The Family Affair: A Made in Savannah Cozy Mystery (Made in Savannah Cozy Mysteries Series Book 9) by Hope Callaghan (top 10 ebook reader TXT) 📗

took the papers from her.  “What are your cell phone numbers so I can cross them off the list?” She waved her hand.  “Never mind. I have your cell phone numbers right here.”

She pulled out her keyboard tray.

Carlita leaned forward. “You keep a printed list of cell phone numbers?”

“Yeah. I keep this handy when I don’t want to fiddle with my cell phone.” Elvira set the first sheet of paper next to her phone list.

She quickly cross-referenced the sheet, drawing red lines through some of the numbers. She repeated the steps with the second sheet.  “That narrows down the list.  Let’s call the first number.”

“I’ll put it on speaker phone.” Elvira lifted the desk phone receiver and punched the keys.

The line rang. “Savannah Post Office.”

“Wrong number.” Elvira disconnected the line.  “That takes off a bunch more numbers.” She redlined more of the sheet.  “Let’s try this one.”

Elvira punched in another set of numbers.

“Savannah Preschool Center, Mary speaking.”

“Sorry, wrong number.” Elvira didn’t wait for a reply and disconnected the line. “Two down, only a couple more to go.” The others sat silently as Elvira tried the third number, this time a pizza place. She hung up on the man, who began rattling off the daily specials.

“We’re running out of numbers.”  She dialed the next number. It rang several times before a man answered.  “Hello?”

“Yes, uh.” Elvira briefly hesitated. “This is Tina from radio station WIBS in the greater Atlanta area. Who am I speaking with?”

There was silence on the other end, and Carlita wondered if the person had hung up.

Undeterred, Elvira plunged into her spiel. “I’m calling to inform you that you’ve been randomly selected to receive a dozen free long-stemmed red roses, delivered to the location of your choice.”

“Seriously?” the man asked.

“Absolutely. It’s a pre-Valentine’s Day promotional giveaway, offered by Flowers4u, a national floral company, who is promoting its new location in the Savannah area.”

“Huh.” The man wasn’t convinced. “What’s the catch?”

“No catch,” Elvira said. “All I need from you is a name and address of where you would like to have the flowers sent. They can be sent to anywhere in the United States, and delivery will take place within the next 24-hours.”

“Sure…uh. Send them to Kelsie Scott.” The man rattled off an address in Richmond Hill, Georgia, and Elvira repeated it back.  “Okay. I’ve got the information…and whose name should we put on the card?”

“You want my name?”

“Yes, unless you want the flowers sent anonymously, but then you can’t take credit for such a generous gesture. Personally, I think you would want this special lady to know who sent the flowers.”

“Yes. Of course. My name is Quinton Towns.”

“Okay, Quinton. I have the information and as I said, the flowers will be sent out in the next 24-hours. Have a great day.”

“Thank you.”

Elvira disconnected the line. “Does Quinton Towns ring a bell?”

“No, but that’s Shelby’s last name. So someone who has the same last name recently called her cell phone.”

“Let’s wrap up this operation before we pore over what we’ve got.” Elvira dialed the last few numbers on Shelby’s cell phone list. One was a local drugstore, another rang but no one answered and the last had been disconnected.

“So our best lead is Quinton Towns.” Elvira studied the cell phone log.  “This log shows three incoming calls from Mr. Towns’ number. All calls take place within a three day timeframe.”

Carlita clasped her hands.  “I’m even more confused than before.  Robert is dead. If what you’re saying is true, Shelby has been talking to her ex’s relative.”

“Let’s take a lookee see at a coupla social media sites to see if we can get a visual on Quinton Towns. It’s not a common name, so we should be able to easily find him, if he’s on social media.” Elvira slid her cell phone off to the side and began tapping on her computer keyboard.

“Nothing on this site.” She reached for her mouse. “We got a Quinton Towns who lives in Richmond Hill.” She clicked on the profile and double clicked on the picture. “It looks like we might have our stalker. Check it out.”

She turned the laptop so Dernice, Mercedes and Carlita could see the screen.  “I’ll bet money this is the same guy who was lurking around the other day, the one I followed to the Black Stallion Club.”

“Quinton Towns,” Carlita murmured. “Who also called Shelby’s cell phone and was lurking around when her apartment was broken into.”

“He was probably looking for the backpack,” Mercedes blurted out.

“Backpack?” Elvira perked up.  “What backpack?”

“It’s nothing,” Carlita murmured.

“It’s something to look into.” Mercedes hopped out of her chair, anxious to avoid Elvira’s impending interrogation.  “It’s getting late and I’m sure Brittney is ready to head out on our shoe shopping excursion.”

“Barbie?” Dernice asked. “I figured your son and his gal were already gone. I haven’t seen them around.”

“They’re leaving soon.” Carlita slid out of her chair.  “That was very clever, Elvira, and a sneaky way to get someone to reveal their name. How did you think of that?”

“I heard it on a radio program a coupla years ago. The program’s host had female listeners who thought their boyfriends or husbands were cheating on them call in.” According to Elvira, the women would give the talk show host the boyfriend or husband’s name and contact information.

The talk show host would then call them on the phone, all the while airing the calls live while the women were listening in. They somehow convinced the men they were from a flower shop and were randomly calling individuals to send complimentary bouquets of flowers to the recipient of their choice.

“Half the men sent the flowers to the woman secretly listening on the other end, but the other half?” Elvira blew air through thinned lips.  “Those