by Dale Mayer
“Yes, with her adoptive parents.” And then she shook her head. “Are you making something out of nothing again?”
Doreen slowly released her pent-up breath. “Who knows?” she said lightly. She logged off the computer, knowing it was already ten to nine. She picked up her stuff and her notepad and said, “Thanks for the information.”
The librarian stalked her all the way to the front door. It gave Doreen a bit of a creepy feeling. “Were you related to the families?” she asked lightly, as she turned to open the door.
The librarian shook her head. “But back then the town was much smaller, and everybody looked out for each other.”
“Right,” Doreen said. She deliberately didn’t say what was on her mind, which, considering the number of really old cold cases covering the last twenty or so years that she’d solved over the past many weeks, not a whole lot was supporting the librarian’s philosophy. Sounded much more like the town was all about themselves, not about helping each other. But, of course, there were always the outliers, and probably a much stronger core who did look after each other.
She gave the librarian a brief smile and said, “Good night.” She let the door fall closed behind her and heard the snick of the lock as the librarian secured the door for the night.
Back at her vehicle, Doreen hopped in, realizing she hadn’t picked up a library book. She wouldn’t have minded something new to read. But it wasn’t to be. She headed out of the parking lot. With that creepy feeling still with her, she turned toward the window while stopped at the intersection, and looked behind her.
The librarian remained at the door, staring at her.
Chapter 11
Friday Morning …
Friday morning dawned bright and clear.
Doreen loved mornings, at least normally. Still a little restless after an uneasy night following the librarian’s strange behavior, Doreen hopped up, got dressed in her gardening clothes, and went downstairs to get herself something to eat. It would have to be a sandwich because she really didn’t want eggs this morning. She ended up making toast with cheese and then more toast with peanut butter.
By the time the animals were fed, and she’d had her fill of coffee, she needed to head over to Mack’s mom’s place. With her gloves in one hand and a thermos of ice water in the other, she led her crew to Millicent’s garden. As she walked into the backyard, she saw Millicent sitting on the veranda. She waved. Doreen smiled and called out, “Good morning.”
“Good morning,” Millicent said. “Don’t you look all bright and chipper and ready to go to work.”
Doreen laughed. “We’ve done such a good job in here, it’s just basically maintaining our progress now.”
“Isn’t that the truth.” Millicent looked like she hadn’t had the best night.
As Doreen gathered the wheelbarrow and the compost bins, she asked the older lady, “Not a good night?”
Millicent gave her the briefest of smiles. “Memories,” she said. “Tough ones.”
Doreen’s face thinned. “I hear you there,” she said. “Definitely not the easiest things to deal with.”
“They get worse as you age,” Millicent said. She sat there while Doreen worked. It was all Doreen could do to hold back the questions, and then finally she wiped her brow and asked, “Do you know anything about Henrietta Hyacinth?”
“Oh, Hilly and Harlowe’s daughter, yes. That was pretty sad.”
“What was sad?” Doreen asked.
“They really couldn’t handle it. Their religion was something that didn’t allow them to have anything other than a perfectly normal child. And Henrietta was an absolute sweetheart, but obviously she wasn’t what they had expected.”
“What’s religion got to do with it?” Doreen asked.
“They felt God would give them perfect children,” Millicent said.
“Maybe God gave them what they needed,” Doreen said quietly. “Sounds like Henrietta was a dream child.”
“She was the bubbliest, happiest little girl you could ever meet,” Millicent said with a smile.
“Did you know the Hyacinth family well?”
“They had a little produce store around the corner here, so I used to go all the time.”
Doreen sat back on her haunches. “I didn’t know they ran their own business.”
“The Hyacinths did until they left. They tried to sell it but couldn’t,” she said, “so they just ended up closing it. I believe they moved to Penticton so as not to be so close.”
“Penticton? Doesn’t it follow downriver, south from Kelowna? I thought it was just about an hour’s drive from here?”
Millicent nodded.
“So the birth family remained easily within visiting distance. It’s not like they moved across the continent or to a new country. Being so close geographically, I would think they’d want to remain close to their daughter,” Doreen said, frowning.
“It was too much pain for them to handle. And I think guilt too. And then possibly remorse.”
“And those are all very heavy emotions,” Doreen said, as she attacked a set of weeds with particular vengeance.
“Exactly.”
“And Henrietta’s move to the Darbunkles?” Doreen asked. “How did that work?”
“The family opened their arms to her,” Millicent said. “I think Henrietta was doing very well there.”
“Hmmm, Nan thought something might have been off about the situation.”
“Not that I know of. I think everything was fine.”
“Until?”
Millicent just looked at her in surprise. “Well, until they moved to the East Coast, of course.”
Doreen nodded. “I understand she went missing one time, and the whole town turned out to look for her.”
“Yes, we did and it was great when we found her.”
“Interesting,” Doreen said. “I remember reading something about that.”
At that, Millicent laughed. “Oh my, you really do have the bug, don’t you?”
“Bug?”
“Curiosity.”
“I have to admit, yes,” Doreen said with a smile. Mugs barked several times and rolled over onto his back, as if they’d been talking too much, and he hadn’t had anywhere near enough attention. She sat her butt on the grass and gave him a moment of just belly scratches. Almost immediately Thaddeus walked over and head-butted her hand.
Millicent laughed. “They’re just like children, aren’t they?” she said in wonder.
“Yes,” Doreen said. “You give one too much attention, and the others all have to be given the same amount.” As soon as she could, she got back to work, and, before long, she was done with the weeding. It had only taken forty-five minutes. She grabbed the edger and trimmed up the grass alongside the concrete. It always gave a nice crisp look to the grassy edge.
“I do love it when you do that,” Millicent said with a happy sigh. “It all looks so beautiful.”
“In another couple weeks, we’ll have to come in and clip down some of these early bushes.”
“I like to leave them until at least the end of August,” Millicent said.
“Good enough,” Doreen said cheerfully. “Let’s go take a look at the front then.” With Millicent moving slowly at her side, they walked out to the front yard, and Goliath led the way this time. He seemed to like Millicent’s shrubbery as much as their own as he immediately went into the boxwoods to stalk something.
“Goliath,” she warned. “We don’t go after birds or anything else that’s alive.”
He just shot her an odd look from underneath the leaves, as if to say, Who, me?
She turned that glare on him. “Yes, you.”
“What about all those antiques, dear? Did you ever get them all sold?”
Doreen explained the little she knew, with Millicent nodding wisely. “I imagine it’ll be months and months yet.”
“I’m afraid it will be,” Doreen said, “but it is a fascinating thing to have an empty house.”
“Is it totally empty?”
“No, not really. I have two pot chairs in the living room, and I have an old bed I’ve got to get rid of, and I have a bed for myself. Or rather I have the mattresses but no frame.”
Millicent smiled. “You’ll have a lot of fun refurnishing.”
“Maybe,” Doreen said. “It hasn’t been an issue yet. Honestly, I’m outside so much of the time that it doesn’t seem to really matter where I sit in the house. When I’m inside, I’m usually at the kitchen table.”
“That’ll change as we get closer to winter,” Millicent said. “I spend a lot of time in front of my fireplace.”
“That sounds lovely,” Doreen said. “I don’t have one.” She’d love to have a gas one, but that would take more money than she had at the moment.
“It’ll all work out. I’m sure it’ll be great.”
“I’m not upset about it,” Doreen said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had an opportunity to do any decorating on my own. It will be fun.”
“Set yourself a budget,” Millicent said. “Break it down by rooms. Obviously, your living room and bedroom should have the higher part of the budget. Then, whatever it is you want to do, scrounge the second-hand stores. Take your time. Figure out exactly what you want, and don’t settle for anything less.”
Such vehemence was behind Millicent’s tone that Doreen looked at her. “Have you done that a lot?”
“Yes,” she said. “When my husband was alive, we had very different opinions on furniture, and what I wanted versus what he wanted were opposites. I always gave in. Since you don’t have anybody you have to give in to, I highly suggest you wait and get exactly what you want.”
“That’s very good advice,” Doreen said. “I don’t know how long it’ll take though, to get something I can afford, because money is tight.”
“But, once you get the antiques sold, you’ll be fine.”
“Quite true, but it still will be months down the road before I see any money from that.”
“Mack said something about a deck you wanted to build? And you wanted some cement blocks?” Millicent turned around and led the way to her shed. She opened it up, and Doreen cried out in delight.
“That’s exactly what I was looking for,” she said. “I was hoping to get enough blocks to build a real deck. I have just this little dinky strip that goes alongside my house.”
“No, you need to have a deck where you can actually sit,” Millicent said. “And Mack is really good at that stuff. I’m sure he won’t mind helping.”
“He’s offered, but I don’t want to take advantage.”
“Oh, my dear, take advantage. You should because it’s definitely in Mack’s nature to help, but he can’t help if he’s not aware of what’s needed.”
“There’s helping, and then there’s being taken advantage of,” Doreen argued.
Millicent laughed. “I bet he can’t wait to dive into a project like that.”
“Well, I hope so,” Doreen admitted. She looked around and then casually asked, “Do you know anything about the Kelowna Tool Repair shop?”
“Frank’s old place?” Millicent asked.
That was the thing about Kelowna—everybody knew everybody. “I found an ice pick at the mouth of the river and a couple little metal tags that look like they fit onto them.”
“Oh, yes, he did that for all the tools he made. He won an award for a set, something like two ice picks or an ice pick and a hatchet. It was just a local thing, but he was proud as punch.”
“That sounds interesting. I found just the two little tags but only one weapon … or one tool,” Doreen corrected.
“The other one will be around,” Millicent said. “They were always together.”
“But they’re tools,” Doreen said with a laugh. “You don’t always need to take both when you go somewhere.”
“I believe he ended up selling the award-winning pieces to Ed Burns.”
“Did Frank make the metal parts or just the wood?”
“I think he just made the handles,” Millicent said. “The metal parts were forged, but I don’t know if he had them specially made, or maybe he dabbled in it himself.” She gave a shrug. “Who’s to say with guys like that?”
“Guys like that?” Doreen pounced on the wording, but she didn’t want to let Millicent know she was investigating something.
“Just the kind of guys who, you know, thought a lot about what they did,” Millicent said.
“The tools must have been nice.”
“I did see the set he won the award for. It looked fine. I mean, I didn’t think anything was special about it.” Then she looked at Doreen and gave her a conspirator’s grin. “It’s not like I would be out ice fishing. Frank was a big fan of the sport, but, back then, the lake used to freeze over much more so than now.”
“That’s an interesting thing,” Doreen said. “I can’t imagine wanting to sit out in the cold to kill some poor fish who is just equally trying to survive in the cold.”
Millicent laughed. “I do like the way you look at life.”
Doreen smiled as the older lady chuckled. Doreen busily pulled weeds to make sure she gave value for the money she would get for these couple hours, but, at the same time, Millicent was a great source of information. “Interesting how the ice pick ended up at the mouth of the river.”
“I know a lot of guys used to go ice fishing, but they wouldn’t fish from the mouth of the river because that’s often where the ice is thinnest. Yet they used to camp along the sides and have barbecues and stuff like that.”
“Oh,” Doreen said. “I guess that makes sense.”
“Odd that you found it though,” Millicent said suddenly.
“Why is that?” Doreen said.
“Because of the cases you solve.”
“Surely it was just a coincidence.”
Millicent chuckled. “Mack doesn’t believe in coincidences,” she said. “He says there’s a reason specifically why something happens.”
“That’s possible, but I don’t know of any crime, so I don’t think it’s necessarily connected to an existing cold case.”
“Speaking of cold cases, what about that Penny? What’s happening to her?”
“I don’t know,” Doreen said. “Maybe you should ask Mack that.”
“He doesn’t like it when I get involved in his cases.”
Doreen laughed out loud. “Well, he really doesn’t like it when I get involved in his cases,” she said with a big grin.
“I think he’s actually tickled pink,” Millicent said. “He said you have a fresh way of looking at things. And look at how much good you’ve done each time.”
“I don’t know how much good it is,” Doreen said. “I have certainly shaken things up a little though.”
“And that’s good. Not everybody wants to be stuck in the mud.”
“No, but all these people involved in the murders and kidnappings, I’m pretty darn sure they would just as soon I disappeared.”
“The victims and their families are the ones who need you to keep doing this,” she said seriously, all the laughter falling away from her voice. “Some of these families have suffered a very long time. They certainly don’t need to be traumatized more, but, at the same time, by you solving these cases, they get a chance to find closure and hopefully to move on.”
“That’s how I was hoping people would look at it,” Doreen said. “I don’t want to be considered a nosy busybody for nothing.”
“You keep doing just what you’re doing,” Millicent said. “Honestly, you’re doing a public service. They should reward you.”
“I don’t know about that,” Doreen said. “Speaking of which, Mack said you’re okay if I take those cement blocks. Is that true?”
“Oh, my dear, I’d be glad to get rid of them. They’re in my way.”
“Perfect,” Doreen said, “and apparently Mack knows somebody else who has a bunch he wants to get rid of. I think we have enoug
h for the base of my new deck addition.”
“Keep asking around,” Millicent said as she turned slowly. “I’ll head in now, but you keep asking if people have any spare stuff. It’s the way we used to do things around here. If you didn’t need something, you handed it on to somebody who did.”
Doreen smiled, loving that thought, as she watched the older lady go into her house. Doreen was just about done here. She put away what she had pulled out, then whistled for her animals. “Come on, guys. Time to go home.”
Chapter 12
Friday Midmorning …
Once back home, Doreen’s mind rolled around with the new information she had gotten from Millicent. Just so much went on with these people. Why would everybody assume the Darbunkle parents had moved back east, and yet the brothers had filed a request that they be declared legally dead? Had that just been the story they told everybody at first to explain their parents’ absence? And then it was easy for them to say they passed on later—or went missing later? It would only make sense to somebody in a position to see the legal documents. And that then meant a journalist might have taken an interest in the matter. She hadn’t heard anything from Nan recently about Solomon. He was in hospice care. Had he passed away? She sent Nan a text, asking her about him.
Nan responded, Nope, still hanging on. And then a Why?
No reason, Doreen typed and put her phone down, hoping Nan would let it go. But, of course, Nan was almost as curious as Doreen was, and, when Nan got a hint of something, Nan wouldn’t let it go. Doreen was kind of surprised when Nan didn’t pressure her more on this topic.
Once inside, Doreen put on coffee and took a look in her fridge. “We’ll have to go shopping again,” she stated to anyone in the room who cared. Considering the animals all had lots of pet food, she doubted any of them did care.
Mugs, however, shoved his nose into the fridge. Doreen backed him up and said, “Nothing’s in there for you.”
He barked once, then wagged his tail.
She shook her head. “Seriously, nothing’s in here for you.” She tried to discourage him by shutting the door to the fridge. But Mugs let out a howl then.