Jackson had headed back to the station. He wasn't ready to question Tyler on the slim evidence of finding a smooth stone near the beehive. If Harold made it through, he would be able to shed more light on what'd happened. He didn't want to upset the family more, in such a stressful time, by taking Tyler into the station. Jackson had assured me he would keep me posted on Harold's condition. In the meantime, I'd decided to take a trip to the Plunkett farm to see how they were doing (and snoop around, if possible). With any luck, I'd spot something I missed the first time.
I considered taking the secret path to the Plunkett's but decided that might look odd so I walked along the road.
"Miss Taylor," a crinkly voice called to me. "Miss Taylor."
I looked back over my shoulder and spotted Millie standing on her porch, clad in a pink flowered apron. She was holding a book in one arm as her cat circled around her ankles. She waved me over and I happily obliged. Hopefully, she had more to add to her eyewitness account of yesterday's murder.
"I'm glad I spotted you," Millie said. "I found something that might be nice for your story. It's my daughter's yearbook from high school."
My steps faltered in disappointment. Browsing an old yearbook was hardly good use of my murder investigating time, but Millie was so sweet, I decided I had some time to spare. She seemed thrilled to have someone to talk to.
Millie took a seat and I joined her in the adjacent rocker. She lowered the yearbook to her lap. It was emblazoned with a large silver anchor and the words Crestfield High School Mariners were embossed in the same silver ink. It always astounded me how schools that struggled getting enough supplies always had copious amounts to spend on the annual yearbook. The book was remarkably thin, indicating that Crestfield High was a small school.
"I was in my kitchen earlier, and I could have sworn I heard more ambulances across the street." She pulled a pair of wire rimmed glasses out of her apron pocket. Her hands shook a bit as she pulled them on. "I hope it wasn't anything serious."
"Unfortunately, Harold Carmichael got stung by some bees."
She didn't react with a gasp, so I could only assume she didn't know anything about his severe allergy. I was sort of relieved not to have caused her any distress. She took the news with a weak smile.
"That's too bad. I'm sure he'll be fine. My Everett once got a wasp sting right by his eye. It was terrible. His whole forehead swelled up, and his eye was sealed shut for a week. But he recovered without any permanent problems." She swept her hand over the fancy cover on the yearbook.
"That's good." I looked pointedly at the book. "You said this was your daughter's high school yearbook?"
"Yes. I think I might have mentioned to you that Rebecca went to school with Lilly and Ruby."
I sat forward, shifting the rocker to the front. "You didn't mention that Ruby went there too."
"Oh didn't I? Ruby moved here from California. I think she started high school the year she came. A hard time to start a new life but her mother had remarried. Ruby was instantly well liked and popular. She became good friends with Lilly. They were both very athletic and attractive. It was rather ironic that they ended up marrying two boys who hated each other. I always thought the two women would bring the men together, help them to put the silly feud behind them, but, as you know too well, it never happened. And now it's resulted in tragedy." Millie clucked her tongue as she opened the yearbook to a page she had marked with a piece of ribbon.
I leaned over the arm of the rocker to get a good look at the book. My interest was now piqued. I'd had no idea that the two wives had been, at one time, good friends. Millie's shaky fingers smoothed over the array of senior portraits. "Here is my Rebecca," she said, pointing out a bright eyed girl with long bangs and a big smile. "She lives in Germany. Her husband is in the military."
"How exciting to be living abroad," I said. There were goodbye sentiments and phrases written all over the page. Millie pointed out a picture of a pretty girl with dark hair clipped up on each side by barrettes. "Here's Ruby."
It was a bit awkward from the rocking chair but I leaned over to read the note beneath Ruby's picture. "Hey Rebecca, have fun in college. See you this summer. Love Gidget," I read aloud.
Millie nodded when I looked at her. "Yes, that was Ruby's nickname. I can't remember why, but I think it had to do with her coming from California." A kitchen timer beeped through the screen door.
"Oh, that will be my muffins. I made some for Lilly and the kids." She handed me the yearbook. "Here, you can look at this while I go check them."
I greedily grabbed the book wanting to know more about the friendship between the two wives. I wasn't exactly sure what information I could gleam from a yearbook, but it was worth a shot.
I studied both Lilly's and Ruby's senior portraits for a moment so they'd be easier to spot in the various photos throughout the book. Millie had mentioned they were both athletic, so I headed to the pages that showed all the sports teams. It was easy to spot them on the girls' softball team. They were standing next to each other with wide smiles and striped shirts. Ruby was also on the swim team, and according to the caption, she was captain of the archery team.
Millie walked back outside with a plate topped with a golden muffin dotted with dark blueberries. She had a glass of milk too. "I thought you might like a snack."
"Aren't you sweet. The muffin smells delicious." I balanced the book on my lap as I took the plate and glass. "I see that Ruby played a lot of sports. She was captain of the archery team. My high school didn't have an archery team. I feel like I missed out."
"Yes, that sounds familiar." Millie pulled a small wicker table between the two rockers so I could put down the plate and glass.
I picked up the warm muffin and took a bite. "Hmm, yummy."
"Glad you like it." Millie leaned over and glanced at the photos. "As I recall, Ruby nearly won a state championship for her archery skills. She was quite the shot. Lilly was good at it too."
I skimmed the photo and spotted Lilly in the back row. "Yes, you're right. Was Rebecca in a lot of sports?"
Millie's soft silver curls wiggled as she shook her head and laughed. "No, she was more into drama and dance. Lilly was a member of the drama club too. She was quite the actress. I think if she hadn't married Grayson so soon after high school, she might have had a career in show business."
"No kidding?" I was thoroughly enjoying my treat and the informative chat. Even if I didn't solve the murder, I had more nice details to add to my story. "The Plunketts will enjoy these. Have you spoken to Lilly? I was just going over there to see how they were doing."
Millie's eyes rounded behind her glasses. "Are you? Would you mind taking the muffins over? The walk is just too far for me, and I never drive anymore. The town has a nice shuttle that comes to pick me up twice a week for shopping and hair appointments. It would be such a help if you could take the muffins to them."
"Of course I will."
"I'll just go inside and write a little note to Lilly letting her know how sorry I am about Grayson." Millie pushed herself out of the rocker. "I'll be right back."
"All right and I'll just sit here enjoying the warm summer breeze and this delicious muffin." I relaxed back nibbling the muffin and browsing the yearbook. The drama club had a full page layout. The kids were sitting along the front edge of the stage with their feet dangling. Lilly was right in the center. I was glad I'd stopped at Millie's. I had new information and a better picture of the two wives, and since I was given the task of delivering the muffins, I had a more solid reason for showing up at Lilly's door.