by Mary Clay
"Yes, but her son might," Ruthie declared. "And what about that diet potion she supposedly has? Maybe it's not a homeopathic remedy like we thought."
"Well, I'm not sure she makes it herself," Penny Sue conceded. "I may have overstated things a tad on that point. I only know Susan has access to something." She turned to Ruthie. "Heck, it could be one of your flower remedies."
"How many times have you commented on how skinny all the women in the club are?" I asked.
Penny Sue scowled at me. "That doesn't mean anything. They all probably have personal trainers. And I think I'm going to get one, as soon as we clear up this mess with Kevin."
"Good Lord, Penny Sue. You have a whole basket of vitamins, and I haven't seen you take a single one," Ruthie said.
Penny Sue's bottom lip inched forward. "Well, I've been under stress, and my routine is completely off with Alice being here and all."
I put my hands in a T-formation to signal timeout. "We're getting off the subject. It seems to me that we need to follow this Duffy lead if we're going to clear Kevin and send Aunt Alice back to New Jersey. Are we in agreement on that?"
Penny Sue nodded vigorously. "Heavens yes, I'll do anything to send Alice packing."
"Okay, I think the three of us should follow up on the ten-thirty comment. If my suspicion is correct, someone will show up at the library tonight at ten-thirty. Maybe people meet in the parking lot to do drug deals."
"Yes, but how can we stake out the library without being detected?" Ruthie asked.
I grinned. "The fenced lunch enclosure on the side of the building. We'd get a good view of the parking lot by peering through the gaps between the slats, and we'd be hidden from everyone else. We'd park on a side street so no one would recognize our cars." I stared at Penny Sue. "We certainly can't take your new car."
"No way I'm leaving my new baby parked on a street," she agreed. "Ruthie's Jaguar would be a standout, too, and a lot of people know you drive a yellow Bug. We need something that fits in with the neighborhood."
At once our eyes met. "Guthrie," we said in unison.
Chapter 15
Carl pulled into the parking lot, and Guthrie appeared, as soon as we returned from our test drive in Penny Sue's new car. It was spiffy and made me long for the olden days of being married to a successful attorney and driving a BMW. But, my little Beetle would do. The car and my condo were paid for, and I still had some money left over from the divorce settlement. If I was frugal, or cheap, as Penny Sue put it, I could make it on my own. Having married right out of college, I went directly from my parents' care to my husband's, so this was a new experience for me. Since I was closing in on fifty, it was about time I learned to stand on my own two feet. Penny Sue was apparently getting the same lesson now, even though six million dollars isn't exactly poor!
Carl strode to Penny Sue's Jaguar and examined it appreciatively. "Hot car," he said to Penny Sue, as he passed a manila envelope and the laptop computer to me. "It fits you better than the Mercedes," he said. "Sportier." Penny Sue beamed.
Carl turned to me, "I got what you need from Lu Nee and printed it out. I made two copies so you can give one to the police. I also enclosed a disc of the entire recording, in case the still photos need to be authenticated. In the meantime, don't turn on Lu Nee 2. If there happened to be an alarm, it would record over these pictures. Keep Lu Nee off, at least until the authorities are satisfied. And that's Abby's laptop computer. The password is Kevin."
Ruthie's cheeks flamed.
"Carl," I started, hoping to divert attention from Ruthie's anger, "I can't tell you how much we appreciate this. May we pay you for your work?"
He grinned. "You can't afford me."
"I can," Ruthie said sternly. "You deserve to be compensated for your time."
Carl put his arm around Ruthie's shoulder. "Forget it, Mom. This was a no brainer for me. If you paid for my effort, it would be minimum wage. I wouldn't dream of taking a cent from you. Besides, I had fun the other night at the Medical Examiner's. It was a different kind of role playing. The gang and I are working on some new games now."
"You can't give up the Federation," Guthrie said, a hint of terror in his eyes. "Who'll save the universe?"
Carl smiled. Nice teeth. Why couldn't my Ann be attracted to him? So what if he liked to pretend he was a Star Trek Klingon? Everyone has a quirk or two. Carl was brilliant, handsome, a millionaire, kind to his mother and me. What more could a woman want? If Carl was planning to design other role playing games besides Star Trek, perhaps I should give the pairing another shot. I could have Ann down for Christmas or Spring Break. At least this time, she'd have already broken up with the old (my age!) State Department guy.
"Gotta run. Let me know if you need anything else. I'm happy to meet with the police to answer questions and explain my methodology."
"Thank you, Carl. Is your mother still in Boston with her sister?"
"Yes, my aunt isn't doing well. I'm not sure when Mom will get back."
"Give her our best, and let me know if there's anything we can do for her or you."
"I suspect doing for you will be more fun than your doing for me," Carl said with a grin. "You're always into something. You're magnets for trouble. But it's fun trouble, like a war game."
Magnets for trouble. I'd heard that description before. I was happy he thought it was fun. Carl was a great guy to have watching your back!
Guthrie gave Carl the arm-across-chest salute. "Live long and prosper."
Carl laughed as he slid into his SUV. "Guthrie, that's the Vulcan salutation."
"That's right, it is." As Carl backed out of the parking lot, Guthrie turned to Penny Sue's new car. "Wow, this is gnarly," Guthrie said. "I love the color. Have you taken it to the interstate and floored her yet?"
"Not yet," Penny Sue replied. "We have a lot planned for tonight, so we only took a short drive. The Jag does drive like a dream."
"The color's fabulous." That was all Guthrie seemed to notice.
"Claret, like the wine," Penny Sue replied. "By the way, how are you feeling today?"
Guthrie hung his head. "I wanted to talk to you about that. Alice and I killed my full bottle of twenty-five year old scotch. I think we got a little tipsy."
"Little?!" Ruthie replied. "I could hardly get you up the hill to your condo last night."
"Yeah, we were over-served. I want you to know, nothing would ever have happened between Alice and me. She was baiting me, and I couldn't back down."
Penny Sue patted his shoulder. "I can imagine. If you had a bad hangover, I think Alice paid twice the price, if it's any consolation. Do you know if Kevin's home yet?"
"He is. I was sitting on my balcony nursing my headache, when he pulled in with a slick looking Latino guy."
"That must be the Miami attorney," Ruthie said.
"Man, they arrived in a big limo. I didn't know New Smyrna Beach had limos."
"The lawyer supposedly flew in on his private plane to spring Kevin," Penny Sue said.
"It worked." Guthrie rubbed his temples, as if he were still feeling the aftereffects of his wild night. "I was going to go down there, but figured I should let Alice and Kevin have some time alone."
The expression on his face said he was really afraid Alice might have mentioned the strip poker, and Kevin would have decked him.
"Come in," I said. "Have a Coke. We have a favor to ask."
Since it was close to six o'clock, and Guthrie hadn't eaten, we passed out Cokes and ordered pizza. The mission we had in mind required unimpaired senses. While we waited for the delivery, Ruthie called next door and spoke to Kevin. After his days in jail, the one thing he wanted was solitude and a Philly cheese steak sandwich, which they'd ordered from Manny's. He said he was fine and apologized for not feeling sociable, but couldn't wait to eat and go to bed. His mother felt the same way. Ruthie guessed Alice didn't tell him why.
We outlined our plan to Guthrie while we ate. We figured his Lemon Aid VW bus would fit in w
ith the neighborhood around the library. It was up to him. He could lend us the bus if he felt too bad, or tag along.
"Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss this for the world. You guys really spice things up, and the caffeine in this Coke helps."
We piled into Guthrie's van at nine-thirty, figuring that would give us plenty of time to park and hide out in the fenced lunch enclosure before anyone arrived. A full moon and cloudless sky made flashlights unnecessary, yet Penny Sue insisted that we take them, anyway, in case we had to bash someone over the head. I hoped it didn't come to that, but didn't argue. We took our positions in the enclosure at about ten o'clock. Each of us picked a spot and peered through the plastic slats at the book drop and library parking lot. At about ten minutes after ten, a big Cadillac pulled into the book drop lane. An older woman got out of her car, carrying a book.
"That's the lady who spoke with Susan this morning," Penny Sue whispered.
The woman opened the book drop but seemed to have a hard time getting the book in the slot. In any event, she fumbled around for a few minutes before returning to her car and driving away.
"She must have bad eyes," Guthrie said.
"Or just be dumb. How hard can a book drop be to operate?" I asked.
"Well, this is the beach and things corrode in the salt air," Ruthie came to the older woman's defense.
I checked my Minnie Mouse watch in the moonlight. "Yes, but it's not ten-thirty."
"Maybe she dropped off the book and is on her way to meet Susan."
Guthrie shushed us. "Here comes someone else." A black Lexus pulled into the lane beside the drop. This time Susan Marzano slid out of the car, carrying two books. She opened the door to the drop and tried to stuff the two books in. They apparently wouldn't fit, so she inserted them one at a time, then got back in her car and drove off.
"That's strange," I said. "Both women happened to return books, and it's not ten-thirty yet."
"Maybe your watch is wrong," Guthrie said.
"She's right." Penny Sue turned the face of her Rolex so we could see the lighted dial. The time was ten twenty-five. "There's something screwy going on with that book drop. Guthrie, why don't you sneak over there and check it out?"
"No, no, no. Man, I don't do snakes."
"Neither of them had a snake. We saw them return books," Penny Sue said.
"Hey it's, like, your idea--you do it."
"Well, I will." Penny Sue started out the back of the enclosure.
"Wait," Ruthie hissed. "It's ten-thirty."
We all took our positions at the breaks in the fence slats. The parking lot was empty and there wasn't a person in sight. After several minutes, an old green Volvo blasted into the lot, taking the turn on two wheels, and screeched to a halt at the book drop. Two young men were in the car. One had shaggy, blond hair, the other a close-cropped haircut on top with a brown pigtail. The brown-haired one jumped out of the passenger side and put a book in the slot. He, too, fumbled with the drop door for a moment before they sped off.
"Alert," Guthrie muttered. "Check out the side street on the right. I think that's the old woman's Cadillac." We stared out the openings on the right. A few minutes passed before the Cadillac slowly made its way back to the book drop. The old lady got out and seemed to be searching the ground around her car for something. Hunched over, she made her way to the drop, opened it, peered in and felt around. One hand went in the pocket of her skirt as she returned to her car, still bent over as if searching for something she'd lost. Once in the car, she rummaged around her large purse and finally drove away.
Ruthie checked her watch. "Ten forty-five," she whispered. "What do you think we just witnessed?"
"That's a drug deal," Guthrie said with certainty. "We should sit tight for a few minutes, in case this place is under surveillance by narcs, then get the shit out of Dodge!"
"Drug deal?" Penny Sue asked incredulously. "That old lady must be in her sixties."
Guthrie stared at us in the moonlight. "Ladies, this is the beach. You'd be surprised at how many upstanding citizens never gave up their teenaged habits."
I cut my eyes at him. "Are you speaking from personal experience?"
"Not any more. Your charity race got the last of my stash, and I promised Timothy I'd give up grass for good. I've kept my vow. I just wish they'd figure out the space program and send him home from Houston." Guthrie shook his head as if shaking off a bad memory. "Okay, let's stoop like the old lady and hightail it to my bus." And we did.
Penny Sue's condo was dark when we got home. True to his word, Kevin and Alice had apparently eaten their sandwiches and gone to bed. "Want to come in for a nightcap?" I asked Guthrie. He took a pass, saying his system needed to clear out before he put his toe back in the grand ocean of scotch.
"It's not your toe that was the problem," Penny Sue said.
He flashed a weak grin. "Man, everything was involved, from my head to my toe. See, we'd polished off a bottle of wine before we ever got to the scotch."
Penny Sue cackled. "Understood."
"Thanks for helping us out," I called as he inched the Lemon Aid bus up the hill to his condo.
Like zombies from an old B-rated movie, we mindlessly migrated to our usual stools, everyone except Penny Sue. She mindlessly migrated to the refrigerator. "How about a little of that cheap Irish cream on the rocks?" Penny Sue asked. We nodded. It had been a hard day's night as the old Beatles song went. "I'm going to ABC Liquor tomorrow and buying real Baileys. While I'm there, I'll consult Jerry on good brands of Claret. I really should stock up on it, now that I have the Jag. While Ruthie talked to Kevin earlier, I snuck in a call to Daddy. The papers should arrive tomorrow, and Daddy thought I'd get a check next week. Whew! It will be such a relief to pay off my credit card bills and buy some new clothes."
"Don't forget the car," I said.
"That, too."
"Will you buy a new house in Georgia, or stay down here? Have you given it any thought?" Ruthie asked.
Penny Sue lined a basket with a paper napkin, dumped in some chips, and passed out the drinks. "Considering Ruthie's bookstore and Daddy's insistence that I get a job and stop acting like a spoiled kid, I'm planning to stay here. I think he'll let me live in his condo. After all, he plans to will it to me, anyway. If he'll allow it, I may do some renovations. I'd like a larger, updated bathroom."
Why didn't that surprise me? Her master suite was considerably larger than mine, but it still wasn't big enough. If she had her druthers, I'm sure she'd build a second story master suite the size of the condo. But that was strictly forbidden by the condo association covenants. The whole point of building one-story beachfront duplexes, two-story duplexes staggered behind them, with a single three-story unit at the back of the cluster was to give everyone an ocean view. So, no matter how much money she had, she'd never pull off a second story.
Ruthie turned to me suddenly. "Hey, did you look at the pictures Carl brought over? I was so concerned about Kevin, I completely forgot them."
"No, I was too busy trying to find some Aleve for Guthrie." I hopped down from my stool and snatched the manila envelope from the coffee table where I'd dropped it. The package was sealed with one of those butterfly clasps that I twisted open. Inside was a computer CD and a stack of eight by twelve-inch glossy prints. The moment I saw the picture on top, I ran to my utility room, checking to make sure Lu Nee 2 was turned off and unplugged. The first picture told me Lu Nee was exhibit one.
"What's up?" Penny Sue demanded.
"Take a look at this!" I put the first photo on the counter between Ruthie and Penny Sue.
Both of Penny Sue's hands went to her throat. "Lord, have mercy! The blond guy is Andy Marzano!"
"Yeah, and the other boy looks a lot like the pigtail guy we saw tonight."
"Oh, Lord, Lordy, Lord. I almost gave Susan Marzano $100,000, and her son's a thief and drug dealer! Daddy will die. My new leaf is getting off to a rocky start."
I put my hand on her shoulder. "Now,
calm down. You haven't invested anything yet, have you?" She shook her head. "So you haven't lost anything. How could you know? This is not your fault."
"What should we do?" Penny Sue asked.
The three of us sat at the counter, looking a lot like the see, hear, and speak no evil monkeys. I was rubbing my forehead, Penny Sue had her hands over her ears, and Ruthie was stroking her lips.
I found my voice first. "We should call Woody tomorrow and give him a set of the pictures. He'll tell us what to do."
Penny Sue glared at me like I'd lost my mind. "Woody? Are you crazy? He hates us."
"I don't think he really hates us--" Ruthie started.
"It doesn't matter," I interrupted. "It would be a big feather in his cap if he were responsible for solving the beach robberies."
Penny Sue sputtered her drink. "That's rich. Feather in his cap! Woody Woodhead, the Indian, whose mother thinks she's an Indian Princess."
"That's mean," Ruthie said. "His mother has dementia. You know that."
"I don't care, it's still rich. Woody is part American Indian." Penny Sue blew out a long breath. "But I think you're right, Leigh. Better to have Woody on our side than against us. Maybe this will help Kevin's situation. The sooner he's in the clear, the sooner Aunt Alice goes home."
"Right. I'll call in sick tomorrow, and we'll contact Woody first thing in the morning. I think we should also call Leonard and fill him in on the situation. Perhaps he can verify our suspicions about the book drop and drug deal. Guthrie said it was a drug deal, and I'm inclined to believe him, but another opinion couldn't hurt. Remember, Guthrie is the guy who played strip poker with Aunt Alice last night. His old habits may have scrambled a few neurons over the years."
"True," Ruthie said. "But there's no mistaking the fact that these guys, one of whom is Andy Marzano, broke into this condo." A terrified look crossed Ruthie's face, and she bolted to set my new alarm. "Heavens, until all of this is sorted out, we need to be extra careful." She drained her Irish cream. "You know, one thing I can't figure out is why a drug dealer, if that's what he is, would be interested in Abby's books. Do you think she hid drugs in her books or something?"