by R A Wallace
“Can I bother you for a minute?”
Casey set the newspaper down. “Are we working on a puzzle?”
“We are.” She smiled. “Were you here either time when Tyler was arguing with a man?”
“The truck driver was pretty annoyed, but I can’t say they were really arguing. Not from what I saw, anyway.”
“What did you see?”
“The guy came out of the kitchen and sat down a couple of seats away from me at the counter.” Casey made a face. “Not much.”
“That’s not a bad thing. It would probably be way worse for Tyler if you’d seen him in a fist fight with the guy.”
“Good point. I did see the guy hand Tyler something to sign. I assumed it was for the delivery, but I wasn’t paying all the much attention by then.”
“Thanks.” Megan stood and patted his shoulder. “I’ll let you get back to your paper.”
Megan went down to the other end of the counter.
“Hi, Patty? I’m Megan. Megan Parker.”
The other woman turned and looked up at her. Her eyes narrowed when she saw who it was.
“Didn’t it used to be Bennet? You were Josh’s wife, right?”
“Yes,” Megan said quickly. “Mind if I ask you some questions about something you may have seen at the diner?”
Megan watched Patty’s eyes shift up toward Holly in the kitchen. The counter where Patty sat was directly across from Holly’s window where she worked on the other side of the wall.
“It’s okay. Holly and Tyler are the ones who asked me to speak with you.”
“With me?” Patty’s eyebrows raised.
“With anyone who may have witnessed Tyler arguing lately,” Megan clarified.
“Oh, that.” Patty returned her focus to the phone in front of her. “It was nothing.”
“What did you see?”
Patty shrugged. “Not much. I’m telling you, nothing happened.”
“Which argument did you see?” Megan asked.
“I’m telling you, it wasn’t an argument. Some truck driver messed up an order. It happens. Tyler figured it all out. End of story.” Patty pocketed her phone and stood. “Listen, I have to get back to work.”
“Thanks.” Megan watched her walk away but remained where she was. One of the waitresses was headed her way. She figured the staff would know best when they had a moment to spare so she waited for Lynn to come to her.
“Megan, I have a minute if you want to talk to me now,” Lynn said.
“I do, thanks.” Megan turned and sat down at the counter as Lynn went to the other side and faced her.
“Do you want me to get you anything?” Lynn asked. Her hand automatically reached for the rag behind the counter. She began wiping.
“No, thanks. I’m good. Tyler mentioned that you were here the day the driver delivered a partial order?” Megan asked.
“I was, yes.” Lynn’s lowered her voice. “I was also here when the dead guy complained about Holly’s cooking.”
“Yeah, what was up with that?” Megan asked.
“I have no idea. She made it up when the delivery was wrong that one day and it was a real hit. Everyone else raved about it.” Lynn’s voice continued to grow a little louder as she defended Holly.
Megan leaned over and lowered her voice. “I believe you.”
Lynn gave a sheepish smile. “I know you’re on their side. I just didn’t like that man saying those things about Holly’s cooking. I wasn’t sorry that Tyler asked him to leave.”
“Did he leave when Tyler asked him to?”
“Yes. He complained a little, but he left. After he threatened to turn us in for not running the diner properly.” Lynn put her hand on her hip. “As if that would ever happen!”
“Can you think of anything else?” Megan saw Lynn raise her hand. Someone behind her must have signaled for her.
“Not really. I’d better get over there.”
Megan stood when Lynn left and went through the swing door into the kitchen. Holly looked up from her grill, but only gave Megan a nod and a half smile. Megan walked over to the gruff-looking man unloading the dishwasher.
His eyes shot up to the clock on the wall before he nodded to Megan.
“Mind if I take a smoke break while we do this?”
Megan nodded her agreement and followed him out the back door.
“Do you often take breaks back here?” Megan asked as she stood next to him in the alley behind the diner.
“When I can.” He offered her a cigarette. She declined. He lit his and pocketed the pack of cigarettes.
Megan thought about the odds. It could have been Danny who found the body on Tuesday instead of Tyler. She looked over at the dumpster.
“Do you ever take the trash out?” she asked.
Danny blew out a puff of smoke.
“Sometimes, if everyone else is busy.”
“You were here the day the driver delivered only part of the order, right?” Megan took a few steps from where she was standing so she wouldn’t be downwind.
“Yeah. Guy was an idiot.”
“Why do you say that?”
“He knew the order was wrong. You could tell by looking at him. He was just trying to lie his way through it.” Danny flicked the ash from his cigarette.
“What makes you so sure?”
“Everything is electronic now. He had a list of every item that should have been on that truck. Instead of owning up to it, he argued with Tyler like he didn’t know he was missing it.”
“Why do you think he would do that?”
Danny dropped his cigarette and crushed it with his boot.
“Guy probably stole it himself. I have to get back to work.”
Megan quickly followed him back into the restaurant so she wouldn’t be locked out in the alley.
***
The young girl that answered the door smiled as soon as she saw Megan.
“Hello, Bella. Mind if I come in?” She couldn’t believe how much more mature the young girl looked just since the last time she’d seen her. The fact that she was already as tall as Megan helped add to the allusion that she was older than she really was. Megan had waited until school was out before stopping to see Mr. And Mrs. Givens. She knew that Bella would be with them.
“Are you here working on a puzzle?” Bella led Megan into the Givens’s living room.
“I am, yes.”
“Ham, Joni. You remember Megan, right?” Bella asked.
“Of course. You’ve been here before.” Ham waved to a chair. “Have a seat, please.”
“Can we get you anything?” Joni Givens asked.
“No, thank you. I’m fine.” Megan sat in the chair and smiled at the couple. “I’ve come to pick your brains, if you don’t mind.”
“Ho, you might be too late for that,” Ham said with a laugh. He had a blanket covering his legs and was wearing a thick, warm sweater. His hands, spotted with age, were on the arm rests on each side of the chair.
“At least being old comes in handy sometimes,” Joni said. She was also dressed warmly in fleece, even though it was very warm in the room.
Bella, in contrast, was wearing a short-sleeve shirt and jeans. She adjusted the blanket on Ham’s legs, then took a seat by Joni.
“This goes back around forty years or so,” Megan said. “Do you remember any other diners in Teaberry?”
“What’s that?” Ham said.
“Diners,” Joni said loudly. “What other diners used to be here?” Joni brought her hand up to her mouth for a moment then she pointed at Ham.
“What was that other one. You know, the shiny one?”
“Metal?” Ham asked. “The metal one with the lights?”
“Yes, it had bright lights. What did they call those?” Joni asked him.
Ham raised a spotted hand to his bald head and he rubbed. The blanket began to slip from his lap.
“Why, I don’t remember now.” He turned to Bella. “What kind of lights do they use in L
as Vegas? They light up the whole town.”
“Neon?” Bella suggested as she jumped up to straighten his blanket before taking her seat again.
Ham waved his hand at her before dropping his hand down to his lap. “That’s right. It was a shiny, metal diner with neon lights. You could probably see them from outer space, there were so many neon lights.”
Bella smiled at his description.
“Sorenson’s,” Joni added.
“Yes.” Ham pointed his finger up. “Sorenson’s Diner. My, that was a long time ago.” He looked at Joni. “Did we ever go there?”
Joni made a face as she tried to remember. “Oh, we only ate there once or twice maybe.” She turned to Bella and Megan. “It wasn’t very good.”
“That’s right,” Ham remembered. “They put all their money into the building, but they had no experience with running a restaurant.”
“It didn’t last,” Joni agreed.
After spending a few more minutes with them, Megan went back out to her truck. She started the engine and let the heater run while she went through the messages on her phone. When she got to the message from Erica, she called her back.
“You arrested Aaron Sorenson?” Megan asked when Erica picked up.
“Yeah. He’s looking pretty good for it.”
Megan wasn’t surprised to hear it. From everything she had learned, he was their best suspect. She explained what she had learned about the diner.
“You think there’s a connection? Maybe Sorenson is jealous that Tyler and Holly have the Jammin’T?”
“You always say there are no such things as coincidences,” Megan reminded her.
“Yeah. We’ll ask him about it. Anyway, thanks for the help. We’ve got it from here.”
Chapter Fifteen
Erica stood in the hallway outside of the small room they were using to question Aaron Sorenson and stared at the door. She didn’t turn around when she heard Jerry walking down the hallway toward her.
“This isn’t how I was hoping to spend my Saturday,” she said.
Jerry stopped next to her and rubbed the back of his neck with one hand.
“Makes two of us.”
“Did what he tell us check out?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
She shook her head. Finally, she turned and headed back toward the main office area.
“Okay, walk me through it.”
Once they reached the area, Erica stood in front of the murder board. Jerry picked up a pile of papers from his desk.
“According to what he told us, he was making deliveries in other parts of the state. I called the companies he told us about and they have him on video.” Jerry shook his head. “He couldn’t have been behind the Jammin’T during the window we’re looking at.”
“We know the victim was killed that morning because the garbage truck went through and emptied out the dumpster.” Erica rubbed the spot between her eyebrows. “There’s no way the driver could have missed a body next to the dumpster.”
“I don’t think he’s our guy,” Jerry said. “Not for the murder anyway.”
“Okay.” Erica looked up at the murder board. “What do we have on him?”
“We got him on the missing items that should have been delivered to the Jammin’T.” Jerry looked up from his papers.
Erica pointed at the timeline they’d drawn on the board.
“The delivery was scheduled for here. Aaron was in the Jammin’T in the morning to make the delivery.” She absently erased a letter in a word and wrote it more clearly.
Jerry leaned back against his desk and watched her work her way through it.
“Later that same day, we have the victim, Leonard ‘Lefty’ Leftwich in the diner making a big scene because he doesn’t like the food.” She turned to look at Jerry.
“Yeah…” Jerry stretched the word out. “The food that Holly had to make in a pinch because she didn’t get the delivery she needed.”
Erica held up a finger. “Right. That can’t be a coincidence.”
“Sorenson and the victim are tied into the delivery theft together somehow. They have to be,” Jerry agreed.
“Sorenson was seen with the victim here.” Erica pointed to the timeline again. “By Caitlyn. They were offloading supplies.”
“The ones we’re assuming ended up in the storage unit,” Jerry added.
“A storage unit that was rented in Aaron Sorenson’s name,” she finished.
Jerry pushed away from his desk and straightened. “Everything points to Aaron Sorenson being involved with the victim.”
“Except he didn’t kill him.” Erica motioned toward the murder board.
“Not if he was somewhere else.” Jerry looked down at the papers in his hands. The ones showing that Aaron Sorenson was somewhere else during the timeframe when the victim was killed and that he had some ironclad witnesses.
Erica let out an exasperated sigh.
“Okay. What else do we have?” she asked.
Jerry tossed the papers back down on his desk. “Aaron Sorenson’s family used to own a diner in Teaberry back in the day. One that competed with Jammin’T. They both started out around the same time some forty years ago.”
“Right. From what Megan learned, Sorenson’s Diner didn’t do well. It closed not long after it opened.”
Jerry tossed out an idea. “Sorenson wants to get back at Jammin’T so he shorts the order?”
Erica nodded agreement on the hypothesis. “We got him to agree that it was his parents who owned Sorenson Diner, so that makes sense.”
“Sorenson was in the photos that Holly and Tyler had from when they were kids,” Jerry said.
“Yeah, I still don’t get how they never mentioned that to us but somehow they tell Megan.”
Jerry gave a half shrug.
Erica swiped across her lips with the palm of her hand.
“Okay, we need to speak with Holly and Tyler some more. Find out what else they didn’t tell us about their childhood with Aaron Sorenson and Lefty Leftwich.”
Jerry motioned in the direction of the room where Aaron Sorenson was waiting.
“If we don’t charge him, we’ll have to let him go.”
“We can’t charge him for murder,” Erica pointed out. “But we can get him for the theft of the delivery.”
“Better than nothing,” he agreed as he turned to gather up the papers from his desk.
“Yeah. Then we just need to figure out who did kill Lefty.”
***
Lotta adjusted her sweater over her long-sleeved cotton shirt in the mirror. The image of the room behind her caught her attention in the mirror and she smiled. It was a lovely room. She turned slowly and looked it over. She’d straightened out the bed to make it easier on Megan. She knew that the young girl would be around to tidy up. Lotta didn’t want to give the impression that her mother hadn’t taught her how to be a good guest. The room was as spotless on the day after her arrival as it had been before.
Giving herself a slight nod of satisfaction, she picked up her knitting bag and went out into the hallway. She found her cousin, Nellie, coming out of her bedroom at the same time. Nellie was also carrying her knitting bag. Lotta paused for a moment but the third bedroom door didn’t open.
“May isn’t ready yet?” Lotta asked.
Nellie waved her hand at the other door. “Oh, you know May. She’ll meet us downstairs in her own time.”
“True.” Lotta loved her sister, but she and May were like night and day. “Do you need help getting down the stairs?”
Nellie put her free hand on the banister. “I have this to hold on to. I’ll be okay.”
“Funny how we’ve changed over the years,” Lotta commented as she walked slowly in front of Nellie. “Getting down the stairs didn’t used to be such an ordeal.”
She heard a soft chuckle behind her.
“True. When we were little, we used to slide down the banister,” Nellie said. “Though, I guess back then we used to hold
on to it for dear life too sometimes.”
“When we got close to the bottom and were still sliding too fast,” Lotta agreed. When she reached the bottom step, she turned to check Nellie’s progress. Nellie joined her a moment later and they went into the living room together.
“May! You beat us downstairs.” Lotta took a seat on the couch.
“You two old fogies are slow on your feet,” May said with a smile to show she didn’t mean it. Her smile widened when Megan entered with a tray. “Oh, the tea is here. And what else do we have?”
“I made some snickerdoodle bars. We talked about the recipe the last time you were here.” Megan set the tray down.
“They look yummy,” Nellie said as she rubbed her hands together in anticipation.
“I brought forks in case you didn’t want to eat them with your fingers.” Megan poured the tea and set a cup and saucer next to each of the women.
“That’s the nice thing about being related,” Lotta said. “We can get food on our faces and it doesn’t matter.”
“I’ll save mine and use it as a reward if I get far enough on my knitting today,” Nellie decided.
“Good idea, I will too. Thank you, Megan, this is lovely.” May set her knitting down and picked up her tea cup. “I miss having a fire.”
“It brings back memories,” Lotta said. “I do love sitting in front of one on a cold Saturday afternoon.”
Megan took another seat near the couch and picked up her knitting.
“So, tell us about your most recent puzzle,” Lotta said as her hands moved rhythmically with her needles.
Megan explained the death of Lefty Leftwich and the subsequent arrest of Aaron Sorenson. The ladies were quiet for several moments when she was done speaking.
“I wonder,” May said. She glanced over at Lotta.
“I know what you mean,” Lotta agreed.
Megan looked between the two women. “Wonder what?”
“If you don’t mind me saying, dear. You don’t sound convinced,” Nellie pointed out.
“I don’t?” Megan thought back on the story she had just told them. She had paused several times when she was speaking to think about some of it.
“Well, I can understand. It was all very… tidy. Wouldn’t you say?” May looked at Lotta and Nellie for support. Both women nodded.
