On Pins and Needles

by Elizabeth Craig

So Beatrice did, watching while Meadow paid and tipped Trixie. By this time, another customer, who appeared to be a regular, had entered the salon and was chatting with Trixie. When Beatrice’s nails had finally dried, they headed out the door.

  Chapter Ten

  BEATRICE SAID, “THAT took forever.”

  “Yes, but we got information at the same time,” said Meadow. “We killed two birds with one stone.”

  “What information do you think we heard?” asked Beatrice as they started walking toward their cars.

  “Well, that Trixie said she couldn’t have done it because she was at the shop,” said Meadow with a shrug. “Whether that’s the truth or not. And that she thinks that there’s some sort of soap opera type reason that Devlin was murdered. That it all has to do with a love triangle and jealousies and anger.”

  Beatrice said, “I guess we’ll try to follow up with Arnold next.”

  Meadow said, “Should we bring him more food? Maybe we could say that we felt badly because he doesn’t really know anyone in town and we wanted to make sure he had plenty of food.”

  Beatrice grinned at her. “That makes it sound as though we think Arnold is completely incapable of heating up a microwave meal or something. He’s a pretty sophisticated man with a good deal of means. And he wasn’t with Annabelle most of the time, so he’s used to being independent. I’m sure he knows how to rustle up some food in town.”

  “Was he independent? It sounded to me like he really wanted to fix his marriage and not be independent at all,” said Meadow. She paused. “Well, speak of the devil,” she said in her stage whisper that likely carried all the way down the street. “It’s Arnold. I guess you’re right—he’s in the process of getting himself brunch, it looks like. And I do believe that I’m suddenly hungry again.”

  Beatrice groaned. “I’m pretty sure I couldn’t force anything else in my stomach after my eggs and sausage, but I suppose I could be up for a coffee.”

  They walked in and saw Arnold, sitting alone with a Dappled Hills newspaper at his table. He looked up when he saw them and pointed to the empty chairs near him. “Come sit with me,” he said. “Every time I go into town I feel like I look like a hermit or something. No one wants to come talk to me.”

  They sat down and the waitress took their order for coffees. Beatrice said, “They’re probably just not sure what to say. They’d need to introduce themselves and then extend sympathy. That’s probably pretty tough to do during an introduction.”

  Arnold said, “I’m sure you’re right. I’m being a little uncharitable. It’s just that I’m not accustomed to being alone. Oh, and Beatrice, thanks for giving me Wyatt’s information. I spoke to him yesterday about a service for Annabelle.”

  “That’s good. Thanks for letting me know—I came home late yesterday and Wyatt didn’t remember to tell me about it.”

  Arnold nodded, looking serious again at the reminder of Annabelle’s death. He sighed. “Everything’s just such a mess right now. Literally and figuratively. The house is completely trashed with my packing. And I’m still not allowed to leave town.”

  Beatrice asked, “Did the police extend the time they’ve asked you to stay here?”

  Arnold nodded. “That’s right. The Devlin Wilson murder.”

  The waitress brought the coffee over. When she’d left again, Beatrice said, “What do you make of that?”

  Meadow was still agitated by the thought of Devlin’s death. “What can you think of it? Total evil!”

  Beatrice thought that Meadow was actually starting to sound like Miss Sissy.

  Arnold smiled faintly and said, “I agree. Not too much to be said about it. Somebody appears to be on a rampage in this little town. I can’t figure out why. Dappled Hills seems like such an innocuous place on the outside that it’s hard to believe these kinds of crimes are happening here.” He put some cream in his coffee. “And I think it’s a shame. I liked Devlin.”

  Meadow said loyally, “He was such a great guy.”

  Arnold added some sweetener to the coffee and stirred it. “I’m not going to say that I wasn’t upset with him about telling the cops that I’d returned to the house. But that was just some momentary frustration because I was ready to leave town. I did like the guy. He seemed very genuine and was very eager to help.”

  “Had you seen him at all after Annabelle’s death?” asked Beatrice.

  Arnold shook his head. “It wasn’t for want of trying, though. I did go to Devlin’s house yesterday. In fact, I saw a young woman arriving as I left, so I’m pretty sure that’s been mentioned to the police.”

  Meadow stared at him as if she was hearing his confession. “You went there?”

  “I sure did. I wanted to use Devlin to sell my house,” said Arnold. His food was brought to the table, and he took his fork and knife out of his rolled napkin.

  Meadow said in her stage whisper again, “But he had an affair with your wife!”

  Arnold smiled at her. “The reminder is unnecessary. Believe me, I remember. But there were extenuating circumstances, remember? We were separated and Annabelle was pursuing a divorce. Besides, I felt sorry for the guy.”

  Beatrice asked, “Sorry because of how devastated he was by Annabelle’s death?”

  “Exactly. I felt as if he and I had something in common with that. Her death clearly affected him as strongly as it had me. I’d seen him around town and thought he looked like death warmed over.” Arnold cut up a piece of sausage. “I think he was taking out his feelings on his yard. I could totally understand him wanting to throw his extra energy at a project. That’s sort of what I’ve been doing with all the packing.”

  “So you decided to head over to his house,” said Beatrice.

  “That’s right. I was out anyway, and I was worried that Devlin wouldn’t pick up the phone if I called him. Understandably, he seemed to be trying to avoid me. I think he was worried that I was upset over his relationship with Annabelle. Instead, I genuinely wanted to give him the job of selling the house.” He paused. “Who knows what I’m going to do about finding a real estate agent now?”

  Meadow said, “And you didn’t see him? When he was out in the yard?”

  Arnold shook his head and finished chewing a bite of food. “I didn’t. I was pretty single-mindedly focused on ringing the doorbell. He didn’t answer, of course. I thought, again, that he was trying to avoid me. After all, his car was in the driveway. He was clearly at home. I just can’t believe this happened to him. The guy couldn’t catch a break.”

  Beatrice asked, “Can you think of anything you might have seen or heard to give us a clue as to who might have killed either your wife or Devlin Wilson?”

  Arnold thoughtfully took a bite of eggs. After a few moments he said, “I still wonder about that Gene guy across the street.”

  Beatrice asked wryly, “The one who reported that you’d come back to the house on Friday night?”

  Arnold made a face. “The very one. But it’s not just me being vengeful. As odd as it might sound, Annabelle and I still spent a good deal of time talking on the phone and catching each other up on our days. Maybe it was habit, maybe it was something else. On my end, our conversations were something that made me think our marriage still had a chance.”

  Beatrice asked, “And she mentioned Gene?”

  “Sure. I mean, we didn’t talk about everything. She didn’t specifically mention the different men she was seeing, just that she was seeing people. But this Gene she did mention a lot. Not romantically, but because she was really irritated with him. Beatrice, you know what Annabelle was like when she was irritated,” said Arnold with a sad smile.

  Beatrice nodded. She did indeed.

  “So anyway, Annabelle had something of a bee in her bonnet over Gene. She felt as if he was out to get her. First, he’d tried to throw as many roadblocks up as he could when the house was being constructed. He even commissioned some kind of environmental study to see if the construction work would harm any type of endanger
ed wildlife,” said Arnold, shaking his head.

  Meadow said, “Obviously nothing was found, since the house was built.”

  “Right. But he didn’t get over it. He’d be in Annabelle’s yard sometimes, she said, determined to take in the view that he used to have. She’d look out the window, and he’d be there in the back yard, sitting near the edge and looking at the view of the valley,” said Arnold. “I thought it was a little crazy and told her to give the local police a call.”

  “Ramsay would have been happy to go over there. That’s trespassing, after all,” said Meadow, sounding indignant at the thought of Gene hanging out in Annabelle’s yard.”

  “I’m sure he would have, but for some reason, Annabelle didn’t want to make the phone call. She didn’t see Gene as a threat, just something of a nuisance. Then, when she was having trouble getting a cell phone connection, she started petitioning for a new tower to improve the signal. But Gene was ready to shut that down too, of course. This time, though, he had some agreement from folks in the town. It didn’t look like the tower was going to come to fruition and that made Annabelle annoyed, too.” A smile played around Arnold’s lips at the memory.

  “Do you think he would have killed again, though?” asked Beatrice. “When it wasn’t something he felt passionate about?”

  Arnold lifted his eyebrows. “Oh, I think so. I actually saw him there at Devlin’s house. Well, not quite at Devlin’s house, but just a few houses down. He’d pulled over to the side of the street when I was leaving. He was glancing around, shifty-eyed. I thought he looked rather suspicious. Besides, I have the feeling anyone could be passionate about self-preservation.”

  Once Beatrice and Meadow had finished their coffees, they left Arnold with the rest of his breakfast and his newspaper.

  Meadow said, “The more I see him, the more I like him. He seems so reasonable!”

  “And not like someone who would kill his wife with an ancient sword?” asked Beatrice in a hushed voice. “Just remember that he may be putting on an act to protect himself, too. He was the one who brought up the self-preservation instinct.”

  Meadow shrugged. “Maybe. But I really can’t see it.”

  They were walking past the Patchwork Cottage when Posy popped outside to greet them. “I was just about to call one or both of you! I’m glad I spotted you walking past the shop. Are you doing anything important?” she asked, her brows furrowed anxiously.

  “Nothing that can’t be put off,” said Beatrice. “Is something wrong?”

  Posy glanced through the shop window at the sofa in her sitting area. Beatrice and Meadow followed her gaze and saw Miss Sissy, glowering back at them through hooded eyes.

  “I’d noticed that Miss Sissy has been in a really awful mood lately. I’d tried to ask her about it, but she just growled at me.”

  “Sounds likely. And I know just what you mean—I’d tried to find out what was bugging her, too,” said Beatrice.

  “Well, it turns out that Miss Sissy has a terrible toothache,” said Posy. “And she’s really been impossible.”

  “Impossible for a normal person? Or impossible for Miss Sissy?” asked Meadow, with some trepidation. Clearly, she had not planned on dealing with an obstreperous Miss Sissy today.

  Posy considered this. “Impossible for Miss Sissy. But it’s not really her fault when she feels so miserable. No wonder she’d been so grouchy. I finally spotted her cradling her jaw in her hand and put two and two together. I pleaded with her to go see a dentist, but she kept shaking her head. Then, when Maisie was cozying up with her on the sofa, I saw a big tear trickle down Miss Sissy’s cheek. She really needs to go. She finally agreed to let me call her dentist, but they were completely booked up. I called mine and they have an available appointment in about an hour. I’d take her myself but I don’t have anyone available to relieve me at the shop. I don’t trust her to drive herself over there. Besides, she’d terrorize the whole town in the process.”

  Beatrice said, “We’ll be happy to take her for you. No problem at all.”

  Posy beamed at them. “Thanks so much! I felt so sorry for her, but it was frustrating when she didn’t want to go. I really appreciate it.”

  Beatrice said, “Do you want us to take her now? We’re talking with a couple of people here in downtown, but she can either come with us or we can run by later and pick her up.”

  Meadow said, “Oh, let’s take her now if she’s so upset. It’ll be a nice distraction for her.”

  Posy went in to tell Miss Sissy and Meadow groaned. “Why do I have the feeling that this is going to be our very own personal challenge today? Not that I don’t feel sorry for her. When you don’t have anything to do but think about how much your teeth hurt, then your teeth hurt even worse. Will we be able to talk with anybody with her around?”

  Beatrice said, “I don’t see why not. It’s not like everyone in town isn’t used to her little eccentricities. Except for Arnold, maybe, but we’ve already spoken with him today.”

  Meadow asked, “So, where are we off to now? Gene? Arnold seemed to be pretty down on him.”

  “Sure. Where would he most likely be now?”

  “I don’t know everyone’s schedule in town, you know,” said Meadow, eyes twinkling.

  “But you do know Gene’s?”

  “I’ve noticed that Gene seems to be spending a good deal of time at Goldie’s office,” said Meadow. “Now, I’m not saying that he’s definitely there now, but we could check and see.”

  “Are they an item?” asked Beatrice, frowning.

  “You don’t think they could be? The rumor around town is that they might be,” said Meadow.

  “I don’t know. They just seem really different from each other. Gene is this sort of nerdy guy who likes stargazing and crosswords and Goldie is this sweet Girl Scout. Gene is prickly and Goldie tries to smooth things over,” said Beatrice. “Goldie is warm and Gene is cold.”

  Meadow shrugged. “They say that opposites attract. Maybe that’s the case for Gene and Goldie. I hope Goldie is happy, no matter what. She’s too sweet not to be.”

  Posy came back out again with a sullen Miss Sissy.

  “Here you are, Miss Sissy! You’ll be better before you know it,” said Posy kindly.

  Miss Sissy growled under her breath and Posy gave her a quick hug and hurried back to her customer waiting at the cash register.

  Meadow said cheerfully, “Miss Sissy, yay! We get to hang out today.”

  Miss Sissy glowered at her and gave a snort.

  Beatrice said, “Before we take you to the dentist, we do have someone to speak with. From what Posy told us, you should have plenty of time before your appointment.”

  Miss Sissy’s curiosity was piqued. “Who?” she asked gruffly.

  “Gene Fitzsimmons,” said Meadow brightly. “He’s probably over in the town hall with Goldie.”

  Miss Sissy’s eyes lit up. “Sweethearts,” she said.

  Meadow laughed as they headed slowly in the direction of the town hall. “Exactly. See, Beatrice? Everyone has heard about it.”

  “I still just can’t see those two together,” said Beatrice.

  Meadow waved her hands. “It’s either opposites attracting, like I was saying before, or maybe Gene is surprisingly creative and full of ideas for Dappled Hills downtown development.” Her voice was doubtful on the viability of this prospect.

  “Won’t it look very obvious if we just walk into Goldie’s office and start questioning Gene about Annabelle and Devlin? Maybe we should have an excuse to go in there,” said Beatrice, always leery about looking nosy. Besides, they looked even odder than usual with the inclusion of Miss Sissy in their group.

  “As it happens, I have a wonderful excuse. I’ve seen these cute, cartoony Town of Dappled Hills maps of downtown and I wanted to pick one up for the police station,” said Meadow breezily.

  Miss Sissy muttered under her breath at the thought of the cute, cartoony map. Or, possibly, at the idea of making the
police station a more cheerful place.

  Beatrice laughed. “The police station? So the troublemakers can see where to go downtown?”

  Meadow said, “Well, it would sure make the station look better. It’s pretty cold and sterile right now. One of those maps would make it cheerier.”

  “I guess it’s as good an excuse as we’re likely to have,” said Beatrice.

  Meadow peered through the door of the Town Hall and hissed, “What did I tell you? He’s in there with a bag of fried chicken and he and Goldie are sharing it!”

  Miss Sissy perked up at the words fried chicken. Then her hand stole up and gently cradled her jaw and she glowered again.

  Beatrice said, “I don’t think Ramsay would find that to be good enough evidence to determine they’re having a relationship. But let’s go in instead of just standing here at the door looking suspicious.”

  Chapter Eleven

  THEY WALKED IN AND Goldie blushed, jumping to her feet as if having been discovered acting unprofessionally at work. “How are you ladies doing?” she asked, a bit loudly. “Want to join us for lunch? Gene was kind enough to pick some up.”

  The look on Gene’s face was hardly a welcoming one. Beatrice hid a smile. Clearly, he was not looking forward to sharing lunch with Goldie in any way.

  Meadow said, “We’re fine, but thanks!”

  Miss Sissy looked longingly at the chicken and Goldie quickly asked, “Chicken for you, Miss Sissy? I have a paper plate I can pull out for you.”

  Miss Sissy gave the chicken a wistful look and then shook her head.

  Goldie looked confused by this, as well she might, considering the fact that, in anyone’s memory, Miss Sissy never turned down an opportunity to eat.

  “Toothache,” said Beatrice succinctly and Goldie nodded in sympathy.

  “Was there anything that I could do for you ladies?” asked Goldie.

  “I thought I’d pick up one of those nice Dappled Hills maps to take to the police station,” said Meadow with a big smile. “The one where all the businesses are illustrated.”