5 Big Bunny Bump Off (12 page)

“Yeah
. I took your advice and introduced myself, and we’ve been hanging out. We were going to watch a movie tonight, but I’m sure they’d just as soon watch it at your place.”

“Certainly you can bring them. And thank you so much for doing this. I shouldn’t be all that long.”

“Take your time. Your boathouse is much more comfortable then the saggy sofa in my apartment.”

“Is Jeremy dating this woman?” Ellie asked me while we waited for the kids to change into their costumes.

“I don’t think they
’re dating. She’s exactly his type, but she has to be a few years older than he is, and he
is
expecting a baby any day by another woman. Jessica and Rosalie are new in town, so I’m pretty sure Jeremy is just being neighborly.”

“He should bring them to the single parent
s mixer tomorrow night.”

“I’ll mention it to him when I get back to the boathouse.”

“It’s just pizza and a Disney movie at the house of one of the single moms, but it would be a good time for Jessica to meet the parents and Rosalie to meet the kids.”

“How many single parents are in
the group?”

“It varies. There are usually ten families or so at each event
, but the members who attend aren’t always the same. If I had to guess, I’d say we have twenty or so single parents who participate on a semiregular basis.”

“
Are we ready?” Gilda asked through a microphone.

“Ready over here,” Ellie replied.

“Okay, we’re going to take it from the top. Zoe, I need you to be sure that the eggs stay behind the yellow line and that none of them trip over the others.”

“
Got it,” I responded.

“And Easter Bunny
—”

“Yeah
?” Pappy, dressed in full costume, poked his head through the closed curtain.

“Your cue to come in is the first word of the second verse of the song.”

“Okay, I got it.”

“Okay, start the music.”

The next two hours were hysterical as we tried to get the kids to act more adultlike and the adults to act more childlike. The play wasn’t going to win any awards based on the script, acting, lighting, or sound, but it was fun and entertaining, and the kids were adorable. While I needed an aspirin with a vodka chaser by the time the rehearsal was over, Ellie looked like she was in her element. She really was going to be a great mom one day.

“Wasn’t it fantastic
?” Ellie came jogging up with her face flushed and her hair messy.

“It was something
, all right,” I agreed.

“Those kids are all so cute. Every time I think I have a favorite egg
, one of the others does something adorable.”

“The play is going to be great
.”

“I guess we should help Gilda and Hazel clean up.”

“Yeah, I guess we should. Do you want to come over after?” I asked. “Zak is out of town, and I want you to meet Sophie. Besides, you can also meet Jessica and Rosalie. It will be nice for Jessica to have a female friend in the single parents group.”

“Yeah, I’d like that. Give me twenty minutes.”

As predicted
, Jessica and Ellie hit it off, and both Jessica and Rosalie seemed excited about attending the single parents group the following evening. After Jeremy and the others left, Ellie and I poured glasses of wine. It had been a long day and I was exhausted, but it was nice to spend some quiet time with my best friend.

“I heard Levi asked Carly Wilder out,” Ellie commented after we’d settled onto the sofa.

“Yeah, he mentioned that he might.”

“They don’t really seem to be a good fit
to me.”

“I have to agree
, although Levi is just looking for someone to spend time with. It’s not like he’s in the market for a serious relationship, so it could work out okay. Did you ever talk to Rob?”

“Actually
, we had lunch together.”

“And?”

“I’m not sure how he did it, because I was certain I’d made up my mind after our talk yesterday, but Rob managed to convince me to continue with the relationship. He acknowledged that it might not be built on a strong physical attraction, but we have a lot going for us, and he thinks we have a solid foundation for the future.”

“And you agree?”

Ellie looked at me. “For now I do. If you compare my relationship with Rob and my relationship with Levi, it’s clear I feel more of an attraction toward Levi, and he
is
one of my best friends. I love him and would trust him with my life, but I’m not sure I trust him with my happiness. He tends to have a wandering eye and has commented on many occasions that he isn’t ready to have children. In fact, he’s said more than once that he’s not sure he
ever
wants children.”

“True,” I acknowledged.

“Rob, on the other hand, is also a good friend with whom I share common goals, and while he might not get my engine running the way Levi does, his kisses are pleasant. I have to ask myself, who, in the long run, will make me happier? Someone who makes my palms sweat or someone who shares my dream for the future?”

“I hear what you
’re saying, but you’re only twenty-four. Maybe the person you’ll end up with doesn’t have to be an either/or choice. Maybe there’s someone out there who’ll provide the opportunity for a great big
and
.”

“I guess that’s why I hesitate to become overly serious with Rob
, but I also don’t think I’m ready to walk away. Maybe I just need more time to think about it.”

“And Hannah?”

“Yeah, she’s an issue, but Rob assured me that even if we decide to stop dating, I can continue to spend time with Hannah and will always have an honorary position as Aunt Ellie.”

“Sure
, until he finds a new girlfriend who isn’t fond of having the old one around.”

“You think that could happen?
”

“I’d be amazed if it didn’t. I love you and want you to be happy,” I assured Ellie. “All I ask is that you take some time to
really think things through. Making a decision to walk away will be difficult now, but if you continue with the relationship and it doesn’t work out, it will be twice as hard to leave a year or two from now.”

“Yeah, okay. I see your point.”

“Great. So how about a Dirk Pendleton movie? Zak brought one over, but we never got around to watching it.”

“I still can’t believe you met the son. Was he as gorgeous as his photos?”

I shrugged. “He was okay.”

The next morning, I called Jeremy and told him I planned to drop in on Frank on my way to work. My mom agreed to come over and sit with the dogs, and my dad promised to look in on everyone once Pappy arrived at Donovan’s to relieve him.

I hoped I could catch Frank at his store before it opened. I knew that he normally parked in the back alley
, so I drove around to the back and looked for his car. Luckily, it was right where I hoped it would be. I rang the bell and waited for Frank to answer.

“Zoe,” Frank greeted
me. “I was hoping you were the guy with my canoes.”

Frank owns Out
back Hunting and Fishing, a rugged, outdoorsman’s type of place that’s decorated in tones of brown and green and features a variety of animal heads hanging from every wall. I have to confess, the store isn’t my favorite place to visit, but Frank is a nice guy, despite his propensity for killing the very animals I work to save, and I wanted to help him out if I was able to do so.

“Sorry
, no canoes. I would like to talk to you, though, if you have a minute.”

Frank hesitated.
I was pretty sure he knew why I was there, but I stood there smiling innocently. “Yeah, okay, come on in.”

Frank led me through the store to his office. “
What can I help you with?”

“You were the bunny I saw running from the bank on the night Blakely was killed.”

“I’d hoped you didn’t see me. Did you tell Salinger? Is that why he called me in for that lineup?”

“
Actually, it didn’t occur to me that the bunny was you until I saw the lineup. I guess in this case Salinger was one step ahead of me. Do you want to tell me what happened?”

“Just becaus
e I own a bunny costume doesn’t mean I killed Blakely,” Frank pointed out.

“True. But that was you running from the bank
, and we both knew I would figure out what was going on eventually. I know you, Frank, and I’m having a hard time believing you’d kill anyone, but Salinger is pretty sure you’re guilty, and once he gets the proof he needs, you’ll be arrested for Blakely’s murder. If you didn’t do it, let me help you.”

Frank stood up and began to pace around the room. I knew he was considering my offer
, and I decided to let him work it out on his own. I’d been certain Frank was the rabbit I saw ever since the lineup, but I still had a hard time believing he killed Blakely, despite the rumors of his eminent foreclosure.

“I didn’t kill Blakely,” Frank began,
“but I am guilty of a crime, or at least a potential crime. I was there to rob the bank.”

“What?”

“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” Frank assured me. “Well, maybe it is, but please believe me, I had no idea anyone would end up dead.”

“Perhaps you should start at the beginning,” I suggested.

“After Michael’s legal trouble last fall, I had to take out a loan on my house to pay the attorney fees. I’d already borrowed quite a bit to remodel the store, so I couldn’t qualify for any type of conventional loan. Blakely said he’d agree to a hard money loan because I was one of his better customers. I can’t tell you how relieved and grateful I was. I guess I was so desperate to get the money that I didn’t look things over as carefully as I should have. What I didn’t know at the time was that I’d signed a contract with an on-demand clause, which basically states that if I’m late on even one payment, Blakely has the right to demand payment in full. And if payment isn’t received immediately, he has the right to take my home, which I freely offered as collateral. We had a slow winter at the store, and I missed a couple of payments. I received a notice of foreclosure about six weeks ago. There’s no way I could come up with the balance of the loan, and Blakely knew it.”

I waited while Frank gathered his thoughts.
It sounded like he had the same type of loan the man Nora told me about did. Blakely really was a snake to take advantage of people the way that he had.

“A few weeks ago
, Doug Barton came into the store to buy some ammo,” Frank continued. “I knew he used to work at the bank and we got to talking. He told me that I wasn’t the first person Blakely had pulled this on. He said the reason he was fired was because he challenged Blakely on his decision to foreclose on another family who were longtime customers of the bank and didn’t deserve what they got. And that there was a group of people who’d decided to exact their own revenge since Blakely seemed to have enough money and legal resources to outlast a legitimate lawsuit. Barton said he knew where Blakely’s private safe was located and was certain he could disable the cameras and alarms so that his team could get into the bank after-hours. Our plan was to steal the contents of Blakely’s private safe, which Doug assured me contained not only money and other valuables but proof of Blakely’s dirty business practices. Fool that I am, I agreed to help.”

“Why the bunny costume?”

“Doug said we’d need to access the security room to get to the safe, and the cameras in that room were set up with fail-safes that couldn’t be disabled. Everyone in the group was to wear a costume that concealed his identity. I guess I should have thought through my choice a little better and rented something, but I didn’t want there to be a paper trail back to the outfit I wore, and I had the bunny costume hanging in my closet.”

“So what happened?”

“I had car trouble and got to the bank late. The door was cracked open, so I went in and found Blakely’s body.”

“Everyone else had left?”

“It appeared so.”

“Okay, so other than Doug
, who else was involved?”

“I have no idea.
The idea of the costumes wasn’t only to conceal our identities from the cameras but from each other as well. I think there were five of us in total, but Doug is the only one I had any contact with.”

“You need to tell Salinger what you know.”

“He’ll arrest me for my intention to rob the bank.”

“Would you rather he arrest you for murder?”

“No.” Frank sighed. “I guess not.”

“Come on. I’ll
go with you and we can talk to him together.”

“I should call someone to open the store.”

“I can wait.”

Although Thursday is book club night and I normally try to attend, I’d ended up being out all day and didn’t want to leave the dogs home alone. I usually take Charlie with me to the event, but I didn’t think Sophie was up to making the trip into town. If I had to bet, I’d say she was going to deliver within the next few days. I called Pappy to explain why I wouldn’t be there, and he informed me that they were only having a small group that night, and suggested that they come to me. I readily agreed to host the meeting and spent the next hour making my boysenberry cookie bars for dessert.

When I’d first joined the book club
, twenty seniors attended on a regular basis. Several had moved away, a few others had died, and a handful had found that they were no longer able to get around in the evenings. As of late, the number of attendees hovered around six, myself included. Perhaps it was time to recruit some new members.

Pappy was the first to arrive
, followed by Hazel Hampton, who came with Phyllis King. I watched as Hazel sat down next to Pappy, who seemed to light up when she joined him. Perhaps the rumor that the two were sweet on each other was more than a rumor after all. Phyllis took charge of making sure that everyone had coffee and dessert as they filed in. Nick Benson arrived after Hazel and Phyllis, with Lilly Evans bringing up the rear.

“Are we all here?” I asked.

“ʼFraid so,” Hazel said. “Before we begin our discussion of the book, I think we should decide whether or not we want to try to recruit new members. Personally, I’m conflicted. On one hand, having a larger number creates a more diverse conversation, but on the other, if we keep it small, maybe we can begin meeting at members’ homes. I have to say that meeting here is much nicer than meeting at the library, and if we take turns being host, it shouldn’t be too much of a burden on any one person.”

“I like the
small group,” Nick joined in, “although I wouldn’t mind evening out the number of men and women a bit. Ever since Tanner died and Larry moved, the vote has been skewed toward books of a romantic nature. Not that I mind an occasional romance, but a good thriller would be a nice change.”

“I usually don’t vote,” I pointed out. “If we want to keep it small
, the addition of one male would even things out to three and three.”

“I think Ethan Carlton might be interested,” Phyllis suggested. Phyllis was a retired English teacher and Ethan was a retired history professor.

“Why don’t you ask him, and we’ll table the discussion to next meeting?” Hazel suggested. “So about the book . . .”

“I heard they arrested Frank Valdez,” Nick
said.

“Frank?” Phyllis gasped. “Whyever would they arrest Frank?”

“I heard he tried to rob the bank.”

“What?”
almost everyone in the room replied.

Nick filled the group in on what he’d heard
, while I bit my tongue and tried not to interrupt. I’d promised Salinger I wouldn’t share the outcome of our meeting, but it appeared that the Ashton Falls gossip hotline had managed to find out most of what was going on without my help. Nick had most of it right. As the group speculated on why Frank might sink to such an act and who he might have been working with, I reviewed in my mind my own list of suspects.

Frank
had told Salinger that Doug had approached him, and that there were at least three others, though at no time had Doug revealed their identities. He did indicate that the team, who referred to themselves as the cartoon bandits, was made up of people who had been scammed out of their money or property by Blakely. Based on the little bits of information Zak had managed to obtain, the list was a long one that included both Nick and Phyllis. I watched both closely as the group debated whether Frank was a hero or a fool. Neither admitted to being Blakely’s victims, but neither appeared overly secretive either. I doubted that either was part of the comical group of thieves, but until I’d spoken to Frank, I wouldn’t have thought him capable of taking part in such a misguided scheme either.

“Salinger is holdi
ng Doug and Frank. Both have admitted to their parts in the robbery scheme, but neither has admitted to being responsible for Blakely’s death,” Nick revealed.

“Frank
said he arrived after Blakely was dead and the others had left, but Doug was supposed to arrive first and was responsible for disabling the camera and alarm, so he must know the identity of the others,” I blurted out before I realized I’d just jumped into a conversation I had no business being a part of.

“I wondered when you’d
tell us what you know.” Pappy chuckled.

“Yes, do tell us
,” Hazel encouraged.

I spent the next ten minutes filling the others in on my conversation with Frank at the store
, and then with Frank and Salinger at the sheriff’s office. (Note to those reading this: never tell me a secret you don’t want revealed. I obviously am terrible at keeping my mouth shut even when I have every intention of doing so.)

“Doug told Salinger that he only knew the identity of one other member, the man who recruited him.”

“And who was that?” Phyllis was sitting on the edge of her seat.

“A man by the name of Arthur Berry.
He seems to be the man who was the catalyst for Doug being fired. Supposedly, Arthur came to him a few weeks ago, saying he’d been recruited by someone else whose name he wasn’t at liberty to reveal. It seems the sting was set up so that person one recruited person two, and person two was told to recruit a third person without revealing the identity of person one. That way each member of the team only knew the identity of the person who recruited him and the person he recruited, and no one had the full roster.”

“That was smart of person
one,” Pappy commented. “In this scenario we should assume that person two is someone person one trusted to keep his mouth shut.”

“It
was
a good plan. Each member of the team was supposed to show up at the appointed day and time wearing a costume that wouldn’t reveal his identity. Doug said he got there first and hid in a cleaning closet. He changed into his Batman costume, complete with an enclosed hood, which he’d left there on a previous visit. After the bank closed, he snuck out of his hiding place and disarmed the alarm and all the cameras, except the ones in the security room, which can’t be tampered with. Then he went to the back door and let in Santa Claus, Darth Vader, and someone dressed as one of the gorillas from the movie
Space Apes
. The fifth member, who turned out to be Frank, hadn’t yet arrived. Doug said he left the door cracked open.”

“Did he know who the other
s were?” Phyllis asked.

“No. He said he was pretty sure Santa was Arthur Berry, the man who
’d recruited him, but the other two also had costumes with enclosed heads, so he had no idea who they were. Doug believed Frank was the end of the line, so the gorilla and Darth Vader must have been recruits one and two. Most likely those were the men who came up with the idea in the first place.”