Eccentric Lady

by Curry, Edna

  “Yeah. Their stuff is pretty tempting. Lucky for me I don’t have a weight problem.”

  “So, did you check out Agnes’ license number?”

  “No. No reason to.”

  “Just to make sure she wasn’t in an accident or anything?”

  Ben sighed and stretched out his long legs, propping them up on his desk and crossing them. He leaned back in his chair and sipped his coffee. “Yes, Lacey. I did check for that when Patti came to see me. It hasn’t come up in any investigation that I saw.”

  “Good. I’ll check the hospitals myself.”

  “You do that. Might as well earn your fee, Lacey girl.”

  I snorted. I hate when he calls me that. I know he’s trying to look out for me because he was my uncle’s good friend, and he means it as an endearment, but it feels condescending, like you pat your dog on the head. “Humph. So who did you talk to about this?”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Lacey, don’t get involved in snooping into Agnes’ business. She’s a pretty private person. I like her and I get the feeling that niece and nephew are just money-hungry. They’d like to think she’s too old to take care of her own business, so they can take over. I’ve run into that Corey a couple of times. If he hadn’t left my territory, he’d probably be behind bars.”

  I sipped my coffee and stared at him. What was going on here? Why was Ben so upset just because Patti thought her aunt was missing? “I don’t get it, Ben. I thought Agnes was only fifty-seven. That’s not old.”

  “Not to you and me. But to kids just out of college, anything over forty is having one foot in the grave.” He finished off his coffee and crushed the cup, tossing it toward the wastebasket in the corner, where it landed on the floor. “I just don’t want you to do a job for nothing. She’ll go back to Chicago and leave you hanging. And when Agnes finds out you’ve been snooping into her business, your name will be mud. She hates talking about herself more than anything, Pastor Jim says. And I reckon he knows her better than anyone around here.” He rubbed the side of his bony, crooked nose. It seems to bother him, because he does that often, especially when he’s a bit upset.

  “So you talked to Pastor Jim?” He was the one Nora worked with at the First Christian Church. I remembered him as young, ambitious and friendly.

  “I’m not giving you information, Lacey girl. Just advice. Stay out of society ladies’ affairs. They might seem polite and charitable, but believe me, when you cross them, they get pretty nasty. You hear me, now?”

  “Sure, Ben.”

  His phone rang and he took his feet off his desk and answered it, sending me a frown which meant this interview was over. I could take a hint.

  I rose, crushed my empty coffee cup and tossed it into the waste basket. I didn’t miss. I played basketball in high school. I sent him a triumphant grin as I left.

  “Show off,” he said with a snort.

  ***

  I stopped at the bank and deposited Patti’s check. Now I could pay some overdue bills. Then I dropped in on Pastor Jim. I knew the young pastor usually kept morning office hours and I could probably catch him at the church. Later in the day, he was usually out and about, seeing shut-ins or visiting nursing homes.

  The church parking lot was almost empty on a Monday morning. He was in his office, his face glued to his computer. I knocked on the side of his open door and he turned to greet me. “Hi, Lacey. Have a chair. What brings you here?”

  After chatting a bit, catching up, I asked, “When did you last see Agnes Simms?”

  He scratched his head. “I think it was Thursday. Yes, she stopped to get an updated schedule for the ladies who are delivering Meals on Wheels. Why? What’s up?”

  “Her niece, Patti Jones, is here from Chicago. Have you met her?”

  He shook his head. “I think Agnes has mentioned her, but no, I don’t think I’ve met her. She’s a realtor or something like that, isn’t she?”

  “Interior Designer. Has her own business. She says Agnes is missing. She asked me to try to find her, just to be sure she’s all right.”

  “Missing? Not just traveling?”

  I shook my head. “Apparently Patti and Agnes regularly meet in the Twin Cities. They had plans this past weekend, but Agnes didn’t keep them. And now Patti can’t reach her. We went to her house but she’s not there either. Patti says she’s very reliable, never breaks a date without telling her.”

  “Hm. I’ve found that to be true here, too. So that’s why Sheriff Kelly called me this morning asking if I knew where Agnes was. Thought that was odd, but you know Ben. He likes to ask questions but not answer them.”

  I laughed. “That’s Ben all right.”

  He reached for his phone. “I can ask Helen if Agnes took her turn at the Food Shelf this morning.”

  “Thanks.” I listened to him talk to Helen, who evidently did the scheduling.

  When he hung up, Jim said, “Helen got an email from Agnes on Friday, canceling her turn for all of this week. Helen was peeved, because she couldn’t find another volunteer on short notice and had to fill in herself.”

  “Did Helen say why Agnes had cancelled?”

  He shook his head, running a hand through his short hair. “Apparently not. That’s not unusual, though. Agnes is a very close-mouthed person. She doesn’t often volunteer any information about herself or what she’s up to. But I’m sure she had a good reason to cancel. Tell Patti that and don’t worry about it.”

  “I’ll do that.”

  “Your mother used to work with Agnes here on various church functions, as I recall. How is Kate?”

  “Mom’s doing fine.”

  “Is she enjoying living in Florida?”

  “Yes, she and Carl like it there.”

  “Hm. I thought maybe they’d come back for summers to get away from the heat down there.”

  I smiled. Mom and I don’t get along all that well, so I was glad she didn’t. “She hasn’t mentioned doing that. I think she just stays in their air-conditioned condo when the weather gets hot.”

  “I suppose. Tell Kate she’s missed here.” He looked disappointed.

  “I’ll do that.” One less wealthy parishioner for his flock, I assumed. “Thanks for your help.” I shook his hand and strode out.

  His secretary saw me walk past through the open door of her office next door and called goodbye. I returned the greeting.

  ***

  When I got home, Scamp waited at my door to be let out for a run. I clipped on his leash and ran with him along the path next to the lake.

  It was a gorgeous spring day and a fresh breeze ruffled my short hair. The scent of evergreens tickled my nose. Scamp barked at a squirrel and pulled at his leash, wanting to chase it, but I resisted and coaxed him to turn back home.

  I filled his food and water dishes and went down to my office to call the area hospitals. They no longer give out patient info, due to privacy laws, but I have friends who work there. At a couple hospitals where I didn’t have a friend, I merely asked to be connected to Agnes’s room to talk to her and they said they had no such patient. Not finding her was a good thing, I figured.

  Then I pulled out the jump drive I’d copied info from Agnes’ computer on and searched it for a calendar. Luckily, Agnes did keep her schedule on it.

  She was supposed to have worked at several charity affairs this week. Remembering that Pastor Jim had said Helen got an email, I opened her sent mail folder. Sure enough, there were emails to each person on her schedule for this week, canceling her appointment. So, if she’d planned to be away, why hadn’t she told Patti? Even more weird, her weekend with Patti wasn’t on her calendar. Was Patti lying to me? Or did Agnes just not include her personal appointments on her calendar?

  I called Patti and told her, “According to Agnes’s emails, she planned to be gone all this week.”

  Patti gasped at the news and her answer was shrill. “That’s ridiculous. She never said a word about it to me.”

  “Are you sure she didn�
�t just forget? Or get confused about the date she was to meet you?”

  “Never,” Patti insisted. “Aunt Agnes was very precise about things. In all the years I’ve known her, she’s never forgotten a date, or been confused about anything. There’s something wrong, I tell you.”

  “Okay, okay. I’ll keep looking into this.”

  Her voice dripped frustration. “Keep me informed.”

  “Of course.” I hung up and went back to my computer.

  Remembering the traffic cameras that capture license plate numbers, I logged into the Metro area database and requested info on Agnes’ license under Minnesota’s open records law. Then I searched for any traffic tickets or other warrants records she might have gotten over the years and found nothing. A nice clean lady, just as everyone kept saying.

  So, maybe she just wanted some time away? Was Patti getting upset about nothing? Or did she have another motive? I had no time to look into Patti’s past, though. It was time to meet Nora for lunch. Nora had invited me to her house, so I drove out on Wild Mountain Road which ran along the river. Her house was a large, red brick rambler, set back against acres of evergreens covering the hillside behind it.

  Now, in mid-April, large golden daffodils bloomed in well-kept beds under the picture windows along the front, and a manicured expanse of green lawn lay like a blanket between a concrete driveway and sidewalks. A gardener on a riding lawnmower looked at me curiously, as he continued mowing.

  Nora’s new maroon Cadillac sat in front of the double garage. I parked beside it and rang the bell on the side door. Musical chimes echoed from inside.

  Nora answered it immediately. “Come in, come in.” She smiled and gave me a hug as I stepped into her bright and cheery kitchen. Red tulips in a white vase graced the polished oak table where she had our lunch laid out.

  “I hope you like seafood salad?” she asked, pulling a large crystal bowl from the refrigerator.

  “I love it,” I said, sitting at the table. “You didn’t have to go to so much trouble.”

  “No trouble at all,” she said. “I have to eat anyway, and Carl’s not coming home today, so I’d have had to eat alone. This is much nicer.” She poured coffee and sat across from me.

  “Did you hear from Paul today?” she asked, passing me the bowl of salad.

  “No, but he called last night,” I said, helping myself to the salad. “He was on an East Coast run and said he’d be back here by the weekend.”

  Nora nodded. “Good. When you said you wanted to talk to me, I was afraid you two were having problems.”

  “Oh, no, really, Nora.” I passed the salad bowl to her. “I’m sorry I didn’t explain. I didn’t mean to worry you.”

  “That’s okay.” Nora filled her plate.

  “I just thought you could tell me something about Agnes Simms.”

  “Agnes?” Nora raised a questioning eyebrow. “What about her?”

  “Her niece, Patti, is in town from Chicago. She says Agnes was supposed to meet her in the Cities Saturday afternoon and didn’t. She also doesn’t answer her cell phone or email.”

  Nora frowned. “Well, that’s really only a few hours, Lacey. There could be a simple explanation.”

  I nodded. “That’s what I and Sheriff Ben both told Patti.”

  “She went to the sheriff just because Agnes didn’t meet her? That’s a bit extreme, don’t you think?”

  “I know. I suggested we wait, but she’s all upset. She even called Ben stupid for not filing a missing person’s report.”

  Nora laughed. “I hope if I want to get away for a bit, no one will throw that big of a fit about it. Agnes is a very nice person, don’t get me wrong. But she’s very reticent about a lot of things. She does a lot of charity work, but few people in town have ever been invited into her house. Not even me.”

  “Well, you haven’t missed much. It’s a very ordinary house.”

  Nora’s mouth dropped open. “You’ve been inside it?”

  Heat crawled up my face. “Yes, Patti took me there this morning. She has a key and insisted on searching Agnes’ files for her license plate number and stuff like that for me to try to find her.”

  “Oh, Lacey, I don’t like that a bit. Agnes will be very upset to hear Patti did that. Invited strangers into her house, I mean. Why, she nearly fired Millie Manders for letting the gardener in the house to lie down one day when he got overheated working in the yard.”

  “Really? What did she say Millie should have done?”

  “She said Millie should have called 9-1-1 and had him taken to the hospital. And maybe she should have. But Millie said he didn’t want her to do that.”

  “Well, maybe Agnes was afraid of being sued for not getting him proper care. People do seem to be sue-happy these days,” I guessed.

  “That’s true,” Nora agreed. “But Millie thought it was because she let him in the house, not because he wasn’t okay.”

  “Humph. So where do you think Agnes is?”

  “Lacey, how would I know? As I said, she’s very reticent. She seldom talks about herself. She keeps the conversation on others or on the work everyone is doing. None of us knows much about her at all.”

  “But Ben says she often travels?” I asked.

  Nora nodded. “Yes, she often goes somewhere for days at a time. She doesn’t explain herself, just frees up her schedule and leaves.”

  “But she didn’t this time?”

  “Well, I’ve only heard of one thing she didn’t cancel—her Sunday evening book club meeting. Janice said she always calls if she’s not going to come, but she didn’t yesterday. She just didn’t show up last night.” Nora got up and got a bowl of fresh-cut fruit from the refrigerator. “Dessert?” she asked, handing me the bowl.

  “Thanks. You spoil me,” I said, spooning some into the dessert dish beside my plate.

  “I love having some family to spoil,” Nora said with a smile. She reached over and patted my hand, the large diamond on her finger sparkling. “Until I found Paul and now you, I’ve never had much, you know.”

  “Thanks.” I was glad to have played a large part in her finding the twin sons she’d had to give up as an unwed teen mother. Paul had been accused of murdering his twin and it had been a scary case for both of us. But it had ended beautifully. “So it was unusual for Agnes not to call Janice yesterday?”

  “Yes,” Nora said. “But it was just a regular meeting, nothing Agnes was supposed to host or anything, so there’s no obligation for a member to call the hostess if she can’t attend, just courtesy.”

  “Still, it was unusual for Agnes not to call?” I pressed.

  “True. But I’m more worried about what Patti has you doing here. I think she’s really over-reacting. Agnes will be embarrassed if she just forgot to cancel her date with Patti and Patti goes berserk over something so minimal. Agnes can be a formidable enemy. She has a lot of influence in this town and you’re just getting your business off the ground, you know.” Nora sent me a pleading look.

  “True.” I’d been worrying about the same thing. I squirmed in my chair and sipped my coffee. Ben had felt that way, too. Something didn’t feel right here. Why was Patti so insistent something had happened to Agnes? Was she telling me everything she knew? “Well, I was just following a client’s directions. I hope Agnes is fine and checks in with Patti soon. Then I can just forget the whole thing. I’d better get back to work.”

  “Are you coming to the Chamber meeting tomorrow night? I have to speak and I’m a bit nervous. A friendly face in the audience would be nice.”

  I hesitated, then nodded. I hated Chamber meetings, but I couldn’t refuse Nora such a small thing. “Sure, I’ll be there. Thanks so much for lunch, Nora.”

  “Please, be careful.”

  ***

  I went home, let Scamp out for a run, followed him along the shore and sat at the lake, gazing out over the sparkling blue water. The weather was gorgeous, seventies and sunny, with only a light breeze ruffling my hair. I pon
dered my options. There didn’t seem to be many that Agnes wouldn’t object to if she knew about them.

  So, with a long sigh, I went back to my computer. Several emails reminded me I hadn’t quite finished up my last case of getting evidence on a cheating husband. So I pulled out my digital camera, uploaded the damning pictures of him and his new sweetie holding hands across a table at a restaurant and more of them going into a motel arm in arm. I included the exact time they’d gone inside and how much time they’d spent there before he’d left again. I sent it all to her, telling her I was quite sure that was sufficient for her lawyer.

  Another couple of emails were from local manufacturers I did work for, requesting background checks on potential new employees. The emails held the forms they’d filled out from my website, so I had all the info I needed to do that. I spent a couple of hours working on those, then a reply came in from the cheating husband’s wife, thanking me for the info and agreeing she had enough now, so I could stop watching her husband.

  So, that left me free to worry about Patti and Agnes. I could talk to more people, but the more questions I asked, the more likely my enquiries would get back to Agnes later if she was fine and the more likely she’d be embarrassed and upset about it.

  I opted for using my computer and the paid databases I had access to. Accessing them gets expensive, but sometimes it’s the quickest and shortest route to answers.

  Not this time. Agnes didn’t even seem to be on their radar, at least not under her own name. Could anyone be that squeaky clean? One speeding ticket in forty years of driving. One little fender bender six years ago that was ruled the other guy’s fault. Always paid her bills on time. Never married, divorced or had any children. That was all I found on Agnes. A very high credit score.

  Patti wasn’t quite so clean, but close. A few late payments on bills and on a bank loan, but soon corrected. Several speeding tickets and a couple for illegal parking. A medium credit score.

  Brother Corey was a different story. He had misdemeanors and traffic tickets galore. A couple of arrests included drugs, during college, but at least he’d had no convictions or time served. Nothing the past couple of years. Did that mean he’d straightened out? Or was he just getting better at evading capture? Credit score pretty low. Now based in California. I found his auto license number and then asked for a report on both Patti and Corey under Minnesota’s open records law.