The Cracked Pot (20 page)

I saw David holding one of the cottages he'd made. "Are you going to do that one for the window?"

"No, I thought I'd keep this one myself. You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not. Is it going to be a gift?"

He grinned. "It might be. It depends on how well things go later, I guess."

"You could always give it to your mother."

"Or you could make one for her yourself as a peace ges ture."

I looked sharply at him. "David, I thought we weren't going to talk about that."

"Hey, don't blame me. You're the one who brought her up."

I wasn't about to argue, especially since he was right. "Are we going to decorate these or not?"

"I'm right behind you."

We quickly lapsed into our old habits of conversation as we worked on our pieces side by side. Business at the shop was slow, but at least David and I were doing something productive with our time. Summer would be upon us soon enough, and we wouldn't have much opportunity to work on our own projects. Still, I was a little concerned about the lull in revenue.

When Sandy came in, I forgot all about those concerns. The look of sheer exuberance on her face could mean only one thing. She'd uncovered something she thought was sig nificant in the case.

Chapter
11

"Can we talk?" Sandy asked me, her eyes darting quickly to David.

"I won't tell, I promise," David said. "You can say what ever you want to in front of me."

"Don't be that way," I told David. "This might not con cern you. Why don't you take an early lunch? Don't worry about the mess. I'll clean it up."

"In that case, be my guest. Sandy, you can come by the shop any time." He washed up, traded his apron for his jacket, and then David was gone.

"Sorry about that," Sandy said as soon as the door closed. "I just didn't think it was right talking about his fa ther in front of him."

"So you found something else?" I asked.

"I'm not sure if there's any fire, but I'm close enough to something to smell smoke."

"Well, don't hold out on me. What is it?"

"I didn't get this on the Internet. My boss Corki gave me the scoop about what happened. She was married to one of Hodges's deputies around the time that Richard left town."

I knew Corki had gone through a pair of dud husbands before she'd found a keeper, but we hadn't been friends back then. "What did she say?"

"It's about the jewelry store robbery. The police believed two men were in on the theft, though that never made it into the papers. They never had any idea who one of them was, but they were looking hard at one of our prominent citizens as the accomplice. Harvey Jenkins opened up his first car dealership around then, and it wasn't entirely clear where he got his backing."

"Did your boss actually say the mayor of Maple Ridge is a thief?"

Sandy shook her head. "No, apparently Harvey had an alibi, but that doesn't mean he wasn't in on it. And there's something else."

"Go on," I said. For a reference librarian—someone who made her living telling people things they wanted to know—Sandy sure seemed to enjoy ratcheting up the sus pense.

"Corki's ex also interviewed Richard Atkins. They couldn't find any hard evidence against him, but not long after the robbery, he left town, so it made the police won der."

"That's what Butch thought, but I'm still not convinced."

"Here's the part where it gets worse," Sandy said. "The jewelry store owner who was shot and wounded died a few years after the robbery. They say he was never the same af ter what happened."

"How does that fit into the rest of this?"

"He was Annie Gregg's dad," Sandy said.

"That would give her a motive for killing Richard, if he had been involved and she knew it," I said.

"And if that's true, then the mayor better watch his back as well."

I tried to picture the sweet young woman I knew doing something so cold-blooded. "No," I said after a moment, "I can't believe Annie would have anything to do with what happened to Richard. She's not that kind of girl."

"What, the kind who kills to revenge her father? Face it, Carolyn, it's hard to say who would or wouldn't be capable of that, isn't it? I'm sorry I don't have more, but there was really nothing official ever filed. As far as I know, the case is still open."

"You've given me plenty to think about," I said.

"Well, I'd better get back to the library, but I wanted to tell you what I'd heard as soon as I could."

"Thanks," I said as Sandy hurried out.

Was it possible that Annie had been dating the son of the man who'd killed her father? Could that, rather than David's behavior, have spurred the break up? I found it dif ficult to imagine Annie killing anybody, but Sandy was right. Who knew what a person was capable of, given the right circumstances.

I was still mulling over what Sandy had told me when David poked his head in through the front door. "Is it safe to come back in?"

"The coast is clear," I said, trying to lighten my dire mood. "How was lunch?"

"Is was good," he said. "I called Annie and she actually agreed to have a bite with me. I think there's a glimmer of hope there somewhere."

"Hope is a wonderful thing, isn't it?" I couldn't exactly warn David that his girlfriend might be a killer, but could I just let it go? Evidently not. "You're sure you're doing the right thing with Annie, right?"

"What do you mean, Carolyn?"

I really was out of line, especially if Sandy was wrong about Annie's actions. Whatever happened to being inno cent until proven guilty? "Don't listen to me. I'm just an old poop sometimes."

He shrugged, dismissing it. "Are you ready to do some more decorating?"

"What I'm ready for is my lunch, young man. Watch the shop. I'll see you soon." I grabbed my coat and got out of there. Until I was sure about Annie, I had to watch what I said around David. I didn't want to poison his chance at love if my suspicions were unfounded.

"Annie, it's Carolyn Emerson. Do you have a minute?" I figured the best place to get information about the girl was to go directly to the source. At least I'd remembered to charge my cell phone, so I could make this call in the rela tive privacy of a bench overlooking the brook.

"Hi, Carolyn. I just took my lunch break with David, and it put me behind. Sorry."

"This won't take long," I promised. "All I need is five minutes. I can come to you, if you'd like."

She paused, then said, "No, I can meet you. Are you at the shop?"

"Actually, I'm getting ready to go to Shelly's. I know you've eaten, but how about some pie?"

"Please, I'm getting plump as it is. David loves to eat out, and I've been gaining weight from the moment we met."

"Okay, no pie. What about coffee? We could meet at In the Grounds."

"I suppose so. Carolyn, there's no chance we can do this right now over the telephone, is there?"

"I think it would be better face-to-face," I said.

"If you say so. I'll see you soon."

I hurried over to the coffee shop, securing a table by the window where I could watch for her. Nate Walker, the owner of the place, approached.

"Hi, Carolyn. I was beginning to think you'd forgotten we were here. Are you and Hannah fighting?"

"What makes you ask that?"

"Come on, I can set my watch by you two, but lately, nei ther one of you has been coming by. I'm beginning to won der if it was something I said."

"It's not you, it's us. I'd like two coffees, please."

He looked out the window. "Does that mean Hannah's going to join you?"

"No, this one's for someone else."

He nodded gravely, then left to get my order. Twenty seconds after the coffee was delivered, Annie arrived. I was struck again by how much Annie resembled the actress Ju lia Roberts. It was easy to see why David had found her at tractive, but I knew Annie's charms went far beyond her appearance.

"Thanks for the coffee," she said as she took a sip.

"Don't you even want to know what I ordered for you?" I asked, smiling.

"If it's got caffeine, we're good," she said. "I was up pretty late last night."

"So I heard," I said without realizing how it must have sounded. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to butt in."

"It's fine. I fully expected David to talk to you about our situation. I know you two are very close."

"We are. I'd hate to see him get hurt," I said, refraining from adding any more to that statement.

"I don't want to hurt him, believe me. I care for David." I could see in her eyes that it was true.

"His father's sudden reappearance was pretty shocking, wasn't it?" I said.

"I guess. It's been hard on him all these years not having a dad."

"The same can be said for you, can't it? You two have a great deal in common in that regard," I said. Then I sipped my coffee.

"It's true. I never knew my father, either," she admitted. "Somebody stole that from me."

"What an unusual way to put it."

For an instant, she looked furious. "How else would you say it? That robber killed him, just as surely as if he'd put that gun to my dad's head and pulled the trigger again."

"It sounds like the wound is still raw for you." Annie's emotions were breaking through her normally happy de meanor.

"Carolyn, what was so urgent that we had to meet? I don't have much time."

"It's about David," I said.

I was still struggling for words when Annie said, "No of fense, but I'm not sure it's any of your business. I know you two are close, but you're not his mother, and I wouldn't even be discussing this with her, if she cared enough to ask."

"Hannah loves him a great deal," I said softly.

"There's got to be room in his life for someone else." She threw two ones on the table. "I've got to go."

I picked up the bills and tried to hand them back to her. "This was my treat."

"Thanks, but I pay my own way."

After she was gone, I stared at my coffee. Suddenly, I wasn't nearly as sure as I had been that Annie wasn't in volved in the murder. If she suspected that Richard had committed that robbery twenty years ago, I doubted she would hesitate to exact her revenge. Whether or not I liked it, I was going to have to add her to my list of suspects.

"May I join you? All the other tables are full." I looked up to see Mayor Jenkins standing in front of me.

I moved Annie's cup to my side and motioned to a seat. "Help yourself."

He nodded, then settled in across from me. Harvey Jenk ins was fighting his spreading waistline, and was obviously losing. His clothes, while nicely cut, were too young for a man his age, as was his fancy haircut. He looked like a man trying to hold on to something that was long gone.

"Listen, I'm sorry about our earlier conversation during your test drive. You caught me at a bad time."

"We all have them," I said. "Don't worry about it." Clearly, he was trying to put our earlier encounter behind him. I wasn't sure I was going to let him, but I'd see what he had to say.

"You're looking a little ragged around the edges, Caro lyn," he said. "Are you getting enough sleep?"

"My, you know just what to say to turn a woman's head," I answered. "No wonder you keep getting reelected."

He smiled. "Granted, that was probably a little harsh." He stifled a yawn. "I had a rather late night myself. A mayor's work is never done. I keep pushing for it to be a full-time job, but so far, nobody wants that but me."

"You'd miss your dealership, wouldn't you? I'm sure you make a killing off it."

He raised one eyebrow. "You'd be surprised. How's the pottery business?"

"We're getting by," I said. "Actually, I had an interesting conversation about you this morning."

Harvey rubbed his ears. "I thought I felt my ears burning. Only good, I hope."

"That depends. We were talking about the robbery twenty years ago at Quality Jewelry."

Did I see a flinch when I mentioned the name of the store? "How on earth was my name tied to that?" Harvey asked, seemingly perplexed.

"We were discussing things that happened around the time Richard Atkins took off. The jewelry store robbery and the opening of your first car dealership all happened at about the same time, didn't they?"

"It was a long time ago," he said. "I'm sure they weren't all that close together. The years have a tendency to blend together, don't they?" He sipped his coffee, but the mayor's gaze never left my face. If nothing else, I'd certainly man aged to pique his curiosity. "Who exactly were you dis cussing all this with, your husband?"

"No, Bill was already at work by then. It's a small world, isn't it?"

"And getting smaller by the minute," he said as he looked over my shoulder. "Thanks for the seat, but a booth just opened up."

"Don't rush off on my account," I said.

"Of course not. I've just got a few calls to make while I drink my coffee, and it would be rude to do that in front of you. Good bye."

"I'll see you later," I said.

I'd delayed my lunch hour long enough, but I didn't want