A Little Learning (16 page)

“Maybe they need fewer planned activities.”

“Goodness, you should see the mischief they get into if they’re not kept on a schedule.”

“Are they into the latest fads, like Bufo cards?”

She made a face. “I think those things are a waste of money, but yes, I’ve gotten them some. Which reminds me, did they ever find out who robbed Georgia’s? It was Bobby Berkely, I bet.”

“Bobby’s still in reform school.”

She looked surprised. “Oh, really? Well, he was my best guess. Would you care for some more tea?”

“No, thanks,” I said. “I need to go.”

“I’m so sorry the girls weren’t on their best behavior. Come back when you can stay longer.”

I was getting into my car to go to my office when Magwen came dashing around the corner of the house, closely followed by her sister. Magwen was laughing. Bronwen was not. Her little sister was chanting, “Bron’s got a boyfriend, Bron’s got a boyfriend,” and she was so busy looking back to see her Bron’s reaction, she almost ran into my car.

I caught her arm. “Whoa, hold on.”

She regained her balance and doubled her speed. Bronwen, red-faced and panting, stopped and watched her go across the yard. “I told you to shut up, Mag!”

“Take it easy,” I said. Neither little girl was in shape for long distance sprints. “Just ignore her. She knows how to get you upset.”

“I can invite anyone I like to my party!” Bronwen told her sister.

“They’re only coming to see if you really have Bufo cards.”

“And I will, too! I’ll have a complete set of Bufo cards before anyone else!”

“Did your mother buy you a complete set?” I asked before Magwen could fire her next shot.

Bronwen caught her breath. “She bought me tons and tons of cards so I could get all the best ones.”

“Did she buy them at Georgia’s books?”

“I don’t know.”

Magwen had apparently caught her breath, too, and zipped by for another taunt. “Nah, nah, can’t catch me.”

Bronwen accepted the challenge, and both girls disappeared around the house. That was fine with me. I couldn’t do anything about their sibling rivalry. And I wasn’t sure I could do anything with the information Bronwen had conveniently supplied.

***

I hadn’t been in my office very long before there was a knock on my door, and Shana came in. “Hope I’m not interrupting.”

“No, please come in. What’s up?”

“Just in town to check on my display at Georgia’s.” She sat down across from me. “How’s your case coming along?”

“Still not much to go on.” I had almost forgotten about the little piece of plastic. I took it out of my pocketbook. “Any idea what this is?”

She took it and slowly turned it around. “As a writer I would have to say it looks like the top of a ballpoint pen with the piece that holds the pen to a notebook missing.”

“I thought so, too.” Something any student might have lost in the grass. I put it back in my pocketbook. “Jerry and I made a little trip to Rossboro.”

“Oh, did you like it?”

“Not as much as Celosia, but I might be able to get some work there. We also stopped by to see Elijah Fenton’s lawyer, Misty May. Unfortunately, she happens to be a victim of one of Jerry’s old scams.”

“Oh, dear. What did she say?”

“She sent her giant boyfriend after us. Jerry has a little debt to settle.”

“Go to the bookstore right now and tell Georgia you need to have a talk with your husband.”

“He says he’s taking care of it.”

“Well, I hope so. How’s the riddle coming along?”

“We think the line about animals living in packs refers to Bufo cards.”

She laughed. “It would be just like Elijah to throw a curve like that. Can you and Jerry come to dinner tonight?”

“Thanks, but we’ve got several things to do in Parkland today. We’ll probably eat there.”

“The drive to Parkland will be an excellent opportunity for a discussion with your husband. If you don’t like what he says, you can leave him by the side of the road.”

“Which is exactly where he might want to be. Ms. May’s boyfriend is pretty huge. And Sylvie’s fiancé isn’t too happy with Jerry, either. He gave Jerry until Monday to come up with the pocket watch from Beyond.”

“This has to do with the séances, right?”

“It’s something he’s promised Sylvie and Flossie Mae. I’d be more concerned except these threats are probably going to make an honest man out of him. He actually said something about giving all their money back.”

She chuckled. “What about your art work, Madeline? Are you ready for the Weyland Gallery?”

“Almost.”

“Are you excited? It really is a great opportunity.”

“Yes, it is.” And it may heal the rift between my mother and me, I wanted to add, but I thought I’d better wait and see if that really happened. “A great opportunity for a lot of reasons.”

“Well, Hayden and I will be there.”

“Thanks.” And I hope to introduce you to my mother.

***

Besides his debts, I had other things I needed to discuss with Jerry. As soon as he finished with a customer, I told him about finding gold wrappers in Rachel’s trash can.

“Do you remember selling any cards to her?”

“No. She could’ve bought them in Parkland. Didn’t you say her girls went to school there?”

“You’re probably right.”

“Well, speaking of cards, I may have something,” he said. He reached behind the counter and brought out a box of Bufo cards. “These are the cards that were in Amelia’s and Nathan’s packs. I’ve had plenty of time to examine them today. The king cards say, ‘King of All Four Corners of the World,’ so I decided to look in the corners.” He put several cards on the counter. “Check it out.”

At first, I couldn’t see anything. The edges of the cards were decorated with elaborate scrolls and stylized plant leaves and stems. “Wait a minute. Is that a ‘C’?”

“Yep.”

Hidden in the designs were small green letters. “Do all the cards have these?”

“That’s the tricky part. Only a few in each pack have letters in the corners, but my guess is Elijah picked out the ones he wanted to spell a clue.”

I squinted and found an “A” amidst the coiling vines. “Then he scattered them in several packs and resealed them. This is great, Jerry, but have you figured out what the letters spell?”

“So far, I’ve only been able to find a ‘C’ and an ‘A.’ It’s eye-crossing work.”

“This would explain why the thief took all the packs from the store, but how did he know the cards held a clue?”

“Somebody else is on to Elijah’s game.”

I nodded. “Somebody who may have tried to get into Aaron’s house, not knowing he threw his cards away.” I took out my phone and called Aaron’s number. This time I got an answering machine that informed me Mr. Satterfield was out of the office. I left a message for him to call me and hung up.

“Are we heading to Parkland?” Jerry asked.

“Yes. Nathan’s not home. I’ll talk to him when we get back.”

Jerry put the cards back in the box. “Okay. I get to drive this time. You can have a go at finding letters.”

I waited to voice my concerns until we were turning off Main Street onto the road leading down the highway that runs from Celosia to Parkland. “Exactly what did you mean by calling in some favors?”

He took a moment and then grinned. “Can’t keep anything from Madeline Maclin, Ace Detective.”

“Seriously, Jerry, if your questionable friends are going to descend on Celosia, I want to be prepared.”

“I wouldn’t call them questionable. Sleazy, maybe.”

“Just tell me what’s going on.”

“It’s okay. I called a few old pals and explained about Big Bert. I’m hoping they can wire me some cash before Monday.”

“Really? They said they’d help you out?”

“They’re sleazy, not heartless. And we go way back.”

“Well, that’s a relief.”

“If they come through for me. How did Tori like her picture?”

“She loved it. I keep trying to convince her to come with us to the ballet in Parkland. She’s afraid people will laugh at her because her husband left her.”

“Wish we could find that guy. I’d like to set Bert on him.”

By the time we got to Parkland, I’d managed to find an “I” in the corner of another card.

“‘CIA,’” Jerry said. “Great. Now we’ve got the government involved.”

We stopped by Bilby Foster’s pawnshop first where Jerry got the bad news that a gold watch with an “S” engraved on it would not be available until Saturday.

“Best I can do,” Bilby said. “Thought you was out of the game.”

“This is different and very important.”

“Well, you can try Royalle’s. Cost you the earth, though. Most of the better jewelry stores are going to be expensive.”

“Did you try Jack?”

“Jack’s in jail. You go by Del’s?”

“No luck there. What about Morey?”

“Haven’t seen him.”

Jerry thanked him and said he’d be back on Saturday. We got in the car. Jerry slumped in his seat. “Why is it so hard to find one little watch?”

“Would a trip to Baxter’s Barbecue cheer you up?” I asked.

“Only if you’re paying.”

Baxter’s Barbecue is our favorite place to eat in Parkland. The décor isn’t fancy, but the food is amazingly good. Even the smells are deliciously fattening. The owners waved from behind the counter, and almost before we’d taken our seats, we had paper plates full of plump barbecue sandwiches oozing with rich sauce and crispy fries in front of us, along with a red plastic basket of hushpuppies and two large Cokes.

Jerry took a bite of his sandwich, chewed and said, “Ahh, I don’t care how bad life gets, it can all be cured with one bite of Baxter’s barbecue. I’ll die full and happy.”

“I doubt Jackson will kill you.”

“Maybe I could set Jackson and Bert against each other. I’d actually pay to see that.” He put on an announcer’s voice. “Redneck Rumble! Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!” He switched back to his normal voice. “That would take care of both my problems.”

“Only they both happen to be in the right.”

“Yeah, but I don’t like the idea that Jackson’s relatives down at the
Celosia News
could mess with your career.”

I sighed. “Things are not going too well, anyway.”

“Give Warwick a call. If he doesn’t have anything for you, we won’t have to go over there.”

“Excellent idea.”

Warwick sounded apologetic. “Not much news, Madeline. Mrs. Lever had a heart condition, and the doctor I spoke with said she had a heart attack.”

“So it didn’t have anything to do with the nicotine patch?”

“No, sorry.”

I remembered the bottle of pills I’d found in her bag. “What about K-Dur? Could her prescription have been tampered with? Could she have died of an overdose?”

“Well, here’s the problem. K-Dur’s a brand of potassium, and if Mrs. Lever took too much, it could cause an abnormal rhythm and possibly a heart attack. But when someone dies, the cells release potassium, so it’s impossible to tell if there was an overdose. If someone wanted to kill her with an overdose of potassium, they would have to inject it into a vein.”

“Did the doctors check for needle marks?”

“Since there was no reason to suspect foul play, there wasn’t an autopsy. There were some circular marks on Mrs. Lever’s arm, however. When I asked about that, the doctor said she had a skin condition.”

“Circular marks?”

“About the size of a quarter.”

“They weren’t from the nicotine patch?”

“No, the ones she used were square-shaped.”

“Hang on a second, Milton.” I spoke to Jerry. “Warwick says his contact at the hospital told him Amelia’s death is being ruled a heart attack. But he also mentioned the doctors found some odd circular marks on her arm. Circles about the size of a quarter. Remind you of anything?”

Jerry laughed and almost choked on his fries. “Deadly Bufo stickers?”

I handed him another napkin. “I have to consider any clue, no matter how crazy.”

“Mac, I can’t see Amelia Lever opening a pack of Bufo cards and slapping the stickers on. And if they were deadly, then you’d have kids falling down everywhere, wouldn’t you? We found those things all over the school.”

“Not if the killer had a special pack made just for Amelia.”

“Potassium-laced Bufo stickers?”

“I just happen to have some stickers I found in Amelia’s bag. We can take these stickers to Warwick and see if they’re toxic.”

“Just ask him.”

I spoke into my phone. “Is it possible to put potassium on stickers and have it absorb through the skin?”

“No. You’d have to inject someone.”

“Not change their pills?”

“Most potassium pills are huge, Madeline. I think someone would notice.”

“Does potassium come in a liquid prescription?”

“Yes, but to get the kind that’s injected, you’d have to have access through a hospital. Usually emergency rooms have some on their crash carts. Are you thinking about those toad stickers? Not a possibility.”

“Okay, thanks. You’ve been a great help. I appreciate it.”

“Always here for you.”

I put my phone away and attacked my sandwich. “Another theory shot down in flames.”

“At least we don’t have to worry about Austin putting deadly stickers all over himself. But I have to admit potassium-laced Bufo stickers sounded so cool.”

I enjoyed a few bites of my sandwich and then managed to set it down on the plate. Maneuvering a fat Baxter’s barbecue sandwich is always a challenge. “If Amelia was murdered, someone had to get close enough to inject her. The only people on the loading dock were Rachel and Jacey, the cafeteria worker.”

“Maybe Amelia had a visitor right before she went out for a smoke.”

“We still don’t know if she was murdered, just that everyone wanted her dead. And who stands to gain from her death? She didn’t leave a vast fortune like Elijah Fenton. I’m going to have to tell Thad Murphy his school’s reputation is safe. There goes my paycheck and possibly your nose.”

“That’s okay,” Jerry said. “My huge book store salary can pay the bills.”

We sat for a while. My appetite was gone. Jerry chewed half-heartedly on his last French fry. “We don’t seem to be having any luck, do we?”

“As soon as we solve the riddle, I’ll get right back to work on the paintings. Maybe I’ll sell all three.”