A Ghostly Undertaking (15 page)

 

Chapter 25

S
licklizzard.

The small wooden-­plank sign was driven into the ground.

“I guess we are here.” I zoomed past the sign, glad I didn't blink.

Slicklizzard was so far off the beaten path, the map on my phone didn't even pick it up when I typed it in.

“Earl never took me here.” Ruthie looked out the window. There was sadness in her voice.

“Ruthie”—­I reached over to give her some comfort—­“that doesn't matter. All that matters is we figure out who did this to you. Besides, you had some nice dates with Vernon Baxter.”

There was no way I was going to agree with Ruthie. Earl loved Granny. There was no denying it.

“Vernon was fun.” Ruthie smiled, glancing out the window. “He liked to play Scrabble.”

I let Ruthie bask in her memories as I pulled into the only restaurant I saw.

Spare Time Country Cooking.

“I'm going to go in and ask for directions to the courthouse.” I looked in the rearview mirror and made sure the stitches were covered over with my hair. I opened the car door and got out.

Ruthie wasn't going to let me go alone, she followed right alongside.

“Take a seat, darlin'.” The woman behind the counter casually looked at me as she managed to clean off a ­couple of tables. “You need a menu?”

“No, I'm looking for directions.” I stepped into the tiny restaurant, noticing that the men at the bar had rotated their stools around to look at me.

Old tin signs hung on the wall, giving the feel of a cozy Southern diner.

“You are lucky we are here.” One of the old men at the bar twirled back around to face the kitchen area. “We were about to leave after this last cup of coffee.”

“Great!” I smiled and walked up to the one empty stool. I plopped my purse on the counter. “I'll take a cup too.”

“Shirley, put on another cup of coffee in your spare time!” he hollered.

The waitress that greeted us sauntered behind the counter and switched out the coffee filters.

“Bobby Poor.” He held out his dry thick hand for me to shake. “I named the place Spare Time because it reflects how often I'm open. In my spare time.”

“Oh.” I smiled at his way of thinking. “Very clever.”

“Me and my boys come here every morning.” He looked down the bar stools at the other older men. “Ain't that right, boys?”

They all nodded. One John Deere cap after another.

“Where you going?”

“I'm looking for someone related to the Payne family from Slicklizzard.” I thanked Shirley when she sat the fresh cup of coffee in front of me. I reached over to grab a ­couple creamer packets from the small brown bowl.

“You are the third person who has come in here asking about the Paynes in the last ­couple of days.” Shirley searched me like I had a plausible explanation.

“Really?” I was sure one of them had to be Jack Henry since he was investigating Ruthie, but who was the other?

“Just yesterday a pretty young thing came in here claiming to be Earl Way Payne's granddaughter,” Bobby Poor said.

“Granddaughter?” Ruthie got real close to Bobby. “Earl didn't have any son or daughter to have a granddaughter.”

“I didn't think Earl Way had any kids himself.” I continued the conversation, trying not to give anything away.

“Listen here.” Bobby Poor's voice broke with a husky tone. “You tell me why you are here and asking so many questions about Earl Way. Can't anyone die in peace nowadays?”

“It wasn't like he had anything to leave behind.” Shirley washed the mugs in hot, soapy water in the sink behind the counter. “His theory was spend it while you were alive.” She laughed. “I remember him saying, Shirley, can't take it with you. Have you ever seen a U-­haul behind a hearse?”

All the men laughed but Bobby Poor. He was waiting for my answer.

“I'm his step-­granddaughter, Emma Lee Raines.” I nodded.

“You Zula's granddaughter!” He smacked me on the back. “We love when she comes to visit. Earl brought her here a time or two.”

“Oh . . . !” Ruthie called out, holding her heart. “He did love her more! I don't care if I never cross over to see him again!” She disappeared into thin air.

“I am and Granny is in a bit of trouble.” I explained over another cup of coffee about Ruthie's death, but left out the ghost part. “I have to prove she didn't kill Ruthie.”

“We knew that girl wasn't his granddaughter, so we told her we didn't know nothing about Earl Way, but he left here with his sister and never came back,” Bobby said.

“Sister?” I asked.

I didn't think he had a sister, but I guess one of the ­people in the photo might've been his sister. I thought they were cousins.

“Oh, yeah.” Bobby nodded. “He has a sister. Bless her heart.” He shook his head and frowned. “She looked just like him with all that crazy hair. She was a bit . . . odd.”

Crazy hair? Odd?
The ­people in the photo had crazy hair just like the camper that Cheryl Lynne and John Howard had seen at three
a.m
. Was Earl's sister back and on a rampage?

“Thanks,” I took some cash out of my purse and put it on the counter. I had to get back to Sleepy Hollow and let Jack Henry know that Earl Way had a sister and she could be disguised as a camper.

“Oh, that girl that came in.” Shirley stopped me on the way out. “She had some sort of red stone and said something about a ring that might have been pawned. A Payne family ring. But we didn't know what she was talking about. We don't have a pawn shop in Slicklizzard.”

Ring?

“Thank you!” I screamed, and rushed out the door.

“Did you know his sister?” I asked Ruthie once we were back in the hearse and headed back to Sleepy Hollow.

“Never.” She shook her head. There was disappointment all over her face. “You can ask Zula about it. I'm sure she knows.”

Ruthie sat in silence the entire way back, which was fine with me since I was trying to process everything Shirley and Bobby Poor had told me.

 

Chapter 26

I
had to get the tin box out of my office closet and give it to Jack Henry. Somehow he was going to have to get a warrant to search Hettie's property.

I whipped around the country roads as fast as the hearse would take me; unfortunately it wasn't as fast as I wanted it to be. That was the one thing with funeral coaches. They weren't meant for fast road driving. There was no reason for a hearse to ever go fast, after all, the dead weren't going anywhere quick.

I reached into my bag and dialed Jack Henry's number. There was no time to track him down. He had to meet me at Eternal Slumber.

“It's me, Emma,” I said into the answering machine like he didn't know who I was. The phone chirped, signaling it was about to die. “I've got something big to tell you. Or maybe you already know. I think Hettie Bell is the killer. I know Hettie Bell is the killer. Meet me at the inn.”

I threw the phone on the seat and with two hands gripping the wheel, I prayed that we could stop Hettie from doing anything too brash. My first concern was Granny. I had to get her to safety. And my second concern was the time frame.

If Hettie did get the signatures, she would be presenting them to the council anytime now. And if she didn't get the signatures . . . I didn't want to even think about what she'd do to Granny.

I reached over to get my phone. It would probably be a good idea to call Granny to give her a heads-­up.

“Crap.” I threw it back down. I had forgotten to charge it last night—­well, I forgot a lot of stuff that went on last night.

Why was it when you were in a hurry to get somewhere that it seemed to take forever to get there? The inn was dark. The mountainous backdrop did a great job shielding the building from the burning sun, making it darker in the evenings, way before dusk.

Still, there weren't any guests in the rocking chairs on the front porch and it was about dinnertime.

Cars lined the street and around the corner toward the courthouse, which told me that the council meeting must be taking place.

The hearse barely fit in the only spot in the inn's gravel lot. I threw it in park and jumped out, heading up the stairs.

“Granny?” I yelled into each room as I popped my head in. There wasn't a sound anywhere. “Granny?”

Thump, thump, thump.
The noise above my head caught my attention.

I bolted up the stairs into Granny's room, but she wasn't there.

Thump, thump, thump.

Fear knotted in my stomach. The noise was coming from the creepy attic.

I tiptoed down the hall because it seemed way too quiet for me. I reached for the attic door handle, but pulled away. The noise got louder and without thinking I flung the door open and ran up the steps.

Sunlight was coming through the old dirty attic windows, just enough to see Hettie tied up in the far back corner.

“Hettie!” I screamed. Making sure I kept my feet on the attic boards, I raced back there to help her.

“Stop right there,” a familiar voice called out to me. “I will shoot.”

Apparently, the person wasn't kidding. Hettie's eyes grew two sizes and nearly fell out of her head. I could even see her throat make a big gulp.

Click
. That was all I needed to hear before I threw my hands up in the air.

“Turn around.”
Click. “
Slowly.”

I did exactly what I was told to do. Then I came face-­to-­face with Mayor May and her gun, which was pointed straight at me.

“If you don't mind.” She reached around and pulled something out of her overalls' back pocket and threw it at me. “Take that rope and be a dear by wrapping yourself good and tight right over there by Hettie.”

Mayor May?

All of the clues I had gathered filled my head.

“Fine.” I backed up toward Hettie and eased myself down next to her. The little bit of streaming light let me see that Hettie's mouth had been gagged.

“Be sure to get it nice and tight so I can tie you up like the little hogs I did when I was a kid.” She swung the gun in front of her.

The attic was so humid, it was hard for me to breathe. It was hard to concentrate on what she was saying.

“Are you okay?” Mayor May asked as if she really cared. Her perfectly done makeup was starting to drip from the humid air, and her long hair was starting to kink up.

“I'm . . .” I gasped. Mayor May looked exactly like one of the ­people in the picture. “You killed Ruthie.”

Ruthie appeared, sort of floating above the mayor. She looked like she was about to spit nails.

“Shut up!”

“And you hurt Beulah.” My mouth was spewing like a volcano. If I was going to die, I was going to solve Ruthie's murder if it was the last thing I did on this earth. “Why?”

“Not like I owe you an explanation, but I am a genius.” She glowed in her own brilliance. “I am going to be governor of this great state and no one, not even a little inn like this one or my brother's lovers are going to keep me from it.”

“Brother?”

“Earl Way Payne was my brother. Before he died, he knew we were going to sell the inn in order to get a development company in here and grow the community.” She waved the gun around. “It will look good for my platform when I get elected.”

“But why kill Ruthie?”

“She was standing in my way. Even Zula knew a good thing when she saw it.” She grinned; her eyes looked like the devil. “Only I can't count on Zula. So I intercepted her little tax payments over the past few years and secretly tied into her bank accounts. Behind bars was a safe place for Zula. I didn't want to kill her. She had always been so kind.”

I took the rope and wrapped it around my ankles, trying to take my time. Surely Jack Henry would be there any minute, do some big police standoff, and save us.

“Everything was coming together until little miss priss over there decided to stick her nose into everything.” Mayor May jabbed the gun toward Hettie. “She had to be the hero and get all of those signatures. I wasn't about to let this deal go south. My political career depended on making Sleepy Hollow Kentucky's number-­one tourist destination.”

Hettie squirmed, trying to get away.

The last bit of daylight shined through the window and put a spotlight on the gun. I followed the barrel to Mayor May's hand. She gripped it firmly in her right hand.

“Your ring!” I blurted out and accidently dropped the rope when I went weak.

“I told you it was a ring!” Ruthie stood next to Mayor May with her hands on her hips, tapping her kitty slippers.

“It's a family ring, idiot.” Sarcasm dripped from her bare lips. Her bright red lipstick had melted down her chin. Mayor May was suddenly not looking so pretty. “I knew I had to get rid of old Ruthie Sue when she baited me with the framed picture of our family. I know she was going to use that to uncover my past. Then I would've never made it to the governor's office.”

“I saw that picture in an antique shop in Lexington.” Ruthie shook her finger at Mayor May. “Tell her that it spoke to me. I had no idea it was my Earl's family!”

I didn't dare talk to Ruthie. I tried really hard to concentrate on one conversation at a time, especially since a gun was pointed at me.

The humidity had caused all the Mayor's makeup to melt off and her hair was tight and curly up to her chin.

“Beulah is still hanging on, but I'll take care of her. It was priceless, you all drunk doing who knows what with Jack Henry Ross, when you told him you were going to get Beulah for spreading rumors.” Mayor May's nose flared, and then a look of satisfaction flickered in her eyes. “I just so happened to be across the street and heard it all. I couldn't let the opportunity slip by me. Zula for tax evasion, you for murder. Perfect.”

“Why?” I questioned her. I still didn't understand why she needed to go to such extremes. “Especially now that you are going to kill your own family.”

“I have no other family,” she said through gritted teeth. She opened her mouth to say something else, but the humidity must've gotten to her veneers. They popped right out and landed on the attic floor, crashing into tiny bright white pieces. “This is not going as planned!” She screamed, “Hurry up! Tie your knees!”

“Hettie is related to you somehow!” I blurted out. “Tell her Hettie!”

Mayor May jerked the gag out of Hettie's mouth.

“I am your niece from your sister, Pearl.” Hettie spoke softly.

“Pearl died during childbirth, you fool!” Mayor May wiggled the gun in the air. “You are pathetic, trying to come here and take what Earl Way built up and is mine!”

“I am that child. I was put up for adoption by my biological father, who has now died. I'm not trying to take anyone's fortune. I'm only trying to have a family. Please don't kill me.” Hettie's head dropped as big sobs left her mouth, her body heaving up and down.

I was going to reach over and console her but grabbed her instead, taking her to the floor when I saw Jack Henry rush up the stairs, point his gun and fire.

“Argh!” Mayor May's gun flew in the air. She went down to her knees, holding her hand.

I scrambled on my knees to get the loose gun. The rope easily fell off. I reached out and grabbed the gun, just as Mayor May sat up holding her hand to her chest. She grimaced with pain.

“I can take over from here.” Jack Henry never took his gun off of the mayor. He eased over to me and took the gun. “Help Hettie out of here.”

Quickly I untied Hettie and did what he said. Other officers had already gotten there and secured the scene.

When we got safely outside, I saw Granny coming down the street away from the courthouse, followed by the rest of the council and community members.

“How did you find out about me being a Payne?” Hettie rubbed her wrists where the mayor had hog-­tied her. There were deep indents in her skin.

“I followed you to the records room and found out you were researching the Paynes. Then I went to Slicklizzard and the Spare Time.”

She grinned. “The old geezers told you I stopped in there.”

“Yea, but I thought you were the killer when Shirley told me you had a stone that went with the ring from Earl's tin box I found in the attic.” I couldn't help but smile as Granny got closer, her arms flailing in the air. “I was sure you were the killer.”

“I just wanted to do right by Earl.” She shrugged. “But if he wanted to sell the inn like the mayor said, I guess I wasn't doing any favors by tracking down the family and then doing the petition.”

She reached around and pulled some papers out of her back pocket. She handed them to me.

“I was on my way to the council meeting when I got a message from the mayor to meet her at the inn. That was when she grabbed me.” There were tears gathering on the rims of her eyelids. “I had no idea she was my aunt.”

“Where have you been all this time?”

“My biological mother died during childbirth and I was adopted.” She dabbed her eyes before she pulled out the ring with the missing stone. “I traced my heritage here. I didn't know Mayor May was my aunt until her hair went all crazy and her fake teeth fell out up there.”

We both broke out in laughter.

“What is going on?” Granny hustled over to us and she pointed to all the police cruisers with their lights flashing. Doc Clyde wasn't too far behind her.

I gave him the wonky eye and briefly filled her in on what was going on.

“Clyde, get over here and check her out.” She gestured for Doc Clyde to come over.

“I'm fine.” I waved him away. “I know about you two by the way.” I pointed one to the other.

Granny paid no attention to my comment. A sure sign she wasn't ready to acknowledge to the world that they were a ­couple. Like a good Southern girl, I kept my mouth closed and didn't pressure her to tell me.

After Granny gave me the once-­over, she excused herself and went into the inn.

Shortly thereafter, Jack Henry brought Mayor May out in cuffs. Her right hand was bandaged, she looked befuddled and didn't look like the mayor who Sleepy Hollow had elected.

“I'm going to be Governor one day!” Mayor May screeched and tried to tug away as the cop hoisted her up from behind with her cuffed wrists. “Then I'm going to grant myself a pardon!”

The Mayor glanced over and kept her eye focused on me. Her crazy curly hair was sticking up all over the place and her mouth was mumbling something that was not so nice toward me, exposing her gritty teeth.

“Have a nice time.” I winked and waved the way she taught the good citizens of Sleepy Hollow. Jack Henry eased her into the back of a cruiser, then patted the trunk of the car, which gave the signal for the police officer to take off with the lights twirling and the sirens blaring.

“That's what you get when you spend your entire life lying and on the wrong side of the law.” Jack Henry pointed toward the cruiser speeding off toward the county jail. He called one of the EMTs over. “Can you please take Hettie to the hospital so she can get checked out?”

Hettie let the paramedic put her in an ambulance to take her to a Lexington area hospital.

“I'm so glad you are okay.” Jack Henry wrapped his strong arms around me, holding me close. “When I got your message, I was scared.”

Those were the sweetest words I had ever heard. I relaxed, letting my body mold into his.

“I got the autopsy back and put two-­and–two together about the ring.” He rubbed my back. “I got a warrant to search Hettie's apartment and found a ruby matching the one you described. I was sure it was her, but I remembered how much the mayor was getting on me to solve the crime and then I remembered how you said you saw her at the salon.”

He was rattling off all the clues I had found and never once put them together like he did.