Ice Cream Corpse

by Stacey Alabaster

  I felt a buzzing in my hand.

  “It’s a text from Sue…” I commented as we walked up the driveway.

  “Well, I don’t want to know about it,” Pippa said. “No more electronic messages for me.”

  I sighed. “Shall I copy it out with pen and paper and mail the invitation to you then?”

  “Invitation?” Pippa asked, stopping. “Invitation to what?”

  “There is an art show at Sue’s gallery tonight. She wants us to attend. Free food and she promises air conditioning.”

  “Okay, I’m in.”

  We reached the door and knocked on it. There was no response.

  “Hello?” Pippa called out. “It seems kinda quiet in there, doesn’t it? All the lights are off.”

  I pulled on the collar of my shirt, just trying to get some air. “If no one answers the door in three seconds, I’m leaving. I’m melting here.”

  A little old lady poked her head out the side of the door and I almost jumped. “Oh, boy, you scared me there for a moment,” I said. I was a little overly jumpy that day.

  She straightened up. “You’re the one on my property, young lady.”

  “That’s a very good point. I apologize, Missus…”

  “Hutchinson.”

  “Missus Hutchinson. We are looking for a friend of ours. We believe he used to live here? Perhaps right before you moved in.” I offered her a hopeful smile and tried to remain standing up right.

  Mrs. Hutchinson frowned. “What was his name, dear?”

  “Rocky. Rocky Morlock.”

  Her face brightened a little. “Oh, Mr. Morlock was a delightful young man. So popular in the community. His ice cream parlor always brought a smile to young children’s faces My young grandson loved him back when he was young.” She stopped and looked Pippa and I up and down. “He would be about the same age as you two now. His name is Jack.” She offered us a bright smile.

  Pippa and I looked at each other. Jack.

  “When did you move into this house, Missus Hutchinson, if you don’t mind my asking?”

  She pondered the question for a few moments. “Well, I guess I’ve been here about two years now, dear.”

  Okay, we were finally getting somewhere. Two years just kept coming up. It was starting to get frustrating. I felt like we were investigating a cold case (ha! No pun intended) and all the leads were from two years ago. I felt like I needed a time machine if I was ever going to crack this case.

  I felt like I was in real danger of passing out on the bricks of Mrs. Hutchinson’s porch. Maybe I was getting heatstroke.

  “Missus Hutchinson, did Rocky ever tell you what he intended to do, or where he was going next, when he sold the house?”

  Mrs. Hutchinson leaned on her cane and shook her head slowly. “No, it was all handled through the real estate agent.”

  I tried to stay standing upright. “But Mister Morlock was…around, right?” I asked. “Or had he already left town by this stage?”

  “Oh no, dear, he was still around.” Mrs. Hutchinson let out a laugh. I wished she would let us into her house. It looked so cool and dark in there. Would it be rude to ask? I felt my head go light and I felt like I was swaying back and forth, from side to side.

  Mrs. Hutchinson was still talking. “I believe he decided to sell this house when his business started going under. Probably wanted to use the cash from this place to keep the ice cream parlor afloat. He—” She stopped talking. “Oh, dear. Are you quite all right there?”

  Her voice sounded like it was coming through plate glass. Next thing I knew, I heard a cracking sound, and I was down on the ground.

  “Sugary lemonade cures everything.”

  I felt the cool glass get pressed into my hand and I sat up, trying to remember where I was. Right. I seemed to be sitting on Mrs. Hutchinson’s sofa. I supposed the way to get an invitation into her house was to pass out.

  “I’m not sure,” Pippa said. “I think she might need to go to the hospital. She hit her head pretty hard.”

  I sat up properly and gratefully wrapped my hands around the cool glass. It felt so amazingly cold against my palms. “I’m fine,” I told Pippa, pausing to take several long gulps. “I just passed out from the heat.”

  She didn’t look convinced, but she sat down beside me on the sofa. “Just rest for a few minutes then,” she said, looking up at Mrs. Hutchinson to see if that was okay. She nodded, but she didn’t look like she was completely pleased about having the stranger crash on her sofa.

  I could barely remember the conversation we’d been having before my head hit the bricks. I finished off the lemonade, still feeling dizzy.

  “Did you ever get a forwarding address for Rocky, Missus Hutchinson?”

  She stood up. “Let me check for you, my dear. I think he did leave something behind before he left. There’s been a few people drop in over the last year or so, looking for him.”

  Pippa’s eyes were glistening when Mrs. Hutchinson returned with a sheet of paper, telling us it had Rocky’s forwarding address on it. She left the room to get more tea and Pippa leaned over and whispered to me. “Yes. We’re finally getting somewhere. We’ve got him now,” she said, waving the sheet of paper.

  “Don’t go getting too excited. He might have moved since then. Or given Missus Hutchison a false address. I definitely wouldn’t put that past him.”

  Pippa shook her head. “Nope, this is it. I’ve got a good feeling about this. Now, are you sure you don’t need to take a trip to the emergency room?”

  I took an unsteady step up the stairs and put my hands out to break my fall. The door to the art gallery seemed so close and yet so far away.

  “Okay, that’s it. We are not going inside. I’m taking you to the hospital.” Pippa tried to help me up and then tried to lead me back in the opposite direction, back to the truck, but I shrugged her off.

  “It’s just the heat, okay. There’s nothing wrong with me.”

  Sue called out to us and waved from the entry. “Hey, ladies!”

  “I’ll be fine when I get inside. Just trust me.” I pushed Pippa off, not wanting Sue to see that there was anything wrong.

  “So, this is an evening to showcase up and coming artists,” Sue explained as she guided us around the room. I noticed there was banner up that read, “Emerging Artists Festival.” Sue smiled at us. “We’re excited to showcase local artists. And don’t forget that you can purchase any artwork that takes your fancy. Thirty percent off if you purchase it tonight, but the art will be here for the rest of the week,” she said, leaving us to go and schmooze with some artsy looking types in the corner.

  A waiter stopped with a tray and offered us flutes of champagne. I grabbed one even though Pippa was giving me the evil eye. “I don’t think you should be drinking that with a head injury.”

  I threw the whole thing back in one gulp to show her just how fine I was and then we proceeded to do a lap of the gallery. “This must be a cool job,” I said to Pippa. “I’m kind of jealous of Sue sometimes.”

  “Why?” Pippa asked in surprise. “You own your own bakery.”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s just cool, isn’t it? And Sue gets to work nights instead of early mornings. Sometimes that seems appealing.”

  Pippa stopped in front of a painting and opened her eyes wide in admiration.

  “This one is a little unusual,” Pippa said. “I like all the muted tones. The orange and brown would go really well in the farmhouse.” She clicked her tongue in her mouth. “Yes…very well indeed…”

  “You’re not actually thinking of purchasing it, are you?” I asked, leaning forward to check the price. “Oh, it’s actually sort of reasonable.” It was only two hundred dollars after the discount was applied. I was about to turn back to Pippa when I stopped, seeing the name of the artist underneath the price. “Athena Greenville?” I murmured, spinning around. “Do you think that’s the Athena from the ice cream factory?”

  Pippa shrugged. “It could be
any Athena.”

  “Huh. It’s not a super common name, though. It’s probably her. Hey!” I said, spotting Athena—our Athena, from the ice cream factory—in the corner, champagne flute in hand, chatting to Sue. “It is her!” I pointed her out to Pippa.

  Pippa spun around and then bundled up her purse. She finished off the last of her champagne and smiled with satisfaction. “Well then, I’m going to go talk to her about buying this painting! And to congratulate her on her talent!”

  “I’m coming with you,” I said.

  But as soon as Athena spotted Pippa and I walking toward her, she panicked. All wide eyes and shock as she quickly passed her champagne flute to Sue and raced out the door.

  “What the…” I murmured.

  Pippa chased her outside. I tried to keep up, but I was a little lightheaded and had to stop on the stairs outside the door. I could just make out Pippa reaching the bottom of the stairs and chasing Athena across the road into a park across the street.

  She arrived back, alone, a few minutes later, out of breath. The air was still humid and suffocating even with the sun gone. “Well, that was certainly strange!” Pippa cried out, looking up at where I was seated.

  Tell me about it.

  She had run at the first sight of Pippa and I. She clearly hadn’t thought Pippa and I were interested in her art; she thought we were after her for something else. There was something she didn’t want us to know.

  “I’ll talk to Sue about it when I get home,” I said. “Find out what she knows.”

  “Hey, you don’t look so good.” Sue was already in her pajamas when I found her in the kitchen. She was reaching for a package of her favorite cereal. A midnight snack, I supposed.

  “Thanks,” I said, reaching up to touch the bump on the top of my head. “Hey, do we have any bags of frozen peas in the freezer?”

  “Still feeling hot?”

  “Yes,” I said, not wanting to tell her the truth.

  Sue settled down on the sofa and flicked the TV on. “I can never get to sleep the night after a big show,” she said, throwing dry cereal into her mouth. She hadn’t filled the bowl with any milk. “Too much buzzing going on in my head.” She turned her attention to me. “Hey, so whatever happened to Kenneth? He hasn’t been around here in weeks now. I take it that breakup was permanent then?”

  “I haven’t heard from him,” I commented, pressing the peas into the back of my head but trying to make it look as though I was only cooling the back of my neck.

  “And the detective?” Sue asked with a sly grin.

  I didn’t answer. But, speaking of detectives and cases… I put the peas down and leaned forward. “Did you sell any paintings by Athena Greenville tonight?” I asked casually.

  Sue frowned and turned the volume down. “Ah, we did, actually. I tried to find her to tell her the happy news, but I couldn’t find her anywhere. Maybe she wasn’t feeling well. The heat or something. I’ll have to call her in the morning.” She munched on another piece of cereal. “Why are you asking?”

  I shook my head like it was no big deal. “It’s just that Pippa liked one to her pieces of art. She was thinking about buying it.”

  “Oh, well, she should have said!” Sue placed her bowl down and winked at me. “Tell you what: if she is still interested, I can give her the thirty percent discount for the rest of the week. I’m sure Athena won’t mind! She’s just thrilled when anyone is interested in her art.”

  I nodded. “Thanks, I’m sure Pippa will be grateful. Do you know Athena well, then?” Still trying to sound casual.

  Sue shrugged causally. “Sure. A little bit. She’s a regular at the gallery and she’s been asking us if she could display her work for ages now. She’s poked her head in once a week for the last two years, probably.”

  “Two years?” I asked, sitting forward more. “Doesn’t sound like she was going to give up.”

  Sue shook her head. “No, she wouldn’t take no for an answer, haha. She’s a very persuasive lady. But when she first showed us her work two years ago, it wasn’t really…hmm, how can I put this kindly? It wasn’t really up to the standard of the work we usually show. It looked a little child-like. I put it in the kindest terms possible at the time, told her to keep working, keep improving. Well, she did, and now her work is being displayed. And it sounds like she even made a fan out of your friend!”

  “Hmm, I wonder what happened two years ago that would make Athena suddenly start taking her art work so seriously,” I muttered.

  “Huh?” Sue asked, sounding confused. “You sound a little skeptical, Rach. Do you know Athena?”

  I shook my head. “No, not really.” I put the bag of peas back on my head. “Tell me, Sue. I’m interested. I guess you could say I’ve got a newfound appreciation for art after tonight. What were Athena’s earlier pieces like?”

  “Hmm.” Sue had to pause to think about it. “Well, the pieces you saw tonight, they are fairly muted. Far more subtle than what she was creating two years ago.”

  “Yes, that’s what Pippa liked about then. They were almost desert-like, all the browns and oranges. She thought the rustic tones would suit her farmhouse. I’m not even sure she’s right though, I’d never seen the farmhouse with the lights on.”

  “Pippa doesn’t turn the lights on?” Sue asked. “Boy, she is really taking this digital diet to the extreme.”

  I had to laugh. “No, she’s just trying to keep the place cool. But it wouldn’t surprise me if she decided to forgo all electricity at some stage in the future.” I stopped laughing. “Anyway, you were telling me about Athena’s work, from two years ago?”

  “Yes. Well, it was definitely not subtle. It was far more graphic. Angry, almost. A lot of bright reds everywhere. Sort of gory and bloody.”

  I had finally gotten Pippa’s landline number. Before she had it disconnected anyway, and decided to go back to using telegrams.

  She picked up after eight rings. “We’ve got to find out what Athena is hiding. We need to go back to Pure Gelatosphere. We need to take another tour.”

  Chapter 8

  “Hey there, Athena!” I said brightly as we pushed through the doors of the ice cream factory, ready to join another tour group. Clearly, we were the last people in the world she wanted to see that day.

  The look of instant fear was noticeable, even though she quickly tried to straighten her face. There were a dozen other people there, waiting for that day’s tour.

  “What are you two doing back here?” she asked, forcing a smile while a few people cast us strange looks.

  “Well, we’re still waiting on our freezer delivery to arrive” I said, smiling right back. “I mean, we need a place to display all your wonderful ice cream flavors, don’t we? So, I just thought we’d check in.”

  Athena waited until the rest of the tour group had rounded the corner before she dragged me off to the side.

  “We don’t have any freezers for you,” she said to me in a tone that was definitely meant to be a warning. She shoved me away with just a little too much force.

  I held up my hands. “Whoa there, what’s with all the aggravation?”

  “I don’t know why you’re back here, after…” She glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one was listening. “After what happened last time.” She shook her head. “Surely you’re not really here for a freezer. What are you playing?”

  I kept calm and stood my ground. “Actually, we are. This heat shows no sign of going away any time soon and we want to stock and sell your ice cream. Are you really trying to turn down a customer?” I shook my head. “I think your manager would be very upset to hear about that.”

  She straightened her collar and tried to act all friendly again.

  “Well, we are all out of display freezers.”

  “What about the old models? Last time we were here, there must have been over twenty of them sitting in storage. You can’t have rented them all out. There aren’t even that many stores in the area to rent them to!”r />
  But Athena wasn’t budging. She just gave me a dead-eyed stare. “Well, I am telling you, they are.”

  “Can I double-check? Just to be sure.” I tried to sidestep her, but she stepped in front of me and gave me a little shove.

  “No, you may not.”

  I found Pippa in the crowd and pulled her aside. She was munching on a sample of ice cream that she told me was raspberry swirled with goat’s cheese.

  “Athena doesn’t want us back down in the freezer room. I mean, she really doesn’t want us down there.”

  Pippa finished off her scoop. “This is delicious.” I gave her the stink-eye. “Okay, okay, I know that’s not the point right now. Why doesn’t she want us going down there? We’re going to have to if we’re going to stock this,” she said, holding up her empty sample cup.

  We were definitely never going to stock that.

  “I have no idea, but she must be hiding something. Something she doesn’t want us to see.”

  “So, what are we going to do?” Pippa whispered, looking around to make sure the rest of the group wasn’t looking at us.

  “We’re going to have to come back later on, when Athena isn’t here. After dark. We’re going to have to break in.”

  Pippa’s truck wasn’t the best choice of vehicle if you were looking for a subtle entrance. Not only was it about a hundred feet wide, the engine rattled like we were dragging fifty cans behind us at all times.

  I could hear all the apples and lemons rolling around in the back as we entered the woods. “Pippa, they are so noisy!”

  “I’m more worried about the fact that they’re going to get bruised and no one’s going to want them,” she replied, glancing at the fruit in the rearview mirror. She shook her head. “I’m not going to get a chance to shop them around. I’m going to ask Marcello to take them into Levon’s store for me tomorrow instead.”

  “Well, good luck with that plan,” I commented, keeping my eyes on the road seeing as Pippa was more concerned with her bruising fruit than avoiding a traffic accident.