeing Detective Allen dressed in something other than a suit and blouse. She wore jeans and a striped T-shirt, her hair pulled back in a messy bun instead of the usual sleek bob.
“I didn’t know you were a regular here,” said Millie and instantly regretted it. What a stupid thing to say. She didn’t know Detective Allen at all, not really, and she had only been in town for a week. Of course she wouldn’t know that.
“It’s my favorite watering hole.” Detective Allen took a seat. She didn’t seem nearly as angry as she had when she pulled Peter over, but her tone was serious. “Look, you and your cousin mean well, but we’re talking about murder. This is dangerous. I’m begging you not to interfere if you’re ever so unfortunate as to come across a murder again. Anyway, it’s all over now. We’ve got him.”
“You arrested Frank?” asked Millie.
She nodded. “The search warrant came through, shortly after the incident at the library. I needed to stay there for obvious reasons, but we had officers searching the house while we handled the aftermath of what happened to your poor coworker. They found bottles of the poison at his house. He made it from foxgloves. Foxglove poisoning can look like a heart attack. Lucky thing your friend Abby is young and strong… unlike poor Martin. We did our best to keep things quiet, and Frank left the library in handcuffs.”
“He did?” said Peter. “Everything was so calm, we thought you let him go.”Millie knew what he meant. She had expected Frank to put up more of a fight, too.
“I’m not sure why, but the fight went out of Frank. He didn’t make a fuss.”
Millie frowned. That didn’t sound like Frank from everything she had heard. “So he confessed?”
“No,” said Detective Allen. “But it’s
a matter of time. Like I said, we got him. I know you must be worried about what happened to Abby, but everyone is safe now.”
Millie took a long drink from her beer. Things still didn’t feel right. “So you found a bottle of the poison on him or in the library?”
Detective Allen took a long swig of beer herself before answering. When she did, her voice was lower. “I’m afraid not. We’re still not sure where the container of poison got to in the library. But we’ll find it.”
“Of course,” Millie muttered. She swirled her glass and watched the bubbles rise to the surface of her blonde ale. “What I don’t get is why he’d hurt Pauline.”
“Frank must have thought Pauline knew something or had seen something proving that Frank was Martin‘s killer.”
“Did she say she knew something?” asked Peter.
Detective Allen didn’t answer but stared into her glass.
“That’s a no, then?” asked Millie.
“Frank was mistaken,” said Detective Allen. “That’s all. You two don’t need to worry about the details. The point is he’s under arrest and can’t hurt anyone else.” She drained her glass and stood. “Nice talking to you, but I’ve got to run.”
“Nice ink,” said Peter. Millie was momentarily confused until she noticed the small tattoo of a ball of yarn on Detective Allen’s wrist.
“Thanks,” she said. “I got it on a dare back when I was in the police academy.”
“Do you knit?” Millie asked.
“Sure do.” Detective Allen flashed a smile, different than her professional smile, an unrehearsed smile of real enjoyment. “We’ve all got to have a hobby, right? And there’s a lot of waiting around in detective work, watching places, watching people. It’s helpful to do something with your hands. Anyway, I’ll see y’all around. But hopefully only for some good blonde ales, no criminal investigation.”
As Detective Allen left, Millie drained her own glass. Despite the many assurances that the danger was over, there were still so many questions. She didn’t doubt that Frank was a dangerous man, but she wasn’t so sure he was the real killer.
The Body in the Bookmobile Page 6