"I can tell you one thing, Wyatt," I said. "I think the detectives should consider Audrey McCoy a suspect. From speaking with her, I can tell you she had absolutely no use for Walter or for his girlfriend, Sidney. She even told me she only came to his wake to make sure he was truly dead. I think she deserves a great deal of scrutiny. And, yes, I'd also do some more intense delving into Roxie Kane's involvement. I found her story a bit suspect, myself. If Walter were truly in the condition she reported to have found him in, and she had no intention of killing him, then why didn't she alert someone to the fact he needed help? She admitted she knew something was wrong with him."
"That's kind of what we thought too, Lexie. I didn't see her at the wake, or I would have spoken with her. But I thought I did see you conversing with Audrey at the wake," Wyatt said. "Did you?"
"Yes, I approached her while she was standing up at the casket, glaring down at Walter's body with pure hatred in her eyes. She left immediately afterward. We had a long and interesting conversation."
"Could you write down what all you can remember from your conversation with her before you forget any of it? You might be called to testify in court if she's eventually arrested," Wyatt told me.
"Sure, I'll do that today," I agreed. "Have they cleared Walter's half-brother, Chuck Sneed?"
"Not yet," Wyatt said. "Why do you ask?"
"I still think it's odd he didn't attend either the wake or the funeral. His excuse of having to go to a hog-tying contest doesn't sound too credible to me. What kind of people actually compete in hog tying?"
"Huh? Hog-tying contest? Well, he is kind of a hick, Lexie."
"You think?"
Stone had never met Chuck, so I gave him a rundown on my meeting with him. Stone and Wyatt were both laughing by the time I was through.
"He bought your flower shop story?" Stone asked. "He must be a real dandy!"
"Well, he was at least half looped. I thought I might run back out there again this afternoon, while the kids are gone and the round steak is simmering in the Crock-Pot."
"Not without me, you're not!" Stone said. "He might be a nut job like his stepmother, but he also might be dangerous."
"If I weren't off duty today and already have plans, I'd go out there with you," Wyatt said. "He's right, Lexie. Don't go out there alone. I wouldn't trust Chuck Sneed if I were you. You don't want to show up out there alone and unannounced. If he actually had the audacity to kill his own brother, just think what he could do to you. It's just not safe to go out there alone."
Wyatt was right. It would be best to take a man along with me. I could be rash at times, and I was very anxious to see the killer brought to justice, but I didn't really have a death wish. I had no desire to end up in the same boat as Walter.
"Thanks for agreeing to go out there with me," I said to Stone before he could change his mind or modify his previous statement that I wasn't going out there without him—as if he'd already agreed to make the trip.
"What will be your excuse to go out there this time, Lexie?" Stone asked. "Needing his opinion for the engraving font used on the grave marker?"
I wasn't sure I cared for the tone in his voice. I only appreciated sarcasm when it came out of my own mouth. I figured Chuck had believed I worked at the flower shop the first time so I'd stick with a story along the same lines. "Don't worry, I'll think of something."
"I was afraid you'd say that."
* * *
"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Stone asked me a while after we'd turned off Thirty-Six Highway on to the gravel farm road, just outside Chillicothe. "We've already wound around this back road for several miles."
"Yes, he lives at the end of this road. The road dead-ends in a cul-de-sac just past his driveway."
Stone continued driving my Jeep another mile or so before we came up on the Sneeds' mobile home. When we pulled up, Chuck was in his yard, gutting a deer with a large buck knife. He was so engrossed in slicing the deer up its belly, he didn't even look up. I averted my eyes to avoid watching the deer's entrails spill out onto the ground. I had a real affinity for wildlife, and watching them being dissected was not something I enjoyed.
Chuck never looked up as we got out of the Jeep and walked over to him. He had on blood-splattered jeans, with an empty knife sheath hanging from his belt. A green wool cap and a faded camouflaged sweatshirt completed his ensemble. A half-empty beer bottle was propped up against the deer's antlers.
"Whadda ya want?" he asked. He finally looked up, clearly impatient and aggravated at being distracted from his task of cleaning the buck.
"Remember me, Mr. Sneed?" I asked. "We met before. I'm the lady from the flower shop, and this gentleman with me is my partner."
"Yeah, yeah, so whadda you want this time?"
"Our customer service department has sent me out to do a survey. They like to ensure our customers were satisfied with the flower arrangements we provided for their loved one's funeral services. I just need to ask you a few questions. I won't take but a minute of your time."
"Your little flower place in Rockdale has a customer service department?" Chuck asked. Okay, so this guy was smarter than I'd given him credit for. I looked over at Stone, who was rolling his eyes. The real flower shop in town had an owner, who was the official florist, and one clerk.
"Well, uh, yes, we do. We are very customer-oriented, you understand."
"Whatever," he said. "I ain't got nothing to do with no flowers. I wasn't even there to see them anyhow. You need to talk to my sister, Sheila, like I told you before. I'm busy here."
"You didn't go to your brother's funeral services?" I asked, with disapproval in my voice. "Why ever not?"
"I went to that hog-tying contest on Tuesday, like I told ya last time you was here."
"What about the funeral on Wednesday night? Couldn't you have made it to that, at least? Surely the hog-tying contest wasn't a two-day affair," I said. I noticed Stone was examining his fingernails. He wanted no part of this conversation. I could tell he was second-guessing his decision to bring me out here, and thought my fictitious excuse for visiting Chuck sounded as lame as it possibly could. I turned my attention back to Chuck, who looked more than a little pissed off.
"Wednesday night I was in a pool tournament at the Blue Dog Saloon, not that it's any business of yours. Took second place, too. Won myself a hundred clams, first place was two-fifty," Chuck stated, proudly.
"Oh, I see. This pool tournament was more important than your brother," I said, with even more disapproval. "That's just unbelievable."
Chuck instantly got to his feet. He pointed his buck knife at me, and said, "Now, listen here, lady. Like I done said, it ain't no business of yours what I do. You wanna know about flowers, go talk to my sister, Sheila. I got more important things to do, if you can't see that for yourself. I don't need no lecture by the likes of you."
Stone stepped in front of me, the knife blade just inches from his nose. "Take it easy, Mr. Sneed. The lady is just doing her job. No need to get upset. She didn't mean anything by what she said. You know how women can be. You get back to your work now, and we'll get on out of here and leave you be."
"Sorry, lady," Chuck said. He obviously felt a little contrite for pointing his knife at me. "Didn't mean to scare ya. And it wasn't just a pool tournament, ya see. On Wednesdays at the Blue Dog, they have happy hour all day long. They got fourteen types of beer on tap, and ever' draw is a buck off till closing time. It weren't just the hundred dollars I was after."
Oh, well, that explained it then. Why didn't he tell me before that he could get cheap beer on Wednesdays? Then I would have understood his plight. How could a brother's wake compete with that? God, what a piece of work this guy was.
"Let's go, Stone," I said. "Thanks, anyway, Chuck. I'll go ask Sheila about the quality of the flowers we delivered."
Back in the Jeep, I said to Stone, "That guy's a horse's ass, but he's got nothing to do with his brother's death."
"What makes
you say that? I didn't come to that deduction at all."
"Chuck Sneed isn't smart enough to pull it off. You'd have to be at least a little bit clever to sneak in to the inn, chloroform Walter, inject him with insulin, and then sneak back out without being detected. And first of all, you'd have to have the wherewithal to know you could kill a person by making their blood sugar plunge to a fatal level. That's not Chuck's style at all, don't you see?"
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
"Chuck would have stabbed him with his buck knife, shot him with that twelve-gauge in the gun rack of his truck, or just cracked him over the head with a beer bottle. Then he would have dragged Walter off into the woods and left him to die and be picked clean by buzzards like a road-killed 'possum. Now, if that had been the M.O. of the killer, then I could believe Chuck might be responsible."
"I see your point," Stone said. "Chuck isn't the cunning, scheming type at all. He's the stick his knife right in your face type."
Chapter 19
After supper we watched the Thursday night football game on television with the Dudleys. They told us their family reunion would be held Saturday afternoon at the American Legion Hall in Rockdale. Eleanor said it was to be a potluck affair, and asked if I knew where she could buy some decent potato salad.
I told her I made a mean mustard potato salad, and I'd be happy to prepare a large bowl of it for her to take to the reunion. It was going the extra mile like this that helped give us an excellent reputation with our guests. Word of mouth advertising had proven to be very effective in producing new customers. Stone thought I sometimes went too far in my quest to please the guests, but I would do whatever it took to help his business be successful. And Eleanor had assured me she'd reimburse me for the salad's ingredients, so I wouldn't be responsible for the expenses.
I fixed a bowl of popcorn for each of us during halftime. While I was in the kitchen, the phone rang, and I answered it. Wendy was on the line.
"Mom?"
"Yeah, babe? Is something wrong?" I asked.
"My car started acting up at a little club in St. Joseph. We decided to go there for a couple of drinks after dinner, and now the car is really running rough. Andy thinks it probably needs a new fuel pump. He noticed an excessive amount of exhaust fumes earlier, and he said it might also have a cylinder going bad," Wendy said. "Andy said we could take it to Boney's in the morning so they can have a look at it."
"You know about Boney's Garage?" I asked. The first time I'd been aware of its existence was when Audrey told me Walter's best friend, Joey, worked there.
"Sure. They just changed the oil in my car a couple of days ago."
"Did Joey Cox do the work?" I asked.
"Yeah," she said. "Do you know Joey?"
"No, but I was told he was Walter's best friend."
"Oh, I didn't know that, but I only met him the one time. He told me he'd just started his job there a few days earlier. Anyway, Andy wanted me to let you know we'd be late getting home. We're about halfway home now. Don't wait up for us, and don't worry."
"Okay. Thanks for letting us know. If the car breaks down completely, call back," I said before hanging up. Talking with Wendy about Boney's Garage gave me an idea. The oil in my Jeep had just been changed three weeks ago, in Shawnee, in mid-October. I'd probably only racked up 300 miles since then, so the oil obviously didn't need to be changed. But I decided to take the Jeep in to Joey Cox anyway, right after my nail appointment. I could visit Joey while he worked on my car. I was sure Joey would be impressed with how clean my oil was, not knowing I'd just had it changed recently.
* * *
Wendy and Andy were up early, eating toasted bagels in the kitchen, when I came downstairs. The coffee was already made. I'd heard them come in just after eleven, about thirty minutes after we went to bed. I couldn't sleep until I knew they were home, safe and sound. No matter how old your child gets, you never get over that habit.
They told me they wanted to be at Boney's the minute they opened for business at eight. They'd promised Tom Olsen they'd be back out at the ranch in the morning, and they didn't know how long the repair on Wendy's car would take. They would surely be on the way to T-n-T Ranch before I was finished at the nail salon, and headed over to Boney's for an oil change.
Stone came down a few minutes later and enjoyed a cup of coffee with everyone before Wendy and Andy left for the garage, and he headed out to work on his lawnmower. His new part had arrived in the mail on Thursday. It was a small rubber gasket that didn't look to me like it could make a hill of beans worth of difference in how the lawnmower ran. But Stone assured me it was crucial for optimal performance of the mower, and he was anxious to see if it fit properly.
After I prepared breakfast for the Dudleys, triple-egg omelets with onion, mushrooms, and cheese, I'd go to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients I needed for Eleanor's potato salad. Once I was back, and had them stashed away in the pantry, I'd head over to the nail salon for my three o'clock appointment. After that, I'd take the Jeep to Boney's, and hope the kids were well on their way to the ranch, so I didn't have to explain my sudden need for an oil change. Later in the afternoon I would fix the potato salad, so it'd be ready Saturday morning for the Dudley family reunion. I had everything planned perfectly for the day.
I hadn't thought to ask Eleanor how many people were expected at the reunion, or how much potato salad I should make. I bought enough ingredients to feed an army, just to be on the safe side. If Stone was available when I started on the salad, I'd get him to help me peel potatoes. Peeling potatoes was one job that really didn't appeal to me. It ranked just below vacuuming, probably wedged right between cleaning toilets and ironing.
For someone who really didn't enjoy housework, I was doing a lot of it these days at the inn. I'd be glad when spring arrived and we hired a gal to do the housekeeping and cooking again. It wasn't easy to find good help when they knew the job would be seasonal.
Back home, I was putting all the groceries away when my cell phone rang. It was Wendy. She was calling from Boney's Garage.
"Hey, Mom?"
"Yes, honey?"
"Can Andy and I borrow your Jeep today? We promised the Olsens we'd be out today, so Andy can help move the cattle, and learn more about the ranch and the livestock," Wendy said.
"Won't they be able to fix your car?"
"Yes, but not until early afternoon," she replied. "Joey said they'd have to special order the fuel pump because they can't keep fuel pumps on hand for all the different vehicles made. He could order it this morning and have it on the delivery truck first thing this afternoon, he said. So we'll leave the car with him and pick it up later on this evening."
"Just out of curiosity, are they open on Saturdays?"
"Yes. They're only closed on Sundays, Joey told us."
"Well, sure, you can use the Jeep," I said. "I can take Stone's car to get my nails done, and I'm just planning to spend the afternoon fixing some potato salad for the Dudleys, for the family reunion they're attending tomorrow."
"Mmmmm, I love your potato salad, Mom. Can you make an extra batch for us to have with our supper tonight?"
"Sure, babe. Eleanor is paying for the salad, but I don't think she'd mind. You can come pick up the Jeep whenever you want to."
There went my plans to have Joey change my oil this afternoon. But I could go to the garage tomorrow instead. I was still plenty sore from being hit by the SUV, so a little rest in the afternoon was probably in order. I had a box of old photographs I wanted to arrange in an album, I had the potato salad to prepare, and I hadn't had time to watch Oprah in days.
* * *
Stone peeled potatoes for me while I rounded up the other ingredients I needed for the salad. I diced a dozen boiled eggs, chopped some celery, and stirred in two large jars of mayonnaise, and a smaller jar of mustard. I was making a huge batch, most of it for the family reunion, and a smaller amount for supper tonight. It would just be the four of us here for supper, because t
he Dudleys were dining at a friend's house in Overland Park, Kansas.
The Dudleys would be leaving on Sunday morning, and I was ready for them to go. I had run out of ideas for meatless suppers. I was about ready to plop a bowl of macaroni and cheese down on the table in front of Eleanor, and heat up a porkless TV dinner for Steve. I'm sure they'd be impressed. But knowing them, they wouldn't complain. They really were a fine couple. I wish all of our guests were so easy to please.
Our next scheduled guests didn't arrive for a week. Honeymooners from South Carolina would be here for a long weekend. My mind was already racing with ideas to make their stay special. I'd start with rose petals on their bed when they arrived, and a bottle of champagne on ice in their room. Naturally, they'd get the nicest suite, one nobody had died in. Stone gave me free reign in handling the guests. He even occasionally had great ideas of his own to contribute.
I was washing my hands in the sink when the phone rang. Stone answered the telephone, and handed it over to me. I dried my hands on a towel and took the phone. I figured it would be my daughter because she was about the only person who called me at the inn. Most of my friends rang me on my cell phone.
"Hey, Mom!" Wendy sounded anxious, worried about something. I could always tell when something was bothering her by the tone of her voice.
"Hi, Wendy! How's your day going out at the T-n-T Ranch?"
"Good. Andy's learning a lot, and I'm enjoying myself too."
"Did they get your car fixed at Boney's?" I asked.
"Yeah, I called Joey, and he said it's running fine now," she said. "Andy's out in the barn with Tom, and I'm walking around the big pond with Sallie. She's really a sweet dog. But that's not why I called you. I wanted to tell you about something strange that happened to us this morning, on the way out here to the ranch."
"What happened, dear?" Stone had been on his way out of the kitchen, but stopped and stepped back in. My last question had caught his attention. He waited to see what I'd find out from Wendy.
Lexie Starr Cozy Mysteries Boxed Set Page 52
