Don't Forget Me (17 page)

He didn’t exactly consider himself a criminal anyway. Criminals were losers. He was someone who’d had a run of bad luck.

Still, he placed the china bowl inside his kitchen cabinet, next to the small silver box he’d lifted from Docia Kent’s bookstore. That box had been even more satisfying. The symbolism there was clear—
I can take what’s valuable to you and you can’t do a damn thing to stop me.

All in all the break-in at the bookstore had been much more fun than the one at the bakery, but that was how it had to be. Trashing the bookstore had settled some scores, but the bakery had established a pattern, made it all less personal. Now he could go on to hit a few more places, saving the biggest for last. With any luck, no one would make any connections. They’d just think it was some lunatic burglar who got off on breaking things up.

He knew what they’d be thinking now. Kids with too much time on their hands. Or dopers. Somebody out to destroy things for the fun of it or looking for money and too stoned not to realize they were in the wrong place. No one would see it for what it was—a strategy. It would divert attention, and suspicion, until he was long gone.

He’d have to be careful, of course. The new chief wasn’t stupid, although he wasn’t as smart as he thought he was. Things would have been much easier if that moron Ham Linklatter had gotten the chief’s job, but you played with the cards you were dealt.

Brody didn’t doubt for a moment that he’d succeed in the end. After all, they owed him. All of them. Every last citizen of Konigsburg owed him big time.

Chapter Ten

Toleffson called a meeting early the next morning so that Ham, who had night duty that week, could be around before he headed home for the day. He’d even brought in the two part-timers, Dawson Kirk and Rollie Martinez, who mostly worked weekends.

Helen passed around some of her more-than-adequate coffee and some cinnamon rolls from the supermarket that didn’t begin to measure up to Allie Maldonado’s scones. Nando felt annoyed all over again since Allie wouldn’t be selling any of those scones for at least another couple of days, given that it was Friday and she’d stay closed for the weekend.

“Okay,” Toleffson began, “let me summarize what we’ve got on this guy.”

The chief’s summaries were always complete and focused, a model for somebody like Ham who tended to ramble off the track. He outlined what little he’d gotten back so far from the forensics lab, the minimal physical evidence they’d been able to find in either the bookstore or the bakery, and the sum total of it all, which was basically squat.

“We sure it’s the same guy both places?” Rollie asked.

Toleffson gave him a grim look. “As sure as we can be without any physical evidence at the bakery.”

Ham snickered. “Too bad the guy didn’t feel like taking another dump.”

The others glanced at Nando a little nervously, but he managed to keep his expression bland.

Toleffson cleared his throat. “You’re right. Too bad he didn’t. It gave us DNA evidence from the first scene. That’s a valuable commodity. If he’d left us some more, we wouldn’t be wondering if it was the same guy.” He gave Ham a long, cool look.

Ham flushed dirty pink, then faded back to his usual pale. “Just seems a little dumb, picking up pieces of shit.”

Toleffson rubbed his eyes. “Ham, what part of DNA evidence don’t you understand? If the guy’s in the system, we can find him now, as soon as the lab gets the DNA report done. From our point of view, that would be a good thing.”

Ham subsided into disgruntled silence.

The chief turned back to the rest of them. “Okay, we’ve got two ways to go with this. First is to start talking to people, see if anybody’s heard anything. Somebody bragging, somebody who wasn’t where they were supposed to be. You know the drill.”

Delaney nodded quickly. The others looked slightly bored. They did indeed know the drill, which didn’t make it any less monotonous. Plus it probably wouldn’t get them much.

“The other thing is to start looking at the stores along Main a lot more closely when you’re on night patrol. So far both places he’s hit have been on Main Street. He may or may not stick with that. But from now on, spend a little more time checking there. He can’t be doing this in total darkness—he’s got to be using a flashlight at least. If you see any lights where you don’t usually see them, find out what’s going on. And don’t forget to drive up the alleys. He’s been going in from the back, so you may not see him if you just stay on Main. If you do see anything, call it in and get backup. For the next couple of weeks, Dawson and Rollie are going to alternate doing night patrol along with whichever one of you full-timers has the duty, so we’ll always have somebody out there. Keep in contact with each other. Make sure you drive up Main at least every thirty minutes or so.”

Helen narrowed her eyes. “You need me to stay on the desk at night?”

The chief shook his head. “The call forwarding we’re using now should be enough, and the county 911 center. This hasn’t turned into a crisis yet, just a serious nuisance.”

“Do we know for sure yet what was taken from the bookstore or the bakery?” Nando asked.

Toleffson frowned. “The ebook readers and MP3 players from the bookstore. We’ve put out an alert to pawn shops, but we can’t do much if he sells the stuff online. The only other thing Docia couldn’t find was a silver box she used for miscellaneous things next to the cash register. And she’s not sure when she saw it last—it could have been missing before the break-in.”

“And Allie?”

“She’s still sorting through the mess. Nothing is missing besides the copper bowls and the mixer, so far as she knows.” The chief narrowed his eyes, watching Nando. “So?”

“So why’s he doing this exactly?” Nando leaned back in his chair. “I mean it could be kids, somebody who just likes to smash things up. But if it’s kids, we should hear about it—kids can’t keep quiet, as a rule.”

“Dope fiends,” Ham said flatly.

The chief turned toward him. “Excuse me?”

“Dope fiends looking for money. And then trashing the place after they don’t find any. That’s what dope fiends do.”

Nando thought about asking Ham how many dope fiends he’d met, but he decided the possible amusement wasn’t worth it.

“But why would dopers knock over a bookstore and a bakery? Wouldn’t they go for someplace that actually might have some money around, like a liquor store or a Stop ‘n Go?” Delaney looked like he expected Ham to take that question seriously.

“Dope fiends don’t think like that. Dope fiends don’t think at all.” Ham gave him a faintly condescending smile. “They’re too hopped up on dope. They just break in places to steal stuff.”

Toleffson pinched the bridge of his nose. Nando wondered if he ever regretted not firing Ham when he’d had the chance, back when the previous mayor had been dragged off by the Rangers for corruption. “While dope addicts are a possibility, I tend to agree with Clayton that they’re not the most likely possibility we’ve got. So either this is somebody like teenagers who are vandalizing stores for fun or…” He paused.

“Or…” Nando prompted.

“Or somebody who’s got his own agenda. Which we have yet to figure out.”

As the meeting broke up, Nando caught the chief’s eye. He assumed they were both thinking the same thing—figuring out what that agenda was would simplify figuring out who was smashing up the shops in the first place.

Kit came home around seven to find Allie slumped at the kitchen table. Wonder was standing at the stove, staring pensively at a frozen pizza.

Sighing, Kit removed it from his hands and turned on the oven. “Did you get into the kitchen in time to do any of tomorrow’s baking?”

Allie nodded. “We got all the B and B stuff done, and a lot of the stuff for the restaurants is ready to go into the ovens first thing tomorrow. Since we couldn’t cook anything for Sweet Thing, we had lots and lots of time.” She lowered her head to her folded arms.

Wonder frowned as he watched Kit take the pizza out of the box. “I could have done that. I’m just shell-shocked from an afternoon spent defrosting blueberries. The whole damn state of Maine is down in that kitchen.”

“They’re Texas blueberries,” Allie muttered. “Locally grown, if not exactly in season. We’re nothing if not responsible.”

Wonder turned to look at her, his frown transforming into concern. He raised one hand as if he wanted to pat her shoulder but didn’t know exactly how well that would be received.

Kit sighed again. “Why don’t you open a bottle of wine, Steve? And get yourself a beer. This should be ready in a few minutes.” Once Wonder was on his way to the dining room, she sat down beside her aunt. “So tell me the rest of it—when do you open again?”

Allie shook her head without raising it from the table. “I’ve got a professional cleaning crew coming in tomorrow. I don’t know how long it’ll take them to clean up the mess in the bakery. I’ve also got insurance adjustors to deal with, and repair people for the cash register. I still hope we can open next week, though.” She raised her head slightly, enough so that Kit could see her eyes above one arm. “I can’t afford to stay closed too long, even if I can keep my restaurant and B and B customers.”

Kit began to rub her shoulders. “There’s no reason for you to lose the restaurants and B and B’s. And all the other customers will come back as soon as you open—nobody else can do your scones. You should have a grand reopening party. Bake something special. I guarantee everybody in town will be there.”

Allie groaned again, although she moved her back slightly to give Kit better access to her shoulders. “I can’t think about that now, any of that. I’m too tired.” She half-turned her head, looking back at Kit. “Tell me something that will make me happy.”

“I sat down with Joe LeBlanc last night and worked out some menu possibilities. I think you’ll really like them.”

Allie stared, her eyes suddenly wide open. “Menu?”

Kit took a deep breath. “For the wedding.
Your
wedding. Joe’s going to do the cooking himself. And Clem Rodriguez had some suggestions too. She’d be a great person to cater your shower.”

“Shower?” Allie squeaked. “We have to plan a shower? Oh god, there’s no time!”

“Allie, come on,” Kit said firmly. “You don’t do the shower, your friends do. And this is going to be a wonderful wedding. Everything’s falling into place. You won’t have to do anything about the food except finalize the menu, and it’s a terrific menu, believe me. We got help from Deirdre and Clem.”

Allie sat up, chewing on her lip. “I don’t even know if I can afford Joe LeBlanc anymore. Not until I get the bill for the shop. Maybe we should postpone.”

“
I
can afford Joe LeBlanc,” Wonder said flatly, walking back from the dining room. He put a glass of red wine in front of Allie. “I’m paying for at least half of this shindig, and if it’ll move things along I’ll pay for the whole thing.” He turned to Kit. “What’s on the menu you worked out?”

“You can have a choice between redfish or smoked beef tenderloin. Or he said he could do chicken in Madeira sauce instead of one of those if you’d rather.”

“Redfish and beef.” Wonder nodded. “That’ll take care of Calthorpe Toleffson, my non-red-meat-eating best man, and me, the red-meat-eating groom. What else?”

“Grilled asparagus,” Kit counted off on her fingers. “Roasted fingerling potatoes. Wedge salads with some kind of special dressing that Joe didn’t want to give too many details on, but I think it involves a balsamic reduction. Wedding cake and sorbet for dessert, with chocolates and mints for after. And then chipotle sliders and shrimp quesadillas at midnight if you plan on dancing until dawn.”

“Oh.” Allie chewed her lip again. “That sounds…”

“Delicious,” Wonder snapped. “We’ll take it.”

Allie stared up at him, blinking.

He knelt beside her, taking her hands in his. “Sweetheart, this has dragged on for a long time already. If you really want to get married, let Kit do her thing.”

Allie was still blinking nervously. “I do want to get married. Of course I want to get married. And Kit has taken a lot of the pressure off me.” She raised her gaze to Kit. “What’s left to get set up? Flowers? What about flowers?”

Kit shrugged. “The event center has a deal with a florist here in town, Clarice Baumgarten. I saw some pictures of her stuff and it looks okay.”

Wonder shrugged. “Got an overbite she could use as a bottle opener.”

Allie narrowed her eyes.

“I guess that’s not relevant,” he said quickly. “I’m sure her flowers are superb.”

“What are your colors?”

Allie’s eyes widened to that panicked look again. She pulled her hands away from Wonder. “Colors? I don’t know. I didn’t think.”

“Orange and white,” Wonder blurted. “Go Longhorns.”

Allie stared at him open-mouthed. “No. That can’t be right.”

“Then pick two colors of your own,” he said patiently.

“Lavender,” she blurted. “And…silver.”

“Lavender it is.” Wonder winked at Kit over Allie’s head. “What else you got?”

“Um…” Kit ran through her mental checklist a little desperately. “Who do you want to perform the ceremony?”