Something to Crow About: Another P.J. Benson Mystery

by Maris Soule

  She shook my hand, but before she stepped out the door, she paused. “Be careful, and if you do find a—”

  I knew what she was going to say. “I’ll call you.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  By three o’clock, Jason was at Howard’s place, Baraka had been let out for a while, and I’d taken a shower and put on a clean pair of maternity jeans, a baggy blue sweater, and sneakers. My car started the moment I turned the key, and I headed for Kalamazoo feeling life was good. Even the weather cheered me up, the temperature above freezing and large patches of blue sky appearing between clouds. Now all I wanted was good news from my doctor. Words like, “Oh yes, the baby will arrive tonight and by tomorrow your body will be back to its normal size.”

  I knew she wasn’t going to say that, but it would be nice. Over and over, Connie had told us not to be afraid of giving birth, but I’d heard too many stories from other women about their experiences and seen too many movies and TV shows where the woman was screaming while giving birth. I just wanted it over.

  * * *

  “You are starting to dilate,” Doctor Gladwin said and smiled, “but your daughter isn’t positioned quite right so I don’t think she’s going to show up for a while.”

  Not what I wanted to hear.

  The best news, however, was Paige Joy’s heartbeat was good and strong and as far as Doctor Gladwin could tell, my car accidents and my fall had caused no harm to the baby. Other positives were my blood pressure was normal, and I hadn’t gained any more weight. “My guess is one more week,” Doctor Gladwin said, then chuckled. “But I’d keep Connie’s number handy.”

  Dr. Gladwin knew Connie from when Connie worked at her clinic. In fact, she was the one who had recommended I join Connie’s Mothers-to-Be group, and from what Connie has told me, the two kept in close contact. “I have Connie’s number on speed dial,” I assured her.

  My doctor’s appointment didn’t take long, so I decided to stop by Grandma’s place to see how she was doing and if she’d heard anything from Mom since Saturday. I hadn’t, but I hadn’t phoned Mom, either.

  Grandma Carter was in the living room, watching a talk show, and smoking a cigarette. She put the cigarette out the moment I stepped into the house, which I appreciated, but the smell of smoke lingered in the air. It’s amazing Grandma doesn’t have COPD or lung cancer—or Mom or me. I don’t remember a time when I lived with Grandma and Mom that the house didn’t smell of cigarette smoke.

  “What did the doctor say?” Grandma asked the moment I sat down beside her.

  “That I’m starting to dilate, but it’s going to be a while.”

  “But everything’s all right with the baby?”

  “Fine as far as she could tell.”

  Grandma nodded. “When’s that next mama meeting?”

  “The Mothers-to-Be meeting? I don’t know. Normally it would be Wednesday, but Connie said our sessions will depend on whether or not she’s busy helping one of us give birth. Anna’s due soon, Sarah may have already had her baby, and last week Maria thought she was in labor. And—” I drew out the word. “I’m not sure where we would meet now that we can’t use the church.”

  “You could meet here. You said there’s just the six of you.”

  “No.” As convenient as Grandma’s house might be for a meeting, and as nice as it was for her to offer—which was typical of Grandma—I knew Connie wouldn’t want to meet here. “It has to be a no-smoking location.”

  Grandma shrugged. “Okay, have them go to your place. You guys don’t smoke.”

  “I’ll mention it to Connie, but I don’t think they’ll want to drive forty miles. What do you hear from Mom?”

  “Nothing.” Grandma chuckled. “Which I guess is good. You know, ‘No news is good news’.”

  “Think this marriage will last?” Mom has had boyfriends before, but up until Ben she hadn’t married anyone but my dad.

  “I hope so.” Grandma looked around the living room. “It’s lonely at night with her gone, but for the last few months she’s been spending more time at Ben’s place than here, so I’ve gotten used to the solitude. What I like is now I don’t need to worry about what would happen if I should become incapacitated or die. I—”

  I stopped her there. “You know I would have taken care of Mom.”

  “I know.” Grandma patted my knee. “But you now have your own family. It’s better this way. So, do I think this marriage will last? I hope so.”

  “I hope mine does, too.”

  “What?” Grandma turned toward me.

  I hadn’t meant to say it aloud. The words had simply come out. I looked down, away from her penetrating gaze. “I—” I started, unsure what to tell her. “This morning—” Was it just this morning that Marge had waylaid me in the grocery store? No, it had started before then. Way before. I took in a bracing breath and looked at Grandma. “Marge, who is one of the photographers who works for the sheriff’s department, is determined to end my marriage to Wade. For months she’s been finding excuses to call him late at night, and Sunday she lured him to her place and tried to seduce him. This morning she stopped me while I was shopping and told me the only reason Wade married me was because he felt honor bound to do so.”

  For a moment, Grandma said nothing, then she asked, “You said she tried to seduce Wade. How do you know that?”

  “He told me.”

  “And did she succeed?”

  “He says no. He said—”

  She didn’t let me finish. “And do you believe him?”

  “Yes.” The moment I said the word, I realized how foolish I was being. “Yes, I do believe him,” I repeated and smiled. “She’s the one who has the problem, not me.”

  Grandma nodded and patted my knee. “You’ve got a good-looking guy there, P.J. A nice guy. Over the years there are bound to be women who try to seduce him, who think they would make him happier than you do. You either have to trust him or your marriage will fail. And . . .” She paused and gave me a stern look. “The next time this low-life female tries to make you doubt how much that man loves you, you kick her in the butt.”

  The way she said it made me laugh. “I will, but it’s going to have to be after this baby is born. I can barely lift my leg, much less kick someone in the butt. And thank you.” She had made me feel better. “Also, thank you for setting up that dinner after Mom’s wedding. I’d like to help pay for that meal.”

  “Save your money. Use it on the baby.” Grandma paused and frowned. “You know, speaking of having babies, the way you went dashing for the bathroom at the end of the meal Saturday really had me worried. I thought maybe your water broke. Did you think it had or something?”

  “No, it wasn’t that.” I tried to remember the exact sequence of events. “Did you see the pregnant lady who went into the bathroom while we were eating?” At Grandma’s nod, I went on. “She’s in the Mothers-to-Be group. I saw her go in, but I didn’t see her come out, and I thought she might be having trouble.”

  “Oh, you should have said something. I could have told you she came out when Wade was telling us about the truck in your yard. In fact, she stopped right behind your chair. I thought she was going to say something to you, but then she went on.”

  I wasn’t surprised. “That sounds like Maria. She’s not the friendliest person in the group. Last week she practically accused me of being a terrible person for not helping Brenda when I saw her in the bathroom.”

  “You offered. What more could you do?” Grandma clicked off the TV. “Want to stay for dinner?”

  “No, I need to get home. I left Jason at Howard’s place. I’m not sure when Wade will be home, and I hate to impose on Howard.”

  “I don’t think Howard minds.” Grandma walked with me to her front door. “I think he sees you as the daughter he never had.”

  “Who keeps getting into trouble. He calls me Jessica Fletcher and says I’m turning Zenith Township into Cabot Cove.”

  Grandma laughed. “You do have a way
of stirring up trouble.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  I’d just gotten into my car when my phone rang. It was Connie. “Hi, hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time,” she said. “And this is going to sound a bit forward, but would you be willing to hold the next Mothers-to-Be meeting at your place?”

  “Now that is weird,” I said. “My grandmother suggested that just a while ago. Did she call you or something?”

  “No, it was Maria who brought it up. She called me earlier today and said it would be fun to meet at your place and see how you have things set up for a birth at home. If you’re agreeable, I think it would be a great idea. We could meet earlier than usual so we’d be gone by the time your stepson got home from school. And there will only be four of us. Sarah did have her baby. Not Friday when I talked to you, but yesterday. A little boy, six pounds five ounces.”

  “So, she beat us all.” I’d been wondering about Sarah since Connie’s call Friday. “Is she all right? The baby?”

  “The baby has a mild case of jaundice, so they’re keeping him in the hospital until tomorrow, but otherwise he seems to be fine. I stopped by to see Sarah just a while ago, and she said the doctor told her not to worry; however, she indicated she wouldn’t be coming Wednesday.”

  “Okay, but you said there would only be four of us. Who else isn’t coming?”

  “Tamara. She went into labor early.”

  “Oh, no. Were they able to save the baby?”

  “Not from what I’ve heard, but I don’t know for sure. I’ve tried calling her, but so far all I get is her voicemail.”

  “Poor Tamara.” I knew, since she’d made it to her eighth month, she’d had high hopes of making it to term with this pregnancy. “When you do talk to her, tell her how sorry I am for her.”

  “I will. So, Wednesday at your place okay?”

  “You know how far I live from Kalamazoo.” Connie had come out to the house back when I told her I was thinking of having my baby at home and would like to use her as a midwife. “If it’s all right with the others, it’s all right with me.”

  “Good. I’ll call Anna and tell her and confirm with Maria. I just wanted to check with you first. Because, if you don’t feel up to it . . .”

  “Sounds like fun,” I assured her. “My house is actually the cleanest it’s been in weeks and having the meeting at my place means I don’t have to drive into town. I might even make some cookies.”

  “Sounds like a party. Tell me what time would be best for you, and I’ll call the others tonight and let them know.”

  “One o’clock?” I looked at my watch. It was almost five-thirty. “You may not be able to get a hold of Anna until tomorrow. This evening she’s meeting with the charity board she’s on. I’m not sure what time exactly.”

  “Okay, I’ll let you know some time tomorrow. Meanwhile, how did your appointment with Doctor Gladwin go?”

  “Fine. She thinks I have one more week before Paige Joy will make her entrance, and she said to say ‘Hi’ to you.”

  Once my call to Connie ended, I started my car, but I didn’t head straight home. I knew driving by Ken’s shop was probably a waste of time; nevertheless, that’s what I did. The “Closed” sign was on the door, the inside lights off. From there, I drove the few blocks over to his apartment building and pulled into the parking area on the backside. I hadn’t asked Wade which apartment Ken was in, so I wasn’t sure if one of the two empty spots was his, but I didn’t see his car.

  I thought about calling the number that had appeared with the text messages he’d sent Sunday, then changed my mind. Instead, I typed, ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?

  I waited a few minutes to see if he responded, but nothing came back, so I headed home.

  * * *

  Wade was home when I arrived and so was Jason. He was eager to report the events of his time with Howard, primarily how they moved mother cat and kittens to a safe spot in Howard’s barn and how cute the kittens were. “They don’t even have their eyes open. It takes almost two weeks before they open,” Jason said, then looked at me. “Will it take that long for Paige to open her eyes?”

  “No, hers should be open when she’s born,” I told him, “but she won’t be able to see very well. It will take time for that.”

  “Howard said I can’t have one until it’s eight weeks old, that it will need its mommy until then.”

  I looked at Wade, who cleared his throat. “We didn’t exactly say you could have a cat.”

  Jason’s chin rose. “You said I could have one if I didn’t let Danny bully me, and I didn’t.”

  I chuckled. “You did say something like that.”

  Wade grunted. “We’ll talk about it later.” He waved his hand toward the bathroom. “Go wash up. I brought fried chicken home for dinner.”

  I was glad to hear that. I was too tired to cook. As soon as Jason closed the bathroom door, I asked Wade, “Did you find the diamonds at Ken’s trailer?”

  He nodded yes and smiled. “The ice was in the ice. Probably the best place he could have put them. Unless you really knew what you were looking for, you wouldn’t notice.”

  Jason came out of the bathroom, hands dripping wet, and Wade asked him to get the paper plates from the kitchen. “I’ll tell you more later,” he said and followed his son into the other room. “I’m starved.”

  During dinner, Wade quizzed me on my day. I summarized my visit to the doctor and with my grandma, told him I drove by Ken’s place but didn’t see any signs of him and hadn’t heard from him, then skimmed over Agent Tailor’s information. What I didn’t mention was my run-in with Marge. Jason again brought up the subject of a kitten. Again, Wade told him we’d think about it. It wasn’t until later, after Jason had gone to bed, that I asked Wade what else he and Gespardo had found in Ken’s trailer.

  “It was a mess. Cupboards, drawers, and closets had been emptied. Everything was on the floor, including pieces of the ceramic crow. We found two empty beer cans on the floor. We took them and will check for DNA. If it’s not Ken’s, and we can find a match, we’ll charge them for breaking and entry.” Wade grinned. “Thank goodness they were drinking beer and didn’t want ice.”

  “So how many diamonds did you find?”

  “A half dozen. All uncut. A couple of them were quite large, so we had a jeweler come to the station and look at them. He estimated their combined value close to a half million.”

  I gave a low whistle.

  “We called CBP, and I met your Agent Tailor. She said you’d told her we were looking for the diamonds. She was very happy that we’d found them. She just wishes she had the evidence your friend Brenda was bringing her so she could tie the diamonds to the person smuggling them across the border.” He looked at me. “She’s still sure Brenda must have given you something.”

  “Damn. How many times do I have to tell her Brenda didn’t give me anything?”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Tuesday morning Wade said he would take Jason to school, that he didn’t think there was any need for me to come along, the principal was the one who needed to deal with the two boys. “I’ll drop him off, then head into work,” Wade said as he finished his coffee. “I still have reports to finish regarding Ken’s trailer and those diamonds.”

  Jason seemed worried. “What if Danny tries to beat me up?”

  Wade’s response was predictable. “Don’t let yourself get into a position where he can, and if you think he might, yell for a teacher to help.”

  I could tell Jason didn’t want to yell for help. As I hugged him goodbye, I whispered, “Just stay close to your friends.”

  Once the two of them were gone, I did the usual morning chores: washed the morning’s dishes, made our bed—and hoped Jason had made his—let Baraka out for a bit, and then checked my email. That’s when I noticed one from Anna. The date and time showed it had been sent Monday afternoon.

  Mrs. Welkum wants to see me before the board meeting. I think she knows what I’m going to report. Wish m
e luck. I’ll call you tomorrow and let you know how it goes. Anna.

  I thought about calling Anna right then. I was dying to hear what went on during that board meeting, how Madeline Welkum reacted, and what the board decided, but I decided to wait. If Anna was having as much trouble sleeping at night as I was, she wouldn’t appreciate being woken early. I simply replied to her email with: Dying of curiosity. Call me. P.J.

  I went through the rest of my emails. Two included questions regarding ways to save on next year’s taxes—one of my clients had sold stock at a huge profit without considering how it would affect his taxes and didn’t want to repeat that mistake—and one email was a thank you and a request to be informed when Paige Joy arrived.

  It was a little after nine o’clock when I finished responding to those emails and I was wondering what I should do with the rest of my day when my land line rang. The call was from Sondra, my neighbor. “P.J., what have you heard?” were her breathless first words.

  “Heard about what?”

  “The shooting. At the elementary school. It was just on the TV. Zenith Elementary is on lockdown.”

  “I haven’t heard anything.” Heart pounding, I headed for my TV and turned it on. “What are they saying?”

  “Not much, just that there have been shots. You haven’t heard anything from your husband?”

  “No.” A talk show was on the local channel, but a crawler at the bottom had the information about the shooting, what little there was. 9-1-1 call reports shots fired at local school. Some casualties. Sheriff’s department on scene.

  Some casualties. I sank down on the closest chair. “Have you heard anything about the shooter?” I asked Sondra. “Or who was shot?”

  “No. Nothing so far.”

  Even without verification, I knew who the shooter was. Danny. And the casualty? “I’ve got to go up there,” I told Sondra. “Thanks for calling.”

  I grabbed my purse and a jacket and headed for my car. I didn’t even look at my speedometer as I drove to the school. A thousand thoughts flashed through my mind, images of Jason looking at me this morning, silently pleading with me for help. Me hugging him and telling him to stick with his friends. Had his friends been shot, too? Had my suggestion killed others? I remembered newscasts of other school shootings, images of children running from school buildings, parents waiting for news, and children crying.