Toni L.P. Kelner - Laura Fleming 01 - Down Home Murder

by Toni L. P. Kelner

  Ralph’s face relaxed into a smile. We started to leave, but then I turned back. Ralph was waiting in front of the elevator. “Ralph,” I said, “you’re going to tell Mr. Walters what we talked about, aren’t you?”

  He reddened slightly, but nodded.

  “Then you can tell him that I’m convinced that the mill isn’t at fault, and in fact should be congratulated for your taking care of Paw the way you did. Tell him I have no intention of taking any kind of legal action.”

  “He’ll be mighty glad to hear that,” Ralph said, and stepped into the elevator.

  “Do you want me to drive?” Richard asked as soon as we got outside.

  I nodded, and waited until we were in the car before I said, “There is no way Paw could have fallen so that he would hit the back of his head and then land face down. Someone hit him, and poured the socks over him to make it look like an accident. It was murder.”

  I was almost hoping he would disagree, but instead he quoted from Macbeth:

  Confusion now hath made his masterpiece!

  Most sacrilegious murder has broke ope

  The Lord’s anointed temple, and stole thence

  The life o’ the building!

  “Confusion is right. Richard, it was bad enough when I thought it might be murder. Now that I’m sure that it was, I don’t know what to do next.”

  He shrugged. “We’ll do what we can. Truth will come to light; murder cannot be hid long.’“

  “It’s hiding pretty well this time. What do we do now?”

  “It’s after twelve. Aren’t you meeting Aunt Daphine for lunch?”

  “That’s right, I am. Did you want to come with me?”

  “No, I think I’ll let you Burnette women have some time alone.”

  “You’re sweet.”

  “Quite right. Besides, I want to make some notes on the syllabus for my class.”

  We made a quick stop at the grocery store to pick up sandwich fixings for Richard’s lunch, and then I left him at the house.

  Chapter 24

  It was just one o’clock when I pulled into the parking lot of the small shopping center where Aunt Daphine ran her beauty parlor. The scent of mingled perfume and chemicals that is unique to beauty parlors assailed my nose as soon as I opened the door to La Dauphin. From the elegant salon in New York where a friend had once lured me to be “made over” to the tiny studio where I get my hair styled in Boston to Aunt Daphine’s medium-sized operation, they all smelled the same.

  “Can I help you?” the dark-haired girl at the front desk asked.

  “Could you tell Mrs. Marston that her niece Laura is here?”

  “Laura?” The girl looked doubtful.

  “Laurie Anne.”

  “Oh, Laurie Anne from Boston! Daphine told me you were coming. I’ll tell her you’re here.” She stepped through the curtain of Mardi Gras colored beads, and I could see a row of half-a-dozen styling chairs, each occupied by a woman in some stage of beautification under the attention of a pink-smocked hair stylist. Aunt Daphine looked up from the mass of dirty-blond curls she was in the midst of and smiled.

  “Hey there. Come meet everybody.” She introduced me to the other stylists, and then nodded at the woman whose hair she was working with. “This is Mrs. Mintin. I’m running a little behind, because Mrs. Mintin got invited to a big to-do at the country club and we decided to do something special for her.”

  “Are you sure those curls aren’t too tight, Daphine? I don’t want them to look too tight,” Mrs. Mintin said.

  “I know they look tight now, but as humid as it is, I have to set them tight or there won’t be any curls left for tonight.”

  “They won’t all fall out, will they?”

  “No, ma’am, they are going to fall out just enough to look wonderful.”

  “Well, if you say so.”

  To me, Aunt Daphine said, “Ruby Lee called a little while ago. I told her we were going to lunch, and asked her to come with us. You don’t mind, do you?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Good. She said she’d be along shortly.” Aunt Daphine turned back to Mrs. Mintin’s hair. “Laurie Anne, why don’t you let Gladys do your nails for you while you’re waiting? She’s just learning how since Margaret left to have her baby, and she needs to practice. Gladys? Come do Laurie Anne’s nails for her. We can watch the front door from here.”

  The girl from the desk came back and grinned shyly. “Sure you don’t mind me being a beginner?”

  “Of course not. I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

  “Now you sit right there,” Gladys said, pointing to a pink, vinyl-covered chair, and rolled over a small manicurist’s table neatly arranged with bottles, cotton balls, and orange sticks. Starting with my right hand, she carefully cleaned underneath each nail.

  “Your nails are awfully short,” Gladys commented. “I can build them up with this Italian stuff I have, and no one will know they aren’t real.”

  “No thanks. I work on a keyboard all day, and long nails would just get in the way.”

  “How about plastic nails? I’ve got some French ones that come off with this solution, and you could take them off before you go to work, and put them back on for your husband at night.”

  “I don’t think so.” To head her off before she suggested some nail care alternative from Mexico, I said, “Have you been working for Aunt Daphine long?”

  “Almost two years now. I took cosmetology classes in high school and your aunt gave me a job right after I graduated. I went to school with some of your cousins, you know. Willis was in my grade, and I know Estelle, Odelle, and Carlelle, and of course Thaddeous.” She sighed heavily. “Thaddeous was so good-looking. Well, he still is, but I’m engaged now.” She placed my right hand in a pan of warm hand lotion and started cleaning the nails on the left.

  “Did you know Melanie Wilson?”

  “Wasn’t what happened to her terrible? Everyone knew her on account of her being head cheerleader, but she didn’t put on airs or anything. Can you switch hands?”

  Once the left hand was soaking, Gladys began filing the nails and pushing back the cuticles on the right. “Someone told me Thaddeous had a really big crush on Melanie.”

  I nodded. So much for Thaddeous’s secret passion.

  Gladys went on. “One time some of the guys were messing around in his locker and found a picture of Melanie from when she was homecoming queen. He had cut it out of the newspaper and glued it to the inside of his notebook. They told everyone about it, and Thaddeous was so mad when he found out that he said he’d kill them.” She pulled my left hand out of the lotion.

  The chimes on the door jingled, and Aunt Ruby Lee came in. “Hey there,” she said. “How are y’all doing?”

  “Pretty good,” I answered.

  “I’m running a little late,” Aunt Daphine said, “but I shouldn’t be too much longer.”

  “Well, you know I’ve got more time than money,” Aunt Ruby Lee said and pulled a chair over to the table to watch my manicure.

  After one last buff with an emery board, Gladys surveyed her handiwork, and said, “What color do you want me to put on?” She brought forth a plastic carousel of reds, pinks, corals, and shades thereof.

  “Just clear.”

  “Clear? If I make them clear, no one will know you’ve had them done.” She pulled out a bottle and shook it. “Now this would go real good with that blouse you’re wearing. It’s Mauve Amber Frost.”

  I was momentarily intrigued by how they fit so much color into such a small bottle, but said, “I think I’d like clear.”

  Gladys shook her head in dismay, but began to comply.

  “I bet your husband doesn’t like nail polish,” Aunt Ruby Lee said. Actually I didn’t think that Richard and I had ever discussed the subject.

  Aunt Ruby Lee continued, “Fred, my first husband, didn’t, so I didn’t wear any when I was married to him, but I always liked color on my nails. Conrad does, too.” They were currently
painted a cheerful strawberry color.

  “Laurie Anne and I were just talking about Melanie Wilson,” Gladys said.

  Aunt Ruby Lee shook her head sadly. “Poor thing. You know I was listening to the radio when they first announced she was missing Friday night, and I had a feeling that something was bad wrong. The kids were all out, and I was pure scared to be alone. I checked every window in the house to make sure they were all locked good and tight, then I called Edna to make sure she was all right. Isn’t it a shame when women are afraid to be alone in their own homes?”

  “Where was Uncle Conrad?” I asked.

  “Up at the Elk Lodge—they were having a party for new members. I knew Loman would be there, too, so that’s why I called Edna. You know Loman is the president of their chapter, and he thinks Conrad might be elected vice-president when they vote in a couple of weeks. He’s been pushing for it with the other members. Loman’s real smart, and he knows that holding office in the Elks can really help a man’s chances at the mill. Lots of the supervisors are lodge members.”

  Gladys finished painting the last nail, and promptly tucked my hands into a pink plastic gadget marked Nails-So-Dry. “You just let them sit in there for a while, and you’ll be all done.”

  “Thanks Gladys.”

  “Well, ladies,” Aunt Daphine said as she pulled the protective plastic apron from around her client. “Aren’t Mrs. Mintin’s curls just perfect?”

  “Not a bit tight,” I said.

  Mrs. Mintin seemed satisfied, and after Aunt Daphine saw her off, my aunts and I walked to the Woolworth’s further down in the shopping center. We found an empty booth at the lunch counter and ordered three of the country-style steak specials, which the waitress assured us tasted homemade.

  “Daphine, is there any word yet on when they’re going to have Melanie Wilson’s funeral?” Aunt Ruby Lee asked. “You always hear the news at the beauty parlor first.”

  “Mrs. Funderburk came by this morning, and Mrs. Wilson told her the police have finished the autopsy and they’re going to release the body today. It’s too soon to have it tomorrow, and they can’t have it on Sunday, so it will probably be Monday afternoon,” Aunt Daphine said.

  “Did they learn anything from the autopsy?” I asked.

  “They’ve got to run more tests before they’ll say much more, but they do know for sure she was raped.”

  “I didn’t think there was any question about that,” Aunt Ruby Lee said. “I mean, the way they found her and all. Will they be able to tell anything about who did it?”

  “I don’t know,” Aunt Daphine said. “They can find out a lot in the labs these days.”

  Aunt Ruby Lee looked around to make sure no one was in hearing distance, and then whispered, “Will they be able to tell if it was blacks who did it?”

  “Does it matter what color they were?” I said, more sharply than I had intended.

  Aunt Ruby Lee looked abashed, and then said, “I guess not.”

  Our food arrived then, and we distributed paper napkins, salt, and pepper. The fried steak and its thick gravy were good, but Aunt Daphine noticed right off that the mashed potatoes were instant.

  After we had taken a few bites each, Aunt Ruby Lee asked, “Can you believe Reverend Glass coming to the house last night? Why on earth did Edna tell him all that stuff about the house? I was so embarrassed for her.”

  Aunt Daphine shook her head. “I’m sure Edna meant well.”

  “Was Aunt Edna always that religious?” I asked. “Mama never mentioned it.”

  Aunt Daphine said, “She didn’t used to be like she is now. She went to church on Sundays like anybody else, but she wasn’t up there every day of the week at prayer meetings and Bible study classes and all that.”

  “I don’t think she got bad until Linwood started getting into trouble at school,” Aunt Ruby Lee said. “Smoking and skipping classes and all. Loman was no help, needless to say, so Edna went to Glass for advice about what to do. I don’t know that he did Linwood or her any good, but that’s when she started going up there all the time.”

  “I’ll tell you one thing,” Aunt Daphine said. “Between you, me, and the gate post, if all I had to look forward to every day was spending the night with Loman, I’d find someplace else to go, too. Loman’s just lucky it’s the church and not another man. Edna could still be a good-looking woman if she put her mind to it.”

  “Is Uncle Loman that bad?” I asked. Though I had never cared much for the man, I had nothing much against him either. This lack of feeling seemed to be reciprocal.

  “Got about as much personality as this counter, if you ask me,” Aunt Daphine said, rapping next to her plate. “Never has a word to say to anyone when we see him, and he’s the same way at home. If he’d pay a little attention to Linwood once in a while, maybe the boy wouldn’t spend so much time picking on other people.”

  “Loman’s not all bad,” Aunt Ruby Lee objected. “I wouldn’t have met Conrad if it weren’t for him. Every time I went to see Edna, Conrad would be over there visiting Loman. Conrad’s mother said they’ve been close ever since they were boys. What with working together and being in the lodge together, I think Loman sees more of Conrad than I do.”

  By then we had cleaned our plates, including the instant mashed potatoes. We were trying to decide if we had room for dessert when Aunt Ruby Lee looked up, and said, “Oh no, not again.”

  “What?” I said, turning to see. Roger Bailey was outside on the sidewalk looking at us through the window. When he saw we had seen him, he grinned and waved.

  “He’s not coming in here, is he?” Aunt Ruby Lee asked, knowing the answer already. Sure enough, a minute later he walked up to our booth. “Well, isn’t this a surprise? You ladies don’t mind if I join you, do you?”

  Aunt Ruby Lee looked distinctly unhappy, but Aunt Daphine said, “Of course not, Roger. Have a seat.” I slid over to let him squeeze into the booth next to me.

  Roger called over to the waitress for a glass of iced tea, and then said, “I’m glad I ran into y’all. I wanted to tell you how sorry I am about Ellis. I wanted to go to the funeral, but I had a job down in Charlotte and couldn’t get back in time.”

  Aunt Daphine said, “That’s all right, Roger, a man’s got to work. We appreciate the thought.”

  The waitress brought over Roger’s iced tea, and Aunt Ruby Lee said, “Could we get the check please?” Then she added to us, “I’ve just got so much to do today, I don’t know how I’m ever going to get it all done.”

  I hid a grin. This was a big change from her attitude earlier.

  “You go ahead,” Aunt Daphine said, taking pity on her sister. “I owe you for lunch last week, so I’ll take care of it this time.”

  Aunt Ruby Lee grabbed her pocketbook, and was up before Roger could say a word.

  “Say hello to the kids for me,” he called after her, and then he stared forlornly into his iced tea. “I guess I can’t blame her for not wanting me around,” he said. “She’d probably just as soon I up and moved away so she wouldn’t have to worry about running into me.”

  “Now Roger, it’s not like that,” Aunt Daphine said. “It’s just kind of awkward for her, that’s all. Just because she couldn’t stay with you doesn’t mean she doesn’t care for you.”

  Roger looked up at her. “Do you mean that? Do you think Ruby Lee still has some feeling for me?”

  “Of course she does. Not like before, but I’m sure she still considers you a friend.”

  “I guess that’s something, anyway.”

  The waitress returned with our check, but Roger took it from her before Aunt Daphine or I could reach for it. “You let me get this.”

  “That’s not necessary Roger,” Aunt Daphine objected.

  “It’s the least I can do,” he said. He pulled out his wallet, and handed the waitress some money.

  “At least let me get the tip,” I said.

  “No, you just put your money away.”

  “Thank you,
Roger,” I said in surrender.

  He started to put his wallet back in his pocket, and then opened it back up. “Tell you what. Laurie Anne, why don’t you come out to the Mustang Club tonight?” He handed me a couple of cardboard tickets. “The boys and I are playing tonight, and you can bring that husband of yours.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Aunt Daphine said, “Y’all shouldn’t be moping around. It’s not good for young people.”

  Since I couldn’t very well explain that we had been doing anything but moping around, I accepted the two passes for that night’s show.

  “How about you, Daphine?” Roger said, holding out another pair of tickets. “You used to cut a fine figure on the dance floor.”

  Aunt Daphine smiled. “That’s a tempting offer, but I’ve got plans tonight. Thanks just the same.”

  Roger replaced the tickets. “All right, but come on by if you change your mind.” He turned to me and winked. “Maybe I’ve been chasing the wrong sister.” He grinned, and left.

  “That Roger is one character in this world,” Aunt Daphine said after he was gone, but she was still smiling. “Well, this has been fun, but I have to get back to the shop.” We gathered our purses, I walked her back to the beauty parlor, and she hugged me goodbye.

  “Don’t forget about going shopping tomorrow morning,” she added as I headed for the car.

  Chapter 25

  I found Richard sprawled across the bed reading what looked like one of Paw’s Louis L’Amour books. I couldn’t tell for sure because as soon as he saw me, he thrust it under the pillow and started writing furiously on a pad of paper.

  “How’s the syllabus going?” I asked, careful not to grin.

  “Very well. Lots of ideas,” he said, still scribbling. “How was lunch?”

  “It was nice. Aunt Ruby Lee showed up and went with us. My former uncle Roger showed up, too. He gave me two passes for his performance tonight at the Mustang Club. You don’t know anyone who’d like to go with me, do you?”

  “I think I could fix you up with someone, if you don’t mind a man who is completely ignorant in the ways of country music.”