something to use with the hook and a plastic bag stuck to my hand. I recognized it as the bag Adele had pushed on me when she found it in the bin of Kelly’s crochet pieces. I noticed there was a small ball of yarn in the bag and went to take it out. There were some folded sheets of paper that came out with it. I gathered them up, unfolding them as I did. Several of the papers were from a yellow legal pad and had some notes and diagrams on them. Another piece of paper floated free. I laid it on my lap and recognized what it was right away. I had one just like it. It was an invoice for a storage locker. A small plastic bag with a key inside was stapled to the back.
I showed it to Mason and explained what it was. “I wonder why Kelly had a storage locker?” I said.
“Probably for the same reason you do,” he said.
“I got mine when Barry moved in and I had to clear out the space.”
“Right,” Mason said. “She probably had stuff she didn’t have room for in her house.” I pointed out that both the locker number and the key were there.
“Are you saying you want to see what’s in it?”
“She did give the bin this was in to us. So, it isn’t like it would be breaking in or anything.”
“Do you want to go now, tonight?” Mason said.
“There’s twenty-four hour access.”
“Sure. Let’s go. I’ve missed not being part of your investigation,” Mason said, looking enthused. “It’s certainly more fun than finding wedding locations for Jaimee to nix.”
Mason took Ventura Boulevard instead of the freeway. We had the street to ourselves as we passed closed businesses and dark apartments. It seemed like the whole Valley was set on mute. Mason pulled his black Mercedes into the parking lot of the storage place. I was glad that he parked far away from the only other car in the parking lot. Could it belong to someone living in one of the units?
Basically, there were four rows of low buildings with identical blue garage-type pull-up doors. There were lights on the end of each building, which made for lots of shadows, but not much help in seeing. I regretted not having a flashlight. Mason had a small one on his key chain.
The buildings all looked the same and we finally realized there was a sign on the end of each with the locker numbers on it. We found the row hers was in and went down the wide walkway between the buildings. There were lots of dark shadows and I was glad I hadn’t come there alone.
Mason pointed the tiny pool of light from his flashlight at each of the numbers next to the metal roll-up doors. “Here it is,” I said pointing to one in the middle of the row. I had him put the light on the padlock. The light caught on a spot of reflective paint as I felt for the key.
“Well, this is it.” I put the key in the lock and when it came free, Mason lifted the door. The only light source we had was his small flashlight and little ambient light from the fixture at the end of the row. It smelled a little musty as we stepped inside and a herd of large black shiny bugs skittered through the light beam.
Mason flashed the small light around the inside of the locker. There were some odds and ends of furniture. I noticed a wood headboard and a dresser, along with several chairs stacked on each other. There was a small round table with a box on top. I reached for it, but Mason stopped me. “Fingerprints,” he cautioned, handing me a pen. I used it to open the flaps as Mason put the light on it. I yelped when I saw the contents.
“More of the bugs?” Mason said, lifting his free hand, prepared to do battle.
“No creepy crawlers,” I said showing him the inside of the box. “But those are the pins and little toys Kelly gave us for the sale. Well, they were almost pins. She hadn’t put the pin backs on. But that’s not the point. They were in the cabinet at the bookstore and stolen by the shoplifters.” I used the pen to ruffle through the flower pins. “The felt backs seem to be coming apart. I don’t remember that from the first time I saw them.”