by Jessica Beck
"What did you have in mind?" Greg asked.
"I thought we could work on your birthday trip a little more before we went to bed."
Greg frowned and bit his lip. "We shouldn’t keep calling our trip that. This is for both of us, not just me."
"Got it. How about if we name it, ‘Victoria And Greg’s Big European Vacation With All Of The Trimmings’?"
"It should probably be something shorter than that," he said as he looked at the cocoa simmering away on the stovetop. "Isn’t that ready yet?"
"You grab the marshmallows and I’ll get the mugs," I said.
After I filled two cups, Greg added three marshmallows to each, and then handed one of the mugs to me. He raised his toward me and said, "To Europe."
"To Europe," I repeated, and we touched the mugs together lightly.
As we enjoyed our hot cocoa and dove back into the guide books, I found my thoughts wandering back to what Abel had told us about the night Wally Bain had been murdered. Were the lights Abel had seen significant? What about the tree being cut down? There were many more questions than answers so far in my investigation with Moose, and I had to wonder if we even had the real killer on our list of suspects yet. Time would tell if we were heading in the right direction, or following false trails all over our part of North Carolina. Figuring out the puzzle might be the thing, but there were times when I wished that I could jump ahead and see how it all turned out in the end.
Unfortunately, life wasn’t like that, and if we were going to find the answers, we were just going to have to figure out a way to uncover them ourselves.
Chapter 10
"Did you hear about Penny Rusk?"
It was an idle question coming from somewhere in the crowd at the diner the next morning, but it certainly got my attention. Normally I was able to tune out most of the idle chatter, but when something that might pertain to me came up, it was as though a switch had been flipped in my selective hearing.
I searched the diners in the room to try to see who might have spoken, and I finally settled on Irma Gentry and Naomi Humphries. They’d finished their breakfasts ten minutes earlier, something I’d noticed mainly because I hated having a table tied up when there were other folks waiting to eat. Sure, there were seats open at the ample bar, but quite a few of our patrons refused to sit there, thinking it undignified, or some such nonsense.
"No, I didn’t. What about her?" Irma asked
"She’s leaving town," Naomi said. She sounded pretty smug about being privy to news that her friend didn’t know.
"You’re kidding me," Irma answered. "I thought they’d have to blast her out of that laundromat to ever get rid of her. Why is she leaving?"
"She was pretty evasive about it when we spoke earlier, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it had something to do with a man," Naomi said. "It’s been my experience that it usually does. I’m going by in a few hours to get my clothes, so I’m hoping to find out more then."
"How soon is all of this happening?" Irma asked. "Is the business being sold? Where am I going to do my laundry if The Suds Center shuts down?"
"Don’t be silly, Irma," Naomi said. "Penny doesn’t own the place. I’m sure the owner will be able to find someone else to take over her job."
It was now Irma’s turn to look smug about having information. "Oh, you didn’t know? I happen to know for a fact that Penny owns the business herself. She bought it with some money she inherited from her dad, so if she goes, the business goes, too."
That was news to me as well, if it was true. I had no idea that Penny owned the laundromat. Why would she leave town? Could it be because of Wally’s murder? She’d said they hadn’t been that close, but then again, she could have lied to us. Or could it have been because of what had happened to Ron? If either was a factor, I needed to find out the truth.
I called Ellen over to my station as soon as she delivered an omelet to Kerry North. "I know we’re jammed, but as soon as we get a lull, could I leave you with our customers and the register?"
Ellen looked around the crowded diner hesitantly. "I suppose so. Is it urgent?"
I suddenly realized what a bind I was putting her in by asking for such a big favor. "You know what? Forget it. It can wait."
"Hang on a second, Victoria. I didn’t say no," Ellen said quickly. "I’ll do it."
I smiled at her. "Why don’t we just play it by ear, okay?"
"Okay," Ellen said, and then she headed back to the pass-through window to pick up two orders that were already there waiting for her. I started kicking myself, knowing that I shouldn’t have asked that kind of favor from her. After all, this investigation was my problem, not hers. To make up for it, I decided that it wouldn’t hurt the boss to distribute a few orders herself to our customers. As Ellen started to deliver the plates waiting in line, I peeked in at Mom as she worked the kitchen. "Whenever you have the next order ready, I’ll go ahead and take it myself."
"Things are certainly lively out there this morning, aren’t they?" Mom asked as she stirred an order of hash browns cooking on the grill, flipped two pancakes, and then cracked four eggs onto the hot surface after a quick shot of oil. She was a maestro in the kitchen, orchestrating a handful of meals at the same time without missing a single beat.
"You’re certainly managing to keep your cool under pressure," I said as I watched her in admiration.
"Are you kidding? This is my favorite part of the day. I love the challenge of keeping a dozen orders going without letting anything burn."
"I’m not distracting you by chatting, am I?" I asked.
"I always have time for you, Victoria," she said as she grabbed and buttered two pieces of toast, slid them onto a plate, and then added two of the eggs and hash browns. From a nearby basket, she took two slices of cooked bacon and added them to the mix as well.
"Six at the bar," she said as she slid the order toward me.
I grabbed the plate, and then snagged the coffee pot on my way. After delivering the plate to Harry Ransom, I topped his coffee, and then hit a few more on the way back to the window. No one was waiting at the register, so I had time to make the rounds all through the diner with the coffee.
Ellen passed me and offered a quick smile. "Thanks for the hand."
"Glad to do it," I said. We started to get into a rhythm, and I kept helping her work the crowd until Naomi and Irma finally approached the register with their bills. After sliding the coffee pot back where it belonged, I approached the ladies and said, "Sorry for the delay."
"There’s no need to apologize. We just got here," Irma said.
I was tempted to ask the ladies more about Penny’s rumored move, but to do that, I’d have to admit that I’d been eavesdropping on their conversation, and I didn’t want them to know just how easy it had been to listen in.
After they were both gone, I grabbed the tub, cleaned their table, and the next pair of diners moved quickly in on the vacant table. I snagged Ellen’s tip for her before they could sit down, and then tucked it into her apron as we passed by the next time. Soon enough, we managed to get things down to a dull roar, and I considered calling Martha in for another shift so Moose and I could keep digging. I knew that if Penny was indeed leaving town, it was important that we talk to her before she took off.
Ellen came up to the register as I was reaching for the telephone. "Victoria, you can take off now if you’d like. I can handle this."
I was tempted, but I shook my head. "No, thanks. I’m going to call Martha."
"I didn’t mean to make you think that I couldn’t handle things by myself earlier," she told me.
"Ellen, the truth is, I never should have asked you. This investigation doesn’t involve you, and it’s not fair to ask you to cover for me while I’m out running all over town."
"Victoria, you’re the best boss I could ask for, and you’re always flexible when it comes to giving me time off for my kids. If there’s something little I can do to pay that back, I’m happy to do my best."
/> I touched her hand and smiled. "It’s sweet of you to offer, but honestly, if I take off and start investigating on my own this morning without calling Moose, he’s going to be impossible to deal with. It’s better if I at least give him the option to join me. Martha’s happy to come in at a moment’s notice, so if Moose is still asleep, which I suspect is the case, I can leave here alone with a clear conscience."
"I totally get that, but if for any reason your grandmother can’t come in, I’ll do it myself. Is that a deal?"
I nodded. "It sounds great to me."
I called Martha and Moose, and to my surprise, my grandfather answered the phone, sounding as chipper as ever. "I didn’t wake you up, did I?" I asked.
"Don’t sound so disappointed," Moose said. "I’ve been up for hours."
"Why?" I asked, knowing Moose’s regular hours when we weren’t working on a case.
"I couldn’t sleep. We’ve got a murder to solve, not to mention a potential assault. As a matter of fact, I was just on my way there to get you. The second Martha’s ready to go, we’ll both be on our way."
"She doesn’t mind working the front again?" I asked.
"Are you kidding? She’s practically dragging me there now as it is. I’m afraid I don’t have any new ideas for us to investigate, though."
"Don’t worry about that, Moose. I’ve got it covered."
"Do tell," he said.
Before I could tell him about Penny, I heard Martha say in the background, "We’ll be there in five minutes if you ever get moving, you old goat. Hang up the phone, and you can ask her when we get there."
"You heard the boss," Moose said. "We’ll see you soon."
They were as good as their word, rolling in four minutes later. I hugged my grandmother. "Thanks for covering for me again. At least things should be slowing down some now."
"I certainly hope not," Martha said, clearly disappointed by the prospect of a lull at the diner.
"Do you like it better when it’s busy?" I asked.
"Don’t you find that it makes the time go by quicker?" she asked. Martha looked at her husband, and then back at me. "Go on; take off with your grandfather before he bursts a blood vessel. He’s been peppering me with questions that I don’t know the answers to since you called."
"It’s just honest curiosity," Moose said.
"Let’s go," I told him as I grabbed his arm. "I’ll bring you up to speed as we drive."
He stopped long enough to wink broadly at Martha, and then we left the diner. "Where are we headed?"
"We need to head over to The Suds Center. Penny Rusk is leaving the laundromat, and town, too, for that matter."
"Where’s she going? Doesn’t she have to at least give some kind of notice to her boss?"
"That’s the thing," I said as we got into Moose’s truck. "There’s a rumor going around that she owns the place herself."
"I find that hard to believe," Moose said.
"Why, because she’s a woman?" I asked.
Moose shook his head. "Hey, I’m a big fan of women everywhere, and you know it. Penny just doesn’t seem like the entrepreneurial type to me, do you know what I mean?"
He had a point there. "Well, it might not be true."
"Which part of it? Where exactly did you get your information?"
"I overheard it at the diner this morning," I admitted, expecting Moose to chide me about eavesdropping on my customers.
Instead of rebuke, though, he merely nodded. "Then there’s at least a fifty-fifty chance that it’s true."
"Are you telling me that you’re not going to give me a hard time about listening in on other people’s conversations?" I asked him.
"No, Ma’am. It’s a time-honored tradition of café owners since the beginning of time to eavesdrop on their customers. I applaud it."
I had to grin at his comment. As well as I thought I knew the man, he still managed to surprise me from time to time. "Moose, should we go by the courthouse and check to see if it’s true before we talk to Penny? I’ll bet if she really owns the place, Karen Morgan has a record of it." Karen had helped us in the past by tracking down information we needed, and I knew that if it was a matter of public record, Karen could find it if she didn’t already know the answer herself.
"There’s no need to bother Karen. We can ask Penny outright ourselves."
"Are we actually going to take the direct approach with her?" I asked as Moose pulled up in front of the laundromat. I could see Penny inside folding laundry, and at least so far, she hadn’t noticed us drive up.
"With Penny, it’s probably the only thing that will work. After all, the woman isn’t exactly an exercise in subtlety herself, is she?"
"That sounds like a good plan to me," I said as we got out of the truck and walked into the laundromat.
Penny didn’t look all that pleased to see us. "I know that I don’t have any laundry orders for either one of you, and I don’t see any hampers or baskets in your arms. If it’s not dirty clothes, what brings you two here?"
"Actually, we came by to say goodbye," I said. "You’re leaving town, aren’t you?"
"Where did you hear that?" she asked suspiciously.
"Does that mean that it’s not true?" Moose asked.
"As a matter of fact, it’s right on the money, but I just made up my mind this morning." Penny looked at my grandfather appraisingly for a moment, and then she asked, "Tell me something, Moose. Do you have any interest in owning another business?"
"How can I own another one when I don’t have one to begin with?" Moose asked.
"Do you mean the diner’s not still in your name?" Penny asked, clearly confused by his confession.
"Nope, it’s all hers," he said as he pointed straight at me. "When Victoria took over, I signed it all over to her, lock, stock, and barrel."
I’d paid the princely sum of one dollar, as was tradition in our family, after running the diner for five years with Greg. Dad hadn’t lasted the required number of years himself, nor had he ever really wanted the diner in the first place. No one had been happier when he’d witnessed Moose’s name on the transfer of ownership to me. I paid Moose a stipend every month from our profits, and it was a situation that everyone was happy with in the end.
"Then how about buying my business as your retirement plan? It’s steady income, and while you won’t get rich, your investment will still grow a bit at a time. What do you say?"
"I appreciate the offer, but no, thanks," Moose said.
Before she could ask me, I added, "I’m afraid that I’m not in any position to buy the place, either."
Penny just shrugged, and then she went back to her folding. "Hey, it was worth a shot. Do you know anybody who might want the place?"
"I might be able to come up with a few names for you," Moose said, surprising both of us. Was he serious, or was my grandfather just trying to get in good with this woman? Knowing Moose as well as I did, I still had no idea.
"That would be great," she said, the relief on her face obvious.
"May we ask why you have the sudden urge to move away?" I asked her.
"There’s nothing all that sudden about it. I’ve been thinking about moving away for months now. To be honest with you, this place is giving me nightmares," Penny said, and then she must have realized how that had sounded. "I don’t mean the laundromat; I’m talking about the town itself. I’ve been playing with the idea of starting over somewhere else, and then Wally goes and gets pitchforked on his own property. Not long after that, a tool chest falls on poor old Ron’s head. It’s just not safe around here anymore."
"Are you and Ron close?" I asked.
"No, of course not. He’s just a field-hand, for goodness sake. My bar’s quite a bit higher than that."
"Maybe so, but you still went out with Wally Bain," I said, gently reminding her of the fact that in essence, the two men had done much the same work side by side every day.
"That was different. Wally owned the place; Ron was just an employee."
"I can see why you might want to leave, but what’s the urgency? If you try to sell this place too quickly, you have to know that you won’t be getting the best price for it."
"To be honest with you, it just doesn’t matter all that much to me anymore," she said. "When I’m finished with something, I’m done with it all the way." Penny completed her folding tasks and put the basket on the counter behind her.
There were several loads of fresh laundry there waiting to be picked up, and I had a sudden thought. "Did you happen to do Wally’s laundry on a regular basis? How about Ron’s?"
"I did them both, as a matter of fact," she said. "Theirs, and Sally Ketchum’s, too. I used to hate how dirty all their clothes got, but what can I say? They worked hard on those farms. What’s your point? I do laundry for most of the bachelors in town, and out, too."
"Do you do many women’s clothes?" I asked.
"Not many," she admitted. "Why does that matter?"
"It doesn’t," I said. "I was just curious. What do you do when you find things in their pockets?"
It was an idle question, but Penny shook her head indignantly as I asked it. "Victoria, what exactly are you accusing me of?"
"Nothing at all," I said quickly. I glanced over at my grandfather and saw that Moose was watching Penny closely.
"I’ll have you know that I never stole a thing in my life," Penny protested, "though there have been enough temptations over the years. My integrity is something I pride myself on. Now, if you two aren’t interested in buying this place or having any of your laundry done, it’s time for you both to move on."
We were practically ushered outside, and once we got back in Moose’s truck, he drove away quickly.
"Where are we going in such a hurry?" I asked him.
"It doesn’t matter, as long as it’s out of sight," he said, and then Moose pulled over once we were safely around the corner. He stopped the truck, and then he turned to me. "What made you ask her about things being left behind in people’s clothing?"
"I didn’t mean anything by it. I swear, I just wondered about it, so I asked. She kind of blew up, didn’t she?"