Stay At Home Dad 03-Father Knows Death

by Jeffrey Allen

I thought for a moment. “I think I’ve got some pieces of the puzzle. Just not sure how they all fit together.”

  He lowered his head. “You need any muscle, you can count on us.”

  “Muscle?”

  “Yeah, muscle. In getting whoever did that to George.” He took a look around at his fellow members. “We’ve vowed to not rest until his killer is brought to justice. Legally or illegally.”

  Behind him, Archie’s bike started to tip again and several others wearing the same vests helped him keep it upright. I was not looking forward to seeing him attempt to ride it and hoped we could keep at a safe distance.

  “Thanks,” I said. “But I think we’ve got it covered.”

  He fixed me with a hard stare, then nodded. “You can call on us if you need to. Offer will always be there.”

  Before I could respond, someone from near the 4-H float was calling my name.

  I turned to see Susan waving at me.

  “I need someone tall,” she said. “Can you come over here for a moment?”

  “Yep, one second,” I said.

  I turned back to Butch and his expression had changed. He looked as if he’d swallowed a lemon. Several of them.

  “You know her?” he asked.

  “Who? Susan?”

  He nodded.

  “She’s our 4-H leader.”

  “I’d find a new 4-H group if I were you,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “That woman is a menace.”

  “My wife feels the same way,” I said, smiling. “We aren’t her biggest fans.”

  “I’m serious,” he said. “That woman ever steps in front of my bike, I’m hitting the throttle and I’ll keep on riding.”

  “Bad experience with her?” I asked.

  He rolled his eyes. “I wanted to throw tomatoes at her last night, Deuce. With pieces of glass in them.”

  “Sounds bad.”

  “She’s the worst kind of woman,” he said. “Controlling. Manipulative. Fake. Ugly.”

  I was surprised at his vitriol and I wasn’t sure how to respond. I didn’t know Susan well enough to confirm any of those things, but I didn’t have a hard time believing they were true. Susan was a pain in the rear. Julianne wasn’t the only one in town who couldn’t stand her. I just hadn’t known that Butch was in that line, too.

  “Poison,” Butch continued. “She’s just poison.”

  “You used to date her or something?” I asked, curiosity finally getting the better of me.

  He frowned at me like I’d spit on him. “Hell no. I’d never date that viper.”

  “Oh, sorry. It just sounded like you were talking from experience,” I said, backtracking.

  He shook his head. “No way. Not ever.” He sighed. “We tried to get him away from her. But he had the hardest time cutting her loose. I think she just guilted the crap out of him.”

  “Who? A friend? Someone in the Petal Dawgs?”

  “Remember when I told you George was way better off with Matilda?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Never mind, Deuce!” Susan yelled. “We got it since you were taking so long!”

  Butch shook his head and narrowed his eyes. “Susan was the one that broke George.”

  I blinked several times. “Susan and George? Used to be together?”

  He nodded solemnly. “Until he finally got his head screwed on right and dumped her butt.”

  41

  “I have to call Victor,” I whispered to Julianne.

  “So call him,” she said, sitting on the edge of the flatbed. “And why are you whispering?”

  I pulled my cell from my pocket. “I don’t know.”

  “Well, don’t. It’s creepy.”

  I started to say something, but Susan materialized next to us. “Problem?”

  I fumbled with my phone. “What? No. Why?”

  She glanced at Julianne sitting on the flatbed. “I saw you sitting. Wondered if maybe you were going to have to leave. Maybe the heat was getting to you or something.” She smiled.

  Julianne smiled back. “I’m fine, Susan. But thanks for your concern.”

  “We have extra water bottles,” she said. “And I could probably arrange for a wheelchair.”

  It was like I could hear the talons spring from Julianne’s fingers. “Only if you think you might need one, Susan.”

  Susan tried to smile, but her face just scrunched up. “Oh, I’m fine. Okay. Toodle-oo.”

  She scurried around the back of the trailer.

  Julianne looked at me. “What is the matter with you? You looked like you saw a ghost when she came around the corner.”

  “Did you know Susan and George used to be together?” I asked, lowering my voice again.

  “George Spellman? The dead guy?”

  “Yeah.”

  “No.” She thought for a moment. “Well, that explains those looks Susan and Matilda exchanged last night.”

  “Yeah, it does.”

  Julianne rubbed her stomach and shifted on the trailer. “I would’ve yelled louder for Matilda last night if I’d known that.”

  “I gotta call Victor,” I said.

  She started to say something, but her words caught and she rubbed her stomach.

  I held the phone in my hand. “What’s the matter?”

  She rolled her eyes. “I think I’ve overdone it on all the junk food and spicy stuff. My stomach feels rotten.”

  “You wanna go home?”

  She frowned at me. “Uh, no. I won’t give that woman the pleasure of leaving.”

  “Jules. Be real here. If you don’t feel great, the last thing you should be doing is riding a float in a parade in this heat,” I said.

  “I’m fine,” she said, rubbing her belly. “I just need to burp or something.”

  “You are so sexy.”

  “Shut up.”

  “We’ll be moving soon!” Susan called out from the sidewalk. “Everyone please be ready!”

  Julianne pushed herself off the trailer. “You better call Victor now. I don’t think she’ll be happy about you using a phone in the middle of the parade. I gotta go find Carly and make sure she doesn’t get run over.” She waddled around the back end of the trailer.

  I punched in Victor’s number, but got his voice mail. I left him a quick message and told him to call me back immediately. I shoved the phone back in my pocket.

  I could see some of the floats ahead of us moving. The C.A.K.E. people were assembling in front of us and the Petal Dawgs were warming up their engines and trying to stay upright behind us.

  Susan was at the front of the float, getting kids in place and prancing around.

  I hoped she wouldn’t mind me walking near her in the parade.

  42

  The floats all started crawling forward. Half of the kids were on the float, the other half walking in the street, armed with bags of candy to toss to the people lining the route The adults were interspersed throughout, keeping the kids in line and making sure they weren’t eating all the candy that was meant for the spectators.

  Susan was walking off to the side, in a spot where she could supervise everyone. I sidled up next to her.

  She smiled at me. “Is your wife still here, Deuce, or did she give up?”

  “Still here,” I said. “She’s on the other side with Carly.”

  She glanced over the float, as if she didn’t believe me. “Ah, yes. She’s hard to miss, isn’t she?”

  “Yes, easily the most beautiful woman on the parade route,” I said, growing tired of her remarks about Julianne.

  Apparently, my frustration was evident in my words, as Susan replied, “Absolutely, she is! Pregnant women have that glow, don’t they?”

  “Yes.”

  “Or maybe that’s a sunburn,” she said, grinning at me, her words meant as a joke.

  “Right,” I said. “Hey, I didn’t know that you knew George Spellman so well.”

  Her grin flickered. “What?”

  I’d wanted to wait to hear from Victor.
I was always unsure of myself when I was starting to put things together and, as much as I didn’t like to admit it, I sometimes needed his input to tell me if I was doing the right thing or not. But he hadn’t answered his phone, Susan was making fun of my wife, and I was irritated.

  “George? Spellman?” I said. “I didn’t know you knew him so well.”

  She moved her eyes about, scanning the 4-H’ers as we walked. “Where did you hear that?”

  “You used to date him?” I asked, ignoring her question.

  “Oh, well, that was . . . I don’t know. Ages ago, I think I’d say.”

  “Was it? Way I heard it, it wasn’t that long ago.”

  Her smile was fading by the second. “Opinions vary, I suppose.”

  “So you did used to date him, though, right?”

  She hesitated, then nodded. “Yes, we dated.”

  “For a long time?”

  “I honestly don’t remember,” she said, shooting me a smile that contained more glare than smile.

  “You don’t remember dating him? Or you don’t remember how long?”

  “Deuce, I really need to focus on the parade,” she said. “And I’m not sure why my dating life is any concern of yours. Unless, of course, you’re looking . . .” She gave me what I guessed was supposed to be a flirtatious smile.

  “I assure you I am not looking, Susan,” I said. “I haven’t looked at anyone but Julianne since the day I laid eyes on her. But I don’t think it’s too much to ask you to walk and talk at the same time. Is it?”

  She didn’t answer.

  The entire parade line was still crawling. I knew it would take awhile for us to get moving at a true walking speed. I glanced over the float. Julianne was walking with Carly, holding her hand, but she had a weird expression on her face. Almost a grimace. I really wished she wouldn’t push herself just to make a point to everyone else in the world.

  “About six months,” Susan said. “We dated for about six months.”

  “Was it serious?”

  “Why are you being so nosy?”

  “Because it’s sort of my job,” I replied. “I’m trying to find out what happened to him, so I need to find out more about him. Who his friends were. What was going on in his life. I didn’t realize you had a relationship with him or I would’ve asked you about him sooner.”

  She nodded, accepting that that made sense. “I guess it was serious. I mean, we weren’t going to get married or anything, but we were . . . together.”

  “How’d you meet?”

  “Actually, here at the fairgrounds,” she said, still refusing to make eye contact with me. “I don’t remember exactly how, but I think I was here for a 4-H activity and he was here because he was always here. I probably needed something fixed in the food stand.”

  The pace of the parade started to increase just a bit and we were actually walking at nearly a full, comfortable stride now.

  “He asked me out,” she said, glancing at me. “He was very flattering. I couldn’t say no.”

  “And you said yes? Right away?”

  “Yes. I did. I thought he was nice. Somewhat handsome. I wasn’t involved with anyone. And he had a good sense of humor. I like that in a man.”

  “So why’d you break up?”

  Her face bunched up. “I’m not sure how that’s any of your business, Deuce. I’m really not.”

  “Just trying to get a clearer picture of what went on in George’s life.”

  She frowned, irritated or angry or something. “But it was ages ago.”

  “Well, not really.” I paused. “And I saw the look you gave Matilda last night, so it seems . . .”

  “You can just leave that heifer out of this,” she said sharply. “I have nothing to say about that cow.”

  “Not a friend?”

  She looked like she wanted to vomit. “Hardly.”

  “How come?”

  Her eyes narrowed to tiny, angry slits. “Because she took George from me.”

  43

  We were walking at an easy pace and I asked, “She took him from you?”

  She nodded curtly. “Damn right she did.”

  “How?”

  “Oh, you’d have to ask her,” she said. “I’m not sure exactly what she offered him, but it had to be something.”

  “Why did it have to be something?”

  She looked at me like I was crazy. “Look at me and look at her. Please.”

  Right then, I wasn’t seeing anything that was attractive about Susan. The looks that had taken place between the two women the previous evening, however, now made perfect sense.

  “So he broke up with you?” I said.

  “Well, I don’t know that I’d say that,” she said quickly. “It ended up being mutual. I knew he was no longer interested in our relationship. Honestly, I was getting tired of him, too. I realized he was a bit too simple for me.”

  She wasn’t making sense. She was contradicting herself. Not something that was working in her favor.

  “So what happened when you broke up?” I asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Was it friendly? Ugly? How did it happen?” She took a moment to look around and survey her troops. “I really don’t see how any of this is helpful and I really don’t appreciate you being so intrusive.”

  I nodded. “Okay. I’m sorry. You’re right. None of my business. You won’t mind if I go ahead and let the police know that I’ve talked to you, though, right?”

  She flinched and her entire façade crumbled for a moment. Her pace slowed and she went from looking like someone who was supervising a parade to someone who was about to panic. She was not a good poker player.

  “Well, I don’t see why you’d need to do that,” she said.

  “Just to share information,” I said. “Be cooperative with them. Maybe they won’t even be interested. I don’t know. But I do have a question for you.”

  She raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow at me.

  “I saw you the morning he was found. You were there,” I said.

  She nodded slowly.

  “You weren’t upset,” I said.

  “I was, too,” she said, lifting her chin.

  “Yeah, about the effect on the food stand,” I said. “How 4-H would take a hit financially. Not about George. And I find that very odd, considering that you had been in a six-month relationship with him.”

  “Oh, I don’t think that’s accurate,” she said. “I don’t think you know me well enough to know how I react when I’m upset about something.”

  “Well, Matilda was there and, even though I didn’t know they were a couple, she was upset. I could tell that, then, about her.”

  “Maybe she’d just stepped on a scale,” Susan said, frowning. “Or forgotten her lunch.”

  I didn’t think that Susan’s bitterness was solely because she was a nasty person. That certainly played into it, but I thought there was more behind her snarky comments.

  “But I was upset,” Susan said. “I had to keep my cool, though. For 4-H.”

  “Right,” I said. “So why’d you tell me about George and Matilda then?”

  Her face colored and she dropped her sunglasses from the top of her head to her eyes. “I thought that might be valuable information for you. Like you said. You need a clear picture.”

  “Or did you want me to think she had something to do with his death?” I asked.

  Her mouth twisted like a pretzel. “Maybe she did.”

  “She didn’t.”

  Susan turned and walked backward for a moment, keeping her eyes on the 4-H marchers behind us. “You know that for sure?”

  “Yeah, pretty sure.”

  “She have some sort of alibi or something?”

  “Or something.” Technically, Matilda didn’t have an alibi. But she’d convinced me that she wasn’t capable of killing the man she loved. And I didn’t think that was any of Susan’s business.

  “Do you?” I asked.

  “Do I wh
at?”

  “Have an alibi?”

  She turned around so she was walking forward again. “Of course.”

  “Okay. What were you doing?”

  We continued walking, but she didn’t say anything.

  “Susan.”

  She looked at me. “What?”

  “Your alibi. What is it?”

  She ran a hand through her hair, smoothing it down. “We’re getting close to the judges’ stand. I need to make sure we’re ready. We do not want to blow this opportunity in front of the judges. We have an excellent chance to win the float competition this year, I think.”

  “We’ve got a few minutes,” I said.

  She stopped abruptly and jammed her hands on her hips. “Deuce Winters, I am trying to coordinate this event and I don’t appreciate getting the third degree from you right now. I’ll be happy to talk to you at the end of the parade. But right now I have a group to organize so we don’t look like fools in front of the judges.”

  She stomped off to the front of our float.

  44

  Main Street was lined with people and lawn chairs and pets and signs. The denizens of Rose Petal lived for the fair parade and despite the ungodly heat, they had turned out in full force to line the route, cheer for the floats, and collect candy.

  I was struck for a moment that all of this was going to change. The parade would be elsewhere next year. And the year after that. Would it ever come back? Maybe. But for the next couple of years, the parade would be different and the people lining the streets would be different. The folks who lived in the tiny houses on Main Street and set their lawn chairs at the curb wouldn’t be able to do so anymore. Would they travel to the new site and find spots on the new parade route? Or would they just let it go, disappointed that the tradition was gone? It made me sad for them and for the town.

  I’d let Susan go and had moved over to the other side of the float with Julianne and Carly. Carly was busy tossing candy and Julianne was busy trying not to get sick.

  “What were you talking to Susan about?” she asked with a grimace.

  “Don’t worry about it,” I said. “But I think we need to get you home.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “No, you’re not. You look like you’re about to throw up.”

  Her face was flushed and sweat was pouring down her cheeks. Her walking was labored and I could tell that the heat had swelled her ankles to twice their size. She was breathing hard and every few steps she’d cringe.