Calamity @ the Carwash (Parson's Cove Mysteries)

by Rose, Sharon

  “Here,” Reg said. “Take this cat before he attacks me. If this were a pit bull, you’d be in real trouble, Mabel. This is a killer cat, do you know that?”

  I grabbed Sammy, who stopped growling immediately and looked at me, as if to say, ‘it’s about time you came to my rescue.’ I’d love to say that he started to purr and rub his chin against mine but he didn’t. He jumped down and ran into the backroom where I keep a bowl of water and some dry cat food in case any of my cats come for a visit.

  “He’s not a killer cat. There’s something about Calvin that he doesn’t like. Or, something. Something in his car and on his shoes.” I stared at Reg. “There’s something in Calvin’s boots and Calvin’s hubcaps that is attracting my cat to them, Reg.”

  “Like what, catnip?”

  “I’m thinking more like drugs.”

  Reg’s mouth dropped open. “I wonder if you’re right, Mabel. Whatever it is, your cat can’t leave it alone, that’s for sure.”

  “I bet that’s why Captain Maxymowich is watching them. They might be tied up with the murder. I wouldn’t be surprised. Maybe Bernie was selling drugs too. Melanie said that he was always washing his car. Maybe he was washing away the evidence. I think we’re getting some place now.” I looked up at the Sheriff. “What do you think, Reg? Isn’t this starting to make sense to you?”

  “You could be right, but so far this is just our imagination. We’ll have to find proof. This means, you don’t talk to anyone about what we suspect, you got that? Not even Flori. If you do and word gets around, the whole case will go down the tube. You understand?”

  “Of course, I understand. But, it is exciting when you start to put the pieces together, isn’t it?”

  “Mabel, for all we know, Sammy might smell something entirely different. Maybe some other cat left its mark. In fact, you should keep an eye on him to see what he’s sniffing out.”

  We both looked over at Sammy, now curled up on Reg’s chair. He looked up and glared at us.

  “Sammy,” I said. “If you solve this murder case, I’ll give you gourmet cat food for a whole year.”

  Sammy’s tail switched back and forth as if he didn’t believe a word that I said.

  Chapter Twenty Nine

  Flori arrived at my house a little after seven. I was in the kitchen. She didn’t even stop; she kept walking into the living room, ordering as she went, “Mabel, bring me a large glass of wine. I never want to see my grandchildren again as long as I live.”

  She said the ‘as long as I live’ from the living room couch. I could hear her shoes hitting the floor and the couch groaning as she sprawled back into it. Two of my cats walked over and looked at me, enquiringly. “It’s okay,” I told them. “I’m very happy to have you instead of grandchildren.” This should have made them happy but instead, they walked to the fridge and demanded food. “On second thought,” I said, “maybe I should have goldfish.”

  I handed Flori her wine in the largest glass I could find.

  “So, what’s the problem? I thought you adored all those grandkids.”

  Flori reached down and pulled two tissues from her bra. She patted her forehead. “I did. I don’t know what’s happened to them. Oh Mabel, those sweet innocent children are turning into juvenile zombies.”

  “Watch the wine, Flori.” Her glass kept moving up and down with each dramatic gesture.

  “They are rude, inconsiderate and lazy. That’s all I can say. No ‘please’ and ‘thank you’; all of them want to be the first to get anything and all they do is sit around in the house and play with their phones and some other thing they call an iPad.” Desperation showed in her eyes. “What’s going to happen to them?”

  I took a drink of wine. My supply of Sadie MacIntosh’s homemade chokecherry wine was coming to an end. Only six bottles to last until fall. Every year, I let Sadie put some of her preservatives in my store in exchange for her wine. Usually I end up buying most of it so she won’t feel too bad so technically, I pay for the wine. Fortunately, she knows how to make wine so I don’t mind.

  “Probably nothing will happen to them, Flori. Your kids went through that stage too. At least, these kids are in sight. Yours weren’t always. Remember when little Jake stole a skateboard? And, let’s not forget the girls – remember when Rachel got that tattoo and you didn’t find out until just a year or so ago.” I took another swallow and looked over at Flori.

  By the look of dismay on her face, you’d think she was on the Titanic and the captain told her they’d just hit an iceberg.

  “Tattoo? What tattoo?”

  “You knew about Rachel’s tattoo, Flori. I’m sure I told you. Or, was it Jake? Oh, sorry, maybe I told Jake. Anyway it’s over and done with and it shows how kids can do foolish things but change.”

  Tears were welling up in Flori’s eyes. “How could you have kept this from me, Mabel?” The tears flowed, the wine spilled and I drank.

  When the room was quiet again, I said, “I guess that’s why I didn’t want to tell you.”

  I filled her glass again and handed her a tea towel to sop up any puddles of wine that were lying around.

  “That isn’t all that I’m upset about, Mabel. That’s bad enough but I got a phone call from Mr. Kinney at the retirement home and he said that he won’t need me to go with the seniors. Not only that, he said Calvin will be taking them again. I can’t believe it.” She burst into tears again.

  “Calvin is going with them?”

  She nodded in between hiccoughs.

  “I thought they didn’t want him anymore. Did the lawsuit scare them?”

  She shrugged and nodded in between sniffles and snorts. “I guess.”

  “Oh boy, those old people won’t be too happy with that. But, why can’t you go? Are they sending them with Calvin and nobody else?”

  This time, she shook her head, took one last sniffle and said, “No, he said they have another lady all picked out.” She wailed. I waited. “Why don’t they want me anymore, Mabel? I thought I was very good with all of them.”

  “You were. You were better than anyone else was. I don’t know, Flori. This is very strange. But, don’t worry, I’ll ask Reg about it.”

  “Oh no, don’t ask him. Please, don’t tell anyone how I feel. Jake doesn’t even know. I mean it, Mabel, don’t tell anyone, okay?”

  I smiled. “Okay. I won’t. Let’s finish our wine and talk about positive things. For instance, Bernie’s murder. Reg and I really do think we’re getting closer to finding the killer. Do you want to hear about it?”

  “Mabel, when I say that I want to talk about positive things, I don’t mean murder. Isn’t there anything good to talk about?”

  “Well, Esther was in today and told me why all the tourists left. I guess that’s positive.”

  “Why did all the tourists leave?”

  “Some old couple said that, as Esther put it, ruffians were roaming the streets of Parson’s Cove so they decided to return after the murderer has been captured.”

  “There aren’t ruffians roaming the streets at night. Where would they come up with a story like that?”

  “Oh, who knows? The world is full of silly people.”

  Chapter Thirty

  Sunday morning.

  Sunday morning arrived with its usual warm welcome. I tried to sleep longer but by seven-thirty, it was already stuffy and hot in my bedroom. The only cat who braved the heat and stayed with me for the night was Phyl but before six, she got up, stretched the full length of her body, jumped off the bed and left me. The small fan on the table faced my head and blew hot air in my ear. Finally, I gave in, got out of bed and had a lukewarm shower before heading downstairs.

  While the coffee brewed, I fed the cats. By the time the coffee was ready, the cats were ready to escape. I opened the door and they scattered like seven leaves in the wind. I guess after spending so much time together in the house, they need some ‘alone time.’ I know I sure did.

  It was so much cooler in the shade outsi
de than inside that I decided to enjoy my coffee sitting in my lawn chair in the back yard. I don’t have an especially great lawn or flowerbed but I do try to keep everything looking as manicured as I can. It’s nothing like my father used to have. For example, I don’t bother with a vegetable garden any more. I replaced it with a perennial garden. Usually, it’s blooming with flowers of every color but this summer because of the long dry hot period, I’m afraid most of the plants were looking dull and droopy. Some people get up and water early in the morning but I don’t. Every plant and tree in my yard has to be hardy and survive on its own. Mostly because I can’t afford a huge water bill to make my backyard that very few people see, look great. Unfortunately, I’ve found that the hardiest plants in my backyard are the quack grass and dandelions.

  There’s a fence separating my yard and Krueger’s yard. My father and Mr. Krueger built it over forty years ago. They don’t make fences like that anymore. I’ve added a few coats of paint over the years but it’s still sturdy and, as they say, it has endured the tests of time. There are several shrubs along the fence. I try to plant ones that blossom, smell nice, and last forever. For that reason, I have five lilac bushes planted exactly twelve feet apart along the inside of the fence. For several weeks in June the fragrance from the lilacs is so strong that I almost have to wear a clothespin on my nose every time I go outside. Not that I don’t like the scent – I love it; however, it turns out that it makes me sneeze but I don’t have the heart to rip out all of those shrubs. Besides, it does give me some privacy. From May to September, someone is usually renting Krueger’s house. Sometimes, I end up with noisy rambunctious neighbors who have three or four kids. Usually, however, it’s a couple of old coots who fish all day. They spend the days fishing and the evenings sitting in the backyard, drinking. There’s an old homemade barbeque pit back there and if things get too loud, I give Reg a call. He doesn’t appreciate it but I’ve found that all he has to do is come into my backyard and peer over the fence. Within ten minutes, everyone evacuates and only silence fills the night.

  Now, as I sat drinking my first cup of coffee, I was thinking how lovely and quiet it was with the latest renters. I wasn’t even sure if Jeff’s wife had arrived. They were definitely my kind of people. Just as I was thinking this and at the same time watching Sammy trying to sneak through the fence, I heard their back door open. A lilac bush hindered most of my view but I caught a glimpse of a young woman with white blond hair walking on the sidewalk along the back of the house. Perhaps, if I saw her outside again, I’d yell over and introduce myself.

  I waited until after ten to make a visit to Melanie. Reg hadn’t called so I didn’t know if he went over to see her or not. Besides, sometimes a woman will open up more to another woman. I wasn’t sure how it would go so I decided that I’d better take some muffins with me. I always feel that if they don’t let me in, it still opens the way for the next visit.

  It turned out that I wouldn’t have needed them because before I even knocked, Melanie opened the door.

  “Mabel,” she said. “I’ve been waiting and waiting for you to visit.” She grabbed my arm and pulled me inside.

  The kitchen was cool and dark. The whole house felt cold and gloomy. Even if all the blinds were up and the sun was shining in, I think it wouldn’t have made a difference. She kept her hand on my arm and steered me into the living room. We sat down on the couch.

  “Are you all alone?” I asked.

  She nodded. There were tears in her eyes. She blinked them away.

  “You know I have to stay here, don’t you? I can’t leave Parson’s Cove. Did you know that, Mabel?”

  “Well, I sort of figured that out. Don’t they have any other suspects in Bernie’s murder?”

  She sniffed and shook her head. “If they do, no one tells me.” The tears she’d been blinking away now poured out. I put my bag of muffins on the coffee table and handed her a Kleenex from a box on the table. I guess she was keeping them handy.

  “Oh Mabel, why did I ever make that stupid confession? What was I thinking? It was all so confusing. I threw that stone at him. For some reason, I thought I must’ve killed him. I mean, who else would?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know. Something must’ve been going on. Something you weren’t aware of. You said that Bernie was always washing his car. When did that start, do you remember?”

  She was silent for a few minutes, thinking.

  “I don’t know what that has to do with the murder but Mabel, I do remember when Bernie started acting weird.”

  “He started acting weird?”

  She nodded. “It kind of struck me strange at the time too, now that I think about it. He took an old pair of shoes over to Scooter to have him replace the soles. When he picked them up a couple of days later, he came home with the wrong pair. They looked exactly like Bernie’s but they were someone else’s. Bernie was very upset because the soles were falling off this pair so he thought Scooter was pulling a fast one on him. The next thing you know, Scooter is phoning, cussing and swearing and he got Bernie all upset. I mean, what’s the big deal about an old pair of stinky boots, right? You’d think Bernie was the one who’d made the mistake. Anyway, Bernie hurried back with those boots and I didn’t see him until the next morning.”

  “Are you serious? Weren’t you worried?”

  Melanie looked down at her hands. “I guess I might as well tell you, Mabel, that Bernie and I were having some marriage problems.” She raised her head. “There were quite a few nights where he would go out and not come home so, no I wasn’t worried. Angry? Yes. I always wondered if he was out drinking with his buddies or if he was with some woman.” She stopped to wipe away a few tears that trickled down her cheek. “I was thinking about divorcing him and I guess eventually it would’ve come to that. At first, he wanted to go for marriage counseling but the last month or so, he showed no interest in saving our marriage at all. He said I could do whatever I wanted.” Tears ran down her face but she didn’t seem to notice. “That’s not what a woman wants to hear. I wanted to stick it out. I thought if we could get through this bad time, things could only get better.”

  “What did your parents think?”

  “My parents? They’ve hated Bernie from the start. To begin with, they’re very prejudiced. Did you know that? Remember Beulah Henry? They wouldn’t even buy any of her produce when she displayed it outside your store in the summer because she was black.”

  “You’re kidding! They hated Beulah? She was murdered and her own son was involved, how could anyone hate her?”

  “I know, Mabel, but I’ve lived with it all my life.”

  “How do they feel about someone killing Bernie?”

  “Well, they try to be sympathetic but I know that deep inside, they’re probably glad that he’s gone and they don’t have to deal with him anymore.”

  “What do you mean, deal with him?”

  She sighed. “Bernie brought on a lot of his own problems. He didn’t practice his faith but he liked to pretend in front of my parents. When he came for a meal, he wouldn’t eat any pork and my mother would make sure she always had pork or ham just to bug him.”

  “Do you think your brother might’ve hit Bernie on the head in a fit of rage or frustration?”

  “I don’t know. If he did, I’m sure it would be by accident but he would never let me take the blame. No, it couldn’t have been Steve.”

  “You said that Bernie started acting weird after Scooter gave him the wrong boots. Why do you think that was?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know. He started spending more and more time with them. I’d hear him arguing over the phone but when I walked in, he’d hang up.”

  “How do you know he was talking to Scooter?”

  “I’d hear his name. It was either Scooter or Calvin.”

  “Really? Scooter or Calvin? I wonder what they would be arguing about?”

  “Money. At least, that’s what I think. Bernie was always concerned abo
ut money. He bragged to me about showing up my parents. He always thought they had lots of money but were just stingy. My parents aren’t rich, Mabel, but for some reason Bernie thought so. I think maybe that’s why he married me.”

  “Well, that and agreeing to swim in the nude probably helped.”

  “Don’t remind me. How could I be so foolish, Mabel?”

  “You were young, that’s all.”

  “But look at you, Mabel. You’re the smart one. I wish I were you.”

  “You want to live alone with seven cats?”

  I didn’t want to add to her depression but at the moment that sounded pretty good to me too.

  “I’m allergic to cats but you know what I mean. You were strong enough to fend off all the men who were after you and you stayed single. I think that’s wonderful. Now, look at you. You have your own business and you’ve solved murder cases. You should be so proud of yourself.”

  Melanie was revealing things to me that I’d never known. For instance, when were all those men chasing after me? It’s true, I think I did make the most of my singleness but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t feel sorry for myself once in awhile along the way.

  “Melanie,” I said. “You keep looking at your watch. Are you expecting someone?”

  She quickly covered her watch with her sleeve again. “I’m sorry; I didn’t want to be so obvious but Captain Maxymowich and Reg are supposed to come over this morning.”

  “Reg? Reg is coming with Maxymowich?”

  She nodded. “Apparently, Reg asked to come over too. He thought I’d feel more at ease with a policeman from Parson's Cove and I told the Captain that I would. Do you think it would be a good idea for them to see you here?”

  I smiled and stood up. “Probably not. By the way, I think you should tell them about Bernie’s involvement with Calvin and Scooter. And, the shoes. Don’t forget to tell them about Bernie getting the wrong shoes. I have a feeling that’s going to be important.”