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D
onna wasn’t able to work on Tuesday because she was still recovering from her dental procedure. Jackie and I explained to Luis and Scott that Shelly’s mother was experiencing some health problems and that Shelly wouldn’t be in for a few days.
“I’ll be happy to fill in for Shelly for as long as you need me,” Scott said. “I enjoy the work, and I need the money.”
“Thank you, Scott.”
Walter came in then, humming Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. He swept out his arms before asking the question to which he already knew the answer. “Am I the first customer to arrive this morning?”
“Indeed, you are,” I said.
“Young man,” Walter said to Scott, “would you be so kind as to set me up with a cup of coffee while I await my lady friend?”
“Be happy to,” Scott said.
While Scott was getting the coffee, Ivy strode into the café.
“Good morning, all,” she said.
“Ivy, hi.” I started out from behind the counter.
“Oh.” Ivy’s eyes widened. “Darn. I...I just remember there’s somewhere else I have to be right now.” With that, she rushed out the door.
I turned and looked at Scott.
He shrugged and served Walter’s coffee. “Be right back to take your order.”
“Take your time,” Walter said.
I noticed that Scott was taking his phone out of his pocket as he stepped out onto the patio. I went into the kitchen, put on my headset, and called Ivy. The call went straight to voice mail. Had Ivy left because Scott was here? And, if so, could she be the person Scott had gone outside to call?
That’s ridiculous. How could Ivy and Scott possibly know each other?
I went back out into the dining room after leaving Ivy a message. When Scott came back inside, he ducked his head and got the coffee pot in order to top off Walter’s cup.
Dilly arrived as he was pouring the beverage and asked him to fill a cup for her as well. That seemed to be all it took to right Scott’s course, and he went back to normal. Or, had he been normal all along, and was I merely scrutinizing him for abnormal behavior?
I greeted Dilly and then went back into the kitchen for breakfast preparations.
IVY CALLED ME A COUPLE of hours later as I was scrambling eggs. Thank goodness for headsets.
“I’m sorry you had to run off without even having coffee earlier,” I said.
“Yeah...um...I’m usually not so scatterbrained. I’m having an off day.”
I barked out a laugh. “For a second, I thought Scott scared you off.”
“Oh. No.” Ivy’s words were clipped and rushed. “I spoke with Sheriff Billings last night, and he told me your theory about how Gladys Pridemore was murdered. Excellent deduction. The dissolving of dry ice on the stove would explain the odor you experienced as well as the headache and dizziness.”
“Right,” I said. “I can tell you’re in a hurry, but I’m kinda concerned. Almost everyone with a motive to harm Gladys Pridemore was at the farmers’ market on that Saturday.”
“Yes, but I wouldn’t worry about that, Amy. The vendors at the farmers’ market have nothing against you, they’re only there to make money, and there are a lot of people around. You’ll be safe.”
“Okay.” I drew out the word, confused by Ivy’s patronizing tone. “I didn’t think our lives were in danger here at the café. I’m merely uneasy that Gladys Pridemore’s killer hasn’t been caught yet.”
“I know.” Her voice softened. “We’re doing everything we can.”
HOMER’S HERO ON TUESDAY was the Scottish comedian Billy Connolly. It was apparent he was keeping things light—even to the point of affecting a terrible accent—when he quoted: “I’ve always wanted to go to Switzerland to see what the army does with those wee red knives.”
I laughed harder than I normally would have because I still felt guilty about ignoring his anger quote when I’d been furious with Shelly yesterday. I still felt guilty about my anger toward Shelly too.
HJ Ostermann hurried into the café, ignored my greeting, and stood by the door to the patio waiting for Scott to finish taking the orders of Mr. and Mrs. Martin.
HJ looked rough. His sweatshirt and jeans looked as if they’d been slept in, and his hair was sticking up all over his head.
Scott glanced at HJ, and HJ jabbed his thumb in the direction of the patio.
For the second time today—or, actually, anytime—I saw Scott looking uncomfortable. He brought the Martins’ order to the window, handed it to me, and then moved quickly back into the dining room. I peeped out the window to see if Scott was going out on the patio to meet with HJ. He was.
The two were standing in such a way that I could see them both from the side. HJ handed an envelope to Scott, and Scott shoved it into his back pocket. As Scott returned to the dining room, he said something to HJ. I couldn’t hear what he’d said over the din.
I quickly hurried back to the grill and started preparing Mrs. Martin’s French toast and Mr. Martin’s Spanish omelet. They had an international theme going this morning, and I wondered if it had been deliberate. They could be a quirky little couple.
Jackie bounded through the kitchen door, and I gave a squeak of surprise.
“Was that the sound of your nosy conscience?” she asked.
“Don’t go there. Not today. I know things today that I didn’t yesterday, and I’d appreciate a little leeway.”
“Fine.” Jackie lowered her voice to the point that I had to put my head right next to hers to hear her. “Since you were so interested in Scott’s interaction with HJ, I thought you might want to know that when Scott came in from the patio, he said, “I’ll take care of it.”
“Take care of what?” I asked.
“I have no idea. Now...what’s the new info?”
“I can’t talk about it here. We’ll discuss it after work when it’s just the two of us.”
Jackie opened her mouth to respond, but Luis came into the kitchen.
“What was that about Aunt Bess?” I asked her.
“Oh...yeah...I keep telling Granny to stay off the dating boards, but every time they have a free weekend, there she goes.”
“I know,” I said. “Aunt Bess is going to be the death of all of us.”
Even though that wasn’t our actual topic of conversation, I imagined truer words were never spoken.
THAT AFTERNOON, JACKIE and I decided to follow Scott to see if we could find out what he was taking care of for HJ. Since he was familiar with my yellow Bug and probably would recognize Jackie’s car as well, Jackie had Roger bring his truck to the Down South Café parking lot prior to closing. Roger then came around to the back door where he and Jackie swapped keys.
After work, Jackie drove Roger’s pickup truck, and we tailed Scott. In the movies and on television, when detectives were following a suspect through traffic, the cops could remain inconspicuous by keeping one or two vehicles between their car and the suspect. In Winter Garden, Virginia, where you and your suspect were in the only two automobiles on a rural road, it was a smidgeon more difficult to pretend you merely happened to be going in the same direction.
In fact, despite our being in Roger’s truck, Scott peered into his rearview mirror and waved. Jackie and I waved back. What else could we do?
We tailed Scott to the interstate ramp heading south toward Bristol.
“Where’s he going?” I asked Jackie.
“I have no idea, but wherever it is, you’d better be thinking up a good reason for us to be there too.”
By the time Scott got off the interstate, there were a couple of vehicles between us. Not that it mattered—our cover was already blown.
We followed him to a Halloween specialty store. After he parked, he stood by his car and waited for us to find a space. Jackie pulled into a space in a deserted area of the lot since she wasn’t accustomed to driving Roger’s truck.
Scott met us halfway. “Hey! What’re you guys doing here?”
“I’m hoping to find some Halloween decorations for the café,” I said. “What about you? Replacing the werewolf costume?”
“No, I’m replacing the animatronic spider HJ broke...hopefully, before Harry finds out about it.” Scott led the way to the Halloween shop’s door. “Harry would be livid if he knew. He thinks HJ is irresponsible already.”
“Why’s that?” Jackie asked.
“Because after his divorce, HJ had to move back in with his parents,” Scott said. “But, dudes, I get that—the job market is fierce. And I didn’t know HJ before I moved to Winter Garden, but I’m catching a vibe that his parents blame him for the divorce.”
“I’m a firm believer that there are always two sides to every story,” I said.
Scott waffled his hand. “Not always...but usually.” He held the door for Jackie and me to enter the shop ahead of him.
“Let me know if y’all need any help finding anything,” a teenaged girl greeted us.
“No, no, no.” Her manager stepped out from behind a curtain that hid a storage area. “Like this, Amber.” The thin, abnormally pale—or wearing white makeup—man in the black cape stepped to the front of the counter. “Good eeeevening.”
Scott nodded. “How you doing, Drac Dude?”
The manager ignored Scott’s question and instructed Amber, “Now, you try it.”
She rolled her eyes. “Gewd eeevening.”
“Awesome.” Scott laughed and high-fived the girl while Jackie and I slipped away.
Most of the bigger merchandise was displayed in the open warehouse, which had wide aisles displaying costumes and smaller props. An Edwardian butler caught my eye, and I wandered over to him.
When I was close enough, the animatronic butler’s eyes moved from side to side, and he said, “Welcome! Won’t you stay for dinner?”
“That thing is creepy as all get out,” Jackie said.
“Aw, come on,” I said. “I kinda like him.”
“May I take your head? I mean...hat...of course,” the creepy butler said.
“Oh, man! Kids would love this guy,” Scott said.
“No, they wouldn’t. They’d hate him.” Jackie shuddered. “I hate him.”
I glanced at the price tag. “Yikes. I hate the price. Sorry, Jeeves, you won’t be coming back to the Down South Café with us.”
“Have a seat and let me poison you a drink.” The doll’s eyes shifted back and forth as it gave a guttural cackle.
“You two can stay here with lunatic Lurch if you want to,” Jackie said. “I’m going to look for something I don’t want to smash with a bat.”
“I think she might actually do it,” Scott said quietly.
“Yeah...I’m pretty sure she would.” I smiled. “It’s a good thing I can’t afford him. I had no idea these props were so expensive.”
“Oh, for real. The spider I have to get is nowhere near as pricey as this guy, but it’s still over a hundred bucks.” He patted the envelope in the back pocket of his jeans. “HJ gave me a hundred and fifty, and that’ll be cutting it close.”
I walked over to where Jackie was looking at superheroine costumes while Scott went to buy a giant jumping spider from either Amber or her manager.
“These costumes bring back so many memories,” I said, placing my hand on her shoulder.
“Doesn’t it though?” She smiled. “Who could forget that year I dressed up as Batgirl, you were Wonder Woman, Roger was Superman, and Sarah was Cat Woman?”
“Or the time we trick-or-treated as the Power Rangers?”
Jackie laughed and began singing the show’s theme song.
“I loved that show,” Scott said, as he walked toward us. “Are you talking about costumes you wore as kids?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Tell us one of your favorites.”
“The only time my sister and I coordinated our costumes was when she dressed up as Daphne from Scooby Doo.” He grinned. “I was Shaggy. Come to think of it, those characters still suit us.”
AFTER LEAVING THE HALLOWEEN shop, Jackie called Roger, and I called Ryan and arranged to meet for dinner at an Italian restaurant in Abingdon. We asked Ryan to pick up Roger so that we’d have only two vehicles at the restaurant. If Ryan wondered why Jackie and I were tooling around in Roger’s pickup truck, he didn’t ask. And I thought it best to wait until we were at the restaurant to volunteer any information.
Jackie and I were the first to arrive. We got a table and ordered soft drinks.
“What’s your opinion of Scott?” I asked Jackie after the waitress had left to get our drinks.
“I’d like him fine if he wasn’t suspected of arson and murder.”
“Do you really think he’s capable of either of those things?” In my mind, I couldn’t imagine Scott doing either, but I’d been wrong about people before.
“I’d hate to think so,” Jackie said, but who knows?”
“Too bad we can’t ask Gladys Pridemore,” I murmured.
“If we could ask her, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
“I know. I just meant that she was apparently looking through those binoculars all the time. Who knows what secrets she could tell?”
Jackie said, “Too bad she didn’t take photographs.”
“Wait...what if she did?”
Before Jackie could answer, the server brought our drinks. Roger and Ryan arrived, and Jackie waved them over.
“What have you two been up to?” Ryan asked, sliding into the booth next to me. “Roger told me that all he knew was that you were on a top-secret surveillance mission.”
“Some detectives we turned out to be,” Jackie said. “The person we were surveilling waited for us in the parking lot and then held the door open and ushered us into his destination.”
Roger laughed. “And what was his destination?”
“The Halloween specialty store,” I said. “I got a few decorations for the café, so Jackie and I had a perfectly logical reason for being there...in your truck.”
“You bought a truckload of decorations?” Ryan asked.
“Not quite,” I said.
“Had she got the creepy butler she wanted, he’d have ridden shotgun, and you’d have had to come to Bristol and pick me up,” Jackie told Roger. “And you would have had to give me a job on your construction crew.”
“Hold up.” Ryan waved his hands. “I can’t imagine your being afraid of a mechanical doll.”
Jackie lifted her chin. “I am not afraid of them. I just despise them. Ever since these two made me watch that stupid evil red-haired killer doll when we were kids, I’ve hated talking dolls.”
“We didn’t make you,” I protested.
“Nope.” Roger grinned. “But I did double dog dare you.”
We had so much fun at dinner that it completely slipped my mind to ask Ryan if the forensic team had recovered a cell phone or camera at Gladys Pridemore’s house. My question about whether or not Ms. Pridemore had a penchant for photography would be answered soon enough anyway.
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