I invited Bill inside and told him I had to put my groceries away. He suggested I wait because empty cabinets would be easier to search. He agreed that I should put away the cold food in the fridge and freezer and then leave the bags on the table.
The doorbell rang, and I expected Chief Elroy. Bill opened the door, and Georgie ran inside.
“Clark called me. This is insane.” She spun and looked at Bill. “What’s the matter with you? You think Laci will ever speak to you again when she finds out what you did to her mom. You can’t believe she’s guilty of anything.”
Bill’s face flushed. “No ma’am, I don’t believe Annie is guilty of anything, but Detective Berg sent me here to wait and serve her as soon as she came home. I was doing my job.” He shuffled from foot to foot.
I slipped my arm into Georgie’s. “C’mon sit with me and wait. Bill’s right. It’s his job, and we have to let him do it. Let’s sit and see if we can figure out who really committed these crimes.”
I grabbed a legal pad of paper and a pen and handed them to Georgie. “You write. My hands are shaking. Let’s make a list of anyone who might have something against Inga or me. I know this has something to do with the inheritance. Whoever has Yummy inherits. I could still lose him in a court battle.”
Georgie added, “We should also consider anyone who might benefit from you inheriting all the money. If you sold the lake property to the developers for condo construction, you would benefit as well as them.”
I nodded.
Georgie began her list with the developers and quickly added Mags, Douglas, Roland, and Craig. She jotted down the mayor and councilman Philipps because both wanted the lake for the city. When she added Clark’s name, my breath caught.
I whispered, “Why Clark? Are you crazy?”
She whispered back, “He showed an interest in you as soon as you inherited Yummy.”
“Yeah, but I went to the hardware store first, and no one knew about the total inheritance then.” I crossed my arms and stared at her.
The doorbell rang again, and Chief Elroy arrived.
“Sorry to be here so late Annie, but we have a job to do. We’ll start on this floor.”
I nodded. Georgie added a few more names to her list, and I watched as the Chief and Bill went through my kitchen. The Chief even had Bill unload my groceries and place them on the table so he could look at them.
Bill kept mumbling “I’m sorry” whenever they messed up something. After they had finished, my office was a bit messed up, but not as bad as I have seen on TV shows. They also searched the living room. It was quite amusing to watch them go through nearly one-hundred DVD cases.
I finally had to ask, “Everyone knows someone poisoned Inga and Mags. Are you actually looking for poison in my DVDs?”
“Annie the search warrant gives us the right to look for anything that might be related to poison. We need to check everywhere,” Chief Elroy said.
Georgie added, “I’m glad Clark went to the bookstore. Who knows what Berg is doing in that store? If he ruins her books can she sue you?”
The Chief shot her a look, and she went back to her list.
My nerves were becoming frazzled. “Is Georgie right? Will he damage all my books? There are some that are valuable and some first editions.” I stood and balled my fists. I was angry.
The Chief turned and looked at me, “I told him not to damage any books. We’re done down here. We’ll start upstairs. I followed them up while Georgie made notes on her list.
The Chief walked into my room and told Bill to search the room across the hall.
“No, he can’t,” I yelled.
“Why not,” Chief Elroy asked.
“That’s Laci’s room. They’re dating. He can’t go through her stuff. It’s just wrong.” I spat, my anger growing with each passing second.
“Todorov,” the Chief growled. “Do you have a personal relationship with anyone in this family?”
Bill paled and said, “Laci and I aren’t exclusive, but we dated a little last summer, and we video chat a couple of times a week.”
Chief Elroy’s face turned almost scarlet. He flexed and relaxed his fingers rapidly as he stood in my bedroom doorway. I heard him inhale and exhale a huge breath.
“Todorov,” his voice was low and slow. “Go back on patrol. We’ll speak later.”
Bill ran down the stairs, and the Chief sat on the top step of my staircase. He called for another officer. He looked up at me. “Todorov’s replacement will be here shortly and we’ll continue.”
I nodded and said, “Don’t be too hard on him. He’s a good kid.”
Chief Elroy dropped his head into his hands and mumbled something unintelligible.
#######
A few minutes later, another young officer arrived, and they began to search my room. I sat on my window seat and watched. The chief walked up to my dresser. I stood and yelled, “Clifford Elroy do not touch that drawer.”
He spun around and asked, “What are you hiding in there, Annie?”
“Nothing,” I snapped back. “That drawer has my personal things.”
“Annie, this entire room has your personal things.”
“Not that personal. Would you like some man going through your wife’s personal things?” My fists were balled so tightly that they began to hurt. “Why can’t Carolyn do it? At least she’s female.”
“Carolyn? Do you know everyone in my department, Annie?” He gritted his teeth, and his eyes shot up to the ceiling.
“Of course I know her. Her grandma lives across the street. I’ve known her since she was born. Listen Clifford, we live in a small town. Everyone knows everyone else. Get over it and stay
