Rest in Peace, Miss Aggie (The Misadventures of Miss Aggie)

by Frances Devine

  “I didn’t want her bothering the old folks.” Mabel reached over and tucked a strand of Sarah’s unruly hair behind her ears. The little girl ducked and reached up to make sure her hat hadn’t been upset.

  “It’s okay. Why don’t you let her play?” I turned to Sarah. “Or maybe you’d like to go for a walk with Buster and me.”

  She darted a look at her grandmother, who gave her a nod and a smile.

  “Can I hold his leash?”

  “I don’t see why not.”

  “Okay. I’ll go.” Wow. We seemed to be holding an actual conversation.

  “Do we need coats? I haven’t bothered to check the weather. I’ve been inside all day.”

  “Naw.” Sarah waved her hand. “It’s not cold. Are you ready to go now?”

  “Sure, do you want to get the leash?”

  She ran over and slipped Buster’s leash off the hook by the door. “Bye Grandma. See you later.”

  “Okay baby, you mind Miz Storm.”

  “I will. I promise.” She ran out the back door and into the fenced yard, where Buster greeted her with excited, ear- splitting barks.

  “Do you know how to clip it on his collar?”

  She frowned and threw me a look of disdain. “Of course. What do you think I am, a stupid baby or something?”

  And we’d been doing so well. Or so I’d thought. “Sorry. I didn’t mean that at all.”

  “Okay. Then I’m sorry, too.” She leaned over, and Buster licked her face as she hooked the leash onto his collar. Giggling, she wiped her hand across her face. “Okay Buster boy, let’s go.”

  When we got to the sidewalk, she stopped and looked at me with a question in her eyes. “Which way?”

  “You choose.” It didn’t really matter. Mrs. Miller was probably resting from her day at the center.

  “Hey, Sarah!” The Hansen children came running across the street. “Where you going?”

  “Taking Buster for a walk.” She reached down and patted Buster on the head, and the other children followed suit. He didn’t growl or bark, so apparently they’d made friends with him.

  Sarah and Buster headed down the sidewalk, the dog practically dragging her, which didn’t seem to bother her a bit. She just picked up her pace, flanked by the Hansen children.

  “Don’t go too fast now,” I called after them. Too late. Mrs. Miller’s cat streaked across the street, and Buster lit after it with the four children tearing behind, cheering him on.

  “Look both ways before you cross that street again!” I yelled. But Buster and his gang of followers had disappeared around the corner.

  I stopped in my tracks, berating myself for being so ignorant of children. I should have known better.

  Someone guffawed loudly behind me. I whirled to see Mrs. Miller coming across the yard. “I see he got away from you again. You’re not very good with animals, are you?”

  Indignant, I opened my mouth, then, thinking better of it, shut it again. I took a deep breath. “Actually, I never had him in the first place. Someone else was holding his leash.”

  “Yes, I noticed. You don’t know too much about chil- dren either, do you?”

  I bit my lip and mentally counted to ten. “No, Mrs. Miller, I don’t.” I started to head off after the children.

  “You might as well wait for them here. As soon as Buster sees he’s lost Fluffy, he’ll head back this way looking for you.”

  “You may be right, but I think I’d better go look for them.”

  I got halfway down the block when I heard barking and laughing from somewhere behind me. Buster came galloping around the corner with all four children skipping around him. How did Mrs. Miller always know everything?

  They ran up to me with grinning faces, including Buster’s. His tongue was also hanging out.

  “Looks like you all had fun.” Who could keep from laughing along with those cheery faces?

  “Yeah,” they chorused.

  “Did Buster do his business?”

  “Nope, he just chased the cat till it ran up a tree.” The youngest boy grinned. “It just sat up there on that ole branch, spitting at Buster. Boy, was he mad.”

  “Can we take him around again?” Sarah pleaded.

  I sighed. Why not? No harm done that I could see.

  “Okay, but I’m going with you this time, and Sarah, be sure to hang on to him. Especially if you see a cat.”

  We paraded around the block and arrived back at the lodge, mission accomplished and no mishaps.

  The Hansens, whose names I now knew were Bobby, Charlie, and Cindy, waved and ran home. I went inside and let Sarah take care of Buster. She came in a few minutes later and hung the leash on its hook.

  “Thanks for the help.” I smiled at Sarah, hoping to get one back.

  She shrugged. “Welcome.”

  She and Mabel left a few minutes later, and I went to wash up. When I got back down to the kitchen, Miss Jane was getting things together to take to the sideboard.

  Dinner was quieter than usual. When we’d finished, Miss Evalina asked us all if we could meet in the parlor again.

  I supposed she wanted to be with everyone. And that was fine with me. I didn’t want to be alone with my thoughts either.

  I told them I’d join them as soon as I’d finished cleaning up. But the ladies all pitched in, and within fifteen minutes we were finished and gathered together in the parlor. Flames leaped and logs crackled in the fireplace.

  Silence hung heavily in the room, and faces were long and drawn.

  “All right, we need to snap out of it.” Miss Evalina’s voice was kind but firm. “I didn’t ask everyone to meet so we could sit around depressed and gloomy.”

  “I don’t know why we’re in here at all.” Martin’s voice broke. “I’d just as soon go watch a movie and get my mind off everything.”

  Miss Evalina shook her head. “No, we have to decide what to do.”

  “What?” Miss Jane’s voice held surprise. “What can we do? Pray they find Aggie’s body so we can give her a proper funeral and burial?”

  “Stop it, Jane.” For the first time, Miss Evalina spoke sharply. “Let’s not bury her until we know she’s really dead. I, for one, don’t believe it for a minute.”

  Miss Jane sat up straight, hope in her eyes. “You don’t? Really, Eva?”

  “No. Aggie’s too smart to get herself killed. And we all seem to forget the mysterious circumstances of her leaving.”

  We looked around at each other.

  “Dang. She’s right.” Martin smacked himself on the leg and chortled. “This is all just a big cover-up for whatever it is she’s up to.”

  Oh, how I hoped they were right. But even if the sheriff was right about the clasp breaking on Miss Aggie’s pearls, the suitcase in the Dumpster made me worry. And, of course, Miss Aggie’s blood. But I wasn’t going to voice my fears.

  “I think all the answers to Clyde’s death and Aggie’s disappearance are right here in Cedar Chapel.”

  “But Eva, we searched Clyde’s shop. There was nothing there.”

  I hit myself on the forehead with the palm of my hand. “Oh my goodness. I almost forgot. Be right back.”

  I almost ran to my office to retrieve the envelope with its mysterious contents.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “What in the world?” Miss Evalina stared at me in astonishment. I’d plopped myself down in the middle of the parlor floor and dumped the contents of the envelope in front of me.

  “Laura brought these by this morning on her way out of town. She found them in Clyde’s safe-deposit box.”

  Five heads, ranging from snowy white to salt-and-pepper, leaned forward to see what I was sorting.

  “They look old.” Frank reached down and picked up one of the letters.

  I looked through the documents, putting them in stacks. Bills of sale, receipts, letters, and other documents I couldn’t determine.

  “Okay, most of these are in German. We need to separate the English
from the German.”

  “Look, this one’s in German, but it has Jack Riley’s name in it.” Frank held it out to me. “And it’s dated 1947.”

  I glanced over the letter. He was right. Jack Riley’s name appeared three times.

  I continued to look through the others. One more letter contained Jack Riley’s name. I didn’t recognize the signatures. Most were from someone named Frederick Heffner, with one or two from a Thomas Schmidt.

  I gasped as I picked up a yellowed invoice. A fragment was torn from the document. Although it was jagged and wrinkled, the letters that were torn could very well have been ‘tunnel.’ I nodded with satisfaction. “Look. This would fit perfectly with the fragment Miss Aggie found in the bedpost.”

  The slips of paper in English proved to be appointment times. There was nothing else on them except what appeared to be an occasional street address.

  “What are you going to do with these?” Miss Evalina leaned forward. “You do have a plan, don’t you?”

  I looked up, and her eyes stared into mine, intense and questioning. Miss Evalina wasn’t going to stand for inaction.

  “Yes, ma’am. First I’m going to make several copies of each item. Next, I’ll take the originals to the sheriff, so he can’t accuse me of withholding evidence.” Of course, he wouldn’t know I had copies. “Then, I’ll take a copy and have them translated. After that, we’ll see.” I waited for her response.

  Miss Evalina smiled. “Good thinking.”

  A wave of pleasure washed over me. I had no idea why Miss Evalina’s approval meant so much to me. Maybe be- cause she’d been such a close friend of my grandmother’s. Sometimes, she even reminded me of her.

  “I still think we should check out Pennington House.” Miss Jane’s expression lay somewhere between anger and fear. “It would be just like Aggie to send everyone on a wild- goose chase while she sneaked back to Pennington and holed up in her suite there.”

  I wondered if maybe searching Pennington House and grounds would be good for all of us. I didn’t really expect to find Miss Aggie there, but at least we’d be doing something. I reached up and patted her hand. “Maybe we will, Miss Jane.”

  Her face brightened. “When?”

  “I’m not sure, but soon. I promise.”

  She nodded, satisfied. If she’d really thought there was a chance Miss Aggie was at her old home, she wouldn’t have been so willing to wait. But I understood. I was grasping at straws, too.

  The phone rang. I scrambled up and hurried to the kitchen. Maybe it was Benjamin.

  “Cedar Lodge.”

  “Hi. It’s me.” Phoebe sounded as dejected as I felt.

  “Oh, hi Phoebe. Have you heard from the guys?”

  “No, I was hoping you had.”

  “Not yet. But I’m sure they’ll call before bedtime.”

  “I hope so. You don’t think they’ll do anything foolish, do you? I mean anything dangerous?” Her voice quivered.

  “No, I’m sure they won’t. Benjamin knows a lot of people on the force there. They’re probably still trying to find out what the police know.” But a twinge of doubt pinched at me as the memory of Benjamin and Corky, bursting into a room with a gunman, invaded my thoughts. Of course, that had been to save the rest of us. But now they were trying to save Miss Aggie.

  I pushed the thought back as Phoebe’s voice came through the receiver.

  “I’m sure you’re right.” Her tone said otherwise. Phoebe was probably remembering, too. “How are the seniors holding up?”

  “They have bad moments, but they’re doing well, con- sidering everything. I meant to ask, did you reschedule your dress fitting?” She’d canceled the Tuesday appointment because of Miss Aggie.

  “No, I’m going to wait until we know something more.”

  “I don’t blame you. I’m probably going to cancel mine for now, too.”

  Phoebe sighed. “I can’t believe this has happened. I feel like I’m in a nightmare.”

  “I know. Same here. You can come over if you like.”

  “Thanks, but I’m cooking dinner for Mom and Uncle Jack.”

  My ears perked up. With everything that had been going on, I’d forgotten all about my questions concerning Jack Riley.

  “We really need to have your uncle over for dinner again soon. Once we hear from Miss Aggie. I know the seniors would love it.”

  “All right. Just let me know when.”

  “I will. Try not to worry. I’m sure Corky will call you soon. And if I hear from Ben, I’ll call and let you know.”

  We ended the call, and I rejoined the others in the parlor.

  “Victoria, we’ve been talking,” Miss Jane said. “We don’t think we’ve paid close enough attention to the facts surrounding the abandoned car.”

  “That’s right.” Miss Georgina’s silver curls bounced as she nodded.

  “Did you have something specific in mind?”

  Miss Evalina sighed. “As much as we’d like to believe Aggie is simply pulling a fast one, the evidence says otherwise.”

  Once again, heads bobbed in agreement.

  She continued. “Aggie may have left her cell phone behind to try to fool someone. But there’s no way she’d have deliberately broken the bottle of Chanel No. 5 or the clasp of her pearls.”

  “No way,” Miss Jane agreed. “She’s too frugal to waste like that. And she’s had the pearls many years.”

  “So what are you saying?” My stomach churned.

  “We have to face the fact that Aggie has likely been kidnapped again,” Frank said. “Someone probably attacked her as she got out of her car. Maybe knocked her backwards. That’s why some of the stuff was inside the car.”

  Miss Georgina gave a little cry, and to be honest, I almost did, too. To hear it admitted aloud was too much.

  “Okay.” Miss Jane’s voice quivered a bit. “Let’s go check out Pennington House. That’s where they took her before.”

  “But Miss Jane, the Whitly Boys and Wolf are still in jail. And when they’d kidnapped Miss Aggie, it was because she could identify them as the bank robbers.”

  “Or so they say,” Miss Jane grumbled. “How do we know the real reason didn’t have something to do with Pennington House? Everything else seems to point to those stupid lost jewels.”

  I glanced at Miss Evalina. “Do you feel the same way?”

  “I can’t say that I believe Aggie is at Pennington House.” She paused, then glanced around at the others. “But if Jane thinks so, it’s worth checking out.”

  “Okay. But I don’t think we should go there tonight. Benjamin said Corky checked the place, so if she’s there, we need daylight to find her.”

  Miss Georgina jumped and cried out as a boom of thunder reverberated throughout the darkened dining room, followed by a bright flash of lightning. The power had gone out a few minutes earlier, so the seniors and I sat around the dining room table, finishing our breakfast by candlelight.

  “I think we should go, storm or no storm.” Miss Jane seemed to be getting more agitated by the moment.

  “Jane, you’re being unreasonable.” Miss Evalina spoke softly to her friend. “We’ve already determined Aggie can’t be inside Pennington House, or Corky would have found her. And we absolutely cannot search the grounds with this storm raging. We’d be soaked through in two minutes, not to mention the danger of being struck by lightning.”

  I thanked her silently. I’d been trying to reason with Miss Jane since we’d come downstairs, but to no avail.

  Miss Jane whimpered. “I know, Eva. But I can’t stand to sit here doing nothing when Aggie could be. . .”

  “Miss Jane, we could get the copies made and call around to try to find a translator. That way we’d at least be accomplishing something. And if you’d like, you and I can take the originals to the sheriff.”

  She took a deep breath. “Yes, and while we’re there, I’ll make him tell us what’s going on. He must know more than he’s saying. At least about Aggie’s c
ar and her personal belongings.”

  “On Saturday?” Martin scoffed.

  I sighed. “The sheriff is nearly always in his office on

  Saturdays doing paperwork.”

  “Yeah, but that don’t mean you can get in through the courthouse door.”

  I thought for a minute. “I’ll call the sheriff. Maybe he’ll come over here.”

  That settled, we finished the meal, and the ladies and I cleaned up the dining room and kitchen the best we could by candlelight. We’d have to run the dishwasher later.

  As we stepped into the foyer, Frank came downstairs with an oil lamp in each hand. Martin followed with another.

  “We thought we might as well play checkers or some- thing.” Frank grinned. “Keep Martin from going crazy since he can’t watch his Saturday movies.”

  “Good idea, Frank.” I smiled as Miss Evalina and Miss Georgina followed the men into the rec room. Miss Jane and I headed toward my office. We stepped inside and set our candles on the desk.

  “Ack.” With an embarrassed shake of the head, I glanced at her. “I don’t know what I was thinking. We can’t make copies until the electricity comes on.”

  She smacked herself on the forehead. “My goodness. I didn’t think of that either.”

  “Oh well, at least we have phone service. I’ll try to round up a translator.” I grabbed a wing chair from the corner and set it by my office chair. “Here you go, Miss Jane. You sit here beside me.”

  I grabbed a phone book and looked up the local college. After being transferred to several departments, I finally reached a bored female voice who informed me they only taught French and Spanish and had no idea if anyone in the school could translate German documents. She then suggested I call back on Monday.

  “Oh!” Miss Jane’s exclamation responded to the sudden flood of light in the room.

  “Oh good. Electricity again.” We smiled at each other, and I tossed the phone book in a drawer and turned on my printer. I made three copies of each document and letter and placed the copies in my safe. Then I grabbed the phone and made a call to the sheriff’s office.

  “Sheriff Turner.”