Tick,Tock,Trouble (A Seagrove Cozy Mystery Book 5) (4 page)

“I’ll tell you in a minute,” Sadie said. “I don’t think Mr. Bradshaw can wait a minute more for his constitutional.”

She dumped her purse in the office and grabbed the leash from its hook by the door, clipping it to Mr. B’s collar before heading out the door and across the street.

It was a breezy afternoon and leaves swirled down from the trees and littered the path with the reds and golds of autumn. The breeze was invigorating and she shuffled her feet through the crispy carpet of color. She had come up with that saying when she was ten or eleven – crispy carpet of color – and it had stuck in her head. Even after all these years.

Mr. B surged forward and Sadie looked up to see Justin Ives pacing down the path toward them, head down, lips moving. Then he abruptly changed direction as Mr. B pulled at the leash, dancing on his hind legs.

Sadie stopped and watched Justin for a moment. Just about the time she had decided to hurry after him and find out what was wrong, he turned and started back toward her. His head was down and he hadn’t noticed Mr. Bradshaw straining at the end of his leash making small, welcoming barks.

“Justin?” she said. Justin looked up, disoriented.

“Ms. Barnett,” he said. “What are you doing here?”

“Walking Mr. Bradshaw,” she said.

“What are you doing, Justin? You look distressed.”

Justin bent down to pet Mr. B., who put his paws on Justin’s lower legs and licked his hand. When he felt he had been properly greeted, the terrier went back to rooting through the leaves for interesting smells.

“Oh, Ms. Barnett, I don’t know what to do. Mrs. Woo’s lawyer is threatening to sue me now. And I’m under investigation for her murder. All I really wanted was to get my car fixed.”

“Tell me what happened to your car, Justin,” she said. “Start with what time it was.”

“I was parked on the street, in a metered parking spot in front of Town Hall. I was coming back down the sidewalk when a Mercedes came flying around the corner too fast to make the turn. It slammed right into my car, shoving it into the parking meter. She crumpled my car. The front was wrapped around the parking meter. I don’t know who put those in, but they did a good job. The pole didn’t shift an inch, nor a bend or a scratch. They had to winch the Mercedes out of my back seat.” He paused for a moment, frowning.

“I really liked that car.”

“And what does Tamsin’s lawyer say?” Sadie asked.

“That I was backing out, didn’t look and Tamsin couldn’t stop. I wasn’t anywhere near the car!” Outrage reverberated in his voice.

“I would have been crushed if I had.”

“Do you have photos of your car?” she asked.

“No. I didn’t think to take pictures. Tamsin was hysterical, saying it was all my fault. I got flustered and couldn’t think what to do.”

Sadie thought Justin spent a great deal of his life flustered. “You need to act with a little more confidence, Justin. People take advantage.” She thought for a moment.

“I’ll see what I can do about this. What was the exact date of the accident?”

Justin told her and she led Mr. B out of the park and down the sidewalk to Town Hall. She climbed the steps and pushed through the heavy double doors tall enough to accommodate an elephant with a canopy on its back. Then she hunted down the security chief, who, it just so happened, owed her a favor.

Chapter Four

The next morning Sadie went to see Tamsin’s lawyer. It was the same man who had presided over her funeral proceedings.

“What can I help you with, Ms. Barnett?” he said. “Do you also have an issue with your bequest?”

“What?” Sadie was confused for a second and then caught on.

“Oh, I see, you’ve been fielding a lot of complaints from the benefactors of Tamsin’s will. This has nothing to do with the will.”

“Delightful,” the lawyer said, visibly relieved. “What can I do for you?”

“Do you consider yourself an ethical man?” she asked, bracing herself for his response.

It was the kind of question that elicited a strong response and Sadie hoped he was able to keep it under control.

“Of course I consider myself an ethical man, Ms. Barnett. What are you getting at?” he said. She could tell he was angry, but he kept his voice even.

“So if I could prove to you that Justin Ives was innocent in the incident where his car was crushed, you would stop obstructing his insurance claim?” she asked.

“If you are able to prove to me that Justin Ives had no fault in the matter I will buy the man a car out of Tamsin's estate. But I warn you, I have no reason to doubt Tamsin’s word in the matter and the proof would have to be conclusive,” he said.

Sadie pulled her tablet out of her purse and set it on the desk between them, opened a file and pressed play. A grainy black and white image of the street in front of Town Hall flashed to life. To the right, Justin was visible walking down the sidewalk toward his car. To the left, Tamsin’s Mercedes came flying around the corner. Justin stopped dead, his mouth open and the Mercedes plowed into the VW Bug, squashing it into a fraction of its former size. Tamsin got out of the Mercedes and proceeded to have what looked like a temper tantrum in the street. There wasn’t any sound on the video so it was hard to tell what she was saying.

The image went black and Sadie looked up to see the lawyer staring at the blank screen with pursed lips. He asked to see the clip again. She clicked it open and clicked play. He watched carefully and Sadie knew he was looking for signs that the tape had been altered in some way. She knew it had not.

He was quiet for a few minutes. “Where did you get this footage?” he asked.

“The security chief at Town Hall,” she said. “And he said he would sign a sworn statement that it has not been altered.”

“I’m sorry. I will contact Justin and remedy this situation.”

He looked disturbed and Sadie thought Tamsin had been up to something before her death and he didn’t know what it was. He looked tired now and Sadie almost felt sorry for him. Almost, but not quite. His blind faith in his client had gotten him into this. He should have been the one to look for evidence, not leaving it to Justin to prove his claim.

“Today?” she asked.

“Today,” he agreed.

Mr. Bradshaw led Sadie out the door, his tail held high. Sadie walked him to the malt shop where she bought him a doggie ice cream bowl and herself a chocolate malted shake. They sat at a table outside, Mr. B. eating daintly from his bowl on the table. The sun was warm and Sadie was enjoying the feeling of success while watching the world go by. Zack dropped into the chair across from her and she felt a surge of happiness. This day was just getting better and better.

“Hey, gorgeous,” Zack said. “What are you up to?”

“I just vanquished a dragon,” Sadie said.

“Tamsin’s lawyer is going to buy Justin Ives a new car. I showed him the security video that proved Justin was telling the truth and he agreed he’d been wrong to trust Tamsin’s word.”

“Nice work,” Zack said. “Sadie to the rescue yet again. Sadie and her superhero dog. What’s the name of that dog? I know Underdog. Mr. Bradshaw is secretly Underdog.”

“Underdog to the rescue,” Sadie said. “What do you think, Mr. Bradshaw, are you Underdog?”

Mr. Bradshaw gave her a look.

“He says you must be kidding, he’s Superdog,” Zack said.

Sadie laughed. “It did look like that’s what he was thinking, didn’t it? Mr. B., you are a piece of work.” She smiled over at Zack.

“Do you want to share my milkshake?” She handed her drink cup to him and he took a sip.

“Malt,” he said and handed the cup back.

“Chocolate malt,” she said.

“Yummy.” She took a drink and handed it back.

He took a sip, handed it back and stood up. “I have to get back to work, will I see you later?” he asked.

“Probably,” Sadie said. “You really can’t avoid it.”

He stepped around the table and bent down to kiss her on the mouth.

“You go Chief!” a young passerby by called out.

Sadie felt her cheeks go red and Zack smiled.

“You’re blushing,” he said. “That’s so charming.”

Her cheeks got hotter. “Ugh, I have no idea why I’m blushing. Go back to work so I can stop blushing.”

He kissed her again. And headed off down the sidewalk.

When Sadie and Mr. B walked back into the shop Betty started making shooing motions with her hands but it was too late. Hamilton Cartwright walked out of the back room with a smile on his face that didn’t reach his eyes.

“Ms. Barnett, how wonderful to see you. I was hoping to talk to you about the pocket watch.”

He approached and Sadie started to back away, Mr. Bradshaw stepped between the two humans and growled low in his throat. Betty backed up and then scooted behind Hamilton and bolted into the office, closing the door.

Smart woman, Sadie thought and wished she could bolt in there, too. Hamilton was momentarily distracted by Mr. B, so she reached her hand into her coat pocket and hit the 9-1-1 emergency button, hoping word would get to Zack that she was in trouble.

She heard 9-1-1 answer and went cold. If Hamilton heard them… but at that moment Mr. B. began barking, straining at the end of the leash. Well, 9-1-1 might not know what was going on, but at least Hamilton couldn’t hear them.

“Hush, Mr. Bradshaw,” she said, pulling the little dog to her and picking him up. He continued growling, his chest vibrating in her hand.

“Hamilton, you know I don’t have that pocket watch, it’s in evidence at the station.”

“You’re lying to me, Sadie, I can tell,” he said through gritted teeth.

“I will pull this place apart to find it.”

He grabbed a china teapot from the shelf, looked inside and seeing nothing smashed it on the floor.

Sadie flushed with irritation. That teapot had come from Nepal, and she was fond of it.

“Hamilton,” she said, containing her anger with difficulty, “You will pay for every item you break, and you still won’t have my pocket watch. It’s at the police station. It’s evidence in a murder case. Wrecking my shop will not get it back for you, but it will cost you a lot of money.”

“Then I’ll take you hostage,” he said.

“I’ll bet the Chief of Police will gladly give me what I want for his girlfriend.” He started toward her.

Sadie fled out the front door and darted across the road carrying Mr. B. The dangling leash tangled around her ankle as she stepped up onto the sidewalk on the other side, but she caught herself before she landed on Mr. Bradshaw, rolling onto her shoulder and back up onto her feet. Hamilton was only feet behind her. She set Mr. B down as she came to her feet and let him run along beside her. He was faster and nimbler and would be able to get out of the way if she fell again.

She could hear Hamilton huffing behind her and put on a burst of speed, but she was shorter than Hamilton by at least two feet, most of it leg. His fingertips brushed her shoulder, but she didn’t have any more to give and two steps later he had her, his fingers digging into her arm and slowing her down.

“You’re hurting me,” she yelled as loud as she could and began twisting away, trying to pull away from his grip.

She couldn’t seem to get any leverage. It wasn’t like he had her lower arm where she could have applied pressure to the gap between his fingers. He was cutting the blood supply to her arm and it hurt.

She turned and stomped hard on his foot at the same moment Mr. Bradshaw went for his ankles. He latched his teeth around the skinny Achilles tendon and Hamilton yelped, letting go of Sadie. A police car with lights flashing drove over the sidewalk and into the park, coming too fast to be strictly safe, Sadie thought. It must be Zack. None of his officers would dare to tear up the park like that.

Hamilton saw the cruiser the same time she did and turned to run. Mr. Bradshaw let go of Hamilton’s ankle and jumped. He went straight for Hamilton’s hind end and latched on to his right buttock, holding tight, his front legs braced against the fleeing man’s thigh.

Hamilton howled in pain and swatted at Mr. B. yelling “get him off!”

Hamilton whirled as if to go for Sadie again, but his eyes grew wide at the proximity of the police cruiser. He cursed and began running again, ignoring the canine hanging off his butt.

“Mr. Bradshaw, come!” Sadie commanded.

Mr. B immediately dropped off, taking another quick nip at Hamilton’s thigh as he dropped and went to Sadie.

“Good dog, Mr. Bradshaw,” she said picking him up and burying her face in his fur.

“Good, good dog. You saved me.”

Mr. B. licked her face and jumped down to sniff the grass very modestly as if he hadn’t just rescued his human.

Zack pulled to a stop and Wilson jumped from the car and ran after Hamilton. Zack got out and came to Sadie. He looked larger than life, angry and concerned all at once. He swept Sadie into his arms and held her tight against him.

“Zack,” Sadie said into his chest where her face was smushed, “I’m fine. Really.”

He released his grip but kept his hands on her shoulders looking into her eyes. He looked gray and tired and Sadie wished that she hadn’t called 9-1-1.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I should have handled it.”

Her chin quivered and she took a deep breath to steady herself, but a tear escaped and trickled down her face.

Zack brushed it aside with a finger. “No. Don’t be sorry. I’m so glad you and Betty both called. I want you to be safe.”

“But you look so tired,” she said. “And angry.”

“Not at you,” he said. “However, if I get my hands on Hamilton Cartwright all bets are off.”

“I feel all shaky,” Sadie said and moved to lean against the police car.

“It’s the after effect of the adrenaline,” he said.

“It will wear off.” He opened the passenger door. “Here, sit down.”

He helped Sadie sit on the edge of the seat with her feet in the grass and put her head between her legs. She took deep breaths and waited for her head to clear. Mr. Bradshaw walked under her legs and licked her face, which made her laugh. She started to feel better.

She sat upright in time to see Officer Wilson come jogging across the park, empty handed. As she approached, Sadie vacated Wilson’s seat so the younger woman could catch her breath, but Wilson waved her away and went to stand by her boss.

“I don’t know where he went,” she put her hands on her knees to catch her breath.

“Bastard.”

“Mr. Bradshaw took a chunk out of his gluteus maximus,” Sadie said. “So you may find him in the emergency room.”