by Leena Clover
“Do you remember who they were?” I asked.
Becky shook her head.
“Maybe they weren’t regulars. Generally, I remember people. Most people come in at a certain time and order the same thing.”
I didn’t want to prompt Becky any further. I had a hunch but I wanted Becky to confirm something on her own.
Tony got a call on his cell phone.
“Meera, I think I’ll have to put in a few hours at the gas station,” Tony said apologetically. “There’s a big delivery coming in. It’s my last one before the new year.”
“Go!” I waved him off. “Nothing much happening here anyway.”
“Maybe I should go be with Sylvie for a while,” Becky said.
“Good idea!”
I took a deep breath after saying goodbye to Becky and Tony. I placed a call to Stan. It was time to find out if my hunch had any substance.
Chapter 28
Stan sounded tired on the phone.
“Good Morning, Meera!”
“What did you say that girl’s name was? The one Jordan dumped?” I asked him.
“Eleanor Robinson?” Stan asked.
“Do you know there’s a mother daughter duo by the name of Robinson in town?”
Stan listened with mounting excitement as I shared what I was thinking.
“You think that’s possible?” he asked eagerly.
“Can you find out if these are the same people?” I asked.
“I’ll get on it right away. Check county records etc. They must have had to provide some papers somewhere if they are living in the area.”
“How long will that take?” I asked eagerly.
“Can’t say. Most offices will closer later today. Staff is already on vacation.”
“So you’re saying you may not be able to confirm her identity for a while?”
Stan was quiet. I assumed he was thinking of an alternative.
“We may be able to speed things up if someone identifies her for us.”
“You think Jessica might do that?” I asked eagerly. “Or Pamela?”
“I can’t promise you anything,” Stan said reluctantly. “But if someone identifies this girl as Jordan’s ex, we can at least keep an eye on her.”
“Okay, I’ll get on it.” I hung up, feeling a burst of energy.
After a moment’s thought, I decided to approach Pamela first. Pamela must have met the girl several times.
Pam answered the phone. I didn’t want to show all my cards at once, so I asked her if she would come to Swan Creek and meet me for some coffee.
“But why? Is there a reason you want to see me? It’s a long drive, you know. And we’ve got some guests coming in today.”
“Just trust me on this one,” I coaxed.
Pam reluctantly agreed to meet me at Sylvie’s.
I drove to Sylvie’s guessing I would find Becky there. I was right. Both Becky and Sylvie were in the kitchen, rolling some cookie dough.
“Just trying to keep busy,” Sylvie said.
“That’s good.”
I helped them decorate the cookies, adding red and green glitter on some. Most of my help consisted of sampling the different types.
“These are delicious,” I exclaimed.
I heard a car drive up and went outside. Pamela got out of a truck. She wasn’t looking too pleasant.
“So why have you called me here, Meera?” she snapped.
“Let’s go to that new place over there,” I pointed to Nancy’s. “I hear they have good coffee.”
Pam muttered something but she followed me as I crossed the road. Nancy’s fancy diner was almost bursting at the seams. As expected, most of the locals had given Sylvie’s a wide berth once again. It looked like all of Swan Creek had congregated at Nancy’s.
We got a small table for two, near swinging doors that led into the kitchen.
I asked for two cups of coffee and waited.
“Why are we here?” Pam asked.
“Just enjoy your coffee, Pam,” I smiled. “And be patient. Maybe you’ll meet someone you know.”
Pam gave up on asking me any more questions. She read through the menu and ordered some cake.
“This is good!”
She moaned as she enjoyed her chocolate cake.
“Our chef went to culinary school,” the server said. “Unlike the cooks at other places in the area.”
“Can we give our compliments to the chef?” I asked politely.
“I’ll let her know,” the server nodded.
The chef came out a few minutes later, her face wreathed in smiles.
“You like the chocolate cake?” she beamed. “It’s six layers with real chocolate ganache.”
Pamela’s eyes widened, and she jabbed a finger at the chef. She swallowed the large bite of cake in her mouth and gulped.
“What’re you doing here?” she cried.
Nancy Robinson had come out of the kitchen. She froze when she saw Pam. She leveled a dirty look at me.
“You are not welcome here,” she told Pamela in a steely voice.
“See them out!” she ordered the server who was standing at one side, looking confused.
“Nellie! What are you doing here?” Pamela finally found her voice. “Why aren’t you in your mental asylum?”
She stood and looked around, as if trying to capture the crowd’s attention. There was no need for that because every eye in the diner was riveted on the scene playing out.
“This woman is insane!”
“Mama!” Nellie Robinson had turned red, and snot rolled down her nose.
“It’s her. It’s her, Mama.”
Nellie sniffled and started sobbing.
“Get out!” Nancy screamed at us again.
I crossed my fingers, hoping someone had called 911 by now.
Nellie curled her fists and launched herself at Pam. Pamela’s face lost its smirk. I stared at them in shock.
“Do something!” I screamed at Nancy.
Sirens blared as two police cars swung into the parking lot. Stan Miller rushed in, followed by four cops.
A couple of the diner staff had managed to pry Nellie away from Pam. She was coughing, and bruise lines were appearing on her throat where Nellie had choked her.
“Didn’t I say, she’s insane!” Pam croaked.
Stan’s eyes met mine but he didn’t say anything.
The police took Nellie away, and I took Pamela’s arm. We crossed the road over to Sylvie’s.
“What were you thinking, Meera?” Pam screamed. “Are you mad too?”
Pam had figured out why I took her into Nancy’s.
I was shook up myself. I hadn’t expected the girl to turn so violent. Then I realized how foolish I had been. I suspected the woman was a murderer. Of course she was bound to be dangerous.
“I’m so sorry,” I rubbed Pam on the back. “I had no idea she would turn so violent.”
Becky and Sylvie were staring at us, trying to be patient.
“We need to get you to the doctor,” Becky said, handing over a glass of iced water to Pam. “You need to get that checked out.”
Pamela looked at me. I owed her an explanation.
“We know Jon is innocent,” I began. “We thought a lot about who might have wanted to harm Jordan. His ex was a possibility but you said she was in an asylum. Then we learnt she wasn’t there anymore. I had a hunch but I needed someone to confirm it was her.”
“We still don’t know she did it,” Pam said sadly.
“The police will make her talk,” I said confidently.
“She’s wily. She won’t own up to it.”
Becky and I took Pam to the ER. They gave her some pills and advised her to rest. I offered to drive her home to the Triple H. It was the least I could do. Becky drove my car and I drove Pam’s truck. We dropped her off at the ranch and started back immediately.
Becky kept peering in the side mirror and almost opened her mouth a few times.
I held up my han
d before she said a word.
“Please! I don’t care if anyone is following us. I can’t handle it right now.”
Becky nodded, patting me on the shoulder.
“Do you think that girl did it?” she asked quietly.
“I can imagine her doing it,” I shuddered. “You should’ve been there. One minute she was crying, and the next she just flew at Pam’s throat.”
We pulled into Sylvie’s lot. I had a headache and it was probably from hunger. I was hoping Sylvie would have something ready for us to eat.
I parked the car near the diner door and Becky beat me to it.
“Sylvie, we’re starving …” she called out and stopped in her tracks.
I almost bumped into her. Then I looked up.
Nancy Robinson was pacing the floor. Sylvie was sitting at a table, looking worried. She seemed relieved to see us.
“They’re here,” she said.
Nancy Robinson clasped my hands tightly.
“She didn’t do anything. She’s innocent.”
I wasn’t so sure about that.
“I saw her attack Pam myself.”
“I’m not talking about that,” Nancy dismissed. “I’m talking about Jordan!”
“But didn’t she attack Jordan earlier too? Wasn’t that why she was sent to that asylum.”
“For the first and last time, my daughter wasn’t in an asylum!” Nancy shrieked and I took a step back.
Nancy collapsed in a chair and tried to hold back her tears.
“My Nellie was such a sweet girl. She was deeply in love with Jordan Harris. They were supposed to get married.”
I nodded. We knew all about that.
“Jordan met this other girl one time, and then he just stopped talking to Nellie.”
“Weren’t they going to get married?” I asked.
Nancy grimaced.
“The wedding was planned. Nellie had her dream wedding dress. The invitations were sent out. All this time, that boy was seeing this other girl, and he didn’t even tell us the wedding was off.”
I wondered why Jordan had behaved like that.
“Nellie saw him with the girl, and asked him who she was. Then they broke up.”
“Is that when your daughter attacked him?” I probed.
“It was nothing. She just lost her temper.”
I had just seen a live example of Nellie’s temper. I wondered if Nancy was guilty too.
Nancy spoke with a casual air.
“I promised to take her to counseling so no charges were pressed. She spent some time in that place. It was like a five star resort, with bars on the windows and locks on the doors. She did some fancy cooking diploma in Dallas. She was ready for a fresh start.”
“Why did you choose Swan Creek?” I asked. “Didn’t you know Jessica lived here?”
Nancy shook her head.
“Jordan got his degree a long time ago. He had been running the ranch for a few years when he was engaged to my Nellie. We knew this girl was from down South, but we didn’t know anything else.”
“Were you shocked when you came across Jordan here?” I asked.
Nancy was quiet.
“We spruced up the place over yonder. Nellie was excited. She had big plans for it. We had big plans. We came here for some coffee. Imagine her shock when she saw Jordan sitting there, holding hands with that girl.”
“So she flipped and took her revenge,” I stated bluntly.
“She did no such thing!” Nancy almost screamed in my face.
She stood up abruptly and walked out.
I looked at Becky and Sylvie. They hadn’t spoken a word but their shocked expressions told me what they were thinking.
Becky spoke first.
“You remember the two women I told you about?”
I nodded. I had been waiting for Becky to connect the dots.
“I’m almost sure it was them – Nancy and her daughter.”
“Were they here when Jordan got that extra pie?” I asked eagerly.
“Right there,” Becky pointed to a table at the back.
“Does this mean they will let Jon go?” Sylvie asked eagerly.
“I don’t know!” I tried to not raise her hopes too high. “It all depends on what Nellie admits to.”
Becky was quiet.
“Do you really think she did it?”
Sylvie stood up and went into the kitchen. She shuffled out a while later with a big tray.
“Why don’t you kids eat something first?” she said.
We attacked the chicken salad sandwiches Sylvie had brought out, and slurped the soup. I coaxed Sylvie to eat with us.
“What do we do now?” Sylvie asked.
I placed a call to Stan and listened for a while.
“Pam has pressed charges for assault. So they will be keeping Nellie for a while. Stan said they will try to get a confession from her.”
I looked at Sylvie.
“I’m sorry Sylvie, but looks like they’ll keep Jon there for a while. But he’s doing well. They are taking care of him.”
“Why don’t we close this place up?” Becky suggested.
“Let’s go watch a movie or something.”
We drove to our place with Sylvie. Aunt Reema and Motee Ba came out when they heard my car in the driveway. We told them what had happened.
They all went inside. Becky and I went to the guest house. Tony and Jeet were sprawled on a couch each, watching an action movie. Becky told them the story this time and the boys high fived me.
“We don’t know if she’s guilty,” I said glumly.
“I say she is,” Tony insisted.
We all felt the same. The question was, how were the police going to prove it?
Chapter 29
We chose a Christmas movie to get into the mood. A couple of hours later, Jeet and Tony were pretending to yawn their heads off.
We were all a bit peckish, so we went into the main house to scrounge for food. Motee Ba was at the stove, frying pakoras. The kitchen was infused with the smell of the fritters.
“What kind are you making, Granny?” Tony asked, picking one up and popping it in his mouth.
“Onion pakoras!” Motee Ba announced. “And cheese if you want them.”
I eagerly cut cheese into 2 inch cubes and handed it over to Motee Ba. She dipped the cubes into thick seasoned batter and dropped them in hot oil.
I took over the frying from Motee Ba and we gorged on the hot fried snacks, dunked in ketchup and washed down with hot tea.
“Where’s Sylvie?” Becky asked. “Is she still here?”
“I convinced her to take a nap,” Motee Ba said softly. “Any news from Stan?”
I shook my head. We went back to the guest house and slaved through one more movie, this time one chosen by the boys.
The phone rang around 9 PM. It was Motee Ba, calling us over for dinner.
We started walking out when a couple of cars pulled up in the driveway. One of them was a squad car and one was an unmarked sedan. They didn’t have sirens or lights on. I crossed my fingers, hoping it was Stan with some good news.
My face lit up when I saw Jon get out of one of the cars. I ran over and threw my arms around him.
“They let you go? Thank God!”
Becky followed with a hug.
“Let’s go in, Meera,” Stan urged, shivering in the cold.
Everyone had rushed to the front door when they heard the cars and they were all filing out of our front door. Stan herded them in.
We sat in our living room, eager to get an update from Stan.
Sylvie sat close to Jon, her hand held tightly in his. She was looking lively for the first time since the last few days.
“Have you dropped the charges against Jon?” Dad asked Stan.
“Yes, we have, Professor.”
“You should never have arrested him in the first place,” Pappa put in his two cents.
“I agree,” Stan said apologetically. “We needed to make an arrest
at the time. And Jon and Sylvie were the obvious choice.”
Jon looked around at everyone.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me now. Listen to what he’s going to say.”
“Did she do it?” I burst out.
Stan’s face told me the answer even before he said a word.
“Yes. She did. And she confessed to every bit of it.”
“I suppose she’ll get off this time too?” I said bitterly.
“It won’t be that easy,” Stan said. “First of all, there’s nothing wrong with her mental state. The place she was in was more of a rehab place. She’s just got a short temper, and she’s malicious.”
Stan looked uncomfortable.
“I can’t reveal what went on in the interrogation. Let’s say we suggested she may have been seen at the crime scene. That was enough to make her sing.”
I remembered what Nancy had said earlier that afternoon.
“Was it all part of the plan then, coming to Swan Creek?”
“I don’t think so,” Stan said. “How much do you know so far?”
I gave everyone a quick recap of Jordan’s connection to Nellie. Then I told them what Nancy had said earlier today when she came over.
Stan was thoughtful.
“I think it’s possible Eleanor or Nellie remembered where Jordan used to go to college. And she may have known Jessica lived here. We’ll never know for sure.”
“What does she say? Was it all just a coincidence?” Tony asked impatiently.
“Nellie’s story matches her mother’s in this part. She spent a few months in that fancy clinic. Got her head straightened out. Then the two women went to Dallas where Nellie did some kind of food course. They wanted to move to a new place, start over. They had already sold the ranch, so they had money to invest. Swan Creek is one of the best places to live in America. They thought it would be familiar, since they were from the same state and all. Nellie said it looked like the place had potential.”
“Potential to meet Jordan again, you mean,” Becky smirked.
I tapped Becky on the shoulder and signaled Stan to continue.
“They found an ideal place for their restaurant, spruced up the place and were ready to go in business. They came into Sylvie’s to check out the competition.”