by Maisy Marple
“What about it?”
“James Popper was found dead just after I saw you with Mable and the others.”
“So?”
I swallowed hard. “I was wondering what you were doing before you went to dinner with Mable?”
Her face changed slowly as she realized what I was asking.
She threw the knife, point first, into the yard and left it there, sticking straight out of the ground as she proceeded to charge me.
“You’ve got a lot of nerve coming over here, missy. I’ll tell ya where I was!”
I began retreating to my car.
Dotty followed me all the way out to the driveway.
“I was with Mable at the antique shop. We girls meet up there. Mable always has a few bottles of wine chilling in a small fridge behind her counter. And we have a few glasses before we go to dinner, because what the restaurants do to their wine prices is highway robbery. We refuse to pay for more than one glass! So, while James Popper was being strangled on your deck, the ladies and I were having a little pre-meal toddy…not that that’s any of your business, nosy little thing that you are.”
I had already hopped into my car and had the door closed with the window down when Dotty finished telling me how ridiculous my first theory was.
“I’m sorry I bothered you,” I said. “But you do know that I was eating dinner while James Popper was murdered, right? Would you be willing to bring that information to Mable so she stops calling me a murderer every time I walk down the street?”
“I will do nothing of the sort,” Dotty huffed. “Just because you were eating before we arrived at the restaurant doesn’t make you innocent of James Popper’s murder, any more than it makes you innocent of the murder of the poor golfer that died here back in May. Once a murderer, always a murderer.” She made a motion with her hands like she was trying to get dust or sand off of them, clapping them up and down repeatedly. “I wash my hands of you, my poor misguided girl. Repentance for your sins is the only way to go through the narrow gate of the Lord.”
I nodded. “I know that. I just wish you and Mable did.”
I started my car and pulled out of her driveway, ignoring the outraged look on Dotty’s face. I was headed for Wendy Ferris’s. I didn’t think I was going to make any headway with her, either, but it was worth a try.
Wendy Ferris was nothing like Dotty Brennon, except for the fact that she thought I was a murderer and liked to spend her time with Mable.
She was frail and had the appearance of a skeleton draped with skin. Her gray hair was wavy and not given much attention. She had wide, round glasses with very thick lenses.
Her house was smack dab in the middle of a small housing development behind the Coffee Creek Elementary School. It was a drab gray with navy blue shutters and trim. There was no garden to speak of, not even so much as a shrub. Her grass was high and wispy with overgrown weeds.
I parked out in front and walked up a short and narrow sidewalk, my legs tickled by the weeds that were growing toward each other in an attempt to form an arch.
Before I even put my foot on the front steps, I heard Wendy’s voice.
“You can stay right there!” She warned.
I stopped momentarily. The sun was situated behind the house and was sending its bright beams directly into my eyes, making it impossible to see Wendy.
“Ms. Ferris,” I said, holding my hands up like I was under arrest. “I promise, I’m not here to do anything other than talk.”
I heard a loud click.
“What was that?”
“You come any closer and I will make you wish you listened better.”
“Are you pointing a gun at me right now?” I asked. All of my scripture reading and focus on courage was starting to slowly walk away from me in that moment. And I was thinking, it might not be a bad idea to join them and live to fight another day.
“You’re darn tootin’ I’m pointing a gun at you! Do you think I’m just going to stand here unarmed when I have a known murderer walking up onto my property. Now, you get the heck out of here, or I’ll be calling the cops to come pick your dead body up off my sidewalk. This is my house and I have a right to defend it!”
I realized, in that moment, that, perhaps, Wendy Ferris wasn’t going to give me anything to work with.
Backing away slowly, I kept my hands raised and said, “Wendy, I am going to leave now. I’m sorry I disturbed you. Please go back to whatever you were doing before I arrived and I will never bother you again.”
“You just focus on getting yourself out of here and leave me to worry about what I’m going to do with the rest of my day.”
I took a deep, shaky breath as I reached the driver’s seat of my car. Before I got in, Wendy had one more warning for me.
“Don’t you dare go over to Fern’s house, either. She has a bigger gun than I do.”
I started the car and drove away as quickly as I could and I didn’t stop until I was home.
15
Dear God,
Wow!
That’s all I can say.
Alright, maybe that’s not all I can say. But I will tell you that I am in a fair amount of shock here at what I just encountered.
I knew those women had hateful hearts, and that, dear Lord, is really between you and them, so I’m going to go ahead and get out of the conversation for that one.
But I was threatened at gun point and had a knife held up to me in the span of ten minutes by two women who look like they should be drinking tea and eating shortbread cookies in the air conditioning on a day like today.
What in the world was that?
I mean, holy cow…actually, I take that back. I know you’re not too keen on the whole holy cow thing.
But you know what I mean, right?
Was that an overreaction on their part? Or is this an overreaction on mine?
Were you trying to send me a sign that I should not be interfering, or are you trying to tell me that those women who hang with Mable are capable of doing heinous things like strangling a real estate agent and shooting a police officer in the back?
Again, oh Lord, I am very confused by this whole thing. I’m beginning to feel like I am just going through this world in a perpetual state of confusion, from which there is no delivery.
Is that normal?
Does everyone else feel the way I do about these things?
I’ll tell ya what I’m going to do. I’m going to call up Reba and go have some lunch with her. She might be able to offer some perspective about what’s going on here.
Thanks for listening to me vent, God. I know this doesn’t seem like it was a productive prayer, but for me, sometimes I just need to get things off my chest.
Right now, I’m thinking a burger and beer at the P&G with Reba might just put a little bit of perspective back into my life.
I’ll pray with you later.
Thank you, and in your holy name, I pray.
AMEN
16
Reba was thrilled at the prospect of lunch at the Pub & Grub. I’d told her to meet me at the top of Main Street, on the corner near the Coffee Creek Savings & Loan.
“Why?” She asked. “You don’t think there’ll be parking down by the restaurant?”
“It’s not that,” I’d told her. “I just want to take a quick walk and see what else is going on.”
“Mmmhmmm,” she uttered, suspiciously. “That doesn’t sound like a very full version of the truth, if you ask me.”
“Well, I’m not asking you. Meet me in front of the bank or you can pay for your own lunch.”
That was all it took.
“You got it, boss. Whatever you say!”
Reba and her boyfriend Dillon were in a state of constant saving. They had good reason, as they wanted to get out of their apartment and into a house, plus a wedding seemed inevitable. Reba had grown up relatively poor, so she knew her parents weren’t going to be much help on the financial support side of things where that was concerned.
And according to Reba, Dillon’s parents were a bit on the traditional side and expected the bride’s parents to foot the bill for a wedding, if it were to ever happen.
They weren’t totally sold on the idea that Reba and Dillon were going to last in the first place. Thankfully, Dillon was willing to add a fair amount of his own money to the wedding fund they had going. In return, he expected Reba to pinch her pennies, too, and not spend their money frivolously.
I didn’t mind throwing the occasional twenty dollars Reba’s way. She was a good egg, and a lot of fun to be around. And I knew that someday, if I could ever get out of this blasted murder cloud I was under, she would be the premier barista at Connie’s Cafe. Her ability to make great coffee when given high end ingredients, as well as her stunning good looks and fun loving charm, made her a no brainer to hire as the face of the coffee counter.
She arrived just a few seconds after I did, pulling her car over and parking on the opposite side of the road, directly across from my car.
Her purple locks were hanging loose down her face. She gave me a sultry look through her opened window, winking and blowing me a kiss.
“You’re something else,” I said, laughing while I got out of my car. “What are we going to do with you?”
“I think you should take me to lunch,” she said, crossing the road and putting her hair up in a high, tight pony tail.
“It’s on the docket,” I grinned.
We got onto the side walk and turned right at the corner past the bank and started our walk toward the P&G.
Behind the bank was Coffee Creek Real Estate. I noticed there was a closed sign in their doorway.
“That’s interesting,” I said, pointing to the note in the doorway. “You would think that with two people in the office, one of them would be able to stay there to cover things.”
Reba shrugged. “What are ya gonna do about it?”
“Nothing,” I said, “it just seems strange to me, that’s all.”
“Like poop paper?” She smiled. “People do things in different ways, ya know.”
“Yeah,” I said, “I guess.”
We were about a hundred feet away from Mable’s shop and I could feel my body tighten up. I had chosen this walk to lunch intentionally, with the idea that Mable would come out and start yelling at me again.
But as I got closer to it, I suddenly didn’t want it anymore.
Much to my surprise, she did not come out.
As we walked by her shop, I turned my head and tried to get a view of what was going on inside.
Also, much to my surprise, I saw that Mable was not alone inside. She had a guest with bright pink hair and piercings galore.
“What’s Piper doing in there?” I mused.
“Who’s Piper?” Reba asked.
“Nothing,” I said, continuing to watch the interaction. I stopped walking completely.
“Come on, Connie,” Reba encouraged. “Let’s go. I only have an hour before I have to be back to work.”
“Just a moment,” I said. “You’ll get back on time.”
Mable and Piper were having what looked to be a very pleasant conversation. If one didn’t know any better, one could’ve guessed that they were very good friends. At one point, Piper actually smiled.
“Connie?” Reba tapped her foot on the sidewalk. “How long are you going to stand here looking like a creeper?”
“As long as I need to,” I said. “If you want to go get us a table, I’ll be there in a minute.”
Reba huffed. “No, I’ll wait.”
I’m glad she did. Because the next thing I knew, Mable was handing Piper some folded up bills, which Piper slid into her pocket. Then Mable gave her a package of red permanent markers.
She said something to Piper, and the girl nodded.
As Piper was walking to the door, Mable saw me watching and walked out of her shop onto the side walk.
I tapped Reba on the back. “Time to go.”
“It’s about time,” Reba grumbled.
We began moving toward the P&G, but the damage had been done.
“Murderer!” Mable yelled behind us, as Piper ran past us toward Reads & Teas.
Rebecca was standing out front, her hand held out in a questioning way. “Where have you been?” She asked Piper as the girl ran into the shop.
Rebecca looked up at me and shook her head.
“Snoop!” Mable blurted out. “She’s a murderer and a snoop, that one!”
Reba and I finally turned onto the flower lined sidewalk that led up to the Pub & Grub. We could not get inside fast enough.
“I don’t know what that was,” Reba said, catching her breath. “But your life is way more exciting than mine.”
“You don’t even know the half of it.”
Penny Simpson was at her usual post.
“Two, outside?” She asked us as we approached the front of the restaurant.
I looked at Reba and said, “Do you mind if we sit inside today?”
“Not at all,” Reba smiled.
“We’ll be inside,” I said, turning to Penny. “Thanks.”
She took us through the bar area and I saw why the Coffee Creek Real Estate office was closed.
Both, Tiffany Elizabeth and Matthew Grant were sitting at the bar. They were sitting remarkably close for colleagues, I thought to myself. Matthew was sitting on a high back chair, his legs spread out and his feet resting on the chair next to him. Tiffany was on that chair, her legs were tucked inside of his with her feet resting on the bottom his chair.
She kept touching his legs as she drank what appeared to be a margarita. He was sipping on a light beer.
As we walked by, they raised their drinks in a quiet toast. I overheard Matthew say, “To the smartest, most successful realtors in Coffee Creek.” They clinked glasses and took a healthy drink off of their beverages.
Penny guided us to a small table in the corner of the dining room. It was near the painting of a boat at sea with a massive wave in front of it. I’d seen this painting many times and yet it still held so much power as I sat down and stared at it again. It reminded me of faith in times of peril.
“The best of both worlds,” Penny smiled. “You’ve got a seat inside.” She turned and pointed to the giant French doors, “But you’ve also got a great view of the creek!”
“Thank you very much,” I said.
Penny nodded and placed our menus in front of us. “I’ll give you ladies a few minutes to look things over, okay?”
“So, how’s it going?” Reba asked after Penny walked away.
“I don’t know,” I said, trying not to be too frumpy. “Things are really weird, that’s all.”
“Tell me about it,” she nodded. “This morning I was pouring coffee and taking orders and Gerry actually came out to help.”
Gerry had been my boss at the coffee shop we do not name. It would’ve taken an earthquake or a fire to get him out of his office during his shift most days.
“Really?” I smirked. “Bet that caught you by surprise.”
“A little. But I wasn’t that surprised. He caught wind that you bought the place on Main Street, and he may have heard from some one that you were planning on hiring me.”
“And who would he have heard that from?”
“I dunno,” she grinned. “A little birdy might’ve told him.”
“So, you think he’s trying to get you to stay by being a little extra helpful?”
“Possibly.”
“Is it going to work?” I asked. “Do I need to start looking for another all star barista?”
“Of course, it’s not going to work.” She flashed a sly grin, “But what Gerry doesn’t know, won’t hurt him. Plus, during that morning rush, I’ll take all the help I can get!”
I nodded. “I know what you mean.”
“You said it’s been weird for you, too?”
“Yeah, a little,” I answered. I didn’t know how much I really wanted to get into things with Reba. For one, it h
ad been a few days since I’d seen her and she’d made it clear that she didn’t want to get involved in everything. For two, we were in public and the P&G, though not filled to capacity, was in the middle of a moderately busy lunch hour.
“What do you mean, a little?” Reba pressed. “Are you any closer to catching the killer? You know, I heard a cop was shot in your shop yesterday. Is that true?”
“Could you keep it down a little?” I shot her a less than pleasant look. “This is fairly sensitive information.”
“Right,” she said, cringing at her own stupidity. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I whispered. I leaned forward and so did Reba. “Yes, it’s true that Officer Freeman was shot in the same spot where you discovered James Popper.”
“Oh my goodness,” she said, her eyes widening. “Is he…”
“No, he’s not dead. He’ll be alright,” I said. “Thank God for big favors.”
“No kidding,” she nodded.
“I went to visit a few of Mable’s friends this morning.”
“You did not!” She put her hand on mine. “Girl, you’d better be careful. That’s a rough looking crew she was with the other night. You’d better watch your six or you’re going to end up next on the murdered in Coffee Creek list.”
“Watch your six? Is that even a thing?” I chuckled at her.
“I saw it in a movie once…shut up.”
“Also, this list that you speak of, I’m doing my best to stay off that one. But you, being my friend, are a prime candidate, I’m afraid.”
I smiled. Reba didn’t.
“You’re a real jerk,” she said, sitting back, taking her hand off of mine. “Now, I’m not going to sleep for a month because I’m going to be afraid that someone’s out to get me.”
“Sorry,” I laughed. “I was just joking. I couldn’t help myself.”
“Yeah, well maybe you work on that self control thing you’re always preaching about.”
To be fair, I think I’d brought up self control once or twice with Reba over the few years we’d known each other. But she’d been so flummoxed by the mention of it, that she’d really internalized the lesson and had convinced herself that it was one of the things I always talked about.
