Smoked (The Alex Harris Mystery Series) Read online

  The air had taken on a sudden chill and I had left the house without a jacket. Plus my stomach was rumbling despite the fact it had been well fed at noon. My plate of leftovers was probably cold by now. With one last look at the remnants of the fire pit, I turned toward my house. And that’s when I screamed.

  Chapter Four

  “Wow! Hey, are you all right? I didn’t mean to scare you like that.”

  From my position on the ground, where I had landed when I bumped into the young woman who now stood towering over me, I looked up and shook my head. “No. I’m okay. You just scared the daylights out of me.” I stood up and wiped grass and dirt from the butt of my pants. My new pants, in case anyone wanted to know, which I picked up at a terrific sale. I turned to look at the woman. “Who are you?”

  “Oh, sorry. Ellery Kravec. Maria Kravec was my mom. I came by to see if my dad was back from the police station yet and I saw you out here.”

  “Geesh. I never heard you.”

  “You looked like you were deep in thought. Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “Yes. Thank you.”

  “What are you doing out here in the dark? Do you want to come inside? By the way, who are you?” Ellery Kravec asked me in a direct way though not sounding very concerned about a stranger in her parents’ yard.

  “I’m Alex. Alex Harris Van der Burg. From next door. I’m so sorry about your mother. I called 911,” I said and realized how woefully inadequate it sounded.

  In a sudden move Ellery wrapped her arms around me. “Thank you so much,” she said into my shoulder.

  “I didn’t do anything. I’m sorry I couldn’t save her. I just called 911.” I felt terrible. I didn’t know what else to say. Standing next to Ellery made me feel totally useless. Maybe if I had known CPR or had one of those prefilled injectors I could have saved Mrs. Kravec, but of course at the time, I had no idea she was in anaphylactic shock. “Really. I just called for help. I wish I could have done more.”

  Ellery released me and smiled. “If you hadn’t found her she might still be lying out here. You did more than you know. She would have been out here all night. My father was gone and who knows when she would have been found.”

  I gave Ellery a weak smile. “I was just about to go in for some dinner. Would you care to join me? It’s just leftovers?”

  Ellery looked over her shoulder at the house. It didn’t look like Mr. Kravec had returned. “That would be nice. I’m sure I can hear my dad drive up from your house.”

  Once we were inside, I turned on the heat and took out another plate. “I have meatloaf, potatoes and carrots.”

  “I love meatloaf and yours looks delicious. Can I have a big piece?”

  “Sure. There’s plenty.” I love meatloaf too and while I don’t make it very often, when I do, I make enough to last for several meals. I cut a thick slice and zapped it in the microwave. When that was done, I put the casserole dish with the potatoes in to warm and then the carrots. “Do you want to eat in the dining room?”

  Ellery looked around my kitchen. “No. Here’s fine. I like this room. It’s cozy.”

  Ellery Kravec had her father’s dark good looks. She had very dark curly hair which she wore pulled up in a thick pony tail. Her eyes were a deep blue color and she had full lips à la Angelina Jolie. Her nose, thankfully, she inherited from her mother. It was long and nicely shaped whereas her father’s was rather broad.

  I put the hot dishes on potholders I had placed on the kitchen table. “Thanks. I like it. My husband renovated it before I moved in. He inherited this house from his grandmother.”

  Ellery took a big bite of the meatloaf and sighed contentedly. “My mom told me. She said you guys really fixed up the old place. It was an eyesore before.” She looked up from her plate. “Oh, sorry. That wasn’t very nice. It was just old and a bit rundown.”

  I laughed. “Yes, it was. Which is why no one else in the family wanted it and my husband took it on. He did a great job,” I said as I took in the kitchen with its modern appliances. Somehow John had managed to keep the homey feel of the original room and I was glad. It was cozy and comfortable and I liked sitting in here and looking through the mail or having breakfast on weekends.

  “Listen,” I began, “I really am so very sorry about your mother. I wish I could have helped more but by time I reached her I don’t think there was much anyone could have done.”

  I watched a tear run down Ellery’s face and plop on the table. “I can’t believe she’s gone. She had so much life. She wasn’t even sixty yet. How could this happen? And where is my father? The police came and took him in this afternoon just as he got home from Boston. I was waiting at the house for him. So where is he?” She ate the last bite of meatloaf and asked for another slice.

  The girl could eat, though where she put it was anyone’s guess. She was tall like her dad and thin like her mom. Plus, I put her age at somewhere just below thirty. I could eat as much as I wanted when I was that age as well. Ah, youth.

  “Why would the police take my dad to the station? They could have just asked him whatever they wanted at home. It doesn’t make sense. And when I got here this morning they were already out back putting all the stuff from the fire in bags and then they put up that tape.”

  “Ellery, was your mother allergic to anything?” I thought about what John had said and wondered if Ellery knew about the anaphylactic shock.

  Ellery shook her head. Her mouth was full and she took a second to finish the large scoop of potatoes she had shoveled in. “Mmmm. Sorry.” She wiped her lips with the fancy paper napkin I had given her. “Allergic to anything? Yeah. Big time. Poison Ivy. Bee stings. Peanuts.”

  “Did she carry one of those pens with her?”

  “She always had one close by, but mostly she just kept away from all the stuff she couldn’t have. Bees could be a worry but it’s not like you step outside and get swarmed. She has the pens. A couple in the kitchen. But she wasn’t a paranoid person. It’s ironic she died the way she did because she loved burning leaves. She knew she wasn’t supposed to do it, but she loved watching the fire, the smell of them and figured it was worth the risk of a fine. She told me it was about the only thing she and her dad ever did together so I guess it brought back memories.”

  Ellery continued her intake of food while I thought about Maria Kravec’s allergies. There was help right there in the kitchen. I felt horrible. If I had only known I could have grabbed one and plunged it into the woman in time to save her. From what Ellery just said, it must have been a bee. I hadn’t seen too many lately and it was getting cold, but what else could it have been? Maybe a bunch of bees had been hiding in the leaves and the fire brought them out, ready to attack the first thing they saw. I was so caught up in my thoughts I hadn’t noticed Ellery had become quiet, the fork finally set on the table next to a not quite empty plate.

  “Ellery, are you okay?”

  Tear were streaming down her face. “My mom is gone. I can’t bear it.” She dabbed at her eyes with the napkin and looked across the table at me. “Does any of this make any sense to you, Alex?”

  I shook my head. “No. It doesn’t. I guess we’ll just have to wait to see what the police say.”

  “Why did my mom have to die now just when we were becoming better friends?”

  I was saved from having to come up with an answer by the sound of a car door slamming. Ellery ran into the living room and looked out the window.

  “It’s my dad. I better go see what’s going on. And Alex, would it be okay if I took my plate with me?”

  Chapter Five

  By the time I got to work the next morning, Marla Scottsman was already in and working away on her computer. Marla came in a couple times a week and we were able to set up an area for her in a little alcove by where Millie held reign.

  Marla had worked in accounting all her life. Her husband, Greg, had worked for the Connecticut Department of Transportation and decided to take early retirement. Once he retired he suddenl
y found a ton of energy and wanted his sidekick, Marla, by his side to be able to get up and go at a moment’s notice. She was also able to retire and enjoyed taking day trips with Greg, but she needed an escape as well and that was when she had come to us. Over the years she had used our services when her firm had needed temporary help. So it was only natural when she was in need of some temporary work, she showed up on our door step.

  Sam and I had been toying with the idea of bringing on some additional help and it turned out Marla was more than happy to take us on. She fit in perfectly with our team and I couldn’t be happier to have her here.

  “I just finished up the October final reporting for Bronsky and Williams. Do you want to see it before I put it on Sam’s desk?” Marla had come up behind me in our little kitchen and scared me half to death.

  “Marla! Sorry, I didn’t hear you.” I grabbed a dish towel and wiped up the tea I’d sloshed on the counter. “No, that’s fine. Just give it all to Sam.”

  Marla put the papers on the table and grabbed another towel. “Here. Let me rinse that cup out for you and I’ll get you another one.”

  It wasn’t like me to feel helpless but I accepted her offer and sat down on one of the chairs surrounding the small table. “Thanks, Marla. I don’t know what’s wrong with me this morning.”

  “Didn’t sleep well?” Marla asked while she put more water in the kettle and returned it to the stove.

  I’m not much of a micro-manager, but I have pounded the fact that boiled water makes a better cup than a microwave-zapped cup of water does into everyone who works at Always Prepared. “I guess I didn’t. A neighbor stopped by last night and, well, her mother just died. We talked a while and it left me feeling sad.”

  Marla took the seat next to me and reached over and patted my hand. Marla Scottsman was a black woman with the loveliest skin I had ever seen. It was totally devoid of lines despite the fact she was in her fifties and her hand against mine was very soft. I would have to find out what kind of lotion she used. Today she wore a rich orange cardigan twin set and it set off her skin tone perfectly. Her hair was pulled back into some sort of bun but not old-fashioned looking and she always had on some of the nicest earrings, which she told me she bought at Chico’s when they had a good sale.

  “Oh, that’s too bad. Always sad when someone dies. Was she an old woman?”

  “No, Marla, she wasn’t. That’s the hard part. She was probably in her late fifties. And she died of some kind of allergic reaction. I found her. Well, I saw her from my kitchen window and it looked like she was in some kind of trouble so I called 911 and rushed out to her but I didn’t know what to do. I don’t know CPR and I just stayed with her until the paramedics showed up. I did nothing. I thought she was having a heart attack but it was anaphylactic shock, they think. Her daughter told me she had some of those allergy pens in the kitchen but how was I suppose to know that?”

  “You wouldn’t know that. No one would. Alex, you did what anyone else would have done and it seems it was just her time to go.”

  This was another reason Marla fit in perfectly with us. She had a sense of calm about her and a belief that things followed their natural course. Sam and Millie could get riled up sometimes and Marla was a soothing balm. Okay, so I could be a bit dramatic at times as well, but really, Sam was the drama queen around here.

  The water boiled in the kettle and I got up to pour it into my mug. “Thanks, Marla. I really didn’t know Maria Kravec very well, but she was a neighbor and seemed like a nice woman.

  Marla turned in her seat. “Maria Kravec? The Maria Kravec? You’re neighbors with Maria Kravec!”

  Marla was bordering on hysteria. Who was this woman? Wasn’t I just saying what a soothing balm she was? More like a ticking bomb.

  “Marla, do you know her?”

  “Know her? No.” Marla shook her head quickly causing the earrings to slap the sides of her face. “I know of her, Alex. Know of her. I read her blog religiously and of course I make all of her recipes.”

  I was just about to ask what the heck she was talking about when the phone rang and Marla ran to answer it.

  Chapter Six

  They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. My good intention was to find out about Maria Kravec’s blog, but like with most plans things went awry at some point mid morning.

  When you have your own business, there are a lot of things to worry about, and one of our biggest concerns was always the competition. Luckily, we had been in business for quite a while and had an excellent reputation. Plus, we constantly updated our services to correspond to industry demands, but still. The competitor was always circling, like a shark, waiting to take a bite out of our client base whenever possible.

  Several months back, we had raised our rates slightly. This was the first increase we had for several years, but for some it was just too much and they jumped ship. The circling shark this time was a firm called We’re Just Your Type and they had snatched up a few of the big fish we had been representing. Word on the street, okay, a rumor that Millie heard from a friend of a friend and had conveyed to us, was that We’re Just Your Type had failed to deliver on more than one occasion and this morning was just one of those times.

  We received a call from a very frantic former client who needed three temps by nine. I would love to take the credit but the truth is Millie knows where all of our best temps are at any given moment and she coordinated the troops like General Eisenhower on D-Day, getting our people in place well before the deadline. Said client assured us his momentary lapse in judgment was a thing of the past and he was now back on our books.

  After a few more calls to a couple more of our former clients, we learned this kind of service, or lack thereof, was standard operating procedure for We’re Just Your Type. It seemed like there just wasn’t much of a work ethic out there anymore and luckily for us, that was our calling card. We never failed to cater to our clients’ needs and hopefully they would realize even a slight increase in rates was well worth it for excellent service.

  So the point of all this is I never had a chance to go online and check out Maria Kravec’s blog. And my thought that I could take a peek at lunch went unfulfilled as well when Millie, Sam, and Marla decided lunch in my office would be fun. So here it was, almost five. My hand, gripping the mouse, was just about to click on Google when there was a knock on my door.

  “Yes,” I called out, probably a bit harsher than I should have.

  The door opened and Millie poked her head inside. “There’s someone here to see you. Are you just about to leave?”

  “No. It’s okay.” I closed out my browser and asked Millie to show my guest in.

  “Hi, Alex. Sorry to barge in but I need to talk with you about something and I also wanted to give you back your plate.”

  For a moment I had no idea who the young woman standing in my office was and then it hit me. Ellery. She had her naturally curly hair down and was wearing makeup. She was a very pretty girl last night while she shoveled my leftovers into her mouth, but today, quite frankly she was stunning.

  “Oh, gosh, Ellery. Come in. I’m sorry. I was busy with—never mind. Please have a seat.”

  Millie silently closed the door and left us alone.

  Ellery placed my dinner plate on the desk, sat back in her chair and then leaned forward again, moved the plate aside and rested her arms on the desk. She looked at me and her eyes began to water. “They took my dad in.”

  “Took your dad in? Who? The police? Not the police?” I was speechless. Why hadn’t John called to tell me? Oh, wait, I wasn’t a cop. That might have had something to do with his reluctance to call and tell me everything going on at the police station.

  Ellery’s head rested on her arms. I went around the desk and pulled up the other chair.

  “Ellery? What happened? Hold on. Let me get you something to drink. Tea?”

  Ellery shook her head. I went into the kitchen and started to fill the kettle but instead filled a mu
g and popped it into the microwave. Hopefully, she wasn’t a tea aficionado and wouldn’t notice the difference. I grabbed a glass of water for myself and returned to my office.

  I handed her the cup of tea. “Here. Be careful. It’s very hot.”

  Ellery lifted her head and wiped her eyes on a tissue she pulled from a box on my desk, which just happened to be next to my very large glass jar of M&M’s. Did I mention I have an addiction to M&M’s? I try to keep some within reach at all times.

  “Can I have some?”

  “Of course.” I took the lid off and pushed the jar closer to her. Truth was she could have as many as she liked. They were a new flavor, pumpkin spice, and I wasn’t sure about them yet.

  She picked up a scoop I kept in the jar and heaved out an amount equal to one of those dollar bags you pick up at the checkout counter at the store. She opened up her tissue and dumped them onto it and then picked up the mug and cradled it between her hands.

  After a few moments, she took a couple of candies, popped them into her mouth and said, “They arrested my dad. For murder. Of my mother.”

  Chapter Seven

  Ellery talked quickly. I had noticed it the night before. Not all the time, but she did now and it totally caught me off guard because I wasn’t sure I had heard correctly.

  I shook my head. “Wait. What? Why? I don’t understand. How could your father, who was in Boston, I believe, kill your mother, who died of anaphylactic shock?”