Hope Callaghan - Garden Girls 04 - Death by Dumplings (5 page)

Gloria stuck her hand on her hip.  “As much skeet shooting, squirrel hunting and other creature killings you two do, I would think you’d be a pro by now.”

Lucy stuck the spoon in her mouth and shook her head.  “Nope.  I’m not very good at all,” she admitted.

“Maybe next time, then.” Gloria said.  “Are you up for it, Dot?”

“You really should go,” Margaret urged her.  “It’s not good for you to stay shut up in that house 24 hours a day.”

Dot grabbed a parfait cup and then reached for a cookie.  She dipped the cookie in the pudding and took a big bite.  She chewed on it for a long moment.  “Yeah.  I guess I should.  If we don’t figure out who put poison in the pot - who will?”

Gloria covered the leftover sandwiches and shoved them in the fridge along with the remaining butterscotch desserts before she grabbed her purse and headed to the door.

Mally heard the jingle of Gloria’s keys and followed her to the door.  Gloria bent down.  “Sorry girl.  We have to go without you this time.  I’m pretty sure a fancy Italian restaurant isn’t going to allow dogs inside.”

Mally dropped her head and slunk over to her bed in the corner.  She gave Gloria a sad face before she flopped down on the bed and closed her eyes. 

Lucy patted Gloria’s arm.  “She’ll be okay.  I think you’ve spoiled that dog rotten.”

Gloria sighed.  It was true.  But she spoiled Mally in a good way.  After all, what was wrong with the dog wanting to be with her? 

She gave Mally one last glance before she followed the girls outside and shut the door.

Margaret tied the bright blue scarf around her head and followed Lucy to the jeep.  “Keep us posted if you manage to find any good clues.”

Dot and Gloria watched Lucy’s Jeep roar out of the driveway before climbing into Anabelle. 

The drive to Lakeville took a quick half an hour.  On the way, Dot and Gloria talked about the weather.  Their grandkids.  Anything but the murder. 

As they got close to town, Gloria had a thought.  “Maybe we should talk to Jennifer.  You know, find out if she noticed anything odd or anyone unusual lurking around the other morning.”

Dot planned on it.  She just didn’t have it in her to call her yet.  With the restaurant shut down, there was a chance that Jennifer was going to quit anyways.  Who would want to work for someone that poisoned people?  “Yeah, I guess so.”

Gloria glanced at Dot.  “Leave it to me,” Gloria said.  “I’ll get ahold of her.”

Dot was relieved.  “Could you?”  Tears welled up in her eyes.  She wiped them away with the back of her hand.  “I don’t know what to say to her. Or anyone else.”

It was the least Gloria could do for her friend.  “I’ll call her tomorrow,” she promised. 

The restaurant was in downtown Lakeville, right off the main road.  They slowed as they passed by the front.  The new owners had done a nice job of remodeling the place.  It was originally built as a boarding house for the men who built the railroad that ran through town. 

For years it sat vacant until a local resident decided to fix it up and turn it into a drugstore.  It stayed that way until the owner retired.  The owner’s children weren’t the least bit interested in living in Lakeville and once again, the place sat vacant for a long time.  Until a few months ago when the mysterious new owners from Chicago remodeled it and turned it into the restaurant.

Gloria pulled into an empty spot in front of the building.  Her heart sank as she read the sign.  They didn’t open for another hour! 

Dot was disappointed.  “I guess we should’ve called first.”

Gloria shook her head.  “Let’s head around back.  I’m sure someone’s inside getting ready for the dinner rush.”

The girls climbed out of the car, walked around the side of the building and headed for the alley in the rear.  Three vehicles were parked off to the side and one of them was a shiny, new SUV with an Illinois license plate.

Gloria slipped her glasses on.  She grabbed her phone from her purse and switched it to camera mode.  She stepped close to the SUV and leaned forward to snap a picture of the license plate.  Now maybe she could track down the restaurant owner!

Dot took a step towards her.  “What are you doing?” she whispered loudly.

Just then the back door of the restaurant swung open.  A short, dark-haired man stepped onto the stoop.  “What’s going on back here?” he demanded.

Gloria jerked up. The pocket of her sweater caught on the trailer hitch.  She tried to yank it free but the sweater refused to budge.  Her head bobbed up and down as she tried in vain to pull herself free.

The man must’ve wondered what in the world was going on.  He hopped off the steps and made his way to the back of the vehicle.  At that precise moment, Gloria’s sweater decided to rip free.  She stumbled backwards and landed on her rear, the cell phone still clutched in the palm of her hand.

Dot reached down and helped Gloria to her feet.  “We here – uh – admiring…”  Her voice trailed off. 

She tried again. “We were admiring the color of the building and I, uh. I was telling my friend Gloria here, that I wanted to paint my house this color.”

Dot stopped and gave Gloria a hard stare.  “So – uhmm, she offered to take a picture.  That’s when she dropped her phone.”

The man gave them an odd look, then shrugged his shoulders. 

Gloria quickly changed the subject.  “The new owners did a nice job remodeling the old place,” she said.   

The man smiled.  “Thanks.”  He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked up at the restaurant.   “My wife and I’ve been working on it now for a couple months.”

“You’re only open for dinner?” Dot blurted out.

“We have been, but starting Saturday we’ll be open for breakfast and lunch, too.  Other than a fast food joint down the road, we’re the only restaurant in the area,” he explained.

Dot started to tell him that “no they weren’t” but bit her tongue instead.  She didn’t want him to know who she was.  Now that he was closer, she got a good look at this face. He looked familiar.  Like she’d see him somewhere before…

Gloria could tell Dot wanted to say something.  Probably something she’d regret.  She grabbed Dot’s hand and started to pull her away.  “We’ll have to come back and try it.” She gave a small wave before whirling around and walking off.

Dot stomped along behind her.  “Did you hear that?” she huffed.  “He’s going to start serving breakfast and lunch.” She mimicked his voice.  “I think he poisoned my food.  Somehow he snuck into my restaurant and dumped something in my dumplings!”

“I know you’re upset Dot but we can’t jump to conclusions.  We need to do a bit more detective work,” Gloria said.  “Remember Judith? She has motive, too.”

“True.” Dot stomped her foot. “It’s so dang frustrating!”

The girls rounded the corner of the building and made their way over to Anabelle.  They climbed inside before Gloria answered.  “We need to be patient, Dot.  Even if it means the restaurant stays closed a little longer.”

Dot stared down at her hands.  There were moments she wished it would just stay closed forever and there were others, she wanted desperately to be back at work.  Back in her kitchen doing what she loved – feeding people and making them happy.  “I know.  It’s just hard…”

Gloria started Anabelle and backed the car into the street.  “Someone committed a murder and that someone is still roaming the streets.”

“And that someone is trying to frame me!” Dot pointed out.  “That guy from the restaurant.  He looks familiar.  Like I’ve seen him somewhere before…”

“I’m sure he’s been to your restaurant,” Gloria guessed.  “You know, checking out the competition and all.”

“Tomorrow I’ll talk to Jennifer,” Gloria promised.  “And I’ll do a little digging around to see what I can find out about Mr. Pasta Amore!”

Gloria was relieved to find Ray was home when she dropped Dot off in the drive.  She knew that today was a lot for Dot to digest and until they solved the murder, things weren’t going to get any easier for her. 

Gloria glanced at the clock.  Paul was working the night shift again but one night this week he was coming over for the steak dinner she promised him.  If she was lucky, maybe she could wheedle a little info out of Paul about the investigation.  Like what kind of poison the killer used. 

Gloria spent a restless night worrying about Dot, wondering about Judith and trying to figure out when she’d could fit a second dinner at Pasta Amore into her schedule. 

Maybe she could ask Margaret to go with her.  That way she could kill two birds with one stone.  Do a little detective work on the case and talk to Margaret one-on-one about the coins.  Which made her think of something else.  She was supposed to contact some attorneys about setting up wills in case they did have million dollar coins!

Gloria crawled out of bed bright and early the next morning.  Her first order of business was to let Mally out for a run. 

She grabbed the list of witnesses that were in the restaurant the morning of the poisoning. 
Carl Arnett and Al Dickerson
were at the top of the list.  Gloria mentally crossed Carl Arnett off her list of people to visit.  No way did she want to chance a run in with Judith.  The woman sunk to a new level in Gloria’s book, what with her trying to steal from Dot!

She slipped on her reading glasses and grabbed the telephone book.  The listing for Belhaven wasn’t long.  After all, there weren’t more than 900 people in the whole town.  She had no trouble finding the phone number for Al Dickerson. 

She picked up the phone and dialed the number, still not certain what she should say.  Gloria was much better at just winging it. 

“Hello?”

“Uh.  Hi Al.  This is Gloria Rutherford.” She paused.  “Uh, I was wondering if it would be possible for me to stop by your place sometime today.  I heard you were in Dot’s on Wednesday when that man was poisoned.”

“Yeah, it was just terrible.  Keeled over, right there at the table,” he said.  “His wife was hysterical.  Poor thing.”

“Dot’s taking this hard,” Gloria said.  “I’m trying to help figure out how something like this could have happened and since you were there, I thought maybe if you had a few minutes, I could talk to you to see if you can remember anything unusual about that day.”

“Sure, sure.  Whatever I can do to help!” Al said.  “I’m just sittin’ out here on my front porch drinking a cup of coffee if you want to come on over.”

Gloria glanced at the clock.  If she timed it right, she could visit Al and then take a run by Jennifer’s place to talk to her.  “Sure, I’ll be over there in half an hour or less…if that’s not too soon.”

“I’ll be here,” Al answered. 

Gloria headed to the shower to get ready.  Her brain seemed to work better in the shower.  There were no distractions to get in the way.

She pulled on a pair of slacks and long-sleeved shirt. The morning was still a little cool but the sun was shining.  It was shaping up to be a beautiful day. 

She grabbed her car keys off the rack and her purse off the table.  Mally bounded around the corner of the dining room and skidded into the kitchen.  She raced over to her box of stuffed animals and grabbed one off the top before meeting Gloria at the kitchen door. 

“You can go with me this time,” she told her.  “Al’s farm’s about as big as this one.  You’ll have fun racing around his place.”

The two hopped in the car and headed towards town.  Her heart sank when she passed by Dot’s place.  It was dark.  She gripped the steering wheel, a look of determination fixed on her face.  She was going to get this mystery solved.  And the sooner the better.

Al’s farm set back from the road a good distance.  The winding path back to the farm was long and narrow.  There were farm fields on both sides of the drive.  They were empty right now, waiting for spring planting in the next week or so. 

She bumped along the path and rounded the curve.  His two-story white farmhouse was straight ahead.  Gloria loved Al’s front porch.  She liked her own porch just fine. Hers was more to the side and not very big, while Al’s was long and wide.  It ran the entire length of the front of the house and it faced west. 
He must have awesome views of the sunsets and God’s beautiful creation,
she thought. Of course, hers faced west, too.

Al was sitting on the porch.  Gloria slowed to a stop and slid out of the car.  Al got out of his rocking chair.  He shoved his hand in his bib overalls and made his way down the front steps. 

Al was all alone on the farm now.  His wife, Cecelia, died of cancer the year before.  His kids tried to convince him to move in with them but he couldn’t bear to part with the place.  The farm had been in his family for generations, just like Gloria’s husband James’s had. Someday he hoped one of his boys would take an interest in the place.  Maybe then he’d consider moving into something smaller but for now he was content.

A plain white t-shirt was tucked neatly under the denim bibs.  He looked like he was ready to hop on his tractor.  His eyes crinkled as he smiled at Gloria. “Good to see you Gloria.”

She closed the door and made her way across the lawn to the porch.  “Nice to see you, too, Al.”

He waved to one of the rockers.  “Have a seat,” he said.  “You want a cup of coffee?”

She nodded.  “Sure, if you got a little extra.  Black is fine.”

“I’ll be back in a jiffy.”  He disappeared inside the front door as Gloria settled into the chair. 

Mally took off in the direction of the red silo.  Gloria didn’t have a silo at her place and the dog was determined to check it out.

Al reappeared moments later, two coffee cups in hand.  “How’s Liz doin’?  I heard she had you traipsing halfway across the country on some wild goose chase last week.”

Gloria took the cup and grimaced.  “She sure did.  Seems she was dead set on the two of us meeting my dad’s sister, Ethel.  Ethel lived in Tennessee,” she explained.

Al laughed.  “Liz always was a firecracker!” he said.

Gloria studied him for a minute.  He had to be close to Liz’s age.  Come to think of it, Al asked about Liz every time she ran into him. 

Liz was lonely.  Al seemed to be lonely.  Maybe she should arrange a cookout at her place with Paul and invite Liz and Al to join them…

“…and next thing I knew, the man grabbed his throat and started gagging,” Al said.

Gloria was so wrapped up in her matchmaking plan, she didn’t hear a single word he’d just said.  “I’m sorry, Al.  I was daydreaming.  I didn’t catch part of what you were saying.”

Al took a sip of coffee.  “No.  I was just saying that Carl.  You know, Carl Arnett. Carl and I were just finishing our coffee and donuts, getting ready to leave when Dot brought the chicken and dumplings out to the table next to us.” He drummed his fingers on the top of his knee.  “The woman with him, I guess it was his wife.  She got the same thing.”

He went on.  “I was just getting up from the table to head to the cash register and pay when the man clutched at his throat and said something about he couldn’t swallow and it felt like his throat was on fire.”

Gloria remembered Dot mentioning Officer Nelson was in the restaurant that morning, too.  “Was Officer Nelson still there when all this happened?”

Al nodded.  “Yeah, he jumped out of his seat and ran over to try and help but I guess it was too late.”

“So he was he still alive when the ambulance got there?”  That was pretty much what Ray already told her.

“Yeah, but he was in rough shape.  I think his throat closed shut from whatever poison was in the dumplings.” He paused as he stared out at the empty field in front of him.  “Ruth said something about she heard he died on the way to the hospital.”

Of course Ruth would know that
, Gloria thought to herself.

“Is there anything else that sticks out in your mind as odd about the whole thing?” she asked.

“No.  That was it.  The police rushed us all out after they took the poor man away on the stretcher.  Right after that they taped everything off.”

“I appreciate your time, Al.” Mally was back from her romp.  She plopped down next to Gloria’s chair.  “We better get going.”

She set the coffee cup on the small stand beside the chair. She got to her feet and started across the porch before turning back.  “Thanks for the coffee.”

She paused for a moment.  “I was thinking about having a cookout over at my place in a week or so.  Thought maybe if you had the time, you could come on over for dinner. 

“I plan on inviting a few others.  Margaret and Ray, Lucy and her boyfriend Bill.  Maybe my sister, Liz,” she added.  “And of course my boyfriend, Paul.”

Al set his coffee cup on the small stand next to hers and walked to the edge of the porch.  “I heard about him.  Sounds like you got a keeper there.”

Al’s face brightened.  “That’s mighty nice of you Gloria,” he said.  “I don’t get out too much other than running up to Dot’s for coffee.  Now I can’t even do that.”

She pulled her keys from her purse and started across the drive.  “I’ll give you call when I have a set time.” She waved to Al as she pulled out of the drive.  The more she thought about a cookout and inviting Al and Liz, the more she liked the idea. 

What harm could a little matchmaking do?

Gloria drove into town and made a last minute decision to stop at the post office.  Maybe Ruth had some news.   She was relieved the parking lot wasn’t full of cars.  There was no way she and Ruth could discuss the case if people were inside eavesdropping on their conversation.

She stepped in the front door.  Ruth was leaning over the counter, talking to Beatrice.  Beatrice or “Bea” as everyone in town called her, was the local hairdresser. If anyone could rival Ruth in the gossip department, it was Bea. 

Ruth glanced up when she saw Gloria and Mally come through the door.  Bea had her back to Gloria and didn’t notice her standing behind her.  She caught the tail end of Bea’s sentence “… and Judith said Carl told her that she heard the man’s wife say something about suing Dot!”

Gloria’s heart skipped a beat.  Dot would be devastated if she heard this! 
Talk of suing already?? 
The poor man’s body wasn’t even in the ground yet and his widow is ready to sue?  The wife didn’t even know how her husband got poisoned.

Bea whirled around when she heard Gloria clear her throat.  “Oh. Hi Gloria!”

Gloria smiled.  “How you doing, Bea?”

Bea straightened her back and shuffled to the side for a three-way conversation.  “Just fine.  Ruth and I were just talking about the unfortunate accident over at Dot’s place.”

“I heard,” Gloria said.  “Say, does anyone know what the man’s name is yet?”

Ruth nodded.  “Yeah.  Officer Joe was in here earlier.  He told me they just finished the autopsy.” She had a thought.  “You should see if Paul can give you any info on the case,” she suggested.

Gloria nodded.  That was the plan.  Not that that was the only reason she wanted to see Paul.  But it wouldn’t hurt her investigation if she could maybe get a little insider info out of him.

Ruth went on.  “His name was Mike Foley.  He was from Lakeville,” she said.  “His wife’s name is Darla.” Ruth tsk-tsked.  “Such a sad situation!”

It was Bea’s turn.  “I heard.  Now I don’t know how true this is.  But I heard that the chicken ‘n dumplings were tainted with toilet bowl cleaner.  Can you imagine that?” she asked.

Toilet bowl cleaner?
Gloria was shocked.  No way could toilet bowl cleaner accidentally get dumped into a big pot of dumplings. That was sitting on the kitchen counter.  Someone had to have done it on purpose!

“Did you hear the wife’s talking about suing?” Ruth asked.

Gloria shook her head.  “I hope not for Dot and Ray’s sake…”  She grabbed Mally’s leash and headed for the door.  That was the worst possible news she’d heard all day.  She pulled the door open and turned back around. “I wouldn’t mention it to Dot or Ray.  They have enough to worry about right now.”

Ruth pinched her fingers together and made a zipping motion across her mouth.  “My lips are sealed!”

Bea nodded.  “Mine too!”

Gloria closed the door.  She hoped they would keep silent.  The two of them didn’t have that great of a track record for keeping secrets…

Gloria headed out of town and drove right past her own farm. 

Dot’s employee, Jennifer, and her husband Tony, lived in what country folk called the boondocks.  Tony’s parents ran a small sawmill on their property.  They owned several acres of land and had sectioned off a nice chunk years back when Tony married Jennifer.