by Eve Fisher
“About that man,” Kate continued.
“What man?”
“The man you wrote the checks to.”
“Oh, him.”
“Do you remember what he looked like?”
Ada thought for a minute. “Well, he looked a lot like my cousin Forrest. No, that’s the postman.”
“How about his name?” Kate asked.
“Oh, that. Now it’s funny you should ask, because I was reading something just this morning that reminded me...” Ada finished her second cookie and started rummaging around in the stack of papers on the table beside her. “But what was it? It wasn’t in the newspaper.”
Ada pulled out a magazine, and the whole pile tilted dramatically. Kate leaped up and caught the mass of papers just in time.
“Thank you, honey, but you didn’t need to,” Ada said, tugging away at something else.
Kate took the armload and looked around for somewhere to put it.
“That’s not it,” Ada muttered. “Where on earth...”
Beginning to think it was hopeless, Kate set the papers down on the floor.
Suddenly Ada said, “The Bible! That’s it. The reading this morning.” She reached for an old worn Bible that was tucked into the side of her chair and showed it to Kate, opening it at the bookmark. “See? Here. The Gospel According to Matthew.”
Matthew Lawson, Kate thought, her heart sinking. “His first name was Matthew?”
“Did I say that?” Ada asked, genuinely curious.
“No, but you did say Matthew.”
“Oh yes,” Ada said, cheerfully. Then she shook her head. “Or was it Matthews. Matthew or Matthews? Or John?”
“Mama!” Emma’s voice carried into the living room.
“I just can’t remember,” Ada said. “It’s gone.”
“I saw a car parked outside—” Emma stopped short in the doorway. “Why, Kate! I didn’t know it was yours.”
“Yes,” Kate said, standing up. “I brought your mother some homemade cookies.”
“They’re wonderful, Emma,” Ada said. “She bakes just as well as her mama did.”
Emma and Kate exchanged looks.
“I’m sure she does,” Emma said.
Ada reached for another cookie, and Emma said, “Mama, it’s not that far to dinnertime. You’re going to spoil your appetite.”
“No, I’m not,” Ada replied.
“Maybe I should put them in the kitchen,” Kate suggested.
“Oh, I’ll do that,” Emma said hurriedly.
She whisked the plate into the kitchen and was back in under a minute, making Kate wonder if the kitchen might be as overflowing as the living room.
“I just came home to see if the mail had arrived yet.” Emma walked toward the pile of envelopes lying on the floor just inside the door. She quickly flipped through them, then shook her head at Kate.
“Well, Mrs. Blount, it’s been wonderful talking with you, but I need to get going now,” Kate said, taking the old woman’s hand.
“Thank you,” Ada replied. “You come on back anytime, you hear?”
“I will.”
Kate turned to Emma and said, “If you’d like, I can give you a lift back to your shop.”
“That would be great,” Emma said. “I’ll be back in an hour or so, Mama.”
Outside, Emma asked, “Well?” as they walked down the sidewalk. “Did you learn anything new?”
Kate nodded. “She said that the man’s name was Matthew. Or Matthews. A Mr. Matthews maybe.”
Emma gasped and stopped just as she was opening the car door. “LuAnne’s husband!”
“What?” Kate exclaimed.
“LuAnne Matthews. Down at the diner. Her husband. Tom Matthews.” Each brief sentence burst out of her.
“Good heavens,” Kate said, stunned. She’d always assumed that LuAnne was single, but this was not the time to admit to that much ignorance. “It can’t be.”
“Oh yes, it can,” Emma said, getting into the car.
Kate fastened her seatbelt automatically, thinking furiously. “I’ve never met him. I’ve never even heard of him.”
“He’s a truck driver. He’s always gone. It’s the perfect excuse.”
“But in that case, how would he know your mother?”
“Tom sells natural herbal remedies on the side.” Emma flushed. “N-Life. Well, you know there’s not that much that can be done for Mama’s condition medically. But over in Europe, they’ve been using herbs for decades. Ginkgo biloba, moss extract, omega-3. I mean, it’s worth a try,” Emma added belligerently.
Kate patted her hand and said, “Of course it is.”
“Anyway, I’ve been buying all my vitamins and supplements from Tom for a couple of years now. You know, with my health I have to have special supplements, or I wouldn’t have the strength to get through the day. I put my order in with LuAnne, and she’ll either hold them for me at the diner, or Tom drops them off if he’s in town.” Emma shook her head. “He’s been at the house at least three or four times. He’s seen what Mama’s like.” Emma’s hands were balled up into fists, and she beat them on her knees. “And LuAnne’s got that brand new truck! It all fits!”
“Emma...” Kate tried to interrupt, but Emma kept going. Kate sighed and turned left onto Smith Street.
“How else could she afford it? She’s a waitress! Loretta could never pay her that much. And you know what tips are like in Copper Mill. And as for Tom, well, they’ve always just been getting by. That’s why he sells herbal supplements on the side. And what better way to find out who’s not exactly...you know. Anyone could figure out that the people who need those herbs the most are the ones who would miss their money the least—”
“Emma,” Kate interrupted, “we don’t know that any of this is true.”
“Mark my words,” Emma said emphatically. “That truck. Mr. Matthews. It all fits together perfectly. That truck was bought and paid for with my mother’s money. Now we know.”
“No, we don’t,” Kate corrected, parking her car outside the ice-cream shop. “Emma, this is all conjecture. For one thing, you know that your mother isn’t always clear about names. She’s still half convinced I’m Marybeth.”
Emma looked out the window but didn’t say anything.
“It might be Mr. Matthews...” Kate said.
Emma turned back toward Kate, her mouth open, but Kate went on, “or it might not. It might be someone whose first name is Matthew, or it might be that Ada got the wrong gospel, and it’s Luke or John. We won’t know until we get the copies of the checks.”
“But that truck!”
“It’s no crime to buy a truck.” Kate stopped, suddenly remembering that Evelyn Cline had said that it hadn’t been financed through the bank. “Look, you asked me to look into this. Please, let me. I was going to talk to LuAnne anyway.”
“I could just ask LuAnne myself,” Emma said belligerently.
“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” Kate asked.
Emma sat silently for a moment, then admitted, “Probably not. I’d probably cause a scene in front of everybody.”
“Which wouldn’t do anyone any good,” Kate said gently.
Emma nodded. “You’re right. I’m too upset. I’d just...” She began, then went silent for a couple of minutes, her face working as she thought things through. “You’re right,” she finally said. “I asked you to investigate, so I should leave it up to you. And I will.”
Kate patted her on the shoulder, and a smile flitted across Emma’s face. “Not that I don’t want to go charging in myself.”
“I know,” Kate replied. “But please, don’t.”
Emma nodded again and opened the car door. Then she turned back to Kate, smiling, and said, “And at least we found out a name! Thanks, Kate.”
“You’re quite welcome,” Kate said. “Any time.”
Kate watched Emma go into her shop, then she glanced at her watch. Eleven o’clock. Maybe she could have an early lunch at the Country Diner.
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She pulled up next to LuAnne’s new black Chevy pickup outside the diner. The pickup was huge. Just getting into it must be quite a trick, and Kate was thankful that with her arthritic knee, she wasn’t the one who had to climb into the cab on a daily basis. She looked at the license-plate holder for the dealer location: Lexington, Kentucky. Now why would LuAnne buy a truck all the way up in Kentucky when there were dealerships all over Tennessee? She shook her head and walked into the diner.
“Hi, Kate!” LuAnne called from behind the counter, where she was cleaning the beverage dispensers. “Be right with you!”
“No hurry,” Kate replied. It was tempting to sit at a table near the window, where her back would be warmed by the sun. But she wanted to talk to LuAnne, so she perched on one of the stools at the counter and waited for LuAnne to finish her cleaning.
“Done!” LuAnne said proudly, throwing the dishrag onto a tray of dirty dishes. She looked at Kate and asked, “Leaded?”
“Definitely,” Kate answered. “I was just thinking I’ve never seen it so quiet in here.”
“Yep, we’re in between rushes,” LuAnne agreed, pouring Kate’s coffee. “Except for those fellows,” she nodded toward the back booth, where a group of farmers were talking inaudibly over their coffee. “They’ll be here until the lunch crowd shows up, and then they’ll light out of here as fast as they can. Tell you the truth, they’re only sociable with each other.” She set two plastic containers of creamer down for Kate and asked, “Now, what can I get for you, darlin’?”
“Grilled cheese,” Kate said.
“With bacon?”
Kate sighed. “I shouldn’t. There’s enough cholesterol without that.”
LuAnne made a face. “Cholesterol. I don’t know if I believe in any of that. Food is food, and if it’s home cooked, I don’t think there’s anything to worry about.” She twirled around to the large pass-through window, clipped the ticket to the carousel, and turned it to face Loretta, who was in the kitchen. Then she turned back to Kate and added cheerfully, “Of course, it depends some on the home it’s bein’ cooked in.”
“True.” Kate took a sip of coffee, then said, “You know, LuAnne, I’ve got to admit something to you. Today I was talking to Emma, and she mentioned she bought herbal supplements from your husband, and I never even realized you were married!” Kate laughed. “I’m sorry, it’s just that I never met him, and you—”
“I know,” LuAnne said, laughing. “Tom’s on the road so much, I might as well be widowed or single. I reckon half the people in town don’t even know what he looks like.” She caught her breath but still chuckled a bit. “We’ve been married almost twenty years, and I think he’s spent ninety percent of that on the road. He’s a truck driver, you know.”
“Don’t you mind him being gone so much?” Kate asked.
“Well, I did at first,” LuAnne admitted. “But it’s been years now. I’m used to it. And there are some advantages—”
“Order up!” Loretta called out from the kitchen and banged the bell on the windowsill.
LuAnne rolled her eyes and placed the steaming plate in front of Kate. “There you go.”
“Thanks. This looks wonderful.” Kate bit off a piece of crispy bacon. “Mmm. I don’t know if I could stand having Paul gone all the time.”
“And I don’t know that I could stand havin’ Tom underfoot all the time. I mean, I do miss him, but you can get so much more done when they’re gone. Not to mention eatin’ when and what you please and not havin’ any fights over the remote.”
Kate laughed.
“And I don’t have to arm wrestle him to take me out someplace. Tom’s not much for goin’ out, and when he is home, we...” LuAnne blushed slightly. “Well, to be honest, we spend so much time apart that when he does come home, we don’t go out hardly anywhere. We stay home and get caught up.”
“And those herbal supplements—how does that work?” Kate asked, biting into her crispy sandwich.
“Oh, that,” LuAnne reached under the counter and brought out a flyer. “I hand out the flyers for him, and folks make out their orders and give them back to me. If he can, Tom drops the orders off at people’s houses, and if he can’t, they can always pick up their orders here and leave the money with me.”
Kate nodded, looking at the brochure. “Very enterprising.”
“That’s my Tom. We were poor as church mice when we first started out, and I think he’s been workin’ two jobs ever since. He doesn’t have to anymore, but he believes in N-Life.” LuAnne tapped the flyer for emphasis.
“I’m sure they’re very good,” Kate said.
“Tom got hooked up with them back when they first started, and now he’s one of their best salesmen in these parts,” LuAnne said proudly.
“That’s wonderful,” Kate said warmly. “By the way, I really like the new truck.”
LuAnne laughed. “I’m pretty pleased with it myself. Tom bought it for me in Kentucky and had it delivered.” She shook her head. “I couldn’t believe it when I saw it. I got on the telephone and bawled him right out.”
“Bawled him out?” Kate was surprised.
“Of course! Spendin’ so much money without even asking me? I chewed him up one way and down the other.” LuAnne giggled. “Then I told him what a sweetheart he was. Truth was, he’d been worried about me in my old car ever since last winter when we got all that snow and ice. Well, one day I nearly went off the road goin’ up to Pine Ridge. I told Tom about it, and he decided I ought to have a four-wheel drive. ’Course he had to get me the biggest one on the lot.”
“Men and their toys?” Kate grinned.
LuAnne nodded and winked. “You got that right. I’d have preferred something a bit smaller, but I couldn’t tell him that, now could I?”
Kate shook her head.
“Anyway, he spotted it up in Lexington and had his eye on it for a while, just waitin’ until he got the money. So when he got a bonus, he bought it for my birthday. Now wasn’t that sweet of him?”
“Yes,” Kate said, looking at LuAnne’s beaming face. But she couldn’t help but wonder what kind of bonus Tom Matthews had gotten.
Chapter Seven
Kate walked out of the diner carrying the flyer about N-Life herbal supplements. She glanced at LuAnne’s black pickup and sighed, hoping that LuAnne’s obvious faith in her husband was not misplaced. There wasn’t any proof that Tom Matthews had done anything except get a bonus from his trucking company.
A hammering sound rang across the Town Green as Kate was about to get into her car. She looked toward the clock tower and saw a group of men busily assembling something underneath it. What on earth could they be doing? She couldn’t resist walking over to see what was going on.
“Hey, Mrs. Hanlon,” Clifton Beasley called out. He had moved from his usual spot on the porch of the Mercantile and was watching the activity from a safe distance under a tree.
“Hello, Clifton. What’s going on?”
“Settin’ up the stage for the summer concert series,” he said. “Time to get her up, and then she’ll be all set to go.”
“Are you going to do anything for the series?”
“Me? Naw. I used to sing with the Elks barbershop quartet, but my voice cracked up years ago. I just sit and listen and eat all the ice cream that’s on offer.” He leaned toward her and added, “And any pie that might be for sale.”
Kate laughed. “I heard that this year it was going to be root-beer floats.”
“Well, those are good too, but I always say pie and ice cream go real good together. Just something to keep in mind.”
“I’ll remember that.” Kate watched as the men hammered away at the posts. Then they got some lumber and began on the stage flooring. “So who’s going to be performing?” she asked.
“Well, the high-school band always plays,” Clifton said, hooking his thumbs in the straps of his overalls. “And there’s usually a ladies’ choir. Betty Anderson started it up a while back, after the barbe
rshop quartet gave out. Calls it the Beauty Shop Quartet, ’cause it’s all women. Couple of the church choirs sing too. Every once in a while, there’s a soloist. And there’s usually a couple of kids with their garage bands at some point. I cut out when they play. Too loud for me.”
Kate waved the flyer in her hand at a wasp that floated near them.
“I see you’ve got one of Tom’s flyers,” Clifton noted. “He tried to get me interested in that stuff, but I told him no.”
“You don’t believe in vitamins?” Kate asked.
“No, it wasn’t that. He wanted me to invest in it. Said I had lots of free time, I could be a...Now what did he call it? A co...a codistributor. That’s it.” Clifton shrugged, not noticing the stricken look on Kate’s face. “I turned him down. I don’t need the money, and I enjoy having my time to myself. That kind of thing’s a young man’s game anyway.”
Kate pulled herself together enough to say, “Of course.”
“Now, if you were to ask me to help distribute pies...”
Kate managed to laugh. “Clifton, you never give up, do you?”
He shrugged. “You can’t blame a man for tryin’.”
“No, you can’t,” she agreed. “Well, I’ve got to get going. You behave yourself, now, you hear?”
“I can’t get in too much trouble with this bursitis of mine!” Clifton called back.
Kate walked back to her car, her mood seriously darkened. Tom Matthews asked Clifton to invest...Maybe he was just thinking in terms of having someone help him. But had Tom asked others to invest as well? Kate shook her head and started her car. It was time to go back to the Bixby house and work out that chart.
THE BIXBY HOUSE was quiet and empty. The dishes had all been done after that day’s meal preparation. Kate sat down at the kitchen table and started making a chart of everyone’s deliveries. It took her most of the afternoon, but by the time she was done, the chart was as complete as she could make it. Now she pretty much knew who had delivered meals to whom for the last six months. The only people who had officially delivered meals to Ada Blount, besides Emma, were Matt Lawson, Junius Lawson, and Martha Sinclair. That narrowed it down considerably. But she couldn’t stop there: there were also some blank days when there wasn’t anyone signed up for the duty.