Charlotte Figg Takes Over Paradise

by Joyce Magnin

  "The fire," Suzy said. "I—"

  "I did it," Asa said. "I set the fire."

  "What?" I said. "Asa, you—"

  He put his hand up. "Didn't you just hear me? I did it. It was all my idea."

  "I am so sorry, Suzy. I didn't intend for Fergus to die. I just wanted to get rid of that place, Suzy. I wanted to give you a new start. I thought—"

  Officer Dix put his hand on Asa's shoulder. "Are you admitting to starting this fire?"

  Mother and I looked at each other.

  Asa stood. "Yes, sir. I am. I—"

  "No," Suzy hollered. "I—"

  I tightened my grip on her while my own head swirled with questions.

  "Why, Asa?" I asked. He knew what I was really asking.

  "It's the right thing," he said. "Fergus was a monster, and I wanted to scare him. I thought if I burned his trailer and got rid of that million-dollar stamp collection, then maybe he would leave Suzy alone." He looked at her with a deep, soulful stare. "Maybe he'd learn he can't treat her like he did."

  Suzy clutched her stomach.

  "You will want an attorney," Dix said. "But I need to tell you I am going to place you under arrest for arson and for the murder of Fergus Wrinkel."

  "Murder?" Asa said. His voice squeaked. "But I didn't murder him. He did it. He ran into the trailer when it already was in flames. Ain't that right, Charlotte?"

  "It's true. Fergus did it to himself. We were there. We saw him. He killed himself." I looked at my slippers and then at Suzy, who was still so stunned she could barely move.

  Mother spoke up. "I saw him also. I saw Fergus Wrinkel run inside the trailer seconds before it exploded."

  Dix shook his head. "Look, maybe he was a monster, like you said. Maybe he deserved what he got—" he looked at Suzy, "sorry Ma'am. But he still died as a result of your actions, sir."

  Suzy finally moved. She took a step toward Asa. "But . . .but officer, Asa didn't—"

  "It's okay, Suzy," Asa said. "I know what I'm doing."

  Suzy swallowed and finally let go of Lucky's collar. He dashed to Asa. "It's okay, boy. I'll be back." Asa patted Lucky's head and rubbed his side. "You take care of Suzy and Charlotte."

  "Place Mr. Kowalski under arrest," Dix said.

  Officer Pelka removed handcuffs from his belt. He moved toward Asa. Stopped suddenly and said, "Jumpin' Jehosaphat! Hold on just a gosh-darn minute, Lieutenant, this man only has one arm. How do I handcuff a man with only one arm?"

  I swallowed and held back a chuckle. Now, that was a good question. Mother put her hand to her mouth, and Suzy lunged toward Asa. "Please, don't take him. I—"

  Asa grabbed onto Suzy and pulled her into his chest. He whispered into her ear. She backed away and fell into my arms.

  Dix shook his head. "Pelka, sometimes your lack of brains astounds me. Just handcuff the one wrist and then cuff his belt."

  "But I ain't wearing a belt," Asa said.

  "Well, you got loops, don't you?" asked Dix. "You got belt loops in those jeans."

  Asa lifted his tee shirt. "Well, looky there. So I do."

  "How'd you lose that arm, anyway?" Pelka asked.

  "I blew it off playing with dynamite."

  Dix nodded. "So you like explosions, do you?"

  "That does not bode well for Asa," Mother whispered.

  Pelka cuffed Asa's left wrist, and then it took him a good couple of minutes to get the other cuff through one of Asa's belt loops. And when he finally finished, he looked proud, kind of like Lucky after he treed a squirrel.

  "Come on," Dix said. He took Asa by the arm and led him out the door. Then he turned around and said, "Sorry for your loss, Ma'am."

  Suzy looked at Asa. Asa smiled as wide as he could. "It's okay, Suzy. I'll be all right."

  "I don't know about that," Pelka said. "The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania does not look kindly on murder."

  I grabbed Suzy's hand to keep her from running after Asa."Shh. Just wait."

  We stood like pillars until I heard the car drive off down the street.

  "Why did he do that?" Suzy asked. She sat in the rocker."Why did he take the blame for what I did?"

  40

  I felt my mother's hands on my shoulders. "Come away from the door, Charlotte. We'll get this sorted out."

  I dropped onto the sofa, stunned. "Mom, what have I done?"

  "You?" Mother said. "You didn't do anything."

  Lucky whimpered and put a paw on my knee. Mother patted his head. "She'll be okay, boy. She really will."

  But I didn't see how. "If I hadn't come here, none of this would have happened," I said. Tears streamed down my cheeks. "I should have never moved to Paradise."

  "Now, now, Charlotte. You can't blame yourself. I have a feeling this would have happened whether or not you bought this rickety old trailer."

  "That's right," Suzy said. "This wasn't the first time I thought about burning down the trailer. I just got my nerve up this time."

  I looked into her black-and-purple, swollen eyes. "Really, Suzy? But if you had the courage to do this, then how come you couldn't leave him?" She had no answer.

  "I'm very surprised," Mother said, "that Rose and what'sher-name—Ginger— haven't come by yet."

  "Me too," I said. "I'm sure they saw the police car drive in."

  Mother went to the kitchen and grabbed a bag of birdseed from the refrigerator. "Of all the crazy things I've seen around here, this is the craziest. I need to give Tweety fresh seed."

  Suzy fiddled with the fringe on one of my sofa pillows."What do we do now?"

  "Don't know. What can we do except hope and pray that Asa knows what he's doing?"

  "Uh-oh," Mother called. "Here they come."

  "Who?" Suzy asked. "The police again?"

  "No, Ginger and Rose. They look—a little upset."

  "Listen," I said. "I don't think we should tell them the truth."

  "What?" Mother asked. "Why?"

  "I just think the fewer people who know, the better. I don't want anyone else to get in trouble for withholding evidence or lying to police or whatever they can get into trouble for."

  Mother nodded. "Good thinking, Charlotte. We'll just tell them the police arrested Asa. We'll say he confessed."

  Suzy burst into tears.

  "And you," Mother said turning to Suzy. "You have to be strongest of all until we get this figured out. Just don't say a word."

  Suzy's head bobbed like a parakeet's. "All right. All right."

  Lillian made the locking of the lips pantomime and then threw the key away.

  Understandably upset, Rose barely spoke as Mother and I told her what had happened. Ginger, on the other hand, took the news well. "I always knew that man had it in him. I knew one of these days he was gonna go off and do something."

  "But Fergus's dying was an accident," Rose said after a minute."He didn't set out to kill him."

  Suzy sat on the sofa with her arms clutched so tight around her chest I thought she might pop that cast right off.

  "Mom," I said. "Take Suzy into the bedroom and give her a couple of aspirin. Maybe she can sleep."

  "Good idea, Charlotte. Come on, Suzy."

  "That poor girl," Rose said. "What's she going to do now? No home. No husband."

  "She'll be okay. We'll do something for her."

  Rose asked a lot of questions, and several times I was on the verge of telling her the truth, but for once in my life I managed to keep a secret.

  "What about Hazel?" Ginger said. "She probably has a bunch of fancy dancy lawyers who work for her. Maybe she can help Asa."

  "Maybe," I said, "but don't forget, she doesn't believe Fergus is . . . was capable of hurting Suzy."

  "Then we'll just have to convince her," I said.

  That afternoon Rose, Mother, and I drove out to Willow Way. Rose left Ginger in charge of Suzy. I left Lucky in charge of Ginger.

  Hazel's husband was correct; there were a lot of willow trees that lined the long, winding driveway to
the house. And what a house it was, an old, flamboyant Victorian with miles and miles of lacy gingerbread arches and towers and turrets, sitting on a lawn about as green as Angel Field. It was almost as though the builder got started and couldn't stop. He kept adding more and more. But I will confess that seeing the house made me homesick for the Philadelphia suburb I left.

  I rang the bell. "Now, remember, we have to convince her that Fergus was going to kill Suzy and possibly me. I'm gonna tell her that he threatened me at the barbecue."

  "We'll tell her whatever we need to," Rose said. "I just still cannot believe we are even here. I cannot and will not believe that Asa did this. Something just doesn't smell right."

  Fleur de Lee opened the door. She put her finger to her lips."Shhh, Angel is sleeping."

  "Okay," I whispered.

  We stepped over the wide threshold.

  "Do you need me to babysit again?" Fleur de Lee asked. "I will if you want."

  "Not today. We're here to see Hazel," I said.

  Fleur de Lee directed us into a spectacular room with wonderful overstuffed couches and chairs in chintz upholstery. A large portrait of an attractive man, which hung over the massive fireplace suspended from what looked like elastic suspenders, cracked us up for a second.

  "Well, look there," Rose said. "That's the craziest picture hanger I have ever seen. I mean, who uses red suspenders like that?"

  "That's Birdy," Fleur de Lee said. "Hazel's husband."

  "Of course," Rose said. "That explains it."

  Fleur de Lee looked in the direction of the wide staircase. "I best be gettin' up to Angel."

  Hazel padded out from a side room wearing a periwinkle cape, a small pillbox hat to match, and carrying a small orange kitten.

  "Isn't she pretty?" Hazel asked. "I named her Peaches in honor of not only her color but also those pies I'm looking forward to. Remember, you promised me, Charlotte."

  "Couple more months," I said, looking around the antiquefilled room.

  "My goodness gracious," Mother said. "Is that a George III mahogany bookcase?" she pointed toward the library.

  "It is. You can go get a closer look if you want." Mother couldn't help herself. She liked pretty things, and unfortunately my trailer home had nothing to offer. And I will confess that standing in that room constructed of real wood and real plaster made me a tiny bit lonesome for a real house again.

  Hazel put Peaches on a little round pillow near the fireplace."Guess we need to get down to brass tacks," she said. "What in Sweet Fanny Apple's tarnation happened over there?"

  She offered Rose and me a seat on a velvet sofa. Mother still ogled the décor.

  "Oh, my, this is an Italian Renaissance revival table. It's spectacular."

  "Just ignore her," I said. "I imagine you heard about the fire and all, Hazel."

  "Well, of course I heard. Nothing can happen around here without Hazel Crenshaw either getting blamed for it or told about it. What I want to know is who and why."

  "Asa confessed to setting the fire," I said.

  I watched a look of surprise and then confusion fill the wrinkles in her face. "Asa? I don't believe it. Why, that boy couldn't even trap a raccoon for me, let alone set fire to a trailer and kill a man."

  "I know, I know," I said. "I was as surprised as anyone when he confessed." I fought the urge to blurt the truth.

  "But why? Why in the heck would Asa burn down the Wrinkels's trailer? This makes no sense, no sense at all."

  Rose touched Hazel's hand. "There's more to the story. Asa had a good reason for doing what he did."

  "It better be good or I'll see to it that he rots in jail, burning down Paradise and killing a man. It's outrageous."

  "Hazel," I said. "You might know a lot about Paradise, but the one thing you didn't know is that Fergus was not who you think he was. He had been beating up Suzy for a long time. That's why she never came outside. Asa knew about it, and he tried to get Suzy to leave him but she wouldn't."

  "Couldn't," Rose said.

  "You're lying to me. Why would you want to lie to an old woman?"

  "It's true," Mother said. She had returned to the room carrying a beautiful blue and white vase. "I saw the bruises. Suzy told us herself."

  Hazel slapped her knees. "But they looked so happy at the barbecue. How can you say this?"

  "This is a Boch Feres pottery vase," Lillian said. "It must be worth—"

  "Keep it," Hazel said. "Now, go on with your story, Charlotte."

  "It was just a show, Hazel. He even threatened to kill her if I told anyone. I wanted to tell you, but he said he'd kill her. Then he kidnapped Lucky and scared the bejeebers out of me. I had to keep it inside."

  She put her palm over her heart. "This is almost too much for me. Maybe I should take one of them heart pills the doc gave me."

  "Where are they?" Mother asked.

  "Kitchen. On the counter. You'll see them."

  "Sorry, Hazel," Rose said. "But it's all true. It seems like Asa just couldn't stand it anymore. I think that day we found Suzy in the woods all beaten black and blue is what tore it for him. But you have to know, Hazel, that Fergus wasn't supposed to be home. He ran into the trailer seconds before it exploded."

  Mother returned with a glass of water and the pill, which Hazel took with no qualms. "So Asa didn't deliberately kill Fergus."

  We talked about it for a few more minutes until Rose finally asked the question that was on all of our minds. "How come you have that painting hanging from suspenders?"

  Hazel let go a relaxing chuckle that broke the tension in the room. "Because my husband was the elastic king. You won't find a better product. That painting has been hanging from those suspenders for fifty-five years. Not a weak spot on them."

  "Elastic is important," Lillian said. "I remember conversations with the salespeople at John Wanamaker's about always looking for the best bands in our men's . . . well, our men's furnishings and women's unmentionables."

  "Well, mention them," Hazel said. "We all got 'em, and unless they're made with Elsmere Elastic they won't last through a dozen washings."

  I coughed. "Hazel. We still need to help Asa."

  "Oh, pshaw. You are a worrywart. I'll have Asa home by suppertime if what you're telling me is true."

  "How?" All three of us said it together.

  "I got lawyers. The best lawyers. I'll call Cash Vangarten and get him on the case. Seems to be the only thing Asa is guilty of is what they call destruction of property, and as long as Suzy don't press charges, then—"

  "But the cop called it murder."

  Hazel took another sip of her water. "Well, that could be a bit of a sticky wicket, but I'll get my best people on it. I have a lady lawyer, they call her The Barracuda. You know the type. Wears dark pantsuits, has her hair in a tight bun, and carries a briefcase as big as my Aunt Freda's butt. How she does it in those high heels, I'll never know. She'll get him off on some lesser charge, I'm sure." She slapped her knees. "I hope. Rose, maybe you should offer up some of those prayers anyhoo."

  "I already am," Rose said. "Been up in the hand on a regular basis, Hazel."

  "You and that hand," Hazel said. "Sometimes I think you are certifiable, woman. But whatever floats your boat, I reckon."

  The mood in the car on the way home was odd. It was a mixture of relief and sorrow. "What do you think will happen to Suzy?" I asked. "She can't stay with me."

  "I should think not," Mother said. "Especially since you will be moving back to Florida with me." She cradled the vase like a baby.

  "What?" Rose asked. "You're serious, Charlotte? You're moving to Florida?"

  I took a deep breath. "I . . . I'm not sure." And that was the truth. After seeing Hazel's house and all this commotion I had caused with Fergus and Asa and even the softball team, there was a part of me that wanted to go home.

  "Please, Charlotte," Rose said. "Stay in Paradise. Things can only get better now. The Angels need you. We all need you."

  "Oh, come now,
" Mother said. "Don't try and force her to stay. If she wants to come to Florida, you have to let her go."

  We pulled up outside my trailer and were met by the Angels, some of the husbands, and a pack of children running amok. The instant I set foot out of the car, they bombarded with me questions. I raised my arms like I did at softball practice to call them to order.

  "We heard they arrested Asa for murder and burning down the trailer," called Clara Kaninsky.

  "Yeah," hollered Greta, "Ginger wouldn't tell us anything. What in blazes, um, excuse that, what the heck happened?"

  "Okay, okay, simmer down and I'll tell you."

  Mother tugged my sleeve. "Just tell them the facts. Nothing more."

  Rose pushed through the crowd and disappeared inside the trailer. Mother stood right by me, and for the first time in my life I really believed she was with me. I looked into her eyes."Thanks, Mom."

  "For what?"

  "For being here," I whispered.

  "Okay, okay, simmer down. Greta, would you get Charlie off the hood of my car, please? He's jumping up and down and going to dent it." I took a breath. "Asa confessed to starting the fire. But not to killing Fergus. That was Fergus's own stupid fault."

  A quiet, albeit relieved, cheer drifted through the crowd.

  "That S.O.B had it coming," someone called.

  I looked. It was Old Man Hawkins. "Fergus Wrinkel had it coming."

  I felt my eyebrows rise, surprised at his moment of clarity. He wandered back to his trailer.

  "Okay, anyhoo," I said. "We just got back from visiting with Hazel Crenshaw. She has her best lawyers on the job and promises that Asa will be home by suppertime. That's all there is to say on the subject. Now go on home, and you Angels out there, we have a game next week. Practice tomorrow."

  After the crowd vanished, the trailer door opened and Lucky ran out. He leaped and greeted me with kisses. I rubbed his ears. "I'm so happy to see you too, Lucky."

  Rose stepped out with Suzy and Ginger.

  "Are you okay?" I called.

  Suzy feigned a smile.

  "She's good," Ginger said. "She heard what you said."