Revenge Is Sweet

by Kaye George

  Tally walked in the front door. Yolanda greeted her with a smile. “I have a box waiting at the post office, and it might be our plastic candy.” She pulled curls onto the ends of the ribbons and considered the basket finished.

  “That’s gorgeous,” Tally said. “You’ve outdone yourself with it.”

  “Thanks for coming up with the idea of wrapping your fudge pieces in silver paper. They’ll love them. What’s up?”

  Tally leaned her elbows on Yolanda’s counter with a dejected look. “It’s Cole. He was questioned yesterday at the police station.”

  “Questioned? What about?”

  “Mart’s murder.”

  Yolanda let her scissors clatter to the countertop. “Oh no. How could that be?”

  “It can’t. He didn’t kill her. But I said I’d try to get him a good lawyer.”

  “You want Lackey Three, then. Right?” That was what a lot of people called Larimer Lackey III, but never to his face. He was pompous, self-important, and seemed to have a low tolerance for remarks about his name.

  “Yes, Lackey. Doesn’t a classmate of ours work for him?”

  “Oh, yes, his secretary. Nicole.”

  “All I could think of was Ubermeister.”

  Yolanda laughed. “Oberlander. That’s her last name.”

  “That’s it!” Tally brightened a bit. “Do you have a lawyer, Yo?”

  “I haven’t gotten one yet. My father wants me to, but I was afraid that would make me look more guilty. Maybe I should.”

  “I’ll call his office and see if I can have lunch or coffee or something with Nicole.”

  “I’ll go with you if you want me to. She goes to our church.” She reached to put the scissors on the shelf where the ribbon spools were. “I suppose I should hire him, too.”

  “Thanks, Yo. I hope she can help my brother. And you.”

  The three women met at one of the vineyard tasting rooms on Main Street shortly after seven o’clock. Nicole had told Yolanda she was off at five, but could meet them at that later time, after Tally and Yolanda closed up.

  Nicole and Tally caught up a bit on mutual high-school classmates, then Yolanda steered the conversation to their purpose.

  She picked up her glass of semi-dry red and swirled it, admiring the color and, soon after, the taste. When she set it down, she started. “Tally’s brother has a problem I was hoping you could help him with.”

  “Is he younger than you? I’m pretty sure I remember both of you,” Nicole said to Tally.

  “We both went through high school here before we moved away.”

  “I remember he collected strange pets. Bugs and lizards and things.”

  Tally laughed. “He thought he was rescuing them.”

  “What does he need an attorney for? What’s he done?”

  “He hasn’t done anything. But he went out with Mart Zimmer a few times and—”

  “Mart Zimmer! She’s the one who was murdered. The second one.” Nicole acted horrified. Yolanda thought she would have encountered a murder or two, or more, in her job already and become inured to them.

  “Not by him. But he’s being questioned about it.”

  Nicole studied the wall over Tally’s shoulder for a moment. Yolanda held her breath.

  * * * *

  Tally hadn’t considered that the lawyer would hesitate to take Cole’s case. But here was his legal secretary, going from acting horrified that she was sitting with a killer’s sister to looking like she was weighing some unknown factors. Tally buried her nose in her glass, then tossed it back and swigged more of her Pinot Noir. “He didn’t kill her, and he needs a defense attorney.”

  “Yes, he does, if he’s being questioned,” Nicole said. “Who else are they looking at?” Now she was sounding more reasonable, Tally thought.

  “For this one? I have no idea. Could you talk to Mr. Lackey and set up a meeting as soon as possible?”

  “Sure, I can do that.” She set her glass down and fished a notebook out of her purse, then jotted something down. “This whole thing is awfully strange, isn’t it?” She waiting for one of them to speak next.

  Tally had to agree. “I guess all murders are strange, right? It’s not normal.”

  “But this one involves the mayor. Not Mart’s murder, but Gene’s, his son’s.”

  “You know that Mart and Gene were seeing each other at one time,” Yolanda said.

  “So you think the two crimes are related? One of the things I thought bizarre is that there were two murders so close together when we hardly ever get any here.”

  “They have to be related, don’t they?” Tally said. “It would be too strange if they were murdered by separate people for different reasons, and both of them in my shop. Something is going on that no one knows about, that’s what I think.”

  “What’s difficult,” Yolanda said, “is that there are lots of people to suspect for Gene’s killing, but hardly any for Mart.”

  “Yes,” Tally added. “A lot of girlfriends and even his parents.”

  “You think that his parents might have killed him?” Nicole’s eyes grew wide. “That would be something.”

  “They don’t—didn’t—seem to like him very much, either one of them,” Tally said.

  Nicole stared at the table for a moment. “You know, you’re right. They didn’t. And Josef, the mayor, was supposed to play golf with my boss that day. I remember thinking about that at the time.”

  “They didn’t play golf?” Tally said. She had thought they played a few holes, then went to the clubhouse or bar.

  “No, Larry called Josef to cancel because the weatherman said it was going to rain. It did rain a little. I remember him saying later that he wished he hadn’t canceled because they probably could have gotten a round in.”

  Silence descended as Tally thought about this. The husband of the woman at the hairdressers’ shop had lied to his wife. Josef was now firmly a suspect again. He couldn’t use golf for an alibi.

  Nicole set down her half-finished glass and gathered up her purse. “Anyway, I’ll talk to Larry about your brother first thing in the morning. He’ll have to find out a few things, then he can call him.” She smiled. “That is, I’ll be the one calling.”

  “Wait,” Yolanda said. “I might like to hire him, too.”

  Nicole paused with her hand on her purse. “You’re a suspect?”

  “Only for Gene’s death. So far.”

  Nicole nodded, as if that made sense. “Sure thing. I’ll talk to him about both of you. I don’t know if he can take the cases, but I’ll catch him first thing in the morning.”

  Tally gave her Cole’s number before she hurried out. She turned to Yolanda. “So, you have to audition for a lawyer? I thought everyone was entitled to representation.”

  “I’m sure some lawyers pick and choose their clients, and probably turn some down. Why wouldn’t they? They have to consider their reputations, and if they take too many losing cases, they’ll suffer. And maybe, it would be a conflict of interest to represent both of us?”

  Tally asked for another glass of wine.

  “You’re saying Cole is a losing case? Or you are?”

  “No, no.” Yolanda held up her palms. “He’s not a losing case, and I’m not either, but Lackey doesn’t know that.”

  “Nicole doesn’t either, I guess.” Tally began on her next glass of wine.

  “You can’t expect them to. After all, Cole doesn’t live here. They don’t know him.”

  “Nicole knows him. She even remembers him from when he was little.”

  Yolanda twirled her empty glass. “People change.”

  “Do you think Cole has changed? Do you?” Tally realized she was raising her voice and concentrated on keeping it down. “He’s the same loveable person he always was.”

  “Loveable? He�
��s loveable until he dumps you.”

  Tally stared at her best friend. What was she saying?

  “You have to admit that’s true,” Yolanda went on, rubbing salt into the wound.

  Tally sputtered a bit, but couldn’t come up with a good retort. Especially since she knew that Yolanda was right. She had accused her brother of exactly the same thing. “So, you think he killed Mart?”

  “No, no, I don’t think that! I’m saying they don’t know him. That’s all I’m saying.”

  She was saying a lot more than that, but Tally was getting a headache and wanted to go home. “I have to leave,” she said, then paid her bill and walked out.

  On her way home, she realized she wasn’t walking in a straight line. She probably shouldn’t have had that third glass of wine. Or was the last one the fourth? Yolanda had stopped way before she had. She had stayed, Tally supposed, to keep her company, but she couldn’t get their argument out of her head. Yolanda, it seemed, hadn’t been questioned for Mart’s murder. Maybe she was off the hook because Cole was on it? Tally wanted everyone to know, by looking at him, that her brother didn’t kill anyone. Was that unreasonable?

  Her stomach rumbled. What was unreasonable was having that much wine on an empty stomach. She stopped in at a gas station convenience store for a hot dog, needing something to quickly soak up all those fermented grapes roiling inside her.

  As she pulled the door open to enter, she collided with Allen Wendt.

  “Allen, sorry!” she said with a hiccup.

  He dropped what he was holding, and papers scattered on the floor. She knelt to help him pick them up. They were lotto tickets. Lots and lots of lotto tickets.

  “You bought all these?” she asked, handing him the ones she had scooped up.

  He helped her stand since she was a bit wobbly. “They’re not all for me. Are you okay, Tally?” He leaned close, and she suspected he was sniffing her breath.

  “I will be. But I need something to eat now.”

  He nodded. “I’ll see you later.” He finished going through the door and left her there wondering how serious his gambling problem was. No wonder he was broke. Next time they had dinner together, she would try to question him. Right now, she couldn’t think about anything. Her head was too full of something. Something that felt like helium, only lighter.

  Chapter 16

  Yolanda’s father called her late Wednesday night one minute before she was about to climb into her deep claw-footed bathtub.

  “Cara mia, have you thought more about the lawyer?” His voice was smooth and coaxing, trying to cajole her into agreeing with him. “I can call the one in Dallas. He’s the best in the state.”

  She wasn’t sure yet whether she wanted one or not. In any case, she would prefer to hire one she could afford. “I might get one from here, Papa.”

  “From where? From Fredericksburg? Are you serious?”

  “I want to get one I can afford.” She shivered in spite of the steam rising from the tub and filling the small bathroom.

  “Not that again.” He had changed to his harsh tone. The one that said Do it because I said so. “We’ve been over this.”

  Yes, they had. They’d argued about this issue, and every other one. Whenever Yolanda wanted to make upgrades in her shop, her papa always wanted to pay for it, then complain later that she spent too much money. When would she be able to resist him? To not feel like a little girl, but the grown woman she was.

  It was bad enough they paid for this expensive Sunday House and the rent on her store. The Sunday House was her fault, but she loved the place. She just wished she could pay for it. She knew she would accept them paying for the lawyer, too, eventually, and she didn’t like that about herself.

  She envied Tally her mostly absentee parents, even though Tally complained about them being so far away most of the time. If only they could both have Happy Medium Parents. But they were what they were.

  “Papa, my bathwater is getting cold. Can we talk about this later?” She grabbed a thick towel from the rack and wrapped it around herself. She shivered and sneezed. Was she getting a cold?

  “We can’t wait too long. From what you’ve told me, it sounds like the police are about to arrest you.”

  Yolanda clenched her jaw and bit her lower lip. At least he hadn’t brought up Violetta. Perfect Violetta. “Oh no, they won’t do that. They might have another suspect now. Or two.”

  “Who? Anyone I know?”

  “No, Papa, I don’t know who.” Okay, that was a blatant lie. She knew who, and there was only one suspect. Cole.

  “I’m so glad I at least have one daughter who doesn’t put me through things like this.”

  There. He did it. He compared her to Violetta. “I have to go now.”

  After she hung up, she let some cool water out so she could warm up her bath again. She added an extra dose of lavender bath salts for comfort.

  * * * *

  Tally got a call before she left for work on Thursday from Nicole at the lawyer’s office saying he would agree to represent her brother, but they needed to meet to finalize his decision. Tally wondered what this would cost. She was relieved when Nicole said he was tied up with other litigation and couldn’t get started on Cole’s “case” for another week.

  She left it that they would meet on the next Thursday.

  “Who was that on the phone?” Cole called from the couch.

  Tally had taken the call in the kitchen. Should she tell him what she was doing? Maybe not quite yet. Maybe the police, or herself, would find the real killer before another week went by.

  “One of my suppliers. They can’t make their delivery until next Thursday.”

  “Oh, okay.” He went back to sleep, and she left for work.

  * * * *

  Right after work that day, Tally made a run to the grocery store for more cat food and litter, plus some restocking of her own home fridge. She paused, reaching for a can of soup, when she heard a familiar voice in the next aisle. It was Andrea’s mother. She would never forget those harsh tones. As she was when Tally first heard her, she was again scolding her daughter.

  “Why can’t you be like your sister was? Why do you have to be like this? What did I tell you to do?”

  “Mom.” Andrea’s voice was soft. Probably trying to calm her mother down. “We all miss Patsy. We all wish she were here.”

  “Do you? Do you really miss her? Because I can’t see that.” The woman’s voice was getting louder, more irritated.

  “You’ll never know how much I miss her,” Andrea answered.

  “Huh. I’m sure I won’t. Now, pick those up and let’s get out of here.”

  They had to be talking about the sister who was killed in a car wreck. Andrea did miss her, Tally knew. She’d seen how much she was grieving for her. What a shame that the family was dealing with it so badly. It was hurting Andrea and her mother. Probably her father, too, though Tally had never met him. Maybe he wasn’t around anymore? Maybe he had left? Who would want to stick with Andrea’s mother?

  Tally gave them enough time to leave the store before she continued her shopping.

  * * * *

  That night Tally found herself agreeing to have a dinner date with Allen again.

  As she was coming out her front door, Mrs. Gerg was coming up the front sidewalk bearing another yard sale treasure. This one was a large box. It was bright red and might have been lacquer, but might have been plastic. It wasn’t going to fit on the cabinet with the rest of them.

  “See what I found, dearie.” Mrs. Gerg held it up proudly, with a wide grin on her round face.

  “It’s big, isn’t it?” Tally lingered outside her door, leaving it open so she could stash the latest gift inside.

  “Yes, and I got it for a song. I knew you’d love it.”

  Tally took the offering, realizing t
hat it was, indeed, plastic and trying to think where she would put it where no one would see it. Maybe she could rent a storage space if this kept up.

  “Did you see all those people at the Zimmer house last night?”

  At Mart Zimmer’s house? “No, I didn’t go past there.”

  “The mayor and his wife showed up. I knew they would.”

  “Showed up for what? What was happening?”

  “I imagine it was the wake. For their daughter.”

  Tally knew that neither Gene’s nor Mart’s body had been released to their families, but maybe the Zimmers had a wake anyway. That was their right.

  “The Zimmers and the Fausts have been good friends for years, you know. Those kind of people stick together.”

  She meant rich people, Tally assumed. “Do you know them?”

  Mrs. Gerg waved a chunky hand. “Oh, I know of them. Everyone in town knows who they are. They don’t know me, I’m sure.”

  “But you know a lot about them?”

  “A fair amount. The YSU, you know.”

  “The what?” Tally asked, ducking inside and setting the box on the floor beside the cabinet that was topped with smaller boxes.

  “The YSU, the Yard Sale Underground.” Mrs. Gerg winked. “Those of us who go around to them collect all kinds of gossip. You learn a lot about people from what they’re selling. Plus, you can talk to them when you’re there. They always open up to me, since I buy things from them.”

  That could be useful. “Have you heard anything about the Fausts?”

  “I hear things about them all the time. What do you mean?”

  “I mean, in relation to their son’s death?”

  “Oh, do you mean did they do him harm?” Her round eyes grew rounder. “That’s something to consider, isn’t it? I’ll keep my ears peeled.”

  Tally thought it might be better to keep her eyes peeled, but didn’t want to interrupt.

  “I’ll snoop around and let you know what I find out.”