Happier Days in Time

by Jenna St James

  “Calm down,” I snapped, averting my eyes. “And be careful. Water will ruin that piece of furniture.” I grabbed the edge of my shirt and carefully wiped up most of the water…what I could reach anyway. I’d have to wait until Rex got out to clean up everything.

  “Why would you go and do something like that?”

  “Because it’s the right thing to do. I trust her.”

  Rex sighed and sank back down into the water. “You’re too soft for your own good. Give me a few minutes, and I’ll be right down.”

  I grabbed the journal and dashed back downstairs. I didn’t want to imagine Rex bathing in a bowl anymore. I needed to keep my mind sharp and in the game.

  “Here it is.” I handed the journal to Maggie. “You’re more than welcome to read it, but if you want, I can give you the CliffsNotes.”

  Maggie chuckled. “The what?”

  I almost smacked myself on the forehead. Of course she wouldn’t know what CliffsNotes were. “I mean, I can tell you the important parts.”

  “Please do.”

  “The whole reason I want to go to the police station this morning is because in the journal, Sissy makes reference to the dead woman, Janie Alderman, clear back in December.”

  “What?” Maggie sat up straighter in her chair. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.” I held up my hand when she opened her mouth. “It seems Sissy stumbled upon Cliff and his secretary, Janie, flirting and messing around in December. When Cliff saw her, he threatened Sissy. Told her she’d never be able to get a loan for a car or a house if he found out she told anyone what she saw. So Sissy kept her mouth shut.”

  “I always wondered why she didn’t get a car,” Maggie mused. “She talked about getting a loan from the bank. I guess now I know.”

  “Sissy notes at the end of December that she went back to the bank to withdraw money for Christmas presents and saw this secretary crying and Cliff yelling at her. Then she writes later in January when she went to the bank again, there was a new secretary. The new secretary says Janie went to visit her parents in Philadelphia and never came back after Christmas. So Sissy does her thing, calls in a marker from another reporter, and finds out Janie was living at her mom’s house, but then someone came and took her to a different place.”

  “That’s weird.”

  “I know. Anyway, for some reason, Sissy wouldn’t let it go. One of the last entries in the notebook says she told Cliff if he didn’t tell Nancy about Janie, then she would.”

  Maggie’s coffee mug clanked to the table, spilling out some of the liquid. “What? Are you serious?”

  I nodded, using my napkin to wipe away the spilled coffee. “Yes.”

  “But that—I mean, are you saying—is that why the police…”

  I sat silently as Maggie went through the emotions. I totally understood what she was feeling. When shock and disbelief coursed through you…you had to take a minute to process everything.

  “I have no idea how Janie went from being in Philadelphia to being found washed up in Roseville. But if nothing else, the entries in the journal should be enough for them to have circumstantial evidence for why Cliff would kill both Sissy and Janie. They just need to prove how.”

  “I can’t believe this,” Maggie said. “I mean, I know I’m in the business of reporting stories, but this is unbelievable. Is this why Sissy was so secretive her last couple days?”

  I nodded and took a sip of my coffee. Maggie stood and poured herself another cup then walked back to the table.

  “Maggie? What if I told you I have something else important to tell you that I found out from the journal.”

  Maggie’s hand flew to her chest. “Mercy, can I handle it?”

  “I don’t know.” I took another sip. “Do you remember telling me that if you could have proof of Walter Smith’s involvement with a hate group that you had enough pull to do something about it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, Sissy also discovered that Walter was going to a secret meeting every second Sunday of the month. Last night, I decided to follow him.”

  “Oh my gosh! What? How?”

  I held up my hand. “You aren’t going to like this, but the meetings are taking place inside Oakdale Estates.”

  “No!”

  “Yes. I can even show you where the meeting was held. I followed Walter to his meeting and—”

  “Alexa, you could have been caught and hurt! What were you thinking?”

  I tried not to smile at the horror on Maggie’s face. The truth was, she was right. The Alexa Ivanova she knew should probably never have gone to the meeting. “You needed proof, and I have it. Now, I can only tell you what I overheard, and it was horrible. Profiling. They talked about a new family who moved into Roseville that they are watching. Even though the husband fought in the Korean War a couple years ago, they are still watching him like he’s done something wrong.”

  “I’m just—I have no words.”

  “The reason I feel you need to know about this, is because my name was mentioned last night, along with Sissy’s. They pretty much accused both of us of being spies, and they also named you as someone who houses spies.”

  “What? Why I—I can’t believe—”

  “I can’t prove to you what I overheard, but I can give you proof of who was out there.”

  “What do you mean?” Maggie’s eyes were sharp now. “You have physical proof?”

  I slid the paper out from the front of the black Capris I still wore from last night and set it on the table in front of her. “On this paper is a list of cars, makes and models, and license plate numbers. These are the men who were out there last night having their little hate meeting.”

  Maggie slid the paper over to her and did a quick scan. “I promise you, Alexa, I will make sure every single person is exposed.” She bit her lip and looked up at the ceiling then back at me. “It may take a while. I’m thinking I put a male reporter I trust under cover. I’ll have him try and get into the meeting and dig up everything he can.”

  I smiled and lifted my mug to her. “I think that’s a great idea.”

  “Do you need me to go with you this morning to the police station? Because I will.”

  I shook my head. “No. I think I can handle this on my own. But thank you.”

  Maggie nodded and flipped the journal open. “I’m just heartbroken.”

  “I know. I’m going to go upstairs and change,” I said. “You read whatever you want, and I’ll be down later to get the journal.”

  “Thank you for showing this to me,” she said. “I’ll make sure Sissy’s voice is heard.”

  Chapter 16

  “I’m sorry,” the elderly overweight woman said, “but who was it you needed to speak to?”

  I sighed and tried to hold on to my temper. This was the second time she’d asked me the same question. “I need to speak to the officer in charge of Sissy Ivanova’s case. I have something he needs to see.”

  “Oh, that’s right. Let me see if I can do that.” She left me sitting in the chair in front of her desk as she walked through the open doorway to her right.

  This was usually my surreal moment in the job. I’m used to modern times where you speak to a caged person and they have to patch you through to a person who types in a code through a door and there are tons of protocols and scans to go through. It always amazed me how lax the police stations were back in the day.

  I probably sat in the uncomfortable waiting chair for another ten minutes before an officer walked through the door and stood next to me, feet apart, thumbs hooked through his belt loops. He was maybe mid-fifties, heavy in the jowls, lines around his eyes and unsmiling mouth.

  “My name’s Officer Stanley. You’re Suzanne Ivanova’s sister?”

  “Yes.” I stood and shook his hand. “I’d like to speak with you if you have a moment.”

  Officer Stanley scowled, causing his thick brows to form one big line across his forehead, and his cheeks to hang even lower. “I don
’t know what I can tell you that you don’t already know. Your sister committed suicide.”

  I smiled tightly and held up the journal. “Let’s you and me talk.”

  He sighed and motioned for me to follow him. Picking up my purse, which held Rex, my fake driver’s license, and the mini binoculars, I hurried after him.

  No surprise, the station wasn’t that big for a fairly large town. There were probably five cops sitting around wooden desks, and in the same room were two criminals in a jail cell. Totally not what the police stations today looked like.

  “So you have something the police might be interested in?” Officer Stanley said.

  I could tell by his tone he was bored, and he thought I was wasting his time. “Yes. First off, can you tell me anything new you discovered in my sister’s murder?”

  Stanley snorted. “You mean suicide, right? Because that’s what it is.”

  I made myself count to ten…otherwise, I would have smited him right then and there. “Want to bet in about five minutes I’m going to have you changing your mind on that?”

  The officer’s smug look fell from his face. “You won’t get me to change my mind.” He tried, and failed, to give me a sincere look and reached over to pat my hand. “You need to face the fact that your sister was a lonely woman. Almost every person I spoke to said she talked all the time about being alone and not having anything important in her life. And I hate to tell you this, but they said she also drank a lot because she was miserable and unhappy.”

  I snorted. “Let me guess? These witnesses were the Belmonts and the Smiths, right?” I rolled my eyes. “I think after Saturday night’s talk with Cliff Belmont about Janie Alderman you can see he’s not the most upstanding citizen.”

  Officer Stanley blinked in surprise. “We aren’t talking to Mr. Belmont because we think he’s involved with the murder. We were simply there to let him know his secretary was the unidentified body found recently.”

  I stared at him in complete shock. “You don’t think it odd that his secretary goes missing, ends up dead in the river, and somehow he had nothing to do with it?”

  “Young lady, you need to take your wild accusations elsewhere. Why, Mr. Belmont is one of our town’s most upstanding citizens. A pillar. He’d never do anything untoward to another person, especially a woman.”

  I laughed. “Not true. And now I’m a little worried about handing over this journal to you. I’m not sure you can be trusted to do what’s right.”

  Officer Stanley’s nostrils flared. “I’ve had just about enough of your disrespectful tone. I didn’t have to invite you back here to let you speak, but my mother raised me with manners. I’m sorry to say, after knowing how you and your sister have lived, your mother obviously didn’t instill in you manners or the fact you always treat your elders with respect.”

  “Want me to chew through all his pencils in his desk, Lexi?” Rex mused. “Or maybe toss some rat hair in his coffee mug?”

  It was the comic relief I needed. I laughed and shook my head. “No, better not.”

  “Better not, what?” Stanley said.

  “Never mind.” I looked at the journal clutched against my chest, set it down on the desk, and then opened it. “You should know, Margaret Ellington—the owner of the newspaper and the district attorney’s sister—has read this entire journal. She knows what’s in here, and she wanted to come down here today with me to speak to you. But I told her no. Sissy was my sister, I’d take care of it and make sure Sissy had justice. There’s a lot of scandalous details in here, and even more I’ve uncovered in the three days I’ve been here in Roseville.” I leaned in close and stared into Stanley’s eyes. “I hope you do what’s right with the information contained in this journal.”

  Frowning, the officer picked up the notebook and started paging through.

  “You’ll want to pay close attention to December and January,” I said. “That’s when Janie Alderman first shows up.”

  I could tell that newsflash had his attention. “Thank you for bringing this to our notice. I’m sure if we have further questions, an officer will call on you at Miss Ellington’s place.”

  Hearing the dismissal in his voice, I picked up my purse and followed him back to the front of the station. I thanked him as he held open the door for me, then hightailed it to Maggie’s convertible.

  I was almost to the car when Rex spoke. “I smell food. Look around your feet. See anything?”

  Rolling my eyes, I scanned the area around the car and saw a brown apple slice lying against the curb. “It’s a rotten apple slice. I’m not picking that up.”

  “Do it! I’ve done gross things for you!”

  I snorted. “Not even.”

  “Don’t make me tie your hair in knots as you sleep tonight, Lexi girl!”

  “You’re a pain, you know that?” But I bent down to pick up the apple slice, just in case he meant the threat.

  “Whaddya, mental?” a male voice sneered. “Or do you always yak at the ground?”

  I looked up and saw I was surrounded by three teenaged boys—one being Walter Junior. He was again dressed like the others in a white t-shirt and jeans rolled enough to see his white socks. A toothpick protruded out of his mouth. I glanced around and saw the same car from last night parked next to mine.

  “Who cares if she’s mental?” Walter Junior said. “Hot Momma here has a cherry car.”

  “Hot Momma! He called you Hot Momma!” Rex laughed as I stood to my full height—towering over the wanna-be tough gang.

  “Well, Little Junior, Hot Momma here wants to ask you some questions,” I said coldly.

  The boy’s eyes bulged in anger as his friends laughed at him. “Little Junior! That’s aces man!”

  “Cool it!” Walter Junior snapped. “Lady, I don’t know you. I got nothin’ to say to you. Now beat it!”

  “It’s about the body you found last weekend,” I said, ignoring his demand I leave. “Just a couple questions.”

  Walter Junior narrowed his eyes and slammed his fist against his palm. “You’re cruisin’ for a bruisin’ aren’t ya, sister? I said beat it!”

  “Yeah,” the thugs echoed, “scram before we—”

  But I didn’t let them finish their little threat. Sometimes having magic came in real handy. Waving my hand through the air, I “pushed” the three boys into each other, knocking their heads together. They fell in one big heap at my feet.

  “Nice going, Lexi!” Rex cried gleefully. “You dropped them like bowling pins! Awesome!”

  I waited a few seconds before nudging Walter Junior with the toe of my high heel. As he moaned and blinked his eyes open, I leaned down. “Don’t ever threaten to hit a woman again.” I paused. “That includes your sister.”

  His eyes rolled back and he passed out once again.

  Stepping over them, I reached down and picked up the rotten apple slice and tossed it in my purse for Rex. I opened the car door, tied a scarf around my head so the wind didn’t blow my hair everywhere, slipped on a pair of oversized sunglasses, and headed back toward Oakdale Estates. I was feeling pretty good.

  “This is the life!”

  I looked over at Rex and laughed. He was sitting on his butt in the passenger seat nibbling on the brown apple slice.

  “Think Officer Stanley will take the journal seriously?”

  “I think so. You shocked him, which makes me say yes.”

  “I hope you’re right,” I said. “My only concern is that I don’t feel done here. I mean, in all my other cases, I closed the deal. I captured the bad guy or bad girl and everything was wrapped up nice and neat. I don’t have that here. Are we missing something?”

  “I know exactly what you mean! So yeah, maybe we got more to do here.”

  “What more can I do? I’ve already given the police the proof they obviously never had to make an arrest in Sissy’s case, and ultimately gave them Cliff as a prime suspect for Janie Alderman’s death. Plus I was able to give Maggie all the information she
needed to try and put a stop to the hate group in town. I think I’ve closed enough open doors.”

  “Obviously not.” Rex licked his paws clean then belched. “I could use a nap. Good thing we’re almost home.”

  I was about to bop him on the head when a vehicle up ahead caught my eye. We were still a good distance away from the turn in to Oakdale Estates, but I was pretty sure I recognized the driver behind the wheel of the car.

  “Hand me my binoculars. Hurry.”

  Rex opened my purse and pulled out the binoculars far enough for me to grab hold. Lifting them to my eyes, I whistled. “Wonder what she’s doing out?”

  “Who?” Rex was jumping up and down in the seat, trying to see over the dash. “I can’t see. Who?”

  Instead of turning left and going toward town, the driver in the other car turned right and headed toward nothing. “I didn’t think there was anything out past here. I wonder where she’s going?”

  “I don’t know who it is. But I say let’s follow her!”

  Chapter 17

  When we were still driving on the desolate stretch of road five minutes later, I was beginning to think I’d made the wrong decision. Rex had said I made the wrong decision three miles back.

  “There’s nothing out here!” he whined. “Why’re we still following her?”

  “Obviously something has to be out here, or she wouldn’t be driving out this way.”

  Rex folded his arms over his furry little chest and pouted. “I could be enjoying a nice sliver of yesterday’s roast right about now.”

  I’d hung back nearly a half mile so the driver wouldn’t recognize Maggie’s car. When the brake lights up ahead flashed, I let my own foot off the gas, hanging back as far as I dared without losing her. I tracked her with my eyes when she made a left at a gravel road, then made the turn myself once the dust had settled down.

  “I’m eating dirt! Rex wiped his paw repetitively across his tongue. “This is no longer fun!”