by Dale Mayer
That was such a good point filled with wisdom that Doreen could hardly argue. By the time Nan did straighten and disappeared into the kitchen to come back with tea, all the animals were looking at her attentively. Doreen remembered how Nan usually had treats for them. Maybe that was why they wanted to come here and to see her grandmother so much.
Thaddeus walked over, tilted his head to one side, and in a proud voice said, “Thaddeus is here. Thaddeus is here.”
Nan reached into her pocket and pulled out a little ziplock baggie with some sunflower seeds. She put a few down in front of him. Then she put a few dog treats in front of Mugs and a few cat treats in front of Goliath. And, with the same movement, she lifted the plate of muffins and placed it in front of Doreen.
Doreen laughed. “So am I in the same category as the pets? Is this my treat for the day?”
Nan beamed. “Why not?” she said. “I love all of you.”
Doreen’s heart was touched, and she whispered, “Not as much as I love you, Nan.”
Nan reached across, patted the back of her hand, and said, “I’m sorry you’re still having such an adjustment.”
“It was a tough day,” Doreen muttered. She looked at the muffins and picked up the first one. Realizing they were still warm, she took a sniff and inhaled the heady aroma of fresh banana bread. “These smell divine.”
“They are divine,” Nan said. “Chock-full of walnuts too.”
Doreen didn’t wait. She broke the muffin in half and bit in. She sat back to just enjoy it. “I don’t know how you make this stuff all the time,” she muttered, while looking at it. “It’s all I can do to handle some basic cooking.”
“It just takes practice,” Nan said with an airy wave of her hand. “I’ve been doing this for a long time. You’ve got to remember that.”
Doreen nodded, but she didn’t think that was even one-third of the story. There was just something about the ability to walk into a kitchen and to create something magical. She polished off the first muffin and reached for the second one. As she took a bite, Nan poured her tea for her. Then Doreen realized she’d been devouring the muffins so fast it was almost rude. She forced herself to put the muffin back on the plate, settled back, and asked Nan, “How are you doing today?”
“I’m fine,” Nan said, her voice almost birdlike with joy. “Had a great night’s sleep last night, and it’s a gorgeous morning.”
Doreen looked around and shrugged. “It’s overcast and gray, Nan. That’s hardly a gorgeous day.”
“Actually it is,” Nan said. “I woke up. That makes it a good day. It’s not burning hot, and it’s not covered in thick smoke from fire season, so, all in all, I’ll take this as a nice day.”
Having made the point, Doreen could hardly argue. It was sad in a way though when Nan just waking up made it a good day for her. On the other hand, what would it take for Doreen to have the same appreciation? “When I woke up this morning, I felt like I’d been hit by a bulldozer,” Doreen said. “I had bad dreams all night of people chasing me and trying to find dead bodies, and it was awful. The coffee helped but not a lot.”
“What about going downtown with Mack. Did that help too?” Nan asked in that inquisitive tone of hers.
But Doreen hadn’t told Nan about that yet. “Which one of your friends tattled on me this time?” she asked with a note of humor in her voice.
Nan’s smirk flashed. “It was actually the new landscaper. I was talking to him a little bit ago. He said he saw you at the city park.”
“How did he know who I was?” Doreen asked in confusion. “It’s not like I know who this new landscaper is.”
“Oh, my dear. You went with the animals,” Nan said in a chiding voice. “I don’t think anybody in town now doesn’t know who you are, particularly when you have them with you.”
Doreen wrinkled up her face. “Okay, fair enough. Because, yes, indeed, I did have the animals with me. And, yes, I did go downtown with Mack.”
“Now,” Nan said, “you need to tell me why.”
Doreen hesitated, not sure how much she could tell. Then she shrugged and said, “I can tell you something, but you can’t pass it around. This is one of those cases that, until it hits the news, you don’t get to share.”
She could see the disappointment in Nan’s face warring with her curiosity. Finally her shoulders sagged, and she said, “You drive a hard bargain, dear, but okay.”
“It’s not me driving the bargain,” Doreen said. “It’s Mack.”
“Of course it’s Mack. All those rules and regulations he has to live by,” Nan said with another airy wave of her hand. “They really don’t apply to people like us.”
“Unfortunately they apply more to me than you might think,” Doreen said with a laugh. “Not really any choice, considering I have to deal with Mack and his rules all the time.”
“You do,” Nan said smugly. “I don’t.”
Doreen rolled her eyes. “Maybe. But too often we need the cops in to deal with you as it is.”
Nan just said, “Posh, don’t worry about me. Now, tell me the news.”
Doreen leaned forward and whispered, “They found Manny’s body.”
Nan gasped. “No.”
Doreen nodded. “They found the body last night and identified it this morning.” She found herself thinking that must be a pretty fast ID. But then she trusted Mack.
“Oh my,” Nan said. “Poor Jenny.”
“Why?” Doreen said in a wry tone. “So now she can make an accurate entry into her Bible?”
Nan’s head shook violently. “No, no, she can’t. That’s the problem. And I get that times and dates don’t matter to you and definitely don’t matter to a lot of people, but, for something like this, accuracy is everything.”
Confounded, Doreen just stared at her grandmother. “So, this is bad news?”
“Well, it’s not great news obviously. We would hope Manny was alive,” Nan said delicately. “But, given that she’s dead, it’s bad news if we don’t get a date.”
“A date?” Doreen asked.
“A date,” Nan said with a smile. “A date of when Manny died.”
Doreen sat back and took another bite of her banana muffin. It was almost gone, but she watched her grandmother in fascination. “I can understand why a date for when Manny died is important in the investigation for finding out how she died and maybe finding out who was the killer, but surely, if we could get a general date of death, that would be enough in terms of the Bible record.”
“Well, you know, anybody who records this stuff,” Nan said, “they’re pretty fanatical about accuracy.”
“In that case,” Doreen said, popping the last bite of muffin into her mouth and chewing before she said more, “Jenny might just have to wait until the police can finish their investigation.”
Nan nodded slowly. “She won’t like that. But I do understand, dear. You can’t help it if you don’t know.”
“That’s true,” Doreen said. “And don’t forget there’s a good chance nobody will have an accurate date. It’s not like there’s ever these messages on a dead body, saying they were killed on such and such a date.”
“That’s inconsiderate of them,” Nan said. “Surely they should understand it’s important for people to know these things.”
“I don’t think a murderer cares,” Doreen said. “A murderer is just busy trying to not leave behind little details so he doesn’t get caught. He’s not concerned about leaving messages behind.”
“And yet some murderers do,” Nan said, a knowing look on her face. “Just think about all those who tell the police where to find a body and leave them riddles and clues.”
“Which is a far cry from this instance,” Doreen said. “I highly doubt any note was found, saying, I killed Manny on such and such a date, anywhere close to the body.”
“You don’t have to be mocking about it, dear,” Nan said. “I was just wondering.”
“If and when I find out anything,” Doreen
said, a little ashamed of herself, “I’ll tell you. But I doubt they’ll even be accurate within a month or two. I guess it depends on the weather at the time.”
“I don’t understand any of that,” Nan said, “but, if you do, that’s great. I’ll be happy with that, dear.” Then she leaned forward and said, “Is there anything else we do know?”
Doreen shook her head. “No cause of death at this time. No time of death at this time. Basically nothing except they know it’s Manny.”
“Oh, that’s so sad.”
“Of course, and we know where Manny was found,” Doreen said, staring off in the distance.
“Right,” Nan said. And then, in a conspiratorial whisper, she asked, “Where?”
“Over in Knox Mountain on the way to Paul’s Tomb,” Doreen said. “Only that doesn’t mean anything to me.”
“Lots of hiking paths up that way,” Nan said. “It’s a big area. Lots of trails. It’s popular with the locals.”
“So,” Doreen said, “I’m presuming Manny was in some out-of-the-way corner or otherwise hidden.”
“Possibly, and we certainly haven’t had any heavy rains to wash some of the dirt away that might have been covering her,” Nan said thoughtfully. “So, we really have to find out how her body was discovered.”
“Of course I forgot to ask Mack that,” Doreen said with a sigh.
“You can ask him next time,” Nan said comfortably.
And magically a third banana muffin appeared in front of Doreen. She looked at it in surprise.
“I really shouldn’t have a third one,” she said. But then she snatched it up and grinned. “But I really want it.”
“I’m sending two more home with you,” Nan said.
Doreen looked at her grandmother. “Are you keeping some for yourself?”
“Of course I am,” Nan said in delight. Then she stopped and got an odd look on her face. “I wonder if Jenny knows yet?”
“No idea,” Doreen said, but knowing the police would be responsible for telling her, she brought out her phone and texted Mack to see if the next of kin had been notified.
Darren was there midmorning, Mack replied.
“Richie’s grandson Darren,” Doreen then told Nan, “he was here this morning, talking to Jenny.”
“So, whenever you’re gone after tea,” Nan said, “I’ll go talk to her and see how she is.”
“Good idea,” Doreen said. “I’m sure she would like company.”
“No,” Nan said, “she wouldn’t. But she would like somebody to commiserate about dates.”
That was just too much for Doreen. She picked up the muffin and took a big bite.
Nan had a notepad out and jotted something down.
“What are you marking down?” Doreen asked suspiciously.
“I was just thinking maybe Jenny might know a little more than she’s letting on.”
“Such as?”
“I don’t know,” she said, “but surely she must know something about her daughter’s life.”
“It’s Manny’s life around the time of death that we really need to know about,” Doreen said. “Who he might have been friends with, who he might have had jobs with—and, of course, I’m using the term jobs loosely.”
Nan nodded. “It’s a tough lifestyle, but I thought there was a time when the two of them communicated.” She stared thoughtfully at the pad of paper, tapped her pencil on it in frustration, and then said, “I just can’t remember.”
“If you ask Jenny, she might remember,” Doreen said comfortably.
Nan put her pencil down and said, “Very true. No point in trying to rack my brain to pull out some information that just doesn’t want to be found.”
When Doreen got up to leave, Nan packed up two muffins for her and handed them to her.
“Thanks,” Doreen said. Then she gave the tiny woman a gentle hug and headed home.
Chapter 30
Wednesday Afternoon …
As soon as Doreen got home, she felt guilty about all the muffins she’d consumed. She changed into her gardening clothes, headed back outside with a tall glass of water and ice, and attacked the garden, starting from the creek’s edge. She wasn’t sure she should be working along that edge. If the water was rising, making for the rising creek, it might take away a lot of topsoil nearby. So, she started about a foot back. She was a good ten feet along when her phone rang. Ready to have any interruption to excuse her from this work, she checked the phone to see it was Nan. “Hi, Nan,” she said, breathing heavily.
“With that shortness of breath,” Nan said, “I would be happy if I thought you had a good reason for it. But knowing you, you’re probably gardening.”
Doreen groaned. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m doing. Gardening.”
“Too bad,” Nan said brightly. “Now heavy breathing if you were with Mack, … that’s a whole different story.”
Doreen pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. “Did you have a reason for calling?”
“Of course. It’s not like I call for no reason,” Nan said, puzzled.
Doreen bit back her impatience. “So what was it?”
“I talked to Jenny,” she said with a note of importance. “And I knew there was something she hadn’t discussed.”
Doreen sank down to the grass and stretched out full length., so she could stare up at the sky as she talked to Nan. “What was it?”
“Jenny and Manny accidentally met up at City Park on one of the days Jenny was with her church group. Seeing Jenny, Manny had called to her. Jenny tried to ignore her daughter, but Manny walked over and basically embarrassed Jenny terribly in front of her church ladies.”
“Of course that would be very uncomfortable for Jenny. Not exactly easy on Manny either.”
“Quite right, but I think, after that, Jenny had nothing more to do with Manny.”
“Did she say anything that was helpful about that meeting that would pertain to Manny’s death?”
“Manny said something about how she was leaving and how Jenny wouldn’t have to worry anymore.”
“Interesting,” Doreen said. “Did Jenny have a date when this happened?”
“Yes,” Nan said, and she named the date.
Doreen thought about it and said, “That was about a week before Manny disappeared.”
“Yes,” Nan said. “Another reason why Jenny wasn’t too worried when her daughter supposedly was missing. Because, as far as Jenny was concerned, her daughter had left, as she’d said. Jenny’s pretty choked up about them finding her daughter’s body now.”
Doreen really wanted to ask if she was choked up about the loss of her child or the loss of an actual accurate date of death for her family Bible, but figured that was the wrong question. “It must be tough to lose a child,” she said as a compromise.
“Yes, but that’s hardly Jenny’s issue. I think she walked away from that whole relationship a long time ago.”
“So her issue now is the date of death for the family Bible?” Doreen couldn’t believe it. Surely there was something else to worry about than the accuracy of a Bible notation.
“Yes, but she also said Manny had a friend with her at the time they met. She’s been trying to force her brain to think of who it was.”
“And did she? Did she have a description too?”
“No, not really, but she saw Manny talking to this woman before they approached, which is one of the reasons why Jenny deliberately tried to avoid her. She was afraid it was a customer, and she didn’t want anything to do with that.”
“So it’s this woman she’s trying to identify?”
“Yes,” Nan said. “And it’s been bothering her.”
“Right. Can she give me an age?”
“No, not really. At least I didn’t think to ask.”
“Nan, I’ll email you a photo,” Doreen said, hopping to her feet. “Can you ask Jenny if this is the woman who was talking to Manny?”
There was a short, surprised silence, and then Nan
jumped in with, “Of course. You already know who it is?” Her voice rose in excitement. “Does she have something to do with Manny’s disappearance?”
“I have no idea,” Doreen said. “It’s just a thought.”
Back in the kitchen, Doreen sat down by her laptop, booted it up, and then searched for the image she was looking for. When she found it, she attached it and sent it to Nan. “Get back to me as soon as you’ve asked her, will you?” Doreen asked.
“I’ll call you back in ten minutes,” Nan said before hanging up.
Doreen washed her face and hands while she waited to hear back from Nan. She checked the clock and realized it was midafternoon already, and she could fully justify another pot of coffee. She set one to dripping and waited. When Nan called back, Doreen snatched the phone off the table and said, “And?”
“It’s her,” Nan cried in excitement. “Jenny really wants to know who it is, so she has a name to go with that face.”
“It’s Lynette,” Doreen said. “Norbert the banker’s wife. That’s Lynette Watkins.”
“I don’t know who that is,” Nan said in disappointment. “I didn’t recognize the face, although Jenny certainly did.”
“You can tell her the name,” Doreen said, “but that’s not her name now. After Norbert died in the hit-and-run, she remarried fairly quickly. She married an investment banker, and her new name is Lynette Porter.”
“Oh my,” Nan said. “He’s one of the shakers and movers in town.”
“I’m not sure what that means in a small town like this,” Doreen said drily. “My husband was a shaker and a mover in West Vancouver, but he was slimy.”
“I’m not at all sure this guy isn’t the same here,” Nan said thoughtfully. “This is a fascinating turn of events.”
“But really it has nothing to do with Manny’s disappearance,” Doreen reminded her. “All we’re doing is solving the puzzle of who Jenny saw ten years ago.”
“I’m telling Jenny right now.” And Nan hung up on Doreen again.
Doreen chuckled. She looked down at the animals and said, “Apparently I’m a bad influence on everybody here.” Mugs woofed at her, Doreen filled up his dog bowl with food, and then Goliath’s and Thaddeus’s. “I’m pretty sure I fed you guys, and the food is still in your bellies, but, hey, if you’re hungry like I am, maybe you should have a bit more.”