Murder in the Past Tense (Miss Prentice Cozy Mystery Series Book 3)

by E. E. Kennedy

  He came, but reluctantly. “I don’t have time for this, little girl.”

  “It’s Janey; she’s gone. Ask them.”

  I gestured to the half-dozen female cast members who’d witnessed the frantic retreat. They nodded and pointed.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “There was some old man from the audience who came backstage and said he was Danny’s uncle. Janey freaked when she saw him.”

  Terence swiveled his head back and forth. “Where’s DiNicco?” he growled.

  “He’s in the men’s locker room, I think.” I grabbed his arm harder. “But Terence, I don’t think it’s Danny’s fault. He was really surprised to see the old man. Uncle Gino, the man called himself, but Danny didn’t seem to know him.”

  “Where’s that old guy now?” He squinted at the audience members as they returned to their seats, some with drinks in hand.

  I looked in the same direction. “I don’t see him. I think Janey and I were the only ones who noticed him talking to Danny.”

  “Did Janey say anything at all about where she was going?”

  I shook my head. “She . . . didn’t have time. And didn’t seem to know, really. She was scared to death. I—I tried to stop her, I really did! Then—”

  I started to cry. How embarrassing!

  “I’m sorry. It’s just . . . just everything that’s happened . . . ”

  I ran out of words and hung my head. I was dripping.

  “Don’t cry, Amelia. It’s not your fault. I’ve just got to think.”

  Gilly approached us, drying his hair with a towel. He handed me one.

  Terence pointed a finger at him. “Gil, go outside and see if you can spot Janey Johnson. If you do, grab her and don’t let her go. Bring her back here.”

  Without a word or question, his worn sneakers squishing with each step, Gilly began jogging toward the exit.

  Terence called over the stage manager over and explained the problem. “I’m going to look for her too. Chris, you find Dierdre and tell her she’s Johnsie for the second act.”

  Chris nodded. “Sure thing. Don’t worry. It’ll be fine.”

  Terence ran out the door.

  I changed into my street clothes and cleaned my face in the locker room. There was nothing to be done for my hair. It would have to wait until I got home.

  When the time came, Chris stepped in front of the audience and explained that there was a substitution due to a sudden illness.

  I sat on the floor just inside the women’s locker room entrance, listening to Act Two.

  Dierdre’s voice sounded good, and if she flubbed a few lines, nobody noticed. The other sopranos took over the voice solos. In my opinion, Lily’s delivery of my line left much to be desired, but I’ve never told her that. When the play ended, there was enthusiastic applause. Lily trooped back in with the rest of the female members of the cast, looking tired.

  Pat stood at the door. “Let’s hurry up and get everything packed up and out of here. Maybe we can get home before midnight!”

  “How’d it go?” I asked Lily.

  “About like you’d expect. You left a big hole in the blocking. How did we sound?”

  “Really good. Hear any word about Janey?”

  “Nope. Gil and Terence came through the lobby door during the curtain call. They were shaking their heads. Terence looks really upset.”

  I remembered his reaction to what I’d told him. “He’s worried about her. She was really scared.”

  Lily turned away from the mirror where she was creaming her face. “Why?”

  I shrugged.

  I knew, but I’d promised Terence. I wasn’t sure my promised still stood once Janey was gone, but I didn’t want to take a chance.

  The troupe’s departure preparations were an example of controlled chaos, everyone doing their own job, noisily but efficiently. I had wrung out my poor, wrinkled, beat-up costume and hung it on a hanger. I wondered if it still could be used for something. Or maybe they’d want me to throw it away.

  “Have you seen Pat?” I asked Ben Patchke as I left the locker room.

  He was using a screwdriver to dismantle the village flat into portable pieces. He pointed it over his shoulder.

  “Her and Terence were headed out to the bus, just a second ago.”

  I ignored his terrible grammar. “Thanks.”

  It was still light outdoors. In the parking lot people were climbing in and out of the bus, chattering loudly. The big luggage hatch along the side was gaping open and Elm was helping to stow some of the props and scenery inside.

  “Have you seen Pat?” I asked him.

  He tried to shove a small table in among the other stuff. It wouldn’t fit. He muttered a swear word as he manipulated it, and suddenly seemed to notice me.

  “Oh. Sorry. Pat? I think I saw her with Terence and Danny, going over there.” He pointed across the empty parking lot, away from the bus.

  I should have left well enough alone, but I was one of those obnoxious children who needed to have every duck safely in a row for the sake of her own sanity. (I still am.) It was the very definition of a dilemma for me: throwing away the ruined costume might be wasteful and taking it home would be stealing. I needed permission to do one or the other.

  I walked toward a small, roofless outbuilding with the hotel’s logo emblazoned on the side. It had a big gate with a padlock. There was a faint odor. Elegant, expensive places like the Belle Colline made sure their trash was kept behind closed doors.

  As I approached, I could hear voices, and they didn’t sound happy.

  Terence yelled, “You called him, didn’t you? You called your uncle!”

  “Of course not!” Loudly, Danny called Terence an unrepeatable name. “You’re not pinning this on me!”

  “Don’t you dare!” I heard Pat scream in a hoarse voice.

  I glanced over my shoulder as I started running around the garbage enclosure. Nobody else had heard. It was up to me.

  ~~~

  “What were you going to do, Wonder Woman?” Gil asked, chuckling. “Smack the offender with a coat hanger?” He suited the action to the words, striking a fencing pose.

  I was folding and sorting laundry. I turned my back.

  “This is me, ignoring you.”

  I continued my narration.

  ~~~

  Terence himself couldn’t have blocked the scene any better. It was clearly a confrontation. Danny gripped a handful of Terence’s shirt and had his fist pulled back, ready to strike. Pat was reaching to restrain his punching arm. All three were obviously very, very angry.

  I skidded to a halt about ten feet away. My abrupt appearance caused them to become a frozen tableau, almost comic, with wide, wild eyes turned suddenly on me.

  “I—um—” I held up the costume, as if that would explain my presence.

  The tension immediately began to dissipate. Each one of the three dropped his arms and took a step back. The expression on each face softened just a little as they looked at me.

  Terence spoke first. His tone was determinedly calm. He spoke slowly.

  “Amelia, you need to go get on the bus. We’ll join you in a minute.”

  “You will without me.” His expression grim, Danny turned on his heel and began jogging back across the parking lot.

  I couldn’t help myself. I ran after him, catching up halfway to the hotel building.

  “What do you mean? Are you leaving? You can’t be leaving! What about Merry Marinade?”

  He had the male lead. I’d watched him rehearse. He was wonderful.

  “They know what they can do with their Marinade,” Danny growled. He stopped suddenly and turned toward me with a faint smile. “I’m sorry, Amelia Earhart. There’s no time to explain.”

  “Please don’t go! Please!”

  “I’m sorry.” He shook his head and started jogging again.

  I ran back to Pat and Terence. “He’s really leaving this time! Why are you letting him go?”


  Pat and Terence exchanged glances. “No need to get so upset, dear. It’s a business matter,” Pat said briskly. “Run along now. Hop on the bus.”

  I wanted to argue. But I was a good child and did as I was told. I was also still damp-haired and exhausted, too exhausted to put up resistance. It was none of my business, as Lily had said. Let them handle it.

  The ultimate fate of my bedraggled costume was totally forgotten as I carried it and my other paraphernalia onto the bus. Lily shared the seat and began to regale me with whispered accounts of how she’d snubbed Neil during the performance. I nodded but didn’t really hear much of it.

  Terence and Pat finally took their seats for the return trip, trying to act as if nothing had happened. Their faces seemed stiff as they went through all the motions.

  As he had predicted, Danny wasn’t on the bus. Nobody else said anything, though they exchanged puzzled glances. I couldn’t stop the questions in my mind: Where would he go? As far as I knew, he didn’t have a car, at least not in Lake Placid. Terence had accused him of calling his uncle. Would he actually do that now?

  I fell asleep on the bus and dreamed about Danny in a dark suit, carrying a violin case. In the dream, Lily was hiding under a table, eating spaghetti with Neil.

  I slept most of the way. My father was waiting, parked in the alley next to the theater when we arrived, rumpled and heavy-eyed. He helped me gather up my things and tucked me in the car.

  Three days later, our family drove to Florida and spent a week at Disney World.

  I forgot my costume on the bus. Now I rather wish I’d kept it as a souvenir, marking the end of my show business career.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  “Well, that wasn’t the end of my show biz career, you know. You probably don’t remember, but I stuck around for one more play. I worked on that Merry Marinade. It was even stupider than that Last Leaf monstrosity.”

  I frowned. “Don’t call it that. The play was sweet. And romantic.”

  Gil kissed the top of my head. “You would think that.”

  We were at home in our lake house, finishing a cleanup in the kitchen. “Anyway, I had to quit after that and get a real job.” He knelt to put cleaning products under the sink.

  “I know.”

  It was a painful memory for him. Gil’s mother had begun her final battle with cancer that fall. It took a huge toll on his family, especially his father, who took self-destructive refuge in alcohol.

  I changed the subject. “We had a good time in Florida, but I hated leaving town, even to go to Disney. I wanted to find out if Janey ever came back. When I asked people about it later, nobody seemed to know.”

  “Nope, not another sign of her, not while I was there. And Danny was long gone too.” Gil laughed. “Would you believe Terence Jamison took over his part in Marinade?”

  It had seemed so important at the time. Now it was just a long-ago information tidbit.

  “Really? How was he?”

  “Not bad, but not great. He wasn’t much of a singer, but he was a good dancer. He added a big dance number right in the middle of the big love scene. It was kind of lame, no pun intended.”

  “Janey was always a bit unstable, I could see her running away, but I was quite disappointed in Danny.”

  “Honey, the man’s dead now. Give him a break. As for Janey, judging by the news reports I’ve been seeing lately, she isn’t around either.” He stood and stretched.

  I had turned on the disposal. I turned it off abruptly.

  “She died?”

  “I know you get most of your news from Lily Burns, but surely you read about the mobster and his confession. It was Gino Bernini, didn’t you know that? He died last week, and his lawyer just released a public statement.”

  “The Gino Bernini? The uncle? The same fellow who accosted Danny in Lake Placid?”

  “That’s right.”

  I rinsed my hands under the faucet and grabbed a paper towel. “I can’t believe I didn’t know that! But I get so tired that I don’t pay much attention to news.” I finished drying my hands and threw the paper towel away. “Wow. That’s really interesting. What did the statement say?” I reached into a cupboard and pulled out a mug. “Want some coffee?”

  “Not if you’re making that decaf junk, thanks.” He sat at the kitchen counter and watched me put the cup of water into the microwave. “Anyway, the old guy, Bernini, must have been in his late nineties. The gist of the story was that he had only one regret in his long life: arranging a hit on three innocent people who’d testified against him in court. One was a young woman in show business. They didn’t give the name but, well, connect the dots.” Gil waved his hand. “After the murders, the bodies were buried somewhere up in the Adirondack Park. The police don’t know where. There’s a search going on now.”

  My knees grew weak. I came around the counter and sat down next to Gil.

  “Oh, no. Poor Janey. That poor, scared girl. And Lily and I gossiped so brutally about her!”

  The microwave dinged. “Okay, given. You and Lily didn’t like her much, but brutal is a relative term, honey.” Gil got up and brought me the cup of hot water, a spoon and the jar of instant decaf. “I think Bernini’s people knew more about that kind of thing than you did.”

  I reached across the counter and pulled the tabloid that had started all these memories toward me. I tapped the picture.

  “Do you think Danny’s murder had anything to do with this? Why would anybody want to kill him?”

  Gil shrugged. “Who knows? A lot of time has passed since we knew him. We’ll probably never find out.” He sat down on a nearby stool and wrapped his arms around me. “You need to stop thinking about this stuff. You and little what’s-her-name need to finish your nice cup of decaf and go take a nap.”

  I snuggled into him, feeling frustration fade into affection. The past was the past. Gil and the baby were my reality now.

  Could I be any more blessed?

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  The brisk knock on our front door the next morning was expected. Gil had already left for the newspaper office, and our friend Dr. Alexander Alexander had offered to give me a lift to Chez Prentice, where I would conduct my summer tutoring sessions.

  “Bonny!” he exclaimed when I opened the door. “That’s what ye are, m’dear, bonny!”

  I’d always wondered why Alec’s American English carried a decidedly Scots accent, but he wasn’t very forthcoming about his past and people in the North Country didn’t like to pry. At least, this person didn’t. He gazed down at me with unfeigned delight. Alec was a large man, kind of scruffy and barrel-chested, but a bit thinner in recent months. It was my opinion that his on-again, off-again relationship with my glamorous blonde friend Lily Burns, née McIndrick, had taken its toll.

  “Thank you, kind sir. I wish I felt bonny.” I picked up my satchel and house key from the hall table and pulled the door closed. “I’m getting impatient for this to be over.” I patted my rotund belly.

  He gallantly opened the car door for me. “I must confess I’m that eager to dandle your little one on m’knee.”

  “Dandling will probably have to wait until she’s a few months old,” I pointed out as he started the engine. “But I’ll make sure you have your turn rocking her. Speaking of bonny!” I waved my hand at him. Alec was dressed to the nines in the suit he’d worn at my wedding, complete with button-down dress shirt and necktie. “Is that cologne I smell?”

  He smiled shyly. “Forty-seven eleven. Lily likes it. In fact—” He broke off as he turned from our driveway onto the road.

  I waited. “In fact what, Alec?”

  “Ah, well, she’s bound to tell you straight away after, since you’re such good friends.” He frowned and stared at the road. “I’m popping the question this time, Amelia. I really am.”

  “Are you sure? You said that months ago, and I never heard another word.”

  He was right about one thing: Lily would have told me immediately, no matter
what her answer was. She was still my friend, despite being a first-class gossip, after all these years. I was very fond of both of them and rather hoped she’d say yes.

  He nodded decisively. “I am sure. We’re neither of us getting any younger—don’t tell her I said that—and I make a good living. My government grants may be gone, but I still have my private industrial grants and my position at the college. And a quite good retirement plan; not that I plan to slow down for many years yet, mind you.”

  Alec taught at the local college, but his passion was searching for evidence of Lake Champlain’s own fabled version of the Loch Ness Monster.

  “When are you going to do this, this question popping?”

  He smiled at me. “Tonight. We’re going to an early dinner and later, I thought I might suggest we drive to Hogan’s Cliff to watch the sunset. An opportune moment, if I do say so m’self.”

  “A fine choice of scenery. It sounds as though you have it all planned out.” I felt an obligation to be honest with him. “The trouble is, Alec, you had it all planned out the last time too. What happened?”

  “Well, you’ll remember, I was going to cook for her that night. We had finished our meal and I went to fetch dessert. It was my mother’s recipe for strawberry shortcake. Well, I’d burned the cakes and so we bundled up—it was cold that night, you know—and we went into town to Candyland Restaurant for some pie instead. And by the time we finished having our coffee, Lily said she had an early morning the next day and was dead on her feet.” He smiled. “You can see that under the circumstances the timing wasn’t exactly right, and I haven’t found another moment since.”

  It occurred to me that Lily, as lovely-looking as she was, might be a rather formidable woman to propose to. Or to whom to propose, I reminded myself. When we’d had our falling out last winter, it had been quite an ordeal. Our friendship was patched up, thank heaven, but Alec’s case of nerves was certainly understandable.

  “I’ll be waiting eagerly to hear what happens.”