“Granny, let’s take this one step at a time.”
“I know my next step. I have to figure out a way to find the shysters. I’m going into AbStract to nose around the outside wall next to the space between the buildings where I last saw the shysters.”
Franklin yelled into his phone, “Granny, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Granny?”
Granny had already hung up the phone and proceeded to enter the store. Again, Granny wondered if Franklin had planted the money. Maybe her people reading skills were getting forgetful too.
“Morning, Justine,” Granny said as she passed the jewelry counter, “any news about Estelle?”
“No, Granny, she just disappeared and everyone’s looking for her. They think all four of the women who disappeared had a plan and planned the heists together. Who would have thought?”
“Keep the faith, Justine; we’ll get to the bottom of this.”
Granny looked up and there was the good looking young man staring at her from the back nook of the store. Granny started to head towards him when the Big Guy stopped her.
“Let me go. That young man who I keep seeing was over there.” Granny pointed and the Big Guy followed with his eyes.
“There’s no one there, Granny. I wanted to tell you that we can’t rule you out as a suspect so if there’s anything you want to tell us, now, would be a good time.”
“I’m just a feeble old woman, Big Guy,” Granny said in her weakest voice, “How would I make a forest disappear? Could you help me back to the chair in that corner? I think I need to rest a spell. All this hoopla is wearing me out.” With that she extended her arm to him.
The Big Guy escorted Granny to the chair but before he left he said, “We’ll be talking.”
Granny pretended to sniffle at his words. Once she was sure he was out of sight, Granny started examining the corner. Everything appeared to be fine. Where did that young man go? Could she have imagined him?
As Granny turned, her umbrella hit the bottom corner where the walls met. Before Granny knew what was happening, the floor slid open, tumbling Granny through the floor and down some stairs.
Chapter Sixteen
Luckily, Granny’s big pocketbook landed underneath her and broke her fall. Granny found herself lying flat on her back staring up at a ceiling that had now closed. Where was she and what had happened?
Granny slowly moved her toes, her arms and her legs. Yup, she seemed to be in one piece. Granny sat up and looked around. Strange, she didn’t have trouble seeing at all. There seemed to be small glow lights lighting up whatever this tunnel was.
Granny was thankful she’d left her heavy duty, spiked umbrella at home or she could have ended up at the bottom of the steps looking like a popsicle on the end of a stick.
At the end of her toes were stairs leading up to the floor that she’d just fallen through. Granny stood up and dusted herself off, turned around and glared into the soft lighting. There seemed to be wide tunnels everywhere. The tunnels were lined with bricks on the floors and the walls. This area was almost like an underground street. Granny walked a little further. There seemed to be stairs leading up to other places in the distance. Granny started to walk towards them when she heard little paw clicks such as claws touching the brick walkways.
It was Fish, little white poodle, Furball and Tank and they were climbing the steps not too far from where Granny was. They didn’t see her. She hurried over to the steps but by the time she got there, they were already through the hole in the wall.
Granny hurried back to the steps that led to the floor that she had fallen through. She would investigate the rest of the tunnels later. She climbed the steps and pushed on the floor. It didn’t budge.
Meanwhile, Franklin, concerned about Granny’s disappearance, since she wasn’t answering her phone and he couldn’t find her anywhere, was questioning Justine at the AbStract jewelry counter.
“Have you seen Granny today?”
“She was just here. She talked to the Big Guy. Granny was feeling weak so he led her to the chair in the corner nook.” Justine motioned to the corner. “She must have left because she’s not there now. I’m sorry I didn’t see her leave.”
Franklin paced and muttered to himself, “What am I doing here? Did she ask for my help? No, she hung up on me. What am I doing here?
“Did you say something, sir?” Justine asked.
“Have you ever had someone drive you crazy?” Franklin barked at Justine.
Justine jumped back, afraid that Franklin was going to pounce. “Ah, well, ah, I can’t say I have lately.” Justine slowly lowered her arm down to be ready to hit the alarm in case she needed to call for help from this all of sudden crazed-sounding man.
“She’s driving me crazy. She doesn’t listen, always winking and secretive. What does she take me for? A fool? I don’t even know her and she’s driving me crazy.” Franklin turned and started stomping toward the door.
Justine, looking relieved that she’d escaped what she might call an unusual encounter, moved her arm back to the counter. “I hope you find Granny.”
Franklin stopped in his tracks, muttered something under his breath, took a deep breath and turned back into the store. Justine lowered her arm to the alarm again but Franklin walked over to the corner nook and sat down in the chair to ponder where he could next look for Granny.
Meanwhile, Granny was studying the floor underneath Abstract. She pulled from her purse her spyglass, called a magnifying glass by her friends, so she could get a better look at the floor. Her spyglass, as Granny preferred to call it, caught a tiny nail sticking out of the corner next to where the floor should have opened. Granny pulled on the nail. It didn’t budge. It seemed to be loose but it wouldn’t come out of the wall. She didn’t want to get caught on that tiny little thing if she ever could slide the floor over and get back out. She was losing valuable time. The shysters would be gone by now.
Granny accidently pushed down on the nail as she was trying to remove it. The floor opened. Granny started climbing out. She looked up right into Franklin’s astonished gaze.
Granny put her finger to her mouth to indicate to Franklin that he should hush and be quiet. Granny stepped out and grabbed Franklin’s arm and said loudly, “I’m very glad you found me Franklin. I was so weak I couldn’t move off the floor.”
Justine, hearing the conversation, looked up and seeing Granny’s weakness, hurried over. “Granny, I didn’t see you lying on the floor. I’m so sorry the merchandise hid you. I can’t see the floor from the jewelry counter. I thought you’d left. You should have called out. Are you ok?”
“It’s quite alright, dear. You didn’t know I was on the floor, must have passed out for a bit, when I woke up I was too feeble to call out. Franklin will help me now.”
Granny grabbed Franklin’s arm and started herding him out of the store. When they got outside, Granny quickly dropped his arm. “Did you see the shysters? You won’t believe what I found. We can’t talk here. By the way, how did you find me?”
“I knew you were going to get in trouble. Then you hung up on me. I hurried down here as fast as I could to try and stop you from whatever crazy stunt you were going to pull and I saw your car parked down the street.”
“You couldn’t have seen my car down the street. I left it at your house. I followed the shysters on foot.”
“Take a look. It’s right down here.” He led Granny down the street to the red 57 Corvette.
Standing by the Corvette was Gram Gramstead. “There you are, Granny. I’ve been waiting for you.”
Granny, seeing her car, was at first speechless. After she recovered from the surprise at seeing her car, she pinned Gram with a look that would scare even the shysters.
“As you can see, I’m here, so what do you want?” Granny asked in a crusty tone.
“I thought we could hang out together. Do some shopping. Have some girl chat.”
Franklin saved Granny from having to answer. “Right now Granny a
nd I have some important business to attend to. But we could all have dinner tonight at Rack’s. I’d be so happy to have the pleasure of dining with two beautiful women.” With that, he winked at Gram.
Granny glared at him and poked him in the ribs. Sputtering, she replied, “I’m busy.”
“I took the liberty of canceling your appointment, Granny.” With a quick grab, Franklin secured Granny’s arm with his hand and started leading her away. “See you at 6:00 p.m., Racks Restaurant, Gram.”
“Take your hands off of me,” Granny yelled at Franklin. “Where are you taking me and why do we have to have dinner with that woman?”
“I’m taking you to Ella’s Enchanted Forest to have a donut to sweeten you up. Then you’re going to tell me why you came out of the floor at AbStract. We’re having dinner with Gram because she seems to be new in town and we’re going to get to know her. We need to know why she’s following you.” Franklin winked at Granny.
“That winking business is not going to work on me today, Franklin Gatsby. I have too much to do to try to keep myself out of the hoosegow. And I’m very annoyed with you.” Granny stomped her umbrella on the ground to let him know she meant business and walked into the Enchanted Forest and sat down.
Franklin raised his hands and his eyes to the heavens, “Mama, did you come down and reincarnate yourself as Granny to drive me crazy? Or did you have a daughter you never told me about? There couldn’t be two of you.” Franklin shook his head, sighed, and followed Granny into Ella’s Enchanted Forest.
“Suppose you start telling me why you came through the floor,” Franklin asked as he set the donuts on the table in front of Granny at the Enchanted Forest.
Granny hesitated for a moment, squared her shoulders for courage, and told Franklin the entire story of following Fish, little white poodle, Furball and Tank around the lake and behind AbStract. She told him the entire tale of not being able to follow the shysters because Baskerville was standing guard, and that’s why she decided to investigate that wall of AbStract where she saw the good looking young man watching her. When she got to the part about falling through the floor, Franklin growled loudly.
“You should have called me before you investigated the wall, Granny. You should have waited for me. What if you couldn’t have gotten out? I didn’t know where you were. You could have been hurt. I understand why your kids are concerned. Do you ever listen to anyone?”
“If I listened to everyone, I’d be at the wrinkle farm harvesting my wrinkles. Look at it this way, if I couldn’t have gotten out and no one could have found me, you wouldn’t have to bury me.”
Franklin ignored Granny’s spurt of stubbornness. “So tell me what you saw down there.”
After Granny finished telling him about the elaborate underground tunnels she found and the fact she saw the shysters in the tunnel, Franklin stood up. “I’m going to the courthouse to see if I can find out anything about when this town was built and why there might be tunnels underneath. Are you sure you haven’t heard about this underground maze since you’ve lived in this area all of your life?
“Not a word, if anyone would know I would. I know these stores like the back of my hand. Maybe I should go back in the tunnel.”
“No, you do your usual rounds and see if you see anything suspicious. I’ll pick you up at 5:45 at your house for dinner with Gram.” Franklin turned and walked out the door.
Granny visited all her usual haunts but there was nothing unusual happening. Granny climbed into her red Corvette still wondering how it had gotten to Main Street. Had she driven it and imagined following the shysters around the lake on foot? Maybe she was imagining everything. Or maybe Franklin had driven her car to Main Street and he was the one playing tricks on her. She decided she needed to be careful.
Chapter Seventeen
Fish, the little white poodle, Furball and Tank were waiting for Granny when she walked in the door. Furball jumped on her head and started purring. Fish brushed against her legs happy to see her. The little white poodle was doing an excited dance and Tank was standing looking up at Granny holding an old key in his mouth.
Granny reached down and took the key out of Tank’s mouth. It looked to be an old key, not one used in locks today. “So, is this what you shysters were doing in the underground tunnels?” Granny turned the key over in her hand, wondering if she should tell Franklin. She decided to wait until she snuck into the tunnels again and investigated them thoroughly. Maybe she’d find the lock that fit the key. And there was the fact that Franklin could have stashed the wine in her trunk and buried the money, trying to set her up. Granny wasn’t going to be bamboozled by all of those cute winks.
Granny glanced at the clock. She supposed she had better get ready for what she was sure was going to be an excruciating evening in the presence of Gram Gramstead. Gram was so snoopy. Granny would have to watch what she said so she didn’t give her predicament away.
When Franklin picked up Granny, she was dressed in her finest purple satin dress, her glittery purple loafers and her finest glittering, red and purple rhinestone earrings and necklace. She topped off her fashionable clothing with a red sequined beret. For a lark, Granny let her hair hang down to her shoulders with a few wisps curling around her earrings so they would be noticeable.
Granny ignored the wink Franklin gave her when he picked her up. After all, he seemed to be passing winks out without any consideration as to who he was winking at. If he could wink at Gram, then Granny didn’t want any part of his winks. But Granny, being Granny, couldn’t resist a little dig as she stepped out of her house and took Franklin’s arm as he led her to his car. “What’s the matter, Franklin, got a little twitch in your eye?”
Franklin ignored the jab and drove straight to Rack’s parking lot and parked directly under the weeping tree on purpose, as it was getting dark and the tree was already starting to weep, hoping that maybe he and Granny would get trapped under the weeping branches. He thought it might make for an interesting night with Granny.
“I know what you’re doing, Franklin, and it’s not working.” Granny quickly jumped out of the car. “You better move it or you’ll be trapped all night, leaving me to take care of Gram all by myself,” Granny snickered as she made a bee line for the door.
Franklin quickly pulled the car out from under the weeper and parked in a safe spot and sprinted after Granny.
Gram was waiting for them at Granny’s favorite table. When they were seated and the waitress handed out menu’s, Granny waited for Gram to take over the ordering like she did the last time Granny had dinner with her. To Granny’s astonishment Gram put down the menu and said to Franklin, “I never know what to order. This large menu confuses me. Could you order for me please, Franklin?”
Granny started to sputter a response when she felt a light pressure on her foot. She looked at Franklin and he gave her that let me handle this look.
“Of course, I’ll order for you. It’s so nice to have a woman that likes to let a man take charge.” And then he winked at Gram.
Granny pulled her foot out from under Franklin’s quickly and kicked his ankle. “So, Gram, explain to us what brought you to Fuchsia? I hadn’t seen you around until recently.” Granny stared at Gram, trying to figure out why she thought she looked familiar.
“I moved here from Hollywood. I was a makeup artist. I got tired of the glamorous life and the parties so I decided I needed somewhere quiet and dull.”
“You think we’re dull?” Granny started to rise out of her chair, hand clenched around the umbrella handle.
Franklin quickly pulled Granny down and asked, “And do you find it as dull as you expected?”
“Yes, that’s why I wanted to get to know Granny. I felt I needed to find a friend who I could bond with, enjoy life with. I didn’t have time for that in Hollywood.”
Granny rolled her eyes as Gretchen, the new waitress hired when Maizie disappeared, served them their food. Granny ate in silence thinking about the underground tunnels
while Franklin and Gram flirted with one another.
All of a sudden, Gram jumped up, hurried over to the bar, swept her arm across the bar and knocked the salsa dip that a customer was dipping his chips in onto his lap. Gram then fell onto the man, knocking the bar stool and the man on the floor. She then stepped on the man with the tallest, sparkly high heels Granny had ever seen.
Granny couldn’t believe what was coming out of Gram’s mouth. Gram was uttering, “I’m sorry. I am so sorry. I’m just a clumsy old woman. Would you forgive me? I shouldn’t have worn these high heels.” She then pulled one of the high heels off of her foot and hit the man in the head. “Oh, no, I’m sorry it slipped in my hand.”
When the last of those words came out of Gram’s mouth, she dropped her pocketbook on his head as he was still trying to recover from the high heel to the head.
Granny’s mouth dropped open and she started to get up. Franklin grabbed her, pulling her back down onto her chair. He then hooked his arm around the back of her shoulders to keep her from getting back up. Anyone looking at them would see a man hugging someone he cared about.
Out of nowhere, the Big Guy appeared. He hustled to the bar to diffuse the puzzling situation.
The Big Guy looked at Gram and the man still on the floor. “Are you ok, ma’am?”
“I’m fine for a feeble old lady. This man stole that man’s wallet when he bumped into him.” She pointed to the man sitting one bar stool away.”
The man Gram was pointing at hurriedly checked his back pocket. “She’s right; my billfold is gone.”
The Big Guy checked the pockets of the man Gram had singled out. “It’s here. Ma’am, you’re a topnotch detective. What’s your name?”
“Gram Gramstead. I’m happy to meet you. If you ever need any sleuthing assistance I’m your woman.” Wearing a huge grin, Gram proceeded back to the table where Granny and Franklin were sitting.
Julie Seedorf - Fuschia Minnesota 01 - Granny Hooks A Crook Page 9