How Now Purple Cow

by Marja McGraw

  “Yeah,” I said, “Grandma’s so cool.”

  “Pamela, what do you think about the scones?” Chris wiped some jam off his plate with his index finger and tasted it. “Do you think this could work for my mother?”

  “We’ve got the lunch crowd and the dinner crowd. Why not add an afternoon tea crowd? If worse comes to worse, she can do her baking at the restaurant. Chef Luis wouldn’t mind, I’m sure. I’ll talk to him about it. Of course, now I’m thinking about finding some great tea. I don’t want to serve the scones without quality teas.”

  “I’ll leave that up to you.”

  “You wouldn’t know the difference between a black tea and a green tea anyway.”

  Judith returned with copies of the notes and handed them to Mikey. “Here ya go, Ace. You and Connie can study these tonight. She’ll help you read them. That is, as long as you don’t have any homework. That reminds me. Why aren’t you in school today?”

  “The teachers are having meetings at school.”

  “Ah. Teacher Conferences.”

  I turned to Carol and Coral. They were being suspiciously quiet. “It was good to see you two. Be sure to stop by the restaurant soon. We’ve missed seeing you.”

  “Uh huh. I’ll be by, but I don’t know about Coral.” Carol glanced at her sister and wrinkled her nose in distaste.

  “We can both go,” Coral said. “We can force ourselves to get along for one meal. Besides, I want copies of Mother’s notes, too. Maybe we can go over them together.”

  There was no doubt in my mind that the twins wanted to involve themselves in any investigating we might do. I doubted it, but it could bring the two women closer in their relationship. It might explain a few things about their mother, too. I’d have to discuss the idea with Chris.

  With hugs and good-byes out of the way, we loaded ourselves into the Jeep and headed for home.

  I reached over and patted Chris’s shoulder. “What do you think about taking Sherlock and Watson with us tonight?”

  We have two large yellow Labrador retrievers and a yard behind the restaurant where they can stay if we take them with us. We’d left them at home while we visited Chris’s parents and they were probably ready for a little excitement. They were always ready for a little excitement. And they were part of our little family.

  “Works for me, cookie.”

  “Did you notice that the twins seem to want to be involved if we investigate the disappearance of Marsha? I don’t see how this could get anyone in trouble. After all, whatever happened took place back in the early sixties.”

  Chris shook his head. “If there’s a way to mess this up, those dames will find it. Besides, they can be Dragon Ladies when they want their way.”

  I figured I should probably butter him up a little. “Bogey Man, you know they’re not really intimidating women. And in this case, why would they want to intimidate anyone? Especially you. They think you’re tops.”

  He loved it when I called him Bogey Man. It was a nickname a private investigator has dubbed him with and it had stuck. Of course, one of the twins had used the name and he’d cringed. Guess I had the home court advantage, or something like that.

  “Besides,” I said, “everyone except us will have read those notes by tomorrow. Since Marguerite was their mother, maybe they’ll be able to read between the lines and fill us in. And like I said, it’s not a current case, so I honestly don’t think they’d cause problems. Right?”

  “Mom’s right.”

  I hadn’t thought about Mikey listening from the backseat. I believed he’d fallen asleep.

  “What can I do to help?” Mikey leaned as far forward as his seatbelt would allow.

  So both the twins and Mikey wanted to get involved. Well, this would be a case without consequences or danger to any of us – for a change.

  “You’re good with the Internet. Why don’t you research the purple cows? Something I can’t understand is how did William put the ring inside the bull? I looked at the underside of the mama cow and there’s only a very tiny hole in the bottom. It’s not big enough for a ring to fit through.”

  “Maybe he made the hole bigger. He had to put the ring in there somehow.” Mikey could be logical when he wanted to be.

  “I guess that’s a possibility,” I said. “Anyway, see what you can find out about the cows. Maybe you can even find the poem your grandmother talked about. I’ll bet Constance would let you use her computer. Think of it as good practice for researching projects for school.”

  That should keep him busy.

  “Ah, Mom. Why do you always think about school?”

  “Because if you want to do anything important in life, then you need to pay attention and learn as much as you can.”

  “Yeah. But I just want to be a private eye like your friend, Sandi. Or maybe I could be a homicide detective like Janet Riley.”

  “Either way,” Chris said, “you need to learn all kinds of things so you can do a good job. Those two women don’t just guess about their cases. They work hard and do a lot of research.”

  Mikey sighed. “I guess you two are right.” He leaned back and became very quiet.

  I glanced at Chris and he was grinning. While Mikey wasn’t his son by birth, he’d adopted him – and he seemed to genuinely enjoy being a father.

  Mikey leaned forward again. “Can I go to the restaurant tonight?”

  “No, son,” I said. “Tomorrow you go back to school. You need a good night’s rest.”

  “Ahhhh.” The disappointment in his voice was only halfhearted.

  We arrived home and checked on the dogs and their water. Everything was fine.

  Chris changed into his 1940s slacks with a white shirt and suspenders. It was Tuesday, so there was no need to dress to the nines. I put on a simple green dress with a belted waist and a skirt that was pleated from the hips down. The dress accentuated my green eyes, which didn’t break my heart. Although the upper portion of the dress was solid green, the pleated skirt was green and white checked. Sometimes my clothes made me feel like I was really stepping back in time.

  I wore matching green shoes with open toes.

  My hair was in a basic old-fashioned pageboy style, but I pulled the sides back and used clips to hold it in place.

  One quick look in the mirror and I was ready to go.

  “Come on, Chris,” I called. “Mikey? Have you got the notes Grandma Judy gave you?”

  My husband and son met me in the kitchen with two very happy dogs following. They seemed to sense they were going with us.

  “Let’s take the Chevy tonight.” Chris picked up his keys and headed for the door. He drives a vintage 1940s green Chevrolet, and since he looked like Humphrey Bogart he drew stares from a lot of people. Well, the younger generation, for the most part, had no clue who he looked like, but there were plenty who did. The younger people simply got a kick out of him.

  Mikey handed me Marguerite’s notes so the dogs wouldn’t slobber all over them and climbed in the back seat. Did he know his dogs or what? When they’re excited, keep a towel handy.

  We dropped our son off at Constance’s house on the way to work.

  “Can I use your computer, Gram?” Mikey asked. He and Constance were close and, like I said, he thought of her as an extra grandmother.

  She loved it, especially since she didn’t have any children or grandchildren.

  “Have at it, kiddo.” She pointed to a corner where her computer rested on a small desk.

  I briefly explained what we’d found at Judith’s that morning and she took the notes from me and set them on her coffee table.

  “It looks like Mikey and I may have a pretty interesting evening,” she said. “I guess that’s to be expected though, considering who his parents are.”

  She was still chuckling at her own remark when I left.

  So was I until I realized just how right she was.

  Chapter Five

  Things were quiet at the restaurant for all of about an hour. I p
ut the dogs in the yard behind the building with plenty of food and water and left an outside light on. Sherlock and Watson (Watson’s the female) are very friendly dogs. In fact, sometimes they’re too friendly. They don’t have a mean bone in their collective bodies. They can be protective if it’s called for, though. However, they’re both afraid of the dark. Go figure. That’s why I leave the outdoor lights on at night.

  And darkness had descended for the night.

  I’d just approached Chef Luis to ask about kitchen privileges for Judith when the dogs started barking, sounding as though there’d been an invasion in their territory.

  I ran through the kitchen to my office and out the back door, leaving it open in case we needed to retreat quickly.

  The fence that enclosed their area has a small extension around the side of the old house where we opened our restaurant. It’s on the opposite side from where customers enter and parking is located. Oh, and the outside lights don’t reach around the corner, so it’s an area they don’t frequent at night. Too spooky for their tastes.

  But there they stood, hackles up and barking for all they were worth. Actually, they stood at the rear of the house with their heads pointed around the corner, into the darkness.

  “What’s the matter with –“

  Before I could get my question out I heard a loud snort come from the side of the house.

  My mouth fell open as the dogs stopped barking, stepped back and turned, and power-walked across the yard and into my office, never looking anywhere but straight ahead. Not up, not down, not to the side. Apparently they were trying to look dignified, not afraid.

  I looked back toward the corner of the building and saw Chris watching the show over the fence, laughing.

  “Did you snort at them?” I asked.

  “Of course. I carried some empty boxes to the side of the house and they heard me. I guess they thought I was the boogey man.”

  “That’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.” I started to laugh. “They didn’t run, but walked into my office with their tails between their legs and their heads held high.” I glanced back and saw their faces peeking out of the office doorway.

  Chris turned and strolled back to the front of the restaurant, whistling. I headed to my office where I found the dogs still watching me.

  “Let’s go outside,” I said.

  They both sat down, stubbornly, and wouldn’t budge. I closed the door.

  “If you two don’t take the cake. You can stay in my office until you both calm down, but then you’re going back outside.” As if they could understand me, they settled on a rug near my desk and closed their eyes. Maybe they figured if they couldn’t see me, then I couldn’t see them.

  “Sometimes I think you two are nuts. Wait ‘til I tell Mikey what brave souls you are.”

  I left them closed in the office and returned to the kitchen where I found Chef Luis and Phillip, our sous chef, busily preparing food.

  “Tuesdays are usually slow,” Phillip said, “but for some reason people are filling the place up. You’d think it was a holiday.”

  I smiled at him. “As long as they keep coming, I’m happy.”

  Luis glanced up from cutting vegetables. “Did you want to speak to me? And did you find out what was wrong with the dogs?”

  “Yes and yes. The dogs heard a noise and Chris scared them.”

  He laughed. “That’s not hard to do. I’ve never seen dogs who are afraid of the dark before.” He shoulders shook slightly. “That pair beats everything.”

  “The other thing I wanted to talk to you about is my mother-in-law, but you’re busy, so why don’t we talk when things slow down?”

  He swept the veggies into a pot. “I’ll let you know when I’m available.”

  Nodding, I left the kitchen and headed for the reservation desk where Chris was talking to customers. Being a Tuesday and a generally slow day, walk-in business was welcome. Weekends were another story and usually required reservations, although we tried to keep a couple of tables free for walk-ins.

  “Mrs. Tuttle,” I said, “so nice to see you and your granddaughter. Welcome to Bogey Nights.”

  “Thank you. We decided to splurge on a night out.”

  Her granddaughter covered her mouth and said, “That translates to Grandma burned our dinner.”

  I smiled. “Been there and done that. I’m glad we can take over for the evening.”

  I showed them to a table and as I turned to walk away, Mrs. Tuttle mumbled, “I did it on purpose.”

  Donna, one of my favorite waitresses, appeared and took drink orders.

  I turned back to the reservation desk. “Uh oh.”

  One twin stood in front of Chris and the other was just entering the restaurant, a sheaf of papers in her hand. I hoped they’d planned on meeting and they weren’t going to have a run in.

  “Ladies,” I said. “I didn’t know you’d take me up on coming in for dinner so soon.”

  Carol stepped in my direction. “We decided to go over Mother’s notes while we eat. I’m anxious to find out what was going on. Maybe you can join us?”

  “Yes, please,” Coral said. “We can always use a referee.”

  I had a feeling it was going to be a memorable evening.

  “I’d love to join you for a few minutes. Let’s find a table in a quiet corner so you can read without interruption. As soon as things are under control, I’ll take a break and sit with you.”

  I was anxious to find out what Marguerite had investigated and uncovered. Basing my thoughts on her letter, I had a feeling that if anything, she’d probably only confused herself. It didn’t sound like she’d found much information of use. Could we do any better all these years later?

  Maybe at the time Marsha disappeared, the twins had overheard information that could be helpful without realizing it was important.

  I waited until the twins were done eating before approaching their table again. I noticed they were quiet with each other, an unusual state of affairs.

  “Okay, do you want to go over the notes?” I asked.

  Coral took a large gulp of her iced tea and pointed at the empty chair. “Have a seat. I skimmed the papers before leaving the house. Now I need to read them through.”

  “Did you find anything of interest?”

  “Did Coral find anything of interest?” Carol asked. “That’s wishful thinking.”

  Before Coral could respond I took the papers out of her hand. “Let’s see what we’ve got here. Chris could probably figure it out better than me, but…” I began scanning the pages.

  “There’s a lot to read,” Carol said. “I counted. There are five full pages of notes. Mother was a busy woman.”

  “Yes, sister dear, but it sounds like she couldn’t make heads or tails out of what she found.”

  “And what did she find?” I asked.

  “It looks like gobbledygook to me.” Coral tapped the pages I held in my hands.

  “Okay, let’s start reading. Maybe if we put our heads together something will make sense.”

  “One would hope so,” Carol said. “Coral’s just slow sometimes.”

  Coral rolled her eyes, mimicking my bad habit. “I refuse to acknowledge that remark,” she said.

  Chris, grinning, approached the table, but when he heard the comments the sisters were making he simply turned and headed in the other direction. Chicken!

  Ignoring the twins, I started perusing Marguerite’s notes. I thought they were rather significant. On the first page there were notes about several phone calls she made, trying to find Marsha. She had dates, times and the names of the people she spoke with along with brief notes about their responses.

  It was her last notation that caught my attention.

  “After making telephone calls to so many people, I’ve begun to believe they didn’t really know her at all. No one seemed to know anything personal about her. This made me stop and think about her. I realized I didn’t really know much about her either.


  “While I thought I’d come to know her well, I was wrong. She’s almost like a shadow. She was social, but never revealed anything personal to her acquaintances.”

  I read the last two paragraphs aloud to Carol and Coral.

  “A shadow? Somehow that sounds almost ominous. Why didn’t Marsha want anyone to know her as a person and not just someone who was simply there?”

  “Good question,” Carol said. “I vaguely remember meeting her, but she wasn’t memorable. I mean, she was pretty, but the word shadow is a good description. She seemed to stay in the background.”

  “I wonder what William saw in her?” Coral looked off into the distance, thinking about it. “You know, now that I think back, I remember that she seemed sweet, and she smiled a lot, but it seems like she did keep herself at a distance from everyone.”

  “There may have been more to Marsha than anyone realized,” I said. “She was either playing it close to the vest, or maybe she was really, really shy.”

  Carol tipped her head to the side and appeared thoughtful. “No, my memory of her doesn’t equate to shy. I remember her chuckling like she knew a secret when Mother tried to ask her personal things. She never answered questions. She side-stepped them.”

  “Now that I think about it,” Coral said, “you’re right. I remember you and me sitting and listening to the adults talk. Marsha never said anything of any substance.”

  “Ah, you see? You two do remember more than you realize.” I looked at each sister in turn and smiled. “We may get somewhere with this if we work at it.”

  I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to find my chicken husband had joined us after all.

  “I’d like to read the notes, too, now that we’re getting a little input from the girls.”

  “I love it when someone calls me a girl,” Carol said.

  “We know stuff.” Coral gave Chris a goofy, somewhat adoring look.

  Two minds taking what they wanted from his one comment.

  Chapter Six

  I reached up to my shoulder and patted Chris’s hand. “I’m glad you decided to join us.”