Valise in the Attic (13 page)

16

Annie felt her heart pounding in her chest. “There is another valise,” she said, “and you’re welcome to it.”

“No tricks this time,” he snarled. “And no cops. Don’t make me sorry I let the redhead go without some damage.”

Annie thought for a moment about what Alice had said to her and snapped, “I heard you were the one who was damaged that time.”

“But not this time,” he said. “You’re going to bring me the bag today!”

The chief shook his head at Annie and began scribbling on a sheet of paper.

“I can’t get to the bag today,” Annie said. “I know where it is, but I won’t be able to bring it to you today.”

“I said no tricks,” the raspy whisper changed to a shout, and for a second, Annie had that nagging feeling of familiarity again. She knew this voice. Where did she know it from? Was this someone she knew?

The chief handed her a piece of paper that read: “Tell him you’ll do the handoff on Monday during the filming on the Town Square. It’ll be easier to hide officers in the crowd of extras.”

Annie nodded. “I can have the valise in the morning, but I’m not going anywhere alone with you. I don’t want to end up tied up somewhere or worse. We can do the handoff at the movie set. I’m as eager to get rid of this thing as you are to get it.”

“OK, bring it,” the voice had dropped to a whisper again. “I’ll find you when I’m sure you aren’t setting me up.”

The call dropped then. Annie looked up at the chief. “Was I on long enough?”

“We’ll find out in a minute.” The chief stepped out of the room, flipping open his cellphone.

Annie felt herself begin to shake, and she didn’t resist when Ian stepped closer and put an arm around her. She looked up at Alice and asked, “Has that offer to spend the night with me at the inn expired?”

“Not a bit,” Alice said. “Then tomorrow, we’ll get this whole mess settled.”

The chief looked grim as he rejoined them. “The cellphone the crook is using apparently has no GPS, or he has disabled it. He wasn’t on long enough for us to triangulate and trace the call.” He pointed at the valise on the table. “Is that what he’s after?”

“I don’t know,” Annie said. “It doesn’t make any sense. This bag is as empty as mine was.”

The chief walked over and looked at the bag, snapping it open and running his hands over the lining just as Jim had. “Certainly seems empty.”

Suddenly a horrible yowling screech made the whole group turn sharply toward the front door. A panicky-looking young officer came through the door carrying Boots, who was clearly trying to scrape away as much of the young man’s skin as possible.

“Oh dear,” Annie said, hurrying down the short hall toward the door.

The officer closed the door behind him with his foot and looked at Annie. “Can I put it down now?”

“Yes … yes, you’d better.”

The officer held Boots at arms length to keep the cat away from his face as he bent over. Then he dropped her lightly on the floor. Boots rocketed across the front room and up the stairs, nearly tripping another officer coming down when she rushed between his legs.

Annie rushed over to the young officer. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Did Boots scratch you?”

“Not too bad.” The man’s brown eyes were as warm as his smile. “My sister has an insane cat, and I’ve learned a lot about how to keep it away from my delicate areas. Still, I hope this one stays out of the tree.”

“She normally does,” Annie said. “We’re all a little weirded out.”

The man nodded. “I’m sure we’ll be done soon. Do you need anything else?”

Annie shook her head, and then looked up. “Do you think the chief would mind if I started picking up in the rooms y’all have searched already?”

“I’ll ask.”

The officer strode across the room and leaned in close to speak quietly to the chief. Then he looked up and smiled at Annie as he crossed the room again. “The chief says we’re done upstairs, and we should be done down here soon.”

“Thank you.” Annie went to the kitchen to tell everyone she was headed upstairs to start picking up.

“I’ll come help,” Alice said.

Annie shook her head. “You will have enough to do at your place, I’m sure.”

Alice looked around the kitchen. “The guy did a more thorough job here. At my house I basically just have to shut drawers and kick stuff back into the closets.” She smiled ruefully. “I never have had your way with organizing them.”

At that, Annie remembered when she and Alice were just girls. Once, Annie had opened Alice’s bedroom closet door to get a sweater and an avalanche of clothes, blankets, and sports equipment had rained down on her head. “You don’t still use the pile and slam method?” she asked.

Alice shrugged. “Only in emergencies. At any rate, that means I can help you. To the upstairs!”

Ian insisted on helping too, though Annie sent him to the guest room. She didn’t want Ian seeing the overturned dresser drawers in her own room. She appreciated Ian’s generous help, but not enough to have him see a display of her underwear on the floor. Jim followed Ian, both men clearly having declared a truce of sorts to get through the job.

Alice began sorting the contents of Annie’s bedroom floor onto the bed, so Annie could direct her to where each pile should end up. Annie turned to the closet, quickly returning crochet afghans and embroidered linens to storage bins to go back on top of the closet shelf.

Annie sighed as she pushed the last box onto the shelf and began picking up blouses and slacks to slip them back on the closet hangers. “I’m getting really tired of putting my house back together,” she said. “Do you know, I think normal people might go through their whole lives without ever having their houses searched by strangers.”

“True,” Alice said, looking at her with a grin. “But what fun would it be if we had a normal life?”

Annie laughed. “I’m willing to risk the boredom. At least for a month or two.”

“No you’re not. If you were, you wouldn’t have stayed in Stony Point. It’s not like mysteries don’t rain down on you constantly here. You’re like a mystery lightning rod.”

Annie looked concerned. “And all my friends risk the fallout. I’m so sorry for what that man put you through.”

“Are you kidding?” Alice said. “Wait until we tell everyone on Tuesday. I’m a heroine!”

Annie laughed. Alice had always been good at turning wild escapades into grand adventures. She felt her mood lift considerably as they worked together. Then they heard a yell from the guest room.

Annie ran in to find Ian sitting on the guest room bed laughing until tears ran down his face as Jim glared at him. Boots sat in Ian’s lap, eyeing Jim closely.

“What happened?” Annie asked.

“Your cat was hiding in the top of the closet,” Jim said. “The thing jumped out and startled me.”

“Startled?” Ian gasped. “Boots landed on his head like a clawed toupee, and then ran down his back while Jim swung at her with his cane and clunked himself in the forehead.

“You tried to hit Annie’s cat?” Alice said, fighting her own laughter. “Shame on you!”

“It was trying to kill me,” Jim protested.

“I’m sorry about that,” Annie said. “I think I better put Boots in her carrier until we leave. She’s had more than enough adventure for a while. Can you hold her for another minute?”

Ian stroked the chubby cat. “Sure, she seems happy.”

“Yeah,” Jim muttered. “She likes him.”

Annie hurried back to her room for the carrier, and then slipped Boots in it. The cat gave her a dirty look and a crabby meow, but clearly she’d had enough excitement as well.

The rest of the cleaning went quicker than Annie expected. They were soon done upstairs and came downstairs just as Chief Edwards’s team was packing up.

“You’re going to be at Maplehurst?” the chief asked.

“Yes,” Annie said. “Tonight.”

“I’ll call you to discuss the drop off of the valise tomorrow,” the chief said. “Call me if anything unusual happens before then.”

“I will,” Annie assured him.

As soon as the police left, the rest of them worked on straightening up downstairs. Except for the kitchen, most of the mess was fairly quick and easy to handle. The burglar hadn’t been destructive, just messy. Only in the kitchen did she see any sign of real temper—after all, she could hardly have been hiding the valise in her rice canister that he’d dumped on the floor.

Still, with a quick vacuuming, even that mess wasn’t overly difficult. As she neared the end of the cleanup, Alice said, “I’m going next door to pack an overnight bag.”

“Are you sure you want to stay with me?” Annie said. “Really, now that I’ve had some time to calm down, I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

“With that demon cat, I expect you could withstand an army,” Jim said rubbing at a scratch on the back of his neck.

“Even so,” Alice said. “I’m coming.” She linked an arm through Jim’s. “But you need to come next door with me so I can show you the mysteries of my furnace. It can be a little temperamental.”

Annie smiled as Alice and Jim left, still arm in arm.

“He seems to make her happy,” Ian said after they had gone.

“You seem surprised.”

“I guess I didn’t imagine Alice with someone so …”

“Romantic? Swashbuckling? Adventurous?”

“No—more like annoying.”

Annie laughed. “I think he’s sweet and fun.”

Ian looked at her. “I can be fun.”

“I know,” she said. “We did karaoke.”

“And a masquerade ball,” he reminded her. “And a whale watch.”

“You’re the king of fun,” she said, “and I’m done cleaning up. I’m going to run upstairs and pack my own overnight bag. You don’t have to hang around here if you don’t want to.”

“I’m not letting you out of my sight until you’re safe and sound in your room at the inn.”

“The king of fun,” Annie said as she walked out of the kitchen. “And the prince of bossy,” she added over her shoulder.

Ian’s warm laugh followed her up the stairs.

17

Annie’s and Alice’s room at Maplehurst Inn was surpris ingly spacious for an old home-turned-inn. Annie sus- pected some major remodeling must have been done to turn the traditional New England closet-sized bedroom into the lovely open space in which she now stood.

The wall behind the headboards of the two beds was red brick. The headboards were a creamy vanilla, which went well with the hand-quilted vanilla and rose coverlet. Floral dust ruffles in the same shades added to the feminine look of the room.

“Very girlie,” Annie said as she set Boots’s carrier on the thick Oriental rug and opened it. The cat poked her nose out slowly, sniffing the air. Then she stepped daintily into the room.

Annie set up a small litter box in the bathroom near the lovely claw-foot tub. Then she put a small bowl of water and another half-filled with dry cat food in the bathroom as well. “That takes care of her highness,” Annie said as she walked back into the bedroom area to find Boots curled up on the thickly cushioned window seat.

“She found the closest spot to the heat register,” Alice said. “Smart kitty.”

Annie took her clothes out of the small overnight bag and slipped them into one of the paper-lined drawers of the big dresser. Then she set her bag in the closet beside the empty valise. “This whole thing with the valise makes no sense,” she said. “Why would someone want an empty valise this badly?”

“Maybe he doesn’t,” Alice said. “Maybe there’s another valise with something valuable in it.”

“Like still in with the other props?”

Alice shrugged. “Maybe. The guy got the bag we found in your attic, and it clearly wasn’t what he wanted. And there is nothing in this one. It makes sense that there must be a third.”

“Doesn’t that seem like an awfully big coincidence?” Annie said. “Three identical bags in one spot? This would have to be the most common suitcase made.”

“Still, maybe we should ask that prop guy.”

Annie thought about it. “I know what room he’s in. We could go see if he’s there.”

“Great.” Alice stopped and stroked Boots fur. “If any bad guys come, attack!”

“Poor Boots,” Annie said, rubbing the cat’s ears until she purred. “I think she’s had about all the strangers she can handle for one day.”

Annie and Alice slipped out into the hall, carefully locking the room door behind them. They walked down the long hall and around the corner, passing several closed doors until Annie stopped in front of Samuel Ely’s door and knocked. No one answered.

“Maybe he’s downstairs,” Alice said. “The weather is getting nasty out there, I can’t imagine he’s out touring the town.”

Annie had to agree with her. That made sense. “Let’s check downstairs.”

The space in front of the lobby fireplace was filled with movie people again and Annie spotted the wardrobe and makeup people she’d met already, along with several casually dressed women she didn’t know. “He’s not at the fireplace.”

“We could check in the dining room.” Alice said. “And if some lunch tumbled into my mouth, I probably wouldn’t resist too much.”

Annie looked down at her watch and gasped. How had it gotten to be late afternoon so fast? “I’m sorry, Alice,” she said. “I’ve been so nervous, I guess I haven’t gotten hungry. We should eat.”

Annie looked around the dining room as they walked in. Since it was late afternoon, only a scattering of people sat at the small tables, and none of them were the young prop master. At the far end of the room, double French doors opened into a bar area. A tall, thin girl stepped up to them quickly. “Two for lunch?”

“Yes, thank you,” Annie said. “May we sit near that far end?”

“Of course.” She led them to their table, filled their water glasses from a slightly damp metal pitcher, and handed them menus before slipping away.

“Why back here?”

“So I could look into the bar to see if Samuel was in there,” Annie said.

“Is he?”

Annie leaned slightly back in her seat and looked into the room. She saw several men from the film, including Matt Rusher, but didn’t see Samuel. “Nope.” Before she could lean forward again, she caught the actor’s eye, and he slipped off his stool and walked toward them.

“Oh dear,” Annie muttered.

“What?” Alice said.

“What a nice surprise,” Matt Rusher said as he stepped out of the bar and stopped at their table. “I know I’ve met you two lovely ladies before.”

“It’s nice to see you again, Mr. Rusher,” Annie said, folding her hands in her lap to avoid shaking his hand.

“Matt, please,” he said. Then he turned to Alice who hadn’t gotten her hands out of sight quickly enough. He lifted one of her hands to his mouth to kiss it. Annie noticed he was wearing black leather gloves, which seemed odd in the warm room.

Annie saw Alice smile thinly as she pulled her hand away. “The weather’s getting rough,” she said. “I hope you can film tomorrow.”

“Well, it will save the cost of a snow machine,” Matt said. “I’m going to be standing in the falling snow, making an impassioned plea to a hard-hearted town.”

“Doesn’t sound much like Stony Point,” Annie said.

“You never know,” Matt said. “Do you ladies mind if I join you?”

“We were actually having a private conversation,” Alice answered.

“Then I won’t stay long,” he said as he pulled over a chair from a nearby table and pulled it up beside theirs. He folded his arms over the back of the chair.

“Don’t you get warm wearing gloves indoors?” Annie asked.

“I wear them all the time,” Matt said. “It’s my trademark. Haven’t you seen my movies?”

“Yes, but it didn’t occur to me that it would spill over into real life.”

“After enough years in the business, real life and movie life blur,” he said.

“I expect they would cover up age spots too,” Alice said innocently as she took a sip from her water glass.

He looked at her and his charming smile turned cold. “I certainly don’t have that problem.”

“Certainly not.”

The actor turned toward Annie, swiveling in his seat slightly to turn his shoulder toward Alice. Alice grinned over Matt’s shoulder. “Are you going to be in tomorrow’s shoot?”

“We both will,” Alice said to Matt’s shoulder. He chose not to answer her.

“Have you seen Samuel Ely today?” Annie asked.

“Who’s that?”

“He works on the film,” Alice said, still speaking to the actor’s shoulder.

“I don’t know everyone who works on the film,” the man said. “There are so many of them, and they change constantly. You wouldn’t believe how many people scurry around behind the scenes.”

“You make them sound like mice,” Annie said.

“Or roaches.” Alice was clearly enjoying injecting comments and watching the actor try to turn more and more of his back to her. Annie could hear the laughter in Alice’s voice.

“They have their jobs,” the actor said with a shrug, “and I have mine.”

“This is a very different film for you, isn’t it?” Annie asked.

“My agent thought it would be good for me to do a film for the ladies.”

At that Alice laughed out loud, and the actor stood with a grumble. “I have to go,” he said, still speaking only to Annie. “I hope to see you tomorrow on set.”

“Maybe,” Annie said.

The actor stalked out of the room, and Alice laughed even harder.

“You’re incorrigible,” Annie said.

“Oh, it’s good for him,” Alice said. “He acts like he’s started to believe his own press. That can’t be good for the guy.”

Alice was still chuckling when the waitress came up to their table. “Sorry to make you wait,” she said, dropping her voice. “That actor can be a little … inappropriate.” Then she looked worried. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. Is he a friend of yours?”

“He certainly isn’t a friend of mine,” Alice said, her voice still a bit giggly.

“Don’t worry about it,” Annie said. “I’m sure Mr. Rusher can be challenging to serve. Have things been busy here the last few days?”

The girl nodded. “I was expecting to be laid off. I don’t blame Linda, of course. There just isn’t usually much business this time of year. But the film company has made us have all hands on deck here.”

“I’m glad to see it’s doing the town some good,” Annie said as she glanced down at her menu. “I’d like the lobster bisque please.”

Alice ordered a cup of the same soup, but added a thick sandwich to go with it. “I am starving,” she admitted.

“It should be out quickly,” the waitress assured them. “The crowd has finally thinned down. If you’d been here more at lunchtime, you might have had to wait a while.” Then she sighed. “Not that the movie people like to wait.”

The girl turned and hurried away to put in their order.

“She’d best make sure Linda doesn’t hear her complaining about the customers,” Alice said. “She’d get an earful then.”

“You’re not going to tell on her.”

Alice held up her hands. “Not me,” she said. “I’ve had enough times in my life when someone could have told on me.”

They chatted then for a bit about escapades from when they were kids. Soon Alice had Annie laughing, and by the time the food came she finally felt like she could eat it. The bisque smelled lovely and tasted buttery and smooth. She moaned softly.

“Maplehurst makes the best lobster bisque I’ve ever had,” Alice said. “Never tell my mother I said that.”

That made Annie laugh. “I remember having corn chowder at your house as a kid. It was basically milky canned corn with bacon bits sprinkled in it.”

“Mom didn’t even use real bacon bits. She used those horrible crunchy things that you’re supposed to put on salad.” Alice shook her head. “I’m telling you, sneaking away to eat at Betsy’s house is the only thing that kept me alive as a kid.

“Gram was a fantastic cook,” Annie said. “But I think you’ve surpassed her when it comes to baking.”

Alice looked surprised. “Well, thank you. I take that as the highest possible compliment.”

When the waitress came to bring them their check and pick up the dishes, Annie asked her if she knew where Samuel Ely might be. “He’s tall and thin with glasses and a bit of a beard,” she said.

The waitress’s face pinked up. “I know Samuel,” she said. “I believe he’s in the library.”

“The inn has a library?” Annie said.

“Well, it’s a room with books,” Alice said. “I know where it is.”

“It’s really nice and cozy with its own fireplace,” the waitress said. “Samuel likes to go there.”

After the girl hurried away to get their change, Annie whispered to Alice. “I get the feeling she isn’t tired of all the movie people.”

“Yeah, it looks like your prop-master friend has a fan.”

“He seems like a really nice guy,” Annie said. “Well, let’s go visit the library.”

Alice led her easily through the slight maze of rooms on the first floor. Since the inn had been remodeled to make a large lobby and the big dining room space, some of the other rooms had shrunk and the hallways were narrow.

When they made what seemed like their tenth turn, Annie said, “Apparently this library is only for really committed readers.”

“It used to be in a bigger room,” Alice said. “But apparently it didn’t get much use. Here we are.”

The room was about the size of Annie’s living room at Grey Gables with a tiny fireplace at one end. All of the other walls were covered with custom bookshelves from floor to ceiling. Two leather chairs and a leather love seat were grouped around a coffee table at the center of the room. Annie saw Samuel in one of the two chairs.

The young man looked up at them, surprise shining in his eyes. He pushed his glasses up on his nose with one finger. “Mrs. Dawson,” he said.

“Hello, Samuel. We’re sorry to disturb you,” she said. “This is my friend Alice McFarlane. I wanted to ask you something about the valise.”

“Oh, right. You thought you’d need the receipt,” he said. “I have it here.” He stood so he could pull his wallet out of the back pocket of his jeans. Then he slipped the receipt out of the wallet. “See, I bought three cases at this thrift shop near Boston. This one is the one you borrowed. It was twenty bucks.”

“I will need to pay for it, but I actually have another question. Did you happen to buy any other suitcases that looked like that one?”

“You mean just like it?” he asked, and she nodded. He paused to consider it and finally said. “I had a couple that looked a little like it. You saw one of them—same leather sides, but it had gold metal trim. And there was one that was black, but it had the leather trim and silver caps. So not the same.”

Annie nodded. She’d known it was a long shot. “Thanks Samuel. Here, let me give you the money for the case.” She pulled her wallet out of her small purse and paid him. “By the way, we met a waitress here who seems to think well of you.”

“Ally?” Samuel said as his face grew red under his scruffy beard.

“We didn’t catch her name,” Alice said. “But she knew right where to find you.”

“Must be Ally. I met her in here. She likes to read on her breaks.” He sighed then. “She doesn’t like my smoking.”

“One more good reason to quit then,” Annie said.

Samuel smiled a little. “I guess. Did she really seem to like me?”

“Looked that way to us,” Alice replied.

Samuel pushed his glasses up on his nose and rubbed the back of his neck. “Thanks for telling me. Maybe you’re right, Mrs. Dawson. It just might be time to quit.”

“Good luck,” Annie said.

Then she and Alice turned toward the door to leave Samuel with his own thoughts. At the last moment, Annie turned back. “Has anyone shown any unusual interest in the props for this film?”

Samuel laughed. “You mean anyone besides you?”

“Right.”

Samuel gave it a moment of thought. “No, really it’s been a pretty normal shoot—chaotic, crazy and everyone changing things on me at the last minute. For a movie, that’s about as normal as it gets.”

“Thanks, Samuel,” she said, and both women left the room.

“And you scold the rest of us for being matchmakers,” Alice said as soon as they’d gone a ways down the hall. “I’m telling on you to the Hook and Needle Club.”

“Like the Hook and Needle Club needs any encouragement.” Then Annie sighed. “Well, there went our last lead. I guess we can just go up to the room and stare at each other.”