by Lois Lavrisa
“I’ve never been in jail before. I wonder what it’s like.” Annie Mae held her purse over her head as we both dashed to my SUV. “Although I did play Roxie in Chicago.”
“Somehow I think real jail is different from that.” I fobbed my doors open and got in.
“He wouldn’t call the police.” Annie Mae plopped into her seat.
“I wouldn’t put it past him.” I turned the key. “He’s still a murder suspect, which means he could do worse to us.”
“Like what?”
“Kill us.”
Chapter 14
“We need to go visit Susie. I hope she’s still at work. I think the Red and White is open from nine in the morning until nine in the evening. But I have no idea how long she works.” I pulled away from the curb.
“One way to find out.” Annie Mae scrolled through her phone. “I’m calling the store.”
Annie Mae held the phone to the side of her head. “I got some bad peaches, rotted with worms. I need to speak to your manager, Susie.… No. No. Don’t get her. I’ll just stop in later. How late will she be there?… Uh-huh.…” Annie Mae held five fingers up. “Great. Thank you. Bye.”
Annie Mae turned to me. “We have a half hour to get there.”
“We’re only a few minutes away.”
“Now let me look up some questioning techniques.” Annie Mae tapped her iPhone.
“I’m sorry I got you into all of this.”
“You don’t have to apologize. This is the most excitement I’ve had since the last time Ernie and I were amorous. The week before his heart attack.” Annie Mae looked at her phone. “He was quite the skilled lover.”
“Too much information.” I smiled.
“I do miss him.” Annie Mae looked up. “If it weren’t for the Chubby Chicks, I’d be so lonely. Don’t ever tell José that.”
Keeping my left hand on the steering wheel, I reached over with my right hand and held hers.
Annie Mae’s eyes watered up. “I’m so glad I have you as a friend.”
“Me too.”
Five minutes later, I pulled into the lot for the Red and White grocery store and parked alongside a red VW Beetle.
“I have to get myself together before we go in.” Annie Mae grabbed a tissue and dabbed her eyes.
“Take your time.” I shut off the engine.
Annie Mae blew her nose into a tissue. “So I web searched ‘questions to ask a killer,’ and I only came up with killer interview questions. Neither of us needs a job, so that won’t work. But I remember seeing on a TV show that when the motive is found, it can lead to finding the killer.”
“A motive to kill Lucy?” My gut twisted. “I cannot think of one single reason. None.”
“Of course you can’t think of one, because you’re not a murderer.” Annie Mae stuck a finger on her forehead. “We need to get into the head of a killer. This will help us find him and prevent any more deaths.”
I wanted the person who had killed Lucy and my dad behind bars forever. Ever since I could remember, I’d had this intense drive to right wrongs. One of my grade school teachers had often told me that I had to understand life was not fair. But I couldn’t accept that. “So you’re saying to find the scum, we have to think like one.”
Annie Mae nodded. “Yes, now you’re on the right track.”
“Money usually is the root of crimes.” Although when my dad had died, nothing had been stolen.
Annie Mae rubbed her fingers together. “Money is a big reason.”
“Bert could’ve wanted the money from Lucy’s life insurance policy, assuming she had one. They were upper middle class. Bert did pretty well as an accountant, and Lucy had quite a client list as a designer, so I’m thinking they probably had a policy.”
“Or maybe he wanted the house to himself, so he could walk around in his underwear. Some men like doing that. My Ernie spent more time in his boxer shorts than real pants. I used to buy him all sorts of colorful patterns and prints just so that I’d have something nice to look at.”
I giggled. “Okay, we’ll add that to the mental list of motives.”
Annie Mae bounced in her seat. “Here’s another one. The mistress could’ve been jealous and wanted Lucy gone so that she could have Bert to herself. Although I can’t fathom why. Maybe that’s just me.”
I furrowed my eyebrows in thought. “Can you think of any more?”
“What about her neighbor? The fight about the tree.”
“You’re right.” I stopped in my tracks. “But why would she kill my dad, too?”
Annie Mae’s eyes went wide. Then she hung her head. “I’m so sorry. I forget we’re looking for his killer, not just Lucy’s.”
“Maybe it wasn’t the same person. Who could’ve had a motive to kill both Lucy and my dad? There’s nothing that connects them. Not Bert, not Susie, not the neighbor.”
“Now that you said that, you’re right. It doesn’t make sense that it’d be the same person after both of them. Sorry, babe.” Annie Mae put her hand on my shoulder. “What do you want to do?”
I twisted the ring on my thumb as I thought of my dad. This whole time, I had thought we were after his killer, too, and now I realized that Lucy’s could be a different person. “No matter how long I live, I won’t give up trying to find the person who took my dad’s life. But I think we should focus on Lucy’s case first. We’re getting close.”
“Did you just say ‘case’? That makes this sound so professional.” Annie Mae waved her hands. “Almost like we are legitimate detectives.”
The clock on my dashboard displayed 4:50. “We have ten minutes to get in there and talk to Susie before she leaves.”
“Since I didn’t find any useful things to ask a killer, we’re going to have to improvise,” Annie Mae said.
“That won’t be a problem. With four kids, my whole life is on the fly.”
The automatic doors whooshed open, and cool air greeted us as we entered the store. Loaves of bread in white paper bags sat on a table in front of the registers. A sign read, “Just baked.” Next to it was a table of peaches.
“It smells like a bakery in here. I’m getting hungry.” Annie Mae lifted a loaf of bread and stuck her nose next to it. “I have to get this.”
Cynthia stood behind the register, playing with her phone. She looked up at us. “Hi, again.”
“Hi, Cynthia,” I said.
“Just giving you a heads-up. The bread is good. But, like, I wouldn’t get the peaches if I were you. Someone just called and said they’ve got worms.”
“Oh, really?” Annie Mae strode past the registers while looking around.
Cynthia rang up a customer as Annie Mae and I wandered down an aisle.
“Do you see Susie?” I asked.
“Follow me.” Annie Mae walked down the cereal section as she pointed to the boxes on the shelf. “What ever happened to Quisp? I loved that cereal.”
“Gone in the 1970s with disco, pet rocks, and feathered hair.”
“Too bad.” Annie Mae rounded a corner, and I followed. “That was my favorite decade.”
We entered the dairy section in the back of the store.
Susie leaned against a glass freezer door, talking on a cell phone.
“There she is,” I whispered. “What are we going to say?”
“Not sure yet.”
“I don’t want to disturb her. She may be on an important call.”
Suzie let out a loud giggle as she talked into the phone.
“Something tells me it’s a personal call, not business.”
I paced back and forth. “Now, what?”
“Let me handle this.” Annie Mae grinned.
I raised an eyebrow. “What are you going to do?”
“Watch and learn.” Annie Mae walked in front of Susie, then collapsed to the floor. “OOOOOWWW.”
My heart practically jumped out of my chest. I immediately dropped down on my knees next to Annie Mae. “Are you hurt?”
She wi
nked at me. “Bait.”
Susie ran over to Annie Mae. “Ma’am, are you okay?”
“Oh, my ankle. I think I may’ve twisted it when I tripped.”
Susie’s face flushed as she knelt beside Annie Mae. Her breasts strained against the seams of her tight dress. “I’ll call an ambulance.”
“No. No.” Annie Mae slowly sat up. She held her ankle in one hand and rubbed it. “I’m sure that I can stand up just fine. It’s feeling better already.”
Susie’s eyes scanned the area. “What did you trip on?”
“A wet spot…no, maybe a bump, but it could’ve been…” Annie Mae stopped midsentence, obviously trying to drum up an answer.
“Did you get that filthy falling on my floor?” Susie narrowed her eyes. “Hey. Weren’t you two in here earlier? Yes. I remember you. You bought a plant, and…” She pointed at me. “You asked a lot of questions.”
“OOOOOOWWW.” Annie Mae gave me a sideways glance. “I may never walk again.”
“You just said you could stand up.” Susie stood and crossed her arms. “Is this a scam? Because we have video cameras all over, and our insurance adjuster will know if this is fraud.”
Annie Mae motioned for me to grab her arm. “Help me up.”
I pulled her until she was upright. She waved her hand. “Let me try to walk on my own.”
Annie Mae wobbled a little, dragging her left foot. “I can walk. It’s a miracle.”
Susie examined us with eyes slit. “You’re Lucy’s friends. Bert warned me about you two snooping around and bugging him.”
Annie Mae put her hand on my shoulder. “Bert who?”
“Ladies, I think you should leave.” Susie pointed to the entrance.
“I love your lipstick. What brand and color is it?” Annie Mae asked Susie as I held her arm and guided her down an aisle. She dragged her right leg.
“Wrong foot.” I whispered to Annie Mae.
Annie Mae began limping on her left foot.
Susie followed us. “That’s it. I’m calling the police.”
“No need,” Annie Mae called back to Susie. “I’m feeling great.”
Annie Mae looked at me. “Let’s scram.”
With that, we both jogged out the door.
“I forgot to get some bread. It smelled so good,” Annie Mae said as we climbed into the car.
We sat in the parking lot, both catching our breath.
“What now?” I asked.
“Hell if I know.” Annie Mae flipped down the passenger visor and opened the mirror. “This detective stuff is putting color in my cheeks.”
“You do have a healthy glow to your cheeks.”
“And I didn’t even put blush on today.”
Cynthia appeared and unlocked the door on the red VW Beetle next to Annie Mae’s door.
“I’ve got an idea. Roll down your window,” I told Annie Mae. “Excuse me, Cynthia. Do you remember me? Teddy and Timmy’s mom?”
A pop of gum, then a head turn toward us, and then a nod. “Yeah, right. You were, like, just in the store.”
“Yes, we were.” I smiled.
“You don’t happen to have a loaf of bread on you, do you?” Annie Mae asked Cynthia.
I nudged her in the side. “Don’t worry about that, Cynthia. I was just wondering if you could do me a favor. But it has to be our secret.” I put a finger to my lips.
“I can’t know, either?” Annie Mae’s voice rose.
“All of our secret,” I said.
“’Kay.” Cynthia leaned through the open passenger-side front window. Her straight blond hair fell into the car. She smelled minty. “It smells weird in your car, like a lit grill.”
“It’s our clothes, we were kind of at a bonfire a while ago,” I said.
“Cool. So, what do you need? I have, like, a half-hour break and need to grab some chow.”
“Sure, I’ll be quick.” Think. Think. “We’re getting a gift for your manager, Susie.”
“We are?” Annie Mae asked.
I winked at Annie Mae.
“A surprise gift. We want to buy her favorite lipstick, but we don’t know what color or brand it is.” I shrugged my shoulders while flitting my eyelids.
Annie Mae gaped at me with eyes wide as she sat in the passenger seat between Cynthia in the open window and me in the driver’s seat.
Cynthia snapped her fingers. “Yeah, if you, like, asked her, she’d get all suspicious.”
“Exactly.” I nodded.
“Wow. Like, that is a problem.” Cynthia narrowed her eyes.
“I know.” I turned my hands over and sighed.
“Bummer, right?” Annie Mae agreed. “What to do, what to do?”
“I have an idea. Do you want me to find out?” Cynthia asked.
“Sure. Only if you want to,” I said.
“Like, of course, I wouldn’t let her know what I’m, like, doing. You know, the surprise and all.” Cynthia pulled a phone out of her tattered black leather backpack. “Give me your number, and I’ll text you.”
I gave Cynthia my cell number.
Annie Mae looked at me and then at Cynthia. “Like, wow.”
Chapter 15
“How did you do that?” Annie Mae asked as I pulled out of the parking lot.
“Remember, I have two hot teenage boys, which means I have a lot of girls hanging around my house.”
Annie Mae smiled.
“Like wallpaper, I hang around. I listen and learn. Some teen girls love drama, like secrets. She seemed the type.”
“Bingo.”
“Once we know which lipstick Susie uses, we’ll get it matched with the sample on Lucy’s letter and my car.”
Turning on my directional, I merged into the right lane on Drayton. “We’re one step closer to an answer.”
“I pulled some tricks out of my sleeve, too. Did you like my acting?” Annie Mae pointed to her chest.
“Your fall?”
“In a method acting class, I learned how to do one without hurting myself.”
“The Oscar goes to Annie Mae.”
“I would’ve settled for a loaf of bread.”
“What next?” I turned a corner at the light.
“We’ve talked to Bert.” Annie Mae held a finger up. “Susie and Scarlett.” She raised two more fingers. “Who does that leave to investigate?” She held three fingers up.
“Ina, Lucy’s back-door neighbor.”
“Ah, yes, the tree person. And the threatening note.”
“Let’s hope she can give information that leads to the killer.”
“Or she could be the killer.”
“Let’s find out.”
I rang the doorbell. Annie Mae and I stood on the front porch of Ina Nesmith’s peach-colored, two-story stucco home, which backed up to Lucy’s house. There was a huge tree visible beyond the rooftop.
The door opened. A shriveled lady who looked a hundred years old answered the door. She wore a pink crocheted sweater over a blue cotton dress. A pair of glasses hung on a multicolored beaded chain. Her thin white hair was piled on top of her head in a tiny bun. A hearing aid was visible. “Yes?”
“We’re friends of Lucy, your back-door neighbor.” I pointed in the direction of her backyard.
“Lucy died. And she didn’t live here. You have the wrong house.” Ina shook her head. A bobby pin fell from her bun.
“We know that. We need to talk about the tree issue,” Annie Mae said.
“The what?” Ina said loudly.
“Tree issue.” I spoke clearly and slowly.
“You need a tissue?” Ina’s eyebrows creased as she pulled tissues from her sweater sleeve. She handed one to me and one to Annie Mae.
“No, thank you.” Looking at me, Annie Mae rolled her eyes. Then she turned back to Ina. “You wrote a note to Lucy about a problem with a tree.”
“Remember? Over the roots?”
“Rooster?” Ina leaned in. “I’m sorry, ladies, I have a difficult time hearing.” She pa
used. “Do you smell smoke or is only me?”
“It’s us.” Annie Mae straightened her shirt.
“Were you at camp?” Ina asked.
“I wish. I love s’mores,” Annie Mae said.
“Ina, that’s not important.” I had to think of a different strategy to get answers from her. I pulled out a piece of paper and wrote, “Tree problem with your neighbors, Bert and Lucy Valentine.” I handed it to Ina.
She slipped her eyeglasses on. She read the note and nodded. “Yes. We have a tree that borders both our properties. They claim it is more on their side, but I don’t think so. Anyway, they had a plumber who said the roots were breaking their pipes, and he needed to cut them. I told Bert and Lucy that I wouldn’t let them do it because my gardener said that it’ll kill the tree and make it fall over on my house. But their plumber went and did it anyway.”
“She’s right. I’ve heard that once the roots are damaged, it weakens the tree. It could cause it to die and then fall,” Annie Mae added.
Ina nodded. “It was trouble, that’s all I knew. They could not just go and do something that may affect me. It just wasn’t right. And I told them so.”
“Did you threaten them?” I asked, even though, looking at frail Ina, I found it hard to believe anyone would be afraid of her.
Ina leaned toward us, hand behind her left ear. “Say what?”
“Threaten,” Annie Mae spoke loudly and articulated every letter.
Ina adjusted her hearing aid. “Oh, that’s better now. Say what you said again.”
I repeated the question.
“Yes. I was going to call the zoning department on them. You know they used Hardie board on their house? That is not allowed in the historic district. They should’ve never gotten away with that.” Ina shook a bony finger in the air.
“So, you weren’t going to harm her?” Annie Mae asked Ina.
“Armor?” Ina’s face scrunched up.
“Harm her,” Annie Mae said.
“Say, what?”
“Never mind. Thank you for your time.” I began to walk away.
Ina called after us. “Oh, and I liked Lucy. I really did. She was a nice lady, but that snake of a husband used to have a lady friend over when she was not home. That is just not right. My hearing may be gone, but my eyesight is pretty good.”