Ladle to the Grave (A Soup Lover's Mystery Book 4) (17 page)

“Let’s Google their names. Agnes Warner and Leonard Warner.”

“Okay.” Lucky cleared the browser and began again with Leonard. “Well, here we go. There are fifteen profiles of men named Leonard Warner. Here’s another reference to a Leonard Warner, internist.”

“Oh,” Sophie said. “Maybe he was a doctor and he was driven out of the medical profession for some crime?”

Lucky smiled at her friend. “You have a very active imagination!”

“Go down some more. There are images of Leonard Warner.”

Lucky patiently clicked over each photo. “Any of these look like the Leonard we’ve seen?”

Sophie shook her head. “Nope. Maybe it’s an alias.”

“Well, they bought that house outside of town when they first arrived. It’s a little hard to do that with an alias these days.”

“Not if they bought it from the owner and paid cash, and never applied for a bank loan.”

“Good point. They maybe wouldn’t even have had to show identification if it was all done privately.”

“Right. Why would the seller care? He’s getting what he wants for his house. He wouldn’t wonder if he was selling it to a criminal, for heaven’s sake.” Sophie sighed. “Let’s try Agnes and Leonard Warner together.”

“Okay.” Lucky typed the names quickly and waited. “Hey, look at this.”

“What?”

Lucky stared at the screen. “It’s some kind of cemetery search. I never knew there was such a thing.” She turned to Sophie. “We found an Agnes and Leonard Warner. They’re both buried in Michigan if you can believe that. And they’d be over a hundred years old if they were still alive.” Lucky shook her head. “This is getting us nowhere. They could really be Agnes and Leonard Warner and completely legitimate people. We’re chasing our tails.”

“I thought you wanted to do this for Jack,” Sophie said.

“I do. I’ve just been so worried about him. And I really believe he did not make a mistake, but this is haunting him.”

Sophie nodded in sympathy. “Let’s try just Agnes.”

“Okay,” Lucky agreed. They sat silently in front of the computer screen as Lucky exhausted all the links that promised information on that name. Finally she sat back in her chair and heaved a sigh. “Nothing. Nothing that looks promising, anyway.”

“Well, it was worth a try,” Sophie replied, standing and carrying her stool back to the kitchen. “I better get home. Sage will be wondering what happened to me.”

“He’s not coming over?”

“No, but I promised to call him when I was ready to leave, and he’ll meet me halfway.”

“He’s really worried about you, isn’t he?”

“Too much so,” Sophie answered, clicking open her phone. It rang immediately. Sophie stared at the caller ID.

“What’s wrong?” Lucky asked.

Sophie shook her head. “Not a number I recognize.” She hit the button. “Hello?” she said.

Lucky listened to one half of the conversation.

“Yes. What’s wrong?” Sophie held up a finger to get Lucky’s attention. “I’m at my friend’s apartment. Do you want to come here?” Sophie listened a moment and then said, “Okay. Let me write this down.” She grabbed a pen and a pad of paper from the desk and made a quick note. Then she hung up.

“What’s up? Was that Sage?”

Sophie shook her head. “It was Brenda. Remember her? We met her at the Resort.”

Lucky nodded.

“She wants to talk to me. She says there are things I need to know before I come back to work.”

“She didn’t want to come here?”

“She says she’s afraid. She thinks she might be followed.”

“Whaaat?” Lucky asked. “By whom?”

Sophie looked troubled. “She wouldn’t say. She sounds very wound up and said it was important.”

“She gave you her address?”

Sophie nodded.

“Well, let’s go see her. If something weird’s going on, you shouldn’t go alone.”

“Okay. I’ll call Sage on the way, let him know where we’re going.”

L
UCKY DROVE, FOLLOWING
Sophie’s instructions. Brenda rented a cabin with two other roommates near Ridgeline. Her roommates were both out of town and she was alone in the house. Sophie called Sage to tell him where they were headed. Following the one-sided conversation, Lucky was sure Sage was advising her to pick him up on the way if she was insistent on visiting a friend so late in the evening. Sophie reassured him that all would be fine and she would call him on their way home.

When they arrived at the address and pulled into the drive, the front door light came on. Brenda was waiting for them. They climbed out silently and approached the front door. It swung open immediately.

Brenda looked relieved. “Thank you for coming up here. And I’m sorry to be such a ninny, but I’m really nervous.”

“What’s going on?” Sophie asked.

“Come into the kitchen and I’ll explain.” They followed Brenda through a small living room filled with two overstuffed sofas and several small tables. “This place came furnished,” Brenda explained over her shoulder. “It’s a nice little house, but I’m always nervous when I’m alone here. Have a seat,” she said, indicating two stools at the counter. “Would you like a coffee . . . beer, anything?” she asked.

Lucky and Sophie both shook their heads negatively.” Okay,” Brenda said, taking a nervous breath. “I wanted to talk to you the other day at the Lodge, but when I saw Lurch hanging around in the hall watching us, I got nervous. He scares me.”

“Has he ever threatened you?” Lucky asked.

Brenda shook her head. “No. Not directly. When he’s around, there’s something about him that’s like . . . I guess an implied threat. You see, you might not be aware of this, working kinda independently as you do”—she addressed Sophie—“but we don’t get overtime pay, and we’re under pressure to work a lot of double shifts, especially when it’s the busy season. Under state law, retail and service places, like hotels or restaurants, are exempt from having to pay time and a half, even though under federal law that’s not the case.”

“Really?” Sophie asked. She turned to Lucky. “Did you know that?”

Lucky nodded. “It doesn’t affect us at the restaurant, but I was aware of it.”

Brenda continued, “We’ve been lobbying the hotel to change that policy. The Resort’s owned by a big corporation and they can afford it. One of the guys in our little group—we’re keeping it small for now—is looking into forcing the issue under federal law, but something happened to him. I just found out today. One of the waiters. He lives closer to Lincoln Falls. He came home to find his house burning to the ground.”

“That’s awful,” Sophie said.

A chill ran up Lucky’s spine. “They suspect arson?”

Brenda shook her head. “They’re claiming it’s a faulty propane heater. That something happened to it to cause the fire.”

“Is Nate Edgerton looking into this?” Sophie asked.

“I don’t think that’s within his jurisdiction,” Lucky offered.

“Anyway, I’ve had the feeling of”—Brenda looked across the counter at them—“please don’t think I’m crazy, but I swear I keep feeling like somebody’s watching me. I keep looking over my shoulder like I’m gonna catch someone. That’s why I didn’t want to leave the house and then have to come back alone. I just feel safer staying inside. I wanted to give you a heads-up about all this weird stuff before you come back to work this summer.”

“If what you suspect is true, who do you think is behind all this?” Lucky asked.

“I haven’t got any proof, but I think it’s Lurch. I don’t know if he’s the only one or if he’s got guys working for him. But he gives me the creeps. I make sure I’m never in a place where I’m alone, or if I am, then I lock the door and make sure the security bolt is on if I’m working in a room.” Brenda’s forehead was creased in worry. “Anyway, that’s not the only reason I wanted to talk to you away from work.”

Lucky and Sophie sat in silence while Brenda marshaled her thoughts. “I overheard them talking about you.”

“Me?” Sophie asked. “Who was talking about me?”

“I was clearing away cups and stuff from a conference room. You know that big one on the mezzanine level? The one they can partition into two separate rooms?”

Sophie nodded.

“One of the lawyers and Tom Reed were in the other room. I heard Lurch’s voice. It sounded like he was reporting to them about something. I couldn’t make out the words but my ears went up. Then I heard them say your name. They didn’t realize I was right next door, and that partition’s real thin so you can hear some of what’s being said in the next meeting room. So I just stayed still and listened.”

“What did they say?” Sophie asked.

“I couldn’t catch it all. Just words and phrases here and there. First it was that lawyer talking. I don’t know his name. The one who’s always really friendly and smiling. Then I heard Lurch talking and then either Reed or the other guy—I think it was Reed—said something like, ‘She’ll come around.’ And I think it was the lawyer who said, ‘And if she doesn’t?’ Then Reed laughed and said, ‘The less you know, the better. But you won’t have to worry about her.’”

“You’re sure it was me they were talking about?”

“Oh yeah, that’s what made me listen. I heard one of them say your name just before all that.”

Lucky and Sophie exchanged a look.

“It had to be you they were talking about. Why would they take an interest in you?”

Sophie hesitated, then decided to confide in Brenda. “They want to buy several parcels of land that belonged to my mother. They want to extend a ski run and they need to buy me and my brother out.”

“So why were they talking like you were a problem?”

“I don’t know. They’ve made a very generous offer but I haven’t gotten back to them. Besides, it’s my brother who doesn’t want to sell, not me. So why they would see me as a problem, assuming they do, I don’t know,” Sophie continued. “But please don’t pass this around. I really appreciate your telling me this, but keep the stuff about my mother’s land under your hat. Please.”

“I will. Don’t worry. It’s nobody’s business but yours. I just thought you should know what’s been going on and that you’re a subject of discussion up there.”

“Thanks, Brenda. I don’t know what it all means but I’ll keep quiet about it.”

“Have you told Nate Edgerton about all this stuff?” Lucky asked.

Brenda nodded. “I didn’t say anything about Sophie. But I called Nate today ’cause I wanted him to know what’s going on at the Resort, and I told him about the man whose house burned down. I don’t know what Nate can do about any of it, but I thought he should know anyway.”

“I agree,” Lucky said. “And hopefully his house fire won’t be judged as arson.”

“I guess you’re right. It’s terrible for him no matter what caused it, but the idea that somebody could do that—too awful to think about,” Brenda replied.

“We better get going, but thanks for talking to us.” Sophie picked her purse up off the floor.

Brenda led them back to the front hallway. “Wait a second,” she said. She turned off the interior light and peeked through a curtain in the front hallway.

“I’m not crazy.” She turned to them. “Look at that.” She pointed at the window.

“What is it?” Lucky asked.

“There’s a flatbed truck parked across the street. I think someone’s in it watching the house. I’ve seen that truck before.” Brenda’s fear was palpable.

“Really?” Lucky said. “We’ll see about that.” She opened the door and stepped out.

Sophie tried to grab her arm. “What are you doing?” she hissed.

“Putting an end to this cloak-and-dagger stuff. Let’s see who’s inside.” She hurried down the drive and marched across the street toward the driver’s side of the vehicle. The engine came to life.

“Hey! You!” Lucky shouted. Before she could reach the truck, the engine revved and the truck barreled down the hill. Lucky stood in the middle of the road watching the red taillights grow smaller. Brenda and Sophie ran across the road to her.

“Did you get a license number?” Brenda asked.

Lucky shook her head. “Only a few numbers. He took off so fast.” She turned to Sophie. “Six-seven-three. That’s all I caught. At least that’s what I think I saw.” She turned to Brenda. “You go back inside and make sure you’re locked in. If that guy comes back or you see that truck again, call Nate right away. Obviously whoever’s doing this doesn’t want to be caught out.”

Brenda nodded, rubbing her arms against the chilly night air. “Thanks again for coming,” she said and hurried back across the road. Lucky and Sophie watched her until she was in the house and heard the locks click.

They climbed into Sophie’s car and Lucky started the engine. She drove slowly down the hill, keeping her eyes out for the truck. “Sophie, I think we should tell Nate about this too. Maybe if he hears about the labor dispute at the Resort from Brenda and then hears about your name being mentioned . . .”

“Yeah, I could talk to Nate, but what could he do? I can’t claim my life’s been threatened or anything like that. He’ll say it’s perfectly normal for them to be discussing me in regard to their offer for the land. He’ll want something solid that he can move on. We can’t even swear, even though we know it’s true, that someone is watching Brenda’s house.”

“I think she’s got a stalker too. But now whoever’s keeping tabs on Brenda will wonder why you’re visiting her. I don’t want you to be any more of a target than you might already be.”