Kiki Lowenstein Books 1-3 & Cara Mia Delgatto Books 1-3: The Perfect Series for Crafters, Pet Lovers, and Readers Who Like Upbeat Books!

by Joanna Campbell Slan

  “He seemed nervous. Cooper’s usually an easy going guy, but he definitely wanted to get me out of his office,” said Lou.

  “Did you go online and run a search on his name?”

  Lou squirmed. “I went to the public library.”

  Davidson shook his head. “Lou, you have to get over your Luddite tendencies. Even when Ollie’s back to work, you shouldn’t be so dependent on his skills. I want you to sign up for a computer class. In fact, I expect you to sign up for a class within the next two weeks. Are we clear?”

  “Yes.” Lou felt like a kid who’d been called into the principal’s office and been slapped on the wrist with a ruler.

  “Told ya!” said Showalter. “You couldn’t hope to avoid this forever.”

  “Did you find anything at the library?” Davidson sounded hopeful.

  “A couple of mentions when he turned in bids for projects.”

  “Were you able to see if his bids had been accepted?”

  “Just a few.”

  “Not surprising,” said Davidson. “What else can you tell me about your visit to Wendy’s when you spoke to the crew?”

  He explained about Keisha’s big reveal. “I started thinking what she said. Went back and checked on that tattoo that Kathy had. Sure enough it said, ‘Darcy+ Kathy4Ever.’ Must have been more than a roommate thing between them.”

  “Gives us a whole new set of motives,” said Davidson. “I’ve requested help from the folks in Miami, but…”

  “That’ll happen when pigs fly,” said Lou.

  Davidson chuckled. “Yes, they’ve got their hands full. Asking for help locating a person of interest will not float to the top of their list. What did you learn from Dick Potter? I didn’t get to read the whole report.”

  Lou shook his head. “Not much. Dick used to be a baseball umpire, and he remembered that Josiah Wentworth sponsored several teams way back when. I guess the Senator never missed a game if he could help it. Always taking the boys out for ice cream and field trips. Other than that, I got nada.”

  “Doubtful that Dick is our poisoner,” said Davidson, taking the Hobe Sound exit.

  Lou nodded. “He said that if he wanted to kill Josiah Wentworth, he’d have snapped the man’s neck.”

  “That makes sense. I’ve looked at his service record. Our government taught Dick hand-to-hand combat skills.”

  The off ramp looped through a tree farm, dumping traffic into an area that smacked of Old Florida. Cabbage palms and native shrubs thickened the roadsides. The drainage running parallel to the pavement was dotted with white herons balanced on chopstick-like legs while wading through the water. In a dead tree, a large bird spread its gray wings in the sun. The scene seemed eerily pre-historic.

  “That’s an anhinga,” said Davidson. “Otherwise known as a water turkey. They don’t have oil glands in their wings, and they swim underwater to catch their prey. Unless they stop and dry out, they get water-logged.”

  Flash Grill was tucked between a convenience store and an empty parking lot in Downtown Hobe Sound. The front lawn had been charmingly landscaped with a beach theme, including sand, surfboards, and palm trees. When they walked in, Robert and Anita greeted Davidson like a long-lost friend.

  After introductions were made, Davidson requested a high-top table, where he and Lou could sit with their backs to the wall while looking out over the whole restaurant. It was a small place, to be sure, but the outside seating doubled the number of patrons.

  A server rolled by a metal cart topped with pans of ice. Two huge silvery fish stared listlessly at the ceiling. "Robert catches most of the fish he cooks. You’re in for a real treat,” Davidson said, and he was right. The pompano piccata was excellent.

  "What's your impression of Mrs. Wentworth?" Davidson asked, as he scooped up a big bite of Key Lime pie.

  "I think she's a woman who's used to getting her own way. She doesn't expect any resistance. She thinks she can do whatever she wants. No questions asked."

  "I agree. Her weak spot is her ego, her belief that others won't press her."

  "I've never seen anybody so happy to be planning a funeral,” said Lou.

  80

  ~Lou~

  6:30 p.m. on Sunday

  Flash Grill in Downtown Hobe Sound, Florida

  "Curious, isn't it?" Davidson pouring sugar syrup to his iced tea. "We know that the Wentworths were up in the DC area until recently. That's when Josiah visited the doctor at Johns Hopkins. I wonder when they moved here full time?"

  "Why would that matter?" asked Lou.

  "DC is a hustling, bustling town. If you're a Senator or a retired Senator, I would guess that you'd attend one social event after another. Compared to life on Jupiter Island, being here might seem incredibly dull. Makes me wonder. I'm going to step outside and call George. I want to ask him a few questions."

  Lou finished his Key Lime pie and asked for a cup of coffee. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Davidson standing outside. His boss gestured as he talked on his cell phone.

  Davidson returned to that table and said, “The Wentworths only recently moved to the island full time. George says they deleted their Maryland address, which means they must have sold that house. Get this: They dropped their membership to the club on the island.”

  “So money was tight,” said Lou.

  After Davidson had paid their bill, he said, "I'm thinking ice floes."

  "Ice floes?" Lou repeated.

  "Hasn't anyone ever told you that Eskimos put their elderly on ice floes and set them adrift to freeze to death?" Davidson smiled.

  "Really?"

  "Senilicide was practiced by the Eskimos, the Inuit, and the Yuit, but only in extreme conditions when an infirm person was such a drain on the tribe's resources that they had no choice."

  "You lost me. What does this have to do with the Wentworths?"

  "Here’s yet another motive for Josiah Wentworth’s murder. What if it was senilicide? What if he was poisoned to death because he was a burden on the family resources? By all accounts, he was growing physically and mentally feeble. Maybe the next step was an extended and expensive stay in a care facility. What if his wife decided she'd had enough? What if she missed the social whirl in DC? And she resented curtailing their activities here?"

  Lou nodded. "But why kill him now?"

  "Remember, LaTisha said that he'd started to blab about his mistakes. Maybe Jenny Beth didn't want his reputation tarnished—and he'd outlived his usefulness to her."

  "I keep going back to that photo," said Lou. “Did you see Mrs. Wentworth’s reaction to it? Her mood shifted.”

  "Right," agreed Davidson, “and she immediately wondered if it had come from Cara Mia's store."

  "I figured that was because they’d seen the photos at the VIP event," said Lou.

  "Except there weren’t any photos of people," said Davidson. “Cara has confirmed to me that the burglar only took pictures with people in them. In fact, all her photos of people were missing!”

  "Right,” said Lou. “Do you believe that Mrs. Wentworth doesn’t know anything about that photo? Where it was taken? Who the boys were?”

  "Not for a minute,” said Davidson.

  Lou felt one-hundred-percent better when they climbed back into Davidson’s car. They hadn’t gone four blocks when the Police Captain’s phone rang.

  “Cara!” said Davidson, with affection in his voice.

  "Some detective you are,” said Showalter. "Haven't you noticed how he looks at Cara Mia?"

  Lou had to admit that Showalter was right.

  When Davidson got off the phone, he was grinning from ear to ear. “That was Cara Mia Delgatto. She showed the picture to Dick, on the off-chance he might recognize someone since he’s a contemporary of Josiah Wentworth. She figured that one of those boys might even belong to a local family.”

  “Any luck?” Lou felt a zing of excitement.

  “Yes. One of the two boys in the picture was a baseball player named PeeWee Heck
ler. Died of his own hand after spending time at Dozier. Buried up in Port St. Lucie. The other kid Dick didn't know. I wonder if Sid can help us find something linking Josiah Wentworth, Kathy Simmons, and PeeWee.”

  Lou mulled that over. “There’s one other person who might be able to tell us something, Kathy Simmons’ mother.”

  “That’s right,” said Davidson. “Kathy told Cara that she was buying the photo as a gift for her mother. I want us both to go to the funeral on Monday. Maybe Mrs. Simmons can tell us more about that picture. Maybe she knew PeeWee Heckler.”

  81

  ~Cara~

  Sunday and very early on Monday

  Sunday proved to be a restful day at the store. Skye joined me for breakfast and brought along a brilliant idea.

  “Have you noticed that wine glass rings are all the big buzz? I started thinking about all those seashells we’ve gathered. The ones with holes in them from oyster drills? I was thinking that I could divide them into sixes, all different, and make wine glass charms with them.”

  I couldn’t believe how smart she was. The idea was simple, elegant, and best of all, practically free.

  “They’ll be easy to mail, too,” she said.

  We spent the rest of the day working on her idea in between waiting on customers. That night I went to sleep feeling like I was finally getting back in the groove. Part of my happiness came from being creative. I never have a bad day when I’m knee deep in a project. Crafting is magical on so many levels.

  Monday dawned bright and beautiful. Too lovely, actually, for a funeral. I took the glorious weather as a reminder to savor my life here in Paradise. I began by brewing a nice pot of coffee and warming up a scone for my breakfast.

  The calm was broken when Skye stomped downstairs. To my surprise, she actually growled at the cell phone she was holding in her hand.

  “I cannot believe the nerve of that man!”

  “Care to take it outside?” I asked. Jack was whimpering at the door. Luna flicked her tail with amusement. That cat was quite the diva. She watched Jack with an ill-disguised sense of superiority.

  “Yeah, I guess.” Skye followed us out into the bright sunshine. There was a gentle breeze off the water. I could smell the fragrant clusters of yellow blossoms in the Sweet Acacia trees. Sunlight turned Skye’s golden hair into an angelic halo, which seemed sort of funny considering sort of temper tantrum she was having.

  “Spill it, girlfriend,” I said, giving her a quick hug.

  "It’s Lou. I thought I'd get over him, but I can't. It's like a rock in my shoe. I've got this bruise in one place, so I adjust my gait. Then it moves to another spot and hurts all over again."

  "That bad?"

  "He emailed me five minutes ago asking what tonight's specials will be at Pumpernickel's. Just like always. He's pretending that nothing happened between us. But it did! And I'm not letting him get away with it,” she said. With that, she launched into a blow-by-blow of Lou's sneaky questioning. Boy, was she ever wound up.

  Skye went on and on, giving vent to her anger. She barely stopped for air as Jack wandered down the alley, sniffing and peeing, happily. She talked and talked and talked until finally she talked herself out. When she got to the part about dumping the glass of water in Lou's lap, I burst out laughing. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “No, I’m not. The manager almost fired me on the spot. Fortunately with so many servers out sick, he couldn’t afford to.”

  “I never knew you had such a temper.”

  “Here’s the thing. If he’d resaid upfront that he needed some information and that he respected our friendship, I could have handled that. It was the sneaky way he went about it that ticked me off. He's just using me. If he wanted to be my boyfriend, he could have asked a long time ago. But now I know. He doesn’t care. Not really. I'm nothing to him. Less than nothing. His actions prove I'm a source. A confidential informant. Not a girlfriend."

  “I thought you two were a couple,” I said.

  “No. Not by a long shot,” she said. After a quick hesitation, she added, “You know that I spent time in jail, right?”

  “I heard something about it. I figured you’d tell me when you chose to.”

  “See? It’s a trust factor. That’s one of the reasons I am so loyal to you. You’ve trusted me from the beginning. You’ve never pushed. Here's the scoop: I took the fall for my first husband. At the time, I thought my life was ruined. But here’s the truth: Time behind bars gave me space to think about my future. Lou knows it did. When I was in jail, he visited me several times a week. And I still appreciate what he did. But back then, it was a one-up and one-down sort of relationship. It’s different now. I don’t want to feel like I owe him anything.”

  “You don’t. You paid your debt to society.”

  “He still sees me as a criminal.” Her eyes filled with tears.

  “No way! That man adores you.”

  Jack pawed Skye’s shin. She lifted him up for a cuddle.

  “If he likes me so much, why hasn't he ever asked me out on a proper date? He meets me at the deli and walks me home. That’s it. We did go to that one holiday party, but you’d have never known we were there as a couple. I mean, some people figured it out, but it wasn’t like he seemed attached to me.”

  “I have a hunch that Lou’s scared to put himself out there,” I said. “Could be that he’s unsure about how to move forward.”

  “Maybe he just doesn’t want a relationship with a woman who’s served time. After all, he’s a cop. I’d probably be a big stumbling block to his career.”

  A part of me wanted to correct her, but what did I know? Not enough.

  Maybe she was right. Maybe Lou did view a relationship with Skye as a potential liability.

  If so, I didn’t want to encourage her. Skye’s blue eyes swam with tears that she flicked away with the back of her hand.

  My heart went out to her.

  82

  ~Cara~

  Almost 10 a.m. on Monday

  The Treasure Chest

  By the time Skye, Jack, and I finished our walk, MJ and Honora had shown up for work. Sid strolled in twenty minutes late and immediately commandeered my computer. That bugged me. Since I’d been so busy working on the wine glass charms all day Sunday, I hadn’t had the chance to do research on Dozier—and I had plans to get to that today.

  But Sid had already gotten comfortable in my big office chair. His fingers raced across my keyboard.

  No matter how frustrating it was not having computer access, I couldn't fuss at Sid. Not really. He had been doing a terrific job. After the store closed on Sunday, I had checked our online shopping cart. We'd moved a lot of merchandise. Much more than I’d ever predicted we would sell through our website!

  “Cara! Come see!” Sid hollered from my office.

  I got behind the monitor and stared at the figures. Overnight, without any effort on my part, we’d sold nearly a thousand dollars of goods.

  Honora joined us. She was ecstatic as she realized how many of her tiny beach scenes would be going to new homes. MJ got a lead on a potential buyer for a Highwayman painting, plus a message from someone with one to sell. EveLynn's merchandise had been very popular. The last of Skye's sea heart necklaces had been bought and paid for.

  All in all, a wonderful result—and to think it happened while we were sleeping!

  Shortly after lunch, Poppy called. “I’m going through those papers on my desk,” he said. “The one in my spare bedroom. Haven’t found the key to the safe deposit box yet, but I’ll keep looking.”

  His industry took a load off my shoulders, especially when he added, “Don’t worry about getting Tommy through college. We’ll figure it out somehow. I’ve got money socked away just for situations like this.”

  I thanked him profusely and went back to trying to find products to plug holes in our online price points.

  At 3:30, Jason walked through the front door. I introduced him to Honora and Sid. Jack wriggled with jo
y, and Luna wound her way through Jason’s legs.

  "Are you ready?" he asked me. He was wearing a black jacket, gray slacks, and a starched white shirt.

  “Why?” I smiled at him. “Don’t I look like I’m going to a funeral?”

  “Uh,” he hesitated.

  Although I was wearing a simple black dress, I'd added a large scarf around my neck. It was silk printed in brilliant colors and outlined in black. When I removed the scarf and added a simple gold necklace, the outfit looked much more somber.

  "You ladies never cease to amaze me. A total transformation," he said, approvingly.

  “We’re leaving. Going to Kathy Simmons’ funeral,” I reminded my co-workers. I tucked the photo for Kathy’s mother in a small padded envelope.

  “Stay out as long as you want, kids,” said MJ with a smirk.

  That brought a blush to my face. “This isn’t a date, MJ.”

  “So? You can still enjoy the time away from the store, can’t you? Kathy wouldn't mind. Besides, she's already gone,” she said. “This isn’t for her. You’re showing kindness to her mother.”

  “We’ll be fine, Cara. Really we will," said Honora. "I can lock up the store for you."

  “Right, well. I have my phone with me, but it’ll be on vibrate.”

  "Cara?" Sid held out a manila envelope. "Would you give this to Police Captain Davidson? We’ve been emailing back and forth. He plans to be there at the funeral, and he's expecting this folder. By the way, I'm keeping track of the time I’m spending working for the Stuart PD. He asked me to turn my hours in. I’ve got a copy for you, too."

  "Good work, Sid.” It would be nice to be reimbursed. I tucked the envelope into my purse.

  Jason and I stepped out into a glorious Florida winter day. The temperature was perfect, the sky was a lovely cornflower blue, and the palm tree fronds rustled with a pleasing murmur.