We were waiting in Virginia’s SUV when they got there. We saw a truck pull up, and the two of them got out. As they walked over to us, I noticed both of them folding something white and putting it in their purses. It was round . . . could it be a coffee filter?
They were all smiles when they got in and hooked their seat belts.
Greta turned around from the front seat and narrowed her eyes at them. “Would you two ladies like to tell us where you’ve been?”
Hattie and Irene looked at each other, then back at Greta. “We had breakfast,” Irene said. “That’s not illegal here in Branson, is it?”
“You had breakfast?” Greta asked. “Why didn’t you answer your phone when we texted you?”
Hattie gave us an innocent look. “Irene left her phone in our room, and I have my ring tone set to birds chirping. Do you know how hard it is to tell the difference between real birds and a bird ring tone?”
“Then why don’t you change it?” Virginia asked.
“Why would I do that?” Hattie asked.
I didn’t know if Hattie truly didn’t see the problem with it or if she was trying to avoid answering the question, but either way, we moved on.
“So, what’s the problem?” Irene asked. “Why did we have to come rushing back?”
“I’ll tell you over lunch,” Grandma said. “Virginia, let’s ride.”
We all decided we wanted to go back to that pizza place again, and in ten minutes, we were pulling up in the parking lot. After piling our plates high with pizza and a little salad, we sat back down in the booth we had been in the first day we arrived.
Greta placed a napkin on her lap. “So, Geraldine, what’s going on?”
Grandma took a sip of her tea then looked around to make sure no one was listening. “Lou was poisoned, for sure. You know how Willie and Billie said Lou always ate applesauce after the show? Well, someone added some antifreeze.”
“Antifreeze won’t kill you!” Hattie exclaimed. “I used to put a little in my husband’s coffee when we ran out of sugar.”
Our mouths dropped open in horror. “Hattie,” I said, “antifreeze will too kill you!”
She shrugged and smiled. I made a mental note to find out why Hattie’s husband was no longer around.
“It wasn’t just that one container,” Grandma continued. “They tested all the containers of applesauce in the mini-fridge in his dressing room, and they all contained antifreeze.”
“Did someone make him the applesauce or was it store-bought?” Virginia asked.
“Store-bought,” Grandma answered. “But the silver foil on each container was pulled back a bit in one corner. It was obviously tampered with.”
“Who would do that?” I asked. “All the entertainers have alibis, right? Kodiak, Casius, Roxy, they all had shows that night.”
“And Archer was on stage,” Greta added.
“Willie and Billie said they watched Archer’s show that night,” Virginia said. “Do we know if their alibis check out?”
Grandma nodded. “Yes, Archer said the police were able to confirm it. But here’s the thing. We don’t know when the applesauce was tampered with and put in his mini fridge. The antifreeze could’ve been there for days. The murderer didn’t even have to be there that night.”
That meant that their alibis didn’t mean anything, but it also meant that the murderer could be anybody. “Someone at a grocery store could’ve done it,” I suggested.
“That’s terrible,” Greta said shaking her head. “Poor Lou.”
“Did they analyze the blond hair they found on him?” Irene asked.
“Yes,” Grandma said pulling out her phone. “And they found several more. It turns out, it’s not human hair.”
“It’s not?” Irene asked. “What is it?”
“Horsehair,” Grandma said, handing Irene her phone. “This is the picture Archer was able to get from his detective friend.”
Irene looked at the picture, and Hattie leaned over and looked at it too. Then it was passed to Virginia, then Greta.
“Does Lou have horses?” Greta asked, holding the phone.
“He’s afraid of them,” I answered, remembering the story Billie had told us the night he died.
Greta passed the phone to me, and my heart sank a little. That color looked very familiar. “Grandma, does it have to be a horse’s hair? Could it be from a pony?”
“I suppose so,” she said. “Why is that?”
“Because,” I answered, my heart heavy. “Kodiak showed me a video of his piano-playing pony last night, and this was the color of its hair.”
Grandma took her phone and looked around the table. “Look at us,” she said. “A man is dead, and while the rest of us are running off with men like a bunch of teenyboppers, Nikki is the only one actually gathering evidence. Did you ladies know that she has questioned both Casius and Kodiak?”
The grannies looked guilty.
“I’m sorry,” Greta said. “I got caught up in all the attention I was getting.”
“Me too,” Virginia said.
We looked at Hattie and Irene.
“Don’t look at us,” Irene said. “We’ve been angels.”
Irene winked. “Though I would like to see that video of Kodiak’s pony playing the piano.”
“It’s an actual pony,” I told her, rolling my eyes.
Hattie and Irene snickered like middle schoolers.
“We’re all sorry,” Grandma said. “The only way we’re going to solve this is if we work together.”
“I don’t mean to interrupt,” Greta said. “But isn’t that Amy over there?” We followed Greta’s gaze, and sure enough, she was back again, handing out more flyers.
“That poor girl,” Grandma said. “She’s trying so hard to get herself an audience.”
Grandma waved her over when she looked our way. For some reason, she looked nervous when she saw us. Something she had said the first time we met her stood out in my mind. I could hear her voice echo in my head. “I would do anything to make it out here.” Could that mean murder?
13
Amy joined us at the table, and Grandma invited her to sit with us.
She put her head in her hands. “I’m exhausted. I spend all day handing out flyers, then I perform, then I have to deal with the stress of my bandmates, and some people in this town are just crazy and are trying to make my already miserable life even more miserable.” She looked up at all of us. “I’m sorry. I don’t even really know you amazing ladies, and now I’m unloading all my problems onto you.”
Greta patted her on the back. “That’s okay. We’re here for you.”
“And we’re coming to your show tonight, aren’t we, girls!” Greta said with enthusiasm.
Irene glanced at Hattie. “Well, actually, Hattie and I have plans. But the rest of you go on.”
“Great!” Amy said, dropping her face back into her hands and rubbing her temples. “There goes half of my audience.” She looked up at us with tears in her eyes. “The guys are going to quit on me. They can’t handle this anymore. This is so much harder than we ever thought it would be.”
“You can’t give up!” Greta encouraged. “We’ll help you get the word out.”
Amy sighed. “Maybe I need to change things up a little bit. I mostly just sing. I can play the piano and the banjo. Maybe I need to incorporate that into my show . . . while I jump through a fire on a unicycle or something.”
“You don’t need to rely on gimmicks,” Grandma told her. “But if you could play those other instruments during your show, I bet it would draw in more people.”
I couldn’t let the whole banjo thing go. That was what Lou played. Could she have killed him in hopes of taking his spot?
“So,” I asked. “How well do you play the banjo?”
Amy shrugged. “Pretty well. It’s probably my favorite instrument to play.”
Virginia perked up. “Then you should have that in your show! It’s so fun to watch someone play the b
anjo.” Her face fell. “I know we enjoyed watching Lou play the other night.”
I watched Amy’s reaction as Virginia mentioned Lou. For just a moment, her eyes got bigger, and that nervousness returned. Something was there—was it guilt?
“Do you have horses?” I asked her.
All eyes were suddenly on me, and the grannies looked shocked. They knew what I was up to, and they didn’t like it.
“Ha!” Amy scoffed. “I can barely feed myself. There’s no way I could afford a horse.”
Now Grandma really looked concerned. “How are you making ends meet?”
Amy sighed and rubbed her temples. “I work nights at a twenty-four-seven grocery store across town. I make minimum wage, but it at least pays the rent.”
Now the grannies looked concerned too.
“Did you know Lou?” I asked. “Had you ever met him before?”
Exhausted Amy quickly turned to anxious Amy. She stood up and stuttered like her mouth and brain were in an argument about what to say next, and neither of them were winning.
“I met him once,” she finally managed to say. “I better get going. I have some more flyers to hand out before the show. Maybe I’ll see you tonight?”
We nodded and told her goodbye. Instead of handing out more flyers in the restaurant, Amy walked out.
“Well, that was strange. Don’t you think?” I asked the grannies.
“I hate to admit it,” Grandma said slowly. “But something with her didn’t seem right.”
“She got awfully nervous when she was asked about Lou,” Greta pointed out.
“But she doesn’t own a horse,” Irene added.
Then all eyes were on her and Hattie.
“And why can’t you two join us for Amy’s performance tonight?” asked Grandma. “Where are you two running off to?”
“We have plans,” Hattie said with a smile. “Don’t wait up!”
Grandma rolled her eyes. Whatever those two crazy women were up to, they weren’t going to let us in on it.
Grandma brought the conversation back to the case. “Nikki, is Kodiak going to the diner tonight after his show?”
“I don’t know,” I answered. “I haven’t heard from him all day.”
“If he is, maybe you can figure out where he lives. Maybe you can make plans to go to his place . . .”
“Oh no,” I said shaking my head. “My seducing days are over. Plus, he seems like a really nice guy, and I don’t want to lead him on.”
“Well, how else are we going to get close to him?” Greta asked. “I can ask Willie where Kodiak lives, but we need to be able to get on his property.”
Irene leaned forward. “I think we should look into Amy. She works at a grocery store, so she could’ve done something to the applesauce.”
“But what’s her motive?” Greta asked.
“Maybe she wanted to steal his spot in the group,” Irene suggested. “Or maybe she was targeting someone else, and Lou just happened to buy the wrong container of applesauce. She did have the ability to tamper with it. And she acted strange when Lou’s name was brought up.”
I didn’t want to bring it up, but Archer Nash was a suspect on my list. I decided to keep it to myself, but Grandma surprised me by bringing it up.
“If we’re making a suspect list, I think we should add Archer Nash,” Grandma said, looking disappointed. “Nikki and I found out that he and Roxy had been dating, and apparently she had a fling with Lou a couple of weeks ago.”
The other grannies were shocked. “Oh Geraldine,” Greta said. “I’m so sorry.”
She huffed. “It’s not like we’re dating, Greta. I just met the guy. We’re just developing a friendship. That’s all.”
By now, Virginia had taken a notebook and pen out of her purse and was jotting all of this down. “So, Archer had access to the applesauce, and he had a motive. What about Kodiak? What is his motive? He has his own successful show. All we have on him so far is he had a pony with the same color hair found at the crime scene. That hardly makes him a killer.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “But maybe we should add Casius. Billie can’t stand him and thinks he’s the murderer.” Then I thought of something. “Last night at Urgent Care, Kodiak mentioned that sometimes Casius borrows animals from him to use in his shows. What if he borrowed the pony?”
Grandma sighed. “And make sure you add Amy.”
“I would love to compare our list of suspects to the local police’s list,” Irene said.
Grandma looked at us. “I’ve seen the list.”
That surprised all of us. I knew Grandma was getting all kinds of information from Archer that he was getting from his friend at the station, but this was the first I had heard of possible suspects.
“Who’s on the list?” I asked.
“Just one person,” Grandma answered. “And you’re not going to be happy when you hear who it is.”
14
“Who is it?” I asked again.
Grandma looked at Virginia. “I’m sorry, Virginia, but it’s Billie.”
“Billie?” We all yelled out, getting looks from the people seated around us.
“Don’t ask me why,” Grandma said. “Because I don’t know. All I know is there was a family dispute.”
Virginia’s pen hovered over the paper, unable to write down his name.
Irene slid the paper from Virginia and gently took the pen. She wrote down his name, then looked up at us. “We’ve got a long list here. Let’s start knocking off some names. Let’s start with Kodiak. We need to get on his property and check out that pony. Hattie and I can help you do that.”
Hattie crossed her arms and huffed. “We’ve got a good thing going, Irene. You’re going to mess it all up.”
“We’ll be fine,” Irene answered. “Once we do that, Nikki can question Casius again. You can check on him and see how his ankle is doing. That gives you a way in. Find out if he ever used the pony in one of his shows and how recently that was. Also, find out what really happened between him and Lou.”
“Got it,” I answered. Normally, it was Grandma who took charge and gave orders. It was interesting to see Irene take over.
“Geraldine, you question Archer Nash. Find out what you can about him and Roxy. See if you can figure out how serious they were.”
Grandma nodded.
“Greta, Virginia, you two need to find out what kind of family dispute the police are talking about, but you need to do it without tipping your hand.”
Virginia stayed silent, but Greta answered for the both of them. “We’re on it.”
“That leaves Amy,” Irene said. “Can you gals talk to her tonight? See if you can figure out her connection to Lou.”
“This all sounds great,” Grandma said, sitting forward and crossing her hands on the table. “But how are you going to get us on Kodiak’s property?”
Hattie looked at Irene like she was silently pleading with her not to tell.
“I’m sorry, Hattie,” Irene said. “You know it’s the right thing.”
“Fine,” Hattie murmured.
Irene nervously cleared her throat. “Hattie and I have become . . . friends . . . with the people who live next door to Kodiak.”
“I don’t want details,” Grandma said, shaking her head.
“It’s not what you think,” Hattie said.
“No,” Grandma answered. “It’s probably worse than I think.”
Irene wrote something on the bottom of the suspect list and tore off the corner. “Here,” she said handing the paper to Grandma. “Meet us at this address tonight after Amy’s performance, but before you go to the diner. We’ll get you on the property, you can check out the pony, and be back in time for a round of root beer floats at the diner when the guys get there.”
Half an hour later, we were dropping off Hattie and Irene in the hotel parking lot.
“It’s only two o’clock,” Virginia said. “We could go do some sightseeing. Or we could go see Thomas, and . . .”
“I’m not ready to see Thomas,” Grandma interrupted. “Besides, Hattie and Irene would be very upset if we went without them.”
Even though I felt like Grandma Dean was just stalling, I knew she was right about Hattie and Irene.
“Well,” Greta answered. “We could visit the wax museum. That looks fun!”
We all agreed, and soon, we were pulling into the parking lot, marveling over the cool building. Once inside, we got our picture taken and, thanks to a green screen, it looked like King Kong was holding us in his hands while he climbed a building. As we started to walk through the exhibit, I marveled over the picture. We were all acting like we were screaming, and I couldn’t help but laugh at it. The grannies were so young at heart. They were over twice my age, but they sure didn’t act like it.
We meandered through the wax museum, stopping to take pictures of each other with Michael Jackson, Hugh Hefner, and the guys from Star Trek. Then we decided to head over to the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum where we walked around for another hour. By the time we were done, the grannies wanted to head back to the hotel and shower before Amy’s show. Even though they didn’t seem tired, I was exhausted. And before I traipsed all over Kodiak’s property in the dark, I needed a nap. But could I calm my nerves enough to actually sleep?
15
I snuggled under the covers while I listened to water running in the bathroom. Grandma was showering, and I had pulled the bedroom curtains closed to make the room as dark as possible. But still I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t stop my mind from wandering—first to Casius and his ankle, then to Kodiak and his property, and finally to Owen and his silence after our phone call the other night. As if he knew I was thinking about him, Owen sent me a text.
“Are you staying out of trouble?”
I was thankful he sent that text now and not in a few hours. I could honestly text back yes.
Grandma was soon out of the shower and dressed, and it was my turn in the bathroom. After a quick shower of my own, some gel in my hair, and a little makeup, I was ready to join the other grannies in the parking lot.
Road Trip (Glock Grannies Cozy Mystery Book 6) Page 7
