by Riley Adams
Ben said, “But emergencies go both ways, Mother. You’re thinking that you want the phone when you have an emergency and you need to call us. But what if we have an emergency and need to call you and your phone is off? It’s a two-way street.”
Lulu thumped the palm of her hand on the arm of her rocker. “You are so right, Ben! I’ve been pretty selfish and I didn’t even know I was. I’ll start keeping the thing turned on. I’m turning over a new leaf.”
Ben nodded and continued walking out of the restaurant. “You just do that, Mother. And remember to charge it at night.”
Once Ben left, Cherry said, “Okay, now that that’s all settled, tell me about the phone call. I’m kind of surprised that Sharon would call you. Actually, I’m surprised that you even knew your cell phone number well enough to give it to Sharon.”
Lulu laughed. “I didn’t. She asked for it, so I called her cell phone from mine so she could add my phone number to her contact list.”
“I guess Brody meant what he said about Sharon really needing friends and not knowing anyone in Memphis yet,” said Cherry.
“I guess so. She was real funny when I was leaving the festival for the last time. That’s when she asked for my number so she could talk to me again. I’m thinking she thought she might miss the friendship and the connection that we all share and wanted a way to reach out to us,” said Lulu.
Cherry said, “She’s coming over now?”
She was. In another fifteen minutes, Sharon was walking in through the door and surprised both Cherry and Lulu with hugs.
Sharon didn’t wear any makeup and her face was splotchy as if she’d been crying. Her pink nail polish was halfway picked off. Her black slacks and blouse were good quality, but didn’t seem new. Lulu had noticed that the clothes Sharon usually wore always looked like they had designer labels—from a few years back. Like she’d had more money to shop with at one point, but now wasn’t buying anything new.
“What’s wrong, Sharon?” asked Lulu after Sharon had sat down in a rocking chair. “You sounded upset on the phone.”
“This is going to sound so silly,” said Sharon. But her eyes were worried. “We got a phone call from Reuben’s lawyer and I learned that Brody and I were executors of Reuben’s estate. And after all the stress of the last few days, for some reason, that bit of information made me fall apart.”
Lulu nodded sympathetically. “The straw that broke the camel’s back. I guess, though, that choosing Brody would have been natural—they’ve known each other for so many years.”
Cherry said, “I’m surprised that Reuben went to the trouble to even get a will done. That’s something that organized and responsible people do, and Reuben didn’t sound so organized and responsible.”
Sharon took a few gulps of lemonade from her glass, then put it down on the table. She gazed wearily at Lulu and Cherry. “It does seem kind of out of character, doesn’t it? But apparently, Reuben had the will drawn up right after his divorce was final.”
“He was probably in that legal mind-set at the time then,” said Lulu. “He was in a courtroom so much he decided to go ahead and knock out his legal to-do list. Does that happen to y’all? It’s funny—I’ll have something like an ordinary doctor’s appointment and it reminds me to knock out all my other health stuff. Then for the next couple of weeks, I’ll be at the dentist and the eye doctor, and whomever else.”
Sharon said, “I know what you mean. That’s probably what happened.”
“Maybe he was feeling real spiteful, too, and wanted to make sure his ex didn’t get any of his money,” said Cherry.
“Did he even have any money?” asked Lulu. “I was under the impression that he was squandering money that he had.” Or borrowing money from Brody.
Sharon sighed. “Well, he did and he didn’t. Lately, he wasn’t working and pulling in an income and he was drinking his savings up. But there was money that he knew he was going to be getting, although he hadn’t gotten it yet.”
Lulu knit her brows. “What—an inheritance or something?”
“That’s right. Reuben only had one living relative…his was a hard-living family with a habit of dying young. But he had an uncle who had done real well for himself and always doted on Reuben. He liked to brag about this rich uncle he had and how he was going to have tons of money one day.” Sharon made a face. “Sometimes I wonder what Brody saw in Reuben, especially when I tell stories like this. But Reuben wasn’t always like that. He was worse when he drank…that’s why he was so awful lately. Because he didn’t stop drinking.”
Lulu said, “So this uncle—he ended up passing away?”
“Apparently so,” Sharon said. “I think he died just a week or so before Reuben in a weird coincidence. Reuben ended up getting his estate. This uncle left all the money to Reuben.”
Cherry said, “And Reuben did change his will. So who ended up being the beneficiary of Reuben’s new will?”
Sharon sighed. “His son got a large sum of money, so I guess he was trying to look out for Finn, no matter what his ex was saying. But he also left a ton of money to Brody and me.”
Cherry and Lulu stared at Sharon. “Really?” said Lulu finally.
“Well, he and Brody were good friends. And I guess he was really trying to stick it to his wife and make a point. And like I said, Reuben didn’t have any other living family. Besides, Reuben didn’t think he was going to die anytime soon, after all. But yeah—a bunch of money to us,” said Sharon with a shrug.
Cherry and Lulu quietly digested this for a moment. Then Cherry said, “So what are you so upset about? Sounds like this should have been good news.”
Sharon groaned and put her hands to the sides of her forehead and rubbed like it hurt. The deep grooves at the corners of her mouth emphasized her unhappiness. “It’s so complicated. We shouldn’t be getting that money. Maybe we should get the money back that Brody lent Reuben to help him get by. Dawn is going to be furious—she’s really going to go berserk. And the lawyer said that he knew some of Reuben’s contracting customers were trying to sue Reuben and get their money back from unfinished projects and all. Apparently, he even had subcontractors that were demanding money from him. And then this John is seriously wanting money. Reuben’s lawyer said that he was being especially pushy—almost threatening. So I don’t really know what we should do.”
“Do you think that settling all these claims will wipe out all the money?” asked Lulu.
“No, the lawyer didn’t think so. Apparently, this uncle was really, really well off. But it’s all such a headache,” said Sharon. She continued absently picking off her nail polish.
Lulu said, “What do you think you’re going to do? What seems like the best thing to do?”
Sharon said, “That’s one of the reasons I’m visiting with y’all now. I’m trying to brainstorm. What I think is the best thing to do, and what I’m trying to convince Brody that we should do, is to try to settle things with John. Like, right now. The madder he gets, the worse it’s going to be.”
“He’s plenty mad,” said Cherry. “We actually went to see him at his house. He was practically foaming at the mouth, he’s so mad about the way that construction job went. And he sure doesn’t have much money. I’m surprised he could even pay a lawyer to sue.”
Lulu said, “That’s probably why he’ll be glad to settle. Then he can drop the lawyer and doesn’t have to have an expensive court date or anything like that.”
Sharon said, “That’s what I’m hoping. I want to talk to him and be reasonable and see if we can come up with something that will make him happy. Maybe get Reuben’s lawyer to draw an agreement up for him to get money when the estate is settled. I don’t know John’s last name or where he lives, though, and the last thing I want to do right now is to talk to that lawyer again. It takes forever for him to return phone calls anyway. Since y’all have been to his house, can you tell me where he lives?” She rummaged in her worn leather purse for a small notebook and a pencil.
Lulu dug in her pocketbook for the slip of paper with the address on it and handed it to Sharon. “I’m afraid we don’t know a whole lot about John. He seems to be single, doesn’t have a whole lot of money, and is mighty angry about the state his house is in right now.”
Cherry nodded. “That’s it, in a nutshell. He’s a pretty angry guy, Sharon. How are you going to approach him about this settlement?”
“I’m thinking I’ll run by his house. I need to assess the damage anyway. You know—make sure he’s not exaggerating what happened. Not that I think that he is,” she hurried to say, “but it seems more businesslike to at least survey the damage.”
“You should bring Brody with you then,” said Lulu. She felt a chill run up her spine, but couldn’t figure out why. “Don’t go over there by yourself.”
“Well, I know what you’re saying, Lulu. But I haven’t exactly convinced Brody that this is the right thing to do. I’m thinking this is something I should handle myself,” said Sharon.
“We’ll go with you!” said Lulu quickly. “Cherry and I would be happy to go to John’s house with you.”
“Pleased as punch!” said Cherry. “We even know the way and everything—it makes so much sense.”
Sharon’s eyes lit up with a grateful smile. “I really, really appreciate that, y’all. You don’t know how much. But this is something I need to do by myself. John will be a lot more defensive if he sees a group of us coming at him. And if I have Brody with me, he’s bound to feel even more so. No, I’m going to try to handle this myself. I’m sure that John will be perfectly reasonable.”
John, however, was not perfectly reasonable. John was dead.
Pink came by Aunt Pat’s the morning after Sharon’s visit while Lulu was putting out fresh tablecloths. Lulu raised her eyebrows when she saw him. “Working an odd shift, Pink? It’s early for eating ribs. Well, not for me. But I’m up with the chickens.” She broke off when she saw how grim Pink looked. “What’s wrong? What’s happened?”
“I’ll tell you what happened, then you tell me what happened. There was a homicide that was discovered this morning by Sharon, your buddy in the next-door booth. It was John.”
Lulu sat down in a booth. “Ohhh. Oh, how awful.”
“But Lulu,” said Pink, and she’d never heard such a stern voice from him, “I wasn’t aware that a John even existed. And yet Sharon says she was talking to you and Cherry about him only yesterday on the front porch here.”
Lulu felt herself color. “Mercy. You’re right. I totally forgot about sharing that tidbit with you. Everything seemed to happen at once and I really haven’t seen you much since the murder happened. I’m so sorry, Pink.”
The apology seemed to smooth Pink’s ruffled feathers. “Well, you know, it was kind of embarrassing to me. Made it look like I didn’t know what was going on or all the connections in the case.”
“You’d have ended up finding out about John,” said Lulu. “You have to go through all the official channels, that’s all. But someone would have pointed you in that direction—Reuben’s lawyer, if nothing else.”
Pink squinted at Lulu as if she were again talking about things she probably shouldn’t know about.
Lulu said, “Pink, again, I’m awfully sorry about forgetting to tell you about John and his connection with Reuben. But—tell me. The murder.”
“Sharon drove over to John’s house this morning to try to talk to him before he left for work. She knocked and rang the doorbell, but there was no answer, so she tried the door handle,” said Pink.
Lulu closed her eyes. “Why in heaven’s name would she do that?”
“It was definitely not advisable. The door was unlocked, so she pushed it open and stuck her head in to call for John. But he was lying on the floor where she could see him. It appears he was hit with a heavy object from behind, then stabbed.”
Lulu shook her head and sat quietly for a few moments. “Poor John.” She looked up at Pink. “Sharon’s not a suspect in John’s death, is she? After all, why would she go out of her way to discover the body if she’d killed him? Seems like she’d want to let him lie there undiscovered for a while.”
Pink sighed. “It’s not that simple, Lulu. Think about it—it’s the perfect setup. Sharon and her husband, Brody, know that this John is about to make a huge claim on their new inheritance. Sharon comes here to tell two witnesses that she plans to talk it out with John and reach a settlement. She makes it sound very levelheaded and reasonable. Then she or Brody goes over to John’s house. He recognizes them and lets them in. They kill him. Then Sharon comes back later to ‘discover’ the body.”
“I guess it’s not as clear-cut as it seems,” said Lulu. “She did seem so earnest, though.”
“Naturally,” said Pink. “She would have to, if she was planning an elaborate lie like that. Otherwise, you’d see right through her.”
Lulu was starting to wonder how observant she actually was, though. And whether she was hopelessly naïve.
“I was talking to the neighbors,” said Pink with studied casualness, “and asking them if they’d seen or heard anything unusual in the last couple of days.”
Lulu swallowed. “Did they?”
“It’s a remarkably unobservant group of neighbors,” admitted Pink. “They didn’t notice any visitors at John’s house last night or any unusual cars. They didn’t recognize pictures of Sharon or Brody. But they were able to give us an exact description of you and Cherry.”
Lulu colored again. “Mercy,” she said again. “I hadn’t gotten around to telling you about all that.” Pink didn’t say anything and Lulu cleared her throat. “Would you like some corn muffins?”
Pink’s grim demeanor broke into a grin. “Lulu, I’m not that mad. But you and Cherry are scaring me. What you did wasn’t safe.”
“We thought about our safety, actually,” said Lulu quickly. “That’s why we met John out in his driveway. Not like Sharon.”
“Thankfully,” said Pink. “What was it that you were trying to talk with him about?”
“We’d found out that he knew Reuben. And he’d carefully not mentioned anything about his connection to him before. We were miffed that he was lying to us and we wanted to hear more about this messed-up construction job that Reuben had been the contractor for,” said Lulu.
Pink said, “And what did he say? How did he act?”
“He was real angry about the state his house was in. It was more of a quiet rage than someone going postal, though. He was definitely upset. But he claimed that he had nothing to do with the murder—that he was at the festival to try to dig up dirt on Reuben or to at least have a chance for him to talk to Reuben about the construction. Apparently, the situation had gotten to the point where Reuben was no longer returning John’s calls or answering his door when he saw John outside,” said Lulu.
They sat quietly for a moment, then Lulu said, “Can you tell me more about what you think happened to John? It’s hard for me to believe he’s dead when I saw him yesterday.”
Pink said, “There’s not too much more that we know right now. Because the door was unlocked, we think that John willingly let his killer in. So it was either someone that he knew, or someone that he recognized enough to let in. We think that it was probably last night, late but not too late. Possibly around ten o’clock. Whoever he let in didn’t give him much of a chance to struggle. They probably came prepared and brought something with them that they could hit him with while he was leading them into another room.”
“They brought something with them?” asked Lulu.
“It looks that way…we haven’t found the murder weapon yet, so we’re thinking the murderer took it away with them. It was probably something heavy but portable—like a hammer,” said Pink.
Lulu winced. “And you said that he was stabbed, too?”
“Whoever did it wanted to make certain that John was dead. We think he was—that the blow from the heavy object killed him. But the killer wanted to make su
re, so there was a butcher knife sticking out of his back. Again. Same as with Reuben.”
Lulu said, “Could you tell anything from the knife?”
“Not really. It’s a standard knife, available anywhere. It seems brand-new, so it was probably purchased for this very purpose,” said Pink.
Lulu shivered.
“This murderer means serious business,” said Pink. “And I want to make sure that you and Cherry aren’t on his hit list. Watch your step—both of you.”
“So now we need to find out where Brody and Sharon live,” said Cherry, heaving a sigh. They were both in Lulu’s kitchen since Lulu had left for home right after Pink talked to her. “This is all so complicated. It would have been a lot easier if John had been guilty. He should have confessed to the crime and been trundled off to jail. Easy-peasy.”
“His death sure does make things difficult,” agreed Lulu. “I’ll call Sharon real quick and get her address. And I’ll bring food over in case she doesn’t feel much like cooking today.”
“Is that why your kitchen smells so good?” asked Cherry. “You must have been cooking up a storm.”
“I ran by the store on the way home and I’ve been in the kitchen for the last few hours. Sometimes cooking helps me relax—and I’ve definitely needed some relaxing lately. I cooked a ham and I’ve made a three-bean casserole and a pineapple casserole,” said Lulu.
Cherry said, “It all sounds yummy—except for the three-bean casserole. I’m not usually wild about those. Too much vinegar.”
“You might like this one then, since there’s no vinegar at all in it. Just sour cream and cheese and a bunch of other yummy stuff. Vinegar is a little too tart for me, too. Except I do like my French fries dipped in vinegar,” said Lulu.
Cherry made a face. “I’ll pass on the French fries. But the casserole sounds like something I need the recipe for.”
Sharon, who had sounded very un-Sharon-like on the phone, gave her address, and minutes later, Cherry and Lulu were at the house. It was, like John’s, another subdivision and another ordinary suburban two-story house. Sharon answered the door. Her eyes were puffy and her face was blotchy. She still hadn’t found the time to touch up her roots and the dark hair was starting to take over the blond hair. Lulu noticed that her nail polish was now completely picked off.
