Granny Forks A Fugitive (Fuchsia Minnesota Book 4)

by Julie Seedorf

  Granny, stood up from the table and said in a sweet Amelia voice, “Of course, you understand, Ephraim, that a tight girdle just doesn’t let you breath and we have enough people in Fuchsia who aren’t breathing.”

  The two women hurried down the hallway into Amelia’s bedroom before the Tall Guy could say a word. Loud whispers could be heard coming from the room, but none of the listeners could make out any of the words. Soon, Granny and Amelia came out of the room, adjusting their clothes. The real Amelia sat down next to the Tall Guy.

  “Now that we have our breathing adjusted, please tell me what it is that happened,” Amelia smiled at the Tall Guy and reached out and touched his arm.

  Mavis, Delight and Lulu looked from Amelia to Granny, who was now sitting next to Mavis. Mavis turned and peered into Granny’s eyes. She said to the others, “Guess my next reality show is going to be called Unswitched.”

  The Tall Guy gave Mavis a confused look before telling the women what happened.

  “Amelia, your manager, Lars, for some reason, went back to your factory around 12:15 a.m. last night. When he got there, he noticed footprints of chocolate on the floor leading from the vat that heats and stirs the chocolate.”

  “Yes.” Amelia nodded. “The factory is not running yet, but we tested the machines yesterday and that was one of them. We were going to test it again tomorrow. We left the chocolate in there to finish the test.”

  The Tall Guy nodded his head in understanding as he continued, “When Lars got to the vat, he found Justine’s body lying just outside. She apparently had fallen into the chocolate and then someone had pulled her out and left her there. She was dead.”

  “Poor Lars. I’d better find my stepson. He’s bound to be very upset.” Amelia started to get up, but the Tall Guy stopped her. “There’s more! This wasn’t an accident, Amelia. We think she fell into the vat after someone,” and here the Tall Guy looked at Granny before continuing, “forked her with a pitchfork! She had tine marks from a pitchfork on her arm and a pitchfork was lying next to her body.”

  Granny stood up. “And you’re looking at me, why? Because I happened to accidently fork the love of my life the other day? I have an alibi for that!”

  “Do you own a pink pitchfork, Granny?” the Tall Guy questioned.

  “Yes. It’s at home in the trunk of my car.”

  The Tall Guy’s phone rang. He looked at Granny as he spoke into his phone, “No, I know she’s not home because she’s here.” He hesitated, listening to the voice on the other end of the line. “Claims they had a slumber party and they made up. Says her pitchfork is in the trunk of her car. Thanks.” The Tall Guy hung up his phone. “That was Thor. He’s at your house.”

  Pastor Henrietta, after hearing the conversation, decided that it was a good time to reveal herself. The door of the basement flew open. This so surprised the Tall Guy as he was leaning back in his chair, that he lost his balance and tumbled to the floor.

  “Oh, my, Ephraim! I’m so sorry I startled you! Are you falling for me just like Granny fell for Franklin?” Henrietta giggled, helping him up from the floor.

  The others did what they could to hide their mirth. Delight took a quick sip of the Tall Guy’s coffee. Lulu pretended a sneeze and Mavis coughed to hide her giggle.

  Granny wasn’t so delicate. “When I fall, I do it more gracefully; it’s called Granny gravitating. That was more like man overboard!”

  “Pastor Henrietta, where did you come from?” the Tall Guy looked at her suspiciously.

  “Oh, these poor women––two sisters––at odds with one another all these years, they called me to pray with them and bring peace to their hearts.” She nodded her head. “Yes, miracles happen. I was so deep in sleep from all the praying last night that I didn’t hear you arrive.”

  Pastor Henrietta turned to the women. She reached over and took Granny’s hand and then with her other hand drew Amelia close to her on her other side. “Do you need these women for anything else? I see they’ve had a shock and I’d like some time alone with them to counsel them. Would that be appropriate? Then I’ll bring Granny home.”

  The Tall Guy nodded his head. “All right, I’ll give you time since you’re a pastor and all that, but you need to drop Amelia and Granny off at the police station again! I’ll tell Thor to meet us there. Don’t be long!”

  “Can’t wait!” Granny yelled to his back as he walked out the door.

  Mavis walked over to Granny, grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. The others watched Mavis, all except for Amelia whose eyes began to twinkle. “Are you the real Granny or are you Amelia?”

  “Why you pretended to be me, Hermiony, when you answered the door, I have no idea,” the twinkling eyes of Amelia scolded.

  Granny shrugged her shoulders. “I wanted to find out what was going on and you always used to tell me sugar will get me further than vinegar so I decided to be you, but Mavis decided she needed an early reality show and popped up from the basement before I could get my answers.”

  Granny paced the floor as the others watched. “We need a plan and we have to finish our story. They may all be connected.”

  “But why Justine?” Amelia wondered, “She was such a nice girl.”

  “And why was she at the chocolate factory?” Lulu asked.

  “Well, she liked chocolate,” Delight giggled, “She had quite the sweet tooth. In fact, she bought some ice cream to take home for someone special in her life. She was pretty excited.”

  At that moment, Pastor Henrietta’s phone played Amazing Grace. She looked at the caller id and raised her eyes to the others in the room. “Yes, yes, we’re on our way. Yes, I can do that. I’ll be sure to bring them all.” She hung up her phone and said, “You’re all in trouble!”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Not only were George, Franklin, and Ella waiting for the women at the police station, but so were reporters from the Fuchsia Flash newspaper. The reporters brought along their photographers. A couple of policemen were waiting to escort the women into the station and protect them from the reporters.

  “My, that was fun!” Mavis remarked. She hadn’t been able to resist flashing a few poses for the reporters as if she were a real reality star.

  “Why were they here?” Granny asked Thor who was waiting for her inside the door.

  “They heard about Justine’s death at the factory last night, along with the deaths at the farm and that all the deaths were connected to Amelia.”

  Granny frowned. “And that’s big news? Usually our local newspapers don’t publish much murder and mayhem. They like to keep our town pink and perky. They feel gruesome things are the cops’ business.”

  The Tall Guy joined them to escort Granny and her friends further back into the building. “Apparently,” he said to her as they walked, “your sister Amelia is quite famous when it comes to business. Amelia Blackford is a name to be reckoned with. You didn’t know that?”

  Pastor Henrietta saved Granny from answering, stopping the group and saying, “I’m leaving, Granny. If you need any pastoral support, please call me. I’d be happy to counsel you some more.” Henrietta then turned to the Tall Guy and said, “And if you need my services helping out with this situation, I’ll be at the church preparing for Justine’s funeral.”

  “Where’s the pastor going?” Granny demanded to know.

  “Home, why?” Thor questioned.

  “Why are the rest of us still here and she gets to go home?” Granny asked.

  Lulu interrupted the conversation by touching Granny’s arm, “I’ll talk to you later, Granny. I must get my quilt shop opened.”

  Granny watched Lulu walk out the door. “She gets to go home too?” Turning around, she saw George and Ella talking to two police officers while Mavis and Delight could be seen through the glass of Thor’s office being questioned. Amelia was nowhere in sight.

  “Let’s go talk in my office, Hermiony.” The Tall Guy motioned for Granny to proceed him down th
e hallway.

  “You didn’t answer my question,” Granny insisted.

  “Mom,” Thor said, “Mavis and Delight are here because George and Ella reported them missing.”

  Granny frowned. “Missing? They weren’t missing. They were with all of us.”

  “Well, Mom, it’s not usual for them to stay out all night. In fact, the only other time it’s happened was when we had them here for questioning and we called their families then.” Thor’s exasperated tone made it evident that he was frustrated with his mother.

  When they reached the Tall Guy’s office, Thor indicated to his mother that she should sit down. “Why am I here? I was just at a slumber party; nothing interesting there.”

  The Tall Guy glanced at Thor and said, “Do you want to tell her or should I?”

  Thor ran a hand across his eyes before looking at his mother. “Mom, your pitchfork was found at the scene of the crime.”

  Granny shook her head. “I told you the last time I saw my pitchfork was in the trunk of my car.”

  “Your car was also seen earlier parked at the chocolate factory,” the Tall Guy informed her.

  Granny stood up abruptly. “Impossible! I was home all night after Franklin dropped me off!”

  Thor shook his head. “Except when you weren’t. What time did your so-called party start?”

  “Midnight was when they picked me up.”

  “Justine was killed before midnight,” the Tall Guy informed her.

  “I want my lawyer.”

  “You don’t have one, Mom. We’re just asking you a few questions.”

  The door to the Tall Guy’s office opened and Silas and an unknown man entered the room. “What do I have to do, lock you up so I don’t have to keep bailing you out of jail, Mrs. Persnickulous?” Silas asked when he saw Granny.

  Granny’s brow wrinkled. “Are you talking to me, Silas? And what are you doing here and who’s that?”

  “It’s my new name for you. The situations you get yourself into are ridiculous and––you’re a difficult persnickety woman.”

  Nodding to the stranger, she asked, “And this disheveled person you have with you is who?”

  “I can introduce myself.” Turning to Thor and the Tall Guy, the stranger continued, “Are you going to charge her? Otherwise, I demand you release her.” He pounded his fist on the table so hard the table shook.

  Granny, Thor and the Tall Guy jumped at the force and noise of his fist on the table.

  Silas, a gleam in his eye, said, “Gentlemen, I’d like to introduce you to Humboldt Thaddeus Archibald Notorious, Granny’s new lawyer.”

  “I don’t have a lawyer,” Granny stated loudly.

  “She doesn’t need a lawyer,” Thor said calmly, “Do you think I’d let my own mother answer questions if she needed a lawyer?”

  “Dad,” the Tall Guy addressed the other man, “Why are you here?”

  Seeing that the conversation in the room was going nowhere, Granny grabbed a chair, stepped up on it and then climbed on the metal desk in the room. Lifting her foot, she brought it back down as hard as a 100-pound lady could. The thump on the metal silenced the men.

  “Now, ask your questions! I have nothing to hide. I did not drive my car last night. After Franklin took me home, I went to sleep. The girls picked me up at midnight. We went to Amelia’s (Granny had her fingers crossed behind her at that little lie) and you found me there this morning.”

  Granny then got down from the table and added one more thing, “Is that what you wanted to know?”

  Humboldt Notorious moved next to Granny and pronounced, “My client has spoken.”

  “I’m not your client,” she said.

  “Silas’s lady has spoken,” Humboldt Notorious announced.

  “I’m not his lady,” Granny declared.

  At that moment, Franklin Gatsby knocked and walked in. “Amelia’s ready to go. Have you finished with Granny?” Turning to Silas, he asked, “What are you doing here?” Seeing Humboldt, he questioned, “And who are you?”

  Hearing Franklin mention Amelia, Granny asked, “How do you know Amelia is ready to go, Franklin?”

  “She called me to come down here and get you both. I just talked to her. I stayed while they were questioning her in case they crossed the line and she needed a lawyer. In spite of her worldly company, she is unsure of herself; her second husband handled most of the technical details for her company.”

  Granny gave Franklin a suspicious look. “And my fiancé would know this how?”

  Franklin ignored Granny’s question and turned again to Humboldt Notorious. “Again, who are you?”

  Granny piped up. “He’s my lawyer! Silas hired him. We have to be going now if you’re done with me, Thor. Silas will give me a ride home; it’s on his way.”

  Silas laughed and turned to the Tall Guy, “Can I take Mrs. Persnickulous home now?”

  “In a minute; you all need to clear out including you, Mr. Notorious; I need to talk to my mother as her son,” Thor instructed, opening the door to usher everyone out.

  Humboldt warned before leaving the room, “My client will let me know if you cross the line. No shenanigans. I know how you police work. You badger weak old ladies and break them down bit by bit until they confess and then you lock them up and throw away the key. That’s not going to happen to my client, do you understand?” he stated in a loud booming voice.

  Granny upon hearing the weak old lady bit moved quickly to the door and poked the lawyer in the chest with her finger. “Bolty, enough! You’re lucky this is my finger and not my knitting needle or you’d be skewered to the wall so the police could torture you.” Granny kept tapping him with her finger as her voice grew louder. “You want weak, I’ll show you weak!” and she stomped on his toe with all her weight, although she thought it was lucky she had her high-top sneakers on instead of her pointy heals that she wore when she was an undercover wedding guest.

  Turning to the others, she said, “Don’t mess with my lawyer.” With a smug grin, she sat down in the chair by the desk waiting to hear what Thor had to say.

  Thor closed the door and sat down behind the Tall Guy’s desk. “We got the autopsy back on Robert Blackford, Mom.”

  Granny leaned forward in her chair, “And?”

  “He died of a heart attack.”

  “A heart attack? He wasn’t knifed like that Dickey Lee Hatchet?”

  “No.”

  “But he was covered with hay and straw?”

  “We think whoever killed Dickey Lee Hatchet found Blackford’s body and covered it up so it wouldn’t be found, just in case it led to the discovery of Dickey Lee’s body.”

  “That was bad planning on their part,” Granny said sarcastically.

  “What about the reason they were there in the silo in the first place? And where is Amelia’s son? Do you know anything?”

  “We think they’d come here looking for Amelia’s son. They might have thought Amelia knew where he was. They might have thought Lars was Robert’s son.”

  “But why wouldn’t Robert know where his son was if he stole his son all those years ago from Amelia?”

  “We’re working on that and you are not to stick your nose in it. Leave this to us, Mom! Do you understand? And why was your car at the factory?”

  “Where’s my lawyer? You suspect your own mother! Did you ever think that maybe Gram Gramstead is behind all this? Maybe she got out of jail! Maybe she’s back! This is her MO, you know.”

  Thor shook his head in exasperation. “You’re fixated on Gram, Mom. She’s long gone. Maybe you drove your car to Amelia’s factory and you just don’t remember.”

  Granny decided to play along. “Hmmm. I did forget my dentures at home the other day. I’m so lucky we have Mr. Pigster now. He brought them back to me. He tried to fit them into Baskerville’s mouth at first, but Baskerville still has his teeth. Did someone say I had a ride home?”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Granny walked out the door of the
police station with Silas, just as Amelia was getting into Franklin’s car. “Look! They’re just perfect for each other; he’s the honey to her milk toast,” Silas remarked.

  Ignoring Silas’s remark about her fiancé and her sister, Granny grudgingly got the words out that she knew she needed to say, “I suppose I should thank you, Silas, for hiring me a lawyer.”

  Silas leaned in close to Granny, looking around to make sure no one else was in hearing distance. “I have a confession to make; he’s not really a lawyer. He’s an ex-cop friend of mine from Alaska who happens to be in town. His nickname is Snowshoe.”

  Granny jumped back away from Silas. “You hired me a fake lawyer? What’s the matter with you? You really want me in the hoosegow, don’t you? You hired someone who can’t get me off the hook––on purpose? You want me going down for this?” Granny’s voice got louder with each word. People inside the police station, including Thor, were about to come out to see what had upset Granny when Silas grabbed her and hustled her into the passenger side of the car. He quickly got in the driver’s seat and drove away before they could be questioned.

  “What’s the matter with you?” Silas barked out the words, “It worked, didn’t it? I couldn’t see any reason to spend money on a real lawyer when Snowshoe was willing to do it for a favor.”

  Granny mumbled something under her breath that Silas couldn’t understand. She turned to Silas and asked, “Can you drop me off at the Pink Percolator?”

  “I think I’ll stop with you. I have something to show you when you get home.”

  Granny didn’t hear the comment because she was deep in thought about what Thor had told her. It was almost dinner time which meant it was almost 12:00 noon. Dinner was noon in Fuchsia and supper was at night.

  Granny was brought out of her daydreaming by a click of Silas’s fingers in front of her face. They could see through the window of the Pink Percolator that Delight and her daughter Ella were having some sort of argument.