Morning Glory Circle

by Pamela Grandstaff

  Scott thought he got the gist of the letter, but wanted to be sure.

  “She inferred that Tony is gay.”

  “She used an awful word, a word I would not repeat to you, to anyone.”

  “Did she ask for money?”

  “No, she didn’t. It was meant to hurt me, to ruin my relationship with my beautiful son, but it was not blackmail.”

  “When did you get the letter?”

  “Tuesday. Salvatore picks up the mail, but it was addressed to me. I didn’t tell him about this. It would kill him to even think it might be true. It’s not true! Anthony has had many girlfriends. He recently broke up with a young woman who lives in Pittsburgh; he used to go see her on the weekends. I never met the girl but she was lovely, he said so. She came from a nice family, unfortunately they were not Catholic, and she would not convert. Anthony knows how I feel about these things. He would never marry someone outside our faith.”

  “Did you try to contact Margie?”

  “I didn’t know it was from this woman. It was written on a typewriter with no signature. After I told Anthony about it he told me about her visit to his office, and her threats. That’s when we knew who it must be. Then she is dead so there is no one to confront.”

  She shrugged as if to say, “and that was that.”

  “So there was no contact from her before or after you received the letter?”

  “No, none. If she had come to me for money I would have slapped her face. I would have spat on her. Such disrespect, and to my husband, a town council member and a respected businessman in this town for so many years. God forgive me, may she rest in peace, but if she had lived, well, I might have killed her myself.”

  “Mrs. Delvecchio,” Scott said. “I’m investigating her murder. Please try to be more careful what you say.”

  “I’m an emotional woman, Scott. Pay no attention to what I say. When I’m upset I say things I shouldn’t. It’s the Sicilian blood; it runs hot when my family is threatened. Please forgive me.”

  “And you didn’t tell Tony about this until today.”

  “Yes, we are so close, you know, I can’t hide anything from him. Nor he from me.”

  “I appreciate you talking to me. I wish you had kept the letter.”

  “You won’t tell anyone about it. What it said, I mean.”

  “I can’t see any reason to.”

  “Lies!” she hissed as she pulled the sweater draped around her shoulders closer around her. “Wicked lies.”

  Scott thanked her and left the community center.

  The bar caravan stayed open until 10:00 p.m., but Maggie closed the bakery caravan at 8:00 p.m. and Tommy helped her carry the money and leftovers back to the bakery. She passed Caroline on her way out. It was the first time Maggie had seen her without Drew attached to her hip.

  “Hey!” Caroline called out cheerfully, “I’ve been trying to reach you all day!”

  Maggie just kept walking, leaving Caroline staring after her.

  “Verbally assaulting one Eldridge sister per day is my new limit,” Maggie told Tommy.

  The bakery had closed at 6:00 p.m., and it was dark inside when Maggie unlocked and opened the front door. She had just set the cash box down on the front counter when she heard something in the kitchen, and the hair stood up on the back of her neck. A metal pan or bowl hit the floor back there, and Maggie sent Tommy running out the front door, saying loudly, “Go to the diner and ask Pauline to call Scott.”

  Tommy met Ed coming out of the diner.

  “What’s happened?” he asked, seeing Tommy’s face.

  “There’s someone hiding in the bakery,” he said breathlessly. “Maggie’s still in there.”

  Ed hurried back with him while dialing Scott on his cell phone. Maggie had turned all the lights on and was standing just inside the front door, holding a long wooden rolling pin like a baseball bat. They all waited there until Scott arrived, thankfully without Sarah.

  Scott’s first concern was Maggie, and as soon as he saw she was okay, he led the way to the kitchen. Scott slowly swung open the door and flipped on the light, but whoever it was had gone. The back door was standing wide open, letting big gusts of frigid air and swirling snow into the room.

  The noise Maggie had heard was a pan of brownies, left out to cool with a dishtowel over them, flipped over onto the floor. Maggie got a broom and dustpan to clean up while Scott looked around in the alley.

  “Looks like whoever it was is long gone,” Scott said, noting the large, wet boot prints left on the kitchen tile. He examined the door but it didn’t seem to have been forced.

  “The backdoor locks automatically every time you close it,” Maggie told him, “so I know Mom didn’t leave it unlocked. I came in the front, which was also locked.”

  “Who has keys?” Scott asked her.

  “Everyone in the family,” Maggie said.

  Scott suggested they change the locks. Ed called Sonny Delvecchio, who owned the hardware store, and he said he’d be down in a few minutes.

  The adrenaline rush quickly wore off and Maggie felt herself go rubbery-legged and suddenly unable to deal with one more thing. Tears filled her eyes, so she turned and began wiping down the counter in order to hide them. Scott thanked Ed and nodded toward the door.

  “I think I’ll walk Tommy home,” Ed said. “But if you need anything, Maggie, you just call me.”

  Maggie thanked him but didn’t turn around.

  As soon as he heard the front door shut, Scott came up behind Maggie, put his arms around her, and said, “Are you okay?”

  Maggie wriggled out of his arms, saying, “If you are nice to me right now, I swear I will blubber like an idiot.”

  “I don’t mind,” he said, and she threw a towel at him.

  “I mean it,” she said. “Sonny will be here any minute and I can’t fall apart right now. I have too much to do. Tell me what’s going on with you.”

  Scott hopped up to sit on the stainless steel worktable and rubbed his eyes, looking just as exhausted as Maggie felt. Maggie gave him a plate full of ham and cheese turnovers to eat, and he realized just how starved he was. She put on a pot of coffee, and he gratefully accepted that as well.

  “You probably know more than I do,” Scott said, and Maggie nodded, agreeing.

  “How’s Tiny Crimefighter?” she asked.

  “Same as always,” Scott said. “She’s pissed at having to lower herself to investigate our rinky-dink crime, doesn’t understand why she can’t insult the truth out of everyone, and thinks I’m just barely bright enough to handle it on my own.”

  “But she’d still like to sleep with you,” Maggie said.

  Scott laughed, though he blushed as well. There was a knock on the front door and they found Sean outside.

  “Ed told us what happened,” he said. “I’m here to help.”

  Scott left Sean with Maggie to wait for Sonny, and went back to the festival.

  “I’d forgotten how handsome he is,” Sean teased her after Scott left. “A man in uniform, too.”

  Maggie swatted him, saying, “Hands off, buddy, he’s mine.”

  And with that exchange Sean Fitzpatrick finally communicated to his sister Maggie that he was in fact gay, and Maggie, who had already figured it out, reassured him that it was fine with her.

  Sonny arrived and was surprised to see Sean, who was in his youngest brother Paul’s class in school.

  “These are old locks,” he said after he examined them.

  “Probably the originals,” Sean said.

  Maggie called her mother to tell her what had happened, but insisted she didn’t need to come back over to the bakery. Maggie locked up the deposit in the safe and did some prep work for the next day. Sean talked to Sonny while he worked. Once Sonny finished, he gave Maggie two keys for each door, and said he would bring more copies the next morning. When Maggie asked him how much she owed him, he shook his head.

  “This one’s on me,” he said. “Professional cou
rtesy.”

  Maggie quickly loaded him up with all the baked goods she could fit in the largest box.

  Sonny shook hands with Sean, picked up the hefty box, and left.

  The bakery phone rang and Sean answered it. He listened intently for half a minute and then said, “will do,” and hung up.

  “Patrick asked if you would check on Ava,” Sean told Maggie. “He’s worried about her.”

  “How come?”

  “She left the festival in a hurry this afternoon and he hasn’t been able to get her on the phone.”

  “Alright,” Maggie said with a sigh. “Just what I need, one more thing to do.”

  “Tell you what. I’ll take the keys to Mom, help Patrick until closing, and then meet you at Ava’s. You got a couch I can sleep on tonight?”

  “I do.”

  “I’ll see you in a little bit.”

  “Sean,” Maggie said, as her brother turned to leave, “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  “Me too,” he said, and smiled as he went.

  Maggie hurried over to the B&B, and found her sister-in-law standing in the kitchen looking out the back door. When she turned around, Maggie thought Ava looked ill.

  “What’s wrong?” Maggie asked.

  Ava got up and closed the door to the family room, where the kids were watching a television show, then also closed the door to the public area, where the two teenage girls were working, so they wouldn’t be overheard. Maggie put the kettle on for tea, and when she handed a mug to Ava she could see her hands were shaking.

  “Mrs. Turner stopped by the mitten fishing game this afternoon, to bring Timmy to me, and to tell me she saw a strange man approach him at the festival.”

  “Oh, Ava, no. What happened?”

  “Mrs. Turner said she saw a man walk up to Timmy and try to take his hand, and that Timmy yelled ‘no’ just like I taught him to. Mrs. Turner called out and the man took off, and Timmy ran to her. He was very upset.”

  “Where was he when this happened?”

  “He was supposed to be with Charlotte, but he wandered off, apparently. Mrs. Turner said he was over close to the mobile home park.”

  Maggie felt nauseated, and now understood why Ava looked so ill.

  “Is he okay?”

  “Yes, he’s okay. I haven’t told you the worst part yet. He said he’s seen this man before.”

  “Where?”

  “At the school, watching him on the playground. He says the man is a pirate.”

  “A pirate?” Maggie said with a dubious look.

  “I asked him what the man looked like and he said, ‘a pirate.’ He was asking Scott the other day if he had ever arrested any pirates, and I didn’t think anything of it. Oh my God, Maggie. He could have…”

  She started crying then, and Maggie hurried around the island to hug her.

  “I don’t want them to see me like this,” Ava gasped between sobs.

  Maggie could feel herself coming close to tears as well. There was too much happening all at once, and they were all so tired.

  “Run upstairs, get it all out, wash your face, and I will wait here. Go!” she commanded.

  Ava did as she was told, and Maggie immediately called Scott.

  Much later, after the kids had gone to bed, Patrick, Sean, Scott, Maggie, and Ava sat around the kitchen island, discussing the events of the afternoon.

  “Timmy said the man had a beard, mustache, earrings, and long curly hair,” Ava said. “I didn’t want to push him too hard, but I did ask him to draw a picture of the man, and as he did he described him to me. He said the man had long red hair like Aunt Maggie’s.”

  Ava showed them the picture, drawn with crayons. It did indeed look like a six-year-old boy’s version of a pirate with wild red curly hair.

  “I talked to Mrs. Turner, and she confirmed the red beard, but said he was wearing a toboggan so she couldn’t see his hair,” Scott said. “I called the principle and he’s going to alert the teachers. I’ll have Skip and Frank take turns keeping watch at the school next week.”

  “It’s Brian,” Patrick said, and there was an audible intake of breath from everyone.

  “If Brian’s been living on Bimini for the last six years,” Scott said, “he could easily have grown long hair like Maggie’s and may very well look just like a pirate.”

  “But why would he sneak around?” Sean asked.

  “He’s trying to kidnap Timmy,” Ava suggested. “To get the money Theo left me.”

  “He should be easy to spot,” Patrick said quietly.

  Patrick was being much calmer about this than Maggie thought he would be. His quiet demeanor scared Maggie more than if he was yelling and breaking furniture.

  “It may have been Brian who broke into the bakery,” Maggie suggested. “He could still have a key to it.”

  “And to the station and the bar,” Patrick said.

  “And to this place,” Ava said.

  Scott dialed Sonny, who luckily had not yet gone to bed. Patrick left to meet him at the Rose and Thorn and Scott agreed to stay with Ava until they returned to change her locks.

  Sean walked home with Maggie.

  “Why wouldn’t he just show up and say, ‘I’m back?’” Sean asked her. “Sure, everyone was pissed he left, but he didn’t commit any crime.”

  Maggie told Sean about the blackmail photos of Brian and Phyllis Davis that she had discovered in the late Theo Eldridge’s safe. She also told him about the huge loan Brian had taken from Theo, using life insurance on his wife and children as collateral, and how he cleaned out their savings account after he left.

  “You think he sold his disappearance to Theo?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “So he’s not likely to get a hero’s welcome,” he said, “and certainly not open arms from Ava.”

  “I think it’s safe to say that marriage is over.”

  “Still,” Sean said, “if it is Brian sneaking around, he must have done something more than cheat on Ava. Adultery may be despicable, but it’s not illegal. The worst we could accuse him of is abandonment. We could sue him for back child support, but he wouldn’t go to jail unless he refused to pay. No, there must be something bigger he’s running from.”

  “Ava thinks he wants to kidnap the kids.”

  “Or kill her to get the money Theo left her,” Sean suggested.

  “I hadn’t even thought of that!” Maggie said. “That’s pretty morbid.”

  “I work with greedy relatives all the time,” he said. “Even perfectly sane people can go a little crazy when a lot of money is involved.”

  “I guess we don’t know what he’s capable of,” Maggie said.

  “Has Ava written a new will since she got Theo’s bequest?” Sean asked.

  “I never thought to ask her,” Maggie said. “I don’t know.”

  “Do you think she would mind if I talked to her about it?” Sean asked.

  “Ava doesn’t offend easily,” Maggie said. “If it would protect her kids she’d be anxious to do it.”

  Maggie didn’t have to worry about Brian breaking into her bookstore because it was armed from the floor to the ceiling with security devices, plus smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Since her house burned down, Maggie didn’t believe in taking any chances.

  “Are you sorry now you came back?” Maggie asked him, as she let him into her apartment above the bookstore.

  Sean collapsed on her couch with his coat still on.

  “No,” he said. “Looks like I’m just in time for a Fitzpatrick family reunion.”

  Maggie fell back into her favorite cushy armchair and put her feet up on the ottoman.

  “I hope he hasn’t already broken into the bar or the service station,” she said. “There’s been a lot of money coming in this weekend.”

  “Should we warn Mom and Dad?” Sean asked.

  “No point,” Maggie said. “If Brian shows up at home he’ll be welcome.”

  “The prodigal son returns,” Sean
said.

  “It’s a two for one special this weekend,” Maggie said.

  Maggie closed her eyes and could feel herself falling asleep. She was so tired she felt dizzy.

  “I told Patrick I’m gay and he seems okay about it,” Sean said.

  “Good, I’m glad,” Maggie said, with her eyes still closed. “How’d that subject come up?”

  “He asked me why I never come home, and I told him it’s because I’m gay.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He said, ‘I figure you guys are born that way and can’t help it,’ and then changed the subject.”

  “Our Patrick, he has such a way with words.”

  “It’s actually a pretty insulting thing to say because it implies being gay is some kind of birth defect, but I think he meant well. It could have been worse, I guess.”

  “I know he seems like a stupid jock,” Maggie said, “but he’s really pretty smart and has a good heart.”

  “He’s definitely improved with age. I think I’ll tackle Mom and Dad separately.”

  “It will be fine.”

  “Probably not, but thanks for saying that.”

  They were quiet for a few minutes, and Maggie thought that maybe Sean had fallen asleep.

  “Is there anyone special for you back in Pittsburgh?” she asked.

  “There used to be,” Sean said, “but not for awhile now.”

  Maggie thought about all the single men in Rose Hill. There weren’t that many, and she had no idea if any of them were gay.

  “Sonny Delvecchio’s wife just left him,” Maggie said. “I know he’s not handsome but he’s really nice.”

  “You have him, then,” Sean said, as he threw a pillow at her. “I prefer his brother Tony.”

  Ed Harrison kissed Mandy long and hard before leaving her mobile home in the wee hours of the morning. His dog Hank stood nearby, peeing on a shrub.

  “You could stay,” she said. “Tommy doesn’t care.”

  “I care,” Ed said. “I don’t want people gossiping about you.”

  “I don’t care about that,” Mandy said, but let him go, closing the door behind him.