Rubbed Out (A Memphis BBQ Mystery) (21 page)

Ben said, “Hey, do you mind if I have a small bite, Tim? Only a nibble, because if everybody has a bite, then there won’t be any left for Mother.” He took an experimental bite, chewing thoughtfully. “So Tim,” he said, “you mentioned that you liked baking. Do you do a lot of cooking?”

Tim nodded, looking at Ben quizzically. “I used to. When I had more time and…well, more money, I guess.”

“I know you’ve done a great job helping us wait on tables while you’ve been here,” said Ben. “But now I’m thinking your talents might be wasted on serving food. Want to try spending time in the kitchen with me? If it works out for both of us, maybe we can work out a cooking shift for you. For more pay, of course.”

Tim’s face lit up. “That would be great, Mr. Taylor.”

“There he goes again,” said Morty in a dry voice.

“Just Ben is fine, Tim,” said Ben. He glanced at his watch. “I’ve got to run. Time to start cooking. Mother, do we have enough waiters to help out today? Can I steal Tim for a while?”

Tim’s face was a bit panicked at his sudden drafting. Ben quickly added, “Just to do some chopping for me—stuff like that.”

“We’re probably covered, Ben,” said Lulu.

They disappeared into the dining room and Lulu smiled. “Well, I hope that turns out okay. Tim could sure
use a break. He’s had a real rough time.” She glanced across the porch and frowned. “That’s not one of y’all’s jackets, is it?” she asked Morty, Buddy, and Big Ben.

They shook their heads and Morty said, “You know, I think that belongs to my friend, Finn.”

“Are y’all meeting today after school?” asked Lulu.

Morty said, “Not today. Finn has some kind of big project or essay or something due. In fact, I don’t think we’re meeting again until next week.”

“Maybe I should run it out to their house, then,” said Lulu. “In case it’s something he likes to wear at school.”

“Or so he doesn’t get in trouble with his mama for losing it,” said Morty, rolling his eyes. “She’s pretty rough to live with, according to Finn.”

“And she’s a possible murderer, to boot,” said Big Ben in his booming voice.

“I hope she’s not,” said Morty. “She’s all he’s got, flawed or not.”

Lulu found that they did need an extra server for supper. She stayed to wait on the tables and sit down and chat with her diners for a spell. When she had a chance to breathe and glance at her watch, she was surprised to see that it was already eight thirty. She didn’t want to startle Dawn by ringing her doorbell too late, so she quickly grabbed her pocketbook and told Ben and Sara that she was heading out.

“Be careful, Mother!” Ben shouted out behind her as she let the kitchen door swing shut behind her.

Lulu did pay particular attention on her way to her car. She wasn’t going to give anybody the pleasure of making her feel scared, though. She wasn’t scared—but she was definitely on high alert. There seemed to be more shadows and hiding places on her familiar route to the parking deck than there usually were. When she made it to her car, she locked the doors quickly after she’d gotten inside.

The drive to Dawn’s house didn’t take long. She and Finn were renting a duplex-style house that was clearly an older home, but appeared carefully kept up. The light was fading fast when Lulu parked in their driveway so she grabbed the jacket and hurried to the front door.

The curtain at the window beside the door fluttered
after Lulu rang the bell, then Dawn opened the door. “I’m running by Finn’s jacket. He accidentally left it at Aunt Pat’s and I wanted to make sure he got it back in case he needed it for school.”

Dawn reached out for the jacket. Her gaze registered Lulu’s injuries, but she didn’t say anything about them. “Thanks,” she said. “I know it seems really hot to have a jacket, but the school is real cold, he says—the air conditioner is blasting all the time. He likes to wear it during the day. Thanks for bringing it over for him.”

There was a short, musical burst that made Lulu’s blood run cold. “What’s that?” she gasped, not knowing why it made her feel so scared.

Dawn stared curiously at her. “Just my cell phone. That’s the sound it makes when I get a text message.” She pulled the phone out of her pocket and glanced at it.

That sound that her cell phone made was the sound Lulu had heard when she’d been attacked in the parking deck.

“Can I ask you something?” said Lulu, swallowing down her fear. “What were you doing last night?”

“Last night?” asked Dawn, raising her eyebrows in surprise. “I was here at home. Had a headache last night, so I went to bed early.”

“Finn was here, too?” asked Lulu.

“No, actually, he wasn’t. He and another kid from school are working on a group project for their history class. That’s where he is now and where he was last
night. He let himself in with a key, since I was sound asleep whenever it was when he got home. Why do you ask?” said Dawn, frowning now.

Lulu told the story about her attack last night again and Dawn’s eyes widened and her gaze fell back on Lulu’s bruises, which were now turning the color of autumn leaves. “No,” said Dawn, “I didn’t know anything about that. I guess we should all be watching our step now. Do you want to come inside for a few minutes?”

No, she really didn’t. Especially since she’d recognized the sound of Dawn’s phone. The doorstep was good enough.

“No, I’m good. I should be heading back home to go to bed early. One more question for you, if you don’t mind,” said Lulu.

Dawn shrugged but looked behind her impatiently as if she wanted to go back to her TV show or whatever she’d been doing before Lulu showed up.

“Finn mentioned that you knew John—the man who was one of Reuben’s customers and wasn’t pleased with the job Reuben was doing. The one I told you had been murdered,” said Lulu. “But you said you didn’t know him. Finn said John was in your driveway one day when he came home.”

Dawn said, “No, I
didn’t
know him at all. And I didn’t realize that’s who you were talking about. John is a very common name, you know. Finn misread the situation. Yes, that John did come by here. He’d been spending a
lot of time trying to figure out how to force Reuben to finish the work on his house—work that he said he’d already paid for. He found out about the divorce and heard that I wasn’t happy with Reuben, either. He came to the house to see if he and I could somehow join forces and put pressure on Reuben.”

“What kind of pressure?” asked Lulu.

“I have no idea. I didn’t want anything to do with it. I was going to keep laying guilt trips on Reuben and see if I could get somewhere by doing that. I wasn’t sure what this John was up to, but I thought he might want to do something shady somehow. Like blackmail or something. I’ve got Finn depending on me for everything and I didn’t want to do something stupid that might put me in jail,” said Dawn.

Lulu hesitated, then said, “Someone mentioned seeing you near Reuben’s booth the night he was killed. I guess the police have probably asked you about that, too. But you weren’t trying to snoop around and find dirt on Reuben?”

Dawn rolled her eyes. “What
haven’t
they asked me about? Yes, I stupidly went over there when I finally realized he was at the festival. Somebody I know spotted him there. Believe me, I regret being anywhere in the vicinity because it’s caused nothing but trouble for me. I wanted to see if I could drag Reuben away for a minute or two and give him a piece of my mind. Unfortunately, he wasn’t around. I guess he was off getting murdered.
No, I wasn’t following John’s directions and trying to get dirt on Reuben, I was only trying to find him to yell at him.”

She still spoke of her ex-husband’s death with real ice in her voice. Lulu cleared her throat. “So you thought that’s what John was wanting you to do? Dig up dirt on Reuben or something?” asked Lulu.

“He thought there was something in Reuben’s past that might be good to pressure him with. If there was, I don’t know about it,” said Dawn. “All I know is that he changed. Some people change over the years and some people change overnight. Reuben’s change was the overnight variety.”

“Have you heard anything about the will being settled? Are things going to get better for you and Finn? It’d be nice if something good could come out of all this,” said Lulu.

Dawn shrugged. “I hear things. It sounds like maybe Finn’s future is looking up. It had to—anything was better than being broke. Maybe Finn can go to a decent college or something. He won’t be in the same mess that I’m in anyway. But yeah, Reuben’s old uncle finally passed. He was always talking about the old boy, bragging about him. Whenever we visited him, I wasn’t all that impressed with the uncle, let me tell you. He wore these tatty old clothes and always seemed like he needed a shave. He didn’t sound like he’d had much school, either. So I thought Reuben was full of a lot of hot air.”

“But he wasn’t?” asked Lulu.

“Apparently not. So now Finn has money to go to school or to get started in the world. Of course, I’m out of luck because Reuben and I were already divorced.” She had a considering sort of expression on her face that made Lulu wonder if maybe she was going to wrangle that money away from Finn.

The moment passed, though. Dawn slowly said, “You know, I’m just glad that Finn is going to be okay. I worried about that kid all the time. My health issues and bills…yeah, they’re a pain. But Finn was the one that kept me up at night and kept me pounding on Reuben’s door, asking him for money all the time. I’m glad things will work out for him. It takes a lot of pressure off me, let me tell you.”

“Was Finn the only beneficiary for Reuben’s will?” Lulu hoped she sounded like she didn’t already know the answer to that question.

Dawn’s face was set once again into angry lines. “No,” she said in a clipped voice. “He sure wasn’t. Should’ve been. But wasn’t. Look, I got to go. That headache of mine is coming back.”

Lulu’s nerves were still jangling after hearing the sound that Dawn’s phone had made. She recognized it as the sound she’d heard during her attack. Could Dawn have been behind the attack? Or was it someone else who had the same texting ringtone?

Going home didn’t seem all that appealing. The way
her mind was spinning, she needed someone to help re-center her so that she could wind down and maybe get some sleep. Cherry. Maybe Cherry’s brand of straight talk could help ground her again.

Lulu glanced at her watch. It was pretty late now, though—after nine thirty. She better call her first.

“What? Well, sure, hon, come on over. I’ve got a glass of wine with your name on it. Don’t let me scare you when I open the door,” said Cherry. “You’ll see what I mean.”

Lulu did. Cherry had on a green oatmeal mask and wore a scarlet shower cap, probably to keep the oatmeal out of her hair. She gave Lulu a hug and transferred some of the green glop with it. She’d seen Cherry in her beauty treatments before, but the effect was still quite startling. “You look stressed, sweetie. Come on in and we’ll have a cool beverage.”

“Is Johnny around?” asked Lulu. She saw neither hide nor hair of him but was sure he’d have his usual grim air of resignation whenever he was around Cherry. He was diametrically opposite from her in every way and spent most of his time giving her baleful or confused stares as if wondering how he’d ended up with such a spitfire.

“No, he’s in Mississippi, visiting his people.” Cherry seemed relieved that she wasn’t with him. Apparently, Johnny’s Mississippi kin weren’t all that fascinating to be around. “What’s going on?” she demanded, pouring
Lulu a healthy glass of wine that ensured a fairly long visit for Lulu for the alcohol to wear off.

Just being in Cherry’s house helped Lulu relax. It was as colorful as she was. Cherry had hung posters of Elvis everywhere—all from his black-and-white heyday—and she had several pictures of motorcycles on the walls, too. Lulu sat down on a bright red sofa with black pillows that made the couch resemble a ladybug.

Lulu filled her in on her visit to Dawn.

“You weren’t supposed to be doing anything risky!” said Cherry, eyebrows knitting on her green face.

“I was only returning a jacket, Cherry!” protested Lulu. “I didn’t think I was doing anything besides being thoughtful, I promise.”

“You’re edging me out of this case,” said Cherry, hands on her hips and green face stern.

“Not one bit. I always want to hear your opinions on things. That’s why I’m here right now. Besides, you’re the whole reason I’m even involved in all this mess. You were the one who invited me over to the Graces’ tent. You were with me when we found the body. And you were one of the original suspects,” said Lulu.

“I guess you’re right,” said Cherry, mollified. “I’m too important to try to work around. So…what are you thinking? Was it Dawn’s cell phone that you heard before you were attacked?”

“I don’t know,” said Lulu, wishing she could be sure.
“It was the same ringtone, but I guess a lot of people could use the same one.”

“What about Finn?” suggested Cherry. “Do you think his mom might have been texting him when he was fixing to strike at you?”

Lulu took a big sip of her wine. Then she said, “Cherry, I simply can’t imagine why Finn would do something like that. What makes you think it could have been him?”