Roast Turkey and a Murder

by Kathleen Suzette

I was surprised to hear him say that. “And what would you do with your life?” I asked him. Sam was in his late thirties with what could be called dirty dishwater blond hair. He wasn’t terribly tall, but he was attractive in a small-town-boy way. I had never stopped to wonder what he might have done with his life had he not bought the diner.

  “I don’t know,” he said wistfully. “Sometimes I think I should go back to college and maybe get a degree. I’ve always been interested in numbers. Maybe I could become a high school math teacher?”

  “Sam,” I said excitedly. “I think that’s a wonderful idea! Seriously, you put in so many hours at this diner. If you became a teacher, if that’s really what you wanted to do, think of all the extra time you’d have. You’d have summers and holidays off. You sure don’t get that here.”

  “You can say that again,” he said. “I’ve been working at this diner for twelve years now and it does get tiring. But are you trying to get rid of me?” He eyed me.

  I shook my head. “No, you’re the best boss I’ve ever had, Sam. But I’m all for anyone that wants to pursue something they genuinely love to do.”

  “I’ll have to take that under consideration,” he said thoughtfully. “So tell me, Rainey, when are we going to get another recipe from you? It’s been ages, you know.”

  I laughed. “Are you kidding me? I cooked a huge Thanksgiving dinner at my house the other night. I’m going to use several of those recipes for my cookbook, and I really need a break.”

  “That was a wonderful meal and I do appreciate the invite,” he said, turning back to the grill and flipping the rest of the hamburger patties. “Just seems like we’d get something else to try out. Something sweet and Christmassy.”

  I laughed and set the four side salads I had been making onto a tray to take out to my tables. “Let me get back to you on that. Christmas is coming up and as much as I hate to say goodbye to pumpkin spice everything, I may just come up with a Christmas recipe to make and bring down here.”

  I took the tray of salads out to my table and handed them around and smiled at my customers. “I’ll have your meals out to you shortly. Is there anything else I can get for you?”

  After they assured me that they were fine and didn’t need anything else, I turned around and headed back to the front counter.

  “Well,” Cade said from his usual place at the counter. “Fancy meeting you here.”

  “It is a surprise, isn’t it?” I kidded. “I have a surprise for you.” I reached beneath the front counter and pulled out the bag of goodies I had bought at the bakery before I came to work and set them down in front of him. I had already helped myself to my donuts and cookie. They were so tasty I had seriously considered eating his and never letting him know that I had bought them for him. In the end, I decided I didn’t really need more sugar, and I sacrificed the donuts and the cookie for Cade’s sake.

  “What’s this?” he asked, peering into the bag. “Oh, those look really good. Are they all for me?”

  I nodded. “I know how that sweet tooth of yours is, and I needed to stop by the bakery anyway.”

  He eyed me. “You needed to stop by the bakery? That would be because you wanted to say hello to a Mr. John Greenlee?”

  “Could be,” I said. “All he really did was confirm the fact that he couldn’t stand Tori Wells. But, he pointed a finger at Elizabeth Wells and confirmed what Ida had said about Elizabeth Wells trying to bribe her son to leave his wife.”

  “I think it takes a lot of nerve to bribe your own son to leave his wife. Why would she even think he would do something like that?” He pulled the pumpkin spice donut out of the bag and took a bite. “I feel guilty eating food from another establishment.”

  I shrugged. “Maybe they were already having problems in the marriage. And maybe Elizabeth knew about that and was hoping just a little push might persuade him to go through with leaving her. I probably should stop in and check on Rick and see how he’s doing. We won’t tell Sam about the donuts. He’ll want to know why I didn’t bring him some.”

  He grinned at me. “I came in here for lunch, but I might eat donuts and a cookie instead.”

  “That’s not good for your health,” I said. “What would you like to order?”

  He put the rest of the donut back into the bag and rolled up the top of the paper bag and set it on the counter. “How about one of those sourdough melty burger things? And a cup of coffee to wash down the donut?”

  “With fries?” I asked.

  He nodded. “I’m sure that’s a lot healthier than donuts and a cookie.”

  “Don’t be a smarty pants,” I said, pulling my order pad from my apron pocket and jotting down his order. “I’ll get you some coffee.”

  He nodded. “That sounds terrific.”

  I headed back to the kitchen and handed Sam the order and then got a cup of coffee for Cade. I brought it out and set the coffee on the counter in front of him.

  “So, anything new?”

  He grinned at me. “New? I did buy a new pair of shoes the other day. Is that what you’re asking about?”

  I rolled my eyes at him. “Everyone’s a comedian. You know I’m talking about Tori Wells.”

  “We went back through the alley again, and of course there still aren’t any skid marks on the pavement after the snow melted. Other than the fact that Tori was in that alley, there was nothing unusual. We also went through her car, but again there was nothing unusual there, either.”

  I nodded. “What about Rick? What does he say? Is there anyone he thinks might have wanted to hurt her? I really didn’t get a chance to speak to him when I brought the food to him on Thanksgiving Day. He wasn’t feeling well, so he went to bed.”

  “According to Rick Wells, his wife was the picture of virtue and was well liked by everyone that knew her.”

  I stared at him, open-mouthed. “You don’t mean that, right? You’re just teasing me?”

  He shook his head and chuckled. “I kid you not, he almost said those exact words to me. Grief has a funny way of making people forget the bad things about a person. That might be why he said it.”

  “Wow. Or maybe she had him fooled? How long were they married?”

  “Nearly twenty-five years,” he said. “I don’t think she could have had him fooled all those years. But you know how it is, sometimes people regret all the bad things that went on between them and another person after that other person dies.”

  I nodded. “That’s got to be what it is. I think I’m going to bake something and take it over to him and see how he’s doing.”

  “It’s not a bad idea. What are you going to make?”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Wouldn’t you like to know? Actually, I think I might make a good old-fashioned pumpkin roll. I was thinking I needed one to add to my cookbook. What’s more American than a pumpkin roll during the holidays?”

  “Nothing I can think of unless you count roast turkey for Thanksgiving.”

  I nodded. I decided to do it. I was going to whip up a pumpkin roll and take it by to Rick as soon as I had a chance. I couldn’t fathom how he could think Tori was such a wonderful person when everybody else that I’d spoken to had a completely different opinion of her.

  Chapter Thirteen

  When I got off work at the diner I headed over to Elizabeth Wells’ beauty salon. I had made a call to her earlier in the day and she just happened to have a cancellation in the afternoon. My hair needed to be brightened up anyway. I was born blond and I technically still was even without the assistance of chemical enhancement, but my hair wasn’t as bright and shiny as it had been when I was a little girl. Thankfully, that could be fixed.

  I pulled up to the Curls and Cuts salon and parked my car. The shop was popular around town and I had occasionally had Elizabeth cut and color my hair. She was usually booked up for months in advance and getting in to see her wasn’t easy. It was just luck that this appointment cancellation had come through, and I just happened to give her a call before anybo
dy else could snatch it up.

  “Hi Rainey,” Elizabeth said brightly when I walked through the door.

  “Hi Elizabeth,” I said. She was just finishing up with another customer and I waited until she was done and the customer left.

  She turned to me with a big smile. “You called at just the right time.”

  “I’m so glad you could squeeze me in on such short notice. My hair has been so drab lately. I don’t know what it is about the darker skies, but it seems like my hair just goes along with it and turns dark and drab.”

  “I know exactly what you mean,” she said waving a hand at me. “Come on back. I have issues with my own hair during the winter if you want to know the truth. But we’ll get you fixed right up.”

  I sat in the chair facing the big mirror. She put the vinyl drape cloth over me and snapped it in the back.

  “I think I want you to take a couple of inches off the length. My ends have gotten so dry and frizzy lately and I think it’ll help me feel better about my hair,” I told her.

  She nodded and began running a brush through my hair. “I was going to suggest the same thing. Without a fresh cut, hair just looks drab, even with new color. I’ll lay you back and wash your hair.” She began humming a Christmas song as she worked.

  She set the chair back and began working on my hair and I stared up at the ceiling, trying to find a way to bring up what I wanted to know.

  She stopped humming long enough to ask, “So has your boyfriend figured out anything about Tori’s death?”

  I sighed inwardly; glad she had brought it up herself. The other chairs in the shop were empty, and I wondered if her assistants had the day off, or maybe they were taking a break between customers.

  “They’re still working on the case,” I said, trying to sound casual. “It’s just been a terrible shock to so many people. Tori was kind of a fixture in this town.”

  She clucked her tongue. “I bet it’s not a surprise to everyone,” she said as she sprayed my hair with water.

  “Do you think so?” I asked her innocently.

  She nodded. “The more I think about it, the more I think Kayla Wright may have had something to do with her death. She’s been so bitter ever since she lost the election.”

  “I bet it was hard for her to accept since she had had the position for so long,” I said, trying to sound noncommittal.

  “That’s exactly it. She was sure she was going to be a shoo-in to win again and here comes Tori, sweeping it right out from beneath her. But Tori was that kind of person. So sweet to your face, but then so ugly and hateful the minute you looked away.” She shook her head, her mouth forming a hard line.

  “That must have been very difficult for you and your son,” I said. “I bet holidays were rough.”

  “You don’t know the half of it. I knew from the first time I met her that she would be trouble for my family. Don’t get me wrong, I love those two granddaughters she gave me. And maybe I shouldn’t complain at all since I have them. They’re nothing like their mother. They take after their father completely. Just so sweet and kind.” She went back to humming.

  “How are they doing since their mother died?” I asked her. I knew it had to be a terrible shock for those girls to find out about their mother.

  “They’re struggling with it,” she said, nodding. “I think they feel guilty about not coming home for Thanksgiving, but I told them they shouldn’t feel that way. When they were in high school they never got along with their mother. There were constant fights, and to be honest, Tori was terrible with them. She was constantly punishing them. They were never allowed to go out with their friends, so I can’t really blame them for not wanting to come home for Thanksgiving. They’ve got their freedom now that they’re away at college.”

  “How old are the girls?”

  “Tabitha is eighteen and Sarah is nineteen. Beautiful girls, if I do say so myself. I think they look an awful lot like my son,” she said, massaging my scalp as she washed my hair.

  “Still, this is a difficult time for them,” I said, enjoying the scalp massage.

  “No doubt about that,” she said. “But here’s something you may not know; Kayla felt like someone was trying to intimidate her. On three different occasions, someone egged her house when that whole election thing was going on.”

  “She thought it was Tori? Not neighborhood kids?” I asked.

  “She was sure it was Tori. That was the kind of thing Tori would do. She intimidated people that didn’t agree with her or go along with whatever she wanted. Before she made it known that she was going to run for the position, she told Kayla she had been president for far too long and suggested she step down so someone with new ideas could take over. When Kayla refused, that’s when the trouble began.”

  That was something to think about. I just couldn’t imagine grown adults behaving this way, but since Elizabeth wasn’t the first one to mention some of Tori’s antics, I had to believe it was true. “Did anything else happen?”

  “Oh yes,” she said as she began rinsing my hair. “You have really nice, thick hair. Any woman would be thrilled to have your hair,” she said before continuing.

  “Thank you,” I said feeling a little more proud of my hair than I probably should have. I hadn’t done anything to have thick hair, after all; I was born with it.

  “Someone keyed Kayla’s car, and one day she came home from work and her planters that sat on her front porch had been smashed. Someone had thrown big rocks at them,” she continued.

  I gasped. “How frightening. Did she report it to the police?”

  “Yes, she did. But you know how it is, nothing against your boyfriend, but the police aren’t going to do anything unless they have concrete evidence.”

  I gave her a half nod. “That’s true. It’s not like they can go around arresting just anyone. They’re going to have to have proof before they do anything. But did she even suggest to the police that Tori did it?”

  “She did, but the officers that came out to her house didn’t even write it down. She knew there wasn’t any chance of the police doing anything about Tori and that was when she decided to get a security system for her home. She thought she’d be able to catch her on video, but Tori never came back to the house.”

  All of this was disturbing. I would have hated to cross Tori, and I was glad that I never had. “How did you manage to deal with her all the years she was married to your son? Weren’t they married a long time?”

  She nodded. “Almost twenty-five years. Twenty-five years of hell, I might add,” she said, bitterness creeping into her voice. “I tried to keep my distance, but that was almost impossible. I wanted to see those beautiful granddaughters of mine. I asked my son if he was sure he wanted to continue in this relationship after the girls had grown up and gone to college, but he said he loved her.” She snorted and shook her head sadly. “I think some people just get used to being treated badly and they tell themselves that the other person doesn’t mean it. They probably tell themselves they love them.”

  I bit my lower lip. “I heard from someone that you told your son you would buy him a new house and a new car if he would leave her,” I said, putting it out there. I didn’t want to make her mad while she was working on my hair. I might turn out looking like an Easter egg. But I wanted to see what her reaction would be.

  Her hand stopped working for a moment and she looked at me. “It’s not like I bribed him with it, if that’s what you’re thinking. I just suggested that he would be safer without her around. I said I would buy him a new home and a new car so he could have some distance from her. Her name was on everything, including his car. His name wasn’t even on it, so I figured there was no way he was going to be able to take that with him if he left her. I just wanted my son to be safe.”

  In a twisted way, it made sense. If Tori really was dangerous, then she would want her son safe. It didn’t sound nearly as sinister coming from her as it did from the other people that had repeated it. But then,
she probably didn’t want it to sound sinister. I would still keep my eye on her, but having spoken to her, I wasn’t sure she sounded as guilty as I had at first believed. But I had been wrong before.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The next day I made a pumpkin roll and took it over to Rick Wells’ house. The scent of cinnamon, ginger, and allspice filled my car as I drove. I thought it had turned out quite well with the wonderful cream cheese filling.

  Tori had been dead for over a week and I knew the funeral would be in a few days. I didn’t feel I knew Tori well enough to attend, so I decided to send a lovely flower arrangement instead.

  “Good morning, Rainey,” Rick said when he answered the door. He seemed surprised to see me.

  “Hello Rick,” I said. “I hope I’m not intruding, but I was making pumpkin rolls, and I thought I would bring one over to you.”