by Jessica Beck
"Jan? Is that you?" I asked.
"Hello, Victoria," she said, offering me a slight smile. "My, how you’ve grown."
"You look wonderful," I said as I hugged her. She resisted the contact, and kept it at a minimum. There was a handbag big enough to conceal a stuffed turkey draped over one shoulder, and I wondered what she carried around with her that she needed such a roomy bag.
"As do you. I’d love to stay and chat, but I’m meeting someone," she said as she looked around the diner. That’s when I noticed the sheriff stand and walk toward us.
"As a matter of fact, he’s coming this way right now," I said.
After the two of them spoke briefly, they left me and returned to Sheriff Croft’s booth. I would have given anything to wait on them and try to catch some of their conversation, but I’d promised to butt out, and I was going to do just that, no matter how hard it might be. They had a rather short conversation, and as Jan stood, she was clearly unhappy about the way things had gone. Sheriff Croft didn’t look all that pleased either, truth be told. As Jan brushed past me, I thought about going after her, but Moose chose that second to walk in the front door and all thoughts of pursuing Jan were quickly gone. Still, I had to at least try.
"Stay here one second," I told him as I tried to follow Jan outside.
"Forget that. I know that look in your eyes. You’re on to something, Victoria. I’m coming with you," Moose said.
"I don’t have time to argue with you. Moose, you’ll be helping our cause a lot more if you go distract the sheriff and let me do what I need to do by myself."
"How much time do you need?" Moose asked. This was a task he could handle with ease, and we both knew it.
"Five minutes," I said as I hurried out into the parking lot.
But I’d taken too long talking to Moose.
Jan was already gone by the time I got outside.
"That was quick," Moose said when I walked back in a moment later.
"She took off before I had a chance to talk to her," I said.
"Sorry about that," Moose answered. "I hope it wasn’t my fault."
I believed with all my heart that it was, but pointing that out to my grandfather wouldn’t do either one of us any good. "It’s okay. We’ll catch up with her later."
"Who exactly was that?" he asked me.
"Didn’t you recognize her? That was Jan Bain. She used to babysit me," I said as the sheriff approached. "Quiet."
"Clearly you didn’t have any more luck than I did with her," Sheriff Croft said as he joined us and said hello to my grandfather. "I just don’t get it. Something’s made that woman hard inside since she left Jasper Fork."
"I almost didn’t recognize her when she walked in," I admitted. "She’s changed quite a bit since the last time I saw her."
"Sure, she looks different, but it’s even more noticeable when you talk to her," the sheriff said. "She insisted on seeing her brother’s body immediately, and then she told me in no uncertain terms that she’s going to sell everything he owned as soon as she can. Apparently she’s done with us here, and the last thing she wants to do is hang around."
"Are you going to let her do that?" I asked. "If she inherits everything, surely that makes her a prime suspect in her brother’s death."
"That’s what I just told her, in a roundabout way," the sheriff said. "She was none too pleased with me, but if what she said next is true, there’s not much I can do to stop her."
"What do you mean?" Moose asked.
"Evidently everything was jointly owned by the two of them. That includes not just the farm, but Wally’s bank account as well. She thought she was going to waltz in here, sell everything of Wally’s in sight, and just leave, but I let her know that I’m not going to make that easy for her, at least not until I find out what happened to her brother."
"That explains her abrupt exit," I said.
"It’s pretty clear that she’s not going to talk to me unless she has to," Sheriff Croft said. "Why don’t you two take a run at her and see if you have any more luck than I did?"
I welcomed the opportunity, though I wasn’t certain I’d be able to get anything more out of Jan than the sheriff had. "All we can do is promise to try. Do you happen to know what she’s going to do next? How about where she’s staying?"
"Jan told me that she’s going straight out to the farm, and later, she’s going to go by the morgue to see her brother’s body. She’s even planning to stay at the farm while she’s in town. I don’t know if I could stay there alone if I were in her shoes after what happened to Wally out there."
"Me, either," I said, shuddering a little at the very thought of it. "Sheriff, I’ll get back in touch with you as soon as I talk to her."
"As soon as we talk to her, you mean," Moose said.
"Sure. That’s what I meant."
The sheriff nodded, and then left the diner.
Moose turned to me as soon as he was gone. "You weren’t planning to go out there by yourself, were you, Victoria?"
"Well, you have to admit that there’s a chance that she might talk a little freer if it’s just me," I said.
"Then again, it might be good if someone is beside you who has your back," Moose said. "If she killed her brother for his money and his land, you won’t be safe if she considers you a threat."
I took a deep breath, and then let it out. "Honestly, I’d try to talk you out of coming, but I’m not all that certain that I want to succeed. Come on, let’s go."
"First we have to tell your mother where we’re going," Moose said. "She can tell Greg when he comes in later."
"That sounds like a plan," I agreed, and after we told Mom what we were up to, Moose and I headed for Wally Bain’s farm.
Evidently, we weren’t the only ones who had the same idea. When we pulled up to the old farmhouse, Sally Ketchum’s truck was parked beside Jan’s Cadillac.
"How should we play this?" I asked Moose as we got out.
"We could offer her our condolences, unless you already did."
I was ashamed to admit, "Everything happened so quickly at the diner that she caught me off guard. I never even got the chance."
"Don’t worry about it. We’ll do a proper job of it now."
Moose started to knock on the door when it opened before he could manage it.
I was surprised to see that Sally was smiling, and so was Jan. It was an odd thing to find after the recent murder right there on the grounds, but the grins both quickly vanished when they realized that we were there.
"Why aren’t you at the diner?" Jan asked a little pointedly as she looked from Moose to me.
"You left before either one of us had a chance to offer our condolences," I said quickly. "We’re truly sorry for your loss."
She nodded absentmindedly, and Sally added, "As a matter of fact, that’s what I was doing here myself. Now, if you’ll all excuse me, I’ve got a farm to run."
After Sally left us, Moose said, "That was awfully neighborly of her to take time out of her busy workday to drop in on you. It’s a lot of work running a farm, even with Ron Watkins lending her a hand these days."
I watched Jan’s reaction to Ron’s name, but I couldn’t see any sign that she even knew who he was. If she did, she clearly didn’t care about him one way or the other.
"Her visit wasn’t really all that personal," Jan said. "Sally just offered to take the farm off my hands."
"Wow. Can she really afford to do that?" I asked, not even thinking about how that might sound to Jan. Sally did okay with her farm according to the scuttlebutt I’d heard around town, but I had no idea she was in any position to buy Wally’s place outright.
"Well, I’m not asking much, and I’m giving her generous terms. I just want to be done with this town once and forever."
"I’m curious about something, Jan. What made you so bitter about Jasper Fork?" Moose asked. It was a question that I wanted the answer to myself, but I wouldn’t have had the nerve to ask her so directly.
"Let’s just say that it hasn’t favored me as it has you and your clan," Jan said. "Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a mess on my hands here. I’ve got to go through this entire place, find anything worth keeping, and ditch the rest before the sale is final."
That would be the perfect opportunity for my grandfather and me to dig into the remnants of Wally Bain’s life before everything was gone. "Jan, as a way of honoring your brother’s memory, Moose and I would be happy to help you, free of charge," I volunteered.
Jan just shook her head at my offer. "Thank you, but that won’t be necessary. I don’t plan on doing a very thorough job of it. In fact, I may make it a term of the sale that the property is for sale as it stands. If Sally Ketchum wants the place cleaned out, she can do it herself."
"But you’re staying out here in the meantime, right?" Moose asked her.
"I admit that I briefly considered it, but then I looked around and realized that my brother was less than an able housekeeper. I believe I’ll be staying in Molly’s Corners until this is all straightened out."
"A hotel can get pretty expensive," I said.
"No need to worry about that. I have friends in Molly’s Corners I took an advanced knitting class with years ago who’d be delighted to host me," Jan said. "If you two will excuse me, I have to go into town now see about my brother’s arrangements."
"Of course," Moose said. "Again, we’re sorry for your loss."
"Thank you," she said curtly, and then got into her car and pulled out.
We followed her out to the main road, but Moose turned toward Molly’s Corners instead of back to town when Jan did.
"Where are we going?" I asked him.
"Nowhere in particular. We’re going to wait five minutes until we’re certain that she’s gone, and then we’re going back to Wally’s place to look around while we still have the opportunity."
"Are we looking, or are we snooping?" I asked him.
"Does it really matter what we call it, Victoria?" Moose asked.
"I just want to know the best way to describe it to the judge when we’re charged with breaking and entering," I said.
Five minutes later we were parked behind the barn and out of sight, and Moose and I started toward the farmhouse. We were going to have to make this quick, and I just hoped that we had time to look around before Jan made it back. I had no idea how we were going to explain our presence there if she just showed up, but I hoped that Moose had a cover story in mind. All of his years sitting at the Liar’s Table had made him adept at coming up with things extemporaneously, and I trusted he’d be able to provide a needed excuse if we needed one.
It never came to that, though.
We were caught before we took one step toward the house, and by a rather unlikely person at that.
Chapter 6
"What are you two doing here?" Penny Rusk asked as she got out of her car and headed straight toward us.
I looked at Moose, but he was oddly silent as he struggled for something to say. I decided that before the silence grew any longer, I had to step up and answer myself. "We were here earlier offering our condolences to Jan, and I lost an earring," I said.
Penny frowned as she stared at my earlobes. "That’s odd. You have both of them on right now."
"I’m not talking about this pair," I said. "I lost one from the pair that I was wearing when we were here earlier. They were an anniversary present from my husband, and I can’t stand the thought that they’re gone."
"I understand that, but does it take two of you to hunt for one little earring?" Penny asked.
"We were out running some errands together, so it just made sense that we drop by and see if we could find it," Moose explained. "Now that we’ve explained our presence, I have a question for you. What brings you out this way, Penny? You’re a long way from The Suds Center, and unless I’m mistaken, this is part of your regular working hours."
"I came to talk to Jan," she said.
"What about?" I asked. It was an impertinent question, but one I wanted to hear the answer to it nonetheless. "I didn’t realize that you two even knew each other."
"Frankly, I don’t see that’s any of your business, but we went to high school together." Penny looked around, and then she asked, "Where’s your car, anyway? It’s rather odd you aren’t parked in front of the house. It’s almost as though you don’t want anyone to know that you’re here."
It was a perfectly legitimate question.
I only wished that I had a good answer for her.
Moose saved the day, though. "It’s simple enough. Victoria and I parked back by the barn so we wouldn’t run over her earring by mistake."
"I know you said that it had sentimental value, but it still seems like an awful lot of trouble to go to just for one earring," Penny said.
"It’s extremely special to me," I said, and then I suddenly pretended to have a thought. "Moose, I just remembered where my earring is; I left it on the counter at the diner. I took it off because the back was loose, and I wanted to get a new one. I’m so sorry. I’m afraid we came out here for nothing."
"As long as you remembered where it is, that’s fine with me," Moose said.
We headed back for his truck, but not before I stopped in front of Penny and said, "Jan’s not home. She’s taking care of Wally’s arrangements in town."
Penny looked alarmed by the news. "Does she even know what his preferences for his burial were?"
"I have no idea, but I’m a little surprised that you’d even ask." Moose said, a little too pointedly. "Did he say something to you?"
If Penny minded his question, she didn’t say a word about it. "Wally and I discussed quite a few things on our dates. I’ve got to get to town and make certain that Jan respects her brother’s last wishes."
Penny got into her car, but the infernal woman wouldn’t drive off without Moose and me. We retrieved the truck from the back of the barn and reluctantly followed her down the long drive. When we got to the main highway, Moose continued to follow Penny toward town, even though I’d been expecting him to turn around at some point so we could go back to Wally Bain’s farm without an escort. "Are we really giving up and going into Jasper Fork?" I asked him.
"Who knows who might pop up next if we head back to the farm again? Victoria, we can’t afford to be caught out there on a story as flimsy as the one you came up with."
"Hey, I waited for you to say something, but I was afraid you were frozen in place for a minute there."
"I was just considering our best options before I spoke," Moose said a little stiffly.
"You had nothing, and you know it, so you might as well admit it," I said with a grin.
Moose hesitated, and then my grandfather laughed. "Okay. You got me. I don’t know what happened to me; I froze. It was some fast thinking on your part to step in like that. Good job."
"Thanks, but it still didn’t do us much good," I said. "Who knew that Penny would be such a bulldog about a simple earring? She was absolutely relentless."
"Did you believe her when she said that she was out there so that she could tell Jan about Wally’s wishes?"
"Well, if she was telling us the truth, they were a lot more serious at one point than she’s ever admitted to us. Moose, I realize it feels as though we’re jinxed at the moment, but I’d still like to look around Wally’s place before Jan gets back."
"I know exactly how you feel," Moose said. "But we can’t just drive back there again. It’s too easy for someone to spot us, no matter how clever we think we are at hiding the truck. Victoria, we need to find a way through the back of the farm where no one will spot us." He hesitated, and then my grandfather suddenly pulled off the road onto a path that was barely wide enough for his truck to pass through.
"What are you doing?" I asked Moose, concerned about his sudden and irrational behavior. "This isn’t even a road."
As we bumped along the muddy lane, which was dotted with puddles everywhere from a recent storm, my grandfather sa
id, "Don’t worry, this is an old hunting road that runs back behind Wally’s place. Sorry about that. I probably should have asked you first, but there wasn’t time. That cutoff is tough to find, even if you know that it’s there."
"There’s no need to apologize. I’m game to try it if you are," I said as we kept bouncing down a path that could never be called a road. "Are you sure your shocks will take it?"
"I’ve had this truck down worse spots in the county than this," he said as we passed another offshoot of the trail heading toward the woods, "and that was before I sold it to your father."
"Did he know that?" I asked my grandfather with a grin.
"I would have been glad to tell him, but honestly, he never asked," Moose said.
We went another thirty or forty feet down the lane through some fairly deep mud puddles when we turned a corner and Moose abruptly slammed on the brakes.
There ahead of us was a massive freshly-fallen tree crossing the path and blocking the way just as soundly as though the end of the road had dropped off into a chasm.
"Blast it all, it must have come down in that storm last week," Moose said. We’d had rumors of a tornado touching down nearby, and there had been an onslaught of rain that had come with it. "This tree must have come down in the middle of it."
"Is there any way we can go around it?" I asked as I peered into the suddenly dense woods all around us.
"I don’t see how. To be honest with you, I’ll be lucky if I can get this thing turned around at all. At it is, I’ll have to use this driveway, not that the man who owns it ever uses it himself."
Moose backed down the way we’d come, and when we came to the offshoot I’d seen earlier, he worked the steering wheel like magic. The drive was extremely narrow, and once I thought we were stuck for good when he slipped off to one side, but he managed to get us out of it and turn back the way we’d just come.
