by Cindy Bell
When they reached the door, Bernice and Parker stood in the doorway with the three children a few paces away. While Bernice and Parker both wore sullen expressions, the children were focused on the devices in their hands and giggling and poking at each other. Instead of being annoyed Ally was rather inspired by their playful display. It was difficult to say goodbye to a loved one, but the kids couldn’t be bothered by it. Either they were too young to understand loss, or they just hadn’t been very close to their grandmother. Maybe it was possible that Gladys simply didn’t like children or didn’t have the time for them. Ally thrust out her hand to Bernice.
“I’m very sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.” Bernice met her eyes with a small smile. “I’m sure Mother would have been touched that you are here.”
“Please, if there’s anything you need, just let us know.” Charlotte touched the back of her hand, then passed a brief glance towards Parker. “I know this must be a difficult time for all of you.”
“The seats are filling up.” Parker tilted his head towards the interior of the funeral home. “Best to get one now.”
It seemed like a rather odd statement to make in response, but Ally decided to ignore it. Everyone grieved in a different way. She and her grandmother made their way to the back row of seats.
The funeral home offered services despite not being a church. Ally thought it was a fine way to serve people who might not have been very religious. She also knew that it was part of a package deal that came with a casket and a grave stone. She pushed that thought from her mind and focused on the minister at the front of the crowd. Within minutes the service began. Ally checked her phone one last time, she still hadn’t received a text back from Luke, then she turned it off. As she listened to the minister’s words, she scanned the room. She saw no sign of Harriet or Isaac. Marlo didn’t appear to be there either. She was a little disappointed that he wasn’t as she had hoped that he would point her in the right direction.
Only a few moments into the service, the doors flung open, and a man stepped inside. At first Ally thought it was the supervisor from the farm, then she realized it was Marlo. He settled into a seat not far from them, and began to rock back and forth in his chair. Ally glanced at her grandmother, then gave her a slight nudge with her elbow. Charlotte turned to look and saw Marlo as well. Just as she was about to whisper to Ally, Marlo stood up and began to walk towards the front of the room. A few gasps could be heard throughout as he marched right up to the minister. He fell down on his knees before the man, and cried out so loudly that everyone in the room could hear.
“Please, I have a confession to make.”
Several people, including Charlotte and Ally, stood up from their seats to stare at the man on his knees.
“All right, son, just calm down.” The minister’s face grew beet red, and he searched the audience for someone to help him with the strange man.
“What is he doing?” Ally whispered to Charlotte. “Do you think he intends to confess to Gladys’ murder?”
“Maybe.” Charlotte gathered her skirt and made her way to the end of the aisle. As she approached Marlo, Ally was right behind her. Several other people had moved towards him.
“Marlo, what are you doing?” Ally stepped up behind him. “Are you okay?” She rested a hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t touch me!” He moaned, and writhed as he remained on his knees. “I don’t want anyone to stop me from telling the truth. It was my fault, she’s dead because of me!”
“Just tell us.” Charlotte’s voice was soothing. “If you want to tell us, we are all here listening. Let it out, Marlo. Tell us what really happened.”
“Enough.” Parker stood up, his eyes narrowed and his jaw tense. “This is completely inappropriate. Marlo, you need to leave.”
“Parker, please, let me speak.” He gazed up at the man with tears streaming down his cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Parker. I didn’t know any better. I just did what I was told.”
“That’s it.” Parker grabbed him by the collar and pulled him to his feet. “You are leaving.”
“Wait.” Ally took Marlo’s hand. “I’ll walk him out. Right, Marlo? You and me? We can go see how Arnold’s doing, okay?”
“Okay.” Marlo’s face crumpled with despair. “No one wants to listen to me.”
“I know, Marlo, but I will.” She patted the back of his hand. “It’s okay, let’s go take a walk.”
“I don’t care what you do, but get out of here.” Parker pointed sharply towards the door. As Ally guided Marlo down the aisle, Charlotte followed after her. As soon as the trio stepped outside, someone closed and locked the door behind them. Charlotte frowned as she glanced back over her shoulder.
“I have a feeling we’re not welcome to go back in, either.”
“That’s all right. The service wasn’t much of an honor to Gladys, anyway.” Ally shook her head. Then she turned her attention to Marlo. “Do you want to tell me, Marlo? I’m listening.”
“Ally, she was a good woman. A woman that didn’t deserve this. I shouldn’t have let her take my quad bike.”
“Why not?” She studied him. “Didn’t she use it often?”
“No. She only used it that day because she was running late. I let her take it. I told her, go fast, you’ll make it.” He wiped at his eyes. “I told her, go fast.”
“Marlo, you were riding the quad bike that day?” Charlotte stared into his eyes.
“Yes. I rode it out there to find her, because she was late for the meeting. She was supposed to meet with Rick and Parker. Parker was mad. He told me to go find her. So I did. I heard the screaming. Harriet was screaming at her. I parked the bike and followed the voices until I found them. But I was too scared to interrupt. So, I just waited.”
“How long did you wait?” Ally raised an eyebrow as she looked at him. “A few minutes? An hour?”
“More than a few minutes, but not as much as an hour.” He raised a finger in the air. “I can’t be sure.”
“Okay, you don’t have to tell us right now, Marlo. But are you sure that the quad bike was working okay when you rode it out to the fields?” Charlotte searched his eyes. “You’re certain there was no trouble with the brakes?”
“I’m certain.” He nodded, then smiled at her. “I’m certain.” His expression grew dreamy as he continued to stare at her.
“Marlo, can you tell me—”
Before Ally could finish her question, tires squealed in the parking lot behind her. She spun around to see Luke stepping out of his car. His eyes passed over her, and locked on Marlo.
“Marlo, I’m here to talk to you.” He glanced back at Ally once, and held her eyes for a moment, then turned his attention back to Marlo. “Do you want to go for a ride with me?”
“I want to see the piggie.” Marlo frowned.
“I told him we could take a walk with Arnold.” Ally wondered if that was a mistake.
“That’s all right, you can take Arnold for a walk later. Right now we need to talk, Marlo, okay? It’s very important.” He continued to stare hard at Marlo.
“Luke, he told me something that you should know.” Ally stepped up close to him and murmured the information that Marlo had given her. “It sounds to me like Marlo was actually the target. How could anyone know that Gladys would climb on to the quad bike instead?”
“It’s interesting.” Luke shook his head slowly from side to side. “So, Gladys might not be the target. But, that may not be the case. Marlo is very easily influenced. It’s possible that someone told him to say this. It could be a way of deflecting attention. I don’t know, I’ve got a few irons in the fire.”
“Be careful, Luke. Marlo can be a little unpredictable,” Ally said quietly as she walked behind Marlo to Luke’s car. “I would never have expected him to burst in and make a scene like that.”
“It’s bad timing.” Luke nodded towards the funeral home. “Hopefully the rest of the service won’t be interrupted.” After he helpe
d Marlo into the back of the car, he paused and glanced back at Ally. “Are you doing okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine.” She took his hand and gave it a light squeeze. “What about you? Any sleep at all?”
“I’m sure I’ll be sleeping soon.” He placed a light kiss to her forehead. “Are you two opening the shop today?”
“Yes we are.” Charlotte glanced at her watch. “We figured we’d wait until the service was over out of respect. But it’s the day before Valentine’s Day, we can’t miss out on the sales.”
“I’m sure that you’ll have plenty of business, and it’ll be nice for people to have somewhere to go after the service and enjoy some time together.” He nodded to both of them. “I’ll talk with you later.” As he settled in the driver’s seat, Ally waved to him. She wanted to ask a million questions. Had he found Isaac and Harriet? Did he know who might have pressured Marlo into saying things that weren’t true? But she knew that if he wanted her to have the information he would have given it to her. At the moment she needed to focus on getting the shop open, as her grandmother had said, they needed the Valentine’s Day sales.
Chapter 16
After Ally watched Luke drive Marlo away, she walked over to her grandmother.
“Should we head over to the shop?”
“Yes, that might be best. I don’t think interrupting the service by trying to get back inside is a good idea.”
“No, me either.” Ally turned towards the parking lot. However, as she took a few steps she noticed two shadows near the side entrance of the funeral home. It only took her a second to recognize one of the people as Bernice. The other person was unmistakably Oscar. She grabbed her grandmother’s hand.
“Mee-Maw, Bernice and Oscar are over there. What could they have to talk about? Oscar was hired by Grainder, by Rick. Why would he be talking to Bernice?”
“I don’t know, but they don’t seem to be having a calm discussion. It must be important if she’s outside instead of being inside the funeral home.” Charlotte squinted in an attempt to get a better view. They were too far away to hear any of the conversation, but Oscar appeared to be rather agitated, while Bernice kept waving her hands and backing up from him.
“Let’s try to get closer.”
“Look, if we go over near that bush they shouldn’t be able to see us.” Ally led the way towards it. Just as they reached the bush, Bernice raised her voice.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about! I don’t owe you any money!”
Charlotte drew a sharp breath at that statement. She glanced at Ally, then looked back through the sparse leaves at Bernice and Oscar.
“I was hired to do a job, which I did, and now I want my payment. I know that you received your inheritance so you need to make it happen.” He slapped the palm of his hand with the back of his other hand. “I expect payment right now.”
“You’re crazy. I never hired you to do anything. I don’t have to pay you anything.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. “I’m calling the police.”
“Go ahead, sweetcheeks, and tell them how you had your sweet old mother followed around to try to get her declared unfit. I’m sure the police will love to hear all about that.” He chuckled.
“Bernice!” Parker stepped out through the side door. “The service is almost over. The kids are looking for you.” He grew silent as he saw who she was with. “What are you doing here?”
“What do you think?” He barked in return. “Rick took off without paying me, and I want payment. He said I could collect from you.”
“Listen, this is not the time or the place for this.”
“What is he talking about, Parker?” Bernice stared at him. “Did you hire him?”
“Not exactly.” Parker cleared his throat. “Oscar, we can settle up later, all right? My wife is burying her mother.”
“Sure, I can see a lot of tears are being shed.” Oscar waved his hand. “I’ll give you until six. But I have a flight out of here at ten tonight, and I expect to have my money when I get on the plane. If not, I’ll go to the cops and tell them what you hired me to do. I’m sure that will make the entire murder investigation that much more interesting. Don’t you think?” He turned and walked off across the parking lot.
“Parker, what did you do?” Bernice shoved him hard on the shoulder. “What did you do?”
“Quiet, Bernice. Do you want the whole town to hear us?” He looked back towards the door that led to the funeral home, then turned back to her. “We’ll talk about this after the service. We need to get back in there before one of the kids knocks over the casket.”
Bernice continued to argue with him as she followed him back inside the building.
“Wow.” Ally shook her head as she glanced at her grandmother. “So, Parker really did hire Oscar?”
“It sounds like he and Rick might have been in on it together. They probably teamed up to try to get Gladys declared unfit. Then the sale would have gone through very easily.” She clucked her tongue. “I wonder if they took it so far as to kill her.”
“They might have.” Ally crossed her arms. “It sure sounds like they were determined to get the sale completed no matter what it took. But then, we just found out that it’s likely that Marlo was the target, not Gladys. What motive could they have to kill Marlo?”
“Maybe he found out.” Charlotte started to walk towards the car. “If he found out what they planned, maybe they decided they had to get rid of him first.”
“Maybe.” Ally sighed. “It still doesn’t make sense to me, though.” She settled in the passenger seat. She looked forward to the calming environment of the chocolate shop. “I can’t believe that Oscar confronted her at her mother’s funeral. What kind of person does that? Maybe he really did kill Gladys.”
“It’s possible. Everything’s possible at this point. Which reminds me, we might have to find a new supplier for milk. We’ll have to get some from the supermarket to hold us over until tomorrow.”
“I’ll take care of it, don’t worry. Do you know where Jeff is taking you on your special Valentine’s Day date tomorrow night?”
“Ugh.” She waved her hand. “I don’t know, and I don’t think I’m going to go through with it.”
“Mee-Maw, you have to. It will be fun.” Ally looked over at her.
“I’m sure you’re right.” She pulled into the parking lot of the shop.
As they walked into the shop together, Ally felt a rush of peace carry through her. No matter what was happening outside the shop, entering it was always like coming home, a form of comfort that couldn’t truly be described.
“Mee-Maw, I’m going to head into the back and get some chocolate melting. Take your time, have some coffee, just relax a bit. Remember, you’re going tomorrow!”
“I know, I know, tomorrow.” She rolled her eyes. “At this point I’d rather just crawl into bed.”
“Mee-Maw!” She gasped as she looked over her shoulder at her grandmother.
“Alone! Alone I meant!” Her cheeks burned bright red as she stumbled over her words. “I’m just exhausted.” She laughed and shook her head. “I guess that came out wrong.”
“Maybe it did, but it was funny.” Ally grinned. “It’s important for you to go, Mee-Maw, you need a little fun.”
“It’s just that I’m not in a celebrating mood. We just left Gladys’ funeral, and we still don’t know why she died. Now her farm is being sold, and who knows what will happen to it once a large company takes it over. I don’t know, I guess I’m just feeling a little down about everything.”
“I know how you feel.” Ally wrapped her arms around her in a warm hug. “It’s been a crazy few days, and it’s not over, yet. I wish things would just calm down a bit so that we could enjoy spending some time together. No pressure, no investigating, just us. And by us, I mean Luke and Jeff, too.”
“I agree with all of that. But it’s hard for me to adjust to having someone around that wants to spend all of his time with me.
” She shrugged. “I’ve grown used to being alone, making my own choices, and not having to wade through the opinions of someone else.”
“Sure, it can be frustrating at times. But having the company can be amazing, too. You have someone to laugh at a movie with, someone to share a great meal with, someone to go for a walk with under the stars.” She cast a knowing smile in her direction.
“I told you that in confidence, you’re not allowed to use it against me.” Charlotte grinned.
“You care about him a lot, and he cares about you, too. It’s normal to be afraid of losing that. If you admit that you are involved with him, then you have to be worried about things ending, right?”
“Maybe.” She waved her hand. “Enough of this chatter. We have work to do. If we don’t get ready we’re going to have to turn people away.”
“You’re right, Mee-Maw.” Ally smiled. “Let’s get started.”
Chapter 17
As Ally stepped into the back of the shop her thoughts began to fill with excitement. Despite the fact that Gladys’ death still weighed on her mind, she was eager to experience the day before Valentine’s Day. She knew that it would be great for the shop, and the profits they made could go towards expanding their inventory. With these thoughts on her mind she turned on the burners and grabbed some chocolate to melt. An eerie sensation crept over her as she reached for a pot. A soft rustling sound made her heart stop.
As she held her breath, she heard the sound again. Was it a rat? Some other kind of unpleasant creature? Somehow she knew that it wasn’t. Whatever it was, it made the same sound again, right behind her. She drew in a sharp breath to scream, without really knowing why, but before she could a strong hand clamped down over her mouth. It pressed so hard that her lips were crushed against her teeth. She struggled, but he had taken her by surprise, and she couldn’t get any leverage.