Death On Bingo Night

by Nancy McGovern

  “I don’t know,” Nora considered. “I feel bad about it. Like I’m taking away what makes him a cat, you know?”

  “Well, you better do it before Tuxedo takes away what makes me a m-”

  Nora propped herself up on her elbows as her phone started buzzing on the side-table.

  “What now?” she wondered.

  Harvey picked up the phone and handed it to her, even as Tuxedo tried to swipe at it.

  “It’s May Almand.”

  Nora was very confused as she looked down at her phone. “It’s almost midnight! I wonder why she’s calling me so late?”

  “Probably to compliment you on those sandwiches,” Harvey sighed. “That cornbread extravaganza was ridiculously delicious.”

  “Hush, Harvey.” Nora whacked him playfully on the leg, and picked up the phone. “Hello?”

  “Nora? Oh, thank goodness you’re awake! Could you come down here? Immediately!”

  There was a note of panic in May’s voice that Nora had never heard before. Surprised, she scrambled to sit up properly. “What happened?” Nora asked. “Where are you, May?”

  “At the Hall!” May said. “Well, outside the hall, really. Oh, Nora! It’s dreadful. Mrs. Hanes- you won’t believe what’s happened to Mrs. Hanes!”

  Nora felt her heart sink. She had a very good idea what had happened to Mrs. Hanes. She spoke to May for a few minutes more, and then rose up. Harvey, seeing her grim expression, was already by the front door, car keys in hand. Without saying a word, they both got into the car. Harvey gunned the engine, and sped downtown as Nora told him, “May Almand said Mrs. Hanes is dead…murdered!”

  “Poor woman,” Harvey said. “But I wonder why May called you. I mean, surely Sean is already there.”

  Nora gulped. “May mentioned earlier that she thought I was a good detective…”

  “So she wants you to solve Mrs. Hanes’ murder?” Harvey frowned. “Do you think…”

  “What?”

  “Never mind. I don’t want to put thoughts in your head. Let’s go down there and see what’s happening.”

  “No! Tell me!” Nora insisted.

  “Well, you said Lucy Dobbs had a fight with Anna Hanes earlier today,” Harvey pointed out.

  “Are you saying she’s murdered Mrs. Hanes?” Nora’s eyes grew wide.

  “No, of course not.” Harvey shook his head. “She couldn’t possibly have. I told you- Lucy was shy.”

  Even though it was past midnight when they reached the hall, there was a crowd outside it, and a young, nervous deputy was trying to push them back. A cordon was already in place, and Nora could see Sheriff Sean Dracon behind the lines, bent down on one knee and frowning at the cherry red Chevy. Nearby, two police cars stood with their lights still flashing. A deputy was speaking into a radio, and another was frowning at a chalk outline.

  “Nora! Oh, Nora! I’m so glad you’re here!” May Almand rushed out of the crowd, and gave Nora a big hug. “I can’t believe this! It all feels so unreal!”

  “What happened?” Nora asked.

  “Someone killed Mrs. Hanes!” May shuddered. “But that’s not the worst of it!”

  “What is?” Nora asked.

  “The police have arrested Lucy Dobbs! They believe she’s the murderer! Oh, Nora, I know she couldn’t have done it! You have to find out who the real killer is. Please!”

  Nora exchanged glances with Harvey, who looked just as surprised as she felt.

  *****

  Chapter 3

  The Scene Of The Crime

  “What happened?” Nora asked, trying to calm May down. “Tell me everything you know. And don’t leave out any details.”

  It was quite unusual to see May so upset. May, who had been a longtime journalist for Milburn’s local paper, was normally quite composed. Today, though, her hair was all over the place, and red spots bloomed in her cheeks. Her eyes looked wild, as though she might bolt at any moment. She took a few deep breaths, to calm herself, and blinked rapidly, before she began to speak.

  “The only thing I know is that Lucy is innocent,” May said. “I’ve known both of them all my life and Lucy can’t have done it! She simply can’t!” But even as she said it, a thin thread of doubt found it’s way into her voice. May Almand almost looked ashamed of herself for it. “I need you to prove she didn’t do it, Nora. You’re the only one who can. Sean is useless in cases like this!”

  “Now, May, you know Sean is honest and smart. He’s not some lazy officer with no regard for the people he arrests.”

  “Maybe so,” May said. “But he’s made his share of mistakes in the past, and if you hadn’t been around to correct them, some innocent people would have gone to jail. Besides, all the evidence is piled up against my poor Lucy! You simply have to help. Please.”

  “I’ll do whatever I can,” Nora promised. “Tell me what you know.”

  “Well...” May took a deep breath, then another, trying to calm herself down. “Claudia James lives across the street. She says she heard a scream half an hour ago, and came running down to the hall. The Chevy had a door ajar and Lucy was lying down beside it, with a bloody knife in her hand.”

  Nora winced. Clearly, that did not look good for Mrs. Dobbs. No wonder Sean had felt it necessary to at least take her in for questioning.

  “Claudia said that she looked inside the Chevy and Mrs. Hanes was just sitting there, frozen. But you could tell she was already gone. The eyes had no light in them.” May shuddered again. “It’s horrible, Nora! I never liked Mrs. Hanes, I’ll be the first to admit that. But to be killed in such a brutal manner. Nobody deserves that.”

  Nora nodded. She hadn’t liked Mrs. Hanes, either. But she certainly didn’t hate her enough to stab her. Someone did, though, and it could be argued that Lucy Dobbs was that “someone”.

  “That’s all I know right now,” May said. “Well, that and the fact that Sean arrested Lucy. As if my poor Lucy could hurt a fly!”

  “Have you known her long?” Nora asked.

  “All my life.” May nodded. “Actually… when we were in school, Lucy, Anna and I were best friends.”

  “Anna? You mean Mrs. Hanes?”

  “That’s right,” May said. “I’ve gotten so used to calling her Hanes now, I don’t even think of her as my old best friend Anna. Well, I had a falling out with Anna when I was about sixteen, but Lucy and I remained best friends. Time passed, and we drifted apart too. Then, when Lucy founded the Milburn Ladies’ Club, I joined, too, and we became friendly again.”

  “Hold on,” Nora said. “Lucy founded the Milburn Ladies’ Club? I thought she said earlier that Mrs. Hanes threw her off the organizing committee.”

  “Oh, yes, she did,” May confirmed. “Rather nasty of her, too. If you think a ladies’ club can’t have intrigue and cut-throat politics, you’re very wrong. Mrs. Hanes was more persuasive than a senator trying to pass a bill. She convinced enough people that Lucy had been mishandling finances, and Lucy was forced out.”

  “Oh,” Nora said.

  “Yes,” May said. “I resigned too, as a form of protest. I knew Lucy Dobbs, the daughter of the deceased Pastor Dobbs, would never touch a penny that wasn’t hers. Well, the whole thing was a terrible ordeal for Lucy. She was too proud to ever say so, but I knew it was a huge blow to her when she was kicked out of the club. I think it broke her heart, in a way.”

  “Poor Mrs. Dobbs.”

  “Yes. And, as for Anna Hanes, well, she was elected president of the committee, and you should have seen her crowing over it. She’d been angling to become president for ages and ages, and she treated it like she’d been crowned Queen of England or something.”

  Nora didn’t say anything, but it was becoming quickly obvious to her that where Mrs. Dobbs was concerned, May Almand had a rather large blind spot. If everyone else on the committee believed Lucy Dobbs had stolen that money- maybe there was something to it. In any case, Lucy Dobbs had a clear motive, and had been found on the scene of the crime. Rather incrim
inating.

  “Don’t look like that,” May said.

  “Like what?” Nora asked, trying to sound innocent.

  “Like you think I’m a fool for believing in Lucy’s innocence,” May replied. “Honestly, Nora, sometimes I think you’ve become a tad too cynical since you started solving all your crimes. The world isn’t filled with evil folks- and even if it is, Lucy isn’t one of them.”

  “The world isn’t filled with evil folks, just a lot of weak folks,” Nora said. “Anyone can be a murderer if they’re pushed to it. Maybe Lucy stored up all her anger, and released it on one unfortunate night, when she’d been pushed to the wall by Mrs. Hanes.”

  “I can’t believe you’d say that!” May Almand stamped her foot, her eyes sparking fire. “You don’t know Lucy like I do.”

  “May, I’m not-”

  “No. It’s fine. If you don’t believe me, I’ll just have to try and solve the case myself!”

  “May, I’ll help you with solving the murder,” Nora said. “I just can’t promise that Lucy hasn’t done it. You have to keep an open mind.”

  “An open mind is well and good, but it shouldn’t be so open that your brains fall out,” May said. “I’ll eat that Chevy whole if Lucy did it.”

  *****

  Chapter 4

  The Car At Midnight

  “Everyone’s talking about Mrs. Hanes today,” Tina said, as she wiped the counters the next morning. Nora, who was busy in the kitchen prepping the day’s meals, couldn’t get a reply out before Angela had butted in.

  “She was a really mean, old woman,” Angela said. “But now everyone’s talking about her like she was a saint. They’re going on and on about her charity drives and her sense of community. Pooh. I wish people would speak the truth about the dead. It cheapens their lives when you make them out to be saints.”

  “Ah, to be young and full of righteous energy,” Tina sighed, earning a look of contempt from Angela. “For your information, Angela dearest, when we talk well about someone who is deceased, it’s more for our own sake than theirs. We draw hope from their lives any way we can, in order to say, ‘it wasn’t all in vain.’”

  “Twilight and evening bell,

  And after that the dark!

  And may there be no sadness of farewell,

  When I embark.”

  Angela and Tina both looked up, startled, as Nora came out of the kitchen.

  “Quoting Tennyson so early in the morning?” Tina asked. “You’re in a morbid mood, aren’t you?”

  Nora grinned. “I’m just saying that I agree with both of you, in a way,” Nora said. “The dead are gone, it’s the living we must concern ourselves with. Like Lucy Dobbs.”

  “Oooh, she definitely killed Mrs. Hanes,” Angela said. “I don’t even blame her. She totally deserved to win that Chevy and Mrs. Hanes got her on a technicality!”

  The bell over the door tinkled, and a young man with swept back hair and a baseball jacket walked in. He came right to the counter, and Nora noticed that Angela was suddenly pretending to be very busy. She raised an eyebrow at Tina, who gave her a twinkling smile, and turned to the youngster, who was pretending to read the menu while secretly gazing at Angela.

  “Hello there,” Tina said. “Can we get you anything?”

  “Oh… yeah. Just some coffee for now,” the man said.

  “Coffee. Oh, look, Angela’s near the coffee pot. Angela, serve this handsome young lad some coffee, would you?”

  Angela was turning red from the tip of her ears to the tip of her nose. Nora held back a snort of laughter and pushed Tina into the kitchen. “You have got to stop playing matchmaker,” she said. “You’re absolutely terrible at it.”

  “Me? Terrible? Au contraire, you silly thing,” Tina replied. “They’ll be locked in a passionate embrace by the time we get back out there.” She made a motion to leave, and Nora grabbed the back of her apron, suddenly overcome by giggles.

  “You’ll embarrass Angela,” She said.

  “Well, that’s the point, isn’t it!” Tina exclaimed. “I still have to get back at her for spoiling my Game Of Thrones last week. I can’t believe Jon Snow-”

  Nora put a finger up and peeked out. Angela was laughing at something the boy was saying. “Who is that, anyway?” She asked.

  “Norman Carter,” Tina said- and as soon as the words left her lips, all the lightness went out of Nora’s body, replaced instead with a sudden gravity.

  “You ok?”

  “Yeah. I actually need to ask him something.” Nora stepped outside and headed to the counter, where a surprised Angela looked up at her questioningly. Norman looked up, too, but his eyes flicked back almost immediately towards Angela.

  “Hey, Norman,” Nora said. “You won the car last night, didn’t you? At Bingo?”

  Norman grimaced. “Yeah. I was so happy about it, but now it just seems like bad luck. Poor Mrs. Hanes!”

  “Poor Mrs. Hanes is rigt,” Nora agreed. “But poor you, too. I guess you won’t get the car for a while, until the police are done with it.”

  “Right,” Norman sighed. “I’m not even sure I want it, you know… considering. I’ll probably just sell it off.”

  “Sorry if I’m being inquisitive- but I was wondering how come you didn’t drive off with it last night, after you’d won?” Nora asked. “I mean, it was still parked outside the hall, right?”

  Norman nodded. “Yeah. I was pretty excited to win it, but Mrs. Hanes wouldn’t handover the keys.”

  “She wouldn’t?” Nora raised an eyebrow.

  “Nope. She said we could do it tomorrow. Well, today, I guess.” Norman looked up at Nora with narrowed eyes. “Why do you ask?”

  Angela, impatient to get Norman’s attention again, chimed in, “Well, you know Nora’s the unofficial town detective. Asking questions is her business.”

  The corner of Norman’s mouth lifted up a little as he locked eyes with Angela. “Well, doesn’t look like there’s much to solve here, does it? Lucy Dobbs got mad that Mrs. Hanes didn’t want to give her the car, and...” He slid a finger across his throat.

  Angela shivered. “She must have gone temporarily mad. That’s what I think! But you should thank your stars that you didn’t drive off with the car after all, Norm. Maybe Mrs. Dobbs would have come after you instead!”

  Norman puffed his chest out a little. “I can handle myself.”

  “I’m glad she’s behind bars,” Angela said. She shuddered again and patted Norman’s hand. “I guess you can forget all about it as soon as you’ve sold the car.”

  But Nora knew she wouldn’t forget about it so easily. Why hadn’t Mrs. Hanes handed the car over to Norman? Why had she been out there in the middle of the night? Sooner or later, Nora thought, someone needed to answer those questions. And perhaps Lucy Dobbs was the only person who could.

  *****

  Chapter 5

  Lucy Dobbs Speaks

  Lucy Dobbs lived in a small three-roomed house at the very end of a tree-lined street. Small as it was, the house was well maintained, with a neatly manicured lawn, a smart maroon trim that complemented the dull gray walls, and three little ceramic gnomes standing by a big cedar tree.

  “She’s asleep inside. Poor Lucy’s still in shock, I think,” May Almand said, as she greeted Nora at the door. “We just posted bail two hours ago. Can you imagine- Sean wanted to keep her in jail! I argued that she wasn’t a flight risk. I mean, Lucy’s lived here in Milburn all her life. Where would she run off to? Preposterous! The judge agreed, luckily. So here we are.”

  “You’re a loyal friend, May,” Nora said. She pushed forward a covered casserole dish but May wouldn’t accept it.

  “I’m a good judge of character, is what I am,” May corrected. “Besides, poor Lucy doesn’t have any family. And the rest of the town is being horrid to her. Everyone seems to have made up their mind that she did it. You included, I might add.”

  “I haven’t decided anything yet. Open mind, remember?” Nora sa
id. When May still gave her a bitter look, Nora shrugged. “Shall I keep the dish in the fridge?” Nora asked. “It’s potatoes, sausage and baked beans with some cheddar and breadcrumbs. Hearty food and it will last a while. I figured poor Mrs. Dobbs would be in no mood to cook.”

  “That’s rather nice of you.” May softened a little. “Are you here to talk to her, Nora? Maybe you could help clear up some things? She really doesn’t have much of an alibi.”

  Nora nodded. “Could you bring her out? I don’t want to disturb her if she’s asleep.”

  “We’ll meet you in the living room,” May said. “I’ll try and leave the two of you alone.”

  The living room was cozy, with two fanback arm-chairs flanking a fireplace, and a plush sofa pushed up against a wall. On the mantelpiece stood an old clock, a bronze vase with John Dobbs, 1936-2008 inscribed on it, and a photo of a young Mrs. Dobbs in a bride’s dress with her hair flying and her arm around a smiling man in a tuxedo. On the wall was another framed photo- this one more recent, of Mrs. Dobbs on stage, hosting the annual bingo night a few years ago. Nora felt a pang of sorrow, as she looked at it- her old best friend Raquel was in the front of the crowd, laughing as she waved a piece of paper.

  “I should take that photo down,” Mrs. Dobbs said, as she entered the room. “I was so proud of founding it, but the ladies club has nothing but bad memories for me, now.” In the space of a day, Mrs. Dobbs seemed to have aged a decade. Her streaked hair, which had been neatly under a hat last night, was now tied in a rough ponytail that let wisps fly about. Her face seemed lined and heavy. And even her choice of clothes, old sweatpants and a green cardigan, were oddly mismatched.

  “May told me you think I’ve done it, too,” Mrs. Dobbs said. Fragile as she looked, her voice was powerful and her chin was turned up. “But I didn’t. They can hang me if they like, but I’ll go to my death protesting my innocence!”

  “I don’t think anyone’s about to be hung just yet.” Nora put out her hands in a calming gesture.

  Mrs. Dobbs just grimaced and said, “We’ll see! Everyone seems to be against me right now! This town can be a wicked place sometimes. But of course… maybe it’s my fault too.” Her shoulders stooped. “I’ve never quite had the knack of making friends or keeping them. My John used to do all of that for me- we had quite the social life together! He was the one who encouraged me to start the ladies’ club in the first place. Poor John. His heart gave out from all the love he spread. Nearly ten years ago now. He must be rolling in his grave!”