A Real Pickle (4 page)

“How did he hear about them?” I asked him.

“Victoria, I shouldn’t have to tell you that this is a small town, and my employer liked talking to people.  More than one resident of Jasper Fork regaled him with stories of your past victories over crime.”

“We’ve had a few successes,” Moose acknowledged, “but that doesn’t mean that we’ll necessarily be able to figure out what happened to him.  I wasn’t even
at
the diner when he was murdered.”

“I
was
there, but I might as well have been someplace else,” I said.  “I still can’t believe that someone killed him right in front of a room full of diners, including me.”

“Will you do it, then?”

“I have a question,” I asked.  “The letter mentioned payment for closing the diner.  Is that a
requirement
for our help?”

“What do you mean?” Jeffrey asked.

“She’s wondering if we can still keep the place open even if we go,” Moose said, and then he looked at me.  “That’s what you want to know, right?”

“I just keep thinking that if we get Martha to cover for me most of the time and ask the girls to extend their normal shifts, they should all be able to function just fine without me for three days.”

“You’re not as easy to replace as you might think,” Moose said, “but you make a valid point.  We could even get Stephanie in to run the register so Martha doesn’t feel the full weight of replacing you on her shoulders.”

Stephanie Black had worked for my grandfather for a while when he’d been running The Charming Moose, but that had been several years ago.  “Do you think she’d do it?  I know that she quit quite suddenly.”

“She eloped with Nathan Black and hung me out to dry,” Moose said with a smile.  “But Nathan’s gone, and I know for a fact that Stephanie is looking for some part-time work.”

“She didn’t approach you for a job at the diner, did she?” I asked.

Moose held both hands up, as if he were trying to defend himself.  “It’s nothing like that, Victoria.  She knows who’s running the place now.”

“Good,” I said.  I wasn’t too keen about having any of Moose’s former employees going to him for a job at
my
diner.  I knew that it was still the family business, but
I
was the head of it now.  

“Should I call her for you?” Moose asked.

“Not so fast.”  I turned to Jeffrey.  “How long do we have to decide?”

He shrugged.  “You should take your time.  I’m thinking five minutes, how about you?”

“Could we have an hour?” I asked.

“In all seriousness, if we’re at the house in forty-five minutes, we should be fine.  It takes thirty to get there, but I can make it in twenty.  That gives you twenty-five minutes to decide and pack enough clothes to hold you.”

“We can do that,” I said.  “Moose, call Martha and tell her that we need her here, and then call my mother and tell her the same thing.”

“What are you going to do while I’m doing that?” he asked me.

“I’m going to run our last three customers out, lock the doors, and then I’m going to have a long chat with my husband.”

“What about Stephanie?” Moose asked me.

I shook my head.  “If we don’t all agree on this, there won’t even
be
any need to call her,” I said.  “You’d better scoot.”

He grabbed his cellphone as I told Jeffrey, “You’re welcome to stay, but things are going to be crazy around here for the next little while.”

The chauffeur glanced at his watch.  “There’s something I need to do myself.  I’ll be back in fifteen minutes.”

“Jeffrey, I’ll need a little more time than that,” I said.

“Then I’ll wait in the car.  Victoria, I hope you do this.  It was important to Curtis, so that makes it important to me.”

“We’ll talk again soon,” I said as I showed him out.  I had a hunch that he wouldn’t be able to keep Moose and me away from that house with a court order, but I’d meant what I’d said.  We
all
had to agree, or we weren’t going to do it.

“Greg, we need to talk,” I said as I walked back into the kitchen.

He tensed up immediately.  “That is never something a man wants to hear from the woman he loves, Victoria.  Whatever I did, I can fix it.  Just give me another chance.”

“There’s nothing wrong, you big goof,” I said as I kissed his cheek.

“Good.  What’s up?”

“I’m going away for three days,” I said.

“Okay,
now
I’m worried
again
,” he said.  “Unless I’m coming with you.”

“Sorry, but Moose and I were the only ones who were invited.”  I brought him up to date about Curtis’s letter.

He began nodding immediately.  “Of course!  You need to do this, but there’s no reason to shut the place down.  We can make it without you for three days, as hard as it might be.”  He’d added the last bit when he’d seen my frown start to form.  Nobody liked to hear that they could easily be replaced, and I was no exception, especially since I was supposed to be the one in charge.  “It might take its toll on Martha, though.  Is there anybody else we can get in on a temporary basis?”

“Moose suggested we call Stephanie Black,” I said.

“She’ll do,” he said.

“But not as good as I would, right?”

“Right.  Victoria, do you feel safe staying out there with a killer?”

“I hadn’t really thought about it,” I admitted.  “Moose will be with me.  I’m sure that we’ll both be fine.”

“Just watch your step, and keep your eyes open.”

“I plan to,” I said as I kissed him again.  “Thanks for worrying about me.”

“Hey, don’t thank me.  It’s what I do,” he said.

Moose came into the back with a grin.  “Martha’s on her way, but I told her about the offer, and she’s all for it.  Your mother is in favor of it, too, by the way.  If Greg agrees, then it’s unanimous.”

“It is,” I said.  “Go ahead and call Stephanie.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Moose said.

“Why not?”

He handed me a phone number.  “
You’re
the one in charge.  If you want her, you call her.”

I felt a little bad about my earlier snit.  “I don’t mind, Moose.  It’s okay.”

“You might as well take the number, Victoria.  Where do you think you got that stubborn streak you’re so proud of?” Moose asked me.

“I’m not stubborn,” I said, and I watched as both men fought the grins that were struggling to free themselves.  “I like to think of myself as a woman who knows her own mind.”

“You do that, all right,” Moose said.

Greg grinned broadly as he nodded.  “I couldn’t have put it better myself.”

I smiled at both of them.  “It’s a good thing that I love both of you lunks as much as I do.  Call her, Moose; you know her a lot better than I do.  Just remind her that you’re calling on my behalf.”

“I can do that.  What kind of hours would you like her to work?”

I thought about my current schedule, and then I told him, “If she can come in from six a.m. until two, then Martha can work two until we close.”

“I’ll do it,” Moose said.  He glanced at his watch, and then my grandfather said, “I hate to rush you, but we’ve got eleven minutes until we have to start packing.”

“They’ll be here in time,” I said.  Though my mother and grandmother had both given their approval to the plan, I still wanted to hear it from them in person.  I was asking a favor from them, so I wanted to do it face to face.

They agreed in person when they got to the diner, and Stephanie jumped at the chance to come back to The Charming Moose, even if it was based on just three days’ work.  If she did okay, I might put her on part-time.  Greg and I had been dying to get away for quite some time, and if I could trust Stephanie and Martha to work the front and put Moose on the grill instead of Greg, we might actually have a chance to experience a real vacation.  The money Curtis was depositing couldn’t go for anything better, as far as I was concerned.

There was a tap at the front door, and I opened it for Jeffrey.  “What’s your decision?” he asked.

“We’ll do it,” I said.  “Moose, are you coming?” I called out.

“Try to go without me,” my grandfather said as he came bustling out of the kitchen.

The relief on Jeffrey’s face was clear.  “I’m so glad that you both decided to help.”

“We didn’t know Curtis as well or for as long as you did, but he was our friend, too,” I said.

“He felt the same way about the two of you.”

It felt odd riding in the back of a limousine to my house, but I might be able to learn to live with such luxury.  “What should we bring with us?” I asked as I looked down at my blue jeans and old T-shirt.

“They’ve all been warned that you are both eccentric in your clothing choices,” Jeffrey said.  “You’ll need something black for the service, but the rest of time, wear whatever you’d like to.  Curtis liked to dress casually, so no one will be surprised by your informal style.”  

I took his advice and packed a quick bag, but Moose was even faster when we got to his place.  While Jeffrey and I were waiting in the limo, I asked him, “What do you think about that letter we got?  I’m assuming that you read it, too.”

“If you’re asking me if Curtis was just being paranoid, I believe the stabbing should answer that question, don’t you?”

“I wasn’t doubting that he had a right to be suspicious,” I said.  “I was just wondering what you thought about his list of suspects.”

Jeffrey frowned.  “Whoever killed him is on that list.  I’d swear to it.”

“Do you know them very well?”

He just shrugged.  “Just from what I’ve seen from a servant’s point of view.”

“Is it really all that different from everyone else’s?” I asked.

“You have no idea.  These people have had money forever, and for the most part, they aren’t afraid to show it.  Curtis was the rare exception.  He never treated me as though I was anything but a friend.”

“And the rest of them?”

“Let’s just say that I’ve never gotten used to being treated like a piece of furniture,” he said.

“That’s terrible,” I said.  

“Hey, it wasn’t
all
bad.  I got to hang out with a genuinely nice man and help make the last bit of his life a little easier.  There are worse things to do with yourself than that, don’t you think?”

“A great many of them,” I said.  “How are they going to feel about Moose and me barging in on their grief?”

“I doubt that any of them are grieving all that much, but Curtis took care of that.  He told them last week that you were his friends and that he’d invited you to stay at the house.  I was there when he told them, and trust me, nobody’s going to say anything about your presence, at least not to your faces.”

“They can whisper behind their backs all that they want,” I said with a smile.  “It won’t be the first time that it’s happened to me, and I’m sure that it won’t be the last.”

Moose came out with a battered old leather overnight bag.  Jeffrey got out to take it from him, but my grandfather said, “My arms aren’t broken.  Pop the trunk and I’ll throw it in myself.”

Jeffrey smiled.  “As much as I appreciate the offer, you might as well get used to being waited on.”

“Not a chance, buster,” Moose said.

Jeffrey shrugged, and then he did as Moose asked.  My grandfather put his bag in the trunk beside mine, and then he slammed the lid for emphasis.

“Home, Jeffrey,” he said as he slid into the backseat beside me.  He was in a remarkably good mood for a man about to go in search of a killer.

“Buckle up,” Jeffrey said.

As we drove to Laurel Landing, I asked my grandfather, “How do you want to play this when we get there?”

“We’re friends who’ve come to stay and pay our respects,” Moose said.  “Jeffrey told me while you were packing that Curtis has already set it up.  When we get there, I suggest that we split up and start asking questions as delicately as we can manage it.”

“I’m not thrilled about splitting up from the very start,” I said.

“Why not?”

“Moose, we’re going to be asking someone who is probably a killer if he murdered our friend.”

“Not that openly, I hope,” my grandfather said.

“Of course not, but it doesn’t mean that the murderer isn’t dangerous.  Someone killed our friend, and he’s asked us to find out who did it.”

“We will, Victoria, but I’m not sure how much good it’s going to do us to try to plan this.  We’re going to have to just play it by ear.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” I said.

“Come on.  It’s always worked out in the past,” he said with the hint of a smile.

I just wished that I could share it.  “All it takes is one bad experience to ruin it all though, isn’t that right?”

“You worry too much,” Moose said as he looked out the limo window like a little kid.

“Funny, but I think I worry exactly the
right
amount.”

“This is an adventure.  Let’s not forget that,” he said.

“It’s a job.  Let’s not forget
that
,” I answered.

He turned to me from the window.  “You’re right.  I just don’t get enough chances to ride in limousines these days.”

As we drove on, I couldn’t help wondering who on Curtis’s list had the nerve to come into my diner and kill him right under my nose.  I had the feeling that my grandfather was whistling past the graveyard.  I knew better than to be fooled by his eager demeanor.  We’d both been too close to murderers in the past, so we knew what we were getting ourselves into.

At least I hoped we did.

It would be nice having an ally in Jeffrey close by, but I knew that when it came right down to it, Moose and I wouldn’t be able to depend on anyone but each other.  That was fine with me, though.  I knew my grandfather to be a good man when things got dicey, and he knew that he could count on me as well.  Since we’d started digging into murder cases that touched our lives, our relationship had changed from family to colleagues.  We each had our own strengths that complemented each other, and there was no one else I’d rather be embarking on this quest with but him.

I just hoped that we found Curtis’s killer in the time we had allotted to us.