A Pour Way to Dye (Book 2 in the Soapmaking Mysteries) (14 page)

By the time I got back to the phone, the line
was dead. I was sure that whatever Paulus had wanted hadn’t been
all that urgent. If it was, he’d surely have held on the line. Then
again, if he’d had to go in a hurry, I knew my grandfather would
call back. I was tempted to sneak inside and watch Cindy teach, but
I knew she needed the chance to try it solo first, just to prove to
herself that she could do it.

The phone rang again, and I picked it up.
“Where There’s Soap,” I said, as was our custom at the shop.

“
Good, I found you,” my
grandfather said. “Where were you?”

“
I was just getting ready to
teach a class. Sorry about that. What’s going on?”

There was a level of enthusiasm in my
grandfather’s voice I hadn’t heard in years. “Ben, I think I’m on
to something.”

“
What are you talking
about?”

“
What do you think, boy? I’m
talking about Earnest’s murder. I’ve been digging into it, and I’m
learning some pretty fascinating stuff about the man.”

My grandfather was not the subtlest of men.
It worried me that he wasn’t taking the proper precautions when it
came to nosing into other people’s lives. “I didn’t realize you
were looking into it.”

He laughed. “You’re not the only Perkins
who’s good at snooping. I’m surprised how much fun it is.”

“
You’re being careful,
aren’t you?” I asked. “This isn’t a game, you know.”

“
Ben, I was able to stay out
of trouble for well over forty years before you were even born. I
know how to watch my step.”

I wasn’t sure I believed him. “Why don’t we
work on it together? We can share our thoughts, and that way we can
look out for each other at the same time.”

He snorted into the phone. “I don’t need a
babysitter, either. I just wanted you to know what I was
doing.”

I had to be careful; I could tell he was
feeling defensive. “I’m talking about teamwork, Paulus, just like
we have running the shop. We need to work together on this. So what
have you found out?”

“
Well, I’ve uncovered some
pretty fascinating stuff. Have you had a real look at some of the
jewelry in the Joy store’s cases? I was in there this morning—Ben,
I’ve got to go. I’ll call you back later.”

“
Wait, what is it?” I asked,
but the line was already dead. Great. As if Molly didn’t have
enough problems with me digging into her official police inquiries,
now she was going to have to contend with Paulus snooping around as
well. I loved the enthusiasm I’d heard in my grandfather’s voice,
but I was worried, too. Even though he was quite a bit older than I
was and more experienced in life, he was a neophyte at this, and
there weren’t many mistakes allowed investigating murders
freelance. His snooping added just one more reason why I’d have to
get serious about my own investigation if it would help me keep him
out of danger. I was concerned enough to consider calling Molly and
telling her about Paulus’s behavior, but then quickly rejected the
idea. The way she’d been acting lately, she’d probably find a
reason to lock us both up.

To my surprise, Molly herself walked into the
shop twenty seconds after I’d rejected the idea of talking to
her.

As she approached me, I could see that she
was as displeased about seeing me as I was in finding her at my
family’s soap shop.

I saw her stop and talk to Louisa a second,
who quickly hurried into the back room. After a few seconds, Molly
approached me.

“
So, are you here to arrest
me?” I asked. I was only half joking when I’d said it.

“
Why, are you confessing to
something?” There wasn’t much humor in her voice,
either.

“
Hardly. I just seem to be
the only suspect you’re focusing on.”

I realized I’d goaded her a little too much
as soon as I’d said it. “Ben, believe it or not, I’m looking at
other people close to Earnest Joy. Besides that, I’ve got other
cases I’m working on.”

“
More important than a
homicide? I thought you handled one case at a time.” I didn’t need
Molly distracted. She had to be focused on finding Joy’s real
killer.

She frowned. “Normally I do, but we seem to
be having a crime spree in Harper’s Landing at the moment. I’m
helping out on an arson investigation and I’m coordinating a
counterfeiting task force, too.”

“
Counterfeiting, here?
You’re kidding, right? We’re not exactly a hotbed of criminal
activity, are we?”

She was about to reply when Jeff came out of
the back. He smiled the second he saw Molly, then scowled at me.
“Would you keep your voice down, Ben? I could hear you all the way
in the back.”

“
She started it,” I
said.

“
I did not,” Molly
protested.

I hadn’t seen Mom lurking in the wings, but
she had to have been nearby, she got there so quickly.

“
Molly, I need to see you
and Benjamin outside.”

Jeff protested, “Mom, we’ve got a date.”

“
It can wait. You stay
here.” She pointed to Molly and me, then said, “Now.”

Even though Molly was a seasoned cop and I
was a grown man, we both followed her with worried expressions on
our faces. My mother was an expert at chewing people out, and it
looked like we were both going to get a lecture neither of us
wanted.

The day was pleasant out on the porch, but
the rocking chairs were empty. At least nobody would witness the
castigation. Before she could get started, I said, “I want to say
something first.”

“
I want to go first,” Molly
said.

“
Sit,” Mom commanded, and we
both did, our protests dying in our throats.

“
Molly, I’m disappointed in
you.” Her words were spoken softly, but there was an edge to them.
“You are a professional police officer, and yet I hear you
practically shouting at my son from all the way
upstairs.”

I thought Molly would protest, but she just
said, “I’m sorry, ma’am.”

I stared over at her, not believing what I’d
just heard. She’d never given up in a fight so fast in her life. It
was an apology based on appeasement, not sincerity. I couldn’t
believe Mom was buying it, but evidently she was. Great. Now it was
my turn.

She stared long and hard at me before saying,
“You, young man, should know better too.” My mother loomed over me,
and there was a real snap to her words. “Are you ever going to grow
up?”

“
I think I am,” I mumbled
under my breath.

“
What was that?” she
asked.

“
I said I am.”

Mom shook her head. “I sincerely doubt it. I
understand you two are going through a rough patch in your
relationship, but you need to stop this right now before you kill
your friendship completely.”

Molly said, “All due respect to you, Mrs.
Perkins, but I’m dating Jeff. I don’t have a relationship with
him.” As he said the last word, she pointed in my direction while
avoiding eye contact with me.

My mother said, “Molly, a friendship is a
relationship, too. You’ve been in each other’s back pockets since
kindergarten. I still can’t figure out what there is between you,
whether it’s just friendship as you both so vigorously proclaim or
something more, but I do know how important you are to each other.
You’ve got to stop this bickering.”

“
Then tell her to stop
trying to pin a murder on me,” I said.

Mom jumped all over that. “Benjamin, you know
Molly is fair. She’s just doing her job, and you’re not making it
any easier for her.”

“
So what do you want me to
do, confess to a murder I didn’t commit? That would make life
easier for everybody but me.”

“
Don’t be flip with me,
young man. I expect you to give her the respect she
deserves.”

Molly had a smug look on her face as I
capitulated. “Yes, ma’am.”

“
And as for you,” Mom said
as she turned back to Molly, “I hope you find what you’re looking
for, I sincerely do, but don’t trifle with my sons’ hearts. Any of
them. Do we understand each other?”

Molly paused, then said, “Yes, ma’am, I
believe we do.”

Mom smiled at us both, then said, “Good, I’m
glad we got that settled. Now I understand you have a luncheon
date,” she said to Molly, who gratefully got up and went back into
the shop.

I started to get up, too, when Mom said,
“Ben, I’m worried about you.”

“
What else is new?” I asked,
trying to smile as I said it. “That’s what you’re best
at.”

As I stood, she hugged me. “No, this is what
I’m best at. You’ve had your world turned upside down in the last
few days, haven’t you?”

“
I’ve had better weekends,”
I admitted. “But I’ll be all right.”

She pulled away and patted my cheek. “I know
you will; you’re strong. Do you know what you should do?”

“
What’s that?” I asked,
fearful of what was coming.

“
You should go out tonight
and have a nice time. Try to forget about your troubles. Find
someone interesting and ask her out to dinner. You don’t have to
propose. Just have fun. You deserve it.”

I didn’t want to admit it, but I knew Mom
would find out soon enough. “Actually, I just made a date with one
of my soapmaking students. We’re going out tonight to The Lakefront
Inn.”

She had a shocked look on her face, and a
part of me wanted to stop my explanation so she could wonder about
it for the rest of the day. I couldn’t do that to her, though.

After a pregnant pause, I confessed, “I won a
free dinner for tonight from the raffle Saturday, so I’m taking
Diana Long out. She owns Dying To Read in town.”

“
The mystery bookstore? I’ve
been meaning to go in there. I hear it’s fabulous.”

“
You should, it’s really
something. So are we finished here?”

Mom nodded. “I’m sorry about how I acted
earlier. I hated to treat you two like children, but somebody had
to say something.”

“
You did the right thing,” I
said, “But if you tell Molly I said that, I’ll deny it with my last
breath.”

She pinched my cheek, something she knew I
hated but did occasionally nonetheless. “Don’t ever change,
Benjamin.”

“
I thought you just ordered
me to.” I skipped away from her half-hearted swipe, and even
managed to get her to laugh. It died in her throat as we saw Jeff
and Molly drive away. They’d gone out the back door, no doubt to
avoid running into me.

Mom shook her head. “I do hope they know what
they are doing.”

“
We’re all grown-ups,” I
said, “regardless of how we’ve been acting lately.”

“
I wish I could be sure of
that,” she said as we both walked inside. Two sisters and two
brothers were standing near the register when we walked back in, no
doubt trying to catch a glimpse of the inquisition that had been
going on outside.

Mom clapped her hands together. “The break’s
over. Everyone, let’s get to work.”

Bob and Jim disappeared into the back while
Louisa and Kate busied themselves straightening the shelves. Mom
smiled. “That’s what I like, a family that listens. Now I’ve got to
get back upstairs. I’ve got a pile of paperwork on my desk.”

As she started for the back stairs, I called
out, “Hey Mom.”

“
Yes,” she said as she
turned.

“
Thanks.”

“
You’re most welcome. Have a
lovely time tonight, Benjamin.”

“
I’m planning to,” I
said.

The second Mom was through the door, Kate and
Louisa nearly tackled me.

Kate said, “Come on, big brother, give. What
happened out there?”

“
What are you talking
about?” I asked as innocently as I could manage.

“
You know exactly what I
want to know,” she said.

I looked over at Louisa. “You, too?”

She just smiled. “Mom’s scoldings are great,
as long as you’re not the one on the receiving end. Was it
bad?”

I studied their eager faces, then said, “I
don’t know what you two are talking about. We had a pleasant
conversation, then Molly left to have lunch with Jeff.”

Kate stuck her tongue out at me.
“Spoilsport.”

Louisa just laughed as she locked her arm in
her sister’s. “Come on, we’re not going to get anything out of him.
Let’s inventory our shelf stock while it’s quiet, and maybe both of
us will get out of here before nine tonight.”

“
But I want to talk to Ben
about his big date tonight,” Kate protested.

Louisa answered, “Do you honestly think he’s
going to tell us anything more about that than he did about what
happened on the porch? Come on, Sis, get serious.”

“
All right,” she agreed
reluctantly.

I mouthed a silent thank you to Louisa, who
just winked back at me. I knew I’d have to go through a grilling
session tomorrow about dinner tonight, but at least I’d been spared
a cross-examination before I’d even actually done anything.

Chapter 7

I glanced at my watch and saw that it was
past time for class to dismiss. Was Cindy keeping an eye on the
clock? I waited four more minutes, then started for the classroom
door just as it opened.

Diana was the first one out. “What happened
to you, stranger?”

“
I got hung up,” I said.
“Sorry about that. How was the class?”

“
Your sister seemed nervous
at first, but she did fine once she got into it. She’s really very
good. Will you be there tomorrow?”