“Did you call the police? I thought I heard sirens when I woke up,” Granny asked, still groggy from the fumes that had been in the air, but no longer seemed to be there.
“You did. They had gone to Franklin’s house.”
“Franklin? Is he hurt?” Alarm bells of concern were clanging in Granny’s head.
“No, apparently someone broke into his garage and tried stealing your red ‘57 Chevy Corvette. They tripped the alarm when the garage door opened.”
At that moment, George, Mavis and Delight reentered the Mausoleum. “We just got an update on my cell phone,” said George. “The thief had put the top down on your convertible and Baskerville, Little White Poodle and Tank happened to be at Franklin’s at the time. The animals jumped into the convertible as it was backing out of the garage and bit the perpetrator, and stole the keys out of the ignition so the car stopped dead.” George laughed as he was telling the story. “The thief got away but not before spilling a little blood on the ground next to the car door he left open as he was making his retreat.”
Granny looked around at the Phineas Fuchsia statue. “They’re gone.”
Mavis and Delight shone their flashlights searching the ground.
“What are you looking for?” Silas asked as he watched the three women checking around.
“Plans, floor plans for the layout for banks and jewelry stores; they were locked in Delight’s crypt. That’s why we came here. We wanted to know what was in her crypt, but we didn’t want to tell Thor and the Tall Guy until we found out,” Granny explained.
“They took everything but this piece of paper with these three XXXs and a circle on it.” Delight handed Silas the piece of paper.
“I’ve seen that somewhere before.” Granny shook her head again trying to remember. She sniffed the air.
“I know! It’s Gram Gramstead! She’s at it again. Why, that old, old, impersonator!” Granny shook her hand in the air.
Silas knew he would regret it, but he had to ask, “Who is Gram Gramstead?”
Mavis, Delight, and George all started chattering at the same time.
“Why do you think it’s her?”
“She’s in jail. Isn’t she?”
“You think she robbed the banks and killed Delbert?”
“The smell that knocked us out was the same smell that knocked me out during the Gram Gramstead kidnappings. And now someone tried to steal my car. You know, she had a thing for that car,” Granny’s voice started to get more agitated and louder as she continued, “It’s her! I know it’s her! She’s trying to ruin my life again. She wants Franklin! Over my dead body!”
Silas laughed as he heard Granny’s last statement. “Apparently, that’s been tried and you haven’t felt like complying yet. We need to get out of here before they come looking for you.”
“You won’t tell Franklin or the Tall Guy until we figure this out?” demanded Granny.
Delight’s eyes went wide with worry at the thought that she might be in trouble.
George and Silas looked at one another and sighed. George said, “We’ll keep your secret this once until we figure out where those plans went and what they are.”
Silas closed the outside door to the mausoleum and locked it. Shining their flashlights around the mausoleum and looking in the nooks and crannies and also in Delight’s crypt one more time without success, they moved to the lift to go back down to the street.
As the lift moved downward, Granny remembered something Silas had said. “What secret is Butch keeping?”
“It’s not my story to tell but he assured me he’ll tell it soon,” answered Silas.
When they got off the lift and moved closer to Granny’s underground door, they could hear the sounds of the Flamingo Christmas Parade and the revelry now being carried down to the underground streets.
“I should see if Ella needs help.” Delight turned to the others. “What’s next?”
“We help you at the Pink Percolator since that’s what we’re supposed to be doing.” Granny grabbed Mavis and started walking.
“Wait, I don’t need to go. George knows what I was doing,” said Mavis.
“Help us keep our cover, Mavis. George can go with Mr. Supercilious since that’s what they had planned in the first place,” Granny reminded her.
“Come on, George.” Silas grabbed George’s arm, “Let’s go to Rack’s and have a little Festive Fuchsia Ale and you can tell me what it’s been like living across from Mrs. Cranky all these years.”
Granny glared at Silas. Silas winked at Granny as he and George moved towards the underground entrance for Rack’s Restaurant.
Watching the men disappear, the ladies kept walking toward the outside entrance next to The Dog Wash.
“Do you think it really is Gram again, Granny?” Delight asked.
“But Gram didn’t live here when Delbert and Ferdinand died,” Mavis pointed out. “You two didn’t even know each other then.”
“And her sonny boy was too young to have robbed a bank or anything else at that time,” Granny agreed.
“Did you notice the names of the banks and jewelry stores that were laid out in those plans? None of them were in Fuchsia. They were in Fish, Allure, and Brilliant, and some other towns up north,” Mavis recalled.
Granny turned to Delight. “Was Delbert in any of those towns?”
“I don’t know. He was always gone. He traveled so much with his job,” replied Delight.
Reaching their destination, they climbed the steps to the outside. The night was lit up with pink flashing flamingo dancers. The Christmas snowmen and reindeer were climbing up and down the poles and moving from pole to pole and the Christmas trees on tops of the buildings were taking turns playing their music. A light fluffy snow had started to fall. The manger scene in the Town Square was lit up and people were milling all around singing carols and greeting each other.
The three woman linked arms as they navigated through the crowds to get to the Pink Percolator. As they entered the coffee house, Delight noticed a young man behind the counter helping Ella. Next to Ella was Starshine, offering customers more whipped cream on top of coffee and holiday drinks.
Granny spied Penelope and Butch at a table off to the side of the room. “Looks like Starshine and that strange long-haired young man are helping out. I don’t see Franklin. I’m going over to see what Butch is hiding.”
“Well, you better hurry,” Mavis warned her, “Franklin’s just walking in the door and it looks like he’s looking for something, and I’d guess it’s you.”
“Stall him, Mavis,” Granny ordered.
“Me? Stall him? How?”
“Kiss him.”
“Kiss him?”
“Tell him he’s standing under the mistletoe and kiss him. That’ll throw him for a loop and then tell him you kissed him because he’s in your new reality show. That’ll give me a few minutes. I’ll give you the all clear.”
“But….but…but,” Mavis sputtered.
“No buts, just get to it.” Granny moved away and pushed Mavis in Franklin’s direction.
Granny squeezed through the crowd to where Penelope and Butch were sitting. Glancing back, Granny could see that Franklin had not seen her yet, but he was almost to Mavis. Penelope and Butch looked up when Granny reached their table. Butch quickly stood up, muttered something under his breath, quickly walked away and exited through the door to the donut patio. Raising her eyebrows at his quick exit, Granny asked “Something I said? What’s he hiding?”
As Granny asked the question, a loud voice erupted over the crowd. It was George. He had just seen Mavis kissing Franklin. Granny decided it was a good time to follow Butch.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Granny saw Butch dart into his hardware store. Reaching the front of the store, she pounded on the door. He didn’t answer. She put her face to the glass of the door and looked in. Maybe he went upstairs to the apartment they were living in above the hardware store until Thor and Heather’s wedding wh
en they would move into Thor’s house. She made a step to move to the door on the side of the building when she saw a tiny movement behind a rack in the store. She started pounding again.
“Butch, let me in! You can’t hide anymore. I know your secret!” Granny yelled, bluffing.
Granny saw Butch slowly move to the front of the store and unlock the door to let Granny in.
“You forgive me?”
“Forgive you for what? I have no idea what I need to forgive you for or what you’re hiding, but it’s time to fess up.”
“You tricked me,” Butch accused, moving in the direction of the back door.
“Stop!” Granny commanded.
Butch stopped and turned around to face Granny. “I didn’t mean for it to happen.”
“What to happen? What did you do?” Granny jumped back in alarm, wishing she had her shovel but she had left it by her back door in the underground street. “Did you murder Delbert? But you were so young!” gasped Granny.
“No, no, I didn’t murder anyone. I worked at the funeral home when I was 17. Mr. Delure and your husband came in around the same time. They were about the same build. Anyway, Mr. Graves always had me dress the bodies and he had tags on them. I didn’t know them or what they looked like. I brought both bodies out, side by side. I took the tags off the bodies so I could dress them. But, then, I couldn’t remember who was who. I looked at the instructions and it said there would be no viewing. Mr. Graves had told me to put them in their caskets and seal them up because they were not going to be opened. So I looked at the clothes and put the clothes on the guy I thought fit the style. Then I put them in their caskets. I was young and I didn’t think it mattered who had which casket since no one would ever see them again.” Butch hung his head.
Granny had a twinkle in her eye when she addressed Butch. “Never did like that bow tie on Ferdinand. Glad it went to Delbert. Maybe he was more the bow tie type,” Granny chuckled.
Butch looked up in amazement, “You’re not mad? I told Penelope because she noticed how jumpy I was after the bodies were tampered with. She told me I had to tell the authorities, but I don’t know what Mr. Graves will say.”
“That explains the clothes, but it doesn’t explain how I came to have a crypt and how Delbert got into my crypt and Ferdinand ended up in Delbert’s grave or the money. Can you shed some light on that?”
“No, I put slips of paper on top of the caskets so Mr. Graves would know which caskets to put the epitaphs on, but that’s about it. Mr. Graves took care of the rest.”
“There was a third casket?”
“I remember there was another casket sitting there, but I didn’t open it. It was in between Mr. Delure’s and Mr. Fiddlestadt’s coffins.”
We need to call Thor and the Tall Guy. They need to know this. The door opened and Penelope and Franklin made their entrance.
Penelope noticed the look on her husband’s face and moved to give him a hug. Franklin stood in front of Granny.
“Franklin, you have lipstick all over your face. Have you been kissing another woman?” Granny put an innocent look on her face.
“Crazy women, first Mavis kisses me and George walks in and sees it and starts yelling. Before George could get to us, Delight pushed Mavis away and gave me the biggest pucker. I didn’t know Delight had it in her. Something about mistletoe, only I didn’t see any mistletoe.” Franklin, befuddled at trying to explain the kiss, shook his head in confusion.
“Delight kissed you? Delight!” Granny questioned in a loud tone, forgetting why she was in Nail’s Hardware Store.
While Franklin and Granny were having their kissing conversation, Penelope had called Thor. “You can settle this later; we’re supposed to meet Thor and Ephraim at the police station.”
“It’s getting late, you can handle this,” said Granny. “Franklin and I have some last-minute Christmas items to take care of for Christmas Eve tomorrow night.”
“We do?” asked Franklin.
“Sorry, Mom,” said Penelope, “they told us to bring you along. Apparently something happened in the mausoleum tonight that you neglected to tell us about.”
Franklin gave Granny a shrewd look. “I thought you were helping Delight during the parade?”
“I was, poor dear; she needed some time in the mausoleum and asked me to be with her. Something about the dark and the cold. She didn’t want to be alone. And speaking of Delight, I need to talk to her about that pucker.”
“You can,” Penelope informed her. “Delight has been summoned to the station too, along with Mavis.”
“What about Silas?” Granny asked.
“What about Silas?” Franklin asked with a suspicious voice, “What has he got to do with this?”
“That’s what I want to know. I have a feeling Mr. Supercilious is a nark, an informer, a tattletale and I’m going to take care of him.”
Granny left the hardware store, turning in the direction of the police station before the others could say another word.
CHAPTER THIRTY
This time Granny, along with Butch, Penelope and Franklin, were led to the interrogation room in the police station. The Tall Guy, Thor, Silas, Mavis, Delight and George were already in the room. Granny noticed that Franklin’s face turned a shade of pink when he saw Delight.
“Are you having a party?” Granny quipped, taking a chair next to Thor.
“It’s late, and now that we are all here we can get started.” Thor indicated that the Tall Guy should begin.
“Let’s start with tonight and the mausoleum. It’s been a busy night in Fuchsia and I’m not talking about the Christmas Flamingo Parade. Mrs. Fiddlestadt, what were you and Mrs. Delure and Ms.––ah,” looking down at his sheet, “Mavis, ah––I’m sorry I can’t read the writing on your last name.” He looked at Mavis for her to give him that information.
“Just Mavis is fine. Just call me Mavis.”
“What were you all doing in the mausoleum?”
“How did you know that?” Granny demanded an answer.
“I told him.” Silas announced, not in an apologetic tone.
“You said you’d keep our secret.”
“I said I’d keep it until we could figure out where the plans were. We now know where they are.”
Thor turned and pulled out the plans from a box that was on top of the table.
Granny immediately touched the plans. “Where did you find them? Did you find Gram Gramstead?”
“Gram Gramstead? What has this to do with Gram Gramstead?” Thor asked his upset mother.
“She’s back, and she’s out to get me and steal Franklin again.” Granny pounded her hand on the table to make her point.
“What plans?” Franklin turned to Granny, “Hermiony, you need to explain yourself. What do these plans have to do with you and the mausoleum and why would you think Gram Gramstead is back?”
“Gram Gramstead attacked us with perfume that made us pass out in the mausoleum and stole the plans that were hidden in Delight’s crypt. Then she went over to Franklin’s and stole my car, only the shysters interrupted her. Check the blood you found, you’ll see.” Granny took a breath. “I need to find her before she does any more damage.”
Thor spread one of the plans out on the table for everyone to see. “This is the floor plan for the bank in Fish. It was robbed the same day that Delbert Delight was stabbed, pushed off a curb and ended up in a tree. The other plans are floor plans for other banks and jewelry stores in communities that were robbed. The money from the banks was never recovered and neither was the jewelry. What do any of you know about this? Let’s start with you Delight. Can you explain why these plans were in your crypt?”
Delight gave a sniffle before answering. Granny moved to one side of her and Mavis to the other. They both put an arm around her shoulder.
“I don’t know,” Delight sobbed, “Delbert left me the key and told me it was the key to the rest of my life and he had taken care of me. Granny encouraged me to check out the cryp
t to see if we could figure out what it meant.”
At the mention of her name, Granny pulled her arm away from Delight. “Leave the poor woman alone. She doesn’t know anything. You need to find Gram Gramstead.”
Franklin moved to Granny’s side. Granny looked up to see Silas staring at her with a strange glint in his eye.
Franklin took Granny’s hand and looked into her eyes. “Hermiony, it couldn’t have been Gram, she’s still locked away.”
“Did you check?”
“We’re checking on it now,” the Tall Guy informed her.
Franklin continued, “Why do you think Gram Gramstead is behind all this?”
“It’s the perfume. That smell that knocked Mavis, Delight and me out is what Gram and her son used to knock me out when I found the kidnapped girls. And someone stole my car. Gram always wanted my car.”
Granny looked at Thor. “Where did you find the plans?”
“In the trunk of my black ’57 Chevy parked next to your car,” said Franklin. “When they investigated the theft of your car, they went through everything in my garage and found the plans.” Franklin admitted this with a shake of his head.
Granny pulled her hand out of his and stood up, “You––you––you are behind all this. Why haven’t you arrested him? You’re trying to drive me crazy and let my kids put me in the wrinkle farm. You knocked us out and stole the plans. Of course, why didn’t we see it?” Granny started pacing. “You come to town, knowing that the money is in the mausoleum. You make me love you and you use me to find your money and then you make me think Gram Gramstead is back. You’ve planned this all year, you––you, mister. trusted citizen detective, seducer of all women. Why I bet you even enjoyed that kiss by Delight.” Granny turned just in time to see Delight blush.
Silas Crickett burst out laughing.
Granny skewered him with a look before marching over to him. “And you’re a sneak, a tattletale and a nark. What are you laughing at?” Granny poked her finger at his chest.
“Let’s just say you make life interesting.”
Franklin’s jaw was still hanging open at all that Granny had accused him of. “You think I would do that?”
3 Granny Snows A Sneak Page 16