by Tim Myers
Before I could ask him anything, he said, “You really think you can figure this out on your own?”
“I’ve had a little luck doing it before,” I said.
“What have you got so far?”
It was time to step a little lightly. “Well, we’ve got to consider the kids, no matter how unpleasant it is.”
“Andrew loved his old man,” Ralph said, “but Terri would have cut his throat for a dollar. I never trusted that kid, not from the second they brought her home from the hospital.”
“Do you have anything to back that up?”
He looked at me as if I’d lost my mind. “We’re not cops. We don’t need proof. If you didn’t do it, then I’m pretty sure she did.”
“What makes you so sure about Andrew?”
Ralph growled as he said, “Leave the boy alone. I’m telling you. he loved his old man.”
It was pretty obvious which child Ralph favored. “How about Linda Mae? She could have easily done it.”
“That nut job?” Ralph asked. “She’s as dumb as a brick if she thought Earnest loved her, let alone really married her.”
“She called him Ernie.” I said.
“There you go. He hated that name. You think he’d let that woman call him that? She’s a nut job.”
The telephone rang, and Ralph pounced on it.
“Yeah. Hang on.” He covered the mouthpiece, then said, “We’re finished, right?”
“There’s a lot more I need to talk to you about. I don’t mind waiting.”
It was pretty obvious he wasn’t interested in me hanging around. “I don’t have anything left to say.”
He walked to the front door, but I stayed put “Molly Wilkes is going to ask me about this. We talk about everything. Wouldn’t it be easier if I told her we’d already covered everything from your end of things? Otherwise she’s going to keep nosing around here until she’s satisfied.” I was glad I wasn’t wired to a polygraph. The needles would be dancing like Fred Astaire.
Ralph was still thinking about it when whoever was on the other end of the line started shouting. He said, “Keep your pants on.” Then he looked at me and said, “I’ll be right back.”
The second he disappeared into the bedroom, I dove for the box stashed under the couch. Lying on top of a rag, half polished and half darkened with time, was a single gold coin. What was he doing with that? It appeared to be French, and pretty old. So why was Ralph polishing it? I heard the bedroom door open, so I tossed the coin back in and slid the lid in place.
As I shoved it under the couch, he said, “What do you think you’re doing?”
“My shoe was untied,” I said. And then I saw that I hadn’t gotten the edge of the box all the way back under the sofa. As I stood, I started to move toward him so I could nudge it back in place.
‘There are a few more things I’d like to ask you,” I said, trying to find the box with my toe without him realizing what I was doing.
“Sorry, but we’re finished here. I’ve got to go.”
He took my arm and started walking me to the door. There was no way I could leave the box in a different place than where it belonged. I knocked a stack of magazines off a table near the door. “Sorry, I’m pretty clumsy.”
“I’ll get them later,” he said, but his grip did lessen.
“Nonsense. I knocked them off, I’ll restack them.”
As I bent over to start picking them up, he got down on one knee to help, anything to get me out of there.
I put one magazine on top of the other and shot it toward the couch. “These things are slippery,” I said as I reached for it. Before he could see what I was doing, I took the magazine’s edge and shoved the box back under the couch. “Got it,” I said.
“Come on, I’m late for an appointment,” he said gruffly.
“I’ll be by later then, so we can talk more.”
He shook his head. “I’m done talking.”
“Is that what I should tell Molly?”
‘Tell her whatever you want to.”
I opened the door and was surprised to find Andrew there getting ready to knock.
“What are you doing here?” he asked me with a snarl in his voice. I looked down and saw that one hand was clenched around a section of gray pipe.
“Just visiting,” I said. “What have you got there?” I asked as I gestured to the weapon.
“I’m not taking any chances since somebody killed my father. Let him try to sneak up on me.” He patted the pipe in his open palm. “I’m ready.”
“Good for you,” I said as I slipped past him.
“Butt out, Perkins. This isn’t any of your business, and I’d hate to see you get hurt.”
The tone in his voice told me that he’d bring popcorn and soda if he knew I was going to get a beating.
“Yeah, I’d hate that, too.” As I started to walk away, I turned back to him and said, “You know what? I’m not the only one who should be careful.”
Andrew’s face reddened in anger. “Are you threatening me? Ralph, you heard that. He just threatened me.”
“Settle down, Andrew,” Ralph said. “Come on inside.”
“I’m not afraid of you,” Andrew shouted at me.
“That’s good, because you don’t scare me, either. I’m not the one you have to watch out for, though.”
His gaze narrowed. “What do you mean?”
“Nobody’s killing Perkinses,” I said.
“At least not yet,” he said.
“Now who’s making threats?”
Ralph grabbed Andrew’s arm. “Get in here, and I mean right now.”
I was ready for him, pipe and all, and it looked like he might come after me. Ralph jerked his arm again, though, and Andrew just smiled at me as he walked inside. “We’ll finish this later.”
“Any time,” I said as I walked back to my car.
I half expected to see the Miata’s windshield shattered, but it was still intact as I got in and sped off. I wasn’t quite sure where I was going, but I knew I wanted to get away from Ralph and Andrew. Once they started comparing notes about my behavior, I was afraid one or both of them were going to try to stop me from nosing around in their business. I wasn’t excited about the prospect of looking over my shoulder all of the time, but I wasn’t about to stop snooping.
Whether Molly or the rest of the world liked it, I wasn’t about to stop until I found Earnest Joy’s killer.
Chapter 10
Speak of the Devil and he appears. That’s the way the old expression went, and it was true as I walked into Where There’s Soap. Molly Wilkes, still dressed in her police uniform, was sitting on a rocking chair out front when I walked up the steps.
“You’re here more than I am lately,” I said. “Is this business or pleasure?”
“What do you think?” she asked.
“I’m not so sure anymore,” I said.
“Have a seat, Ben. I’ve been waiting for you.”
I took the rocker beside hers. “You haven’t changed your mind about arresting me, have you?”
“Not unless you’ve changed your mind about confessing.”
I laughed. “You know better than that. Why did you want to see me?”
“I just got a complaint about your behavior,” she said. “And you’re not going to believe who made it.”
“I don’t think I could narrow the field if I had to. Who have I offended lately?”
She smiled. “Andrew Joy called me twice today telling me you’re interfering with my police investigation. That man seems to really enjoy hating you, doesn’t he?”
“What can I say, I’m an acquired taste. We just had another confrontation, so expect your phone to be ringing in a few minutes.”
She shook her head as she stared out at the garden. “You are determined to make this difficult for me, aren’t you?”
“I’m not trying, I swear it,” I said. “I just hate being your prime suspect.”
Molly stared at me a secon
d, then said, “If you repeat this to anyone, I’ll deny it. Do we understand each other?”
“I know how to keep a secret,” I said.
“That’s why I’m telling you. Ben, don’t be such a dunderhead. I know you didn’t kill Earnest Joy.”
“That’s the best news I’ve heard all day. What changed your mind?”
She looked at me as she said, “If you were going to kill a man, even spur of the moment like that, you never would have hit him from behind. I know you. You’d have looked him in the eye as you killed him.”
“Now why doesn’t that explanation make me feel any better?” I asked.
“Sometimes the truth hurts.” She rocked a few times, then asked, “Should I even ask about what you’ve been up to today?”
“No. Like you said, I’m good at keeping secrets.”
As Molly started to get up, I asked, “Have you talked to Earnest’s wife yet?”
“That’s not remotely funny, Ben. Samantha Joy’s been dead for fifteen years.”
“I’m talking about his new wife. He got married a while ago in Vegas. At least that’s what his bride is telling everybody in town.”
Molly frowned. “She hasn’t said anything to me. Where might I find this woman?”
“Her name’s Linda Mae, and she’s staying out at the Mountain Lake Motel. Room 23. Tell her I sent you, and she’ll sing her head off.”
“How long were you going to keep this to yourself? If she really was married to Earnest Joy, she could have an excellent reason for wanting him dead.”
“Hey, I’m telling you right now,” I said. “I just found out myself.”
She got up and headed for her patrol car. “Do me a favor and tell Jeff I’ll catch up with him later, okay?”
“Fine,” I said. In twenty seconds, she was gone. Jeff walked out onto the porch as I was going in.
He looked around, then said, “Hey, what happened to Molly?”
“She had to go,” I said, “but she asked me to tell you she’d talk to you later.”
“What did you say to her, Ben?”
I was getting tired of that tone of voice, and I wasn’t about to take it from my little brother anymore.
“Listen, if you want to be treated like a grown-up, why don’t you start acting like one? I didn’t say a word to her.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Frankly, I don’t care.”
I brushed past him, letting my arm hit his chest enough to stagger him back a step. It was time to remind him who the senior sibling was.
Cindy was standing by the door, not even pretending to be doing anything but eavesdropping.
She looked at me and said, “You’re too big to pick on him like that.”
“I wasn’t doing anything,” I protested.
“I saw what happened,” Cindy said.
“Yeah, but you must not have heard any of it. Jeff needs to grow up.”
She touched my arm. “Ben, why are you acting like that?”
I looked at her and said, “Cindy, I love you—you have to realize that—but you don’t know everything about me. When I get pushed, I have a tendency to push back.”
She looked at me sadly. “I know this has been hard on you.”
“What’s that, being a murder suspect?”
She shook her head. “I’m not talking about that, and you know it. I mean losing Kelly like you did and then watching your old girlfriend date your youngest brother.”
“I’m seeing someone myself, remember?”
Cindy arched one eyebrow. “Are you that serious about Diana already? You two have just gone out on one date.”
Blast it all, why did my siblings think it was all right to meddle in my life? “Kelly and I didn’t have much more than that. Besides, I’m not ready to propose, but Diana and I are dating now. You know how I am. I’ve never been able to go out with more than one woman at a time, and right now, that woman is Diana.” I looked around, and though Kate and Louisa were both helping customers, it was pretty obvious they were following every word of our discussion. “Did you all get that?” I asked.
Kate looked away, but Louisa just smiled. “Loud and clear. Benji’s got a new girlfriend.”
I shook my head, not dignifying her comment with a response. I’d hated the nickname “Benji” since kindergarten and had done everything in my power to discourage its usage.
I thought about going up to my office, but then realized the shop would be closing soon, and I didn’t want to be there alone with my thoughts. I could call Diana, though it was short notice, but what I really needed to do was find Paulus and see what he’d found out that had made him run.
Where to look, though? He could be anywhere, and without access to his credit cards, I’d just have to guess.
Then I remembered where I’d found him the last time he’d been in hiding. I told my sisters good night and drove to Sassafras Ridge. As I drove, I realized Cindy was right. I’d been tougher on my little brother than I had the right to be. Lately, he found a way to get under my skin, but that was still no excuse for my behavior. I’d have to find a way to apologize the next time I saw him, but at the moment, I had to find Paulus. That took precedence over a family squabble.
I knew he wouldn’t be at the Beverly. In fact, I doubted he’d choose his old motel room. But there was one thing I was fairly certain about. When it came to eating, Paulus was a man of entrenched habits. I knew that if hung out at the Lazy Spoon, sooner or later he’d turn up.
I was luckier than I deserved to be. Paulus was sitting in a booth in back eating a piece of apple pie.
There was no place he could bolt to, so he sat patiently in his seat as I approached him.
“Did anybody follow you here?” he asked me as he scanned the sidewalk.
“No, I made sure of it. Mind if I join you?” I asked as I slid onto the bench seat across from him.
“Do I have any choice?” he asked, then added a slight smile. “I’ve got to hand it to you, Ben. You must really be some kind of detective, finding me like this.”
“Don’t give me too much credit,” I said. “This was a logical place to look. You didn’t go too far. So, do you want to talk to me now about what you uncovered?”
He stared at his pie, then said, “Ben, I told you to drop it, and I meant it. You got my note, didn’t you?”
“You knew I would,” I said. “Did you honestly think it would dissuade me?”
He shook his head. “No, but it was worth a shot. Ben, this is serious business.”
“Murder always is,” I said. “What’s got you so spooked all of a sudden?”
He sighed. “Maybe I’m just getting old,” he finally said. “I’ve lost a step or two, and a lot of the fire in my belly.”
“Is that why you cleaned out your office?” I asked as the waitress filled the coffee mug in front of me.
I ordered myself a piece of pie. Paulus said, “I’ve been easing myself out of the business for a while now. Kate’s been handling the advertising for years. The truth is, you all don’t need me anymore.”
The waitress put the pie on the table, but I didn’t touch it. “That’s just plain wrong. You’re a part of our family.”
He waved a hand in the air. “I know that, Benjamin, but I have to feel useful. That’s why I started looking for other businesses. To be honest with you, that’s kind of why I started digging into Earnest’s murder, too. But I got myself in too deep, and look where that got me, hiding in a town I don’t particularly care for in a diner that has aspirations of being average.”
“Why don’t you tell me about it?” I suggested. “If nothing else, I’m a good listener.”
He seemed to think about it for nearly a minute before he spoke again. “Okay, why not? You’re not going to stop—I know you—so you should at least know what you’re dealing with.”
“You’ve certainly got my attention,” I said.
“I’ve long suspected Earnest Joy did more than sell jewelry at that
shop of his. I started poking around, and I found out he’s got a second home—a much nicer one, I might add—in Blowing Rock. That’s where he keeps his fancy sports cars. The man’s been hemorrhaging money for years. I had a friend check his tax returns for the past three years, and according to those, he barely makes a profit from his jewelry shop. So where’s the money coming from?”
I had a hard time imagining the penurious Earnest Joy as a playboy, despite what Linda Mae had said. Blowing Rock was a ritzy community in the North Carolina Mountains near Boone, and it was well known in our part of the world as a haven for the wealthy. “No offense, but how sure are you of your source?”
He took a sip of coffee, then said, “Trust me, I was skeptical, too. So I started asking some questions in Blowing Rock, flashing Earnest’s picture around to see if I could get any nibbles. It took some doing, but I found a woman who knew him, and had even been to his house once for a party. I checked it out, and the mailbox said Bliss. That’s a common enough synonym for Joy, wouldn’t you say? The place was spectacular, Ben. When I checked the county records, the house and land were registered to a corporation called Delight Industries. He wasn’t too careful about hiding his connections, was he?”
I rubbed my chin. “So where does that leave us?”
“I’m not sure,” my grandfather said. “When I got back home from Blowing Rock, somebody left a message on my doorstep. I’m not afraid to admit that it kind of shook me. That’s when I asked you to meet me at The Hound Dog.”
“What was it?” I asked. I knew my grandfather wasn’t that easy to intimidate.
“There was a dagger sticking into a bar of our soap. Whoever left the message for me knew how to get to me. Ben, I took it as a threat against our entire family. Whoever did it heated the blade hot enough to embed it into the bar. I’m not afraid to say that it rattled me pretty good.”
“So that’s why you’ve been in hiding. Did you tell Molly all of this?”
He nodded. “I did, just before I left. She said she’d look into it.”
