Perplexity on P1/2 (Parson's Cove Mysteries) (26 page)

Chapter Thirty Four

     “What’s that awful smell in here?” Flori asked. She’d phoned to see if she could come over for the evening. Jake was entertaining some of his drinking buddies and she grew tired of reprimanding them every time they said a filthy word.

     “Why didn’t you get Jake to speak to them?” I asked.

     “Hummph,” she said. “He’s worse than the rest.” She put her nose in the air and sniffed. “What stinks, Mabel?”

     “It’s those two,” I said, pointing to the two pouty cats, hiding under my mother’s china cabinet. “They didn’t come in this morning when I left for work so I left them out all day.”

     I’m sure Flori didn’t approve of my disciplinary action but she didn’t say anything. We have a rule: I don’t complain about how she trains her children and she doesn’t find fault with how I train my cats.

     “You want a glass of wine, Flori?”

     “If you still have some of Sadie’s chokecherry.”

     “Are you kidding? I have enough to last until next winter when I hope she’ll replenish my supply.” I went into the pantry and brought out a bottle. I almost enjoy the containers that Sadie uses as much as the wine. This one was an old barbeque sauce bottle. The label read
Ye Olde Hotsauce.
That was such an accurate description of the contents.

     Flori and I sat and drank our first glass without too much conversation. Definitely, a drink meant for savoring.

     “So,” Flori said, “how’s the investigation going? Did Reg get back to you or was he just trying to appease you?”

     “No, he got back to me. You won’t believe this but good old Ralph was lying to us. He never got back on that plane. And, you know what else Reg found out? The others didn’t get on when they were supposed to either. Can you believe that?”

     “I’ll believe anything. Especially, after I have another glass of wine.”

     “You’re supposed to sip wine. Not guzzle.” I reached over and filled her glass.

     “Thank you, Mabel. Okay, what were you saying about the plane?”

     “None of them got on the plane when they were supposed to and Ralph didn’t get on at all. What do you make of that?”

     She took a mouthful, swished it around and swallowed. If she had any idea how it looked, she would never do it again.

     “I’d say that means that any one of them could’ve killed that nice police lady cop, Grace. Or, what was her other name? Andrea?”

     “Don’t ask for any more wine, Flori. You’re starting to get tipsy.”

     “I am not.” She cleared her throat. “Isn’t that what it means? Any of them could have killed her?”

     I nodded. “I guess so. But why? There has to be a motive.”

     “Of course, and even in my drunken state, I know what the motive was. It was money. Or, love. People kill for either love or money. There are no other reasons.”

     “Or self defense.”

     “Well, yes, but that’s not the case here.”

     “How do you know?”

     “Because Grace was a cop. She wouldn’t try to murder someone, would she? So, there would be no reason for someone to be defending herself against her.”

     “I guess you’re right. Why did you say ‘herself?’”

     “What do you mean? Herself?”

     “Why do you think a woman killed her?”

     Flori took another mouthful, swished, swallowed, and thought.

     “I guess because I can’t see a man wanting to kill a woman. It just doesn’t seem right.”

     “It doesn’t seem right for anyone to kill anyone.”

     “Oh well, that goes without saying, but you know what I mean. I think it was another woman.”

     “You think Andrea could’ve killed her?”

     “Without blinking an eye.”

     I refilled my glass. Somehow, I could see Andrea doing it without blinking an eye too.

     “Did you tell Reg about the phone call? That you know who it was now?”

     “Yes, I told him. There’s another mystery. Where did Sally disappear to after she came to Parson’s Cove?”

     “You know, Mabel, I was thinking. Who says she came to Parson’s Cove? People do make long distant phone calls.”

     I sat and stared at her. Now, why hadn’t I thought of that? Of course, she could have phoned from anywhere. She could have phoned from Yellow Rose for all I knew.

     “Flori, that’s brilliant. You should stay perpetually wasted.”

     “Oh, for Pete’s sake, I’m not wasted,” she roared and fell back into the chair, laughing. Her wine spilled all down the front of her blouse.

     I went into the kitchen for a wet cloth to dab the wine stain, and to grab the box of tissues for her nose and eyes.

     When things had calmed down a bit, I said, “There has to be a way to check that out, isn’t there? The telephone company would know where your calls came from.”

     “Of course, they do, Mabel.”

     I poured the last of the wine into our glasses. Finally, we would be able to solve part of the mystery. Still, not the murder but, at least, the case of the missing person. This was information I would
not
share with Ralph. I was very upset with Mr. Murphy.

Mabel’s Easy Raisin–Bran Muffins

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 cup whole wheat flour (or half whole wheat and half white)

1 cup natural bran

1 cup sour milk

1 tsp. soda

1 egg, beaten

½ cup oil or soft shortening

½ cup raisins

Combine sugar, oil, egg, and milk. Sift dry ingredients together. Combine the two mixtures; add raisins. Bake 15 to 20 minutes at 400*F. Recipe can be doubled or tripled.

Chapter Thirty Five

     I was barely out of my housecoat when Reg banged on my door the next morning. The cats raced to the back entrance with their tails standing straight up and squawking as if I’d been keeping them in servitude for years.

     “You cats are worse than a pack of dogs,” I said, as they clamored to reach their escape route before I did. The door opened three inches and they were gone.

     “What’s wrong with those felines of yours?” Reg asked as he stood on the step and watched them disappear into hedges and under fences.

     “This,” I said, “is what happens when we have one day of rain. I don’t even want to think what they’d do if it rained for two weeks.”

     “They’d probably murder you.” He walked into the kitchen, picked up a clean cup out of my dish rack and poured himself a cup of coffee. After sniffing it and apparently, approving of it, he opened the fridge, took out the carton of milk and measured just the right amount into his coffee. He then reached into the cupboard, removed my sugar bowl, carefully filled the sugar spoon three times and proceeded to stir.

     “Thanks for getting my sugar spoon all wet,” I said.

     “Speaking of murder,” he said, as if he hadn’t heard me at all, “I have some more news to share.”

     “Aw,” said I. “I also have some news to share.”

     Reg sat down at the table, took a big swig of coffee, swallowed and said, “Really? What could you have dug up overnight?”

     “It was something Flori said. You know Sally’s phone call? How we took it for granted that she was here in Parson’s Cove? Well, she might not have been. It could easily have been a long distance call. I’m going to check with the phone company as soon as its office opens and then we’ll know where Sally is. So, what’s your news Reg?”

     “I found Ralph’s son.”

     “No way.”

     “Yep. You were right about the college. He’s at Stelling College.”

     “So what did you find out? Does he know where his dad is?”

     Reg stopped and took a drink.

     “You don’t have to stop to drink, Reg. Tell me what he said.”

     “Yes, I do have to stop. It’s the perfect temperature right now.”

     He took another swallow just to irritate me.

     “He gave me his dad’s cell number and his home address. Other than that, Daniel has no idea where he might be. He said his dad has contacted him only once since he got back from the trip. From the sounds of it, I’d say he’s not too close to his pa.”

     “So? What did Ralph have to say?”

     “I’ve called several times but he’s got his phone turned off.”

     “What about Captain Maxymowich? Did he already talk to his son?”

     “Nope. I asked and nobody talked to him. He didn’t know anything about the murder at all. He said he took it for granted that his dad was phoning from home but he couldn’t say for sure.”

     “I guess he could be home then, couldn’t he?”

     Reg nodded. “I’ll keep trying his cell. The last time I phoned, I left a message. Gave my number and your number and asked him to call.”

     “Did you say why you wanted to talk to him? You don’t want to scare him off, Reg.”

     “I know that, Mabel. I said that you were worried because you didn’t know where he was. That you were really nervous after the murder and wanted to know if he was okay.”

     I laughed. “I’m sure that will have him calling in right away.” I took my coffee and sat across from Reg. “You want a strawberry muffin?”

     “Sure took you long enough to ask.”

     The Sheriff was on his second muffin when Flori burst through the door.

     “Did you find out where Sally is?” she asked. Her face was red and she was out of breath. At least, she was dressed. She had on her coral pink pantsuit with matching headband. In fact, she’d even taken the time to put on makeup.

     “You must really want to know if you don’t even say hello first, Flori. And, by the way, you look like a big spring flower today.”

     “Why thank you, Mabel. Although I don’t know if I like the word ‘big.’” She stood with her hands on her hips. “Well?”

     “I haven’t phoned yet. Sit down and I’ll bring you some coffee. Want a muffin?” I didn’t wait for an answer. Flori says ‘no’ but always has one so I put two in the microwave. Reg was almost finished his second one. “Reg has news. He has Ralph’s cell number and his home address.” I plopped the muffin on a plate and poured coffee for her. “He left a message for Ralph to phone either him or me.” I took a swallow of my tepid coffee and smiled. “So, don’t you think we’ve made some progress?”

     Flori shrugged. “I’ll feel better when I know where those two are.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I dreamt last night that Sally was dead.” She reached down the front of her coral pink top and took a tissue out to wipe her eyes and nose.

     “Flori,” I said. “Do not put that soggy tissue back in your bra. My goodness, can’t you buy clothes with pockets. Look how you’re embarrassing Reg.”

     Reg, however, was carefully removing the mushroom shaped top off one of the extra muffins I’d left on the table and apparently hadn’t heard or seen anything.

     He looked up when he saw us watching him and said, “All right, if you want me to contact the telephone company, I will.”

     Easy to tell Reg is a married man.

Chapter Thirty Six

     It was Sunday morning and even though it wasn’t eight yet, the sun was high in the sky. Only one day of rain and what a difference - the grass had turned from dusty brown to emerald green and flowers, once drooping from heat, were lifting their heads heavenward again. It was a wonderful day not to have to go to work.

     I hadn’t made an announcement yet but starting next week, I was going to take every Monday off. There was really no reason to stay open that day anyway. The only reason I always went was that I didn’t know what else to do. If I were going to sit in the store all day and do nothing, I might as well sit at home and do nothing. It would undoubtedly upset Flori. She would automatically think that something was wrong with me. Probably there would be a big write-up in the weekly paper too. Lazy Mabel Wickles - that would be the talk of the town!

     This morning, I
was
being lazy. Since I didn’t have anyone to bring me breakfast in bed (although if I called Flori, I knew she would rush over), I decided to bring breakfast to myself. I spent twenty minutes in the kitchen fixing my tray up with a ham and cheese omelet, two pieces of whole grain toast slathered with peanut butter and honey, a large cup of coffee and a small glass of juice. It wasn’t as enjoyable as I’d anticipated. Next time, I’ll put all the cats outside first.

     I was almost finished with my coffee when the phone rang. Who would phone at eight on a Sunday morning? If I would throw all the cats off the bed, stretch my arthritic knees and make my way down the stairs, whoever it was, would hang up. By the time I’d thought all that through, the phone had already stopped ringing so there was really no decision to make. I drained the last of my coffee and picked up a book I’d put on my end table months before.

     I opened to Chapter One and the phone started up again. Since my situation hadn’t changed since the previous call, I put it out of my mind, and started reading. I was on page three when someone started banging on my door.

     This time, I jumped out of bed, grabbed my housecoat, and screamed at all the cats to get out of my way. No one ever comes to see me on a Sunday morning unless it’s Flori and she doesn’t knock.

     All eight of us reached the door at the same time. I flung it open.

     “About time, Mabel.”

     “What are you doing here, Scully?” It wasn’t so much a surprise that he was at my door but how early he was up. Our young deputies are not known to be early risers.

     “Reg’s home with the flu so he asked me to come by. He said he talked to the Captain and thought you might be interested.”

     “Okay, I would be. So, what did he say?”

     “Oh, here.” He held out his hand. “He said to give you his notes. And, he said you’d owe him big time because he also managed to get his hands on some pictures. He’s in bed today. His throat’s real sore so he can’t talk. The doc gave him some antibiotics so he should be up soon.”