Murder Close to Home (4 page)

“What!” I spun around. “We did! Allen, I’m so sorry.”

He laughed. “That’s okay. I figured you’d be back.”

Jade and I handed him the total while we told him what had happened.

“Poor Amelia!” he declared. “She’s going to be fine. That’s one tough lady.”

“We’ll let you know if we hear anything,” Jade said. “Did you see where Ellen went? She doesn’t know yet.”

“Sorry, no.”

Jade and I searched the entire restaurant to make sure that Ellen wasn’t still there. When we didn’t find her, I got her number from Taryn. The call went to voicemail.

“Hi, Ellen, it’s Ruby Flynn from Ruby’s Gem. Please call me back as soon as you get this.” I gave her my number and finished the call. “We have to go to her house,” I said to Jade.

“I’m one step ahead of you.” Jade held up Ellen’s address.

Finding Ellen’s house turned out to be much easier than finding Ellen herself. It was in a cul-de-sac among houses of similar sizes. Every house was a different color. Hers was a light green.

I rang the doorbell. “If this doesn’t work, we can try the hospital.”

A man with a sculpted five o’clock shadow answered the door. “Well, hello.”

“Hi. Is this Ellen Park’s place?” I inquired.

“That’s my wife. She’s on a shift at the hospital right now. Is there anything I can do for you? I’m Marty, by the way.”

Jade and I exchanged a glance.

“We were just at The Parrot Tree, where Ellen was having dinner with Amelia and Orla,” I began.

“Yes, that’s right. Her shift was after,” said Marty.

There was no easy way to say it. “Amelia’s had... Well, I’m not entirely sure what happened, but she’s on her way to the hospital because she collapsed. Ellen wasn’t there when it occurred and we wanted to let her know,” I explained.

Marty was taken aback. “She seems so healthy. Come on in. Let’s wait for the results together.”

The inside of the Parkses’ house was nicely decorated. Picture frames with family photos hung on the wall. We sat on couches that were well used and comfy. The television above the fireplace was playing a nature documentary.

Marty put the documentary on mute. “My wife loves this stuff. The kids are at a friend’s house and I’m picking them up at nine.”

“I don’t want to intrude,” said Jade hesitantly.

“No, not at all!” Marty waved his hands expressively. “I like waiting for uncertain news with company. It makes it easier to bear. Amelia’s such a great friend to my family.” He texted Ellen, then said, “Ellen will let us know when she can. Can I get you anything to eat? Drink?”

“No thanks. We just ate,” I said.

Something felt off. I couldn’t put my finger on it. Marty seemed like a nice guy and Ellen had been friendly when I met her a while ago. There shouldn’t be a problem.

“How did you and Ellen meet?” I asked Marty as a conversation starter.

“I went in for a broken leg and came out a changed man. Ellen was my nurse, you see.” A dreamy look passed over his face. “The moment I saw her, I knew that she was someone special. My life hasn’t been the same since.”

“That’s wonderful,” said Jade. “And your kids? How old are they?”

As Marty answered (nine and seven, both girls), I took the opportunity to glance around the family room. The photos stood out to me for some reason. I squinted at them. Marty wasn’t in any of the pictures.

“Are you a photographer, Marty?” I asked.

“Only recreationally. I’d like to get more involved, but there’s only so many hours in a day.” The documentary was showing a chameleon changing colors. “I love bugs,” Marty said.

“Chameleons aren’t bugs,” Jade said.

I looked at the pictures one more time and recoiled. He wasn’t in any of them because he had taken them — from a distance. The shots were often obscured by a bush or window. These were stalker quality photos.

I put my hunch to the test. “Did Ellen know about Amelia when you texted her?”

Marty nodded. “Yes, she did. She’ll let us know when anything changes.”

I slyly checked my own phone. There was no reply from Ellen. Marty was lying.

He might not have been, and Ellen might not have had time to listen to a voicemail. It was possible. But after seeing those stalker photos, I didn’t feel like taking a chance. I listened to my gut and stood up.

“We’ve got to be going. We’re expected at the restaurant and we’re late.” I inconspicuously tapped Jade’s foot. She got the hint and joined me in leaving without question.

“Don’t leave! We haven’t heard from Ellen yet.” Marty’s eyes glinted. “Come sit down.”

We hurried to the door without a glance back. I twisted the handle and had one foot outside when Marty shouted,
“Stay here!”

Jade and I ran to the car. She got there first and I tossed her the keys. I tugged on the door, but it stayed closed.

“Open my door!” I yelled.

She unlocked the doors and I scrambled inside only to be pulled back out by Marty.

“We haven’t found out if she’s all right yet. You have to stay,” he pleaded. I freed myself from his grip as he continued to try to convince us to stay.

Now, I might have taken a stage combat class in college, but Jade was the one who had trained in actual combat growing up. While I was taking ballet classes, Jade was taking martial arts classes.

If someone saw Jade on the street, they’d think,
Yeah. She works out.
Or,
Yeah. She’s a runner.
Honestly, most people wouldn’t immediately see how tough she really was. She didn’t hide it, per se, but it didn’t come out unless she was showcasing her talents.

This was one of the times where her skills were on display. Her years of training paid off. Jade flipped Marty to the ground as I dove into the driver’s seat. She slipped into the car a moment later and I sped off.

“Something’s not right with that guy,” she said after calling the police.

I let out a nervous laugh. “You can say that again.”

“Who was he? Why would he need us to stay?” Jade lowered her window and air swept past her face.

I sucked in a deep breath. “I think he broke into Ellen’s house. He had pictures of Ellen and her family on the walls. You could tell that he took them from far away. He also never texted Ellen. He was faking it. In the end, Marty was waiting for us to find out from Ellen that Amelia was okay — except that while we were waiting to find out about Amelia, he was waiting to find out about Ellen. If she called us, then she would be all right. That’s why he wanted us to stay.”

I turned in to the police station parking lot. As we were making a report to the cop at the desk, my phone rang.

“Ellen? Are you all right?” I immediately asked.

“I’m fine. What’s up?” said Ellen’s non-worried voice.

“Don’t go home. I was just there and —”

“Wait. Was it...” She gave me the address of her house.

“Yes, it was.”

I heard a heavy sigh over the phone.

“I moved a year ago. That’s not my house. Was it Marty again?”

Ellen went on to say that Marty had been obsessed with her. After she filed a restraining order, he’d had to find more creative ways to stalk her. “He’s mostly harmless,” Ellen said. “He wouldn’t hurt a fly unless the fly was hurting me. I’ll call the owners of the new house and let them know that he got inside again. Thanks for letting me know, and I am so sorry for the trouble he’s put you through.”

After filing the report, Jade and I swung by The Parrot Tree. Things had gone more or less back to normal, except for Taryn Horn. She had fallen asleep on the bench outside.

“She gave us Ellen’s old address,” I said. “She must have switched them up.”

Jade frowned. “That’s not like her. But this situation isn’t normal. I could see how she made that mistake, caught up in the moment.”

We waited for Taryn to wake up. We were in no rush and took the time to enjoy the night.

“Hey, thanks.” I wanted to tell Jade how much our friendship meant to me. “I couldn’t have done that without you. You had my back at Ellen’s old house.”

“Sure thing,” said Jade nonchalantly. I could tell she meant it, even if she wasn’t wearing her emotions on her sleeve. That’s how she was.

“Seriously,” I said. “I needed you back there.”

Jade shrugged. “You got out of his hold quick enough.” She grinned. “Those practice sessions we used to have every once in a while paid off. Excellent job, young grasshopper.”

I laughed, and Taryn’s eyelids fluttered.

“What’s the time?” Taryn asked, sitting up. “Is it morning or night?”

“It’s seven thirty,” I responded.

She yawned. “I had this horrible dream that.... Oh. It wasn’t a dream, was it?”

I shook my head. “Unfortunately not.” My phone rang again. “Hey, Orla…Really?...Thanks for letting me know...That’s crazy. Okay, I appreciate it.” I hung up with a heavy heart. “Amelia didn’t make it,” I told Taryn and Jade.

Taryn sank back against the bench, covering her eyes with her hand. Jade froze, completely taken aback.

“There’s more.” I tapped my phone against my hand. “She was poisoned.”

A little while later, I tucked Taryn into her bed. She had taken the news of Amelia’s death harder than the news of her collapse — which made perfect sense, really. Jade and I had transported her home, and we wanted to make sure she would be comfortable before taking off.

I walked into Taryn’s living room, where Jade was looking at a picture of Taryn and Amelia cleaning up the beach together. “She’s gone too soon,” Jade said, echoing Taryn’s earlier sentiments.

“Way too soon,” I said. I straightened a picture frame gone awry. “
Poisoned.
Who would have killed Amelia?”

“It could have been an accident,” Jade pointed out. “Maybe she accidently poured some bleach into her coffee. All right, that makes no sense.”

“If you think about it, we’re in the place of the one person who everyone knows was on the opposite side of Amelia. I mean, we’re in Amelia’s enemy’s house.”

“Come on, they’re not real enemies,” Jade scoffed. “Taryn would never kill someone. That’s absurd.”

“I agree. But what if that’s what we’re supposed to think? Like, what if someone’s framing Taryn for Amelia’s death?”

Jade’s forehead crinkled. “I know where you’re going with this. No, no, no. We’re not doing this again.”

“Doing what again?” I asked innocently.

“You know what. You solve a dinner mystery game years ago and you think you can tackle a stabbing case. You find the stabber and now you think you can solve a murder. When will this end?”

“Does it have to? Besides, the stabbing case was a murder case, too. I’ve solved one murder; why not make it two? You don’t have to join me if you don’t want to.”

Jade rolled her eyes. “Right. And leave you in the trenches by yourself? I don’t think so.”

“That’s not why,” I teased. “You want to be part of the action just as much as I do.”

“I do not!” Jade protested.

“You don’t have to put up a fight. You know I’d love to have you on board.” I went over the details of Amelia’s last hour. “We saw Amelia in the restaurant when Taryn came to talk to us. She was with Orla and Ellen. Taryn was with her friend Rita.”

Taryn snapped her fingers. “Ellen was there first. Orla came later to their booth. I think I saw Orla talking with Rita before she went to sit with Amelia.”

“So what does that mean?” Possibilities swirled in my head. A secret alliance between Orla and Rita? A plot to kill?

“It means they talked because they’re friends.” Jade brought me back to earth. “Let’s think. Who was their waiter?”

“Allen,” I said. “Let’s not have a scenario where Allen is the killer this time. It’s too soon. Unless, of course, he actually is the killer.”

“He’s been biding his time, getting ready to strike. Now would be great timing because no one would think he was the murderer when he was just found innocent of the last murder,” Jade speculated. Then she laughed. “That’s a crazy theory. Completely untrue, as well. He has to keep his knives clean to juggle with on the beach. He won’t get tips from passersby when he looks like an actual killer.”