“Yes, Friday morning,” Carlita confirmed.
“This surveillance equipment is slick. It’s able to pick up any motion, and depending on your desired settings, it stores the images. Ours is set up to keep all images until we erase them. Elvira uses the video as her evening entertainment. You guys get some interesting guests coming and going, especially for Tony’s wedding.”
“You’re spying on us all of the time?” Mercedes gasped.
“I wouldn’t call it spying. Although Elvira does kind of have a thing for your hot new tenant, Sam Ivey. He doesn’t appear to have a girlfriend. At least we haven’t seen him with a woman.” Dernice let out a low wolf whistle. “I have to admit he’s a real looker.”
“You can have him,” Mercedes muttered. “He’s a jerk.”
“Really?” Mercedes’ glaring dislike for Sam got Dernice’s attention. “He seems like a real gentleman. He helped me bring my motorcycle inside the other day when it started to rain.”
“Mercedes and he got off on the wrong foot, and now she doesn’t like him.”
“Plus, he’s spying on us,” Mercedes said. “Everyone is spying on us.”
“Hold up. Looks like we got something.” Dernice clicked on the screen to enlarge the picture. “It appears someone dropped a package off on your back stoop around seven forty-five. Check it out.”
Carlita leaned in to study the image. “Mercedes…do you see what I see?”
“Yep. It’s a male wearing a purple camo backpack.”
“Let’s see what else we got.” Dernice tapped the keyboard and they watched as the man dropped a brown box on the step. He looked around before jogging in the direction of the restaurant, and out of sight.
“That’s him. A hundred bucks says this is the guy Pirate Pete spotted in the alley during the wedding, with a young woman who was obviously distressed. He’s the one who left the headless cake topper.” Carlita studied the image. “I’m beginning to think this young man was working in my kitchen during the wedding.”
Mercedes tapped Dernice’s shoulder. “Is there a way to forward this image to us by text or in an email?”
“Of course. It’s fairly simple,” Dernice said. “You think this guy may have been involved in the food poisoning incident in the courtyard?”
“Yes. I believe that he, along with a young woman he was with, poisoned one of the wedding guests, but why?” Carlita thought about Brittney and Vinnie. Were they the targets? If they were, why hadn’t the woman followed through and poisoned Vinnie at the same time as Megan Burelli, who Carlita now suspected was mistaken for Brittney?
“I need a copy of this image to see if Pirate Pete can positively identify him. I’ve already got the print of the female courtyard server.”
“I don’t know if I can,” Dernice said. “Not until I discuss it with Elvira. She’s not one to hand out freebies without getting something in return.”
“Good grief.” Carlita rolled her eyes. “Birds of a feather. Name your price.”
The back door creaked open, and Elvira stepped inside. “Hello.”
“Hello, Elvira.” Carlita motioned to the shovel she was carrying. “Have you been out digging ditches?”
“Not quite.” She eyed Carlita and Mercedes suspiciously. “What are you doing here?”
“We took a look at your surveillance video from the other morning, to see if it caught the person who left the box with the headless cake topper inside on camera. It did, and we were bargaining with Dernice to obtain a copy of the image.”
“What kind of bargain?” Elvira propped the shovel in the corner. “It better be good.”
“What do you want?”
“Well, I have been giving it some thought. I was thinking along the lines of a dinner invite at your place, along with your hot new tenant, Sam Ivey.”
“I told you she was gaga over Sam,” Dernice said.
“I thought you were in love with Cool Bones,” Mercedes said.
“Unfortunately, our personalities just don’t mesh.”
“Imagine that,” Carlita snorted. “Tell you what…I’ll work on it. You have my word. I need the image before I can arrange the dinner date. Please send it to Mercedes’ phone.”
“Are you willing to put our deal in writing?”
“I already promised, and you have witnesses.”
Elvira pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Okay. Fair warning…I’m going to hound you until it happens.”
“Threatening won’t help.”
“No, it’s a promise.” Elvira nodded to her sister. “Go ahead and send it to Mercedes’ cell phone.”
“It’s done.” Dernice shifted to face her sister. “How did the closing go?”
“Your closing was today?” Carlita glanced at her cell phone. “I got the text.”
“Yep. This property is all mine now,” Elvira beamed. “I bought it lock, stock and barrel. The first thing I’m going to do is tear down the wall, so we can go up and down the stairs instead of having to crawl up the fire escape.”
“That’s why you bought this place, isn’t it?” Carlita asked. “Because you think there are more valuable items upstairs.”
“Maybe. I did Davis a favor. He was happy to leave the junk upstairs behind. He inherited it when he bought the building years ago. It’s mine now, and I intend to sort through my newly-acquired belongings with a fine tooth comb.”
“Tearing this place apart oughta keep you out of trouble for a few days,” Mercedes joked.
Carlita’s cell phone vibrated. “Uh-oh. Reese sent me a text. She wants me to call her back right away.” She thanked Elvira again for emailing the image and ushered Violet out of the building.
They waited for Mercedes to close the door behind them before Carlita dialed Reese’s cell phone. “You found something out from Dixie over at the bus station.”
“Yes. I have a positive ID on the man and woman. She confirmed the man was wearing a purple camo backpack and they fit the description. They each
