A Bad Reputation

by Jane Tesh

  “Can’t get enough help for the mornings.”

  “What if you had another cook? Someone who’s very good at making breakfast foods?”

  He stopped wiping. “You talking about you, Madeline? Didn’t know you was a cook.”

  “Not me. Jerry. Breakfasts are his specialty.”

  Deely rubbed his chin. “Well, now, I’d be willing to give it a try. People are always after me to open for breakfast, but my regular cook, he only likes frying burgers. Jerry ever worked short orders before?”

  “I’m sure he could get the hang of it.”

  “Wouldn’t need anything fancy like eggs Benedict or stuff like that. Just the basics. And I can’t pay a lot to start. Business picks up, we’ll go from there. Have him stop by and we’ll talk about it.”

  “Thanks,” I said. And thank you, Big Mike.

  ***

  When I stopped by my office, the first thing I saw was a piece of plywood in the space where my window had been. It was ugly. It made the room dark. And I decided, why wait? Enough ugly darkness. Honor was an annoying, vindictive woman who needed to be gone right now. I called Chief Brenner and told him I had a very good idea who broke my window, and if he sent a squad car to the second house in Tinsley Acres, the one made of the same pink brick, he could pick up Ms. Honor Perkins, and I’d be happy to press charges.

  After speaking with the Chief, I had a phone call from Billie with an update on her break-in. “The insurance paid for everything, and believe me, I’m going to be very careful who I let in the house from now on.”

  “I’m pretty sure that woman is out of the picture.”

  “Good. Sure you don’t want to enter Mrs. Parkland? Could be fun. I’ll help you with your hair and makeup.”

  “That sounds sooo appealing, but no.”

  “You won’t believe this, but your mother called me and urged me to try to convince you. Isn’t she thoughtful?”

  “What’s your mother’s number? I’m going to set her upon you.”

  Billie’s hoot of laughter made me hold the phone away from my ear until she’d finished. “Don’t you dare! Thanks for your help. And please visit me again soon. Don’t make me have to have another burglary to get you over here.”

  I’d just said good-bye when I heard loud voices outside. I got up to investigate, and to my surprise, Honor and Aunt Louise were on the sidewalk right in front of my office building. Aunt Louise was screeching like a demented crow.

  “There she is! There’s the woman who called up Gloria and scared me out of my wits! You give me back my money, you thief!”

  Honor held both hands up, trying to placate her. “But you wanted to see your sister.”

  “Not like that! How do I know she isn’t going to haunt me the rest of my days? I can’t live my life expecting her to pop up like that at any minute. And never once did she say a thing about where my half of the inheritance is hidden! You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, missy!”

  If she’d had a cane or an umbrella, she would’ve been smacking Honor over the head. I hurried out to break up the brawl.

  “Hold on, Aunt Louise. Settle down. Madame Mystere doesn’t want a scene on the street.”

  Aunt Louise had a claw-like hand on Honor’s arm. “She’ll get a scene and like it! She needs to learn how to control the spirits and not have them jumping out at decent living folks!”

  I could tell Honor was trying to get away without breaking Aunt Louise. “Sometimes the spirits are like that.”

  “Well, I don’t like it! Do something about it!”

  Annie came running down the sidewalk. “Sorry, Madeline. She got away from me. Sorry, Madame Mystere.” She gently pried her aunt’s fingers off Honor. “We talked about this, Aunt Louise. No more séances. Gloria’s not going to come back.”

  “It’s going to take a six-pack of root beer to convince me, my girl!”

  “We can do that. Sorry, Madeline.”

  Honor and I stood and watched Annie lead her protesting aunt down the sidewalk.

  When she was sure Aunt Louise couldn’t hear her, Honor said, “Good lord, what a crazy old witch! I thought the experience the other night cured her of talking to dead people. That kind of scene isn’t good for business.”

  “Since you won’t be staying in Celosia, your business doesn’t matter. Did you just happen to be in the neighborhood?” She probably saw the police car and made a run for it. “Maybe you stopped by to pay for my window?”

  She didn’t react to this. “I wanted to talk to you.”

  If she wanted me to beg and plead for her to go away, she was in for a long wait. “We don’t have anything to talk about.”

  “I don’t know how you did it, but you changed him. He was one of the best.”

  “He’s still the best,” I said. “It’s just that his priorities are different.”

  “What, being a musician? Playing for dinky little community theater productions? Please.”

  “No. He wants to be a father.”

  This seemed to deflate her. “So that’s true.”

  “Yes.” I decided it was time for a scam of my own. I remembered Jerry had said he’d almost told her I was pregnant. I remembered what he’d told me about making eye contact and speaking in a neutral tone, and considering all my stomach troubles and strange cravings, something might really be true, or true enough to convince Honor. “I have a doctor’s appointment next week. I’m pretty sure I’m pregnant.”

  As I’d hoped, Honor didn’t believe that an ex-beauty queen could tell an expert lie. For a moment, she looked at a loss for words. “Oh. That’s…that makes things different.”

  “You can stay in town and run all the little games you like, but Jerry is going to be too happy about a baby and too excited about setting up our nursery to come out and play with you.”

  She thought it over. “I came here to cause trouble.”

  “I figured that out.”

  “I wanted Jerry to see that this wasn’t the life for him. I wanted him to be with—to be on my team again. I guess I was wrong. But I don’t want to come between him and his son or daughter. That’s not my style.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I like to think I’m smart enough to know when it’s time to move on.”

  “You could always change, too, Honor.”

  “Oh, I’m staying in the game.” She showed off the pink star sapphire ring sparkling on her hand. “I put one over on Big Mike, and nobody does that.”

  “So you didn’t owe him anything?”

  “No, I wanted the ring. Pretty slick, huh?”

  Oh, real slick. “Then if I were you, I’d walk away a winner.”

  “Yeah, I think I will.” She started to walk away and turned. “You know, you’re quite the con artist, too.”

  Had she seen through my lie? “Oh?”

  “You’ve got Jerry convinced you’re the one for him. Have to give you props for that.”

  “Jerry figured that out all on his own.”

  She looked as if she wanted to say something else. Then she gave me her cocky salute and walked away.

  I sincerely hoped that was the last I’d see of her.

  Chapter Twenty

  I went back to the theater to get Jerry. He and the young man playing Curly were going over one of Curly’s big numbers, “People Will Say We’re in Love.”

  That’s appropriate, I thought as I sat down in the front row. That’s certainly what Honor was hoping. Now I was going to have to have a baby to keep her away.

  Well, that’s an exaggeration. Maybe I would. Could this be the last little push I needed? “Little push” made me think of delivering this phantom baby. What was I so afraid of? Women had babies all the time. If I could solve crimes and fend off crazed murderers with their deadly needles and guns and umbrellas, I could manage a baby,
couldn’t I? Strap that kid on my back and go fight evil!

  That image gave me pause. Wait. Who am I really doing this for? Of course it will make Jerry happy and might be the very thing to settle him down. But what about me? What will I get out of this? Can I fit a baby into my life? Can I be a mom and an artist and a detective?

  Damn right I can.

  But wait again, Superwoman, I told myself. Isn’t this just another case of wanting to control my entire universe? I don’t want to end up like my mother, clinging to one single thing, because that one thing might decide to take charge of her own affairs, get up, and leave town. How about letting go? That’s something my mother was never able to do. Let go and see what happens. If my agency succeeds, it succeeds. If my artwork sells, it sells. And if I have a baby, it will come along at the right time, and I’ll be ready for it. That little push I feel? It’s pushing me away from the control panel.

  Let go and see what happens.

  As if to underscore my new found determination, Curly launched into “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning.” If I needed a sign, here it was.

  After the rehearsal, Curly thanked Jerry and left. Jerry gathered up his music and came down the steps at the side of the stage.

  “I saw you out here laughing, Mac. What’s the joke?”

  “My life is a musical,” I said, “and I am the star.”

  “Okay. Translation?”

  I kissed him. “Let’s go to Deely’s. We have a lot to talk about.”

  ***

  I didn’t want to say anything to Jerry about my thoughts until he’d had a chance to talk with Deely. If a baby was in the future, we needed to take a good practical look at our finances.

  The diner wasn’t very busy, so we sat at the counter. Deely came out to greet us, all smiles.

  “Say you can cook, Jerry?”

  “Yes, sir. I enjoy it.”

  “I’ve been wanting to try something different, see if I can get some more business in here. Georgia at the bookstore says you’re a good worker. Willing to give you a try.”

  I wasn’t surprised that Deely had asked around.

  “Okay.” Jerry sat back, his eyes on Deely. “What do you have in mind?”

  “I say we start small, maybe eggs, bacon, toast, and grits, work our way up to pancakes and waffles. I got the equipment, even a waffle iron I got from somewhere and never used. I’ll order in the supplies and you can start next weekend, and we’ll see how it goes. Ever done short order before?”

  “No, but I can work fast.”

  “I’ll ask Annie if she wants a few more hours. She can help you. I’m figuring six to ten in the mornings. Hope you don’t have any trouble getting up early.”

  “He’s always up early,” I said. “And usually singing.”

  “Well, if he wants to sing in here, I got no problem with that, as long as he gets the orders out. I’ve written down what we’ll need to start a breakfast menu.” He slid the list over. “Anything you want to add?”

  Jerry read the list. “Gotta have cheese.”

  “You might have noticed we got plenty of cheese around here.”

  Jerry handed him the paper. “That oughta do it.” The two men shook hands.

  Deely gave me a nod. “Madeline here thought it would be a good idea to start serving breakfast, and I agree. More money comes in, I don’t have to worry about dragging one of my boys into the business. They really got no talent for it. We’ll see how you do. Worth a try, anyway.”

  Jerry thanked him. “I’m looking forward to it.”

  We got our cheeseburgers and fries and took our food to a booth. I raised my glass of tea in a salute. “Congratulations. You are now gainfully employed.”

  “I hope so.” Jerry sat down and flipped his tie over his shoulder before applying ketchup to his fries. “Mac, I just thought of something important we need to talk about.”

  Now that he had a job, he was getting to the subject of children right away, but that was all right. I was ready to talk about it. “We certainly do.”

  “We’re going to need another car.”

  What? Oh. “Not exactly what I was thinking, but go ahead.”

  He handed me the ketchup bottle. “You don’t want to get up early and drive me to Deely’s, do you? And if I take the car, you won’t have it until after ten. Why don’t I see if Fred has anything reasonable we could buy? Or I could get a motorcycle.”

  I had to readjust my thinking. Jerry on a motorcycle. Disaster doesn’t even begin to cover the possibilities. “Don’t rush into anything. We’ll work it out.”

  “And we should probably go back to Tinlsey Acres and make sure Honor’s left town.”

  “She has. In fact, she came to talk to me at my office.”

  He stopped eating. “She didn’t give you any trouble, did she? Was she angry?”

  “Maybe, but then I rescued her from the wrath of Aunt Louise.”

  “Aunt Louise came after her?”

  “Honor’s crimes caught up with her at last.”

  Jerry laughed and took the salt shaker. “I’m glad Aunt Louise unleashed her wrath on Honor instead of me.”

  “She was fearsome.”

  “What did Honor want to talk about?”

  “She was annoyed at me for ruining your perfectly good reputation as a premiere con artist.”

  He put the salt shaker down. “What did you say?”

  Suddenly, I didn’t want to tell him about my lie and how it might not be a lie. Somehow, sitting in Deely’s surrounded by the incoming crowd wasn’t the time or the place for such a major announcement. I wanted us to be somewhere private, somewhere significant. And I had to be absolutely sure I was pregnant.

  “I convinced her that you were happy with your new life.”

  “And she bought that?”

  “Yes, and she was tickled with herself for fooling Big Mike.”

  “Fooling Big Mike? Oh, about the sapphire.” He chuckled. “Well, let her think that for a while.” He pulled another napkin from the holder. “Now that Honor’s out of the way, you can concentrate on your case.”

  “This case has so many pieces I’m not sure where to look next. I still haven’t heard from Daniel Junior about the building, and I’m very curious.”

  “Because?”

  “Originally Pamela wanted the building for her dress shop, but she couldn’t afford it. Suppose someone else wanted it, but Wendall got there first. Wouldn’t that someone be angry and want the gallery to fail? Or maybe so angry they’d kill Wendall?”

  “Okay, but who? You’d need some serious cash to buy the building. Does Larissa have that kind of money? Does Bea?”

  “Flora might.”

  “Why would Flora want an old store in a small town?”

  “I know, I know, I’m grasping at straws. I think—” Bea’s gray VW came down the street, pulled over, and parked in front of Deely’s. Ferris unfolded himself from the car and came into the diner. We heard him order a burger and fries to go.

  “Ask him why his mother has a house full of secret jewelry,” Jerry said.

  “I think I’ll be a bit more subtle.”

  I sat down at the counter next to Ferris. “Oh, hi, Madeline,” he said. “Glad I got to see you before I left town.”

  “You’re heading back to Raleigh?”

  “Yeah, Mom needed some wheels while her Honda was in the shop, but now it’s fixed. I didn’t mind hanging around for a few days, but that’s my limit. There’s not a lot of room in her house, anyway.”

  But there was room for me to take advantage of this perfect opening. “I agree, it’s pretty full.”

  His eyebrows went up. “Oh, you’ve seen inside? How did you manage that? She never wants company.”

  “No, I found something that belonged to her and was returning it when I caught a gl
impse. It looked amazing, though. I’m surprised she doesn’t want anyone to see her jewelry.”

  “Oh, she does shows all over Parkland. Bea’s Baubles and Beads. That’s a mouthful, isn’t it? Guess Celosia’s too small and she figures she won’t sell enough here.” Annie handed him his order. He thanked her and put his money on the counter. “Nice talking to you, Madeline. Don’t say anything about the jewelry to anyone. Mom’s real touchy about it. Of course, if you know her, you know she’s real touchy about everything.”

  “This business with Wendall Clarke, if you don’t mind me asking. Has she always insisted he was your father?”

  “It’s a recent development.” He grinned a wry grin. “She’s been having these senior moments for some time now. The fact that Dad—my real dad—lost his money really threw her, you know? I’m perfectly happy with my life, but she’s never been content. I’m sorry Clarke’s dead, and I hope you figure out who killed him.”

  Even if it’s your mother? I didn’t ask.

  “Well, so long.”

  I went back to Jerry and we watched the VW chug away.

  “I couldn’t hear what you said, but he was definitely checking you out,” Jerry said.

  “I hate to admit it, but sometimes my looks can work to my advantage.” I flashed my best beauty queen expression.

  His eyebrows went up in mock surprise. “Sometimes?”

  “Back to the case, please. Ferris thinks his mom is sliding toward senility in regards to the father issue. And according to him, Bea has jewelry shows all over Parkland.”

  “Okay, so she enjoys leading a double life. I can relate.”

  “I can understand why she wouldn’t want to sell her jewelry here, but I still can’t understand why she wouldn’t want to brag about her success.” Another thought occurred to me. “If she’s very successful, then she’d have lots of money, which is very important to her.” I took out my phone.

  “Are you going to call her and ask how much money she makes?”

  “No, I’m going to call an expert on all things shiny.”

  Billamena was home and delighted to hear from me. “When can I expect a visit?”

  “Soon, I promise,” I said. “But I need your help on a case.”