Victims and Valentine's Day by Ellie McDougan

Author:Ellie McDougan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Cozy Mystery, Cozy Mysteries, Cozy Mysteries Cat, Cozy Mysteries Holiday, Cozy Mystery ebook
Publisher: Cherryville Titles
Published: 2023-02-13T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

The phone was ringing as soon as Belle walked through the police station door. She hurried over to her desk, dropping her bag and pulling off her gloves.

“Hello, thanks for calling the Cherryville County Police Department. How may I help you?” Belle asked.

The voice on the other line was low and grave, almost a whisper. “You still have no idea, do you?”

Belle’s heart nearly stopped and then rose to beat in her throat.

It was the arsonist! After nearly a week of waiting for him to call, he had finally called!

“Have no idea about what?” Belle replied. She took a seat and pulled out her notepad, grabbing a pen from the stationery holder beside her computer. Thankfully, her prepared list of questions was still sitting next to the phone. She ran her eyes over all of them, trying to figure out what to ask next.

“Who set the fire at the Wilmington farm, of course. You haven’t figured it out.” It was a statement, rather than a question.

“Actually, we have. You did,” Belle said.

The arsonist scoffed. “You really think that you know who I am?”

Belle took a deep breath, trying to keep her cool.

Just then, Sheriff Barnes and Derek walked into the office from the break room, where they had been making coffee.

“Morning, Belle!” said the Sheriff, cheerfully before he noticed her face. His voice dropped to a whisper. “Is that him?”

“We’re working on it,” said Belle into the phone carefully, while nodding meaningfully at the Sheriff. “Why don’t you tell me what it is that you want?”

Derek and the Sheriff had sprung into action and were at Derek’s workstation, their faces serious. Derek had sat down and was typing something, while Sheriff Barnes watched over his shoulder. Belle knew they were trying to trace the call. She had to keep the speaker talking as long as possible.

“What do I want? I want things to be like they were before,” the arsonist said, petulantly.

“How were things before?” said Belle, shooting the Sheriff a look. He nodded and gave her the thumbs up to tell her to keep going.

There was silence on the other end of the line. Belle waited for a moment, holding her breath. Then she held the phone away from her mouth, filling Sheriff Barnes in on what was happening. “He’s not talking.”

“It doesn’t matter,” said the arsonist suddenly. “Forget that I said that.”

“But why set fires? Why hurt people?” Belle asked. “Why hurt poor Joey Wilmington?”

There was a moment of quiet again. “He wasn’t supposed to be there.” The caller whispered finally. Then he spoke louder. “But I’ll tell you who will be next.”

Belle’s heart froze. “Who?” she asked quickly.

“Tristan,” the arsonist said. “I’ll gut him before the bell tomorrow.”

Gut him?

Belle’s stomach clenched. She said the first thing she could think of. “What bell?”

“The school bell. Cherryville High.”

And then he hung up.

Belle kept the phone to her ear for a moment, even though she knew it was useless now. “Hello? Hello?” She finally put the phone back on its cradle and stared at it.

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