Who’s Mina?

“I’ll give you $20,000 to stop talking to my husband “

“Who the fuck -“

The woman in the doorway shoved a bag in the chest of the other woman

“Take it, take it and never see him again “

She took off to her running car and sped out the driveway

“Abby, who’s at the door”

“I’m not entirely sure”

Abby went to her husband Greg, sitting at the kitchen table and dropped the bag on the paper he was reading.

“Some woman just shoved this in my chest, told me she’d pay me to stay away from her husband”

“Who’s her husband?”

“I have no idea”

Greg grabbed the bag and dumped the contents out. Stacks of money, some held together with rubber bands, hair elastics and scrunches and a little black moleskin book in the mix.

“What did you do?” Greg asked

Abby sat on the chair across and reached for the black book

“I wish I knew”

She opened up the book.

“There are all sketches of some lady. Gabrielle is written here in fancy letters on this page”

In the back of the book, some photos were stuffed in a pocket made with tape and cut scrapbook paper.

“Look at these photos”

A woman sitting at a desk, a woman looking out a car window.

“Let me see the book”

Greg opened up the front page and studied the book for a while.

“Look here, it says Gabrielle Jones on the flap and the sketches in the first few pages are different then the sketches after. This bitch either got really good overnight or someone else took her book”

“The husband?”

“Maybe “

“OMG, Gabrielle Jones, Abby Jones, this woman has my name”

“No ones called you Gabrielle since you were two”

“But that’s my legal name, she probably searched online. I need a drink” Abby grabbed for the Jameson on the top of the fridge, and took a long swig from the bottle.

“We’re not using cups anymore?”

Abby scrunched her face sarcastically.

Abby put the bottle in Greg’s hand & he put it back down on the table.

“We gotta give this money back, this is bad.”

“Did you see the car? A license plate?”

“Greg I don’t think I could even pick that woman out of a lineup.”

“What was she wearing?”

“Um, a hat, a baseball hat, coat?”

“Abby you’d suck if we were robbed”

“Well if we get robbed, then I’ll be sure to take photos of our robber. Oh wait, what does the bag say, it’s one of those reusable bags”

Greg held it up.

“Price Chopper$”

Abby grabbed her phone

“What are you doing?”

“Seeing where the nearest Price Chopper$ is.”

“What even is a Price Chopper$?

“Seriously? You’ve never heard of Price Chopper$?”

“No, is that some Buffalo thing?”

“Omg , when will you stop with the Buffalo thing?”

Greg showed his teeth in a sarcastic type of smile.

“It’s like a Saves You More, a little mom and pop grocery store. Well, kinda. You get it?”

Ignoring Abby, Greg grabs a glass and pours some Jameson in.

“What are we gonna do with this money? Wanna split it?”

“Are you fucking crazy, we have to give this back, only bad things will happen. Won't she wonder why her husband is still seeing her? Maybe she’ll slash our tires. BOIL OUR RABBIT “

“That’s your anxiety talking.”

“Did you think about that? Little bun bun in the kettle?”

“Look, someone came to YOUR house and threw money at you, it’s not for you to worry if you're the wrong person. You see lots of husbands every day at work,and at the store, so if you don’t over analyze it, just try and appreciate it.”

“Your theory is fucking nuts”

“But you’re thinking about it”

Abby looked back down at her phone. “The nearest Price Chopper$ is 53 minutes away.”

“Then what? Are you gonna sit in the parking lot and wait for the maybe baseball hat lady to show up to do her grocery shopping?”

“Maybe, maybe she works there?”

“Or maybe someone left the bag at her house and she lives 53 minutes in the other direction. Abby this is not your cause, she made the mistake, you don’t have to hop on a trail of clues and crack the case.”

“I’m just saying, something bad is gonna happen from this, what if the cops come?”

“I don’t know what you're talking about , what money?”

“Scrapbook, the scrapbook paper that the pocket is made from. Maybe she’s into scrapbooking, he took a piece from her, maybe there’s a scrapbook club like thing she belongs to.”

“That she goes to after her shift at Price Chopper$?”

“You got it!”

“Abby, that’s so fucking far fetched!!! Listen, promise me you’re not going to go all ADHD on this like you do with everything you get involved with. You’re wasting your time.”

“Aren’t you the slightest bit worried about what will happen if we keep this money?”

“No. It’s free money. If it makes you feel any better, hide it. Let’s just sit on it for a while. THEN, when bun bun is held hostage we can pay the ransom to the mad jealous deli clerk scrapbooker of , what town did you say it was?”

“I don’t know, it just saw 53 minutes away.”

“Is that with tolls?”

“Fuck you.”

Greg got up and poked at Abby’s arm, “you say that with such love.”

Abby started at the front cover of the moleskin black book and studied each page. All pencil sketches, but the first few pages were very amateur figuratives whereas the rest of the books pages were incredibly different. Different lines, different color pencil. Even the pencil strokes were deeper in the page. Definitely a completely different person.

“Ok, we can hide the money for a while.”

Greg gave a thumbs up.

“Remember when we were putting the fake fireplace together & I said that behind the front panel would be a good place to hide something?”

“No, but if you say so. Put it there.” Greg flipped the page of the paper he was reading.

Abby got a Phillips head from the junk drawer. “Come help me.”

Together they removed the front piece of the unit and stuffed the money behind it. Greg grabbed the black book.

“Leave that out, I want to study it.”

“Don’t get obsessive about this”

“How could I not? Until we figure this out the moneys gonna sit here staring at us like the tell tale heart!! Just try and watch Alex Trebek without staring below, behind these fake flames.”

Greg screwed the front panel back on.

“So we just go about our lives for a few weeks..”

“Like nothing happened “Abby added.

Greg and Abby sat on the living room floor, staring at each other until the doorbell broke their silence.

Abby’s mouth dropped. Greg took her hand.

“I’ll get it, everything will be fine” Greg got up and went to the front door.

Greg opened the door to see the neighbor across the street standing there.

“That lady who peeled out of your driveway hit Mrs. Epstein’s Pomeranian.”

“That’s unfortunate, sorry to hear that.”

“Unfortunate? That’s all you have to say? Who is she? She drove off. Didn’t even stop. Ryan from down the road snapped a picture of the license plate. We called the police, just so you know. “

“Rebecca, listen. She had the wrong house, we’ve never even seen her before.”

“I find that hard to believe, she’s been over here every day this week. She sits on your front step smoking cigarettes.”

“She’s here? On this step?”

“Greg this is serious, Mrs Epstein loved that dog, it’s all she has. The cops will probably come to ask you questions. You know that dog was best in show?” Rebecca turned and walked back down the driveway.

Abby was standing in the hallway. “The cops? For a dog?”

“Abby did you even hear what Rebecca said? She said that lady has been at our house every day this week.”

Abby grabbed at her chest and dropped her jaw. “Every day? I think WE should call the cops now. It’s not like it’s a million bucks. It’s $20,000. Who knows what kinda trouble this will bring?”

“Maybe this is it? She waited everyday for you to be home, you worked overtime this week, finally you were home. Her part is done, the Pomeranian is the only casualty, and we are $20,000 richer!!!”

The oven beeped. “The roast, I forgot all about it.”

Abby went into the kitchen and pulled the roast out of the oven. “I’m not even hungry anymore. “

“Well I am, so move over. I’ll start the sides. I think we should just pretend this never happened, seriously. This will blow over.”

“How do you never react to anything?”

Greg shrugged.

Abby walked out of the kitchen and sat in front of the fake fireplace, thumbing through the book.

“We’ll eat in 20 minutes. Ok?”

Abby agreed.

Greg opened a bottle of red wine & poured them both a glass. “Put that black book down & come eat.”

Abby sat at the table, took a sip. “Smells great.”

Greg got up and put the news on.

“Abby let’s go out to that new restaurant for breakfast tomorrow morning, then we can get some groceries”

“Sure”

The doorbell rang. Abby dropped her fork on the floor.

“I’ll get it.” Greg walked over & opened the door. Abby could hear the radio and knew it was an officer.

“Evening Sir”

“Officer”

“Mind if we come in and ask you some questions?”

“Sure, we were just eating dinner.”

“Smells great.” The officer walked right in and down the hall to the kitchen. Another officer to follow.

“Gabrielle Jones?”

“Yes.”

“And Gregory Mitchell?”

“Yes.”

“Are you married?”

“Yes, but she kept her name, it’s a long story.”

“Where were you both earlier, around 2:30pm?”

“Both here”

“Ma’am?”

Abby shook her head yes.

“What is your relationship with Mina Cosgrove?”

“To who?” Greg asked.

“Mina Cosgrove, the woman that your neighbor saw leaving your house earlier.”

“Officer, the first time we ever saw that woman was today when my wife answered the door she had the wrong house.”

“Well your neighbor Rebecca Hart said that she has seen Ms. Cosgrove on your property a few times this week”

“Yeah that’s what she told me but, believe me this is the first time we’ve ever seen her.”

“Mr. Mitchell did you see the woman at the door?”

“No, just my wife Abby did”

“Ms. Jones, what did the woman want when she came to the door?”

“Well I’m actually not sure, but she clearly had the wrong house and then she took off in a rush. Maybe she was embarrassed?”

“So the woman said nothing to you, you just knew she was at the wrong house?”

“Yes,something like that.”

“Officer, isn’t this a bit excessive over a hit-and-run dog? “ Greg interrupted. “If you have her name and license plate shouldn’t you be looking for her?”

“Well Mr. Mitchell we already know where she is and she’s in no condition to talk. She wrapped her car around a light pole about 15 miles down the road. Call came in about the dog a few minutes before the 911 call came in.”

The timer on the fake fireplace made a bang when the flames turned on and Abby jumped.

“We just need to know if you have any information. A neighbor reported some missing jewelry and there was a pawn shop receipt on the floorboard. The worst was the man bound & gagged in the trunk, said he was her husband,died on the way to the hospital. Well thank you for your time, you folks enjoy your night.”

Greg escorted the officers out.

The door closed and Greg and Abby stared at each other, Abby's jaw dropped to the floor.