by Rose, Sharon
Reg cleared his throat and took another drink of coffee.
“I guess we should go back to how Bernie was involved in all of this. He found out about the drugs and wanted in on it. You remember he got the wrong pair of boots from Scooter. Jeff told him that he would let him deal some but he couldn’t interfere with the thing they had going at the nursing home. Bernie found a few teenagers who wanted to try it out so he’d meet them behind the carwash.”
“So, there was a reason for going there besides washing the hub caps on his car.”
“Yep. It was mostly to deal a few drugs. So happened that one night Erma spotted him down at the beach with Jeff and a couple of kids. She started questioning Melanie about Bernie so it didn’t take long to put everything together. I think she was getting a little bored now that Murray was home all the time. She wanted to travel but all he wanted to do was to go fishing or sit all day at the café so she decided to have some excitement on her own; in addition to making some cash. She used Biscuit as an excuse to walk down to the Krueger house to see Jeff. Bernie’s car was parked on the street and wouldn’t you know it – you were right, Mabel, that old dog went crazy when he smelled those tires. Bernie heard the dog barking and saw Erma trying to pull the dog away so he went out. Of course, he’d just filled the hollow in his boots with drugs so Biscuit attacked his foot. He ripped the boot apart and drugs flew all over. This got Bernie into a rage so he grabbed the nearest weapon, which happened to be a brick off that old pile, and he went at Biscuit. When he was finished Biscuit was dead and Erma was terrified to think what Murray would say.”
“What about Biscuit? She didn’t feel anything for the dog?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Doesn’t seem like it. She always thought Murray cared more for the old dog than for her anyway.”
“Well, I’m beginning to see why. What did they decide to do?”
“Bernie told her to hide the brick and he’d hide the dog. She would tell Murray that the dog ran off and she didn’t know where he went.”
“So he threw the dog in the field, not thinking that anyone would find the poor animal right away.”
He nodded. “It wasn’t long and those boys found Biscuit. They knew whose dog it was, so took him to Murray’s house.”
“Murray said that Erma was starting to give him drugs before Biscuit was killed though. Why would she do that?”
“She claims she would never have hurt him but I think she was hoping that if she gave Murray enough drugs for a long period of time, he might eventually take his own life or be so drugged up that he’d have some sort of accident.”
“You’re right. Murray said those pills gave him suicidal thoughts. But why did Erma kill Bernie?”
“She was so mad that he threw the dog in the field and didn’t bury him someplace so no one would find him. Don’t forget, there wasn’t much time between Bernie killing Biscuit and Erma killing Bernie. Two hours at the most. She hid the brick by a tree. She was going to throw it into the lake but there were some boats close by so she couldn’t. While Murray was mourning his dog and wondering why the dog would ever leave Erma’s side, she ran out to throw the brick in the lake. When she got down there, she saw Melanie and Bernie fighting. As soon as Melanie ran away, she went after Bernie. He was still struggling to get out of the water; otherwise, she probably wouldn’t have been able to hit him like that.”
“Where did they find Erma anyway? Did she get all the way to Chicago?”
He laughed. “Wouldn’t you know, all the flights were booked but when she finally got one, her plane was delayed so she never even got out of the Airport. Captain Maxymowich and his gang picked her up with no incident. Apparently, she did claim her innocence at the beginning but when she realized they knew Dr. Fritz hadn’t prescribed any drugs for Murray, she broke down and confessed. Good work, Mabel.”
I smiled. “We owe all of that to Charlie, Reg. He’s the one who woke me up at three in the morning and told me to get over there. If it weren’t for him, Erma would be in Chicago now. Of course, Sammy and Biscuit have to get some credit too. After all, if it weren’t for their good sense of smell, we might not have realized where those drugs were hiding. Too bad we can’t give a posthumous award to Biscuit.”
“Maybe we could get something made up for Murray. You know a plaque with Biscuit’s name on it. I think he’d really like that. He doesn’t have too much to live for right now and that would cheer him up. What do you think, Mabel?”
I was seeing my sheriff in a new light. “I think that’s a wonderful idea. By the way, what’s happening with Prunella? Did she ever confess that someone hit her with the frying pan or is she still saying that she fell and hit her head?”
“I almost forgot to tell you about that. Melanie’s brother, Steven, came into the station yesterday and confessed. He’s another hothead. Once he found out that Melanie wasn’t a murder suspect and that Erma was arrested, he decided to come forward. He’d wanted Prunella to say that she’d been wrong when she heard Melanie threatening Bernie’s life. After all, Prunella’s statement was very damaging.”
“So he planted money and drugs in her drawer and put drugs in her booze so we’d think she was using. If that were true, the police would question her statement and probably not accept it, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Well, we can all give a sigh of relief now. Parson's Cove is back to normal.”
“Not quite, Mabel.”
“What do you mean, ‘not quite’?”
“I heard via the grapevine that there’s going to be a wedding coming up soon.”
“A wedding? Reg, you know I don’t know any of the young people in Parson's Cove anymore. It really doesn’t interest me too much.”
Reg grinned. “I think this one might. You know the bride quite well. In fact, she’s a regular customer of yours.”
I couldn’t think of any customer of mine who would be even eligible for marriage. “Sorry, Reg. It can’t be any of my customers. You’ll have to tell me.”
“Esther Flynn is marrying some old bachelor from Betula.”
I don’t remember much of the next ten minutes. I do remember Reg waving a newspaper in front of me and asking if I could hear him. Reality did finally click in.
“Well, you’re right. Parson's Cove is definitely not ever going to be back to normal.”
“Something else. There’s going to be an election coming up within the next few weeks.”
“There is? Well, since I’ve never voted in my lifetime, I’m not too concerned. I don’t think it will make any difference to our small town.”
“I don’t know. Getting a new sheriff always means a few changes.”
I stared at him. “A new sheriff? Are you telling me that you are really and truly retiring, Reg Smee?”
He grinned. “I handed in my resignation two days ago. It’s time for me to spend some time fishing and relaxing before I settle down in the Parson's Cove Restful Retirement Retreat.”
I reached over and shook his hand. “Congratulations, Reg. I’m happy for you but I don’t think we will ever have a sheriff as good as you again.”
“What? Is this the real Mabel Wickles speaking?”
“I know we’ve had our differences, Reg, but in the end, we work pretty well together.”
There was a bit of shine to the sheriff’s eyes. “We do, Mabel. I have to confess I’ll miss our little adventures.”
“Of course, no one is saying we still can’t do some investigating once in a while. And, as you pointed out, Sheriff, when you’re a citizen you don’t even need a search warrant.”
Reg laughed so hard, I had to grab his cup before it hit the floor. He wiped away a few tears and said, “Mabel, why don’t you get me another one of your stale muffins?”
“Only as long as you’re sheriff; once you’re retired, you have to get your own.”
The End
Flori’s Cinnamon Buns
Makes 8 good-sized buns or 6 gargantuan buns!
&
nbsp; Preparation and cook time: 1 hour 45 minutes.
Ingredients:
2 cups of white flour
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
½ cup fine sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
Pinch of salt
1 cup chopped pecans
1 oz. butter
½ cup butter, melted
¼ oz. yeast
2 oz. maple syrup
1 egg, beaten
½ cup pecans, chopped
½ cup warm milk
Put flour, sugar, and salt in mixing bowl, blend in butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the yeast, egg, and milk and mix well until it forms a soft dough. Turn onto lightly floured surface and knead for ten minutes until smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap. Leave in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Combine the cinnamon, sugar, and pecans in a food processor until the nuts are finely ground.
Punch down the dough and knead to remove the air. Roll on a floured surface to form 9 in. X 12 in. rectangle. Brush the dough with half the melted butter and sprinkle over the sugar, cinnamon, and pecans. Roll up the dough tightly, starting at longer edge. Press the edges to seal, then cut into 8 slices. Grease pan (or pans) with butter. Put buns in pans, cover, and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes or until doubled in size.
Heat oven to 375* F. Bake for 30 minutes until golden. Remove from oven and place on rack to cool.
Heat the maple syrup, sugar, and remaining melted butter in a saucepan, stirring. Drizzle the glaze over the buns and sprinkle with pecans.
Mabel’s Apple Breakfast Muffins
Makes 12 muffins
Preparation and cook time: 35 minutes
Bake 15 to 20 minutes in 375*F oven
Ingredients:
1 oz. butter
1 tsp. apple pie spice
1 oz. demerara sugar
2 apples, cored and cubed
1 oz. ground almonds
1 egg
2 oz. sunflower seeds
1 cup sour cream
2 cups all purpose flour
½ cup butter, melted
2 tsp. baking powder
½ cup brown sugar
Blend butter into flour, sugar, and almonds until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in sunflower seeds and set aside as topping. Sift flour and baking powder into mixing bowl. Stir in sugar, spice, and apple. Mix together egg, sour cream, and melted butter. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together and stir lightly. Mixture should be lumpy. Spoon the mixture into paper lined muffin tins and sprinkle on topping.
Bake until muffins are well risen and firm.
Flori’s Chocolate-chocolate Cookies
1 ¼ cups flour
1 ( 4 serving size) chocolate instant pudding
1 tsp. soda
2 eggs
1 cup margarine, softened
1 (12 oz.) pkg. chocolate chips
¼ cup sugar
1 cup chopped nuts, optional
¾ cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix flour with soda. Combine margarine, sugars, vanilla, and pudding mix in large bowl; beat until smooth and creamy. Beat in eggs. Add flour mixture. Stir in nuts and chips. Drop by teaspoonful onto ungreased sheets. 375* for about 8 to 10 minutes. Makes about 7 dozen small cookies.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sharon Rose and her husband, Al, (now retired) live in the home that they designed and built over thirty years ago in a small community in Manitoba, Canada. Sharon squeezes in writing time between volunteering and grandchildren’s visits. Every winter, she and her husband escape the cold northern winds and head for Galveston, Texas.
While taking a three-year writing course with the Writing School in Ottawa, Canada, she had two novels published. One of her short stories appeared in Woman’s World. Since then, she’s had several short stories and one children’s story published. Her real love, however, is writing cozy mysteries involving her two favorite characters: Mabel Wickles and Flori Flanders. Their first adventure was SLIP AND GO DIE and the second was PERPLEXITY ON P 1/2. This is her third Parson’s Cove mystery.
You can contact Sharon at her author website: www. sharonrosemierke.weebly.com
For more information, email Cozy Cat Press,
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