“He said last night that he’s training, but wouldn’t say for what,” Frannie pushed, ignoring Larry’s signals that they were ready to leave.
Sara shrugged. “I think Dale’s just a big talker. Doesn’t seem to want to work. Well, I have to pick up my little boy from the sitter. Have a good day!” She waved and slid into the driver’s seat of an old compact Honda.
“Frannie…” Larry said, a warning tone in his voice. “Meddle, meddle, meddle.”
“I’m just curious,” she answered as they walked to the truck.
“Right.”
The wooden diner sat on its wheels in a pocket park space between two old brick buildings on the main street of Burdensville. It sported a cream and forest green paint job with dark red accents. Larry was the first up the steps and pulled open an old-fashioned screen door. He turned back to the group. “Standing room only.”
“There’s picnic tables out behind,” Jane Ann pointed out. “We could get carry-out.”
He nodded. “I’ll get some menus.” There were just a few customers at the picnic tables, so they settled around an open one. Donna brushed crumbs off while the rest examined the outside of the unique little restaurant. Larry returned with a handful of menus on newsprint with an old railroad timetable printed on the front.
“Lots of interesting-looking sandwiches, and it says all the bread is homemade,” Nancy said. They made their decisions, Frannie settling on a chicken salad sandwich with apples, walnuts, and cranberries and a raspberry iced tea. The men went back in to place the orders, so Frannie got up to walk around. She didn’t want to sit on the bench any longer than necessary.
Old bricks surfaced the courtyard with planting areas left open. A couple of medium-sized maples shaded the area and interesting combinations of grasses, crotons, red salvia, and lime green sweet potato vine filled the planters. She noticed an attractive dark-haired woman waiting alone at a small round table and nodded to her as she passed.
“Say!” the woman said. “Weren’t you on the float trip the other day?” Frannie looked at her more closely. It was the woman who had been with Richard.
“Yes, I was. I think you were with Richard?”
“Sure thing. He always wants to camp but I’m not much for roughing it so I stay at a nearby B & B.”
“You’ve been here before, then?”
“Every year for the last four or five years. Like I said, I don’t do the biking, hiking, and camping thing, but I did agree to the canoe float. It was okay but I was sure glad to get back to my shower. My name’s Claire, by the way.”
Frannie introduced herself and pointed out her group.
“This is such a cute town. Great shops, even a couple of upscale ones.” Claire was probably also amazed that there was even electricity out here in the sticks. “Here comes my lunch! Nice to meet you.”
Frannie looked up to see Richard weaving through the tables with a tray. She said goodbye to Claire and, as she walked back to her group, noticed Richard watching her. No wonder. Four or five years he’s been coming here with Claire? Apparently Claire went her own way enough of the time that he thought he could pull off a rendezvous or two with Valerie. Scumbag, she thought again.
She didn’t believe for a minute his protestations about not knowing Val. If it had only been Val’s brief confidential revelation, she would be more skeptical, but she had witnessed Richard with Val. He was a liar. But would that have been enough motive for murder? Even if it was, why kill both twins? To make sure he got the right one?
“Earth to Frannie,” Jane Ann said.
“Sorry, just thinking,” she said as she sat back down.
“That’s never good. Have you got those murders solved?”
“Not even close.”
The men returned with trays laden with brown paper wrapped sandwiches and paper boxes full of sweet potato fries.
“By the time we’re done, the crowd should be cleared out. You girls need to check out the inside of that place—completely restored,” Rob said.
“And they have strawberry-rhubarb pie,” Larry added.
“Who were you talking to, Frannie?” Donna mumbled around a mouth full of tenderloin.
“The woman who was canoeing with Richard the other day.”
Jane Ann looked over her shoulder at the pair who were deep in conversation across the courtyard. “I didn’t recognize her.”
“I didn’t either at first,” Frannie said. “She asked me if I was on the float trip. Her name is Claire. Seems she and Richard have been coming here for several years.”
Jane Ann raised her eyebrows. “Really.” It wasn’t a question. “So maybe Val misinterpreted his intentions?”
“His intentions, I think, were to lead her along as long as he could. So in that sense, yes, she was misinterpreting. I wonder now if he didn’t decide it was more expedient to get rid of her. Especially with Claire here at the same time.”
“You think Richard is the murderer?” Nancy said.
Larry put his sandwich down and took a drink of his tea. “Don’t spread that around. If you’re wrong, you could be in for a lawsuit, and if you’re right, you’ll put yourself at risk again,” he admonished Frannie quietly.
“I know.” She rolled up her sandwich paper and started on her fries. “These are fantastic. Great sandwich too. Good suggestion, Donna.”
Donna smiled smugly. “You guys don’t listen to me often enough.”
When they finished, they dumped their trash in a nearby barrel and trooped inside. The crowd had cleared out so they could admire the yellow-brown car siding on the walls, green and white checked tile floors, and Forties-era lunch counter and stools. Several got pieces of pie in carry-out containers for “later” and exited the diner.
Frannie caught her foot on the wooden steps and nearly somersaulted to another disaster, but a firm hand caught her arm. She looked up to thank her rescuer into the face of Richard. “Watch it,” he said.
Chapter Fourteen
Monday Afternoon
Frannie was so startled, she couldn’t think to respond until Richard had disappeared into the diner. Larry took her hand down the rest of the steps.
“What did he say to you?”
“To watch it.”
“Watch your step, you mean?”
“I don’t know. I suppose, but he almost sounded menacing.”
“Could be your imagination since you’ve decided he’s a murderer.”
“I haven’t decided anything. I just have a lot of questions about him.” They had reached the trucks and he helped her in. Donna and Rob climbed in the back.
“We still have ice cream if you want some with your pie when we get back to the campground,” Donna said.
“Sounds good,” Frannie said. “And then I think I’m ready for a nap.”
She slept a solid two hours and, when she woke, felt even groggier than before. She stretched and headed outside. Maybe a little exercise would be just the ticket.
Jane Ann sat at the picnic table, making a beaded bracelet.
“Where’s everyone else?” Frannie said.
“Larry and Mickey went fishing. Rob wanted to try the ropes course; Donna said she’d go along if they could go back to Burdensville after so she could shop some more.” Jane Ann actually snickered. “Poor Rob. I think Ben and Nancy went for a hike.”
“I need some exercise,” Frannie said. “I feel like a slug. Want to go for a little bike ride just around the campground?”
“Sure. Just let me put this away. The raccoons around here are so well fed, they’ll be taking up hobbies next and I don’t want them finishing this bracelet. In case you haven’t noticed, raccoons don’t have much taste.”
Frannie laughed. “I’ll leave a note for Larry.”
Jane Ann came back out of their camper, pulling her blond hair back with a red scrunchie. Frannie stuck a bottle of water in the holder on her bike and they set off.
“Which way?” Jane Ann said when they got to the main ro
ad through the campground.
“Let’s go ride through the loop where the seasonal campers are.”
“Good idea.”
They rode up toward the shower house and office and then turned off on a side road. There were a few more temporary campsites in this area, including Richard’s. Another loop took them into the seasonal area. Tall pines and native shrubs separated many of the sites. Renters took more time to give a look of permanence to their sites, with flowers, lawn furniture, and ornaments. Many of the units belonged to people from Rochester or the Twin Cities, who came on weekends just as they would to a lake cabin.
Being a weekday, the loop was quiet. Frannie stopped when they got to the log cabin trailer. “Hold on a minute,” she called to Jane Ann’s back. Jane Ann turned in the road and peddled back. They leaned on their bikes and looked at the unusual unit. The owners had skirted the bottom with panels of lattice work to camouflage the wheels and water and sewer hookups. It looked quite permanent.
“Quite a camper, isn’t it?” called a voice from the next unit. They both jumped.
A short woman with silver cropped hair worked cleaning and straightening a low deck made of interlocking wooden tiles. She had just leaned a broom against a lawn chair and was trying to move a large grill.
“It sure is,” Jane Ann said. “Do you need some help?”
“I would love it!” the woman said. “One of the wheels broke and we haven’t gotten it replaced.”
Frannie and Jane Ann parked their bikes and walked over to the site. Jane Ann helped move the grill to the other edge of the deck.
The woman wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. “Thank you so much. Can I offer you a glass of tea?”
Jane Ann looked at Frannie. They both nodded. “Sounds good,” Frannie said, “but we don’t want to interrupt your work.”
“I’m ready for a break,” she said. “I’m Barb, by the way. Have a chair and I’ll get it.”
She soon returned with a tray of three tall glasses.
Frannie grinned after taking a drink. “We were ready for a break, too. We rode all the way from the other end of the campground.”
Barb looked at her, puzzled a minute, and then chuckled. “Absolutely, that is strenuous. But I can’t talk—I hardly get any regular exercise at all,” she said. “I’ve been working all day to get this place ready for the summer. My family will be coming later this week for a visit. Amazing what accumulates over the winter.”
Frannie and Jane Ann asked her about seasonal stays and then the talk returned to the log cabin trailer.
“Mary Louise said the people who own it, the Sturms, are supposed to be gone on an extended trip to Europe, but I’m sure I saw Mrs. Sturm leave last evening. I don’t know her very well—we’re not often here at the same time—but she had on this great batik shirt that I’ve seen her wear before,” Barb said.
“Have you been inside?” Frannie asked.
“Just once. It’s really cute.”
They visited a while longer and then Jane Ann stood. “Thanks for the tea. We’ll let you get back to your work.”
“Thank you for the help. Just set your glasses on the tray, and stop back any time. I’m here by myself all week and it gets pretty lonely.”
They agreed and mounted their bikes, waving as they pulled away. They continued around the loop, stopping to observe some fishermen on the river bank, and returned to their campsite.
“That was just what I needed,” Frannie said. “I slept too long and was really stiff. I think I’m even ready to help with supper. What are we having?”
“Boy, you have been out of it! Donna rambled on this morning for ten minutes about the ‘amazing’ barbecued chicken she and Rob are doing for us tonight. Mickey and I are fixing some sautéed veggies and salad; Nancy has potato salad. We’re covered so you’re out of luck.”
Frannie grinned. “I’m getting pretty good at tuning Donna out. But I didn’t hear you mention dessert. What’s with that?”
Jane Ann pulled her lawn chair into the shade and shrugged. “Sounded like we had plenty of food.”
“Nonsense, when did that ever stop us? I’ll do a peach cobbler. I’ve got whole frozen peaches in the freezer from last year.”
“Welll…if you go to all the effort, I guess I won’t pass it up.”
“I’ll just get them out to thaw.”
She returned outside just in time to hear Mary Louise yoohooing. She chugged up in her golf cart almost right up to their chairs.
“Saw you go by on your bikes earlier.” She looked at Frannie. “You feeling well enough to do that?”
“Mary Louise, between my husband, you, and Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy here, I don’t stand a chance of overexerting. We just rode around the campground, down around the seasonal sites.”
Mary Louise looked perplexed. “Nurse who?”
Jane Ann jumped in. “Frannie likes to throw in literary allusions whenever she can. Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy was a character in the Uncle Wiggly children’s books popular in the olden days when we were growing up.”
“Oh, I remember—the Uncle Wiggly game! Is that the same?”
“Yup, it was based on the books.”
“Anyway,” Frannie said, “I just love that log cabin trailer down there.”
Mary Louise nodded, her red curls bouncing. “Sturms. They’ve been here several years, I guess. But they’re gone to Europe right now.”
Frannie shook her head. “The neighbor—Barb?—said she saw Mrs. Sturm last night.”
Mary Louise looked stunned. “That can’t be. They always check in when they come in and she told me they wouldn’t be back until the middle of June.”
“Barb seemed sure it was her because of the shirt she was wearing.”
“I need to check this out. Want to go for a ride?”
Jane Ann and Frannie looked at each other and said, “Sure” in unison. Frannie climbed in the passenger seat while Jane Ann got in the back. Mary Louise took off with a lurch, Frannie let out an involuntary “Oof!”, Mary Louise said, “Oh, sorry!” and slowed down.
Several jolts and jostles later they arrived at Barb’s trailer. She was still sweeping and tidying her deck.
Mary Louise hopped out as soon as the cart rolled to a stop. Even though Frannie was much smaller than the campground owner, she realized as she gingerly swiveled out of the seat and clambered to her feet that she felt like she was twice Mary Louise’s size and twice her own age—not easy.
“Hey, Barb!” Mary Louise boomed. Barb straightened and turned, breaking into a smile.
“I was just complaining to these two nice ladies that it was pretty lonely here by myself,” she said coming forward to greet Mary Louise.
“Well, these two nice ladies were just telling me that you saw Georgia Sturm last night?”
“Yeah, I’m sure I did. It was close to dark, but, as I said to them,” Barb dipped her head toward Frannie and Jane Ann, “she had on that really neat batik shirt—all blues and greens—that she wore a lot last summer.”
Mary Louise tilted her head. “I remember that shirt. Have you seen lights on there at night?”
Barb thought a minute, looking at the trailer next door as if the answer could be seen there.
“I don’t think so, but the trees sort of block it. Why? Is something wrong?”
“Sturms told me that they would be gone until the middle of June. What kind of car did she leave in?”
“She didn’t. She walked down that way and I never saw her again. But I went in soon after that.” Barb pointed at the east end of the campground.
“That’s odd. Thanks. I think I’ll check it out.” She led the way around the end of the log cabin trailer and stepped on to a little porch on the side. She examined the door latch and then knocked on it. No response. She peered in through a very narrow space between a curtain and the door.
“Oh. My. God.”
“What is it?” Frannie stood at the bottom of the steps with Jane Ann. Mary Louise
hurried back down the steps as they parted to let her through.
“What?” Jane Ann insisted. “What did you see?”
“I think this is that meth source the cops have been looking for. Barb!” she called as they headed for the cart. “Why don’t you come with us?”
“Where?”
“I’ll explain on the way. Is anyone else in this area, do you know?”
Barb shook her head. “I haven’t seen anyone.” She and Jane Ann sat backwards in the cargo area, Frannie climbed in front, and Mary Louise started the cart and took off like a rocket. Frannie held her breath and clung to the side, trying to raise herself off the seat each time they neared a pothole to minimize the bumps.
On the way back to the office, Mary Louise yelled over her shoulder about what she had seen in the log cabin trailer.
“I think that’s a meth lab in there!”
Barb said, “You mean the Sturms are making drugs?”
Mary Louise shook her head. “Not at all. I think someone’s squatting in there. No one’s been around the seasonal area much this spring. It would be easy to do.”
Realization dawned on Barb. “And even wearing their clothes?”
“Why not?” Mary Louise gave a wry smile as she brought the cart to a halt by the office and pulled out her cell. “It’s a cool shirt.”
Frannie was puzzled. “Why didn’t you just call from there?”
“Too dangerous. I wanted to get you all away from that place.”
As realization of what Mary Louise said dawned on Barb, she turned pale. “Gosh, I’ve been right next door for two days.”
After Mary Louise finished her call, Jane Ann and Frannie decided to walk back to their campsite. The only message they had left for the others said they were on a bike ride, and since their bikes were at the campsite, that communication could cause some question. Barb would wait with Mary Louise for the authorities.
By the time they reached their site, they could hear sirens approaching on the highway. Larry looked toward the highway and then at them.
“Now what did you two do?”
Jane Ann held up her hands. “Not us, sir. We have been little angels.”
Peete and Repeat (The Frannie Shoemaker Campground Mysteries Book 3) Page 12
