Pickled (An Alex Harris Mystery)

by Elaine Macko

  My mother sighed. “I suppose you’re right. I don’t see any connection.”

  “There are still a few people from the party I haven’t spoken to yet, like Norbert Meyer, and then there’s the son and granddaughter, so I’ve by no means finished with my investigation. Hold on for a minute. I need to use the restroom.”

  All the liquid dripping into my arm needed to come out, so I tossed the blanket off and unplugged the IV machine and dragged it down the hall to the restroom. After I washed and dried my hands I ran my fingers through my hair thinking another cut was needed. I was just about to leave when I heard a familiar voice outside the restroom door.

  “Thanks, Pat. No, the police haven’t found out anything yet.”

  I was pretty sure the voice belonged to Janet, Humphrey’s granddaughter.

  “You two were close?” the other female voice, which I assumed belonged to Pat, asked.

  Janet gave a snort. “Hell no. The man was awful. He had no use for either me or my father and we didn’t care about him.”

  “I’m sorry. That must have been hard growing up like that.”

  “Not really. Humphrey liked to show me how successful he was so every once in a while he’d give me some money. Not a lot. A thousand or so, and not because he cared for me, mind you, but because he liked throwing it in my face that he had it and I didn’t. With any luck, now that he’s dead, I’ll get a pile and can buy that little cottage I’ve had my eye on.”

  “I thought you already asked him for the down payment and he said no?”

  I could hear Janet give a little laugh. At any moment my IV machine would start beeping again and I would be found out. I needed them to move away, but then maybe they were waiting for the restroom. Damn.

  “Well, now that he’s dead, I’m hoping I can get the money before the house gets sold to someone else,” Janet said. “Listen. I better get back upstairs. I’ll talk to you soon.”

  I heard footsteps, counted to ten, and then opened the door. So Janet had her eye on a nice home and Humphrey refused to help. It still didn’t sound like a strong motive to me, but then I didn’t come from a family with tons of money so I had no idea what having it just out of reach might do to a person. I hadn’t thought too much about putting Janet on my list yesterday, but despite my mother’s hope that I could whittle down my suspects, I had just added another.

  Chapter 32

  By noon my first treatment was done. Other than feeling a bit tired from the antihistamine, I thought everything went well. Appointments were set for the next treatment, which would take place in eight weeks, and my mother and I would once again go together.

  I needed to get back to my office for a meeting with Parminder Goel. Pammie, as she preferred to be called, was one of our best temps. She liked working sporadically so she could have plenty of time to get her Indian food catering business off the ground, and today she wanted to talk about hiring some of our junior temps to help her with marketing and email blasts for her new venture. If I hurried, I could stop off at the German Deli and pick up something for dinner along with some strudel for the office before my meeting with Pammie. I knew by time I got home tonight I would be much too tired to cook, and besides German potato salad and some spätzle with chunks of beef sounded good. I was eating far too much lately and not getting enough exercise. I needed to remedy that fast. I also needed to wean myself off my new addiction—apple strudel.

  The deli was in full swing with the lunch crowd picking up sandwiches, but Astrid saw me and pulled me aside.

  “What brings you here today? More questions?” She gave me a warm smile while at the same time keeping an eye on the customers.

  “No. I wanted to pick up some things for dinner and some strudel for my office.”

  “Your timing is perfect, Alex. I just made a batch. Sophie cleaned me out this morning.”

  “Sophie? I thought she was going to Wisconsin to visit her sister.”

  “She did. But they both love my apple strudel and I wrapped up what I had for her to take.” A man behind the counter caught Astrid’s attention and she waved him over. “Alex, you know my brother, Norbert?”

  I extended my hand. “We’ve met a few times through my grandmother. I didn’t know you worked here.”

  “Just a couple days a week during the lunch rush.”

  “I’d like to talk with you when you have a moment, if that would be possible.”

  “Give me your order and I’ll go get it together with your strudel while you and Norbert have a chat,” Astrid said.

  I told her what I wanted and then turned to Norbert.

  “I don’t know if your sister told you or not, but I’ve been speaking with everyone from the supper at Sophie’s request. Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?”

  Norbert sat down next to me. “Sure.” He glanced over at a crowded counter.

  “It’ll only take a couple of minutes.”

  “Okay, what do you need to know?”

  Norbert Meyer was an average-looking man. Solidly built like his sister, brown eyes, gray hair. He was good looking and if Meme hadn’t told me he was in his late seventies I would have never guessed. It seemed pickleball had a good affect on its players; keeping them young looking and healthy. Maybe I should join the team.

  “On the night of the party did you notice anything out of the ordinary? Anyone that shouldn’t have been there?”

  Norbert shook his head. “Nothing at all. Same crowd we always have for a pickleball event. Same Humphrey being a pain. Nothing that would have gotten him killed, though.”

  “It’s come to my attention that you and Marie Dupre were very friendly.”

  Norbert’s face flushed. “Where did you hear that?”

  “It doesn’t matter. What matters is whether or not Humphrey knew and was he blackmailing you?”

  “Who knows about this? I don’t want to get Marie in trouble with Sid. He’s a good guy, but he wasn’t keeping her happy, if you know what I mean.”

  Now it was my turn to blush. Norbert was Mr. November and from what could be seen through the thin silk Speedo he wore for the calendar, I assumed he was filling Marie’s needs quite nicely.

  “I’m not about to go running to Sid Dupre. I just want to know if Humphrey was blackmailing you.”

  Norbert shifted in the chair. “No, he wasn’t, but he knew about us. I told him to get lost. The night of the party he taunted me a bit so I was pretty sure he had somehow found out, but no, he never asked me for anything. Truth is, he pretty much kept his distance from me most of the time and the last month or so he hardly came into the deli, which is a good thing, trust me. But anyway, back to the party. I pulled Marie aside at some point to tell her to be prepared if Humphrey decided to tell Sid what he knew. She was quite upset, but you have to expect to get caught when you play games like we were doing. If Sid found out, well, Marie, and me, I guess, would just have to deal with the fallout. Who knows, it might have helped their marriage. Maybe all the man needed was a wake-up call to realize he was on the verge of losing his wife. Truth is by that time I had already told Marie we needed to stop. I didn’t feel right about what I was doing and I know Marie didn’t either.”

  “Here you go.” Astrid handed me a bag. “You can pay at the register,” she said and then went back to the line of customers.

  I thanked Norbert and let him get back to the counter.

  As I drove back to my office I thought about Marie. She had yet another reason to want Humphrey out of the picture. But so far I hadn’t noticed any tension between Sid and Norbert and there most certainly would have been some if Humphrey had told Sid about Marie and Norbert. So I had to wonder if Marie took care of that particular problem permanently once and for all.

  Chapter 33

  The problem with my theory was that I had too many theories. I concluded my meeting with Parminder Goel and then asked my sister, Millie and Marla to come into my office. We got plates for the strudel, cups of tea and then settled in for
a talk. I told them everything I had so far and like my mother, they felt my list needed some weeding.

  “But who can I eliminate completely?” I asked.

  “Tell me again who’s on the list and why,” my sister said. “I was concentrating on this heavenly strudel and may have missed a few suspects.”

  I rolled my eyes. My sister did love her food and I couldn’t blame her. The strudel was filled with apples and just the right amount of cinnamon and icing.

  “Okay. Sid and Marie top the chart. They both had reasons to want Humphrey dead and together they could have coaxed—hey, this is good,” I said, warming to my latest theory. “Marie could have asked Humphrey to go with her to the ladies room with the promise he could cop a feel and then Sid came in and they killed him.”

  “But didn’t you see them leave?” Millie asked.

  “That’s right,” Marla chimed in. “You and Meme waited for everyone to leave before you left.”

  “True, but I was busy packing up and I didn’t pay any attention to the people as they walked out. Remember, at that point I had no reason to be suspicious of anyone. Someone could have lingered behind or come back in and I didn’t notice.”

  “I see those wheels turning,” Sam said. “What are you thinking?”

  I licked icing from my finger and grabbed a napkin. “I’m thinking I need to go back to the Veterans Hall and have a look around, especially outside. Everyone could have left and then someone could have come in through another door. Gosh, I feel like I’m not on the ball with this one.”

  “You have other things on your mind right now with your recent diagnosis,” Marla said. “That’s why we’re going to help you sort it out. Who’s next?”

  “I heard something interesting at the hospital.” I told them about Janet Bryson.

  “Does Janet know for certain whether or not she’s in the will?” Marla asked again. “She may hope her grandfather left her something, but would she kill him on just a hope?”

  I shrugged. “I have no idea. Sophie didn’t mention the terms of the will to me and neither did Janet when I spoke with her.”

  “What about the other couple, Alex?” Millie pushed her dark hair over her ears and then reached for her tea cup.

  “Lester and Phyllis Holt. I would imagine Phyllis had the stronger motive of the two.”

  “Unless her husband found out Humphrey was blackmailing his wife over her past drinking problem, then he’d have a pretty strong motive as well. Tell us more about the art gallery guy,” Sam said. “Does anyone want another piece?” We all nodded and Sam sliced thin pieces for each of us.

  “The gallery owner, Mr. Hildebrand, had some trouble in Europe. I don’t know all the details, but I guess he was selling off art either he didn’t own or was selling it for someone else who also didn’t own it. What would his motive be?”

  Marla swallowed a bite of strudel and then said, “Until you find out exactly what he and Humphrey were up to, you won’t know, but here’s a couple of theories. Let’s say Humph took something to the gallery owner and he sold it and cheated Humph out of some money. A fight could have ensued and Mr. gallery owner kills Humph.”

  “At the pickleball supper? No, I don’t think so,” I said. “Everyone would have heard and noticed a stranger at the hall.”

  “Or,” Millie began, “what if Humphrey found out about Mr. Hildebrand’s past and was blackmailing him.”

  I smiled. “I like it. Somehow Humphrey hooked up with the gallery for reason or reasons currently unknown, and being Humphrey, he managed to get the dirt on Sidney Hildebrand because that’s what Humphrey did. He liked to dig up as much on people as he could to ensure things always went his way.”

  “And Mr. Hildebrand didn’t like being blackmailed, found out about the supper somehow, and drove to Indian Cove and killed Humphrey,” Millie said, finishing off my thought.

  “What about the PI?” Marla untied her scarf of muted tones of browns and oranges and draped it over the arm of her chair. “It’s warm in here.”

  I walked over to the window and cracked it open a bit. The room filled with cold January air and it felt good. Four people piled into my small office generated a lot of heat.

  “Terry Roder,” I said, sitting back down. “He’s a sleazy man, but I get the impression blackmailing people is more his style, not murder.”

  Marla shook her head. “No, no. The other PI. The woman you told us about earlier.”

  “Shirley Reynolds? What about her?”

  “I think I see where Marla’s going with this,” Sam said. “Humphrey found out the first guy, that Roder person, was following him. Maybe he found out about Shirley as well, and true to form, he dug up her dirty secrets and started to blackmail her.”

  “What dirty secrets? Who says she has dirty secrets? She didn’t tell me she had secrets and she never said anything about Humphrey finding out she was following him.”

  “My point exactly,” my sister said. “She told you everything she wanted to tell you. Now you need to find out what she didn’t want you to know.”

  Chapter 34

  Everyone went back to work and left me sitting there thinking about Shirley Reynolds. Exactly what did I know about her? Sam was right. I only knew what Shirley told me. She inherited the business when her husband died. She seemed to be good at her job. And she was hired by Sophie because Sophie figured Humphrey would never think his wife smart enough to send in a decoy first in the guise of Terry Roder and then send in a female private investigator. But so far no one seemed immune to Humphrey’s dissection of their past, so why would Shirley get away unscathed? And if in fact Humphrey had overturned a rock with Shirley’s dirty secrets underneath, and then threatened her business in some way, her very livelihood, I would imagine that would make the woman quite upset. And as she was already following him, she knew exactly where he would be on Saturday night.

  But no one saw her.

  How was I going to find out if Humphrey knew Shirley was following him? I suppose I could ask her, but once again she would tell me what she wanted me to know. Or maybe she didn’t even know. Maybe Humphrey knew Shirley was following him but Shirley didn’t know he knew. So then why would she kill him?

  I banged my head on my desk just as Millie came in.

  “I see you’re busy,” she smiled. “Do you want me to come back later?”

  “No. I’d like to get started on finding some good candidates for Pammie.”

  Millie and I went through a short list of people and sorted it down to three possible candidates for Pammie to interview. After that, we worked on the selection process for a temp event planner one of the local non-profits had asked us to find.

  “I think we’re in good shape. Can you set up appointments for tomorrow or Monday?” Millie stood up and started for the door. “By the way, how’s everything going with Reuben?” Millie and her boyfriend, Reuben, had moved in together a couple of months before.

  Millie sat back down and sighed. This wasn’t a good sign.

  She saw my look and waved her hand. “No, no, everything’s fine between us. It’s just that he got a job offer in the city and he doesn’t know what to do?”

  My heart just about stopped. “Does this mean you might be moving?”

  “Oh, gosh no. I could never leave Indian Cove and my mom and Gran. Reuben would take the train like you used to, but then there’s the funeral home.”

  Reuben had given up his job to help his father out with the family business, a funeral home, but had always assumed he’d eventually leave and go back to his old job.

  “His father has been doing less and less, relying more on Reuben,” Millie continued. “He hated it at first, but, well, it’s kind of grown on him and he’s good at it. He’s kind and soft spoken, just what you need in a funeral director, so now he’s torn and feeling guilty about the possibility of leaving his father in the lurch. He just needs to make a decision.” Millie stood up. “Okay. I better get these appointments made.”


  I continued working for another hour and a half and felt good I was actually getting some work done.

  “I’m leaving for the day,” my sister said as she stood in my doorway. “Glad it all went well today at the clinic. I knew it would.”

  “Give the kids a kiss for me,” I said.

  “I will later. Right now I’m meeting Pammie. You know that dinner Michael is having for a bunch of his dentist pals?” I nodded. “Well, I’ve been agonizing over what to cook for eight dentists and their wives.”

  “And?”

  “After I saw her here today, I called her and she’s going to cater it for me. We’re meeting over coffee to discuss the menu and set up. See you tomorrow.”

  Millie and Marla left about ten minutes later and I decided to call it a day as well. It had been a long and somewhat stressful day, but I made it through my first treatment without any of those unmentioned adverse affects and I felt good. I retrieved my bag from the kitchen with the stuff I had picked up at the deli and headed out. But before I went home to enjoy my spätzle and beef, I needed to make one stop.

  Chapter 35

  The Veterans Hall was located on the outskirts of town. They used to have a small place in the city center, but then they found this location for a good price—probably because it was out in the middle of nowhere—and moved here.

  The night of the supper the place was full of activity, lights blazing from within, a parking lot full of cars, and people. Now, sitting here in an empty lot, all alone with no lights, it was not the welcoming place it had been when Meme and I were selling our calendars. This had sounded like a good idea on my way over, but now that I was here, I wasn’t so sure.