by T. G. Hanson
Turning to watch the front door of the diner, Helen noticed Janet, Myra and Sue walking in. “Over here gals” she called out. She started to say something else but instead, she gasped and stood there with her mouth open while hitting Nyla on the arm.
“Nyla, oh Nyla look!” Turning to see what Helen was carrying on about, she only saw their friends coming through the door.
“Good lordy Helen, it's only the gals. Why are you so worked up?”
“No! Look again! It's that horrid old Henry Means! I had a feeling he was gonna show up here tonight. See Nyla, I should have brought my swatter in here!”
“Oh, stop your carrying on Helen. Henry has as much right to be here as anyone dear.”
Helen looked at Nyla with shock, “You’re pulling my leg, right? Why that man doesn't deserve to be in the same room as you after the way he’s been carrying on.”
“Oh Helen please, sit down and give it a rest will you. He's harmless and you're going to distract me to no end tonight if you don't stop your carrying on.”
Helen did as she was told but she made sure to give old Henry the stink eye before sitting back down, along with making swatting motions at him, and shaking her finger. I know you're up to no good you old fart she thought grinning to herself.
TEN
The stranger sat in his car near the back of the parking lot. He watched the people file into the little diner and thought, this girl has something good going on here. The place will be packed in another thirty minutes or so. Shame I’m going to have to ruin her nice little set up. He had already put part of his plan in motion and would add the second part tonight.
Good at what he did, he normally was not in a place for too long. But this one, well, this one was a bit tricky. He had yet to find out where Meg might be keeping the money. She must have the money stashed someplace she can get too easily like her home or work, he thought.
Climbing out of his rented car, he headed towards the alley behind the diner. Time to leave a little surprise for Emily, or Meg as she was calling herself now.
******
Henry Means had never attended one of the Mystery Dinners before and had no idea what to expect. He figured he could pay his ten dollars, find a place to sit in the back and go unnoticed. Good thing I put on my best pair of overhauls, he thought, as he watched people walking into the diner. No need to draw attention to myself by wearing the ones with holes in them.
Just as he walked in the door he heard that nosy old Helen woman yelling about him. When he noticed her making those swatting motions and pointing, he quickly slid behind someone else and found a seat as far away from her as possible. He didn't give a hoot about winning some stupid book or that awful murder box thing. He just wanted to keep an eye on Meg and see if he could find anything out about the tin.
After a while Henry found himself feeling like one of those sardines stuffed in a little metal can. He didn't like crowds and all the chattering. It was like sitting in a room with a bunch of geese. Maybe now is a good time to step out for a smoke and some fresh air. I’ve got a little bit of time before they start putting the food out I reckon. The room was warm and he was starting to get a headache.
Grabbing a seat on the wooden bench in front of the diner, Henry caught sight of a stranger walking towards the back alley. Wonder what he’s doing creeping around here. Suddenly Henry had the most horrible thought . . . I wonder if this guy is here looking for me? Maybe I’ll just mosey on over there and check him out. Henry walked around the corner, following the stranger into the alley behind the diner.
******
Helen turned to check up on Henry and saw him heading outside, cigarette in hand. Nasty man, nasty habit, she thought. Just before turning around, she also noticed a strange man outside the diner. It looked as if he was walking in the direction of the alley and it looked like Henry was following him.
A few minutes later Helen patted Nyla's arm several times, “Be right back going to the ladies.” Without waiting for Nyla’s response, she left the table and headed out the front door of the diner. Nyla was so busy arguing with Charles that she never heard Helen, let alone, realized she had left the table.
Helen walked out the front door and looked around the parking lot. I wonder if that stranger has something to do with our Meg? she thought.
Helen had never said a word to anyone about what she knew, nor did she think anyone else in town had recognized Meg. She wasn’t sure why but from the moment she saw Meg, she just knew it was her job to watch out for her.
Not seeing Henry or the stranger, Helen quickly walked over to Nyla’s car, grabbed her swatter from inside, and ran to look around the corner of the building. Not seeing either of the two men, she crept to the end of the building and peered around the corner into the alley.
******
Daisy, finishing up with her job for the night, looked around to find Kevin seated next to his father. I'm sure Kevin is going to ask me to marry him and if he does, I’ll be somebody in this town finally.
She knew his mom didn’t like her much but Kevin said that didn't matter. But if he doesn’t ask me to marry him then I’ve got a good backup plan. In fact, that might be a better plan than Kevin. She loved her folks but it was for sure time to leave the nest and Mystic Pines.
As she began to walk over to the table where Kevin was, Meg walked up to her and asked her to bring in two food carts from the store room outside. “Sure thing Meg, I'm just here to wait on everyone,” she grumbled. She headed to the back of the diner and walked outside into the alley.
******
Twenty minutes later Meg headed towards the back door looking for the food carts, wondering what was taking Daisy so long. Looking all flushed, Daisy was just coming back inside with the carts. “Are you staying for a while tonight Daisy, or are you leaving early?” asked Meg.
Daisy hadn’t answered right away. She was looking past Meg into the diner. She did answer the second-time Meg spoke to her. “I’m not sure.” then walked off towards the diner seating area.
Meg stared and called after her. “Okay do whatever you like. Lynn and Trixie offered to stay and help me close if you want to leave early. Bev has already left for the night.”
The girls worked together getting the food onto the carts so they could transport it to the tables quicker. Randy was setting up the pies for later.
“You leaving after the food is out tonight Randy?” Meg asked.
“Yup, got a TV show I want to watch, so soon as I can, I'm gone.”
“Okay, thanks again for your help and you enjoy your show.” Seems like Randy never stuck around on these nights, always leaving by the back door as to not disturb the customers.
Walking up to the back counter, Meg cleared her throat calling everyone's attention to the murder scene. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Randy nod at her and head towards the door leaving for the night. Just as Meg opened her mouth to speak she heard Randy yelling from the back of the diner and come running up to her waving his hands. His face had a greenish look like he was going to lose his lunch any minute now.
“Oh my goodness Randy, what is wrong with you?” she asked, while grabbing his shoulders.
“The alley. The alley. A man…” and that was it, as Randy ran, hand over his mouth, to the men's washroom.
Not sure what to think, Meg looked over to where she had seen Sheriff Briggs sitting earlier. The Sheriff was already out of his seat and moving in the direction of the back door while asking everyone to be calm and please stay in their seats. Meg signaled to her friend Lynn to join her as they went to find Randy.
Standing in front of the men’s room, Lynn knocked on the door. Both girls listened but when there was no reply, Lynn spoke up. “Randy, Hun are you okay? Can you open the door and let us in please?” The two women looked at each other and when there was no response, they began pushing on the door. After several minutes of pushing they were able to get the door open and found Randy on the floor, passed out cold. Lynn quickly check
ed his pulse while Meg put cold water on a wad of paper towels and held them to his forehead.
“Randy, wake up” cried Meg who was beginning to get a little upset and worried about what was going on.
Lynn looked at her friend, took hold of her arm, and tried to reassure her. “Stay calm Meg, he's just passed out is all.” About that time, Randy started coming around but couldn't get a coherent word out of his mouth.
“Grab his other arm Meg and let's get him out of this hot room.”
Just as the two came around the corner with Randy, they noticed the Sheriff had walked back into the diner and was waiving at Lynn, while ordering everyone to stay in their seats. “Everyone remain calm, but do not under any circumstance, leave this diner without my permission. Is that understood? We’ve had an unfortunate accident out back.”
The girls set Randy down in the kitchen with a cold rag on his forehead and a glass of tea in front of him. “Stay seated and drink this. The sugar will be good for you,” Meg ordered.
Pulling both Meg and Lynn aside, the Sheriff walked them to the back of the diner and out the back door. Pointing to the left near the garbage bin he asked, “Do either of you girls know this guy?”
Lynn looked in the direction John was pointing and saw a man lying on the ground. He was very pale looking, with a puddle of blood around his head. “Oh my no John, I've never seen him before. Who is he?” She looked over at Meg and the poor girl had a look of horror on her face. She could only shake her head no.
Looking at Meg, the Sheriff told Lynn to take her back inside the diner and get her something cold to drink. “I’ll be back inside in a few minutes but make sure nobody leaves the diner.”
“Yes sir” replied Lynn as she began to move Meg back inside the building. From behind her, she heard the Sheriff yell “And get Wade back here now!”
“I’m on it John.” With Meg in tow, Lynn walked through the door and set Meg down at the prep counter just inside the kitchen. “Stay here honey and I’ll be back as quick as I can.”
Looking around the diner Lynn spotted Wade and motioned for him to head out the back door. Shaking his head, showing he understood, he stopped to check on Meg on his way out.
Wade looked from Meg to Lynn. “She gonna be alright or do I need to get the Doc?”
“She'll be fine in a few minutes Wade, but you'd better get back there, it’s bad. There’s a dead man in the alley.”
Wade turned and walked out the door talking over his shoulder to Lynn. “I've got Kevin Manford watching the front door but, you'd better send Doc back this way too, as soon as you can.”
Lynn snapped her fingers in front of her friend’s face. “Meg honey, snap out of it.” She couldn't for the life of her figure out why Meg was affected so. She was a strong woman but had a look on her face like the dogs of hell were after her. But then, it’s not every day a person sees a dead body either, she thought.
“I'm fine now Lynn. I was just so startled and it was just so unexpected.” Obviously, Lynn had not seen the photo sticking out of the man’s wallet in front of the bushes, she thought. Had anyone else seen it yet? She wondered, who in the world was this man and why does he have my photo on him? This is not good, just not good at all.
“Murder is always unexpected Meg, that's how these things work. Goodness, a murder in Mystic Pines. Who would have thought.”
“Um yeah, who would have thought,” winced Meg.
Lynn instructed Meg to stay put till she was a bit steadier then hurried to address the room. She looked around the room for Daisy so she could get the girl to fill everyone's tea glasses but couldn't find her.
“Okay everyone, listen up here. I need everyone to stay in your seat and please keep the chatter to a reasonable volume. I'm going to come around and refill the tea glasses. It appears we’re all going to be here for a while.” At that, everyone turned to look at Lynn and the questions began.
“Quiet everyone and sit down please.” Lynn yelled at the crowd. “It seems that a man has been murdered out behind the diner. We don't know who it is or what happened yet but both the Sheriff and Wade will want to talk with each of you before you leave here tonight. For now, please just talk quietly between yourselves and let’s wait for the Sheriff to come back inside. If you need to use the facilities let me know and I will escort you there. If you need food or water or tea, please ask Trixie, we don't need everyone up walking around willy nilly here. That's all for now and thanks for your cooperation.”
Lynn walked up to Kevin and asked him if he knew where Daisy was.
“Oh she probably went on home; she normally doesn’t stick around for these things.”
Trixie had begun to check each table seeing if anyone needed anything so Lynn headed back to check on her friend. Well this will get them going. Already she could hear the chatter beginning.
******
When Randy had come running from the back of the diner and appeared to be headed for the front door, everyone had turned and looked in that direction. When nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary everyone turned back around and continued watching Randy carrying on.
As Helen turned back around she happened to notice that old Henry was still nowhere to be seen. Where did he go to and why did he not come back inside, she wondered?
She felt Nyla tugging on her arm. “Where did you run off to a while ago and when did you get back? I wonder who on earth was murdered and why?”
Ignoring the first part of Nyla’s question, Helen shrugged her shoulders. “Well I guess we will find out soon enough won't we.”
Nyla put on her best Miss Marple face and stood to go find Lynn and Meg. She needed to offer her services to Lynn in case they needed help. That would also put her closer to the case where she might be able to figure it out. Boy wouldn’t that be something, to figure out a real live murder. Miss Marple eat your heart out!
Helen grabbed Nyla's arm as she stood up, “Just where do you think you’re going Missy? I'm sure they don't need your nose in the way and Sheriff Briggs, he said for us to stay in our seats.”
“Really, Helen, do you honestly think they won't appreciate my talents as a top-notch sleuth? I'm the best in town and I’m needed right now.”
“No, you need to just wait and see what the Sheriff comes back and tells us. I'm sure if he has questions for you he will let ya know!” Helen shook her finger at her friend. Honesty, she truly had her high hat on tonight didn't she.
“Speaking of questions, did you see where old Henry went earlier and when he left?”
Nyla frowned, “Goodness no, I forgot all about him, did he leave?”
The two continued to chatter among themselves waiting for someone to come explain what had happened. They didn’t have to wait long.
ELEVEN
Wade walked through the back door of the dinner to see Sheriff Briggs standing over the body of a man. Thirty-ish, stranger, bad head wound, no struggle, rock with blood on it, dead, cheap suit, one shoe off, he thought. He automatically took in a scene and organized random thoughts quickly. That was just the way Wade's mind worked.
The Sheriff had always told him that he would have made a hell of a detective and should be working in the big city. “Heck, I'm just a country boy” he had told the Sheriff, “That big city just ate me up and spit me out.” The city had never held any attraction for him and he just couldn’t see himself living anyplace but Mystic Pines.
“Well”, Sheriff Briggs said looking at Wade, “What do you think my son?”
Wade smiled to himself. Sheriff Briggs had always hoped his oldest son would follow in the family footsteps. When he took off for college and had decided to study plants, the Sheriff just about lost it. Since that day he had sort of adopted Wade and had begun to use the term “my son” when addressing him. Wade kind of liked it. The Sheriff also thought Wade should be “courting” Meg, as he put it, and Wade liked that idea even more.
Wade bent down over the body. “Looks to me like he has a nasty head wound, pro
bably the cause of death. Murder weapon looks to be that big rock there and, he's dressed like he just stepped out of an old gangster film from the fifties. Funny thing though, what are those marks on his cheek?”
“Sure are funny huh. I was wondering about them but I don’t see anything around here that might have made those kind of markings, do you?”
“Not really John. Another thing, why is one shoe off and one on? What caused the one to come off?”
John bent down and studied something on the ground then examined the head wound closer. “At first glance I assumed he was hit from behind with that rock but looking closer, the head wound is more to the side of his head. That’s sort of odd. Unless someone was hiding behind the diner door and surprised him.”
Wade walked around the body stopping in front of it. “I wonder if maybe he was bending down tying his shoe when he was struck? Makes sense from the way the body has fallen over don’t you think?”
John had walked a few feet off to the side of the body and was looking from the door back to the body while scratching his head. “I think you must be right Wade. I think he might not have seen it coming.”
Doc Manford had walked up just behind Wade and bent down to examine the body. “Looks like mid-thirties in age. Won't know time of death till I hear from the coroner but I’d guess not that long ago, maybe an hour or less. Doesn't appear to be anything under his nails and doesn't look like he put up a fight.”
Wade and John looked at each other. Wade spoke first. “If the doc is right about the time, this happened not long before the Mystery Dinner started.”
“Yup, probably while everyone was getting seated I think,” John agreed.
“Doc go ahead and call the coroner would you please. We should be done here by the time they arrive.”
“Okay Sheriff” and he headed back inside.
“Wade, you walk the alley and see if you notice anything else. You head to the right; I'll head to the left.”