Mabel, Murder, & Muffins

by Sharon Mierke

  “Oh, I care. By the way, that is my best vase. If you really like it, I could pass the word around. You know, it would make a great welcome back to Parson's Cove gift.” I looked her right in the eye and winked.

  She jerked her head up so quickly that her glasses almost slid off. Her skin turned white and then red.

  “What are you talking about? Who's coming back to Parson's Cove?"

  “Well, you should know, Esther. You’re the one who’s out there, sneaking back into Parson's Cove through the bush.”

  Oh, oh. Not exactly the right words to say when someone is holding an expensive gold plated vase. Her mouth gaped open, she gasped in horror and my beautiful vase fell to the floor.

  As I watched Esther running across the street with her skirt flying, I thought how happy I was to have such good insurance and that this was something I wouldn’t have missed for the world.

  Chapter Thirty Eight

  I went to bed early that evening, content in knowing I’d almost driven Esther insane. She deserved it if she was the one who left that phone message for me. And now that I knew she was leaving her husband and coming back here, I was sure she was the one who sent it. It seemed like a decade ago now. Flori told me to forget about it. Let bygones be bygones. Easy for her to say, she didn’t have the nightmares.

  I was trying to concentrate on my book when Phil raised her head and twitched an ear.

  “What’s the matter, old girl? Did you hear something?”

  She stood up and meowed.

  “What do you hear? A burglar?” I reached over and ran my hand down her back. This usually makes both of us relax. Phil views every little sound as a potential disaster and it’s her mission to protect me. “Silly, old thing.”

  At this point, she usually starts to purr, entwines her body around my arm and lies down again. This time, however, she kept standing, watching the door, and meowing.

  “Phil, come and lie down. You’re making me nervous.”

  All Phil did was stare at the open door and keep talking. All of sudden, the other three cats who had been sleeping in various areas in my bedroom, stood up and dashed out the door.

  “Who’s out there?” I called out.

  There was only silence - except for the faint sound of my hallway floor creaking.

  “Who’s out there?” I yelled. Phil jumped off the bed and ran under it.

  The light in the hallway was not on so I could only see darkness beyond my bedroom door.

  A figure appeared in the doorway. I was expecting it but when it happened, my heart almost jumped out of my chest.

  What I wasn’t expecting was the gun in his hand.

  “Ralph,” I said. “What are you doing here? Why do you have a gun pointed at me?”

  “Don’t you listen to the news, Mabel? Everyone in the country is looking for me. There’s a warrant out for my arrest. For killing Grace. Can you believe it?” He grinned. “But, I didn’t need to tell you that, did I? You knew all along. You’re the one who went squealing to the cops.”

  “No, I didn’t. I only told them what I suspected. What do you think, Ralph? That you should get away with murder? And you could’ve, you know. I never would’ve believed it was you. Not in a million years. It was only after I saw the dandruff on Grace’s clothes that I thought it might be. That’s the honest truth, Ralph.”

  “I didn’t mean to kill anyone. Do you believe me?”

  “Of course, I believe you. What do you expect me to say when you have a gun pointed at my head? I think you should tell me what really happened so I can talk to the Captain. He’s a very understanding person. Tell me the truth - was it an accident?”

  Ralph’s eyes were red but not from crying. Probably from lack of sleep. His hand holding the gun was shaky.

  “It was. You know, all I wanted was Sally. She’s the only one who meant something to me. Sally found out that Grace had this money. I don’t know where she got it but there must’ve been a million dollars. Her brown bag was full of it. That’s what Sally told me. There was a gun in the bag too so Sally stole it and gave it to me. She told me that if I pointed the gun at Grace, she would hand over the money and Sally would go away with me. She promised me, Mabel. We made our plans before the plane landed in Denver. When the plane landed, I didn’t get back on like I told you. I told Grace that I needed to talk to her in private. I told her it was about some stolen money. She had the bag with her then but when she met me and I pointed the gun at her, she didn’t have the bag. I made a fool out of myself for nothing. She grabbed for the gun and I pulled the trigger. I don’t know why. It was just a reflex, that’s all. You understand, don’t you, Mabel?”

  “I can’t say I do. What happened then?”

  “Then? I stood there and watched her die, that’s what happened. She slid to the ground.”

  “No one heard the gun go off?”

  “No. Sally told me about this secluded underpass close to the airport. There was traffic going over and planes at the same time. There was a car rental office close by so I waited until it was dark and then put her in the car.”

  “You sat with the dead body until it got dark?”

  He nodded. “Well, it was almost dark when I killed her. But, I covered her up. There was an old tarp under the bridge. I put that on her so I wouldn’t have to look at her. She kept staring at me, Mabel. Everywhere I looked, she was looking at me.”

  “Dead bodies tend to do that, Ralph, especially if you’ve just murdered them. So, what was your plan after the murder?”

  “Please, don’t call it a murder.”

  “But that’s what it was. You murdered Grace Hobbs. That’s what you did. Why did you stay there? Why didn’t you run? You might’ve gotten away with it if you’d left and got onto the plane home. No one would’ve connected you to her if you hadn’t carried her and got dandruff all over her clothes. You do realize that, don’t you?”

  “I couldn’t leave. I was waiting for Sally. She said she’d come to meet me there.”

  “What if Sally already had the money? If she had the money, she wouldn’t need you for anything.”

  “No, she didn’t have the money. I know she didn’t. Besides, she wouldn’t have done that to me.”

  “Don’t count on it. You aren’t too swift when it comes to Sally.”

  The gun was now pointing at the floor but I didn’t want to spook him. After all, if he lifted it and fired, I wouldn’t have a chance.

  “So, you came here to kill me? What good is that going to do, Ralph? The police know you killed Grace so if you kill me, it’s not going to change that. All it’s going to change is how long you stay in prison or if you get the death penalty. That’s all that’s going to do.”

  Ralph looked down at the gun and then let it drop to the floor.

  “You’re right. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” He looked at me, pleadingly. “That Sally. She’s made me crazy, Mabel. I was never like this before. I have a son, for god’s sake. What’s he going to think of me?”

  Before I could tell him that his son was sure to think his father was a jerk, Ralph Murphy was on the floor, in a dead faint.

  I stepped over him and made my way downstairs to the phone. This time I wasn't going to be concerned about throwing water on him until after the call.

  Within five minutes, my house was overflowing with cops. And, Flori, of course. She’d seen the flashing lights and followed.

  “I knew it had something to do with you, Mabel,” she said, and hugged me until I thought she’d wring the life out of me.

  Ralph was sitting on a kitchen chair. Water was still dripping down from his hair onto his shoulders and there was a puddle around the chair.

  “Why is he all wet like that?” Flori whispered.

  “Because he fainted,” I said.

  Maxymowich read him his rights, cuffed him, and hustled him out.

  Reg hung back. He still didn’t look too good. His eyes were puffy and his nose was red from blowing. He obviously
should have been in bed.

  “Thanks, Mabel. Sorry I couldn’t do much these past couple of days. Maxy told me about the dandruff theory. So all you saw were a few white spots on that black and white picture and you figured it was dandruff? Why would you think it was dandruff when it was around her waist?”

  “Because he had to hoist her over his shoulder to carry her when he dumped the body so that’s why the dandruff would be there.”

  “Huh! Not bad, Mabel. Actually, quite brilliant if I do say so myself.” He stopped to sneeze. When I saw it coming, I shoved his arm into his face so his sleeve would get the full force and I wouldn’t.

  “Sorry.” He pulled out a large red rumpled handkerchief and blew. Afterwards, he shoved it back into this pocket. “I’m not quite over this thing I’ve got. By the way, did he say where this Sally is? Do you think he killed her too?”

  “He apparently doesn’t know where Sally is, or so he says. I wish I could’ve asked him more but you know Ralph – he fainted. By the way, does Maxymowich know why Ralph brought the body here to Parson’s Cove?”

  Reg’s face turned red. At least now his nose didn’t stand out too much.

  “I’ll forgive you for this one, Mabel, but don’t let it ever happen again. When you were getting dressed a few minutes ago and Ralph was confessing, he confessed that he brought the body here because of something you said.”

  “Something I said? What did I say?”

  “That you’d had to help solve several murders in Parson’s Cove because the police force here was inadequate. Or, did you say, ‘a very young sheriff, an incompetent deputy, and an old retired sheriff?’ I believe that’s how you described the Parson's Cove law enforcement.”

  “You’re kidding? I said that?” Sometimes words can really come back to bite you, can’t they? “You know I didn’t really mean that, Reg. You did say you were forgiving me, right?”

  He nodded and grinned. “I probably wouldn’t if I wasn’t running a fever.”

  “By the way, Reg, we’re pretty sure we might have seen Sally at Andrea’s house when we were in Yellow Rose.”

  “You read over my notes, didn’t you? I told you that the phone call came from there. Do you know who lives at 3800 P ½ ?”

  Flori and I stared at each other.

  “That’s Stella’s house. How can that be? That can’t be right. Why would Sally be phoning from Stella’s house?” Flori said.

  “Never mind, Flori, do you realize when she made that call? She made it when we were right there in Yellow Rose. How could she have phoned from Stella’s house when we were right there? There has to be some mistake.”

  Chapter Thirty Nine

  “What are you telling me, Flori? Stella’s phone is disconnected?”

  “Just says she's not available. That’s what the recording said.”

  We stared at each other over my kitchen table. It was Monday again and I couldn’t believe how fast time was flying by.

  “Oh, Mabel,” she said. “I'm so glad you have Mondays off. It's too bad you didn't think of it years ago. Imagine all the things we missed out on all those years.”

  Offhand, I couldn’t think of too much.

  “Like what?” I said.

  “Like berry picking,” she said.

  Well, I guess that would have taken care of the Mondays in June.

  I’d phoned Reg after Flori gave me the news and he said he was on his way over. I made an extra big pot of coffee, took out the last bag of Sunshine Health muffins and popped them into the microwave oven. He still sounded congested so I thought I’d give him something a bit healthier than his usual strawberry or blueberry muffin. I’m sure Beth would be pleased. Being an ex-cop’s wife was stressful enough; she didn’t need to worry about his health issues too.

  A few minutes later, he arrived. The moment he got through the door, he sneezed and sent my cats scurrying for cover.

  “Please, come in and share your germs with us,” I said. Flori had wisely grabbed a tea towel, which she now draped over her face. “Flori,” I said. “You can’t spend the rest of your life with a towel over your face. If you’re going to catch it, you’re going to catch it. And I'll let you take that one and put it in the laundry basket.”

  “So, what’s this, Mabel?” Reg asked in a nasal voice. “This friend of yours in Yellow Rose … Stella … doesn’t have a phone anymore? You’re sure this is where this Sally person phoned from?”

  By this time, Reg had already poured his coffee and was placing a muffin on a plate.

  “That’s the address you gave me, Reg. Did you tell Maxymowich?”

  He nodded. His mouth was full so he couldn’t talk. It isn’t a pleasant experience watching Reg eat, so Flori and I bit into our muffins too.

  “Wish I could taste these,” Reg said, as he was tearing his second one in half and adding butter. He looked up at me with feverish eyes. “Lost all sense of taste with this cold.”

  “Well, you could’ve fooled me,” I said. “Are you taking your medication?”

  “Most of the time.” He plopped the last bit into his mouth, chewed, swallowed, and said, “Maxy is sending someone in Yellow Rose over to check this Stella’s house out.” He stood up. “I’ll let you know what he finds out. Thanks for the muffin and coffee. Good, as usual.”

  “He could’ve told me all that over the phone,” I said, after the door closed.

  “He just wanted coffee and something to eat. Poor man is feeling so terrible. I think I’ll make some chicken soup and take it over for him.”

  “Flori, I’m sure Beth can make soup. He isn’t taking his antibiotics so it’s his fault he’s so miserable.”

  I filled our cups up and we ate in silence for a few minutes.

  “Can you figure this out, Mabel? Where would Stella be? She didn’t say anything about leaving Yellow Rose. Do you think someone killed her too?”

  I shook my head. “Of course not. Ralph killed Grace. That had nothing to do with anyone else. What I don’t understand is why would Sally be at Stella’s house and if we were right there in Yellow Rose, why didn’t she tell us that Sally was at her place?”

  Flori held her cup in midair and stared into space. Then, she turned to me and said, “Maybe she didn't know that we knew Sally. Did we ever talk to her about Sally? Do you think someone kidnapped Sally; she escaped, and then just happened to run into Stella’s place to phone? Perhaps, someone was after her?”

  All I could manage was a groan.

  “And Stella just happened to forget to mention it to us? I don’t think so. Personally, I’m beginning to think that everyone who lives on Avenue P ½ is weird. Maybe all Texans are crazy. I don’t know.”

  “Oh well, at least, the murderer is caught and that’s all that matters. You should be proud, Mabel. You were the one who figured it all out. Imagine, seeing dandruff on Grace’s clothes. I would never have connected that with the murder.” She raised her empty cup to me. “You, my friend, are a good detective.”

  “Well, thanks, Flori, but you know it isn’t over. We still have to figure out what happened to Sally and I have to force a confession out of Esther.”

  “Force a confession? For what? Surely, you’re over that school thing. I mean, Mabel, that happened over forty years ago. I told you, you had to come to grips with that. If you let things fester, they just get worse and worse.”

  “This has absolutely nothing to do with things that Esther did to me years and years ago. This is the phone call she made and scared the wits out of me, that’s what this is about.”

  “You have no proof that Esther even left that message.”

  “Well, who did then?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know; maybe it was Sally.”

  “No. The second message was definitely from Sally but not that first one. I’ll have to listen to it again.”

  “My advice to you is to forget about it. No one has harmed you so it was either a prank call or you didn’t hear it right.”

  Ping! A lig
ht went off in my brain.

  “Maybe we do know Sally was at Stella’s, Flori. ”

  “What do you mean? Sally was at Stella’s? We definitely did not see Sally at Stella’s.”

  “No, but we could’ve heard her. Remember the music? I thought it was strange that she had the music playing so loud. Then, when I went back to wait for you and Stella, I turned the volume down and I did hear something coming from below but I thought it was the water pipes or something. I bet you anything she was tied up in the shed under the house.”

  “I was in the garage, Mabel, and I didn't see or hear anything.”

  “What was under there?”

  “Her washer and dryer. The car, of course, and some kind of shed. Probably for tools and things like that.”

  “That’s it then. She was tied up in the tool shed under the house.”

  Flori shook her head. “I don’t know. That seems kind of farfetched.”

  I ran over to the phone and called Reg on his cell phone. He agreed with Flori, that it was farfetched but he did what I asked anyway. He called Maxymowich.

  Chapter Forty

  “You were right, Mabel. And, I’m not going to say again.” Reg was back in my shop the following morning. No one comes in to buy anything until after eleven even on my busiest days. That’s not good for sales but, at least, we were able to speak and not worry about anyone eavesdropping. “They found Sally, locked up in the shed under Stella’s house.”

  “Was she alive?”

  “Barely. She'd run out of food and she was in bad shape. They found Stella too.”

  “You’re kidding. Where?”

  “Galveston. She’d just returned from a Caribbean cruise.”

  “What? She didn’t tell us she was going on a cruise. Honest, Reg. She didn’t say a word. Did she know about Sally? Please, don’t tell me that she was in on all of this too. It will break Flori’s heart if she was.”

  “Okay, I won’t tell you.” He walked over to the coffee maker. “The coffee isn’t ready yet, Mabel.”