1 Murder on Sugar Creek (17 page)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

When Maggie pulled into her
driveway, she noticed an unfamiliar-looking pickup truck parked at her parents’
house. She made a note to inquire about the identity of the truck’s owner later
that night when she called her mom. When she reached her porch, she could hear
the phone ringing.

“Why do they do this to me every
time?” she asked an excited Barnaby when she opened the door. “Mommaw and
Poppaw should know it takes more than five seconds for me to walk from my car
to my house.” Knowing who would be on the other end of the line, Maggie simply
said, “Yes,” when she answered the phone.

“Come over here,” her dad said.
“There’s somebody here who wants to see you.”

“I’ll be there as soon as Barnaby
does his business,” she said.

Once Barnaby – and Maggie – had
conducted their business, Maggie went to her parents and found Kevin and his
dad discussing hunting with Robert.

“I’ve never been deer hunting. I
don’t care for the meat. I’d rather eat squirrel any day.” When Robert saw his
daughter, he said, “There she is.”

“Hey,” Kevin stood. “Me and dad
came by to thank you.”

“Yeah,” Randy Mullins said, “they
would have kept after Kevin if it hadn’t been for you.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,”
Maggie said. “They would have eventually figured out the truth.”

“Don’t count on that,” Lena said as
she carried two bowls of banana pudding from the kitchen and to the Mullinses.
“Maggie, bring them some coffee.”

“Sure.” Maggie walked into the
kitchen and was promptly joined by Kevin.

“Thank you ain’t enough, especially
after the way I treated you in the parking lot of the paper and when you came
to the house. In a way, I owe you my life,” he said.

Maggie handed him a cup of coffee.
“It’s fine, Kevin.”

“No, it ain’t. I wanted to show you
my appreciation, so I brought you a basket of eggs. They’re in your mom’s
fridge. I’m going to bring her some, too. They offered to pay, but I can’t take
their money.”

“Well, Kevin, I can’t take the eggs
without paying for them.”

“Yes, you can. I wish I could do
more. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”

“Just stay out
of trouble and stop by and see Mark next week. He’s coming in for
Thanksgiving.” She handed the second cup of coffee to him. “Take this to your
dad, please. I can’t pass up this banana pudding.” “

Maggie brought Ben and Edie up to
speed the next day when she joined them for lunch at the Dinner Bucket, “… and
when blackmail didn’t work, she killed him.”

“And inherited all those ill-gotten
gains,” Edie said.

“Not for long,” Ben said.

“Wonder if his cousin or ex-wife will
get into trouble?” Edie asked.

“The fleecing of the nursing home
happened a long time ago, so they’ll probably let Bug slide. At this point,
there can’t be any evidence and I doubt the nursing home wants to revisit a
past they didn’t know existed. Who knows if anything will come of the lottery
deal? As for Rhonda taking money from him, there’s no evidence that happened,
either. Just Carla’s accusations. Still, I hope this doesn’t cause trouble for
her.” Maggie didn’t tell her friends she had called Rhonda as well as Jenny and
Dottie to warn them Carla had confessed to everything she knew with a guard
present and a detective listening in. She also didn’t tell them she had asked Rhonda
if she was seeing anyone. As they had enjoyed her mom’s banana pudding the
evening before, Maggie had pumped Randy Mullins for personal details and
decided he and Rhonda would make a good couple.

“Oh, in case you guys are
wondering, I haven’t told the police or anyone else about the banking
information you gave me,” Maggie reassured her friends.

The diner door opened and Seth and
another Jasper police detective walked in.

“Save me a seat,” Maggie heard Seth
say to his buddy as he walked to her table. “What’s good today?”

“The mashed potatoes and gravy are
good every day,” Ben answered as he and Seth exchanged handshakes.

“Solved any crimes lately?” Seth
asked Maggie.

“Not today.”

“Isn’t she great?” Edie asked. “I
wonder how you and your fellow boys in blue feel about being outsmarted by a
civilian.”

Seth smiled. “As long as the right
person gets locked up, I’d say it’s a win for everyone. But I hope she’ll use
better judgment next time.”

“There won’t be a next time,”
Maggie said.

“Good. That’s just what I want to
hear. Is Mark definitely coming in for Thanksgiving?”

“Yes. Mark and his wife and the
boys are coming in Wednesday evening and staying until Sunday morning. Luke is
going home for the actual holiday, but he’ll be back in time to meet them.”

“Good. I hope you have a great
holiday.” Seth looked toward Ben and Edie. “The same goes for you two.”

“Are you and Jamie staying here or
going to her folks?”

Maggie’s question seemed to startle
Seth. “Jamie?”

“Yeah. Aren’t you spending the
holiday together?”

“Maggie,” Seth said, “Jamie and I
have been divorced for six months.”