Carter sighed heavily. “Okay. But call me if he comes back. I mean it!” His comment seemed mostly directed to Fortune. It felt a little like he’d issued this warning to her before. What have these women been up to? Cavorting with criminals, toting arsenals in their handbags? And how had I missed the news of this? Granted I’d kept to myself this summer so far, but clearly I needed to get plugged into the gossip circuit.
“It’s fine, Carter.” I said, finally feeling warm enough to shrug off the blanket. “Really. It’ll be fun.” Maybe not fun, but it would certainly be interesting.
“Well that’s settled.” Peggy Sue walked to the door, holding the linen dress, pearls and shoes she’d lent me. I wondered if she’d only been here to pick them up – not to see if I was okay. “I’ll be at home if you need me.” She said before the door closed behind her.
Carter left too, looking like he wanted to say something, but didn’t. He just closed the door and drove away. I looked at my sleepover guests and shrugged.
“Anyone want some peach pie?”
Chapter 8
Gertie dished up the dessert as I told everyone about my failed search and the break in. I didn’t mention the memory that eluded me, because what if it was nothing? What if I didn’t remember? For some reason, I didn’t want to make them think I wasn’t pulling my weight.
“Well,” Ida Belle said, “Someone’s onto us.”
Gertie nodded, “Yup. We’ve made whoever it is pretty nervous.” They both smiled like this was a good thing.
“Shouldn’t we let the Deputy handle this?” I asked.
Fortune spoke up. “I think we don’t have much longer until the murderer reveals himself.”
“That’s bad…right?” I stared at them. “I mean, we don’t want him to come back. Do we?”
Gertie laughed and went to her purse, pulling out a machete the size of a baseball bat and dropping it on the kitchen table. This was followed by three ninja throwing stars, a quart of mace and something that looked like a homemade prison shiv.
My jaw dropped. “Who are you?”
“We’re the cavalry!” Gertie said gleefully.
Fortune shook her head and gathered Gertie’s cadre of weapons together, pushing them toward the old woman. “Knock it off Gertie. You’re freaking her out.”
Ida Belle nodded, “Margaret’s a civilian.”
“Are you talking about me?” I asked. “Because I’m right here. And aren’t you guys civilians too?”
The three women looked at each other.
“Of course we are.” Fortune said as Gertie pulled out a whetstone and started sharpening her machete.
“Will you put that away?” Ida Belle snapped.
Gertie glared at her but kept sliding the stone along the length of the blade.
“It’s going to be okay.” Fortune said to me. “We’re here and Gertie’s somewhat safe to be around.”
“That’s supposed to make me feel better?” I asked. “Really?”
“Well, it makes me feel better.” Gertie pouted.
I changed the subject. “How did it go with Mom?” Ida Belle and Gertie were supposed to have paid her a visit and I wondered what she told them.
“She couldn’t remember anything.” Ida Belle sighed. “We talked to her for about an hour, but she insisted she didn’t remember Hugo visiting or her claim that she killed him.”
“Then that receptionist came and ran us off!” Gertie said indignantly. “Said it was time for Sadie’s nap. Can you believe that?”
I suppressed a giggle imagining Eleanor Woodruff chasing these two away. I’d be willing to bet that didn’t happen often.
“So Mom doesn’t remember telling me and the deputy that she’d killed Hugo?” I guess that didn’t surprise me with my mother’s mental issues the way they were. “I knew she was imagining it.”
“She seemed pretty convinced that she hadn’t seen him.” Gertie shrugged.
I nodded. “She seemed pretty convinced that she’d killed him too. It’s just the way her mind is these days.”
“But his name was in the Visitor’s Log.” Fortune frowned. “Maybe your mother wrote it there?” She pointed at Gertie and Ida, “Did you ask if anyone saw who signed in?”
Gertie looked sheepish, which is difficult to do when you’re sharpening a machete. “It slipped our minds. We forgot to check.”
“You said,” Ida Belle quickly changed the subject, “That you didn’t search your mother’s room before the intrusion. Is that right?”
I nodded. “I didn’t get around to it.” Truth was, I’d been a bit overwhelmed.
“Well that’s where we’re going to start then.” Ida said.
“Start what?” I asked.
“Start searching, of course!” Ida answered. She got to her feet and everyone else followed. She really was in charge. It occurred to me that even though I’ve known this woman my whole life, I haven’t known her all of hers. What was in her past that made her so strong and in charge? I’d have to unravel that mystery some other time.
We headed up to Mom’s room and filed in. There was dust for fingerprinting on every surface. Only one drawer hung open from when the intruder had been in here.
“What makes you think Mom had something hidden away about our dad?” I asked Ida Belle as she started going through the first dresser. Fortune was in the closet, searching through Mom’s purses and Gertie was tackling the second dresser. I pulled open the first drawer under the bed.
“Your mother,” Ida Belle said as she closed one drawer and opened another, “really loved your father. She may not have talked to you girls about it, but she spent many late nights crying on my shoulder after he left.”
I dropped the handful of scarves I’d been sorting and gaped at her. “She talked to you about him?” Mom never said a word to us.
Ida nodded. “She didn’t want you girls to miss him. She wanted you to have a happy childhood. Not one where you felt sorry for yourself because of a deadbeat dad.” She shoved a bunch of socks back in the drawer and closed it.
“I guess that makes sense.” I said glumly. But even when we were adults she didn’t talk to us about it. I felt bad that I’d never brought it up. Maybe it was my shoulders she needed in the end. Perhaps the reason she’d lost it while we were away was because loneliness forced her to think about Hugo.
“Stop beating yourself up about it,” Fortune shouted from the closet. How did she know?
“I had an asshole father too.” She added. “You can’t waste your life wondering what if.”
“That’s right, Dear.” Gertie piped up and I noticed she was wearing one of Mom’s hats. The turquoise straw hat with a navy bow and white feathers looked ridiculous on her and I started laughing.
“Gertie! Take that off! What do you think you’re doing?” Ida snapped.
Gertie glared at her and removed the hat. “Just having a little fun, that’s all. Sadie had such nice things.”
We kept working our way through Mom’s stuff. There was a lot of it. I probably should’ve gotten rid of some of her things. She didn’t need thirty pair of black socks or fifteen bras anymore.
“Well, there’s nothing in here.” Fortune stepped out of the closet and brushed her hands off.
“What’s left?” Gertie asked.
“My room.” I said. “That’s the only room I haven’t searched yet. Although I can’t imagine she’d hide anything in there. It’s been my room since I was born.”
“Well let’s get going.” Ida Belle said. “Gertie – you get a rag and clean up all the fingerprint powder.”
Gertie nodded and left. Fortune and Ida Belle followed me into my room.
The room had been Peggy Sue’s and mine. When I came back here after college, I’d torn off the pink and daisy wallpaper and painted the room a nice, peaceful green, like I was bringing the outdoors inside. I’d added a queen sized craftsman style bed and dresser and stripped out the carpet, replacing it with hardwood floors. It was simple an
d calm. My favorite room in the house.
“This shouldn’t take long.” Fortune said. “I’ll take the closet,” she pointed at me, “You take the dresser and Ida can look under the bed.” Another strong leader. She may be a Yankee from out of town, but in a short time, she certainly fell into sync with these little old ladies. I didn’t have that kind of rapport with them and they’d changed my diapers.
I knew we’d find nothing in the drawers. I opened them every day. But it helped to be doing something.
“I give up.” I said finally. “There’s nothing here.”
Ida Belle nodded sadly. “I can’t find anything either. I really thought that…”
“Found something!” Fortune cried from the closet. She emerged with a blue hatbox I’d never seen before.
“Where on Earth did you find that?” I asked as I took it from her.
“There was a small door in the back of the closet.” Fortune said.
Oh! The cubby hole! I’d forgotten all about that! Peggy Sue and I used to hide what we called our ‘treasures’ in there when we were kids.
We headed downstairs and sat at the dining room table. I opened the box. Inside was a packet of letters, tied with a pink, satin ribbon, and a wedding photo of my parents.
“What the hell?” I gasped as I stared at it. Mom and Dad were grinning happily. He wore a dark suit and she wore a white dress with a pillbox hat and veil. She held a small bouquet of flowers. Yellow roses – her favorite.
“Why didn’t she show us this?” I asked. I realized the answer as soon as the words left my mouth. Mom didn’t want us to know she was happy with Hugo. She didn’t want us to know her heart was broken.
“All of these letters were returned.” Gertie said. “Address unknown.”
I took the packet from her. Mom had kept every letter she’d sent him. And apparently, according to the address, she’d thought he was in New Orleans.
“Look at this!” Ida Belle had the box lid in her hands. Inside, taped to the underside, was a small key.
“What’s that for?” I asked. “Another box of sad memories?” One more minute and I’d be in tears. The fact that Mom had hidden this part of her life from us hit me hard.
Fortune shook her head. “That’s a storage key to a closet or shed.”
The three women looked at each other. “And there’s only one storage facility in all of Sinful.” Fortune added.
“And that’s owned by Big and Little.” Gertie nodded.
Chapter 9
“It’s four o’clock,” I groaned. “Can we wait until morning?”
Ida nodded. “Yes. Big and Little wouldn’t appreciate us breaking in again. Especially after we’d just asked for help.”
“Breaking in again?” I asked, wondering as I did if I really wanted to know.
“Forget I said that.” Ida waved me off. “Fortune, what did you find out from Carter?”
Oh right. I’d forgotten that while I was searching the house, Fortune was going to talk to Carter.
“Well,” Fortune kicked her shoes off and folded her right leg under her. “Carter says they went through the video from Sunnyvale and found nothing. There’s no sign of Hugo visiting your mom. He doesn’t understand it because Sadie had been there for bed check that night and in the morning. No one heard a gunshot or saw her leave.”
“Of course not. I knew Mom didn’t do it. So did he know how Hugo’s name in the visitor’s log?”
“Carter’s not sure. But the good news is they won’t arrest her because there’s no evidence that she did it. As far as Sunnyvale records show, your mom was there the whole time.”
I took a deep breath. Even though I never thought Mom had killed Hugo, it was still a relief to know the evidence backed that up.
“So Carter’s back at square one?” Gertie asked.
Fortune nodded. “Yup. But he’s still investigating.”
“Peggy Sue will be relieved.” I said. “Now that Mom has been cleared, I guess we can drop this investigation and leave it to the police, right?”
Ida shook her head. “Wrong. We’re close. And dropping it may just make the intruder who came here tonight bolder.”
My heart sank. “So…more cloak and dagger stuff?”
Before Ida Belle could answer, there was a knock at the door. Fortune pulled a 9mm from what appeared to be thin air and made her way to the door. She looked through the window, and opened the door.
A teenage boy in a hoodie stood there. He held out a large envelope, and then vanished from my porch. Fortune closed the door and tossed the envelope to Ida, who opened it.
“It’s from Big and Little,” Gertie explained to me.
“What’s it say?” I asked Ida. Was this information on what my dad was doing here? Where he’s been all these years? I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. If it was scandalous, Peggy Sue would have my head on a pike outside of her gaudy mansion.
“They’re very thorough.” Ida Belle murmured as she scanned the pages. Finally, she looked up. “I think you’d better sit down for this.”
I sat. Fortunately, there was a chair right behind me.
“Your father stole five million dollars.” Ida said.
I waited for her to say more. She didn’t. I thought maybe she was joking, but her eyes said otherwise. Then I thought that she should’ve perhaps eased me into the whole thing. Maybe started with where he’d been all these years, what he’d been doing. But she hadn’t.
My father stole five million dollars. That sentence seemed stamped in red across my vision. Great. Of all the things to know about him, this may have been the worst. I knew I didn’t want anything to do with him. Not now. Yes, I understood that he was dead. But it seemed important that I take this stand anyway. Any hopes I’d had that he’d had one shred of dignity went out the window.
“From who?” Gertie asked. “How?”
Ida didn’t answer. Her eyes were on me. She was waiting for it to all sink in before she continued.
“So that’s why he was killed?” I asked.
Fortune nodded. “I’d be willing to bet hat’s why someone broke in here. Because they thought you had the money.”
My voice was not much more than a squeak. “Me? They thought it was here? Don’t you think I would’ve noticed? I mean, five million dollars would take up a lot of space, I’d think!” I started to imagine enormous piles of money sitting in every room. That would’ve been tough to miss.
So dear old dad led them to me. Yet another reason why he wasn’t getting the Father of the Year any time soon.
“Wait!” I jumped to my feet. “What about Peggy Sue? Would they think she had it?”
The four of us looked at each other. Without a word I grabbed my service pistol and headed for the door. I was followed by Fortune, Ida Belle and Gertie and we all piled into Fortune’s jeep before tearing off down the road.
It was still dark when I beat on Peggy Sue’s door.
“Miss Margaret.” Paloma answered the door fully dressed and ignored my gun and armed companions. Did Peggy Sue require her to work twenty-four hours or did the woman sleep in her uniform?
“Is everything alright?” I asked a little breathlessly.
“Of course.” Paloma said, motioning for us to come in. “I’ll get Mrs. Delacroix.”
The four of us stood in the hallway feeling a little awkward. Gertie struggled to fit her machete back into her purse and that provided a little amusement.
“What is going on here?” Peggy Sue appeared in a fluffy, white bathrobe that would put the most expensive spa to shame. In spite of her dress, her hair helmet was in place and her makeup was flawless. Maybe she didn’t sleep either. Maybe it was a household of vampires. I pictured her and the other Catholics bathing in the blood of virgins and struggled to control a smile.
“Is that Ida Belle and Gertie?” My sister said in horror as she looked over Gertie’s Betty Boop jammies. She appraised Fortune silently without introducing herself. That was a strange lack of manners
, even for her. But then it was very, very early. And I’d breached social etiquette myself by not calling first. I guess we could call it a draw.
“Can someone tell me what this is all about?” Peggy Sue raised her voice just enough to avoid being vulgar.
Ten minutes later we were all settled in the day room with coffee served in fine china, waiting for Paloma to leave so we could talk.
“You swear everything’s okay?” I asked as I watched the maid finally walked out.
“Really, Margaret! You are being completely ridiculous! We’re all fine! I checked on the children before coming downstairs.”
I noticed she didn’t mention whether she’d checked on her husband, but decided not to mention it. There wasn’t anything to be gained by aggravating her further.
Ida Belle introduced Fortune, and then explained the reason for our, well, visit. Peggy Sue listened and gasped appropriately at the part of Dad stealing money.
“Please don’t let that get out!” Peggy Sue pleaded with Ida Belle. “I’m not sure the Monsignor would agree to do the service!”
Ida Belle assured my sister that the secret was safe with them. And I knew, with their fondness for Mom that it would be.
“That’s why we think the man broke into my house tonight. He was looking for the money. And that’s why we’re here.”
“You think if he didn’t find it at your house, he’d look here?” Peggy Sue said. “Well with our security system and the fact that I sleep with that Dessert Eagle I brought over, you shouldn’t worry.”
Now that I thought of it, Peggy Sue was right. She was far better prepared to deal with a home invasion than I was. Paloma probably packed heat somewhere in that gray maid’s uniform.
“At least Mother is no longer under suspicion. I assume, Margaret, that you’ll be heading out to let her know that.” Peggy Sue said as she stood, indicating that our time was up.
“Thank you, ladies, for your assistance. Margaret can see you out. I have to get ready for a meeting of the Junior League.” And with that, my sister disappeared, and I led my friends out to the car.
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