A Pocket Full of Pie

by Leena Clover

  The hostess recognized us from our previous visit.

  “Pot pies are just coming out,” she beamed.

  My mouth watered at the thought of buttery pastry and creamy sauce with juicy chunks of meat. Becky and I both nodded eagerly.

  I put my head down and worked on my pie. I can be quite devoted that way.

  Becky kicked me under the table.

  “Meera,” she whispered, tipping her head to one side.

  I looked around. The place was empty except for a table in the corner. A lone figure wearing a long winter coat sat huddled, sipping a cup of coffee. It was hard to say if it was a man or woman from the angle.

  “That woman …” Becky whispered. “I think she was in the drive through line at the taco place.”

  “So?” I rolled my eyes.

  Becky gave me a meaningful glare. I snapped out of the pie induced stupor and turned around swiftly. Becky kicked me again. We pretended to be busy eating. The figure stood up and went out without giving us a second glance.

  “See? That person didn’t even give us a glance.”

  “I don’t know, Meera,” Becky was glum.

  The woman came by to clear our plates.

  “You want to know something funny?” she asked. “Old lady over there was here the last time you had lunch. We see very few people out here in the backwoods, and then the same people turn up twice, at the same time!”

  She walked away, shaking her head.

  I placed some cash on the table as the woman handed over the check.

  “Have you had this store for long?”

  “My family’s been here for over a hundred years,” the woman smiled. “My Ma started this country store and restaurant. I was her only child, so I settled down here with my family.”

  “You must know people from the surrounding areas, then?”

  “That I do. It’s a shame what happened to that Harris boy. But I say he had it coming.”

  “We heard he was very well loved.”

  I looked at her face.

  “By most folks, yes.”

  Her face had set in a frown. Becky cut to the chase.

  “Are you talking about the girl he jilted? We heard she was insane.”

  “She was nothing of that sort. I bounced her on my knee when she was a baby. She was such a sweet girl. Then that Harris boy went and fell for some girl at that fancy college of his. He couldn’t dump our local girl quick enough.”

  “She took it hard?” I prodded.

  “That she did. Mother and daughter both moved away.”

  “Really, where?” I asked urgently.

  “No one knows. Now, how about some dessert?”

  We shook our heads and thanked the lady. I rushed home as fast as I could. The first call I put in was for Stan.

  “I say, Meera, you should join the police force. That’s a lot of information to process.”

  I hung up, feeling pleased with myself. I called Tony next and told him everything that had happened.

  “Slow down, Meera! So Pam won’t tell us her alibi, Cam had access to poisonous mushrooms, Jordan’s ex attacked him once … Is that all?”

  I had to tell him about the woman. I could hear him almost fall out of bed.

  “Do you believe me now?” he roared.

  “We don’t know it’s the same woman. Looked like some dowdy old lady. Maybe she just stopped there for a snack like we did.”

  “Yeah, right!” Tony refused to believe me.

  I hung up. I didn’t want to listen to his tirade. I walked into the kitchen, sniffing at what was cooking.

  “Hungry?” Motee Ba asked.

  “Not really,” I said. “What’s for dinner?”

  “Khichdi,” Motee Ba smiled, knowing I wouldn’t refuse.

  This lentil and rice stew is a staple in any Patel household. Warm, mushy, topped with plenty of ghee with a side of fried papads, this is the comfort food on which I was raised.

  My image processing program was almost ready to be tested. I was eager to find out how successful I was in the first round. I would need to tweak it but I was hoping I wasn’t too far off mark.

  I checked the special email I had set up for Mom’s case. Some of the departments I had approached had responded. Some needed paperwork to make Mom’s case active. Some had already done it. Most of them wanted a photograph. I sent out my specially drafted email to 10 more people in Arizona and Alabama. I was widening the net bit by bit, sending the email to a new set of departments every day. I had a long list to get through.

  That night, I dreamed I was flying down an icy road. I yanked the steering with my hands but it didn’t respond. A car followed me, a hooded figure at the wheel. Sleet came in through the windows, soaking me. I braked hard and the car skidded, going round in circles on the narrow road.

  I woke with a start. My bedroom window was open, the flimsy sheers soaked from the rain coming in. I rushed to the window, pulling it close, trying to shut it against the icy wind and sleet. Just as the window snapped close, I spied a silhouette by the guest house. I broke out in a cold sweat, refusing to believe it.

  I was just remembering the figure from my dream, wasn’t i?

  Chapter 18

  I had a tough time getting out of my bed Monday morning. It was my last day at work and I just had to put in a few hours before the school closed for the rest of the year. I tried to clear my foggy brain as I sat in bed, unwilling to climb out of the covers.

  Someone rapped loudly on my door.

  “7:30!” Motee Ba called out.

  I slurped the warm oatmeal she had made and got dressed.

  “I had a bad dream,” I told Tony when I stopped to talk to him on my way to work. “It’s got me unsettled.”

  “Eat this,” he handed me a candy bar, smiling.

  I was so disturbed I said no to candy.

  I manned the library desk and chatted with one or two lone wolfs who were stocking up on books for the 2 week break. These were the incorrigible geeks, or kids doing some research on a deadline. Soon as I thought of research, I thought of a better way to utilize my time.

  I bundled up and walked over to the Chemical Engineering building. The girl from earlier greeted me. She was wearing a red sweater with a holiday motif. She remembered me.

  “Hello. You again?”

  “Can you tell me where Jessica’s lab is?”

  “Her research group has an office in the bio technology building. That’s where their lab is.”

  “Oh, thanks. I thought she’s in your department.”

  “She is,” the girl nodded. “Her research is cross disciplinary. Their team’s made up of people from different departments.”

  “Gotcha,” I thanked the girl and turned to go.

  “Have some cake. It’s our annual end of year cake. It’s good!”

  She pointed to a large sheet cake placed on a side table. It had been sampled generously but a good part of it was still remaining. Tiny red plates and forks were placed next to it.

  “Thanks. I will.”

  I beamed at her. Life’s too short to say no to free cake.

  I cut myself a generous slice and waved good bye. I went outside and chose a spot where I could lean against the wall comfortably. I made short work of the cake, and made my way to the bio technology lab. I was freezing by the time I pulled open the heavy glass doors that flanked the department.

  I walked down a flight of stairs and stood outside a door that listed Jessica’s name along with a few others.

  “Come on in,” a voice hollered from inside in answer to my knock.

  Three or four workstations lined the wall. There was a desk in the center with some fancy equipment I couldn’t make much sense of.

  “Er, I’m looking for Jessica,” I explained.

  It was obvious she wasn’t there.

  A moon faced man with spectacles ogled me.

  “She should be here soon. What is it about?”

  The man was shorter than me, and he ha
d a rumpled look about him. If I had to guess, I’d say he had probably spent the night huddled over the computer. Yellow rings of sweat circled his underarms and a faint odor I didn’t want to think about wafted my way. He was almost bald, and he was licking his lips every few seconds. But he wasn’t that much older than me.

  “It’s sort of personal,” I hedged.

  “I’m Colin Stevens,” he said, standing up, offering me a hand.

  I shook it reluctantly. This guy gave me an unclean feeling.

  “Meera Patel.”

  “You’re welcome to wait here,” he offered.

  I nodded and decided to take him up on the offer.

  He went back to the papers he was reading and there was a deathly silence in the room for about five minutes. He kept licking his lips all the time, reminding me of a repulsive reptile.

  “Not much I don’t know about Jessica, you know.” He crossed his fingers and held up his hand. “We are like this!”

  “She hasn’t mentioned you.” I feigned surprise. “But I guess that’s understandable. She’s going through a rough time.”

  It was Colin’s turn to act surprised.

  “Really? Why is that?”

  “Haven’t you heard?” I leaned forward. “Her fiancée was found dead by the lake.”

  Colin Stevens didn’t bat an eyelid.

  “Are you talking about Jordan? They were breaking up.”

  I hid my shock well.

  “No. they were celebrating their engagement.”

  “That’s what they told everyone! To get away from that ranch and meet somewhere they could talk in private.”

  The slimy snake had a triumphant look on his face.

  I cleared my throat.

  “And why were they breaking up?”

  Colin beamed from ear to ear.

  “She’s with me now, of course. We’ve been dating a while. Ever since we started working together on this project.”

  “When was that?” I asked.

  “About three years ago.”

  I was finding this hard to process. I tried a different tack.

  “Are you also a chemical engineer?”

  “No. I’m a doctor.” Colin puffed up again. “A veterinary doctor, of course.”

  “I don’t really know what Jessica’s research is about,” I admitted.

  “This is a cross disciplinary group,” Colin Stevens explained. “We have programmers and statistics experts. Then we have people doing simulations. Jessica and I do most of the field work.”

  “Like what?” I had to ask.

  “Working with the heifers… injecting our test subjects with different serums, taking blood and tissue samples, evaluating and mapping their progress… Stuff like that.”

  “Sounds very different from chemical engineering.”

  Colin Stevens shrugged.

  “Jessica’s great at it. She grew up on a cattle ranch.”

  This I did know.

  “Real life applications of science require a lot of knowhow from different fields. Very different from academia.” Colin Stevens said pompously. “We are one of the most advanced research teams on campus.”

  “I heard Jessica’s graduating soon.”

  “We need her here. She got side tracked a bit with all that Jordan Harris business. This is where her true calling is.”

  “So she’s not graduating then?” I prompted.

  “I’m the Head Researcher on the project,” Colin Stevens stood up, towering over me. “I might sign off on her PHD once she decides to stay on here.”

  “And has she?” I asked.

  “She will. She has no more distractions with Jordan out of the way.”

  I was bursting with this unexpected bounty of information. Was this guy above board, or was he lying?

  “So you’re happy Jordan’s dead?” I asked bluntly.

  Colin Stevens finally began looking flustered.

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  I was quiet, hoping he would spill more. And he did.

  “It’s just…it’s hard, watching Jessica fawn over these pups of hers. But she always comes back to me. I’m a patient man, Ms. Patel.”

  “You’re saying Jessica’s a tease?” I didn’t mince words.

  “Not my choice of words, but yeah, something like that. I don’t blame her. A beauty like her is bound to slay hearts.”

  The basement room was beginning to close in on me.

  The door flung open with a rush and Jessica came in, followed by a couple of other guys.

  “We’re here,” she called out cheerfully and stopped when she saw me.

  “Hi Meera!”

  “Hey Jessica!” I greeted her back. “I just came back to see how you were doing?”

  Colin Stevens interrupted.

  “You’re 5 minutes late, guys. We need to start our meeting.”

  I was being booted out.

  “Let’s catch up later,” Jessica pleaded.

  I stood up and clambered up the stairs, rushing out to get some fresh air. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

  An hour ago, we hadn’t even known Colin Stevens existed. Now he had provided a boatload of new information. I wanted to think he was some kind of psycho, spouting off delusions about Jessica. But I couldn’t ignore what he had said without checking it out.

  I walked back to my desk and sat out the remaining hour, clearing up as much as I could. Finally, it was time to leave and I rushed out, driving to Tony’s gas station. Two weeks of holidays lay ahead, and I couldn’t suppress the smile that broke out on my face.

  “Hey Babe!” Tony high fived me as I got out of my car. “Are we celebrating?”

  “Of course! I’m starving, and I have quite the scoop for you guys. Where’s Becky?”

  We debated over going out for lunch or rustling something up at home. We chose to go home. Becky was waiting for us at the guest house, busy making lunch.

  “Enchiladas!” she pointed to the oven.

  The day stretched before us, and the bubbly, cheesy, casserole was perfect for the cold weather.

  We loaded our plates with two enchiladas each, a side of refried beans and rice. I took double helpings of sour cream and guacamole.

  We attacked the food and no one spoke for the first 2- 3 bites. Okay, maybe 10 bites.

  “What’s this scoop you were talking about?” Tony asked.

  I narrated my encounter with Colin Stevens. Tony and Becky were struck dumb. Their eyes popped and I sat back, feeling smug.

  “Is that a new development, or what?”

  “Has Jessica verified any of this?” Becky asked with a frown. “Maybe this guy’s just bad mouthing her.”

  “I didn’t get a chance to talk to her. But I’m thinking, of course she’ll deny all this, won’t she? Even if it’s true.”

  “Don’t see her admitting she was two timing Jordan,” Tony agreed.

  We finished our meal and collapsed in front of the TV. Becky and I each took one end of the couch, and Tony staked claim to a deep chair. A few flurries started, and I remembered my dream.

  Tony laughed out loud.

  “You think I was dreaming?” I demanded.

  “I don’t know Meera, but now you know how I feel when you dismiss that woman.”

  “Why go through the farce of an engagement, if Jessica wanted to split up with Jordan?” Becky mused. “They didn’t have to announce it. They could have gone on dating.”

  I thought about Cam. I hadn’t really looked at Jordan closely, or seen any photos of his. But there was no doubt, Cam was the more handsome of the brothers. I would bet my weekly stash of candy that Cam was the most handsome in the entire county.

  “The other day, when I met Cam for dinner, he mentioned he would stay over at Jessica’s.”

  Becky picked up on my meaning.

  “And according to Colin Stevens, Jessica flirted around.”

  “Maybe she’s just the friendly sort,” I held up a finger.

  “Yea
h maybe,” Becky said. “But Jordan could’ve felt threatened by it.”

  “So he didn’t trust his own brother?” Tony mused. “Boy, am I glad I don’t have one?”

  “What about me?” Jeet called from the doorway.

  He had the kind of hurt look only a teenager can have.

  “I’ll trust you with my life, bro. Any day!”

  Tony did some kind of weird handshake with him and Jeet settled on a bar stool at the counter, happy to see the plate I’d set aside for him.

  “Say Meera,” Becky plunged ahead. “So Jordan thinks something’s cooking between Cam and Jessica. He ups the ante by proposing to her.”

  “And Jessica accepts, even though she actually wants to break up with him?” I frowned.

  “Saying yes would be a good way to prove she wasn’t interested in Cam,” Tony pointed out.

  “But if she wasn’t interested in Jordan either, why say yes at all?”

  “Maybe she was buying some time. Or trying to avoid conflict between the brothers.”

  “Girls!” Tony flung his hands in the air. “Why are they so complicated? It seems to me, she was just playing around with everyone. What do you bet, her true intentions were something else entirely.”

  “You mean she sweet talked Cam, Jordan and Colin into thinking she was into each of them. But she actually was into someone else?”

  “Some people have a hard time saying No. They just go along with whatever the other person says.”

  Jessica hadn’t seemed like a wimp. She seemed strong enough to get her way. Maybe she was pulling a fast one over everyone, following her own agenda. That seemed more believable to me.

  “I guess we have to talk to her first,” I said. “And tell Stan about this. I wonder how he’s coming along with the alibis.”

  “What about your program, Meera? Have you made any progress?” Becky asked.

  I groaned, holding my stomach.

  “I’m too stuffed to think of that right now.”

  “Who wants ice cream?” Jeet asked, scooping chocolate chip ice cream into a bowl.

  We all wanted some.

  Chapter 19

  I pushed myself to work on the aging program later that evening. I collected a few photos of myself from 5 years ago. I took a current photo with the Logitech camera mounted on top of my desktop. This is what my program output should look like.