Murder Read online

  I couldn’t see through the newly tinted windows of the fast food joint. Chummy, known only to a select few people as Chauncey Hewitt, left the country in February to visit relatives in England for six months. He hired two new employees before he left - an operations manager to run the business side of his restaurant, and a general supervisor to oversee employees and schedules.

  There was no way these two new hires had the authority to implement the changes they were making, and I would bet money Chummy was going to blow a gasket when he returned.

  I looked toward the back of the black and white checkered building. The drive-thru speaker box had a tarp secured around it and was no longer in use. That in itself was a blow to the restaurant. Part of the charm of Chummy’s was the surprise element of the drive-thru. It was highly unlikely you would ever get what you ordered, which was why you went through the drive-thru in the first place.

  New menu items had been printed on a large board that now hung from the side of the building facing the parking lot. Customers could pull in, turn on their lights, and an employee would run out to take their order. The food was then delivered in a to-go bag, and the customer was expected to go, making room for the next customer. It wasn’t nostalgic like drive-ins of old. It was downright stupid.

  This morning, there seemed to be an even mix of people waiting for food outside and people eating inside. A single employee raced around the lot taking orders and delivering food. How Pepper could stand to work here was beyond me. She began running orders on weekends shortly after Chummy left for England. She made decent tip money and had lost eight pounds since she took the job, but I thought it was too much effort for too little reward.

  My thoughts drifted back to Glenn. I still felt emotionally fragile about the situation with him and Barbie, but I was determined to buck up and deal with it. I wanted to trust him, and his words last night had gone a long way toward easing my mind. There was one thing I knew for certain. I wasn’t going to sit around and wait for something to happen. I was going to find out as much as I possibly could about Barbie Cane. I’d ask Jackie to help me.

  A woman wearing a blue beret and an orange shirt stuck her head out the door and began waving wildly in my direction. I glanced behind me, but there was no one there. The woman cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, “Jo!”

  Oh, for Pete’s sake. It was Mama.

  I crossed the road and met her at the door.

  “Didn’t you see me waving at you from the upstairs window?” she asked.

  I looked at her as if she was crazy. “No. The windows are tinted. You can see out, but I can’t see in.”

  “Well, come in here. Now that you quit your job and broke up with Glenn, you can join our group.”

  I didn’t correct her about my job. It would only go in one ear and out the other. I duly followed her inside and up a flight of stairs to the second floor. Chummy had two offices and a community room up here. He rented the community room for anything from baby showers to corporate meetings. Mama had obviously rented it for her new group.

  We walked in, and I slid the hood off my head. Matt had surely told Jackie how terrible I looked, but the flicker of shock in her eyes was noticeable.

  Not only was Jackie in the room, but Mama’s bowling cronies were there, too - Rita Johnson from Rita’s Bed and Breakfast, Aunt Bee, and Lucille Crabtree. Lucille was the oldest of the group and known to have flatulence and bowel disorders. The three of them also wore some type of blue hat and an orange shirt like Mama.

  “You look like death warmed over,” Lucille said as she popped a tater tot in her mouth.

  Rita performed a round of tsk-tsking and said, “There’s no man worth that much, Jo.”

  Aunt Bee was more sympathetic and asked, “Are you all right, dear?”

  Mama answered everyone. “She’s fine and better off without him. Now that she doesn’t have anything to do, she can join our group.”

  “I’m not bowling with you guys,” I said.

  “Our group isn’t about bowling,” Mama said. “We’re the blue man group, only we’re not men and we don’t bang on stuff with blue paint.”

  “We’re the Blue Hat Society,” Lucille said.

  I frowned. “You mean like the Red Hat Society?”

  “Sure. But we wear blue hats,” Mama said.

  “Why not just join the Red Hat Society?” I asked.

  “Because they have tea parties and go on cruises and schmooze a lot,” Mama said. “We want to do more. We want some action.”

  I looked over at Jackie. She had a slight smile on her face and shrugged her shoulders. I think she was enjoying the break from work. I couldn’t imagine she was actually getting a story for the newspaper from this crew.

  Rita spoke up. “We’re trying to come up with a plan of action. The first item on our agenda is we’re all getting tattoos.”

  “I want a tramp stamp,” Mama said. “I won’t get fat and distort it like other women do.”

  “It might sag,” Lucille said. “I’m getting a sleeve.”

  These ladies were nuts. My aunt was the only sane one of the bunch. “Aunt Bee, are you really going to get a tattoo?” I asked.

  She smiled a sly smile. “I already have three.”

  The ladies howled with laughter.

  I couldn’t hold back a smile. “If you’re going to get tattoos as a group, shouldn’t you all get the same thing? You know, something to represent what your group is about. And they should be blue and orange.”

  “Why orange?” Mama asked.

  “Duh. Because they’re your colors,” I said. “Blue hats and orange shirts.”

  “We’re not the Cleveland Cavaliers,” Mama said dryly. “We didn’t plan to wear orange shirts today. It just worked out that way.”

  She had to be lying. “Do you honestly expect me to believe you each wore an orange shirt today without talking about it first?”

  Aunt Bee put three fingers in the air. “Scouts honor.”

  “What are you going to get, Jo?” Lucille asked.

  I didn’t hesitate and said, “I’m going to get a gun.”

  The room was suddenly quiet.

  “A tattoo or a real gun?” Jackie asked. She sounded concerned.

  I smiled again and said, “Both.”

  Everyone remained silent.

  “Well, now that the elephant is in the room,” Mama said, breaking the awkwardness. “Why did you take a shot at that policewoman? Were you really trying to kill her?”

  My mouth fell open. “I can’t believe you think I did. Until I was arrested Sunday night, I was in Pepper’s basement for four days.”

  Lucille stood from the table and headed for the door. With every step she took, a bit of gas escaped. “I think (poot) Jo should be (poot) our first course of action. (poot) We’ll find out (poot) who shot Barbie.”

  Mama fished a toy hammer out from under a breakfast burrito wrapper. She banged it on the table. “Then it’s settled. We’re going to prove Jo’s innocence. But first, we get the tattoos.”

  I closed my eyes and shook my head. When I opened them again, Jackie was gathering up her things. I walked out with her.

  “Would you mind giving me a lift to Pepper’s?” I asked.

  She hesitated for a moment before asking, “Are you really ok? You look pretty rough.”

  “I’ll look better once I can change my clothes, fix my hair, and find some makeup.”

  She nodded. “Matt said your bail was posted last evening. Where’s your truck?”

  “I didn’t feel like driving, so I left it at Pepper’s.”

  “Did you stay at her place last night?”

  I half smiled. “What’s with all the questions? If you don’t want to give me a ride, just say so.”

  “Nope. We’re good. Hop in.”

  I slid into the passenger seat and buckled my seatbelt. Jackie’s reporter side refused to stay quiet.

  “So, you and Glenn are officially over?”

 
“Yes, and I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Clay’s moving out to stay with a friend, and I’m moving back home.”

  “You’re really giving up and handing Glenn over to Barbie?”

  “Yep. Don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Jo, something doesn’t feel right. I don’t know what it is, but I’m your friend. You can talk to me.”

  “Not according to your husband. I’m not supposed to talk to you about Barbie at all.”

  “Even if I believe you didn’t try to shoot her?”

  “It sure didn’t sound like it a few minutes ago when I said I was going to get a gun.”

  “I know. I’m sorry, but it’s obvious you just went through some sort of emotional breakdown, and I didn’t know how serious you were about wanting a gun.”

  “I’m always serious about wanting a gun, but not to kill Barbie. I don’t care about her. I refuse to compete with her, and she can have Glenn. He obviously wants her.”

  “That’s not true. Pepper said he was at her house or called every day to ask about you.”

  “That’s just it. That’s all he did. He asked about me. He didn’t storm the castle and proclaim his undying love for me. He only wanted to be sure I wasn’t going to kill myself, so he wouldn’t have my death on his conscience for the rest of his life.”

  I needed to stop talking. The more I tried to explain Glenn’s actions, the more it bothered me. Why didn’t he storm the castle? Why didn’t he force his way into Pepper’s house and declare his undying love for me? Just thinking these things caused my doubt about his sincerity to raise its ugly head again.

  “Jackie, it’s over. I don’t want to talk about it.”

  I folded my arms across my chest and closed my eyes. If she said anything more, I was going to ignore her. I needed my strength to deal with Pepper. It was going to be even harder to discuss Glenn with her.

  Jackie dropped me at the bottom of Pepper’s drive. While she was trying to tell me to call her if I wanted to talk, I threw a thank you over my shoulder and slammed the car door. I wanted her help to get information about Barbie, but today wasn’t the day to ask for it.

  When I walked into the house, Pepper stood from the dining room table and put her hands on her hips. “Where have you been? I’ve been worried sick. Jackie called last night and said you made bail, but you never called or came home.”

  A quick glance around the table showed I was interrupting Kelly and Keith’s math lesson.

  “I needed some time to myself, so I stayed with a friend.”

  “Who?” she asked.

  “No one you know.”

  Pepper and I knew all the same people, so she knew I was lying, but she didn’t press the issue. It dawned on me that I was going to be doing a lot of lying until this ordeal was over.

  “I’m sorry I let the police in,” Kelly said. “I told them you weren’t here, but that lady officer was really scary.”

  I smiled. “That’s Francine, but everyone calls her Frankie. She scares me, too.”

  “Kids, go to your rooms,” Pepper said.

  “They don’t have to leave,” I said. “I don’t want to interrupt your schooling.”

  Keith grabbed his textbook and closed it with a bang. “It’s ok. I’d rather go to my room than do math.”

  Before Pepper could tell him to take his work with him, he bounded up the stairs and out of sight. Kelly gave no indication she was going anywhere. I sat down in Keith’s empty seat.

  Pepper went into the kitchen and returned a few moments later with a cup of coffee. She set it on the table in front of me.

  “What’s going on?” she asked. “You look like you’re sick, and all we’ve heard is what’s on Milly’s beauty shop gossip line. She says they booked you for trying to kill Barbie.”

  “But we know you didn’t really try to kill her,” Kelly said.

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” I said. “The short version is that Glenn and I have definitely broken up, so don’t ask me about him. I never left your basement the entire time I was here, so there’s no way I shot Barbie, but she said I was the one who did. It’s her word against mine. Unless something changes, I’ll be in front of a jury in about three months. That’s all I know.”

  Pepper didn’t respond to my words. I knew she wanted to argue with me about Glenn, but she kept her mouth shut. A wise move on her part.

  Kelly was the one who had wheels spinning in her head. “If you weren’t there, why would Barbie say you were the one who tried to kill her? Wouldn’t you think she’d want to find out who really shot her?”

  “I know,” I said. “It doesn’t make sense. She probably knows I fell out of her tree last week, so maybe she just assumed it was me in the tree again.”

  “Why were you in her tree?” Kelly asked.

  It hadn’t occurred to me to tell Matt I had been on Barbie’s property last Wednesday night. That tidbit of information would probably come out during the trial, and Matt would be furious if he didn’t know about it ahead of time. It was possible Jackie told him about our escapade, but I wasn’t counting on it. I’d have to call him later.

  I gave Kelly a smile. “I climbed it to look in her bedroom window. I wanted to see if Glenn was there with her.”

  Her eyes opened wide. “Was he?”

  “I don’t know. I fell out of the tree before I could see anything.”

  Her eyes bugged even wider. She clapped a hand over her mouth to hide a smile.

  “It’s ok,” I said. “It wasn’t funny at the time, but it is now.” I slipped Glenn’s hoodie off and showed her the bruise on my arm.”

  “Eww,” she said. “That’s horrible.”

  Pepper was still quiet and seemed to be stewing. She sounded bossy when she said, “You need to eat something before you really do get sick. What can I make for you?”

  “Nothing. I’m going to clean up and go into work. I think the best thing I can do now is stay busy. Thanks for letting me stay here, but I’m done with your basement. I’m moving back into my house tomorrow.”

  “You’re really going to throw Clay out?” she asked in a tone suggesting disbelief.

  “I talked with him at the jail, and he said he could stay with a friend until he finds a new place to live.”

  She was extremely agitated. I didn’t know if she wasn’t yelling at me because Kelly was in the room, or if she wasn’t yelling because she didn’t want to get into another fight with me. Whichever it was, I was glad she was controlling herself.

  Kelly was still frowning. “I think Barbie shot herself. That’s why she’s saying it was you and she’s not looking for anyone else.”

  “What would make you think something like that?” Pepper asked.

  “It’s like my friend Jigs says. She’s a year older than me and in middle school. She says the girls are mean and steal each other’s boyfriends all the time. Suzie West chopped off all her hair and then said it was Candy Jones who attacked her and cut it, because she wanted Walter Blount to think Candy was a mean girl and break up with her.

  “How do you know Candy didn’t really chop Suzie’s hair off?” Pepper asked.

  “Jigs said all the girls knew she was lying. Only Walter and his friends believed her, and it sounds just like what happened to Aunt Jo. I think Barbie shot herself. Was she hurt real bad?”

  I shook my head. “Only a flesh wound in her upper arm.”

  “See. She did it to herself. You should let me and Jigs help you prove it. Jigs is good with stuff like this.”

  “No,” Pepper said quickly. “No one in this family is getting involved, and you and Keith are leaving with your father Friday morning anyway.”

  “Where are you going?” I asked.

  “Dad got a load going to California, so he’s going to take us with him,” Kelly said. “Mom’s going to mark it in her book as adventure and geography.”

  “When did adventure become a school subject
?” I asked.

  Pepper dropped her attitude a bit. “The weather’s nice now, and I’ve made enough tip money from working at Chummy’s that Buck can show them some of the country and still afford to feed them and stay in motels while they’re on the road. It’ll enhance their social skills on their transcripts.”

  “Truck stop socializing,” I said. “Everyone should have that on their resume.” Pepper didn’t appear to appreciate my words. I looked at Kelly and said, “I’m sure you’ll have a good time. There’s a lot to see between here and California.”

  I stood and headed for the basement. An hour later, I was on my way to the office.

  Chapter Five

  Arnie threw back the rest of a glass of gin and asked Parker for a cup of coffee. I was working on a bowl of Mulligan stew with a side slab of bread and butter. If I was going to get my strength back, I needed to eat food with substance for a few days.

  While I had been cleaning up and changing my clothes at Pepper’s, I also changed my mind about asking Jackie to help me gather information about Barbie. I decided Arnie was the logical choice. He would keep my confidences and wouldn’t print anything we discovered in the newspaper.

  I had talked him into ducking out of our offices and into Parker’s Tavern. I wanted to get something to eat and discuss my situation with him. I had already given him the details of my fake breakup with Glenn and filled him in on what Glenn had told me about Barbie.

  “Other than losing some weight,” he said, “you don’t look any worse for the wear. I don’t know what all the hoopla was about.”

  I smiled. “It was pretty frightening there for a while. Clean hair, a curling iron, and lots of concealer around the eyes work wonders.”

  He furrowed his eyebrows and frowned. “I’m sorry to have to ask you, Jo, but if I’m gonna put you back to work, I need to know. Are you stable? If anything else goes sideways with Glenn, are you gonna need a bed in the psych ward?”