“Nope. Jill dropped her off yesterday morning.”
Ruth wandered behind the counter and grabbed a dog biscuit from the zip-lock bag inside the top drawer. Mally promptly licked her hand, grabbed the treat and took it to the corner to munch on.
Gloria popped her mail in the slot and turned back to Ruth. “Have you heard how Arthur Blackstone died?”
“Yeah, he was poisoned.” Ruth shook her head and tsk-tsked. “Terrible way to die.” She was back behind the counter now. “So when is our next Garden Girls meeting? Looks like we have another mysterious murder to discuss.”
The last couple weeks had been really busy. The Garden Girls Club hadn’t had a chance to get together. Gloria shrugged.
“How ‘bout Friday night? We can have dinner together and hold the meeting afterwards.”
Gloria shook her head. “That isn’t going to work for me.” She snapped her fingers at Mally. “C’mon girl. Time to go.” Gloria reached for the door handle. “I have a dinner date Friday night.” She grinned as she caught a glimpse of Ruth’s priceless expression in the reflection of the glass door.
Mally took her place in the passenger side as Gloria started the car. She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel as she hummed along to a catchy Christian tune on the radio.
Her last stop was her best friend Lucy’s house. She figured she better stop by and tell Lucy about her date Friday night before Ruth got to her.
It was too late. Lucy met her on the sidewalk, a fist firmly planted on her hip. “How come you didn’t tell me you have a date?” she demanded.
She looked down at Mally. “And that you got a dog?” Mally padded over and rubbed up against Lucy. “Is there anything else I don’t know? Like you’re moving to Dreamwood after all?”
Dreamwood was a retirement home in nearby Green Springs. Gloria’s sister Liz lived there and Gloria’s daughter, Jill, had been trying for years to get her mom to move there. Gloria had no intention of doing any such thing. The place was sin city. All kinds of shenanigans going on amongst the male and female residents that lived there.
“Absolutely not! I just got the dog and the date. I ran into Ruth when I was at the post office. That’s how she found out.”
“Hmm.” Lucy still wasn’t totally convinced.
“Can I come inside or are you mad at me?”
Lucy softened as she waved her friend in. She looked down at Mally. “You can come, too.”
Lucy plopped a piece of strawberry pie and tall glass of iced tea in front of Gloria as Mally crawled under the kitchen table, hoping a wayward scrap would fall her way.
“I stopped by Walking Stan’s today.” Gloria took a bite of freshly glazed strawberry.
Lucy shook her mop of bright red curls. Oh no. Here we go again. Gloria was definitely working another case.
“He told me his brother robbed a bank a few months back and that some people were after him. Next thing you know. Bam! He’s dead.”
“Do the police know that?”
Gloria shook her head. “Nope. He never mentioned it to them.”
Lucy drummed freshly polished pink nails on the kitchen table. “Are you going to?”
Gloria took another bite. “You know, his house was almost immaculate on the inside. Very clean and tidy.”
“You went inside his house?” Lucy paused. “It was?”
Gloria nodded. “He’s actually a very decent man.”
“So now what?”
Gloria shook her head. The answer should be obvious. “We have to find out who the killer – or killers – are. I need to get back inside that house.”
Gloria was all over the place, jumping from one thing to the next. Lucy was totally confused. “What house?”
“You know, the Johnson mansion. So we can search for more clues.” Gloria broke off a small piece of pie crust and shoved it under the table. “Want to go with me?”
“Yeah, I guess I better.” She needed to make sure Gloria stayed out of trouble. “I can do it today. Tomorrow is booked up.” Lucy reached behind her and plucked a flyer from a small stack of papers on the edge of the counter. She pushed it towards Gloria. “I’m going to start tanning.”
Gloria grabbed her reading glasses. “Hmm. Seven Day Cruise to the Southern Caribbean.”
She looked up at Lucy. “You won?” Gloria was never good at those stupid contests. She never won anything.
Lucy shook her head. “Not yet but I’m going to. It’s called using the power of positive thinking.”
Gloria shook her head as she grabbed her cellphone and dialed Andrea’s number. As luck would have it, Andrea had a contractor already at the house working on an estimate.
Gloria jumped to her feet. “C’mon. Let’s go!”
She slowly pulled Annabelle in the drive, past the rusty old gate and parked directly behind the contractor’s van. The house looked even more sinister than it had the last time they were there. Murder sure did have a way of casting a dark shadow over everything.
The first place Gloria wanted to check out was the shed. She poked around under the canvas, behind a small stack of clay pots and under the worn, wooden shelf. There was nothing. Not a single clue to be found.
Lucy peeked around Gloria’s shoulder. “Is this where you found the body?”
Gloria nodded in disappointment. Hopefully this trip wouldn’t turn out to be a complete waste of time!
The girls waved at the man who was measuring the outside of the house. Lucy followed Gloria inside the front entrance. They stopped just inside as Lucy glanced around the grand hall in awe. She loved old, historic architecture and this place oozed of it.
Gloria prodded her along. “Let’s check out the kitchen.” There was no time to dilly dally looking around. They were on a mission!
She marched into the kitchen and then abruptly stopped. There just had to be some sort of clue. Someone had been in here. Either the victim or the killer…
Her sharp eyes slowly surveyed the counters, the cabinets. One-by-one she opened the cupboards and peered inside. They were all empty. All of them except for the very last one on the end. Something was wedged against the side of the wooden frame.
Lucy walked over to stand beside Gloria. “What is that?”
Good question. What was it?
Gloria picked it up and flipped it over. It was a hotel door card. Green Springs Inn.
“It’s exactly what I was looking for. A clue.”
They thoroughly searched the rest of the kitchen but came up empty-handed.
The girls made their way back to the car. Gloria slipped into the driver seat and dropped the key card into her purse. She turned to her friend. “You have time to make a quick trip to Green Springs?”
Green Springs Inn was a small mom-n-pop motel. The white, one-story structure took up half a city block. Gloria pulled in an empty parking spot directly in front of the office. She and Lucy made their way inside the front door. They rang the silver bell sitting on top of the faded green Formica countertop. A small, dark-haired woman suddenly appeared. “Can I help you?”
Gloria set the room card on the counter. “We found this card. We were wondering…is there any way to scan the card and find out who might have stayed in your hotel using this card and the date they were here?”
The woman turned the card over in her hand. “This is definitely ours.”
She swiped the card through the machine behind the counter. “From what I can tell, this was the only card that was issued and the guest stayed two nights. The person checked out a week ago.”
The clerk handed the card back as she eyed them suspiciously. The two women looked like a couple nice ladies. “For privacy reasons, I can’t tell you the guest’s name.”
Gloria was disappointed. There had to be some way around this. Hmmm. “If I gave you the name, maybe you could just nod your head if I got it right?” Gloria asked hopefully.
The clerk tipped her head to one side. She didn’t think that wouldn’t be breaking any co
mpany rule. “I suppose so…”
Gloria took a deep breath and blurted out. “Blackstone.”
The clerk nodded ever-so-slightly. Bingo!
So the key card inside the house belonged to Blackstone. But why would Arthur Blackstone be sleeping in her barn and hiding out at the old Johnson mansion if he had a hotel room in Green Springs? To Gloria, that just didn’t make any sense. “You’ve been very helpful uhhh…”
“Jane. Jane Jackson.”
“Thank you, Jane.”
They made their way out onto the sidewalk. Lucy quietly closed the door behind them. “Now what?”
“Maybe he ran out of money and had to check out?”
But Walking Stan said he had a backpack full of money. If that was the case, what happened to all that cash? Maybe it was time to pay Stan another visit.
Gloria dropped Lucy off and headed home. She pulled in the drive and glanced in the rearview mirror. Mally was sprawled out in the back seat, sound asleep. “Come on, girl. Time to get out.”
Mally’s head jerked up. She jumped to her feet and bounded out of the car, racing Gloria to the porch door.
Puddles was waiting just on the other side. Mally gave Puddles a quick lick “hello” and darted over to her empty food dish. She stared back at Gloria with a pathetic “feed me” look. Apparently, all this detective work was making her hungry.
Gloria’s brain was in overdrive as she poured food into both Mally and Puddles dishes. Something about the murder case just wasn’t adding up. There was a reason Arthur Blackstone was hiding out in Gloria’s barn and the Johnson place. He was hiding from someone, but who? Who would know about the robbery and that Blackstone had a pile of cash? Was there a second bank robber that got stiffed and tracked Blackstone down to get it? Or was it what his brother said? His gambling debts ended up being his downfall.
There was a missing puzzle piece and Gloria was bound and determined to figure it out!
Hungry herself, Gloria threw together a ham and cheese sandwich, heavy on the mayo, tossed some potato chips on the side and plopped down in the kitchen chair. She gazed out the window as she slowly chewed her sandwich.
Was Walking Stan lying? Was he the real killer? She just wasn’t getting the vibe that he was the killer. It was quite possible he was hiding something, though.
Her ringing telephone dragged her from deep thought.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Gloria. It’s Paul. Paul Kennedy.” He paused. “Just calling to remind you of our date Friday night.”
Gloria blushed. Good thing he wasn’t right in front of her. “Yes, I’m really looking forward to it.”
“Have you found anything else out about the Blackstone murder?” He knew darned well she’d been sniffing around and probably turned up something else.
Instead of answering right away, she turned it right back on him. “Have you?”
He smiled into the phone. “Possibly. You tell me what you found out and I’ll tell you what I know.”
That sounded fair enough. “The backpack in the shed – the same one Andrea saw in my garage. It belonged to Arthur Blackstone. According to his brother Stan, it was full of cash.”
“Stan Blackstone told you that?” Kennedy asked incredulously.
“Yeah. The other day when I dropped by there.”
Interesting. Blackstone didn’t share that tidbit with him when he paid a visit…
“That’s not all. He said his brother got the money from robbing a bank a few months back and that someone was after the money but he didn’t say who.”
Kennedy was thinking out loud. “I wonder why he didn’t think that information would be important to the investigation. Or maybe he’s trying to hide something.”
Gloria nodded. “I have a hunch there’s more to the story than meets the eye.”
She was just about to mention the hotel but stopped short. She needed to do a little more digging around before sharing that tidbit.
It was his turn to help her out. “So what do you know?”
“Arthur Blackstone was poisoned.”
Gloria was disappointed. She already knew that!
Paul finished by saying that’s all he had on the case as of right now. He thanked her for telling him about the cash. At least now there was a motive for murder. “See you Friday night then?”
“Yes, of course. Paul.” Might as well start calling him by his first name. After all, he was calling her by her first name.
Chapter 5
Stan Blackstone answered his door on the first ring. “You again.”
Gloria ignored the sarcasm. Maybe he wasn’t such a great guy after all. “Did you know your brother checked in to the Green Springs Inn shortly before his death?”
A stony expression settled on Walking Stan’s face. If this piece of news was a surprise to him, he didn’t let on. “You ought not be snooping around in something that’s none of your business,” he warned.
“Aren’t you the least bit concerned about finding your brother’s killer?”
“Stay out of it!” The door slammed in Gloria’s face before she could say anything else.
Disappointed with the results of her visit and certain she had now ticked off the only person who might have more information on Arthur Blackstone’s killer, Gloria slowly made her way back to the car.
Her investigation was at a standstill and she was more than a little perturbed. Maybe Ruth had more info.
She strolled into the post office and walked right up to the counter, not bothering to hide the fact that the only reason she was in the post office was to pump Ruth for any new information on the murder.
Gloria leaned on the counter and gazed at her friend. “Hear any new gossip about Arthur Blackstone’s murder?”
Ruth looked around before leaning forward. “Yeah. He had a gambling debt that finally caught up with him,” she whispered.
Gloria already knew that much. She didn’t have the heart to tell Ruth. “Is that it?”
“Yeah. There just aren’t that many people talking. It’s all rather mysterious.” Ruth glanced over Gloria’s head before continuing. “Heck, a week ago, we didn’t even know Walking Stan had a brother.”
That was true. And the fact that the entire family kept to themselves. There just wasn’t much to go on.
Gloria slowly started Annabelle and pulled back onto the small, two lane street. She got the nagging feeling that she was missing a major clue and that clue was hidden somewhere in the old house on the hill.
She let Mally out the back door to romp around the yard and chase a few squirrels before she called Lucy. “Are you ready for a stakeout?”
“When? Bill and I are going skydiving this afternoon.”
“Lucy, you’re going to give yourself a heart attack. You’re not a spring chicken anymore.”
“I’d rather die doing something like that than have someone stab me to death over a cheating spouse or poison me over some stolen cash!” Lucy argued.
Good point. “True. What time will you be back?”
“After dinner.”
“Great! I’ll pick you up around 8 tonight!” Gloria’s heart pounded at the thought of a covert night time investigation. “Oh, and wear dark clothes.”
She quickly hung up before Lucy could change her mind.
The afternoon dragged on as Gloria impatiently waited for nightfall. Finally, it was time to go. Gloria’s heart was pounding by the time she made her way up the steps of Lucy’s house. She barely had a chance to knock before the door swung open.
Lucy motioned her inside and quickly shut the door. “I have something.” She reached over and grabbed a necklace off the table. She dropped it around Gloria’s neck.
Gloria looked down. “What’s this?”
Lucy had an identical one dangling from her neck. She grabbed the end in her hand and lifted it up. “One of those medical alert thingy’s.”
Gloria pulled the end closer to her face. “Where on earth did you get these?”
>
“I picked them up a while ago.” Lucy was pretty pleased with herself. “They were buy one, get one free on one of those late night infomercials.”
“How’s this going to help us if we press the button and help shows up at your house?”
Lucy shook her head. “Nope. This is one of the newer ones with GPS. They can find you no matter where you’re at.”
Gloria stared at the dangling contraption and shrugged. Hey, who knows. Maybe it really would come in handy.
Gloria parked the car two short blocks from the old house. The girls made their way down the back alley until they were directly behind the old place. Gloria motioned Lucy over to the overgrown shrubbery near the edge of the property. The spooky house loomed in the distance. It was scary in the daytime and even more sinister looking at night. What if the place really was haunted?
Lucy parted the greenery as she peered through. “Now what?”
Gloria really didn’t have a plan yet. “We wait.”
They crouched low in the same position for several long minutes until Lucy got a cramp in her calf. “I gotta sit down.”
Gloria glanced down at the dark earth. “Have a seat then. But watch out for snakes,” she warned.
Lucy jumped up and swatted at her rear. “Thanks for the warning,” she muttered.
Gloria suddenly stood upright. She put a hand on her back, trying to ease her sore muscles. “Time for a closer look.”
Lucy stared at her friend incredulously. She was off her rocker. “Are you crazy??”
Maybe Gloria was but there was no one around. Now would be the perfect time to check out the inside without raising any suspicions.
She didn’t wait for Lucy as she ducked down and quickly crept toward the looming silhouette. She looked back to see Lucy hovering reluctantly on the back side of the hedge. She waved her over. “Let’s go.”
Lucy stared up at the black sky wondering what she’d ever done to deserve this. She yanked the knitted cap down over the bright red curls and muttered under her breath, certain this decision probably wasn’t going to end well.
Grandkids Gone Wild (The Garden Girls Book 2) Page 6