Cover Story (18 page)

Jackson winked at Lizzie as he followed his partner and Molly around the corner of the house.

“It seems we're on the right track,” Lizzie said to Teensy.

• • •

M
ark stopped by Lizzie's on his way home from the station. “I have some unhappy news for you, Lizzie. I thought I'd best tell you in person.”

She sat down hard on the chair in the kitchen. She went through a mental checklist as he sat down across from her. If it were about her mama, the residence would have phoned. She'd just finished talking to Molly so she was fine. One of her friends?

“The FBI has taken Bob Miller into custody. They left for Birmingham with him a couple of hours ago.”

Lizzie felt stricken. “No, they can't arrest him. He's innocent.”

“I know you believe that, Lizzie, but they seem to think they have enough proof.” Mark sat down and ran his right hand over his smooth scalp.

“What did they find out? It must be something new. And bad.”

“Well, it seems that they've had him under surveillance for the past week.”

Lizzie opened her mouth but Mark shook his head. He knew she wondered if he'd been in on it. He hadn't.

“And?” she asked instead.

“He managed to give them the slip last night and didn't show up back home until around midnight. And, he refuses to tell them where he was.”

“Last night? They think he broke into Teensy's house? And that ties him into the counterfeit ring? How? What was he . . . or rather, the real thief, looking for?”

Mark shrugged. “Miz Coldicutt says nothing important is missing, as far as she can tell. She thinks it has to do with the remaining books.”

“That's it. It couldn't have been Bob. He knew the books were at Molly's. He wouldn't have been looking for them at Teensy's.”

“There's nothing to say that's what this person was after. The FBI had a couple of my men searching through those boxes of books but nothing was in them, either.” Mark reached across the table and squeezed Lizzie's hand. “I know you're upset by this but maybe that's a good place for Bob right now. If this counterfeit scenario is still taking place, he's safer in custody.”

Lizzie didn't feel convinced.

“And if what Bob thinks is true,” Mark continued, “that he's being framed, the real bad guys might think they've succeeded and get just a bit too complacent. That's when they're bound to slip up. The FBI will continue the investigation until they find all who've been involved.”

Lizzie sighed. “Wow,” she said dejectedly. “Does Molly know?”

Mark shook his head. “I thought you might like to be the one to tell her.” Lizzie nodded.

“‘Like.' That is not the word I'd use.”

There was no backing out now.

THE CHRISTIE CURSE
—VICTORIA ABBOTT

L
izzie was on the phone first thing in the morning, calling the book club together for a meeting that night. After she explained about Bob, all were happy to change whatever plans they'd already arranged.

They met at Molly's outside on the patio. A light sprinkling of rain in late afternoon had left the air more comfortable than it had been in days but still warm enough so that the chairs had dried quickly.

“I can't believe they've put Bob in jail,” Sally-Jo exclaimed as she came through the back door carrying a tray with a pitcher of sweet tea and glasses. Molly was right behind her with a plate of molasses cookies.

Jacob had held the door open for them and hurried around to take the tray from Sally-Jo. Lizzie had been lighting the hurricane lamp candles set out on the large patio table and also the smaller ones beside each chair. Andie finished putting the cushions on each chair and sat in the one closest to the table with the food.

“It's just not the same without Chief Bob here at our meeting,” she moaned.

Molly heaved a heavy sigh. “I'm with you there, Andrea. Which is why we have to do some serious thinking and try to come up with some way of helping him. Lizzie, why don't you just sort of recap all that's been happening lately.”

Lizzie had been about to take a sip of her tea but she put the glass down and gathered her thoughts. “Well, it all started with Molly being beaten and Teensy's books stolen.” She squeezed Molly's arm then continued.

“Then Orwell Rivers was murdered and his place ransacked. It wasn't long before Cabe Wilson turned up dead in Bob's yard, along with some counterfeit twenty-dollar bills. The FBI arrived on scene. Bob's house was searched and more counterfeit money found in it, along with an unexplained hefty deposit in his bank account. Bob has been taken in for questioning by the FBI. And Teeny's house was broken into. I think that's everything.”

“I'd say the only thing that we know for sure,” Jacob interjected, “is that Bob was more than likely framed.”

“That's a certainty,” Molly said, her hands clutching the arms of the wicker chair.

“For sure,” Sally-Jo added quickly. “By the way, no Stephanie tonight?”

Lizzie answered. “She's just so tired after her shift ends at seven. All she wants to do is get home to Wendy and not have to do any more talking for the day. She felt bad but I assured her we'd keep her updated and not to worry.”

Sally-Jo nodded.

“So what are we going to do?” Andie asked, tugging at a long dangly skull earring in her right earlobe. She sported a skull and crossbones stud in the left side. “What would Agatha Christie say, Molly?”

Molly chuckled. “Well, let me see. I think Agatha Christie would remind us to take a closer look at motives. Sometimes the motive for a murder is to prevent an earlier crime from being revealed, like in
Hickory Dickory Dock
. Of course, we know the first crime here is counterfeiting. But what if there's an even earlier motive?”

“Cool. So, we keep digging?”

Molly nodded. “Precisely.”

“In the meantime,” Jacob jumped in, “I'll continue working with my friend, Ken Stokes, on getting Bob released. They haven't charged him as yet, which probably means they're not totally confident they can make it stick. That's a good thing. But they can't hold him much longer, so I'm betting they're out beating the bushes right about now.”

“We should be, too,” Sally-Jo suggested.

“Any ideas?” Jacob shot right back, sounding a bit testy.

Lizzie stepped in. “Andie and I have been on the Internet looking for more information on the victims and any connections. Nothing suspicious, though. Wilson's fiancée, Urliss Langdorf, did say she thought he was going to see if Bob could help him but she didn't know any specifics. Except that she thinks he was into something illegal.”

“That would be a good guess, since he's dead,” Molly said dryly. “What about his bank account? Any large deposits in it?”

“We have no way of knowing,” Lizzie admitted. “Urliss did say he'd recently bought a big speedboat but there'd been no spending sprees or anything, that she knew of anyway.”

“He could have stashed it in his account.” Sally-Jo was staring at Lizzie.

She sighed. “I'll try asking Mark but he's told me to stay out of it.”

“When has that stopped you?”

Lizzie gave her a thumbs-up. “Now, Orwell Rivers was in need of money at one point but he managed to get it and save his business. Maybe it was a bank loan. Maybe not.”

“Maybe he found a lucrative sideline for his machines,” Jacob offered.

Lizzie nodded.

“So, let's say Rivers and Wilson were in it together. There had to be more people, because this seems like a fairly intricate operation, and for some reason that person or persons ordered some thugs to retrieve the books that were delivered to Molly's. They then got rid of Rivers. Maybe he got cold feet or wanted more of a cut. Same thing for Cabe Wilson. That leaves any number of conspirators still around calling the shots.”

“Like searching Teensy's house,” Sally-Jo said.

“Exactly. We need to figure out who they are but I don't have any useful suggestions as to how to go about it,” Jacob admitted.

Molly stood and blew out one of the candles that flickered wildly. She offered refills of tea and then sat back down again. Lizzie hadn't seen her looking that dejected in a long time. If ever.

“I'll go back on the Internet and try again,” Andie offered. Molly smiled at her and nodded.

“I think I'll stop by Teensy's tomorrow and ask her about Orwell Rivers. He might have let something slip when they were discussing printing her book,” Lizzie said and shrugged. “I know it's unlikely but I, too, am out of suggestions.”

“What we all probably need is a good night's sleep,” Molly suggested. “Maybe after our discussion tonight, something might occur to one of us tomorrow.”

The others left, with Andie hitching a ride to a friend's house after assuring Lizzie she'd be home at a reasonable hour.

“I'm mighty impressed, honey,” Molly said as Lizzie helped with the cleanup. “Andie seems quite responsible these days and agreeable to your setting the rules.”

Lizzie nodded. “Yeah, it's working out quite well, actually. Much to my relief.”

The phone rang and Molly answered, listened for a couple of minutes and then gasped. “I'll be right over,” she said, her hand shaking as she tried to return the handset to its cradle.

Lizzie watched her expectantly.

“It's Teensy,” Molly said, a small sob escaping. “She was attacked in her home and is in the hospital. They wouldn't tell me how badly injured she is. We have to go there.” She looked at Lizzie, desperation in her eyes.

“Of course. I'll drive. You gather your things and I'll lock up.”

They quickly left the house and drove to the Mercy General Hospital. Lizzie was fortunate to find a parking spot at the end nearest the hospital. They hurried into the emergency room where Lizzie spotted Officer Craig leaning against the wall, writing in her notepad. They rushed over to her.

“Please, Officer Craig, can you tell me how Teensy is? She's still . . .” Molly faltered.

Craig pushed off the wall and put her hand on Molly's arm. “She's alive but she has been badly beaten. I don't know anything else at the moment. The doctors are with her now. Why don't we just go over there and sit while we wait?”

Molly nodded. “Thank you so much for phoning me.”

Craig nodded. They sat facing the hallway to the examining rooms.

Craig flipped her notepad open again. “Did you talk to Miz Coldicutt this evening at all?” She was looking at Molly.

“No. Not since this afternoon. You know about what happened at her house the night before last?”

Craig nodded.

“Well, she stayed at my place and we went over there and did some straightening of things. I asked her to come stay at my place again, at least until everything had been put in order, but she said she wanted to keep working at it.” She looked at Craig. “We didn't even stop to think she might be in any danger.”

“Neither did the police,” Lizzie muttered.

Craig looked at her. “The chief had us driving past her house on a regular schedule. In fact, I'd gone by maybe twenty minutes before and slowed down, took a look, but nothing seemed amiss.” Craig looked stricken by the fact.

Lizzie said more gently, “How did you find out what had happened?”

“I was still driving around but decided to go back down Lee Road from the other direction. Like I said, it was maybe twenty minutes or so later. From that angle, it looked like the drapery was missing from a side window. I was sure it had been closed earlier in the evening. She was asked to keep her drapes closed. So I stopped and checked.”

“Lucky for Teensy you were so astute,” Molly said. “Who knows how long it would have been till she was found.”

“I gather the place was empty?” Lizzie asked.

Craig nodded. “Empty and, once again, a few things had been thrown around. Mainly from the desk in the corner of the living room. And it looked like she'd grabbed the drapes and pulled them down when she fell.” She paused. “I really shouldn't be telling y'all this but I feel so bad.”

Molly gave her hand a quick squeeze just as a young man in green scrubs walked over to them. He nodded at them.

“Officer, I'm Dr. Barnes.” He looked over at Molly and Lizzie. “Are you friends of Miz Coldicutt?”

They both nodded.

The doctor crossed his arms over his chest. “We'll need to keep her in the hospital a few days to make certain we know the full extent of her injuries.”

Lizzie could hear Molly loudly exhaling.

“What injuries are evident?” Craig asked.

“She's suffered a concussion, broken right collarbone and her face”—he glanced at Molly a moment—“is badly bruised. There might even be some damage to her right eye. We'll have to wait for the swelling to go down before we can do any further testing.”

Molly let out a little sob. Lizzie put her arm around Molly's shoulders.

“Can I see her?” Molly asked.

“I'm afraid not, ma'am. She's heavily sedated anyway and wouldn't know you're there. It's probably best you wait before seeing her.”

“Tomorrow?” Molly persisted.

The doctor looked at her. “Yes, probably tomorrow will be all right.”

“Let's go home, Molly,” Lizzie said. They were both thanking Officer Craig when Mark strode into the waiting area.

“Hey, Lizzie, Miz Mathews. I'm very sorry to hear about your friend. I want you to know I'm posting an officer at her door and I really won't stop until we find who did this.”

Molly nodded. “Thanks, Mark.”

“I'm going to take Molly home and stay at her place tonight,” Lizzie said. Mark nodded and gave her arm a quick squeeze.

They left and drove to Molly's in silence. Once in the house, Molly turned on the hall light and went into the library and straight to the side cabinet. She brought out a full bottle of Bourbon. “I thought it best to stock up with Teensy in town. I hadn't realized I'd be into it so soon.”

She poured the drinks while Lizzie phoned home, quickly explained to Andie what had happened and asked her to feed the cats in the morning.

They sat and sipped quietly for a few minutes. Molly was the first to break the silence. “I can't believe all that's happened in just two short days. Bob gets hauled off to jail and Teensy ends up in the hospital.” She chewed on her bottom lip. “I don't think I can bear thinking about it. I'm going to bed. Do you mind if I let you take care of yourself? You know where the linens are. Just take any old bedroom.”

She stopped at the doorway. “It means a lot to me that you're here with me tonight, Lizzie. Thank you.”

Lizzie nodded, thinking how old Molly suddenly looked. She finished her drink and was hit by another thought. Teensy had been attacked while Bob was in custody. Surely, they'd release him now.

• • •

L
izzie dropped Molly at the hospital early the next morning while she drove over to the police station to see Mark. She was told he was at Teensy's house, so that's where she headed next.

A police identification van had parked on the roadway in front of the house behind a police cruiser. Mark's Jeep bookended the driveway and Lizzie parked behind him. She was stopped, once again by Officer Vicker, as she tried to go along the pathway.

“I'm sorry, ma'am, but this is off-limits until the investigation is completed,” he said, not bothering with a smile.

“Would you mind telling the chief that I'm here and would like to talk to him if he has a few minutes?”

“He's busy,” Vicker said. “I'll pass the message on. Why don't you just run along now?”

Lizzie was not in the mood to be mollified. “Would you mind letting the chief decide if he has time to see me or not?”

Vicker hooked his thumbs over the top of the utility belt he wore. Lizzie prepared to do verbal battle when Mark walked out the front door.

“Hey, Lizzie. It's all right, Vicker. I need to ask Ms. Turner some questions anyway.” He walked past the officer, put his hand on Lizzie's arm and steered her back to her car.

“Why are you always at odds with my staff?” he asked, half joking. He was once again minus his hat, and his forehead glistened with sweat. His gray uniform looked fairly fresh for this time of day. He took a long drink from the water bottle he carried in one hand then offered it to Lizzie, who shook her head.

“Only when they try to bulldoze over me. I don't think Officer Vicker likes me, anyway.”