Murder Over Easy (A Trailer Park Mystery Book 2)

by Jimmie Ruth Evans

  “Did you recognize that guy?”

  Melvin frowned. “I’ve seen him around town, I guess. Why, do you know him?”

  “That’s Tommy Eccles, Billy Joe Eccles’s brother,” Wanda Nell said. Then, when Melvin didn’t react, she continued, “You know, the one who’s supposed to’ve killed his mama and daddy.”

  Melvin’s face registered comprehension. “Oh, yeah, I heard about him.” He shrugged. “But I don’t get what you’re so spooked about.”

  “For one thing,” Wanda Nell said, “he saw me this afternoon when I was snooping around somewhere I probably shouldn’t’ve been. Out at that so-called club of his brother’s. I didn’t want him to see me and connect me with you or the restaurant.”

  “Okay,” Melvin said. “He didn’t see you, far as I know.”

  “Good,” Wanda Nell said, relieved. “But you realize what it means, don’t you, him and Katie Ann being friends?”

  Melvin shook his head.

  Wanda Nell wanted to kick him. Ordinarily he wasn’t this slow. Maybe he was just worn out from being in jail, and the strain was affecting his brain.

  “It means,” Wanda Nell said, as patiently as she could, “that Katie Ann is a plant. I bet you anything Billy Joe Eccles and that bunch put her up to asking for a job. With Fayetta dead, they knew we’d need someone, and with her here, they had their very own spy right in the Kountry Kitchen.”

  “Yeah, I get that,” Melvin said, slightly testily. “But what is there for her to find out? I didn’t kill Fayetta, and she ain’t gonna find anything here to prove I did.”

  “No,” Wanda Nell said, “but what if she finds something to prove you didn’t? She waited a moment for that to sink in. “I’ve caught her snooping around, and you better believe she was looking for something. And if she found something, anything, that might point the finger at somebody else, like a member of that damn club of theirs, you can bet it’s long gone.”

  Melvin paled as the full implications of what she was saying finally sunk in. “That little bitch! I’ll fire her ass. I don’t want her back in here.”

  “You can’t do that,” Wanda Nell said, holding up a hand to focus his attention on her and stop him ranting. “I mean, you can do that, but I don’t think you should, at least not yet.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because if you fire her,” Wanda Nell said, “they’ll know you’ve figured out what she’s up to. We don’t want them to know that. Understand?”

  Melvin nodded reluctantly.

  “Now, I can’t tell you exactly what,” Wanda Nell said, “but I found what I think she was probably looking for.” She held up a hand again when Melvin started to speak. “It ain’t no use you asking me what it was. I’m not gonna tell you, for your sake. If you do have to go into court and answer questions about all this, it’s better if you don’t know about it beforehand.” She paused for a breath. “If Tuck wants you to know, it’s up to him to tell you. Okay?”

  “Okay,” Melvin said. Wanda Nell could tell he didn’t like it, but she couldn’t help that.

  She felt like a secret agent in some really crappy movie, but she also believed she was doing the right thing.

  “We just need to be real careful about anything we say in front of Katie Ann,” Wanda Nell said.

  “I don’t plan on saying much to her at all,” Melvin responded. “The sooner I can get rid of her, the better.”

  “It won’t be long,” Wanda Nell said. “It’ll all be over soon.” She prayed she was right for all their sakes.

  “I hope to God you’re right,” Melvin said. “Let’s get out of here. I just wanna go home and sleep in my own bed.”

  “You gonna be okay on your own?”

  “Why? You gonna come home with me and scare the bogeyman away?” Melvin grinned at that.

  “Not exactly,” Wanda Nell said, shaking her head at his attempt at humor. “I mean, you’re welcome to come home and spend the night with me and the girls if you don’t want to be by yourself tonight. Juliet can sleep with me, and you can have her room.”

  “Naw, I’ll be fine,” Melvin said, “but thanks for asking.”

  “Okay, then, just be careful.”

  “You think something might happen?”

  Wanda Nell shrugged. “Probably not. But I just don’t trust these guys. They might try something, because they’ll all be happier if it’s you in jail and not one of them.”

  “I can look after myself,” Melvin said, his face darkening. “They better not mess with me. I wasn’t a Marine for nothing.”

  Wanda Nell had forgotten that. When it came to a fight, Melvin could look after himself pretty well. She just hoped it wouldn’t come to that. But saying anything more about it to him right now wouldn’t do a dang bit of good.

  She and Melvin made sure everything was set for the night then she waited until the front door was locked before heading to her car. “See you tomorrow,” she called. Melvin waved to acknowledge he’d heard her as he got into his pickup.

  There was very little traffic on the drive home, and Wanda Nell made it in record time. She was locking the car when she heard Mayrene hailing her from next door.

  “Hey, Mayrene, what are you still doing up?”

  “You got time to come on over and talk a bit?”

  Wanda Nell glanced at her trailer. Everything seemed fine. Miranda’s bedroom was dark, and so was Juliet’s. “Sure,” she said.

  “How about something to drink?” Mayrene asked as she closed the door behind Wanda Nell.

  “Not for me, thanks,” Wanda Nell said as she made herself comfortable on Mayrene’s. leather sofa. “What you want to talk about?”

  “Hang on a minute, honey,” Mayrene called out as she headed into the kitchen. She came back with a bottle of beer and sat down on the sofa near Wanda Nell.

  “It’s that no-good skunk, Hector Padget,” Mayrene said after downing nearly half of her beer.

  “What’s he done?” Wanda Nell asked, vaguely alarmed. Now that she looked closely, she could see Mayrene had had more than a couple beers already.

  “That rat ain’t done nothing,” Mayrene said, “but try to talk all lovey-dovey with me, telling me how much he cares about me, and what a fine-lookin’ woman I am.” She burped. “Hell, I know that I got plenty of men telling me what a fine-lookin’ woman I am, and I don’t need some damn snake in the grass trying to cozy up to me.” She shook her head dolefully, then downed the rest of her beer. She got up from the sofa and headed toward the kitchen. “Sure you don’t want one?”

  Wanda Nell shook her head, and Mayrene disappeared into the kitchen. She came back in a minute with another beer. “The last one,” she said, brandishing the bottle. “Damn it! You got any over at your place?”

  “No, Mayrene, I don’t,” Wanda Nell said, “and I don’t think you need any more anyway. What’s got into you? You don’t drink like this.”

  Mayrene sniffled, then drank some beer. She burped. “That sonofabitch. Hector. I just can’t get over him, talking all that sweet talk to me, and all the time, him being a part of that club and whooping it up with whores and who knows what else.”

  Wanda Nell had rarely seen her friend like this. Mayrene must have cared more for Hector Padget than she’d let on, or else it was just her pride smarting a bit. “He don’t deserve a good woman like you,” Wanda Nell said. “And you know it. Ain’t no use you sitting around and crying in your beer over a jackass like that. You know better. Like you said, there’s plenty other men out there, good men, who think you’re a fine-looking woman. Don’t waste your time on him.”

  “You’re right,” Mayrene sniffed. “I shouldn’t let that jackass get to me.” She set her half-full beer bottle down on the coffee table with a thump. “And no point wasting good beer on him either.”

  "That’s the spirit,” Wanda Nell said.

  “Damn right.” Mayrene burped again.

  Wanda Nell stood up. “I think you ought to be getting to bed.”

 
“Aw, now, sit down a minute and talk to me,” Mayrene said, waving a hand in the air. “Tell me what’s going on.” Wanda Nell sat back down. Considering the state Mayrene was in, Wanda Nell didn’t want to start some long, drawn-out story about everything that had happened today. “Well, Melvin’s out of jail, and he’s back at the Kountry Kitchen. And we’re still trying to figure out who really killed Fayetta.”

  “Gotta be somebody in that damn club Mr. Hector Padget belongs to,” Mayrene said. “Right?”

  “Probably,” Wanda Nell said. “But who? And how can we prove it?”

  Mayrene sat there, silent, blinking at her. Figuring her friend was about ready to pass out, Wanda Nell stood up again. “Why don’t you let me help you to bed?”

  Mayrene flapped a hand at her. “Oh, I’m fine, honey. Just thinking. Not ready for bed yet.”

  “Well, I am,” Wanda Nell said, unable to suppress a yawn. “So I’m going to bed.”

  “Okay, you do that,” Mayrene said. She didn’t get up from the sofa.

  Shaking her head, Wanda Nell let herself out, closing the door carefully behind her. All was quiet in her own trailer, and she quickly got ready for bed. She slid into bed and was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. She awoke sometime later to the ringing of the phone.

  Fumbling with the covers, she sat up in bed and switched on the bedside lamp. Squinting at the clock as she reached for the phone, she saw that it was a few minutes past midnight.

  “Hello,” she said, her heart racing.

  “Hey, girl,” Mayrene said. “Get on over here, right now. I need you.”

  The phone clicked in her ear. Alarmed, Wanda Nell scrambled out of bed, pulled on a robe over her nightgown, and slipped her feet into her house shoes.

  What on earth could be wrong with Mayrene? When she’d left her over an hour ago, she’d seemed fine.

  The ringing of the phone didn’t seem to have disturbed either of the girls or the baby. Wanda Nell opened the door and made her way quickly across to Mayrene’s trailer. Mayrene was just coming into the living room from the direction of her bedroom when Wanda Nell stepped inside. Fully clothed, Mayrene was carrying her shotgun.

  “What’s going on?” Wanda Nell said, thoroughly alarmed. “Did somebody try to break in?’

  Mayrene laughed. “Come on, honey, I got something I want you to see.” She turned and headed back toward her bedroom.

  Her curiosity piqued, Wanda Nell followed She couldn’t imagine what Mayrene was up to.

  Mayrene walked into the bedroom, turned and with a flourish said, “He’s all yours, honey.”

  Dumbfounded, Wanda Nell stood in the doorway and stared Spread-eagle on Mayrene’s bed his arms and legs attached to the bed frame with rope, was a large, heavy set man, naked except for a leopard-print thong covering his private parts.

  Chapter 26

  “Who... who is he?” Wanda Nell finally managed to get the words out She tore her eyes from the sight on the bed and stared hard at Mayrene.

  That’s Hector Padget honey.” Mayrene guffawed. “Ain’t he a sight?’

  Padget cut loose with a few choice words, most of them describing Mayrene and various members of her family.

  In response, Mayrene took her shotgun and nudged the leopard-skin thong with it. Hector Padget shut up immediately.

  “When I want something out of you, jackass,” Mayrene said, “I’ll let you know. Till then, you just keep your mouth shut.” She turned back to Wanda Nell.

  “Are you nuts?” Wanda Nell practically hissed the words. “What are you doing?” She pointed in the direction of the man on the bed, trying not to look at him. After she had finally looked at his face, she had realized who it was.

  “Just trying to help you and Melvin out,” Mayrene said serenely. “I figured you could talk to ol’ Hector here and get a few things straightened out. You ask him some questions, and me and ol’ reliable here’ll make sure he talks,” she said, patting the shotgun.

  Wanda Nell stared hard at Mayrene. As far as she could tell, her friend was stone-cold sober. Sober, but mad as a wet hen. Wanda Nell almost felt sorry for Hector Padget. She glanced back at the bed and the large amount of exposed pale white flesh on display. Padget glared at both of them, his eyes dark pebbles of hate.

  Wanda Nell couldn’t help herself. She was tired, and the whole situation was downright bizarre. She started laughing. The man just looked so ridiculous there on the bed.

  Mayrene laughed with her till the tears ran down her face. After a couple of minutes of laughter, Hector Padget started talking again, telling them just what he planned to do to them when he got loose.

  At first both women ignored him, but as the threats grew more vicious, they stopped laughing.

  Mayrene rested her shotgun on his leg, the barrel pointing right at his thong. Padget shut up again.

  “Now you listen up, Hector. I don’t want no more smart talk out of you. None of them threats, because you ain’t gonna do one damn thing to me or my friend here. And you know why?”

  Padget didn’t respond. Mayrene jiggled the shotgun. “Why?” he managed to croak out.

  “Because,” Mayrene said, “I got two brothers who make you look puny, Hector. And you ain’t exactly petite. My brothers don’t take kindly to no jackass threatening their sister, either. You know what they’d do if they was to get hold of you?”

  Padget didn’t say anything.

  “Well, I reckon they’d take you on down to Louisiana to one of them bayous they got down there. My brothers kinda like those swamps. And they like hunting for gators. Reckon you’d like to be gator bait, Hector? Wouldn’t be the first time they took care of some jerk who pissed me off.”

  For the first time, Padget looked frightened instead of angry. Mayrene’s voice was dead cold, and Padget was buying every word of it.

  Somehow Wanda Nell managed to keep a straight face. She had met Mayrene’s one and only brother, a short, skinny, mild-mannered guy who was manager of a grocery store in Topelo. But Hector Padget didn’t need to know that.

  “I’m just asking for a little cooperation here, Hector. If you play nice and answer all our questions, then I’m gonna cut you loose. Then we’re all gonna forget this happened. I won’t tell anybody, and you won’t either. But if you try anything, just think about being gator bait. I already told my brothers all about you, and they’re just itching to go gator hunting.”

  “All right,” Padget said, his voice raspy. “Ask your damn questions. I don’t know what the hell you’re up to, but you’re just plain damn crazy, Mayrene. I don’t ever wanna see you again, believe you me.”

  “Go ahead, honey,” Mayrene said, nodding her head toward Padget. “Tell him what it is you want to know.”

  “Can’t you at least cover him up a little bit?” Wanda Nell asked in an undertone. “It’s kinda hard to think with him lying there like a beached whale.”

  Mayrene rolled her eyes, but she did twitch the bedspread around until the thong and a large amount of white flesh were covered.

  “Thank you,” Wanda Nell muttered. She moved closer to the bed and rested her hands on the brass railings at the foot. “Better get this over with. Okay, Mr. Padget what this is all about is the murder of Fayetta Sutton. You know who I’m talking about I’m sure.”

  Padget’s eyes had widened at the mention of Fayetta’s name. He didn’t say anything for a moment. “Yeah, I know who she is,” he finally admitted.

  “And I bet you know that Melvin Arbuckle was arrested for her murder.” Without waiting for a response, Wanda Nell went on. “The thing is, Melvin didn’t do it. So we’ve got to figure out who did, and that’s where you can help.”

  “How can I help?” Padget frowned.

  “I’m getting to that,” Wanda Nell said. “Now, Fayetta got up to some pretty interesting tricks, like working at a private club called the Deer Stand. I know you know all about that. You’re one of the members, aren’t you?”

  Padget didn’t say any
thing. Mayrene let him see her fondling her shotgun.

  “Yeah, I’m a member,” he said sullenly. “So what?”

  “Well, I got a good idea what really goes on there,” Wanda Nell said, not bothering to keep the distaste out of her voice. “And the kind of work Fayetta did there. Fayetta was making pretty good money, but not just from working there. She had a little extra thing going. Blackmail.”

  If anything, Padget turned even whiter at that last word. “You’re outta your ever-lovin’ mind, lady. She wasn’t blackmailing anybody.” His tone didn’t sound convincing, and he realized it himself. He swallowed convulsively.

  “She was,” Wanda Nell said. “I know she was. I found the proof of it myself. I even know how much money she was getting.”

  “So this is a shakedown,” Padget said. “You and this crazy bitch with the shotgun, you wanna take over from that whore Fayetta, don’t you? How much do you want?”

  Mayrene had bristled at the words crazy bitch, but Wanda Nell laid a restraining hand on her arm. “Neither one of us wants any money out of you,” she said coldly. “Not from you, or from anybody else that belongs to that sorry excuse for a club. What we want is the truth. We wanna know which member of the club you’re protecting. One of you killed Fayetta, and you’re gonna have to turn him over to the sheriff’s department.”

  Padget didn’t say anything, just stared at her.

  “Well, come on. Who did it? Or did y’all hire somebody to do it?” Wanda Nell didn’t want to mention Tommy Eccles, but she figured he was probably the one they got to do their dirty work for them.

  “You heard her,” Mayrene said when Padget continued to remain silent. She poked him with the shotgun.

  “I don’t know,” Padget said furiously. “I don’t know who did it.”

  “You mean you don’t know which member of the club did it?” Wanda Nell said, pressing the point home.

  Reluctantly, Padget nodded.

  “Who does know?” Wanda Nell asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Padget said. “They don’t tell me much.”

  “Who’s they?”