Happier Days in Time

by Jenna St James

  When we reached the front lawn of the Belmont house, Maggie stopped and turned to Jack. “Can you tell me what’s going on?”

  He shook his head. “No. I’m sorry but I can’t.”

  She stared at him for a few seconds before she nodded. “I trust you.”

  “We’ll talk tomorrow when I know more,” Jack said.

  He and Peggy Sue walked up the street to their house while Maggie and I crossed the road.

  “I have no idea what’s going on,” Maggie said as she opened her front door, “but whatever it is, it must be big.”

  “If we’re lucky,” I said, “it will have something to do with Sissy.”

  “I had to admit that is exactly what I wondered,” Maggie said. “Why else would the police be here?”

  “But why not question us all?” I asked. “Or better yet, what possible lead could they have gotten? I thought the police were convinced it was a suicide? What could they have found that traced back only to Cliff?”

  “I have no idea.”

  Chapter 12

  “Church is in an hour,” Maggie said. “We can either walk or drive over, whichever you prefer.”

  I groaned inwardly. Of course there would be mandatory church on Sunday in the fifties. “You have your own church within walking distance?”

  “Oh yes,” Maggie said, handing me a coffee. “You don’t think the good people of Oakdale Estates wouldn’t think ahead to have a proper church to go to, do you?”

  I took a sip of my coffee and smiled. “Is that a trace of sarcasm I hear?”

  Maggie huffed. “Of course. But it’s tradition, and some things you buck and some things you don’t. This isn’t one of them. Church every Sunday at nine-thirty. So get dressed and we’ll walk over. It’s not on Cedar Street with the library and grocery store, it’s actually on the same street as the pool, only instead of at the front, it’s all the way at the end of the road. It sits on the corner there with the parsonage next to it.”

  “I’ll be ready by nine,” I promised.

  Carrying my coffee upstairs, I thought about everything that had happened last night. I still couldn’t fathom what evidence the police had suddenly found that would lead them to question Cliff. I personally was leaning more toward Nancy or Walter as Sissy’s killer.

  “What do we know about Cliff?” I searched the closet for a dress to wear to church.

  “His motive to kill Sissy is because she knew about his affair with his secretary and threatened to expose him.”

  Rex picked up one of my bobby pins and pretended to have a sword fight with himself in the mirror.

  “What are you doing?” I tossed a pink dress onto the bed and bent down to find matching shoes.

  Rex laughed. “I used to have sword fights with my kids back in the day.”

  “What? How many kids do you have?”

  Rex shrugged. “I think about two dozen.”

  I snorted. No way did I believe him. Rex loved to mention what a stud he was, but no way was I falling for this lie.

  “Your wife must have been pregnant every day of her life to give you that many kids.”

  “It’s only twenty-three days for my Missus.”

  My mouth dropped. “What? Female rats are only pregnant less than a month? I had no idea.”

  Rex dropped his pretend sword and sat down on the edge of the dresser, his chubby feet dangling. “Now ya do, Lexi. Now ya do.”

  “All kidding aside, why do you think the police were at the Belmont residence last night?”

  “Not sure! But we still have three days to solve this case,” Rex said. “We’ll figure it out! We’ll figure it out!”

  I hoped he was right. I’d never missed a deadline for the Agency, and I didn’t plan to start now. Seven days was the maximum amount of time the Agency of Paranormal Peculiarities gave us to work a cold case. Seven days. After that, we were pulled back into our own time period.

  “Scat. I need to dress for church.”

  “I think I’ll go see if Maggie put the roast in the oven yet. Maybe I can snatch a little piece if it’s still out.”

  “Eww! It’s raw meat!”

  Rex lifted his tiny paws in the air. “I’m a rat. When’re you gonna stop forgettin’?”

  ***

  After church we walked Jack and Peggy Sue to their house. Peggy Sue needed to finish the dish she was bringing to Sunday lunch, but they assured us they would be at Maggie’s by noon. I had no idea what the dish would be, but I prayed it was edible. So far, the Swanson TV dinner was the best meal I’d had since my travel back to 1955.

  At eleven-forty, Jack and Peggy Sue arrived, and a few minutes after that, Hugh Sterling knocked on the front door. I could see why Sissy would be attracted to him. Tall, dark, handsome, a little silver around the temples. I especially liked the dimple in his chin that appeared every time he laughed. He was pleasant and easygoing, but I could also see pain and sadness in his eyes.

  We had a wonderful meal of roast, mashed potatoes, and buttered peas. The peas were brought by Peggy Sue. Not something I’d normally pair with a roast, but peas seemed to be a staple during this time period.

  “How about we retire to the living room for an after-dinner drink?” Maggie suggested. “The girls and I can get to this mess later before I serve dessert.”

  I tried to hide my smile as I caught a gray blur out of the corner of my eye. Rex was in the kitchen.

  “Take your time! Take your time! I’m just gonna relax in here and see what falls into my mouth.”

  Dr. Sterling offered me his arm, and together we strolled into the family room. He and Jack walked behind the bar and began filling glasses.

  “I think I’m going to have an Old-Fashioned,” Maggie said. “What about you girls?”

  “That sounds swell,” Peggy Sue said enthusiastically.

  “Yeah, swell,” I parroted.

  I was pretty sure I’d never had an Old-Fashioned, just like I was pretty sure I was going to need to lay off the booze when I got home. I wasn’t used to drinking so much…and especially not on a job. I liked having my wits about me when I casted spells. I had a hard enough time getting them to come out right, I didn’t need alcohol impairing my ability.

  Dr. Sterling handed me the drink, and I took a small sip. It had to be one hundred percent pure alcohol and no seltzer or anything.

  “Wow,” I said, “that’s strong!”

  Dr. Sterling laughed. “Yes, they are. I wouldn’t have more than one or two.”

  I thought about what I still needed to do tonight and sort of hoped Maggie kept drinking. I needed her to be knocked out in order to sneak out.

  “So I guess you’ve heard about the body?” Doc Sterling mused.

  Jack’s eyes cut to Maggie before he nodded.

  “Does this have something to do with what happened last night?” Maggie demanded.

  “What happened last night?” Doc Sterling asked.

  Jack set his drink down on the bar. “Last night the police came to Cliff Belmont’s house to talk with him.”

  Doc Sterling frowned. “Why would they talk to Cliff?”

  “Cliff knew the girl,” Jack said.

  “Wait.” I held up my hand. “I thought the police were there last night—well, because they found something that would prove my sister didn’t kill herself. I thought maybe the police had proof Cliff was involved.”

  Peggy Sue gasped. “Cliff killed Sissy?”

  “No,” Jack said emphatically to his wife before turning to me. “I know you don’t want to believe Sissy killed herself—”

  “Because she didn’t,” Maggie, Doc Sterling, and I all said at the same time.

  Jack sighed. “Right now, the police say otherwise.”

  “And as the elected coroner for this county,” Doc Sterling said, “I say otherwise. This case needs to be kept open. There was unexplained bruising on Sissy’s body.”

  “Fine,” Jack relented. “But right now the police are focused on this new case.”r />
  “Who died?” Peggy Sue asked.

  “And what does Cliff have to do with it?” Maggie demanded.

  Jack picked up his drink and swallowed. “I shouldn’t even know about this. It’s going to cause some serious issues if something comes from it. Do you remember the body found last weekend? The girl that washed up on the banks of the river?”

  “Yes,” Maggie said. “What about her?”

  “I have a positive identification for her,” Doc Sterling said. “It was a young lady by the name of Janie Alderman.”

  “Okay,” Maggie said, “but what does that have to do with Cliff?”

  I gasped. Janie Alderman was the missing secretary! What did this mean? Cliff killed Sissy and Janie? Wasn’t Janie staying with someone in Philadelphia?

  Jack sighed. “Janie Alderman worked at the Roseville First National Bank as a secretary for Cliff Belmont.”

  “I see I finished my dinner just in time,” Rex said. “We got us with a lot of unanswered questions, Lexi.”

  I gave a small nod of my head to let him know I’d heard him. At this point I didn’t know if I should give Jack the missing journal or wait and give it to the police. I supposed the police, since they seemed reluctant to continue with Sissy’s murder. This would show overwhelming evidence of a motive for Cliff to kill Sissy. Her last entry was she told Cliff she was going to expose his secret to Nancy.

  The police station was definitely on the agenda for tomorrow.

  “I just can’t believe it,” Peggy Sue said. “The police think Cliff hurt this girl?”

  “That’s right!” Rex said. “Peggy Sue sort of knew about the girl.”

  “Did you know her?” I asked Peggy Sue.

  She shook her head. “Not really. I mean, I saw her once in the bank, and I think I remember Sissy saying something about her once…but I really didn’t know her.”

  “I don’t think the police are ready to point fingers at Cliff,” Jack said. “I think last night they were merely informing him about the death of his former secretary. I’m sure they will have questions later on, once they have time to start putting things together about Janie Alderman’s life.”

  I turned to Jack. “What if Sissy knew something? Let’s say hypothetically Sissy somehow found out about Janie and Cliff and threatened to tell Nancy. Wouldn’t that be a good motive for him to kill Sissy?”

  Jack frowned. “Found out about them? You mean you think—” He broke off. I could tell by the color in his neck and face he was embarrassed to be discussing this with a bunch of women.

  “That Cliff was having an affair with Janie Alderman his secretary,” Maggie finished for him.

  “That’s pretty far reaching,” Jack said. “I mean, right now there’s no proof of that.”

  “Not true! Not true!” Rex said.

  Jack cleared his throat. “I mean, hypothetically speaking, if Cliff did have an affair with Janie Alderman, he may lose his job, but that’s not a good enough reason for Cliff to kill both his secretary and Sissy.”

  I knew countless people who killed for less, and I was sure Cliff Belmont wasn’t the type of guy who, when cornered, would just roll over and surrender. He wasn’t going to risk losing his family and his job without a fight. I had to get the notebook to the police station tomorrow as soon as possible. The case would be solved, and I could get back home to my time.

  “Why don’t the girls and I take care of the kitchen real quick while you boys discuss what it is you need to discuss,” Maggie said. “Afterward I’ll serve pie on the porch.”

  “I’ll stay with the boys,” Rex said. “But snag me some snacks for later tonight!”

  The three of us worked together to clean the kitchen, and as instructed, I slipped some meat into a napkin and shoved it in my dress pocket. I wasn’t sure if I’d still need to go on the stakeout later tonight, but just in case we decided to go, I didn’t want Rex getting cranky because he was hungry.

  Maggie cut everyone a large chunk of apple pie, and we sat outside on the porch drinking coffee and eating. We were about finished when the Smith’s front door flew open and their teenaged boy ran outside, dressed almost exactly as he’d been last night. He reminded me of John Travolta from Grease. And now that I thought about it, his sister was more like the goody-goody Olivia Newton-John before the final black leather scene at the end of the movie.

  “You boys be careful tonight,” Wanda called out. “Don’t get in trouble.”

  Her son laughed as he opened the passenger-side door of a Ford Coupe. “The fuzz has to catch us first, ma! Don’t wait up!”

  With that, the driver of the Coupe peeled out and flew down the street. Wanda stared after them, laughing and shaking her head. When she caught sight of us, she quickly turned around and marched back inside, slamming the door shut.

  “That boy is headed for trouble,” Doc Sterling mused.

  Jack nodded. “I suppose it’s only a matter of time before I have to prosecute him.”

  Peggy Sue smiled. “Think that will cause a problem with our Saturday nights?”

  Maggie threw back her head and laughed. “Why, Peggy Sue, was that a joke?”

  Peggy Sue grinned. “Maybe.”

  I set my dessert plate down on the porch and leaned back against the rail. I’d elected to sit on the floor, giving the others access to the chairs. “I was thinking about going to the police station tomorrow. Just see for myself what they have to say about Sissy.”

  Jack opened his mouth to say something, but Maggie put her hand on his arm. “You can take my car. Sissy always took my car when she needed to go into town.”

  “Really?” I asked incredulously. “You’re sure?”

  “Of course,” Maggie said. “I keep the extra keys in the drawer by the refrigerator. Feel free.”

  We made small talk for a while longer before Jack announced he needed to get home to prepare for his trial on Monday, and Doc Sterling announced he still had a few house calls he needed to make tonight.

  “House calls,” I mused. “Isn’t that something?”

  “House calls are my specialty,” Doc said with a grin. “I imagine doctors will always find the time to make house calls. It’s an important part of what we do.”

  “Boy will he be disappointed in the future,” Rex said.

  Chapter 13

  “You still wanna spy on Walter tonight, even though we’re pretty sure Cliff is our man?”

  “Yes. I’ve been thinking about everything so far, and the only change we’ve made in coming here is discovering the journal. I mean, I think that’s enough of a change to obviously nudge the police in the right direction when we hand them the notebook tomorrow, but a good detective covers all bases. Plus, you heard Maggie say if she had proof Walter was involved in a hate group, she had enough pull to do something about it.”

  “Then let’s put this jerk in his place!”

  “Exactly. I say we stick with the plan and go spy on Walter. I mean, is it really coincidence that his meetings are the second Sunday of the month, and that just happens to be tonight of all nights? I think we’re meant to do this.”

  “I hear ya! I hear ya!”

  “I was going to try and talk to the Smith boy tonight about the body he and his friends discovered last weekend, but I think that’s out for now.”

  Rex hopped up on the bed and snuggled down on his pillow. “Unless you pretend to be the fuzz and hunt him down!”

  I opened the closet and started flipping through to find something black to throw on. “Teenagers. I’m sure my mom rolled her eyes more than once at my antics at that age.”

  “I get these last two out, and I’ll have had a perfect record.”

  I glanced over my shoulder. “Whaddya mean?”

  Rex tucked his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. “I mean, once these youngest two get out of the house in a few years, I’ll have had all twenty-four survive the teenage years and move on with their own families and lives.”

  I tossed a pa
ir of black Capris and a black short-sleeved sweater onto the bed then sat down on my side. “You were serious about having two dozen kids?”

  “Yeah,” Rex said, eyes still closed. “And before you ask, yes I’m a grandpa. Kinda hard not to be with twenty-four kids.”

  “I guess I never really thought about—you know, about how old you were.”

  Rex shot up in the air, fists clenched and rotating like a boxer in a fight. “Put ‘em up! Go on! Put ‘em up! I can still whip your butt in a fight, little girl! See if I can’t. Put ‘em up!”

  Laughing, I gathered up the clothes in my arms and headed for the door. “I’m gonna go change.” I opened the door, made sure Maggie wasn’t around, then turned back to Rex. “Maybe you can get a nap in real quick before we go, Grandpa!”

  “Why I oughta—”

  I closed the door before he could finish.

  It didn’t take long to change into the all-black stakeout uniform. Unfortunately, as I walked down the hallway back to my bedroom, Maggie started up the stairs carrying a couple magazines. There was no way I could pass her carrying the dress…not without a lot of explanation…one being why I didn’t just change in my room like a normal person.

  Waving my hand, I opened the hall closet, wadded the beautiful dress as small as it would go, tossed it onto the floor, and waved my hand to close the door as she reached the top of the staircase.

  “I thought I might do some reading before bed,” she said, holding up the books, oblivious to my panicked heavy breathing. “I’ll probably only get through half of one before I fall asleep.”

  I gave a breathy laugh, heart still pumping. “Yeah, I fall asleep easily when I read, too.”

  “See you in the morning, Alexa. Sweet dreams.”

  “You, too.”

  I waited until she was in her room before retrieving the dress and speed walking back to my room. Rex was sound asleep, curled up on the pillow next to mine. Doing my best to fluff up the wrinkled dress, I hung it up, set my mini alarm clock for nine-forty, and laid down next to Rex. I had a good hour to rest.