Murder on Aisle Three Page 6

  “Me too,” Autumn said. “Jed has been a great boss, and the least that I can do is manage the store for one last week if he needs me to.”

  “Do you know if he will do any sort of memorial for Grace in the store? I feel like I want to do more to acknowledge her death, and her life. It's weird being here, because no one else knew her other than you, and to them she isn't much more than a sad news story.”

  “One of the other employees, Shila, knew her,” Autumn said. “They were friends.”

  “Shila?” Emily stared at her. “They were definitely not friends. I went to high school with both of them. They stopped talking during the beginning of junior year.”

  “Really? Just a couple of days ago, she was in here talking about Grace. She said that they had been talking to each other, and told me a couple of things that made me wonder if Jed might have killed her, for a little bit at least. She even said that Grace had asked her to go to the store with her that evening, but she was too busy.”

  “Trust me, that wouldn't have happened. The two of them didn't get along at all. If Grace wanted help with something, Shila would be the last person that she would ask.”

  Autumn fell silent as she stirred the stew. Was Emily right, that the two young women hadn't been friends for a long time? Why would Shila lie about that? She had been the one who had brought it all up in the first place. Why would she possibly have had a reason to act as if she was Grace’s friend?

  The wooden spoon slipped out of her hand as she realized that her conversation with Shila had had one purpose, at least in the young woman's eyes. The entire time they had talked about Grace, Shila had been trying to pin the blame of her death on Jed. For some reason, she had been trying to make Autumn view Jed as a suspect. The only reason that she could think that the young woman might do that would be if she was trying to remove suspicion from herself.

  “Emily, do you know if Shila is working today?”

  “Yeah, I saw her come in about an hour ago. Why?”

  “I don't know if I should say anything yet. I just want to talk to her. But listen, can you do me a favor and stay away from her? Something's going on, and I don't want anyone else to be in danger until I figure out what it is.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  * * *

  The thought of Shila’s lies burned through Autumn while she was finishing dinner. She was stuck in the kitchen. She couldn't go running off to confront the girl, not with over forty people – counting the guests – depending on her for a meal.

  What being stuck in the kitchen while she was making dinner gave her was time to think. Shila’s lie didn't make her a murderer, but it did make her suspicious. Had she and Jed helped to put an innocent man in jail? No matter how much she disliked Mr. Goodall, she still didn't want him to get convicted of a crime that he didn't commit.

  According to Emily, Shila and Grace had disliked each other for a long time. She didn't know why, but any feud that had lasted for years could be motive for murder. If the young woman really had been lying, then she must have had something to do with Grace's death. It was the only thing that made sense.

  As soon as dinner was served, she slipped out of the kitchen, hanging her apron up by the door. She looked around the dining room, hoping to see the young woman there, but there was no sign of her.

  Her Uncle Al called out to her, but she simply gave him a quick wave as she hurried past. She could see Nick in his office, making a telephone call. Most of the staff was in the dining room, helping out with the meal. There wasn't anyone she could ask about where Shila was. That meant the search was up to her and her alone.

  She quickly realized that it was a fruitless one. Even if she had had access to the various closets and storage rooms, she wouldn't have been comfortable poking around Asheville Meadows on her own. She would never be comfortable going to the residents’ rooms without permission, which meant that the only places she had left to search for the public areas; the hallways, the bathrooms, and the exercise room.

  Shila wasn’t in any of them. Her initial fear had been replaced by annoyance. Here she was, all set to possibly confront the real killer, when she couldn't find her anywhere.

  Feeling defeated, she returned to the dining area to help clean up after dinner. She was surprised to see Emily in there already, wearing the apron and up to her elbows in soapy water.

  “Shouldn't you be in training?” she asked. “I'm surprised they keep putting you on kitchen duty.”

  “I was waiting for you,” the young woman said. “I saw you leave as soon as soon as dinner was done, and I figured you were going to look for Shila. Almost as soon as you disappeared down the hallway, she came from the other direction. She went outside with the bag of salt; I think she's going to be salting the sidewalk and parking lot. What’s going on?”

  “I don't know yet,” Autumn said honestly. “But I'll tell you when I do. Thanks. I'll come back in and help you with those as soon as I can.”

  She hurried outside, not pausing to grab her coat from the office. It was cold out, but she hardly noticed as she scanned the parking lot. She finally spotted the young woman that she had been looking for; she was standing on the far side of the lot, spreading salt around with a scoop. A plan had gradually begun to form in Autumn’s mind. She raised her hand to her blouse’s breast pocket, then started forward.

  Autumn approached her as quickly as she dared over the still slippery patches in the parking lot. She watched the young woman, not quite sure what she was looking for. Did she expect to see some evidence of evil in the way she was standing? She didn't know, but it was difficult to imagine that an eighteen-year-old young woman like this might have had anything to do with Grace’s death.

  As she drew nearer, she cleared her throat. Shila didn’t react. Autumn repeated the sound, then finally reached out and touched the girl’s arm. She jumped, and Autumn realized that she had been wearing earbuds.

  “Sorry, did you say something?” the young woman asked.

  “I was just wondering if you had a second to talk,” she said.

  “I guess,” the other woman said, looking puzzled. “What about?”

  “It's about Grace,” Autumn said. “I just can't stop wondering what happened to her that night.”

  She had decided to try to trick the answer out of Shila. If she started making accusations right away, she had a feeling that the young woman would get defensive, and then she wouldn't learn anything.

  “I heard they arrested a guy. Isn't it all figured out by now?”

  “Well, I was more wondering how you are doing, I guess. I know it has been hard for Emily. They worked together for a while, as you know. It sounds like you knew her for even longer.”

  “Yeah. We've known each other for years.”

  “I'm sure you feel bad about not going with her to pick up her paycheck that night,” Autumn said. She hoped fervently that she wasn't wrong about Shila. If she was, then she was about to make someone feel guilty for no good reason. “You must've been doing something pretty important.”

  “Yeah, I was working. I couldn't take time off for something like that, especially not with how short staffed we are.”

  Autumn felt heat rush to her cheeks. She had completely forgotten about the work schedule. It would have been simple to check and see if Shila had been on duty that night. If she had been, it would remove her as a suspect immediately.

  “I'm sorry…” she began, but she trailed off as something occurred to her. The young woman was lying again. She thought back to last Thursday. She was certain that that was the night that Shila had left early. She remembered Nick telling her about it. He had said that she hadn't given a reason, but it had seemed important. Then the next morning, she had called in again, citing her friend’s death as the reason she couldn't come to work.

  She remembered something else, and her blood seemed to run cold in her veins. The death hadn't even made it to the news until that evening, so how had Shila known about it so early in the day?
She remembered watching the breaking news at the nursing home in her aunt and uncle’s room. That was the first time that anyone had heard of it, other than Nick, and that was only because Shila had told him.

  Shila was watching her closely. Autumn wondered what her face revealed. She worked her jaw, at a loss for words. It was beginning to make sense, but there were things that she still didn't understand.

  “You did it, didn't you?” she said at last. She couldn't take her eyes off of the young woman. She saw multiple emotions flashing across her face, then at last, Shila said, “You can't prove anything.”

  Autumn remembered her plan. She would just have to hope that everything was working as it should. Shila might be convinced to give her confession once, but it wouldn't happen a second time.

  “You're right, I can't,” she said. “I still just want to know… why?”

  The young woman hesitated. Autumn could see her eyes scanning the parking lot around them. They were utterly alone. Shila bit her lip, looking somehow even younger than she had before. Autumn saw something in her face now, a quiver in her jaw, and redness in her eyes. Was it possible that she regretted what she had done? Autumn felt her heart pound faster. If Shila felt guilty, then maybe she would welcome the chance to get her crime off of her chest after all.

  “Did you do it on purpose, or was it an accident?”

  As if latching onto the chance to bare her soul to someone, Shila said in a rush of words, “It was an accident.” She took a deep, shuddering breath. “I swear, it was an accident. She was dating my ex. She didn't know it, but I had seen him a couple of days before, and I had installed an application onto his phone that forwarded all of his text messages to me. He didn't know about it either. She sent him a text asking him to pick her up from the grocery store a little bit after it closed. I thought I would meet him there and get a chance to say my piece, but when I got there the parking was empty. I didn't know if I was too late or what, but for some reason I got out and checked the door. It was unlocked, so I went inside to look for her.”

  “Was anyone else there?”

  “No. It was just her. She got tired of waiting for Jed to show up, and let herself in. I think she was mad because he wasn’t paying her, and was planning on stealing some alcohol. We started arguing, but both of us were walking back toward the door. Neither of us knew if her boss was going to show up, and we didn't want to get caught. Then, right when we reached the canned goods aisle, things got worse. I’ll admit I'm the one that started it. I threw a can of peaches at her, and then we both started throwing things at each other and shoving each other. She wasn’t completely innocent either. It could easily have been me that died.”

  “What happened?”

  “She just – stepped backwards. Her foot must've landed on a can funny, or something, but she went flying. I heard a crack when she landed, and then she didn't move. I tried… I promise, I tried to feel for a pulse, but I couldn't feel anything. That’s when someone else pulled into the parking lot. I remember the headlights flooding the store. I panicked and hid. This big guy came in and started walking around. He had keys, and I thought he was her boss. I managed to slip out through the front door without him noticing, and I got into my car and pulled away. The last thing I remember seeing as I drove down the road was him running out the doors, looking panicked.”

  “That must have been Mr. Goodall,” Autumn said. “He really did steal the keys so he could break in, and he must have seen her body and panicked.”

  “You can see that I didn't mean to do it, can’t you?” Shila said. “I mean… I didn't even technically kill her. It was an accident.”

  “I'm sure the judge will take that into account,” she replied.

  “The judge? You have no proof of any of this.”

  “Sorry, but I do.” Autumn took the voice recorder out of her blouse pocket. It had still been in there from when she and Jed had met with Mr. Goodall earlier that day. She saw the green light blinking, and hit the stop button. It had recorded everything that Shila had said. “Besides, with Mr. Goodall in jail, I'm sure he will be coming clean about what he saw soon enough.”

  The young woman began to sob. Autumn slipped the recording device back into her pocket, and gently grabbed Shila by the elbow, guiding her toward the door. It was time to call the police, and let them sort out this whole mess as best they could.

  EPILOGUE

  * * *

  “Welcome to Green River Grocery,” Autumn said. “Everything is half off. We don't need it, but you do!”

  It was halfway through the grocery store’s last week open before it closed for good. She, Jed, and Emily had been working overtime, trying to sell as much of the store’s stock as they could before time ran out. Just inside the doors, Jed had set up a small memorial for Grace. Autumn felt a pang whenever she walked by, but she was glad that he had done it. The young woman who had lost her life in a terrible accident in the store deserved something for people to remember her by.

  “This is crazy,” Emily said. “I don't think I've seen the store this busy in months.”

  “Well, everything is half off,” she said. “And I think some of the people just want to ogle at the site of a death.”

  “Well, I wish they would stop that,” the young woman said. “It doesn't seem respectful.”

  “No, it doesn't,” she agreed. “I don't think there's anything we can do about it, though. Jed needs all the sales he can get.”

  “So, Mr. Goodall isn't going to buy this place?”

  “I highly doubt it. He might not have killed Grace,” she said. “But he did break in and by his own admission tried to vandalize the place. He also failed to report finding a dead body, and fled from the scene of a crime. I'm sure he won't get as long of a sentence as Shila, but it will still be pretty hard for him to buy a building and start a business while he's in prison.”

  “I still can't believe that you figured it all out. I never would have thought that she was the one who did it.”

  “Well, if it wasn't for you, I never would have made the connection. You're the one that pointed out that she was lying.”

  “I guess so.” Emily fell silent, probably considering her own role in solving the crime. “At least after this week, I won't have to deal with all of the questions people keep asking. I will be glad to get back to the nursing home.”

  “Me too,” Autumn said. “I’ll be glad to go back to working there full-time.”

  “You’ll also get to see Mr. Holt all the time,” the young woman said with a grin.

  Autumn laughed. Had she been that obvious? She supposed it was no secret that she liked Nick. Did the whole nursing home know about it, though? More importantly, did she care? She was more excited than ever for her future there, and her possible future with him. Even with the long stretch of winter in front of her, things were looking bright. In just a few days, this month would end, and the new month would begin, along with the first step of the rest of her life.