Mulch Ado About Murder

by Martha Rogers

  Ben, Harry, and I glanced at one another. What had happened now?

  “Harry, we checked out that car you said was parked behind Mrs. Billings’ house, and we located the driver. One problem—he’s disappeared.” Then he looked straight at me.

  “A neighbor said she saw him talking with a woman at the curb near his car yesterday afternoon. That woman fits your description. Were you at Lenny’s place yesterday?”

  Heat rushed up neck. Caught red-handed. “Um, yes I did find him and talk with him.”

  The detective shook his head. “Mrs. Billings, why in the world were you looking for him in the first place?”

  “I found out that it was his car parked next to mine that morning. I just wanted to know whose it was. I gave the license plate number to Harry to find out for me.”

  The detective gave Harry a scathing look then and pointed his finger at him. “You had a license plate number and didn’t give it to us?”

  “Yes, I did, but I was only helping out a friend. I turned it in as soon as I realized it could be connected to Pete’s murder.”

  The detective shook his head and glared at the three of us. “I appreciate your interest, but please quit interfering with our investigation. Now we have to spend more time looking for the man and finding out why he was here.”

  “Oh, I can tell you that.” Maybe my information would put me in a better position.

  He blew out his breath and took out a pad. “Okay, tell me what you know.”

  I proceeded to tell him everything about my visit with Lenny, including the women he claims he saw.

  “That’s all very interesting and useful, but there are a lot more questions we have for him, and he’s disappeared from his home, his work, and anywhere else he might hide out. We know the right questions to ask and could perhaps have learned more about Lenny’s business dealings with Pete.”

  “I’m sorry.” And I was, but it didn’t mean I’d quit my sleuthing. However, he was right. He could have gleaned a lot more answers with the right questions.

  “It’d be best if you’d leave the solving of this crime to us, Mrs. Billings.”

  “I understand.” The stern look didn’t deter me one bit from what I still needed to do.

  When he turned his attention to Harry, I saw that as my opportunity to get away and go back to my pad and pen. Besides, my stomach reminded me I hadn’t finished my lunch.

  I leaned toward Ben. “I’m going back to my place to eat my lunch. Let me know if anything of significance is said.”

  He gave me one of those looks that told me he knew what I was up to, but he didn’t say anything, so I skedaddled out of there. After I freed Mitzi, I grabbed my pad and pen and went to work. I had my suspicions about the mystery woman, but I’d have to wait until all the regular staff was back on duty to ask any more questions.

  Then I remembered all that was going on in the next few days. When would I ever find the time to do some more nosing around? Between the bridge tournament and the fall dinner, I had my hands full. Harry and I still hadn’t had any time for practice games. Just the thought of it wore me out.

  I finished lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon taking care of chores like changing my linens and doing the laundry. I also did a little baking. Those are the tasks that leave my mind free to explore and find answers to questions or problems I’m trying to solve.

  After taking the last batch of cookies from the oven, I still hadn’t come any closer to solving the mystery of the last woman to argue with Pete.

  While they cooled, I turned my attention to the dinner coming up on Saturday. I had all the supplies I needed and the manpower to take care of them. Notices had been posted, and the candidates for the Harvest King and Queen would be announced later this evening. The kitchen and wait staff would take care of the clean-up of the dishes, but my committee would take care of taking down all decorations. At least we could leave the flowers on the table for Sunday and into next week.

  Harry and I had neglected our game to the point we may not win over Ben and Bessie, and I didn’t like that idea. I simply didn’t want to listen to his bragging until the next tournament, so that had to planned for as well.

  A knock on the door followed by Ben calling out my name let me know he and Harry had arrived. I opened the door and let them in.

  Harry started in on me right away. “Boy, that Detective Forester wasn’t very happy with you.”

  “What about you? You could have at least warned me.” I held my anger at bay but crossed my arms over my body and glared at him.

  “Sorry about that, but after you told us about your visit, I figured Lenny would lay low. If that was the case, the police would have a much better chance at finding him than I would.”

  There was some logic to that, but I still wasn’t too pleased.

  “Look, I know he told you to stop meddling, but that’s not going to keep you from nosing around anyway. I’m sorry I didn’t warn you, but I still want to help you and Ben with this.”

  He was right that I wouldn’t stop asking questions, we could use his help. I sure wasn’t getting that far on my own. “Okay, but we have to let each other know what we’re doing.” I fingered the earring in my pocket. I hadn’t exactly been honest myself.

  I pulled it out and opened my hand to show it. “I know I should probably have given this to Noreen to post in Lost and Found, or maybe I should even give it to the police, but I want to do some snooping and see what I can find. I know it came from a guy at a craft booth at War Eagle. Noreen said he doesn’t sell them any place else. Something is floating around in my brain about it, but I can’t quite reel it in yet.”

  Ben poured himself a cup of coffee and sat back on a stool. “That leads me to believe it does belong to one of the staff. Most of our residents don’t have access to their own cars to go off on a shopping trip.”

  I held back a snicker. “Good deduction, Mr. Hot Shot Lawyer. I figured that out as soon as I knew it came from a craftsman at a show.”

  Harry held up his hand. “Now wait a minute. That’s all a good theory, but it could easily have been a gift to one of our residents from a friend or family member.”

  I hadn’t really considered that aspect, but it could be. That was why I couldn’t stop trying to find out about anyone else Pete had been dating, and who owned the earring.

  “You’re right. It probably doesn’t mean a thing.” I slipped the earring into the drawer at the end of the table. I was still going to find out who lost it.

  Chapter 17

  That night during dinner, Taryn picked up a portable mike and called out for our attention. It was time to find out who had been nominated for Harvest King and Queen. We’d had ballots available for the past week to write down two names and turn them in. Electric excitement of anticipation charged the air, and even I wanted to know whose names were on the list.

  Taryn read the list as murmurs of approval and applause resounded. She called out the last two names, and I nearly fell out of my chair. Ben and I had made the list. Bessie squealed, and Doris beamed her approval.

  Laughter spilled from me before I could stop it. “I don’t believe it. How did we get on there?”

  Ben huffed out a breath and sat up taller. “Speak for yourself, my friend. I’m not surprised in the least. Why shouldn’t we be on it?”

  Bessie waved her hand in the air. “Abigail! Think about it. You do more around here than anyone else, and everyone knows you. The one I really can’t understand being on there is Tillie, but I’m glad that nice Oren Hudson is.”

  “I must say it’s an impressive list, and I’m honored to be on it.” I grabbed the cup of coffee I’d just sugared and sipped it. I peered over at Ben and hoped this new development wouldn’t slow us down from hunting for more clues about our mystery woman.

  Ben shook his head to let me know he understood my silent communication. Strange, the more we were together, the more we thought alike. A shiver scooted down my spine. I couldn’t afford to
get that close to any man, especially Ben Martin.

  Bessie clapped her hands. “I know, let’s all go out to lunch tomorrow and celebrate Ben and Abigail’s nominations.

  I groaned because I would have to go this time. I’d backed out with something else to do the last few times something like this luncheon idea came up.

  Clara spoke her mind as usual. “Well, I suppose we should be honored to have two of the candidates for Harvest King and Queen sitting at our table. If you ask me, it’s just a time-wasting frivolity.”

  Bessie raised her eyebrows. “Clara Bivens, you said yourself last week how much fun we’d have. You were even excited about Abigail’s asking us to help with the decorations and stuff.”

  “Humph. That was then, this is now.”

  My heart went out to Clara. She’d actually been talked about as being a nominee, so this must have been a big disappointment to her. How could I soothe her ruffled feathers? “Clara, I don’t know anyone who can arrange a table like you do. Taryn will be proud to have your talent put to use.”

  Clara sniffed. “Well, as long as we’re doing it, we may as well do it right.”

  Doris Barton blinked her eyes against the moisture now filling them. “Pete’s murder hasn’t been solved yet, and we’re still having a party. Sometimes I think this place just isn’t serious enough in seeing that the murderer is caught.”

  Ben attempted to soothe Doris’ feelings. “I understand how upset you are about all this, but Abby, Harry, and I are doing everything possible to see Pete’s murder solved.”

  Doris said nothing, only pressed her lips together.

  I had hoped the dinner would take everyone’s mind off the murder, and I prayed now that more people didn’t feel like Doris.

  Clara returned to the idea of the lunch together. “Since we’re going to do this, I know just the place for celebration. You men will like it too. They serve big portions that will fill a man’s stomach for sure.”

  Bessie giggled. “I know where you mean. I can never eat it all, so I always bring a little box of food home with me. For the next day, you know.” She leaned toward Ben, her words thick as maple syrup. “You and Harry will love the food at the Gazebo. Their sandwiches are big and hearty, and the desserts would tempt any man as big and strong as you are.”

  Ben almost dropped his fork. “Gazebo? That sounds like one of those tearooms with dainty china and tiny teacups. I don’t care for those places.”

  Clara patted his hand. “Now, Ben, don’t jump to conclusions. This isn’t a ladies’ type of place. Why they even have chicken fried steak, fried catfish and all the trimmings.”

  “I hope so, and the desserts better be as good as you say. Those tearooms make me feel like a giant in a dollhouse.”

  The three ladies laughed and shook their heads. Doris shoved her napkin onto the table. “Now that’s a good one, Ben, I’ll have to remember it. But I’ve been there, and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”

  Harry spoke up. “I have some things to do in the morning, but I’d be happy to take everyone. I’ll start picking everyone up at noon and go to Abby’s last like we did for Peter’s funeral.”

  “Sounds fine to me, and we can talk more about it at breakfast.” Maybe by then I’d come up with an excuse not to go.

  The other ladies nodded in agreement as well, and Clara stood. “Now that’s settled, I’ll see all of you at breakfast. Right now, I’m going to join some friends in a few games of Canasta.”

  After that, we all went our separate ways, except Ben followed me outside. “I guess the lunch idea isn’t so bad. I went once or twice to one of those tearoom places with Millie just to make her happy.”

  “I understand. Jack did the same for me. With the voting the next two days, we won’t have much time to worry about who is elected, but it also means we’ll have other responsibilities for the dinner, so that cuts out our sleuthing time.”

  “Yes, but we can still ask questions and make observations.” Suddenly I went down, and pain shot through my foot and ankle.

  Ben grabbed me. “What’s the matter? Are you okay?”

  Harry ran up to us. “What happened? I saw Abby stumble.”

  “I hit the edge of the sidewalk and turned my ankle. It hurts like the dickens.”

  Ben and Harry lowered me to the grass. Ben picked up my foot. Even in the dim light of dusk the swelling was obvious. He loosened the ties on my shoe and eased it off. I winced and sucked in my breath.

  “I think you have a bad sprain. We need to get you to the clinic and get this looked at.”

  “Oh, no, let’s go back to my place, and I’ll ice it down. I’ll be okay.” I didn’t have time to waste on the clinic. Even if we did have a medical staff member on duty twenty-four hours, going to the clinic still took time.

  Ben wore that determined look of his, but I wasn’t going to give in. “I’m not going anywhere but home, and if you think otherwise, I’ll go by myself.”

  “Okay. Be stubborn if you like, but don’t blame us if it’s more serious than a sprain.”

  Ben nodded to Harry and they helped me to my feet. Ben held my arm on the left side. “Do you have an Ace bandage you can wrap around it?”

  “I think so. Just get me back, and I’ll take care of it.” For once I didn’t mind leaning on him for support.

  They were able to get me back to my house. Once inside, they eased me onto the recliner and made sure my foot was elevated. Ben hurried into the kitchen and found a large zip-lock bag and filled it with ice. Then he wrapped it in a towel and knelt beside me to wrap the bag around my ankle.

  Mitzi barked, and I remembered I’d left her in her crate. Harry came back into the room with a bottle of aspirin and a small paper cup of water. “Here, I found these in the bathroom. They should help with the pain. Mitzi sure wasn’t happy to see me. Should I let her out?”

  “No, I’ll take care of her later.”

  “Oh, and I looked, but didn’t find a bandage.”

  I was sure I had one around somewhere, but if it wasn’t in my bathroom cabinet, I didn’t. I swallowed the aspirin and a sip of water.

  Ben took the cup from me. “She’s going to need one for sure. She’s in no shape to go get one, but I can. I’ll go to the drug store and get a bandage, or you can go, and I’ll stay here.”

  Harry hesitated a moment before grinning. “I’ll go. Mind if I take your car, Abby? It’ll save time from having to walk down to my place and get mine.”

  “Sure. The keys are on the hook by the back door. You might get something a little stronger than aspirin while you’re at it.”

  “Will do. See you two in a bit.” He snagged the keys from the hook and headed out the door.

  After he left, Ben went to the kitchen. “I’m going to make some coffee. That always seems to help things.”

  “No, Ben. I’d prefer a cup of chamomile tea instead. The tea bags are in the pantry, and you can heat the water in the microwave.”

  “Hot tea it is.”

  He reached for the pantry door, and I realized all my junk food lay in plain sight on the shelves. Before I could protest, he had it open.

  Five seconds hadn’t passed when I heard his raucous laugh. He poked his head around the pantry door. “For a health food nut, you sure have a lot of the good stuff lying around. I’ll have to remember that next time I want a snack.”

  “Ben Martin, if you tell a soul about that, I’ll never speak to you again.”

  He appeared holding the box of tea bags. “Your secret is safe with me, but just remember, I do know.”

  I leaned back in the recliner. This was not the way I had planned to spend my evening. We still had so much to do for the dinner Saturday night, and we were getting so close to finding out who killed Pete. I sure couldn’t do much sleuthing with this ankle hurting like it was. I moved slightly to get more comfortable and had to grit my teeth against the pain shooting up my leg.

  I took a deep breath and tried to get comfortable. Ben b
rought the tea, and after a few sips, I began to relax and my muscles went limp. A few minutes rest and I’d feel much better.

  By the time Harry returned, the aspirin had lessened the pain, but I still welcomed his expert wrapping of my ankle.

  “Thank you. I think it’ll be much better now.”

  “Hmm, I got something else for you too.” He reached behind him and produced a pair of crutches.” I went over to my place and picked these up. They’re left from when I had my broken leg last year. Glad I kept them now. I adjusted them a few inches to fit your height.”

  He and Ben helped me to stand on my good foot. “At least you’ll be able to get around your house by yourself.”

  “Thank you. These will come in handy.” I positioned them under my arms and took a few tentative steps. It had been long time since I’d been on crutches. “I think I’ll remember how to do this without any trouble. I just have to remember to use my hands and not my arm pits.”

  Ben chuckled. “You got it.” He reached over and picked up his jacket. “Harry, old friend, I think it’s time for us to leave the lady to get some rest. After all, we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow.”

  Abby shuddered. “The luncheon. I forgot.” Now I had a good excuse to stay home. “Maybe I shouldn’t go tomorrow. You know, stay here and rest.”

  Harry laughed, and Ben shook his head. “Oh no, if I’m going, you are. It’s in our honor, so you have to go.”

  I waved one of the crutches. “Thanks a lot.”

  Ben ducked and dashed for the door with Harry right behind him. He glanced back at me. “Don’t forget to lock your door.”

  “Thank you, Harry, I will.” Now all I had to do was get over there. After turning the dead bolt, I thumped my way to the bedroom. Mitzi yipped like crazy.

  I opened her crate and she leapt out at me and almost caused me to fall. “Whoa, sorry there, sweetie, but we have to be more careful.”

  She sat back on her haunches and eyed me with her head turned to one side. Hopping about on one foot, I managed to get my pajamas out and changed into them.

  After taking care of my nightly routine and letting Mitzi out, I waited by the back door for her to do her business. Some evening this had turned out to be, but it had been rather nice to have two people caring about me. No one had really been around to look after me since Jack’s death.