by Rosie Sams
His tone was getting more aggravated, but Melody wasn’t backing down.
“Well, this swell mentor of yours didn’t seem too bothered by how his girlfriend treats her daughter.”
“Are we really going to do this? I don’t want to argue with you over Otto and Francine, or even her daughter. I agree. It’s not a great relationship, but who knows, maybe Tara will take this opportunity to venture out on her own. You know, find her own way, be her own woman. She can’t live off her mother forever.”
“Are you sticking up for Francine? Because you definitely just sounded like you were.”
Smudge whined softly as she sat on the floor between the two of them.
Alvin rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall. This debate didn’t seem like it was going to end soon. At that moment, his cell phone vibrated. “Saved by the bell.”
Melody gasped and threw a couch pillow at him!
He held up one hand to block it while he took the call with the other. “Sheriff Hennessey.” He listened intently to the voice on the line. “A body? We just left there.”
Melody walked closer to him so she could hear the voice, too. It was Wilbur. Alvin put him on speakerphone.
“We just got a call. Hiram Green found a body by the dumpster behind The Happy Frog. You may want to head on over, Sheriff. I’m headed there now.”
Chapter Two Hundred Twenty-Three
“There’s Hiram,” Alvin said as he, Melody, and Smudge got out of the car near the alley that led to the back entrance of the restaurant. Hiram Green was leaning against the wall, looking a touch green, while he answered a series of questions Officer Johnson had been asking him.
“Good evening, Mr. Green. How are you holding up?” Alvin asked.
“Me? Great. Francine – she’s not doing so well.”
“You mind telling us what happened?”
“Sheriff, your guys have asked me this several times now. The answer is still the same. I was cleaning up after the party. I took the trash out back, and that’s when I discovered Francine’s body.” The man was becoming agitated.
“Alright, Mr. Green, sorry for the trouble, but this is all part of the procedure. Please try to be understanding. A life was lost tonight.”
“I get it, Sheriff. It’s just that business is not doing great as it is, and now this happens! This isn’t exactly going to be good press.”
Alvin nodded. “Did you see anyone else outside the restaurant, or even leave the restaurant?”
“No, Sheriff. I swear I didn’t see anyone. There was no one back here with me, and no one left in the restaurant when I came back here to toss the trash.”
Alvin motioned for the officer to continue questioning Hiram. This was also part of the procedure.
Wilbur was overseeing the investigation of the dumpster. A white sheet covered a body on the ground next to it. Alvin, Melody, and Smudge turned their attention toward him and the deceased.
“Wilbur, fill me in.”
“Sure, Sheriff.” He offered a nod to Melody and Smudge as he crouched down and pulled back the sheet. Smudged sniffed all around the perimeter of the body. “As you can see, this is the body of Francine Leeson. Hiram Green found her about an hour after the party ended.” Alvin crouched down too and pulled his mini flashlight from his pocket.
“Cause of death?” he asked as he clicked the little light on and cast it across Francine’s face. Slowly, he inspected the body.
“The coroner is on his way, but it appears she was strangled to death.” Wilbur’s gloved hand pointed at Francine’s throat. Melody bent to get a better look as Smudge’s little nose twitched around Francine’s neck.
“Looks like it could be, there seems to be some red bruising. Wilbur, pass me a glove.” Alvin reached behind him. Wilbur pulled one out of his pocket. Alvin slid it on then gently pulled back Francine’s eyelid. “Looks like she has petechiae of the eye and marks from ligation around the neck.” He moved his flashlight toward her ear. “There’s some bleeding out of the ear and the corner of her mouth. You don’t need to be a coroner to see she was strangled.”
“I guess he can tell us more when he gets here,” Wilbur said.
“Did you find anything that could be the murder weapon?” Melody asked. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Smudge sniffing Francine’s hand intently. Maybe Wilbur hadn’t found something, but it looked like Smudge had.
“No, nothing yet. We’ve got guys searching all of the dumpsters back here and nearby.”
“Ok, Wilbur. Keep looking. I want to chat with Hiram and see if I can get anything else out of him.”
Smudge was sitting very still next to Francine’s hand, whining. When no one took any notice, she barked loudly to get their attention, then put her face close to Francine’s fingernails.
“Hey guys, look at Smudge,” Melody said. “She’s got something!”
Alvin crouched down to see what Smudge had found. The little canine sleuth was looking at a small fragment she had sniffed out from under Francine’s nails. With his gloved hand, Alvin picked it up and inspected it. “I think it’s a piece of leather,” he said. “It looks like she struggled with her attacker. That’s good. Maybe there’s some DNA or a print. At the very least, now we have a clue as to what the murder weapon was.”
“Yes, maybe it was some kind of leather strap,” Wilbur said.
“I may not know what it is, but I bet you I know where it came from,” Alvin said. “It looks like the kind of high-end leather that one might buy from a craft shop.”
“It is,” Melody confirmed. “Tara makes her own leather purses and stuff from materials she had in the shop.”
“Well, this little bit is not enough to peel off and strangle Francine. But, if it matches what’s in the shop, that means Tara and Harriet have access to it,” Alvin said.
Melody looked around and thought about something Hiram had said earlier. “Where’s Otto?” she asked.
“Good point. He’s probably worried sick about her. I should tell him what happened,” Alvin said.
“The old Sheriff? He’s a great guy! I’d love to catch up with him, I’ll do it,” Wilbur said a bit too enthusiastically.
“Wilbur, please remember you’re about to tell him that his girlfriend is dead.” Alvin gave him a stern look. “I’ll go seek out Harriet. She was pretty angry with Francine after she announced she wasn’t turning the shop over to her.”
“We’d like to come with you, Al,” Melody said. “Maybe Smudge can sniff something out at the craft store.” While she didn’t voice it, Melody wasn’t convinced that Harriet was to blame.
Alvin nodded, agreeing to take her and Smudge along.
“Good work, Smudgekins.”
Both Smudge and Melody whined in unison.
Alvin sighed.
Chapter Two Hundred Twenty-Four
“Harriet Vickers? I’m Sheriff Hennessey, and this is Melody Hennessey. We’d like to talk to you about Francine Leeson.”
Alvin, Melody, and Smudge had arrived at “Francine’s Fine Art” only to find the front door unlocked at this late hour. When they entered, Smudge led them to the back office, where Harriet was standing over a trashed desk.
She looked up as the trio stood in the doorway. It was as if she was expecting them.
“Yes, I believe we may have met at the party, or at least we saw each other there. How can I help you?” Her eyes lowered and rested on Smudge. “Cute dog.”
Alvin looked around. It wasn’t just the desk that was trashed. The contents of a file cabinet were strewn about the office. “What happened here? Late night, Spring cleaning?” Alvin asked.
Melody glanced around, her mouth open, she suspected she and Alvin had just walked into the calm after the storm, with the office taking the brunt of it moments before they entered.
“No. I was looking for something,” Harriet said. “I guess I got a bit aggressive when I couldn’t find it.”
“What were you looking for?” Melody asked, starin
g at the mess. “A needle in a haystack?”
Smudge sniffed around the office.
“If you must know, I was looking for some paperwork regarding the sale of the shop. Francine said she was selling it. I wanted to see if she had a listing agreement yet. I’m dying to know what she thinks she can get for this dump.”
“Are you aware that Francine was murdered tonight?” Alvin asked bluntly.
Harriet dropped the stack of papers she was holding.
“That’s not possible. I just saw her at the party.” Harriet appeared to be in denial.
“She was found by Hiram Green. After the party, he went to toss the trash and found her near the dumpster. Do you know anything about it?” Alvin was studying her reaction to his question.
Harriet covered her mouth and dropped down into the desk chair. It took her a moment to speak.
“No, no. I mean, yes, we argued, but I’m shocked to hear she’s dead!” She shook her head. “Who would want to kill Francine?”
Melody and Alvin looked at each other. There seemed at least two good suspects!
“Maybe you did?” Alvin asked. “You were visibly upset at the party that she didn’t want to turn the shop over to you. That’s reason enough for you to be considered a murder suspect?”
“Hey - she went back on her promise. I was just reminding her of that fact.” Harriet shook her head in disbelief as she tried to process the news. “And if you think I had something to do with her murder, the answer is absolutely not! Yes, I was upset that she didn’t even consider letting me take over the shop, which I might add, was the plan from the beginning of my employment.” Harriet stood up abruptly and slammed her palms on the desk. “Why do you think I stayed here so long? Certainly, it wasn’t her winning personality or the huge wages that enticed me. She promised me a future here.”
“Well, she did promise you a severance package…” Melody said, but Harriet cut her off.
“And how much do you really think that will be? I hadn’t seen a raise in years. The woman was cheap. The end game goal was to own the shop, as she promised. When she made her first announcement at the party, I thought she was talking about selling the shop to me. It wasn’t until later that she informed me I was out of the running, just like Tara.” She pointed between them. “You two witnessed that conversation.”
“Unfortunately, by us witnessing your disappointment, it does make you a suspect,” Alvin said. He pulled out his cell phone and called the station. “This is Sheriff Hennessey. Send a couple of uniforms over to Francine’s Fine Art shop.” He disconnected the call. “You had the motive to kill her.”
“Why? Because I didn’t get what I want? How was killing her going to change that?” Harriet reasoned with them. “I’m not named in her will, at least I don’t think I am. If I killed her, I’d still get nothing.” Harriet looked around the office. “I really loved this place, but I’ll survive without it. It’s certainly not a reason to kill someone, even though Francine reneged on her promise! You’ll want to check on Tara. She’s the one that had the most to lose. For me, this is just another disappointment.” Harriet grabbed her sweater. “Now, if there’s nothing more, I’d like to leave this place and never come back.”
“You’re not going anywhere. Have a seat,” Alvin said.
The sound of sirens echoed through the night. Soon, several officers entered the building. “Search the place. We’re looking for evidence related to the Francine Leeson murder.”
Smudge sniffed around the shop, too.
As Alvin continued to question, Melody looked around the shop with Smudge. The little pup was following her nose as it twitched, leaving no rhinestone unturned. She stopped near a craft table, circled it, and sniffed some more. Officers were checking the surface of the table, but Smudge took an interest in one of the drawers. She barked at it until one of the officers opened it.
“Sheriff! We found something.”
Alvin rushed over to see just as a gloved officer was pulling various strips of leather from the drawer. One of them had to be a match to the piece Smudge found under Francine’s nails - he was sure of it.
“Bag it, and let’s take Harriet Vickers into custody!”
Harriet was furious as the cops slapped on the cuffs and walked her out of the shop.
“You can’t take me in! I did nothing! I didn’t kill that woman, but you know what – I’m glad someone else did! She was rotten to the core.”
“Smudge, remind me to get you a medal of honor when all of this is done.” Alvin patted the little canine detective on the head. “Now, let’s go find Tara and see what she’s got to say.”
Chapter Two Hundred Twenty-Five
A drunk and disheveled mess, Tara Leeson sat on her sofa. “My mother was ‘orrible. Who do you think killed her?”
Alvin and Melody had just broken the bad news to her. They hadn’t ruled her out as a suspect yet, but both of them observed her genuine reaction to hearing about her mother’s death.
Smudge was doing her part as well. She found her way into Tara’s lap and snuggled up to her.
“Well, we’re hoping you can fill in some blanks. When was the last time you saw your mother alive?” Alvin asked gently.
Tara’s eyes rolled as she tried to remember, and fresh tears streamed down her face. As her hand gently stroked Smudge’s soft fur. It seemed to soothe her.
“I don’t know. We cut the cake. Being the evil woman that she is… was she made another nasty comment to me about the flavor I chose, and how she would never eat such a thing - even though I saw her eating it! Sorry, Melody. She’s crazy. That cake rocked!”
Melody glanced at Alvin while Tara continued. “That was the final insult. After that, I left. I couldn’t wait to get away from her, Otto, Harriet, that whole place. Good riddance to all of it!”
“What about Harriet Vickers? We have reason to believe she may be involved in the murder. What can you tell us about her?” Alvin prompted.
“Harriet? I could see Harriet killing my mother. They fought constantly, like cats and dogs. Harriet used to think my mother would gift her the shop. She was delusional.” Tara’s line of sight drifted due to her intoxicated state. But as Melody followed her gaze, curious to see if she was actually looking at something or just drifting, she spotted Tara’s handmade leather jacket and bag hanging on the back of the door. The jacket caught her eye, it was tattered, one of the sleeves was ripped from it, but half-tucked into a pocket. Under her breath, she gasped, she wanted to show Alvin, but didn’t want to interrupt his line of questioning.
“Over here, dear,” Alvin said, gently regaining Tara’s attention. “Harriet said your mother promised her the store. That it was her ‘end game.’”
Tara sat up, determined to let Alvin and Melody in on a little secret. “Harriet tried to be me. I mean, she wanted to be my mother’s daughter. Harriet came from a dysfunctional family. She wanted my mother to adopt her.”
Melody’s nose crinkled from the smell of the alcohol on Tara’s breath.
“My mother, if you can call her that, always said I would get the shop. She never agreed to anything Harriet wanted. It was clear from the beginning of Harriet’s employment that the woman was just using my mother.”
“Why do you think your mother changed her tune now she was about to retire?” Melody asked.
All Tara could do was throw her arms up. She had no answer. Then her eyes cleared a little. “Maybe it has something to do with her new love, Otto,” Tara said his name, bitterly. “Ever since she’s been seeing him, she’s ignored me even more — if that’s even possible.”
“Were you jealous of her relationship with Otto?” Alvin asked.
“You bet your sweet butt, I was!” Tara admitted in her drunken state. Her body swayed a bit in her seat as her anger grew. “I’m her daughter! She should love me the most! She treated my father terribly. She was horrible to me, then suddenly Otto comes along, and she’s acting like some love-struck schoolgirl! What’s up with th
at?”
Alvin glanced at Melody. His eyebrows were arched high. As the saying goes, Tara was drunk as a skunk. Melody took the opportunity to incline her head back toward the door silently so as not to alert Tara that she had noticed it. Alvin glanced at the door, also spotting the jacket and bag and nodded to Melody. They were on the same page, either of them could be the murder weapon. The purse’s handle or the sleeve of the jacket were both a similar leather to the scrap that Smudge had found.
“Tara Leeson, on the night of your mother’s murder, last night, where did you go when you left the party? I need you to tell the truth now.” Alvin stood abruptly. Now that he knew about the tattered jacket, he got more forceful with Tara.
Tara’s eyes welled with tears as she stared up at Alvin. “Are you saying I’m a suspect, Sheriff?” She hiccupped. “I would never kill my mother. Never!”
Smudge jumped off of Tara’s lap, somewhat startled. She headed back toward Melody and sat at her feet, watching Alvin work.
“I have reason to believe you may have killed your mother. Unless you can provide a proper alibi, I’m obligated to take you in.”
Tara crossed her arms like a little kid getting scolded. Her eyes rolled as she tried to access her memory.
“Stop yelling at me!” she said defensively, even though he wasn’t really yelling. He was forceful, yes, but not yelling. “I left the Frog and hopped over to Nancy’s Tavern. You see what I did there?” She grinned intoxicated by her own wit. “Talk to Nancy. She was there. I spent the next several hours finishing off a bottle of Hennessey and complaining about my wicked stepmother, except she’s my real mother.” Then, as an afterthought, she said, “Hey, your name is Hennessey, isn’t it? Are you related to the cognac Hennesseys? Because I had a party with them tonight!” She hiccupped again.
Alvin huffed then went to lift Tara up by the arm. “We’ll finish this down at the station. You have the right to remain…” Alvin stopped talking. Tara had already closed her eyes and dropped her head back against the couch, ready to sleep off her drunken stupor. Alvin sighed. “She can sleep it off downtown. I’ll call the station and have a few guys come sweep this place for evidence, including that jacket.