by Emily Greene
“I just can’t believe this happened,” I said.
“I know, it is a real shock. How long do you suppose it will be before we find out what happened to her?”
“I don’t know, but I am hoping I will know more after I talk with Detective Sloane tomorrow.”
I started to feel really sad about Sarah and felt horrible that her parents were going to get a terrible phone call from the police. Even though she seemed to be feuding with a couple of people, she did not deserve to die and I was going to figure out what happened to her.
“Everyone, can I have your attention please!”
We all turned to see Mr. Hanson with Mrs. Hanson by his side, tears in her eyes.
“We want to thank all of you for coming tonight but, under the unfortunate circumstances, we are going to end the festivities early this evening. Please get home safely and we will see all of you very soon.”
I was not surprised at all that the party was over because it was the right thing to do. Matthew and I said our goodbyes to friends and family, and we didn’t say much on the ride home. I think I was still in a bit of shock and all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and go off to la la land for the night.
Matthew walked me to my door and gave me a sweet peck on the cheek.
“I am sorry you had to be the one to find Sarah tonight, Harper. Are you going to be okay by yourself tonight?”
“Thank you, Matthew. Yes, I’ll be fine. I just need a good night’s sleep.”
“Okay, I hope you sleep well and I will give you a call tomorrow to check in on you.”
I gave him a small smile. He was very sweet.
“Thanks. Drive safely.”
He winked at me as he walked back to his car. “I will.”
As soon as I walked in Gracie purred softly as she rubbed up against my leg, and I picked her up and nuzzled her fur.
“It happened again, Gracie. Another person in Prairie Cove died tonight. What is going on in our little town?”
She purred like crazy and I gave her a kiss as I stroked her fur.
“Hopefully I will find out more information tomorrow. I’m going to see Detective Sloane, Gracie. He is so handsome but I cannot think that way because I met his girlfriend tonight and she seemed very sweet. You’re lucky you don’t have to deal with boys.”
I put her down and made my way to my bedroom to get ready for bed. As I was brushing my teeth I re-played the night’s events in my head and wondered if some sort of foul play was involved. Sarah definitely had an enemy, or possibly two that I knew of, and I wondered if they had anything to do with what happened to her. I assumed I would learn a lot more the following day when I spoke with Andrew, so I forced myself to push what had happened that night out of my head and went to bed.
Chapter Four
“Hi Harper! Of course it’s good to see you again, dear, but not under the circumstances. How are you holding up?” Doreen, the receptionist at the police station, was a sweetheart.
“As well as can be expected. I just really want to know what happened to Sarah,” I said as I handed her a box of cookies for the office.
“Don’t we all. Thank you for the cookies, dear. Things are getting a little uneasy around here, what with Melanie’s murder a few months ago and now this.”
“I know, Doreen, hopefully we’ll be able to get to the bottom of what happened. Is Detective Sloane in?”
“He is. I will let him know you’re here.” A few seconds later she smiled at me and told me I could go back to his office, so I made my way toward the back saying hi to a few of the officers I knew along the way.
When I walked to Andrew’s office he was furiously typing on his computer so I waited until he was done before I said anything because I did not want to interrupt him. A minute later he looked up and seemed surprised to see me.
“Harper, I didn’t know you were standing there, please come in.”
“You looked busy so I didn’t want to interrupt you.”
“Oh, please interrupt me all you want. I have been anxious to ask you about Sarah Cooper.”
“Okay, ask away.”
“How well did you know Sarah, Harper?”
“I didn’t know her that well but I have known of her for several years. She was in my sister Katie’s high school class. I hired her because she had fallen on hard times and needed the work.”
He furrowed his brow as he took notes.
“Hard times? Did she tell you what was going on?”
“Well, sort of, I guess. She was having money trouble and boyfriend issues, well, not really issues. She told me that her boyfriend wanted to marry her but she didn’t want to marry him. She was really upset about it. I’ve met him and he seems to be a really nice guy so I’m not sure what the problem was. Well, that’s not true now that I think about it. She was using him.”
“Oh? Were they having problems?”
“I’m not sure. She made a weird reference to wanting to be like Janice Blaine, a girl who went to our high school who dropped a ton of weight and looks great. Sarah was unhappy with her weight and said she was holding onto her boyfriend Justin until she looked like Janice and found someone better.”
“Ouch. That is not a very nice thing to say. It doesn’t sound like Sarah was a happy person. Did you ever notice anything out of the ordinary with her, aside from her dislike of her boyfriend?”
“Well, yes. A couple of days ago a man who I have never seen before and who probably does not live in Prairie Cove, came to the bakery and it seemed like he was threatening her.”
Andrew moved to the edge of his seat.
‘Wait, Harper, slow down. What did this man look like?”
“He was about 6’3” and husky with dark hair. When I saw him talking to her I walked over to make sure everything was okay and he told her something about wanting his package by midnight the following night.”
“Was he with anyone?”
“No, he appeared to be by himself, but you know what? Andrew, I could have sworn I saw him at the Hanson’s party.”
He was furiously taking notes and the looked up at me.
“I am going to get the guest list for that party from Mr. and Mrs. Hanson and hopefully, by process of elimination, I will be able to narrow down who he is. I can’t believe I am going to say this but, since I am not from Prairie Cove, I could use your help with the names. I am assuming you would be able to recognize most of the names on the list. I hope you don’t mind helping me in that way.”
“Of course I don’t mind, Andrew. I will help in any way I can.”
“Great. Thank you, Harper. So, tell me, did you notice anything unusual about Sarah at the party?”
“Carrie and I overheard her having an argument with Janice Blaine in the bathroom the night of the party and it got pretty heated.”
Andrew continued to write notes. “Really? What were they arguing about?”
“Sarah threatened to reveal some secret about Janice and Janice sounded terrified.”
Andrew looked at me intently. “Did she happen to mention what that secret was?”
“No, but Janice definitely did not want it getting out.”
“Hmmm. Okay. Is there anything else out of the ordinary that you can remember?”
“I don’t know if this means anything because couples argue all the time, but Sarah and Justin did not seem happy together that night. I noticed Justin grabbing her arm a couple of times and when I asked Natalie about it, she works for me and was one of Sarah’s friends, she said they had been arguing most of the night.”
“Harper, was there ever any indication that Justin was physical with Sarah?”
“Physical? You mean did he hurt her?”
“Yes, did you ever notice anything that would indicate he hurt her?”
“No, but like I said, I didn’t really know Sarah very well so that is probably not something she would have shared with me if it was happening. However, I can say for sure that Sarah just did not seem to be in a good place
in her life and now that she is gone, I feel bad that her life ended with her being so unhappy. By the way, have they determined how she died?”
“We suspect foul play but we don’t know exactly what happened yet. We are waiting for results from the lab.”
I sat there stunned. Another person murdered in Prairie Cove. What was happening to my perfect little town?
“I need to know more about this Janice Blaine. What can you tell me about her?”
“I don’t know her very well but in high school she was always very nice and a little bit introverted, most likely because she was significantly overweight. When I saw her at the reunion I did not recognize her because she has lost so much weight and looks like a completely different person. I think Sarah was obsessed with Janice because they were really good friends in high school and were both overweight, and Sarah saw how much Janice’s life had changed after she dropped the weight and I think Sarah wanted that for herself. Whatever the secret is that Sarah had about Janice, it certainly worried her because she sounded almost desperate when she was begging Sarah not to say anything.”
“Does she live here in town? I would like to talk to her.”
“No, she lives in New York.”
“Do you know how to get a hold of her?”
“I can get her information for you. I think Carrie might have her number but I will let you know as soon as I find out.”
“You know, Harper, I don’t normally involve civilians in my investigations but you were a big help to me with the Melanie Clark investigation and that is the only reason I am asking for help again. Please do not think this will be a regular occurrence. I will only need your help with the guest list and nothing more.” He looked at me and held my gaze. “Are we clear on that?”
I knew that I could be of a lot more help than combing through a guest list but I decided not to make waves. I figured a little harmless snooping on my own couldn’t hurt anything. I would just have to make sure Detective Sloane did not find out.
“Yes, of course. I don’t want to hinder you in any way.”
“Okay, great. Do you think you can get me Janice’s contact information today?”
“I will definitely do my very best,” I smiled.
“Thank you.” He smiled at me and his gaze lingered on me for just a bit longer than necessary. I could tell that he had something on his mind.
“You’re welcome.” I smiled back.
“So, Harper, in spite of the tragedy of the evening did you enjoy the event?”
“Yes, I did. I had never been all the way inside the Hanson home and it was just incredible.”
“You looked breathtaking last night. I hope Matthew appreciated how beautiful you looked.”
My cheeks felt like they were bright red. Did he really just say that to me? My eyes searched his and his gaze was unwavering.
“Thank you, Andrew. Matthew was very complimentary and we both had a lovely time.” I held his gaze as I asked my next question. “Your date looked stunning last night, she is very beautiful. In spite of the tragedy, did you both enjoy yourselves?”
A tiny smirk touched the corner of his mouth and I wondered what he was finding so amusing.
“My date? Um, yes, my date and I had a wonderful time.”
“That’s nice. She is very beautiful.” I was trying to be nice but I was uncomfortable talking with him about another girl.
There was that same smirk. “Oh, well I will have to tell her you said so.”
I didn’t want to make small talk about her anymore so it was time for me to leave because I was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. I was surprised by how bothered I was that Andrew had a girlfriend. I did not like to think about the fact that he was taken so I decided I would have to push it out of my head and just focus on helping him with Sarah’s murder.
“Well, I should probably get back to the bakery. Let me know when you need my help.” I grabbed my bag and got up to leave when Andrew held out his hand to stop me.
“You don’t have to rush out. Was it something I said?”
I felt butterflies as he looked up at me and for a few seconds I couldn’t think of a thing to say.
“Harper? Do you feel okay?”
I was totally embarrassed. I probably looked like an idiot standing there just staring at him and not saying anything.
“Oh yes, I am fine! I just have a busy day ahead and I should probably get back to work.”
“Okay, understood. Thanks for coming in and I will be in touch soon.”
As soon as I got outside the wind washed over me and I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Detective Andrew Sloane affected me more than I wanted to admit. I threw my shoulders back and walked to my car determined to push him out of my mind. Matthew was a very nice man who seemed to be interested in me so I decided it would be best if I just focused on getting to know him better. As much as I did not like it, Andrew Sloane was taken and was off limits.
As I drove back to the bakery I saw Sarah’s boyfriend Justin walking down the street with a woman, looking like he had just lost his whole world. I felt bad for him because I could tell how much he loved her. The woman who was with him had her arm linked through his and leaned her head against him as they slowly strolled down the street. I could only assume it was his sister and I was happy he had someone to turn to during such a tragic time. No matter what Sarah said about him, he seemed to be a nice guy and was polite whenever he was in the bakery. I felt awful for him that he was so sad.
We were packed as I walked in during the lunch rush and Carrie gave me a big smile when she saw me.
“There you are! I thought you were going to be stuck down at the police station all day. How did it go?” She handed the customer their bag of goodies and followed me into the back as I put my things away.
“Not great. They suspect foul play was involved.”
Her eyes flew open. “You’re kidding! I thought maybe she couldn’t swim and tripped and drowned in the pool or something like that. I had no idea someone killed her!”
“Well, they don’t know for sure yet. They are waiting for results from the lab, but I have a feeling it won’t be good news.”
“Harper, this is just awful. We have had possibly two murders in Prairie Cove in less than six months. What is happening to our safe little town?”
“I don’t know Carrie, but I want to get to the bottom of this. Sarah was a bit of a jerk but she didn’t deserve to die the way she did.”
“I know. I wish there was something we could do.”
I stood there for a moment going over different scenarios of what could have happened, when a light bulb went off in my head.
“I have an idea,” I said as I smiled at Carrie.
“Oh no. I know that look. Harper Madison, what kind of trouble are you cooking up?”
“How do you feel about going on a little road trip?” I jokingly raised my eyebrows up and down at her.
“Hmmm, where did you have in mind?”
“Well, I have never been to New York City so I was thinking we could go on a girls’ trip.”
“I love New York City! What a fun…wait a minute. You want to go snoop into Janice’s life, don’t you?!”
“Well, snoop isn’t really the nicest word. I am just curious about what that secret is and I was thinking if we figured it out maybe we could figure out who killed Sarah.”
“Harper, you don’t believe that Janice had anything to do with it, do you? Janice is so sweet she couldn’t harm a fly!”
“Yes, she is sweet, Carrie, but I have never heard her sound the way she did in the bathroom yesterday. Her voice was positively desperate! I say we go there and get to the bottom of what that secret is and then we can rule Janice out as a suspect. There is definitely a story there.”
“We don’t even know where she lives, Harper.”
“I can get that info from Katie.”
“When did you want to go?” Carrie asked.
“As soon as possible. Mayb
e this weekend.”
“Harper, that is so soon! What about the bakery?”
“Evelyn and Mark can handle things for a couple of days. That is the reason I hired such capable pastry chefs, so that I could take time off every once in a while.”
“Let me check with Jeff and see if he has anything planned for us over the next few days, and I’ll also see if the plane is available for us.”