by Jinty James
“Good, nobody else is in here.” Zoe punched the floor number. And kept on pressing it until the doors closed.
When they exited at the correct floor, Zoe craned her head this way and that, not seeming to care about the curious looks some of the other shoppers gave her.
“Calm down,” Lauren murmured. “You might be drawing attention.”
“Oops.” Zoe stopped looking around. “Maybe we should retrace our steps. We looked at pillowcases the other day—”
“And then we saw him come out from the back and talk to a sales clerk,” Lauren remembered.
“That’s right. So if we go over here—” Zoe led the way toward the pillowcases, “—and then try to find that rear door—” She stopped in her tracks, surrounded by an aisle full of plain and floral bedding. “There!” She pointed at a brown wooden door set in the middle of a wall. “That’s where Richard came out of.”
She dragged Lauren over to it.
EMPLOYEES ONLY
“He must be in there,” Zoe said. “I haven’t noticed him out here on the floor.”
“Me neither,” Lauren replied. “But how are we going to see him?”
“Like this.” Zoe glanced around to check nobody watched, rapped on the door, and dragged Lauren into an aisle.
“Why didn’t you warn me?” Lauren grumbled.
“Because I knew you wouldn’t approve,” Zoe replied. “Ooh – look.”
Nellie’s husband Richard opened the door and stuck his head out.
“Come on!” Zoe pulled on Lauren’s arm. “Hi, Richard,” she called out, attempting to appear completely innocent. “Fancy running into you here.”
“I work here.” He looked at them, puzzled. “Did you just knock on this door? It’s for employees only.”
“Of course not.” Zoe looked suitably shocked. “But now we’ve bumped into you, we wanted to ask—”
“The sale on pillow shams is still on,” he told them. “Let me show you where they are.”
“That’s not—” Zoe began.
Lauren gave her a look.
“Thank you,” she told him. “That would be very helpful.”
“Oh, yeah.” Zoe caught on.
They followed him out to the floor, Zoe winking at Lauren behind his back.
“We ran into Detective Castern the other day,” Zoe said casually.
They were still behind him. Lauren wished they could see Richard’s face. How would they know if he lied to them while Zoe grilled him?
“Oh, yes?” Richard sounded disinterested. “Here are the shams on sale. We have blue, green, pink, and a good array of floral patterns.”
“Thanks,” Lauren said.
“Detective Castern told us something interesting.” Zoe was not to be deterred.
Now they were in the aisle, they were able to stand next to Richard and observe his profile.
“He told us that you had an affair with Rebecca.”
“What?” Richard paled. “That is not right. I loved Nellie.”
“That’s what he said.” Zoe shrugged.
“It’s true,” Lauren added.
“What did Rebecca say?” Richard frowned.
“She denied it,” Zoe said.
“There you are.” Richard sounded relieved. “Some busybody must have made it up and told the police. You know how people are.”
“But why would they think that?” Zoe pressed.
“I don’t know.” Annoyance flickered across his face. “How could I? All I do is go to work, go home, and look after my wife – at least I did.” He suddenly blinked furiously. “I don’t even jaywalk.”
“You don’t?” Zoe stared at him, a guilty expression flashing across her face.
“Of course I don’t. That’s how you get run over.”
“Have you noticed anything strange since Nellie’s – you know.” Zoe sounded awkward.
“Now that I come to think of it—” Richard closed his eyes briefly. “That ugly vase Nellie’s grandmother gave us for a wedding present has gone.”
“Gone?” Lauren asked.
“Yes. Nellie hated the thing but couldn’t get rid of it because she hoped her grandmother would leave her something in her will.”
“Did she?” Zoe asked.
“She’s still alive,” Richard replied wryly.
“Oh.” Zoe sounded disappointed.
He cleared his throat. “With everything that’s happened, I thought returning to work as soon as possible would help take my mind off things. I have my own office so it’s not like I have to make much small talk with my colleagues, unless there’s a problem. I didn’t pay much attention to the vase disappearing, with everything else I had to do.”
“You didn’t report it missing to the police?” Zoe questioned, an excited look on her face.
“To be honest, I thought maybe the police took it as evidence. But they haven’t mentioned it to me. I can’t remember exactly when the vase vanished. I’m sure it was there before Nellie was – was—” his voice crumpled.
There was a short pause.
“If you two are serious about buying pillow shams, I think you’ll find this pink and blue floral pattern is very nice.” Richard recovered, pressing a set into Lauren’s hands, and one into Zoe’s. “If you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.” He strode toward the employee door.
“Do you realize what he just said?” Zoe asked in a hushed voice.
Lauren waited until he’d closed the door behind him.
“There’s a missing vase.”
“Maybe it’s the murder weapon!”
“YOU HAVE TO ASK MITCH about this missing vase,” Zoe ordered as they walked out of the store.
Lauren’s stomach growled and she glanced at her watch. It was after seven, and twilight had set in.
“Maybe we’d better get some ice-cream first.” Zoe charged down the street.
Lauren followed. Ice-cream was a good idea. Maybe they could grab the rest of their dinner on the way home.
“Stop!” Zoe hissed as Lauren caught up with her. The ice-cream shop was only a few feet away – and still open.
“What?”
“There!” Zoe half-turned, pointed, then dropped her arm, as if she didn’t want anyone to notice her gesture.
“Where?”
“There!”
Lauren peered at the tall, dark haired figure, standing outside the window of a jewelry store. Was that ...
“It’s Mitch!”
“Is it?” Lauren’s heart skipped a beat. “Are you sure?”
“Aren’t you? He’s your boyfriend.”
“Of course I know if it’s him or not.” Lauren studied the man. The tilt of his head, the way he stood, his outfit of dark slacks and button-down shirt. “Yes, it’s him.”
“What’s he doing?”
“Looking at jewelry?” Lauren offered. For her? She remembered Mitch’s slightly strange behavior recently, as well as Brooke’s comment that it might be Lauren’s turn soon to become engaged. No. But ... things had been serious for a while between them, and they’d met each other’s parents, which had gone well.
“Duck!” Zoe pushed her down so they crouched side by side.
“What are you—”
“Shh!”
After a moment, Zoe said in a more normal voice, “Okay, you can stand up now.”
Lauren straightened, hoping no one had noticed hers and Zoe’s strange behavior.
Now Mitch stood at the entrance to the jewelry store, as if debating whether to go in or not.
“Come on.” Lauren tugged on Zoe’s arm. “I am not spying on my boyfriend.”
“I’ll spy for you, and you can get us ice-cream.”
“We’ll both get ice-cream.”
There was a pause.
“Yes, Mom.”
Lauren marched them over to the ice-cream shop. She didn’t want to let on to Zoe that she was flustered. Surely it would be natural to walk up to Mitch and greet him? She was his girlfriend, after all. But
if he was thinking of buying her a present, she didn’t want to interrupt him.
An image of Brooke’s engagement ring flashed in her mind. What if Mitch was buying her one? Her pulse skipped at the thought. She knew what her answer would be.
“He’s walking away.” Zoe stopped craning her head and sounded disappointed.
They’d reached the ice-cream shop.
“He is?”
“Maybe he already went in, bought something for you, and came back out.” Zoe’s tone was artificially bright.
“He could do all of that in what – thirty seconds?” Lauren asked skeptically.
“Maybe he’s there on a case,” Zoe suggested. “Yeah, I bet that’s it. Maybe he had to check out the store window for stolen jewels – or something.”
As Lauren licked her maple rhubarb cone, she wondered if Zoe was right about the police angle – or if Mitch really had gone to the jewelry store to buy her something – and then changed his mind.
CHAPTER 11
AFTER THEIR ICE-CREAM, they headed back to the car.
“Look.” Zoe stopped in her tracks.
A thrift store displaying attractive clothes in the window caught their attention.
Open til late, the sign in the window stated.
“Let’s take a look.” Zoe opened the door, causing a bell to tinkle.
“Zoe.” Lauren sighed. After seeing Mitch like that, all she wanted to do was go home and relax. Snuggle with Annie. And forget all about jewelry stores and possible engagement rings. She and Mitch hadn’t made plans for the night, so she’d assumed he was working late. Maybe he was. Maybe Zoe was right and he’d had to check out the jewelry store for work.
But why would he need to investigate a Sacramento store when he worked in Gold Leaf Valley? Although, there weren’t any jewelry shops in the small town. Maybe he was working on a new case, involving a gang of thieves, and he was checking they hadn’t fenced – if that was the correct word – the goods at that particular store. The thought made her feel slightly better.
“No, no, no, no.” Zoe rifled through a rack of jeans. “Help me look for a pair. Not too dark, but not too faded, either.”
“I thought you had plenty of jeans,” Lauren said mildly, glad to have something else to think about.
“I do, but the stuff on this rack is only two dollars each.” Zoe’s eyes lit up. “Just imagine if I can find a pair of jeans good enough to wear to work – no one will know I only paid two bucks!”
“Except me.” Lauren couldn’t help a smile.
“Yeah.” Zoe giggled.
A few minutes later, Zoe admitted defeat. “These are perfect.” She held out a pale blue pair. “But they’re way too small. I think they’re kids’.” Placing them back, she sighed.
“Maybe you’ll find something over here.” Lauren led the way to an aisle full of blouses.
“No, I don’t like wearing shirts.”
“I’ve noticed.” Her cousin usually wore t-shirts, or sweaters when the weather was colder.
“What about you?” Zoe held out an orange and red patterned blouse against Lauren’s chest. “No.”
Lauren glanced around. They were the only customers. She caught sight of a vase out of the corner of her eye. It was on a shelf.
“Look.” She gestured to the khaki and navy vase, patterned with brown flowers.
“Yikes!” Zoe’s eyes widened. “No wonder someone donated it. That is one ugly—”
“Remember what Richard told us today?” Lauren kept her voice down. “About the ugly vase Nellie’s grandmother gave her?”
“That would certainly qualify.” Zoe nodded.
“Do you think that could be the vase?” Lauren held her breath.
“But the police have it – don’t they?”
“No – at least, we don’t know for sure. Richard said he thought the police might have taken it, but the police didn’t tell him they took it.”
“That could be the vase!” Zoe’s face lit up. “We’ve found the murder weapon!”
“Maybe,” Lauren said, her mind flashing back to the ugly vases she’d spotted in the department store on their first visit to Richard.
“I bet you could pick it up easily enough, but would it be heavy enough to kill someone?” Zoe zoomed over to the shelf. “What if there’s blood on it?”
“Surely the staff here would have checked it for anything like that?” Lauren frowned. “If it is the murder weapon, then we shouldn’t touch it.”
“But tons of people might have touched it already,” Zoe argued.
“Can I help you?” A lady in her fifties walked over to them. “Are you admiring this vase? It’s just come in.”
“It has?’ Zoe sounded disappointed.
“Well, last week.” The woman laughed. “I only volunteer on Thursdays, and it wasn’t here last Thursday.
“I guess a lot of people have touched it?” Lauren hoped she didn’t sound too weird.
“Oh, are you a germophobe?” The woman looked at her sympathetically. “I totally understand. They sanitize items like this – the volunteer in charge of cleaning new items might have washed it, or wiped it with a disinfectant cloth. It should be safe if you want to pick it up and hold it.”
“Thanks.” Lauren flashed a what do we do now look to Zoe.
“I’d love to hold it.” Zoe smiled. “But ...” she rummaged in her purse “... maybe I should wear gloves, just in case.” She pulled out a pair of disposable gloves, the rubber snapping as she put them on.
“Where did you get those from?” Lauren’s eyes widened.
“Oh ... you know.” Zoe shrugged, but there was an excited gleam in her eye.
“Here you go.” The woman reached up to the shelf and brought it down.
Zoe hefted the vase. It was a medium-large size, around twenty inches tall.
“Yeah.” Zoe nodded. “This could definitely do it.” She held it high above her head, as if she were going to crash it down on something – or someone. “Check underneath it,” she muttered to Lauren.
Lauren peered at the underside of the vase. There was a dark smudge on it. Dirt? Or blood?
“Keep hold of it,” she advised her cousin. “I’ll call Mitch.”
“He mightn’t be far away. He was outside the jewelry shop about twenty minutes ago.”
“You don’t need to remind me.” Lauren speed-dialed him.
“Is everything okay?” The volunteer frowned.
“This vase might be a murder weapon,” Zoe told her. “Lauren’s calling her boyfriend, who’s a police detective.”
“I see.” But the bewildered expression on the lady’s face showed that she didn’t. “I think I’ll just sit behind the register.”
“Good idea. We’ve got this.”
CHAPTER 12
“MITCH IS ON HIS WAY.” Lauren ended the call. “He said to stay here and guard the vase.”
“Is it going to take him long to get here?” Zoe teased.
“No,” Lauren replied shortly. Right now, she didn’t want to think about Mitch standing outside the jewelry store.
“Do you keep records of who donates the items you sell?” Lauren walked over to the volunteer at the register. Luckily, no other customers had entered.
“Not really,” the woman admitted. “Some people don’t want anyone knowing they’re getting rid of the ugly knickknack a family member gave them, or donating their old clothes – or even their new clothes that didn’t fit. We get a lot of regretted online purchases,” she confided.
“So you’d have no way of knowing who gave you this vase,” Zoe called from the other side of the shop.
“That’s right.”
“Do you have any security cameras installed?” Lauren asked.
“I’m afraid not.”
“Maybe there’ll still be fingerprints on it,” Zoe suggested. “The volunteer who was supposed to clean this didn’t get rid of the mark on the underside.”
“Maybe she tried and it just wouldn
’t budge,” the volunteer replied.
The bell over the door tinkled and Mitch strode in.
“Are you okay?” He looked at Lauren in concern.
“I’m fine.” She mustered a smile. It had been him standing outside the jewelry store. She’d known it at the time, and this moment confirmed it. He wore the same clothes as he wore twenty minutes ago.
“I’ve got the vase.” Zoe waved it in the air.
“Careful.” He headed over to her, taking out a pair of latex gloves. “Let me see.”
Lauren watched him in full detective mode. His eyes narrowed in concentration as he tilted the vase this way and that, and checked the underside – just like they had.
“Yes, this will have to go in to be checked.”
“You mean that stain is blood?” Zoe held her breath, her eyes rounded.
“It looks like it, but I won’t know for sure until the lab tests it.” He crossed to the register, where the volunteer continued to sit. “Ma’am, I’m a detective with the Gold Leaf Valley police department.” He showed her his identification.
“I need to take this vase for examination, but I’ll give you a receipt for it. You can contact me on this number.” He handed her a card.
The volunteer appeared shocked. “Well, I suppose so. Nothing like this has ever happened in my ten years of helping out here. I’ll have to leave a note for the person who’s looking after the store tomorrow.”
“That’s a good idea,” Mitch told her. He turned to Lauren. “I have an evidence bag that’s big enough in my trunk. I’ll get it.”
Lauren nodded, watching him walk out of the small shop.
“This is so exciting.” Zoe looked like she wanted to hop from one foot to the other, now that she no longer held the vase. It stood on the counter, next to the cash register.
“Yes, it is,” Lauren had to agree. Would the vase have any trace evidence left on it if the thrift store volunteer had cleaned it last week, or whenever it had come in? Had the killer brought it into the store as a way to dispose of the murder weapon?
Mitch entered the shop, the bell tinkling again. He efficiently bagged the vase.
“I’ll have to take this down to the station,” he told Lauren. “I’ll call you as soon as I can with an update.”