Death On Bingo Night

by Nancy McGovern

  “I’m sure he’s watching over you somehow,” Nora smiled sadly.

  Mrs. Dobbs wiped a tear from her eye. “Well, if he was, he’d say, ‘Now’s not the time to be weak, Lucy!’”

  “I agree.” Nora nodded. “Now’s the time to tell the truth, Mrs. Dobbs. All of it. Then, maybe we can put our heads together and figure out who really killed Mrs. Hanes.”

  “So you do believe me?” Mrs. Dobbs looked up at Nora, hope reigniting her eyes.

  Nora bit her lip, unable to lie. “Perhaps I’ll believe you when you tell me your story.”

  “Sean didn’t believe me. I hope you do,” Mrs. Dobbs said.

  Once again, preferring not to make promises she couldn’t keep, Nora stayed silent. Mrs Dobbs settled into one of the armchairs, and turned her head away from Nora. She was looking out the front window, clearly agitated. Nora turned to follow her gaze.

  “That’s where I saw her last night,” Mrs. Dobbs said.

  “Saw who?”

  “Anna. Mrs. Hanes,” Mrs. Dobbs said. “She was standing at my window, peering in!”

  “Good heavens!” Nora exclaimed. “When was this?”

  “Near midnight,” Mrs. Dobbs replied.

  “Wait… where were you?”

  “I couldn’t sleep,” Mrs. Dobbs said. “As you might guess, I was still fuming with anger about everything that had happened earlier in the day. I picked up Sparky and sat right here, with him in my lap. Eventually, I grew drowsy and switched off the lamp.” Mrs. Dobbs extended a hand towards her side table, and demonstrated, flicking the lamp off and on. “I must have fallen asleep in the armchair around 11. A little while later, I woke with a start. Sparky was growling softly.”

  “Sparky? Is that your dog?”

  “That’s right,” Mrs. Dobbs nodded. “He’s with Claudia James right now. She offered to take care of him while I was in jail. In fact, I must go get him and bring him back home. He’s my precious little beagle. Sweetest dog you’ve ever seen. I’ve never seen him growl in my life. But he was staring at the window, and the hair on the back of his neck was spiked up. I got such a scare. The first thing I saw was Mrs. Hanes, with her face peering in through the window! I froze. I was still sleepy and part of me thought that maybe she was here for revenge. By the time my brain started working, she’d already turned away and gone off!”

  “That sounds pretty scary,” Nora said.

  “It was very scary,” Mrs. Dobbs agreed. “Of course, Anna lives…lived…right across the street from me. So it wasn’t completely unfeasible.”

  Nora got up, dusting her jeans. Her mind was racing. “Why would she come here?” Nora wondered. “What did she want from you?”

  “I don’t know,” Mrs. Dobbs sighed.

  “Well, it should be easy enough to prove anyway.” Nora opened the door, went down the stairs and into the garden. She tried to figure out the spot Mrs. Hanes might have stood at. Sure enough, there were footprints in the garden. Nora smiled triumphantly. “Right! There’s proof you’re telling the truth. Sean should be happy with this!” She beamed up at Mrs. Dobbs, whose face was emotionless. Almost immediately, Nora figured out what she - and Sean - were thinking. “It’s not good,” Nora said, almost to herself. “If anything, it’s just further proof against you. Mrs. Hanes was in your garden at midnight- that’s all these footprints prove. They don’t prove that you didn’t kill her.”

  “Exactly,” Mrs. Dobbs agreed. “I hurried to the door, but Anna was already gone. She was cycling off towards the hall. Well, my blood was heated by now. I decided I’d follow her and confront her, if possible. I left Sparky behind, got into some decent clothes and headed off.”

  “How did you know where to go?” Nora asked. “She must have been out of sight by the time you gave chase.”

  Mrs. Dobbs shrugged. “Easy. There was a light rain last night, and her cycle’s tires were muddy. I had a clear trail to follow. Besides, I had a hunch she was going to the hall.”

  “So, you reached the hall. What then?”

  “I...” Her composure broke. Mrs. Dobbs’ face contorted with unhappiness. “I honestly don’t remember!” Her eyes welled with tears. “It’s like my mind has blocked out the memories. I remember that I cycled to the hall. I remember leaning my cycle against a wall. I remember thinking it was strange that Anna Hanes was sitting in the car and then...” Mrs. Dobbs started shivering. “I opened the door and I couldn’t stop screaming. She was already dead. I grabbed the knife out of her back instinctively…I think. Then I fainted.”

  Nora bit her lip. Despite all her cynicism, despite knowing that a murderer could also be a coldblooded liar, Nora simply couldn’t believe that Mrs. Dobbs was one anymore. The lady’s face shone with fear, and also with the simple truthfulness of one who has nothing to gain from lying.

  “I do remember one thing, though,” Mrs. Dobbs said. “A yellow rain poncho. One of those cheap plasticky looking ones. I saw someone running away. Man or woman- I couldn’t tell you. But they must be the murderer!” Mrs. Dobbs was becoming hysterical. “You have to believe me, Nora. The murderer is still out there. And you have to do something to find him or her…or else… I’m afraid they might strike again.”

  “Come now, Lucy.” May Almand appeared, as if from thin air, and Nora realized that she’d probably been listening to them all along. “The doctor said your nerves are shot to pieces. Let’s get you back to bed.”

  Mrs. Dobbs ignored her and clutched Nora’s wrist, her hands squeezing with surprising strength. “You believe me, don’t you? Say you do!”

  “I believe you,” Nora said, keeping her voice calm, even as her wrists hurt. “But May is right. You need to rest, Mrs. Dobbs. You’ve got a long legal battle ahead of you.”

  “It’s the ladies’ club,” Mrs. Dobbs said suddenly. “One of them has done her in. Anna Hanes was a nasty woman, but I can’t think of who would want to kill her- or why. It’s tied in to that missing money in the club. It has to be!”

  “What missing money?” Nora asked.

  “The money they accused me of stealing,” Mrs. Dobbs replied. “Anna and I were both responsible for the treasury. Ask Claudia James if you don’t believe me. She’ll tell you all about it. Whoever framed me must be the one that killed Anna!”

  *****

  Chapter 6

  The Witness

  Claudia held the door open a crack and looked reluctant to let Nora inside her home. The cheerful, bubbly host of yesterday seemed to have vanished, and been replaced with an irritable, red-eyed woman. Nevertheless, she looked as though she were about to head out. Her hair was up in a sleek bun and she wore an olive-paneled dress with navy blue peep-toes, looking very business like.

  “I’m sorry,” Nora said. “I know that you were close to Mrs. Hanes. I was wondering if I could come in.”

  “I’m afraid not,” Claudia said. “Is this about the payments?”

  “Payments?” Only then did Nora remember that with Mrs. Hanes gone, she’d need to contact someone else at the Ladies’ Club about her catering charges. “Well, not exactly. I was actually hoping to just talk…”

  Claudia didn’t seem to buy this. “Sure. Look, Nora, we’re all in a bit of shock at the moment. You’ll get your money, believe me. It’s just going to take some time while we figure it out. As a matter of fact, I’m on my way to the club now. Jane Strathclyde called an emergency meeting.” Claudia looked down at her watch, and muttered something to herself.

  Nora had a burst of inspiration. “I’m actually here for Sparky,” she said. “Mrs. Dobbs asked me to thank you for keeping him. But she can take him back now.”

  Claudia gave a little ‘tsk’ of irritation. “That dog! He’s been driving me up the wall. I don’t know why I offered to keep him! I had a terrible night.”

  “I can imagine,” Nora said. “You’re the most important witness in the case, as of now. Isn’t that right?”

  Claudia straightened her shoulders. “Well… I’ll do what I must, of cou
rse.” She was trying her best to act modest, though Nora could sense that she was pleased at being flattered.

  “Everyone said you were such a brilliant host, too,” Nora said. “How terrible that the evening ended so… brutally. Your nerves must be shot.”

  “They are, as a matter of fact.” Claudia smiled at Nora. She looked down at her watch. “You know, maybe we have some time for a cup of coffee. Nobody ever comes to these meetings on time. Fifteen minutes only- is that ok?”

  “More than ok.” Nora followed her inside.

  If Lucy Dobbs’ house had been cozy and warm, Claudia’s house was sleek and modern. From the retro-futuristic furniture of the 1960s, to the shiny white surfaces, new electronics and the abstract art on the wall, everything in the house looked as though it were out of a magazine. Yet it felt cold and empty, somehow too modern to suit Nora’s taste. The various framed photos of Claudia with her husband and two teenage sons seemed posed, instead of natural, as did the various trophies and certificates adorning one wall.

  As if she could read Nora’s mind, Claudia said, “It’s different now that the boys have gone off to college. My house was never so clean before. Never so empty either.”

  “You must miss them,” Nora said.

  “I do. It doesn’t help that my husband is almost always away on business,” Claudia sighed. “Still, it wasn’t so hard to let them go. The boys were always independent.”

  “So you were alone last night?” Nora asked.

  Claudia nodded. “I was. Scared me half to death when Lucy Dobbs started screaming. I ran out with my gun-”

  “You have a gun?” Nora raised an eyebrow.

  “Oh, yes. Scott was insistent that I get trained. He’s big on self-defense. Last year he even gifted me karate classes for my birthday!” Claudia threw back her head and laughed. “Karate classes! I chewed his head off for that! He got me a nice diamond bracelet soon after. Men have no brains sometimes. Karate classes as a birthday gift, I tell you!”

  Nora smiled politely. “So, you ran out with your gun?”

  “That’s right,” Claudia nodded. “I’m the one who called 911, and I’m the one who saw Lucy.” She sighed, as she poured Nora a cup of coffee. “I’m not sure, Nora… I mean, I know I’m the main witness. If they sentence Lucy, my testimony will have a big hand in it. But…” She shrugged. “I don’t know. It feels really weird to have someone’s life in your hands that way. I don’t want to hurt Lucy… but maybe it’s my duty to.” She took a dramatic breath and looked at Nora through lowered eyelashes. “Do you know what I mean?”

  Nora knew- at least, she thought she did. Despite Claudia’s protests about not wanting to hurt Lucy, Nora could detect a thin thread of excitement underneath it all. Claudia, Nora thought, was bored. And this was an exciting new development in her life that she couldn’t have predicted before.

  “Did you run out immediately last night?” Nora asked. “In your PJs, I mean? It must have been cold and rainy...”

  “Oh, I hardly even noticed!” Claudia said. “I just grabbed my raincoat on the way out and swung it over me. I was out for a good hour after, shivering so hard.” She sipped her coffee, savoring it as though the cold had slid under her skin again. “I hope nothing like that ever happens to me. I always felt so safe in Milburn. Now that illusion is shattered. Apparently Milburn’s a place like any other. Evil can find it’s way here, too.”

  “Well, I guess it’s our job to root it out,” Nora said. “The way your club rooted out Lucy’s theft.”

  “Yes.” Claudia shifted uncomfortably. “Lucy’s theft. Of course.”

  “That had to be her motive, right?” Nora asked. “That and being denied the car.”

  “Uh-huh,” Claudia nodded. She seemed uncertain.

  “Do you really believe that Lucy was the one who stole that money?” Nora asked.

  “Well… Anna Hanes believed it,” Claudia said. “She made us all boot Lucy out of the club.”

  “Made you?” Nora raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t want to, then?”

  “Anna was very persuasive,” Claudia sighed. “I was all for letting it get swept under the rug. I didn’t want Lucy to suffer. After all, she started the club. But Anna, well, Anna wanted to be president really badly. She has for a while. Lucy always got the post because of seniority. After the money was stolen, Anna was the obvious choice for president.”

  “How was the money stolen?”

  “We collect dues every year- the total was nearly 3000 dollars. A hefty sum. This year, it was kept in a collection box stored in our club’s office. Lucy Dobbs and Anna Hanes each had one key to the box,” Claudia explained.

  “How long ago was this?”

  “About a month ago. And it was quite the scandal,” Claudia said. “It caused a wide split in the club, with a lot of people believing Lucy had done it and some, like me… who wondered if Anna hadn’t framed her in order to become our president.”

  “Anna frame Lucy?”

  “Lucy never named names, but she kept saying that she was innocent, and that she’d been framed,” Claudia confimed. “I don’t know… I’m sorry to say I voted against her in the end. Anna kept saying it had to be Lucy. The evidence was all against Lucy, too. We collected the dues on a Friday. The money got stolen on the weekend, and Anna was out of town then. She was on a road trip to Colorado with Jane Strathclyde. So the only person who had the keys and the chance to do it, was Lucy. When we opened the box on Monday to count out the money, it was gone.”

  “I see,” Nora sighed. “So it probably was Lucy, then.”

  “Maybe.” Claudia looked sad. “It’s just… Lucy always seemed so honest to me. I wish I didn’t have to testify against her.”

  “When you ran out on the night of the murder, did you see anyone else on the street?” Nora asked.

  Claudia shook her head. “Sean asked me this already. No- well…” she hesitated. “It all happened so fast, you know?”

  “You saw something?”

  “I can’t be sure… but I might have seen a yellow streak of some sort disappear behind the hall,” Claudia said. “Lucy claims she saw a man in a raincoat too, right?”

  “She says she saw a person in a yellow raincoat,” Nora agreed. “Man or woman, she couldn’t tell.”

  “Well, maybe that’s the murderer.” Claudia rose. “Hey, I’d love to chat more but our fifteen minutes are done. Thanks for coming, Nora. I promise I’ll bring up your payment with the club. Maybe we can even figure it out as early as this week.”

  “Take your time,” Nora said. She put down her cup and was about to leave when Claudia stopped her.

  “Aren’t you forgetting something?” she asked.

  Nora raised an eyebrow.

  “The dog,” Claudia said. “Sparky. You’re supposed to take him back to Lucy Dobbs.”

  Sparky the dog was a tan and black beagle with ears that seemed to nearly brush the floor as he walked. Claudia had locked him in an upstairs room filled with cardboard boxes and piles of “to-be-discarded” clothes.

  “Sorry about the mess,” Claudia said non-chalantly. “He raided my pantry this morning and made a huge mess. Ate some cookies and the sugar probably overexcited him. I spent an hour cleaning up. I locked him in here so he could sleep off his sins.”

  “Ah,” Nora smiled. Sparky was lying on his side, his big brown eyes staring off into the distance.

  “Sparky! Come here, boy. You’re going home!” Claudia called. The dog blinked at her,and gave an oddly slurred bark.

  “What’s wrong with him?” Nora frowned.

  “He’s being lazy, that’s all.” Claudia squatted down, whistled, and clapped her hands. “Come on Sparky. Come.”

  Reluctantly, Sparky got up. He lurched as he did and then crashed back down. With another bark, he attempted to hoist himself on his feet, tilting precariously as though he were on a moving floor.

  “Whatever’s the matter!” Claudia exclaimed. “He wasn’t acting like this before.” He
r brows furrowed. “He’s an old dog… I hope… maybe we should take him to the vet.”

  “He looks drunk, actually,” Nora commented. “You said he got into your pantry?”

  Claudia’s face paled a little. “Yes… it’s possible something he ate disagreed with him. Well, I’ll take him to the vet immediately, then.”

  “You have your meeting,” Nora said. “I’ll take him down to Dr. Kent’s place.”

  “Oh, no. I’ll take him myself. I feel responsible,” Claudia said.

  “It’s no problem,” Nora assured her.

  But Claudia was insistent. “I’ll take him.”

  “I’ll accompany you, then.”

  “It’s very kind of you, but there’s no need.” Claudia stood up, and picked up Sparky, cuddling him. “Thanks for everything, Nora. I’ll see you soon. Tell Mrs. Dobbs I’ll drop Sparky off myself.” She led Nora outside, locking the door behind her. Nora waved as Claudia’s car sped off.

  “Cookies, hmmm?” Nora muttered to herself. She watched Claudia’s car melt into the horizon and, hesitating only for a second, she opened the gate and walked back into the yard. Hoping that nobody would see her, she went to the back of the house and gave a happy exclamation as she saw a large garbage can with a tilted lid and a plastic bag stuffed into it.

  She dug out the bag and went through the contents carefully. Half the bag was coated with flour, the other half filled with damp paper towels. It was a rather smelly mess, and Nora had to force herself to keep looking. She gave a happy little grunt and drew out a few dark bits that looked as though they had been swept in along with the flour. Cookie crumbs.