Ellie knew the detectives coming to talk to her were not going to help matters any. Then having them ask to close the shop only made things worse. She could imagine the gossip and rumors already, especially with the way people were whispering as they left the shop on the detectives’ orders.
Sensing his mistress’s distress, Beau whimpered some and Ellie stroked the fluffy fur on his head to calm him, and herself, down. He’d always been a source of calm for her, ever since she brought him home from the shelter a couple years before. It was right around the time she and her ex-husband Alex had started to emotionally drift apart. She was lonely and needed something to love, and a shared post about a mangy, starving dog in need of adoption on her Facebook feed was enough to convince her to act.
When she’d first met the dog who was to become her best friend, he wasn’t the soft, golden pile of fur and love he was now. He was a matted, skinny, scared dog who cowered in the corner of a metal cage and hid from everyone that passed him by.
Still, Ellie had seen something in him. Maybe his fear reminded her of her own. Or maybe it was because she saw him as something she could fix when everything else was breaking down. It didn’t really matter why, but she took him home that day and never looked back.
Alex had been furious. They didn’t have time for a dog, they didn’t have money for a dog, and he argued that the dog would split their attention. He slammed doors and Ellie had slammed them right back at him, which didn’t help in calming Beau’s fractious nerves. They both knew that the fight wasn’t about the dog at all, not really, but he served as an outlet for the frustration they’d both been feeling over everything else.
Eventually, Alex warmed to the idea of Beau, even if he never really connected with the dog. On Ellie’s part, she’d fallen head over heels in love with her new companion. With love, training, dedication, and a lot of grooming, Beau transformed from a miserable street mutt into a calm, loving, beautiful pooch. Ellie hadn’t known it when she’d adopted him, but soon enough she’d come to rely on him just as he had relied on her. They made each other stronger and his newfound confidence rubbed off on Ellie. She’d tell anyone who listened that she’d become a better person because of him.
Maybe it was having Beau there, or maybe it was the confidence she’d found in telling Alex she wanted a divorce, but Ellie faced Will and his partner with calm and poise. She’d done nothing wrong, and if she had to prove that to them, she would.
“What can we do for you, detectives?” Ellie asked once she, Beau, Ma’May, and the detectives were alone in the shop. Ma’May had turned the ‘Open’ sign to ‘Closed’ and locked the door to be sure they weren’t interrupted.
“I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors,” Will said as his partner opened his little pad to take notes. “Gossip spreads like wildfire in little towns.”
“That it does,” Ma’May said with a disappointed cluck of her tongue.
“Yes, well, we’re here because that gossip is sadly true,” Detective Guest told the women. “The medical examiner doesn’t have the results yet, but believes Ms. Ainsley died from ingesting some kind of poison. We don’t know if was accidental, self-inflicted, or intentional, but we have to treat it as the latter.”
“Does that mean we’re suspects?” Ellie asked, her voice smooth and steady, which came as a surprise to her more than anyone else.
“No,” Will assured her. “Though we will have to ask you not to leave town until we tell you it’s okay.”
“I served everyone cookies and punch,” Ellie admitted. “But no one else got sick. Even Beau had some and he’s fine.”
“We’re going to need definitive lab results before we know exactly where the poison came from,” Will told her. “But we are going to need more information from both of you. We’ll need a list of names of everyone who was here last night, along with their addresses and phone numbers. Do you have that?”
“Of course,” Ellie confirmed. “We needed it as part of our book club. I can get that for you.”
“And I’d like to take a look at the crime scene,” Connor said, but Will shook his head at his younger partner. Ellie had pegged Will as being in his low thirties, but Connor had a babyface that made her think he must only be right out of the academy, though she knew that couldn’t be true. He definitely was no more than twenty-six, that much she was sure of.
“We’re not calling it that yet,” Will told them. “But Ms. Reid, if you could show my partner to the back room.”
“Sure,” Ellie told him, but he stopped her.
“Actually, I meant the other Ms. Reid,” he corrected. “I have a few more questions for you.”
Ellie’s heart thumped, but she didn’t protest as Ma’May led Connor to the back room. She wasn’t sure what kind of questions Will would have for her, but she knew she had no real reason to worry. She did nothing wrong, and his questions wouldn’t change that.
“How are you holding up?” Will asked her as he bent down and patted Beau’s head.
“I’m holding up fine,” she assured him. “And I really hope no one actually purposely did this to Abbie.”
“Me too,” Will admitted. “But we can’t just go on hopes, unfortunately. Tell me, was Abbie acting weird at all? Anything you can think of?”
Ellie did her due diligence and thought on it for a minute. “No,” she finally settled on. “She seemed happy enough. Quiet, but she was always kind of quiet. I was surprised she joined our book club at all.”
Will’s eyebrows rose slightly at that comment. “And why’s that?” he asked her.
“Just that she’s quiet,” Ellie told him. “Abbie came in here once a week, sometimes more. She reads a lot. Like, a lot, which is great. That’s exactly why I asked if she wanted to join our book club, though I thought she’d say no. She doesn’t strike me as very social is all.”
“Do you think her husband had anything to do with her anti-social behavior?” Will asked while Beau licked the back of his hand.
“You mean Dave?” Ellie asked with a bit of surprise. She’d known Dave, or at least known about him, since she was a girl. He was a legend by time Ellie had gotten to high school; running in four touchdowns in the state final football game. If not for a torn ligament, he would have been playing in the NFL. He was loud, a little brash, but a big old teddy bear from how he acted with Abbie when he joined her in the store. There was no way he’d tell her not to join the club. If anything, he encouraged her to join the other ladies.
“He didn’t try to keep her from joining,” Ellie told the detective. “He was with her when she officially signed up. He looked proud of her, not angry. Why?”
Will’s brow scrunched uncomfortably at Ellie’s question and he ran his fingers through his hair before he answered her. “We have to consider every angle,” he told her.
“Wait,” Ellie stopped him. “Are you saying Dave is a suspect?”
“We have to take every precaution,” Will said. “At this time, Mr. Ainsley is a person of interest.”
Ellie couldn’t believe it. Yes, Dave Ainsley had a reputation for being loud, a little vulgar, a little careless, and she’d heard he had a temper, but he was a softy at heart. He coached kids’ football and the parents all agreed he did a good job. At least that was what Ellie had overheard while manning the counter of the bookstore. She’d seen him helping Hettie Stone carry her groceries home on more than one occasion. There was no way he would murder his wife. And with poison no less!
“It’s not possible,” Ellie told him matter-of-factly. She watched her fair share of crime shows and had read more than enough crime novels to fill a library. Ellie may never have gone to a police academy and she didn’t have a fancy badge to flash, but she knew without a doubt that Dave Ainsley didn’t hurt his wife. There was one very good reason to make that assumption that he was innocent, even if she had never met him.
Curiosity danced on Will’s face and she wasn’t sure if it was the amused kind, or the annoyed. Ellie’s stubbornness wouldn’t let her back down and she forced her own hint of a smile when he asked, “Oh? And why’s that?”
“Because of one very simple reason,” Ellie told him. “Men don’t poison people. Poison is a woman’s weapon.”
Despite the seriousness of the situation, or maybe because of it, Will laughed. Not at her, at least, Ellie didn’t think it was at her, but it stung all the same.
“That’s a bit sexist, don’t you think?” he asked. “Who says men can’t poison people? Not that I’m officially saying that’s what happened here,” he quickly added.
“I know, I know,” Ellie agreed. “But if you look at history, men don’t poison people nearly as much as women do. That, and no offense to Dave Ainsley, but he doesn’t appear to be the kind of person who has the finesse involved in poisoning someone.” That was putting in gently. Calling Dave Ainsley a bull in a china shop was a little more accurate. From what Ellie remembered from her high school days, after Dave lost his scholarship, he dropped out of university and transferred to a local community college. He now worked as a welder and while it was a good job, the man never had any kind of training that would give him the knowledge necessary to deliver a deadly dose of poison.
Will considered what she said before he sighed. “I understand that, but right now we have to consider him a person of interest. When a spouse dies under suspicious circumstances, their partner is always a person of interest. That’s just how these things work.”
“Then let me help you out,” Ellie said before her brain realized exactly what she was implying.
“Excuse me?” Will asked with a bit of a chuckle.
Ellie bristled at his laughter. She hadn’t realized it when she’d said the words aloud, but she did mean them. She wanted to help find out who did this to Abbie.
“I’m serious,” she insisted. “This is my store,” she went on, despite that being a bit of a fib. It was still technically all Ma’May’s store and Ellie was only part owner in spirit, but Will didn’t need to know that part. “And Abbie was my friend.” Again, a bit of a fib. She knew Abbie through the store, and she wanted to be her friend, but they hadn’t had the chance to become much more than acquaintances. Now they never would.
“That’s all fine,” Will told her. “But you’re not a detective. Leave the police work to the professionals.”
Before Ellie could argue with him any more than she already had, Ma’May and Connor had returned from the back room. Just like her granddaughter, Ma’May appeared poised and mostly unphased by what had happened the night before at their store, while Connor had touch of frustration on his face. Ellie could only imagine what her grandmother had been telling him to cause such an expression on the young detective’s babyface.
“All good back there?” Will asked his partner.
“Sure,” Connor told him as his scowl receded some. “Anything else we need?”
“Not right now,” Will told him before he turned back to Ellie and her grandmother. “Ladies, thank you for your assistance. You’ve been most helpful. I’d advise you to keep the store closed for the day, in case something comes up. We’ll let you know when you are clear to reopen. That is all the help we’ll need from you, understood?”
Ma’May shot Ellie a curious glance, but Ellie ignored it. At least for now. Instead, she folded her arms over her chest and said, “Sure thing, detective,” in a curt, clipped voice.
Ma’May showed the two men out before she locked the door behind them. It was only once she and her granddaughter were alone in the store that she turned to Ellie and asked, “What in the world was that about?”
“Nothing,” Ellie lied. “But I think I need to do a little investigating of my own.”
Ma’May always had a streak of the devil in her, and that hadn’t changed as she had gotten older. If anything, the devil was closer to the surface than ever. Ellie knew her grandmother would be on board for playing detective, even if it meant they may get in a little trouble.
But a bit of trouble would be worth it if she could clear Dave Ainsley’s name. Ellie knew he couldn’t have done it. She didn’t have any proof, but deep down she knew it was the truth.
Now she just needed to prove it.