What Are the Odds

by Marja McGraw

  “I got the same sense from what she said.” Felicity stepped up on the porch.

  “I wonder if I might be able to get her to talk to me without her grandparents around. Maybe she doesn’t want them to hear what she has to say.” Considering where we were and what we were doing, I was having trouble coming up with a plan.

  “I see the plumber and the electrician are back.” Mother pointed at their trucks. “I wonder how much more work they have to do. I’m going to change into clean shoes and go talk to Frank.”

  I nodded and opened the screen door, once again taking note of the bullet hole. The door was what they call a security door. If I stood inside the house, I could see out, but anyone standing on the porch couldn’t see in. There was a lock on the door handle, and a dead bolt had been installed, too.

  Felicity followed my gaze. “That hole kind of creeps me out.”

  “Me, too,” I said.

  My mother touched the outside edges of the hole. “Since the door is slightly rusted, we’re going to paint it, but we’re going to leave the bullet hole. After all, it seems appropriate for a Dude Ranch.”

  “It’s not the O.K. Corral, and this was a llama ranch.” I thought she was getting a little carried away.

  “Not by the time I’m through with it.” She chuckled to herself and walked into the house. “Oh, I’ve got to go to the motorhome. That’s where I left my other shoes.”

  She turned and walked back outside, down the steps and toward the motorhome.

  Felicity and I looked at each other. I rolled my eyes and she started to laugh.

  “Your mother cracks me up,” she said. “Leave it to her to want to leave the bullet hole intact.”

  “Yeah. Typical Livvie Brewster thinking.” I left Fel to go upstairs for another pair of shoes.

  I saw her heading for the stairs to go down to the apartment.

  “I’ll meet you downstairs,” she called over her shoulder.

  I found the plumber on his knees in the upstairs bathroom, checking the pipes. His flashlight slowly swung back and forth.

  “Do you think it’s going to take much longer to get everything working?” I asked.

  “I’ll finish up today, ma’am. I want to do some last minute pipe checks. We’re just about ready to go live, as they say. Oh!” He leaned inside the cupboard under the sink.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Uh, I think you’d better take a look at this.”

  “I sure hope this isn’t another Uh Oh moment.”

  “What?” He backed out of the cupboard and banged his head.

  “Nothing. What’d you find under there?”

  “You’re not going to believe it.”

  He rubbed the back of his head where he’d bumped it.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  “I’m not going to believe what?” I asked.

  “Take a look.” The plumber moved out of my way so I could look in the cupboard.

  I knelt down and stuck my head inside. “I don’t see anything.” And I didn’t. Nothing looked out of place.

  “Take a gander behind the pipes. A good gander.”

  It was dark. There were no lights in the bathroom yet, and the window was dirty, blocking out the sunlight.

  The plumber tapped me on my back. “Here. Use my flashlight.”

  I reached back and he placed it in my hand.

  Swinging the light back and forth and into the corners, I still didn’t see anything. I was about to ask him what he was talking about when the light beam picked up something out-of-place. Tucked into the u-trap part of the pipe was a gun. It was partially wrapped in a cloth and jammed up against the wall so it wouldn’t fall, but I could see most of the barrel.

  “Have you got something I can use to lift this out? Never mind. It’s obviously been here a long time.” I reached forward and plucked the gun from its hiding place.

  Backing out of the cupboard, I cracked my head, just like the plumber had.

  “What’s your name?” I asked, rubbing my skull.

  “Frank, just like your father.”

  I didn’t bother to correct him about Frank’s status of stepfather.

  “Well, Frank, would you do me a favor and send my husband up here?”

  “Sure will. Knowing the history of this old house, I’d just as soon get out of here.” He left in a hurry. I had a feeling he’d finish his work on the house in a hurry, too.

  While I waited I stood and unwrapped the gun, opening the cylinder on the .22 revolver after I set the cloth on the sink. It was loaded and ready to fire. No bullets missing. That was something, anyway. Taking a closer look, I noticed a slightly reddish-brown stain on the grip. There were a couple of marks on the stain which looked like water from the pipes might have dripped on the gun. I unloaded it – no sense in taking chances.

  Things were, once again, becoming interesting. Since the police would have already taken possession of both Clyde’s and Harry’s guns at the time of the crimes, this one wouldn’t have been used in the multiple murders. Was it used for anything? What was the stain on the grip? Maybe it was rust from the sink since it had been resting in the trap of the plumbing.

  It wasn’t long before Pete showed up at the bathroom door. “What’s up? Frank said something about a gun?”

  “Yes. He found one under the sink. With everything that’s happened in this house, finding the gun made my imagination start working double-time. Take a look at this and see what you think.”

  I handed him the revolver.

  He studied it for a moment. “It’s definitely an older pistol. And you say it was under the sink in the cabinet?”

  “Hidden under the sink. It was wrapped in cloth and jammed in the pipes, not just casually tossed into the cupboard.”

  “Hmm. Interesting.” He studied the grip of the revolver. “This could be rusty water, but it could also be a blood stain. I’d say we should turn it over to the local police, but there haven’t been any crimes committed here in about twenty years. And they took the guns used in the murders as evidence already.” He set the gun on the sink. “I don’t think we need to worry about this. I have no idea who hid the gun, but obviously it wasn’t used in any known crime. Think about it. It’s an old gun to begin with, and no one has lived here for years.”

  “You’re right. It’s probably no big deal. I guess it just surprised me when Frank found it. It curdled his cream though. I have a feeling he’s going to finish up as fast as he can and be done with this job. I don’t think he wants to come back.”

  “What were you doing at the mobile home across the street? Meeting the neighbors?” He deftly changed the subject. Had he forgotten about our challenge?

  Worked for me.

  “Yes, they wanted to meet my mother and find out a little about their new neighbor.”

  “Uh huh.” His tone sounded suspicious. “So you weren’t asking questions about the murders?”

  “Okay, ya got me. We were doing a full-blown investigation. Twenty years after the fact, we were grilling them about what happened.”

  “I suppose you think I’d forgotten about our bet.” He grinned. “Not gonna happen. The boys, as you call us, have already spoken to one of the other neighbors. Maybe you need to keep an eye on us.”

  I sighed. “I should have known. We’re in here working our little brains out and you’re out socializing in the neighborhood.”

  “Yeah, socializing. There are so many people around here. Have you even bothered to count the houses? What are there? Half a dozen?”

  “Gotcha,” I said. “There are eight houses out here, and two of them are vacant.”

  Pete laughed. “That’s my girl, always on top of things. Now I’m going back to work.”

  “Give me a kiss first.” I fluttered my eyelashes at him and he responded, oh, so lovingly.

  “How much longer are we going to stay here?” he asked.

  “As long as it takes.”

  He nodded and turned, limping as he walked
away. Was he that tired? Or looking for my sympathy? He got my sympathy. I wondered if he’d ever fully recover from his broken bones.

  I set the gun and the ammunition on the bathroom sink, thinking I’d figure out what to do with them later. Before I could exit the bathroom, I heard footsteps thudding up the stairs.

  “Sandi? Sandi?” My mother must have heard about the revolver.

  “I’m in here,” I said, stepping outside the small room and into the hallway.

  She climbed up the last step and stopped in front of me. “I heard you found a gun. Do you think it was used in the murders?”

  “No, Mom, the police took the other weapons in as evidence. This one had nothing to do with any killings – as far as I know.” Stifling a grin, I egged her on, unable to stop myself.

  She knew what I was doing. “You just never know. Remember, we have to check some suspicious places in this house. Which reminds me, you were going to pour some water down the back of the fireplace to see if it would run down the wall in the basement.”

  I snapped my fingers. “That’s right. I forgot all about that. Why don’t we do that right now? We’ll take the gun with us and you can hide it in the motorhome. I wouldn’t want Blondie to find it.”

  She nodded, picked up the gun and stuck the ammunition in her pocket before following me downstairs and snatching up a bucket for me to use. It still had some fresh water in it from when we’d been cleaning.

  “Okay,” I said. “You go downstairs and watch to see if the water runs down the wall after I pour it in the fireplace.”

  She nodded and took off to stand watch in the basement, leaving the door open so we could yell back and forth to each other.

  Removing the foil I’d lined the fireplace with, I waited in the living room until I was sure she was downstairs. I tipped the bucket and ran water down the back of the fireplace.

  “Anything yet?” I yelled.

  “No,” she replied at the top of her lungs.

  “What’s all the hollering about?” Felicity stuck her head around the corner of the wall leading from the family room.

  “I’m testing the fireplace to see if the stains on the wall in the basement could be from someone pouring water on a fire to put it out. Maybe it ran down the back, but so far it doesn’t seem to be running off.”

  “Oh. Well, why not take something and clear the back of the fireplace. Maybe there was dirt and debris under the foil you used.”

  “Good idea.” I picked up a piece of wood that was lying on the floor and began to scrape the back of the fireplace.

  “I’m waiting, dear,” my mother yelled.

  “Give me a minute,” I yelled back.

  Felicity made a face. “I’ll go stand between the basement door and fireplace so you two don’t have to keep screaming at each other.”

  I nodded and tipped the bucket again, waiting for a moment before I said anything.

  “Ask her if she sees running water yet.” I knew Felicity would be able to hear me.

  Before she could ask, I heard my mother’s voice coming from the stairs.

  “Phooey! I saw water running down the wall. We’ll have to make sure to fix the fireplace so we don’t start a fire in the basement with hot ashes falling through the space.”

  She reached the top of the stairs and walked over to stand beside me.

  “Okay,” Felicity said. “That means there’s probably no body behind the block wall.”

  Was it my imagination or did my mother look disappointed?

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  “Mom, be glad there aren’t any bodies hidden in this house. What are the odds of finding a body? Slim to none. I can hardly believe you’re reacting this way.”

  “I don’t think I’m overreacting. I just kind of got carried away because of everything that’s happened here. You’ll think I’m nuts, but I figured adding to the existing story might make people want to stay here if for no other reason than because they’re nosey or curious.”

  “Ah.”

  “Honestly? I think this house has enough of a story already,” Felicity said. “If you find another body, it’s more than likely going to keep people away from your bed and breakfast.”

  My mother looked thoughtful. “Maybe you’re right,” she said slowly. “I don’t really want to think someone else was murdered here. Besides, if someone was killed a long time ago and the body was hidden here, all we’d find would be a skeleton.”

  She was treating death too lightly, and yet I knew it would be a different matter if she was face to face with a body. After all, it had happened. She’s seen a dead body up close and personal. She was a bit eccentric, maybe, but not cold-hearted. My mother is a diehard mystery fan and she frequently wanted to know what my latest case was. She’d become involved in a couple of them and it seemed to whet her appetite for more.

  “You don’t want to find another body, but you sure seem to want to investigate the crimes that took place here. Is that right? Actually, I think you want to add to what’s already happened here. You want even more of a story than we already have. Right?”

  She nodded slowly. “Maybe I’m becoming a ghoul in my old age.”

  “You’re not a ghoul,” I said. “You’re just a very curious woman. Sometimes you need to let things go and not pursue them.”

  “Yes, but you – ”

  “I’m a private investigator. It’s my job, not yours. Now why don’t we get back to work? If you want to imagine there are bodies hidden around the house, go ahead. But remember, although there were murders here, anything else is fiction. We’re just trying to win a bet with the men about what really happened twenty years ago. Okay?”

  “You’re right, Sandi. I just got too carried away.”

  Felicity watched us talk, wide-eyed and surprised. “You two crack me up,” she said. “One minute you’re trying to scare each other, and the next you’re rationalizing what’s going on. Oh, and by the way, Livvie, you’re not a ghoul. Far from it.”

  A sudden thought struck me. “By the way, Mom, are you and Frank going to sleep in the house again tonight?”

  “Why? Are you going to try to scare me?” She narrowed her eyes and grinned.

  “No. Would I do that?”

  “Yes and yes. We’re going to sleep by the fireplace again, and yes you’d try to scare me. Remember, I’m no spring chicken anymore. You wouldn’t want to give your mother a heart attack, would you?”

  “Uh uh. Sometimes I think you’re younger than I am, at least mentally.”

  “Well, Frank and I decided – or I decided – we’d rather sleep in the house where you’re all within calling distance. It’ll be more comfy.”

  “Yeah, it’s gonna be real comfortable sleeping on the floor.” I had a feeling she had something up her sleeve, but no idea what it could be.

  The three of us laughed our comments off and, after some discussion, decided to work in the main kitchen upstairs for a while instead of going back to the apartment.

  “What color are you going to paint the kitchen?” Fel asked. “Will it be yellow, too?”

  “No, I’ve decided to go with pale blues and off whites up here.”

  I glanced at my watch. “Oh, my gosh! It’s four o’clock. Do you realize we never ate lunch? The men must be starving. We’d better forget about painting for now and think about dinner.”

  “We didn’t have lunch? I could swear we did.” Mom looked chagrined, to say the least.

  “I’m hungry, and other than cookies at Zetta’s, I don’t remember eating,” I said.

  “We ate. You’ve just got too much on your mind. I’ll go out and check on the guys,” Felicity said. “I’m half surprised they didn’t come nag us about dinner already.”

  “Okay,” my mother said. “While you talk to them Sandi and I will put something together.” She was already heading toward the door and I knew she was going to the motorhome to see what we had to eat.

  I followed her. “Wait a minute. Felicity’s right.
We had lunch before we walked over to see Zetta and Bill. I feel like we’ve crammed forty-eight hours into one day today. Even our memories are playing tricks on us. Maybe we should send the boys into town for pizza or something.”

  She stopped in her tracks. “Good idea, but why don’t we drive in. I wouldn’t mind getting away from here for a while.”

  I was about to turn and head for the shop where the men had been working when I noticed they were sitting outside relaxing, in front of the motorhome. Felicity sat on Stanley’s lap. They were so cute together.

  Mom explained her dinner plan to everyone.

  “I have a better idea,” Frank said. “Let’s all go and we’ll eat in town. I saw a couple of restaurants that looked pretty good. Can everyone clean up in a hurry?”

  Stanley stood and dumped Felicity on the ground.

  She raised her eyebrows at him. “Thanks a lot, precious. Is this the way you’re going to treat me for the rest of our lives?” She looked up and smiled, knowing he hadn’t meant to drop her.

  “Oh, sugar dumpling, I didn’t mean to do that. The idea of dinner just overwhelmed me. I wasn’t thinking when I stood.”

  He helped her up and she brushed off her jeans. “I’ve never seen you take dinner quite this seriously before.”

  “Honestly, I’ve never worked this hard before. It builds up quite an appetite.”

  I noticed he kept glancing around at the ground.

  “Yeah, you just want to get away from the tarantulas,” Pete said.

  “Well, there is that.” Stanley took a step back, almost as though he thought another herd of tarantulas would arrive shortly.

  We’d worked hard all day, but it hadn’t been as hot as previous days. Instead of showering we all changed clothes and hoped for the best.

  The drive into town seemed to take forever, although it couldn’t have been much more than half an hour. The electrician and plumber left just before we did so we ended up following them out of the desert. I laughed to myself. We were following them out of the desert to a town that was in the desert. High desert, but still the desert. Of course, the llama ranch was in the high desert, too.