As they settled in for lunch, Carol slipped a small laptop out of her bag. “Let's see what we can find out about this Connor Cassidy character on the Internet.”
Between ordering and eating, Carol did what Carol did best. As a former reporter, she had a special talent for tracking down information about people.
“Well, well, well. It looks like Connor Cassidy is a very busy man. He's purchased several properties over the last ten years. All in sets, in small towns, like ours.”
Sherri took a bite of her turkey sandwich while listening to Carol. “What for? What’s he been doing with the properties he’s snatching up?”
“Golf courses, low-rent strip malls, things like that. Anything to make a buck, it looks like.”
“That's awful. That would ruin a town like this.”
“Yes it would. Apparently he has a reputation for being cut throat, too. Some of the comments on here are pretty disturbing. If we're going to meet with this guy we need to be careful.”
Sherri swallowed her food and said, “Don't worry, I've spent enough time with cops and detectives to know how to handle myself.”
“But you're not a police officer, and neither am I.”
“You're right, I'm not. We’re not. But the police aren't doing their job in this case, and someone needs to.”
Carol scraped at her plate where a piece of cherry pie had recently dwelled. The edge of her fork came up bright red then she stuck it in her mouth. It wasn’t what you’d call a bite. There was no chewing involved.
They headed back out to the truck.
“Well, look who it is!” An older man’s voice boomed across the parking lot.
A smile broke out on both Sherri and Carol’s faces.
“Uncle Ray,” Sherri said as she rushed to meet him.
Her uncle wrapped her in a big bear hug.
Sherri held tight to her only living relative, and tears came to her eyes. She didn’t normally go for the whole hugging business, but she made an exception with Uncle Ray. And Ralph. She sometimes hugged Ralph.
She drew back and said, “You’re just what I needed today.”
“Well, it’s good to see you, too, hon.” The man’s normally loud voice softened a bit.
By now Carol had caught up with Sherri and her uncle Ray, and he hugged her, too.
Carol patted his back and said, “Hey, Ray, how are you doing?”
“Can’t complain! I woke up this morning, didn’t I?” He winked at the women who now stood before him.
Sherri smiled and made a mental note to invite Uncle Ray to Sunday dinner soon.
His eyes followed a woman who had just stepped from her car on the other side of the street. “Would you look at that?”
Sherri knew better, but Carol took the bait. “Look at what?”
“I bet that lady right there is going to the movies,” he said, nodding his head in the direction of the woman across the street.
Carol cocked her head. “What? Why do you say that?”
“Well, shoot. Just look at her. She’s picking her seat!” At least Uncle Ray lowered his voice to a whisper.
Sherri shook her head and waved her hand in her uncle’s direction. “Stop it!”
His eyes glistened, and a big smile played across his face.
The woman had in fact reached back and pulled at her panties. But Sherri had heard the joke before. From Uncle Ray, of course.
Evidently Carol hadn’t had the privilege because she cackled like it was the funniest thing she’d ever heard. All the way to her truck.
~ ~ ~
On the way to the real estate agent's office Sherri pointed to a group of people gathered around the hardware store.
“You know they’re talking about Hank’s death.”
Carol nodded. “Yep. Nothing like a dead body to get the gears moving around this place.”
Sherri knew that was as true a statement as there ever was. Word spread fast around Paradise, and she knew that as soon as they figured out that she was the one who had found the body her phone would be ringing off the hook.
“Here we are.” Carol parked in front of a small office in a strip mall. It shared a parking lot with a tattoo parlor called Inky Binky and Sammy’s Sammiches, a deli that specialized in deep-fried deli sandwiches. A couple of vacant office spaces completed the nondescript commercial strip mall.
“I expected something flashier.” Sherri took the lead as they walked up to the door of the office. She knocked, and the man she met that morning answered the door.
“Like I told the others, I don’t have the sale rescheduled yet.”
Sherri extended her hand. “Hello, I’m Sherri. We met this morning.” She paused a moment for him to place her. “I understand you don’t have a new date for the sale, Mr. Cassidy, but that's not why I'm here.”
“Oh?” He stepped back from the door. “In that case, do come in.”
The two women filed inside and stood in front of a small desk in a cramped office. Fake wood paneling bulged on one wall, no doubt from the damp climate. Sherri had seen worse. These places often sat empty, and with no heating or cooling, leaving the interiors worse for the wear. A dusty framed print of a deer in the woods hung, cockeyed, behind the desk.
Sherri spoke first. “This is your office, Mr. Cassidy?”
“Uh, yes, but it’s just temporary.” He plastered a smile on his face. “I didn't plan to be here this long.”
“As I understand it, you make a habit of buying property in poor rural communities.”
“You've done some research on me?” He gestured to a folding chair and sat down beside his desk. “To what do I owe the honor of your interest, Miss...?” His eyes flitted from Sherri to Carol.
Sherri ignored Conner Cassidy’s request for their names. She was suddenly glad she’d only said her first name earlier. “I'd like to know exactly what your intentions are here.”
“Oh, I’m glad you asked. I am just relieving people who are struggling financially. Helping them out, if you will. Many of them have property they simply can’t afford. These good people find themselves under water, and they’re grateful to get my offer.” He puffed out his chest, and an oily grin graced his face.
“Was Hank Bauer grateful? Or did you just kill him to make him comply?”
“Excuse me?” The man’s nostrils flared and then more words rushed from his mouth. “You have no right to talk to me that way. What a horrible accusation to make.”
“Horrible, yes, but it’s true, isn’t it? You were there this morning acting as if you had no idea there was a dead body buried in the hayloft. Am I supposed to believe that you had nothing to do with that?”
“Of course I didn’t. I was there as a favor to the bank. They needed the property cleared out before they could sell it to me, so I offered my time, free of charge. Because of my charitable gesture you’re now implying that I’m a murderer. Yes, I was there this morning, when the police confirmed it was an accidental death, not murder. Trust me, I’m not too happy about it either. It sets me back quite a bit. Who knows how much time it’ll take now to purchase the property.”
“I might believe that, except Hank was a hold out, wasn't he? You were going to start buying up property along that road, and Hank was too stubborn to fold.”
“For your information, Mr. Bauer was three months behind on his mortgage. He was going to lose his house and land. I offered him the chance to settle his debt and start fresh. Yes, he refused. But I knew within a few months when the bank got serious about his delinquent status that he would realize his dire financial situation and change his mind. I had no reason to push him into the sale. He would either sell to me, or when he lost the house, the bank would sell to me. I’m not sure why I’m even having this conversation with you. You have no business asking me questions.”
Carol took a step forward. “I think that you need to consider something. This is a close-knit community. No one is going to let you put up a golf course here. Putt putt maybe, but not some big spread that only a select few can use and enjoy.” Carol folded her arms across her chest. “You might as well give up now and get out of town.”
“So you two speak for the whole town? We’ll find out about that. I’m going to host a community meeting about my plans for this area. I’m sure when your neighbors get an idea of what I’m hoping to build here, they will be far more welcoming than the two of you have been. You can either leave my office, or I can have the police escort you.”
Carol shook her head. “Good luck with that.”
Sherri lightly touched her friend’s arm. “It’s okay. We should go anyway. Thanks for your time, Mr. Cassidy. I’m sure that you will be hearing from us again.”
As they left the office Carol looked over at her friend. “What was that about? You trying to play nice cop?”
“The more we press him, the more lies he’s going to come up with. We’ve got as much information as we’re going to get out of him. He’s got a strong motive for killing Hank. Now I want to know about his finances. No man with an ego that size works in a tiny rundown office like this joint unless it’s all he can afford.”
Carol nodded. “Good idea. Let’s head back to my place. I’ll see if I can get into some records.”
“First, I want to get another look at Hank’s house. Maybe there’s something there that can give us a clue as to what he was dealing with in the days before his death. Since he's been dead awhile we’re pretty far behind on picking up the trail.”
“But I’m sure they have the place locked up.” Carol started the truck.
“I'm sure they do.” Sherri smiled and dug through her picking tote. When she found what she was looking for, she slipped it in her pants pocket. “Let’s just take a look. If we can.”
When they returned to the farm, the opening to the barn was cordoned off with crime scene tape, but the house was left alone. Like nothing bad had happened there. Not a car was in sight. The driveway was deserted. Sherri stepped up on to the front porch and tried the doorknob.
“It’s locked.”
Carol sighed. “Well, we knew it would be.”
“Yeah, right.” Sherri pulled a hairpin from her pocket. She wriggled it into the lock mechanism.
“Sherri! You’ve worked with the police long enough to know that what you’re doing is a crime.”
“I also know that it’s not a crime unless you get caught.” She winked at Carol and pushed open the door. “Are you coming?”
Carol took a deep breath and then blew air threw her lips. Her eyes flitted to the right then the left and she whispered, “If you’re going in, so am I.”