Thirty and a Half Excuses

by Denise Grover Swank

  “What’s bothering you?”

  I lifted an eyebrow. “How do you know something’s bothering me? Are you a mind reader?”

  “No, I can read your face. It’s my job to read people.”

  His words sent a shiver down my back. “Funny,” I said, “that’s what Jonah Pruitt said to me.”

  Mason stiffened. “When did you talk to Jonah Pruitt?’ His eyes widened with realization. “Oh. You’re working at his church.”

  I nodded.

  “Rose, I’m not sure it’s a good idea to do business with him.”

  Given Neely Kate’s news, I wasn’t so sure either. “What do you know about Jonah Pruitt that makes you concerned about me doing business with him?”

  “Rose, you know I can’t give you the details of an active investigation.”

  My mouth dropped. “So you’re investigating him too?”

  It was his turn to be surprised. “Too? Who else is investigating Jonah Pruitt?”

  I closed my eyes and shook my head. I wondered if I should tell him, but I was already in this deep. I might as well tell him what I knew. “The state police must be looking into him. Joe warned me to be careful, but he insinuated that I’d be okay as long as I got the money to cover my costs up front. When I asked for details, he gave me the same crappy answer you just did.”

  “I think Joe’s right, but I also don’t think you should spend much time alone with Jonah.” Mason stared at me for several seconds. “But there’s something else you’re not telling me. What did Neely Kate just call you about?”

  I twisted my hands around the steering wheel, avoiding his gaze. “I think Miss Dorothy added Jonah Pruitt to her will last week. Miss Mildred said she drove her to her attorney’s office to change the document.”

  “Holy shit.” He sat back in the truck seat, staring out the window.

  “That’s not all.”

  He sat up. “There’s more?”

  I turned to him. “She added him to the deed on her house. She filed a quit claim deed last week. That part’s been verified.”

  Mason shook his head. “From the way he’s been courting the elderly women in his town, I suspected he was up to something like that.” His eyes narrowed. “Why are you only telling me this now?”

  “I just found out. You heard me take the phone call.”

  “You know that’s not what I’m talking about. Why did you have Neely Kate check on it instead of telling me?”

  I expected to hear anger—Joe would have been angry—but there was no anger, just curiosity. “Did Detective Taylor find out anything about the shouting?”

  “He said he asked around when he questioned the neighbors about the attempted break-in, but no one heard anything.”

  “Hmm.”

  “Rose, I told you that I’m not putting a four-year-old boy on the stand.”

  “I don’t want that little boy on a witness stand either, but I don’t believe Miss Dorothy died of a heart attack. I think someone killed her. I think someone killed Miss Laura too.”

  Mason looked deep in thought for several seconds, and then pulled out his cell phone.

  “Who are you calling?”

  “I suspect you’re right. I’m going to arrange to have your neighbor’s body shipped to Little Rock for an autopsy.”

  “But the funeral is tomorrow.”

  Mason grimaced. “Not anymore.” Then he cursed under his breath. He called the coroner and the police department while still sitting in my truck. They talked about digging up Miss Laura’s body and doing an autopsy on her too, which inspired more cursing from Mason, but in the end they decided to wait on Miss Dorothy’s results first. In light of Miss Dorothy naming Jonah Pruitt as her beneficiary, Mason told them to investigate any connection Miss Laura might have had with the minister. When he hung up, he asked. “You’re planning on going to the church this afternoon, aren’t you?”

  “It’s the main reason I needed the truck right now.”

  He re-buckled his seat belt. “I’m coming with you.”

  “Mason, you and I both know that you going to the church is a bad idea. Besides, I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”

  “But if Jonah Pruitt murdered Dorothy Thorntonbury and Laura Whitfield, he’s a dangerous man.”

  “If Jonah murdered them, he did it to get their money.”

  “And I suspect Jonah thinks you have money.”

  “Oh.” I hadn’t considered that. Of course, I hadn’t suspected that half the town thought I had money either. Was that the reason for Jonah’s interest in me? “Maybe so, but I haven’t signed a quit claim deed or made him the benefactor of my will. Murdering me wouldn’t do him any good.”

  “Just be careful, Rose. And if you run into any sign of trouble, let me know. Call my cell phone number. You still have it, right?”

  “Of course I do.” How come I always found myself in the middle of these situations? “Thanks again for helping me buy the truck.”

  “You’re welcome. If you need help with anything else, don’t hesitate to ask.”

  “Thanks, Mason. I will.”

  Mason climbed out and I backed up and headed toward the nursery. When I pulled into the parking lot, Violet came outside and crossed her arms. “Well, you went ahead and did it.”

  “It’s great, isn’t it?”

  “You’re gonna run over something.”

  “I’m not gonna run over something. I’ve already got the hang of driving it.”

  An evil grin lit up her eyes. “Joe’s gonna have a fit.”

  Ice water chugged through my veins. I suspected she might be right about that one, but I wasn’t about to admit it to her. “Joe’s going to see how practical this is, and he’ll think I’m a savvy businesswoman.”

  Dread set me on edge. I hoped he saw it my way. Maybe I should have waited to buy the truck, but in my defense, it was a business decision and I had no idea when I’d talk to Joe next. Given the secrets he was keeping from me, we had far more bigger problems than me buying a new truck. Or letting Mason help me. That was the part that worried me the most, but there was no sense thinking about it now. I could stew over it while I tried to go to sleep tonight.

  After a bit of a struggle, I got the pots in the truck. Maybe I should have recruited Mason to help me load everything.

  “Be sure to pick up the kids,” Violet called out after me as I was about to leave.

  “I know, Vi,” I grumbled before pulling out of the lot. “I’d hate for you to miss your precious date.”

  On the way to the church, I picked up some lemonade from the Piggly Wiggly for the guys. I waved them over to some shade next to the parking lot when I parked and handed them the cups when they wandered over. Both men were sweaty, with dirt smeared on their legs, shorts, and faces. They drained their cups in less than a minute, and I poured them more, happy that I’d thought to buy a gallon.

  “Thank you,” David said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

  “You guys are making great progress.” I was shocked to see that the west side was almost done—and done well.

  “It’s a bit rougher on this side,” Bruce Wayne said after drinking a big gulp. “We’ve got the afternoon sun, so it’s hotter.”

  “But Reverend Jonah has been bringing us water all day,” David said, watching as a car pulled into the parking lot.

  “That’s mighty nice of him,” I mumbled, trying not to sound sarcastic. Good heavens, Rose. When did I become so cynical? I was so suspicious of Jonah Pruitt that I couldn’t take a kind gesture at face value. Besides, I didn’t have proof that Jonah was guilty of anything other than sporting a 1980s hair style.

  A woman got out of the car, and then helped an older woman out of the backseat. David took another big gulp of lemonade then lowered the cup. “Hey, ain’t that Christy Hansen?”

  Leaning forward, Bruce Wayne squinted. “Yep, I think it is.”

  While the name Christy Hansen didn’t sound familiar, something about the
woman looked familiar.

  “What’s she doin’ here?” David asked. “I thought she moved to Shreveport.”

  “Her aunt died.”

  My attention kicked into high gear. “Is her aunt Dorothy Thorntonbury?”

  “Yep.” Bruce Wayne mumbled, taking a drink.

  “How do you two know her?” She was old enough to be their mother.

  “She was our math teacher in middle school,” David said.

  “You don’t say.”

  “I saw her at the pool hall last night,” Bruce Wayne added. “She told me about her aunt.”

  I put my hand on my hip. “What were you doing at the pool hall?”

  Bruce Wayne’s eyes widened in confusion. “I was playing pool.”

  “You weren’t up to questionable activities?”

  He realized what I was asking and shook his head. “No, ma’am. I gave that stuff up for good. But I still like playin’ pool.”

  I wasn’t about to call Bruce Wayne a liar, especially since he’d done everything in his power to prove how hard he was trying. But if he really had given up drinking and smoking pot, I couldn’t help thinking that the pool hall wasn’t a good place for him to be hanging out.

  “Christy bought a round of drinks for everyone, saying she was about to be rolling in dough since her aunt had died.”

  A shard of guilt shot through my chest. Who was going to tell her that Dorothy had left the house to Jonah Pruitt? Maybe that was why she was here now. Could be she’d just found out.

  “How’d she afford that?” I asked. Her beat-up Ford Fiesta attested to her financial status. “She doesn’t have any money yet.”

  “Shoot, no.” David chuckled. “She was trying to place a bet with Skeeter, but he wouldn’t have any part of it. He said she didn’t have the cash to back it up.”

  “So what was she doing buying everyone drinks?”

  “That’s Christy Hansen. Spendin’ what she don’t have,” he said, amused.

  I cocked my head to the side. “How do you two know so much personal stuff about your middle-school math teacher?”

  “We didn’t find this out as her students,” David smirked. “We found out from partyin’ with ‘er.”

  My mouth gaped, unsure what to say. How far had she fallen? Mildred had called her a drug addict, and here she was trying to place bets with the local bookie.

  “I can’t believe Skeeter didn’t throw her out.” Bruce Wayne muttered shaking his head.

  I turned to him. “Why would he throw her out?”

  “When she left for Shreveport a couple of years ago, she owed Skeeter money. We all figured that’s why she left.”

  If Christy owed money to Skeeter Malcolm, there was only one reason I could think of as to why. Christy Hansen was a gambling fool. And gambling fools were always needing money.

  Chapter Twelve

  At the moment, my biggest puzzle was what Christy Hansen and someone I assumed was her mother were doing at the New Living Hope Revival Church.

  There was one thing I was certain of: Miss Dorothy hadn’t died of natural causes. Someone had killed her—and likely Miss Laura too—and I suspected that they’d done it for personal gain. The most likely suspect was Jonah Pruitt. After all, he’d inherited Miss Dorothy’s house and probably any money she had.

  But then again, maybe he hadn’t killed her. Christy was looking pretty suspicious too. She needed money, and she thought she was inheriting everything from her aunt. But was she capable of murder?

  And what about Thomas? It was common knowledge on our street that Thomas and Miss Dorothy hadn’t exactly gotten along. Up until about a half an hour ago, when Mason had ordered the autopsy, the police were still calling the elderly women’s deaths natural causes. Thomas had insinuated they were murdered. How could he have known that, and did it have anything to do with my vision?

  The guys helped cart the pots out of the truck and position them around the church entrance. Since I was wearing a dress, and I needed to pick up the kids from Violet’s in-laws, I couldn’t do much work. Instead, Bruce Wayne took me on a tour of the church grounds, showing me what they’d done, and what was still left to do. When we made our way to the front of the church, I saw an old black Trans Am pull into the church parking lot and park close to the entrance.

  I shaded my eyes to get a closer look. Sure enough, it was Thomas’s car. “What’s he doing here?” I mumbled under my breath.

  “Thomas?” Bruce Wayne asked.

  My mouth dropped open before I recovered. “You know him?”

  A sheepish look spread across Bruce Wayne’s face. “I’ve seen him around.”

  That could only mean one thing. They’d met under nefarious circumstances. I wasn’t all that shocked Thomas was involved in illegal activities.

  “But I wonder what he’s doing here. At church.”

  “He was here yesterday afternoon too. Reverend Jonah hired him to do odd jobs. He brought David and me some cold water.”

  “And what did you guys talk about?”

  Bruce Wayne stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Who said we talked?”

  “I’m no fool, Bruce Wayne Decker. If you knew him before and he brought you water, y’all had to make some kind of chit chat.”

  He pressed his lips together. Apparently, I wasn’t the only person to whom he felt loyalty.

  “Did he tell you how long he’s been working for Jonah Pruitt?”

  Looking at the side of the church, he shrugged. “A couple of months.”

  “It seems odd that a boy like Thomas would be working for a reverend.”

  He shrugged again. He knew something but wasn’t telling me. “Why do you wanna know?”

  “He lives on my street. Next door to the woman who was killed a couple of days ago.”

  His eyes flew open. “Someone was killed on your street?”

  “Yeah, Christy’s aunt.”

  He shook his head in confusion. “But she said her aunt died of a heart attack.”

  “That may be what the Henryetta police are sayin’, but Mason just ordered an autopsy. There won’t be a funeral tomorrow.”

  Bruce Wayne released a low whistle. “Christy won’t be too happy to hear that. She has big plans back in Shreveport.”

  I started walking toward the church entrance. “Nobody ever plans for a murder.”

  Unless they committed it.

  When I intercepted Thomas on the sidewalk outside the church, he looked up in surprise, then annoyance. “What are you doin’ here?” he asked.

  “I could ask the same thing about you.”

  A cocky grin spread across his face. “The way I see it, it ain’t any of your business.”

  “I know you’re mixed up in trouble.”

  The smile fell off his face.

  I had no idea what possessed me to say that. I suspected that Mason was right about not showing your hand, and if there was ever a time to keep what I knew to myself, it was now. But I couldn’t help thinking that Thomas had gotten himself involved in something out of his control. Maybe he needed help getting out of it. “If you tell me what you’re mixed up in, maybe I can help.”

  He snorted in disgust. “Ain’t you datin’ a state policeman? The one who busted Daniel Crocker? You know you pissed a lot of people off when you got involved with him and his business. There’s a lot of people who’d like to see you pay.”

  It was my turn to be shocked.

  “It looks to me like you’re the one in a heap of trouble,” he said.

  The doors to the church opened behind me. “What’s going on here, Thomas?” Jonah asked in a stern voice.

  “Nothin’, Reverend.” Thomas said, trying to show remorse and failing miserably. “Rose and I was just catchin’ up.”

  “You two know each other?”

  “We’re neighbors,” I said, swinging my gaze to Jonah. Christy and her mother stood behind him.

  “Well, it is a small world.” Jonah said, but his voice was strained. “Imagi
ne that.”

  “It gets even stranger when you take into account that Christy’s aunt lived next door to Thomas.”

  “You don’t say,” Jonah muttered, but he didn’t look all that surprised. “Thomas, I think Rhonda has some jobs lined up for you. Why don’t you run on inside?”

  “Sure thing, Reverend.” He walked toward the door, but when he was behind Jonah, he turned and held his hand up like a gun, aimed it at me, then lifted his finger like he’d fired. He gave me an evil smile before heading inside.

  What in tarnation was that all about? I’d never considered that Daniel Crocker’s henchmen might hold a grudge against me. I resisted a shudder. Daniel had been locked up months ago, so surely I would have been threatened by now if there was any true danger.

  Christy wrapped her arm around the reverend’s. “Jonah, thank you for being such a support in my time of need.” She glanced at her mother and added, “And, of course, for helping Momma too.”

  Jonah patted her hand. “Just doin’ my job to console my flock. But rest assured your aunt was a God-fearin’ woman. She’s with her maker right now, lookin’ down on us all.” I could swear his accent was thicker than usual.

  While Jonah walked Christy and her mother to her car, I watched to see if anything was amiss. The way Christy had hugged him told me she was still clueless about the ownership of Miss Dorothy’s house. But with all my gawking, I’d missed my opportunity to escape. Jonah spanned the short distance between us, stopping only a few feet in front of me with his wide television smile.

  I cleared my throat. “The guys are almost done. I think they might finish up tomorrow, in plenty of time for your revival on Monday.”

  “I hope you’ll consider coming.”

  “Uh… I’m pretty busy with the nursery and all. I’ll see if I can make it.” I’d just lied to a minister, which I was sure put me on the slippery slope to my own damnation. I decided to change the subject. “That’s just terrible what happened to Miss Dorothy.”

  Jonah pressed his lips together and shook his head. “All the more reason to make sure you’re right with your maker. When God calls you home, there’s no screening caller ID.”