Murder At The Knife's Edge: A Mystic Pines Mystery

by T. G. Hanson

  “Dang, I thought it was twenty-one.” She then whipped off the towels and threw them on the floor just inside the front door. “You can turn around now. I was just playing with you Wade.”

  Turning around slowly, with one eye closed, he saw the girl standing there in one of those tube looking tops, he thought they were called, and the shortest pair of shorts he’d ever seen. He wondered, could those even be called shorts?

  Wade decided that going into the house, where no adults were present, with Daisy barely dressed, was probably not the best idea. This girl is crazy and who knows what she might try. “Let’s just talk out here on the front porch instead.”

  They moved outside and over to where a large porch swing and two wicker chairs sat. Daisy climbed into the swing while Wade sat down in one of the chairs.

  “Daisy, can you please tell me if you knew our murder victim, or if you ever saw him around town, before the night of the murder?”

  “Well, I saw him once in the diner, a few days before Frank Hanson passed away. Then again, just the other day at the diner. But I got no idea who he is.”

  “So what time did you leave the diner the night of the murder, and where did you go after you left?”

  “Can’t say exactly.”

  “Now what does that mean? You don’t know, or won’t say?”

  “I left when I left and came right home, but I did call Kevin when I got home. Maybe you could check with him?”

  “So, do you have any idea about who trashed Meg’s office the other day?”

  “Now why would I know about that Wade?”

  “Did you see Henry Means at the dinner that night? If so, can you tell me the approximate times you might have seen him there?”

  “Sorry, can’t say that I did, but then nobody ever notices old Henry, now do they?”

  “So Daisy, when you went out to get the food carts from the store room, did you see the stranger in the alley?”

  “Didn’t see a thing Wade, not even a mouse.”

  “All right then, that’s all for now, but I’m sure the Sheriff will want to talk with you some more. Just stick around town and stay out of trouble, you hear me.”

  “Why yes sir, Officer Wade Sir, I’ll for sure be doing that.”

  Wade finished up by telling her that she was not to leave town, and to please call the station if she thought of anything else they might need to know. Daisy sauntered back inside the house, winked at Wade and shut the door behind her.

  Unbelievable. That girl is gonna give someone a lot of trouble one day. Maybe he should suggest to Meg that she look for someone else to help at the bookstore. He wasn’t sure how trustworthy Daisy was. She had answered his questions but mostly in a vague sort of way.

  The entire time Wade was asking questions, Daisy kept fidgeting and spent a good amount of time trying to distract him. She never did look him in the eye and that made him wonder if perhaps she was hiding something. Either that or the girl was truly daft.

  He needed to check with Kevin Manford next and ask him if he noticed Daisy leaving the room at any time prior to the murder. The one nagging thought he had was, if she had anything to do with the murder, what possible motive could she have had? We suspect the motive might be money, but Daisy surely didn’t need money living here with her parents.

  He called the Sheriff’s cell to let him know he was headed off to find Kevin Manford, but John didn’t answer. Leaving a voice message, he put the car in gear and drove off.

  Inside the house, Daisy was watching Wade from a slit in the window curtain. She wasn’t certain, but she suspected Wade didn’t believe everything she had told him. Maybe I should go give Kevin a call and see if the cops have talked to him yet.

  ******

  Sheriff Briggs pulled up in front of Helen’s house, parked the car, and walked up to the door. Knocking he called out, “Helen, it’s Sheriff Briggs.” The house sounded quiet and it didn’t look like anyone was at home.

  Knocking a second time, there was still no answer. Now why would she take off someplace if she wasn’t feeling well like she told Lynn? Something was just not right here. Opening his cell phone, he gave Lynn a call.

  “Hey John what’s up?” answered Lynn.

  “Well, I’m at Helen Means house and she doesn’t appear to be home. Were you able to get hold of her and tell her I’d be stopping by?”

  “Actually, John, when I called she never answered the phone. I thought maybe she was in the restroom or something and figured you would be there by the time it took to stop and call you back, so I didn’t bother.”

  “Strange, if she was not feeling well she should be here now.”

  “You know, you might check to see if she is over at Nyla’s, they eat dinner together a lot, I think. Other than that, not sure what else I could tell you.”

  “Okay Lynn, thanks, I’ll give it a shot.”

  John hung up the phone and stood looking across the street to Nyla’s house. He was just about to head that way when he heard the lock on the front door click and the door being opened. Turning back around there was Helen, in her robe, looking like she was half asleep.

  “Hey John, didn’t Lynn tell you I wasn't feeling well and was going to bed?”

  “Helen can you please explain to me why you seem to be avoiding me?”

  “I’m doing no such thing! I’ve just been busy and as for today, I don’t feel well. And you’re certainly not making me feel any better. That’s for sure,” she whined.

  Placing a foot between the door and the frame, in case she tried to shut the door on him, John scolded her. “Woman, if you will just talk to me for fifteen minutes, this will all be over and I won’t have to bother you again.”

  Helen stepped back from the door and let the Sheriff in. “Fine, but I’ve gotta use the restroom first, then we can talk.”

  As Helen walked down the hall, the Sheriff heard a couple of popping noises coming from the side of the room where the TV stood. Walking over, he laid a hand on the TV set finding it warm to the touch. The warmth of the set combined with the popping noise told him the set had not been off for long. He also noticed the stack of past due notices from collection agencies, unopened, on top of the TV.

  What the heck? The woman just lied to me. She had been watching the television when I pulled up out front. Why in the world is she lying, and what is she trying to hide from me? Quickly he sifted through the stack of bills noticing they seemed to all be from some shopping channel. She obviously owes a lot of money to some people and money was their current motive for the murder, but could this little old lady be involved in anything as nasty as murder?

  He found it hard to believe. “What is it that Sherlock Holmes said? When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

  Hearing Helen come out of the bathroom he quickly walked over to the sofa and sat down.

  Helen made her way to the kitchen where she poured two glasses of iced tea and returning to the couch, handed one to John, then sat down on the other end. “Okay John, what is it that you think I might possibly know about that there murder.”

  He questioned her about what time she got to the diner, had she seen a stranger around town, and did she see anybody leave the diner that night, or go out back. While John was asking Helen questions he was watching her reaction, looking for any sign that she was lying.

  “I can tell you this John, I never left my seat the entire time till I walked out the door to come home. I didn’t hear or see anything strange. But, if you want to talk so much about it all, maybe you should go over and talk to old Henry. I saw him come in one minute and the next time I looked he was gone. Seems to me he’s got a lot to talk about!”

  A fly buzzed between them and Helen reached over to pick up the biggest fly-swatter John had ever seen. He stared at the swatter, again with the fly-swatter, what was it about that thing that bothered him so much?

  “See ya like my swatter. Ain’t she a beauty?” Realizin
g she had just drawn attention to the very thing she had been trying to hide, she quickly dropped it behind the couch. “Oops, clumsy me.”

  John stood up, “Here let me get that for you,” and began to reach behind the couch. Helen jumped up and grabbed his arm, “No . . . that’s fine, really, I can get it later. You’d better git on over to Henry’s before he falls asleep. Sides, I’m starting’ to feel poorly again and might need to rush off to the bathroom any minute now.”

  Satisfied, for now, John walked towards the door. Turning, he told Helen to feel better and if he had more questions he would call. “But if there is a next time, no more run around, okay?”

  Helen smiled shyly and nodded “Yes sir, I promise.”

  From the side of the window Helen watched John walk to his car, get in and start it up. Next thing she knew he had driven off. Well, I’ll be a monkey’s hiney. He never even bothered to go talk to Henry. What kind of Sheriff is he that he would ignore good sound advice like that?

  Shaking her head, she walked away from the window, turned the television back on and returned to the couch. One thing’s for sure, I need to get rid of that swatter. I hate to, but I just gotta. Besides, I can maybe git another one, once this whole mess blows over. If it doesn’t blow over, well, then nothing would matter anyhow.

  Helen knew it was wrong but also knew she had to help protect Meg. Sweet little thing and that awful mess that happened to her. Why no wonder she ran away and is hiding out here. She was sure nobody else in town knew about Meg and she intended to keep it that way. Although she was beginning to wonder why old Henry was snooping around the girl’s house. She wondered if he also knew who Meg really was.

  Hungry and done for the day John decided to come back tomorrow and have a talk with Henry. If he was lucky, Wendy would think he looked stressed out when he got home and he’d get another stress reliever. Smiling, he headed on home, possibly breaking the speed limit a few times.

  ******

  Lynn dropped Meg off at her house then drove down to her own, to pick up some clothes for the night. She grabbed a T-Shirt, her laptop, and a bottle of wine, then locked up the house and walked down the street to Meg’s.

  She had told Meg that the Sheriff was doing background checks on her and was worried about his motives. He wouldn’t be doing so unless he suspected something. What that was, she had no idea, but she would have to pay close attention at work to see what more she could discover.

  At her front door, Meg noticed an envelope on the ground, picked it up, and went inside. She dropped the envelope on the little table by the door, picked up her other mail off the floor, and placed it on top of the envelope.

  Chewy was bouncing around and barking so Meg opened the back door to let her outside. The little dog stood looking at Meg and turned a few circles. “Sorry girl, tonight it’s the backyard or nothing. I promise you a nice long walk tomorrow okay.”

  Letting the dog out, Meg walked into the kitchen and set the sack of groceries on the kitchen counter. Grabbing two wine glasses out of the cabinet, she set them in the refrigerator to chill, and began putting the groceries away.

  She and Lynn had planned on an early dinner while doing some research online, and naturally, having several glasses of wine. It had been a long few days and she needed to unwind and relax.

  Meg was worried about the Sheriff checking into her background. What would he think, when he discovered there was nothing on Meg Stinner before she came to Mystic Pines, she wondered. She had no idea, but didn’t think it was going to be good.

  A few minutes later Lynn walked in the door and let a barking Chewy in the back door. Setting her things down on the bar she walked over to the fridge and grabbed the two chilled wine glasses. Filling each half full, she stood looking at the two glasses, then at Meg, and filled both glasses to the top then stuck the wine bottle in the fridge.

  Meg who had been watching Lynn, laughed and picked up one of the glasses. “Here’s to research,” and clinked her glass against Lynn’s. They spent the next forty-five minutes fixing burgers, cold veggie slices and salads, then sat down to eat.

  Lynn looked at the burger, “Meg, what on earth did you do to the burger? What’s all the green stuff in it?”

  Laughing she told Lynn, “Just eat up, I promise you’ll love it. It’s a new recipe for Turkey burgers and the green stuff is spinach. I found it online.”

  Wrinkling her nose up Lynn took a small bite of the burger. “Wow, this is delicious! I want the recipe.”

  “Sure thing, I’ll email it to you later.”

  Chewy, with the smell of food in the air, had begun weaving her way in and around both Meg and Lynn’s ankles in hopes that one of the two would be dropping some crumbs soon. Several minutes later, when no crumbs were to be found, she gave up and curled up on the couch and went to sleep.

  Near the end of the street, Wade sat inside his car watching Meg’s house. He’d parked far enough away so that he wouldn’t be seen, if the girls looked out the window, but close enough he could still see inside. I almost feel like a peeping tom, but there’s a good reason I’m here so I guess that makes it okay he thought. Too many things had happened to Meg over the past few days, and someone needed to make sure she was safe. I’ll just hang out till around midnight and then head on home. Meg will be fine as long as Lynn is staying with her.

  Finishing up dinner, Lynn and Meg washed and dried the dishes. Walking into the living room Lynn sat down and turned her laptop on. “Okay Missy, let’s see what we can find out at the Houston Chronicle.”

  They both spent the next few hours searching articles from the paper not finding a thing. Standing up, Lynn rubbed her neck. “I’m done. Not sure about you, but between the past few days and the wine tonight, I’m bushed. We’ll just have to keep searching over the next few days and see what we can find out.”

  Meg stood up and stretched her legs. “I agree and I’m tired as well. Let’s call it a night. I have the Ladies group coming in tomorrow so I need to be at work early in the morning.”

  They shut down the laptops and took turns getting ready for bed. Lynn snuggled down on the couch and Meg walked back to her bedroom, the little dog padding along behind her. Both were asleep by the time their heads hit the pillow.

  Wade saw the lights go off in the living room and decided to wait another hour, then head out. These late nights were going to get to him quick if he didn’t watch out.

  TWENTY

  Daisy woke up wondering what she was going to do for the day. She was tired of working at the bookstore period and had made her mind up that she wasn’t going back. Meg would figure it out after a few days, and besides she thought, it isn’t anyone’s business what I do is it now.

  Doing something with Kevin was out since they’d had a fight over the phone the other night. One thing led to another, and during the conversation he told Daisy that he didn’t think she was the girl he had thought she was. Plus, he realized she wanted to get married, and he just wasn’t ready for that kind of responsibility right now. “Maybe we just were not right for each other,” he’d told her.

  Enraged, Daisy had told him to go you know where and hung up on him. They had fought before, but not like this, and normally made up the next day. This time was different, she hadn’t heard from him, and he wasn’t answering her calls.

  Daisy hated being stuck in Mystic Pines. She thought she had found a way out, but that plan had backfired on her big time. She had thought about just packing a bag and leaving town - her parents had always left her more than enough money when they went away on vacation - and that would last her long enough to get a job someplace. But now, with the murder, she had been told not to leave town.

  When her cell phone started ringing, she picked it up to check the caller ID. Seeing it was Meg who was calling, she dropped the still ringing phone, back onto the sofa and walked off ignoring the call. She was tired of being at Megs beck and call.

  ******

  On the last weekend of each month, a
ladies’ group from Houston, rented a bus and visited the Who-Dun-It bookstore. There were about twenty or so women who came to browse for new books and have lunch at the diner. While it took a bit of extra work, it was worth the effort as they always purchased a large number of books, and only expected simple meals such as cold sandwiches and salads.

  Several of the women had become regular customers, ordering books from the Who-Dun-It online shop. Plus, Meg had gotten to know several of them well and she looked forward to their visits.

  Unable to reach Daisy, Meg decided to call Lynn and see if Myra might be of some help. “Hey Lynn, it’s Meg. Do you have a phone number for Myra and do you think she’d be interested in helping out at the diner or bookstore today?”

  “Well, I’m not sure but I do have her number. Didn’t Daisy show up?”

  “No she didn’t, and she isn’t picking up her phone either. I’d drive over to her house, but the ladies group will be here in an hour and I can’t leave Randy by himself, in case they arrive early.”

  “Too bad I can’t get away right now or I’d come over. But here’s the number and I bet she’d be happy to help out if she can.” Lynn wished her luck. “I’ll try to come over there as soon as I can okay.”

  “Thanks Lynn. Just keep your fingers crossed that Myra has nothing going on today. Talk to you later.”

  Myra was sitting in front of the television about half asleep from boredom when her phone rang. “Hello” she answered.

  “Hey Myra, Meg here. How are you today?”

  “Well fine dear, just trying to survive this heatwave, and you?”

  “About the same thanks. Listen, I’m kind of in a bind over here at the diner and Lynn thought you might be able to help me out.”

  Meg then explained what was going on today and her need for help. Myra sounded pleased that she had called and agreed to head on over to the bookstore. She could stay as long as Meg needed her.