5 A Bad Egg (7 page)

“Where’s
Ellen?” Opal asked me softly.

“The sheriff
decided that it might be better if they talked downtown,” I answered.

“I won’t have
it, do you hear me?” Opal asked. “Get him back here this instant. I want to
confess.”

Chapter 7

“You killed
Gordon Murphy,” I said flatly.

“I did. I
lured him into the alley and I got rid of him.”

“How did you
do it, Opal?”

She frowned,
as though she was in a haze. “I don’t remember. Why does it matter? I did it.”

Evidently
Ellen hadn’t told her mother just how Gordon had been killed. “I’m sure that
Ellen would appreciate you trying to take responsibility for what happened, but
you aren’t doing her any favors. You know that, don’t you?”

“She can’t go
to jail,” Opal said, clearly fighting off tears. “Think about her children.”

“Opal, do you
think Ellen killed her ex-husband?”

“No, of
course not,” she said. “Keep your voice down, would you?”

“They’ll find
out that you confessed to killing their father sooner or later,” I replied,
though I complied by lowering my voice as I said it. “How is Ellen going to
feel when she finds out that you tried to confess to save her? She’s going to
know that you think she did it.”

“I never said
that,” Opal said loudly, violating her own request. The kids looked up from the
screen for a moment before going back to their show.

“Then let’s
just forget that you just confessed,” I said. “Rebecca’s looking out for Ellen.
You don’t have to worry about her.”

“I know that
she can’t afford her services,” Opal said. “I’ve got a little put away. I might
be able to pay her.”

“Right now
she’s doing it as a favor to me,” I said. “We’ll worry about who pays her
later, okay? For now, you need to have a talk with the children about their
father. Can you do that?”

She looked at
them worriedly before she turned back to me. “I don’t want Ellen to have to do
it, so I suppose I have to.”

The front
door opened, and Robert Hightower walked in. “Where have you been, Opal? Was
Ellen with you the entire time?”

The kids told
their grandfather hello, but their gazes never left the television.

“She’s at the
police station, Bobby,” Opal said.

Ellen’s
father scowled. “We’ll see about that.”

I put a hand
on his shoulder. “Mr. Hightower, she’s in good hands right now. Rebecca Davis
is with her, so nothing’s going to happen to her. Your wife needs you here
right now.”

“What’s
wrong, Opal?” he asked her softly. The two obviously cared deeply about each
other, even though they hadn’t been able to live in the same house together.
Robert hadn’t gone far, though, buying the house across the street.

“They have to
be told about their father,” Opal said, her voice choking a little.

“I’ll handle
it,” Robert said.

“We’ll do it
together. I’ll be right beside you,” Opal answered.

“I’ll be in
touch,” I said, not wanting to intrude on this painful family moment.

“Do I need to
take you home?” Robert asked as he flexed his right hand a little. It appeared
to be giving him a little trouble, and I noticed some fresh bruises on his
knuckles.

“What
happened to your hand?”

“This? It’s
nothing,” he said.

“It looks
like something to me,” I said, not willing to let up until I heard the truth.

“I punched a
wall, okay? It was stupid, but I was frustrated, and I took it out on the
concrete. Not very bright of me, but I don’t think anything’s broken.”

“You might
want to have somebody look at that.”

“I’m not
worried about it. Now, how about that ride?”

“Thanks, but
Moose will be out front in a second. We’ll talk later.”

“That’s fine,
then,” Robert said, and then he reached down and took his wife’s hand in his.
“It’s time, Opal.”

I didn’t envy
them the conversation they were about to have.

I got into
Moose’s truck as he stopped in front of the house. “How did it go?”

“Opal and
Robert were just about to tell the kids about their father when I walked out
the door. It’s going to be a bad night for everyone concerned in that family.”

“Yes, but it
has to be done,” Moose said. “Where should we go now?”

I was
suddenly exhausted from the day I’d just had. “Would you mind taking me home? I
need to see Greg and give him a great big hug.”

“I was just thinking
the same thing about Martha,” he admitted. “Life is short, isn’t it?”

“And we’re
not promised a single extra day of it,” I said.

“Is Ellen
going to be okay?” Moose asked me as he drove me home.

“Rebecca’s
looking out for her. I’m hoping that Ellen calls me when they’re finished.”

“Call me
after you hear from her. I don’t care what time it is, okay?”

“I promise,”
I said he pulled into my driveway and I got out of the truck. “Bye.”

“Good bye,
Victoria,” he said.

Greg met me
on the porch, and I squeezed him so hard I could feel the breath escaping from
his lungs. “Hey, are you okay?”

“I am now,” I
said, my voice muffled in his chest.

“I made
homemade pasta,” he said. “Are you hungry?”

“Give me one
more minute,” I said as I hugged him even harder.

My husband
stroked the back of my head gently. “Take all the time you need,” Greg said.
“I’m not going anywhere.”

“I’m holding
you to that,” I said, and then I finally pulled away.

“Rough day?”
he asked me as we walked inside the house.

“I’ve had
better,” I said. “Now, what’s this about homemade pasta?”

“I was
worried about you, and you know how I am when I’m jumpy. I cook. You don’t
mind, do you?”

“I’ll take
your pasta any day,” I said. “Do you have salad, too?”

“You bet. The
water’s been boiling for a while. In three minutes, we’ll be eating.”

“Did you wait
for me?” I asked.

“I wasn’t
about to eat without you.”

I took a deep
breath, and smiled. “You made garlic bread too, didn’t you?”

“I figured
you wouldn’t mind.”

“You figured
right.”

The food was
delicious, and we were cleaning up when my phone rang. “It’s Rebecca,” I said.

“Go on. I’ll
take care of this.”

I hesitated
long enough to kiss him quickly, and then I answered my phone. “Hey, what’s
up?”

“I’m not
interrupting anything, am I?” she asked.

“Nothing that
won’t wait. How’s Ellen?”

“She’s free,”
Rebecca said, “at least for the moment. She gave me permission to catch you up.
There’s really not much to say. She doesn’t have the slightest hint of an alibi
for the time of the murder, and Sheriff Croft’s not all that pleased with any
of us.”

“It looks
bad, doesn’t it?”

“Victoria,
I’ve faced worse prospects in my career, but it’s not going to be easy. After
all, she had every reason in the world to wish the man harm.”

“Do you mind
taking the case? I’ll pay you whatever it takes.”

Rebecca
laughed. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet. If, and it’s a big if,
she’s arrested for Gordon’s murder, then we’ll talk about my fee.”

“Rebecca, I
don’t expect you to do this for free,” I said. “Ellen is one of ours at the
diner, and we take care of our own.”

“I figured as
much, but honestly, I haven’t done much yet but hold her hand.”

“That’s worth
more than gold to me,” I said. “Have I told you how happy I am to have you as a
best friend?”

“I don’t mind
hearing it again,” she said. “I’ll keep you updated, but for now, the sheriff’s
done with Ellen. You’re digging into this, aren’t you?”

Rebecca
didn’t necessarily approve of the investigations Moose and I had conducted in
the past, but I wasn’t about to lie to her. “As a matter of fact, we’ve already
started digging,” I said.

“Good. Find
out who did this, the quicker the better,” Rebecca said.

“Why so
enthusiastic?” I asked.

“This is
going to haunt Ellen and her kids until Gordon’s killer is found,” she said.
“If it takes too long, she’ll be branded as a murderer no matter what the
outcome.”

“We’re going
to do our best,” I said.

“I’m sure you
are. Well, I’ll let you go. I just wanted to catch you up to speed about where
things stood.”

“Thanks for
the call. I’m sure we’ll be chatting again soon.”

“You can
count on it,” Rebecca said.

“What did she
have to say?” Greg asked as I walked back into the kitchen.

“Ellen’s
free, at least for now,” I explained as I took a bite of the apple pie Greg had
put out on the counter. “Was that for me?”

“Sure, why
not?” he said with a grin as he got a piece for himself. “Have you and Moose
had any luck so far?”

“We’re just
getting started,” I said after I took another bite. “You know how it goes. We
do the best we can, but we don’t have a lot of control of the investigation.
All we can do is keep digging and hope that something turns up.”

“You’ll find
a way,” Greg said. “I have faith in you both.”

“Not
misplaced, I hope,” I answered with a smile.

“Never,” he
replied, matching my grin with one of his own.

“Ellen, I’m
surprised to see you came in today,” I said at the door of the diner the next
morning.

“Why wouldn’t
I come to work?” she said. “I can’t sit around the house all day waiting for the
kids to get out of school. I’d go stir-crazy.”

“I understand
that, but maybe this isn’t the best idea. You know how people talk in town. Are
you sure that you’re up to it?”

“Please don’t
make me go,” Ellen said, her voice pleading. “I need this.”

I put on my
brightest smile. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy to have you, if you’re sure.
Just promise me one thing. If things get too rough for you, you’ll take off. Is
that a deal?”

“It is,” she
said. “Thanks, Victoria.”

“I should be
thanking you for showing up. Martha’s coming in later with Moose to take my
place, and I know that you two get along great.”

“Martha’s a
peach,” she said as she tied her apron on. “I’m guessing that you and Moose are
going to keep digging into Gordon’s murder, aren’t you?”

“You don’t
mind, do you?”

“Mind? I’d
pay you if I could afford it. I don’t have a great deal of faith in Sheriff
Croft. He seems to be focusing all of his attention on me.”

“Don’t sell
him short,” I said. “He’s a good cop. I’m sure that once he convinces himself that
you didn’t have anything to do with what happened to your ex-husband, he’ll go
after the real killer.”

“I hope
you’re right, but in the meantime, I’m glad that you and Moose are looking into
it. Do you have any leads so far?”

I looked
around at the two tables with customers, and I lowered my voice. “Do you really
want me to get into that here and now? You’re just going to have to trust Moose
and me to do our best.”

“I do,
believe me, I do. I just thought I might be able to help.”

“We’ll take
all of the help we can get,” I said. “Do you have any ideas about who might
have wanted to hurt him?”

“You need to
talk to Sam Jackson,” she said. “He’s hated Gordon for years.”

“What exactly
happened between them?”

“All I know
is that there was a business deal that went bad.”

“What kind of
business were they in together?” I asked.

“They were
selling marijuana, and evidently Gordon left town with Sam’s share of their
profits. I didn’t approve of it, and Gordon swore to me that he stopped, but I
found out later that he’d been lying to me. Sam was furious when he found out
that Gordon had run off, and I was afraid for my life until I convinced him
that I hadn’t known anything about it.”

“We’ve got
Sam on our list, but we didn’t have any luck tracking him down yesterday,” I
said. “Moose and I are going to try again today. Is there anybody else we
should talk to?”

“No, no one
that I can think of.”

“How about
Mitchell Cobb?” I asked.

“Mitchell?
Why would he want to kill Gordon?” She looked honestly surprised by the mere
thought that her former classmate could be involved.

“I understand
Gordon stole you from Mitchell in the first place,” I explained.

Ellen shook
her head. “Is that what he told you? Nobody stole me from anyone else. Sure,
Mitchell asked me to the prom, but he understood when I told him that I decided
to go with Gordon instead. It was stupid of me to do it, and I always felt bad
about ditching him like that, but it’s not like we were ever a thing, you
know?”

“He never
asked you out after Gordon left town for good?” I asked.

Ellen smiled
softly. “Oh, he asked me half a dozen times, but I always said no. It wasn’t
anything against Mitchell. I just wasn’t interested in dating anyone for a long
time after Gordon broke my heart.”

“Until Wayne
asked you, right?”

“Wayne is a
dear man,” she said softly. “The kids absolutely love him.”

“And how
about you?”

She reddened
a little. “I’d better clear that table.”

“You didn’t
answer my question,” I said.

“How about
that?” Ellen asked, but that was all that she would say.

I had a hunch
that Wayne had indeed found his way into her heart, and I hoped that Gordon’s
murder hadn’t killed the romance before it had a chance to bloom. Ellen had
been through a lot, and she deserved a little happiness in her life. As long as
neither one of them had killed Gordon, they both had
my
blessing, for what it was worth.