Maple Hills Mystery Box Set Page 18

  “A friend...an enemy...perhaps both,” the old man said enigmatically. “Coffee, Ms. Bates?”

  Nikki let her eyes look past the old man at the coffee pot sitting on her desk. “It is cold outside,” she answered and stepped further into the office. “Yes, I could use some coffee.”

  “I believe we are going to see the first snow of the season,” the old man said. He watched Nikki retrieve a cup and fill it.

  “Maybe,” Nikki said and sat down on the edge of her desk. “You know who killed Mrs. Grove, right? Or am I mistaken in assuming that?”

  “Oh,” the old man said and picked up a white coffee cup, “assumptions are interesting little ideas full of truth and error.”

  “Sometimes,” Nikki agreed, “but not all the time.”

  The old man sipped his coffee. “You've caused many problems for many people,” he stated calmly. “You've challenged some very powerful men who are not apt to forget your pretty little face.”

  “City Hall will always be corrupt,” Nikki answered. “There will always be a thorn or two that criminals stumble on.”

  The old man nodded very slowly as he studied Nikki's face. “Numerous people right here in this small town are very upset with you.”

  “I'm not out to win a popularity contest,” Nikki answered and took a sip of her coffee. “You made the coffee too weak.”

  “I have to mind my caffeine intake,” the old man explained. Continuing to study Nikki, he put down the coffee cup in his hand. “I could end your life this very second,” he said.

  “If you wanted me dead, I would be dead,” Nikki replied bravely. “Let's just cut to the chase. You tell me who you are and what you want...or what you're after.”

  The old man folded his arms together. “Who I am, Ms. Bates, is someone who can destroy your entire life with a single phone call.”

  “No offense,” Nikki told the old man, “but I've heard all the threats before. I'm too tired to jump through the circus rings with you and play your mental games. You can tell me what you want or take a hike, okay? If you want to ruin my life, then do it. If you want to play games, play games. But do it on your own dime, because I've been fighting one criminal after another for the last few months, and I'm in no mood to chase after the crumbs you are dropping for me.”

  The old man grew silent. He studied Nikki with extreme caution. “There is a person in this town, Ms. Bates, whom I want. I do not know the identity of this person. It will be your duty to uncover the identity of the person I am after. If you assist me, I will tell you who killed Mrs. Grove and send you the evidence you will need to clear your name.”

  “And if I refuse to help?” Nikki asked.

  “Your son might take a drive into a tree,” the old man snapped at Nikki. “Are we clear, Ms. Bates? I can be a friend or a very deadly enemy. Do not test the limits of my patience.”

  “If you ever threaten my son again, I will personally dedicate my life to destroying you,” Nikki snapped back and slammed down her coffee cup. “Who do you think you are? I'm not scared of you, and neither is my son. We both understand that life isn't forever, and we refuse to live scared.”

  “I can make you become very scared,” the old man promised Nikki.

  “Take your best shot.” Nikki began to walk out of her office.

  “Wait,” the old man replied quickly. Standing up, he waved his hand. Nikki turned around. “You have guts, Ms. Bates...more guts than I expected. I'm impressed. Some of the bravest men in the world have crumbled at my threats.”

  “I'm not a man,” Nikki told the old man. “I'm a very upset woman who wants her life back. Now you tell me who you're after, and I will help you locate this person. But so help me, if you try and play any games with me, I'll go after you the way one lion attacks another in battle.”

  The old man knew Nikki meant every word she said to him. “In this town,” he told Nikki in a slow, low voice, “is someone who murdered my wife many, many years ago. It is time I bring justice to this person after all these years.”

  “I will not help you murder anyone. Deal’s off,” Nikki said.

  “I am not talking about murdering anyone,” the old man nearly hissed. “Once I locate this...hideous creature, I will send him, or her, to prison for life. You see, Ms. Bates, prison at my age is a worse fate than death.”

  “I see,” Nikki said, struggling to read the old man's eyes. “Okay, I will help you. Meet me back here tomorrow morning at ten. Bring whatever information you have with you. Until then, I'm going home and resting. I'm going to tell Detective Hawk about our meeting. I'm not going to hide anything from him. Are we clear?”

  “Ms. Bates, I can destroy your life and make you a very miserable woman. I can break your arrogant attitude at any time of my choosing. So allow me to make one thing very clear: If you fail me, your life will end in agony.”

  The old man walked past Nikki into the store. Nikki shook her head and closed the office door. “Take the back door out. Detective Hawk is parked outside. If he sees you—”

  “Yes, yes, I know,” the old man said irritably. “I'm not quite ready to leave just yet. I need to disclose a bit of information to you.”

  “I'm all ears,” Nikki said, standing at the office door.

  The old man began to explore the chocolate shop casually, the way a dog sniffs at a strange scent. “The person I am after is a killer, Ms. Bates. Your life will be in danger as you track this person for me.”

  “Okay,” Nikki said cautiously.

  “Second, whoever the killer is may know that I’m in town,” the old man continued as he stopped at the front counter and examined the chocolate display case. “I suppose if the killer knows that I have arrived, he or she might try to leave.”

  Nikki sighed. “Please do not ask me to go chasing across the country after your killer,” she said.

  “I don't believe the matter will end that way,” the old man confirmed. “It has been many years, and at this stage, because records show that I passed away several years ago, it's possible the killer assumes that he or she will live out the rest of their life in peace. Not so.”

  “You're assumed dead?” Nikki asked curiously.

  “Yes, but as you can clearly see, Ms. Bates, I am very much alive and still very dangerous. Never forget that.”

  Nikki fought the urge to roll her eyes. “I've made a mental note of your threats,” she said in a steady voice.

  The old man tapped the front counter with his right index finger and began to stroll around the store. “Last, Ms. Bates,” he continued, “the killer should be between the ages of forty and fifty.”

  “That doesn't help me,” Nikki pointed out as she watched the old man circle her chocolate shop like a strange vulture searching for a certain piece of candy.

  He stopped at a wooden shelf and examined a line of strawberry chocolate candy bars. “I'm aware that I am not revealing information that is helpful,” he told Nikki in a low voice. “Ms. Bates, the police marked my wife's murder as unsolved and placed her case into the cold files. The killer—whoever he or she is—committed a murder and walked away like a gust of wind, leaving only a small trace of dirt behind.”

  “Explain,” Nikki said patiently.

  The old man continued to stare at the chocolate bars as a powerful gust of wind brushed up against the front door, rattling the bells hanging over the entrance. “The only pieces of evidence left at the crime scene were a few letters my wife managed to scrawl on her bedroom floor with a tube of pink lipstick. It wasn't until last year that I was able to determine their meaning.”

  “What happened last year?” Nikki asked.

  “A computer program called ‘Code Sword.’ This program was created by the Department of Defense.”

  “The Department of Defense has programs to break codes,” Nikki pointed out. “I'm assuming this Code Sword program was invented for that purpose?”

  “Yes,” the old man explained, “but Code Sword was created to decode an ancient Japan
ese language used during World War II. The American government is very interested in breaking these codes which are currently in use once more.”

  “Okay,” Nikki said, making mental notes, “you plugged in the letters that were found written on the bedroom floor, left behind by your wife, and the program tossed the name of my town into your lap?”

  “Yes,” the old man replied. He raised his eyes up and focused on Nikki. “The data I retrieved from the Code Sword program gave me the name of this town.”

  “Why me?” Nikki asked. “And how do you know who killed Mrs. Grove?”

  The old man lowered his eyes back down to the chocolate bars and took one. “May I?”

  “Go ahead,” Nikki said. “Now please, answer my questions.”

  “If you find the killer, you will find the answers you need,” he informed Nikki, placing the chocolate bar into his right jacket pocket. “Ms. Bates, I have given you all the information I have. Now you must flush out the killer. The path you decide to take on your journey is your own.”

  “Can I at least know your wife’s name?” Nikki asked, refusing to allow her voice to sound desperate.

  “Jane,” the old man said in a sad voice. “I will be in touch, Ms. Bates.”

  Nikki watched him leave through the back door and vanish. “Great,” she sighed miserably. “I've got to locate a gust of wind and find out who murdered Mrs. Grove...Happy autumn, Nikki.”

  Standing silently next to the front counter, Nikki listened to the strong winds howling outside. The winds seemed to be changing the world into a mysterious, dangerous whisper that would soon shatter into screams. She began to feel lost, isolated and strange. “All I need is a fedora, a long overcoat, a dusty office, and for everything to go black and white,” she whispered.

  She heard the front door open and saw Hawk appear. “Pop called,” he told her in a regretful voice. “We better get back to the station. A bunch of locals are arriving with their pitchforks and torches.”

  “The old man was in here,” Nikki told Hawk.

  “What?!” Hawk exclaimed. “When? Where did he go? Are you okay?”

  Nikki raised her hand. “Slow down, big guy,” she begged. “Yes, I'm fine. But I've got my work cut out for me. Hawk, now I have to find two killers instead of one.”

  Hawk listened as Nikki revealed to him every word the old man had spoken to her. Rubbing his chin, he walked to the shelf holding the strawberry chocolate bars. “He took a candy bar?”

  Nikki nodded. “I know I shouldn't have let him take the candy, Hawk, but what choice did I have? I'm sure that old scarecrow had a gun hidden on his body.”

  “You did the right thing.”

  “What do you make of all this?” Nikki asked, walking up to Hawk and placing her head on his shoulder.

  Hawk gently patted the side of Nikki's face with a warm, caring hand. “I'm not sure, but I'm going to try and find out. Come on, we better get back down to the station.”

  Nikki locked up her store and drove back to the police station with Hawk. Sitting silently in the passenger seat, she watched the wind toss the leaves across streets and past cozy homes and buildings. But instead of feeling warm and secure in her small town, Nikki felt very afraid. When Hawk pulled his jeep into the parking lot at the police station, and she saw a crowd of angry people yelling at Chief Daily, she closed her eyes. “Oh, Hawk...”

  Hawk patted her shoulder. “Hey, now, you listen to me. You're a fighter. Don't you pay any mind to what these loud-mouths are screaming.”

  The crowd of angry people were yelling “Killer!” and “Murderer!” at Chief Daily, who was struggling to quiet them. Standing in front of the main entrance, he raised his hands into the cold air. “Everyone, listen to me—Ms. Bates is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Now, you have every right to gather and protest...peacefully. Right now, you're disturbing the peace.”

  “Nikki Bates is a curse!” a woman in her mid-fifties yelled at Chief Daily.

  “Why are you protecting a killer?” a man hollered. “When voting season arrives, we'll vote in a man who will protect the people instead of a killer!”

  “Nikki Bates poisoned poor Mrs. Grove,” a second woman yelled. “That awful woman has brought nothing but darkness to our town!”

  Chief Daily narrowed his eyes and toughened his voice. “Now you listen to me. I am still the Chief of Police in this town. If you want to vote in a new Chief of Police when voting season arrives, do so. But for now, I'm the law, and I will not tolerate anyone—and I mean anyone—slandering another person. If Ms. Bates is guilty, she will answer for her crime. If she is innocent, I expect everyone standing here to leave her alone and keep your mouths shut!”

  The crowd of people stared at Chief Daily in shock. Never before had any one of them heard the man speak in such a harsh way. Expecting to bully a man who appeared to be a weak civil servant, they quickly learned that Chief Daily could become a fierce grizzly bear when pushed into a corner. One man, however, was undeterred. “Get rid of that woman!” he yelled at Chief Daily, “or someone else just might.”

  The man didn't see Hawk walk up behind him. Hawk grabbed the man, slung him down onto the sidewalk, and handcuffed him. “I don't like threats being made in my town,” he growled.

  “You're...hurting me!” the man began to cry like the coward he was.

  Hawk snatched the man to his feet and shoved him toward Chief Daily. “The rest of you take a hike,” he ordered the crowd.

  “We have a right to be here,” a woman in her late sixties informed Hawk in an aggrieved voice.

  Hawk glanced back toward his jeep and then at the crowd. “Do you people really believe Nikki Bates poisoned Mrs. Grove? Come on, folks,” he said in a way that told the crowd they were acting like silly children. “Nikki Bates is an intelligent woman. If she wanted to kill anyone, trust me, she would carry off the crime so brilliantly that no one would ever be able to convict her. Why would she poison a woman with her own chocolate?”

  “Everyone knows you and that...woman...are an item, now, Detective,” the older woman snapped sourly at Hawk. “Perhaps it's time to request that you resign your position and relocate.”

  Hawk grinned. “Lady, Ms. Bates and I are going to grow old in this town. We're not going anywhere.”

  Nikki drew in a deep breath, got out of the jeep, and walked up next to Hawk. She studied the crowd with sad eyes. “I'm going to find the person who killed Mrs. Grove,” she promised. “But I need to make one fact very clear: I'm not going to find the killer to please anyone standing here. You see, the killer has murdered an innocent woman in an attempt to destroy my life. Now, I don't know how people in the north handle threats, but I don't take them lightly. I'm a fighter, and I intend to fight. If any of you don't like me living here and wish for me to leave, well, get over it, because I'm not going anywhere. This is my home now.”

  “You don't belong here,” a woman screamed at Nikki. “You're a curse!”

  “No,” Nikki replied calmly, “I'm not a curse, Mrs. Hetherington. I'm a woman who wishes to settle down and live a peaceful life. Right now, there is a killer loose in this town who wants to destroy my life. I intend to fight. Now, you can all hate me and yell poisonous words in my face, but rest assured, I've dealt with worse than you.”

  “Are you threatening us?” the handcuffed man hissed at Nikki.

  “I'm simply pointing out that I will not be run out of town,” Nikki replied in a stable, stern tone. “If you people want a fight, I'll go twelve rounds with each and every one of you. I will not be bullied, and I will not tolerate anyone bullying the people I love and care about.”

  Chief Daily smiled at Hawk. Nikki was holding her ground against the worst the town had to offer—against people who were cold-hearted and believed the world revolved around their views and beliefs. Now those same people were challenging a momma lion who wasn't in the mood to deal with a bunch of whiny, weak mice that had nothing else better to do than chew holes in the cloth
of truth, justice, and integrity. “Protest on the sidewalk across the street,” Chief Daily informed the crowd.

  Nikki held her ground. She locked eyes with them. The faces in the crowd stared back at her with hatred, but slowly, one by one, each person in the crowd walked away and went home. “I'll go book this guy,” Chief Daily told Hawk and pulled the handcuffed man inside.

  “I'll sue you for every penny!” the man yelled.

  “You can call your lawyer after I book you for criminal threatening,” Chief Daily told the man.

  Nikki looked at Hawk. “I made some fresh enemies,” she said miserably.

  Hawk looked down into Nikki's upset eyes. He rubbed the back of his neck and then looked around. “You know, Nikki, this town, like every town dotted across the map, is filled with the good and the bad. You have to have faith in the good, though. I counted ten people in that bunch, Nikki. Now, if a hundred people had shown up, I might be worried. So what if ten whiny adults showed up here at the station to act like children? You backed them down, and they'll continue to back down because that's the kind of people they are...cowards.”

  “Maybe so,” Nikki agreed, “but the person who killed Mrs. Grove is deadly. Who knows, Hawk? The killer could have been anyone in that crowd of people.”

  “Maybe,” Hawk agreed, raising his eyes toward the gray sky overhead. “I'm going to sleep at your cabin tonight, okay? Your couch is pretty comfortable.”

  Nikki hugged Hawk's arm. “I was hoping you would,” she admitted. Biting down on her lower lip, she stood silently and then spoke: “The old man said that the woman who was murdered was named Jane. Hawk, I need you to do some digging and find out who this woman is. Maybe then I will be able to shed some light on the old man’s identity.”

  “Needle in a haystack,” Hawk replied. “I'll make you a deal. Tonight, I'll cook dinner at your cabin, and while you're making coffee and dessert, I'll make some calls.”

  “Sounds good. Tomorrow I'll need to start searching for the killers, but tonight I need to gather my thoughts together and make a plan of attack. I wish I could just go home and make some homemade cocoa and some peppermint chocolate, cuddle up with a good book, read, and fall asleep in my pajamas.”