Marja McGraw - Bogey Man 04 - Awkward Moments (24 page)

Chapter Forty-six

About five minutes later Chris walked through the front door wearing a bright red and black plaid flannel shirt. Mikey glanced at me before turning his attention to his shoes. He wouldn’t look at us, but I could see a grin on his face. He knew what his father was up to.

As soon as he was close enough I grabbed Chris’s arm and pulled him toward an empty chair. “Sit down. What do you think you’re doing?”

“If this doesn’t get the killer’s attention, nothing will.”

“
That’s for sure. That’s a
really
bright red shirt. Are you trying to get
yourself
killed? You might as well carry around a sign that says, ‘I know what you were wearing when you killed Charlie.’ Chris, what were you thinking?”

“That we want to catch a murderer and, yes, this will tell him we’re onto him.”

Bill sat and watched his brother with narrowed eyes. “Wish I’d have thought of that. That’s a lot brighter red than the piece of shirt we found though. I’d see that shirt coming a mile away.”

Chris rolled up
his sleeves. “The only problem is the men’s store down the street has several of these. I talked to the owner and he said the shirts are very popular. He couldn’t remember everyone who’s bought one in the darker red color.”

“Did you see any that weren’t so bright?” I asked.

“Just this color, and of course blue and yellow and colors like that.”

I looked out the window just in time to see Tony walk by. He glanced through the window, and when he saw Chris he stopped dead in his tracks.
He pointedly looked from Chris to himself, and pointed at the shirt he was wearing – a red and black flannel shirt. After a small wave, he laughed and moved on. His shirt was tucked in, making me wonder if a piece of the bottom was missing. And why would he purposely stop to call attention to his own shirt? Maybe he’d seen Chris coming out of the men’s clothing store. But, really, could there be a chance he was flaunting the red shirt? It wasn’t the bright red of Chris’s shirt, but still… It didn’t make sense.

Essie brought out an order and placed it on a table near us. She turned away from the table and saw Chris, and tipped her head in thought.
She approached our table. “That’s not the shirt you had on when you came in, is it? Am I losing my mind?”

“No, I just bought this. I liked the colors, and it seems to be a popular type shirt around town.”

“It is. Joe even has one. I think Stu does, too. A lot of the men around here wear plaid flannel, but yours is really a bright red.” She smiled and walked away, chuckling to herself.

My husband’s face turned a light shade of pink. “Was she making fun of my new red shirt?”

“Sweetie, it really is a
very
bright red. The colors are more like something a woman might wear.”

“I tried to tell him, Mom, but he wouldn’t listen.”

“It’s okay, Ace. At least I’m getting the attention I’d hoped for.” Chris took a deep breath and lowered his head to look at his shirt. He started to laugh. “It didn’t look quite this bright in the store. I feel like I’m wearing a neon sign.”

Bill shook his head. “Well, I might have picked a different color, but I like your idea.”

After we paid the bill Chris said he wanted to walk down to the police department to see if Jimmy was in. He was, and he smiled when he spotted the Bogey Man’s new shirt.

“Is this part of the plan?” he asked.

“Yeah. I’m very visible and getting lots of attention, so don’t laugh.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t do that.” Jimmy reached up and briefly covered his mouth with his hand
, almost like he was caressing a non-existent mustache.

Bill stepped forward. “So did you guys get a cast of those tire tracks?”

“We did, and Rosebutz took the cast into Reno to have them look at it. They should be able to tell us something about the type of tire, which might help. We can check with the local tire shop to see who might have used that brand of tire.”

Jimmy had to take a call, so w
e left, ready to go home and rest before the next chapter of our story began.

On the way home Mikey had a lot of questions about my injuries. I answered them all, making a point of telling him whoever had been at the door never got near me. He looked relieved.

Chris pulled into the driveway and I was surprised to see Sherlock and Watson running out to meet us.

“I
know
I left them in the house. Watch out for them, Chris.”

“I know. You don’t need to tell me.”

The dogs did a dance around the sides of the Jeep.

Bill groaned and we all swung our heads around to look at him. “Steph’s here. It
was
her I saw.” He pointed toward her red sports car which was parked by the side of the house.

Chris didn’t know what we were talking about because he and Mikey had been at the men’s store when she’d driven through town.

“At least I know how the dogs got out, and I’m relieved I didn’t leave the door open.”

We pulled up to the house and climbed out of the car. Stephanie was sitting outside. She waved and smiled.

Between us arriving home and Stephanie’s sudden appearance, the dogs were practically beside themselves. They ran up the porch steps with tails waving frantically. Stephanie hugged each one before brushing dog hair off her lap.

“Where’ve you been?” she asked.

Bill frowned. “In town. We drove in for breakfast. What’re you doing here? I told you not to drive out here.”

“I felt like I was missing all the fun.”

“Fun? We’re trying to solve a murder. This isn’t fun and games.” Bill pulled her up and gave her a kiss, even if he did sound irritated with her.

“Poor choice of words.” She gave her husband a tight hug. “I missed you. Besides, it actually kinda sounded like you were having
a good time.” Her voice sounded a tad whiney, but her face was lit up like a Christmas tree at the sight of her husband. She clearly adored him.

“Hi, Stephanie,” I said. “It’s good to see you.” I meant it. It would be nice to have some female company around.

She looked me up and down and climbed down the steps, throwing her arms around me. “It’s good to see you, too. You look fantastic, Pamela. Don’t you ever have a bad day?”

I laughed. “Thanks, I think. We’ve had a lot of bad days lately.”

She turned to Chris and hugged him before grabbing hold of Mikey and smothering him with kisses and hugs. “Well, Aunt Steph is here now and things are about to change. I promise.”

I thought I heard my brother-in-law groan again.

Chapter Forty-seven

Stephanie was off and running.
“By the way, are there any good places to shop around here? I love going to new places because I can find things that aren’t the run-of-the-mill styles and colors.”

Stephanie
hugged Mikey again but didn’t stop talking.

“I’ve never had a chance to explore the towns around here. Oh, and Chris,
I love that shirt. You’re making a bold statement with that color. Bill should take a chance with new styles once in a while.”

She looked at her husband and squeezed my son’s shoulders.

“You really should, you know. Red wouldn’t be a good color on you though. You couldn’t pull it off like Chris. Maybe a bright yellow would work for you. Now, Mikey’s another story. With his dark blond hair and blue eyes, he could wear just about any color. And speaking of color, I wasn’t going to say anything, but what happened to you, Pam? I figured it was none of my business, but really, the color of that black eye doesn’t suit you at all.”

She stopped to take a breath and Mikey quickly stepped back. He looked happy though. It was clear his aunt liked him. The dogs sat down next to him and watched
her like she was a new toy we’d brought them. They looked like they were biding their time, waiting until they could play with her. I thought I saw Sherlock eying her hair.

Before
I could answer her about my bruises, she was off on another tangent. “Okay, let’s go inside and get something cold to drink while you all tell me the whole story. I know Bill didn’t tell me everything, and everything must include Pam’s black eye.”

“It does,” I said.

“You should try to cover that up with make-up. I think I’ve got a concealer that might work. I’ll look for it later.”

She looked at her husband.
“Come here, darlin’, and let me see your head.” She
tsked
. “I can’t believe someone got the drop on you.”

Stephanie Cross was like a whirlwind. She might be just what we needed to energize us and
maybe she’d see things with a fresh eye.

Bill might have groaned when he saw that his wife had arrived, but within minutes he was grinning. “That’s my wife.” It was a three
-word sentence, but it spoke volumes. He followed her inside, along with the rest of us.

“How did you get here so fast?” Chris asked.

“Shoot! I didn’t get here so fast. I was on my way when I called Bill. I couldn’t tell him or he’d make me turn around and go home.” She looked at the dogs and patted her lap. “Look at you two. Aren’t you just the cutest little things I ever saw? Come see Aunt Steph. I know we’re going to be great friends. I just love little dogs.”

At one hundred and five
, and eighty-five pounds, cute and little didn’t described Sherlock and Watson, even on a good day. Beautiful and big might work, but not
little
dogs.

I’d forgotten what a talker Stephanie was. I remembered when I met her Bill had to distract her so the rest of us could get a word in. But she was adorable, all five feet, nine inches of
slender woman. She was almost as tall as Chris, and he was close to six feet. She had soft blonde hair that brushed her shoulders and she was one of the most stylish women I’d ever known. She and Bill were a good match – Mr. Macho and Mrs. Feminine to Chris’s and my Mr. & Mrs. Bogey Man.

“Okay, now I want the skinny on this murder thing. Skinny is the right phrase, isn’t it?” She glanced at Chris for confirmation.

He nodded. “That works as well as anything else.”

Surprisingly, even with all of her jabbering, Stephanie was a no-nonsense woman. She listened intently and asked questions that made us look at things in a new light.

“It sounds to me like you’re all so busy trying to trick the killer into giving himself away that you’re not looking at the whole picture. From what you’ve described, I think this was a spur of the moment killing. I don’t think it was planned ahead of time. And hitting the dead man with a shovel sounds like the shovel was a convenience, which
also
makes me think this wasn’t planned. What about motive?”

Chris took this question. “So far we haven’t come up with one. With the exception of the town drunk, it seems like everyone liked Charlie.”

“I don’t know if you’d call him the town drunk,” I said. “I mean, he does drink a lot, but he also holds a job.”

Stephanie glanced at her husband. “Lots of drunks hold jobs. Just ask Bill. There are a couple of guys on his crew that could drink most people under the table. Why, I don’t know how they sober up so fast after some of the partying they do. They have no fashion sense either. You should see the outfits they wear on the construction site.”

I smothered a giggle. How could she think of a construction site and fashion at the same time?

“Okay, Steph. Let’s not worry about the boys. As long as they don’t show up drunk or make mistakes because of their drinking, I’m not going to say anything to them.
I’m not their father.”

“Well – ”

“Let it go. We can have this discussion at home, and it has nothing to do with Charlie getting himself murdered.”

She nodded. “You’re right, honey. Did you meet Charlie?
What was he like?”

“No, I never met him.
I just found his body.”

“
You
found him? I guess I missed that part.” Stephanie moved closer to her husband where they sat on the couch and slipped her arm under his, letting her hand rest on his hand. “My poor baby. I just can’t imagine what you must have been feeling. That would have been so awful. I’m just glad you didn’t find him when the killer was still here. Do you think you’re going to need therapy?”

Bill’s face softened when he looked at his wife and he laughed. “Therapy? Have you been reading more of those self-help books? No, sweetie, I’m not going to need therapy.”

I watched the couple and realized it was their differences that made them so close. It was so visible in their expressions. Bill might act like Stephanie got on his nerves, but I didn’t believe it. They adored each other. I noticed Mikey watching them with interest, too.

Stephanie let go of her husband’s arm and stood. “Okay, I want to meet all the players. There has to be a reason someone conked this man over the head with a shovel and I want to get a feel for all of them.”

I looked up at the ceiling and back at her. “Now that I think about it, there aren’t that many suspects. We know Charlie and Tony Hellman didn’t get along. Stu runs the local grocery store, but I can’t bring myself to think of him as a killer. Joe and his wife Essie, and Charlie, were good friends. There’s Doc Holland, but I can’t picture him murdering anyone either. Besides, about the only time we’ve seen him is when a dead body shows up. Of course, we don’t know everyone in town. It could be someone completely unknown to us, but I doubt it.”