by Parnell Hall
“I can’t wait to get him on the stand.”
Fleckstein smiled. “Be my guest.”
Chapter
13
“Pine Ridge Motel? I’d like to leave a message for Melvin Crabtree.”
“Who?”
“Melvin Crabtree. He’s staying there. I’d like to leave a message.”
“There’s no Melvin Crabtree registered here.”
“Oh. Thank you.”
Cora hung up, checked the Yellow Pages, dialed again.
“Hello? Four Seasons Motel? I’d like to leave a message for Melvin Crabtree.”
Cora listened, slammed down the phone.
Damn. Only one more motel. If he wasn’t there, she’d have to try the bed-and-breakfasts. And there were a zillion of them.
“Hello? Oakwood Motel? I’d like to leave a message for Melvin Crabtree.”
The motel manager sounded cranky and put-upon. “Why don’t you ring his room?”
Bingo!
“I would, but I forgot which room he’s in.”
“One oh five,” the manager said, and hung up.
Cora didn’t ring Melvin’s room. She drove out there.
There was no car in front of 105. She knocked on the door anyway, but there was no answer.
Damn. If he was out driving around, there was no way to find him.
Cora frowned. What was she saying? What was the matter with her? Just because it was Melvin, she wasn’t thinking straight. Put him out of your mind. It isn’t the ex-husband from hell. It’s just someone you want to find.
Cora picked up the phone, called the police station.
Dan Finley was manning the desk. “Bakerhaven police. Officer Finley speaking.”
“Hey, Dan, it’s Cora. What you up to?”
“You kidding me?”
“Just curious.”
“Well, let’s see. I’ve done my daily crossword puzzle, downloaded the latest police briefings, and now I’m reading a book.”
“How’s your pull with the New York car rental companies?”
“Why?”
“I want you to trace a rental for me.”
“Is this police business?”
“Of course.”
“Then why isn’t Chief Harper bringing it to me?”
“Probably too busy.”
“So he asked you to ask me?”
“That’s a clumsy way to phrase it.”
“What’s a good way to phrase it?”
“You’re too quick for me today, Dan. I need to find out if Melvin Crabtree rented a car recently. If so, I need the make and plate.”
“Isn’t Melvin Crabtree the ex-husband making trouble for you in court?”
“Oh my. That would be quite a coincidence, wouldn’t it?”
“It certainly would.”
“Don’t string me along, Dan. If you don’t want to do it, just say so.”
Dan got back to her in twenty minutes. “Cream-colored Lexus. New York plate, BFH561.”
“That was fast, Dan.”
“Well, what with it being official police business and all.”
Cora went out, got in her car, and cruised the streets of Bakerhaven, looking for a cream-colored Lexus.
She’d just passed the police station when Becky Baldwin ran out and waved her arms.
Cora pulled to a stop. “Whaddya want?”
“I’ve been trying to get in touch with you. I had lunch with Melvin’s attorney.”
“Oh? What did you have?”
Becky gave her a look. “Are you deliberately trying to be irritating?”
“Yeah, I guess so. When you start collaborating with the enemy.”
“I thought you wanted to know if Melvin was in town.”
“Yeah. Did you find out?”
“No.”
“I suppose lunch will appear on your expense account anyway.”
“Cora.”
“Relax. I did the work for you. Melvin’s in town. Driving a cream-colored Lexus. If you see him, flag me down again.”
“How did you find out?”
“Simple detective work. Why are you so het up over lunch?”
“There’s a weak point in Melvin’s case. The attorney’s representing him and Chester T. Markowitz. That reeks to high heaven.”
“What’s the shyster say about it?”
“He won’t say. I think we can make something out of it.”
“Damn.”
“What’s the matter?”
“I don’t like it. Here’s a clear-cut case, and you’re resorting to technicalities.”
“What’s so clear-cut about it?”
“I never knew any Chester T. Markowitz.”
“And yet you cashed his check.”
“Shut up.”
Cora continued to zigzag in and out of the side streets, a circuitous route that eventually led her to the outskirts of town. The local shopping mall was only a mile down the road. She checked it out on a hunch. A bad hunch. Melvin wasn’t parked in front of the Starbucks. Or the Stop & Shop. Or the Bed Bath & Beyond.
Cora pulled out of the mall parking lot and headed back toward town, following a different circuitous route from the one that had taken her there.
She almost zoomed right by the antiques shop. It wasn’t one she’d ever stopped at before, but then there were nearly as many antiques shops as there were bed-and-breakfasts in Bakerhaven. This one was called Ye Olde Antique Shop, old spelled with an e, as if the archaic spelling would make the goods inside even more antique.
A cream-colored Lexus was parked outside. It had no license plate on the front. Cora had to back up half a block to check the one in the rear. Sure enough, the plate was BFH561.
Cora pulled up behind the Lexus and got out.
Two men came around the corner of the shop.
One was the owner. A little old man with horn-rimmed glasses, white hair, and a blue polo shirt.
The man next to him was short, stocky, but still athletically built. His brown curls were flecked with gray, but his chin jutted out, firm, assertive. He wore no glasses. His blue eyes were keen. His lip was twisted in a sardonic smile.
Cora felt her pulse quicken.
She stepped across the sidewalk to intercept the men in the middle of the lawn.
Melvin saw her coming. He stopped. His chin came up. His lips twisted in a haughty sneer. “Well, well, well.”
Cora plunged her hand into her drawstring purse.
Melvin stopped. The smile froze on his face. He actually flinched. After all, he was the one who had taught Cora to shoot.
But it was not a gun Cora wrenched from her purse, merely a pack of cigarettes.
Melvin’s jaw relaxed. Still, he balanced on the balls of his feet. He looked ready to spring in any direction.
“Well, Melvin,” Cora said. She tapped out a cigarette, lit it up. “Want one? Oh, that’s right. You don’t smoke.”
Melvin cocked his head, grinned. “So, you tracked me down. Quite the little detective, aren’t you, sweetie? I always liked that about you.”
“Yeah, until I found those hotel receipts.”
“Why dwell on the past? Let bygones be bygones.”
“Easy for you to say. Why are you doing this?”
“Why am I doing what?”
“Don’t play games. I’m not in the mood.”
“You think it’s fair I pay you twelve hundred bucks a month not to be my wife?”
“It is considering what I put up with when I was.”
“It’s been a long time.”
“Murder never outlaws, Melvin.”
“I didn’t murder anyone.”
“Just an example. What makes you think you can get away with it?”
“Get away with what?”
“This scam.”
“Scam? What scam? Are you telling me you haven’t been married since we’ve been divorced?”
“It was a cheap trick, Melvin. And the judge knows it.”
“
Cheap trick. I’ll tell you what’s a cheap trick. Collecting alimony you’re not entitled to.”
“You know damn well I’m entitled to it.”
“I know nothing of the sort. I’m an honest man. I go by the letter of the law. The law says if you marry again, I’m off the hook.”
“I didn’t marry again.”
“That’s not the way my lawyer sees it.”
“Your lawyer is a two-bit shyster.”
“Whoa! You’re lucky I’m a nice guy. A hard-ass would try to drum up a damage suit.”
“Yeah, Melvin. You’re a real nice guy. The ladies love you, don’t they?”
“Some do. I’m sorry you’re no longer in that group.”
“Would you really expect me to be?”
“Hey, we had some good times.”
“Everyone has good times, Melvin, or they wouldn’t get married. It’s what happens after.”
Melvin’s smile was roguish. “It was pretty good.”
“Don’t start with me.”
The antiques dealer, embarrassed and flustered, couldn’t wait to get out of there. “If you need me, I’ll be inside.”
Melvin was grinning. “You’re still crazy about me, aren’t you?”
Cora shook her head. “I don’t know how you live with yourself.”
“That’s an evasion.”
“Yes, it is. I’m trying to avoid pulling my gun out and shooting you dead.”
“That’s hardly fair. I taught you to shoot.”
“Only one of your big mistakes.”
“You’re quick as you ever were. That’s what I liked about you. A good sparring partner. You always could give as good as you got.”
“Forget it, Melvin. I’m not interested.”
“Oh, no? Then why’d you hunt me down?”
“Huh?”
“You weren’t just driving by. You were obviously looking for me. When you stopped, I was nowhere in sight. You must have spotted my car. Which means you knew what kind of car I was driving. Which means you found out what kind of car I was driving. Which is not that easy to do. You must have gone to some trouble to find out what kind of car I was driving. Which means you were looking for me. And I’m wondering why?”
“Why do you even ask that? You’re here making trouble for me. You think I’m going to take it lying down?”
Melvin rolled his eyes, grinned. “Oh, what a straight line.”
“I’m warning you, Melvin.”
“You’re warning me? What are you warning me about? You gonna kill me? You gonna take me for more money? Come on, Cora. The fact you went to so much trouble to find me proves just one thing. You can’t leave me alone.”
“Yeah, right, Melvin,” Cora said sarcastically. “I was really hoping for a reconciliation. Of course, you’re probably married, aren’t you? You were always married to someone or another.”
“Come on, Cora. Considering the amount of time we were married, don’t you think the alimony’s a little high?”
“Considering the amount of physical and mental cruelty, I’d say it’s rather low.”
“Physical?”
“You never pushed me around?”
“As I recall, you beat the hell out of me.”
“You think you didn’t deserve it?”
“God, you’re a spitfire.”
Cora exhaled in frustration, actually stamped her foot. Her face was red.
A blond woman came out the front door of the antiques shop. She sized up the situation, slipped her arm through Melvin’s, and spoke to him, though her eyes never left Cora’s face. “So, sweetie. Who’s your friend?”
Chapter
14
She was young. That was the first strike against her. She was with Melvin. That was the second. And she was looking at Cora the way one might regard particularly odoriferous pond scum.
Cora didn’t wait for an explanation. “I’m sweetie’s ex-wife. Ex as in not anymore, it’s all over, get me out of here.”
The blonde’s baby blue eyes were not kind. “You’re the leech who’s bleeding him dry?”
“Gee, I didn’t quite catch that. Would you care to repeat it for my attorney to process?”
The blonde made a face men probably thought was cute but which made Cora want to punch her lights out. She side-spied up at Melvin. “You were married to that?”
Melvin knew the remark wasn’t going to sit well. He managed to place himself between the two women, not a particularly comfortable position, and glanced nervously from one to the other. “Ladies, my lawyer would be most unhappy to have this conversation take place in his absence.”
Cora suggested activities with which Melvin’s lawyer could occupy himself in his absence, many of which would have been illegal in most states.
The blonde looked at her in mock shock. “Kiss your mother with that mouth?”
Cora shook her head disparagingly. “I don’t think you wanna talk mothers, dearie. You’re out of your league.”
“Fine. We’ll keep this civilized,” blondie said. “The fact is you’re older than I thought. Melvin still shouldn’t have to wait for you to die. It’s your fault he doesn’t have the money to treat me the way I deserve. It’s your fault we’re in a crummy room in a crummy motel, when we should be able to afford a luxury suite. It’s your fault we’re here in this hick town trying to raise the cash to take a cruise, instead of lying on the beach in some island in the Bahamas.”
Melvin looked at her placatingly. “Bambi…”
Cora’s eyebrows launched into orbit. “Bambi?” Her smile was enormous. “Is she really Bambi?” She quoted, “ ‘Man has entered the forest.’ ”
The blonde lowered her finger at Cora. “All right. I’ve had just about enough out of you.”
“Have you really?” Cora cocked her head. “What do you plan to do about it?”
“Are you kidding me? You think I can’t take an old lady?”
“I’m sure you can.” Cora reached in her drawstring purse, pulled out her gun. “Go ahead. Make my day.”
Bambi’s mouth fell open.
“Damn, that’s not my cigarettes. I keep doing that.” Cora looked back at the young blonde. “Now then, what were you saying?”
Bambi was falling all over herself backing up and hiding behind Melvin. “You’re crazy. You’re out of your mind.”
“Oh yeah?” Cora grinned. “That doesn’t speak very well of you. Taunting an armed, crazy woman.” She shoved the gun back in her purse.
A police car pulled up, and Officer Dan Finley got out. He looked rather uncomfortable as he approached the group. “Ah, hi.”
Cora looked at him. “Hi? That’s your official police greeting? Hi?”
“Well, I’m not on official police business.” He looked at Melvin. “Would this be Mr. Melvin Crabtree?”
“Yes, it would,” Cora said helpfully. “And this is Bambi.”
“You’re adversarial parties in a lawsuit?”
“That’s right,” Melvin said. “I fail to see what business that is of the police.”
“Absolutely none, you’re quite right. However, it is my job as a policeman to keep the peace. And airing legal matters outside of court can sometimes lead to public recriminations which—”
“Good God, Dan. You sound like a walking thesaurus. What are you trying to say?”
“The chief indicated,” Dan said pointedly to Cora, “that I’ve been busy lately, and he would hate for me to get tied up by a domestic dispute escalating out of control.” He put up his hands. “Not to imply that either party was apt to fly out of control. On the other hand, I have never met this gentleman, and the chief felt that in matrimonial issues—”
“For Christ’s sake, Dan, give it a rest, or I’ll side with Melvin. How about it, Mel? Think we could take this flatfoot?”
Cora’s manner was jaunty as she uttered the phrase, but the moment it was out of her mouth, her face froze.
Melvin, who’d lined up beside her against the cop, w
as equally embarrassed.
Bambi was floored. Her jaw slack, she gaped at the two, realizing for the first time what they had once seen in each other.
Cora recovered first. “Sure, Dan. Wouldn’t wanna make any trouble for you.”
She turned and walked back to her car. Her face was flushed, her breath was coming fast. A torrent of conflicting emotions washed over her. It was nothing, she told herself, just the heat of the moment. That and the fact she hadn’t had a man in months, the pickings in Bakerhaven being slim. And quitting drinking had cut down on her social life. Alcohol had always made her more social, less inhibited. Not that she ever was inhibited, but still. It also tended to improve the complexion of whatever inferior specimen of manhood was attempting to chat her up. In the absence of which most men looked none too good.
Not that Melvin did.
Damn it to hell!
Cora hopped in the car, slammed the door.
Before she could start the engine, Dan Finley stuck his head in the window. “Wanna follow me back to the station? Chief Harper wants to talk to you.”
“I’ll bet he does,” Cora muttered.
Chapter
15
Chief Harper was in a benevolent, avuncular mood, particularly irritating since the man was younger than her. These days, Cora noted, almost everyone was younger than her. And that blond bitch of Melvin’s. How old was she? Was she even out of school?
At any rate, Cora was ill disposed to listen to the chief’s genial lecture.
“It’s not that I don’t understand,” Harper said. “It’s personal, it’s upsetting, you’re not yourself.”
“I’m not myself?” Cora said icily.
“I’m trying to be nice.”
“Yeah? Well, you’re clearly no good at it.”
“I’m trying to make allowances for your behavior.”
“What’s wrong with my behavior?”
“Nothing. I’m sure underneath you’re your own sweet self. I’m referring to your tendency to regard the police department as your own personal investigative unit.”
“Oh, come on, Chief. All this fuss over one lousy license plate number.”
Harper frowned. “What license plate number?”
“You’re not upset about a license plate number?”
“Why should I be upset about a license plate number?”
“No reason. So what are you upset about?”
