Peggy Dulle - Liza Wilcox 02 - Apple Pots and Funeral Plots (7 page)

I opened the door and got into the Mustang.
Bill got into the driver’s seat.
He touched my arm and I jumped.
“Sorry about the lieutenant.
He’s a little pompous.”

I looked at him.
“You think?”

“Well, the gist of his warning was correct.
The festival does bring in some unsavory characters and you shouldn’t be wandering around at night.”

“Unsavory characters like to go to eating contests?”

“Well, no.
But any festival tends to draw some nasty people.
They usually hang out at the carnival, but that doesn’t mean they don’t wander around the town looking for trouble.”

Bill took me back to the hotel, gave me the keys to his daughter’s car, and went back to his garage.
I went into the room, took
Shelby
for a short walk, and then lay down on the bed.

What had I learned so far?
Did Danielle come to Clainsworth looking for Sally?
Were the two deaths related?
Did it have anything to do with the festival?
Was I just threatened by Lieutenant Damson?
I thought so.
Maybe I was on the right trail, even though I had no idea what trail that was!

Chapter 7

I woke up three hours later, stiffer than when I went to bed.
The drugs must have worn off.
This time I only took one.
After a quick shower to wake up again, Shelby and I went for a walk down
Main Street
.
The afternoon was warm with just a slight breeze.

Everything looked new, from the buildings to the sidewalks.
Of course, if they had bothered to fix the potholes in the roads outside of town, maybe my car wouldn’t have ended up in the ditch.
I
would
mention that to Bill next time I saw him as a suggestion for next year.

In the third block down I passed Ida’s Café and then spotted an ice cream parlor, I went in.
Nobody should resist ice cream when they’re on vacation.
I tied
Shelby
to a post outside the shop, went in, ordered a triple scoop of chocolate ice cream, and sat down at the counter.
The clerk and I were the only people in the shop, so naturally I started up a conversation.
I can’t stand the quiet.

“Everything in the town looks so nice.”
I always start with a compliment before I get into the real questions, and then end with a compliment.
It works with kids and everyone else, too.

The clerk smiled and walked over.
“Yes, it does.
We’re all getting ready for the festival.”

“I hear there’s quite a crowd that comes.”

“Oh my, yes.
By Thursday, I’ll have three other clerks in here to help me.
I probably make over ninety percent of my money for the year during the festival week.”

“Wow.”
I seemed to be saying that a lot, but it just fit.
“Bill
told
me that he gets a check from the festival committee, do you get one too?”

“Oh, yes.
The proceeds are equally divided among the townspeople.
Is that what brought you here?
The festival?”

“No, not exactly.
My friend was killed here last December and I came hoping to find some answers.”

She reached over and touched my hand.
“You were a friend of that nice teacher?”

“Yes.”
I stuck out my hand.
“My name is Liza.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Liza.”
She shook my hand.
“My name is Jane.
It was so sad what happened to your friend.”

“Yes, it was.
And they still haven’t found the person who killed her, either.”

“It was probably some vagrant just looking for money.”

That story sure sounded familiar.
“Except according to the police, the person who killed her didn’t take the cash in her wallet.”

“That’s strange.
You’d think someone looking for money would take the money.”

“That’s what I thought too.
Did Danielle come in and have some of your wonderful ice cream?”
I said as I licked the side where the chocolate
melted
down my hand.

“Her favorite was Mint Chocolate Chip.”

“You can remember what kind of ice cream she liked?”

“It’s a gift.
Besides she was here during my slow time.
And then she was killed.
It’s hard to forget something like that.”

“I met Alex and Bud in Doc Gordon’s office.
It’s nice that they have Sadie, Danielle’s beagle.”

“Oh, she loved that dog.
Even brought her in here and bought her some ice cream.”
She smiled.
“Sadie’s favorite was rainbow sherbet.”

I laughed.
“Bud told me that Danielle asked about Sally.”

“She asked me too.”

“What did you tell her?”

“Just that Sally was old and hadn’t been the same since her husband, James, died.”

“Lieutenant Damson said she called them a few times.”

Jane laughed.
“Yeah, I’m afraid she did.
She
said
she heard people walking and talking in the forest behind her house.
The sheriff came out but they never found anyone.
Several calls later, they stopped coming.”

“It’s kind of like the boy who called wolf.
When she finally did need them, they probably wouldn’t have believed her.”

“You mean the fire?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t think she called that night.
But I know she did the previous night.
The deputy came in, ordered some ice cream, and
talked
about it.
He said it was the same old story: people walking and talking in the forest.
Maybe she knew something
would
happen.”

My cell phone rang.
Maybe it was Justin with more information.
“Thanks for the ice cream, Jane.”

“You’re welcome, Liza.”

Outside I retrieved
Shelby
and checked the phone.
I didn’t recognize the number.
Who was calling me?

“Hello?”

“Hey, Teach.
What took you so long to answer?”

“Oh, sorry
Justin
.
I didn’t recognize the number.”

“Oh, I’m at the high school using their computers and phone system.
What are you doing?”

“Eating ice cream and gathering information.”

“Well, I’ve got some more for you too.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“Danielle was an orphan, just like you.
Her parents were killed in a house fire about twenty years ago.
Her and her sister went to live with an aunt in
Minnesota
after they died.”

“That’s interesting, because the only thing I’ve been able to learn so far is that Danielle
asked
questions about a lady named Sally, who died in a house fire.”

“Do you want me to do some research on this Sally?”

“Sure, except I can’t remember her last name.”

“Do you know anything else about her?”

“Her husband’s name was James and he ran the local lumber mill until he died.”

“That’s enough.
I can find her.”

“Really?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“You’re amazing, Justin.”

“I know.
Want to know what else I found out?”

“Of course.”

“When Danielle’s body was sent back to
Minnesota
, her aunt had another autopsy done by a private physician.”

“You’re kidding me.”

“Nope, I guess she wanted more answers than the local coroner gave her.”

“Did they find anything?”

“Actually, yes.
Her system was loaded with Sodium Pentothal.”

“Truth serum?”

“Yeah,” Justin said.

“Is there any reason why anyone would normally have it in their system?”

“Not that I can find on the Internet.
There are no known uses of Sodium Pentothal except as a drug to get people to talk.”

“Did the doctor who performed the autopsy send a report to the Clainsworth police department?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t know much about Sodium Pentothal.
How do you give it to someone?”

“As far as I can tell it has to be injected.
I couldn’t find anything about someone taking it in pill form.”

“Okay, if someone injected it in her, then she knew something they needed to know.
Right?”

“Or they may have just thought she knew something and she actually didn’t know anything.”

“That’s possible, too.
But the question is - what did she know or not know?”

“That’s your department, Teach.
Ask those great questions and find out.”

“Yes, but I have to be careful about who I ask.
Ask the wrong person and I could end up with my own injection.”

“That’s true.
Is there anyone in town you think you can trust?”

“Maybe.”
I
thought
about Bill and his brother Jimmy.
Jimmy had only been in town three months, so he couldn’t have been involved in Danielle’s murder, could he?

“I also looked up those apple pots.
They’re kind of cool.
Will you
bring a few home?”

“Yes, I already have three.”

“Cool, because you can’t buy them anywhere on the Internet.
I tried.”

“What do you mean?
I thought anything was available on the Internet.”

“Not those apple pots.
You have to buy them through a distributor there in Clainsworth.”

“Who’s the distributor?”

“A place called Pete’s Kitchen Shop.”

“I haven’t seen that place yet, but I’ll keep an eye out.
Where do the apple pots come from?”

“Someplace in
Mexico
.
But that’s the best I’ve been able to find so far.
I’ll keep looking.”

“I’m sure you’ll find out everything there is to know about apple pots.
Anything else about
Danielle
?”

“No, just the stuff about her parents and the second autopsy.”

“That’s all good information but keep looking.
There has to be a connection between Sally and Danielle.
Why else would she come and ask questions about her death?”

“Okay, I’ll keep at it.”

“Thanks, Justin.”

“Super Cyber Sidekick, away!”

“Goodbye, Justin.”

“Bye, Teach.”

Shelby and I walked up and down
Main Street
, but I couldn’t find Pete’s Kitchen Shop.
Maybe it was on one of the side streets.
My stomach growled and rumbled.
It was time to walk
Shelby
back to the hotel, feed her and get something for myself.
I wondered about Danielle and the fact that she might have ordered room service the night before she was killed.
Maybe I’d order dinner and see who brought it.

Chapter 8

Back in my hotel room, I checked out the room service menu.
You could order anything from a chilidog to a
New York
steak.
Since I splurged on lunch, I decided to go easy on dinner.
I ordered a chicken Caesar salad and some cheesy garlic bread.
Then I grabbed a Diet Coke and a few Peanut M&M’s from the refrigerator for an appetizer.

I turned on the television, but there wasn’t much on.
News, that was mostly depressing, re-runs of old game shows, and an entire station advertising the Apple Pot Festival.
Starting tomorrow there would be activities all week long - eating contests, carnival, booths, and an Apple-Kids program, too.
It was nice that they had something special for the younger children.
I don’t think they’d get much from watching the eating contests except bad eating habits.
And most of the carnival rides were geared more toward teenagers than little kids.
A pretty little blonde newscaster was interviewing Clainsworth’s mayor, Brian Galan.
Her name was Ashley and her hair bounced as much as her chest did.

“Well, Brian, who comes to the Apple Pot Festival?”

“Everyone,
Ashley
.
We get folks from all over the world.”

“Wow, I didn’t think our little festival was that popular.”

“It is, Ashley.
Some of the contestants in the eating contests even come from
Europe
, just to participate.”
Then he jabbed her in the side and she giggled.
“Of course, Ashley, they also want the trophies, prize money, and media exposure too.”

“Don’t we all?”
She laughed.

“I’d like to show some of our outstanding apple pots to your viewers, Ashley.
Is that all right?”

“Of course,
Brian
.
Let’s see them.”

The mayor proceeded to show eight different pots.
All the same style: small bottom, curved sides with a small handle on each side.
But each one was exquisite in its own way.
Some were inlaid with gold or silver and others had jewels embedded into the sides.
All of them had either silver, gold, or a contrasting colored ribbing that went around the bowl part of the pot.
Most were so beautiful I couldn’t imagine filling them with apples and putting them into an oven.
Ashley took the words right out of my mouth.

She held up the pot embedded with diamonds.
“Can you cook apples in this?”

“No Ashley,” the mayor grinned and shook his head in a demeaning way.
“These are decorative pots.
Cooking in them won’t be good for the pot or you.”

She smiled, oblivious to the meaning of the mayor’s words.
She turned the pot over in her hand and shrugged.
“Okay, Mayor.
You’re the expert.”

“That I am, Ashley.”
The mayor’s smile broadened and he proceeded to hold up the less decorative pots and give the recipe for the cobbler that goes inside.
I was beginning to know the recipe by heart since it was printed on every napkin in the entire town.

Just then someone knocked at my door and
Shelby
went nuts barking.

“
Shelby
!
Go lie down.”
I pointed to the other side of the bed.
Slowly she skulked over and lay down, but she kept her eyes on the door.

When I opened the door, a short man in his sixties with a mane of wind tossed silver hair and brilliant blue eyes
stood
there holding a tray. My stomach growled again anticipating the food.

I smiled.
“Come on in.”

He glanced at the dog and then back at me.
“Thank you, Ma’am.”

He set the tray on the round table by the window.
I went over to my purse to get him a tip.
I handed him five dollars and he nodded.
Then I stuck out my hand.
“My name is Liza.”

He took my hand and shook it.
“Mine’s Joe.”

“Have you worked here long, Joe?”

“I own the place, so yeah, I’ve been here awhile.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.
I didn’t mean to imply that you were just the room service attendant.”

“That’s okay, Liza.
I like bringing people their food.
They are always happy to see me.”

“I can understand that.”
It always gave me a lift to see food coming my way.

“How are
you
feeling?”

“Excuse me?”

“Bill told us about your accident.”

“Wow, word gets around this town fast.”

“It’s a small town.”
He shook his head.
“Nobody has anything to do except gossip.”

“Until festival week, right?”

“Yep, we all will be very busy for the next week and then life will slow down again.”
He smiled at me.
“Thank God.”

“I’m sure it’s hectic.”

“Oh yeah.
You’re lucky you came up before tomorrow or we wouldn’t have had any rooms available.
We’ll be booked solid by Tuesday.”

“Did Bill tell you why I came to Clainsworth?”

“He said you came up here because of the teacher lady that was killed in December.”

“That’s right.
Can you sit down for a few minutes and tell me what you remember about Danielle?”

“Sure.
I’ve got nothing to do until tomorrow.”
Joe sat down and motioned for me to take the other seat.
“You might as well eat while we talk.”

“Thanks, Joe.”
I sat across from him, opened up my Caesar salad and started eating.
I pointed to the soda.
“Would you like something to drink?”

“No, my doctor says I need to lay off soda and drink more water.”
He huffed.

“I could get you a glass of water, if you’d like,” I offered.

“No, I’d rather be thirsty.”
He laughed.

“Okay.”
I laughed with him.
“Tell me what you remember about Danielle.”

“She was a nice lady, quiet, didn’t disturb anyone.
Her little beagle Sadie was a bit noisier.
But it was December and she practically had the entire inn to herself so we put her in the farthest room from the office.”
He glanced around the room.
“In fact, if I remember right, this was her room.
She was happy, Sadie
happily barked
at every little noise she heard, and me and my sister were happy because we couldn’t hear Sadie barking.”

“Dogs are like that.”
I pointed over to
Shelby
.

“She’s pretty quiet.
I haven’t heard her barking much since you’ve been here.”

“Oh, she has her moments.
When someone knocks on the door or if anyone goes by on a bicycle, you’ll be able to hear her all over town.”

He laughed and glanced back to
Shelby
.
“She doesn’t look like she trusts me.”

“She’s a stray that wandered into my garage one day.
She doesn’t trust easily.”

Joe held out his hand.
“It’s okay, girl.
I’m a good guy.”

Shelby
got up and slowly came over to the table.
She sniffed his hand and then let him pet her.

“See, I won’t hurt you.”

Then she went over to my side of the table and lay down.
I reached down and petted her.
“It’s okay, girl.”
I handed her a piece of chicken from my salad, which made her happy.
“Can I ask you a few questions about Danielle?”

“Of course.
I’ll tell you what I remember.”

“Did she order room service?”

“That’s a strange question, but no she didn’t usually order room service.
She liked to eat out.
She said the food smell made her beagle crazy.”

“But she did the night before she was killed.”

“Yes, but that was because she didn’t feel well.”

I sat up straighter.
“What?
That’s the first I’ve heard that she was sick while she was here.”

“She had an allergic reaction to something.
She was sneezing, coughing, blowing her nose, and her eyes were even running.
She was miserable.”

“I have the same reaction to fresh flowers.
They just make me sick.”

“Well, I sent her over to Doc Gordon and he fixed her up.
But the medicine made her drowsy, so she ordered in.”

“That was nice of the doctor.
Bill took me to see him and he gave me some medicine to help with my aches and pains from the accident.
He’s a really nice man.”

“Yes, he is.
He’s been here longer than I have and we go to him for every ailment.”

Thinking about the knife wounds, I asked, “So do you remember what Danielle ordered that night?”

“As a matter of fact, I do.
She said she wanted the thickest biggest steak that we had in this town.
And that’s what I went out and got her.
It was from Rogan’s Steak House.
They have the best meat in this entire town.”

“The food comes from the town.
You don’t make it here?”

“No.
Whatever you order I go out and get it.”
He pointed to my Caesar salad.
“That’s from the Ida’s Café.
She makes great sandwiches and salads.”

“Well, I’d have to agree.
This salad is wonderful.”
I took another bite.
“Did Danielle say why she came to Clainsworth?”

“Not really.
But she must have been a relative of Sally Hayes.”

“Why?”

“She asked a lot of questions about her and the fire.
Nobody
would
be that interested in the death of a total stranger.”

“Bill
told
me about the fire and how it burned for days.”

“Oh yeah.
It was spectacular.
The flames shot out of the center of the house and then it smoldered for a week.”

“Did they ever figure out what caused the fire?”

“No.
The house was very old and not well maintained.
Especially since James, her husband, died.
The fire chief figured it was probably an electrical fire.
And one little spark set the entire house on fire.”

“How’d her husband die?”

“Mining accident.”

“There’s still an active mine in this town?”

“No, not for a decade or so.
But he was an avid spelunker.
Those are crazy people who like to explore caves.
He was always exploring the mines.
I don’t know what he was looking for but he never found anything except a few old mining tools.”

“How was he killed?”

“There was a cave-in at the mine and he was trapped.
By the time we were able to dig him out, he was dead.”

“There wasn’t enough oxygen in the cave for him to survive?”

“No, it wasn’t that.
The old mine’s full of rotting timbers and one of them fell and hit him on the head during the cave-in.”

“How sad.”

“Sally took it pretty hard.”

“A couple of people told me that she was crazy and would call the police at all hours of the night and report prowlers.”

“Yeah, I guess she did.
But she didn’t seem crazy to me.
Just old.
And old doesn’t always mean crazy.”

“I agree.
Did Danielle have any visitors in her room?”

Joe raised his eyebrows.
“You mean like a gentleman caller?”

“I don’t know.
Did anyone come to see her?”

“Not that I remember.
She mostly went out during the day and then came in after dinner each night.”
Joe stood up.
“Well, I’ve got to go.
It’s almost time for my sister’s favorite show and I always watch the front desk.
She doesn’t like to be disturbed during her show.”

I wondered if that’s why the lady at the front desk had been so short to me when I’d arrived.
Had I interrupted one of her shows?
I stood up and walked Joe to the door.
“Thanks for taking the time to talk to me about Danielle.”