Treachery on Tap Page 8

  I waved. “Well glad you came by. What’s the special occasion that we get a visit from Potter's Mill’s finest?”

  Aunt Mae smiled. “Well I’m just your aunt. I’m not sure about all that finest business, but I wanted to talk to my favorite niece.”

  “That joke is getting old and I’m your only niece.”

  “So there’s no competition and I’m not exaggerating.”

  “Thanks, then, I think. But what can I do for ya?”

  She tilted her head toward a corner in the dining room, a secluded one. I went with her and we both took a seat, well out of earshot.

  She said, “You aren’t going to believe this, but that Cecil character left town this morning on foot. Set off an alarm on our computers we never heard or seen before. Scared the living daylights out of us.”

  “His ankle bracelet!”

  “Bingo. And when we picked him up, he was acting real weird. So I took him to the station to question him and I noticed white powder on his fingers.”

  “Oh? Like slush powder?”

  “I thought the same thing. So I took some swab samples and sent them to the state lab.”

  “Well now we have a couple of irons in the state lab fire. Did you hold him?”

  “No. The Sheriff decided to let him out. Said we don’t have enough to charge him, so he decided to let him have a second chance. But he’s on a short leash now. I think the fact the bracelet worked so well helped the Sheriff make the decision to set him free.”

  “Well, I had dwindled the prime suspect list to Scooter and Cecil. But now I realize that was too superficial. I couldn’t imagine the clumsy, chubby Cecil as a murderer. Scooter seems real nice, but he is more of a man’s man. You know? So I was focused on him.”

  “I do know, sweetie. Scooter clearly likes lifting weights and takes care of himself. But looks aren’t always a good indicator of what is going on inside a person. I’ve made the same mistake myself, so don’t beat yourself up too bad.”

  “But now we just wait? Find out what the state labs come back with?”

  “Pretty much, honey. But that’s why I’m here. I know you've been working hard to reopen your kitchen. And that means Ida has been helping. Did she find anything else on Cecil?”

  “No. But she is doing her thing, still, with those disturbing little electronic crawlers she sets up on the internet. Seems these Hollywood types are pretty good at keeping secrets, though.”

  “Can you let me know if she finds anything? I don’t want this guy running out on us. So if you can give us a reason to charge him, we can hold him.”

  I actually felt a tear come to my eye. “Auntie, you have always treated me like a little girl. This is the first time you've reached out to me as an adult. I’m touched.”

  “That’s so sweet. But don’t get all gushy on me. We're trying to catch a murderer. That means you need to be tough.”

  “Funny, Denise told me I was tough. So guess I am up to the task in her eyes.”

  Aunt Mae laughed. “I’ve always used the word persistent to describe you. I guess you need to be a little tough to be persistent.”

  I chuckled. “I have to be tough. My dad brings a TV show home with him like it's normal! And now my cash flow is severely compromised.”

  “Oh don’t be so hard on him. He has such a soft spot for you. You know he will always see you as his little girl. That is just the way it is with Dad’s like him.”

  “I know.” I fiddled my fingers, “But we have some real adult problems right now and it’s all on me to fix them.”

  “I’m helping sweetie. I’ll always be here for you.” Mae flashed an understanding smile at me.

  “Us too!” Guardrail, Dog Breath, and Digger had invaded our privacy.

  I turned to them. “No one in this place understands discretion. We’re having a private conversation.”

  Dog replied, “Seemed like you were discussing the case. We’re part of the team.”

  Mae said, “Well, officially, we can’t have civilians running around looking into police matters. But right now, seems we have a pretty good idea of the who done it, but no evidence to charge him. So we need to find that evidence.”

  Guardrail replied, “We were discussing that last night. It’s why Piper and Ginger...”

  I cut him off. “We came to the same conclusion and doubled up our efforts to find that evidence. Indisputable evidence we called it.”

  Mae replied. “Well that doubling of effort didn’t by chance involve breaking a window in Scooter’s room at The Fluffy Pillow, did it?” Silence ensued so she continued. “Ginger, the last thing I wanted to talk to you about is I cannot tolerate flaunting the laws, like let’s say breaking and entering.”

  Dog added, “Technically, the breaking happened after the entering.”

  Mae smiled at me lovingly. “I’m trusting you a lot here to help us. But please don’t put me or the Sheriff in a bad spot.”

  I nodded. “Understood. I know I can get a little too intense when I'm focused on something.”

  Mae sat back, laughed, and eyed the boys. “I was pretty sure Ginger was in the room. But I wondered which one of you threw the rock. Thanks for telling me Dog.”

  Dog’s eyes became the size of our now infamous pickled eggs. “Am I in trouble?”

  Mae laughed. “No. Dot told me you were going to fix it. That’s good enough for me. But stay out of people's rooms!” She rose and gave me a little hug before she left. “See y'all around.”

  After Mae was gone, Dog spoke. “Whew! I thought I was going to jail.”

  Digger snapped back. “They don’t put people in jail for breaking windows.”

  I asked, “So, now what? We have two items being tested by the state labs. And we are pretty sure it’s Cecil. So how do we prove it?”

  I explained the white powder Aunt Mae found on Cecil’s fingers this morning. And the DNA test being done on the paper bag and receipt. Either one of those might be enough if they returned the right results. But we couldn’t count on that. Ida had worked in the hack shack all day, it was time to pay her another visit. “Excuse me, I need to go talk with Ida.”

  Digger replied, “We’re going with you. You know. The team thing.”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “Sure. Right now we need all the help we can get.”

  Ida was typing away when we entered and she stopped when she spotted us. “Is it four o’clock already?”

  I answered her. “Almost. But we were wondering what you've found. You’ve been at it for a while now.”

  Ida grinned like a squirrel finding a bird feeder for the first time. “You came at a good time, I just made a breakthrough.”

  “So spill it!” I disliked when she tried to build up suspense to tell us she just read a few of someone’s emails.

  “Seems Cecil set up an alias. And he did a good job. It was hard to find, but I cracked it. Now I am reading emails he sent using that alias, and get this, not only did he arrange the protests, he paid for them.”

  I shrugged. “So, we suspected that he arranged it all.”

  Ida continued, “Cecil thought if there was controversy over Zach’s death, it would catapult the show’s ratings. And that he would become the new star to replace Zach.”

  I folded my arms. “Again, we kind of guessed that, but it is good to confirm it. However, that is not enough for the police to charge him. Anything about him buying slush powder or asking about it?”

  “No. But I have a hundreds of emails still to get through.”

  Dog spoke up. “Can we help you?”

  Ida laughed and leaned back in my chair. “No, I don’t think I want anyone else using my good laptops. I can handle it.”

  I sighed. “So more waiting. I hate this.”

  Guardrail smacked the desktop and it made Ida jump. “I hate it too. What can we do?”

  I took a deep breath and just said it. “We could try and sneak into Cecil’s room when they come back to shoot tonight.”

  Digger
rebutted. “No, Mae was clear and she is right. After the broken window, that’s too risky now.”

  I tried a new direction. “When do they plan on coming back to shoot?”

  Guardrail answered, “I think they’re starting early, at seven tonight, since the place has been pretty empty.”

  “That will give Ida a few hours to get through the rest of the email. And it will give us a few hours to think about what we can do before Cecil comes back to the pub tonight.” I was thinking out loud more than suggesting. Then it dawned on me. “Where is Piper?”

  Ida answered, “She is at the Potter's Mill Oracle. Writing a story on the protesters.”

  “Great. I’ll be back in about a half hour. In the mean time, boys can you do something for me?”

  Dog was first to answer. “We always do what we can, you know that.”

  “I have a wacky idea. What if we can get Cecil to admit to something and get it on film, or whatever they call it now that it is digital.”

  Ida laughed. “We didn’t get something on video by chance, so you now want to try and capture it on purpose. That’s actually pretty smart.”

  “Yeah. If I get Piper in journalist mode, maybe she and I can get him to say something incriminating.”

  Digger asked, “But how do you get it on tape.”

  “That is what I need you to do. Can you find a camcorder or something to record with and get ready to film. I can tell Cecil we are doing our own small town version of behind the scenes and interview him with Piper. Maybe he can’t handle the truth!” Everyone looked at me as if I spoke in tongues. “Oh for goodness sake. I thought everyone saw that movie.”

  Ida raised her eyebrows. “I’m not sure about your movie reference, but I can get a camera. A good one too.”

  I spun to look at her. “How?”

  Ida blushed, “Well, I guess I should have told you. I’ve been seeing Scooter.”

  The collective gasp was loud. I tried to calm myself down, but my voice came out on the loud side. “How could you do that? He’s a stranger and was a murder suspect!” And I guess you own black lacy bras too. Ugh...

  She waved her hands randomly, like she was swatting away the issue. “I know. But only for a little while. And then it was clear he didn’t do it. And when you get to know him, he’s a sweet man.”

  Digger mumbled, “Sweet, as in big muscles sweet?”

  I chided her. “I can’t believe this. You could have been hurt. We need to talk, later. But for now, get the camera lined up and find whatever you can from those files you’ve discovered.”

  Ida looked at Guardrail, “You think you boys can operate a camera?”

  He replied. “I guess, maybe Scooter can help show us how.”

  Digger added, “The three of us can handle it. But it has to be a mobile camera. Something we can move around with.”

  Ida nodded, “That’s a good point. Let me call him and see what he can do.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Seven o’clock was approaching fast and I sat at the bar waiting for Piper to come back from her office. She wanted to retrieve her little voice recorder. Why, I could not tell you since we were already recording video, which included audio, but it made her more comfortable to have it. I was watching the boys play with the shoulder mounted camera in the dining room. Guardrail was chosen to operate the mobile camera. They could move around with the unit, but it was larger than expected and heavy.

  Digger said, “The unit has to have power and it comes from this line.” Digger pointed at a thick black cord. “Dog and me will move the power cable and help direct you, to make sure you don’t trip. And remember, we need to keep Cecil on camera as long as Piper and Ginger are talking to him. So all three of us need to stay focused on moving with them.”

  I turned to Dixie, “Well, what could go wrong with this?”

  Dixie laughed, “Let’s just say they don’t need to worry about making space on their mantle for an Oscar.”

  I joined her in laughter, “Maybe they do. Do they give out a comedy award?”

  Dixie giggled. “Maybe.”

  Ida came rushing out through the swinging door from the kitchen into the dining room. She spotted me talking to Dixie and rushed over. “Come have a look at this, you’ll want to see it.”

  I followed and realized Dixie was right on my tail. We set ourselves down in the office and Ida started a video on her computer. I recognized it. “Ida, we saw this. Why are you showing the jar video to us again?”

  Ida waved at me. “Hush. Keep watching.”

  So I did. Ida had clearly worked with the video where the pickled egg jar moves. It was now enlarged and I could see scan lines moving down the screen. I asked, “What are those white bands rolling down over the image?”

  Ida spoke faster than usual. “I enlarged and enhanced the footage of the jar moving. Let it finish and watch.”

  So again, I complied. And in a minute or so, I saw it. A reflection in one facet of the jar. It was a man and he picked up what looked like a bag on a table. It was not very clear and we could not see his face, but only one man was shaped like that and Dixie let loose. “Are you kidding me? That pear shaped weasel. He messed with the bag. But how did he know the prank had been set up?”

  I was dumbfounded and mute. Then I found my voice. “I don’t know Dixie. Ida, why did you go back to this video?”

  She replied, “I’m not sure. I finished going through all the Cecil files and just thought about looking at it again.”

  I took a deep breath. “Well, I’m glad you did. This is pretty good and it all points at Cecil. But I’m not sure this is enough to arrest him.”

  “I agree, but it’s clearly a man shaped like Cecil messing with a bag at the table where Denise was working.” Ida beamed as she talked. “And get this! I almost missed it because of how it was labeled. But Cecil ordered a magician’s kit. One that contained a powder used to perform a disappearing water trick. Slush powder.”

  I felt the air leave my body. “Well that is more like it. Why do you always bury your lead. Ida! I should call Aunt...” And then my phone rang.

  In small towns, we talk to each other, face to face. The phone is not used near as much as in the city. So when my cell phone rang, it was usually an emergency. As I answered I saw it was Aunt Mae. “Hello, Aunt Mae? I was just going to call you. What can I do for ya?”

  Mae talked slow and deliberate. “Sweetie, listen closely. The results came back on that paper bag. Cecil’s DNA is on it. We need to bring him in. Is he there now?”

  “No, I don’t think so.”

  “Well our little tracker on his ankle says he just walked there from the B&B. Keep him there and don’t let him know anything is up. Okay? If he senses something is up, you stay clear of him.”

  “Will do. I can’t believe this! You should be here in a couple minutes, right? So we don’t have to do anything but stall him?”

  “I’m waiting for the Sheriff to meet me here at the station, then we’ll head over together. So I am guessing no longer than five minutes. Just talk with him, keep him there.”

  “See ya in a few then.” The phone clicked off and as I expected, everyone was staring at me. “Slight change of plans.” I rose to head back to the dining room, but stopped. “It might be best if y'all wait here. I’ll be right back.”

  I headed out to the dining room, leaving Ida and Dixie in the office. As I came through the swinging door into the dining room, I saw Piper had returned. She was seated at the bar chatting with the boys working the camera. And Cecil was sitting next to her. Guardrail pointed at the camera and I got the message, it was running. The plan was to agitate Cecil enough to open up and we were set to go, but things had changed with Aunt Mae’s call. So I made a snap decision, shoot the video as planned. An admission would only help with all the other evidence and it was as good a way to stall Cecil as any. “Piper, glad you’re here. Cecil, did they explain that we thought it would be fun to set up a shoot of our own. A kind of Potter's Mi
lls version of behind the scenes of The Ghost Hounds.”

  Piper smiled at Cecil. “Sounds like fun, right?.”

  I nodded. “Yeah. And Piper and I are the local hosts. Cecil, you can be our first interview, since you’re already here.”

  Piper asked, “Do I look alright for TV?”

  I put my hands on my hips. “Oh please! Don’t worry about it. Look at me. I’m in my jeans as usual and no makeup. You look great.”

  Cecil was not amused. “I never agreed to an interview. You’re assuming a lot.”

  I replied to him. “Well, you’re early and maybe we can have a drink and just talk a little. It will be good for your image and your show. You know, show the world how down to earth you are. And that you are smart and can handle some tough questions.”

  Ida and Dixie decided to ignore my request to stay in the office and came through the swinging door into the bar and dining room area. Dixie huffed. “Ah, see they started without us!”

  Cecil eyed Dixie, then looked at me like he was studying an ant on a blade of grass. “Okay. I’ve got some time to kill. I’ll take you up on that drink, too. White Russian.”

  I yelled to Dixie. “White Russian for Cecil.”

  Dixie chortled. “Sure he doesn’t want try some peach pie?”

  I scowled back at her. “Dixie! Please.”

  Dixie went about making the drink and I turned back to Cecil. “Ready to start?” Cecil nodded yes to me so I continued. “Mr. Page, can you please tell us how Zach’s death has affected you?”

  Cecil paused a moment. “Well, it has meant more work. Now that I have to pick up the slack created by his absence.” I could see Dixie suppress her desire to punch his throat as she set down his drink.

  I continued, “Do you miss him?”

  “Of course. He could be a total pain in the you know what. But it is hard without him.”

  Dixie jumped in. “Zach seemed to specialize in being a pain in the you know what...isn't that what you thought!”

  Piper glared at Dixie, but then returned to Cecil and went into full journalist mode. “What do you mean hard without him? Hard as in too much work. Or hard emotionally?” She held our her little voice recorder after asking her question.