The Root of All Evil (Hope Street Church Mysteries Book 4) (30 page)

“Do you have a minute?” she asked.

“For you? Always.” Mr. Farmer smiled, but his eyes looked exhausted. “What do you need?”

“I hadn’t heard anything about the thefts. I thought I’d drop in and get an update.”

He motioned for her to close the door, and she did so before taking a seat in the plush chair in front of his desk. “Cooper, I don’t know what to do.”

Cooper remained silent. She had no sage advice to give.

Mr. Farmer went on. “I don’t know who did it, and I don’t want to bring in the authorities. It’s been brought to my attention that a good next step would be to search the employee lockers, but I doubt we’d find anything. If I were stealing things, I’d take them home, not leave them at work.”

“I’m not a fan of searching lockers either,” Cooper said. “But it sounds like that’s the last step before going to the police. Either that or ignore the problem, which we can’t do.”

“The employees won’t like it.”

“No, they won’t. But search every locker and they’ll dislike it less.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean search every locker,” Cooper explained. “Search Ben’s, Angela’s, the empty ones. Don’t just target the newer employees, because they’ll feel like they’re being treated differently.” She checked the clock on Mr. Farmer’s wall. “Bobby and Josh will be here for another hour before they’re out on jobs, and I think Emilio and Brandi are around here somewhere. Do it now. You can start with my locker, if you like.”

Mr. Farmer stood, still tired but with a renewed confidence. “All right, I will. We’ll get to the bottom of this . . . today!”

He called Ben, who tracked down Emilio and Brandi while Cooper fetched Bobby and Josh. All eight Make It Work! staff members crowded into the little locker room.

“Tell us what this is all about!” Emilio demanded in his usual brash fashion. “This room’s too small for all of us.”

“I know it’s uncomfortable,” Mr. Farmer replied. “But I want you all to be here. I have some disturbing information.”

They all fell silent.

“There have been several thefts here recently,” Mr. Farmer continued. “I’ve tried to figure out who it is without being too obvious, without causing any problems or hurt feelings, but that strategy hasn’t worked out too well.”

Cooper appreciated that he left her out of the story. At least the employees wouldn’t think differently about her or Ben, even if they were a little leery of Mr. Farmer for a while.

He went on. “As a last-ditch effort to find the culprit without bringing in the police, I’ve decided to search all the lockers, starting with those of the senior staff. Cooper, would you open your locker, please?”

Cooper stepped forward, opened the door and then moved out of Mr. Farmer’s way. She didn’t use the locker much these days, but she did still have a spare pair of jeans and an extra T-shirt from the days of copier repairs; when ink spilled on her uniform, she’d change and dunk the stained clothes in a sink full of water. There was also an old can of soda pop and a business card from one of their clients.

Mr. Farmer closed the locker door. “Ben?”

Ben opened his locker, too, without argument, and like Cooper’s it contained nothing of interest. He went down the line, checking every locker, even the empty ones. No one objected . . . until he came to Emilio.

“Please, open your locker,” Mr. Farmer said.

Emilio’s jaw clenched, and his face turned red. “I’d rather not.”

Cooper glanced at Angela, whose pencil eyebrows were raised in curiosity. Emilio wasn’t a new employee at all. He was more trusted than the others. Was he really the thief?

Mr. Farmer persisted. “Please, open the locker.”

“But, I . . .”

“The locker. Now.”

Cooper couldn’t recall ever hearing Mr. Farmer speak in such a resolute tone. Emilio did as he was told.

Mr. Farmer rummaged through the items in the locker for a moment, then turned away, his face as red as Emilio’s. “Nothing here,” he announced.

Cooper stood on her tiptoes to see into the locker and spotted the cause of Emilio’s and Mr. Farmer’s embarrassment. She clapped her hand over her mouth to keep from giggling. Stacked in the locker were several back issues of
Playboy
and
Penthouse
.

And that’s why I’m not going out with your buddy,
Cooper thought.
Because he’s probably too much like you.

Finally, Mr. Farmer got to Angela’s locker. She was ready to unlock it even before he asked.

“Thanks,” he said, opening the door. Suddenly Mr. Farmer froze.

Cooper waited for him to turn, to announce that he’d found nothing, but he just stood there, staring into the locker. For a whole minute, he neither moved nor spoke.

“Are you all right?” Ben asked, tapping their boss on the shoulder. “Something wrong?”

Mr. Farmer slowly turned to face them, holding one of the missing toner cartridges. Cooper looked past him into the locker and gasped. Toner cartridges, parts, a laptop—all the missing items.

Angela fainted.

Cooper helped Mr. Farmer carry Angela to his office. It took a few minutes to revive the stunned receptionist.

When she’d finally woken up completely, her first words were, “I didn’t do it!”

“I know that,” Mr. Farmer replied reassuringly. “But I need to find out who did.”

Angela sat up straight. “I have an enemy here? I thought we all got along so well! I can’t imagine anyone doing this!”

“I’m having a hard time with it, too.” Mr. Farmer shook his head sadly. “One of my employees is trying to frame another employee . . . and not just any employee, but you!”

Cooper cleared her throat. “Would you two like me to leave?”

Mr. Farmer replied with a firm “No.” But he didn’t speak again for a good thirty seconds. “We need to figure out what to do now.”

“Simple!” Angela exclaimed. “You march out there and tell them I didn’t do it!”

“He can’t,” Cooper argued, putting her hand gently on Angela’s shoulder. “Someone tried to frame you, and it may be in our best interest to let that person believe they’ve succeeded. In the meantime, they won’t suspect that we suspect them. It’ll give us time to devise a new plan.”

Angela blinked repeatedly, thoroughly confused, and then she snapped her fingers. “I know! You need to talk to your friend at the station!”

Cooper felt ill. The thought of speaking to Will Brayden again tied her stomach in knots. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“You have a friend at the police station?” Mr. Farmer asked. “Would he—or she—be willing to help us out . . . unofficially, of course? We could get some professional assistance without having to file reports and mar the good name of this company!”

Cooper leaned on Angela’s chair. “No, I really don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Cooper, please!” Angela pleaded. “You know he’ll help you out. We’ve got to find out who did this!”

In stereo, Angela and Mr. Farmer made their appeals, until finally Cooper threw her hands up in resignation. “Fine!” she said loudly. “I’ll give him a call.”

She marched to her office, feeling both irritated at Angela’s insistence and guilty that she was irritated. It was only natural that Angela wanted to save her good name, and as a friend, Cooper should’ve been on board with the idea. But the last thing she wanted was to face Will Brayden, especially when she still hadn’t heard from Nathan.

Reluctantly, Cooper dug through her purse, found Officer Brayden’s card and called him at the station. When his machine picked up, she breathed a sigh of relief.

“Hi, this is Cooper Lee,” she began at the beep. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I have a professional favor to ask. Do you remember what I told you about the thefts at work? The stolen items were found in the locker of a friend of mine, but my boss and I both know she didn’t do it. My boss wants to figure this out without involving the police, and I was hoping maybe you could help me out somehow . . . as a friend. You have my number.”

A few minutes later she left for the restroom, and when she returned there was a message on her phone. It was Will saying, “I’ll be there in the morning.”

• • •

Yet again, Cooper couldn’t sleep that night, and she didn’t bother with the chamomile tea, mostly because she didn’t want to risk running into Ms. Donna in the kitchen. While the house guest meant well, Cooper wasn’t in the mood for a friendly chat. And the more she couldn’t sleep, the worse her worrying became, which, in turn, made her even more restless.

So she spent most of the night lying in bed, staring at the ceiling and petting her cats, Moses and Miriam. By the purrs and licks, they made it known they appreciated the insomnia and would prefer it to Cooper’s usual sleep schedule.

Cooper scratched Moses behind the ear. “If my love life doesn’t get straightened out soon, you might get your wish. I may never have a good night’s rest again, and we’ll spend every night just like this. Me worrying and you purring.”

Moses purred in approval.

Cooper was at work early Friday morning. She had no idea when to expect Will, since the only time frame he’d given her was “morning.” But whenever he arrived, she’d be ready for him. She’d gone to great lengths to be unattractive, sporting an ugly blouse and oversized jeans, along with no makeup and barely brushed hair. Will couldn’t possibly think she was flirting today. And surely he wouldn’t flirt.

Angela had stayed home to keep the guilty party under the impression that his—or her—deception had succeeded. Mr. Farmer, Cooper and Will needed time to solve the problem before the real thief realized he—or she—was a suspect. Mr. Farmer had relocated to Angela’s desk for the day to manage her job as best he could until the temp service sent a replacement.

The seconds passed by at an agonizingly slow pace that made Cooper’s stomach hurt. Nine o’clock came and went. Ten finally rolled around with no Will Brayden in sight. Finally, at quarter past eleven, Cooper heard the front door open, and a familiar voice asked for Cooper Lee. Instinctively, Cooper straightened her blouse and smoothed her hair, but stopped herself before she looked too presentable. She turned her attention to her computer, as if she were working and not waiting for Will’s arrival, just as Mr. Farmer knocked on her door.

“Cooper, do you have a minute?”

“For you, Mr. Farmer, of course I do. What do you need?”

He entered the room, bringing Will Brayden with him. Officer Brayden waved. “Nice to see you, Ms. Lee.”

Cooper sat up stiffly. “I appreciate you making the trip, Officer Brayden.”

He smiled as the formalities continued. “So, Ms. Lee, when you asked for my help as a friend, what did you have in mind exactly?”

“I’ll give you the whole story, and then maybe we can come up with a good solution.”

Mr. Farmer headed for the door, but Cooper stopped him. “Wait! Aren’t you going to stay?”

Mr. Farmer looked back out at Angela’s desk. The phone was ringing. “I have my own job to do plus Angela’s. I’m leaving Officer Brayden in your very capable hands.” With that, he left.

Brayden’s smile widened. “So it looks like I get to spend part of the day in your
very
capable hands.”

“This is serious,” Cooper shot back, both annoyed and amused by his boyish flirtation. “I need you to focus.” She explained what had happened the day before—the locker search and the subsequent discovery of the stolen items in Angela’s locker.

“Are you sure she’s innocent?” Brayden asked. “In my experience, if the evidence says a person is guilty, they usually are.”

“Not Angela,” Cooper argued. “She’s not a thief. More than that, she loves this company, and she
really
loves Mr. Farmer. She’d never do anything to hurt him or his business.”

Brayden hesitated, then gave her a slow smile. “If you believe in her, I believe in her.”

His confidence in her judgment surprised Cooper. “Um . . . thank you . . .” she stammered. “But . . . What do we do?”

“I brought a fingerprint kit. I’ll dust the items in question and lift any prints I can.”

“But you have nothing to compare them to. We don’t have employee fingerprints.”

“I’ll get those, too, but after I dust the items. If I print the employees first, I might tip off the real criminal, and he’ll have time to wipe the goods. After I dust the merchandise and print the employees, you and I can sit down together and analyze the results. We’ll look at who should have been handling the items versus who
did
handle them, paying special attention to any prints that are on every item.”

“Do you suppose the thief wore gloves?”

“I doubt it. Doesn’t sound like this is a pro at work. Just an ordinary, run-of-the-mill petty thief.”

“Then why don’t you get to work. I’ll let Mr. Farmer know what’s going on.”

Cooper didn’t want to feel better with Will on the case, but she couldn’t help it. She did. He exuded confidence in his work, and his faith in justice and in her put Cooper at ease. He spent the next several hours at Make It Work!, dusting the stolen items for prints and then fingerprinting all the employees, including Cooper and Mr. Farmer.

Some time later, the front office door opened, and in walked Angela, looking exhausted and worried. She waved to Mr. Farmer, who was on the phone, deep in conversation with a client.

Cooper hurried to meet her and gave her a hug. “How are you?”

Angela’s makeup was perfect as ever, but it couldn’t conceal the bags under her eyes. “I’ve been wrongly accused of theft and suspended from my job.”

“It’s not a suspension,” Cooper reminded her. “It’s a few days of paid vacation so we can clear your name properly. Why are you here?”

“Mr. Farmer called and told me what your policeman friend is doing, and I thought I’d come over and voluntarily let him fingerprint me.”

Cooper caught the playful tone in Angela’s voice. “Wait a minute. Did you really come in for the fingerprinting? Or did you just want an excuse to see Officer Brayden?”

Angela grinned and patted Cooper’s shoulder. “You know what they say. Two birds, one stone. In helping find a thief, I get to meet the man who got you all flustered. It’s one of those rare win-win situations!”