“Heather, would you mind dropping me off at the Pink Percolator instead of us going Christmas shopping? I think I should spend some time with Delight. After all, it’s her husband’s grave they’re digging up,” said Granny as they drove away from the church.
“Maybe we both could do that.”
“No, no; I think you should do your Christmas shopping. It’s going to snow again tomorrow and Christmas isn’t too far away. Maybe you should go to Allure,” Granny suggested.
Heather looked at Granny with a thoughtful face. “I think I should stay with you.”
Granny did her best to give Heather a sad look. “I feel so bad for Delight and I’m sure she would talk to me better in private.”
Heather stopped the car in front of the Pink Percolator. “Ok, but I’m calling my dad. He can pick you up later.”
“I will be so glad when I get my car back and get my garage rebuilt. I miss my wheels. Tell him to bring my snowmobile to pick me up. It’ll give him a thrill.”
Granny waved good-by to almost daughter-in-law as she opened the door to the Pink Percolator. She stood inside the door and watched Heather drive away.
“Hi Granny,” Delight’s daughter Ella greeted her. “Do you want coffee? Mom left you some donuts from the morning rush. She thought you might come in.”
“No, thanks, Ella; I know your mom is at home waiting for the news from the cemetery. I’ll catch her later and….if Franklin comes looking for me later, stall him. You have my cell phone number. Call me and I’ll get back here. Tell him I’m in conference with your mother up in the office and we can’t be disturbed.”
“But Mom’s at home,” Ella answered, confused at Granny’s instructions.
“I know that, but he doesn’t.”
Granny stepped onto the sidewalk and made her way down the street, leaning on her shovel to keep from falling on the icy spots. That was the problem with Minnesota winters. Once the snow started melting, it would get colder and freeze again leaving ice patches on the sidewalks. Granny made her way down the street to AbStract Department Store, which carried almost anything, and it had a good line of Minnesota goods, too.
Justine, one of the clerks in AbStract, smiled when she saw Granny enter the store. “Are you ready for your wedding, Granny? Or are you here to shop for that perfect piece of jewelry or pair of shoes to wear on your special day?”
“Thanks, Justine; I’ll shop later. I just came through to use your door to the underground streets. Oh, and you didn’t see me, if anyone asks.”
Justine didn’t answer.
“Did you hear me?” Granny yelled because she didn’t get an answer.
“Is someone there?” replied Justine, looking around.
Granny laughed and opened the secret door and went down the steps to the underground streets. It was crowded today. Fuschians were using the warmth of the underground to shop the stores of Fuchsia. Granny admired some of the wares that were set out in front of the shops. It was almost like the Farmer’s Market in the summer except Christmas cheer was all around.
Granny walked for a little while until she passed her door and got to the lift for the mausoleum in the cemetery. This far out, the underground streets were deserted. She looked around to make sure no one saw her before pushing the code to come up on the lift into the mausoleum. She didn’t think they would be using the lift to transport the exhumed body because a dead body didn’t care if it was cold or not and the others would have their cars by the grave. She couldn’t believe the police hadn’t had Gravy change the code to keep her out, but it was still the same. Maybe they didn’t know she had the code. She’d have to thank Gravy.
Once inside the mausoleum, Granny noted that the heaters weren’t running. Pulling her coat tighter to keep warm, she edged toward the outside door and unlocked it, turning the latch. Slowly opening the door, she peered out through a crack to see if Thor and the Tall Guy were there, along with the crew that was bringing up the casket. She could see cars, but she was too far away to see who was there and what was happening. Taking her snow shovel, she put it through the crack in the door and gently nudged the door farther open. No one noticed. Stepping into the cold air, she moved forward out of the mausoleum.
Walking quietly, using the spikes on the bottom of the shovel cover for traction, she moved forward slowly, taking cover behind a big tree not far from the scene of the exhumation. She could see and hear everything. Delbert had been buried not far from where Ferdinand was buried. She still wondered how their clothes had gotten mixed up. She could see that they had the vault that housed the coffin out of the ground. Granny saw the gold inscription on the vault. He liked his coffee. He liked his tea. He even liked me. Rest in peace, Delbert Delure.
Delight must have written Delbert’s epitaph, Granny surmised with a chuckle. She happened to look down at the ground and saw that hers weren’t the only footsteps in the snow around the tree. She put her foot into one of the footprints and saw that the print was much larger than hers. It seemed to be recent. Her eye caught something sticking out of the snow by one footprint. Quietly so as not to call attention to herself, she bent down and picked up what appeared to be a crystal from a wristwatch. Turning it over in her hand, she examined it closely. Then, hearing the crew talking, she quickly pocketed the crystal and peered around the tree. It looked like things were wrapping up. Darkness was starting to fall. Granny reached into the pocket of her coat to check the time on her cell phone but her phone wasn’t there. Then, she remembered that she’d forgotten it on her table at home.
Quietly and carefully, she made her way back to the mausoleum. She had to get back to the Pink Percolator. Franklin would be looking for her and there was no way for Ella to call her if she didn’t have her phone. Stepping into the mausoleum, she locked the door from the inside. Just as she locked the door, she heard a car pull up outside. Drat! The police were checking the mausoleum before they left. She’d have to get out!
Granny stood on the lift and tapped the code for the lift to take her into the streets underneath. Nothing happened. It appeared to have no electricity. Granny tapped again, still no action. Darn Fuchsia Power Company, Granny thought. They were probably on overload because of all the extra Christmas lights. It wasn’t usually a problem because the residents of Fuchsia liked using the old fashioned oil lanterns from long ago when the power went out. However, today it was a problem. Granny couldn’t get out through the streets and the daylight that had been shining through the windows high up in the mausoleum was fading. And Granny didn’t have her flashlight.
Using the shovel as a guide so she wouldn’t trip over any of the statues, she made her way over to the door. Before she moved to unlock the door, she listened for sounds from the car that had just arrived. What she heard was the car driving away. She turned the latch. It didn’t move. She put her face close to the lock to make sure she was turning it the right way. It still didn’t move. Picking up her shovel, she hit the lock. She had seen that work in movies. The sharp bang of the shovel didn’t faze the lock on the door. It was cold in the mausoleum. Granny gave a shiver, whether because she was cold or because she had just realized that she was locked in the mausoleum and no one knew where she was.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Hopping up and down to keep warm, Granny spun around slowly in a circle to see if there might be another way out of the mausoleum. The descending darkness hampered her investigation. She found the crypt that was supposedly hers. Maybe she would need it sooner than she thought. It, too, was closed and locked tight.
Grabbing her shovel, Granny walked with determination over to the lift from the underground street. Punching in the code still had no effect. There was still no power. Granny lifted the shovel high and started pounding on the lift floor. Perhaps someone would be passing by the end of the tunnel and would hear her pounding. She knew it was a long shot because she lived at the end of the tunnels with the turn in the tunnel going to the cemetery at the back of her house and a dead end.
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br /> “A whiff, a stiff are not going to get me into a tiff.” She hollered to the cold air and the now dark night, as she banged on the lift referring to the whiff of chemicals she had inhaled the last time she had been kidnapped in the underground streets.
All of a sudden the lift came to life knocking Granny and her shovel to the floor as the lift moved downward into the underground street. The face of Silas Crickett came into view and he had a big scowl on his face.
“What are you trying to do? Turn yourself into a stiff? What were you doing in the mausoleum in this cold weather at night?” Silas scolded.
Granny stood up, tidied her coat and hat and planted her shovel cane on the floor of the lift and then stepped off the lift next to Silas. Haughtily, she said, “I was taking a walk in the cemetery breathing in the fresh crispness of the night. What are you doing here?”
“I happened to be coming home from town and I was going to use the shortcut through your house since I didn’t want to walk in the cold. I pounded on your door and you didn’t answer, then I heard the pounding coming from the lift.”
“It must be late, Heather must have picked up Angel and Mavis must have gone home. They were at my house earlier.”
“It’s seven pm. How long were you up there?”
“If I had a watch do you think I would ask you the time? Granny shook her head at what she thought had been obvious. “There was no power to get back down on the lift.”
“That’s because someone disconnected the wires from the lift connection box. I had to fix it before I could get it running again.”
“Who would do that?”
“Someone who knew you were there and wanted to make sure you stayed there?”
Granny was silent for a minute. “Did you do that Silas Crickett? Are you trying to get rid of me?”
“I want to get rid of you but I’m not into stiff making.” Silas cranked back at Granny.
Granny moved toward her basement door.
Silas followed, “Why didn’t you go out the mausoleum door into the cemetery? It locks from the inside?”
“I had been out checking on the exhumation but when it was over I was going to go through the mausoleum back home and I couldn’t get down the lift. Then I heard the police car and they locked the door from the outside.” Granny unlocked her underground door and started to shut it on Silas.
“I save you and you slam the door in my face?”
“I shut the door, there is a difference, do you want to see how I slam a door?” Granny gripped the door tighter, ready to slam it shut.
Silas put out his hand to stop her and moved his body into the half-closed door. “I guess I’ll go down to the police station and talk to Franklin and Thor and tell them about your adventure this evening. I’ll ask why they locked you in the mausoleum.” A crafty smile lit up Silas face.
Eyebrows raised and with pursed lips, Granny slowly opened the door. Silas walked past Granny and sprinted up the steps in an unwobbly fashion. Maybe he wasn’t as old as she thought; Granny surmised as she watched him and then followed him up and into her living room.
“Let’s go.” Silas ordered Granny.
“Go? Go where? I just got home and why should I go anywhere with a cantankerous old man like you, Mr. Supercilious.”
“Supercilious? Silas asked confused. “We need to check the cemetery. I was at the police station when they came back from exhuming the grave to meet my son. They didn’t check the mausoleum. In their haste they forgot. They decided they didn’t need to check it since they had been in the cemetery all day. The patrol was going to check it various hours through the night. They didn’t lock you in. We need to find out why you couldn’t get out.”
“You’re helping me after threatening to blow my cover?”
“Look, I miss Alaska. I miss my detective days and my sons seem to think they don’t need my help. They want to put me out to pasture. They’ll accept Franklin’s help and he is only a year younger than me. I suspect they worry about my safety since I left them for someone else. They think they’re protecting me. As ornery as you are, I would hate to see you end up like that stiff. After all, I am already helping you with those corrupting furry creatures and I don’t want to take care of them full time. Just don’t ask me to be nice to you. You’re not my type.” Silas turned and walked through the house to Granny’s back door. “Are you coming? Oh, and bring your shovel, we might need it. I left my gun at home.”
The snowmobile was already running by the time Granny got to her back yard. Silas was in the driver’s seat.
“I’m driving.” Granny told him.
“Over my dead body, I remember that last ride.”
“That can be arranged, I mean the dead part.” Granny hitched herself behind Silas on the snowmobile grabbing him by the waist.
Silas maneuvered the snowmobile up and over the ramp and into the cemetery coming to a stop by the mausoleum. The cemetery was quiet.
Silas had remembered to pick up the flashlight that had been by Granny’s back door. He walked to the mausoleum door and shined the flashlight at the door and the lock. Granny joined him. When she saw what the flashlight was shining on she gave a gasp.
“Someone jammed the lock and piled snow against the door.” Granny leaned closer to see what was on the lock.
“They super glued the lock shut.” Silas concluded. “Then they shoveled a snow bank up against the door so even if you could have somehow got the glue out of the lock, you couldn’t have gotten out.”
“What do I know, that I don’t know that I know, that someone wants me dead?” Granny wondered.
“I’m sure you forgot, because if you remembered I am sure you would tell Ephraim. I hear you remember what you forgot, when you remember that we need to know, what you didn’t know, that you actually knew.”
“What? Granny asked in a confused tone. That makes absolutely no sense.”
“Exactly,” Silas answered back, a smirky smile on his face.
Silas got back on the snowmobile and indicated Granny should follow suit. “It’s time to call Ephraim, your son, and I suppose we should warn your Franklin that somebody’s after you.”
“Ah, maybe we could wait awhile with that? How about if you and I investigate the case and keep this our little secret?” Granny cajoled.
“Let’s go home.”
Granny hopped on the snowmobile and Silas drove it up the ramp and back down in Granny’s backyard without incident. Waiting for them in the driveway where Granny’s garage had been was a police car and Franklin’s car.
“You called them?”
“No, what did you do now?” Silas asked.
“Why does everyone always think I did something?” Exasperation peppered Granny’s voice as she went to meet the men that were waiting for her. It had already been a long day.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The Tall Guy and Thor didn’t inquire as to where Granny and Silas had been. They appeared to have something more pressing on their minds. On the other hand, Franklin looked none too pleased and had been about to ask questions about Granny’s not being at The Pink Percolator when Thor led everyone into the house and asked them to sit down.
“This looks like a family discussion. I think I’ll go.” Silas stated and walked towards the door.
His son, Ephraim Cornelius, stopped him. “I think you should stay since this all started with you and Granny’s ride home from town the other day.”
Thor cleared his throat before addressing Granny.” Can I get you some water or something stronger to drink?
“What’s up. You’re offering me liquor or wine again? Are you running a fever?” Granny stood up and, stalling for time, felt his head. This could only be bad news.
“I’m fine.” Thor led his mother back to her seat. “The body we dug up in Delbert Delure’s grave was Dad’s.”
Granny threw her arms in the air, stood up, walked to the refrigerator, took out the ice cream and proceeded to get a bowl out of the cupboard. “
I’m hungry, anyone want some ice cream? I missed my supper.”
Thor walked over to Granny and took the ice cream out of her hands. Franklin and The Tall Guy exchanged glances. “Did you hear me?”
“I did. Someone mixed up their graves. It’s no big deal. He’s still dead, just with someone else’s clothes.” Granny put a scoop of ice cream in her mouth.
“Aren’t you curious what is in Dad’s grave, why Delbert ended up in your grave, and how Dad ended up in Delbert’s grave and why and how Delbert ended up in your yard?
“Read my lips. I don’t have a grave. I have never bought a grave and I don’t plan on using one soon.” Granny ranted ignoring Thor’s questions.
Silas stood in the background with a gleam in his eyes as he watched the verbal exchange between the people in the room.
Franklin moved by Granny’s side, put his arms around her and turned to her inquisitor. “Enough, can’t you see she’s frail and tired. I can read the signs. It’s time for all of you to go and we’ll talk tomorrow.”
Granny looked up at Franklin batting her eyelids. “Yes, oh Franklin, can you hold on to me, I am feeling weak all of sudden. The news must have been too much for me.”
Silas looked at Granny with shrewd eyes. “Yup, I’m out of here. We’ll catch up tomorrow.”
Franklin opened the door for Silas, “You and I will catch up tomorrow too. I want to know about your little snowmobile trip tonight and if Hermiony needs any help she can call on me. Two weeks and she will be my responsibility. By the way, she’s moving, so if you know anyone who wants to buy a house, Hermiony’s is for sale.”
Silas winked at Granny before closing the door behind him. Granny was looking at Franklin’s stern expression. Thor took stock of the looks going between Franklin and his mother and said to the Tall Guy. “I think it’s time we leave while it’s still safe.”
3 Granny Snows A Sneak Page 10