Murder Well Done

by Constance Barker

  Ya think? “That might be a good idea, Junior.”

  Before he could get out of the car, I noticed people on the street waving to us as they passed by, and more cars were coming into the lot for ballroom dancing and haircuts. The barbershop was open late on Thursdays.

  “On second thought, Junior. Just leave your car where it is.” I got out of the car and motioned for him to do the same. I went around to his side of the car and put the donuts, fedora, and sunglasses inside on the seat. “Why don’t you leave your suit jacket here too? It’s a warm night...you’ll be too hot.”

  “Where are we going?” He reluctantly took off his suit jacket, covered in powdered sugar, and put it in the car.

  The parking lot was right next to Julia Ridley’s little coffee shop, Moonbucks, which had a big picture window in the front. “We’re going to sit at the window in the coffee shop. We’ll have a perfect view and won’t draw as much attention to ourselves.”

  “But how are people going to know we’re spies if they don’t see me in my spy suit?”

  Maybe Junior didn’t understand the concept of spying very well.

  “It’s all in the attitude on your face and the confidence in your walk, Junior.” I gave him a steely look. “Let’s go. Head up, and strut like you’re on a mission.”

  I took his big arm in both of my hands, and we walked across the lot. Just as we approached the corner of the coffee shop, two teenagers on bicycles came zooming around from the sidewalk and almost ran us down. They kept going right through the lot and then around the back of the building into the alley.

  “Kids these days!” Junior said. “Do you know who they were, Mercy?”

  “Not sure. They both had baseball caps on, and their heads were down, so the visor blocked my view.”

  “The second one was a girl, Merse.”

  “Really?”

  “It was a girl’s bike, and she had a bun under her cap. Plus, she was wearing flowery perfume.”

  I was impressed. And there was a hint of perfume in the air. “That’s a pretty good observation there, Detective. Too bad we’re not here to stakeout kids on bicycles.”

  It was fairly busy downtown at this time of day. There was a lot of foot traffic, with people heading for the gym and barbershop or picking up a few last-minute items at the grocery store for dinner. The ATM in the bank lobby, a few doors down from the barbershop, seemed to be busy as well, and people who were at the office during the day were stopping into the Realty House too. The after-work crowd was also in full-force here at Moonbucks, sipping on coffee and chatting with friends.

  “We better grab two stools at the window before we get in line, Junior.”

  “Sit down, sit down!” a friendly voice said behind me. It was shop owner, Julia Ridley. “I haven’t seen you here in ages, Mercy! Hi, Junior! Are you two...together now? I thought you and the Sheriff...” She was trying to hide her disbelief behind a smile.

  “Junior and I? Oh, Julia...”

  “Yes, Ms. Ridley...Mercy is my fiancé.” Junior was getting his steely spy face down a little too well.

  Julia gasped.

  “Oh, he’s just kidding, Julia. I’m still with Brody. We just thought we’d come here to talk about a project I have in mind, adding a little shed to my garage. It’s hard to get anything accomplished at the diner...so many distractions and interruptions when it’s your own place. You know how it is.”

  She looked relieved. “Of course, Mercy. We’ll have to catch up soon.”

  “Absolutely – stop by for lunch sometime. Say, I hear you might be getting a fancy new coffee machine.”

  “Well, I don’t know. I’m going to look at a couple tomorrow. But the younger set in Paint Creek is starting to demand their lattes and espressos, you know. Coffee, Mercy?”

  “Yes, please – give me the bottomless cup. I’ll grab some cream from the condiment bar. Junior?”

  He had his nose wrinkled and a concerned expression. “Do I have to drink coffee on a stakeout?”

  “And lemonade for Junior – a pitcher.”

  Julia went to get our order herself, as the baristas were swamped.

  “So, how come you ruined my story about us being engaged? It was a great cover story.”

  “Yes, it would have been a good cover, Junior. But Brody and I run into Julia fairly often at the country club, so it would have seemed suspicious.”

  He bobbled his head from side to side. “Whatever. And I didn’t know you wanted some work done on your garage. I thought you had plenty of room in there.”

  “That was our cover story, Junior.”

  He thought for a second. “Oh...I get it. I’m in construction, and you have a garage.”

  We had only been sipping on our beverages for a minute when something across the street caught Junior’s eye. “Hey, the mayor’s wife just came out of the real estate place...”

  I looked and saw Elena. She turned and looked back to the real estate office, and her husband came out to join her. “And Bud is right behind her. Looks like he’s still chatting with Joan inside.”

  “There they go now, upstairs to the yoga place.”

  That’s interesting. Maybe Joan is in cahoots with Bud and Elena. I really hope not.

  “Fire! Fire!”

  Everyone stood up immediately, ready to make their escape, as a young worker ran in the back door hollering about a fire.

  “No, no! It’s outside, in the dumpster,” he said. “It’s not close to the building...sorry...sit down, you guys.”

  Julia grabbed the fire extinguisher from the wall mount and followed him back out the door toward the alley. Junior and I followed. The fire must have been burning for several minutes, and the flames leapt high above the dumpster. Julia sprayed it with the extinguisher, but it was too hot to get close. She could only spray the flames above the dumpster and not the garbage that was burning inside. The defiant flames continued their haughty dance.

  “I got this,” Junior said calmly. He pulled a juice carton out of the bag of garbage that the worker had dropped when he saw the fire and used it protect his hand from the hot dumpster lid. He lifted the cover, bending away from the heat, and let it slam down on the flaming trash bin. The flames curled out around the edges of the lid for a moment and then subsided. Then Junior lifted the lid halfway and motioned with his head for Julia give it a shot with the extinguisher.

  “Stan is on his way,” I said. “Do we need to call the fire department?”

  “Don’t call the emergency line, Merse,” Junior said. “Stan will get someone here to make sure it’s not going to start burning again. They’ve got it down to a system now. And they want to preserve things for the, you know, science guys.”

  Maybe Junior had been doing his homework on these fires.

  “What are these?” I asked, looking at some marks on the tar in front of the dumpster.

  “Looks like skid marks from a bicycle...or two,” Junior said. “They had been going pretty fast and then slammed on their brakes right in front of the dumpster. Looks like some tread marks in the gravel over there when they were riding away.”

  Junior and I looked at each other. Maybe we should have been here to stakeout teenagers on bicycles.

  Chapter Ten

  It had been such a stressful few days, so I decided to come home after the breakfast rush was over. I needed time to relax and think about all of the details that seemed to be coming at me at 100 miles an hour. The fire, the body, the autopsy evidence, the council connection, the other fires, the mayor and his wife at Joan Pianowski’s office, and then the fire at Julia’s coffee shop. Were two teenagers on bicycles really our murderers? I just couldn’t make sense out of it all. The pieces just didn’t seem to fit. Something was missing.

  I called Brody and asked him to stop by when he had a chance, and he said wanted to talk to me about the stakeout too and would be by in a couple hours.

  I threw in a load of laundry and then sat on the tufted armchair in the living room
. “So, who killed Tom Hopkins and started all those fires, Wizard?”

  His theories were worse than Junior’s.

  “No, I don’t think some guy from Indiana just decided to swoop into Paint Creek and randomly kill somebody and create havoc in our little town – although that would explain why the evidence doesn’t paint a nice cohesive picture.”

  My cell phone rang as I paused to actually consider the possibility that this was all just a random crime spree. It was Ruby calling, and that made me smile. “Hello there, girl.”

  “Hi, neighbor! I saw your car in the driveway, and thought you might want to...”

  “...find out the juicy details of your date with Troy last night. Yes! Come on over.”

  “Are you sure? I don’t want to bother you if you’ve got things to do.”

  “Please, come over, Ruby. I need someone to talk to – and bring your dog. I’d like to meet him.”

  “Oh, I don’t know. I mean, she’s been professionally trained, but...”

  “Just bring him...uh, her! The coffee is ready.”

  Ten seconds later, the doorbell rang. That can’t be Brody yet... I opened the door with a curious look still on my face.

  “Ruby! That was fast.”

  “Well, I called when I saw your car, just as we were getting back from our walk, so I just came right here instead of going home first. This is Goldie.”

  “Oh! Come in,” I said, a bit cautiously. “Your ‘little pooch’ is a full-size golden retriever.”

  “She’s a Yellow Labrador, actually. Golden Retrievers usually have longer fur, and I’m pretty sure that Labs are smarter. Yeah, I kind of figured you were expecting a little Chihuahua in my purse.”

  “I guess I was.” Goldie was still on her leash, so I opened the door all the way. “Hopefully she doesn’t have a taste for Hamsters!”

  “Don’t worry, Wizard and Gracie are safe! Put out your open palm and let her sniff it. Goldie, this is my friend, Mercy.”

  Goldie sniffed my hand and then kind of did a little sneeze and licked my hand.

  “There...okay now, shake hands...now you’re friends for life. She’ll never forget you – and since you’re my friend, she’ll protect you too. Goldie, sit...stay.”

  She sat obediently by the front door as we moved to the sofa.

  “So, you wear a dress to walk your dog?”

  “I like dresses. They’re comfortable – and I’m a girl!”

  Yes, and I’m a “ma’am.”

  Goldie whimpered once as we sat down.

  “Okay, you can lie down, Goldie,” Ruby told her.

  “Oh, let her come over and lie by our feet. She’s one of the girls.”

  One nod from her master, and Goldie was there.

  I had the thermal pot and two cups on the coffee table, and I poured the steamy beverage. I also set out a handful of vanilla wafers on a glass serving plate, and picked one up.

  “These aren’t your family recipe, Rube, but they’re great for dunking. So – dish, girl! How was your date?”

  “It was...nice.”

  “Not exactly a ringing endorsement, Ruby.”

  “No! I mean...it was really nice. Troy’s a great guy. He has a lot of samples of restaurant equipment in his car, but he cleaned out the front seat for me.”

  “Well, that was nice of him...”

  “He spent a lot of time texting on his phone at first trying to cancel a delivery or something, but he couldn’t get a hold of them. But then he let it go, and we had a good time. We had a bite to eat at a really fun little burger place on the way. Then we had a couple Margaritas and danced at the club he brought me to. It seems like he knows everybody wherever he goes, and everybody knows him too. I met some really nice people.”

  “And afterwards...?”

  “Well, the moon was almost full, and he knew this place with a beautiful view at night, overlooking a lake with the moonlight reflecting on the ripples. It was beautiful.”

  “Mmhm.” I paused and gave her a look that she understood. “And...?”

  “Well, there might have been a little kissing.”

  “Yes! Okay, Ruby...details!”

  She looked like she was getting a little uncomfortable, but friends talk about everything, right? Okay, so we’ve only been friends for a day, but still.

  Then the doorbell rang.

  “Oh, crud.”

  Ruby smiled and let out a sigh of relief. “Saved by the bell!”

  I opened the door.

  “Brody! That was a short couple of hours. Come in!” I gave him a kiss on the cheek, and he gave me a nice squeeze. “I wasn’t expecting you for a while yet.”

  “Well, I thought it would probably be better to talk to you first before I stop at Moonbucks.”

  “Hi, Brody,” Ruby greeted him. “You’re going to Moonbucks? That’s where Troy should be right now, so give him some time to sell her a new coffee machine.”

  “And maybe a new security system, after what happened last night,” I added. “I’ll tell you about it in a while, Ruby.”

  Brody got two steps inside before Goldie was sitting at attention by Ruby and letting out a low growl. Ruby started to introduce Goldie to Brody, but I cut her off and shook my head.

  “This is Ruby’s dog, Goldie, Brody. She only likes special people.” I got down on one knee, hugged her neck, and let her lick my face. “Isn’t that right, girl?”

  I stood up, and Brody put his arm around me, which got another growl and one bark from my new protector.

  “She can probably smell the treachery in your heart, Brody.”

  He tried to reach out to pet Goldie’s head, but she let out some more controlled but scary growls and barks. Then he held out his open palm to her.

  “Hi, there, Goldie. I’m Brody.”

  She sniffed, sneezed, and licked, and then she let him pet her head.

  “How did you know what to do, Mr. Smarty Pants?”

  “I was a dog in a past life.”

  Just don’t let me find out you’re a dog in this life too...

  The conversation turned to the investigation, of course, and I told Brody and Ruby everything I could remember about my stakeout with Junior last night.

  Ruby looked distraught. “That’s so scary, Mercy. I thought Paint Creek would be an idyllic little paradise.”

  “It is,” I assured her, putting my hand on hers. “I grew up here, and this is just a passing fluke.”

  “We’re getting it figured out, Ruby.” Brody was coming back from the refrigerator with a small bottle of apple juice.

  “It’s looks like you feel pretty much at home here, Sheriff.” Ruby said with a sly grin. “I guess you must be spending a lot of time here.”

  “Oh, no – I’m the Sheriff. I do this at everybody’s house.”

  “Right.”

  “But anyway, ladies, there have been sightings of kids on bikes around three or four of the fires in the towns around here. And we got some information back from the lab on the evidence from some of the dumpsters.”

  “Is this a gang of killers on bicycles? Or what?”

  “I really doubt it. If there was an MS13 gang around here, or something like that, we’d be seeing a lot more brutal and bloody crimes of violence. I just can’t figure out why there was one body in the first fire and then a dozen more fires with no bodies.”

  “Yeah,” that was befuddling me too, “It’s not like the other fires are going to draw attention away from the murder. And the more fires they start, the more clues they leave and the better chance they have of getting caught.”

  “Exactly.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Ruby crossed her legs and sipped her coffee as the conversation continued. That caught Brody’s eye, and I saw him look her up and down in that way that guys do without even being aware that they’re doing it.

  “So, what have you learned from the crime scene investigators, Sheriff?” she asked. “You said you’ve seen some results.”

 
The doorbell rang again, and I got up to see who it was. “My goodness, it’s like Grand Central Station around here today!”

  It was Deloris. She ran home from the diner for an emergency hairspray application and decided to stop by to say hello to Gracie. For some reason, she liked her more than my little Wizard. Apparently, Goldie likes all women and didn’t pay any attention.

  “Sit down, Deloris. Coffee? Brody was just going to tell us some new information about the investigation.”

  “I already told you, Mercy, it was Liz who did it. And I don’t drink coffee after I’ve had my first shot of bourbon. It kills my buzz, and people get stupider and more annoying again.”

  “Oh! Okay, then.” Ruby and I looked at each other. “Well, I’m sure Liz was still at her salon last night when the fire started at the coffee house. We’re pretty sure it was some kids on bicycles.”

  “Maybe,” Brody added.

  “Well, then Liz put them up to it. What’s the new information, Sheriff?”

  “Well, there’s not a lot. But they found some fibers in front of some of the dumpsters involved...and inside some of the dumpsters where the fires were put out quickly or didn’t burn very well. There were a few of these fibers along with the soot and ashes on Tom Hopkins’ suit jacket too.”

  “What kind of fibers?” Ruby asked.

  “That’s the thing. They were mostly cotton or cotton blends, but they were not all from the same garment or carpet or whatever. They were mostly small, short fibers in a variety of colors, different thicknesses, different fabrics. There doesn’t seem to be a single source. There’s some Egyptian cotton from sheets, fuzz from sweatshirts, and even hair from lots of different people. Fur from cats and dogs too.”

  “That’s weird. So, did they use gasoline to get the fires going, or what?” Deloris asked.

  “No. In many of the fires, the accelerant used was the charcoal lighter fluid people use in their grills. But wherever the fibers were found – including the fire at the diner, Mercy – the accelerant was acetone.”

  “Bingo!” Deloris said triumphantly. “Ha! That’s why it smelled like a manicure when we found Tom. Acetone is nail polish remover, and Liz has plenty of that around her salon.”