Prudy's Back!

by Marja McGraw

  I stood up and retrieved the cordless phone from where it was sitting on the counter top, handing it to Prudy. “Why don’t you call Melvin and see if he knows anything about J.T.?”

  Prudy dialed the number and waited while it rang.

  “Hello, is this Mrs. Shipley?”

  We all watched her while she talked. Felicity leaned forward in her chair.

  “I’m sure you won’t remember me, but this is Prudence Lewis. I was married to Brian – ” She stopped talking and listened.

  “Oh, my. I can’t believe you remember me. How are you and Melvin?”

  She smiled and gave us a thumbs up after listening to the reply. “Oh, that’s wonderful. And you and Melvin are in good health?”

  “You know,” Dolly whispered, “it’s impolite not to go through the formalities first. I mean, she can’t just ask if Melvin is still alive. These things can be very sticky if you’re not careful.”

  “I’m sure,” Felicity said. “I don’t think I’d be too happy if someone called and asked if my husband was dead or not.” Felicity’s hands were flying again, and she knocked the plate of cookies onto the floor. Fortunately, it was a paper plate.

  I went to the closet and pulled out a dustpan and broom.

  “I’ll do that,” Felicity offered. “I’m so sorry.”

  “No, I’ve got it. And don’t worry about it.” I cleaned up the crumbs while Dolly and Felicity talked softly to each other.

  “Bubba, you can’t have the crumbs,” I said when he began circling the area. I set down the broom and opened the back door. “Out. Right now.”

  With his tail between his legs, he slowly made his way out the door.

  “Oh, here,” I said feeling guilty and handing him a cookie. “But that’s all.”

  Bubba’s tail swished and he took his prize under his favorite tree before making one obligatory chomp and swallowing it.

  I was putting the dustpan away when I heard Prudy say, “Is Melvin at home? I’d like to ask if he knows what happened to one of the boys.” She paused.

  “Oh. Hard of hearing? Well, I’ll speak right up. Would you put him on?” She paused again. “I was good talking to you, too, dear.”

  “MELVIN? IS THAT YOU?” Prudy yelled. Another pause. “YES, THIS IS PRUDY LEWIS. SAY, CAN YOU TELL ME WHATEVER HAPPENED TO JAMES THOM?” She paused for a heartbeat. “YES, PRUDY LEWIS, BRIAN’S WIDOW. CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED TO JAMES THOM?” she repeated.

  “UH HUH.” We could hear Melvin’s voice. “UH HUH! WELL, CAN YOU PUT YOUR WIFE BACK ON THE PHONE?” Another pause. “GOOD TALKING TO YOU, TOO, MELVIN. YOU TAKE CARE.”

  I glanced around the table and saw that Dolly and Felicity were both grinning.

  I glanced at Prudy. She was crossing her eyes. She put her hand over the receiver while she waited. “Old coot can’t hear me. He said to talk to his wife, Florence.”

  She stopped talking and turned her attention back to the phone. “Hi, Florence. Here’s the thing. I’m trying to find out what happened to James Thom. Would you know anything about that?”

  Again, we waited while she listened.

  “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. A stroke about ten years ago, huh? Well, that really is too bad. You say his wife remarried? Well, good for her!”

  She sat quietly for a moment while Florence said something. “Oh, I wanted to ask J.T. if he knew anything about a Nick Stanton. This is too long to explain, but I’m looking at a note Brian wrote concerning one of his cases. It’s hard to read, but I think he was going to ask James about this Stanton.”

  Her face lit up and then fell again.

  “What?” I asked.

  “She’s going to ask Melvin if he remembers Nick, but that’s a real long shot. He won’t… Shhh.” She pointed at the receiver. “I can hear Melvin yelling. He does remember Nick.” Her look was now one of triumph.

  Florence turned back to the phone and Prudy listened. “Melvin knew him from where?” Pause. “Well, I’ll be darned. I never would have figured that one out. Florence, it’s been great talking to you. You tell that old man to look into a good hearing aid before you wear out that lovely voice of yours.”

  Prudy handed me the phone and I pushed the Off button. “So? What did she say? Don’t keep us in suspense.”

  “You’re not gonna believe this. I can hardly believe it myself.” Prudy didn’t just look the part, she was the cat who’d swallowed the mouse.

  Thirty-six

  “Nick Stanton was in the army, too. And he went through basic training with the boys. They all knew who he was…” She paused, trying to drag out the suspense. “…because he was a professional boxer before joining the army!”

  “B-x-g! Get out,” Dolly said.

  “And Matthew Bremmer was beaten to death.” Felicity clucked her tongue and shook her head.

  “I knew it was Stanton. Everything pointed to him.” I had to stop myself. “But wait. Just because he was a boxer doesn’t mean he killed Matthew. We’re still jumping to conclusions. And who’s been making the threats? That part’s driving me nuts. Let’s get busy and finish reading Brian’s notes. Maybe there’s something else here. And I’m definitely going to have another little chat with Opal.”

  Prudy thumbed her nose. “Yeah. That little twerp knows something, that’s for sure.”

  Other than one note that said, “Op cd b ky,” we didn’t find anything else of interest. Opal could be key. There was no doubt in our minds that it meant Opal could be the key to Matthew’s death.

  “Obviously, your husband believed Nick was the killer, too.” I handed that note to Prudy.

  “But it doesn’t make sense,” Felicity said. “It all points to him, but you still have someone making threats. It keeps coming back to that.”

  I thought for a moment. “So, maybe there’s more to the story than just that Nick murdered Matthew. Maybe someone is afraid of us opening some other can of worms. Like, maybe Hector did go to Matthew’s house to rob him. Maybe he actually found the body and he’s afraid he’ll be accused of the murder after all these years. I mean, there are a few other scenarios we could apply to this. Anyone else have any ideas?”

  “Could be Stretch,” Prudy offered. “He’s living high, and maybe he’s afraid of losing everything if he’s accused.”

  “That wouldn’t happen,” I said. “He’s retired now, and it appears that he made plenty of money in his dental practice. As long as no one could prove he did the deed, then what would it matter?”

  Dolly glanced at her watch. “It’s just about lunchtime. Why don’t we go eat and we can talk about this some more at the diner?”

  “Good idea.” Prudy was already standing up. “I’m hungry. Let’s go have one of those PBT’s you like so much.”

  “You mean a BLT?” Felicity figured the old woman had gotten it wrong.

  “No,” Prudy said. “It’s a pea… Let’s surprise her. It won’t sound good to her, but she’ll love it when she tastes it.”

  “Oh no! Not a pea sandwich. I don’t think I could eat something like that.” Felicity pushed her chair away from the table.

  Dolly laughed. “No, dear. There are no peas involved in this lunch. Trust us.”

  “We’ll take my car,” Felicity said. She was driving an SUV with lots of leg room.

  I checked to be sure Bubba had plenty of water before we left, and for once I closed the gate. “You stay in the back yard.”

  Felicity drove to Dolly’s favorite diner and Pamela seated us, once again.

  “How are you ladies today?” Pamela asked.

  “Well and fine,” Dolly replied. “And you?”

  “Good. Do you want the usual?” the waitress asked.

  “Four times the usual, please.”

  “And to drink?”

  Dolly glanced around the table. “Iced tea?”

  We all nodded and Pamela walked away.

  “Okay. Has anyone come to any epiphanies yet?” I asked. One could always hope.

  “N
o, but I still want to know what the pea sandwich is all about,” Felicity said.

  “In due time, doll.” Prudy moved her silverware off the napkin and slid the paper onto her lap.

  “I have an idea,” Dolly said. “What about Slim? It just seems like he’s almost too innocent. He was out and about that night. He said so himself.”

  “What about motive?” I picked up my own napkin and placed it on my lap.

  “You said Matthew wouldn’t help him when those kids were going to beat him up. He could have been awfully angry.” Dolly liked her scenario.

  “I don’t think so. It seems that Stretch and Matthew were the ones who got into it over that. Besides, Slim was only about… What? Twelve? Thirteen?” I watched Pamela returning with our drinks.

  “Well, that doesn’t mean anything. Look at the kids today. They’re committing major crimes at ten years of age. Anything is possible.” Felicity reached for her napkin and knocked her silverware off the table.

  “I’ll bring you clean utensils,” Pamela said after setting our drinks on the table.

  “Oh, thank you.” Felicity reached for a packet of sugar and knocked over her glass. Tea ran all over the floor, but at least the glass didn’t break.

  “And I’ll bring you a new drink, too.” Pamela quickly walked away, returning shortly with a rag to clean up the tea. She set to work, mopping up the mess.

  “I’m so sorry,” Felicity said. Her face had turned a light shade of pink. As usual, her hands were fluttering in the air while she spoke. “I guess I just don’t pay enough attention to what I’m doing. Oh!” She socked Pamela, who was beginning to stand up, in the eye. So much for paying attention. “I’m so sorry,” Felicity repeated, almost in tears.

  “Not a problem.” Pamela’s eye was closed and I could see it was watering. She walked away holding her eye, with her head down.

  “It seems like I’m always hurting someone. I don’t mean to do these things.”

  “Like Pamela said, don’t worry about it.” Prudy patted Felicity’s hand. “You’re such a cutie that no one cares about you being a fumble fingers.”

  Felicity smiled uncertainly, not sure if that was really a compliment or not.

  “Okay, we’ve got a lot of theories and not many facts,” I said, needing to get back to business before I started laughing. “This case is causing a lot of frustration. I don’t know if we’re really getting anywhere or not.”

  “We’re dealing with a murder here.” Prudy had a thoughtful expression on her face. “Okay, fact. Matthew was beaten to death.” Prudy held up her index finger.

  Pamela had returned with our sandwiches and another glass of tea for Felicity, and her eyebrow shot upward. I noticed her eye was open, but she was blinking a lot. She didn’t say anything, but she seemed to be tuned into what we were saying. She also seemed to be taking her time.

  “Secondly, we know that Nick wanted to get even with Matt for what he thought had happened to Opal. Also a fact.” She popped up another finger.

  “We also know that Brian found Hector searching Matt’s house one time. Remember me telling you about that?” Up popped the third finger.

  “This isn’t really about Dolly reading a mystery novel, is it?” Pamela asked.

  “No, dear.” Dolly smiled at her.

  “What are you ladies up to? Wait. It’s really none of my business.” Pamela glanced at Dolly. “Yes it is. I like Dolly. You’re not putting her in danger, are you?”

  It was Dolly’s moment to shine. “Sandi is a Private Dick. Investigator, to you. She’s working on a murder case, and we’re all helping her.”

  “I knew it!” piped up a voice from a nearby table. “And these old ladies are my ticket out of the flower show stories.”

  I tightened my shoulders and turned around. Sharon Stone had slipped in and sat down at the booth behind us.

  “Sharon! Will you leave me alone? What’s the matter with you? I told you that this is none of your business.”

  “You’ve got a story and I want it. And I’m not giving up. You’ve got two old ladies and a model working with you on an old murder case.” She glanced at Felicity. “Yes, Ms. DuBois, I recognized you.”

  Felicity didn’t react. She was too busy taking the top off her sandwich to see what it contained. “Peanut butter? Huh. With bacon and tomato? I never would have thought of a combination like that.” She took a bite.

  I thought she might be purposely ignoring Sharon.

  “I’ve been watching you, Ms. Webster. I know that you and Mrs. Lewis have been meeting with people about the case, and – ”

  “You’ve been following me again?” I was incredulous. Mostly because I hadn’t caught her.

  “Watching you, following you… Who cares? The fact is that I’m going to get a story out of this. You can talk to me, or I can go ask the people you’ve met with what you’re after.”

  “Don’t even think about bothering those people,” I said threateningly. “I’ll have your head if you get in my way. What’s the matter with you? Is a story so important that you’d risk your life to get it?”

  “And just why would I be risking my life?” Sharon didn’t seem to get it.

  “Because we’re on the trail of a murderer, you idiot. And you could be the next victim.” I didn’t add that I might be the suspect highest on the list if she showed up dead.

  “I’m a trained journalist. I know how to talk to these people.”

  “Yeah, right. Listen, I told you that if I solved this, I’d give you an exclusive. But if you keep hounding me, you can forget it.” I turned back to my sandwich.

  Dolly and Prudy were studying their sandwiches a little too closely. Did they want publicity? I stared at them.

  Prudy finally looked up. “What?”

  “You don’t want her to do this story, do you?” I asked.

  “Well, maybe if people knew about our work, someone would come forward.” Prudy sounded defensive. Too defensive. She wanted her name in the paper.

  “Prudy, who do you think might come forward that we haven’t already talked to?”

  She averted her eyes from mine. “Yeah, I guess you’re right, cookie. There aren’t all that many people left from the old days.”

  Sharon! Could Sharon be sending those threats to keep the story going? No, I guess not. Wishful thinking on my part.

  I thought about Dolly and Prudy. They’d really get off on seeing their names in the paper for solving an old murder.

  “Okay, Sharon. Quit following me and I’ll still let you have an exclusive. Deal?”

  “No.”

  Thirty-seven

  “What did you say?” I asked softly, glaring at Sharon.

  “Uh oh. Look out.” Dolly was grinning. “I know Sandi. When she’s angry and talks quietly, the dam’s about to burst.”

  “This dam done burst! Sharon, get out of my face and do it now or you’ll be sorry. I’ll do whatever it takes to kill your career before those flowers you write about even wilt. Understand?” By that time I’d slid out of the booth and stood over Sharon, who was still sitting in the booth behind us.

  “Oh, for… I had no idea you were such a hard nose. I’m leaving now, but… Well…” Sharon sighed. “I don’t know what to say. I still want this story. One way or the other, I’ll get it, too.”

  “Yeah, you’ll get it alright,” I said under my breath. This young woman had a lot to learn. But I didn’t have the time to be her teacher.

  I stepped back as Sharon slid out of her booth. “A good reporter never gives up,” she said. “I want this story.”

  I thought she was trying to make it sound like a threat, but she sounded more like a petulant child.

  “I’ll be watching for you from now on,” I said threateningly, and I didn’t sound like a child.

  Sharon glanced back over her shoulder as she headed for the front door. Stopping to talk to the cashier, she said, “Put my coffee on her bill.” She pointed at me before she stormed out the front door.


  “That girl is gonna get herself in trouble one of these days. She’s going to push just a little too hard, and – ”

  “Okay, Sandi,” Dolly said. “She’s gone. And you really let her have it, so I don’t think she’ll be bothering you for a while. So sit down and chill.”

  “Chill? Did you just tell me to chill?”

  “Yes, dear. I did.” She grinned at me.

  “Oh. Okay.” I sat back down and took a deep breath. How could I argue with someone I cared about so much? Unless it was Pete, or my mother, or… But Dolly was always so sweet to me. And I knew if she told me to chill, it was probably time to quiet down.

  “That girl, as you called her, isn’t all that much younger than you are. She just hasn’t developed your maturity yet.” Dolly said this casually, but it hit home.

  Oh, yes, Dolly knew how to play me.

  “Okay, where were we before Miss Delightful stuck her nose in?” I asked.

  Glancing at Felicity, I could see that she was taking in the dynamics between all of us. She appeared to be enjoying herself.

  “You had just discussed someone named Nick and someone named Hector,” Pamela said.

  I hadn’t noticed that she was still hanging around.

  “And what was it that happened to Opal?” she asked. “Who is Opal?”

  Before I could say anything, the cashier walked over and reminded Pamela, not too politely, that she had other customers waiting. She returned to her work, but I noticed she kept glancing at us.

  “She’s right. We’d talked about both of them plus Slim and Stretch,” Felicity said. “Who else is there?”

  “Just Opal, and she was only nine years old. Not a viable suspect.” However, I was sure that Opal knew something she wasn’t telling us. Could she still be protecting her father? Did she know that he’d gone out again during the early morning hours of February 14th?

  “You know,” I said, “there’s always the possibility that it was none of these people. It could have been something like a home invasion.” I turned to Prudy. “Except that you said Matthew always kept his doors locked. That tells me that he opened the door to someone he knew.”