Prose and Cons Read online

  “At least tell us what you are looking for,” I said. “You can do that much.”

  “For a substance that the coroner found on the dress.” He turned to Sadie. “My officers will start searching while we talk—would that be all right?”

  She nodded mutely. Officers Clipton and Wheaton started moving around the room. Wheaton stared at the ceiling while he circled the shop, and Clipton stared at the floor going the opposite direction. The synchronization would have been humorous if I didn’t know that they were in the process of searching for evidence, evidence that might implicate Sadie in Anastasia’s death.

  “What kind of substance?” I asked, moving next to Sadie. “You can at least tell us that much.”

  He frowned but finally said, “Liquid nicotine.”

  Beside me, I felt Sadie tremble. I wrapped my arm protectively around her shoulders if only to hide her shaking from Rainwater. I knew it was a futile act; he must have noticed it just as I had.

  I scrunched up my nose. “There was liquid nicotine on her dress? That doesn’t make any sense. How did it get there?”

  Rainwater watched his officers over our heads. “That’s what I would like to know.”

  “If there was liquid nicotine on her dress, how could that cause her to fall? The dress got wet or something?”

  He made a face as if he thought he had said too much already. “The dress was dry. There was nicotine on the inside of it. The coroner thinks that someone purposely poured liquid nicotine onto the inside of the dress and let it dry. When the liquid evaporated, the toxic nicotine remained on the dress. When Anastasia put on the dress, it was absorbed through her skin.”

  “Could it have spilled accidentally?” I asked.

  “We don’t believe so. There was too much all over the garment. It looks intentional.”

  “Why would anyone do that?” I was still confused.

  “To disorient her, make her stumble or act strangely. At least that is my working theory.”

  “You mean murder her,” I said.

  “We don’t know that. She died from falling down the stairs and breaking her neck, but she probably would not have fallen, though, if there wasn’t so much nicotine in her system.”

  I shivered. Beside me I noticed that Sadie had stopped trembling and gone very still.

  Rainwater turned to Sadie. “Sadie, do you have access to liquid nicotine?”

  “I—I—” It didn’t seem like she was able to get the words out.

  “Chief!” Officer Clipton called out. “I found something!”

  He glanced at Sadie before heading to the back of the shop to see what the officer had discovered.

  “Sadie,” I hissed. “What’s going on? What did she find?”

  She wrapped her arms about herself. She looked so young in her patent leather shoes and Peter Pan collar dress. She couldn’t and wouldn’t hurt a fly. She couldn’t have done this.

  “She probably found my e-cigarettes,” she whispered.

  Immediately I understood. E-cigarettes required liquid nicotine to work. “I didn’t know that you smoked.”

  “I don’t,” she said defensively. “I mean I haven’t for a very long time. I started in high school and gave it up in college because Grant didn’t like it. I just started with the e-cigarettes after Grant was arrested this summer. It was so stressful not knowing what was going to happen to him, not knowing what was going to happen to our relationship, that I had the urge to smoke again. You know, just to take the edge off. I thought the e-cigarettes would be better. They say they are healthier.”

  I wasn’t going to debate the health aspects of e-cigarettes with her. “You’ve been using them since the summer?”

  She nodded. “No one knows. Not even Grant. Please don’t tell him. He hates cigarettes, and he wouldn’t like it if he knew.”

  I promised her I wouldn’t, but there was no way for us to keep the secret if it became part of the murder investigation. Murder investigation. Chief Rainwater hadn’t come right out and said that Anastasia had been murdered, but if someone purposely dosed her dress with liquid nicotine and it led to her death, it was the obvious conclusion.

  As if she read my mind, Sadie grabbed my arm and said, “But I never spilled any of the liquid from my cigarettes on Anastasia’s dress. I’ve never even used my e-cigarette in the shop.”

  “How could it have gotten on the dress, then?”

  She shook her head. “I have no idea.”

  I squeezed her hand. “Maybe it wasn’t from your e-cigarettes at all.”

  Rainwater rejoined us. In his hand he held a clear plastic bag with a bottle inside. The bottle resembled the type that would have contained eye drops, but instead of a clear liquid the remnants at the bottom of the nearly empty bottle were a sickly yellow color. “Sadie, is this yours?”

  “It’s strawberry flavor,” Officer Clipton announced as if she were talking about some sort of candy.

  The chief gave her a withering glance. “Sadie, can you please answer the question?”

  “Y-yes. It’s mine. Where did you find it?” Her grip on my arm tightened.

  “In your wastebasket in the back of the shop,” Officer Clipton answered, happy to help.

  “I don’t know how it got there,” Sadie said. “I wouldn’t have thrown it away in the shop. I wouldn’t want anyone to find out about my habit, and it’s mostly gone. I haven’t even opened the strawberry one that I have.”

  “So what are you saying?” Rainwater asked.

  “I—I don’t know what I’m saying other than I didn’t empty that bottle and I didn’t throw it away in my shop.” Her tone was emphatic, and I couldn’t speak for Rainwater or his officers, but I believed her. Sadie would never throw the bottle away in her shop if she wanted to keep her habit a secret from her fiancé, Grant. There was too great a chance he might see it.

  Then I remembered smelling strawberries when I met Anastasia at the bottom of the stairs when she first arrived at Charming Books that afternoon and again when I knelt beside her body. I had thought it was strange because it wasn’t a scent I would have expected from her. It was too juvenile, like candy. I definitely wouldn’t associate Anastasia with candy of any kind. It had been the dress that I’d smelled, not Anastasia.

  “When I met Anastasia inside Charming Books before she went upstairs to put on the dress, I remember she smelled like strawberries,” I told the others. “I thought it was strange at the time, but I didn’t ask her about it because the Poe-try Reading was about to start.”

  “Are you sure?” Rainwater asked.

  I nodded. “I remember it perfectly.”

  He rubbed his chin. “All that would lead us to believe is that the nicotine was placed on the dress before Anastasia put it on, but it does narrow the timetable as to when the crime may have taken place, however slightly.”

  I frowned. So that didn’t disprove Sadie did it? She could have poured the nicotine on the dress and allowed it to dry before giving it to Anastasia. I tried to remember the night before when all the Red Inkers were together in Charming Books. Had I smelled anything resembling strawberries? All I could remember was the scent of the cookies as I rode my bike home from La Crepe Jolie.

  The police chief turned to Sadie. “I’m going to have to take a look at the rest of your shop and your apartment.”

  “But I told you that I never took the dress from the shop. The only time I ever took it from this building was when I carried it and the other garments for the Red Inkers across the street to Charming Books.” Sadie bit her bottom lip.

  I grimaced. I didn’t think that statement helped her case in the least.

  I grasped Sadie’s arm. “Sadie, I suggest you call a lawyer before you let this go any further.”

  Rainwater’s eyes slid in my direction and back to Sadie. “That is Sadie’s right.”

&
nbsp; “And,” I said, “I suggest you come back with a warrant if you want to search any more.”

  Sadie’s eyes filled with tears. One giant tear spilled over and ran down her flawless cheek. “But I can’t afford a lawyer. Every penny I have goes back into the shop or is being saved for the wedding.” She choked up when she said this. “If there ever is a wedding. Grant has called it off so many times.”

  I ground my teeth as I thought of Grant. He should be here now at Sadie’s side supporting her through this. She had been with him every step of the way through his troubles with the law over the summer when he had been admittedly guilty. Sadie was innocent, and he was nowhere to be found.

  “I can make a call,” I said. “You don’t worry about the cost right now. We’ll sort it out.”

  “Is that what you want, Sadie?” Rainwater asked.

  She looked to me and I gave her a slight nod.

  “Yes,” she squeaked.

  “All right.” He held up the evidence bag. “But we’re going to have to take this.”

  Rainwater explained to Sadie he would go to the courthouse and request a warrant and would need her to meet him at her apartment within the hour with her lawyer. As he spoke, I stepped behind a mannequin and dialed the last number in Cascade Springs I’d thought I would ever call.

  TWELVE

  Nathan Morton strode up River Road from the direction of the Food and Wine Festival with a phone attached to his ear. He was a man on a mission. He was still wearing the suit he wore to his official duties as the mayor of Cascade Springs during the Food and Wine Festival, of which there were many. Despite the lateness in the day, the suit was still pristine as if he’d just put it on a few minutes before. His eyes bored into mine as he made his way up the sidewalk toward Midcentury Vintage until I was forced to look away.

  Just as Nathan reached me, Chief Rainwater stepped out of Sadie’s shop. He also had a cell phone attached to his ear, but I knew by the way his eyes narrowed ever so slightly he had noted Nathan’s arrival.

  “Violet, I came as quick as I could. How is Sadie?” He touched my arm.

  I tried to ignore the feeling of his warm hand through my sweatshirt. “She’s all right. I think. Where’s Grant? I told you to bring him with you.”

  Nathan pressed his lips together. “He couldn’t get away from the family wine booth. The place is packed with people lining up for dinner.”

  “But . . .”

  Nathan just shook his head. I suppressed a frown. I knew there was more to it than just Grant’s inability to escape the family’s booth at the festival. Nathan was able to escape the festival, and he was the mayor, who was required to be there all day to schmooze with the visitors and villagers alike.

  Grandma Daisy, holding Emerson in her arms, watched us from across the street. As it was close to dinnertime, the crowd partaking in Charming Books’ impromptu sidewalk sale and Poe-try Reading had dwindled significantly as the many tourists had headed down to the Riverwalk for something to eat. My grandmother waved to me and her silver eyebrows dropped low in worry. I knew I should cross the street and tell her what was happening, but there was something important I needed to take care of first. “What about the lawyer?” I asked Nathan. “The police want to search Sadie’s apartment after discovering the liquid nicotine in her shop. I told them that she needed a lawyer and they needed a warrant.”

  “Mayor,” the police chief said as he tucked his phone into the inside pocket of his tweed coat and approached us. I wondered when the chief would have time to go home and change out of his Dupin outfit. “What are you doing here?”

  Nathan dropped his hand from my arm but not before Rainwater took note of it being there for so long.

  “I’m the mayor of this village and as such I am your superior as far as the village government is concerned. You’re required to share with me what you know about events, especially crimes that happen in my village.”

  I stared at Nathan. I don’t think that I had ever seen him so angry before. I tried to think of a time I had heard him speak so harshly, but nothing came to mind. Nathan had always been the easygoing kind of guy, the guy whom everyone liked and who was popular without even trying.

  The chief’s tawny-colored skin flashed burnt red. “Before Violet Waverly returned to Cascade Springs, you had very little interest in law enforcement in the village, Mr. Mayor. I can’t help but think that your sudden interest and her return to the village isn’t a coincidence.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?” Nathan balled his fists at his sides.

  Rainwater’s jaw twitched. “I will not let you hinder my investigation because of your personal relationships that have nothing to do with your position as the mayor of Cascade Springs.”

  Nathan looked like he wanted to argue more, and a small group of tourists began to cluster around us on the sidewalk. I was sure this was not the entertainment they’d expected to find when they decided to come to the Cascade Springs Food and Wine Festival for the weekend, but they were more than happy to watch.

  “Nathan.” I grabbed Nathan’s hand, pulling him away from the gate, and he intertwined his fingers with mine as if it was second nature. The familiarity of his touch even after all this time took my breath away.

  “Sadie Cunningham’s lawyer is on his way here, and please leave the poor girl alone until you have a warrant,” Nathan called over his shoulder.

  “It’s on its way,” the police chief said through gritted teeth. Rainwater’s amber eyes noted our intertwined fingers. He stepped around us and through the gate leading into Midcentury Vintage. Officer Clipton followed with an annoying half smile on her face. I was glad she was finding all of this so entertaining.

  I pulled my hand away from Nathan’s grasp. “Call that lawyer again. I think Sadie needs him right now.”

  Nathan nodded and removed his cell from the lapel pocket of his jacket. He tapped the phone’s screen and placed it against his ear.

  “And call your brother too. Sadie will want him here,” I added. “I don’t care what excuse he makes up. She needs him.”

  He frowned but gave the slightest nod to acknowledge he’d heard me on that account too.

  “Henry Baskin, please. Tell him this is Mayor Nathan Morton,” he said into the phone.

  Nathan had no sooner finished his call to Baskin’s office than the lawyer himself ambled up the sidewalk from the direction of the Riverwalk.

  Henry Baskin, Esq., reminded me of Eeyore the donkey from Winnie-the-Pooh. If the man had a tail, it would be half-pinned to his bottom, threatening to fall off, and if it fell, the droopy attorney wouldn’t even have the energy to care. He was a huge man, over six feet tall and heavy. His ample stomach hung over the waistband of his pants, but he didn’t seem as large as he actually was. He held himself in a slouching manner that made him look smaller and less imposing.

  Nathan saw my expression. “He’s the best. He’s the one who got Grant off with such a great deal after his embezzlement scheme.”

  I frowned. To me, it didn’t look like Baskin could fight for much of anything, let alone weasel Grant Morton out of all his crimes with barely more than a warning.

  As the lawyer lumbered up the sidewalk, Grandma Daisy ran across the street. Emerson was no longer in her arms. “Can someone please tell me what’s going on?”

  Baskin was moving at such a slow pace I was able to give her the highlights of the last hour before he reached us.

  Grandma Daisy gripped the end of her scarf. “Poor Sadie.”

  As she said this, Sadie stumbled out of the front door of her shop. The typically bubbly girl looked as droopy as her lawyer. This was not going to be an upbeat duo.

  “Who is the suspect under investigation?” Baskin asked when he finally reached us.

  “Suspect?” Sadie cried. Another big tear rolled down Sadie’s cheek. “I wouldn’t hurt anyone e
ver.”

  Grandma Daisy wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “We know that, dear. No one thinks you did anything wrong. Not even David.”

  I wasn’t so sure about that last statement. It seemed that my grandmother had unfailing belief in her friend the police chief. She had made a similar claim about Rainwater when she had been a murder suspect over the summer.

  Baskin ambled over to Rainwater, where he stood with Wheaton and Clipton. “Chief Rainwater, might I have a word?”

  Rainwater scowled but finally nodded. He and Baskin moved out of earshot from not only us but also his officers. I was dying to hear what they were saying but saw no way to move over there without being seen by Rainwater or his officers. Wheaton, in particular, appeared to be keeping an eye on me.

  Instead I turned away from the chief and the attorney in the direction of the Riverwalk, hoping to see Grant striding up the sidewalk. He never came. Apparently, Grant Morton was still too busy to come to the aid of his wife-to-be. I made a mental note to tell him just what I thought of that the next time I saw him.

  “Thank you for your time.” Baskin shook Rainwater’s hand. “Sadie and I will meet you at her apartment.”

  Rainwater nodded. Without looking at me, he and his officers left—I imagined in order to retrieve the search warrant they needed from the judge. My only hope was it would take time to track down Judge Bickle to sign the warrant. He had a reputation for loving the Food and Wine Festival, especially the wine. If luck held, he’d be snoozing under a table somewhere in the big dining tent.

  Baskin tugged at his collar as if it were fastened too tightly around his throat even though it was open to the third button. “The police confiscated the bottle they found in Sadie’s wastebasket before I arrived. They also took a sampling of her liquid nicotine.”

  “Are you sure that’s all they took?” Grandma Daisy asked.

  “Yes. They have to tell me what was taken, and Rainwater is a by-the-book sort. He wouldn’t lie. He wouldn’t risk ruining his case in court by not doing everything by the letter of the law.”