Death Pays a Visit (A Myrtle Clover Mystery Book 7) (22 page)

Under the printed out picture, Mickey had scrawled
Winston Rouse strikes again
. So…had Mickey been tracking this? Had she perhaps suspected that Winston had taken things from her—or her room, if he’d been visiting there? Had that been the reason they’d fallen out enough to warrant a big argument and Mickey’s statement that she was going to revise her will?

Myrtle jumped at the tap on her door. She relaxed a bit when she heard a voice calmly state, “Myrtle? It’s Miles.”

She pulled open the door and Miles raised his eyebrows at the fact that Myrtle was still in Ruby’s pajamas. “Thought we’d head over to breakfast. You’re not ready.”

“Oh, I’ve been awake for ages, but I’ve been going through all Mickey’s stuff. Now it’s all Ruby’s stuff, I guess.” She yanked Miles into the room and closed the door for privacy. “I’ve made some interesting discoveries.”

After she filled Miles in, he said in a surprised voice, “So, old Winston, is it? I can’t say I’m too sorry. I never really warmed to him, especially since he seems to consider me his romantic rival for some reason.”

“That’s all old news, Miles. He’s obsessed with Inez now. I fixed it,” said Myrtle, waving her hand impatiently. “Do try to keep up. And I’m not sure that Winston is the perp at all. He’s certainly a strong suspect, though. I’m pretty steamed that he took my money.”

“But he gave it back,” said Miles. “Remember that?”

“Apparently because he realized I’m not exactly infused with funds,” said Myrtle stiffly. “It was an act of charity—reverse pick-pocketing.”

“Well, at least he didn’t
donate
any money, he just gave yours back to you. He was clever with it I have to say. Wish I could see him in action—that’s a lot of sleight of hand,” said Miles. He looked a bit wistful. Then he frowned at the pajamas again. “Can’t we go to breakfast? I’m starving.”

Myrtle grabbed her clothes from Ruby’s sofa and stepped into Ruby’s bathroom, closing the door behind her. As she quickly got ready, she said, “There’s nothing noble about him, you know. He’s a generic thief. I guess Mickey figured out what he was doing and decided to catch him in action with a camera.”

“I wonder what she was going to do with the information,” said Miles in a musing tone. “Surely Mickey wouldn’t have blackmailed Winston. It appears that he doesn’t have much money.”

“Maybe she was going to put something in her newspaper about it. Maybe she was just going to enjoy knowing something that no one else knew. Maybe she wanted something back that she was convinced he’d nicked from her. Maybe she wanted to stop him from pickpocketing other residents,” said Myrtle as she tugged on her dress from the night before.

“Maybe you don’t need any coffee at all this morning, since your brain is already running on all pistons,” added Miles dryly. “Didn’t you sleep at all last night?”

“With people breaking into my room and custodians dropping by for chats? Unlikely,” said Myrtle. She opened up the bathroom door, smoothing her hair down as she walked back into the living room/bedroom. Her hair was determined to stand up on end this morning.

“Custodians?” Miles frowned. “Wanda’s cousin dropped by?”

“Directly after I left Fred’s room,” said Myrtle succinctly.

“And the purpose of his visit?” Miles raised his eyebrows. “The middle of the night isn’t ordinarily a good time to chat.”

“Randy seemed aware of my proclivity for insomnia,” said Myrtle. “And his mission was to inform me that Inez thought Mickey was wicked. Especially for giving a child away for adoption.”

“Rather twisted, don’t you think?” asked Miles, making a face. “Who on earth sees adoption that way?”

Myrtle shrugged. “Inez, apparently. She’s clearly unhappy with the way her life turned out. No children. Planned something very different, I guess. And that unhappiness made her bitter. And remember, Mickey didn’t seem to realize what a gift
either
of her children were—the one she gave up for adoption or the one who she was constantly harping on. Natalie’s efforts certainly didn’t appear to be appreciated.”

They left Ruby’s room, Myrtle carefully locking the door behind them. Miles muttered, “Makes me like Inez even less than I did already.”

Myrtle smirked at him. “Oh, don’t worry. I have plans for Inez. I think she’ll get what she has coming to her.”

“In what way?”

Myrtle said in a low voice, “Remember? I’m setting up Inez and Winston.”

Miles’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline. “Playing matchmaker? That doesn’t sound like you, Myrtle. It’s very generous of you.”

“Not so much. Inez is such a pain to deal with that I figured if I could get her set up with Winston maybe she’d get a little sweeter. And if we keep Winston busy, perhaps he won’t take our watches. Besides, I think they deserve each other,” said Myrtle darkly.

“You’re still not sharing what happened between you and Winston all those years before,” said Miles.

Myrtle glared at him in response as they got into the elevator.

Miles added reproachfully, “You know I’m not going to tell anyone. I’m just curious, that’s all. It’s so long ago I’d think it would be water under the bridge. It sure seems to be water under the bridge for
Winston
.”

Myrtle rolled her eyes and then looked at her feet with great determination. “Let’s just say that Winston lied to me about his intentions. Let’s say that he intimated that he intended to marry me. Let’s say I was smitten—I was young, and foolish. Well, young at the start of our relationship, anyway. Winston was one of the few men in Bradley who was as well read as I was—which was an attractive quality to me. By the time I’d wised up and realized the man had no intention of marrying me, I was the only one of my peers who hadn’t married.”

Miles said in a confused voice (Myrtle steadfastly refused to look at him), “That’s not like you. I don’t get it.”

Myrtle gave an exasperated sigh. “I suppose it was easy for me. I didn’t have to go out and try to be pleasant or engaging … because I had a beau. I didn’t have to dress nicely or wear makeup or even comb my hair…because I had a beau. And it wasn’t as if Winston were always around. He was away in the service for ages. We wrote letters, that kind of thing. For heaven’s sake, Miles, he wasn’t always old and silly! Once upon a time he was rather charming and nice looking, well-read, and very clever.”

The elevator doors shot open and Miles courteously held them open for her to stomp her way out. It was most annoying to start one’s day with a discussion such as this.

Miles murmured, “Still, it seems like you’d have caught on.”

“When I was ready to catch on, believe me, I caught on!” said Myrtle hotly. “I dumped him right then and there and sent him off with a flea in his ear. Apparently his memory isn’t completely intact because it was quite a dumping, let me tell you. Then finally my eyes were open and I noticed that there was a very nice principal at my school by the name of Stanley Clover. Before long, we were married and then came little Red. And that’s the end of the story.”

Miles seemed to want to argue that it was the end of the story. Myrtle cut him off. “And there’s Inez,” hissed Myrtle. “This is the perfect opportunity for me to put a little flea in her ear about Winston.”

Miles was tagging along as she approached Inez so she stopped walking. “Miles, I don’t think Inez will want to discuss secret admirers with you around. If you head over to breakfast, I’ll be right there.”

Inez seemed surprised to see her but then said, “Oh, that’s right. You got stuck here with the ice storm. Lucky we didn’t lose power, is what I say. Usually we do. I suppose you should be able to leave by this afternoon. The news said they’re putting salt and sand on the road. Besides, the temperatures are supposed to be way above freezing today.”

“A good thing,” said Myrtle. It was getting most disconcerting to be at Greener Pastures for so long. She was starting to feel as if she were an inmate here.

Inez gazed curiously at her. “So where did you stay last night? To sleep, I mean. Did they put you up in the infirmary?”

“No, I stayed in Ruby’s room.”

“Crowded in there, wasn’t it?” asked Inez, raising her eyebrows. “Still, I think Ruby mentioned that she has a sofa bed in there. Or loveseat bed. Whatever.”

Myrtle frowned. Was Inez pretending to know nothing of Ruby’s hospitalization? Or was she being truthful? It would have been easy for Inez to have put sleeping pills in Ruby’s drink last night. Of course, it actually would have been easy for
anyone
to put sleeping pills in Ruby’s drink since Ruby lost her drink for a good portion of the New Year’s Eve party.

Myrtle filled Inez in, just in case. Inez tut-tutted the entire time.

“Well, I can’t say that I’m completely shocked. Ruby really isn’t in the
best
of health. Still, it’s a pity that her bad eating habits would catch up with her at a party. I’m assuming it was a heart or circulation-related issue?” asked Inez.

“Not at all. In fact, they’re working from the assumption that there was something in Ruby’s drink,” said Myrtle coolly. This was a bit of a stretch, but Myrtle was sure they’d discovered the issue at the hospital.

Inez made a face. “Really, Myrtle. Who would want to kill
Ruby
? I’ve never heard anything so silly.”

“Ruby apparently knows something that the killer wants to keep under wraps,” said Myrtle sternly.

“Ruby knows
nothing
. Why, she barely knows my name. In fact, I don’t think she
does
know my name.”

Inez was clearly not going to be swayed. And Myrtle hadn’t had any coffee yet, so she tamped down her natural desire to completely flatten the annoying Inez. Instead, she decided to change gears. “Whatever! I guess we’ll find out more later on. Even though the evening ended on a sad note with poor Ruby, I have to admit that I enjoyed the Greener Pastures shindig last night. I had an interesting conversation with Winston Rouse there. We spoke of you as a matter of fact,” said Myrtle, faking what she hoped was a genuine smile.

“Of me?” asked Inez, eyes open wide with surprise.

“That’s right. He only had eyes for you the entire evening. Didn’t you notice?” asked Myrtle.

“Um, no. No, I was busy asking everyone what they were wearing and writing up a story.” Inez flushed. “Are you sure about that, Myrtle? Maybe I was just standing too close to the food table and Winston was staring over at the fudge brownies.”

“Absolutely not! He told me himself that he was smitten,” said Myrtle chidingly. “Said that he’d wanted to speak to you about it for a long time but that he was too shy.”

“Winston?
Shy
?” Now there was suspicion in Inez’s eyes. “Hmm … what about the fact that he’s been hanging out with Mickey for so long? I thought he and Mickey were an item.
Mickey
thought they were an item.”

“Only because he thought you wouldn’t be interested in him. If you’d shown any interest in him, then he’d have been right at your side,” said Myrtle.

She and Inez were now walking into the dining room. Inez stopped short, blushing furiously. “Look! A note at my usual spot at the table. And … a rose!”

Myrtle frowned. “There are not supposed to be reserved seats here! That’s in the owner’s manual. Most distressing that they don’t abide by their own policies here. And how on earth would Winston get hold of a rose in the middle of an ice storm?”

“Oh, they sell them in the gift shop and it’s already open. But
I’ve
never gotten one.”

Myrtle watched in interest as hard-as-nails Inez positively glowed.

Miles finished off his scrambled eggs and carefully set his fork across the top of his plate. He dabbed gingerly at the corners of his mouth with his napkin and said, “So this is what I was able to find out. The roads are quickly melting and we should be able to leave here whenever we’re ready. I also heard that there will be a memorial service for Mickey here at the home tomorrow.”

Myrtle frowned. “People can’t get from here to the funeral? Really? I’d think they’d have a dedicated bus route between Greener Pastures and the cemetery.”

Miles gave her a repressive glare. “Myrtle! Surely, that’s uncalled for. Apparently, that’s just the way they do things here. Sometimes folks go to the funeral, yes. But the most popular thing is to attend the memorial service here in the chapel. The family comes and the chaplain performs the service. It’s supposed to be nice.”

The debatable niceness of a memorial service at a retirement home ignored, Myrtle mused, “I suppose Natalie will be there. I can ask her about last night. Ruby’s drink and all.”

Miles stared at her. “You’re not suggesting that Natalie Pelias has anything to do with Ruby’s supposed poisoning? She wasn’t even here!”

“She certainly was here,” snapped Myrtle. “She was busily clearing out her mother’s room, remember? We’re only
assuming
that she left Greener Pastures at all. She could have been lurking around.”

“What, in disguise?” Miles shook his head. “Somehow I don’t see that.”

“Why not? She could have pretended to be a staff member. Or just melded into the woodwork like she usually does. Natalie isn’t the type of person you notice. She’d only have had to be in the room for a few minutes. Everyone was drinking and watching the ball drop. It would have been a piece of cake.”

“Okay,” sighed Miles. “We’ll keep Natalie as a suspect for Ruby’s poisoning, too. Although I still strongly favor Winston.”

“Which is quite shortsighted of you, Miles, considering that your checkers partner sneaked into Ruby’s room last night. It seems to me as if Fred Lee has a huge motive in this case.” Myrtle quickly stopped talking as a herd of old ladies approached their table, looking with interest at Miles. Myrtle gave them a ferociously discouraging stare and they hurried off to another table.

“So what’s our plan?” asked Miles impatiently. “Where do we go from here?”

“We go home to regroup,” said Myrtle. “We’ll check for messages from Wanda. We’ll make sure Pasha has had enough to eat. I’ll ensure Red isn’t driving Elaine completely up the wall. Most importantly, we’ll catch up on our soap opera since neither of us saw yesterday’s episode.”