Gabe chuckled. “Well, that’s nice, but I’m here anyway. I can take it as long as you don’t start pulling out the chick flicks and giant tubs of ice cream. I might have to bail on you then. No way am I going to let you see me cry.”
Abby laughed softly and stuck her head into the kitchen where her grandmother was puttering. “Grandma? We’re going to go pick up Becky. I thought they’d kept her overnight but apparently, they let her go, and she’s been sitting in her apartment all alone.”
Hazel turned and gave Abby almost the same exasperated look that Abby had given Gabe just moments before. “Really? That girl. Okay. Are you coming back right away?”
Abby was just about to say yes, but Gabe interrupted. “You know, ice cream might not be such a bad idea. We can go over to Butters after we grab Becky. It might serve to cheer her up, and we can grill her on everything that happened at the police station. Give her an opportunity to vent a little.”
Hazel nodded at the suggestion. “That sounds like a good idea. It’s almost 4 o’clock now, so by the time you get back, I’ll have dinner ready.” She tilted her head and looked pointedly at Gabe. “You are invited, Mister. I hope you like spaghetti and meatballs.”
“With garlic bread?” Gabe said with a hungry twinkle in his eye.
“Of course,” Hazel said. “I’m not a barbarian.” She looked over at Abby. “If you don’t mind, Abby, I might use some of that wine for cooking and a little happy hour for Mr. Wilberson and I out on the porch.”
“That’s more than fine, Grandmother. It might be silly if I try to drink the whole thing myself.”
Hazel nodded and shooed the two young people out the door with Cheerio yipping happily after them. Before they knew it, they were rumbling over the old bridge and back into town to get Abby’s friend.
Chapter 25
Becky sat glumly in the back seat and patted Cheerio while he put his head in her lap. Cheerio was good at sensing distress and just about the perfect salve to sooth such thoughts. Abby was buckled, but turned around so she could look at her friend. Becky had a bad case of depression, and it didn’t fit her very well.
“Becky, I know we just met, but I’ll tell you something right now. The best way to get me angry is not to let me help when you need it.” Abby said as she tried to take the bite out of her voice.
Her friend sighed and nodded. “Okay. I’m sorry, but I’m just not very good at asking for help. This whole thing with Craig, the bank, and just everything has thrown me for a loop.”
“I know. I think it would throw anyone for a loop but sitting in your apartment and stewing in your juices is not going to help.”
Becky just nodded again and continued to pet Cheerio who was more than happy to accept her attention. Cheerio had always been sensitive to others emotions. The happy dog just didn’t like when others weren’t happy, and Abby was grateful he was here now.
The big truck came to a stop, and Gabe announced their arrival. “Butters. Best tourist trap for miles around, and pretty good ice cream, too.”
Abby looked out the window and saw a very brightly painted building with huge windows and a sign that said Butter’s Ice Cream in bold letters. She had seen it in passing over the last few weeks but hadn’t gotten a good look at the place. Truth to tell, it looked like a truck transporting paint had exploded and covered the building in its death throes. She could see in the windows and saw that besides ice cream, there looked to be bins of candy and other treats on display. Despite being a small town, it also looked to be quite crowded which could be a good or bad sign depending on your mood.
However, she couldn’t argue with the small smile that crept over Becky’s lips as they got out of the truck and headed for the front door. “My treat, ladies,” Gabe said as he held the door open for them.
Abby was just about to argue, but Gabe shook his head and glanced surreptitiously over at Becky. The message was clear that arguing in front of Becky wasn’t a good idea. Abby stared at him for a moment but finally conceded. “Next time, I’m paying, okay?”
Gabe grinned and nodded as they stepped up to the counter and a short, stocky Latino man with graying hair smiled at them.
“Gabe!” the man said. “It’s been ages since you came in here. I thought you’d grown allergic to ice cream and candy!”
“No, not hardly,” Gabe responded as he laughed. “That’s why I don’t come in because I’m the opposite of allergic to it. Ben, you know Becky right?”
Ben smiled and bobbed his head to Becky. “I do! And how are you today Miss Northridge? I’m sorry to hear about your recent troubles. I hope they pass quickly. I sure do miss your Reuben sandwiches”
“Thank you, Mr. Martinez,” Becky responded sadly. “I hope they pass quickly, too.”
Gabe turned to Abby. “This is Abby Morgan. She’s new to the town, but her grandmother is Hazel over on the island. She’s staying over there now.”
“Oh, ho! Do you live over at the Morgan house? That is a pretty special place to live. You tell Hazel I’ll be happy to bring some ice cream for tea someday. That porch of hers is magic.”
Abby smiled and nodded. “I’ll tell her, Mr. Martinez. I completely agree with you. The porch is one of the most relaxing places I’ve ever been. It is beautiful.”
The older man smiled and put his hands on his hips. “Well, it’s wonderful to see you all, but I’m sure you didn’t come here just to talk.” He held his hands out toward the many brightly colored bins of ice cream. “What can I get you?”
They all ordered and retired to a small table at the back. Butters wasn’t very big, but a lot of the people seemed to like their ice cream to go, so there were plenty of places to sit. Becky and Abby had both gotten a cone with two scoops, but Gabe had splurged on an ice cream sundae with caramel and chocolate. He seemed to be enjoying it just as much as he’d said he would.
“I thought you were joking when you warned us about ice cream,” Abby said with a twinkle in her eye.
Gabe stopped with the spoon halfway to his mouth and quirked an eyebrow at her. “I’m sorry, but I did warn you. You’ve set me back six months, and I’ll have to work twice as hard to maintain my ranger’s physique.”
Becky perked up and seemed to rally a little at the joking. “Don’t you just sit up in that ranger station of yours drinking whiskey? That’s what everyone says happens.”
Gabe turned his eye to Becky and then closed them both. “I knew this was going to happen.”
“Knew what was going to happen?” Abby asked.
“Being ganged up on,” Gabe said before putting his spoon back in his sundae and looking forlornly out the window at the truck. “That’s okay, at least I’ve got Cheerio. He’ll back me up.”
The two women laughed. “He did back you up, didn’t he,” Abby said before turning to Becky. “Gabe took me up to where the mushroom buyers were, and we had a little issue.”
“Oh?” Becky responded with a note of worry in her voice. “It wasn’t anything like what happened when you went to that class, was it?”
“No. It wasn’t anything like that, but I did get to meet those two brothers that Samantha Greene hangs out with. Those two are a piece of work, aren’t they?”
“That’s putting it lightly,” Becky answered. “Buck is several years younger than I am so I never had to deal with him in school, but I heard plenty of stories. It’s a miracle he never ended up in Jail. He and his brother got into some trouble and left for Phoenix when he was twenty.”
“I wouldn’t worry too much about them,” Gabe offered as he dug back into his sundae. “They pretty much keep to their apartment out on the east side of town or wander around on the county back roads.” He paused and put his spoon down before turning back to Becky. “They showed up at Clapshaw and had some poisonous mushrooms mixed in with the good ones. The buyers weren’t happy, and you know how Buck acts when he’s challenged. One of the guys from Portland was just lucky I was up there.”
Becky shook her head an
d took another lick of her ice cream. “That sounds totally like him. You sure do know how to run into trouble up here, don’t you,” Becky said, staring at Abby for a moment. “Did you have this much trouble in Phoenix?”
“No, exactly the opposite. I was bored to tears,” Abby responded. “I’d be lucky to stub my toe once every six months. But this is real ice cream, isn’t it?”
Gabe and Becky nodded, and all three of them settled into a comfortable silence as they enjoyed their treat. It was good ice cream. Probably the best that Abby had ever had. There was no way this stuff was made in some huge factory.
The two women were just about to finish their cones though Gabe was still working on his sundae when they heard the front of the shop open, and a familiar voice floated over the heads of several people.
Mabel Clawson.
The one that most assuredly had told the police what Becky had said about wanting to poison Craig Malcolm. Abby looked over at Becky just in time to see her friend snarl and stand up, preparing to go over and confront the old woman.
Abby and Gabe reached over and grabbed Becky’s arms almost at the same time.
Chapter 26
The old woman came into Butters flanked by two middle-aged versions of herself. The frightening part was that one was a man and the other a woman, and Mabel’s features on each of them didn’t look out of place. The man was taller but seemed to shrink behind the old matriarch and who Abby assumed was his sister as they stepped up to the counter. Mr. Martinez was all smiles but had a small glint in his eye that told Abby he might not like them very much.
Abby couldn’t help but overhear them as they ordered, and she felt sorry for the kindly proprietor. Mabel and her two adult children seemed incapable of making a decision and asked to sample several different flavors on little wooden spoons before deciding on what they wanted to eat. When they had finally decided, each chose only a small, single scoop and seemed completely unaware that they’d backed up the line behind them.
Abby and Gabe kept their hands on Becky’s arms while she stared daggers at the new arrivals, but she didn’t say anything for which Abby was grateful. However, just as the Clawson’s were about to leave, Mabel let her eyes roam around the small store, and she spotted the three of them, stopping dead in her tracks.
Then she turned and made her way directly towards them.
“Well, if it isn’t Miss Northridge and Ranger Wilson,” the woman said in her matronly voice. “It’s good to see you out and about, Becky. Is everything clearing up with the police?”
Becky’s face turned red, and Abby decided to interrupt her before she blew up in the middle of the ice cream parlor. “It could be better. Becky was brought in last night for questioning because someone told the police she threatened to poison Craig with her omelets.” Abby quirked her eyebrow at the old woman’s surprised look. “You wouldn’t happen to know where they got that idea, do you.”
The old woman blinked and quirked her head like she was thinking. Either she was a fantastic liar, or there was something else going on. That question was answered when her daughter leaned forward and gave Mabel a hug from behind while looking challengingly at Becky. “You can’t blame her. The police were pushing her rather severely, and she only told the truth. If she remembered it correctly, anyway.”
Mabel seemed to deflate at the words and gave her daughter a terrified glance. “Did I say something? When did I say something?” She looked imploringly at Becky. “I don’t remember telling the police anything. You’ve got to believe me.”
As quickly as Becky’s face had flashed with anger it now turned into kind of a sick horror as she realized what the situation was with Mabel. There was no way she could remain angry at the old woman, especially if she couldn’t remember what she’d said. She reached up, touching Mabel lightly on the arm. “It’s...okay. I’m sorry, Mabel. I shouldn’t get mad at you for something I did say. That damned fool Craig always just made me so angry.”
“You and half the town,” said the man from behind Mabel. “That stinking bastard was going to cut down our park and our oak tree, for God’s sake! I don’t blame you one bit!”
“Rick, that’s why she’s in trouble right now with the law, because she said something right before the man died,” his sister said, trying to calm him down. “It’s why they’ve questioned half of our family too, because of what we’ve been saying for months.” She turned back to Becky. “It’s not just you they have been after. Don’t think like that.”
Becky took a big breath and blew it out before answering. “Thank you, Ruby. I just don’t have a big family like you do. Since my parents moved down to California, it’s just me up here.”
Abby patted Becky’s arm, trying to convey her concern and support. “Well, you have me now. Not that I’ve been doing much good, but I’m here. And Cheerio will always let you pet him.”
“Are you that Abby Morgan gal that everyone has been talking about?” Mabel suddenly broke in. “Have I met you already? I seem to remember your face, but I don’t know from where.”
Abby had met Mabel in Becky’s café, but Mabel had been so worked up she might not have noticed Abby even on a good day. Abby decided she wasn’t going to worry about it, so just smiled and nodded. “Actually, yes you have, and it was only in passing. I was at Becky’s café when you came in and tried to butter Craig’s toast with that knife, but we didn’t have a chance to talk.”
The woman wrinkled her face up in thought for a second before they widened and she nodded, smiling. “I do remember that. Hallelujah! You are right; I sure had him backed up into a corner. I think he about cried. I’m just glad he didn’t know I could barely hold onto that knife.”
“Oh, he was terrified of you,” Abby said. “It took him twenty minutes before he left the café and ran to his truck. I was not impressed.”
The old woman laughed and took a lick of her melting ice cream. “At least the whole park being cut down is off the table. Our oak tree is safe. That’s town history, and it’s more important than letting some rich man become richer. A lot of people have strong feelings about that oak tree.”
Ruby shushed her mother and leaned in close. “Hush now, mom. That is the kind of talk that got half of us investigated by the police.”
Mabel looked sadly at her daughter and sighed. “Yes, you’re right, but he was an evil man. I’m old enough to say that I’m glad he’s gone and damn the consequences, but I don’t want to get you in trouble.”
Ruby nodded to the three of them before turning her mother around and back towards the front door, with her brother not far behind. After they left Abby turned to her friends and raised an eyebrow. “What is with all of the names starting with R?”
Gabe let out a chuckle. “Well, Mabel was one of thirteen kids, and then she had about nine herself, not to mention what all her brothers and sisters had, so each of them decided to pick a letter to name their kids. Can you guess which one Mabel got?”
“I guess R?”
Gabe tapped the side of his nose and nodded. “Bingo! All of her kids have an R as the first letter of their names. It’s crazy, but most of their children decided to do the same thing. They are pretty tame with their names though. At least they don’t have names like moon rocket or something. We get plenty of that from Eugene.”
“Well, even if they are standard names, it’s still strange,” Abby said distantly as she watched the Clawson’s pull out of the parking lot. She still wondered if they had anything to do with it, but now wasn’t so sure it could be them. But who could it be?
“What do we do now?” Becky asked, seeming to be thinking along the same lines as Abby.
“Head back to Abby’s house for some dinner?” Gabe asked, still working on his sundae. “It's kind of backward to have dessert before dinner, but that’s the way today is, I suppose.”
“No, I mean about this whole mess,” Becky said, frustration clear in her voice. “I don’t see what we can do from here. Abby was shot, the police ar
e questioning me along with half the town, and I honestly don’t think there is anything more we can do that wouldn’t make things worse.”
“For the record, I think you’re right. I don’t believe there is anything more we can do or should do,” Gabe answered. Abby opened her mouth to say something, but Gabe shook his head and held his hand up. “Just hang on a minute and let me say my peace. You were shot by a gun that can kill a black bear. It was phenomenally lucky that bullet didn’t do anything more than just scratch your skin. There’s a small part of me that wishes it had done a little more because you’ve completely forgotten that it happened.”
“He’s right, Abby,” Becky said, a pleading note in her voice. “It’s terrifying to even think about it, and I keep pushing it out of my head because you’re acting like nothing happened. But every time I do think about it, it sends chills down my spine. Either it was an accident, or someone doesn’t want you looking into this and is willing to kill for it. I’m not comfortable with either of those options.”
Abby was quiet as she looked back and forth at her two friends and felt her heart swell. Here she was trying to protect Becky, but they were also trying to protect her. Abby became misty eyed for a moment as she thought about everything that had happened in the short time she’d been in town and felt determination grow within her. Someone had shot her, and she needed to take it far more seriously.
Her thoughts drifted back to that day in the woods, replaying the moment in her mind just as she’d heard the shot. She had bent over to pet Cheerio. Had she moved into the shot or out of it? She didn’t know. There was the off chance they were just trying to send a bullet near her to scare her, but could she take the chance?
Maybe it was time to let the police do their job after all. But Abby decided before she gave up, she wanted to think about it just one more time.
“Okay, you’re both right. Maybe it is time we give up. I mean, what do we know?” Abby asked and squared her shoulders as she began to count on her fingers. “One. Craig Malcolm was hated by everyone. Or almost everyone if you don’t count Frank and personally, I’m choosing not to count him because he’s a jerk. Two. I was shot at when I went to go find out more about mushrooms. Why me going up there would scare someone I don’t know, or how they even knew I was going up there. Three. Somehow he was poisoned by mushrooms, but I’m not even sure how they kill you. Was there time to have symptoms? Do they just make all your cells explode or something?”
Hot Tea and Cold Murder: A Red Pine Falls Cozy Mystery (Red Pine Falls Cozy Mysteries Book 1) Page 12