The Milburn Big Box Set

by Nancy McGovern

  “Curly slug,” Nora retorted.

  “How about buffoon?” Sean asked.

  “I like buffoon, but he needs something that hints at a little more malice,” Nora said. “How about pernicious vermin?”

  “Done.” Sean shook her hand.

  “So Tiffany dated that pernicious vermin?” Nora asked.

  “She did,” Dillon nodded. “To be honest, Sean, I don’t know how he isn’t your principal suspect. He’s a total louse.”

  “That’s a good one too,” Sean nodded. “Unfortunately, the louse has a very strong alibi. He was right here in your bar when Tiffany was murdered.”

  “No, he wasn’t,” Dillon said. “Who said he was?”

  Immediately, Sean sat up straighter. “What’s that?”

  “I said he wasn’t,” Dillon said. “I would know. I was manning the bar that night. Chase wasn’t here.”

  “He has three friends who testified,” Sean said.

  Dillon laughed. “Friends. Sure. That what he calls them? Try debtors. Desperate to get their accounts squared with him.”

  “Dillon, let’s stop talking about this right now,” Sean said, his voice suddenly very serious. “I don’t want anyone overhearing us.”

  “Right.” Dillon looked around nervously. The bar was full of men talking and laughing, and although they occasionally ogled Nora, none of them were particularly paying attention to their little party, especially now that Sean had arrived.

  “How about we talk tomorrow?” Sean said to Dillon. “Be at the office. Say 8am?”

  “Come on, chief, I get off here at about 3 am. Let me sleep in till noon, please.”

  “Fine. 10am,” Sean said. “That’s my final offer. I’ll be banging on your door myself if you aren’t there by then.”

  “I’ll be there.” Dillon nodded. “That’s a promise.”

  But it was a promise he would not keep.

  *****

  Chapter 15

  “I’ll drop you home,” Sean said, as Nora got up to leave. “Nothing personal, I just don’t trust that creep Chase.”

  “Sweet of you, Sheriff,” Nora said. “Protecting your folk. But I drove my own car out here, I don’t want to trouble you.”

  “Oh, it’s no trouble at all,” Sean insisted. “I’ve got some chains in the back of my car, I’ll tow your little Toyota along.”

  “Honestly, you don’t need to do this. I’m sure Chase won’t be a problem any more. There’s no need to protect me.”

  “Hey, who said I’m doing it for your protection? Maybe I’m scared, and I want you to protect me!”

  Nora laughed at this, and Sean feigned looking hurt.

  “Come on, Sean,” she said, sliding into the seat next to him.

  “Great.” He’d bought his Ford Explorer today, instead of his classic Thunderbird. “That one’s resting in the garage after a trip to the mechanic,” he explained as he revved up.

  “So, how am I doing?” Nora asked. “Do you feel safe and protected from Chase now?”

  “Oh, very.” Sean grinned. “That taser of yours is a mighty weapon. Good job buying it.”

  “Harvey gave it to me. He said since he couldn’t stop me from doing… well, from investigating, he’d just help me stay safe.”

  “Hmm.” Sean chose to ignore this mention of Harvey, and asked, “So how is it going? Your investigation? I’m sure neither he nor I have deterred you in any way. That’s why you were at the bar with that ridiculous story about an ex, wasn’t it?”

  “Of course,” Nora said. “I’d much rather be at home with a good book or a sitcom than at The Silver Light.”

  “You might as well have been,” Sean said. “The only thing you really learned today was that Tiffany had a sad life, and that she was a drug abuser. Things I could easily have told you myself.”

  “I didn’t think you’d answer any of my questions.”

  “Try me.” He smiled.

  “All right,” Nora said. “How about Sergio?”

  “What about him?” Sean asked.

  “Have you tracked down his family?”

  “He was kind of like Tiffany, never really had one. He was brought up in a foster home. I heard that his father was an alcoholic who beat him. Most of his “friends” are criminals like he is.” Sean shook his head. He quietened a bit as the road turned rough, then focussed on her to say, “I guess he died the way he was born. Essentially alone, and loved by no one.”

  “There’s more sympathy in your voice for him than for Tiffany,” Nora pointed out.

  “I guess,” Sean said. “As far as I can tell, Sergio had a criminal record before he met Tiffany, but he’d already served time by then. But he tried hard to be clean for her. I spoke to some people who employed him as a mechanic, and they said he was determined to do better, to clean himself up. He’d been sober for a year, when he married Tiffany. He’d been sober for three when they had their child. Unfortunately, after he and Tiffany got married, she spiraled into abusing drugs. He was considering leaving her, when Tiffany left him herself. Then, when she told him that their son had died, he fell back into his old lifestyle.”

  “Why did he track her down here?” Nora asked.

  “I think he saw an article with Tiffany in it,” Sean said. “He was renting a motel, and there was nothing significant in his belongings, except this one newspaper clipping.” He passed her his phone. “It’s in the album. Probably the fifth photo.”

  Nora flipped past a few photos of Sean with his sister, Sean with his dog Lucy, and Sean giving a big thumbs up as he stood next to a parked Lamborghini.

  “That your new car?” she asked.

  “I wish.” He laughed. “I saw it in Jackson. Go on, it’s the next pic.”

  The next picture was a photo Sean had taken of Sergio’s newspaper clipping. It was a grainy black and white picture entitled, “Rancher’s Ice Begins Expansion!” Bernard and Simone stood in the centre, smiling widely, a ribbon in front of them. Bernard was lifting Will up, and Will was in the act of cutting the ribbon. Next to them, Harvey stood spiffy in a suit, looking rather like a secret service man. Behind them many employees were crowded together, and a little in the distance stood Tiffany, clearly primping her hair, smiling right at the camera. Joe the foreman was standing right next to her, whispering something into her ear.

  “See?” Sean said. “I figure he forgot about her, but then seeing this picture made him realize how much he missed her. Or maybe it made him really jealous to see her with another man.”

  “Maybe.” Nora handed him back the phone. “Or maybe he was after something else.”

  “What’s that?” Sean asked.

  “I wish I knew,” Nora said. “Sean, have you tried talking to his cellmate? Maybe he said something about why he’d come back to see Tiffany after all this time? You remember how he said he was looking for Joe- well, Joe was supposedly having an affair with Tiffany.”

  “I looked into that already.” Sean nodded. “The thing is, Joe’s a happily married man, about to reach retirement. I don’t want to disturb things for him.”

  “Are you serious!” Nora exclaimed. “Happily married? He was having an affair!”

  “A lot of men flirt with their colleagues, but are happy to go home to their wives,” Sean said. “I’m not condoning what he did, but I’ve got absolutely no evidence that he was having an affair with her, except for hearsay from employees who were jealous of him or upset with him.”

  Nora shook her head and gave out a little sigh of exasperation. “What is it with you men trying to protect Joe? First Bernard and now you. It’s almost like you think he’s a saint.”

  “He’s an old fashioned guy,” Sean said. “He’s a bit primitive about how to act decently with women at times, but he’s never done anything to harm them really. And overall, he’s a really nice guy. He taught me to swim back in the day. I’m good friends with one of his sons. So I know him well. I mean, I won’t be soft with him if I think he’s involved in this. R
ight now, I just don’t have any proof that he is.”

  “I can’t believe you!” Nora exclaimed. “Sean-”

  “Forget it, Nora. All I’m saying is, I looked into his alleged involvement. After I found this photo in Sergio’s room, you can bet I looked into it hard. I know Sergio mentioned “Joe” more than once. Thing is, Joe is a really common name. Sergio might have been looking for some other man.”

  “Oh, sure, some other man who knew Tiffany and also happened to be called Joe,” Nora said. “How many more of those are there?”

  “I don’t know, do I?” Sean snapped. “I mean, Tiffany dated a lot of guys in the one year she’s been in town.”

  “That’s a good point,” Nora said suddenly. “Why did Tiffany come back into town? Where did she come from?”

  “Tiffany’s parents are both dead. But I spoke to her only surviving relative, a sister named Brittany who lives down in California,” Sean said. “The sister said they hadn’t spoken since Tiffany was pregnant. But she said Tiffany liked to move around a lot.”

  “Did the sister like Tiffany much?” Nora asked.

  “Well, she was polite enough and agreed to help pay for a quiet funeral here,” Sean said. “But she won’t be coming up here. She didn’t say much about Tiffany either, but it was almost like she wasn’t surprised Tiffany was dead.”

  “Really!”

  “Yes. When I told her the news, she only said, “Oh.” and stayed quiet for a minute. Then she sighed and said, “Which one of her boyfriends did it? Or was it her dealer?”

  Nora nodded, feeling suddenly bad for Tiffany. “That’s a pretty low opinion to have of your own sister.”

  Sean shrugged. “It’s one of the reasons I have little sympathy for her. Tiffany and her sister were both bought up in the same house, yet as far as I can tell, her sister lives a happy, stable life. The sister is working as an assistant professor in a university and is married with two kids. I googled her before I called her. The sister also said that Tiffany had always liked to pick fights, and that she’d tried to offer her help several times but been refused.”

  Nora nodded. “Is that right?”

  “I believed her,” Sean said. “I’ve seen many women like Tiffany before, I know you think that I should be far more sympathetic than I am, Nora, but I’m telling you, she was a bad seed. Everyone who was around her said the same thing - her sister, her colleagues, her ex-boyfriends all said that she liked to bully, that she was unreliable, that she told lies all the time. I meet people like her from time to time. In their own opinion, they’re always victims. In everyone else’s opinion, they’re very flawed.”

  “No matter how flawed she was, Tiffany didn’t deserve the things that happened to her,” Nora said. “I’ve never had parents who hated me, or had a child that died young. I can’t help but wonder, what would I be if I was in her place? Maybe I’d have made the same choices she did.”

  “No, you wouldn’t,” Sean said, with some heat. “I know you, Nora. I’ve kept an eye on you since you first came back to this town. You were broke back then, and I’ve seen how you kept your head down, worked hard, and paid your dues. You got hit with one tragedy after another, but you’re persistent. You don’t give up no matter what obstacles are placed in your way. I know that if you were in Tiffany’s position, you would have found a way to make things work for you.”

  “I’m flattered you think so,” Nora said with a smile. “I’ve got a lower estimate of myself than you do. In any case, I think that people are often far luckier than they imagine. They think that they’re self made, without realizing all the small ways their life has been made better by other people. I don’t know, Sean, I guess we’ll disagree on this, but I can’t stop feeling bad for Tiffany.”

  “Well, she was murdered,” Sean said. “I do feel bad about that, if it’s any help. Not only do I feel bad, I’m doing my hardest to catch the murderer.”

  “The murderer… who you still think is my boyfriend?” Nora asked.

  Sean shrugged. “As a sheriff, I’m not allowed to tell you our theories until we’ve arrested someone. For all you know, my principal suspect could be the King of Spain.”

  Nora laughed, as he parked the car. “You’re a funny man, Sheriff Sean Dracon.”

  “I aim to please, Miss Nora Newberry. Now out of the car, please, I have an impatient dog and a rerun of the late night show waiting for me back home.”

  “Good luck, by the way,” Nora said. “If Dillon helps you break Chase’s alibi, well, you’ve got a great case against him, right?”

  Sean shrugged. “I hope so.” He helped unchain her car from his, and put the chains back in his trunk. “Goodnight! Keep some coffee ready for me at the diner tomorrow.”

  “Will do.” Nora waved as he drove away. “Good night!”

  *****

  Chapter 16

  The next day was Thursday, which, at the diner, meant an all-day breakfast special. Tina had set up a chalkboard outside, declaring that the specials of the day were a chive omelette and a ham-and-blue-cheese crepe.

  The chive omelette hadn’t had many takers, but her ham and cheese crepe was a big hit. Nora spent all morning and the better part of her afternoon hard at work, with Lincoln helping her out. The good thing about Linc was that he also supplied a steady flow of mindless chatter as they worked, which actually helped Nora. It was like having the radio on in the background, except that she had to occasionally say “Hmm,” or “I see.”

  “I was talking to my friends about the Tiffany murder,” he said. “They’ve all laid bets on who’s done it.”

  Nora sighed. “Please tell me they didn’t give the best odds to Harvey.”

  Lincoln had the grace to look a little ashamed. “No. Well I guess they did. But I told them off.”

  “It’s funny,” Nora said. “This time around, the town isn’t very shocked at the murder.”

  “Course they aren’t,” Lincoln said. “I mean, the other people, Selena or JJ, they were fine upstanding citizens. With people like Tiffany, well, you expect some amount of violence in their lives. I guess the only reason people are even shocked is because Harvey is involved. That gave people something to gossip about. If it ever turns out that her loser ex did it, the townsfolk would just shrug and say, “That’s what happens when you do drugs, kids.”

  Nora didn’t know what to say, so she gave a noncommittal nod. “Here, I’ve got three crepes plated. I need a bunch more bacon pan-fried, and have you cut up that zucchini yet?”

  “Yes ma’am.” Lincoln rushed around, following her orders.

  “Nora, two cheeseburgers, three fries, and one steak sandwich to go, please.” Tina popped her head into the kitchen, then rushed back out.

  Nora spent the better part of the morning, and most of the afternoon, taking care of a steady rush of visitors. Thursdays were often rush days, since the nearby Yellowstone park had a large number of visitors arriving Thursdays and Fridays, a lot of them stopped at the diner on their way. Most of the folks who ate here on these days were tourists with big appetites, while on Saturdays and Sundays, surprisingly, the crowd was more local.

  Finally, around 2:30pm she had a lunch break, wolfing down a hot ham and Swiss cheese sandwich with a side of mixed greens salad.

  The bell above the door clanged, as Simone and her son Will sauntered in.

  “Hey, Nora.” Simone smiled at her as she hopped up on a counter-stool. She helped Will up and placed a menu in front of him. “I don’t know why we’re looking at it, really. I already know what I want.”

  “What’s that?” Nora asked. “If you’ll wait two minutes, I’m almost done with lunch.”

  “No rush. Will here just had a big day, his first gold star for a project at preschool.” Simone smiled. “So I’m treating him to a big sundae, or a milkshake, whatever the young man wants.”

  Nora finished up her lunch, washed up, and came out to take their orders while Tina had her break. “Well, young man, what’s it going to be?” sh
e asked, smiling down at the adorable boy with his melting chocolate eyes.

  He frowned down at the menu, and said, “Can I have the chocolate milkshake please? Can I get M&M bits in it? Mom always puts those in for me.”

  “Well, I’m not sure mine will live up to your mom’s, but I’ll try my hardest.” Nora smiled. In the kitchen, she said, “Hey, Linc, if you’re not too busy, go get me a pack of M&M’s, will you? There’s a young man who wants it in his shake.”

  Ten minutes later, Will was happily slurping down the shake, while his mother sat sipping a cup of mandarin tea.

  “How are you doing?” Simone asked Nora. “I’m sorry our conversation got a bit heated the other day. Bernard is under a lot of stress. We’ve had a lot of reporters asking us to comment about the body found on our premises, and business has taken a bit of a hit.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Nora said.

  “The one good thing that’s come of all this is I’ve finally managed to talk Bernard into retiring Joe. He agreed it’s for the best. There’s a lot of rumors about him and Tiffany doing the rounds, and he was never very popular with the women working with us anyway. Complaints about him have increased after the murder.” Simone sighed. “What a headache it is. We’ve had to stop our expansion plans for a while. But look at me, I probably sound very selfish right now. I’m rattling on about things like this while a poor woman was just murdered.”

  “I understand,” Nora said with a smile. “We feel bad for her, but in the end, the rest of us need to move on with our lives. Right?”

  “I guess.” Simone shot a glance at Will, who was reading the comics section of the paper while slurping his shake. “Will asked me about it too, the other day. Apparently there are rumors at his preschool now that the ice-cream factory is haunted. He had nightmares.”

  “He had nightmares the night we came to your house too,” Nora said. “About a face at the window, remember?”

  “Oh, yes. Poor kids. They’re so sensitive. It’s funny, really. He once sat through a fairly terrifying animated film about ghosts with me. He even yawned at the end, yet he has some phobia against men who are bald!” Simone laughed.