Sweet Obsession

by J A Whiting

  Angie stared at her sister. “This is impressive.”

  “I decided we can’t just rely on our paranormal skills to solve this thing. I’m sort of obsessed with finding the bomber so I’m employing all of my abilities to flush him out.”

  “Have you arrived at any conclusions?” Finch asked.

  “Not yet.” Courtney made eye contact with her sister and Finch. “But my sense is that the victims have met the bomber. They know him ... maybe only in passing, but they know who he is.”

  The little blond hairs on Angie’s arms stood up. “You gathered that from the spreadsheet?”

  “Not really. The feeling bubbled up while I was working on it. I’m sure the bomber is familiar to each of the victims. That fact may as well be written on the spreadsheet because I know it’s true.”

  “You’re right.” Angie felt a surge of adrenaline rush through her veins. She knew that Courtney was correct. “How could each of the victims know the bomber? Do they all frequent the same establishment like a grocery store, gas station, or coffee shop?”

  “That hasn’t been established yet,” Courtney sighed.

  “You’re on the right track,” Finch nodded. “I can feel it. Miss Ellie believes the acts of violence are not random. She is sure the victims have been chosen for a reason. Her theory lines up with your idea that the victims know their attacker.”

  Angie hadn’t had a chance to tell the family what she’d learned from Carol Leeds about the episode at the hospital where an injured man had made a threat towards the woman so she reported it to Courtney and Finch.

  “Could the hospital be the place where the bomber met his victims?” Angie offered. “We should ask Chief Martin to find out if any of the package bomb victims were at the hospital on the night this man was there for treatment.”

  “What about an auto body shop or car repair shop?” Finch questioned. “The victims all drive vehicles and they may have gone to the same garage for service. The bomber might be an employee there.”

  “Chief Martin told me he wants us to interview the young couple again whose car blew up,” Angie said. “I’ll bring up the repair shop idea with them and see where they usually brought their car for service.”

  “We need to find the connection between the victims,” Courtney said. “I’m determined to figure this out.” She took a sip of tea. “Can you bake something?” she asked her sister. “I could use something sweet to help me think.”

  “I have to go to the museum bake shop in a few minutes,” Angie said. “But maybe I’ll bake this evening. Baking always clears my head. What would you like me to make?”

  “Something chocolate. Maybe with some strawberries. Surprise me.”

  “I’ll come up with something,” Angie smiled.

  Courtney said, “If you need us, Mr. Finch and I will be at the candy store until closing tonight. We have a lot of online orders to get out and one of the employees is sick. Come by later. Bring Ellie and Jenna if they’re are available. We can have a family pow-wow.”

  Euclid meowed from his perch on the fridge.

  With a nod to the big orange boy, Courtney added, “Bring the cats, too.”

  Because the day was sunny with comfortable temperatures, Angie decided to walk to the museum bake shop to get some fresh air and exercise, but with each step she took, her anxiety level increased. She was so apprehensive, that every few minutes, she glanced over her shoulder and looked at the passing tourists with suspicion.

  Chiding herself for being such a worrier, Angie turned the corner to the museum and saw a woman sitting on one of the granite benches outside.

  Mary Foley, the woman whose car had blown up, stood and waved at Angie. “One of the bake shop employees told me you’d be in soon. Do you have a few minutes to talk?”

  Is this the reason I was so on edge while walking down here?

  22

  After Angie spoke with her employees, she carried two cups of tea to the small café table in the three-story, light-filled atrium where she and Mary took seats.

  “Sorry to bother you at work.” Mary’s face had a heavy look.

  “No bother. It’s not busy right now. How can I help?”

  Mary’s fingers trembled when she reached for her cup. “You were nice when you all came to talk with me and Jesse. I wanted to talk to you again. That was just about the worst day of our lives. It was so incredible to think someone tried to kill us. I can’t wrap my head around that. What did we do to instigate such a reaction? How can someone make an attempt on another person’s life over nothing? I’ve been wrestling with these thoughts since the car blew up.” Mary took in a deep breath. “Every time I say those words, I shudder inside.”

  “It’s understandable. It was an awful shock.” Angie waited to hear the reason Mary wanted to speak with her. “How is Jesse doing?”

  “You think you can handle bad things … until bad things happen and you find yourself struggling to cope.” Mary absentmindedly pushed her auburn hair back from her shoulder. “Jesse and I get depressed sometimes, and once in a while we snip at each other. We both know it comes from dealing with feelings about the attack, but it makes us feel badly that there are times when we aren’t kind to each other. We’re going to see a counselor for some help handling our feelings. We’ve lost our sense of safety. We both feel very vulnerable.”

  “It’s a good idea to talk with someone,” Angie praised the couple’s decision.

  “We might not rebuild,” Mary said. “I think we’d rather leave and buy somewhere else. Neither one of us wants to stay where there are such bad memories. It would be a constant reminder that we could have been killed that night.”

  “I might feel the same way.” Angie wasn’t sure how she would react in Jesse and Mary’s situation. She and her sisters had managed to escape a fire in the carriage house that was set with the intention to murder them, but maybe the episode didn’t take a heavy toll on them emotionally because they’d managed to escape the blaze. Jesse and Mary’s situation had depended a lot on luck and Angie thought that would be harder to rationalize when chance alone played the major role in your survival.

  Mary took another sip from her cup and glanced around. “This is a beautiful museum. Jesse and I love to come here. Your bakery is a great addition.”

  Angie thanked the young woman for her compliment. “Does Jesse know you’re talking to me?”

  Mary’s eyes flicked down at her cup and then back up to Angie. “I didn’t tell him.”

  “Why not?”

  “I want to tell you about something that happened not too long ago. If you think it’s important, then I’ll talk to Chief Peterson and Chief Martin. I wanted your input first. I’m not sure if I’m being concerned over nothing.”

  “What happened?” Angie felt a flutter of unease.

  Mary began her story. “Jesse and I went out for dinner at the Irish pub in Silver Cove. They have live music some nights.”

  “I know the place.” Angie nodded.

  “We had great meals and we decided to stay for drinks to listen to the music.”

  When Mary didn’t go on, Angie asked, “Did something happen?”

  “Yes,” Mary’s voice was soft. “We went out to the parking lot. Some guy had blocked us in with his truck. He was sitting in it so we went over and asked if he could move so we could leave. The man got really angry, swore at us. I told him we wanted to go home and when we left the parking space he’d be able to take it. Well, he jumped out of the truck like a wild man. I got so scared. Jesse told him we didn’t want any trouble, that we’d like to go home.”

  Mary gulped down the last of her tea and went on with the tale. “The guy smelled like alcohol. He took a swing at Jesse, but Jesse sidestepped him. That seemed to infuriate the man. Jesse told me to get in the car, count to ten, and then lean on the horn. While I hurried to our car, Jesse tried to reason with the man, but the guy was having a fit. I counted to ten and then hit the horn. It was a little diversion that gave Jes
se the chance to run to the car and jump in. He started the engine and hit the gas. We were parked facing the sidewalk. The car flew over the sidewalk, bumped over the curb, and off we went down the street. Guess what happened next?”

  A hard cold ball of dread had settled in Angie’s stomach. “He came after you.”

  “Yes. We didn’t know he was following us. He kept back a few cars behind. When we turned into our neighborhood, Jesse noticed the truck. He was about to turn into our driveway, but instead sped up and drove away. The truck stopped in front of our house for a few minutes, then it backed up in our driveway and left the neighborhood the way we came in. We don’t have a garage so we were afraid to go home and park in the driveway in case the man came back. We drove around for a while. After about twenty minutes, we went home.”

  “The man in the truck wasn’t around?” Angie asked.

  “He wasn’t.” Mary shook her head. “I was all shook up. Neither one of us slept a wink all night. I was waiting for that man to bang on our door, or to break in.”

  “Did you call the police?”

  Mary swallowed hard. “We know now it was stupid not to. We just wanted the episode to go away. We worried that if we reported it, the police might reveal our names and the guy would come after us.”

  “Can you describe the man?”

  Mary’s shoulder slumped. “Not very well. It was so frightening you’d think we’d remember every detail, but we didn’t. He was average height, a regular build. Not heavy, not slim. It was dark so I don’t know the color of his eyes or his hair. He had on a baseball cap. The name of a business was embroidered over the pocket of his shirt.”

  Angie didn’t need to hear the name to know what it said.

  “It was Blue Sky Painting,” Mary told her.

  “Was the man’s name embroidered on the shirt?”

  “Just the business name.”

  “Can you describe the truck?”

  “It was a dark color. I don’t know what kind of truck it was. Jesse doesn’t know either. The shock of the experience seems to have frozen our brains. Jesse likes cars and trucks and he usually remembers people’s vehicles. He didn’t that night.”

  “Was there anything else about the man that stood out?”

  Mary shook her head.

  “Can you remember what he was wearing?”

  “Jeans? I don’t know what he had on his feet.”

  “Did you, by any chance, get some of his license plate numbers?”

  “No. I didn’t think to do that. We were panicked. Our good sense deserted us when we needed it most.”

  Angie gave the woman a warm smile. “That’s not true. Your good sense got you out of there and you acted appropriately when you saw the truck near your house. You protected yourselves. When an emergency happens, we often react like we’re on autopilot. Your self-preservation instincts kicked in and you got yourselves out of harm’s way. So, no, your good sense didn’t desert you.”

  “Thanks, but in retrospect we should have reported the incident to the police.”

  “Do you think the person who planted the bomb in your car could be the guy who harassed you in the restaurant parking lot?”

  “I think it’s possible.” Mary leaned closer. “Do you think so?”

  “It’s very possible. It’s great that you noticed the business name on the man’s shirt.”

  “We failed at getting a description of the guy though. Jesse and I were both embarrassed about how little we could recall about the man.”

  “It’s not unusual. That happens very frequently.”

  “Should I tell the police about that night?” Mary asked cautiously. “I don’t want them to think I’m overreacting.”

  “I think you should definitely tell them. It could be a very important clue to solving the case.” Angie’s mind was racing. It could have been anyone who worked for Blue Sky Painting, but she had two suspects in mind. Dave Hanes and Joe Boles. Both had reputations for being easy to anger. Dave Hanes had a truck. Angie had seen it in his driveway. Was the man who tormented Jesse and Mary the bomber? It was a stretch to think so, but the possibility had to be investigated.

  The Reynolds family had employed Blue Sky Painting and both Dave and Joe worked on their home before the men were split up to different teams. They’d been caught arguing by the homeowners. One of the men might have seen the wood pile. One of them could be the bomber.

  But what about Carol and Dennis Leeds? What connection could they have had to the painting company. Did they have work done on their house? Angie made a mental note to find out.

  And then there was Agnes Shield, the first victim. Had the Shields’ employed the painters? Did they update the paint inside or outside the house? Angie thought hard about the condition of the home, but couldn’t recall if it looked freshly painted. Is this idea just a wild goose chase? Are we going down the wrong path? What were they missing? She needed to talk to Chief Martin.

  “Angie?” Mary spoke.

  Angie blinked a few times. “Oh, sorry. My mind is going over what you told me. What did you ask?”

  “How will you find out who the man in the truck is?”

  “The police will look into it,” Angie assured the young woman. “The police will figure it out.”

  She hoped.

  23

  Courtney picked up Angie outside the museum. “What’s cookin’?”

  “Plenty.” Angie told her sister where to drive to.

  Courtney pulled away from the curb. “Why there?”

  “We need to talk to the owner.” Angie reported what Mary Foley told her about the man in the truck acting irrational and harassing her and her husband one night outside a restaurant.

  “Wow. This could be the break we need,” Courtney said. “The guy in the truck sounds like he’s got quite a few issues. He’s dangerous. He shouldn’t be allowed to drive. They should take his license away.”

  “Mary and Jesse’s experience in the restaurant parking lot may have nothing to do with the bomber, but it needs to be checked out.”

  “Did you tell Chief Martin?”

  “I called him. He’s going to call the owner of Blue Sky Painting to tell him we’re coming, but the chief can’t leave the station right now. That’s why he asked if we’d go over and talk to the owner face to face.” Angie watched the landscape go by as the car moved down the road. “Something’s been going through my mind since I heard Mary’s story.”

  Courtney gave her sister a quick look. “What is it? Do you have an idea?”

  “Dennis Leeds is the only victim whose bomb didn’t go off.”

  Stopping at a red light, Courtney turned to Angie. “You think Dennis Leeds is the bomber?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve been wondering about the circumstances. Dennis went out to get the mail, he noticed the package, but didn’t touch it. He went back in the house, but didn’t call the police. His wife came home and when she heard there was an unexpected package in their mailbox, she notified the police. Why didn’t Dennis report the package when he saw it?”

  The light turned green and Courtney accelerated. “Dennis might have wanted his wife’s opinion. He might not want to seem like an alarmist. Maybe he wanted to talk it over with Carol before he did anything.”

  “That could be.” Angie sighed. “Dennis is always telling us how odd his neighbor is. He’s often pointed his finger at Dave Hanes to make us suspicious of him.”

  “It could be that Dennis is suspicious of Dave.”

  Angie said, “Dennis could also be making a big deal of the man’s shyness and withdrawn manner to take suspicion off himself.”

  “It’s possible. So you’re thinking Dennis may have planted bombs at Agnes Shield’s house, at the Reynolds family’s house, and in Mary and Jesse Foley’s car? Why though?”

  “I don’t have an answer for his motivation,” Angie said. “He’s a plumber. Maybe he worked at their houses and became angry with them for some reason. He decided he’d had enough and
wanted them dead.” She lifted her hands in a helpless gesture. “Or maybe he’s got issues, and there’s no reason at all and he chose his victims at random.”

  “Dennis’s wife, Carol, told you about a man at the hospital who threatened her,” Courtney reminded her sister. “Do you think that man has nothing to do with the bombs now?”

  “I don’t know,” Angie said. “Chief Martin and Chief Peterson are asking the hospital administrators for the name of the man who caused the trouble. If they get the name, they can investigate him. I’m coming up with suspects based on what we know right now. When new information comes in, I’ll adjust my thinking.”

  “I think you have a good idea about Dennis Leeds. He can’t be ruled out.” Courtney nodded as she pulled into the Blue Sky Painting Company’s parking lot. “The other suspects are the man in the truck who harassed the Foley’s and the man at the hospital who threatened Carol Leeds. Who else? Are you putting Dave Hanes on the list?”

  “Yes. He was one of the painters working at the Reynolds’s house. He might have seen the wood pile and got the notion to hide a bomb in it.”

  “What about the guy Dave fought with, Joe Boles?” Courtney asked. “He sounds like trouble.”

  “I agree. He should be on the suspect list. He was painting at the Reynolds’s house, too.” Angie glanced at the front door to Blue Sky. “But what connection do these men have to the other victims?”

  “Let’s go talk to the owner. Maybe we’ll learn something new.”

  The sisters got out of the car and entered the office to meet with Bruce Brown.

  “Nice to see you again.” Bruce shook hands with Angie and Courtney, and ushered them into his small office. “Chief Martin spoke with me by phone a little while ago. I have to tell you I’m very upset by this. Someone from my company is going around tormenting people? I need to know who did that. I won’t have someone like that associated with the company. I don’t care if alcohol is to blame. It’s not an excuse for such behavior.”