by Jessica Beck
“You were going to say something else for a split second there, weren’t you?” I asked.
I honestly thought that he was about to answer, when Opal came out onto her porch across the street. “Robert, we’re going to be eating soon. You’re welcome to join us.”
As he started to stand, Robert Hightower called out, “Thank you. I’ll be right there.”
As we walked back across the street together, Opal asked me, “I know that you have plans, but are you sure you don’t want to join us?”
“Thanks for the invitation, but Moose and I need to go.”
My grandfather met me on the front porch, and we thanked the Hightowers for speaking with us.
“We’ll be in touch,” I said as we left them.
Opal frowned, as though what she wanted most was for us to leave her family alone, but Ellen smiled at us as she joined her mother on the porch.
“If it’s okay with you, I’m coming into work tomorrow,” she said.
“You don’t have to,” I said. “Jenny’s glad to handle your shift.”
“Tell her that she can sleep in, anyway. I’ll trade off with her at eleven when Greg gets there. How’s that for a compromise? I swear I’ll be more focused tomorrow, and I won’t let idle whispers distract me from my job.”
“Who’s been whispering about you behind your back?” Opal asked, clearly concerned by the thought of someone disturbing her daughter.
“It’s not important, Mom,” Ellen said with a smile, before she turned back to me. “My mother always did watch out for me.”
“Don’t forget your dad,” Robert said with a smile.
“Okay, my dad, too. I’ll see you in the morning, Victoria.”
“I’ll see you then,” I said.
After my grandfather and I headed back to the truck, I said, “Before we go back to the diner, I’d like to go by the murder scene.”
Moose nodded. “I’d be happy to, but what makes you think we’ll get anything out of it that Sheriff Croft hasn’t already discovered?”
“I don’t know. Humor me, okay?”
“Okay,” Moose said. “It’s on the way back to the diner, anyway.”
As he neared the alleyway where Gordon had been murdered, I said, “Pull over right here.”
He did as I asked, and we both got out and moved to the sidewalk. As I looked up and down the street, I tried to imagine it the day of the murder. It was sometime around the same time of day, and the street wasn’t very crowded at all. How did the shops manage to stay afloat? As we walked to the scene, I noticed that the yarn shop had a sign on the door with its business hours. It was closed now, but it had been open the day of the murder. It might be nice to talk to the owner, but I didn’t have a clue how to find her.
Moose and I walked a little into the alley, and I wondered where Gordon Murphy had been standing when he’d been struck down. Had he been facing the street, or the alley? That could matter, based on where his killer had stood. There were no windows along the way, just a few solid steel doors that were all closed. Chances were good that no one had witnessed the crime from there.
“It’s kind of grim, isn’t it?” Moose asked me in a soft voice.
“It’s always sad to visit a crime scene,” I said, my voice matching his. Why were we whispering? Out of respect? Neither one of us had respected Gordon, but that didn’t mean that we couldn’t lower our voices because he’d lost his life where we stood.
As we walked out of the alley, we turned toward the hardware store. On a whim, I walked in, but the owner wasn’t in his usual spot up front. I asked the young clerk, “Is Jack around?”
“I think he’s at the diner,” he said with a grin. “You must have just missed him.”
“Thanks,” I said, and Moose and I left.
“What was that all about?” my grandfather asked me.
“Let’s go see if we can catch Jack, and I’ll show you,” I said.
As my grandfather drove, I said, “It’s probably a good idea that we’re headed back, anyway. I’ve got a hunch that my servers could use a break.”
“Don’t worry about my wife. Martha can handle her end of it,” Moose said.
“Maybe so, but Jenny has to be beat. Not everyone can work all day.”
“Just you, maybe?” Moose asked with a grin.
“Not even me, not without a lot of breaks. By the way, while I was with Robert, did you have any luck talking to Opal and Ellen?”
“That disappearing act of yours was brilliant,” Moose said. “I didn’t even think about the possibility of going across the street with Robert.”
“That’s why there are two of us,” I said with a smile. “So, did you have any luck?”
“No, unfortunately, neither Ellen or Opal wanted to talk about Gordon Murphy. Not that I can blame them. The man came back into their lives to wreak havoc, and then someone stopped him from following through on his threats of taking Ellen’s children away from her. It must have seemed like a dream come true to them.”
“Do you honestly think they were pleased that someone murdered Gordon?”
“I doubt many tears were shed for the man,” Moose said.
“Maybe not, but neither woman strikes me as being a cold-blooded killer. The funny thing was that Robert didn’t seem to share your opinion of the women in his life.”
Moose looked at me sharply. “Did he honestly say that he thought that one of them might have done it?”
“No, he didn’t come out and accuse either one of them of murder, but he did imply that he could understand the urge if one of them decided to take matters into their own hands.”
“Is there a chance that he was just trying to deflect your suspicions away from him?” Moose asked.
“I suppose it’s possible, but it’s kind of drastic throwing his wife and his daughter under the bus to save himself.”
“People have done stranger things than that to keep from going to prison,” my grandfather said.
“He made an interesting point while we were chatting,” I said. “He claimed that the bond between a woman and her child is stronger than a father’s bond with his kids.”
“I don’t know if it’s always true, but I can see why he might think that,” Moose said.
“Do you feel that way about Dad? Is Martha closer to him than you are?”
My grandfather frowned, and for a full minute, I wasn’t sure that he was even going to answer my question, but he finally said, “She is, as much as I hate to admit it. I always tended to push your father a little harder than I probably should have. I expected great things from him.”
“Is he really that big a disappointment to you?” I asked. I knew that there was an underlying tension between my grandfather and my dad, but I’d never heard Moose state it so boldly.
“Of course not. I couldn’t love him any more if he were my own son,” Moose said automatically.
“You tell that joke a lot; you know that, don’t you?”
“Do I?” Moose asked.
“You do, and to be honest with you, Dad flinches whenever he hears you say it.”
Moose frowned, and after a moment’s thought, he nodded. “Then I’ll have to stop repeating it, won’t I? Is there anything else I say that’s hurtful?”
“Come on, I didn’t mean it that way,” I said.
“No, you were right to point it out to me. Thank you, Victoria. Do you realize that you’re a point of contention between us, too?”
I looked at my grandfather oddly. “Me? What do I have to do with your relationship with your son?”
“You and I have a closeness that your father and I could never manage. How do you think he feels when he sees us getting along so grandly?” Moose asked.
“He knows that I love him, too,” I said defiantly.
“No one doubts that,” Moose said. “I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s not your fault. It’s who you are.”
“Wow, thanks for that,” I said sarcastically. Did I really show more
fondness for my grandfather than my own dad?
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. Forget it.”
“I would if I could,” I said as Moose pulled up in front of the diner.
I left him to park the truck. I had some thinking to do.
To my delight, my father was at the diner with my mother having a bite to eat. I walked straight to him, put my arms around him, and hugged him tightly. After our embrace, I pulled back a little so that I could look him straight in the eye. “You know how much I love you, don’t you?”
He looked startled by the question, but he nodded and smiled. “Of course I do. I love you, too.”
“Hey, how about me?” Mom asked.
I hugged her as well. “I love you both. Equally.”
“That’s always nice to hear, but what brought that on?” Mom asked.
“I just wanted to make sure you both knew how I felt,” I said.
“Well, we do,” Dad said.
Moose came back in, blew a kiss to his wife, and then headed straight to his son. To the surprise of everyone there, he hugged him just as I had. “I don’t say it nearly enough, but I love you, Son, and I’m proud of the man that you’ve become.”
Dad was thoroughly confused now. “Okay, am I dying or something? Is there something that you two aren’t telling me?”
“We’ve just been dealing with a lot of family intrigue with Gordon Murphy’s murder,” I said. “It’s made us both realize again how much our family means to us.”
“Hey, where’s my hug?” Greg asked from the kitchen. “It’s not fair. I’m the one slaving away over a hot griddle, and yet no one is showing me any love.”
“I’ll correct that immediately, then,” I said with a smile as I walked to the door between the kitchen and the dining room and hugged him as well.
“Excuse me,” Jack Kiley said, “but if you’re all through with your hugfest, I could use a refill on my sweet tea.”
“So, you’re not interested in a hug to go along with it?” Moose asked him with a smile.
“No offense, but not from you,” Jack answered.
“None taken. I don’t blame you a bit, but it appears that we’ve used up our portion of hugs for today. You’ll have to take a rain-check.”
“That I’ll do, but I’d still like the tea.”
“Coming right up,” Jenny said.
“I’ll take care of it.” I grabbed the pitcher of tea and refilled Jack’s glass. “Don’t go anywhere. I need to talk to you.”
Jack looked at me and grinned. “Am I in trouble?”
“No, I just want to ask you a few questions. Give me a second, okay?”
“Okay,” he said.
I walked over to Jenny and said, “You can take off, Jenny, if you’d like the rest of the night off.”
Jenny smiled at me. “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.”
“I’m sure that you are, but it’s hard to do this job all day without more of a break than you’re getting. Take advantage of my offer and go home. You can sleep in tomorrow, too. Ellen’s going to work until eleven, if that’s okay with you.”
“Are you sure that she doesn’t mind?”
“Just between us,” I said in a quiet voice, “I think being with her parents around the clock might be driving her a little stir crazy.”
“I can respect that,” Jenny said. As she took her apron off, she said, “If you’re sure you can handle things here, I gratefully accept. I’m not afraid to admit it. I really am beat. Victoria, I have a whole new respect for you after what I’ve been through today.”
“We all play an important part in keeping The Charming Moose running smoothly,” I said, “but thanks for the thought.”
“See you tomorrow.” She paused, and then Jenny added, “If Ellen changes her mind once she gets here, I’m just a telephone call away, okay?”
“Okay, and thanks again for stepping in, Jenny.”
“It’s been my pleasure. Your grandmother is fun to work with.”
“She has her charms, doesn’t she?”
“That’s one way to put it,” Jenny said. I saw her stop and say something to Martha on her way out, something that caused my grandmother to smile. Jenny was like that, spreading smiles wherever she went, and I knew yet again that we were lucky to have her.
“Well, we’re taking off,” Dad said as he and Mom approached. They were on their way out the door when my father pulled me aside. “Are you okay, kiddo?”
He hadn’t called me that since I was child, with the exception of a few times when I’d been in some serious trouble.
That’s how I knew that he was really worried about me.
“I’m great, Dad.”
“What really brought on that hug?” he asked quite seriously.
“I don’t always tell you how much you mean to me,” I said. “I know that I spend a great deal of my free time with Moose, but that doesn’t mean that I love you any less.”
“Victoria, listen to me carefully. I’ve never resented the relationship you have with my father. Would I like the two of us to be closer? You know what? We’re close enough. He loves me, and I love him, as hard as that is for me sometimes. You two are a great deal more similar to each other than either of you are to me.”
“And you don’t really have a problem with that? Be honest with me,” I said.
“I’m just glad that you each found someone who could stand to be around the other one,” he said with a big grin, and kissed the tip of my nose, another thing he hadn’t done in ages. It made me feel like a little girl again, and I was glad again for who my father was. Moose and I were close, but a girl’s father is not easily replaced.
Jack called me over, and as I approached, he said, “As much as I love eating here, I have to get back to work.” He pushed the plate away and smiled. “That’s the best lasagna I’ve ever had in my life. Who made it?”
“That’s one of Greg’s specialties,” I said. “It’s one of my favorites, too, but honestly, he’s so good, my list of favorites is a mile long.”
“I understand completely. Now, what is this all about?”
I took the seat beside him and said, “This won’t take a minute. Have the police spoken to you about the day of the murder?”
Jack frowned. “Sure, of course they did. They wanted to know if I’d seen anything suspicious that day. I told them no, and they went away.”
“That’s the only thing they asked you?” I asked.
“The deputy seemed to have something else on his mind,” Jack said. “Besides, what else could he have asked me?”
“Do you sell pipe like the one that was used to kill Gordon?”
Jack just shrugged. “Sure, but it’s not like I’m the only supplier. I sell a great many things at the hardware store in the course of a day.”
“Any pipe that day, though?” I asked.
“No, I don’t think so. One of the guys might have rung something up while I was helping someone else, but I don’t believe anyone sold pipe.”
That brought out a new thought. “Would you know every customer who came into the hardware store that morning and afternoon?”
“Yes,” he said, and there was no room for debate.
“Really? You just said someone else might have sold some pipe while you were away from the register. How can you be so sure?”
“Because I might not make every sale, but I know who shops in my store,” he said, and I didn’t doubt it for one second. Jack prided himself on his personal touch with customers, and I’d experienced it myself on more than one occasion.
“Okay, good. Did any of these people come into the hardware store the day of the murder?” I named our complete suspect list, including Ellen.
Jack stretched his neck a little as though it helped him think. “Robert was there getting some caulk, and Mitchell came by to have a key made. That’s it.”
“And you’re certain neither bought any pipe?”
“Positive,” he said.
&
nbsp; “Let me ask you one more thing. Is there a chance that one of them stole it?”
That clearly didn’t make Jack happy at all. “I lose some every month to theft, I know that, but we do what we can. I can’t say for sure that no one took a length of pipe if he shoved it down his pants.”
“Do you keep a good inventory of things like that?”
Jack shook his head. “Not good enough. Our numbers are a little sketchy on things like that. Sorry I couldn’t help.”
I smiled at him as I grabbed his check. “You helped me a great deal. Lunch is on the house.”
“I wasn’t looking for a free meal,” Jack protested.
“That’s why it’s so much fun to give you one,” I said.
“Victoria, the City’s been using that alley to store some construction materials. They cleaned it up after the murder looking for clues, but that pipe shouldn’t have been that hard to find. Whoever got it didn’t have to take one step into my hardware store.”
“Maybe not, but if it’s all I’ve got, I’m going to use it. Thanks again.”
“At least let me leave a tip,” Jack said.
“I can’t stop you,” I said with a smile, and then I tore up his check.
Moose walked over after Jack left. “What was that all about?”
“You could have come over,” I said.
“I didn’t want to cramp your style. Did Jack help any?”
“He told me that Robert and Mitchell shopped in his store the day of the murder, that he couldn’t account for every pipe he had in inventory, but most important of all, he said that the alley was full of construction materials at the time of the murder, so the murder weapon most likely came from there.”
“It was still worth a shot checking,” Moose said.
“But probably just another dead end,” I answered.
“Hey, we take leads where we get them,” my grandfather said. “At least we got to tell your father how we felt about him.”
“That’s true. He doesn’t resent our relationship, by the way.”
“You came out and asked him?” Moose asked.
“Why not?”
“What did he say, exactly?” Moose wanted to know.