“Anyway, the woman filed suit. With Connie’s letter and the supposed similarities in the manuscripts, there’s enough to make it look legitimate, on first glance. Betsy was here last night, tagging along with the man who served us the papers.”
“Is it possible there’s any merit to her claim?”
Sharon shook her head. “There’s no way. Connie wouldn’t show me the manuscript, but she did hold on to it, just in case. She said it was full of rambling tangents and pitiful instructions. Betsy didn’t even use photos. There are drawings illustrating the process, and from the way Connie described them to me, they’re as bad as the writing.”
“Surely a judge would see that as well.”
Sharon shrugged. “That’s what Connie told her when they served the papers, and Betsy went ballistic. She started screaming that she’d get even, and the server had to drag her off himself. She made quite a scene. If you ask me, she’s not at all in her right mind.”
We’d walked several blocks and were now standing in front of the Hound Dog Café. Ruby, the woman who ran it, was a self-proclaimed Elvis Presley nut, and the furnishings and music backed up the claim.
“Could we stop in here and get some sweet tea?” Sharon asked. “All this talking has made me thirsty.”
“Sure,” I said, eager to keep her chatting. The more Sharon said, the more reasons I had to give Molly that Diana hadn’t killed the soapmaker.
Ruby greeted us with a nod, not saying a word as we walked to a booth in back. I wondered about the silent treatment, and then realized that she was a big fan of Diana’s, and it looked as though I might be stepping out on her in her direst time of need. I planned to tell Ruby that I would never do that when she came to take our order, but she resolutely ignored us.
“Is service always this bad here?” Sharon asked. “We could go somewhere else.”
“Hang on a second,” I said. “I’ll be right back.”
I approached Ruby, who pretended to be cleaning the counter in front of her. She must have gone over the same spot a dozen times since we’d come in.
“Ruby, when you get the chance, we need two sweet teas.”
“How’s Diana?” she asked, ignoring my request.
“She’s in trouble,” I admitted. “That’s why I’m trying to interview the assistant to the woman who was murdered. I can’t help Diana a bit by sitting around hoping Molly finds the killer on her own. Give me a hand here, will you? Sharon just lost a boss and a dear friend, Diana’s the number one suspect, and I’m trying to figure out who did it.” Maybe calling her boss “a dear friend” was stretching it, but I was going for sympathy.
“I’ve got you now,” Ruby said as she nodded. “I’ll be right over as soon as I get the chance.”
I walked back to the table, then explained, “We’re all set.”
Twenty seconds later, Ruby approached with a tray holding more than just tea.
“Do you like pie?” she asked Sharon.
“I love it,” she said, clearly a little confused by the question.
Ruby slid a piece of lemon meringue pie in front of her. “You should try this.”
“Hey, I didn’t order any pie,” I said.
“Don’t worry, you’re not getting any. This is for your guest.”
And Ruby was gone before I could protest.
Sharon shoved the plate toward me. “You can have it, Ben. I don’t feel much like eating.”
I glanced over to see that Ruby was still watching us pretty closely. In a soft voice, I said, “If I eat that pie, she’ll never forgive me. You’d better take a bite before she throws us both out.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Sharon, turn around and see if I’m lying.”
She did, and saw Ruby’s glance. “This town is odd, isn’t it?”
“You don’t know the half of it.”
Sharon put a small bite on her fork, then said, “Once I taste it, you can have the rest.” She ate the morsel of pie, smiled suddenly, then had another bite.
“Hey, what happened to my portion?”
Sharon took another bite, then said, “I’m sure she’s got more back there. I’m not sharing.” It was the first smile I’d seen on Sharon’s face all day, and I was thankful that Ruby had done exactly the right thing by bringing her pie.
I winked at her when Sharon wasn’t looking, and soon enough I had my own piece of pie, this one apple crisp.
“How is that?” Ruby asked Sharon as she slid the plate in front of me.
“It’s the best pie I’ve ever had in my life,” Sharon said.
I swear I nearly dropped my fork as Ruby actually blushed at the compliment. “I’m glad you like it.”
“I do,” Sharon said.
Ruby faded away, and I took a bite from my own slice. As I chewed it, I noticed that Sharon was watching me.
“That looks good,” she said.
“It really is,” I said, savoring another bite.
“Don’t I get a taste?”
I looked at the remnants of lemon meringue on her plate. “I don’t know, you weren’t willing to share with me.” I smiled as I said it, cutting my piece down the middle and giving her half.
“I suppose I could part with one bite,” she said as she started to section off what was left of her slice.
“I was just teasing,” I said. “If I wanted any, I’d order a piece for myself.”
Sharon dug into the apple, then said, “I’m taking some of these home with me when I go.”
“How long are you going to stay?” I asked.
Her smile suddenly vanished. “You know what? I don’t have any idea. As soon as I talk to the police about my list of suspects, I’ll move out of the bed-and-breakfast, though. It must be costing you a fortune, and I don’t need anything that nice.”
“We don’t mind,” I said, realizing that I was going to have to talk long and hard to get my mother to agree to picking up the bill for an extended stay.
“No, I couldn’t,” she said. “We saw a motel on the way into town. It’s called the Mountain Lake or Lake Mountain or something like that. I’d be just as happy out there. Happier, if you want to know the truth. I’ve never been a big fan of bed-and-breakfasts, though Connie always insisted we stay in them whenever we traveled. It feels too much like I’m someone’s houseguest. I’d rather be alone.”
“I’ll help you move myself,” I said.
“That won’t be necessary. I’m used to packing often when we’re traveling.”
The front door of the diner opened, and Molly walked in. She started to order a cup of coffee, then saw Sharon and me sitting in back.
“I want that to go, Ruby,” she said as she approached us.
“I was just looking for you,” she said.
“I’ve been right here,” I replied.
“I’m not talking to you.”
I decided to ignore the frost in her voice and add a little of my own. “I don’t care, you’re talking to me now. Do you still have Diana locked up?”
Molly looked at me and shook her head. “Do you ever get tired, jumping to conclusions like you do all the time? Diana was never under arrest, and you know it.”
“You wanted to question her after her medical exam though, didn’t you?”
“Ben, whether you like it or not, that’s part of my job. She and Kelly came by my office awhile ago, but neither one of them had much to say. Frankly, I wasn’t at all satisfied with her answers.”
“Maybe she didn’t care for your questions,” I said.
Sharon looked uncomfortable. “Should I excuse myself?”
Before I could reply, Molly said, “No, Ben’s finished.” She stared at me, then added, “You know you’re not why I’m here.”
“I’d tell you how much that admission hurts my feelings, but I doubt I could carry it off convincingly.”
Molly ignored the remark as she looked at Sharon and said, “I’d like to go through your employer’s things in her room, if you don’t mind.”
“I’m happy to do whatever I can to help,” she said as she got up. “We’re staying at Jean Henshaw’s B&B.”
“I know,” Molly said. “I was hoping you might be able to give me some insights into the woman as I search.”
“I’m happy to help in whatever way I can,” Sharon said.
“Your coffee’s ready,” Ruby called out.
Molly asked Sharon, “Are you coming?”
“Give me one second,” she replied, then Sharon turned to me. “Thanks, Ben, for everything.”
“Hey, I just ordered the tea. Ruby brought the pie on her own.”
“You know what I’m talking about,” she said, “and it’s got nothing to do with dessert. You’re a good listener.”
“I’m just happy I could help.” I lowered my voice to a whisper and asked, “Are you ready to talk to her now?”
“I think so,” Sharon said.
“You’ll feel a lot better once you do,” I said. “Give Molly a chance. She might be tough, but she’s usually fair, and she’s also the best cop I’ve ever known in my life.”
“You can actually say that with a straight face after what I just heard?”
“We bicker all the time,” I admitted. “We’ve been doing it since grade school.”
“Well, you’re both very good at it. It must be all that practice.”
“Listen, I meant what I said. Tell her everything. You can trust her.”
“Okay, I will,” she said.
Molly must have overheard some of what I’d said, because she smiled at me as they left. I was glad we were back on familiar footing. There had been some turbulent times in our relationship lately, and it had bothered me a great deal more than I’d been willing to admit. When all was said and done, Molly was my very best friend, though I never would have admitted it to anyone in the world, especially her.
Ruby slid the bill under my plate, and I saw it was just for the tea. “Hey, we had pie, too.”
No one else was in the café at the moment, but she still lowered her voice as she said, “That was on me, and if you tell anybody in town, I’ll call you a liar to your face.”
“Hey, my lips are sealed,” I said. I slid a tip under my glass that was more than enough to cover the pie, too. Ruby would fuss at me for doing it—I knew her well enough to realize that—but I didn’t mind. It was part of living in a small town, the give-and-take in the art of getting along, an ability that was highly prized in Harper’s Landing.
As I walked back to Where There’s Soap, I suddenly realized something. Sharon had been so convincing in naming two suspects besides Diana, I’d nearly forgotten that she’d left one out.
Sharon herself could have had more reason than anyone else to want her employer dead. Were the other people she mentioned legitimate suspects, or was Sharon just trying to divert suspicion away from herself? Whatever the reason, I knew Molly was too good a cop not to consider that angle as well.
Still, I was going to do a little digging of my own, especially considering that Diana was probably still Molly’s number one suspect.
UNFORTUNATεLγ,
my amateur detection would have to wait. I found my family gathered in the front area of the soap shop, and a table and chairs from the break room that I’d helped put up earlier were back where they had been this morning. My family was gathered around, and all of them looked expectantly at me as I walked in. It was after our regular business hours, but just barely. Still, I’d expected to find my family scattered throughout Harper’s Landing instead of clustered together like a handful of marbles.
As I studied them, I said, “Aren’t we digressing here? I could swear I helped put that table away earlier.”
“Where have you been?” Mom asked.
She usually gave me some leeway in my job, so I was surprised by her tone of voice. “I’ve been detecting,” I said as I tapped my forehead. “It’s brutal work, but I’m throwing myself into it.”
“And did you discover anything?”
“I can say one thing, without fear of contradiction. Ruby makes . . . one of the best pies in Harper’s Landing.” I’d almost said the best, but I’d caught it just in time. My mother is prouder of her baked goods than she is of me on most days, and I would have paid dearly for the comment.
Jim whistled, then said, “Nice save, Bro.”
He was the only one who’d dared to talk, and one withering glare from our mother was enough to silence him.
“Did you manage to come to any other conclusions while you were gone?” she asked.
“Listen, what’s going on? Did I miss a memo or something? I didn’t know we were having a family meeting. What’s on the agenda?”
I’d been joking, but Kate said, “If you ever read your e-mail, you’d know.”
“Hey, I just figured out how to turn my computer on yesterday. Do you honestly expect me to get on the Internet? Besides, I’m always here. Why didn’t you just say something to me earlier?”
Kate flushed. “Because I just asked for this meeting. It’s the perfect time for us to add to our offerings, and I want to make my pitch to everyone at one time.”
We had a rule in our family. Though normally it was run as a benevolent tyranny by our mother, Mom did allow us to pitch the entire family on new ideas for our business. It was an inquisition most of us wouldn’t go through willingly, but when one of the kids had a new idea, it got a fair trial from the rest of us.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interfere with your presentation.” I took a seat next to Cindy, who whispered, “You’re late.”
I smiled. “It’s a real tragedy, isn’t it?”
She tweaked my arm. “Ben, don’t you take anything seriously?”
“I try not to. It adds too many worry lines, and my face has enough as it is without any outside help.”
Kate coughed once, and I shut my mouth. It was hard enough to make a presentation without whispering going on in the crowd, and my family was murder about karma. The next time I pitched something, Kate would bring in a marching band if I made too much noise for her taste in this presentation.
I tried to look encouraging and attentive as I gave her my full consideration. It was the least she deserved.
Glancing at a stack of note cards, Kate nodded to herself, then made eye contact with each of us as she spoke. “I feel it’s time we expand our basic line from just the soaps we carry now to a wide range of beauty and stress-relieving products.”