“If it’s about that stolen book, the detective will want to talk to you. But let’s get you fixed up first.”
Siren blaring, the sheriff hustled Piper to the emergency ward at the Groverly Hospital and stayed by her side until a technician arrived to clean up the cut.
“The recommendation is for you to stay here overnight,” the sheriff said. “I can notify Fred, or you can.”
“I will. And I need to call Aggie. Listen, you don’t have to stay.”
“I’ll contact her for you when I’m back in Nolan, okay?” He slipped out the door.
The emergency doctor came in and his examination found the cut to be superficial. The wound was treated and bandaged. “The sheriff told me about the attack. A person can go into shock after an assault like that. To be safe, I recommend you stay overnight, so we know there is no concussion or other injuries from your fall.”
When Piper was admitted, she asked to stay in the empty hospital bed next to her cousin, Lily McFae, and the nurse arranged it. Piper wondered if the hospital would keep the two of them safe from the intruder. She tried to call Fred at the garage, but the line was busy. When her meal was delivered, she picked at it and rearranged it, but did not eat.
Afterward, she tried to call Fred again, but the garage line was tied up. She didn’t feel up to explaining her situation with a phone message.
Aggie talked to the sheriff and joined him at Cut & Curl to sort out the mess from the break-in. After he collected evidence, she swept and cleaned until the place looked presentable.
Then, she drove to Groverly General to see Piper. During the trip, she noticed a tan car behind her pickup. When she drove faster, the vehicle hung in place. When she slowed down, so did her shadow. In the hospital lot, the same sedan parked a few rows over. Inside the lobby, the driver disappeared behind the potted plants.
“Bah, begone.” She snapped her newly limber fingers in his direction, but his back was turned.
She slipped into the dim hospital room and sat next to Piper’s bed. “I’m glad you could be near Lily after you were hurt. Can I turn up the lights to see you better?”
“She rests better in the dark.”
Aggie opened the blinds. “Just a little light on things. Does Freddie know you’re here or is this room a dim place to hide, if you want to cry?”
“I tried to phone him, but the call didn’t go through.”
“Except for the bandage and puffy eyes, you look fine. I straightened the shop, so your place is neat and tidy again. The cash register money is at the sheriff’s office. Sixty-eight dollars. Does that sound right?”
“Yes, about that. Oh, Aggie, you saw the shambles. That man cut my cheek because he wanted a book about cures. He thought I had it.”
“All this trouble about a book I might have bought from Used Stuff that I don’t have anymore. We’re caught in the clutches of a devil and we don’t know who he is.” She sat down next to the bed. “I didn’t tell you the detective came to the farm and asked about Boris Ratchov and Lily. He thought I got the book from one of them. I told him that I didn’t have it. That was an honest answer. Everything I said was truthful. Even about my garden.”
“The guy who cut my cheek was certain I knew where it was. I think he disguised his voice.”
When Piper looked up, the doctor she’d seen about the lump in her breast stood in the doorway. “Piper, I saw your name on admissions.” He held up a paper and glanced at Aggie. “I need a few minutes to go over this form with my patient.”
“That’s fine. I’m going to a grocery to buy us something safe to eat.” Aggie ambled out the door.
Piper looked at the paper with the word, “biopsy” on top.
“Will you sign this?” he said. “We didn’t hear from you and then, your name appeared on the patient list here. You’re about to be discharged because the cut on your cheek isn’t serious.”
“I couldn’t decide what to do.”
“Here’s the thing. You’re here now, and I can make the arrangements for the biopsy. I asked and they’ll squeeze you in. The procedure doesn’t take long.”
“I’m just not sure yet.”
“Well, think about it. Even small surgeries are up to the patient, but I strongly recommend you go ahead. I’ll leave the paperwork.”
As soon as he left, Piper threw off the covers and rushed over to Lily. She stayed, holding tight to her hand until the nurse came in.
“It’s time for Lily’s bath and she might prefer privacy.” The nurse pulled the separation curtain after Piper went back to her bed. “I’m glad she has a relative staying with her. I’m a strong believer in hand-holding.”
“I’m her only relative and best friend. We’re incredibly close.” Piper grabbed a notepad from her purse. “I love her tattoos.”
“It was an amazing thing to do after a total mastectomy, covering her chest with that beautiful artwork. Butterflies and birds. Flowers and greenery. So intricate. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“I know. I know.” Piper wrote down the descriptions. “Yeah, amazing. Her total mastectomy.”
“Of the two, it’s my favorite, although the one with the books on her shoulder is nice too. Green and red and yellow books, all in a row.”
“Yes, nice, very nice.” The words spun in Piper’s head as she wrote them down.
After the nurse left, Piper sat down by Lily’s bed and put her mouth near Lily’s ear. “You don’t know it, but you may have changed my life. You and your amazing chest.”
The patient waited, motionless.
“Because the reason I moved out of our bedroom was the secret I planned to tell at book club. About finding a lump in my breast. A while ago, the doctor told me I need a biopsy, and I’ve been afraid to do it.” Piper’s voice broke. “I’m afraid of what Freddie will think about my body, if I lose part of it. He always says I have the best figure in town. And on top of that, he wants to have a baby, and how could I do that if ….” Tears dampened the hand on the blanket that covered Lily’s chest. “But you’ve been through it. Lost both of them. If only I’d told you, or you’d told me.” Piper sighed. “I needed someone to understand. Now I know that you’ll be there for me. And I’ll get through this.”
Piper signed the authorization and rang for the nurse. “Soon as possible, I’d like to go ahead.”
When the nurse left, Piper went to Lily’s bed. “You helped me decide.” With two light taps, she patted Lily’s chest. “I’ll call Freddie, once I screw up my nerve. I promise.”
Lily’s head gave a most vague nod in her most vague world.
They remained together, letting the hospital move about its business.
A nurse poked her head into the room. “Piper, they’ll expect you upstairs for the procedure in an hour. Afterward, you’ll be released once your body signs are stable. Detective Jamison is waiting to see you. Do you want to talk to him? The doctor can put him off.”
“No, I’ll do it,” Piper said. “I need the distraction.”
“He’s down the hall.”
Piper grabbed a hospital robe and lightly kissed Lily’s forehead. “Soon as we can, Aggie and I will find that darn book.”
Lily felt the light pressure of lips on her brow. She worked hard to come back when the tears fell on her hand. The word “biopsy” shuddered against the poetry that sang inside her.
Or seen rich rubies blushing through,
A pure smooth pearl, and orient too?
So like to this, may all the rest,
In each neat niplet of her breast.
“Robert Herrick, seventeenth century,” slipped from Lily’s barely moving lips, but no one was around, except the machines. Once again, they blipped a little higher.
Piper managed a quivering smile as Hugh Jamison laid his ID on the desk and punched the cassette button to record her answers.
“As you know, I’m the detective investigating the theft of the Book of Cures from the Groverly Library. We met briefly during your
book club meeting. Do you feel up to a few questions?”
Piper nodded.
“The doctor said this conversation should be voluntary, so stop me if you wish and we can do it later. I’ll try not to tax you.”
She played with her chipped nails. “Go ahead. I have nothing to hide.”
“Do you know who the intruder was in your shop? Did he look familiar?”
“I have no idea who he was, but I suspect he was the man who robbed our house. The man we chased after, Aggie and Lily and me. I told the sheriff that he wore the same clothes and goggles. A baseball cap.”
“I have that report. Was anything taken from your shop?”
“I haven’t been back to check, but he jumbled everything up, broke bottles, spilled stuff. Aggie cleaned up the mess and the sheriff counted the money. The guy said he wanted a certain book.”
“Exactly what did he say about this book?”
“Something about wanting a book with a red cover from Used Stuff. A while back, I bought the whole lot, and Lily and I took them to the bookmobile. I told him that. We carried them in and sorted them. They were just old books.”
“Do you remember any red-covered book from Used Stuff?”
“No, I don’t think any were red.”
“Did you see Lily McFae with any book that color? In the bookmobile? Or at Aggie’s farm? Or anywhere else?”
“No, never.”
“Are you personally in possession of any book about cures? Or any very old book?”
“I have the journal of someone named Boswell with a gray cover. It’s from the bookmobile. You can see it later, if you want.”
“Do you know a man named Boris Ratchov?”
“He’s the owner of the Emporium, but he’s not a friend. I went to his store to buy some potpourri.”
“What do you know about Lily McFae?”
“She came to Nolan a while back to help us start a book club. You can check with the Groverly Main Library. When they fired her, she drove here to start a book club and stayed on.”
“Did she ever mention Minnesota Fiddler?”
“Minnesota who? No, I’ve heard of Minnesota Fats, but we never talked about him.”
He grimaced. “After your injury, you were assigned to her hospital room? Do you know anything about her accident?”
“She’s a friend, and I thought she’d appreciate having me there. I don’t know who attacked her.”
“Think carefully before you answer. Are there any signs that she’s out of her coma, just not ready to visit with the police?”
“Look, she just lays there. Not talking to anyone.” Piper took a few deep breaths. “I’ve tried to talk to her, but she doesn’t answer. Is that about it? I’m having a biopsy, you know.”
“That’s all for now, Mrs. Valerian. Good luck with that.”
She looked at the clock, then hurried off to find Aggie in the hospital lounge. “I only have a few minutes, but I want to tell you something. About Lily.” She produced her notes. “I know what her tattoos look like.”
Aggie bent over to see the words on the page. “How did you find out, Piper? Did you see them?”
“I was there for her bath and the nurse was talking behind the drape. About butterflies and flowers and birds totally covering the mastectomy scars on her chest.”
“And Lily never told us.”
Piper flipped the paper and pointed. “The problem might be the second tattoo on her shoulder. A red book drawn on her shoulder in a row of different colored books.”
Aggie put her hand to her mouth. “Oh dear, whatever does that mean?”
“We need to talk to her.”
Piper heard her name called over the system. “Listen, I’m due upstairs for my medical thing.”
“I’ll wait,” Aggie said.
Piper swallowed. “It shouldn’t take too long.”
From across the hall, Jamison watched the two suspects, Aggie and Piper. He couldn’t hear their soft voices, but he noted how intensely they examined Piper’s notebook. In spite of the fact that they gave off an impression of nice ladies, their brows, their expressions, their gestures signaled trouble, perhaps something illegal. He wanted to look at Piper’s notepad, but it would be secured by the hospital during her procedure, and he didn’t have the authority to see it without any real evidence. He found the police officer assigned to follow Aggie and signaled for him to resume the order when she left.
At the nurse’s station, he checked on Lily McFae’s progress.
“Sir, the patient remains in a coma, with slight signs of improvement.”
He laid a document on the counter. “This is the required paperwork for the police to get the blood type of Lily McFae.”
“I will need to get approval.” The nurse bustled away.
When he received her blood type, he nodded.
With the doctor’s permission, a few Nolan townspeople stopped by Groverly General Hospital to visit Lily. Three homemakers. A farmer. The coffee shop owner. Feed store clerk. Salesman. The sheriff. Word filtered through town that since Lily couldn’t hear, she wouldn’t repeat stories whispered in the dim confessional of Room 3. Visitors were free to tell their troubles in her ear. The nurse noted that Lily’s blood pressure stayed even and the doctor decided the visits could continue.
The detective heard from the sheriff’s office that Griffo’s vardo was now located at the Emporium. He was anxious to meet him: Aggie’s nephew, Boris’s employee, previous resident of Lily’s garage room, one-time seller of old books. He was one of the missing faces at the time the book disappeared.
Griffo stuck a finger in the back of the cage and gingerly felt the snake. The scales were dry and cool. As his performance drew closer, Griffo found he could no longer spit and his skin erupted with more bumps. The only part of his act that Griffo liked was whipping the black cape around.
CHAPTER 34
In her rearview mirror, Aggie watched the tan car behind her, following along the miles from the Groverly Hospital to Nolan to the Valerian house. She didn’t tell Piper. Why worry a friend with a bandage across her cheek?
After she dropped Piper at home, Aggie drove to the farm and pulled in the driveway. The car behind her picked up speed, then disappeared. Hurrying inside, she locked the doors. Her heart thumped as she sat by the window, waiting for an evil visitor. She only had a few old gypsy curses and the goats to protect her.
After an hour drifted by, she mixed up a small batch of lively potion, poured it in a teacup and crept into the garden to sit on the railroad tie under the plum tree.
She looked down at the earth now mixed with Camlo’s ashes. “Oh, dear heart, when I drink gypsy tea, I remember our days together and it eases the troubles that brew around me now.” She took a tiny sip, then poured the rest over the spot where she’d spread his remains. “May you be at peace.”
The liquid seeped into the ground, dampening the top roots of the plum tree.
Detective Jamison stopped at the vardo in the Emporium parking lot. He tapped on the door and listened, then called out, “This is an official visit. May I come in?” He poked his head in the door.
Griffo stood by the little stove burner in back. “If need be.”
“You are Griffo Verkie?” The detective stepped inside and presented his ID.
“That’s my name, yes.”
“Will you answer a few questions?”
Griffo nodded and sat on the hand-painted bench. “As if I had a choice.”
The detective sat down next to him. “Mr. Verkie, recently you had dealings with Boris Ratchov and purchased an item.”
“Yes, the sword, but it’s more like a rental.”
“I’m not referring to a sword.”
“You mean the herbs?”
“Not even close.”
“What then?”
“I refer to the stolen volume called the Book of Cures.”
“Man, you’re totally off base. I didn’t buy anything like that. Bought a few herbs in
his shop and lent him Aggie’s recipes. If that’s the book you mean, talk to her, not me. I did buy a book at Used Stuff.” He reached behind him. “About how to be charming. I’d like my 50¢ back.”
The detective took the book, rippled through the pages, then set it down. “Did Ratchov give you permission to park here?”
“He did.”
The detective leaned forward. “Where can I find him?”
“I don’t know. He comes and goes.”
“Do you know Llewellyn Blanding from Neubland Pharmaceuticals?”
“Doesn’t sound familiar.”
“Do you have anything in your possession to sell to Neubland?”
“You can see I have very few possessions.”
“But you have a record of arrests. Will you come with me for further questioning?”
“I’d rather not.”
“It won’t take long. I need a blood sample. Bloody fingerprints were found on the Emporium counter. I want to know if they’re yours or belong to a possible victim.”
Griffo chuckled. “Boris, Sax and I formed a knife throwing club. Sealed it in blood with fingerprints. There is no victim.”
“So you’ll give us a sample of your blood?”
“Tell you what, I’ll do it. I can spare a drop or two to prove I’m innocent of anything you care to invent.”
The detective led Griffo away. Under thorough questioning at the station, the gypsy offered no vital information about the book or any of the other suspects. After the technician poked Griffo with the needle and extracted rich, red fluid from his veins, the woozy gypsy fainted. When he recovered, he was released.
Jamison studied the first results of the blood samples taken from the Emporium counter. He had no blood type record for Boris Ratchov, Sax Morton, Aggie Verkie, Piper Valerian, or the Neubland salesman, but he now knew that Griffo Verkie matched one of the prints. And Lily McFae didn’t.
Piper knocked on the kitchen farm door and waited for Aggie to unlock it and let her in.
“Here I am, banged up and bandaged, but doing pretty well.”
The Erotica Book Club for Nice Ladies Page 28