A Special Delivery To Die For (A Rockcrest Cove Cozy Mystery Book 2) (3 page)

“My Maddie,” Eleanor exclaimed. “You did a nice job of getting all the details of the scene for us.” She turned up her nose and scrutinized one little part of the picture. “What’s this?” she said pointing a finger at a small object on the table in one of the pictures.

Maddie looked closely at the object and scrunched up her nose as well. “I don’t really know. I don’t remember seeing it when I was there.”

Bailey leaned in and looked at it as well. “It kinda looks like an earring,” she concluded. “See the pokey thingy part that goes through the ear? It’s right there.”

“Yeah, you’re right, but what’s that symbol on it?”

The three women scrutinized the photo, but none of them recognized it.

“I’d say we have our first clue,” Eleanor announced. “But before we start investigating this thing, we need to get a little more information about Ana.

We need to rule out all possibilities. So we must to first rule out Chief Connors’ belief that it was an accident.”

Maddie looked up at her friend. “But Eleanor, don’t you see here that it is obvious that there was an altercation right there in the kitchen?”

“It certainly appears that way, but we have to be absolutely sure,” Eleanor pointed out. “Having a disagreement doesn’t necessarily translate into murder. If that were the case, we would all be dead. We have to be sure,” she continued. “Why, we don’t even know if anyone would have reason to want her dead. We first have to determine a motive for killing her and then find someone who actually had the opportunity to make it happen.”

The women all agreed that Eleanor was right. While Maddie was the quick, shoot-from-the-hip type, Eleanor had a more practical approach to the same problem. They first needed to determine a motive.

“Ok,” Eleanor took the lead, “what do we know about Ana?”

They were all silent for a moment. They really didn’t know too much about her. She traveled in a completely different circle from them.

“I know she runs that fancy, shmansy travel agency that plans those exotic around the world trips,” Bailey offered.

“Yeah,” Maddie chimed in, “I’ve read about those trips. I’ve always wanted to go on one, but it is well out of my price tag.”

“Mine too,” Eleanor agreed. “But, I do know that I’ve heard of several cases where her customers weren’t entirely satisfied with their trip and have sued her for their money back. She charges a pretty penny for those big affairs, you know.”

“Maybe one of her dissatisfied customers could be behind all of this?” Maddie proposed out loud.

“Perhaps, but we need to find out about her business. There seems to be a lot of business papers thrown about the room,” Eleanor said, examining one of the photos.

“I guess the best place to start is to visit her office,” Bailey suggested. “It’s just, I don’t think we can walk in and start asking questions and they’ll answer us just like that.”

“Maybe not,” Maddie said. “Maybe we can come up with a good cover story.”

Astoria, her Persian cat, was scratching at the door wanting to come in from roaming about outside the back door of the store. Maddie always let her out for a little while after closing.

“What kind of cover story could we come up with? It’s not like we’re pros at this,” Bailey wondered.

“Well, we’ll think of something,” Maddie encouraged as she kicked off her working shoes and reached for her street shoes. “I mean all sorts of businesses must book trips through travel agencies, right?”

“You’re saying that we should go in and pretend like we’re going to book a trip to ah, to ah, …” Bailey was snapping her fingers as if it would make her mind work better.

“To a baker’s convention!” Maddie said excitedly. She started shuffling the papers around on her desk. “There’s one coming up soon. I got the announcement in the mail the other day.” She started rummaging through the paperwork on her desk. “I know it’s here somewhere. They’re going to be announcing a new line of appliances for professional bakers.”

Her attention was divided between the mountain of work on her desk and Astoria clawing at her feet.  “Not now, Astoria,” She said irritated. “Not now.” She gave the cat a gentle kick. Astoria sauntered away, but was back again, playfully swatting at her shoe.

“Let me see,” Maddie said, thinking out loud again. “I know I put it here somewhere.” Again she gave her cat a gentle nudge. “Astoria,” she said, slightly irritated, “what is it?”  To Bailey and Eleanor she apologetically stated, “She’s not usually like this. I don’t know what’s gotten into her today.”

“I do,” Eleanor said pointing at Maddie’s shoe, “there’s something stuck to the bottom of your shoe.”
 

Maddie stopped what she was doing and slipped off her shoe. She flipped it over to examine the bottom and found a small earring stuck to it. She pulled it out to examine it more closely.

“I think that’s the thing we saw in the photo,” Bailey said reaching for it. “Yes, I’m sure of it.” She grabbed the printed photo and put them next to one another. “Look!” She laid the earring down on top of the photo so that they could all see.

“You must have stepped on it when you were at the Stevens’ house.”

“Yeah. I guess so.”

“This is definitely our first clue,” Eleanor said. “At least we’ve confirmed that someone was with Ana the night she died and it must’ve been a woman.”

“NO!” shouted Bailey. “Men wear earrings, too!”

Chapter Three

At first glance, the Stevens Travel Agency seemed no different than any other. As you entered the front door, the typical wide-open reception room was similar to other agencies; four desks, one in each corner where the travel agents worked booking typical airline flights, cruises, and other travel packages for the average traveler and big posters on the walls boasting getaways to tropical resorts and fantasy packages for the most popular destinations around the world. It was exactly what you’d expect from a travel service.

Maddie and Bailey made a point to stand out from the typical traveler. Maddie had put on her one and only charcoal black designer dress and her most expensive pair of shoes, hoping they didn’t recognize that she was five years out-of-date. Bailey wore designer jeans with stylish camel-colored stilettos, a navy blue silk polka-dotted blouse, and camel-colored sweater layered on top; she pulled her long hair back taut into a ponytail. Whether they were able to pull off their “woman of substance” appearance they were unsure, but soon after they entered the office, a woman appeared through a side door greeting them with an extended hand.

“Hello,” she said, giving Maddie a soft handshake. “My name is Jessica, how can I be of assistance?”

“My name is Madeline McDougal and this is my granddaughter, Bailey. We were looking for a European tour package, but we just couldn’t bear one of those traditional package tours with a bunch of people from who-knows-where traveling with us. But we’ve often heard that Stevens has some awesome travel deals that would be worth looking into.”

“Why, of course,” Jessica replied. “I’d be happy to assist you with anything you need.”

“Well, we were hoping to see Ana. That’s who we were told to ask for.”

Jessica looked a little taken aback for only a half a beat. “Well, I’m afraid that’s not possible,” she finally said. “Perhaps you would like to speak with her assistant, Thomas. He’ll be stepping in and filling Ana’s shoes now.”

“Yes, we’d like that,” Maddie said.

Jessica quickly ushered the two women through the two elaborate side doors into a much more stylish office. Cherry wood paneling lined the walls with vast windows that overlooked the park across the street. They were seated in front of a massive wooden desk that Maddie thought would be much better suited for a corporate affair than for a travel agency. It appeared that Ms. Ana Stevens loved to live well beyond her means.

“Thomas will be with you shortly.”

“Thank you,” The two women said and Jessica politely excused herself.

As soon as she had left the room, Maddie and Bailey looked at each other in amazement.

“Wow! This was a travel agency?” Bailey exclaimed. “Oh-my-God!” she said, stressing every word. “This lady really liked to put on the dog!”

“You think
this
is special, you should see her house,” Maddie added.

“No!” Bailey looked at her grandmother. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“No. Not at all.” Maddie said. “Her home is far more elaborate than this.”

Bailey looked nonplussed. “Gran, I think we’re in the wrong business.”

Maddie gave her granddaughter a slight little chuckle, but said nothing in return.

~~~

Thomas entered the room with a cacophony of noise. He was definitely not what either of the ladies expected to see. He wore a pair of pinstriped jeans that were just a tad too tight and a sports jacket that looked like it was left over from the 80s. His hair was slicked back with enough oil to lubricate his car and he walked with a slight swagger that made people wonder about him.

“Yes, ladies. My name is Thomas. I understand you’re looking to see Ana today.”

“Yes, that’s right,” Maddie said.

“Well, I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news,” he said with his hand waving at nothing, “but Ana met with an unfortunate accident yesterday.” He made a pretense of being disheartened. “She’s no longer with us.”

“What happened?” Bailey asked, trying to appear interested.

“Apparently, she had a slip and fall and hit her head on the stairs.” He made a rather insincere attempt at a sigh. “The police said she’d probably been drinking and lost her balance.” He gestured towards two chairs sitting across from the desk that seemed far too large for the space that held it. You could tell that he wanted to say more, but he pulled himself in check and reined in whatever thought he was about to reveal.

“I’m sorry,” Maddie said. “I didn’t have the pleasure of meeting her in person, so I don’t know her at all.”

“Oh my goodness!” Thomas exclaimed. “I didn’t realize…I just assumed that you knew her.”

“No. I was to meet her yesterday when I went to her home. She had placed a large order from my bakery for a special event she was planning that was supposed to have happened yesterday.”

A look of confusion spread across Thomas’ face and he stood just staring at the two women for a minute. “I’m sorry,” he asked perplexed, “why are you here?” The confusion quickly was evolving into a look of suspicion.

“No, Thomas,” Maddie said, “it is we who should apologize.” She looked across the big desk at what she saw was a confused little boy. “Let me explain. You see, I was the one that found Ana’s body yesterday when I went to make the delivery at her house.”

Thomas’ hand went up to his throat. “Oh my God! You poor dear!” Then he leaned his chest across the desk. “Was it awful? Horrible? I just don’t know what I would have done if it had been
me
.”

Maddie gave him a puzzling look and eyed the young man suspiciously. He certainly didn’t seem like he was distraught in the least.

“Well, yes, it was quite horrible to say the least,” Maddie ventured. “I just didn’t know what to do. Of course, I phoned the police right away, but I was just hoping that I could find out more about Ana if I came into the office.”

“My goodness, I can just imagine what a shock it was for you. Would you like me to order you some tea or anything?” Thomas offered.

“No, I’m fine,” Maddie assured him. “I was just wondering how everything was getting along, you know, notifying the family that sort of thing.”

“Well, Ana didn’t have much family to speak of. She was divorced and alone as far as I knew.”

“Really? That must have been so sad. I thought I could send my condolences to the family.”

“Well, I’m sorry to tell you, but Ana didn’t have any family that we knew about, but she had quite a few friends that may be saddened by the loss.”

Maddie looked appraisingly at the young man. She couldn’t quite figure him out just yet. This little side trip was proving far more interesting than she had ever imagined. She remained silent for a minute, not sure what exactly to say to this strange little man sitting in front of her. She quickly took a side-glance at Bailey for some help, but found that she was even more confounded by Thomas.

She hesitated before she ventured to say anything more. “Let me ask you, Thomas.” She paused to make sure she had his full attention. “Can you think of anyone that might want to see Ana dead?”

Thomas sat back in his seat and eyed the two ladies for only a half a second. It appeared as if he was trying to decide if he should continue to talk to them. Finally, he spoke up, “Well, I’ll tell you this much. Ana was a pretty determined businesswoman. And because of that she did ruffle a few feathers. For that she had a number of people who certainly weren’t happy with the way she did business.”

“Really?” Bailey had finally come out of her stunned silence.

“Yes. As a matter of fact, there were quite a few unhappy customers in here on a regular basis.” He paused for a second before continuing in a more hushed tone. “If you ask me, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone didn’t want to see her gone.”

“Do you really think it was that many people?” Maddie asked.

“Well, I’ve been working for Ana for several years. Her business ethics weren’t always above board. There were quite a few accusations about her using customer’s money to pay for her personal expenses. I can tell you this because it’s already public knowledge. You can go online and find out much of this for yourself,” he sighed in exasperation. “Customers come to use for the best in exclusive vacations, and they would pay thousands of dollars for that exclusivity. They claimed that Ana would take their money and then give them a cheaper vacation package and pocket the difference. Most of the time, people didn’t notice it, but those that did, weren’t very happy.”

This time it was Maddie who leaned across the desk. “You wouldn’t happen to have a list of those customers would you?”

Thomas rose from his seat and walked across the room to a single file cabinet. “Here it is,” he said as he tapped his finger on the lone cabinet sitting in the corner.

“You mean the file is in there?” Bailey asked.

“No, I mean this
is
the file. Ana has had this business for many years.  That’s a long time to collect rivals and enemies.”

“The whole drawer?” Bailey asked again trying to clarify.

“It’s the whole cabinet. It goes back more than 10 years. Long before I started working here.” He walked back to his desk and sat down with an exhaustive sigh.

Maddie eyed the cabinet and wondered if it would be safe to ask to look at some of the files.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained,
she thought. “Do you think I could get a peak at some of those files?”

Thomas again got that indecisive look on his face as if he was trying to decide if he should say or provide any more information. “Well, in my opinion, it will take a long time to pick through all of those files and I’m not sure what you’re looking for anyway.” A broad smile crossed his face, “ But I have a better idea.”

“Oh really? What?”

“Well, next week we’re having a Paddlewheel River Cruise to remember Ana. We thought that it could be sort of a blanket apology and a way to make amends for all the things she’s been accused of. At least that’s the plan.”

“Oh really? I think that’s a great idea.”

“My bet is that if someone really wanted her dead, they’ll be on that boat with us.”

“That’s perfect!” Bailey exclaimed. “Is it possible for us to get on the cruise too?”

“It’s possible, if the cruise actually happens. For some reason the Chief of Police, Connors I think is his name, wants to approve it first.”

Hmmm
, Maddie thought.
Maybe he is taking this investigation more seriously than she thought.
“Well, if it’s approved, will you let us know?”

“Sure, thing,” Thomas agreed. “Just make sure you leave your information with Jessica before you leave.” He reached over and hit the intercom.

“And Thomas, you’ve been so helpful to us today, I hate to ask one more favor.”

“It’s not a problem. What can I do for you?”

“Could you try to come up with a list of some of her possible enemies or rivals before the cruise for us?” She gave him a genuine smile before she continued, “I know this is not an official investigation, but we’d really like your input.”

Thomas’ eyes beamed with pride. “Of course, I’d be happy to. I’ll make sure you get it before the cruise so you have plenty of time to look it over. I’ll even put in my opinions on who I think might have done it.”

A second later Jessica came into the room.

“Jessica, these ladies would like to book passage on the Paddleboat Cruise, can you get their information and make sure they’re taken care of?”

“Sure thing,” she said, looking at the women strangely.

“If you’ll excuse me,” Thomas said, “I’m already late for an appointment. We’ll have to catch up on our discussion on the cruise if that’s all right with you.”