Authors: Jessica Beck
Mitchell was
still inside, though, and it didn’t appear that he was in any mood to come out.
I could stand there and listen to their conversation, but I couldn’t get past
Mitchell and make my way outside. I might be able to go out the back way with a
little luck, but I needed a distraction in order to do it.
As I was
trying to figure out the best way to slip past Mitchell, Moose did it for me.
At least I
hoped that he was just acting, and that he wasn’t
really
having a heart attack on Mitchell Cobb’s front porch.
Chapter 18
“Moose, are
you okay?” Mitchell Cobb asked as he shot out the door and knelt down beside my
grandfather. It was eerie seeing Moose lying so silently on the porch, but I
couldn’t stop to worry about him yet. Tearing around the corner, I found the
back door in the kitchen, and unlocking it as silently as I could, I slipped
out and hurriedly closed it behind me.
Now it was my
turn to act.
I tried to
slow my breathing and my heartbeat as I rounded the corner, and keeping my
voice as nonchalant as I could manage, I said, “Moose, I don’t think he’s
here.”
“Victoria, something’s
wrong with your grandfather,” Mitchell said. “I already called 911, and they
are on the way. What should I do in the meantime? I took a CPR class a few
years ago, but they said that I was too rough. I don’t want to break his ribs.”
“I don’t want
that, either,” I said. I brushed him aside, and got down close to Moose’s
mouth. “Are you okay?”
“My heart,”
he croaked out as he clutched his chest.
This didn’t
feel like acting to me. “Hang in there, Moose. The ambulance is on its way.”
I was about
to call my grandmother when the ambulance zoomed up the street toward us. Two
husky paramedics got out, assessed Moose quickly, and I saw my grandfather
whisper to one of them.
The man
nodded, and as they loaded him onto the stretcher, the paramedic said, “You
need to come with us.”
I nodded,
too, and then I told Mitchell, “I’ll come back later to talk to you.”
“Stay with
him,” Mitchell said. “That’s where
you
need to be.”
I got into
the ambulance following Moose; before I could get settled, the driver took off
down the road like a maniac. We’d pick up my grandfather’s truck later once the
emergency was over.
Moose had an
oxygen tube in his nose, and he looked a little pale to me as he lay there
strapped to the gurney.
I nearly lost
it when he sat up.
“That was
close,” my grandfather said as he removed the tube from his nose. He patted the
EMS attendant on the shoulder. “Good job, Charlie. I almost thought for a
second there that I really was having a heart attack.”
“Overall, you
seem healthy enough to me, but your blood pressure is a little bit high. You
might want to get that checked out.” He tapped on the driver’s seat. “You can
slow down now, Ben. Moose is going to be okay.”
“Are you
sure?” the younger tech asked. “He still looks a little ashen to me.”
“That’s more
from your driving than because of his physical condition,” Charlie said with a
laugh.
Ben slowed
down, and as the ambulance neared the diner, he pulled over to the side of the
road.
“I owe you
both a meal on the house,” Moose said. “Do you have time to collect it now?”
“As a matter
of fact, we were just getting ready to go on our lunch break,” Charlie said. “I
assume you had your own reasons for the impromptu chauffeur service.”
“It’s nothing
that I can really talk about, but trust me when I tell you that it
was
important. Now, come on in and let’s
get you two fed.”
“Ben, you
wouldn’t mind parking your rig down the street a little, would you?” I asked.
He smiled at
me. “I get it. You don’t want an ambulance parked in front of your diner, do
you?”
“Do you
mind?” I asked him.
“No, I
completely understand. Why don’t you and your grandfather go on and get out,
and we’ll park somewhere else. See you in a few.”
“Thanks
again,” Moose said.
After we got
out of the ambulance, they drove up the street, and I turned to my grandfather
before we went inside. “I’ve got to admit that was fast thinking on your part.
You really saved my bacon in there. What were you going to do if you didn’t
know the EMTs?”
“Why, then, I
would have had a false alarm by the time we got to the hospital. Victoria, I
had to get you out of there, and I didn’t know what else I could do.”
“Hey, don’t
get me wrong; I’m not scolding you. I think it was brilliant, and I’ll praise
you more once I get over the little heart attack of my own that you just gave
me. Seeing you sprawled out on that porch is something that’s going to haunt me
for years.”
“Don’t worry.
I’m in no rush to leave you, or Martha,” he said with a grin. “I’m sorry that I
scared you, and especially since it was all in vain.”
“But it
wasn’t,” I told him. “You’ll never believe what I found upstairs.”
“Tell me,” he
said.
“He’s got a
photo collage of Ellen’s life in there,” I said.
“How many
pictures are we talking about?” Moose asked.
“Hundreds,” I
said.
“Then I’m
going to call the sheriff.”
“Moose, he
can’t just barge in there like we did. He needs a warrant.”
“Then he’ll
get one,” Moose said. “Victoria, that was too close a call. If Mitchell had
caught you up there snooping around in his closet, I don’t want to even think
about what might have happened.”
“We don’t
have to,” I said as I patted his hand. “Let
me
call the sheriff.” As the EMTs approached on foot, I added, “Set them up inside
while I take care of this.”
He nodded,
and the three of them went into The Charming Moose, all of them as thick as
thieves. It appeared that Moose had made a new friend in Ben. How did the man
do it? He could go to a house fire and come back with a firefighter as his new
buddy.
I got the
sheriff on the line, and I was happy when he picked up on the second ring.
“How’s Moose
doing?” was the first thing he asked me, before I could get a single word out.
“He’s fine.
Why do you ask?”
“I heard
about his heart attack over the radio,” the sheriff said. “I’m on my way to the
hospital right now, so just hold tight.”
I was touched
by the sheriff’s reaction, but I had to stop him before he compounded the
misconception that Moose was in trouble. “He’s okay. It was all just a ploy.”
Sheriff Croft
clearly didn’t like my explanation. “Explain yourself.”
“We were at
Mitchell Cobb’s place. Before you yell at me, it’s important to know that the
door was unlocked when we got there.”
“That doesn’t
excuse you both trespassing,” the sheriff said.
“Slap my
wrist later, okay? The man’s got an upstairs closet with more pictures of Ellen
than
anybody
should rightfully have.
He’s obsessed with her.”
“What do you
propose I do about it?” the sheriff asked. “I can’t break in without losing my
job and going to jail. You aren’t immune from arrest, too; you know that, don’t
you?”
“Go to his
house, and ask him if you can look around. You’re a persuasive guy. You can do
it.”
“Why should
I?” he asked.
“Listen, I
understand that you’re upset with Moose and me, but you can’t let that get in
the way of catching a killer.”
“He doesn’t
have to let me in. You know that, don’t you?”
“Can it hurt
to ask?” I questioned him.
“I suppose
not. I’m nearly there anyway. Sit tight. I’ll get back to you.”
After we hung
up, I went inside and waited for his call. Moose was regaling the entire diner
with his close brush with death, clearly enjoying every moment of it. Only
Martha was frowning in his direction. I joined her at the register.
“He’ll turn
anything into a story, won’t he?” I asked.
“I had hoped that
he’d outgrow it someday, but it appears that those wishes were all in vain.”
“You’ve got
to love him,” I said. “He drives me crazy sometimes. I can’t imagine how you’ve
managed it all of these years.”
“Patience,
prayer, and perseverance,” she said. Martha patted my hand as she looked into
my eyes. “Did he give you an awful fright?”
“There’s no
denying it, but he also might have saved my life. Take it easy on him, okay?”
“I’m not
making any promises,” she said with a grin, and I knew that they were going to
be all right.
My phone
rang, and I stepped back outside to take the call. It had been fifteen minutes,
barely enough time for the sheriff to search Mitchell’s house, and I felt my
spirits sag. “Hello?”
“It’s Croft.
Nothing.”
“Sorry he
wouldn’t let you search his place. Can’t you get a warrant or something?”
“You
misunderstood. He let me look around all I wanted. The upstairs closet was
clean.”
“That’s not
possible,” I said angrily. “I’m telling you, it was
covered
with pictures of Ellen.”
“Well, they’re
gone now. He must have realized what you two were after, so he got rid of the
evidence.”
“Hang on,” I
said. “I took some pictures. Let me send them to you, and then call me back,
okay?”
“Fine. I’ll
be waiting for them.”
After we hung
up, I opened my phone, checked the camera, and pulled up the two shots I’d
taken. It had been minimal light in there, and one of the shots hadn’t turned
out at all, but at least one of them showed a highlighted portion of the
collage. I sent it to the sheriff, and then I waited for his return call.
I didn’t have
long to wait.
“There’s no
way that I can tell where that photograph was taken,” he said with no preamble
at all.
“I took it in
Mitchell’s upstairs closet. That has to count for something.”
“We’ll look
at him harder than we have been,” Sheriff Croft said, “but as evidence, it’s
less than worthless.”
“Even with my
testimony about where I found it?” I asked.
“It’s too
soon to be talking about you testifying,” he said. “We have to get a lot more
on the man than that.”
“You’re going
to at least try, though, aren’t you?”
“We’ll do
what we can, but I can’t promise you miracles, and you should know better than
to ask for them. You know how this business works, Victoria.”
I was
disappointed with the results, but he was right. There was nothing I could
about it at the moment. “Thanks for trying,” I said.
“You’re
welcome. Listen, maybe I’ll go back and lean on him a little harder this time.”
“That would
be great,” I said.
“Oh, while I
have you on the phone, it turns out that Crazy Betty watched Ellen and Wayne
the entire time that they were picnicking. She said that they made such a cute
couple that she couldn’t stop watching them. Tell Ellen that as far as I’m
concerned, she’s in the clear, and if you see Wayne before I do, you can tell
him, too.”
“Thank you.
They’ll both be relieved,” I said. “What happens now?”
“What do you
think? We keep digging,” the sheriff said, and then he hung up.
He wasn’t the
only one with a shovel, though.
Moose and I
were going to continue to dig as well.
Maybe
somebody
would find a way to figure out
how to prove that Mitchell had been the one to eliminate the competition for
Ellen’s affection, both past and present.
That’s when
it hit me. If Mitchell had indeed gotten rid of Gordon for his past sins, wouldn’t
Wayne be the next logical victim?
I called his
shop, but he wasn’t there.
I didn’t have
time to tell anyone where I was going. I had to warn our friend before Mitchell
decided to take everyone else who mattered out of Ellen’s life.
Moose was
still embellishing his story, clearly enjoying every moment of it, so I left
him in the diner while I ran out to find Wayne and warn him.
As I was
driving to the shop, my phone rang.
It was the
sheriff. “I just wanted you to know that Mitchell was gone when I came back
over here to talk to him again.”
“That’s not
all that odd, is it?” I asked. “He’s probably around somewhere.”
“That’s the
thing. The door was unlocked and standing ajar, just like you said it was, so I
checked it out. All of his personal stuff is gone. It couldn’t have filled more
than a suitcase in the first place, but there’s nothing of his left at the
house.”
I felt my gut
twist thinking that the killer might have gotten away when we’d been so close
to nabbing him. “What are you going to do?”
“Don’t worry.
We’ll find him.
This
is something the
police are built for.”
“I just hope
that you catch him before anyone else gets hurt.”
“We’ll do our
best,” he said.
So then,
Mitchell was on the run. Did that make him guilty, or just paranoid? Then
again, why couldn’t it be both? Either way, I hoped that the man turned up
again soon.
“Is Wayne
here?” I asked one of his mechanics as I hurried into the repair shop.
“No, he’s out
getting a part for me,” the man said. “He’ll be back in ten minutes, though, if
you want to stick around.”
“No, that’s
alright. Do you happen to know the name of the supply place where he went?”
“It’s nothing
as fancy as all that,” he said. “He’s just picking up a hose from the hardware
store. Jack keeps a few things in stock that we need from time to time.”
“I’ll go
there, then. Thanks.”
As I drove to
the hardware store, I had to park on the other side of the alley where Gordon
was murdered. There were no spots in front of the hardware store, so I parked
near A Close Knit World. There was a lovely display of yarn in the front
window, and I considered the possibility of learning how to do it myself as I
got out of my car. It might be something fun to do to unwind while Greg and I
watched television at night.