A Fatal Slip

by Melissa Glazer

  “I don’t know what I meant,” he said between bites. The lemon meringue, though it still looked tasty, was dead to me at the moment. The image of Rose and Charlie intertwined was enough to put me off pie for life.

  Then I remembered Butch. “I’ll be right back. I have to make a phone call.” I gestured to his quickly diminishing section of pie. “You should at least have some milk with that so there’s some remote semblance to it being healthy.”

  “That’s a great idea, but not because of nutrition. This thing’s full of healthy eating. It’s chock full of apples, and everybody knows how good those are for you.”

  “Sure, without the processed sugar, bleached flour, and thousand and one preservatives.”

  Bill put a bite-sized portion on his fork and studied it for a second. “I don’t care what you say, it looks good to me.”

  He ate the bite with great gusto, then asked, “While you’re up, would you mind pouring me a glass of that milk you were pushing a few seconds ago?”

  “You’re hopeless, you know that, don’t you?” I got his milk, then took the phone and went into the living room. I had to look up Butch’s number in the address book I kept in my purse.

  He answered on the first ring. “It’s about time, Evans. What took you so long?”

  “It’s Emerson, actually,” I said. “Butch, this is Carolyn. Is this a bad time?”

  “No, it’s fine,” he said. “Maybe a busy signal will get the message across that I expect promptness. What can I do for you?”

  “It’s nothing that can’t wait,” I said, suddenly regretting the call.

  “I know better. I’m listening.”

  “There’s a bar on the outskirts of town called the Thirsty Swan. Do you know it?”

  “I’ve stopped in a time or two, but it’s not really my crowd. Why do you ask?” In the background, I heard someone say, “Evans is on the other line. He says it’s urgent.”

  “Tell him I’ll talk to him later,” Butch said, obviously trying to muffle the phone with his hand.

  “This can wait.”

  “So can he,” Butch said. “What about the Swan?”

  “I was wondering if you knew the bartender there.” After a moment of silence, Butch said, “He’s Cobb’s brother. I forgot all about him. Good work, Carolyn.”

  “Actually, it was Jenna’s notion.”

  “I keep telling her that she’s perfect for this kind of stuff, but she won’t listen to me,” Butch said, his admiration for the retired judge apparent in his tone of voice.

  “The problem is, I tried to talk to him about the situation with Charlie, and he brushed me off.” I brought Butch up-to-date on the clause in Jerry Cobb’s will, and before I could finish, he said, “I’ll go talk to him right now. Should I call you when I’m finished, or do you want to wait until tomorrow for an update?”

  “You don’t have to drop everything for me,” I said.

  “Honestly, it can wait.”

  “I need to get out of here for a while anyway,” Butch said. “I’ll touch base with you later.”

  He hung up before I could protest any further. I wondered who Evans was, and why it was so urgent he get in touch with Butch, but knowing my gruff friend, I’d probably never find out. That was what was wrong with life sometimes: the answers weren’t always provided to the questions that were posed.

  Chapter 8

  Bill was struggling to finish the last bite of his pie when I rejoined him, but at least most of his milk was gone.

  “You could just throw that last bit away,” I said.

  He looked at me as if I’d proposed he commit treason. “I was just relishing the last morsel,” he said, rather insincerely.

  “Go on then, be a mule.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He ate the last bite, then pushed his plate away.

  “You’re never going to get to sleep tonight on that full stomach,” I said.

  “I’ll suffer through it. You know what? It was worth every last swallow. If I should have trouble sleeping, I’ll just remember how good that pie was. Aren’t you going to have any?”

  The meringue did look good. “Maybe a sliver.” I cut a piece a tad bigger than a sliver but smaller than a slice. My husband sneered at it. “That’s not worth getting a plate dirty. Go on, Carolyn, have a real piece.”

  “Unlike some people, I can restrain myself.”

  “I don’t know why you bother,” he said as he got up.

  After he was gone, I ate the sliver on my plate, then replaced it with another one since I was still hungry and it was especially good. I was just about to start in on it, too, when Bill came back in. “The cable’s out again. I swear, every time the wind blows, we lose our signal.” He looked at my plate. “Do you mean to tell me you haven’t even started that yet? You’re hopeless, Carolyn.”

  I wasn’t about to admit that I was on my second piece, though my combined portions were nothing compared to his epic slice. “I’m not in any hurry.”

  “It’s going to go bad if you wait too long,” he said.

  I took a healthy bite, then asked, “There, are you satisfied?”

  “Not really,” he replied. “I’m going to go read.”

  “I’ll join you as soon as I finish this,” I said.

  “I won’t hold my breath. Who knows how long that will be.”

  I finished my pie, rinsed both our plates and Bill’s empty glass, then retrieved the latest book I was reading. I was just getting into it when the phone rang.

  Grabbing it before Bill could, I said, “Hello.”

  “Carolyn, it’s Butch. I’m afraid there’s a problem.”

  “Did something happen at the bar?” I could just see Butch in police custody for having questioned Rick Cobb a little too enthusiastically.

  “No. He took off this evening. According to the backup bartender, something spooked him.”

  “What could have made him just run away like that?” Butch started chuckling, and I asked, “What’s so funny?”

  “You don’t get it, do you? He was probably running because of you.”

  “What? You can’t be serious. I don’t think I even managed to get through to him, let alone frighten him.”

  “I’m sure it wasn’t your demeanor that drove him off. I’m guessing it was the questions you were asking. Don’t worry, I’ll track him down, but it’s going to take a little longer than I thought.”

  “Don’t go to too much trouble on my account,” I said.

  “I won’t drop everything—I can’t—but I’m not going to let it go, either. I’ll ask around, have a few people I know keep an eye out for him.”

  “Will that do any good?” The United States was a big place, and while I knew Butch’s contacts spread throughout the country, I doubted they’d be able to track Cobb simply by keeping an eye out.

  “You’d be surprised. Guys like Cobb run to a pattern. I’ve got a pretty good idea where he’d hole up.”

  “Thanks, Butch.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. I haven’t done anything.” He was gone before I could protest. Though I wasn’t thrilled with Butch’s past, or perhaps even his present, he was an invaluable resource to consult when I ran into difficulties on the grayer side of the law. If anyone could find the wayward bartender, it was Butch Hardcastle. In the meantime, I needed to start digging into Rose’s life and see if the man she’d been dating was, as Rose had put it, really gone.

  The next morning, I was at In the Grounds half an hour before I was due to meet Hannah. I wanted a word with Nate Walker, and I hoped I could handle it without accusing him of murder. Sandy’s timeline connection between Winnie’s death and Charlie’s DUI arrest could be coincidence, and if it was, I didn’t want to be the one to draw it to Nate’s attention.

  Nate was there, for a nice change of pace. He even looked pleased to see me at In the Grounds.

  “Morning, Carolyn. You’re in early today. What can I get you?”

  “How abo
ut five minutes of conversation?”

  He looked around the coffee shop. I was glad there weren’t that many people there. “I guess so. What’s it about?”

  “Your wife.”

  The blood seemed to drain out of his face. “I don’t want to talk about Winnie.”

  “We’re friends, Nate. If you answer my questions, I won’t have to tell the sheriff what I found out.”

  For just a second, he looked like he wanted to kill me. Had I pushed him too far? I knew Winnie was the one subject Nate was most sensitive about, but I had to know if he’d made the same connection with Charlie’s DUI arrest that Sandy had.

  “Come on,” he said gruffly. I followed him through the kitchen and toward the back door.

  “Nate, where are you going? Nobody’s working the counter,” a young woman with flowing brown hair said.

  “You take it. I won’t be long.”

  She looked flustered. “I just started. I don’t even know how to work the cash register yet. You were supposed to show me this morning, remember?”

  “Ashley, I don’t have time right now. You’ll be fine.”

  The poor girl looked as though she wanted to cry, but Nate just blew past her. He pointed to the table in back of the restaurant and said, “Sit.”

  I did as he asked, commanded, really, and realized I’d have to watch my step. Nate seemed to be one nudge from going over the edge, and I didn’t know how to keep from supplying that last shove. The outside air was chilly, but it was the frost in Nate’s manner more than the temperature that made me wrap my coat closer around my body.

  “I’ll make this as simple and painless as I can,” I said. “Did you know that Charlie Cobb had a DUI on his record?”

  “He came in here to sober up after a few of his drinking binges a long time ago, so it doesn’t surprise me. Why should I care?”

  I took a deep breath, then said, “His arrest was less than a month after Winnie died. Don’t tell me you never linked the two events together.”

  He was crying, but the funny thing about it was, it didn’t stop him from carrying on our conversation. It was almost as if the tears had become a steady, reliable thing for him. “No, I never made that connection, but then I was in no condition to notice much of anything after Winnie died.”

  “I’m sorry this is so painful for you.”

  “Then why bring it up? What good can come of it now? They’re both dead, and nothing I can do will bring Winnie back.”

  I couldn’t believe his reaction. “Still, don’t you want to know what really happened to her?”

  He stood and grabbed the table in front of me with both hands. The fire in his eyes made me pull away from him. “I’ve been living my entire life in the past since I lost my wife. It has to stop. There has to be peace somewhere, or I’m lost.”

  He turned his back on me and walked to his car.

  Like an idiot, I followed him. “Nate, you can’t run away from this.”

  “Watch me,” he said as he got in and drove off.

  The back door opened, and Ashley, the young woman Nate had promised to train, came out. “Was that a car? Where did Nate go?”

  “I have no idea,” I answered honestly.

  “If he doesn’t care about the shop, then I don’t, either. I quit.”

  “That’s certainly the dramatic way to handle it, but wouldn’t it be better if you went back inside and at least tried?”

  “I do need the money,” she said, “but I’m not sure I need it this badly.”

  “Nate’s a good guy,” I said, despite the way he’d reacted to my statement. “Give him a chance. Do the best you can.”

  “I guess I should,” she said. “Are you coming back in?”

  “Not just yet.”

  I walked around to the front of the coffee shop and decided to wait for Hannah outside. Something kept swirling in my mind as I stood there in the cool morning air. Nate hadn’t looked all that surprised when I’d told him about Charlie’s arrest for drunk driving. Had he put it together himself earlier? More important, had he extracted his own brand of justice and drowned Charlie Cobb in a bucket of clay slip in back of my shop? If anyone had asked me a month before whether Nate was capable of murder, I would have laughed in their faces. Now, I wasn’t sure what I thought.

  Someone tapped me on the shoulder, and I looked up to find Hannah standing there. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. Were you lost in thoughts of an endless summer?”

  “I wish it were something that easy,” I said.

  “Let’s go in and get some coffee, and you can tell me all about it. I’m dying for a cup.”

  I thought about steering her somewhere else. The last thing I wanted was to run into Nate again, but judging from the way he’d driven away, I doubted he’d be back anytime soon.

  Ashley was at the register when we walked in. “I’m proud of you,” I said as she offered to take our orders.

  “It’s not as bad as I thought it would be,” she said. “Kevin gave me a rundown on how to work the register.”

  I looked at one of the workers in back, a tall, lanky young man with a mop of black hair who was obviously smitten with young Ashley. “Why isn’t he running the register himself ?”

  “Because he’s the only one here who knows how to make all of the different drinks. Don’t worry, I can do it.”

  We ordered, and Ashley slowly entered our choices into her register. “That’ll be forty-five dollars and thirteen cents.”

  Hannah said, “Hang on a second. We don’t want to buy a round for the house.”

  “Try again, Ashley,” I said softly.

  “Oh, dear, I did it again.” Without voiding the erroneous amount, she hit a button and the sale cycled through the system. She hit a few more register keys, then with a look of triumph on her face, she said, “Yeah, that was high before, wasn’t it? Is ninety-eight cents any better?”

  Hannah rolled her eyes and started to say something when I slipped four ones across the counter. “This is what we normally pay,” I said in a soft voice.

  “Thanks,” she said as she put the money in the till. After she told the young man what we wanted, Ashley smiled at me. “Like I said, I really think I’m getting the hang of this.”

  “You’re doing great,” I said.

  As Hannah and I moved down the line, she asked, “Do you know that girl?”

  “Actually, we just met,” I said. “Take it easy on her, it’s her first day.”

  “Then I question the wisdom of putting her on the register, don’t you?” At least Hannah kept her voice low enough so that Ashley couldn’t hear her.

  “It’s a long story. Why don’t you go sit down and I’ll bring our coffees when they’re ready.”

  Kevin brought me our order a minute later, and I said, “You’d better keep an eye on her.”

  “I am,” he said with a grin.

  “I don’t mean her figure. I’m talking about her math skills. Maybe you should take over the register, too, at least until she gets the basics down.”

  “Maybe you’re right,” he said. “I just don’t want to hurt her feelings.”

  “I may be wrong, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

  I walked over to the table where Hannah sat, and slid her coffee over to her. “There, that wasn’t bad, was it?”

  “I’m just wondering what kind of brew we’re getting, if that register experience is any indication.”

  “It should be fine,” I said, and meant it, too, as long as Ashley hadn’t made the coffee. Balancing the report at the end of her shift was going to be a nightmare, but it wasn’t going to be mine. Nate deserved it, after taking off the way he had.

  Hannah took a sip, then smiled. “You’re right. This is wonderful. So tell me, Carolyn, how do you happen to know that unfortunate girl behind the counter? Don’t tell me she’s a potter.”

  “I told you, I never laid eyes on her until today,” I said.

  “My, you make friends fast.
”

  “I was in here before you came,” I admitted.

  “Couldn’t wait to get that first jolt of caffeine? I have days like that myself.”

  I looked around the room, but nobody was paying particular attention to us. “I didn’t come by for the coffee. I had to speak to Nate.”

  “Well, don’t leave me hanging in the air. What did you talk to him about? It must have been serious, if that look on your face is any indication.”

  “I told him Charlie Cobb may have been the one who killed his wife,” I said softly.

  Hannah nearly choked on her coffee. “You what? Carolyn, please tell me you’re kidding.”

  “I’m not. Sandy did some digging and came up with a DUI arrest for Charlie about the time Winnie was killed. They never found the driver of that hit-and-run, did they? Think about it. Maple Ridge isn’t all that big, and you know how I feel about coincidences.”

  “They happen in real life, and you know it. How did he react? Why am I even asking? He must have went ballistic when you told him.”

  “That’s the funny thing. I got the feeling he already knew.”

  Hannah took that in, then said, “So, you think he killed Charlie in a fit of rage and revenge, is that it? Can you honestly see Nate killing him in cold blood like that?”

  I took a sip of my coffee. “If you’d asked me that earlier, I wouldn’t have believed it, but you didn’t see his face when I told him. I was worried about my own safety for a minute there.”

  “What do you do now?”

  “I guess I need to talk to the sheriff,” I said. “Whether he likes it or not, he needs to hear about the possible connection between the two men.”

  “All you have is a veiled reference to the past. It’s not much to accuse a man of murder with, is it?”

  I finished off my coffee. “Do you think I should keep digging into this before I talk to Hodges?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. We’re a little out of my realm of expertise.” Hannah paused a second, then added, “Yours, too.”