Perp and Circumstance: A Myrtle Crumb Mystery (Myrtle Crumb Mystery Series Book 5)

by Gayle Trent

  Matlock finished his meal and walked over to me.

  I hugged him. “You’re the best listener ever. After you go outside a little while, we’ll pile up on the couch and watch a movie. I’ll try to find us something funny. Goodness knows, we don’t need any more drama today.”

  * * *

  The next morning, I had to get up bright and early because both Mr. Shaw’s and Ms. Thompson’s office hours were before classes began. My first appointment was with Mr. Shaw. Sunny had told me Mr. Shaw was the nice one, so I was kinda of happy to start things out on a high note with him.

  It so happened I found Ms. Thompson’s office before finding Mr. Shaw’s. She was talking to a student. I went on down the hall to Mr. Shaw’s office. His door was open, but I knocked on it lightly to get his attention.

  He looked up and pushed his wire-rimmed glasses back onto the bridge of his nose. I wondered why he even bothered, since they slid right back down. Mr. Shaw wasn’t a man I’d have called handsome, but he had such an open, friendly expression I couldn’t see him as being unattractive either.

  “Hello, there,” he said. “What can I do for you?”

  “I’m Myrtle Crumb, Crimson Dailey’s grandmother, and I’m informally investigating the unfortunate incident involving Mr. Cole.”

  “Oh, yes…the detective! I remember hearing about how you solved our theft problem a few months ago.”

  “Aw, shucks.” I flicked my wrist, deflecting his praise. “I imagine anyone’s grandmother would do the same thing. Or, at least, try anyway.” Well, some of them would. Some grandparents are pretty sorry, if you ask me. But I was trying to be polite and give the school’s grandparents the benefit of the doubt.

  “And you say you came to talk with me about what happened to Mr. Cole? What gave you the impression I know anything about that?”

  “Well, I figure the two of you work together, and you could give me an opinion on the man. Do you think he’s guilty?”

  Mr. Shaw got up, ushered me into the room, and closed the door. “Won’t you have a seat?”

  I sat on the black vinyl and metal chair across the desk from him. “So, do you believe Jeffrey Cole is guilty of the charges pending against him?”

  He sat back down, stretched his long legs out, and folded his hands on his midriff. “I’d be hard pressed to think Jeff is guilty of keeping weed in his desk. I’ve never smelled cannabis on the man myself; and even if he was a smoker, I don’t believe he’d keep his stash on school property. He’s too smart for that.”

  “You feel Mr. Cole might’ve been set up then.”

  “I didn’t say that, Ms. Crumb. I’m only voicing my opinion that it’s hard to imagine Mr. Cole behaving that way. I’m sure the police are doing a thorough investigation of the matter.”

  “Of course, they are. But it’s our duty as concerned citizens to help them if we can. Don’t you agree?”

  “Naturally.” He gave me an indulgent, almost patronizing smile as if I were one of his students. That nearly ticked me off, but then he asked me how he could help.

  “Well, do you know of anyone who might have it in for Mr. Cole—students or staff?”

  “No, not really. Everybody seems to like Jeff all right. I don’t know that he’s as great a teacher as all the kids seem to think he is, but he’s a likeable enough fellow.”

  “Why do you say Mr. Cole isn’t such a great teacher?” Between you and me, I figured it was a case of sour grapes.

  “Jeff tends to be a little on the lazy side, and he’s lax when it comes to disciplining his students,” said Mr. Shaw. “If you ask me, he lets them take advantage of him.”

  “How about staff members?”

  He squinted and screwed up his mouth. “There’s a certain janitor I don’t trust, but I don’t know whether or not he’s had any run-ins with Jeff.”

  “Why don’t you trust this person?”

  “I once caught him rifling through one of the English teacher’s file cabinets after school. Since then, I’ve become a lot more vigilant about my own office security, I can assure you of that.”

  “I don’t blame you,” I said. “Would you mind telling me this janitor’s name?”

  “I’d prefer not to do so unless the matter becomes relevant to the case.”

  I nodded. “I understand. Did you report this janitor to the principal when the incident occurred?”

  “No. I didn’t want to cost the man his job.”

  “That was kind of you.”

  He shrugged. “I try.”

  I thanked him for his time and went to see if Ms. Thompson could speak with me now.

  Chapter Nine

  Ms. Thompson was a short, sloppy woman. Her hair was brown with red highlights, and she had hazel eyes. She could’ve been attractive had she taken any care with her appearance. Of course, I’d always heard pretty is as pretty does, and I was fixing to find out in a hurry that Ms. Leta Thompson didn’t do pretty.

  I pecked on her door and she glared up at me from behind her desk. I thought I was going to have to knock again before she motioned me to come on into the room.

  I went in and sat on the chair across from her. “Hi, Ms. Thompson. I’m—”

  “I know who you are. You’re Crimson Dailey’s grandmother. I remember you from when you came around poking your nose into school business before. What do you want?”

  “Well, I’m poking my nose into school business again.”

  “That’s what I figured,” she said, “since you made an appointment to talk with me even though I don’t have Crimson in any of my classes.”

  She’d done made me mad, so I decided to go ahead and hit her with both barrels. “I hear you don’t think too much of Jeffrey Cole.”

  “You heard right. I don’t think much of any of the people I work with. They’re coworkers. Period. It’s not like they’re family or friends.”

  “And they can’t be both coworkers and friends?” I asked.

  “Not in my book, they can’t. Is that all you needed to know—whether or not I like Jeff Cole?”

  “I’d also like to know if you planted that marijuana in his desk drawer.”

  “The police are looking into Mr. Cole’s drawers,” she said.

  Well, I couldn’t help it, and I started laughing. Ms. Thompson, on the other hand, didn’t so much as crack a smile.

  “I’m glad the investigation amuses you, Ms. Crumb. You are obviously not a professional, and I will not discuss the matter with you further.”

  “Fine.” I lifted my chin. “I imagine Mr. Cole would appreciate your staying out of his drawers altogether.” With that, I left. I was glad she didn’t try to get in the last word because I thought that was a good parting shot, and I didn’t know if I could come up with another snappy comeback on such short notice.

  * * *

  Mr. Cole was the first to arrive for dinner. He brought me a bouquet of yellow roses and baby’s breath.

  “How very nice of you!” I said, as I took the flowers into the kitchen. “I love roses. And yellow roses are my daughter’s favorite. Have you met Faye?”

  “I have met Ms. Dailey once or twice at school functions. I haven’t met Mr. Dailey though.”

  “Mr. Dailey—Steve—died when Sunny was very young. Faye has raised that beautiful girl all by herself.”

  “That’s commendable.”

  “Thank you. I agree.” I hadn’t much more than got the flowers into a vase of water until Faye and Sunny arrived.

  “Dinner smells great, Mimi,” Sunny exclaimed, as she burst into the kitchen. “Hi, Mr. Cole.”

  “Hey, Crimson. Did you have a good day today?”

  “It was all right. I miss you so bad though. All the kids do.”

  “I appreciate that. And I hope to…well, I hope to be back soon,” he said.

  I figured he was going to say he wanted to get the whole mess about the marijuana straightened out so it didn’t ruin his entire career, but he must’ve thought better of it before he blurted
it out. I don’t know why he didn’t say exactly what was on his mind. It wasn’t like we all didn’t know what was going on and weren’t trying to help get him out of it.

  Faye joined us. She and Sunny looked about as different as night and day. I can see a little of Faye in Sunny, but not a lot. Sunny took her blonde hair after her daddy. Faye had red hair—which she took after my late husband Crandall—and green eyes. Sunny got Faye’s eyes. Both are gorgeous in their own way.

  Faye had come straight from work and was wearing a sleeveless royal blue dress. I glanced out of the corner of my eye to see if Jeff Cole was appreciating how pretty Faye looked. I couldn’t tell for certain, but I believed he was.

  “Hi, Mother.” She gave me a peck on the cheek. “Crimson’s right—dinner does smell great. I hope you didn’t go to too much trouble.”

  “Not at all. I believe you know Mr. Cole?”

  “Yes.” She smiled and extended her hand—which he took in both of his, by the way. “We’ve met a time or two, and Crimson is constantly singing your praises.”

  “It’s good to know I haven’t fallen out of favor with her.” He smiled. “So nice to see you again. Ms. Dailey.”

  “Please call me Faye.”

  Cooper came to the door then, and I left the happy little threesome alone. He, too, had brought flowers—a bouquet of pink roses and stargazer lilies.

  “Oh, thank you. These are gorgeous, Coop!”

  “Not as gorgeous as you.” He glanced toward the kitchen to make sure we wouldn’t be seen before he gave me a quick kiss on the lips.

  I blushed as I whispered, “I’m hoping to do a little matchmaking.”

  Coop lowered his voice too. “Then you must be positive that this guy isn’t guilty.”

  “I am. I really believe he’s a good guy.”

  “I hope you’re right.” He put his hand at the small of my back, and we walked into the kitchen.

  “Look,” I said brightly, holding Coop’s bouquet aloft. “I have two bouquets now!” I smiled at Faye. “Maybe you’d like to take home the yellow roses that Mr. Cole brought to brighten up your kitchen table. Would that be all right, Mr. Cole?”

  “That would be perfectly fine, Ms. Crumb,” he said.

  I introduced Coop and Mr. Cole, put Coop’s flowers in a vase, washed my hands, and then we all sat down to eat.

  “Where’s Matlock?” Sunny asked.

  “He’s outside, angel. I thought it would be better if we didn’t bring him in to meet Mr. Cole until after we eat.”

  As we dug into our meal, the talk naturally turned to Mr. Cole’s predicament.

  “I’ve been doing quite a bit of digging,” I said. “I talked with Mr. Shaw and Ms. Thompson today. Ms. Thompson didn’t offer anything helpful, but Mr. Shaw said he was suspicious of a janitor he once caught rifling through the files in one of the teacher’s offices.”

  Mr. Cole laughed. “I remember that incident. Shaw should’ve said something. The janitor, Luis, is a really good guy. His daughter was struggling in Ms. Gill’s English class. With the way Luis works, he couldn’t be there to meet with the teacher. So when Ramira lost her report card, Luis checked the file cabinet to see if he could find out what her grade was.”

  “Did the school issue a replacement?” Faye asked.

  “Yes, but not quickly enough to satisfy an anxious father,” said Mr. Cole.

  “Any dad can understand that,” Coop said.

  “Still, he shouldn’t have looked through her files without permission,” said Sunny.

  “Good point, Crimson.” Mr. Cole raised his glass in a salute to her. “Luis did leave a note telling Ms. Gill what he’d done, and he promised her he’d never do anything like that again.”

  I wasn’t ready to give up talking about the case yet. “I also spoke with the guidance counselor yesterday. She wouldn’t tell me anything about Colby Jackson, but she doesn’t seem to be a big fan of yours.”

  Mr. Cole’s cheeks flushed. “Ms. Wilson once asked me to a Sadie Hawkins dance that her parents’ club was hosting. I declined, saying I didn’t date coworkers, and she has avoided me since then.”

  “Her loss,” Faye said softly.

  Chapter Ten

  The next morning after Faye had left the house but before Sunny had gone to school, I called to get my granddaughter’s feedback on dinner.

  “I figured I’d be hearing from you this morning,” Sunny said when she answered the phone. “That’s why I hurried and got ready for school already.”

  “Your mom’s gone, isn’t she?”

  “Yeah, she left about five minutes ago.”

  “Good. So what’s your verdict?”

  “Do you mean the matchmaking or the detecting?” she asked.

  “Both. Start with the matchmaking. Did Faye say anything about Mr. Cole on the ride home?”

  “She said she’d forgotten how handsome he was.”

  “Ooh, that’s good,” I said. “That means she likes him.”

  “I guess.” Sunny didn’t seem to be as enthused by that prospect as I was. “And she commented on how friendly he is and it’s no wonder the kids like him. She was also impressed with the yellow roses.”

  “They were beautiful, weren’t they?”

  “Yeah, they were.” She paused. “Mimi, did you put him up to that?”

  “Up to what?”

  “Did you put Mr. Cole up to bringing Mom’s favorite flowers?”

  “I most certainly did not.” I was shocked she’d even ask me such a thing. “A good hostess never asks her guests to bring a gift…unless, of course, she’s hosting one of those Christmas parties where everybody brings a little present and then they draw numbers or whatever to see who gets what.”

  “I didn’t think you asked him straight out to bring flowers,” Sunny said. “I thought that maybe he’d asked what kind of flowers you liked or something, and you told him yellow roses because they’re Mom’s favorite.”

  “Nope. It wasn’t me. Maybe Fate told him.”

  “I guess.”

  “So how do you think the detecting went?” I asked.

  “Pretty good. I doubt it was one of the teachers who set Mr. Cole up. I mean, they’re all on the same team…fighting for the same cause. Right?”

  Poor baby. She had a lot to learn about how the real world works.

  “My money’s still on Colby Jackson,” she continued.

  “Is there anything more you can tell me about Colby? Do you know his mother’s name or where she works?”

  “I don’t know her name, but I know that she works day shift at that little general store between here and Brea Ridge. I overheard Colby talking about it to one of his friends one day.”

  “All right, angel. I’ll see what I can do. Have you got lunch?”

  “No, but I have money. We’re having burgers and tater tots today.”

  “Are you sure? I can bring—“

  “I hear the bus coming,” she interrupted. “Love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  I heard a click and could just imagine her taking off like a hound to the hunt. I hoped she hadn’t forgotten anything. Oh, well, if she had, she’d call me.

  * * *

  I got to the general store at about eleven o’clock that morning. I pushed my cart along the narrow aisles and looked for a woman with a resemblance to Colby Jackson. Of course, I’d only seen the young‘un once in passing, so I didn’t have much to go on.

  There was a woman stocking in the pet food aisle. She was tall and looked as if she despised her job. Plus, she was in the right age range to be Colby’s mother—I figured the range was anywhere between thirty and fifty.

  I maneuvered my cart down the aisle and picked out a bag of dog treats. “My chocolate lab loves these things. Do you have pets?”

  The woman raised her bored eyes to mine. “No.”

  “What about kids? Got any young‘uns?”

  “No.”

  “Oh, well. You ought to go by the animal shelt
er,” I said. “Pets and young‘uns make the world go around.”

  She didn’t respond. She was done with me. That was fine—I was done with her too.

  I spotted another clerk emerging from the storeroom. She, too, looked to be in the proper age bracket, and this one had red hair.

  “Excuse me. Could you please direct me to the graduation party supplies? My granddaughter Sunny is graduating from middle school, and her mother and I want to have her a party.”

  “That’s nice.” She pointed. “They’re right over there. I’m going that way. I’ll show you where they’re at.”

  “Thank you. That’s awfully nice of you. Have you got any kids?”

  “I do,” she said, as she walked slightly in front of me toward the party supplies. “I have two boys. In fact, my youngest—Colby—is getting ready to graduate from middle school too.”

  Bingo. “That’s great. Are you excited? I mean, I realize it’s not a big deal by a longshot compared to their high school graduation, but I’m just as pleased as punch over it.”

  “So am I. It looked like touch and go there for a little bit as to whether or not Colby would even graduate, but he’s going to, and I couldn’t be more tickled.”

  “I can imagine,” I said. “Schoolwork is harder now than it was in my day. Sunny brought home stuff in elementary school that I didn’t study until high school.”

  “I know what you mean.” She nodded toward the graduation decorations. “There you go.”

  “Thank you. I reckon you’ll be celebrating too, won’t you?”

  She smiled. “Yeah. I took the day off from both my jobs so I could get everything ready before going to the ceremony.”

  “That’s good.” I frowned. “Wait, you work two jobs?” Of course, I already knew that. But I had to play dumb.

  She nodded. “That’s the glam life of a single mom.”

  “And you said you have two boys? Is the other one younger or older than Colby?”