Chapter 25
Pete shook the can and sprayed the second half of the neon orange “x,” marking Elvira’s designated spot. “She should be here any moment.”
“To be honest, I’m sort of surprised she’s not here already.
Marking the spot is a brilliant idea. I figure it will probably only take her an hour or so.
I’ll have plenty of time to run over to Priority Labs, pick up the food containers, drop them off at the police station and still meet with Dernice to head over to Rocky Skidz’s place. ”
“What do you intend to tell the police?”
“Everything I know. I have nothing to hide. The fettuccine may have played a part in Sonny’s death, but it was far from fatal. There’s no way they could consider me a suspect. I never met the man before the party.”
“You don’t ever recall being fined or investigated by the city or department where Sonny worked?” Pete probed.
“Not long after Mercedes and I moved here, we had an issue with the business licensing department. It was years ago.”
“So…no beef with the city you can remember?”
“Negative.”
A familiar vehicle coasted into the parking lot. The EC Security Services’ work van sped to the back and came to a quick stop only a few feet away from where Carlita and Pete stood.
The driver’s side door flew open and Elvira leapt to the ground. “Happy dig day,” she crooned.
“Happy limited dig day,” Pete corrected. “X marks the spot.”
She jogged toward them, her smile quickly vanishing. “That’s it?”
“The exact dimensions we agreed to.”
Elvira unsnapped a tape measure from her belt and measured the spray-painted X. “It looks so small.” She measured it a second time, a look of disappointment on her face. “I knew I should’ve held out for more.”
“This will give you an adequate sample,” Pete said.
“What about the money?”
“I have it here.”
Elvira held out her hand while Carlita counted out the hundred-dollar bills.
The sight of cold, hard cash seemed to brighten Elvira’s spirits. She carefully folded the bills and shoved them in her pocket. “I have a few tools.” Scurrying to the back of the van, she returned wheeling a hand truck.
She placed a toolbox on each side of the marked spot. “And now for the most important tool.” Elvira lifted a pointed shovel.
Carlita and Pete watched as she eased the tip into the ground and pressed down with her steel-toed boot. She dumped the pile of gravel and dirt into a plastic bucket before digging the next section.
Methodically working her way around the square, she put each pile of dirt into the buckets she’d brought with her.
“What are you going to do with the dirt and gravel?” Carlita finally asked.
“Sift through it although, to be honest, I’m almost certain I won’t find anything in the top layer. If there’s any good stuff, it will be below the surface.”
“I’ll give you a hand.” Pete helped carry the buckets to her van and placed them inside. He returned to where Carlita stood watching. “Do you need me to hang around?”
“Nah. I’ll stay here until Elvira is done. Judging by how many buckets of dirt she’s taking out, her van will be full soon.”
Pete left to head to the pirate ship while Carlita kept a careful eye on Elvira’s efforts. Every once in a while she would set her shovel aside and sift through the dirt. As anticipated, she quickly filled her empty buckets.
After she finished filling them, she loaded her gear back inside the van. “This will take me a day or two to sort through. I figure by this weekend I’ll bring the clean dirt back and get another load.”
“How far down do you plan to go?”
“A few feet.”
Carlita wrinkled her nose. “We’ll need to put some sort of barricade around this. I don’t want anyone stepping into the rut and getting hurt.”
“Already got it covered.” Elvira reached into her van and removed several sets of stakes. She hammered them into the ground, making her way to all four corners of the dig spot before wrapping bright orange ribbons around the stakes and stapling them in place.
“Thank you for marking the spot.”
“No problem. The last thing you need is another lawsuit.”
Carlita’s head shot up. “Lawsuit? Does this mean Yvonne plans to sue Ravello’s?”
“She’s a whacko, so it’s hard telling. It’s possible. Let’s say I wouldn’t rule it out, especially if she finds out the fettuccine was tainted with rat poison.”
“Great.” Carlita placed a light hand on the back of her neck. “I have one more thing to worry about.”
“I might have a little something to persuade her otherwise if she pushes the issue.”
“Persuade her?”
“A bargaining chip,” Elvira said. “I don’t want my bestie to worry about one of my employees.”
“Thanks, Elvira. Any help to avoid a potential lawsuit would be greatly appreciated.”
Elvira promised to let her know how the sample dirt turned out and took off.
Back inside, Carlita swapped her yard clothes for slacks and a button-down blouse. She checked to make sure the lab was open and hopped into her car. She had just finished backing out of her parking spot when her cell phone rang. It was Mercedes.
“Hey Ma.”
“Hey Mercedes. You’re up early.”
“I ran into Luigi and Dernice last night. She said you were heading to the lab this morning to pick up the fettuccine and take it to the police station.”
“I’m on my way there now.”
“The cops already have samples,” her daughter pointed out.
“True, but after careful consideration, I believe it’s in my best interest to appear like I’m trying to help, to assist in the investigation.”
“You want me to go with you?”
“It’s your call. I’m sure the cops are gonna ask me a bunch of questions.”
“Between the two of us, maybe we’ll have the answers.”
“True. You were there during the engagement party.” Carlita told her she was around the corner and would pull into the alley to wait for her.
Zigzagging through the back streets, she arrived in a flash and found Mercedes standing on the stoop waiting for her mother. As soon as she stopped, her daughter hopped in. “That was fast.”
“So were you,” Carlita said. “I haven’t seen much of Autumn lately. How’s she doing?”
“Good. Busy. I haven’t seen much of her either.”
“And the tenants? Cool Bones, Bubba, both are happy with no issues?”
“None at all. Bubba is quiet. Cool Bones, you know how he likes to play his saxophone. I guess it doesn’t bother our new resident because he hasn’t complained.”
Carlita told her how she’d noticed classical music coming from his apartment the day she stopped by to check on him.
“I heard it too. He doesn’t seem like a classical music kind of guy.”
“Do you know what he does?” Carlita asked.
“I think I heard but don’t remember. The company he works for has a weird name.”
“Southern Subterranean Group. He told me he’s an underground mechanic.”
“Subterranean means underground. Maybe he digs tunnels.”
“He can give Elvira a few pointers,” Carlita joked. “On second thought, she’s cooled her jets on searching for treasure in the tunnels. We might be better off keeping quiet.”
“Maybe he’s a miner.”
“Mining what?” Carlita changed the subject. “Did Dernice mention Elvira hacking into the hospital’s surveillance recordings? We have a lead on a potential suspect.”
“Yeah. A woman with a tattoo. She said you were going to Sonny’s brother’s place later to try to find out how he died.” Mercedes told her how Dernice thought maybe the hooded figure was a member of the bike club. “It’s possible if she was the last person to visit Sonny before he died.”
“Elvira and I were his last visitors. Regardless, if we can find out what killed him, we might be able to figure out who. My money is on the hooded person.”
“Or hospital negligence. Sonny’s condition was improving and then, bam.” Mercedes slapped her palms together. “He dies under suspicious circumstances.”
“It’s a thought. We’re here.” Carlita turned into the parking lot. “I’ll be right back.” She ran inside, thinking it would only take a minute to pick up the samples.
There was some confusion at the front desk, and at one point Carlita thought they had accidentally disposed of them. Finally, the woman she’d talked to on the phone, the one who had given her the test results, stepped into the lobby.
Carlita explained who she was. “You promised to hold on to the samples. Hopefully, you didn’t dispose of them.”
“I put them off to the side, waiting to hear back from you.” The lab worker stepped out of the room. When she returned, she was carrying a large paper bag. “All the samples are here. I checked.”
“Thank you.” Carlita exited through the front and returned to her car. She set the samples on the floor behind the driver’s seat and climbed in.
“What took you so long?”
“They had trouble finding the samples. Finally, the lab technician, the person who gave me the results and promised to hang onto them, helped.” Checking the rearview mirror, Carlita backed out of the parking spot and turned onto the street.
“Ten bucks says the cops already have the results as well.”
“Which means they also discovered there wasn’t enough rat poison to kill someone,” Mercedes said. “Do you have a copy of the lab’s results?”
“I had it in my purse but forgot to check before I left the house.” Carlita reached for her purse.
Mercedes stopped her. “I’ll look.”
“Thanks.”
“I see something.” She unfolded a single sheet of paper tucked away in the side pocket. “Here it is.”
“Oh good. This is the only proof we have that we weren’t responsible for Sonny’s death. My only fear now is that this might open a can of worms.”
“Can of worms as in the local news outlets catching wind of it,” Mercedes said.
“Catching wind of it and ruining Ravello’s.”