“That would be great,” Stephanie said.
Autumn promised to put the word out and then hurried out of the bookstore. She strolled to the end of the block before turning left and making her way to Shades of Ink, her brother’s tattoo parlor, where she’d parked her Segway. She popped in to tell him she was stopping by Mercedes’ place before continuing toward the apartment.
After waiting for a horse and buggy tour to pass by, Autumn crossed the street and stepped into the alley behind the Garlucci’s property.
Autumn caught a glimpse of a woman sitting on Mercedes’ balcony and a whiff of cigarette smoke drifted down. She didn’t recognize the woman and figured it must be Paulie’s wife, Gina.
She gave the woman a small wave and jabbed her finger on the buzzer connected to Mercedes’ unit when the door opened and Elvira Cobb emerged.
Autumn jumped out of the woman’s way as Elvira eased a large box through the open doorway and stepped onto the stoop. “Do you need help?”
Elvira peered around the side of the box. “Nah. I’m just going across the alley.”
Autumn watched as Elvira disappeared inside the building on the other side of the alley, stepped inside and then closed the door behind her.
Mercedes met her at the bottom of the stairs.
“What’s up with Elvira?” Autumn asked. “She carried a box into the building across the alley.”
“Ma kicked her out.”
“For real?” Autumn blinked rapidly. “She must’ve done something over the top this time for Mrs. G to kick her out.”
“She almost burned our building to the ground. We thought we were gonna get rid of her for good. Instead, Elvira rented the main floor of the building behind us.”
“She’s like a bad rash,” Autumn laughed. “Are you gonna start looking for another tenant?”
“Maybe. I’m not sure. Ma is so fed up right now; she might let the apartment sit empty. C’mon in.” Mercedes waved her friend up the stairs and inside the apartment.
Rap. Rap. A small commotion coming from the deck door caught the women’s attention.
“It looks like Gina locked herself out on the balcony again.” Mercedes hurried to the balcony door and flipped the lock. “You got locked out again?”
“It’s your cat.” Gina stepped inside the apartment and pointed at Grayvie, who was lounging on the small table next to the door. “I watched him jump up on this table and flip the lock.”
“Grayvie has been locking you out?”
The cat flopped onto his side and yawned.
“I can’t believe he locked the door.”
“I think he’s got it in for me. Watch this.” Gina stepped onto the balcony and closed the door behind her.
Grayvie scrambled onto all fours and began swatting at the lock. Click.
After flipping the lock, he flopped back down on the table.
“That was cool,” Autumn unlocked the door. “I mean, not cool for Gina, but cool the cat is smart enough to flip the lock.”
“See? He’s doin’ it on purpose.” Gina wagged her finger at him and turned to Autumn. “You must be Autumn. I’ve heard all about you.”
Autumn shook her hand. “And you’re Gina, Paulie’s wife. Nice to meet you.”
“Same here. I better head back downstairs,” Gina said. “Paulie is probably wondering what happened to me.”
“See ya later,” Mercedes waited until Gina closed the door behind her before grabbing the Tupperware container, filled with Italian cookies and placing them on the dining room table. “You wanna Coke?”
“Sure.” Autumn eyed the container of cookies. “What are these?”
“Ma’s Italian cookies. They’re delish.” Mercedes carried two cans of Coke to the table and popped the tabs while Autumn reached inside the cookie container, and grabbed two. “I’m not sure how successful my joining the group was. I only heard your name once, in the beginning, when they told me you were part of the group. Then later, one of them mentioned you were under investigation for murder and then the romance writer, I forgot her name already...”
“Stephanie,” Mercedes prompted.
“Yeah. Stephanie said she wasn’t sure you were gonna come back.”
“I never said that,” Mercedes said. “Besides, why would they go around telling a complete stranger someone in their group was being investigated for murder?”
“That’s what the older dude said. You weren’t there to defend yourself and they changed the subject.”
“Well, at least I know Tom is on my side,” Mercedes muttered. “Nothing else was said that caught your attention?”
“Nope.” Autumn popped the last of the cookie in her mouth. “This frosting is the best. I can taste cream cheese and something else.”
“Lemon zest. Ma’s secret ingredient is lemon zest.”
“The cookies almost melt in your mouth,” Autumn said. “That reminds me. Earlier today, I was talking to my buddy who works down at the precinct. He said they’re at a standstill in Jon Luis’ murder investigation. They went through his apartment and storage unit and couldn’t find anything.”
“That’s it.” Mercedes slammed the palm of her hand on the table. “Let me go grab my phone.” She darted out of the room, returning moments later with her cell phone in hand. “Check this out.” Mercedes handed the phone to Autumn.
Autumn reached for another cookie as she studied the screen. “What am I looking at?”
“The weird looking key attached to the other key ring. I think it’s for a storage unit. Why would Jon Luis keep a storage unit key with his other keys? Most people store stuff and then put the key somewhere for safekeeping.”
Mercedes drummed her fingers on the table. “I need to find out where his storage unit is located.”
“The police already searched it,” Autumn said. “They said there was nothin’ in there but a bunch of magazines and books…” Her voice trailed off.
“Books,” Mercedes said. “We’re onto something. Text your friend and ask him if he can tell you the name of the
