Rest in Peace (12 page)

“That’s right. The sheriff is checking airlines to find out where she went, but this seems suspicious to me. Furthermore, she left her cell phone in the car. That’s not like her at all.”

“You’re right. Her favorite toy. What are we going to do?”

“The sheriff wants me to come to his office. I’m not sure why. Do you want to meet me there?”

“Okay. We’ll see you shortly.” He hesitated. “Does Corky know?”

“Yes, he’s probably at the courthouse by now.”

I hung up, then punched in Benjamin’s office number.

“Cedar Chapel Gazette.”

I gritted my teeth at the sultry tone of Christiana’s voice.

“I need to speak to Benjamin, please.”

“I’m sorry. He’s busy at the moment.”

“What? Listen, this is Victoria Storm, and I need to speak with Benjamin
now
.”

“I’m so sorry, Miss Storm. But, as I said, Benjamin is occupied at the moment.”

I slammed down the phone and punched in his cell number, wondering why I hadn’t done that in the first place.

He answered on the first ring. “Hi, sweetheart.”

There was no time to complain about his secretary, so I quickly told him the news.

A low whistle came through the receiver. “Now Victoria, don’t jump to conclusions. You know Miss Aggie. She probably decided to fly off somewhere on a whim.”

“I wish everyone would stop telling me not to jump to conclusions. Benjamin, I’m worried. First, she lies and says she’s going to Simon’s; then she abandons her car and cell phone. That’s not like her.”

“All right, honey. Do you want me to drive you to the courthouse, or should I meet you there?”

“Aren’t you busy?”

“It can wait.”

“No, no. I think he just wants us to identify the cell phone or something. You don’t have to leave work.”

“All right, if you’re sure, but call me when you get back to the lodge.”

“I will. Bye.”

I looked up to see Mabel eyeing me with a worried expression.

“What’s wrong?”

“I need to leave at noon. This is the day Bobby is bringing my little Sarah.”

“Oh Mabel, I forgot this was your afternoon off. That’s fine. You go ahead.”

“There’s a pot of soup to warm for lunch, and I’ll make a tray of sandwiches to go with it. Dinner is in the slow cooker, and there’s a salad in the refrigerator.”

“Thank you. I’ll see you Monday.”

“If you need me, call. I’ll come. Bobby and Sarah will just have to understand.”

I gave her a hug. “Okay, but I’m sure that won’t be necessary.”

I grabbed my keys and went to the garage.

Thoughts battered at my mind as I drove to the courthouse. What if something terrible had happened to Miss Aggie? It had happened before. And maybe this was connected in some way with Clyde’s murder and the scrap of paper we found. After all, the emeralds were still missing, and who knew what else? Renovations and decorating were almost finished, and Miss Aggie would be moving into the old house soon. Could someone think she had the information they wanted? Or could they be afraid she’d find what they were looking for? After all, she was the rightful owner of the emeralds. That is, if they were legal.

I turned onto the square and parked in front of the courthouse. Frank and Miss Evalina sat in their car, and Miss Jane and Georgina were there in Miss Jane’s Cadillac. Martin’s new Dodge pickup pulled in next to them.

Tom Lewis groaned as we all walked in together. Had he really thought I’d leave the seniors out of this? They’d all been friends many years before my parents were born, much less me. And no matter how aggravated they might get at Miss Aggie, she was still one of them. Her memories weretheir memories. There was a bond there. And they deserved our respect.

Ready to stand against Tom’s objections, I was surprised when he motioned for us all to go back to the sheriff’s private office.

Sheriff Turner stood up as we walked in. He didn’t look surprised to see the seniors, which was probably why Tom hadn’t objected, except for the groan.

“Tom, bring more chairs in here.” He left the door open and ushered the three senior ladies to the chairs that were available, including his own, which he pulled from behind the desk. When Tom had brought more, placing one behind the sheriff’s desk, we all sat.

“Isn’t Corky here yet?” I asked, glancing around the room.

“Pennington’s been here and left. He told me to let you know he’s filled out a missing person’s report for Miz Pennington-Brown, and he’ll be over to the lodge as soon as he can get away from Pennington House.”

“All right Bob, now what’s going on about Aggie? She wouldn’t have gotten on an airplane. She loved that Lexus too much.” Miss Jane eyed the sheriff like she thought he was trying to pull a fast one.

“Now Miz Brody, we can’t be sure of that. She might have wanted to go someplace too far for her to drive.”

“She used to say she’d like to see the Amazon,” Miss Georgina piped up.

Martin and Frank both snorted, the snorts accompanied by one that came clearly through the door from Tom Lewis.

Miss Georgina’s face flamed. “She did say that.”

“That’s right, she did.” Miss Evalina glared at Frank and Martin. “I’ve heard her say it, too, Georgina.”

“And so have I,” Miss Jane said. “But…Aggie hasn’t gone to the Amazon.”

The sheriff threw me a pleading glance.

“All right, we all need to listen to Sheriff Turner now.” I let my smile take all of them in and was relieved to see them relax a little. They could just as easily have gotten upset with me. “So, have you had any luck finding her on any of the flights?”

“Er, not yet.” He frowned and averted his eyes. “But they’re still looking.”

I pressed my lips together. They’d have found out by now if Miss Aggie had been on any of the flights that day.

The sheriff gave me a nervous glance, then rubbed his hands together. “Now, the reason I asked Victoria to come down was to identify the cell phone and a few other items we found in the car.”

“There was more than the cell phone?” He hadn’t mentioned that on the phone.

He ignored me and glanced around. “Pennington identified the phone but wanted to get a second opinion on the other items.”

I tensed. Aggie seldom left anything in her car. “What items, Sheriff?”

He stepped over to his file cabinet and unlocked one of the drawers. The minute he opened it, I could smell Chanel No. 5. He sat back down and put a small box on his desk.

“We found these items in and around the car.” He pulled out a capless perfume bottle. “This was next to the car. As you can see, the top is broken. The lid must have rolled away. We didn’t find it.”

“That’s Aggie’s.” Miss Jane’s voice was low.

“We figure it fell out of her purse. I know how ladies are about leaving purses unfastened.” He grinned.

“Aggie would never have left her handbag open. She was too afraid of robbery.” Miss Evaline’s statement was true, especially since the kidnapping.

Sheriff Turner cleared his throat. “Uh, yes, and this here pearl bracelet. The clasp is broken. We found it on the floorboard. It probably fell off, and she didn’t know it.”

The ladies and I all gasped.

“No, Sheriff,” I protested. “There’s no way Miss Aggie would have been that careless with her pearl bracelet. Or any of her jewelry for that matter.”

“Victoria’s right.” Miss Evalina spoke for the first time. “There’s some sort of foul play here, Sheriff.”

“Now, now, ladies, don’t get all riled up. She was probably late for her flight and didn’t notice the bracelet.”

“But…” Before Miss Georgina could say more, Miss Evalina reached over and touched her arm, silencing her.

We needed to get out of there and talk this over. “The items you’ve shown us are Miss Aggie’s. Is there anything else you need from us, Sheriff?”

“Er…no, I guess not. You can go.”

We stood and left the room, mute.

Once outside, the roar started as everyone began to talk at once. Passersby were gawking.

“Wait,” I said, holding my hand up. “Let’s go back to the lodge where we can talk privately.”

Miss Jane sent me a scathing look. “I want to know where Aggie is. And I don’t think we’re going to find her by talking.”

“Now Jane, Victoria’s right. We need to put our heads together and see what we can think of to do.” Bless Miss Evalina’s voice of reason.

“Besides, it’s getting cold out here.” Miss Georgina shivered.

She was right. I pulled my sweater tighter around me and noticed the others doing the same.

We piled into our vehicles and headed for home with Miss Jane’s black Cadillac leading the way. I hoped we didn’t look like a funeral procession.

October was making a grand entrance in Cedar Chapel. By the time we arrived back at the lodge, the temperature had dropped into the thirties, and the wind whipped around the building with a roar, making me thankful my grandfather had added an attached garage to the house. I tried not to think about Buster’s walk.

We were welcomed home by the heavenly aroma of Mabel’s wonderful beef noodle soup and hot coffee. She’d heated up the soup and left it on the warmer for us. The seniors had left the center before lunch was served, so they were all hungry. My own stomach was making its needs known to me as well. We quickly washed up, and Miss Jane helped me get the soup and sandwiches into the dining room where Mabel had left dishes and flatware on the sideboard. There was also a container of cookies for dessert.

By common consent, we ate our lunch without mentioning Miss Aggie’s disappearance. After we’d cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher, Miss Jane joined the others in the front parlor while I called Benjamin and filled him in on the latest news. He promised to be over in a half hour or so. Relieved that he was coming, I went to the parlor.

Logs in the fireplace crackled and popped as flames leaped around them, and the welcomed smell of wood smoke greeted me.

“Oh wonderful. Who do I thank for getting the fire going?”

“I brought the wood in, and Frank stacked it up and lit the match,” Martin said with a grin.

“Then, thank you both.” I smiled at Martin, who usually didn’t volunteer to do much.

We settled ourselves in the chairs and sofas. Frank and Miss Evalina claimed the love seat, and I curled up in my favorite overstuffed chair.

“What do you think is going on, Victoria?” Frank was direct, as usual.

“I’m not sure, but I don’t believe for a minute Miss Aggie boarded a plane. They’d have a record of it, and the sheriff would know by now.”

The doorbell rang, and when I went to the door, it was Corky. He looked tired, and the worry in his eyes spoke volumes. He followed me to the parlor and flopped down in the chair next to mine.

“I’m sure the sheriff showed you the perfume bottle and bracelet. They’re Aunt Aggie’s, aren’t they?”

I nodded, and the slight hope in his eyes faded. I reached over and patted his hand.

“I don’t understand who would want to kidnap her,” he said, raking his fingers through his hair.

Miss Georgina gasped. “Kidnapped? Oh no. Not again. She couldn’t have been kidnapped again, could she, Victoria?”

“Georgina, calm down, please.” Miss Evalina, seated between Miss Georgina and Frank, put her arm around her friend’s plump shoulder. “We don’t know that Aggie has been abducted. She’s probably gone off somewhere without even thinking we might be worried.” But her eyes said she didn’t believe her own words.

Miss Jane’s face was strained, and for the first time, she looked her eighty-two years.

By the time Benjamin arrived, we’d come up with nothing helpful.

“This room is starting to depress me.” Miss Georgina’s words didn’t surprise me. We did seem to discuss a lot of trouble in this parlor. But we’d come up with plenty of solutions, too.

This time, however, solutions eluded us, and by the time Ben and Corky left, we’d come no closer to an explanation for Miss Aggie’s car and belongings.

The afternoon seemed to drag on forever, and the house was nearly silent as we each dealt with the latest shock.

Somehow, we managed to eat dinner. I did the cleanup alone, preferring to be left with my thoughts. The seniors went to bed early. I was sure they were all exhausted from the stress. I was feeling it myself.

There must be something we could do. I went to my office and pulled up the document with my lists.

My eyes came to rest on Clyde’s entry. The more I looked at it, the stronger the feeling grew. Miss Aggie’s disappearance had something to do with Clyde and/or the treasure. I glanced at my watch. Only nine. It wasn’t too late to call Laura Baker. I grabbed the phone and dialed her hotel.

“Yes, Miss Storm, what can I do for you?”

“Would it be possible for us to meet again? I have some things I’d like to discuss.”

She agreed, and we made an appointment to meet at the steak house in Caffee Springs for lunch the next day.

Feeling relieved just to have done something, I headed up to bed. As I passed Miss Aggie’s room, sorrow washed over me and tears flooded my eyes. “We’ll find you, Miss Aggie,” I whispered. “I promise we’ll find you.”