Hope Callaghan - Garden Girls 04 - Death by Dumplings (10 page)

“And what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”

Gloria’s cheeks warmed as she whirled around and faced Paul.  Her heart skipped a beat as her eyes settled on his crisp, dark uniform.  “I’m glad I caught you,” she said.

“Me too,” he grinned.

Flustered by the flirting, Gloria glanced down at the trash bag in her hand.  “I have something I think might be of interest in Dot’s investigation.”

He waved her back.  “I’d tell you that I’m surprised but I’m not,” he teased. 

She followed behind as he led her to his now-familiar office.  She took a seat near the door as he settled in behind the desk. He leaned back in the chair, his arms folded across his chest. “So what did you find?”

She slid the plastic bag in his direction.  “We found this in the recycle bin behind Dot’s restaurant.”

Paul leaned up in the chair.   He opened the bag and peered inside before he glanced back at Gloria.  “You found an empty bottle of toilet bowl cleaner?”

Gloria nodded.

“Is this Dot’s?

She shook her head.  “No. It’s not.  It was at the very top which means it was one of the last things tossed into the recycle bin the day of the poisoning.”

“Did you touch it?” he asked.

She was proud of the fact that she was smart enough not to touch what might be key evidence in the case.  “No.  I had gloves on when I picked it up,” she explained.

He folded the top and set it off to the side.  “I’ll send it off to the lab for prints.”

He went on.  “Did you find anything else?”

“No,” she answered.  “I’m still working on suspects.  What about you?”

“Not yet.  We interviewed several witnesses but with no murder weapon, we were at a standstill in the case.” He pointed at the garbage bag. “Until now, that is.”

“I added Joe Toscani to my list.  He’s the owner of Pasta Amore.”

Paul’s eyebrows raised.  “You went back there?”

She nodded sheepishly.  “The girls and I ate dinner there tonight,” she admitted. “I found out what his name was and then did a little research when I got home.”

She didn’t mention the food critic and how she just wrote a glowing review of the restaurant or the fact that she and the owner were related.  She wasn’t sure how that angle tied in.  Plus, she needed to do a bit more investigating.

“I better let you get back to work.” Gloria got to her feet.

She started for the door.  “Oh!  We’re still on for that cookout this Saturday.”

“And your matchmaking?” Paul added.

Gloria’s eyes twinkled.  “I’m working on it.”

He walked her to her car and gave her a quick peck on the cheek before pulling the door open. 

Paul patted Mally’s head before closing the door and leaning his head inside the open window.  “Try to behave!”

Gloria grinned.  “I’ll see what I can do.”  With a small wave, she pulled from the spot and headed home. 

The drive home took forever.  Her eyelids wouldn’t stop drooping as she tried to nod off behind the wheel.  She rolled the window down in an effort to stay awake. Today was a busy day and she was plum wore out!

By the time she got home, she barely had enough energy to brush her teeth, pull on her pajamas and crawl into bed.  Mally and Puddles crawled in with each taking up one side.  She was out within minutes.

Gloria woke the next morning feeling energized and ready to tackle the day.  She finished her morning routing before heading into town.  She could see lights on inside Dot’s restaurant and there were cars parked out front.  Gloria eased Anabelle into an empty spot and got out of the car.  Dot’s head was darting back and forth beyond the front window as she scurried around the waitress station.

Gloria reached for the door handle.  It was locked.  She sidestepped over to the window and pressed her face on the glass before tapping lightly.

Dot whirled around.  A smile lit her face when she saw Gloria.  There was a bounce in her step as she hurried to the front. She unlocked the door and motioned her friend inside. 

“They’ve given me the all-clear to open the restaurant back up,” she said.

Gloria hugged her friend.  “I’m so glad!”

Jennifer stepped out from the back.  In her hand was a rag and glass cleaner.  “We’re back in business starting this afternoon!”

“I’ll be back for dinner, then,” Gloria announced.  Dot would need all the support she could get.  It was hard to tell what kind of response she’d get from the locals.  If anyone would show up… 

Gloria turned to go.  She needed to make her rounds and see if she could get any of the other girls to join her.

She had a sudden thought.  “Oh.  Hey, Jennifer.  I’m having a cookout at my place Saturday at 6.  You and Tony and the kids are invited.”

Jennifer wrinkled her nose.  “Are you sure?  My boys can eat a lot,” she warned.

“Maybe we should turn it into a potluck,” Dot chimed in.  “Seems like you have a lot of people coming now.”

Gloria nodded.  Dot was right. The list was growing every day.  “Yeah, maybe I should.  I’ll have hotdogs and hamburgers and maybe some others can bring a dish to pass.”

She felt a little bad about inviting people and then asking them to bring something.  But she knew her friends wouldn’t mind. 

“I’ll bring macaroni salad,” Dot offered.

Gloria nodded.  “That’d be great!” She made her way out the door, a mental list ticking off in her brain.  She walked across the street and into the post office.

There was no one inside, other than Ruth. 

Ruth poked her head around the corner of the mailbox slots. 

“Are you coming to my cookout Saturday night?” Gloria asked.

Ruth nodded. “I was planning on it.”

“Somehow the list is growing and Dot thought it would be a good idea if we kind of turned it into a potluck.  Do you mind bringing some baked beans?”

“Of course not,” Ruth replied.  She stepped over to the counter.  “Anything new on Dot’s dilemma?”

“Nothing concrete.  We’re still working on it.” Gloria glanced across the street in the direction of the restaurant.  “She’s opening for dinner. I thought it would be nice to show some support and eat there tonight.  You wanna go with?”

“Great minds think alike,” Ruth said.  “I already talked to Lucy and she’s going to meet me there at six.”

“I’ll stop by Margaret’s on my way home and see if she can come, too.”  Gloria headed to the door.  Today was shaping up to be as busy as yesterday. 

Margaret’s SUV was in the driveway.  Gloria made her way to the breezeway door and pushed the brass button.  Westminster chimes echoed softly from within.

Moments later, Margaret pushed the door open. “You’re up bright and early this morning.”

Gloria laughed.  “So are you.”

“C’mon in.  I was just getting ready to take my cup of coffee out on the back deck.”

Margaret had a beautiful home.  It was a sprawling ranch that sat facing Lake Terrace.  The home was filled with trinkets Margaret and her husband, Don, picked up during their years of travel to exotic locales.  Gloria’s favorite piece was a cross crucifix, hand carved from olive wood that she purchased on a trip to Jerusalem years ago. 

Gloria admired it so many times, Margaret told her she was going to wrap it up and gift it to her on her 80
th
birthday!

Gloria followed Margaret into the kitchen.  She poured two cups of coffee and handed one to Gloria.  One the way out the slider door, she grabbed a piece of bread from a bread bag sitting on the kitchen table. 

The deck was one of those expensive, new-fangled ones made from recycled materials that never faded or warped.  It was a reddish earth tone color and it was large.  It spanned the entire distance of the rear of the house.  An expansive, sloping yard flowed from the deck down to the edge of the water.  A few years back, Don built a wooden dock with a covered gazebo that jutted out into the water. 

At the same time the dock went in, Don and Margaret hauled in dump trucks full of soft, white sand and now they had a beautiful beach.  If you didn’t know better, you’d almost think you were staring out at the ocean.  Every summer they would throw a big backyard bash and invite half the town. 

A large Mallard circled the dock before perching on the edge of the white sandy beach. 

“That’s Quack,” Margaret told her.  “He comes up here every morning to say hello.” The duck waddled towards the house.  Margaret walked to the edge of the railing.   She broke off small pieces of bread and tossed them in Quack’s direction.  He gobbled all the pieces before he wandered back down to the water’s edge and floated off across the lake.

“You have a slice of paradise here,” Gloria complimented.

Margaret settled back into her chair.  “It is beautiful.  The Lord sure has blessed us.”

She changed the subject.  “Anything new on Dot’s case?”

Gloria told her how she did some research on Joe Toscani and found out he was being investigated for his partner’s murder in Chicago and there was mention of mob ties.  She also told her how Dot and she met at the restaurant the night before and found the empty toilet cleaner inside the trash can. 

Margaret gasped.  “And the police didn’t find it?”

“Yeah,” Gloria said.  “That’s what I thought.  I turned it into Paul at the station.  Maybe they’ll find a fingerprint.”

Gloria finished her cup of coffee and stood up.  “I’m on my way to Gus’s place.  He had a run-in with Judith Arnett not too long ago.”

Margaret was skeptical.  “As much as I don’t care for her, you don’t really think she would try to kill Dot, do you?”

Gloria shrugged.  She was leaning towards her not being the killer, but she wasn’t ready to rule her out.  Yet.

Margaret walked Gloria out to her car.  “Are you and Don coming over to my place Saturday night for the cookout?”

Margaret nodded.  “Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” she said.  “You need me to bring something?”

“If you don’t mind….I hate to ask but it seems my list of invitees keep growing.  If it’s not too much trouble, can you whip up a bowl of your famous Creamy Bacon and Cheese potato salad?”  Margaret had a secret recipe for one of the best potato salads on the planet.  Whenever Gloria tried to wheedle the recipe out of her, Margaret refused.  Said it was a recipe passed down through the generations and she was sworn to secrecy. 

Gloria tried a few times to copy it.  She came close but something was always missing….  Some key ingredient.

Margaret straightened her shoulders and lifted her head.  “Of course I will!  How many people did you invite?”

Gloria ticked off the mental list.  Ruth, Liz, Lucy, Bill, Dot, Ray, Paul, Slick Steve, Margaret and Don, Al Dickerson.  She was probably forgetting someone…  Oh, Jennifer and Tony.  “It looks like fourteen, unless I’m forgetting someone.” She paused.  “Andrea.  I can’t remember if I invited Andrea!” 

Gloria made a mental note to call her young friend when she got home before she hopped in the car and headed for Gus’s shop. 

Gloria parked off to the side of the small repair shop.  She pushed open the front door and stepped into the outer office.  The tinkling of the doorbell brought Gus from the back.  He grinned when he saw who it was.  “Hi Gloria.” 

Gus wasn’t a tall guy.  He was on the stocky side and his protruding belly was part of his charm.  His hair was gray and thinning.  He leaned an elbow on the small counter. 

Gus and his wife, Mary Beth, lived in a small two-story house out behind their automotive business.  They were a town fixture for over a decade now and as nice a couple as anyone could ever meet. 

Last time Gloria had a problem with Anabelle’s starter, Gus got it right in and fixed it in a jiffy.  He even loaned her his own vehicle so she’d have a way to get around.  On top of that, he gave her a discount. 

He pulled off his ball cap and scratched the top of his head.  “Anabelle giving you a hard time?”

Gloria shook her head.  She stepped closer to the counter.  “No.  She’s running like a top, thanks to you!” 

“I’m here for another reason.” She glanced around the small office.  “You heard about Dot’s restaurant?”

Gus rubbed the stubble on his chin thoughtfully.  “Yeah.  What a shame!”

Gloria went on.  “Dot had a run-in with Judith Arnett just days before the poisoning.”

Gus’s mouth twisted in a grim frown.  “You don’t say…”

“Anyways, I heard you had a problem with her not long ago.”

Gus nodded.  “Sure did!”  He walked around the edge of the counter and came to stand out front.  “She was in here snooping around.  Not that she was having vehicle trouble or anything.  Just being her usual nosy self.”

The bell on the front of the shop chimed right then.  As luck would have it, it was Carl Arnett, Judith’s husband. 

“Hi Carl. I’ll be right with you,” Gus said.  He motioned Gloria to the back of the repair shop.  They moved off to the side, out of earshot. 

He lowered his voice.  “She started talking trash. How she heard rumors of marital problems between me and Mary Beth.  I told her to stop spreading vicious rumors that weren’t true.  Then I asked her to leave and told her to never step foot on my property or I’d have her arrested for trespassing.   

Gus grinned.  “She stormed out of the shop and peeled out of the parking lot.  Had her madder than a wet hornet.”

Gloria smiled at the mental image of Judith being put in her place.

“Next thing I know, customers are coming in here, telling me Judith was spreading vicious rumors that she caught me sipping out of a paper bag here in the back.” Gus shifted his feet.  “You know that’s not true.”

Gloria reached out and touched his arm.  “I know, Gus.  No one here believes half.  No – most - of what Judith says,” she reassured him.

Gus nodded his head in the direction of Judith’s husband, still waiting out in the front lobby.  “I don’t have a beef with Carl - but his wife?  She’s not welcome here anymore.” 

Gloria thanked Gus for his time.  She turned to go when she noticed the car up on the hoist.  It looked familiar.  She pointed up.  “That looks like Jennifer’s car.”

Gus nodded.  “Yeah.  She’s been having trouble with it lately.  I feel sorry for her and Tony.  What with his hours cut back at the shop and her being off for a few days since Dots been shut down.”

She avoided facing Carl as she made her way out through the large overhead garage door.  Gus didn’t tell her anything about Judith she didn’t already know.  She was a gossip and thief.  But that still didn’t make her a killer.

When she got home, she dialed Paul’s number.  Maybe he had some news on the cleaner.  She left a message on his cell phone.  He was probably home sleeping. 

She whipped up a tossed salad, keeping in mind that she was eating dinner at Dot’s later.  She slid into a kitchen chair and tapped on the side of her salad plate as she glanced up at the coins in her kitchen.  It sure would be nice to find out if they got to keep them! 

She finished her salad and then headed to her computer in the corner of the dining room.  It was time to work on finding a good attorney.  She soon discovered there were tons of attorneys in the area!  It was almost overwhelming.  Half an hour later, she narrowed it down to three and set up appointments for later in the week. 

Relieved she was working on her end of the research, she swept the kitchen, then the back porch before settling into the porch rocker.  Mally followed her outside and darted back and forth across the yard, sniffing the flowering bushes that lined the side of the house and then chasing after the squirrels.  If nothing else, it was good exercise for her. 

She rocked back and forth in the chair.  Her mind drifted to the investigation and what she had so far.  Joe Toscani was a prime suspect with Judith being a close second.  Toscani had more motive than Judith but Judith.  Well, maybe she had a motive, too.  Revenge. 

Gloria decided to head down to the restaurant a little before official opening time.  She wanted to lend Dot a hand in the back if she needed.  Plus, she figured she might need a little moral support or an encouraging word.

Gloria pulled Anabelle down the alley and parked next to Dot’s van out back.  She made her over to the rear entrance and slipped in the back door.  Jennifer was there, chopping veggies for house salads.  “I’m surprised to see you here, Jennifer,” Gloria said.  “Where’s your car?”

Jennifer stopped slicing tomatoes and looked up.  “I don’t know what’s going on with it lately!  First, I had a tire blowout a couple weeks ago.  Yesterday, the brakes went out.”