2 A Deadly Beef (9 page)

"I
wish I knew," I said. 

Ellen
just shrugged, and then she went back to her customers.

Five
minutes later, the sheriff came back into the diner, alone.

"Is
Ron still a suspect in your mind?" I asked Sheriff Croft before he could
say a word of greeting.

"In
Wally Bain’s murder?" the sheriff asked.

"No,
in the crown jewel heist.  Of course in Wally’s murder.  What
else could I have been talking about?"

"There
are more crimes than murder going on around here these days," the sheriff
said cryptically.

"What’s
that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing,"
he said, dismissing it handily.  "How about some breakfast?"

"Thanks,
but I already ate," I answered with a slight smile.

"That
wasn’t an invitation," he said.  "As a matter of fact,
I’m meeting someone here in a few minutes, but there’s no reason
why I can’t get a quick bite in first."

"It’s
awfully early for a hot date, Sheriff."

He
shook his head.  "This is business, not pleasure."

"Anybody
I know?" I asked.

The
sheriff thought about it for a second, and then he shrugged. 
"Word’s going to get out soon enough, but if you start grilling her
before I have a chance to talk to her, our time for cooperating is over. 
Do you understand me, Victoria?"

"I
promise I won’t say a word to her, whoever she might be," I
said.  I was dying to find out who the sheriff was meeting, and I would
have promised just about anything to know.

"It’s
Jan Bain."

That
surprised me, though it shouldn’t have.  "Wally’s sister
is coming here?  She hasn’t been back to Jasper Fork in twenty
years."

"Well,
a death in the family will do that to you," the sheriff said.

"Is
she
a suspect, too?" I asked. 

Sheriff
Croft shook his head.  "Victoria, not everyone I interview is on my
list of possible murderers; you know that, don’t you?"

"I’m
assuming that she’s going to inherit the farm, and everything else Wally
owns, so that gives her motive," I said.  "Besides, everybody
knows that she and Wally never got along."

"Victoria, you need to stop jumping to conclusions.  Remember your promise."

"I
will, and I’ll keep it.  I just don’t think you should dismiss
her so quickly."

"Who
said anything about dismissing her?  Now, let me mind my business, Woman,
and you mind yours," the sheriff said.

I
watched Sheriff Croft as he took a seat at one of our booths, and I wondered
just what he and Ron had discussed outside.  The hired man hadn’t
been happy about the sheriff’s sudden appearance, for whatever reason,
and Sheriff Croft was being a little dismissive of my questions.  I
supposed that was his right, but I didn’t have to like it.  Life
would be so much simpler if everyone told me everything I wanted to know, but I
knew that wasn’t going to happen.  I just hoped that Ron came back
later to finish telling me what he’d started to say.  Until then, I
was just going to have to live with the crushing curiosity.

Ten
minutes later, a woman came into the diner that I barely recognized.  Only
her prominent nose gave away the fact that this was Jan Bain.  She’d
left town as a plain, gangly girl with buck teeth and acne, but here was a
woman of substance, pretty in her own way, but more commanding because of the
way she carried herself than anything else.  Only her signature way of
approaching someone with speed, as though she was attacking, hadn’t
changed.

"Jan? 
Is that you?" I asked.

"Hello,
Victoria," she said, offering me a slight smile.  "My, how
you’ve grown."

"You
look wonderful," I said as I hugged her.  She resisted the contact,
and kept it at a minimum.  There was a handbag big enough to conceal a
stuffed turkey draped over one shoulder, and I wondered what she carried around
with her that she needed such a roomy bag.

"As
do you.  I’d love to stay and chat, but I’m meeting
someone," she said as she looked around the diner.  That’s
when I noticed the sheriff stand and walk toward us. 

"As
a matter of fact, he’s coming this way right now," I said.

After
the two of them spoke briefly, they left me and returned to Sheriff
Croft’s booth.  I would have given anything to wait on them and try
to catch some of their conversation, but I’d promised to butt out, and I
was going to do just that, no matter how hard it might be.  They had a
rather short conversation, and as Jan stood, she was clearly unhappy about the
way things had gone.  Sheriff Croft didn’t look all that pleased
either, truth be told.  As Jan brushed past me, I thought about going
after her, but Moose chose that second to walk in the front door and all
thoughts of pursuing Jan were quickly gone.  Still, I had to at least try.

"Stay
here one second," I told him as I tried to follow Jan outside.

"Forget
that.  I know that look in your eyes.  You’re on to something, Victoria.  I’m coming with you," Moose said.

"I
don’t have time to argue with you.  Moose, you’ll be helping
our cause a lot more if you go distract the sheriff and let me do what I need
to do by myself."

"How
much time do you need?" Moose asked.  This was a task he could
handle with ease, and we both knew it.

"Five
minutes," I said as I hurried out into the parking lot.

But
I’d taken too long talking to Moose.

Jan
was already gone by the time I got outside.

"That
was quick," Moose said when I walked back in a moment later.

"She
took off before I had a chance to talk to her," I said.

"Sorry
about that," Moose answered.  "I hope it wasn’t my
fault."

I
believed with all my heart that it was, but pointing that out to my grandfather
wouldn’t do either one of us any good.  "It’s
okay.  We’ll catch up with her later."

"Who
exactly was that?" he asked me.

"Didn’t
you recognize her?  That was Jan Bain.  She used to babysit
me," I said as the sheriff approached.  "Quiet."

"Clearly
you didn’t have any more luck than I did with her," Sheriff Croft
said as he joined us and said hello to my grandfather.  "I just
don’t get it.  Something’s made that woman hard inside since
she left Jasper Fork."

"I
almost didn’t recognize her when she walked in," I admitted. 
"She’s changed quite a bit since the last time I saw her."

"Sure,
she looks different, but it’s even more noticeable when you talk to
her," the sheriff said.  "She insisted on seeing her
brother’s body immediately, and then she told me in no uncertain terms
that she’s going to sell everything he owned as soon as she can. 
Apparently she’s done with us here, and the last thing she wants to do is
hang around."

"Are
you going to let her do that?" I asked.  "If she inherits
everything, surely that makes her a prime suspect in her brother’s
death."

"That’s
what I just told her, in a roundabout way," the sheriff said. 
"She was none too pleased with me, but if what she said next is true,
there’s not much I can do to stop her."

"What
do you mean?" Moose asked.

"Evidently
everything was jointly owned by the two of them.  That includes not just
the farm, but Wally’s bank account as well.  She thought she was
going to waltz in here, sell everything of Wally’s in sight, and just
leave, but I let her know that I’m not going to make that easy for her,
at least not until I find out what happened to her brother."

"That
explains her abrupt exit," I said.

"It’s
pretty clear that she’s not going to talk to me unless she has to,"
Sheriff Croft said.  "Why don’t you two take a run at her and
see if you have any more luck than I did?"

I
welcomed the opportunity, though I wasn’t certain I’d be able to
get anything more out of Jan than the sheriff had.  "All we can do
is promise to try.  Do you happen to know what she’s going to do
next?  How about where she’s staying?"

"Jan
told me that she’s going straight out to the farm, and later, she’s
going to go by the morgue to see her brother’s body.  She’s
even planning to stay at the farm while she’s in town.  I
don’t know if I could stay there alone if I were in her shoes after what
happened to Wally out there."

"Me,
either," I said, shuddering a little at the very thought of it. 
"Sheriff, I’ll get back in touch with you as soon as I talk to
her."

"As
soon as
we
talk to her, you mean," Moose said.

"Sure. 
That’s what I meant."

The
sheriff nodded, and then left the diner.

Moose
turned to me as soon as he was gone.  "You weren’t planning to
go out there by yourself, were you, Victoria?"

"Well,
you have to admit that there’s a chance that she might talk a little
freer if it’s just me," I said.

"Then
again, it might be good if someone is beside you who has your back,"
Moose said.  "If she killed her brother for his money and his land,
you won’t be safe if she considers you a threat."

I took
a deep breath, and then let it out.  "Honestly, I’d try to
talk you out of coming, but I’m not all that certain that I want to
succeed.  Come on, let’s go."

"First
we have to tell your mother where we’re going," Moose said. 
"She can tell Greg when he comes in later."

"That
sounds like a plan," I agreed, and after we told Mom what we were up to,
Moose and I headed for Wally Bain’s farm.

Evidently,
we weren’t the only ones who had the same idea.  When we pulled up
to the old farmhouse, Sally Ketchum’s truck was parked beside Jan’s
Cadillac. 

"How
should we play this?" I asked Moose as we got out.

"We
could offer her our condolences, unless you already did."

I was
ashamed to admit, "Everything happened so quickly at the diner that she
caught me off guard.  I never even got the chance."

"Don’t
worry about it.  We’ll do a proper job of it now."

Moose
started to knock on the door when it opened before he could manage it.

I was
surprised to see that Sally was smiling, and so was Jan.  It was an odd
thing to find after the recent murder right there on the grounds, but the grins
both quickly vanished when they realized that we were there.

"Why
aren’t you at the diner?" Jan asked a little pointedly as she
looked from Moose to me. 

"You
left before either one of us had a chance to offer our condolences," I
said quickly.  "We’re truly sorry for your loss."

She
nodded absentmindedly, and Sally added, "As a matter of fact,
that’s what I was doing here myself.  Now, if you’ll all
excuse me, I’ve got a farm to run."

After
Sally left us, Moose said, "That was awfully neighborly of her to take
time out of her busy workday to drop in on you.  It’s a lot of work
running a farm, even with Ron Watkins lending her a hand these days."

I
watched Jan’s reaction to Ron’s name, but I couldn’t see any
sign that she even knew who he was.  If she did, she clearly didn’t
care about him one way or the other. 

"Her
visit wasn’t really all that personal," Jan said.  "Sally
just offered to take the farm off my hands."

"Wow. 
Can she really afford to do that?" I asked, not even thinking about how
that might sound to Jan.  Sally did okay with her farm according to the
scuttlebutt I’d heard around town, but I had no idea she was in any
position to buy Wally’s place outright.

"Well,
I’m not asking much, and I’m giving her generous terms.  I
just want to be done with this town once and forever."

"I’m
curious about something, Jan.  What made you so bitter about Jasper
Fork?" Moose asked.  It was a question that I wanted the answer to
myself, but I wouldn’t have had the nerve to ask her so directly.

"Let’s
just say that it hasn’t favored me as it has you and your clan,"
Jan said.  "Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a mess on
my hands here.  I’ve got to go through this entire place, find
anything worth keeping, and ditch the rest before the sale is final."

That
would be the perfect opportunity for my grandfather and me to dig into the
remnants of Wally Bain’s life before everything was gone. 
"Jan, as a way of honoring your brother’s memory, Moose and I would
be happy to help you, free of charge," I volunteered.

Jan
just shook her head at my offer.  "Thank you, but that won’t
be necessary.  I don’t plan on doing a very thorough job of
it.  In fact, I may make it a term of the sale that the property is for
sale as it stands.  If Sally Ketchum wants the place cleaned out, she can
do it herself."

"But
you’re staying out here in the meantime, right?" Moose asked her.

"I
admit that I briefly considered it, but then I looked around and realized that
my brother was less than an able housekeeper.  I believe I’ll be
staying in Molly’s Corners until this is all straightened out."

"A
hotel can get pretty expensive," I said.

"No
need to worry about that.  I have friends in Molly’s Corners I took
an advanced knitting class with years ago who’d be delighted to host
me," Jan said.  "If you two will excuse me, I have to go into
town now see about my brother’s arrangements."

"Of
course," Moose said.  "Again, we’re sorry for your
loss."

"Thank
you," she said curtly, and then got into her car and pulled out.

We
followed her out to the main road, but Moose turned toward Molly’s
Corners instead of back to town when Jan did.

"Where
are we going?" I asked him.

"Nowhere
in particular.  We’re going to wait five minutes until we’re
certain that she’s gone, and then we’re going back to Wally’s
place to look around while we still have the opportunity."

"Are
we looking, or are we snooping?" I asked him.