All through the night Nell tossed and turned and couldn’t get comfortable. She experienced horrible nightmares the like of which she’d never had before. Waking up anxious, she tried to call Elena right away.
She heard the ringing in her ear. Please, please, please pick up. Stupid answering machine. “Elena, please call me immediately. If I’m not home, try my cell phone. Hurry!” She then called Elena’s cell phone. Nothing there either. She left the same message.
It was early, but Nell thought for sure she’d catch her before she went somewhere. She wondered if Elena was going to be gone for a few days. She had lots of friends and relatives that she visited. Nell couldn’t remember if she previously mentioned anything about traveling or not.
Hooking up leashes to their collars, she took the boys for an early walk before church. All three of them could benefit from some exercise and fresh air. The best time of the day for a walk was early morning. The air was still crisp, the heat had not yet begun, and everything was so peaceful. Nell couldn’t help thinking how all this had ended for Nell in Wausaukee. A wife and mother, she had also just realized her dream in food.
Nell prayed that her own food dream hadn’t cost this Nell her life. That would be a hard burden to bear.
A huge concern for her was that Northwoodsman/Sam would find out he offed the wrong person and come looking for her to finish the job. The way that Nell Norton was murdered hadn’t been mentioned yet. Just that it was gruesome. Nell couldn’t bear to think about the method used by this cruel assailant. She was sure that the kind of monster who would kill someone else without being absolutely sure of her identity wouldn’t stop until he had made up for his error. Why did she ever write that negative review of Sam’s Slam? She shouldn’t have written any review when she was dieting.
Nell’s thoughts swirled in her brain. Why am I so overweight? Why can’t I control my eating? The entire situation is my fault. My gluttony has cost this innocent woman her life. I’ve always worried that my excesses would hurt my health, but never someone else’s.
“Drop the bone, George,” Nell ordered George, which immediately caused Newman to try to pick it up. The boys were so endearing and Nell smiled as she looked at them.
A devastating thought came to her mind. What would happen to her dogs if she was murdered? If she was killed at home it could possibly be days before anyone found her. Nell didn’t meet with people every day or even talk on the phone that often. The boys would be left on their own. At least they wouldn’t have to relieve themselves in the house. (She would think of that.) The doggie door would take care of that necessity. But they would eventually get hungry and thirsty. They would probably try to wake her and get blood all over themselves and track it everywhere. Maybe the neighbors would notice them in the backyard, especially Newman, the Maltese. His little white body would look red. Nell wondered if the two of them would go out in the back and bark and carry on until someone came over to check. How long would it be before someone noticed she was missing?
Not showing up for church would be noticed. But if she was killed on a Sunday night, it would be a week until the next worship service. If her habits were examined, it could be found she did have a certain routine. This psychopath could follow her around and it would be fairly easy to see what she did and when.
For some reason this guy didn’t check out Nell Norton that carefully. Perhaps he thought he would kill first and ask questions later. Nell feared he might be much more careful the next time.
There was a noise behind her, and startled, Nell jumped. She turned and found a jogger almost even with her. Never seen this man before. He looked to be in his early forties, not friendly, passed by without even a nod of the head. That was unusual. Ordinarily on their early morning outings she saw some people, the regulars, but who was this guy? Bayshore had a little over five thousand people so Nell certainly wouldn’t recognize everyone. But it was unnerving that she didn’t hear him until he was almost on top of her and the boys didn’t either. Not a good sign. She needed to be aware of her surroundings at all times. She needed to observe and take note.
By the time the boys and Nell finished their walk and were back in the house, she was more stressed out than she was before. No message on the machine from Elena. Rats! Maybe she would hear something after church.
The pastor at Nell’s church was friendly as always, but she chose not to mention her predicament to anyone. Her imagination may be carrying her away. Only her very oldest and closest friends even knew anything about her blog. She didn’t want anyone to know, so that when she ordered food she’d receive the same meal as anyone else would. She never wanted someone to make her meal extra special in hopes of a good review.
Nell hurried into the house to check her answering machine. There was still nothing from Elena. She took George and Newman in the backyard to try to get her mind off things for a bit. As she tossed the ball around, she thought how her little guys were so cute, funny, and loving.
In contrast, another evil thought entered her brain. What if some awful person hurt them somehow? What if Northwoodsman tried to get back at her through her dogs? She would be devastated. Nell’s love of animals was well known. If she even started a scary movie and a dog was in it, she had to stop watching. So often the poor dog was killed in some gory way. Not always a dog either. She thought of the rabbit in Fatal Attraction. Nell had felt bad about that for weeks.
Goodness! She had to get these thoughts out of her head.
Nell sat on the ground and let the boys crawl all over her. After lots of petting, hugging, and loving up, she felt better about things. The three trooped back into the house amid jumping, barking, and dogplay in general.
If this was a normal Sunday, she would make herself some lunch and then have fun writing up restaurant reviews. There were several she needed to write and then post. Well, she certainly couldn’t post any with this maniacal killer after her. She didn’t even feel like working on it. Something to eat would be good, though.
Ice cream—which in Nell’s opinion was the answer to all the world’s problems, was her choice. She was an emotional eater and her emotions were running rampant. She finished the last bite of each of the cartons.
There, it’s done. No more.
The need to get someone else’s opinion on her situation was overwhelming. She hadn’t talked to Elena since they went out for fish Friday night. That was not unusual, though she did normally return her calls right away. Elena lived alone and did most of her own chores around the house, like mowing the lawn. Something could have happened to her.
Nell rubbed her left eyebrow. Then she realized she was being ridiculous. She had just called Elena that morning. She was really letting her imagination get the better of her. Just in case, though, Nell decided to call Elena’s daughter.
“Julie, this is LaNell. How are you doing?”
“Great! How about you?” Julie answered warmly.
“Fine, fine. I know I probably just forgot, but is your mom away visiting someone? I tried her home phone and cell, but she hasn’t returned my call.”
“Oh, yeah. Mom went camping for a few days with John and Marilyn. I’m tending the shop. She called me using John’s cell phone because she was having trouble with hers. Is something wrong? I can give you John’s number,” offered Julie.
“No, that’s okay. I just wanted to make sure there wasn’t a problem.”
After a few more pleasantries they ended the call. Nell vaguely remembered Elena talking about camping, but not being a detail-oriented person she didn’t remember the dates. She was relieved that nothing was amiss. It also meant though, that Nell couldn’t talk to Elena about her suspicions. She had two other friends who knew about her blog—Leigh Jackson and Stacy Craig. However, Nell really didn’t want all her friends to know about her paranoia or cause them undue concern.
Just as with her siblings, there would be plenty of time for them to have a good laugh over all this later. Nell hoped.
She decided to call Kris in Michigan since she already knew the background. Besides, Nell told her she would let her know if she came up with anything on the identity of the cyber bully.
Thank goodness Kris was home when she called. After sharing all the details she knew about the murdered Nell of northern Wisconsin who had a food specialty shop, and how she thought her cyber bully Northwoodsman did it, Kris stopped her before she could even mention Sam’s name.
“Hold on, LaNell. You are blowing this way out of proportion. That woman was probably murdered during a robbery or her husband did it or . . .”
“Her husband was on a camping trip,” Nell interrupted.
“My point is, it could probably be any of a hundred people. Get hold of yourself. There hasn’t been any more posts on your blog from Northwoodsman, has there?” Kris countered, her voice strained.
“No, because he thinks I’m dead! And I am almost positive that Northwoodsman is Sam.” Nell practically shouted it into the phone.
“Sam? The guy who owns that bar and restaurant?” Kris inquired.
“Yes, Sam’s Slam.”
“Nell, I know this is upsetting, but try to settle down and think about this reasonably. How can you be almost positive?”
Nell took a deep breath and lowered her voice. “The first negative posting on my blog from Northwoodsman was after my review of Sam’s.”
“From my understanding, that was the first time you totally screwed up on a review,” Kris challenged.
“But this guy went back and added all those critical entries to every one of the places I’d reviewed. That would’ve taken a lot of work and a lot of time.”
Kris sighed, “If Sam is the owner of the place, he must work long hours as most owners do. Did he seem like the kind of guy who would want to spend so much time and effort nitpicking through your reviews? How many followers does your restaurant blog have anyway? I’m sorry, Nell, I don’t mean to be dismissive of your Noshes Up North, but would it have even affected his business? Plus, I’ve been keeping up with your blog lately and you wrote a fantastic follow-up.”
“The murder probably happened before Northwoodsman read the favorable review.” Nell held her ground.
“Listen, Nell. This is what I think. Sam isn’t your man. I hesitate to say it, but your blog is small potatoes to him. What with your first bad review, the response it received, and your subsequent correction, he probably gained business from it.”
“Actually, that could be true,” Nell reluctantly agreed. “One time Drew and I went to a spot that a Milwaukee reviewer had absolutely blasted. We wanted to see if it could possibly be that bad. Turns out we thought it was pretty good.”
“Exactly. Wait a few more days before you post any more reviews if that will make you feel better. Do you want me to come over there?” Kris volunteered. “It’s only a few hours drive for me, if you don’t mind me staying several days. We could go up to Sam’s and get to know him a little. As a matter of fact, I think going up there a few more times and checking him out is a good idea. From what you’re telling me, I don’t think he’s your guy. If you got to know him a little you could cross him off your list. I could come over.”
“Goodness, no.” Nell brushed off the invitation. “We both know it’s a six hour drive. I mean, I’d love to see you, but I’m an adult. I can handle this.”
“You know, Nell, the police may already have a suspect that we don’t know anything about.”
“You’re right. I’ll sit tight and wait a few days before posting anything. Thanks, Kris. I feel a lot better now.”