Birds of a Feather (An Agnes Barton Senior Sleuth Mystery Book 9)

by Madison Johns

  I gave Andrew a nod and he drove off. He then pulled into Eleanor’s drive not ten minutes later. She lived right on the shores of Lake Huron, a real prime spot. Luckily for her, she had inherited the house from a nephew and luckily for me, she and I had met at bingo one night. Ever since then, we had become fast friends—and now, we were also partners in crime. Not that we necessarily committed crimes, but butting into cases the way we do can certainly land you in the clink.

  Andrew jumped out and helped Wilson with his walker while I moved over to the driver’s seat and Eleanor settled next to me. I tore out of the drive with a scattering of stones since I wasn’t actually all the way on the pavement.

  “Agnes, watch out for that mailbox!” Eleanor shouted.

  I pulled all the way on the blacktop, narrowly missing both the mailbox and Eleanor’s startled neighbor, who chose just that moment to check her mail.

  “That was a close one. I’m not sure the judge would allow bail if you had killed the poor woman. They take mowing down pedestrians seriously.”

  “Honestly I didn’t see that mailbox or your neighbor. I need to pay more attention when I’m behind the wheel. I’d much rather drive my red hot Mustang than this SUV. I’m just not used to such a large vehicle.”

  “I had no idea you even still had that Mustang. When was the last time you drove it?”

  “Actually, over six months ago. I’m not even sure it will still start.”

  “I bet the battery is dead by now.”

  I tapped the steering wheel in time to the drum that was only in my head before I voiced my concerns to Eleanor. “Do you think Sheriff Peterson will believe us about the slugs?”

  “Probably not.” She laughed. “What will we do if he doesn’t?”

  “I really don’t know, but I had hoped if we found out who that plate belongs to, we’d have something to go on. I’ll have to wait until tomorrow when I see Stuart to see if he comes up with a name. At least then we can check out the victim’s background.”

  “What if there’s nothing suspicious about him or the accident?”

  I thought about that for a minute. “I’m just not ready to let this slide until I investigate every avenue. It was in the middle of the day, not late at night. It seems unlikely that he’d be drunk at that time of the day, unless he’s an alcoholic, and even then, many of those don’t drink earlier than six in the evening. We’ll try to get some information about that from Peterson.”

  “He might not even know that. It takes longer for a toxicology report to come back, even if they’re able to determine cause of death,” Eleanor said.

  “I thought we might take a peek at the car wreckage. It will probably be at the impound yard once the police are done with it.”

  “And we’ll get in there, how, exactly?”

  “Hmm, didn’t Martha help us out with that one time?”

  “That was before she had Adam attached to her hip.” Eleanor chuckled.

  “Captain Hamilton, you mean. I can’t think about calling him anything other than Captain Hamilton.”

  “Me neither, but we don’t need to offend the man when we see him next. It was the same thing with the Cat Lady, who we now call Bernice. It’s just something we’ll have to get used to,” Eleanor insisted.

  “Oh, and you actually think the good captain will be around that long?”

  “I can’t say, but you need to stay out of Martha’s business. She’s more than old enough to live her own life.”

  “I don’t understand why I’ve given her such a hard time about who she choses to date. It’s just that I secretly worry about her.”

  “Except when you want to use her to get in places like the impound yard?”

  “It sounds so much worse when you say it like that.”

  “First things first. We need to catch Peterson before he heads home. Perhaps we might even score a chia tea there. Before we were married, I remember that they had a lovely woman working there that brought in one of those machines that could make a variety of coffee, cappuccinos, and lattes.”

  “Maybe we should head over to Tim Horton’s and bring in some donuts. I think Peterson will be more receptive if we ply him with sweets. Cops just love donuts.”

  I sighed. “That’s such a stereotype. I’m sure we love donuts about just as well as any cop.” I smiled. “But just to be safe, we’ll swing through the drive thru at Tim Hortons.”

  I drove into the drive thru at Tim Hortons, but it was quite packed and I stressed that I’d miss Peterson. “Call the sheriff and tell him that we’ll be stopping by to speak with him about something important, Eleanor.”

  “Fine, but I don’t see what good that will do. If I were him, I’d hightail it out of there just so I couldn’t speak to you.”

  “I don’t think it’s a ‘me’ thing, but more of an ‘us’ thing. While he’s been more tolerant with us when it comes to cases, he’s certainly not ready to let us peek in his law enforcement website or tell us pertinent information pertaining to cases.”

  “Especially when he doesn’t believe there is a case,” Eleanor said.

  She picked up her cell phone and made the call just as I ordered two-dozen donuts. “And make sure they’re fresh. They’re for the sheriff’s department.”

  As I made way for the window, Eleanor gave me the eye. “Do you think that’s necessary, asking for fresh donuts? I’m sure the donuts here are quite fresh.”

  “Fine, I just wanted to make sure they look tempting enough for Peterson to let his guard down.” I smiled when I stopped at the window and a very familiar face was manning it, Ella Bates. As in, the notorious biscuit Nazi from the KFC chicken place. She’s known to pummel customers with biscuits if they make her angry and I wasn’t so sure if she liked us that much or not. She was hard to read when she rarely smiled. How, or why, was she here?

  “Fancy meeting you here,” Eleanor said from her side of the car.

  Ella narrowed her eyes until her brows met. “And that means what exactly, what?”

  “Just that we’re used to seeing you at KFC is all,” I said nicely. “Not that there’s anything wrong with you bailing that place for Hortons. It’s just nice to see a familiar face.”

  “Maybe you should take your head out from under that husband of yours and come into town more often. I have two jobs.”

  “Well, I guess I wouldn’t know that since we’ve been on our honeymoon cruise since after our Christmas wedding.”

  “And don’t forget our Las Vegas trip,” Eleanor said.

  “Well, isn’t that nice,” she sneered. “My wedding invitation must have been lost in the mail.”

  “It was hastily put together,” I informed her.

  “And while you’ve been gallivanting to all those wonderful places, some of us actually need two jobs to pay for our medication.”

  I hung my head. I didn’t know what to say so I just handed her a twenty to pay for our donuts. “Keep the change,” I said.

  Her face was pulled down and I was sure she was set to growl, but instead she tossed out two-dozen donuts at us though the window. “Have a great day now,” Ella exclaimed, slamming the drive-through window shut while Eleanor and I were sitting there with frosting on our faces!

  We did our best to put the donuts back in the boxes. Well, the ones not on the floor! Even with a napkin, I wasn’t able to clean off my face as a horn blasted from behind us. It was a state trooper’s car and he got out and approached the window. “What’s the hold up?” Trooper Sales asked with a wink.

  “We just dropped our box of donuts, is all. We’ll pull out of the way.”

  “You do that. You know how us cops love donuts.”

  I pulled out of the way and we were soon at the sheriff’s department, taking turns to wash up. Afterward, we approached the counter of the sheriff’s department, asking to see Peterson.

  The woman at the counter widened her eyes, but I paid her no mind. It’s not like we were generally welcomed here, so I didn’t let it bot
her me. Whenever we showed up at the sheriff’s department, it meant trouble. I glanced over at Eleanor just then and I bit the back of my hand, but before I could say, “Hey, you have frosting caked on your head,” we were led to Peterson’s office.

  I swallowed hard, silently praying that nobody would notice that Eleanor’s hair which looked like she had forgotten to wash all of the shampoo out of it.

  Eleanor shoved the boxes of donuts at Sheriff Peterson when we walked in. “Here, we thought you might like some donuts.”

  Peterson’s eyes widened. “Thanks, I think.” He peeked under the lid of one box. “What did you do to the donuts before you brought them here, drive them over with your car?”

  I sighed. “Actually, the thing is that we found out Ella from KFC now works at Tim Hortons.”

  “Enough said. She really has quite the throwing arm. I wonder how she managed to make sure both of you got caked with frosting.”

  I reached up then, and sure enough, I also had frosting in my hair. Eleanor laughed until I said, “You should see your hair if you think that mine is funny.”

  “All kidding aside, did you come here for a reason?”

  “Yes, we was wondering if the man who died in that car accident was shot or not.”

  “Why would you think he was shot at all?”

  “The shell casings, for one.”

  “I thought about that, but the victim wasn’t shot and there were no signs that the car was shot at.”

  “And I think I know why.” I clammed up, waiting for some kind of reaction, but I got nothing.

  “Do you have a point?” The sheriff rubbed his brow. “With the Birding Festival tomorrow, I’ll need to formulate a plan for my deputies.”

  “Well, we went back out to the scene of the accident and we traced down the path of where the slugs would have landed.”

  “Whoever shot at that man couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn,” Eleanor added.

  “I suppose you found the slugs, too?”

  “Yes, we did.” I pulled out the slugs, dropping them on his desk.

  “I thought you were smarter than that, Agnes. If you really thought you’d found evidence related to this case, why would you tamper with it?”

  “Because I knew you didn’t believe our spin on the accident.”

  “You never even did a cast of the footprint,” Eleanor said. “It seems like you just want to call it an accident and be done with it.”

  Sheriff Peterson eased back in his chair. “In my experience, I’d say outwardly it does appear that the man died of massive head injuries like I’ve seen many times when a car strikes a tree. Of course the coroner will be doing a toxicology to see if he was drinking or was using drugs.”

  I sat there and shook my head. “Did you at least identify the man?”

  “You know I can’t tell you that.”

  “Why not, if it’s just a car accident?”

  “It’s standard policy.”

  “I know that, but we’ve worked on so many cases here in Tawas. I just thought …”

  “We just thought that you could slip a name and we’ll be on our way.”

  “We won’t tell anyone,” I hinted.

  He sighed noisily. “Sorry, not happening.”

  “So, you won’t share with us the name of an accident victim, but you have given us some hints when someone’s been shot or stabbed?”

  “Don’t forget hung,” Eleanor added. When I glared at her, she said, “I was just trying to help.”

  The sheriff rocked his chair forward with a screeching of the wheels. “He wasn’t from Tawas, but that’s all I have to say.”

  “Was he here for the Birding Festival?”

  Peterson stood up. “It’s nice seeing you two again, but it’s unfortunate that you’re wasting your time.”

  “I hope you’ll at least test to see if those slugs came from the same gun as the shell casings. To see if it came from the same gun.”

  “We’d need to find the gun first to do that, but I’ll hand it over to the state police crime lab. They’re in town to take part in the festival.”

  “So that’s it, then? You really won’t tell us who you think the victim is?”

  “We haven’t even notified the next of kin yet. You should know we need to do that before we release the name. I’m sure you’ll hear it announced on the news soon.”

  I opened my mouth and clamped it shut as Peterson picked up the box of donuts and took them into the next room. Eleanor and I stood up and made way for the door. I had half a mind that Peterson might just toss the donuts straight into the trash. After all, many of them might just have dirt on them since they had fallen out of the box, thanks to Ella’s perfect aim. Who knew she had that good of an arm?

  Chapter Five

  When we walked back to the LX, Eleanor asked, “So what do you make of what the sheriff said?”

  “I think he actually believes that this is just an accident.”

  “It might be. Why don’t you believe it?”

  “The two sets of skid marks, for one thing. But tomorrow, I’ll ask the Hill brothers to come check them out for us. I believe they have a friend who might be able to identify them.”

  “Why didn’t you ask the sheriff about the skid marks?”

  “I want all my ducks in a row first, which is why we’re taking a little trip to the impound yard later tonight. There might be something in the wreckage that could give us a hint about who the victim was. I don’t expect to find any bullet holes, though, since there were only three shell casings and the three slugs we found.”

  “So, were they part of the accident or not?”

  “I’m really not sure right now, but with the skid marks I believe that car was run off the road and straight into that tree.”

  “So now you don’t think anyone was shooting at that car?”

  “Not from the direction where the shell casings were found. Unless we find a slug in that car that would match the ones we found.”

  “So how exactly are we getting into the impound yard tonight?”

  “We’ll find a way in somehow, don’t worry.”

  “All I’m worrying about is what story you plan on telling Andrew so we can slip away.”

  “We could always just stay away until after dark. That way we wouldn’t need an excuse.”

  “Have you forgotten that we have frosting caked in our hair?”

  “Why would that matter?”

  “It won’t, I suppose, but where will we hang out until tonight?”

  “Let’s stop by and see Sophia. Is it too much to hope that Trooper Sales is home?”

  “And you plan to grill him about the name of the accident victim?”

  “Why not. What’s the worst that can happen?”

  We were soon back on the road and I had forgotten for a moment that the festival was tomorrow. The traffic was quite heavy with eager birdies, as I like to call the people who flocked to the Birding Festival. When I was stopped at the light on Newman, the three people with whom we had had the altercation with at Diversions Tea House crossed in front of us. I inched the LX forward until Eleanor shouted, “Agnes, the light is still red!”

  I slammed my foot on the break, and the three of them flipped us the bird since I had nearly mowed over them. The tourists who were packed on the sidewalk stood and gawked at us until the light turned green and we were back on our way.

  Eleanor just shook her head. “I can’t believe you, Agnes.”

  “Believe what?”

  “You almost killed three tourists.”

  “Oh, hogwash. I barely moved the LX forward.”

  “It sure seemed like you did it intentionally. I thought so, as did the other tourists on the sidewalk. What were you thinking?”

  “I wasn’t, I suppose. I guess my mind was elsewhere.”

  “Maybe we need to let this go. I don’t see how we’ll ever be able to prove someone actually wanted that man dead by running him into a tree.”

  I ra
ced forward, turning onto the road that my granddaughter lived on. As we left Tawas to the country road, I powered down the window, enjoying the breeze that was blowing in my face. When I finally pulled into Sophia’s driveway, I saw a state police cruiser already parked there. “Looks like Trooper Sales is home for dinner.”

  I cut off the engine and led the way across the drive, knocking on the door moments later. Sophia looked surprised when she answered the door, allowing us to enter. Trooper Sales was holding baby Andrea and I promptly went over there to take the baby, cooing to her gently.

  “What brings you by?” Sales asked.

  “Just a friendly visit. I’ve been away too long and am really missing my great-grand baby.”

  “She won’t be a baby for long. She’ll be one-year old in a few months.”

  “Really? That was a fast year.”

  “It sure was. I hope when it’s her birthday you’ll plan on coming over here for her party. I’m sure Sophia would love to have you here.”

  “How about it, gramms? Can you put your investigating aside for a birthday party?”

  “Hopefully by then I’ll have solved the case we’re currently on.”

  “Oh?” Sales brow arched. “And what have you found on that front?”

  “So far not much. According to the sheriff, it’s just your run-of-the-mill car accident.”

  “And you don’t believe that?” Sales asked.

  “I’m not completely sure yet. We’d like to check out a few more things before we’re willing to let it go.”

  “Such as?”

  “We found the three slugs to go with the three shell casings.”

  “And you took the sheriff out to retrieve them?”

  “I’m afraid not. We gave them to him.”

  “You do know that you might have tampered with evidence.”

  “Yes, if anyone believes the shell casings had anything to do with the case, but so far we’re the only ones who think that.” I paused, letting Sales absorb that, gauging his face for some sort of reaction. “Is there any way you could give us the name of the victim?”

  Sales laughed. “Good try, but I’m not sure Peterson knows for certain yet. The registration for the car was missing.”