Killerfind (17 page)

hetta,
you don’t need
to be
sticking your nose into this murder investigation,” Randolph said as he forked
two thick sirloins onto the grill and stood back as they sizzled. Sniffing the
delicious odor of the cooking steaks launched Rhetta’s stomach into a growl
that made one of the cats meow in response.

She crossed the patio and placed two foil-covered
potatoes and fresh ears of corn wrapped in their husks alongside the steaks.
“I’m not the least bit sticking my nose in. But, if you remember, Sweets, my
fingerprints are also on that metal detector they think is the murder weapon. I
have to be prepared to defend myself in case Sheriff Unreasonable decides to
come after me, too.”

“Reasoner will definitely be pushing for an arrest.
Ricky may still be the one they agree to charge, but they need more evidence. I
hope she’s not planning on leaving town, and I hope she gets a lawyer.”

“Can you represent her?” Rhetta asked as she stirred
seasoned oil and vinegar into a fresh salad she’d assembled in a large
olivewood bowl.

“No. I don’t practice law at all anymore, and I
don’t keep malpractice insurance since I retired.”

“Can you find someone for her?” Rhetta asked.

“I already did.” Randolph winked at her.

She hugged his neck. “Thanks!”

She set plates on the red and white checked tablecloth
on the outdoor patio table. Although the temperature was still high, a light
breeze whispered through the weeping willow that shaded the patio. A perfect
evening for an outdoor meal.

With the steaming food on a platter, and tall
glasses of tea at the ready, they sat to enjoy the meal. Rhetta cut her steak
meticulously, trimming away all the outer fat. Then she forked a piece of the
tender meat into her mouth, and murmured with pleasure. “Umm, this is
absolutely heavenly. Steak, baked potato, salad and corn on the cob is my
absolute favorite meal in the whole world.”

Randolph nodded his agreement.

When they’d eaten enough to resume conversation,
Rhetta said, “Ricky told me she and Jeremy had a bad fight the night he was
killed.”

“Is that right?” Randolph said, and swallowed some
tea. He stirred some sweetener into his drink, then sampled it again.

“Ricky caught him with another woman.” At her words,
Randolph stopped chewing to glance at her. “I think Jeremy made a habit out of
seducing any woman he could,” Rhetta said. “He made a pass at me, too.”

Randolph resumed chewing and then chuckled. “I bet
he regretted that pretty quickly.”

Rhetta smiled. “Yep, I’m sure he did.” She told him
what happened.

Randolph’s smile turned to a frown. “Rhetta, that
could have been a dangerous situation for you. Why didn’t you tell me about
this sooner?”

“It was nothing at the time and ever since then
everything’s been chaotic.”

“I wouldn’t call what he did,
nothing.
”

She shrugged. “You know I can take care of myself.
Well, most of the time, anyway. Especially with a jerk like Jeremy.” She
stabbed at an ear of corn, and brought it to her plate. “I wonder if he made
arrangements to meet another woman out at the barn, and he made an unwanted
pass at her, too, and she conked him on the head. Maybe she’s too frightened to
come forward.”

Rhetta said, “My money’s on Mylene Allard!”

“Why her?”

“Maybe she was the one who was at the barn. And,
maybe she had already killed Jeremy before I got there.”

He shook his head. “That doesn’t make any sense. Why
would she call you if she was planning to meet Jeremy?”

“Who knows? When the cops catch up with her, they
can ask her that question.” She gulped the last of her tea.

“At the rate the cops are going, I wouldn’t look for
them to be checking her out anytime soon,” Randolph said, and began scraping
his leftovers into a plate. “I honestly think they won’t even check out this
Mylene, since they don’t see a connection. I feel that they’re going to try to
pin this on Ricky. And if she told them about the fight, that may make it look
worse for her.”

Rhetta’s head swirled with what Randolph just said.
She began clearing away the dishes. Randolph carried the platters and remaining
food into the house. At the other side of the kitchen, four feline faces
pressed against the glass.

“I’ll give a few of these scraps to our poor
starving cats,” Randolph said, and squeezed out the door. The cats surrounded
him.

Rhetta snatched her phone and dialed Woody. “I have
a challenge for you,” she said when he answered. “We need to find an address
for this cell number in Illinois” She repeated it twice.

“Why?”

“I want to personally ask Mylene Allard why she
called me. I’ve tried calling her back, and she doesn’t answer.”

“Does Randolph know you want me to do this?”

“What do you think?”

“That’s what I thought.”

“Woody, don’t you tell him.”

“I get the parking spot for a month.” He hung up.

oody’s
Jeep sat prominently
in the primo slot next to the door when Rhetta pulled in.

She parked next to his ride, then reached in the
back seat for her bag of overdue books from the library. She hoped to persuade
LuEllen to take them back for her. Sliding the canvas book bag up on to one
shoulder and her purse on the other, she balanced her coffee in her left hand
and tugged the door. It didn’t open, and the force of the resistance caused a
middle fingernail to bend backwards and snap. “Oww,” she whimpered, not wanting
to see the damage to her finger. It would only make it hurt worse. Her mother
used to tell her not to look at her scrapes and cuts when she was a kid,
telling her that if she looked, it would hurt more. She still believed it.

She rapped on the door glass and stuck her finger in
her mouth to assuage the pain. She didn’t want to have to set everything down
to fish for her keys.

Woody appeared and unlocked the door.

“Why is the door still locked?” Rhetta said, sliding
past him and dropping her books near LuEllen’s desk. After making sure her
coffee and purse were safe on her own desk, she held up her injured finger. “I
pulled that door so hard I broke this nail down into the quick.” She worked up
the courage to look at it. New pain throbbed up her finger. Her mother was right.

“Why did you do that?”

“Never mind, I’ll live. It’s too far from my heart
to kill me.” Honestly, sometimes Woody asked the silliest questions.

Woody ignored her wounded finger. “I got here really
early and was so absorbed in searching for your Mylene Allard that I forgot to
check the time. Sorry.” He had returned to his desk. His fingers flew over the
keyboard.

“You found her?” Rhetta reached for her coffee.

“Yep.”

Rhetta leapt up and danced around, high-fiving
Woody. He glanced around as though embarrassed, afraid that someone might come
through the door any moment and catch her ungainly duck dancing.

 The printer whirred and he snatched the page it
spit out, handing it to her. His wide grin split his whiskers. “Here it is.
When do we go?”

Rhetta scanned the address. “Jonesboro, Illinois,
isn’t very far, about an hour’s drive, right?” She glanced at her watch.
LuEllen would be here in a few minutes. “We can go when LuEllen gets here. Do
you have anything going on this morning?”

“Nope.” As he rubbed his head, something sparkly
fell to his shoulder. Rhetta glanced at it, then back to his shaved head.

“Is that glitter on your head? And on your shirt,
too?” She sidled over to his desk. “There’s even some in your beard.” She began
chuckling. “What kind of kinky game were you and Jenn playing?”

Woody rubbed his head, swiped his shoulder and tried
finger combing his beard.

“It’s Jenn’s fault. She had a top with sparkly stuff
all over it and she dried it with the towels.” He swiped furiously. “When I
took my shower, I must’ve grabbed a towel she dried with that top.”

He swatted his head and face as though bees were
after him.

“I’m going to run home and change clothes,” he said,
and galloped to the door.

Rhetta laughed so hard she forgot about her broken
nail.

LuEllen arrived just as Woody flew out the door.
“Where’s he going?”

“So much glitter,” Rhetta said, and cracked up.
LuEllen glanced from Rhetta back to the door Woody just exited through,
shrugged and sat at her desk.

“What’s this?” LuEllen asked, picking up Rhetta’s
tote, and wagging it in her direction.

“I have some overdue books. Can I talk you into
taking them back for me? I put the money in an envelope inside the tote. They
always look at me like I’m a criminal when I’m late.”

LuEllen merely smiled and placed the tote next to
her purse. “I’ll put it next to my purse so I won’t forget,” she said, and
turned on her computer. “You really ought to get an eReader,” she added. “I
have one and I love it.” LuEllen was always on the cutting edge of electronics.
Rhetta, not so much. Most days even the copier challenged her.

*
* *

It
took Woody nearly an hour to change clothes. Rhetta had been so tempted to move
her car into his space while he was gone, but decided against it. She didn’t
want Woody tattling to Randolph.

When he finally returned he was rubbing the side of
his head. Rhetta glanced at him as he strode by. He had on the same shirt and
slacks.

“I thought you were going home to change?”

“I decided to go to the car wash instead.”

She sidled over to him, giving him the once-over for
glitter. She didn’t see any, but noticed the whole side of his face and the top
of his shaved head were red and swollen.

“What happened to your head?”

“I told you, I went to the car wash.”

“What has that got to do with your head?”

Woody patted his head instead of rubbing it. “I
thought I could use the power wand at the car wash and rinse my head off with
it.”

“Wait, you used the high powered rinse on your
head?”

“Yeah, after I used the soap, I needed to rinse it
off.”

Rhetta couldn’t help herself. She erupted into
laughter and collapsed into her chair so hard she nearly knocked her chin on
the desk.

LuEllen was much more sympathetic. She rushed to
Woody’s side. “Oh, my goodness, Woody. Why didn’t you use the gentle rinse? You
could have peeled your head with that power wand. My nephew, Franklin,
complained that it took the paint off his car’s bumper last year.”

“Now, you tell me,” Woody said.

By now, Rhetta was laughing so hard, she made a
beeline to the bathroom.

When she returned, Woody was trying his best to shoo
LuEllen away and stop her fussing over his head.

“It’ll be all right. I’m fine,” he grumbled. “At
least I got rid of the glitter.”

“Not all of it,” Rhetta said, flicking a silvery
morsel from his shoulder.

“Okay, keep that up, and I won’t tell you who I saw
at the car wash.”

Still chuckling, but trying not to, Rhetta said,
“All right, I’ll quit picking on you. Who did you see?” She sat at her desk and
reached for her coffee. She tried to stifle her giggles.

Woody straightened his tie, swatted at any possible
remaining glitter, visible or invisible, then sat. He swiveled slowly around to
an expectant Rhetta. “When I got done, and was driving out, I glanced over to
see who was in the next bay. A lady was rinsing off the muddy wheels of a high
riding pickup truck complete with gun racks, one of which held a rifle and
scope.”

“Okay, so a woman was rinsing off her vehicle. At
least she wasn’t rinsing off her head.” Rhetta couldn’t control her laughter
any longer. She went back to her desk and picked up her cup.

“Then I won’t tell you it was Adele Griffith.”