A Pour Way to Dye (Book 2 in the Soapmaking Mysteries) (17 page)

“
I’m safe enough, but I’m so
paranoid right now, I can’t stop looking over my shoulder. I need
you to meet me somewhere nearby so we can talk. You have to fix
this, Ben.”

He’d never asked me for my help in his entire
life, and I knew he really was desperate. “Why can’t you come
here?”

“
I don’t want anyone to see
me going into Where There’s Soap, okay? Name someplace
else.”

I named the first thing I could think of.
“Then how about The Hound Dog? Would that do?”

“
Yeah, that would be
perfect. I’ll see you in five minutes.”

He hung up before I could say another word. I
hurried back to the classroom, and found Kate and Cindy still
chatting about hand-milling. “Cindy, I’m sorry, but I’ve got to
bail out on you after all.”

“
Ben, you can’t do this to
me.”

I met her glare with one of my own. “Our
grandfather is in trouble. He needs me.”

Kate snapped, “What are you doing standing
around here, then? Go. I’ll help with the class.”

I looked at Cindy and said, “Will you be all
right?”

“
I’ll be fine. She’s right.
You need to go.”

I tore out of there, and jumped into the
Miata. It was a short walk to the cafe, but I didn’t have the time
today. Thankfully there was a parking spot on the street near the
diner, and I was there less than two minutes after my phone call
with Paulus.

I didn’t see his car anywhere nearby, but if
he was as paranoid as he’d sounded, my grandfather may have parked
pretty far away so no one would know where he was.

Ruby was behind the counter singing along
with Elvis. I looked around the diner, but no Paulus.

As “Viva Las Vegas” ended, I asked, “Have you
seen Paulus?”

She shook her head. “Not in a few weeks.
What’s the old scoundrel been up to?”

“
I wouldn’t mind knowing
that myself. I’ll just wait on him in a booth.”

She cleared a diner’s dishes at the counter.
“Do you want anything while you’re waiting?”

“
Why not? Bring me a glass
of sweet tea, would you?”

She shot me with a finger. “Coming right your
way.”

I found a seat where I could watch the front
door and look out one of the picture windows at the sidewalk as
well. There was light foot traffic outside, and quite a few
interesting people passed by, but I only cared about my
grandfather. The defeated tone I’d heard in his voice had shaken me
more than I wanted to admit. Paulus had always been such a vigorous
and vital man. On the phone, he’d sounded beaten, and worse yet,
afraid.

Ruby brought me a sweet tea along with a mini
pitcher. “I thought you might be thirsty.”

“
Thanks,” I said absently,
still staring out the window.

“
Ben, is everything okay?
You’re acting a little odd today.”

“
I’m fine,” I said as I
tried to offer her a smile. “Just a little distracted, I
guess.”

She nodded. “It’s a busy world these days,
isn’t it?” Just then, Elvis started singing about being caught in a
trap, and for once, I knew just how he felt.

Ruby’s eyes lit up. “I just love this
song.”

“
Is there an Elvis tune you
don’t?”

She smiled. “No, now that you mention it, I
can’t say there is.”

I waited a good half hour, growing more
fidgety by the second. Where was my grandfather? His demand that I
meet him had been urgent enough, so why wasn’t he there yet? I was
getting a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, and the longer I
waited, the worse it got. Where was he? I’d killed my tea and half
the pitcher, so the caffeine and sugar were just exacerbating the
situation. I should have asked for water instead.

By the time an hour had passed, I couldn’t
wait around any longer. It was obvious Paulus, for whatever reason,
wasn’t going to show up. So where did that leave me? He’d been
digging into Earnest Joy’s murder, he’d admitted that much to me
over the phone yesterday and today. I’d been a little remiss in my
own investigation, but it was time to start gearing it up. The
reason I hadn’t been more adamant about digging deeper into it
myself was because there was no way in the world I could believe
that Molly might actually think I could have killed the man. I was
sure she would do her utmost to prove my innocence, and Molly was
the professional, while I was just an amateur dabbling into
detection, though I’d had some success in the past.

There was more at stake now, though. Paulus
might be in trouble—real or imagined—and if he wasn’t going to tell
me what he’d done, then I was just going to have to figure it out
myself, arid try to fix whatever mess he’d claimed he’d made.

The logical place to start digging was at the
Joy jewelry store. At least one of Earnest’s kids would be there
running the place, and it would give me the perfect opportunity to
conduct an informal interview. I might even get something out of
Andrew or Terri that Molly had missed. Most people were guarded
when they talked to the police, but I had a way of listening that
encouraged people to open up, and I’d cultivated the talent over
the years.

I paid Ruby, then said, “If Paulus shows up,
will you tell him to call me on my cell phone?”

“
He hates those things and
you know it,” Ruby said.

“
I’m not asking him to use
one,” I said. “Just have him call me. It’s important.”

“
I’ll do it. Are you sure
everything’s all right?”

I wished I could reassure her with some kind
of sincerity, but all I managed was a nod. “I’m just sorry I missed
him.”

I drove the Miata to the jewelry store, and
was glad to see that the parking lot was nearly deserted. That
suited me just fine. I didn’t want a crowd around while I grilled
Earnest’s children about his murder, and if they were innocent, I’d
do my best to make it up to them. But at the moment, I had a family
member at risk myself. That meant that everyone else in the world
was fair game.

I was surprised as I walked in to see that
there was a sign on the door announcing that the shop closed at
one. Those were good hours if you could get them. Then I remembered
that their father had just died, and no matter how big a scoundrel
I’d thought him to be, his children must have loved him. When I
thought about it that way, I was kind of stunned they were even
open at all.

I’d been bracing myself for a confrontation
with Andrew, but Terri was working by herself at the shop. I knew
she’d taken a limited interest in her family’s business over the
years, preferring to work as a corporate sales rep on the road
instead. I wasn’t exactly sure what she sold, but I had no doubt
she was good at.

“
Hi, Ben,” Terri greeted me
with a smile that seemed sincere enough. “I’m surprised to see you
here.”

“
I’m kind of surprised
you’re even open.”

Terri shrugged as she looked up from an
account ledger she’d been studying, a pen poised in her left hand
taking copious notes on a legal pad beside it. “I’ve been trying to
decide what to do with this place. Andrew’s pressuring me to
liquidate all of the assets, but Dad loved this place. I’m thinking
about running it myself.”

“
Could you give up life on
the road,” I asked.

“
For the right price. I
would do it in a heartbeat.” She pushed aside the books she’d been
peering over and asked, “Is there something I can help you
with?”

I came by to do a little shopping.” I said,
trying to disguise my real intent.

“
So, who’s the lucky lady?
Is there a new woman in your life, by any chance?”

That caught me off guard. “Now what makes you
say that?”

She laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m not stalking
you or anything like that. You just have that look in your
eye.”

“
What look is
that?”

She waved a hand in the air. “New love, at
least new interest. So who’s the lucky woman?”

She was either the greatest saleswoman in the
world, or an extremely talented guesser. The conversation had
gotten a little too personal for me, especially since my
relationship with Diana was so new that I hadn’t been able to
define it myself yet. “Let’s just leave that a mystery for now,
shall we?”

Terri smiled. “That’s fine by me. I just love
a good mystery. So, let’s find something perfect for her, shall we?
What are her likes and dislikes?”

“
To be honest with you, I’m
not really sure.” I had come in there to ask questions, and had
ended up being grilled instead.

Terri nodded. “Okay, this is going to be a
challenge. Let’s start with something simple. Does she have pierced
ears? Does she like rings, or perhaps necklaces?”

Blast it all, I didn’t have a clue. “I don’t
know. I never really noticed.”

“
Men,” she said. “How do you
all manage? Tell you what. Why don’t you look around and see if
anything strikes your fancy? After that, we can take it from
there.”

That suited me. I hadn’t been all that
comfortable under Terri’s spotlight, and it felt good to get the
focus off my budding love life. I peered into some of the counter
displays, and stopped at a bar of gold nestled among pendants and
necklaces made with old coins and other golden items. “Is that bar
real?”

She laughed. “No, it’s spray paint on lead.
We couldn’t afford a real ingot if we sold the store. It looks
nice, though, doesn’t it? Dad worked a long time on getting it just
right.”

There was the opening I’d been hoping for.
“Have the police had any luck yet finding out who did it?”

Terri frowned. “Not that I can tell. They’ve
talked to both Andrew and me several times, and I suppose they’ve
interviewed you as well.”

Now she was fishing again. “Extensively,” I
said. “But I didn’t do it.”

“
Neither did we,” she
answered a little too sharply for my taste, especially since I
hadn’t accused her of anything. At least not yet.

As casually as I could, I said, “By the way,
I met your stepmother the other day.”

The distaste on Terri’s face was readily
apparent. “I heard she was back in town. I never could stand that
woman. How did you happen to run into Linda Mae?”

“
She came by the soap shop
yesterday. It was quite an interesting conversation.” That comment
drew blood.

Terri’s face tightened for just an instant as
I said it, but the expression was a microburst of energy, and then
she regained her composure.

“
Don’t believe everything
you’re told, Ben. That woman would rather lie when the truth would
serve her better.”

I decided to push a little harder. “I don’t
know. She made sense to me.”

“
Then you’re both
delusional,” Terri said curtly.

Instead of replying to that, I decided to
change the subject. “Have you seen my grandfather lately?”

She shook her head. “He hasn’t been in this
shop for years, as far as I know. Why do you ask?”

“
No reason,” I said. “He
just mentioned that he dropped by this week.”

“
What is this, some kind of
game you’re playing?” she asked pointedly. “I’m not here the entire
time we’re open. I’m sure Andrew waited on him, but he didn’t come
in while I was here.” Her eyes narrowed as she asked, “Are you sure
you came by looking for a present for your new
girlfriend?”

Before I could answer, a voice from the back
room said, “Sis, I need to ...” The rest of his words died in his
throat as he spotted me. “What are you doing here?”

“
Shopping,” I said. It was
true, though I was looking for answers instead of
jewelry.

“
How stupid do you think we
are?” he asked.

“
I was just talking to your
sister about my grandfather. Do you remember what day he came by
this week?”

Andrew started to answer when Terri cut him
off. “Ben said Paulus told him he was here. When was that, do you
remember?”

“
We get a lot of customers
here,” he said. “Perkins, if you’re not going to buy something, why
don’t you go look somewhere else?”

“
That’s not very neighborly
of you, now is it?”

I could see a vein on Andrew’s forehead start
to bulge. He wanted me out of there, which was just one more reason
I wanted to stay.

“
You’re free to shop,” Terri
said, “but I’d appreciate it if you’d limit your questions to our
jewelry.”

I nodded. “Okay, I’ll ask you something about
the shop. Exactly who inherits it now that your father’s gone? Is
it a fifty-fifty split, or was one of you favored over the other?
Do you have any idea what that might be worth? And what about Linda
Mae? Does her presence here change anything? Was she mentioned in
the will at all? Do you expect a fight from her?” I turned to
Andrew and added, “Did your dad give you an even share, or did you
get shafted in the will?”

Andrew started toward me, and I stood my
ground. I’d been trying to make him mad with that last jab, hoping
he would let something slip. Unfortunately, I think I may have
pushed him a little too hard. There had been tension brewing
between the two of us for twenty years, and while I never went
looking for a fight in my life, if he took a swing at me it would
be all the invitation I needed.

Chapter 8

Terri stepped quickly between us before anything
could happen. “Honestly, you two are acting just like children.
Ben, I need to ask you to leave.”

I thought about turning her request down, but
I wasn’t going to uncover anything if I got into a fight with one
of my suspects. I backed up as I said, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to
imply anything. I was just curious.”