Startled, Melvin just stared at her. Finally, he nodded. “You think it could be one of them?”
“Maybe,” Melvin said. He frowned. “Lately Fayetta was being real pushy about money. She was always trying to get some outta me, I know that much. And I heard her on the phone a coupla times, talking to somebody. It sounded to me like maybe she was trying to blackmail whoever it was.”
“Any idea who she was talking to?”
“Naw. I asked her about it, and she like to’ve bit my head off,” Melvin said ruefully. “Told me since I didn’t have the decency to marry her, it wasn’t none of my business.”
“Why’d you go over there yesterday morning?”
“I was gonna try to make up with her after that fight we had,” Melvin said. “And I was gonna finish putting the computer together. I bought one for her and the kids, and I was putting it all together in her bedroom when the argument started.” He paused, taking a deep breath. “When she didn’t come to the door, I let myself in, and that’s when I found her.” He looked away for a moment.
“How about the knife?” Wanda Nell asked, hating to have to mention it. “They say it’s one from the Kountry Kitchen.”
“Yeah,” Melvin said, “it was. I told ’em that myself.” He shrugged. “All I can figure is Fayetta took it home with her. Wouldn’t’ve been the first time she took stuff from the restaurant She just took whatever she wanted. Didn’t matter what it cost anybody else.”
Wanda Nell grimaced in sympathy at the bitter note in his voice. She knew exactly what he meant But she had to ask Melvin something.
“Why’d you want to see me so urgently today?”
Melvin’s face tightened. When he spoke, his voice was so low Wanda Nell had to strain to hear him. “I had to know you believed me. I couldn’t face all this if you didn’t.”
Behind her the deputy cleared his throat, “time’s up, ma’am.”
Wanda Nell nodded at him. “Just one more minute, deputy.” She turned back to Melvin. “Don’t you be worrying now. I believe you, and we’re gonna get this thing figured out and get you outta here.”
“Thanks, Wanda Nell,” Melvin said, almost smiling. “You’re a good friend, and I appreciate that. And I appreciate you running the Kountry Kitchen while I’m stuck in here.”
“Glad to do it,” she said. “And if I have any questions, I’ll get Tuck to get in touch with you. I don’t reckon they’ll let me call you.” She grinned briefly.
“But you be careful,” Melvin said. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“It won’t,” Wanda Nell assured him.
“Fayetta was bad news,” Melvin said, “and she was mixed up in something. I don’t know what, but whatever it was, it wasn’t any good. You be real careful if you start poking your nose in. I know you.”
“I’ll be careful,” Wanda Nell said.
The deputy on Melvin’s side had come to lead him away. Wanda Nell stood and watched him until he had disappeared through the door. Then she turned and followed her deputy back down the hall to where Tuck was waiting for her. Tuck thanked the deputy on duty and was leading Wanda Nell toward the door when a voice hailed them. “Yo! Wanda Nell! Hang on a minute.”
Chapter 9
Recognizing the voice, Wanda Nell wanted to keep on walking toward the door. Instead, she stopped and turned around.
“Howdy, Elmer Lee,” she said. “How are you?”
Elmer Lee Johnson, chief deputy of the Tullahoma County Sheriff’s Department, stood a couple feet away from her and Tuck. His dark hair was slicked back with some kind of gel, and his mouth was twisted into a scowl.
“I’d be doing just fine if I knew you wasn’t gonna be sticking your nose into this,” Elmer Lee said, his right hand resting on the butt of his gun. “Morning, Tucker.” He nodded at Tuck.
“Morning, Deputy,” Tuck said equably.
“You got the wrong man, Elmer Lee,” Wanda Nell said. “Melvin didn’t do this, and the sooner you realize that and start looking for the real killer, the better off we’ll all be.”
Elmer Lee shook his head. “We’re just gonna have to recruit you for the sheriff’s department, Wanda Nell. We need somebody like you to come in here and tell us what we been doing wrong all these years. It’s a wonder we ever get anything done without you.”
Don’t let him get to you, Wanda Nell kept telling herself. She waited a moment before she spoke. Smiling sweetly, she said, “Why, thank you, Elmer Lee. I sure would love to take you up on your kind invitation, but I guess I’ll just have to decline this time. Sooner or later you’re gonna have to admit you’re wrong, but I’m not the kind of person who’s gonna rub it in.”
“Well, thank you,” Elmer Lee said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “It’s nice to know you’re still every bit as pigheaded as you always was. But I’m warning you, Wanda Nell, and you, too, Tucker you better not stick your nose in. You’re liable to get it cut off.” He stomped off.
Wanda Nell didn’t say anything until she and Tuck were outside. “That went well,” she said.
“What is it with you and him?” Tuck asked. “I know you can’t stand each other, but why?”
Wanda Nell shrugged. “We’ve known each other since high school. He and Bobby Ray was like brothers, and he’s hated me ever since I came between them. He’s always blamed me for everything that went wrong in Bobby Ray’s life.” She paused for a moment, thinking back to that strange scene between her and Elmer Lee after Bobby Ray’s funeral, when Elmer Lee had come close to admitting he’d once had feelings for Wanda Nell. “I guess you could say he’s jealous.”
“Well, whatever it is,” Tuck said, “we’ve got to be careful about antagonizing him. Even if he is wrong about my client.” He examined Wanda Nell’s face.
“He is wrong,” she said firmly. “After seeing Melvin, I’m more convinced than ever he didn’t do it.”
Tuck escorted Wanda Nell to the truck. He and TJ. exchanged greetings. “Now, look, Tuck,” Wanda Nell said. “Melvin pretty much confirmed what I told you about Fayetta and those married men.”
“You mean Campbell and Eccles?” Tuck asked.
“Yeah,” Wanda Nell said. “And it’s gonna mean stirring up a real hornet’s nest, but we gotta find out what was going on with Fayetta and them two. The answer’s gotta be there somewhere.”
Tuck sighed deeply. “Maybe so. But the you-know-what’s gonna hit the fan when we start digging.”
“Then you better put some overalls on over them nice clothes of yours,” Wanda Nell advised him half-jokingly.
“Now, Mama,” TJ. said, trying to sound stern.
“Seriously,” Wanda Nell said. “I’m not gonna sit around and let Melvin take the blame for this, not just because some rich guy in town doesn’t want his precious behind in jail.”
“No, of course not,” Tuck said firmly. “I’m going to start looking into this as discreetly as possible. Let me handle this.”
Wanda Nell nodded, but she wasn’t going to make any promises. She figured she had a better chance of rooting up the dirt than Tuck did. People were a lot more cautious talking to a lawyer than they would be to a waitress.
“I guess you’d better take me on to work,” Wanda Nell told TJ.
“Yes’m,” he said, starting the truck. “Hey, Tuck, I’m gonna have some lunch there, and then I can come back to the office if you need me.”
“Sure,” Tuck said. “I can always find something for you to do.” He grinned, and Wanda Nell thought once again how attractive he was. Too bad he was too young for her.
The truck idling, TJ. sat watching Tuck walk to his car. Wanda Nell poked him in the side. “Let’s get going, TJ. Stop woolgathering. I need to get to work.”
“Yes’m,” TJ. said, putting the truck into reverse and backing out of the parking space.
“Do you still have time to run Miranda home after she drops off my car at the restaurant?”
“Yes’m,” TJ. said. He glanced at his watch.
“By the time I finish eating lunch she oughta be getting off work.”
“She better not be late,” Wanda Nell muttered.
They finished the short drive to the Kountry Kitchen in silence. TJ. parked and followed his mother inside. He took a seat at the counter and picked up one of the menus stuck in a holder in front of him. Wanda Nell waved at a few of her regulars and indicated to Ovie and Ruby Garner, the other waitress on the morning shift, that she’d be back in a minute.
She went through the kitchen, pausing briefly to greet the cook, Lurene, and Elray, the dishwasher and cook’s assistant Wanda Nell assured them everything was okay with Melvin and that everything would get sorted out soon. In the meantime, she’d be in charge, and if they had any questions or concerns, they should come to her.
“That Fayetta was a bad woman,” Lurene said suddenly. “She wasn’t nothing but trash, and it ain’t right, they be thinking Mistuh Melvin do something like that. He a good man, and they oughta be knowing that. Some other man done that to her.”
“That’s what we’re gonna find out,” Wanda Nell assured her. “And if you should happen to hear anything, you let me know, you hear?”
Both Lurene and Elray promised they would. Wanda Nell figured if there were any news making its way through the black folks’ grapevine, Lurene would hear it.
She stowed her purse in the small storeroom that served as a locker room for the waitresses. She pulled an apron on over her clothes. Since Fayetta had talked Melvin into letting them wear regular clothes instead of uniforms a month ago, she’d been very pleased with the change. One good thing Fayetta had done, she acknowledged.
Back out front again, she saw Ruby serving T.J. a glass of iced tea. Ruby was a sweet girl, a little bit on the shy side, and very smart and pretty to boot. She was just the kind of girl TJ. ought to be dating, Wanda Nell decided.
Maybe she’d suggest that to TJ., but she didn’t want him getting annoyed with her like he was with his grandmother.
Wanda Nell surveyed the front dining room of the Kountry Kitchen. Most of the tables were occupied, though the lunchtime rush was past She paused briefly to speak to Junior Farley, a mechanic from the garage next door who had always flirted with Fayetta.
“Sure is awful about Fayetta,” Junior said, his fat cheeks sagging. “I just can’t believe it Wanda Nell. You reckon Melvin done it?”
“No, I don’t Junior,” Wanda Nell said. She raised her voice slightly, because she knew there woe plenty of ears straining to hear her. “I don’t think Melvin did it and anybody that knows him knows it too. He wouldn’t’ve done something like that I don’t care what anybody says or thinks. Somebody else did it and before long that person’s gonna be in jail, not Melvin.”
Junior flushed bright red. “I don’t believe he did it either,” he mumbled. Wanda Nell reached over and patted his hand, which was more than twice the size of hers.
“Thanks, Junior,” she said. “Melvin’ll appreciate that.”
Conversations resumed, and Wanda Nell stood and watched for a moment Ovie Ashmore came in from the back dining room and motioned for Wanda Nell to join her.
Wanda Nell ambled back to her. None of the tables in the back room were occupied, so they had a bit of privacy.
“How’s it going, Ovie?” Wanda Nell asked. “Any problems?”
“Everything’s been fine. We been pretty busy,” Ovie said. “That Ruby sure is a hard worker. I’d work with that girl anytime.”
“Yeah, she sure is. I wish I had another one like her,” Wanda Nell said. “You know anybody I can call about helping out afternoons and evenings?”
“There was a girl here about an hour ago looking for a job,” Ovie said. “I told her to come back about two o’clock, that she’d have to talk to you.”
“How’d she know we needed someone?”
Ovie shrugged. “She didn’t, far as I know. Sounded like she’d been checking around, looking for work.”
“What’d you think?”
“Seemed like a pretty sharp little gal,” Ovie said after a moment’s thought. “She was dressed real neat and clean, and she spoke nice to me. Said she’s done a lot of waitressing and she could work any hours.”
Wanda Nell checked her watch. It was nearly two. “Then I hope she shows up. She might just have herself a job. I can’t afford to look around too long.”
Ovie patted her arm. “I can help out now, don’t you be fretting too much. We’ll take care of business.”
“Thanks, Ovie,” Wanda Nell said, giving the older woman a quick hug. “You’re a lifesaver.”
Ovie went back to the front dining room and Wanda Nell drifted after her. Customers were trickling out and the slow part of the afternoon was starting.
Wanda Nell checked on TJ. He was having the day’s special, chicken-fried steak, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and green beans, with blackberry cobbler for dessert. She shook her head.
“I don’t know how you can eat that much and not get as big as the side of a barn,” she told him.
He grinned up at her. “I work it off, Mama.” He took a sip of his tea. “It sure is good. That cook you got is something else.”
“I’ll pass that along,” Wanda Nell said. She picked up a pitcher of tea from the counter behind her and topped up his glass.
The door opened and in walked a young woman of about twenty-five, Wanda Nell reckoned. She approached the counter near the cash register and Wanda Nell walked forward to greet her.
“Afternoon,” she said. “Can I help you?”
The young woman, who appeared older on closer inspection, smiled at her. “I sure hope so, ma’am. Are you the lady I need to talk to about a job?”
Wanda Nell nodded and introduced herself, coming around from behind the counter.
“My name’s Katie Ann Hale,” the young woman said, offering a hand. “Nice to meet you, Miz Culpepper.”
“Why don’t you come on back here and talk with me,” Wanda Nell said, motioning toward the back dining room. “How about something to drink? Coffee, tea, a Coke?’
“I’m fine, thank you,” she said. She followed Wanda Nell into the back room.
Wanda Nell indicated for her to take a seat, and she did. “Now, Miss Hale,” Wanda Nell began, sitting down opposite her, “or is it Miz Hale?’
“It’s Miss,” she answered. “But, please, just call me Katie Ann.” She flashed a smile that lit up her face.
Wanda Nell regarded her for a moment. She sure was a pretty girl, with short, curly reddish-brown hair, a perky little nose, and a beauty mark on her right cheek. The male customers would be flirting like crazy with her.
“Okay, Katie Ann,” Wanda Nell said. “Tell me about yourself. How much restaurant work have you done?”
“I worked in restaurants ever since I was a kid,” Katie Ann said. “My daddy used to run a restaurant in Goose Creek.” Goose Creek was a small town about six miles south of Tullahoma. “I worked there all through high school and for a while after that, until my daddy died and the restaurant got sold. After that, I moved on. I worked in Memphis for a coupla years, then down in Jackson. I came back here about a year ago.”
Wanda Nell had never conducted a job interview before, but she figured she knew what the most important questions were. “Where have you worked here in Tullahoma?”
Katie Ann wrinkled her nose. “I mostly been working at the hosiery mill, but I just don’t like it. Being confined in that big old building with all them machines. I just got tired of it, so I been looking for something else.”
“We do have an opening right now,” Wanda Nell said. Should she explain why there was one? Might as well. “I have to tell you, one of our waitresses got murdered this weekend. And the owner is in jail right now.” Katie Ann’s eyes widened. Wanda Nell went on hastily. “But he didn’t do it, I can promise you that. But until everything gets straightened out and they find out who really did it I’m in charge.”
“That’s terrible,” Katie Ann said. She look
ed down at her lap for a moment then raised her eyes to meet Wanda Nell’s. “I have to tell you, Miz Culpepper, that I knew Fayetta Sutton. We wasn’t real close, but I did know her. And I heard about what happened to her.” She bit her lip. “I know this sounds awful, me turning up here so quick, but I really need a new job, and I figured y’all might need someone.”
Wanda Nell stared at her. She sure hadn’t expected this. There was something slightly ghoulish about the girl turning up like this, but Wanda Nell knew what it was like to need a job. She couldn’t blame Katie Ann, especially when there was a job available.
“Thanks for telling me that,” Wanda Nell said finally. “I certainly understand. We do need someone to work afternoons and evenings. You’d be working with me.” She explained the pay and the duties, and Katie Ann kept nodding.
“That’s all fine with me,” Katie Ann said. “When would you like me to start? I can start anytime.”
“How about this afternoon?” Wanda Nell said, standing up.
“That’s great,” Katie Ann said. “Just put me to work.” She stood up. “Am I dressed okay?’
“You’re fine,” Wanda Nell said. “Come on with me, and I’ll show you where you can keep your purse.” She led the way through the kitchen to the waitresses’ closet. “Just find yourself an empty shelf and it’s yours. Nobody’ll bother your stuff.” Not with Fayetta gone, she added grimly to herself. “Just come on out front and I’ll start showing you where everything is.”
Katie Ann nodded. She found a place for her purse and turned back to Wanda Nell.
“Here’s an apron,” Wanda Nell said. Katie Ann put it on and tied the strings neatly at the front. “Come on, and I’ll start showing you around and introduce to everybody.” They stopped in the kitchen for Katie Ann to meet Lurene and Elray, then Wanda Nell stepped out of the kitchen with Katie Ann right behind her.
Wanda Nell was about to introduce Ruby Garner when she noticed a man sitting at the counter near TJ. Her eyes widened in surprise.
What the heck was Deke Campbell doing in the Kountry Kitchen?
Chapter 10
Murder Over Easy (A Trailer Park Mystery Book 2) Page 8
