by Mary Clay
"I wonder what he's up to?" Penny Sue stomped off after him. Willows was peering through an empty space to the other side and didn't see her coming. When Penny Sue put her hand on his shoulder, he jumped, bumping his head on the shelf. "Dr. Willows, what brings you here? Doing a little nosing around?"
"Uh, uh ..." he stammered, rubbing his ear. He stared at us with an embarrassed grin, obviously trying to come up with a plausible excuse. Apparently, nothing came to mind. He cleared his throat. "You've got me there. I confess that I was curious about Abby's death, so I swung by to see what was going on. Such a tragedy. She seemed in perfect health, yet to die so young. It's hard to believe. I heard there was another body, too."
"Yes," Penny Sue replied curtly, looking him in the eye.
Willows shoved the books back on the shelf. "You're Kevin's cousin, Penny Sue, right?"
She nodded.
"I was actually on my way to your place to see how Kevin's holding up. I stopped here on a whim. How is Kevin doing?"
"Very well, under the circumstances. My Aunt Alice, his mother, drove down last night."
"Kevin's mother." Willows fidgeted some more. "This probably isn't the best time for a visit. It was thoughtless of me not to call first." His eyes shifted from side to side like a caged animal. "I should go, I need to prepare for a class this afternoon. Nice seeing you." He inched away. "Give my best to Kevin. Tell him to call me anytime if he'd like to talk." Willows all but ran out of the library.
"What do you think he's up to?" Penny Sue asked.
"Maybe nothing. He could simply be curious, like he said." I took her arm. "Come on, we're late. We need to sign in."
"Just another minute." Penny Sue rounded the bookcase and hung over the crime tape. "Good morning," she called to the technician, whose nametag read Jane. "I'm Penny Sue Parker, one of the people who found Dr. Johnston's body."
Jane gave her a "so?" shrug.
"My cousin Kevin was Abby's former fiancé. They went to college together and she willed her books and research papers to him. What's going to happen to all of those books?"
The technician stood. "I don't know anything about the deceased's will. The books that belong to the library will eventually be reshelved. Anything else will be held until the investigation is complete. After that, they'll go to the next of kin."
"Some of Dr. Johnston's historical research is very valuable. Did you notice the man peeking at you through the bookcase? He's a historian who'd probably like to get his hands on her notes."
Jane waved at the stacks on each side. "Yeah, I saw him and a lot of other gawkers since I've worked the case. I think the entire St. Augustine Chamber of Commerce and Realtors Association were here yesterday. Don't worry, both crime scenes are secured at all times. I can't go to the bathroom until a deputy or another tech arrives. The big dogs in Deland want a thorough investigation. With two unexplained deaths, this is potentially a big liability lawsuit."
"Of course, I hadn't thought of that. Carry on." Penny Sue gave her a silly salute and left. Jane did an eye roll and went back to sorting the books.
I worked checkout, and Terry was kind enough to assign Penny Sue to the children's department so she wouldn't constantly be confronted with bad memories. That was good for Penny Sue and me. My workstation in checkout had a good view of most of the library, and I couldn't help but notice a lot of gawkers from the New Smyrna and St. Augustine debate crowds who came in during the day. To a person, they peeked through the shelves, just as Willows had done. The debate itself hit a sore spot with business interests in both cities. The fact that St. Augustine's First City advocate--Abby--was found dead seemed to fuel the flames of dissent, since there were many more officials from St. Augustine who showed up asking questions.
I felt like I'd been chewed up and spit out by the end of the day, what with my regular duties and answering questions about Abby's death. It seems most of the St. Auggie people knew I was connected to Kevin and Penny Sue, so many of the conversations were downright adversarial. A few times it felt like the old days when I was arguing with Zack. Needless to say, it took all the control I could muster not to smack a couple of them. Based on the accusations they made about Kevin, they deserved to be decked. I watched the clock, counting the seconds until five o'clock. At the moment Terry announced that the library was closing, I rushed to the back room, snagged our pocketbooks, and headed to the children's department. Penny Sue was already coming out with a dazed expression.
"Now I know why I never wanted children," Penny Sue said. "They're messy little things." Her silk shirt and slacks were covered in an unidentifiable substance.
"What happened?" I handed over her purse.
"It was finger paint day, and I worked with a couple of kids who couldn't keep their hands to themselves."
"I'm surprised that was a problem. You have plenty of experience fending off suitors with wandering hands."
"Yeah, but you can't belt a kid," Penny Sue groused as she opened her car door. "I did run into a guy from the debate, though. Remember the gray-haired man who came to the debate with Abby and Willows? The one who reeled in the loud-mouthed baldy. The tall, well dressed guy at the back of the room? I met him in the hall." She reached in her pocket. "He gave me his card. Peter O'Brien. He's Baldy's boss and president of a real estate firm. Nice guy. He was reading the flyer for Wii bowling posted on the bulletin board. Peter said he might come; he'd been thinking of buying a Wii game machine. He also apologized for his employee's behavior and said he hoped there were no hard feelings."
"Hmm. I wonder why he singled you out."
Penny Sue gunned the Mercedes' engine and took a right out of the parking lot. "Coincidence. He probably came down to snoop around about Abby's death, then noticed the bowling announcement." She grinned and wiggled her brows devilishly. "Or maybe he liked my looks. He wasn't wearing a wedding band."
My jaw sagged. Honestly, Penny Sue was the most man crazy woman I'd ever met. You'd think three husbands and divorces would be enough. But no, she thought almost every man she met was her soul mate. That's a lot of souls, she must have had a jillion past lives. "I thought you were waiting for Rich, your true soul mate." Rich was a man Penny Sue fell in love with and followed to Bike Week. It turned out he was working undercover for the Feds on a drug ring and got caught. The biker gang almost beat Rich to a pulp, so the authorities shuttled him into police protection. "Wasn't he supposed to be getting out of protection soon?"
"Something must have gone wrong. I haven't heard a word since that one phone call when he said he thought he'd be back soon because the bad guys were finally behind bars."
"No anonymous flowers for his little Honey Bunny?" I teased. Before, Rich stayed in touch with Penny Sue by having a fellow agent send roses to her. Honey Bunny was her nickname. Ruthie and I discovered it in a telephone message and kidded her about being a Looney Tunes character. She didn't think that was funny.
Penny Sue curled her lip at me. "No flowers. Of course, he may not know I'm down here. If he tried to find me in Georgia, he'd discover my house was on the market. I hope he doesn't think I've remarried or something."
"He's a smart, resourceful guy. I'm sure he'll check down here. One of the drug cases was probably postponed."
Penny Sue took a left from Route A1A onto our sand driveway that flanked a wooden beach walkway. "I hope you're right. Still, I'd have a drink with Peter to pass the time." Penny Sue parked beside Alice's Cadillac, just as Alice and Ruthie were getting out of it. "I wonder where they've been. I thought Alice was playing cards with Guthrie today."
"Ruthie could use a hand. We picked up Chinese," Alice shouted.
I caught sight of large boxes in the backseat. Geez, how much did they buy? I started to open the back door of the Caddy. "Not that--" Ruthie started, "--over here, I'm afraid I'll spill it." She was sitting on the edge of the seat holding a corrugated box filled with about a dozen food containers.
"Let me have it." I took the food and headed for the f
ront door that Penny Sue held open. "Smells good," I said over my shoulder, suddenly realizing that I was starving. "What did you buy?"
"Some of everything. Guthrie's coming to dinner." Alice followed me into the condo. "Kevin, I need some help out here," Alice hollered. He stepped from his room holding a book. "You need to bring in the boxes from my backseat."
"What is all of that stuff?" Penny Sue asked.
"We cleaned out Abby's timeshare. For a person who was in town for two weeks, Abby packed heavy or did a ton of shopping. Shorts, swimsuits, and sandals--she was clearly here to enjoy herself. She only brought three business dresses and suits, so work was low on her list of priorities. She must have done a fair amount of book shopping, too. We found a bunch of old history books in boxes with labels from the Muse and Family Book Shops in Deland.
"I guess the books belong to Kevin now. Take them to your room," Alice instructed as Kevin passed us, carrying two obviously heavy boxes. "No sense in shipping them to Myrna. There's enough of the other stuff."
"How's Abby's mother taking this?" I asked.
"All business. I think she's in shock and so busy with details it hasn't hit her yet."
Ruthie nodded. She'd recently been through the same ordeal when her father died in his sleep. Facing a huge shock that didn't register at first, Ruthie was so occupied with funeral arrangements and seeing to the needs of her father's long time valet, Mr. Wong, and the housekeeper, that she ran on automatic. Mr. Wong, as old as her father, was willed a sizeable sum to cover the costs of assisted living in a very upscale Atlanta facility. The housekeeper also received a sizeable inheritance, and she was given the use of one wing of the mansion for as long as she lived, since her close friends were neighboring housekeepers. Once all of that was taken care of, Ruthie closed up the rest of the house and came to stay with me.
When the reality of the situation finally hit her, it hit hard. Ruthie was massively depressed and only left the condo to visit Cassadaga, a nearby town of spiritual mediums, where she hoped to make contact with her father's spirit. I always drove, fearing she might receive a troubling message. The message services were fairly interesting, and I got some advice from a spirit I was sure was Grammy Martin, since most of the messages were in the form of Bible quotations. Grammy was a staunch Southern Baptist with a photographic memory who quoted the Bible for virtually every occasion.
Ruthie received a few cryptic messages that might have come from her father, but nothing definite or comforting. One of the mediums explained that it sometimes took time for the deceased to adjust to their new environment (I guess that's what many call Heaven and New Ager Ruthie called an Attractor Field), so it might be months before communication was established with her father. Months. I shuddered. I loved Ruthie, but she had begun to get me down, and I didn't totally believe all of that New Age stuff, except maybe the part about vibes being contagious. At one point, I felt so depressed I bought some of the American Indian sage and cedar to burn in the condo to clear the energy. That was a first for me. I generally avoided burning the stuff, since it smelled like marijuana and had gotten us in trouble on more than one occasion. Thankfully, I didn't have to resort to burning the smudge wand. With Kevin's arrival, Ruthie gradually emerged from her funk.
Kevin brushed past with another box of books, followed by Guthrie, who lugged two very large suitcases. "Man, where should these go?" Guthrie asked breathlessly.
Alice started to speak, but I interrupted. "In the utility room." With spirit messages, bad vibes, and Indian herbs fresh on my mind, I thought it best that Abby's stuff be stored as far away as possible. In fact, its mere presence might attract her spirit. I supposed it was a kindly spirit, since she'd willed her books to Kevin. Even so, given our track record, I didn't want to take chances. I called Ruthie and Penny Sue aside to express my concern.
"Good point," Ruthie said seriously. "It sure wouldn't hurt to sage the place."
"What about the books in Kevin's room?" Penny Sue asked.
"They're probably okay," Ruthie replied, "because Abby just bought them. They don't have her vibes yet. But she'd surely have an energy attachment to her clothes and other personal belongings."
"Leigh, do you still have that cedar and sage smudge stick?" Penny Sue asked.
"Yes, I picked up a new one in Cassadaga a few weeks ago. Should we do this in front of Aunt Alice?"
Penny Sue went wild-eyed. "No! She'd have a cow, and I doubt Kevin would be much better. How can we get rid of them?"
At that moment, Guthrie scooted by en route to the car for another load. I snagged his arm. "Guthrie, we need your help."
"Anything, Commander." He gave me an arm-across-chest salute.
Commander. I thought he'd finally dropped that foolishness. Guthrie thought I saved him from drowning during one of the hurricanes, so he'd pledged to be my slave forever. That was a jaw dropper! I didn't save his life. All I did was unzip his sleeping bag and pull him off of the air mattress that was floating around our flooded condo. "Let's drop the Commander thing," I winked, "you know, for Alice. Are all of Abby's suitcases in the utility room?"
"Yeah, that lady must have been a real clotheshorse. Her suitcases are huge and weigh a ton. I mean--"
"Guthrie, we need you to get rid of Alice and Kevin for a while so we can smudge Abby's stuff in the utility room. There may be bad vibes."
"Good thinking, considering she's dead and all. Yeah, there may be some really bad vibes on that stuff considering--"
"Can you think of an excuse to get them out of the house?" I whispered.
His face scrunched up with excruciating thought. "Well, I have some brownies cooling on my counter."
"Excellent. That's a terrific idea, but we'll need some time. Can you think of a reason to keep them away for a least a half hour?"
"Well, I have this really good bottle of scotch that Timothy gave me. Twenty-five years old. It was a going away--"
"Perfect!" I twirled Guthrie around and nudged him in Alice's direction. The old boy did a masterful, if garbled, job of convincing Alice and Kevin to come to his condo for the brownies. Both were bemused by his jabber but agreed to help him out.
"We'll be back in a flash," Guthrie said with a big wink as they trooped out, the screen door slamming behind them.
"Hurry," Penny Sue screeched to me. "Go get the smudge stick. We don't have much time and I don't want Alice telling Daddy about this."
I dashed next door for the smudge stick and a lighter. We assembled in the utility room, and Penny Sue stuffed a towel under the door to contain the fumes. I lit the wand. Just like old times, it smelled like marijuana. As Penny Sue and I fanned the smoke all over the luggage, Ruthie said a prayer and several incantations urging Abby to go to the Light and promising that her spirit would live forever. It didn't take long to fill the small enclosure with smoke, and Penny Sue started to cough.
"That's enough," Penny Sue wheezed. I drenched the wand with water from the utility sink. "We'd better get out of here fast or our clothes will reek." I hid the wet wand behind the laundry detergent as Penny Sue kicked the towel away. "Okay, we have to be fast." Penny Sue jerked the door open and we dashed out. We stood in the hall, sniffing. "Do you smell anything?"
Ruthie answered, "I do, but it may be our clothes."
"Turn on all of the exhaust fans and open the windows," Penny Sue commanded. We did as she instructed, not wishing to tangle with her School Marm persona. Meanwhile, she grabbed a can of air freshener from the bathroom and doused us all with it.
"That'll probably ruin your silk blouse," Ruthie said quietly.
Penny Sue raised her arms with a wild expression. "Who cares? The darn thing is already trashed by the finger paint."
A moment later, Alice trooped in, led by Guthrie who carried a pan of brownies. Kevin brought up the rear, cradling a full bottle of scotch. Guthrie shrugged as if to say, I did the best I could. Penny Sue backed to the kitchen counter and ditched the air freshener.
"Man, this l
ooks like a good batch. I wanted them to have a drink, but Alice thought it would be rude. I told her you wouldn't care, but she said the Chinese food was getting cold."
Alice marched down the hall, sniffing as she went. When she reached us, her eyes narrowed. "What's that smell?" she demanded.
"You're downwind from the brownies," Penny Sue ventured.
Alice rolled her eyes. "Give me a break! Do you think I was born yesterday? I was Director of the Sewer Department, and I could sniff marijuana out in the midst of all the shit. Got rid of us so you girls could take a little toke, eh?"
Penny Sue's hands flew up like cornered rustlers did in the old Westerns. "No, we were not smoking marijuana." Ruthie and I nodded.
Aunt Alice took a few deep breaths. "Don't try to shit a shitter, much less the Queen of Shit!"
Ruthie came to Penny Sue's aid. "Honestly, it's not marijuana." She studied her nails for a beat. "It was my idea, so don't blame Penny Sue. I was afraid that Abby's things might be contaminated ... that's the wrong word..." Ruthie stroked her forehead and gave me a pleading glance, "oh, crap, ... have bad vibes. So we used the old American Indian technique of burning sage and cedar to clear the energy."
Guthrie slid the brownies on the counter. "Alice, it's really a common thing. Like, people do it all the time. In the olden days people did it at all the pot parties--" Guthrie stopped, realizing what he'd said, "to ... clear ... the energy." He skulked to the great room without another word.
Kevin shifted nervously behind his mother, who was giving us a very stern look. A look that reminded me so much of Grammy Martin that I tensed, expecting an onslaught of Bible quotations. Lying never worked with Grammy, so it was best to come clean. "Alice, we're telling the truth. We only smudged Abby's suitcases." I strode past her to the utility room and swung the door wide. The cross flow from the open windows sucked the sage/cedar stench into the hall. Alice followed and watched skeptically as I reached behind the box of detergent and retrieved the wet smudge wand. "See, this is what you smell."