Slip and Go Die (A Parson's Cove Mystery) (25 page)

“What? Who threatened to hurt me? Esther?”

“No, no, not Esther. It’s kind of a long story.”

She plunked down on the wicker chair, rested her cup on her tummy and waited.

“I have lots of time. Besides, if it’s my life we’re talking about here, I think that I have the right to know. Wouldn’t you want to know if it were you?”

“Well, of course, I’d want to know. Sometimes things like this don’t interest you. You never like to hear bad things.”

She took a sip. “I do now.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Who threatened to hurt me?”

“I’m not entirely sure but I think it might have been the big black man. I can’t say for sure because I never saw his face when he was talking.”

Flori looked horrified. “Mabel, what on earth are you saying? Who are you talking about? I don’t even know a big black man. Beulah was the only black person that I ever knew.”

Suddenly a light went off somewhere in my brain. The pieces of the puzzle were starting to come together. Charlie was right. None of those things belonged to Beulah. She was, after all, a simple woman with simple tastes. It always had seemed very odd to me that she would’ve had her cabin filled up with all that stuff. It really did belong to the black man and his partner. Perhaps, the word ‘belong’ was misleading. They had undoubtedly stolen it all from someone.

But, how was Beulah involved? She wouldn’t be unless she knew the men. Otherwise, why would they have been out at her place? Perhaps, Reg had received the correct information. He said that someone told him Beulah had a relative. Could this black man be a relative? If he were, I didn’t blame Beulah for not acknowledging him. I wouldn’t have either.

“Mabel.” Flori poked me. “What are you thinking? You worry me when you stare off into space like that. Are you going to tell me why someone would want to hurt me? Or, did you just think someone might want to hurt me? There’s a difference, you know.”

“Okay, I’ll tell you all that I know for sure. There’s still a few things left unsolved. First of all, the guys who stole the stuff out of my store have been caught.”

Flori’s cup almost fell on the floor. “What? You mean to say that I’ve been sitting here all this time, eating and drinking coffee and you didn’t tell me? How could you be so casual about it? This is wonderful news! Who caught them? Oh, I hope it was Reg. It would be so nice for him to solve a case before he retires. Don’t you think so, Mabel?”

I nodded and smiled. “It was Reg.”

“How do you know all this? It’s only nine. When were they caught?”

“Oh, I’d say that they were caught about three this morning.”

She stared at me, her eyebrows raised.

“And how do you know? Although, I’m almost afraid to ask.”

I pulled up the other chair and sat right in front of her. Our knees were touching. Why is it so much more exciting telling about an adventure after it’s over than when you’re living it? Flori was doing a good job of hiding her excitement by looking frightened.

“Reg arrested them over at Krueger’s house.”

Her eyes lit up. “Oh, did you tell him that you and I knew someone was staying there? Did we really help with this case?”

“Yes, we did.” At this point, I decided not to go into too much detail. Some things are better left unsaid.

“But, I don’t understand. How did Reg know the thieves would be there?”

“Well, I have to confess, Flori. I’ve been keeping a lookout at night. After I saw them going in there, I went over the next day and quickly checked things out. The cupboard was filled with some of the stolen things.”

She gasped. “You went into that house all alone?” She clasped one hand to her chest and made some sort of groaning sound. “You should never have done that.”

“I know, but, you see, I couldn’t involve you. They’d threatened to hurt you.”

“How did they threaten? You don’t even seem to know who it was that was doing the threatening.”

“Oh, believe me, it was a threat. I can play it back to you if you like. It’s still on my answering machine. In fact, that reminds me, I guess I should let Reg listen to it. That will help the police convict them of murder and attempted murder.”

“Mabel, what are you talking about?”

“I told you Beulah was murdered, didn’t I? Well, these two thugs have given Reg some cock a mammy story about being lost, trying to steal Beulah’s things, her rushing out after them and then falling on the ice and hitting her head.” I jumped up. “I have to get to Reg before the city cops come and take them away. They can’t get away with murder.”

I put on my coat and was in the process of pulling on my boots when someone started banging on the door. I’d come to work and had forgotten that the back door was locked. I guess after years of leaving it open, it’s hard to get used to having to unlock it every morning.

Flori rushed over and opened it.

It was Amos Grimm, the town drunk, looking sober, for once in his life.

“What do you want, Amos? I’m kind of in a rush here.” I looked over at Flori. “If you want to buy something, Flori will help you.” (Amos had never bought anything from my store in his whole life, not even a corkscrew.)

He pulled off his dirty woolen cap and clutched it in his hands. As usual, he needed a haircut. His graying hair stood up in all directions. I’m sure it hadn’t felt a comb for months. Amos never smells too good either. We’re all happy when winter comes and he can hide his aroma under a parka. He started to unzip his coat.

“No, that’s okay, Amos. Leave your coat on. What do you want anyway?”

Amos’ eyes are always a bit glazed looking. This morning was no exception, except this morning his eyelids weren’t quite so droopy. He smiled apologetically and zipped his jacket back up. I’ve always thought that Amos would be such an intelligent man if his brain weren’t so pickled.

“Well, maybe you didn’t know, but I spent the night in the jail.” He cleared his throat. It wasn’t exactly something that I’d proudly announce so early in the morning but he seemed to think that it was quite an accomplishment. “I’d probably still be there except they brought in a couple of guys in the middle of the night.”

“We already know, Amos.” I started to walk towards the front of the store. “If you’d like a cup of coffee, I’m sure Flori would love to make one up for you.” I pulled aside the curtain. Flori gave me a very dirty look.

“No, I’ve already had coffee. I thought you might want to know who the two men were, Mabel. I heard that they stole all those things out of your shop and that you might lose your furnace.” It was then that I noticed a bit of sparkle in those bleary eyes of his. “I know how much you like Esther, too.”

I let the curtain fall back. He’d said the magic word: Esther.

“What does Esther have to do with this, Amos?”

“The one man’s name is Chester Flynn.”

“What?” I screeched. “Are you serious? It was Chester Flynn? Esther’s husband, who took off, years and years ago?” I grabbed his sleeve and started shaking it. “Do you know this for sure? Tell me, tell me.”

Flori came over and removed my hand. Amos looked relieved.

“They took me out and put the two men into my cell. There’s only one cell at the police station. Well, I guess you knew that, Mabel.”

No one will ever let me forget the time I hit the janitor on the back of the head with my umbrella. It was an honest mistake. For some unknown reason, the bank manager hired someone from out of town. I thought he was cleaning out the vault, not cleaning it up. Then, when Reg grabbed my arm a little too tightly and I kicked him in the shins, he put me in jail for the night. Of course, there was one other time too, but they called that protective custody.

“Yes, we know that. Tell me what you heard, Amos.”

He smiled slightly. It’s not often anyone wants to listen to anything that Amos has to say. Not only does his body emit a foul odor, Scully claims that his breath once wilted a rose. I knew he was going to milk this for everything it was worth.

“Well, since I still wasn’t feeling too good, Reg said that I could stay in the waiting room until morning. It’s a good thing too because about a half an hour after they got there, I got sick. Thought I’d puke my guts out.”

I shuddered. “I don’t really want every detail. Just tell me what you heard about Chester Flynn.”

“Oh, that.” He laughed. “You should have seen Reg’s face when he looked in the guy’s wallet and saw who it was. I thought he’d have a heart attack.”

“What did he do then?”

“I’m not too sure; that’s when I got sick.”

“Oh great. Do you know anything else?”

“I thought you’d be happy if I came and told you.”

Flori piped up, “She is. Say ‘thank you,’ Mabel.”

“I am. Really, I am, Amos. It’s just that it’s such a shock. Who would have thought that old Chester Flynn would ever come back to Parson’s Cove?”

“Maybe he wanted to see Millicent,” Flori said, “and somehow got trapped into stealing Beulah’s things. Maybe that big black man threatened him too, Mabel. Maybe he threatened Millicent.”

“Flori,” I said, “there’s no way Mr. Flynn was trapped into anything. But, I think you’re right.”

“About what?”

“I think he did see Millicent while he was here. Remember why Esther went out to Beulah’s that day?”

“No.”

“She was looking for Millicent. I bet Millicent went out there to see her father.”

“This is too complicated, Mabel.”

“No, it isn’t at all. And, you know what? The woman who I saw on the back steps wore a long flowing coat.”

“What back steps?”

“Krueger’s”

“You mean that she was there last night, too?”

I shook my head. “No, Reg told me that there were only two men. I don’t think he believes me when I say there’s a woman involved. But, I know why she wasn’t there last night. She must have had a fight with her father. Somebody shoved her off the step. She landed on her back in the snow. Now I could kick myself; I was going to go over and help. Can you imagine the look on her face if she looked up and saw me?”

“Well, you really don’t know it was Millicent, Mabel.”

“Yes, I do. Millicent just bought a long flowing coat. I remember when she walked up the stairs at her house. She looked like a big flying bat.”

“What a terrible thing to say.”

“It’s true.” I stepped through the curtain. “I’ll have to get over to Reg. You don’t happen to know who the other guy was, do you?”

Amos shoved his cap back on. “Yeah, I heard his name. It was Washington, I think. A name I never heard of before anyway.”

Chapter Thirty Six

I walked as fast as I could to my place. The sidewalk in front was not quite as treacherous as the back lane (someone who worked for the town had scattered sand on it), but I still had to watch for icy patches. It was extremely important for Reg to listen to the tape from my answering machine. Imagine! I was the one who argued with Flori over buying that thing and here it might help in convicting a murderer.

There had been a break in the weather overnight. The sun was shining and there was a mild west wind. It was too early for spring but I could smell it in the air.

The Parson’s Cove police station was bustling. That, of course, is a rare thing. Two unfamiliar patrol cars sat in the parking lot. I opened the door and walked in. Jim and Scully looked up. They were sitting together at one old desk. I’d never seen such a lonely looking pair of deputies. Maybe they thought I was going to be some kind of savior because it seemed that their eyes lit up.

“Hey, Mabel,” Scully called out. “Guess who’s here?”

I glanced to my left. There, shackled to a chair, sat Chester Flynn. He turned his head and glared at me.

That’s the only problem with such a small police station; there’s no privacy for the crooks at all. The waiting room acted as the deputies’ office, the interrogation room, the lunch room and, of course, if by chance Reg were busy and you wanted to talk to him and not his deputies, it was the waiting room. There were two battered, wooden desks with matching chairs, filing cabinets along one wall (Reg’s rifle collection hung above that), three chairs besides the one Chester was sitting on and one small table piled high with hunting and fishing magazines.