“That’s the one.”
Claire met Courtenay coming up the back stairwell as she went down.
“He has a press conference this week,” Courtenay said. “How is he going to explain that bruise on his face?”
“He told me what happened,” Claire said. “I’m not going to tell the police.”
“How much did he pay you?” Courtenay said.
“Nothing,” Claire said. “As long as he doesn’t try to pin it on Pip or me I’m not going to make trouble for him.”
“He had the tar beat out of Pip,” Courtenay said. “I bet he didn’t tell you that.”
“No,” Claire said. “What a jerk.”
“I told him if he killed Pip I was leaving him and I meant it. Pip’s going to call me every night, and if he misses one call I’m outta here.”
“I didn’t realize you cared that much for Pip.”
“I love him,” Courtenay said. “And the only way to keep him safe is for me to stay with Knox until after the election is over. Then I’m leaving Knox and going to be with Pip. We’re going to get married.”
“Pip’s lucky to have you,” Claire said, although she doubted either party was going to feel very lucky after the sexual attraction wore off and Courtenay discovered Pip was already married with a bunch of kids and some very serious money problems.
“He’s lucky Knox didn’t kill him the night we all got caught,” Courtenay said.
Someone opened the door to the stairwell on the floor below.
“You mean when he caught him outside your condo?” Claire said quietly.
“No, stupid,” Courtenay said. “When Knox ran over your friend thinking he was Pip.”
“Did you see him do that?” Claire asked.
“No,” Courtenay said. “Meredith told me.”
Courtenay ran up the stairs past Claire, leaving her stunned and speechless.
Claire got back to the salon just in time for her next customer. Despite a swollen hand that hurt like hell she was able to perform the required services, but was preoccupied with what Knox and Courtenay had told her. Knox claimed he and Meredith found the body, but Meredith alleged Knox hit Tuppy thinking it was Pip. This didn’t make sense. According to Pip, on the night of the accident Meredith left Courtenay’s condo first and then Knox left. If that was true they both must have assumed Pip was still with Courtenay. It made more sense if Meredith was the first to arrive at Tuppy’s accident and Knox followed, unless Pip lied.
‘How can I believe anything any one of them told me?’ Claire thought.
A tall, thin, older woman came in and Claire did a double-take when she saw how this woman was dressed. At first she thought the woman might be homeless, based on how many tattered tote bags she was carrying and the multiple layers of worn, faded clothing she was wearing. Anticipating a request for a handout Claire opened the cash drawer, thinking she would give her a five dollar bill and send her on the way as kindly as possible.
“Can I help you?” Claire said, glancing outside, expecting to see a shopping cart piled with all the woman’s worldly goods.
“Rodefeffer,” the woman said, glaring at Claire in an imperious manner through her dirty cat-eye glasses. “Mamie Rodefeffer. I have an appointment.”
Now Claire recognized the woman as the oldest living heir to the Rodefeffer Glass fortune, probably the richest woman in town, and Knox’s aunt. It had been so many years since Claire had seen Mamie, and she had seemed old then. Claire estimated she must be close to ninety now.
She leaned forward to examine Claire through her thick lenses, which magnified her eyes to an unnaturally large size, and said, “You’re not Stephanie.”
Claire explained the situation and Mamie said, “I guess I’ll have to make do with you. Try not to muck it up.”
“I’ll do my best,” Claire said.
“Your teeth are so white,” Mamie said, getting even closer to Claire’s face. “Are they your own?”
“Please take a seat in the shampoo chair,” Claire said as she backed away. “I’ll be right with you.”
“I washed it this morning so you can’t charge me for a shampoo,” Mamie said. “Just wet it with the spray bottle and cut it. I’ll set it myself at home.”
Mamie was known for her miserly ways; Claire knew her tip would be a quarter at most. Mamie put all her tote bags down and pealed off several layers of cloth coats and cardigans.
Claire wanted to get Mamie to talk about Meredith but she needed to get there in an indirect way.
“I saw Ann Marie recently,” Claire said. “She told me to tell you hello when I saw you.”
“That gal doesn’t have the brains God gave a goose,” Mamie said. “Drank like a fish, liked to sniff the drugs up her nose, plus she chased after anything in long trousers. Knox kept sending her somewhere to dry out but she would start right back where she left off. She almost died in a car accident, you know; flying down Pine Mountain Road in a snowstorm with no clothes on, probably late for an orgy. She was in a coma and was never right in the head afterward. Knox was well shut of her.”
“And then he fell in love with Meredith.”
“Hah!” Mamie said. “Fell in love with her family’s political connections is more like it.”
“Meredith certainly has a nice tea room,” Claire ventured.
“She can’t wait for me to die,” Mamie said. “She’d like to get her hands on my glass collection but she won’t. I’m not leaving a single thing to those spoiled brats. I don’t cotton to Knox’s politics and Richard can’t keep his Johnson in his pants. No, I’m leaving it all to someone who will knock their socks off. I wish I could be there to see their faces when the will is read.”
“Does Knox know what’s in your will?”
“I told him there was no point in trying to do me in like he did Ann Marie because he wasn’t getting a penny. He tried to have me declared incompetent but the judge laughed him right out of the courtroom. ‘I’ve never met anyone saner in my life,’ the judge said. That put the bucket of lard in his place, I’m telling you.”
“You don’t really think Knox would hurt you,” Claire said.
“I wouldn’t put it past him,” Mamie said. “And I wouldn’t turn my back on that new wife of his, either.”
“What makes you say that?”
“First her father dies, then her husband dies, and each time she inherited a fortune. So how come she’s trying to borrow money from me behind Knox’s back? Said all her money was tied up in trust funds. Poppycock! She’s going to poison the soup one of these nights and then Knox will find out just how her husband and father shed their mortal coils. I made sure she knows not one penny will come to her if something happens to me. I’d rather leave everything to the lowest common guttersnipe; in fact, I did.”
Mamie cackled like a witch and Claire couldn’t help but enjoy her dark sense of humor.
“Does the guttersnipe know?” Claire asked.
“Heavens, no,” Mamie said. “I wouldn’t trust that floozy as far as I could throw her.”
Claire wondered who the lucky heir was. Mamie tipped her a quarter, just as she anticipated.
“Looks like you didn’t completely ruin it,” she said as she left. “I might even be back in a month.”
While Claire’s next customer was under the dryer Hannah came in the shop.
“Sammy’s hiding under my mother’s house and I can’t reach him,” Hannah said. “Sam’s going to hang around there and wait him out. He’ll come out as soon as he’s hungry.”
“I’m sorry for dragging your whole family into this,” Claire said. “After we get that book I swear I won’t bother you again.”
“Are you kidding? I love this kind of stuff,” Hannah said. “It beats catch-and-release possum duty any day.”
“It’s nice to have a partner in crime,” Claire said. “I’d got so used to only having myself to rely upon I forgot what it was like to have a trusted friend.”
“I’m psyched,”
Hannah said. “I’ve always wanted to be part of a vicious gang, but the ones around here are so religious.”
“Are you sure you want in on this?” Claire said. “We may be entering dangerous territory.”
“Listen,” Hannah said. “I once tased the crap out of someone who tried to kill Scott; I’m not afraid of Knox Rodefeffer.”
“Mom sent me the newspaper clipping,” Claire said. “I was very proud.”
“I thought the least they could do was name something after me, like a drinking fountain or something,” Hannah said, “or declare that day a holiday, but no. My bravery was not recognized by the mayor or his evil minions.”
“It was heroic,” Claire said. “You are clearly a fearless force to be reckoned with.”
“So spill it,” Hannah said.
Claire told Hannah about her adventure at the bank.
“How’s your hand?” Hannah asked when she was through.
“It’s not broken but it hurts like hell,” Claire said. “I keep running cold water over it to take the swelling down.”
“Okay, bruiser,” Hannah said. “So either Meredith killed Tuppy or Knox killed him and is going to blame Meredith.”
“Meredith may have told Courtenay Knox did it hoping to drive a wedge between them,” Claire said.
“I wonder where Meredith is,” Hannah said.
“Will you see if you can find out?” Claire said.
“Haven’t you heard?” Hannah said. “I’m the Masked Mutt Catcher! I’m sworn to uphold the law whenever it’s most convenient.”
“The door to the tea room was locked this morning, but the lights were on and there was a sign up saying she’d be right back. Why would she do that if she knew she was leaving for a long while?”
“She must not have known she was leaving,” Hannah said, and then changed her voice to a deep, dramatic timbre, “and death lasts a very long while.”
“I’m going to call Anne Marie,” Claire said. “Maybe she can pick up on what’s going on.”
“I’ll go up to their house,” Hannah said. “I think there may be a possum up there that needs to be captured.”
“Be careful,” Claire said.
Hannah whipped one of Denise’s haircutting capes around her shoulders and stood with her hands on her hips.
“Never fear!” she said. “The Masked Mutt Catcher is here!”
Claire had to wait another hour before she had five minutes to call Anne Marie.
“I’m sorry, Claire,” Anne Marie said. “I’ve caught a horrible cold and my instrument’s gone all wonky. I couldn’t do a reading right now if my life depended on it.”
“You know Knox better than anyone,” Claire said. “If he wanted to do away with Meredith, or quickly hide her somewhere, what would he do?”
“He used to lock me in his office safe,” Anne Marie said. “There was this one time I was drunk off my ass and the parents of this really lovely young tennis player were looking for me ...”
Claire recalled the sound of a creaking hinge she heard just before Courtenay opened the office door.
“Where is the safe hidden?” Claire asked. “I was in there this morning and I didn’t see it.”
“There’s a bookcase in front of it that’s on hinges. You have to push a button under his desk to unlock it, and then it swings outward. I don’t have the combination, though.”
“Weren’t you afraid you’d suffocate in there?” Claire asked.
“Oh, no,” Anne Marie said. “It’s climate controlled to keep the Cuban cigars fresh. I would just sleep off whatever it was I was on and eventually he’d let me out.”
Hannah came back to report that none of the staff at Knox’s house had seen Meredith since she left for work that morning. She certainly hadn’t packed anything or notified anyone she was leaving. Claire told Hannah what Anne Marie had said.
“She’s in that safe,” Claire said. “I’d bet on it.”
“Yeah,” Hannah said. “But is she dead or alive?”
Scott was sitting at the kitchen table in the Campbell’s farm house, negotiating with Sammy while Sam watched with barely concealed amusement.
“You took my pen without giving me anything in trade,” Scott said. “I want the key ring Delia gave you.”
Sammy was clutching his tin box to his chest, and his cowboy boot-clad feet were dangling from his booster seat. He shook his head vigorously and frowned at Scott.
“I’ll trade you something else, then,” Scott said. “What do you want?”
“I no give it,” Sammy said. “Delia gives it to me and I never stoled it.”
“I know you didn’t steal it,” Scott said. “I want to trade you for it.”
“You gots dollars?”
“I can’t give him money for what may be evidence,” Scott said to Sam. “Help me out, here.”
“I’ll give you ten dollars for it,” Sam said.
“Shows it to me,” Sammy said.
Sam took a ten dollar bill out of his money clip and laid it on the table. Sammy leaned over to look at it.
“That’s one, zero,” he said. “I can count twenty.”
And he did.
“Well done,” Scott said.
“Do we have a trade?” Sam asked.
Sammy grabbed the ten and was scrambling out of the chair when his father caught him by the back of his thermal underwear pants.
“Wait just a minute, son,” Sam said.
“I gotta poop,” Sammy said as he swung back and forth through the air, still clutching his tin box.
“Then I’ll hold the box for you,” Sam said.
“No,” Sammy said. “I gotta poop bad, Daddy.”
Sam carried his son into the half bath in the hallway off the kitchen, shut and locked the door. Scott could hear intense negotiations being made between father and son, and eventually Sam came out holding the tin box.
“He doesn’t have it,” Sam said.
“What?”
“He traded it to somebody, and he doesn’t know that person’s name. Somebody he met at Curtis’s gas station.”
“That could be anyone.”
“Sorry,” Sam said. “I’ll talk to Curtis and see if he remembers.”
“You know how important that flash drive is,” Scott said. “Claire’s friend may have been killed over it.”
“Do you think Claire’s in any imminent danger?”
“No,” Scott said. “Sarah would’ve liked to have dragged her into it, but now that a movie star’s involved she’s changed her focus. That movie star’s lawyer looks like someone I wouldn’t want to tangle with, but you know Sarah.”
“Let me know if Claire’s in any trouble,” Sam said. “Otherwise I’m staying out of it.”
“I can take care of Claire,” Scott said.
“So I’ve noticed,” Sam said.
Scott left the farm and drove down to City Hall to see the mayor. He wasn’t in but his secretary Kay was. Since Kay basically ran the town, she knew more than the mayor did, anyway. Scott told Kay what was going on with his mother.
“I need to know if I can take Family Medical Leave to look after my mother.”
“I’m so sorry,” Kaye said. “We don’t have it. You have to employ 50 or more people in order to be eligible, and we don’t employ anywhere near that number.”
“Can I use my vacation or sick leave to take care of her?”
“If it were up to me you could,” Kay said. “Unfortunately the city’s leave policy states that if you’re off more than a week the city has to have someone qualified take charge of the police force. I don’t think Frank or Skip have the qualifications the council would require so they’d have to hire someone to do it temporarily. You know the bureaucratic red tape around here. They’d have to call a special session to discuss it and then form a committee to address the situation. It would take them some time to write a job description, post it, and interview candidates; probably eight weeks to get someone hired. And how would the city pay
for that?”
“So I’m stuck,” Scott said.
“I’m so sorry,” Kay said. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Quadruple my salary so I can afford around-the-clock care,” Scott said. “Her health insurance won’t even pay for a decent nursing home. I can barely afford to pay home health care aides to stay eight hours every day, and you know my job is 24-hours a day. My sister’s coming over to help, but she has a job and a family she needs to take care of. Sister Mary Margrethe is going to arrange for some sitters, but Mom has to have nursing care. I can’t put that responsibility on volunteers.”
“I’ll call some of my friends and see if we can’t find some retired nurses,” Kay said. “With your permission I’d like to share information about your mother’s condition with the congregation at my church and see what we can come up with.”
“Sure,” Scott said. “Go ahead; I would appreciate any help I can get.”
“I’ll see Sister Mary Margrethe at the Interdenominational Women’s Society meeting tonight. Between the two of us we can muster the town’s Catholics and Protestants on your behalf.”
“Thank you so much,” Scott said. “I don’t know how I’ll ever repay your kindness.”
“It’s prepaid every day,” Kay said. “Every day when you show up for work and do the right thing on behalf of this town.”
“You should run for mayor,” Scott said. “I’d campaign for you.”
“I’ve been considering it,” Kay said. “I’ll let you know.”
Hannah had agreed to meet Claire at The Bee Hive after her last customer. Claire was cleaning the salon when she arrived.
“Evidently my precious angel traded the key ring to someone at Dad’s station,” Hannah said. “Dad doesn’t remember seeing it happen but he’s going to ask around.”
“Well, crap,” Claire said. “I need that book.”
“What’s the plan, Stan?” Hannah asked as she sat down in the hydraulic chair and spun it around a few times. “How are we going to defeat the evil Knox and free the fair Meredith?”
Peony Street Page 19
