Valise in the Attic (15 page)

“Oh good,” Annie whispered. The crowd would stop pushing, and Ian would have an easier time getting back to her. She continued to scan the crowd as she waited.

Then her eyes widened in surprise. Logan Larriby slipped through the crowd and walked to her. “Hi, Mrs. Dawson,” he said as he stopped next to her.

“Hello, Logan,” Annie said. “Are you not in this scene?”

“I am, but I’m on a break,” Logan said. “There’s something wrong with the setup on the stage.” He shrugged. “It looked fine to me, but I guess it wasn’t.”

Annie scouted around for something to say. “Did you have a nice weekend?”

He shrugged again. “We shot some scenes. Same old, same old. Do you know if Vanessa is back?”

Annie smiled. “I believe she is. In fact, she’s probably in the crowd somewhere.” She expected Logan to excuse himself then and go looking for her, instead he just stuffed his hands in his pockets and rocked back and forth on his heels.

Annie began to worry a bit. Would the kidnapper approach with the young actor beside her? Should she make him go away? Annie wasn’t sure what to do, but she was desperate for this to work. How could she make the boy go away without ruining everything?

19

“Maybe you should work your way through the crowd at little,” Annie said. “I bet you could find Vanessa.” Logan nodded, but he didn’t move away. He looked around though, as if he thought Vanessa might suddenly pop out of the crowd. Annie wondered if maybe he was playing it cool, not wanting to look desperate.

“She’ll be happy to see you,” she said encouragingly.

“She’s great,” he said. “She’s smart and really funny. And she’s not as into herself as a lot of the girls in California.”

“She’s a lovely girl.” Annie began to fret that she was going to have to demand the boy go away.

Finally, Logan turned to face her. “OK, I better just take the suitcase then.”

“What?” Annie stared at him in shock.

“The suitcase?” he said pointing at the valise. “You need to give me the suitcase!”

Annie’s eyes darted over the crowd then as she meekly handed over the case. Did Chief Edwards have a man close by? Would they see that Logan had the case? She couldn’t believe the nice young actor had been the hateful voice on the phone.

“Thanks,” Logan said, flashing her a grin. “I’ll hunt up Vanessa after the shoot. Thanks, Mrs. Dawson.” He turned sharply and began to walk toward the street.

Since they were on something of a break, the crowd had begun to spread out a little, and Annie watched the young actor weave around people. She expected to see Ian or some of the police officers step up to the actor, but no one did. Maybe they had missed the whole thing.

Annie felt a flush of anger. That young man had scared her half to death. He’d kidnapped Alice. He’d torn up her house. How could he grin at her like it was all some kind of game? Suddenly she absolutely refused to let him get away. She started after him just as she heard a voice bellow from the sidelines.

“OK, we’re going to start again,” the voice shouted. “Everyone back in place, and let’s really get angry this time.”

The people who had drifted from the clump hurried back, stepping in Annie’s way as she continued to follow Logan. Each time Annie brushed by someone, she was aware of their annoyed glances. One man was in such a hurry to regroup with the crowd of extras, he nearly knocked Annie down as she reached the slippery sidewalk.

Once she was on the edge of the street, Annie was finally clear of the crowd. She looked around but couldn’t see Logan anywhere. She did see Alice off to her left racing across the street.

“Alice must have seen Logan with the case,” Annie muttered to herself as she stepped carefully out on the snowy street. She wasn’t as confident running in this weather as Alice, but she couldn’t bear the thought of leaving her friend in danger again. Annie picked up her pace, gritting her teeth as she hoped she wouldn’t fall.

The blocked-off street had offered the snow a nice clear surface to build upon. Already the fat flakes had layered to enough inches that they slipped over the edge of Annie’s sensible shoes, and she felt the wet and cold numbing her feet.

Annie had nearly reached the other side of the street, and she considered yelling at Alice to get her to wait, but her friend angled toward the buildings and slipped into the narrow alley between the movie theater and A Stitch in Time.

Annie had barely been aware there was an alley there! The sidewalk was only slightly clearer than the street; the business owners had been out to clear away the snow. The thick flakes had only begun to spread a cover back over the concrete.

Annie reached the alley and peeked in. She saw Alice creeping through. The alley was so narrow that Alice had to walk slightly turned; stepping sideways had slowed her gait considerably. Annie slipped into the space.

Her own narrower shoulders required less sideways turn, and the walls of the two buildings had kept most of the snow out of the narrow gap. This meant Annie could walk faster than Alice through the alley. The ground at her feet was littered with debris blown in by the wind, mostly soft-drink cups and popcorn boxes from the theater next door. Still, the scuffling through the debris made Annie jump once or twice as bits of cardboard scraped past one of her ankles.

At least she was pretty sure it was too cold for rats to be creeping through the alley. Suddenly she was sorry she’d entertained any thought of rats because her imagination turned every scrape and rustle into a hairy rodent.

Finally she caught up to Alice and put a hand on her friend’s shoulder. Alice jumped and gasped. She jerked her head toward Annie, and then her whole body clearly relaxed one notch. “You almost scared me to death,” Alice said, her voice barely above a breath.

“Sorry,” Annie whispered back.

Alice took Annie’s hand and together they half-walked, half-scooted the rest of the way down the alley. Finally the gloom of the narrow space gave way to the glare of snow on pavement.

They saw Logan Lariby standing with the valise in his hands, looking around the parking lot. “What’s he waiting for?” Alice whispered back at Annie.

Annie shook her head. She had no idea.

Suddenly, another man stepped from around the end of a van. His bulky black peacoat, dark scarf and ski mask made him impossible to recognize. The young actor seemed surprised by the other man’s clothes. He leaned toward the bulkier figure and spoke, but Annie couldn’t make out what he said.

The bulky figure took the valise from Logan.

“That’s it,” Alice muttered. She stepped out into the bright light of the parking lot. “Hold it right there!”

The young actor turned and looked at Alice in surprise. Then he looked back at the bulky figure as if expecting the second man to explain. The second man didn’t speak; he just backed away with the valise in his hand.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Alice yelled again, striding toward them across the lot. Annie wasn’t sure it was a good idea to confront a man who was a mugger, housebreaker and kidnapper, but she wasn’t going to leave Alice on her own, so she strode forward with her friend.

“This is my property,” the bulky figure growled, his voice muffled by the scarf and ski mask. “I’m taking it back.”

“What’s going on?” Logan asked. The confusion on his young face was almost comical.

“He’s a thief and a kidnapper,” Annie yelled, pointing at the other figure.

“I think you’ve made a mistake,” Logan said, but just then the other man bolted and ran.

“Get him!” Alice yelled.

Logan looked first at the fleeing man, and then back at Annie, his eyes questioning.

“Yes, he’s a bad guy,” she said.

That seemed to be enough. The young actor turned sharply and dashed after the running man. With his youth and long-legged stride, he caught up easily and tackled the bulkier figure. Together they slammed onto the floor of the snowy parking lot.

Logan struggled to hold the other man down, but even though Logan was quick, the other man outweighed him by nearly fifty pounds, and Logan soon went flying. Annie saw the young actor’s head smack the bumper of a nearby car with a dull thump.

The bigger man scrambled to his feet still clutching the valise. Alice ran after him, but Annie yelled, “Alice, we need to help Logan.”

Alice looked between the young man on the ground and the running man and groaned. Annie didn’t blame her. It looked like the kidnapper was going to get away again, but she couldn’t just leave Logan on the ground.

The thief had reached the end of the short row of shops and was clearly angling toward the buildings to run back up Oak Lane toward Main Street. Then, just as he reached the edge of the building, another man stepped out into the open. The thief tried to jag around the newcomer, but the man simply strode a step closer and punched the thief in the face. Between the force of the punch and his own momentum, the thief was thrown hard to the ground. The valise flew from the thief’s hand and slid under the closest parked car.

Alice gave a cry of joy and ran toward the hero of the moment. It was Jim Parker, rubbing his knuckles as he grinned at Alice. “That really felt good,” Jim said as Alice threw her arms around his neck, “but not as good as this!”

Annie knelt beside Logan as the alley grew very busy, very fast. The young actor had a gash on his forehead that was leaking an alarming amount of blood. Annie used the soft white scarf they’d given her as part of her costume to staunch the flow of blood.
Betty and Pat are going to be annoyed with me again
, she thought as the blood soaked through the fabric.

Logan blinked at her. “What’s going on?” he asked.

“Do you know who that is?” she asked, gesturing toward the sprawled figure in the snow. As she spoke, more men came around the corner, including Chief Edwards. They swarmed past Jim and toward the prone thief.

“Of course,” Logan said.

More men came through the narrow alley, spilling into the parking lot. Annie recognized Ian as he came through the gap and rushed toward her. Annie looked down at Logan. “Well, who is it?”

She looked toward the figure as Chief Edwards pulled the man’s ski mask off and Logan Lariby said, “It’s Mr. Rusher.”

Annie stared at the scowling face of the actor as Chief Edwards read him his rights.

“Wow,” Alice said with a grin. “Now there’s a story. I was kidnapped by a movie star. The Hook and Needle Club is going to be blown away!”

Annie stood up, remembering something. “Alice, didn’t you say you bit your kidnapper? That you were pretty sure you left a mark?”

“Oh right, I did.” Alice walked toward the handcuffed actor. “I bit him on the right hand.”

Chief Edwards leaned Matt Rusher forward with a sharp push and tugged off the man’s right glove. His hand was deeply bruised and Annie could clearly see the pattern of Alice’s bite.

“That’s my girl!” Jim said.

Alice narrowed her eyes. “I didn’t appreciate spending the day tied up and cold.”

“Tough,” the actor snarled.

“What could you possibly want with that old valise?” Annie asked. “Alice and I looked at it—at both of them. They’re just old suitcases.”

“I’m not saying anything without my lawyer,” the actor said.

“That’s probably a good idea, Mr. Rusher,” Chief Edwards said as he hauled the man to his feet. Then the chief looked toward the young man who still sat in the snow with a scarf pressed to his head. “We’ve called the EMTs, but we’ll want to speak with you too.”

“That’s fine,” Logan said. “I’d like to know what’s going on. I’m not in any trouble am I?”

“I doubt it,” Annie said. “It looks like you were just being used to take the fall. What did Mr. Rusher tell you about the valise?”

“You should shut up, kid,” Matt Rusher snapped. “Get a lawyer.”

Logan blinked a few times. “I don’t know why I would need one. Mr. Rusher told me he had loaned the valise to the props department, and you’d accidentally taken it home. He said you had it at the shoot so you could return it. He said he needed to talk to the director about the shoot and asked me to get it during the break.” He turned and frowned. “He said to bring it to this lot and throw it in his car. But when I got here, Mr. Rusher was here, so I gave it to him.”

At that moment, an ambulance pulled up next to the curb on Oak Lane. The EMTs hopped out and rushed to examine the young actor as Chief Edwards’s men hauled the older actor to his feet.

“Oh no,” Alice said. “Peggy will be so disappointed.”

“Peggy?” Ian looked at her in shock. “Why?”

“Well, with their star in jail, they’re probably not going to finish this movie. Peggy won’t get to be a star after all.”

“She’s lucky,” Matt Rusher said.

All eyes turned to him.

“I had a great career,” he complained. “I made fourteen action movies. I was hotter than Willis, Stallone, and Schwarzenegger combined. Now the studios think I’m too old. All I can find is some drippy cable movie playing the father of a snot-nosed kid!”

Annie glanced at Logan and saw hurt on his face.

“Willis is still making action movies,” Rusher said as they hustled him toward the car. “He’s no younger than me. And I’ve still got all my hair! I’ve still got it! I’ve still got it!”

Annie could still hear him shouting as they stuffed him in the car and drove away.

20

As Annie dressed the next morning, she thought about how glad she was to be home. Maplehurst Inn was lovely, but Grey Gables felt like she was getting a warm hug from her grandmother all the time. Betsy’s loving heart had made its mark on everything. Annie was incredibly glad that very few things had actually been broken in this mystery.

Boots poked her head through Annie’s door and began a bossy tirade about the slow breakfast service. At least, Annie assumed that was what the chorus of meows was about.

“No matter where we are, you expect maid service, don’t you Bootsie?” Annie asked as she scooped the cat up in her arms.

She was surprised to hear a knock at the front door. She carried the cat with her as she went to answer it. Alice stood at the door, lightly dusted in snow and carrying a basket covered in tea towels. Annie’s stomach growled at the sight of it.

Jim stood just behind Alice, grinning his most pirate-like grin.

Annie swung the door open wide. “Come in,” she urged. “What brings you guys over?”

“We’re celebrating,” Alice said.

“Celebrating?” Annie said. “Solving the mystery?”

Alice nodded. “That and I get my car back today. Which reminds me, can you drive me in for the Hook and Needle Club meeting? Then, take me over to Carson’s Body Shop to get my car?”

“Of course,” Annie said as she led her friends to the kitchen. “What are you going to do today, Jim?”

“I’m rigging a dark room at Alice’s,” he said. “The book I’m working on right now is all shot in black and white. I don’t trust anyone else with that developing. So, I’m a little behind.”

“Oh, Alice,” Annie said. “Since Jim is going to be tied up part of his visit with developing photos, do you think you could help me with something?”

“Anything I can.”

“I could use a hand bringing some things down from the attic and decorating for Christmas.”

Alice raised her eyebrows. “What made you change your mind about decorating?”

“Well, if Mary Beth doesn’t mind, I thought I might like to have the Hook and Needle Club Christmas party here.”

“I’m sure she wouldn’t mind,” Alice said, but her look was still quizzical.

“Well, I realized that I might not have LeeAnn and the children here, but I still have family. I have my Stony Point family, and I can decorate for them.”

“Then I’m glad to help,” Alice said. “But are you sure you’re ready to go up to the attic again? We’ve barely finished one mystery. Who knows what’s waiting up there for you?”

Annie put up her hands. “I give up. There’s no avoiding these mysteries. You’re too adventurous. I’m too stubborn. And all of us just have too much curiosity for our own good.”

“Maybe so,” Jim chimed in. “But doesn’t it make life fun?”

Laughing at that, they settled down at the table, and Alice unwrapped her basket. The smell of cinnamon and maple wafted off the muffins. “I recognize that aroma,” Annie said.

Alice grinned. “Now you get to eat the actual muffins.” Alice raised one of the muffins in her hand. “Here’s to no more crazy car-bashers!”

“And no more muggings!” Annie added. “Or break-ins.”

“And no more snatching of beautiful ladies,” Jim added.

The muffins were as good as Annie expected, warm and rich, and stuffed with plump raisins and walnuts. When they’d eaten all they could hold, and nearly all that Alice had brought, Annie finally glanced down at her watch. “Oh no!” she moaned. “We’re going to be late for the Hook and Needle Club.”

Alice laughed. “Well, that never happens.”

They cleaned up the kitchen a little—mostly so Boots wouldn’t eat the rest of the muffins while they were gone—and headed for the meeting. The snow of the day before had continued off and on through the night and lay thick on Annie’s lawn again. It was a light fluffy snow though, and the high school boy who lived only about a half mile down Ocean Drive had already been by to shovel Annie’s steps and drive.

“I’m so glad you told me about Jeremy,” Annie said as they got into the snow-dusted car.

“Oh, I know,” Alice said. “Every morning when I come outside, and I don’t shovel snow, I feel grateful all over again.”

The drive to the shop was slow but uneventful. Annie caught Alice leaning over to glance at the speedometer every once in a while. “I’m still nervous of the snow,” Annie said.

“Nervous?” Alice said. “Or terrified?”

Annie smiled. “Think of it as helping you really be happy when you get your car back.”

When Annie pulled into a parking spot near A Stitch in Time, Alice practically rocketed out of the car. Annie laughed as she followed her friend.

As soon as they got inside the needlework shop, Gwen called out. “You won’t believe it! The movie is canceled. They arrested Matt Rusher!”

“Yes,” Peggy said. “Apparently he was a thief and a kidnapper! I don’t know who he kidnapped yet.”

“Me!” Alice said.

The shock on every face made Alice and Annie burst out laughing. Even Stella stopped knitting and stared open-mouthed at them. “Too bad Jim couldn’t get a photo of that,” Annie said.

“You come over here and sit down right now,” Gwen said sternly. “We want to hear every detail.”

“Did he tie you up?” Peggy asked. “Or worse?”

“Mostly he used duct tape. And I did the ‘or worse,’” Alice told them. “I bit him and kicked him pretty hard too.” She turned to offer Annie a grin. “We didn’t check for those bruises.”

Annie just shook her head at her friend. “Apparently he wanted a valise,” she said.

“A valise?” Kate yelped. “You mean the one you loaned Vanessa? A kidnapper wanted the bag you gave Vanessa?”

Annie winced. “Technically, we’re pretty sure he never wanted that bag, but I’m still sorry. At least she never actually took it. And I still have no idea why he wanted it.”

At that Peggy smiled smugly, clearly happy to be back in the know. “I do!” All eyes turned to her and the pretty waitress basked in the attention for a moment before she said. “Well, I’m not naming any names, but two of Chief Edwards’s officers were having breakfast at The Cup & Saucer this morning, and they said the chief had pulled the leather cover off some suitcase. They found something right under the leather.” Then she paused for dramatic effect, looking from face to face around the group.

“Don’t keep us hanging!” Stella exclaimed. “What was it?”

“Letters,” Peggy said. “One was from Abraham Lincoln, written on the day he died. It has the date written right on it in his handwriting. And they said there was a letter from John F. Kennedy too, but not on the day he died. Still, apparently it had something scandalous in it. All the letters were from famous dead people.”

“Wow, I can imagine those would be worth some money,” Alice said.

“And being letters, they would lay so flat we couldn’t tell there was anything in the valise,” Annie added. “That’s why it just seemed empty.”

“How did some action-movie actor know about such important pieces of history?” Stella asked.

“I asked the guys that,” Peggy said. “Apparently Rusher spilled everything when they waved the letters in his face. He said they belonged to his godmother. Her husband had been some kind of collector, and when she died, he snagged them from her house before her family could get everything cataloged. Then he hid them in a suitcase from her attic.”

“How did he end up losing the suitcase?” Mary Beth asked.

“Well, apparently he didn’t take it out of the house because he didn’t want to risk anyone seeing him leave with the letters. He told the family he wanted the suitcase for sentimental reasons, but they were mad at him, so they never handed it over. He’s been trying to track it down for quite a while. He finally found the right relative, and the guy told him he never wanted the suitcase and had dumped it in a thrift store in Boston.”

“And that’s how it ended up in the props for the movie,” Annie said nodding.

“By the time Rusher found the right thrift store,” Peggy said. “They’d already sold it to the movie’s props department. Apparently Rusher even tried to run the movie’s prop master off the road to get the thing.”

“Then, when Matt Rusher saw you carrying it in the movie, he thought you had his suitcase,” Alice said.

“So he tried to steal it from me when he knocked me down in the snow.”

“He knocked you down in the snow?” Mary Beth said. “Why didn’t we hear about this?”

“Oh—is that how you got your knees scraped?” Peggy asked.

“Yes. The incident didn’t seem all that important at the time,” Annie admitted. “Then, of course, Alice’s car was all banged up when Rusher tried to force us off the road to get the valise.”

“Oh, heavens,” Gwen said. “Were you hurt?”

“No,” Alice admitted. “But you should have seen what that man did to my Mustang! I hope they put him in prison for a long time!”

“OK, is that when he kidnapped Alice?” Mary Beth asked. She was beginning to look a little confused as she tried to sort out all the events correctly.

“No,” Alice said. “He did that when he forced me off the road the next day. I was on the way to the body shop. My poor car!”

Annie explained then how they’d exchanged her valise for Alice, since that’s what he demanded. “But of course, there was nothing hidden in my valise. It was really just an old empty suitcase Betsy kept in the attic.”

“That must have driven him crazy,” Alice said. “No wonder everyone in the movie complained about how cranky he was.”

“Serves him right,” Stella said with a sniff. “Imagine if the valise had been destroyed in one of those moves over the years. Then those priceless pieces of history would have been lost.”

“What did he intend to do with them?” Gwen said.

“The police said he had a buyer,” Peggy chimed in, happy to be back in the spotlight. “He was going to sell them and then leave the country. He told Chief Edwards that he had intended to run out on the movie all along.”

Annie nodded. “Well, he clearly hated the idea of playing some young actor’s father in a sentimental made-for-TV movie.”

“He’ll probably sell the story of all this to a studio and get it made into a film,” Alice said.

“Oh, wouldn’t that be interesting!” Peggy said. “Who do you think would play Matt Rusher, since he’ll be in prison?”

Annie and Alice looked at each other, grinned and in unison almost shouted: “Bruce Willis!”