Toni L.P. Kelner - Laura Fleming 05 - Tight as a Tick

by Toni L. P. Kelner

  I nodded in the direction of the flea market office, and we were almost there when a dog barked and I nearly jumped out of my skin. Rusty came bounding up and scratched at the door.

  So much for keeping quiet. Maybe Evan wouldn’t panic. After all, Rusty was supposed to be there. It wasn’t until I was standing at the door next to the dog that I remembered that Evan and Bender were brothers. How did I know that they weren’t in cahoots?

  I decided it was too late to worry about that. I had to know if my cousin was all right. I called out, “Augustus, are you okay?”

  “Laurie Anne? Get me out of here!”

  The door was locked, and Richard was trying to use the tire iron as a pry bar when Bender showed up.

  “Hey there. What are you two doing out here?” He saw what Richard was trying to do. “Is there a problem?”

  If he was working with Evan, he was hiding it well, so I took a chance. “My cousin is locked in. Have you got a key?”

  “You bet.” He pulled out his keys. “Evan sent me to get office supplies, but as soon as we got back, Rusty could tell something was wrong.” I swear that he was about to stop long enough to pat the dog, but he remembered what he was doing. “Here we go,” he said, putting the key in the lock and turning it.

  Augustus swung the door open. “Have you found her? Is she all right?”

  “We don’t know—we came to get you first,” I said.

  “What did you do that for? She could be hurt.”

  “Hold on there,” Bender said. “Who are you talking about?”

  “Aunt Maggie.” I didn’t know if he’d believe his brother was a murderer or not, so I said, “The man who killed Carney has her, and we think they’re out here somewhere. We’ve got to find her.”

  I don’t know how much Bender had drunk that day, but he sobered up quickly. “Have you called the police?”

  “The line’s dead,” Augustus said, which explained why we’d been cut off.

  “Where would he have taken her?” I asked nobody in particular. The flea market suddenly seemed terribly large, with all the buildings and nooks and crannies. Would we hear Aunt Maggie if she called for help?

  “Rusty can find her,” Bender said. “All we need is something with her scent on it.”

  “What about the sheets at her booth?” I said. “She handles them every week.”

  “That should do it.”

  We hurried to her booth, and I put one of the sheets on the floor in front of Rusty.

  Bender said, “Scent, boy.”

  The dog buried his nose in the folds of the cloth, then trotted purposefully off.

  “This way,” Bender said, and we ran after Rusty. For some reason, I expected him to bay as he followed the trail, but I should have known he was too intelligent for that.

  “Do you know who’s got her?” Bender asked.

  I looked at Richard, and he shrugged, leaving the answer up to me. “We think it’s your brother.”

  I expected surprise or even denial, but all Bender did was inhale deeply and look away for a minute. Then he said, “I guess it could be Evan, couldn’t it?” No matter how much he drank, Bender wasn’t a stupid man.

  Rusty led us out the back door and toward the building Aunt Maggie called Taiwan Alley, but instead of taking us to the door, he went on past. He stopped when he got to the end of the building.

  We stopped, too, and looked around the corner. Evan Cawthorne was standing next to a Dumpster, holding Aunt Maggie’s forearm in one hand and a gun in the other. We all froze.

  “Miz Burnette, why did you run away from me?” he was saying in a frighteningly normal tone. “All I want is the map. Take me to it, and I’ll let you go.”

  “Don’t you know when you’re licked? Too many people have already seen that map, including the police.”

  “It won’t matter once it’s destroyed,” he said. “They can’t officially establish the town line without it.”

  “The town line is the least of your worries, Evan. You ought to be worrying about getting caught for Carney’s murder. Not to mention what you did to Mary Maude Foy and my nephew. If that boy’s hurt, so help me—”

  “You’re not in a position to make threats. I am. Tell me where that map is or I’m going to hurt you.”

  “Find it yourself.”

  “Like you said, I’ve already killed once. I’ve got nothing to lose by doing it again. This is your last chance.” He lifted the gun.

  “Go to Hell!”

  She sounded defiant, but I knew she was scared. Aunt Maggie never cusses.

  Augustus and Richard were nudging one another, and when Richard hefted the tire iron, I knew they were planning to rush Evan. It wasn’t a bad idea, but it seemed likely that somebody was going to end up with a bullet hole. I wasn’t willing to bet on it being Evan.

  Then I remembered the rocks in my pockets. I pulled one out and showed it to Richard and Augustus. They nodded, and Augustus pointed to a spot a few feet away from Evan. He was telling me not to try to hit him—the rock was just to distract him.

  I threw the rock as hard as I could, and it hit the Dumpster with a satisfying clang. Evan was startled enough to loosen his grip on Aunt Maggie, but when she tried to get away, he pushed her down onto the ground. Then Augustus and Richard were on top of him. Richard swung the tire iron, but Evan ducked and hit him in the face with the gun. Blood splashed from my husband’s nose. Augustus got a choke hold, but Evan fired toward him, and Augustus had to let go.

  Evan whirled, waving the gun, but I couldn’t tell who he was going to try to shoot. I pulled out the other rock and was running toward him when I heard Bender say, “Stop him, boy,” and a red blur streaked past me. Evan screamed as Rusty clamped his jaws around his arm.

  There were shots, I’m not sure how many, but they all went wild as Evan tried to fling Rusty away. Aunt Maggie grabbed one of Evan’s legs and pulled him off of his feet, and the gun fell to the ground, out of his reach. Evan scrambled to get it, but Rusty still had his arm. A second later, Richard had the other, and Augustus was sitting on top of his chest. Even then, Evan kept struggling. He didn’t give up until we heard the siren.

  Chapter 40

  It took forever to get it all sorted out. Mark didn’t want to believe us, especially when Evan calmed down enough to deny everything. I think Mark might have let him go if Trey hadn’t said, “If you don’t want to arrest him, Mark, I will. Or would you rather Belva Tucker took him in?” That got him, and he finally handcuffed Evan and put him in back of the cruiser.

  Other than scrapes, bruises, and Richard’s bloody nose, none of us was injured. Rusty hadn’t even hurt Evan all that badly, which I thought was a shame. Once we were sure everybody was all right, we let Mark take our statements.

  When Augustus and Aunt Maggie got to the flea market, they found Evan hanging around Aunt Maggie’s booth. He said that he wanted to make sure all the doors were locked, and since Aunt Maggie had known Bender to forget, she believed him. Then she mentioned that his problems out there should be over because the map had been found and he’d be able to sell the place. He played it cool at first, just said he was glad to hear that. Then he wanted to know where Richard and I had found it.

  Right after she explained, Evan asked Augustus to help him with those imaginary boxes in the office. While they were gone, Aunt Maggie started wondering how Evan knew Richard and I had found the map. It’s not like we were actively looking for it, so he couldn’t have heard any rumors. He could have heard rumors about us looking for Carney’s killer, but the only person who would have connected the murder with the map was the murderer.

  That’s when Aunt Maggie decided to see what Evan was up to. She got to the office just as he was locking the door, and saw that Augustus wasn’t with him. Then she went for the back door, meaning to get to the car and go for help. Evan caught sight of her, drew a gun, and fired, so she ran out another door, intending to double back to the car. He got there first and shot out the tires, then
cut the phone wires.

  Not knowing if Bender was in on it or not, Aunt Maggie decided to try to get to the road and flag down help, but Evan kept cutting her off. She hid behind the Dumpster for a while, but he had just found her when Rusty led us to the two of them. It was a good thing we got there in time. I didn’t have any idea that Evan would have let her go.

  As for Augustus, he was all got away with that he’d left Aunt Maggie alone. He just wasn’t suspicious of Evan because we’d been so sure that the map eliminated him as a suspect.

  Of course, when Augustus said that, Aunt Maggie figured out that we’d been watching her. I was afraid that she’d be mad, but she seemed more amused than anything else, although she did sound wistful when she said, “I thought he just liked going to auctions.”

  Mark was still acting peeved about us getting involved until Belva showed up. She’d seen the Byerly police cruiser while driving by, and wanted to know what was going on. Before Mark could explain, she lit into him for arresting Evan, saying that he ought to be sued for false arrest.

  Maybe Mark hadn’t believed us before, but he wasn’t going to admit it then. He told her that he had evidence that Evan Cawthorne was a murderer, and if she didn’t like it, she could take it up with the judge. Then she said that she should be the one to take Evan into custody, but Mark wasn’t about to let her get away with that. When she fussed, Arthur, who’d arrived right after Trey and Mark, showed her the map. It proved that Carney’s murder had taken place in Byerly, giving Mark jurisdiction.

  After Belva drove off in a huff, and Mark and Trey left to take Evan to jail, I noticed Bender standing off to one side, alone except for Rusty.

  I went to pat the dog. “Good boy, Rusty,” I said, and I meant it. I didn’t want to think about what could have happened if he hadn’t been there. Then I said, “Bender, I’m sorry about your brother.”

  “I am, too,” he said sadly. “Money has always been real important to Evan, but I didn’t think it was that important.”

  “The love of money is the root of all evil,” Richard said, coming up behind us.

  “I don’t think it was just the money,” Bender said. “It was him wanting to prove that he’s something more than trailer trash.” He shook his head sadly, and he and Rusty went back to his trailer.

  The rest of the week was busy by most standards, but compared to what we’d been doing, it was quite relaxing. We spent a lot of time visiting folks, but we got to sleep late. We had to tell Junior everything when she got back in town, but she was a very appreciative audience. Winning that bet had made her mighty happy.

  We also got to spend time getting reacquainted with Augustus. One evening, Richard took him to the V.F.W. to introduce him to Vivian, and she talked him into joining her veterans’ support group.

  By the time his birthday party rolled around on Saturday night, Augustus looked like he was ready to start a new year. I hadn’t found the right time to tell him my idea for his new job, but as it turned out, I didn’t have to.

  Aunt Maggie, Augustus, Richard, and I were going through the whole story again for Aunt Nora. She’d heard it all before, but wanted to make sure she hadn’t missed any of the details.

  When we finished, she said, “All these years I felt so sorry for Evan. Who’d have thought he’d stoop low enough to take advantage of a man’s mental illness.”

  “I still feel bad about that,” Aunt Maggie said. “If I’d kept my mouth shut, Carney might still be alive.”

  But I said, “Probably not, Aunt Maggie. I ran into Bender at the police station, and he told me something. You remember saying how Carney needed a booth right by the door? It wasn’t a coincidence that he got that spot. He specifically asked for it. Evan wasn’t going to let him have it, because somebody else had asked for it first, so Carney had to tell him why he needed it.”

  “Then Evan already knew about the agoraphobia?” Aunt Maggie said.

  “He’s known about it for years.”

  She looked like she felt better for a minute, but then said, “At least he never told anybody like I did.”

  “Think about it this way. If you hadn’t felt guilty about telling people, you wouldn’t have asked me and Richard to find out who killed him. And if we hadn’t known about the agoraphobia, we wouldn’t have been able to find where Carney hid the map, and we probably wouldn’t have figured out who killed him. If you did owe Carney anything, you’re even now.”

  She didn’t say anything at first, but then she said, “Thank you, Laurie Anne.” If I hadn’t known better, I’d have sworn she teared up a little, but if she did, it didn’t last long.

  “How on earth did Carney end up with that map anyway?” Aunt Nora wanted to know.

  “Thatcher Broods sold it to him,” Aunt Maggie said. “Thatcher bought some knives from an estate sale at Clara Jean Hemby’s house. Do you remember Clara Jean, Nora? She used to be town clerk.”

  “Didn’t Big Bill fire her a long time ago for stealing?” Aunt Nora asked.

  “I don’t know if she stole anything before she was fired, but if she didn’t, she made up for it when she cleaned out her office afterward. She took all kinds of papers that didn’t belong to her, just to make trouble. Somewhere along the line, that map ended up wrapped around the knives Thatcher bought. He told Mark he thought it was just trash, but when Carney bought the knives from him, he knew exactly what it was.”

  I continued the story. “We’re not exactly sure what happened next, because Evan’s lawyer won’t let him say anything. We think Carney tried to sell the map to Evan and Evan said something that made Carney realize that Evan didn’t want it found, and somehow Carney figured out Evan’s tax problem. We know Evan knew about the taxes, too, because Belva found a spreadsheet where he’d worked out estimates of how much he owed. Anyway, Carney tried to blackmail Evan, but Evan didn’t trust Carney to keep quiet, so he decided to kill him.”

  Aunt Nora shook her head, and I could tell that she didn’t understand how Evan could have done it. I didn’t really understand it, either. I knew there were circumstances under which I’d kill, but I couldn’t imagine killing for money. Then again, I’ve never been as poor as Evan Cawthorne had.

  “What’s going to happen to the flea market?” Aunt Nora asked.

  “Bender is going to keep running it,” Aunt Maggie said. “Even though he’s in jail, Evan hasn’t given up, and he’ll need the flea market money for lawyer’s fees. Everything else is still tied up in the condos. The funny thing is, if the condo deal works out, he might still end up rich.”

  Richard said, “Speaking of the flea market, what did the other dealers think about Evan being the killer?”

  Aunt Maggie rolled her eyes. “Most of them had the story wrong, and of course Mary Maude and Mavis made out like they’d suspected Evan all along. Everybody was real sorry you two didn’t come out today. They wanted to apologize for the way they acted and congratulate y’all for catching Carney. Ronald even made y’all a pair of rings—I’ve got them in the car.”

  “Thank him for us, and give them all our regards.” It would have been nice to have gone out there, but Richard and I had spent a very pleasant day alone.

  “Laurie Anne, J.B. said he wanted to thank you,” Aunt Maggie said.

  “For catching Carney’s killer?”

  “No, for helping him get Annabelle Lamar to drop the custody suit. You told him that you saw Annabelle with Mrs. Samples at the auction, and he asked Mrs. Samples about it. It turns out that Annabelle was trying to bribe her to keep quiet.”

  “What does Mrs. Samples know about Mrs. Lamar?”

  “Despite Annabelle being so snooty about Tight as a Tick,” Aunt Maggie said, “she spends a lot of time at the Metrolina Flea Market in Charlotte. It turns out that most of those antiques she’s been claiming are family heirlooms were bought from the Samples. When Annabelle saw them at Tight as a Tick the day we met her, she was worried that her secret would come out. J.B. figured that if she was lying about
that, she just might be lying about other things. So he went to see her and told her he was going to ask some questions about her in her hometown. She turned white as a sheet, and begged him not to. She offered him money, too, but all he wanted was for her to leave him and Tammy alone.”

  “That’s wonderful,” I said.

  “Well, Aunt Maggie, after all these carryings on, I know you’ll be glad for things to get back to normal,” Aunt Nora said.

  “I guess,” Aunt Maggie said, “but I was just getting used to having company. It’s going to be right lonely once Laurie Anne and Richard go back to Massachusetts.”

  “Not necessarily,” I said, looking pointedly at Augustus. He looked back at me, and then at Aunt Maggie like he was thinking. She looked at him, then at me like she wondered what I meant. I wanted to say something, but resisted as hard as I could. I didn’t want to push either of them into a situation they didn’t want.

  Augustus finally said, “Actually, Aunt Maggie, I was thinking I could start going with you.”

  Despite what she’d just said, Aunt Maggie bristled. “I’ve been doing fine for years—I don’t know that I need any help now.”

  “It’s me that needs help,” he said. “I want to learn the business.”

  She looked dubious, so I pointed out, “Augustus spent a lot of time at the flea markets in Germany, and you saw how good he is at selling.”

  “You’re not so bad at selling yourself, Laurie Anne. Augustus, you know I work long hours—the flea market is open every weekend. And I spend a lot of time at auctions and going to the thrift stores. You won’t be able to go out all the time.”

  “That’s all right,” he said.

  “And it’s my business. You’ll have to do like I say.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “It’s not much money. I make enough for me, but I don’t know that we can make enough to support you, too.”

  “I’ve got some money saved up to keep me going until we see if we can build up the business. If that gives out, I’ll get a part-time job someplace where I won’t have to work weekends.”