Black Butterfly

by Marja McGraw

  People started leaving and as much as I loved our customers, I felt like a weight was being lifted from my shoulders.

  Judith hurried over to the Church Ladies as fast as her little feet would carry her and within moments their heads were in a huddle over the table.

  Sammy waited at a table for Gloria to finish work. Since he’d met her, he spent less time with his uncle. I had a feeling that maybe he felt like a weight had been lifted, too.

  I glanced toward the kitchen, wondering what was going on in my office.

  “They may be awhile,” Chris said. “It’s quite a story.”

  It didn’t take long for the restaurant to empty out.

  “Let’s get some Joe and sit at one of the tables while we wait for the Messinas to come back.”

  “I don’t really want any coffee, Chris. Well, maybe another glass of iced tea.”

  I sat down at Janet’s table, with difficulty. Stupid tight dress.

  Chris joined me bringing my tea and his coffee. “You should see the kitchen.”

  “A mess?”

  “Surprisingly, no. Chef Luis is so organized that it’s almost scary.”

  As our employees left I commended them for making the evening such a success and so much fun.

  “We can’t keep up the dancing all the time, but we’ve decided to make it an occasional tradition,” Donna said.

  Duke took her arm and they left the restaurant together, with Phyllis following behind.

  Sammy and Gloria looked deeply into each other’s eyes and laughed about something before leaving.

  “I think romance is in the air,” I said.

  Chris laughed. “Romance is sitting right here, at our table.”

  “I love you, but forget about romance. Tell me what happened.” I took a big gulp of my iced tea and set the glass down.

  “Okay, but you’re not gonna like it. It was a volatile and sad situation.”

  “I don’t care. Give me the skinny,” I said.

  “Okay. First I want to explain something so there won’t be any confusion. There are three Tonys. The original goon, and his son was Tony, Jr. The Tony we know is actually the third.”

  “Okay. Get on with it.”

  “Tony took Sophia and the young Tony out to the desert. He said he wanted to show something to his wife. He’d found a piece of property he wanted her to see. He said he wanted to build another casino.

  “You already know that he was a hard case and that he roughed up his wife. When he showed her the property, Sophia said she couldn’t take anymore and she wanted out of the marriage. She wanted a divorce. Somehow, building another casino made her feel trapped.”

  “She wanted a divorce from a man who probably thought of her as property,” I said.

  “Yeah, you got that right. Anyway, as soon as the words were out of her mouth he started pummeling her. Okay, here’s an important part. He was so busy hitting her that he didn’t notice his gun fell out of his pocket.”

  “And she grabbed it?” I asked.

  “No. Tony, Jr. was nearly hysterical when he saw his father beating his mother. Remember, he was only four years old. He picked up the gun. Sophia said he didn’t understand what a gun could do, but he’d seen his father threaten people with it in his short life.

  “So he picked up the gun and pointed it as his father and told his father to leave his mother alone. Sophia said the child was sobbing and screaming at his father.

  “Tony turned on the child. She said you could see the terror on the child’s face. His father reached forward to take the gun away and Tony, Jr. accidentally pulled the trigger when he tried to hang onto the gun. That was the end of big Tony.”

  “But the report said Tony had been poisoned.” The coroner certainly wouldn’t have missed a bullet hole.

  “There’s more to the story,” Chris said. “Do you remember Meredith mentioning a guy named Kurt?”

  “Yes.” I instinctively knew who’d helped Sophia.

  “Sophia left Tony’s body in the desert. She drove back to town and told Kurt what had happened. He told her not to worry, that he’d take care of it. He drove out to the desert and brought the body back.

  “In the meantime, Sophia told everyone that Tony had taken a trip and his office was off limits until his return, per his instructions.”

  I nodded in understanding. “So Kurt put the body in that box and buried it under the flooring, framing Meredith in the process. After that – surprise, surprise – Tony never came back from his trip and Sophia reported him as missing.”

  “Right.”

  “But what about the poisoning?”

  “It seems that Kurt knows people in all the right places. When the body was discovered, the records were altered and the bullet was ‘misplaced.’ The report showed poisoning instead. The body was then cremated.”

  “And what about the little boy? Young Tony. He shot his father. That’s not something he would have forgotten, even if he was only four.”

  “Sophia didn’t know what to do. The child was hysterical. She gave him bourbon to calm him down. When he fell asleep from the drink, she put him to bed. The next morning she acted like nothing had ever happened. When Tony, Jr. asked about his father, she told him he’d gone out of town. The child started getting worked up again and said something about what had happened. She convinced him it had all been a nightmare he had after seeing his father hit her. She told him that nothing had actually happened. Years later he asked her about the nightmare. She stuck to her story.”

  “And what was his reaction when Tony’s body was found?” I asked.

  “He died of a heart attack a couple of years before the body was found.”

  “What about Kurt?”

  “He and Sophia are, uh, very good friends. She says he’s always there for her when she needs him.”

  “So Meredith really had nothing to do with Tony’s death.”

  “No. When Sophia found out where she was, she drove over with Tony. Meredith was the only real female friend she ever had. She wanted to meet with her and try to figure out a way to get her off the hook for Tony’s death. Jimmy had learned that Meredith was here and he and Frankie had already driven over here.”

  I took a deep breath and sat quietly. “This is an awful lot to take in, Bogey Man. Are you sure it’s the truth?”

  “Absolutely. There’s no doubt in my mind.”

  “I wonder what Janet will do,” I said.

  “I don’t know and I don’t care. It’s out of our hands. Frankie wanted us to find out who really murdered Tony, and we did.”

  “You did, sweetie. You must have really sweet-talked Sophia.”

  “You know? I think that after all these years she really needed to get it all off her chest. Jimmy was the catalyst that pushed her over the edge.”

  “That poor child. I mean Tony, Jr. No child should ever go through anything like that. It just breaks my heart.”

  “Sophia said she raised him right and that he was nothing like his father.” Chris looked pleased with himself. He’d really gotten Sophia to talk. “She said she worries about Jimmy, that he’s the closest to being like his grandfather.”

  The front door opened and two cops walked in.

  Chris showed them back to my office.

  While he was gone I went over the story in my mind. I couldn’t imagine going through what Sophia had endured. No wonder she was such a solemn woman. And no wonder she seemed hard. Had there ever been any real joy in her life?

  The cops left with Jimmy, taking him into custody.

  Chris and the others remained in my office.

  Chapter Forty-three

  I’d forgotten all about my mother-in-law and the Church Ladies until they joined me at my table, all remaining silent, just watching me.

  “Well?” Judith finally asked.

  “Long story,” I said. “I think it’s best if we wait and talk about it some other time.”

  Jasmine patted my back. “From the look on your
face, it must be a doozy.”

  “It is.”

  “And you know what really happened now?” May asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Is Meredith going to be okay?” Lila asked.

  “No more danger?” Addie asked.

  “No more danger and she’ll be fine,” I replied.

  “What about that Jimmy kid?” May asked.

  “I have a feeling he’ll do some time, but I doubt if it’ll be anything substantial. He didn’t really do anything, although he might have if Janet hadn’t been here. He’ll probably be happy to get back to Las Vegas and his normal life, whatever that is.”

  I turned to Judith and smiled. “Mikey will be coming home tomorrow.”

  “And the dogs,” she said.

  “And the dogs.”

  Lila looked deeply into my eyes and smiled. “I have a feeling that some mighty clouds of joy are just over the horizon.”

  The women gathered up their things and left, Judith and Lila looking as tired as I’d ever seen them.

  Chris finally returned to the table, yawning.

  “Big night,” I said.

  “Understatement.”

  Janet and the rest of the group finally left my office.

  Sophia stopped in front of Chris. “Thank you. You’ll never know how much you’ve helped us.”

  Tony held out his hand to Chris. He didn’t say a word when they shook hands, but nodded his head and smiled.

  He held his hand out to me, too.

  I stood, pushed his hand away, and gave him a hug. “I’ll pray for you and your family, Tony.”

  He looked surprised. “Thank you.”

  They left, and Janet said she’d let us know where things went from there.

  Where could they go? The child who’d shot his father had died. Jimmy found out he’d been wrong. Frankie needed time to recover, but I had a feeling he’d continue to party. And Tony. I had a feeling he’d never change much, but he seemed okay. He had a lot to think over and take in, but I really didn’t think he was anything like his grandfather. I hoped he’d become a little more outgoing, and I hoped he’d no longer have to watch over his grandmother.

  I’ve known women like Sophia. No sense of humor, too much on their plates, and they let life take them over instead of taking over their lives. I hoped unloading her burden would help her find her humor and her smile.

  Chris locked the front door and we looked around Bogey Nights.

  “This place has seen some good and some bad,” I said. “I mean, we started out finding a vintage body in the basement, right off the bat. Remember the night that nutcase cornered us all in the kitchen?”

  “Yeah, stuff happens, but we keep plugging along.”

  “We’re strong. From now on this is going to be a happy place. You know, Shauna said something about us enlarging the restaurant. Maybe she’s right.”

  Chris smiled. “She could be. We’ll see how things go.”

  “After tonight, I have a feeling we’re going to have more business than we know what to do with.”

  ~ * ~

  We slept in the next morning after an exhausting night.

  Danny and his parents brought Mikey home around noon.

  I gave him the hug of his life. I couldn’t stop thinking about a certain four-year-old child and I was so happy to have a son with a good life. He wouldn’t have any nightmares to remember.

  Chris picked up Sherlock and Watson while I fixed lunch. You’d have thought the dogs had been gone for a year. They sniffed everything in the house and outside, including their people.

  We talked while we ate lunch, but not about the events of the past few days. It was time for our new life, without any sleuthing.

  “We said we were going to retire from detecting,” I said.

  “So we did, and it’s time for a normal life.”

  “Normal? What’s that?” Mikey asked.

  Chris and I both laughed.

  “You’re about to find out,” I said.

  “If anyone comes knocking at our door with a problem, from now on we smile and say, ‘No thanks,’” Chris said.

  “Danny’s mom and dad had a good time last night.” Mikey smiled. “They think my parents are the best. So do I.”

  We finished eating and about that time the phone rang.

  Sherlock raced for it and slid into the wall.

  Watson looked up at him before turning back to the paw she’d been licking.

  “Life is back to normal,” I said.

  “And so are we. Don’t answer the phone. Let the answering machine pick up the call.”

  ~ * ~

  I was surprised one day when I received a call from Sophia. After all these years, she and Kurt married. She said her grandsons were happy about it. They’d always looked on Kurt as a family member.

  Jimmy was home after a two month sentence and he was trying to change his ways. He didn’t dress like he was part of the mob anymore, and he’d become interested in music. He was thinking about starting a band. He was also seeing a psychologist, at Sophia’s insistence.

  Frankie was still busy having a good time, but he wasn’t a bad boy, according to his grandmother.

  And Tony? She said he’d come out of his shell and started socializing more. He was still the quiet one, but when he spoke, everyone listened.

  There was a lilt in her voice when she talked about her family. She said she was happy with her life.

  Meredith, after a lot of grueling paperwork, sold her house. She and Gabe moved to Las Vegas where she and Sophia would pick up their friendship.

  Janet struggled with what she knew, but in the end she wrote a report – which seems to have been misplaced.

  Sammy and Gloria had become an item. He went back to work at his law firm, and she continued to work for us. She said she was having fun and, at least for now, didn’t want to give up her job.

  We expanded the restaurant and Shauna is now a regular customer.

  Monday Moonshine and the other small band combined and changed their name to Bogey Boys. They still played for us three days a week, and the other days were spent building their following at other places. Scott sang to his heart’s delight.

  When the Church Ladies heard the real story of the Messinas, they swore off getting involved in our affairs and did some heavy duty praying for that family and children in general.

  Judith… Well, Judith was just the same, always looking for a cause to become involved in, and still a bit eccentric. She still sang with Lila from time to time. Chris, Sr. would smile that tight little smile at his wife and shake his head.

  Chris and me? Haven’t you heard? We’ve retired from a life of sleuthing and spend all our time involved with Mikey, two funny dogs and a restaurant.

  Of course, we’d already done this once. Never say never?

  Oh, yeah. Remember the tight green dress? I thought about going on a diet when the side started to split, but I changed my mind because I wanted to enjoy life. I had it altered and bought a box of chocolates.

  And those mighty clouds of joy came rolling in, just like Lila had predicted.

  About the Author

  Marja McGraw has worked in both civil and criminal law, state transportation, and for a city building department. She has lived and worked in California, Nevada, Oregon, Alaska, Arizona, and Washington.

  She wrote a weekly column for a small town newspaper in Northern Nevada, and conducted a Writers’ Support Group in Northern Arizona. A past member of Sisters in Crime (SinC), she was the Editor for the SinC-Internet Newsletter for a year and a half.

  Marja writes two mystery series, The Sandi Webster Mysteries and The Bogey Man Mysteries, which are light reading with a touch of humor. She also occasionally writes stories that aren’t part of a series.

  Marja says that each of her mysteries contains a little humor, a little romance and A Little Murder!

  She now lives in Washington, where life is good.

  You can visit her website at htt
p://www.marjamcgraw.com/

  Her blog can be read at http://marjamcgraw.blogspot.com/