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  “You always had good instincts,” Bobby nodded. “He’s rotten, but I think he’s my New Year’s Eve thief. If he’s not, I think he knows who is.”

  Conrad remembered then that Wink had shared a story on New Year’s Eve about a white truck in the alley off Clove Street. That was near the same area that they picked him up in today.

  “Did you ever find the fireworks?”

  “No, but we’ve tracked them through a few hands. I think they were sold and have left the state by now. I’d like to nail it down though.”

  “He’s in the room, Chief,” Hudson said from the doorway.

  “Do you want us to go in first? We haven’t talked to him at all about the plates yet.” Conrad thought they might want to watch for a few minutes just to assess the situation. That’s what he would do. He knew his charges weren’t serious but it would test the waters and give Bobby a minute to decide his approach.

  “No,” Bobby said standing to stretch out his shoulders. “I’d like to go on in. I think he’ll know who I am and realize pretty quick that this isn’t about his vehicle.”

  Conrad wasn’t surprised by the boldness. Bobby would puff out his chest and imagine he was taller as he swaggered through the door. He only had one persona to play. A good interviewer went in softly and molded the tactic to the responses. Not Bobby. He tried to strong-arm everything and everyone.

  “You can watch if you like.” Bobby smiled as he walked to the door for Officer Hudson to lead him.

  Conrad had seen the Bobby Bell show before and didn’t like reruns. Instead he warmed up his coffee and sat down to check his email.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Amanda spent all day Sunday decorating little pots. She ran to Paxton for more supplies and even bought a few new pots when she found small square ones in the craft store. They were a nice change and much easier to decorate. She found holiday embellishments for the approaching Valentine’s Day and could just envision the little plant added to a holiday gift of soaps and oils.

  What Bryan really needed she decided was a business logo. She could draw fairly well and sat down to look through images on the computer of what other landscapers used. She became so engrossed with clicking and reading the websites of nurseries that hours passed before she knew it.

  After dinner she started on a logo and expanded it to a website design. Bryan needed all of these things and he needed to do it in a couple of months. Spring was just around the corner.

  When she went downstairs for a drink, her mother walked into the kitchen just as she was pulling out a gingerbread cookie from the pantry.

  “Mandy, do you know anyone named Shawn Ellis? He’s a little older than you, but…”

  “No. That doesn’t ring any bells with me. I’ve never heard of him. Why?”

  “Well, he was the guy arrested yesterday in Ivy’s Oils. It was in today’s paper. I thought maybe you knew him.”

  “He must not be from here,” Amanda suggested. There was only one high school in town and if her mother didn’t know him, he couldn’t live in town.

  “I guess he wandered through the wrong town.” Louise smiled and opened the refrigerator door.

  “I meant to ask you, are you and Bryan dating now?”

  Amanda was startled by the question initially, but then knew her mother must have heard she’d been at Bryan’s house Saturday.

  “No, mom. We’re not dating. I’m just helping him out. He’s expanding his business this spring and I just want to help.”

  “It’s okay if you are,” Louise said holding up her hand in a trepid wave. “He seems like a nice guy.”

  “He is.” Amanda relaxed seeing her mother was prepared to back down.

  “Bring your little pots down when you’re done. I’d like to see them.”

  “Okay. I plan to run them out there tomorrow after work. I think they look really cute.” Amanda smiled and couldn’t help complimenting herself a little. She was anxious for Bryan to see them.

  §

  When Conrad arrived for work Monday morning, Roy was pacing around dispatch waiting for him.

  “Chief!”

  Conrad saw Officer Roy Asher bolt down the hallway towards him when he came in the side door. Shawn Ellis was still in the holding cell but would be arraigned that day for the vehicle charges. He knew Roy wanted to be updated on their interrogation.

  “Morning, Roy.”

  “Chief, did you talk to Ellis? What did he say? I heard the sheriff wanted him, too. What do they have on him?”

  “Settle down, Roy. I talked to him, but he didn’t talk back.” Conrad slowly removed his coat and sat down to turn on his computer.

  “Did he ask for an attorney?”

  “No, he just didn’t talk to us at all. He knows we don’t have anything on him—At least nothing he’s afraid of and he’s not a novice.”

  “Does the county have something on him?”

  “I don’t know. The sheriff talked to him but I haven’t heard any more on it. I wasn’t here when they left, so I don’t know if Ellis talked to him or not.”

  “The guy’s rotten, Chief.”

  “Maybe so,” Conrad said nodding, “but I’m sure he’ll walk with a fine at his hearing today. We just need to keep an eye on him if he comes back to Spicetown.”

  “Sure thing, Chief.” Roy dropped his head as he left Conrad’s office.

  §

  “Good morning, Amanda,” Cora Mae said as she walked through the door to her office. “Did you have a good weekend?”

  “I did and I have all your data ready for the budget meeting. It’s printing out now, but I also emailed it to you. Do you think you have everything you need?”

  “Not entirely and I want to get your perspective on something. Have a seat.” Cora sat down at her desk and turned on her computer. As it beeped to boot up, she put up her purse and began emptying her satchel.

  “I’d like to use your marketing degree, Mandy,” Cora said smiling. “I have something I’d like to get done and I’m pretty sure the City Council is not going to help me.”

  “Okay.” Amanda nodded although she felt her heart rate increase at the challenge. She didn’t want to let Cora down, but she’d didn’t feel like she’d ever really used that marketing degree she earned.

  “Well, you know I’ve always said I’d like to put a statue of John Spicer in town. I’m just wondering if maybe it couldn’t be funded a different way. If I found the money, the Council’s objections wouldn’t matter.”

  “You mean like with a grant?” Amanda said wrinkling her forehead.

  “Now, see. I didn’t even think of that. You’re helping already. Can we get grant money for something like that?”

  “Maybe.” Amanda stared up into the corner of the room searching her memory. “It’s historical. I mean you’re trying to mark history with it so there might be grant money for that.”

  “That’s a grand idea,” Cora said shaking her fist. “Will you check on that for me?”

  “Sure,” Amanda said as she rose from her chair. “Do you know anything about the Spicer family? I mean are there ancestors to him around here?”

  “That’s a good question.” Cora stared off in deep thought. “I don’t really know, but we need to find out.”

  “I was just thinking that the family might be wealthy and want to pay for the statue themselves.”

  “How do we track that down?”

  “Let me see what I can find out,” Amanda said, tingling from the excitement of a new task.

  “Even if they aren’t, we’d definitely want to invite them to the ceremony,” Cora said chuckling. “I already feel closer to my goal with your suggestions.”

  “Oh, I also wanted to tell you that I tested all those oils Friday.” Amanda turned around at the door.

  “Yes, dear. I almost forgot all about that.” Cora jumped in her chair and pulled out the desk drawer where she had stashed her purse.

  “It turns out that just the one Chief Harris gave me is
testing pure. It’s sitting on my desk if he should happen to come by and I don’t see him.”

  “Okay. I’ll be sure and tell him. Here are three more,” Cora said pulling them from her purse and handing them over to Amanda. “I think these are probably okay, but I’d like you to test them, too.”

  “Did they come from Ivy’s?”

  “They did,” Cora said smugly.

  “Did you tell her that the other ones were fake?”

  “No, not exactly.” Cora smiled coyly. “I told her that my friend was looking for something stronger, something that would last longer. She gave these to me free.”

  “Really?”

  “Oh yes. That girl definitely knows the good from the bad.”

  Amanda smiled at Cora’s cynically arched eyebrow as she pulled the door shut quietly and Cora picked up her desk phone.

  §

  “Good morning, Connie,” Cora said when Conrad answered his cell phone. “I know you’re busy but I wanted to let you know that Amanda’s tests on those oils showed they were all phony except for yours.”

  When Conrad didn’t immediately respond, Cora continued to the covert topic that caused her call. She had read the newspaper this morning.

  “I saw you Saturday in front of Ivy’s. I was across the street in the café. Does this Ellis guy have anything to do with Denise?”

  “Ellis isn’t talking,” Conrad said. “But he doesn’t seem like the kind of guy that needs a weekly fix of essential oils.”

  “So, you arrested him for the plates and license. Is that all it was?” Cora wasn’t buying it. There was more to it. There were two officers and a police chief out there handling the arrest. That didn’t happen for a vehicle tag infraction.

  “That’s all we charged him with. He gets arraigned today.”

  “Hmm,” Cora said loudly enough to make Conrad chuckle into the phone as she tried to fill in the words he wasn’t saying. “I talked to Denise today.”

  “Did you go down there to tell her about the oils?” Conrad’s words were laced with a warning.

  “No. I just told her I was looking for something stronger. She gave me new bottles for free to try. Amanda is going to test those too, but the reason I’m telling you this…”

  “Cora, you need to keep away from all this for a while. She’s made the sale right now, and I’d feel better if you didn’t go in there anymore until this is all sorted out.”

  “Well, I can’t always make you feel better, Connie,” Cora said sarcastically. He should know better than try to scold her by now. “Now listen. That girl told me that she had never seen Ellis before.”

  “You talked to her about the arrest?” Conrad sighed heavily with exasperation. “Cora…”

  “Oh, hush. I just told her I’d seen she had some trouble earlier today. I did. I was telling the truth. I was in the Caraway when you arrested Ellis that morning.”

  “Ok,” Conrad said in defeat. “And she said she’d never seen him before?”

  “Yes, she lied to me. Then she said he had just gotten to the store when he got arrested. That’s another lie. I saw him walk in there long before you guys showed up. You need to ask him if he knows Denise.”

  “Ok. Give me some time. Maybe I’ll know more later today,” Conrad said.

  “Well, it’s Monday, so perhaps we should have dinner at the Juniper Junction,” Cora said with a smile on her face. She hoped Connie understood that she had uncovered where Saucy dined on Mondays.

  “Perhaps we should,” Conrad said with a smile in his voice. “You think we might see someone we know?”

  “We might,” Cora said satisfied that her message had been relayed. She just hoped Saucy wasn’t tangled up with Shawn Ellis or in this strange story with Ivy’s oils too much.

  Chapter Twenty

  “Denise,” Harvey shouted. “Have you heard anything?”

  “Yes, Harvey,” Denise said slowly holding the phone away from her ear. Harvey could get agitated over the slightest things. “It was nothing, and he’s out now.”

  “Nothing! They arrested him in your store! The whole town is talking about it. Everyone saw it.”

  “Ah, free publicity,” Denise teased him in hopes he would relax. “They even got the name right.”

  “This is no laughing matter,” Harvey huffed. Denise could visualize him pacing across his kitchen and looking out the windows to make certain no one was lurking about.

  “I told you that guy was bad news. You can tell by looking at him that he’s a criminal.”

  “Harvey, he just had expired tags or something. It’s no big deal. Anyway, the reason I called is he said he’d come by tonight and move the boxes out. He’s found somewhere else to store his stuff.”

  “Good—I don’t want anything to do with him.”

  “I know. It’ll be after 9:00 before he can get there because he has to get a truck.”

  “Okay,” Harvey sighed. “Okay, I’ll be here. But what about your oils out there?”

  “He’ll bring them to the store. Don’t worry about it. It’s all fine.”

  §

  Amanda left the office as soon as the lobby closed and headed for Bryan’s. She hadn’t called him or told him she’d be by, but her back seat was jammed full of little decorated pots. Slowing down early to not miss the turn again, she spotted his truck and pulled in beside it.

  Leaving the pots in the car, she scurried up to tap on the door. It was already nearly dark, and the temperature had dropped significantly. He opened the door just as she briskly rubbed her hands together.

  “Hi,” she said bunching her shoulders up around her neck. “I hope it’s okay I stopped by.”

  “Sure.”

  “I decorated some pots I wanted to show you. They’re out in the car.”

  “Here, you come inside. It’s freezing. I’ll get them out.” Amanda didn’t go inside but followed Bryan to the car.

  “Wow! There’s a lot of them,” Bryan stepped back in awe when she opened the back door.

  “I got carried away,” Amanda said sheepishly, but quickly grabbed a box as they hurried inside the house.

  Sitting the boxes on the kitchen table, he slowly took out each pot as she explained her intent with each design. Although he nodded occasionally, Bryan had a stunned look on his face.

  “These are amazing, Amanda. You could sell just the pot. You don’t even need a plant in them.”

  “Oh,” Amanda waved a hand at him modestly and smiled.

  “No, I mean it. These are incredible.”

  “Well, I’m glad you like them. I had a blast making them and I have a million ideas for more.”

  “What do I owe you?” Bryan asked. Amanda immediately held up her hand and shook her head. “This was a lot of work and a lot of time. I can’t take these without paying you something.”

  “Absolutely not,” Amanda said sternly. “I wanted to help. This wasn’t work for me.”

  “It’s like a fairy garden.” Bryan swept his arms out over all the pots arranged out on his table.

  “That’s what we’ll call them—fairy herbs.” Amanda giggled and imagined all the little gnomes and fairies she could paint peeking around the edges of the planters.

  “Speaking of naming things,” Amanda said cautiously. “Are you changing your business name when you get all the new lines in and open for the spring?”

  “It’s just Stotlar’s to me. It always has been. I guess it won’t be Stotlar’s Tree Farm anymore.”

  “I thought maybe you’d change it to Stotlar Nursery or Stotlar Gardens,” Amanda shrugged her shoulders. “Either is fine, but I was just playing around with logos and things…”

  “Logos?”

  “Yes, you need a logo, business cards, website, a new sign…”

  “Wait. I can’t do all that. I’m just trying to get the plants lined up.”

  “I know, but these things need to be done, too. You need your new name and logo so you can put ads in the paper this spring. You need business
cards and stationary to give people estimates on landscaping. There’s a lot of that stuff that needs to be done quickly.”

  “I don’t even know where to start.” Bryan sat down at the table.

  “Nonsense,” Amanda said sitting down next to him. “It’s easy stuff. I’ve already started some for you. Just tell me what you like.” Amanda pulled her notebook out of her purse and opened the pad on the table.

  “I just used the name Stotlar Nursery, but it can be changed easily. I just didn’t know what you planned to call it.” Flipping another page over, she pointed to the top drawing.

  “See this one? It’s an oval, but you can do the same in a circle shape or something more angular. Depends on what you like.”

  Bryan flipped through the pages as Amanda explained her approach on each design.

  “Some I focused on landscaping specifically but others are just more nursery and plant purchase. I wasn’t sure what emphasis you wanted.”

  “I don’t really know either.” Bryan ran his hands through his hair as he studied the samples. He continued flipping through the logos until he saw a design where she had used tiny Christmas trees to make the letter ‘A’ in his name.

  “This one,” Bryan said stabbing his finger on the page. “My dad would’ve liked this one.”

  “Check! See, you have one thing off your list already.” Amanda giggled with delight. “Now, do you own an internet domain name?”

  “No.”

  “Well, if you decide to use Stotlar Nursery as your name, that’s still available, but you need to buy it quick.”

  “Okay, how do I do that?”

  “Laptop?” Bryan led her to the desk in his living room and she took a seat. He hovered over her shoulder as she showed him the site and put the name in his cart.

  “Now, all you have to do is put in your credit card information and you will be the proud owner of StotlarNursery.com.”

  As they traded places so he could complete the purchase, Amanda wandered back to the kitchen table to wait and flipped through her notebook.

  “Now you have two things marked off the list. We can do this,” she said encouragingly.