04 Once Upon a Thriller (7 page)

“We're on our way to an appointment outside of town, but please call on us later today if you need anything at all,” the woman said.

I glanced at the slip of paper before putting it in my pocket.

“Sure, thanks,” I replied, though I doubted I would ever call. I had a full day planned, and though I was still a bit shaken, I was fine.

The couple climbed back into their car and drove away, and Ian and the sheriff turned to me.

“Are you sure you're all right?” Ian asked yet again.

“Of course!” I replied, smiling reassuringly. “You did a great job patching me up.”

“I'm going to stop by the cabin later this afternoon, if that's okay,” Ian told me. “You know, just to make sure.”

I smiled. “Since Bess and George went back to River Heights, I checked into the Cheshire Cat Inn. It's not necessary, but that's where I'll be if you want to stop by.”

I waved a quick farewell and hurried across the street to the diner. Paige was waiting for me at a windowed corner booth.

“Are you okay? I just saw that car almost take your life,” she said.

I smiled sheepishly. “Really, I'm fine. No worse for wear,” I said as I settled in across from her and began the interview.

“What can you tell me about the fire Saturday morning?” I asked as I opened my notebook. I would have taped our interview, but thought I would be less threatening just taking notes.

“Well, we had a book reading and signing scheduled for ten a.m. with Lacey O'Brien. We're not particularly close, but we were in the same class in high school. Once a year, I'm able to convince her to come out for a special event. Well, her husband convinces her. I knew him back then too. They're high school sweethearts, you know.”

She paused and looked off in the distance distractedly for a moment before she continued. “Of course, as you know, the event never happened. When I showed up at eight to open the store, the firefighters were already there. It looks like the blaze broke out in the early morning, and the firefighters think it was caused by old electrical wiring.”

I jotted everything down in my notebook.

“I thought the firefighters were investigating the possibility that the fire was caused by an arsonist,” I pointed out. “Isn't that why there was police tape up around the store?”

Paige sighed heavily. “I was hoping you wouldn't have to print that in your article,” she explained. “The bookstore hasn't been doing too well lately, and I didn't want the bad publicity. But you're right—the sheriff and the fire chief are investigating the matter. I hope it wasn't arson and that the fire was accidental.”

I nodded as I made a few more notes, thinking back to what Ian had said about the sheriff and the fire chief finding the kerosene and frayed wire in the bookstore. Clearly Paige was in denial about the cause of the fire. “Ms. Samuels, if it was arson, do you have any idea who would want to torch your shop?”

“Please, call me Paige,” she said. “Oh, my. Absolutely not. As I said before, this is a very small town, and everyone here gets along.”

Hmm,
I thought.
Not exactly.
I thought of Alice Ann, and how she didn't seem to care much for either Lacey O'Brien or Paige. I still found it hard to believe that Alice Ann was behind the fire or the theft, but stranger things had happened. But I still couldn't figure out what her motive would have been. And was it Alice Ann who'd been on the porch of our cabin? If it was, she sure knew how to cover up her feelings, as she couldn't have been nicer to me when I got a room at the inn.

I caught Paige glancing at her watch, so I quickly moved on to the next topic.

“Did you call to tell her about the fire?”

Paige nodded. “After I'd spoken with the firefighters, I did call her to let her know what happened. We briefly discussed rescheduling the appearance for later in the year, after the store reopens.”

“And her husband, Rick Brown. Do you know him well?” I asked.

Paige shrugged. “Not really. Like I said, we went to high school together, but that was ages ago.”

“You do know that one of his sculptures was taken?” I said.

“I just heard about it on my way here,” Paige answered. She shifted in her seat and glanced at her watch again.

“For the life of me, I don't have a clue as to who would be targeting Avondale's fine arts,” she said. “Books and paintings and sculpture are important tourist attractions for us and add so much to our community. I do hope the police get to the bottom of this and fast.”

She paused, then said apologetically, “I should probably be getting back. I have so much cleanup work to do.”

“Of course,” I answered. “Just one last thing. Some people have theorized that the arsonist and the art gallery thief may be perpetrating crimes based on some of the plotlines in Lacey O'Brien's books.”

Paige looked startled. “Really?” she asked. “You mean, like a copycat criminal?”

“Exactly,” I explained with a nod. “Do you think you could help me contact Lacey? I'd like to speak with her about her books, but I know she's reclusive. I'd also really like to interview her husband about his art piece.”

Suddenly Paige's face lit up.

“Did you happen to catch the names of the couple from your accident?” she asked.

I thought back to the police report the sheriff had filled out, wondering what this had to do with Lacey O'Brien.

“I think they were Richard and Cecilia Brown,” I told her. “Why?”

She leaned in and whispered, “Well, the couple that tried to run you down was none other than Lacey O'Brien and her husband!”

I PULLED THE SLIP OF
paper the woman had handed me earlier out of my pocket. It read:

555-0192

34 Crescent Lane

“Cecilia Brown is Lacey O'Brien?” I asked, incredulous.

Paige nodded. “Lacey O'Brien's been her pen name since we were in high school,” she explained. “She always hated the name Cecilia Duncan. She was named for her grandmother, and Lacey thought it sounded old-fashioned. It didn't help that most of the kids in school called her CeeCee, even though she despised the nickname. She almost always goes by Lacey these days, but it makes sense that she gave her real name to the sheriff.”

“But he acted like he didn't even recognize her,” I said. I couldn't believe that the sheriff hadn't known that Cecilia Brown and Lacey O'Brien were one and the same person.

Paige shrugged. “He probably didn't,” she said. “Most folks in Avondale have only heard of her as Lacey O'Brien, the local mystery writer, and don't know her personally. Aside from her close friends and people who grew up with her, not many local residents would recognize her. I only know her real name is Cecilia because of our high school days. So it's no surprise the sheriff didn't know who she was. He's only been in office a few years, anyway.”

I glanced back down at the slip of paper. What luck! As crazy as it sounded, almost getting hit by a car was turning out to be my best break of the day. I was all but guaranteed an interview, or at the very least, a meeting with the famous author later that afternoon.

For now, I had one more place to visit in town—the art gallery.

“Thank you again for your time,” I told Paige. “The story should be in both the online and paper edition of the
River Heights Bugle
tomorrow morning.”

“Of course,” she replied. “I'm happy to help. And thank you for looking into the fire. If it was arson, I'm eager to find out who's behind it.”

“Me too,” I assured her. “And I won't stop investigating until I do.”

Paige offered to pay for our coffees on her way out, and I headed to the ladies' room.

On my way there, I realized someone was in the booth right behind ours. Oddly, he or she—I really couldn't tell—was hunched down in their seat and seemed to be hiding behind a large menu. But I was able to glimpse a shock of curly brown hair with a streak of gray.

“Alice Ann?” I asked tentatively.

She lowered the menu and seemed surprised to see me there. An empty coffee cup and a plate with the remains of a slice of pie sat on the table in front of her. Since I hadn't seen her come in, I figured she had been there the whole time Paige and I had been talking, which meant she had likely heard our entire conversation. And considering she was my number one suspect—maybe my only suspect—I wasn't thrilled that she was pretty much spying on us.

“Nancy!” she replied a bit too cheerfully as she jumped up and grabbed her check from the table. “I didn't know you were here.”

She waved the bill in front of me as she headed for the cashier.

“In a hurry!” she cried. “I've got to get back to the inn!”

I walked out the door, shaking my head. In addition to being one of the town's biggest gossips, it seemed Alice Ann was also an expert eavesdropper. Or was it more than that? I thought back to the wallet incident on Saturday. Was it possible that Alice Ann was really shadowing me? I was glad that my stay at the inn would keep her close to me.

I headed outside, and after quickly checking directions on my phone, I realized I could walk the few blocks to the art gallery. I glanced behind me a few times on the way just to be sure Alice Ann wasn't tailing me. I was fairly confident I was on my own, but I felt jumpy all the same. I couldn't shake my suspicions about that woman.

The Clancy Tate Gallery was cool and bright, though the scene that greeted me was anything but cheerful. A thin, tight-lipped man in a dark turtleneck and thick glasses with tousled hair was standing in front of a desk in the corner, having a heated argument with a woman in a blue suit standing opposite him.

“Mr. Tate, please, I ask you not to raise your voice!” she implored him. “I assure you that it won't help the situation.”

The man sat down in his chair abruptly and slumped back, looking completely dejected.

“I'm ruined!” he wailed.

“Now, now, Mr. Tate,” the woman replied in a clipped voice. “There's no need to be so dramatic.”

The man stood back up and squared his shoulders proudly before he addressed her again.

“Excuse me,” he began softly. “But you've just come into my gallery and informed me that my insurance policy lapsed three days ago, and that no one from your agency had the decency to send me a renewal notice. So for the last three days—including the day before yesterday, when a valuable piece of artwork was stolen from this gallery—I have had absolutely zero insurance coverage! Which means that I am solely responsible for the cost of the piece! And you dare to accuse me of being overly dramatic?”

He was shouting loudly by the end of his brief speech.

The woman retreated sheepishly.

“I do apologize, Mr. Tate,” she replied. “Perhaps I should come back tomorrow so that we can discuss this further.”

She turned to leave and saw me standing near the entrance.

“And I see you have a customer as well, so I'll be out of your hair now,” she said as she quickly darted past me and out the door.

The man sighed loudly.

“Thank goodness that vile woman is gone,” he muttered, more to himself than to me.

Suddenly he seemed to notice me standing there.

“Oh, excuse me,” he apologized, a dazed look on his face. “Can I help you?”

“I hope so,” I replied. “Are you Clancy Tate?”

He grimaced. “I'm afraid so.”

“My name is Nancy Drew,” I introduced myself. “I'm on special assignment for the
River Heights Bugle
, investigating the recent Avondale crime spree. Would you have a moment to answer a few questions about
The Bride of Avondale
for my article?”

“Would I?” Mr. Tate asked. “If your article can help get the statue back, then I've got all the time in the world.”

We sat at a glass-topped table, and once again, out came my notebook.

“When did you first notice that the sculpture was missing?” I asked.

“I was the only one here. One of my co-workers had the day off and another called in sick.” Mr. Tate paused and then went on. “Lacey O'Brien's fans were in town for her signing at the bookstore. I guess a few of her ‘super fans' know she's married to the sculptor Richard Brown, so they came flooding in to see one of his most beloved works. It's not a large piece—in fact, it's rather delicate—but the detail and intricacy is meticulous.

“We had about twenty more people than usual sign the guest book on Saturday. At one point, I must admit, I did go in back to look for a sepia photograph of Moon Lake by Ethan Jenkins, another of our local artists.” He took a deep breath and continued. “After that, I was busy making a sale of a few posters to a woman from Louisiana. When I realized the statue was gone, I called the police immediately, and they were here within minutes. But it was too late. The thief was long gone—it could have been anyone.”