Granny Forks A Fugitive (Fuchsia Minnesota Book 4)

by Julie Seedorf

  Granny could hear Ditty thinking out loud on the other end, “Do I? Do I? Do I?”

  “That’s three ‘Do I’s.’ How about an ‘I do’?” Granny barked through the phone.

  “You have ‘I do’s on the mind,” Ditty Belle teased, “Anxious to marry Franklin? Did you really call it off, like Amelia said in church?”

  “No, I did not. That’s Amelia, always deciphering what I say wrong. Back to the subject, do you have that book?”

  “I’ll find it. What are you looking for?”

  “A family by the name of Carissa and Doug Melborne. We think they adopted Amelia’s son.”

  “I’ll get right on it.” The line went dead.

  Granny decided to make some coffee and have a donut. Looking at the counter, she frowned when she saw that her donuts were gone. All that was left were crumbs. Those darn shysters and cohorts! Baskerville must have gotten them down for the rest of the crew. She’d have to find a hiding place that they couldn’t get to.

  Granny lifted up the pet dishes to grab a piece of candy from her hiding place under the dishes only to find empty candy wrappers. Had they found those too? She traveled the hallway to her bedroom to get a piece of candy out of her hidden closet when she noticed her umbrella and her knitting needle cane were missing. Had she left them somewhere? She remembered that she must not have brought them up from the room by the underground street when she’d left with the girls the other night.

  Walking down the basement steps, she picked up more candy wrappers. Examining the wrapper as she walked, she noticed the name on the wrapper––Gritty Gumdrops. She never had Gritty Gumdrops; she only ate chocolate. Maybe the shysters had gotten them from Angel. She’d have to talk to Thor. Gritty Gumdrops were no candy for children.

  Flicking the switch for the fireplace door, she entered the room that led to the underground street. Her umbrella and knitting needle cane were nowhere to be found.

  Granny checked the door. It was unlocked. Had she left it unlocked? Granny looked around; nothing else seemed out of place. She locked the door and went back through the fireplace door and locked it. Carefully, she looked around her downstairs. It appeared to be as she’d left it when she’d last cleaned.

  Going back upstairs, she looked around her living room. The drawer in her old hutch was slightly ajar. She went to close it when she noticed a piece of paper stuck in the drawer. It had writing on it. “By hook or by crook, by skew or brew, by snow or woe, I’m your foe! I know where you go, your days are few because I’m going to get you!”

  “Someone has been here,” Granny said to the air as she turned the note over in her hand. She didn’t recognize the writing. She stuffed the note in her pocket. She’d show it to the girls later. Picking up her phone, she texted the women that forks were needed. “Go see Hotdish,” she added. “She’ll know what you need. Bring them with you tonight.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  The underground streets were deserted when Ditty Belle, Mavis and Granny met at midnight to make their way to the Pink Percolator. Delight was waiting to let them in. A soft light from the kitchen glowed in the background, lighting their way into the coffee house.

  “I didn’t want to turn on the lights because I didn’t want to alert anyone that we were here,” Delight explained in the dimly lit restaurant.

  “I have some news for Amelia,” Ditty Belle told Granny.

  “Humboldt said he had news for Amelia too when I saw him earlier this evening,” Delight chimed in, “but he wanted to check with Silas first.”

  Delight peeked out the back door. “Lulu’s here! Come on.”

  “Did you all purchase your forks from Hotdish?” asked Granny. “Maybe I should have had you stop by the hardware store and purchase pitchforks too.” Granny held up her pink pitchfork. “But I thought Butch and Penelope might get suspicious.”

  “Where’s Pastor Henrietta?” Mavis asked. “Isn’t she coming with us?”

  “She called,” Delight whispered as they made their way to the van. She’ll meet us at Amelia’s. She had to stop at the jail. There was an emergency with Jack Puffleman and they needed a pastor.”

  “He didn’t do it!” Granny proclaimed.

  “Get in!” Lulu motioned for the women to hop in the van.

  “Thanks for bringing your van, Lulu; they might have recognized mine. Watch out! I see one of Fuchsia’s finest down the block. See, you can see the light’s flashing,” Ditty Belle pointed out.

  “Looks like they have a car pulled over,” Lulu concluded. As she pulled the van slowly out of the alley, she killed the lights.

  “Lulu, you can drive with no headlights?” Delight’s concerned voice echoed Mavis thoughts.

  “Ooh, we’re going to shine the deer, hit the wall, die in the dark!” Mavis’s scared voice pierced through the darkness.

  “We’re going one block and she’s going to turn the corner. I’m going to fire all of you from helping me sleuth out crime if you don’t all keep it together,” Granny threatened her friends.

  Lulu turned at the corner and flicked on the lights and then proceeded to Amelia’s house. Amelia and Pastor Henrietta came out of the shadows at the corner of the house and quickly got in the van. A siren could be heard in the background.

  Granny turned as she saw the shadow of a flashing light through an alley they passed by. “Something’s going on. Quick! Pull over behind that tree and cut the lights.”

  “How did you get away from the Pink Percolator since it’s down the street from the police and fire station?” Amelia asked.

  “We used the alley and went the opposite direction. The back of the police and fire station open into a different alley,” Delight explained.

  “Maybe we should see what’s going on,” Ditty Belle nervously suggested.

  “Maybe there’s another murder,” Mavis’s voice shook.

  “The sirens are heading the other way. We need to go on. I need answers to where my son is and why Robert died,” Amelia stubbornly reminded them.

  “They’re gone now,” Granny deduced.

  Lulu started the van again and pulled out, checking to make sure the coast was clear. They made it to the parking lot of the factory without anyone seeing them.

  “Park the van around the corner from the office. It’ll be hidden there,” said Amelia. “I had a little nook and patio built outside of my office where I could relax, but where I also could park my car so I could sneak in and get some work done and they wouldn’t know I was there.” Amelia pointed in the direction Lulu should drive.

  Lulu parked the van and the women piled out, waiting silently as Amelia unlocked the door to her office.

  Once inside, Amelia turned the lights on in her office. “No one can see us back here.”

  The women looked around. “Amelia, this is so you,” Granny remarked.

  “Wowser, this is a perfect reality TV show setting.” Mavis said, as she wandered around touching the plush furniture.

  “This is spa-like,” Ditty Belle added and touched the water flowing from a fountain.

  “It’s an oasis of calm,” Pastor Henrietta reflected as she whirled around, taking in the entire large space.

  Amelia nodded her head. “Running a company is stressful at times so in every factory or office space, I always have my own oasis where I can relieve my stress and still work. The only person allowed in here is Lars. Make yourself comfortable, ladies, while we decide what we’re looking for.”

  “Got any wine, Amelia?” Granny asked. “Might make us think better.”

  “Or see things that aren’t there,” Mavis piped in, thinking of a scene for a reality show.

  Amelia got out the wine that was in her wine cabinet and poured a glass for each of them.

  Granny addressed Ditty Belle, “Tell us what you found out, Ditty Belle,” and turning to Amelia, she explained, “I had Ditty Belle see if she had a book that listed the former families of Brilliant.”

  Amelia turned to Ditty Belle with a
look of hope in her eyes. “Did you find anything?”

  “I did. I found a woman by the name of Carissa Shultz Melborne. She lived in Brilliant about the same time that you were married to Robert.” Ditty Belle showed the piece of paper to Amelia.

  “Did they mention a child?” Amelia asked.

  “No, at the time this book was published there was no child. This company quit putting together books like this not too long after this date though. I’m sorry.”

  Amelia hung her head.

  “But, Ditty Belle continued, “I can tell you that Carissa Shultz Melborne was born Carissa Blackford, married Melvin Shultz and when he died she married Douglas Melborne.”

  “She must have been Robert’s sister.” Granny shook her head. “The love of my life never told me he had a sister.”

  “So where are Carissa and Douglas Melborne now?” Amelia wondered.

  “Douglas Melborne is dead. Died a few years after they were married. I was able to find that out,” Ditty Belle told the women.

  “Humboldt said he had news but had to tell Silas first. Wasn’t he going to go to Brilliant to see if he could find them,” Delight reminded the group.

  “We’re getting away from why we’re here. We have to clear Jack Puffleman.” Granny brought the subject back to the matter at hand.

  “It’s nice and quiet here,” Pastor Henrietta noted. “Not like at the hospital.”

  “Jack Puffleman. Emergency,” Granny stated. “What was the emergency, Henrietta? Is Jack okay?”

  Pastor Henrietta shook her head. “It’s wait and see. He had a heart attack at the jail. He’s at the Fuchsia hospital now. It’s strange because he had no history of heart problems. They found him in his cell. Maybe the stress of his daughter’s death and being arrested for it was just too much for him. I said a few prayers by his bedside with his wife.”

  “Amelia, how can we get out into the factory where Justine was found without being seen from the outside?”

  “Not a problem. Didn’t you notice when we were there? No windows, all skylights. And the skylights have shades. I want my workers to be comfortable so the shades can be adjusted if the sun gets too bright. Then we have a panel on the side of the factory workrooms that roll away and let in light. The panels can be shut and we can close the skylight shades and turn on the lights.”

  “Well, let’s go!” Granny popped up from her seat and headed for the door.

  Amelia caught up to Granny and led the way, adjusting the shades and the lights. They reached the room where the large chocolate vat was.

  Granny gazed at the large stirring vat. “That’s lot of chocolate to taste.”

  Amelia laughed. “It’s going to be a big operation.”

  The other women were suspiciously silent.

  Ditty Belle tried to speak but nothing came out of her mouth. She moved and took Mavis’s hand.

  Lulu moved over to join the two women. Pastor Henrietta, seeing that the women seemed to be experiencing some kind of quiet emotion spoke, “It’s hard to believe we lost Justine right here. I didn’t know her, but I’m sure she’s here with us in spirit. Maybe we can feel her spirit and she’ll tell us something.”

  They heard a noise. The women jumped closer together. Granny and Amelia both moved their gaze to the office door. Granny held up her pitchfork.”

  Pastor Henrietta coughed nervously. “Well, I didn’t actually mean that Justine’s ghost was here.”

  Amelia mouthed to Granny, “I have the key.”

  Amelia moved closer to the door. Granny stood in position to go in with her pitchfork when the door was unlocked and opened. The other women nervously held up their large barbeque forks.

  Amelia counted quietly, “1..2..3” and turned the key in the lock. Granny pushed open the door and hit a tae-kwon-do pose with her fork in front of her, hollering “Hi Yah!”

  A scream rent the air.

  “What? Aaah, Granny! You scared us half to death! What are you doing here?”

  Granny, seeing Lars and Ella, put the fork down. “I think the question is what you’re doing here and what are you doing?” noting their disheveled clothing.

  “Is that Ella I hear?” Delight pushed her way past Granny. “Ella, I want an explanation right now!”

  “So do I!” Amelia’s no-nonsense tone wasn’t lost on Lars.

  Lars stammered, “I can explain.”

  Granny held up her pitchfork. “I think you’d better explain to my daughter Starshine, Lars. You remember her––the one who’s wearing your engagement ring!”

  Pastor Henrietta squeezed past Granny, Amelia and Delight. “Okay, let’s all calm down! We need peace in the world; we need to learn to forgive and love one another. Let’s all go back to Amelia’s spa-like office and breath in calmness and sort this out.”

  Ditty Belle could be heard from the back of the pack, “I’ll get the wine!”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  “This better be good,” Granny informed Lars.

  Amelia looked at her sister. “Hermiony, I’m sure there’s a good explanation for this.”

  “Or he’s got you hoodwinked, Amelia. Maybe he’s Justine’s killer––after all, he found her!”

  Ditty Belle and Lulu nodded their heads in agreement. Mavis tipped up her wine glass and waited to see what would happen next.

  “Ella, tell your mother what you’re doing here. Now!” Delight’s tone held none of her giggly personality.

  “Lars’s sheepish look stayed on his face as he spoke, “I’m not really engaged to Starshine. She’s engaged to someone else, but isn’t quite ready to have you meet him, so since we’re friends, she talked me into pretending to be her fiancé.” He paused, waiting for a reaction from Granny and when there was none, he continued, “I was seeing Justine. That’s why she had a key to the factory. We would meet here at night. I couldn’t let anyone know I was seeing her because I was pretending to be engaged to Starshine. Justine knew this. Then I fell in love with Ella.” He smiled at Ella, but noticing Delight’s glare, continued his story. “I was going to tell Justine that night. She texted me and told me she’d gotten my text about meeting her here at the factory. I hadn’t texted her yet so I was mystified. I came to find her and gently break the truth to her, but when I got here she was dead. That’s all I know. I told the police the truth except for the fact that I was seeing both Justine and Ella. I didn’t want to drag Ella into this.”

  “Do you think it was it Jack Puffleman who texted Justine?” Granny suggested.

  Lars shook his head. “No, she’d just seen him and he’d just found out that he was Justine’s father. He didn’t take it well, but she was killed in the factory shortly after she saw him. I know because I saw him through the show window of AbStract after Justine left. I knew she went there to tell him that he was her father and I wanted to catch her afterwards so we could talk. But then she got that text she thought was from me and went straight to the factory. She must have left by another door.”

  “Did you send me this note?” Granny handed him the note she’d found at her house.

  Lars shook his head after reading the note. “No, why would I send you a note like this? I don’t want you dead. You’re my new aunt.”

  “Dead?” Mavis chirped, grabbing the note from Granny.

  “Note?” Lulu grabbed the note out of Mavis hand. She read it and passed the note to Henrietta.

  “Oh my, oh my!” Pastor Henrietta raised her eyes to the ceiling and said a silent prayer.

  “What are you all talking about?” Amelia took the note from Henrietta while Delight looked over her shoulder and read the note too. “We should call your husband.”

  “Husband? You and Franklin got married and you didn’t invite me?” Mavis scolded.

  “You married Franklin and Granny and didn’t tell us?” Ditty Belle accused Pastor Henrietta.

  Pastor Henrietta shook her head. “I didn’t marry Franklin and Granny.”

  Granny held up her hands to silence eve
ryone and used her loud voice, “Enough! We’re getting off the subject.”

  “Call your husband, Silas; he needs to know about this,” Amelia spoke up again.

  Granny turned to Amelia. “He’s not my husband. Remember, or did you forget that it was a fake ceremony so we could find out information about your son?” Granny stomped her pitchfork on the ground to make a point.

  The sound of the pitchfork and Granny’s words silenced the room. Lars grabbed Ella during the commotion and slipped out unnoticed through the door to Amelia’s private patio.

  Amelia stepped up to Granny and stood face-to-face with her, “Well, actually my plan worked and you are married to Silas! And I’m going to marry Franklin––he just doesn’t know it yet!”

  The onlookers gasped at Amelia’s words.

  Granny’s body pulled itself up straight and stiffened; she held her pitchfork tighter, “You did it again, Amelia! You stole my fiancé and hooked me up to a conniving, cantankerous old coot! How did you do it? Here I was, willing to help you find your son and you double-crossed me! Did you have the information about the adoption all along?” Granny’s voice got louder with each sentence.

  Amelia, too, pulled herself up to her full height. “No! Hermiony, I did you a favor when I ran away with Robert. Look at the life you would have had. He was a conniving crook! He stole my son. You had a husband and family that took care of you. I lost my parents, my family and my son. Anyone with two eyes can see that you belong with Silas. Franklin’s too controlling for you, but he’s perfect for me. You’re too ornery to see it for yourself, so I had to trick you into this. The judge gave me the adoption information when I came in and arranged the ruse. I do need your help, but I’m saving you from your stubborn self. If there’s anything I learned in the corporate world it’s that you get what you want with a little sugar and a little vinegar––and this is the vinegar!” Amelia took a breath and sat down on the sofa.

  Everyone in the room held their breath waiting for the outburst they knew would come.