Twice Sold Murder, page 12
part #1 of Second Treasures Mystery Series
With that, he left the store. And the cat, quite literally, vanished as well.
Laura swallowed, let out a breath she’d been holding, and laid her forehead down on the counter in relief.
“You got my message,” she whispered.
“What message? I came to make sure your disposal was working. I know it’s an on-again-off-again thing. Probably end up replacing it.” Then he noticed her face. “What’s wrong? Who was that guy? I’ve seen him around here lately.”
“Jenna Buckley’s fiancé. He gives me the creeps and this time he broke the limits on that. I have to think about what she’s gotten herself into and how I can help her get out of it. He is not the man for her, Harry. He is not who she thinks he is.”
Harry reached for his phone, now buzzing in his pocket. He squinted at the message. “Bomd ouer mow. Is that your message?”
“Yes. And Harry, you need better phone service.”
“I wouldn’t have known to come rescue you based on that message, even if I had gotten it right after you sent it. We need a safe word or number. Say, why did you feel threatened by him?”
“I don’t know. Nothing I can put my finger on. Just a gut feeling. He’s shady. Smarmy.”
“That’s a Charlie kind of word. Well, if you’re uncomfortable around him, make sure you text me a safe word – something short that won’t get garbled. How about A-D-G, or 2-3-4?”
With that agreed, Laura felt better. After dinner, she poured milk in a saucer and left it in the sink downstairs. She thought for the tenth time about getting a litter box. As yet, there didn’t appear to be a need for one, or a need to keep putting out saucers of milk.
“Wherever you are and whoever you are, I know you are on my side. Who is the boy who survived the crash and fire? Is that what you want me to find out? Is that what’s important? Need a little help here figuring out what you want me to do.”
But the cat failed to appear, and Laura fell asleep determined to confront Connor in the morning about the danger in which she thought her friend might be. Jeremy Ahlstad and his intensely bright eyes were following her everywhere in her dreams. Could he be the surviving Claypoole boy?
fourteen
Sergeant Fitzpatrick stopped by in the morning without Laura having to call him.
“Ahlstad was here again yesterday, wanting to know everything Jenna told me about him. He said he heard about the break-in and was concerned. Seriously.”
Connor interrupted her.
“You can look for another suspect. He was with Jenna the night of the break-in. All night.”
“But he was here earlier that day, telling me he couldn’t find her. He was looking for her.”
“He found her. And he has a solid alibi for the evening Eric saw someone following you home.”
Laura stared at him, reasoning through it.
“Oh my God,” she said. “Tell me this isn’t happening.”
“I think you had the wrong guy pegged for the Claypoole kid. But you may be onto something about the bad kid surviving and pretending to be the good one. Leopards don’t change their spots and neither do people change their personalities, unless they can’t help it. It’s not likely.”
“Then who is it? There have been hundreds of people in my shop over the last few weeks, and they all saw the furniture. Literally everyone said something about the displays and not just the two that were taken.”
“I thought you said nobody noticed them in particular.”
“When everybody notices something, that means nobody in particular notices it.”
She had him on the logic, so he went back to the point he wanted to make.
“We didn’t find out anything from the fingerprints. We did have a lot of unidentified prints we can’t match to anyone yet. But they could belong to folks in town who have never had a reason for us to fingerprint them. Or they could belong to someone from someplace else entirely—a visitor who also never had a reason for someone to fingerprint him or her.”
“Connor, it would have taken more than one man to carry that chest of drawers out of here.”
“I know. It’s likely two men.”
“If we have the wrong guy, then why is Jeremy acting so shady?”
“He’s a jerk, but like I said before, being a jerk doesn’t necessarily make you a criminal. I found nothing in his background to indicate anything we should look into, so I want you to focus on who’s been in this shop.”
“You mean write down everybody I remember?”
Connor nodded.
“It’s just possible that on his first visit to the shop, whoever he is, he didn’t wear gloves. It’s not so cold outside yet that everybody is wearing them, especially the men. Knowing that may help us narrow down some of the unidentified prints. He might have grown more cautious later, but we’re hoping he was less cautious in the beginning.”
He watched her mind racing through hundreds of customers.
“Just make a list of who you remember. If you didn’t know their names, write down a description. I know everybody who lives in this town or is visiting, and it will help narrow the possibilities. E-mail the list to me as soon as possible. You still have a detail out there, and all you have to do is punch 9-1-1 and they’ll get the message and be on your doorstep in no time. Don’t call the station. Keep your cell right under the counter where no one can see what you’re doing. Or hit the silent alarm, whatever you can do at the moment. And we’re monitoring the cam 24/7.”
She peered through the front door, looked up and down the street for the detail. She zeroed in on the blue sedan about a block away on the opposite side of the street.
“You’re trained,” Connor said. “Hopefully this guy and his friend are not as well trained as you are. But know they’ll move and be replaced with someone else in a different car in a different location from time to time. Do yourself a favor and stop looking for them. Just get me that list.”
Her fingers were tapping away on her laptop, making a list of her customers, before Connor was out of the store. She closed her eyes and tried to visualize different groups of people at different times and on different days, but there were too many images. She focused on what someone bought or donated and who else was in the store at the time. By the time she was done, she had seventy-five names and knew there were many more she wasn’t remembering.
Again she closed her eyes and tried to recall people she didn’t know who had come to her shop. This consisted of a different list with descriptions of people, gender, approximate age, clothing, hair and eye color. She surprised herself with the clarity of detail she could remember and for the first time in her life, she was grateful her father had made her work so hard to find the clues that led her to her Easter eggs, to look for patterns in the arrangement of her birthday presents, and to walk into a room, look about for thirty seconds, close her eyes and recite what she’d seen upon her entrance. She’d hated it at the time, but now….
Another forty-two names and descriptions appeared on her list, and she e-mailed them all to Connor, wishing him luck. He’d really need it if he was going to find the Claypoole kid in this haystack. Nobody she remembered looked anything like the teenage boy in the Web photo. Too bad Jeremy Ahlstad had an alibi. He was such a good candidate for the role.
Laura was closing her laptop when Jenna came in, jangling the bells on the door. But the lady didn’t look happy at all, unlike her previous visit. She marched up to the counter, her cheeks in high color.
“Laura, why are the police looking into Jeremy’s alibi for the night of your break-in?”
“Uh, I didn’t know they were,” she fibbed. “They asked me who showed any interest in the whatnot and the chest, and I told them everyone’s name who commented on it. Jeremy was only one. There were a whole lot of people who were interested in the pieces.” Now that she knew Jeremy was not likely the Claypoole boy, part of her opinion of him had changed, but she remained convinced he was not good enough for Jenna.
“So you didn’t set Connor onto him?”
“Why would I do that, Jenna? He’s your fiancé.”
She seemed mollified.
“Well, I didn’t think it was you, but Jeremy thought it might be because—you know—”
“I know what?”
“Because you and Connor are friends.”
Laura stood a little straighter. This was a slight on the police.
“I think you have to realize that the peace officers in this town are interested only in one thing, and that’s keeping everyone safe. They’re following procedure, which includes investigating any and all leads they have.”
“You’re probably right. I just don’t like the idea of my fiancé being a suspect in a break-in. We haven’t had a crime like that in more years than I can think of.”
Laura watched her friend go.
Maybe you just didn’t know about it…
Or maybe the perp was here all along and I’m just a catalyst….
fifteen
Empty was the only word for that corner. Laura stared at it every day when she came downstairs to open the shop. Her friends had rearranged things so it wasn’t too obvious, but it stuck out like a sore thumb to her. She wanted to buy another fixture or piece of furniture, but this time she avoided estate sales and searched instead for furniture outlets. Business was slow this morning, so she had her laptop open on the inside of the counter where she normally wrapped and bagged purchases, below the higher counter where people tendered their purchases, cash and credit cards.
When the bells jangled, she closed the laptop and looked up to greet her visitor. She did not at first recognize him, but there was something familiar about his face. He was almost as tall as Connor Fitzpatrick, but there was no resemblance between the two in features or anything else. This man wore the suit of a successful businessman and his hair was styled, obviously not from Harry’s barber shop next door. He walked with the ease and confidence of accomplishment, and his brown eyes sparkled with amusement at Laura’s uncertainty.
“I wouldn’t expect you to remember me, Laura, but I remember you and your family.”
“Don’t tell me. No hints,” she said and continued to study his face, to his continued amusement.
He was good-looking, fit well within her definition of hot, but his identity escaped her. She was just about to break down and ask for a hint when the front door jangled again and three more people walked in—Jeremy Ahlstad, another man she thought she’d seen in the shop before, and a vaguely familiar young woman she didn’t immediately recognize.
Laura’s first visitor crooked his head to see who had just entered and caught the blank look on Laura’s face. He greeted one of the visitors.
“Hello, Kelly.”
The lady returned his greeting, but Laura was already out from behind the counter.
“Kelly Rogers!” she cried and gave her a hug. Rogers returned the hug and the ladies held hands, staring at each other.
“You look great!”
“So do you!”
So, Dr. Anderson, is this your first visit to Laura, too?”
They were all helping her. With that, Laura turned to the good-looking, well-dressed man standing at her counter and the light bulb lit.
“Colin Anderson!” Laura cried. “You were in college or med school or something when I saw you last.”
“Yes, I was in one of those places,” he admitted, grinning.
Just then, Eric Williams, in a flashier and cheaper suit than Anderson’s, entered the shop and immediately picked up on the reunions. He also caught Laura’s eye, and she recalled their recent encounter on the sidewalk after dark, as well as his story that he’d seen someone following her. He spread his arms wide and approached her, hope slathered across his face.
“Hello again, Eric,” Laura said, moderating her smile and resisting his offer, giving him a little wave from a distance instead.
“Don’t I get a hug, too?”
Anderson chuckled.
“She said hello, Williams. You should be grateful and leave it at that.”
Eric Williams brought back so many uncomfortable memories she didn’t want to even think about, so she kept her hand locked with Kelly’s and made no move toward him.
“I’ll stop by and see how you’re doing on a less busy day, Laura,” Anderson commented, smiled and waved as he headed toward the door, taking a firm hold on Eric Williams’s arm and guiding him toward the door as well.
“See ya, Laura!” Williams called out over his shoulder.
“Eric’s married,” Kelly commented to Laura. “And I’m not sure how happy it is.”
“I’m grateful to Colin for saving me from that encounter, then. But how are you? It’s great to see you again.”
Laura noticed the man she didn’t recognize had left the store and wondered if she’d just lost a possible sale, but Ahlstad hadn’t. He was poking through the period costumes once again and seemingly minding his own business. She didn’t want this to drag out and she wanted to visit with her friend, if only for a few minutes.
“Jeremy, hello. Is there something I can help you with?”
“Hi Laura. I was just wondering if we could plan another lunch—you, Jenna and me. I’m sort of the go-between for your different schedules.”
There was no way she ever wanted Jeremy Ahlstad to be her go-between with Jenna Buckley. Her schedule was none of his business. Nor did she want to suffer through a lunch again where all he did was show interest in her instead of his fiancé. Oh, why wouldn’t Connor agree to come along with them? Why wouldn’t he take her word for it on how serious the problem was?
“I’m pretty slammed between now and Christmas, Jeremy. I lost a few days after the break-in. Can’t really spare the time right now. Maybe after the first of the year.”
He seemed satisfied with the response and left.
Laura and Kelly both sighed the minute the door latched shut behind him.
“He gives me the creeps every time I see him,” Kelly said. “I don’t know what Jenna is thinking sometimes.”
“Yes, he is odd, isn’t he? Hey, do you have a few minutes to chat? Want some coffee?”
Laura locked the front door, flipped the deadbolt, and turned the Closed sign outward, with the message she would be back in thirty minutes. On her way across the shop, she resisted the urge to give a thumbs-up to the camera. Nobody was supposed to know it was there. Then she spent the next half hour catching up on lost years with Kelly.
“I’ve been dying to come see you, but with Harry’s Rules, I had to wait until a natural opportunity arose. You know, I completely understand his view. I would have been overwhelmed if the whole town had been waiting for me at the border. Of course, I’m here today because I got tired of waiting for a ‘natural opportunity.’ ”
Laura thought back to her first day and had to agree. Even the small crowd who had shown up to bring her food and treats had been a little difficult to handle, but she had. There was good thought behind Harry’s Rules and maybe she’d been a little hard on Connor’s not stopping by until after her shop opened. She thought now he was probably right about being a distraction.
“And don’t worry about Eric,” Kelly added. “Connor will take care of him, just like he always did.”
Laura just smiled. She had no idea what Kelly was talking about, but this wasn’t the day she wanted to talk more about Eric Williams.
“Enough about Eric. Talk to me about you.”
Kelly was a marketing associate for an advertising firm in Minneapolis, but she worked from home most days. It saved on her wardrobe, she said, and gasoline.
“What kinds of companies do you represent?” Laura asked.
“Everybody. Here’s my card. Don’t feel obliged, but do call me first if you’re interested. I can help you get your CPA business out there if you’re looking for more clients. Let’s plan to meet for lunch sometime on one of your free days or for drinks after work. We’ll have more time to catch up. Oh, and my aunt Jessie wants to stop by and look at your handmade quilts. She said she’d be by in the next week or so.”
After Kelly left, Laura re-opened the shop, but there were only a handful of customers. She returned to the counter and opened her laptop. She gave up on searching for the information on the founding families of Raging Ford and went to look instead for something to fit in that little corner of her shop. She found a furniture outlet in Cloquet with a website that showed multiple corner shelving units, curios and whatnots. She jotted down the address just as Jeremy Ahlstad sent the bells ringing on the front door again.
Not twice in one day!
“Jeremy, I’m just closing up shop for the day. Is there something you wanted to buy?”
If he thought her comment odd in any way, he didn’t show it. Just kept that fixed and what she considered lurid grin on his face as he approached the counter where she pointedly started counting out register change.
“We didn’t get a chance to talk earlier, and I—”
But he was interrupted by more jangling bells followed by Eric Williams. Again.
Did it never end, she wondered, and tried to recall the safe word she was supposed to send Harry. But was it Harry’s responsibility to save her hour after hour, day after day?
The bell jangled yet again, and Laura looked up to see Colin Anderson. Again. He glanced at the other two men at the same time Williams butted his way to the counter and made his pitch, shoved a large envelope at Laura and got the words out real fast, like a motor.
“I promised you I’d bring that insurance prospectus by, and the forms, so you could review them. As a small business, you’re at considerable risk if anything happens to you, and I want you to seriously think about this coverage. It could save you in the event of a catastrophe.”
“Williams—” Anderson began but was interrupted by Laura, her hands in the air.
“Gentlemen,” she said and got everyone’s attention. “Shop’s closing. This is not Wendy’s. Nor is it a coffee shop or chat room. I have to ask all of you to leave. Now. Eric, thank you for the paperwork. I’ll see everyone tomorrow or some other day when we’re open again and you’re all ready to buy something.”
