Bodies and Blueberries Read online

  “Well look who’s here,” Tom Montgomery said, smiling. “Glad you could make it.”

  “I thought you were making supper for Finn tonight,” Mom piped up sarcastically.

  “About that. I broke up with Finn last night. We’re done,” Tabby casually stated, waiting for the emotional geyser that was about to take place.

  “Excuse me? Did I hear that right?” her mother squealed, leaping to her feet.

  “You heard me right.”

  Samantha Moon let out a shriek. She danced around waving her skirt, and hugging and kissing everyone that was seated at the table. Tommy Wilbur let out a “thank god”. There were several other hallelujahs and hand clapping from the committee members. Tabby had expected a scene from her mother, but not from the rest of the town. Turns out she was right in thinking that Finn was not liked at all.

  The patrons in the diner were watching what was happening in the function room. There was a lot of whispering and smiling. Donald and Gladys sat in the booth closest to the back room. Tabby was sure she asked to be placed there to spy on the committee supper. Now she had some real gossip to give to the early morning coffee drinkers at The Tilted Coffee Cup.

  “Does Jenny know yet?” her mom asked gleefully.

  “No, not yet. I was going to tell her tomorrow. Can we just drop this for now?”

  “Sure, honey. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make a public spectacle of you. I’m sure Gladys got an earful. Unfortunately, you’ll be the talk of the town for the next few days. You have absolutely no idea how happy you have made me tonight!” she said, giving Tabby a hug as she sat down next to her.

  “Drinks are on me,” Samantha announced. “The first round, anyway.”

  The fourteen-member committee had a great time while eating. They laughed, reminisced about the past Summer Kick-Off Weekends, and discussed who else they could finagle into working on the celebration.

  “Why don’t we assign committee heads and call it a night,” Tommy suggested. “We have another meeting next week at the library. We can get down to business then.”

  Assignments were handed out without too much complaining. Tabby and Jenny were assigned to head the Blue Ribbon Contests. They would be responsible for organizing all entries in cooking, quilting, and the ‘What I Am Doing This Summer’ short stories submitted by the local school-age children. Tabby loved to read the compositions entered by the kids; they had such vivid imaginations.

  It was eight o’clock when the meeting ended. The rest of the diner had already emptied. Once outside, Tabby’s mother gave her another long hug.

  “You will never understand how happy you made me tonight. I know as your mother I am supposed to support you in everything you do, but I just couldn’t with that loser you called a boyfriend. What made you change your mind?”

  “He brought a pile of stuff over to my house and plopped it in my living room. He didn’t ask if he could, he just did it. That’s what set me off. He can have a nice life with his things. I hope they keep him warm at night,” Tabby replied. “You and Jenny were right. I guess most of the town was right.”

  “It wasn’t a matter of being right. It was a matter of what was best for you,” her mother said, kissing the top of her head. “We all love you.”

  “I know. It doesn’t hurt as bad as I thought it would. I’ll be fine.”

  “Love you much. Please be careful going home,” her mother instructed as she climbed into her own car.

  Tabby slid into the front seat of her car and began the short drive home.

  When she arrived, she found her front door standing ajar which caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up. She knew that she had locked up tightly when she left.

  Tabby took her pepper spray out of her purse. Her hand slid in between the door and the frame to the light switch. The overhead light came on in the living room. There was no noise in the apartment. She pushed the door open and stepped in.

  To her horror, the place had been destroyed. Furniture was sliced and ripped open, anything that was breakable had been smashed, and every shelf had been emptied of its contents onto the floor. She took out her cell phone and dialed nine-one-one. Sheriff Puckett promised to get there as fast as he could. He instructed her to go back to her car and lock herself in until he arrived.

  Two cruisers pulled in, rolling to a sudden stop with lights flashing and sirens screaming. People were coming out of the other apartments to see what was going on. Tabby exited her car and walked over to the sheriff.

  “What’s going on, Tabby?” Sheriff Puckett questioned.

  “Someone destroyed my apartment,” Tabby answered with a shiver. “I found the front door open when I got home.”

  “Stay here while we go check it out.”

  Tabby watched the officers disappear inside. The lights went on in each room as they crept through looking for a suspect. The sheriff exited the apartment and called her over.

  “Do you have any idea who did this and why?”

  “The only other person that has a key is Finn Morten. I broke up with him last night and forgot to get my spare key back from him before he left. He was pretty angry when he drove away. He tried to call me today and I didn’t answer the phone.”

  “You broke up with Finn? Good for you. You can do so much better,” Sheriff Puckett said, smiling. “I mean, okay, we will check out where he was tonight.”

  “Can I go in? I didn’t go past the front door when I called you. I need to see how extensive the damage is,” Tabby requested.

  “Yeah, sure. I’ll go in with you. I’m sorry. There really isn’t much left that’s useable,” he said, leading the way inside.

  Tabby walked from room to room. Tears formed in her eyes as she saw everything she treasured was destroyed. Even her clothes had been ripped beyond use.

  “Can you find enough things to pack a small bag? I’d rather you stay in town tonight.

  I called Miss Jill and she is going to have a room ready for you at The Sparrow.”

  “Why would he do this?” Tabby wondered, clutching her grandmother’s broken locket.

  “Some people don’t take rejection well. Finn Morten has a bad temper; I’ve seen him lose it before. We need to lock up the place and come back tomorrow to see if we can discover any evidence that could lead us to the burglar.”

  “I have extra clothes at Jenny’s. I’ll stop there and pick something up. Let me call her.”

  Tabby walked to her car and dialed her best friend’s number. As she began to tell Jenny what happened tears started trickling down her face. She broke the connection and headed back into her apartment.

  “I’m going to stay with Jenny tonight. I don’t want to be alone, even at The Sparrow. If one of you would follow me to her place, I would be grateful.”

  “I will call Miss Jill and cancel the room. Deputy Small will follow you to Jenny’s house. Do you have a key that I can use to get back in here in the morning? I want you to stay in town tomorrow to give us a chance to search for evidence. I will notify you when the apartment will be available to you, alright?”

  “I’ll be at the cable company if you learn anything. Jenny said I could stay there as long as I need to. Here is my key; it is the only one I have. Thanks for the escort.”

  “Just one more quick question. Did you notice anything missing while you were walking around?” asked Sheriff Puckett.

  “I honestly couldn’t tell in all that mess. I’m sorry.”

  “That’s okay. I will talk to you tomorrow. Deputy, make sure she gets inside before you leave,” ordered Puckett.

  “Come on, Tabs, we’ll get you safely to Jenny’s,” he said. “We’ll get whoever did this. Don’t you worry.”

  Tabby crawled in her car, started it and then pulled out of the parking lot with Deputy Small close behind.

  When they arrived in town Jenny met her best friend at the door. She hugged her tight and led her inside where Samantha Moon was anxiously waiting for her daughter. Tabby finally b
roke down and cried as her mom hugged her and Jenny made her a cup of tea.

  “I knew he was trouble,” Samantha stewed, brushing away her daughter’s tears. “They’ll catch him quickly; try not to worry.”

  “I’m so scared, Mom,” Tabby said. “He destroyed everything I own; it’s like he was out of control with rage.”

  “You aren’t going back there. We already talked to Mr. Wells and he wants you to stay in town,” said Jenny.

  “I have nothing left. He even destroyed my furniture and clothes,” Tabby sobbed. “I didn’t have renter’s insurance either.”

  “Don’t you worry about it tonight. Sheriff Puckett wants me to bring you out there tomorrow to help him go through things. We’ll see if anything can be saved. Jenny made up the spare bed for you; try and get some rest and I will be over early in the morning to help you,” Samantha assured her, standing to leave.

  “I love you. I should have listened to you earlier,” Tabby whispered, hugging her mom.

  “We all have to learn in our own time. Get some sleep. Jenny, thank you so much for helping us out; my room just isn’t big enough for two people. I’ll see you both in the morning.”

  Samantha left and Jenny locked the door and dead bolted it after her. She did the same thing to the back door. Tabby sat there drinking her tea and wondered how could something like this happen in Whipper Will Junction? Then again, Finn wasn’t from Whipper Will Junction. He was born and raised in the city of Larsen. A local wouldn’t have done this to another local.

  “Are you ready for bed? Your mom already called your boss and told him you wouldn’t be in tomorrow. He said to tell you he was sorry and to take as much time off as you need,” Jenny relayed, sitting in the chair opposite her friend.

  “I don’t get it. I gave Finn everything for the last six years. He was furious, but I can’t believe he would do something like this to me.”

  “You never know. He couldn’t live in his own house because it was full to the rafters with junk, so you took away his place to stay and his free food. He has to fend for himself now and I don’t think he likes that idea. Sheriff Puckett will figure this out. If you think about it, who else could it be besides Finn? Everyone in this town likes and respects you.”

  “I know, everything points to Finn. This started out as such a great day. Thanks for letting me stay here. Do you mind if I go to bed? I’m exhausted.”

  “Do you think I would have let you stay anywhere else? You’re in the spare bedroom and are welcome to stay as long as you need to. I’ll have coffee ready for you in the morning. Good night.”

  Tabby lay in bed staring at the ceiling. There was silence. At night, the center of town was just as quiet as living outside of town. She realized that living above the store was going to be okay.

  Chapter 4

  * * *

  Samantha pulled up in front of the book store and beeped. Tabby came out, coffee in hand, and climbed in beside her mom.

  “Are you ready for this? The sheriff’s been out at your place since sun-up. He called me to make sure we were coming.”

  “Yeah, I guess. I just want to get it over with. Do you know what’s lousy, Mom?” Tabby moaned. “I am going to have to use the money I had saved to open my store to replace all my household items and clothes. I won’t be able to open my store until next year. I saved for three years to make Jellies, Jams and Weddings happen and now it’s gone.”

  “Let’s wait and see how much we can save from your apartment before you declare a total loss,” her mom suggested.

  “You didn’t see it, Mom, everything was destroyed. There’s nothing left to salvage.”

  They pulled into the Starling Apartments and the sheriff’s cruiser was parked in front of Tabby’s place. The other residents were milling about trying to see inside. Sitting in her car watching everything, was Gladys Twittle.

  “Now why doesn’t that surprise me?” Tabby asked, pointing out Gladys to her mother.

  “You know how she is; she thinks she has to know everything that happens in this town. Don’t let her get to you. Let’s give her a little wave. Ready?” quipped Samantha, waving and steering her daughter towards the open door of the apartment.

  “I’m glad you’re here,” the sheriff stated.

  “Have you found anything?” Samantha inquired, looking around in disbelief.

  “Truthfully, nothing so far. We dusted for fingerprints and sent them off to the lab. Finn’s prints are on record from a previous altercation but they are also expected to be here since you and he were dating. Tabby, you will need to go down to the station so we can rule your fingerprints out as well. I have never seen anything like this before. I just have a funny feeling this wasn’t done out of anger. It’s almost like someone was looking for something.”

  “Oh, no,” Tabby cried out, running off.

  The others followed her as she ran to the corner of her bedroom where her grandmother’s stuffed animal collection was. They were all scattered on the floor; some of them had their heads ripped off and others were sliced open with a knife. Tabby dropped to the floor pushing heads and bodies aside looking for something specific.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “My grandmother’s ring. It was hidden inside Bathroom Bear. Finn knew I had the ring and how much it was worth. But he didn’t know it was hidden in the bear.”

  “What is a Bathroom Bear?” the sheriff queried.

  “It’s a stuffed bear that is dressed in a bathrobe and has curlers on its head. One of its hands is holding a toothbrush,” Tabby acknowledged, searching frantically.

  “How much is the ring worth?”

  “We had it appraised two years ago and they put a value on it of twelve thousand dollars,” Samantha confirmed. “It has a center one carat ruby with two surrounding one carat diamonds set in platinum.”

  They all started searching for the bear. The sheriff held up an arm holding a toothbrush.

  “Is this part of the bear?”

  Tabby shook her head yes. They kept looking. Under a comforter in the hallway the sheriff found the headless, one-armed body of Bathroom Bear. Tabby ran over and grabbed it from him and pushed aside the bathrobe to stick her finger up the remaining arm. She started crying.

  “Oh Tabby, is it gone?” her mom asked, holding her breath.

  Her daughter held up a pink tissue folded into a small square.

  “He didn’t find it, Mom,” she said, crying even harder. “It’s still here.”

  “Samantha, why don’t you take Tabby out to the car and let her sit for a while,” the sheriff suggested.

  “No. I need to look for a couple more things. I noticed gram’s locket last night; the chain was broken but I think it can be repaired.”

  The sheriff brought in a box from his car and set it near the front door. Tabby walked around and collected what could be salvaged. Some books, a few scarves, and a couple of board games were added to the box. Silverware, pans, and a heavy wooden cutting board was all that could be saved in the kitchen. Everything else had been smashed to pieces. She walked back to the bedroom followed by her mother.

  “Some of the clothes in your bureau can be saved. Do you want them?” Samantha asked, holding up some socks and underwear.

  “He touched them. He went through my personal things. I can’t wear them again, Mom. I just can’t,” Tabby responded with a shiver.

  “It’s okay, I completely understand,” she acknowledged, tossing the clothes back in the drawer.

  Tabby discovered the locket exactly where she had dropped it the night before. She slid it in her front jean’s pocket where she could keep it close. They wandered back to the living room where the sheriff was standing next to Mr. Wells who had just shown up.

  “Tabby, I am so sorry. I want you to take whatever you want to save from here today. I have contracted a cleaning company to come here tomorrow to clean out the unit. I don’t want you to have to deal with it,” Richard Wells said, giving her a hug.
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br />   “That’s very kind of you, Richard,” Samantha affirmed, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. “My daughter is having such a tough time with this.”

  “Thank you so much,” Tabby acknowledged, returning his hug. “I guess it’s a good thing that I talked you into renting me the other place.”

  “I will feel much better with you in town where everyone can keep an eye on you,” the elderly gentleman added.

  “I’ll feel much better, too. Until they locate Finn and find out if it was him that did this, I will feel safer being up on the second floor.”

  “Is there any question whether it was her boyfriend or not?” Mr. Wells inquired, focusing his attention on the sheriff.

  “I don’t know for certain; call it a hunch, but I don’t believe it was Finn. I think it was someone else.”

  “Keep on top of it, Sheriff. I’ve got to head out. I have an appointment with my attorney to go after Fink. I think he’s been falsifying the books for all my rentals.

  “Thanks again, Richard,” Samantha said as he walked out the door.

  The rest of the morning was spent rifling through the mess that used to be Tabby’s home. She found small items here and there that she wanted to take with her for sentimental reasons. Another box was almost full when Tabby and her mother finished going through the last room.

  They had noticed that Gladys, the town snoop, had left at eight-thirty. The antique shop opened at nine and she had to be there to man the counter. The stories were probably flying out of Gladys’s mouth even though she really didn’t know anything. But she was great at convincing the other locals that she did.

  “Are you hungry?” her mom asked.

  “A little, I guess,” Tabby answered, placing what remained of her life in the trunk of the car.

  “Want to go to the Outdoor Café for a quick lunch?” Samantha inquired as she started the car.

  “Sure. It’s not like I have to go to work today.

  They spent the next hour eating, talking, and laughing. Tabby felt much better after spending time with her mom. They were sharing a strawberry shortcake with extra whipped cream when Samantha’s cellphone rang.