“She’s stabilized,” a woman’s voice said.
Hattie heard amplified noises around her. Beeping. Footsteps. Metal clanging. Suddenly, there were deep pinches that felt like electrical currents along her arms and chest. Was she going to survive this? She had to. She had come this far. Hattie focused on moving something, anything…a leg, an arm.
Howie called out to the nurse. “Her eyelid moved!”
Was that a sliver of light?
“Ma! Ma!” Excitedly, Howie announced. “You’re back! You’re okay!”
Howie’s face came into clear view. “Yes,” she said. “I’m here.”
For the minutes that followed, the nurse busied herself with taking Hattie’s vitals and adjusting the machinery. In the meantime, Hattie was trying to collect her thoughts. She felt she was still in a haze. Was Orin, nothing more than a hopeful dream? She looked at Howie. There was one way to find out. Was what she heard about Ralph true or false?
“Howie, was Ralph arrested?
Howie reached for her hand. “Nothing for you to worry about now. Let’s get you well first.”
“I need to know.”
“He can’t hurt you anymore.”
“Yes dear. I know. But who are we talking about?”
“There’s plenty of time to deal with that.”
“Howie, you don’t understand. Ralph didn’t try to kill me. It was Scott.”
A concerned look clouded Howie’s face. “Calm down, Ma. You may be a little confused. I understand. You’ve been through a lot.”
“Howard Moon,” Hattie said sternly, “we got to get on the same page for once. Ralph is innocent. Scott came to the house that night. He was wearing Ralph’s boots. Whatever you found at Ralph’s was planted there.”
“But Ted said—”
“Did they find the computer?”
“What computer? Ted didn’t say anything about a computer.”
“Get that detective in here. I’m going to make a statement and it’s going to be a doozy. They arrested the wrong man and I can prove it!”
“Calm down, Ma.”
“Let me tell you what was not at Ralph’s house. My alarm necklace. Probably sitting on the end table next to the living room chair. Did you see it?”
Howie nodded.
“You need to check that for prints. Also check the plaza dumpster. It’s one of his favorite throwaway places. Now, please, call Ted.”
Early the following afternoon, Ted visited Hattie for the second time. “Ralph’s been released.”
“So, Scott pled guilty?”
Ted shrugged. “Not in so many words. After I told him you were fine, he asked for two things: a cigarette and a lawyer.”
Hattie thought of Orin and said flatly, “I never knew he smoked.”
Ted smiled for the first time. “Good one, Mrs. Moon.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Hattie’s heart jumped out of her chest. Tears came to her eyes. Muriel, with her hair plastered to her head and a hospital gown stretched to its limits, was a sight for sore eyes.
“Sister Mary Godzilla, I don’t know about you, but this hospital stay has been a bee-otch. Anyway, Howie came and visited. He told me everything. Sweetie, we are truly, without a doubt, the two best and worst detectives around.”
Hattie shrugged. “We’re new at this.”
“Right. That darn learning curve.”
“But we did it.”
“Not me. I was out for the count.”
“Muriel, if it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t have known about the Fentanyl.”
“Got a point there. Guess I did take one for the team. But you did too. Anyway, while you were getting all the glory, I started drumming up business.”
“What kind of business?”
“Private investigation. Get this, my bed partner, Beverly, thinks her next door neighbor, a bona fide fruitcake, aka hoarder, is sneaking into her house and stealing recyclables, which, as you may point out, is a form of recycling.
“Anyway, Beverly wants to get to the bottom of this since she likes reusing glass bottles and takes a lot of time washing and drying them out so she can put stuff inside and set them up in nice rows on her window sill.”
“What kind of stuff?”
“Buttons, pennies, bottle caps. She’s an artist.”
“Oh. I see. So why doesn’t she just talk to the woman?”
“There’s the rub. She hopes it’s the woman next door, but there are other suspects. Her daughter-in-law for one, her son for another. Both seem particularly set on getting their mitts on Beverly’s pension.”
Hattie was confused. “But why would they steal recyclables?”
“Hattie, if I learned one thing, nothing is what it seems. Anyway, it’s doable. We could tie it up in a couple of days with a security camera. And there’s a bonus. We probably won’t get killed.”
Hattie thought about Orin. He’d be waiting for her.
“So, what do you think?”
Hattie smiled. Dead or alive, she had nothing to lose. “Capital idea!”
Dear Reader
Thank you so much for taking the time to read Hattie Moon's first book, Murder in the Pachysandra. I am honored to have you as a reader and hope I can continue to provide you with stories you enjoy. Being an author is like being a chef. One creates books, the other meals. In both cases the grand finales are best shared with others.
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Starry nights, Linda
Thanks for reading!!!
Murder in the Pachysandra Page 19