Chapter 27 #2
She laughed. “We went to Birdie’s grandson’s house, which was now Birdie’s house again, to check it out. When we arrived, we found somebody hanging around outside, and, as soon as we arrived, he took off, and of course, we gave chase,” she added, with an eye roll.
“Of course, of course,” they all cried out.
“And when we chased him down, he was trying to get into the mall. His arrest led us to his boss. We eventually got approval to search both of their homes. At the other guy’s place, we found a woman who had been kidnapped and had been secured on the bed.”
“Oh my.”
“Yes,” Doreen confirmed. “She had overheard a conversation the men had about wanting to case Devon’s place, which prompted her to say something.
She ended up giving us a fair bit of information.
She is also at the hospital.” Doreen frowned at that and added, “I think I’ll go to the hospital from here and check up on her, make sure everything is okay there. ”
“Maybe you should have done that last night,” Nan noted.
“I should have gone there first, but, if I had, I would have missed Birdie.”
“Oh, right,” she murmured.
“In this guy Mike’s home, who is more of a long-term member of this B&E gang who’s been doing a lot of it here, we also found a fair amount of drugs and a lot of stolen goods. I’m sure the police are now very busily checking on his whereabouts in regard to the deaths of Devon and now Birdie.”
“It would make sense if they had something to do with it.”
“I think they were hired to go in and to see if any money was in Devon’s house, now Birdie’s house.”
Nan stated, “Right, so that brings us back to the loan sharks.”
“Possibly,” Doreen pointed out. “But just because it’s possible doesn’t mean it’s true,” she clarified, looking at Nan. “We have to get a whole lot more evidence than that.”
“Of course, of course,” Nan agreed, but they were all looking very smug just hearing of this turn of events.
Doreen nodded. “We are getting somewhere, but we’re not quite there yet.”
“But you’re close. You’re so … close.”
“Yes,” she agreed, “and Birdie was trying to get me involved in the case, and now she’s …” She didn’t finish the thought.
Nan hopped up and gave Doreen a hug. “You should go home, rest a bit, and just chill. We’ll keep a vigil going for Birdie here and wait for an official announcement,” she added, with an eye roll, “which may or may not happen, depending on our manager.”
Doreen didn’t say anything about the fate of the manager because, at the moment, she didn’t know. As she got up with her animals, she headed out to the main hallway, instead of going out over the patio. She looked at Nan and said, “Just stay safe, will you?”
Immediately smiling, Nan hugged her. “I will, child. You stay safe.”
And, with that, Doreen turned and walked down the hallway. As she headed to the manager’s office, Roger called out to her. She stepped inside, and he looked at her, his face drawn.
“How is Birdie?” he asked.
Doreen sighed. “Birdie is no more. Unfortunately she passed away last night.” The shock on his face made her realize just how much everything would be impacted by that fact. “So the police will be here again.”
“Oh no,” he muttered, staring at her.
She nodded. “Do you remember seeing anyone, a visitor, who looked out of place that day?”
Roger frowned, shaking his head. “Out of place?” he repeated.
Doreen explained, “Maybe a young guy or two, early twenties or thereabouts?”
“No,” Roger stated. “You are the youngest visitor we normally have. The kids these days don’t want to be here to see great-grandma and great-grandpa growing old.”
“Think back to that day. I know you don’t have visitors sign in, but did you see anybody new among the visitors?”
Roger shook his head, sighing. “I should pay better attention. Not that I can possibly see everybody who comes and goes here. Yet I make the rounds each day, watching for problems. … On that particular day, I saw the usual visitors—some I know personally, some whom I don’t.
However, nobody was suspicious.” He frowned at Doreen.
“Just another generation coming to visit an older generation.” He took in a breath. “So Birdie …”
“She died last night,” Doreen confirmed. “I can tell you that it’s now a suspicious death, due to the drugs found in her system.”
“Of course,” Roger muttered, his face drawn. “I should never have allowed her to have that living setup here, where she came and went. The whole point is to keep people safe here.”
“And that will come up time and time again,” she noted, “so you may have to do a little bit of thinking yourself, you know, about your own life, your own choices.”
He winced and nodded. “I just hope I don’t get charged with anything.”
She stared at him, aghast. “Let’s hope not,” she stated, “because that would be so very typical of Birdie—manipulating … even from the grave.”
He winced and nodded. “Isn’t that the truth, but it’s hardly fair.”
“Maybe not fair,” she agreed, “but you also know nothing is fair in love and war.”
He gave her a wry smile and asked, “Which one of those am I in?”
“Right now,” she replied, “I think both. Oh, one more thing. Did Birdie have any valuables or cash in the Rosemoor safe?”
He frowned at her. “No. Nothing at all.” Then he sighed and added, “If I don’t see you again …”
She smiled. “I presume you’ll stay in town, and we’ll see you around.”
“There are other places I could work, but I doubt I could get a job if it comes to that, … at least not in this field.”
“If you do get another job in this field—or end up keeping this one,” she added, “you already know what you can no longer do.”
“Yeah,” he agreed, “get myself blackmailed into letting them do whatever they want.”
“And yet the inmates are all so very good at manipulation,” she noted, “as Birdie has already proven.”
He rolled his eyes and nodded. “Yet you have no idea.”