Dusted to Death (13 page)

Hoping that Laura’s memory wouldn’t play out before she revealed a bit more, Charlotte said, “So, why do you think Marti was so upset about it? Was she good friends with either of the Scott children?”

Laura shook her head. “No, not good friends. We didn’t run in the same social circles as the Scotts, and they weren’t members of our church. But Marti has always been the sensitive type. Of course back then, I had strong suspicions that there was more to it than she admitted. In fact, I strongly suspected that she and that boyfriend of hers were there at that party. Of course she denied it, but I could always tell when she wasn’t telling me the truth about something. Mothers know those things. And besides, when I washed her clothes the next day, her jeans and sweater reeked of alcohol. Alcohol was strictly forbidden in our household. Why, if her daddy had even suspected she’d been drinking he would have whipped her within an inch of her life. Sometimes I wonder if we were too strict.”

Though Charlotte listened with half an ear, the words
that boyfriend
stuck in her mind. Could it be? Was it possible? Though she was pretty sure she already knew the answer, she asked anyway. “Marti had a boyfriend back then?”

The sad look on Laura’s face disappeared, and she smiled, then nodded. “Lots of boys came around after my Marti. She’s a beautiful girl. Do you know my Marti? Have you ever met her?”

Charlotte prayed for patience. “Yes, I have,” she answered kindly. “And you’re right, she is beautiful. But you were going to tell me about the boyfriend she had when Alex Scott gave that party.”

“I was?” Laura frowned, then suddenly smiled. “Oh, yeah, I was. Out of all of Marti’s boyfriends, I guess I liked him the least.” She shook her head. “Those Franklin kids were the rowdiest kids in my Sunday school class, and Nick was the worst of the bunch.”

Bingo!

“There were four of them, you know. But bless their little hearts, they couldn’t help it if their daddy was a no-account drunk, a mean drunk at that. Why, it near broke my heart to see those little ones come in with bruises on their arms and legs.” Laura suddenly covered her mouth with her hand and looked as if she were in pain. After a moment, she lowered her hand, and with her face still etched in pain, she said, “Lord, forgive me. There I go gossiping again…and judging. The Bible says, ‘Thou shalt not judge, lest ye be judged.’ Mr. Pate will be angry if he knows. You won’t tell him, will you?”

Charlotte swallowed hard against the tightness in her throat. Not only had Laura forgotten that her husband was dead, but she still feared his reproach. Charlotte reached out and patted Laura’s hand. “It’s okay. I won’t tell. We all tend to be judgmental at times.”

Laura stared at her a moment, then suddenly yawned. “My goodness, I’m tired.” When she struggled to her feet, Benny rushed to her side to steady her. “Maybe I’ll take a little nap before lunch,” she told them, and with Benny’s help, she climbed into bed.

Benny pulled the cover over her, and without apology, she promptly closed her eyes. Within mere seconds Laura was softly snoring.

Benny moved closer to Charlotte. In a low voice he said, “So, what do you think?”

“I think we should probably leave for now and let her rest. Even with what she’s told us, there’s still nothing concrete—no proof of anything.” She shrugged. “No reason, so far, from what Laura said, that Nick would have to blackmail Angel—I mean, Marti.”

With one last glance at Laura, who was still sleeping, they headed for the door. Just outside the door, both came to an abrupt halt when they found themselves face-to-face with Laura’s nurse. From the stern expression on her face, Charlotte figured that they were about to get a lecture for tiring out her patient. Best to get it over and done with.

Charlotte plastered a smile on her face. “Hi, there. You’re Laura’s—I mean, Mrs. Pate’s nurse, aren’t you?”

The nurse nodded. “Dawn Sanders,” she replied.

“Oh, yes, now I remember. I think that Dawn is such a pretty name. Just so you know, your patient is fast asleep now. I guess I should apologize. I’m afraid that our visit tired her out. But don’t worry, we were just leaving.”

“Yes, I know.” A momentary look of discomfort crossed her face. “I guess I should apologize too.” When Charlotte frowned questioningly, she rushed on, “I’m afraid that I shamelessly eavesdropped on most of your conversation with her.” She paused, and then said, “But now I’m glad that I did. By chance, have either of you seen the front page of the
Oakdale Weekly
this morning?”

Charlotte shrugged. “I haven’t.”

Looking more uncomfortable with each passing moment, Benny chimed in, “Neither have I. Why? Is there something we should know?”

Dawn shot him a sly but knowing look. “I’m pretty sure that you already know, and after listening to your conversation with Laura, I’m positive that you knew before you came here. And now, after that front-page article, the whole town knows.”

Charlotte’s heart sank, but just to be sure that Dawn was talking about Nick’s murder and Angel’s arrest, she asked, “What, just exactly, is the article about?”

“It’s about Nick being murdered and Marti being arrested for his murder. Y’all knew it all along, didn’t you? That’s why y’all came here to begin with.”

Smart lady.
Charlotte nodded. “Yes, it is. But we didn’t set out to purposely deceive anyone,” she hastened to add. “It’s just that everyone we’ve talked to is so proud of Angel—I mean Marti—and once we realized that no one knew about it yet, we didn’t want to be the ones to bring the bad news.”

“Just one thing,” Dawn said. “Are you trying to help Marti or hurt her?”

“Help her,” Charlotte and Benny immediately replied in unison.

“That’s what I thought—had hoped—but I had to make sure. Still, if you think that Nick was blackmailing Marti, and it proves to be true, wouldn’t that hurt her?”

Out of the corner of her eye, Charlotte spotted two nurse’s aides within hearing distance. From the looks of them, they were soaking in everything that was being said. At the other end of the hallway, nurses bustled in and out of patients’ room. Too public, she decided, much too exposed to talk here.

Charlotte shook her head and lowered her voice. “Not necessarily. If you have a few minutes, we’d love to explain, and maybe even ask you a few questions, but not here. Too many curious ears around, if you get my drift.” She tilted her head in the direction of the aides. “Is there somewhere else we could go and talk in private?”

Dawn shifted her eyes to the aides, then back to Charlotte. “I understand, and you’re right. How about I meet you at the Coffee Corner in about fifteen minutes or so? It’s a coffeehouse not far from here,” she explained. “There shouldn’t be a lot of people there this time of the morning, and”—she smiled—“Mr. Harper, the owner, is half deaf.”

“That would be great,” Benny said, “but you’ll need to give us directions.”

“I also need to make sure that one of the other nurses will keep an eye on Laura—Mrs. Pate—for me too.”

After giving Benny directions to the Coffee Corner, Dawn rushed off toward the nurse’s station near the junction of two hallways, and Charlotte and Benny headed for the limo.

“Did you get the feeling that Dawn Sanders wants to tell us something?” Charlotte asked as Benny pulled out of the parking lot onto the main road.

Benny nodded. “Yes, ma’am. Let’s just hope it’s something that will help Angel.”

“Maybe she can enlighten us a bit more about Angel and Nick’s early relationship. And about that party that Laura mentioned. Interesting that even back then, Laura didn’t like Nick hanging around.”

“Good intuition,” Benny replied. “Nick was a piece of trash as far as I’m concerned. And believe me, I know trash when I see it.”

Given all that she’d learned so far about Nick Franklin, Charlotte had to agree with Benny’s assessment. Even so, Benny’s vehemence and brief reference to his own past was a bit unnerving, as well as telling. She only wished there were some way she could help him move past the deep resentment he still harbored against his family.

The Coffee Corner turned out to be half of a quaint, small shotgun double that had, like Charlotte’s home, probably been built in the 1920s, but had been meticulously restored. The other half of the double was obviously an antique shop since the sign above the door read THE ANTIQUE STORE.

“Catchy name, huh.” Charlotte said, tongue-in-cheek, when Benny opened her door.

“Now, now, someone once told me that ‘if you can’t say something nice, then you shouldn’t say anything.’”

Charlotte rolled her eyes. “I swear, do you remember everything that I told you?”

Benny grinned. “Yeah, most of it—at least the good stuff. And by the way, you also said that I shouldn’t swear either.”

By the time they entered the small building, they were both laughing. Charlotte breathed deeply. “Don’t you just love the smells of a coffeehouse?” She glanced around, taking in the quaint café. There were several individual small tables with chairs, but there was also a conversation area that consisted of a small sofa, a couple of easy chairs, and a coffee table, along with a bookcase full of books.

“It does smell good in here,” Benny replied.

As Dawn had predicted, there weren’t but a few customers inside the Coffee Corner. There were two men busy typing away on laptops at separate tables. At another table a woman was talking on a cell phone.

Since the older man behind the counter was wearing a hearing aid, Charlotte figured he must be Mr. Harper, the owner. When they approached the counter, the man greeted them with a big smile. “Morning, folks.” He reached across the counter and gave each of them an enthusiastic handshake. “Name’s Joe Harper. What’ll you have?”

Charlotte smiled back and quickly scanned the menu posted on the wall above the counter. “Café au lait for me,” she told him.

“The house blend will be fine for me,” Benny added.

By the time they paid for their coffee and had chosen a table that would afford the most privacy, Dawn arrived.

“Your usual, honey?” Mr. Harper asked her, his big smile still in place as he hurried around the counter to give Dawn an affectionate hug.

Talk about your friendly proprietor, Charlotte thought. Maybe a little too friendly.

“Yes, sir,” Dawn responded, hugging him back and kissing his cheek.

Charlotte sighed. Maybe she was just being an old fuddy-duddy.

Or an old prude.

I’m not that old,
she silently argued with the aggravating voice in her head.
And I ’m certainly not a prude
.

When Dawn joined Charlotte and Benny, Charlotte commented, “Nice, friendly place here,” putting the emphasis on “friendly.”

Dawn nodded as she seated herself. “Yes, ma’am, and Mr. Harper is a real sweetie pie.” Then, as if Dawn knew exactly what Charlotte had been thinking, she grinned. “And just so you know, he also happens to be my stepfather. My own father died before I was born, and Joe raised me since I was two.”

The heat of embarrassment burned Charlotte’s cheeks. Clearing her throat, she forced a smile. “No wonder you recommended this place.”

Still grinning, Dawn nodded again. Then her expression grew serious. “About Marti—why do the police think that she killed Nick? Not that I’d blame her if she did,” she added.

Charlotte winced. “I hope you’ll pardon me for saying so, but you sound a bit bitter.”

“Not so much bitter as guilty,” Dawn admitted. “I heard you mention something about the possibility of Nick blackmailing Marti. Well, Nick was certainly capable of doing that and more. Suffice it to say, he was not a nice man. I could tell you lots of stuff about him, only I’m afraid that anything I tell you might only hurt Marti more.”

“I understand,” Charlotte replied. “But just keep in mind that we’re the good guys. We want to help her. What we’re trying to find out is if there’s any reason Nick would have a hold over Marti.”

Dawn shrugged. “Maybe, but mind you it’s only hearsay, and I can’t prove anything.”

“It doesn’t matter. Right now, we’re just trying to gather as much information as we can.” Charlotte paused a moment. Ever since they had talked to Laura Pate, what Laura had told them about the wild party given by Alex Scott had stuck in her mind. Though it might not have anything to do with Angel and Nick’s relationship, Charlotte had a feeling that there was something fishy about the whole thing.

“Ah, Dawn, Laura mentioned something about a wild party that a boy named Alex Scott gave and how she suspected that Marti had been to that party. Do you know anything about that?”

“Maybe. You see, back in high school during our senior year, Nick and Marti were dating, but—” Dawn’s face flushed and she lowered her gaze to stare at her cup of coffee.

“But what?” Charlotte prompted.

“I can’t tell you how embarrassing this is and how ashamed I am, but at the time, Nick was two-timing Marti.” She paused, then lifted her gaze to stare directly at Charlotte. “He was two-timing her with me.” She grimaced. “I was so stupid back then. Not only stupid, but also naive. I thought that Nick was my ticket to becoming one of the popular kids.”

Charlotte frowned. “I don’t understand. According to what Laura told us, she strongly suspected that Nick and his brothers were abused by a drunken father. Usually kids like that aren’t in with the popular crowd.”

“It’s true that his father was a mean drunk, but he was also the president of the only bank in town.”

“So what you’re saying is that Nick’s family had lots of money?”

“If living in one of the biggest houses in town, belonging to the country club, and wearing only the best clothes counts, then I guess they did, or so everyone assumed.”

Charlotte thought about that for a moment, mostly because it didn’t quite fit her preconceived idea of Nick.

“Just goes to show that not everything is as it appears to be, though,” Dawn explained. “It wasn’t long after we graduated that Mr. Franklin was found dead in the parking lot behind the bank. The police think it was a robbery gone bad. According to the gossip around town, the robber tried to force Mr. Franklin to open the bank vault after hours, Mr. Franklin refused, and the robber beat him to death.” She shrugged. “They never did find who killed him. But after that, Nick’s mother lost everything and moved back to Jackson, where she had family. It seems that her husband didn’t have any life insurance and their big house was mortgaged to the hilt. Their whole lifestyle was a sham. They fooled everyone for a while, though, especially me.”