After finishing her transactions, she headed to a local coffee shop she’d stumbled upon during her last visit to the City Market. She perused the display case before purchasing a baker’s dozen of donuts, figuring by the time she got home, Mercedes and Violet would be awake and hungry.
Carlita consulted her watch. There was still plenty of time before the Big Peach circled back around, so she wandered to Stalwart Street and to the Savannah Architectural Society’s office to see if her friend, Glenda, was around.
The bell chimed as Carlita stepped inside.
She spied Glenda talking to someone standing at the counter. The woman’s nasally voice was easily recognizable.
Carlita tiptoed across the room and tapped Elvira on the shoulder. “What are you doing here? Trying to get your old job back?”
“We wouldn’t hire Elvira back if she was the last person in Savannah looking for a job,” Glenda laughed.
“Very funny,” Elvira huffed. “You wish I would come back to this dump and do your dirty work.”
“Elvira.” Glenda feigned surprise. “You took great pleasure in telling residents and business owners what they could and couldn’t do.”
“Yeah, well most of them were morons. I saved Savannah from half a dozen hideous paint jobs.”
Carlita pointed to a pile of papers. “What are those?”
“Nothing.” Elvira snatched the papers off the counter.
“Elvira is filling out an application to add an arch to the front entrance of her apartment building.”
“How can you do that?” Carlita asked. “It isn’t even your building.”
“It will be within a day or so,” Glenda said. “When is the closing again?”
“Big mouth.” Elvira scowled at Glenda.
“You…you’re buying the building behind me?” After moving out of Carlita’s rental unit, Elvira had taken up residence in the lower level of the vacant building directly behind hers.
“I was gonna surprise you.”
“More like shock. I didn’t know the building was for sale.”
“It wasn’t. I made Davis an offer he couldn’t refuse. The closing is tomorrow.”
“Where did you get the money? Did you rob a bank?” Carlita teased.
“No. Dernice squirreled away some money she got from a motorcycle injury lawsuit.”
“Oh no.” A concerned expression crossed Carlita’s face.
“She’s okay now, although she’s got a slight limp when she walks.”
“I never noticed. What happened?”
“A car carrier cut her off on the Ventura Freeway. She jerked the handlebars trying to get out of his way and slid into a concrete barrier. Lucky for her, she wasn’t going fast and was wearing a helmet. The lawyers came out in droves, offering to handle her case and wanting to sue. She hired a top-notch firm, but they charged her an arm and a leg to handle the case. She got a big payout, although it was peanuts compared to the lawyers.”
Elvira tapped the top of her head with her knuckles. “I think the accident rattled her brain. She has some very strange ideas bouncing around in there.”
“No.” Carlita shook her head. “I don’t think the accident messed with her head. I think it’s a hereditary trait.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Elvira frowned.
“But she still walked away with money,” Glenda interrupted.
“Yep. In the high six figures, after the lawyer’s cut. The carrier was hauling racecars. During the negotiations, Dernice’s lawyer hammered out a deal for a lifetime of racecar passes. I sweetened my offer to Davis with a year of racecar passes that Dernice will never use.”
“You’re saying the passes sealed the deal?”
“Yep. He’s in hog heaven. Course Dernice could care less about car racing. Now if it was Harley racing? She would’ve been all over that.”
“Aren’t you the savvy business negotiator,” Carlita teased.
“You have to be in the security and surveillance business. Competition is tough.” Elvira turned to Glenda. “So are you gonna approve the arch or do I have to go over your head?”
“You know the drill, Elvira. It’s policy to submit all requests to the committee. Before I do, I’ll need a sketch of the design, along with actual dimensions.”
“I figured you might make an exception since I’m a former employee.” Elvira folded her papers and shoved them in her pocket.
“Nope. I’m not bending the rules.”
“Fine. I’ll get them to you this afternoon. I gotta get going. The wedding security detail yesterday set me back on my errands.”
“It was a beautiful wedding,” Glenda smiled at Carlita. “Thank you for inviting Mark and me.”
“You’re welcome. I meant to ask you, Elvira…were there many people trying to get inside the restaurant who weren’t wedding guests?”
“There were a few. I told them you were opening on Friday and yesterday was a private event, like you wanted me to say.”
“You stayed at the front entrance during the entire event.”
“Yep.” She nodded. “Except for a couple of bathroom breaks when Dernice covered for me.”
“While you were there, did you happen to notice a couple, a man and a woman, who left the wedding reception early and boarded the trolley? It would have been after the cocktail hour, but I think it was before dinner.”
“I saw a lot of people. Like I said, most of them were wedding guests.” Elvira rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “Yeah. Now that you mention it, there was a couple who looked kinda suspicious. I figured they weren’t locals since most locals are familiar with the trolley schedule.”
“So you think they may have been tourists?”
“They definitely weren’t wedding guests because they were wearing shorts and sandals. It was a man and woman, younger.” Elvira closed her eyes. “Yep. They waited for the trolley for a good half an hour. The woman kept looking over my way. I don’t remember talking to them, and neither tried to get inside the restaurant.”
“Can you describe them?”
Elvira’s eyes flew open. “I just told you. Younger, wearing casual summer clothes and sandals.”
