Marja McGraw - Bogey Man 04 - Awkward Moments (26 page)

Chapter Fifty

I looked up at Essie, trying to sound nonchalant. “Joe wasn’t home last night? I thought the two of you were going to take care of Mikey. What time did he leave to come to the diner?” Yeah, real subtle.

She backed away from the table. Her voice broke and a tear slid down her cheek. “Oh, dear. Let me go get Joe. You need to talk to him.
His birthday was coming up and…”

Before I could stop her, she turned and ran to the kitchen.
I couldn’t hear the rest of what she was saying.

“Mikey?” It was time to hear what he
wanted to tell us.

He sighed deeply before speaking
, my little drama king. “Joe came home with us but he left before Essie and I turned on a movie. When I went to bed, he still wasn’t home. I woke up later and they were fighting. You know, being loud and arguing. I tried to hear what was wrong, but I think they heard me because they went outside and they stopped yelling.”

“Joe?” Chris and I spoke at the same time, but this time Bill’s voice could be heard, too.

“I’ve been trying to tell you that Stu’s wife has been out of town taking care of her mother.” Stephanie finally got to tell us what she knew, and it only added to my feelings of guilt about not listening to my son.

It wasn’t long until Essie and Joe came out of the kitchen. He held a spatula in his hand and his face was deathly pale
. She was crying. He was wearing a red and black plaid shirt covered by an apron. They approached our table slowly.

I suddenly remembered why the fabric we’d found looked familiar. I’d seen Joe wearing the flannel shirt almost every time we’d come into the diner.

None of us spoke.

“It was an accident.” Joe’s voice shook. He looked like he was ready to pass out.

An accident? He’d clobbered Charlie over the head with a shovel.

“How can you call it an accident?” Chris was calling Joe on his statement, but still, he asked gently. I believed he realized how close to the edge the man was.

“Mikey, would you please walk down to the police station and ask Jimmy to come back with you?” Joe made the request.

With wide eyes and no questions, Mikey stood and
rapidly walked out the door of the diner.

Joe sat down in the vacated seat. “I thought Essie and Charlie were having an affair. I know it was stupid of me, but that’s what I thought. The silly part is, I know better. Essie wouldn’t ever do anything like that to me.
I let my imagination get the best of me.”

Essie sniffled and pulled
over another chair.

The Cross clan sat quietly and let the man talk. Stephanie looked like she wanted to say something, but she didn’t.

Essie glanced around the diner. I thought she might be looking to see if any of the other patrons were listening to us.

Joe sat quietly before speaking again.
“I kept finding Charlie and Essie whispering, and when they’d see me, they’d shut up. You have to understand, it looked awfully suspicious. And Essie kept acting like she had a secret.”

Joe was quiet for a
nother minute. He seemed to be pulling his thoughts together. I also had a feeling he was looking for sympathy. As much as we liked him, I doubted he’d get it.

He spoke very softly. “But I couldn’t let it go. It kept building in my mind. Something was going on between them.

“Charlie and me were supposed to go to look for gold out at your place. I told him I’d meet him there because I had some work to do at the diner first. When I finally got to the Perry farm, I confronted him. I said I knew something was going on between him and Essie.”

Joe took a deep breath. I could see how hard this was for him.
He looked at the door like he wanted to stop talking and run for it. He set the spatula on the table instead and took a deep breath.

“Anyway, Charlie says, ‘Yeah, me an’ Essie are havin’ an affair”. Can you imagine? He said what I’d been thinking. Only he was joking, and I didn’t know
it. I punched him in the face, and then without thinking, I grabbed the closest thing, the shovel, and whacked him on the head. He grabbed onto my shirt when he was falling and tore it.” Lifting his chef’s apron, he showed us where the corner of his shirt was missing.

A tear ran down his cheek, and Essie was sobbing.

He held his hands up in supplication. “I didn’t know he was joking. I have a birthday coming up. Essie and Charlie, well, it turns out they were planning a surprise for me. That was why they’d been whispering.”

H
e rested his hands on the table, all strength gone.

“I’ve paid the price already. I murdered my
closest friend and accused my wife of being unfaithful. I was wrong on both counts. If you people hadn’t started looking into things, maybe I’d have gotten away with murder. Except, I didn’t mean to do it. It just happened.”

He glanced from face to face, apparently looking for understanding. It wasn’t forthcoming.

“Joe,” Essie said, “I’ve always loved you. There’s never been anyone else.”

“I know that now.
I’m such a fool.” He rubbed his arm absent-mindedly.

“How could you have ever suspected me of seeing another man?” Essie had an odd look on her face. If I could have read her expression, I’d have a feeling she was seeing Joe in a new light, and it wasn’t a good thing.

He opened his mouth to say something, stood and looked into her eyes, grabbed his chest and fell to the floor.

Chris and Bill hurried to his side and began performing CPR. Jimmy and one of the other cops walked in and he immediately called Doc. Essie
knelt by Joe’s head and whispered something to him. His eyes fluttered and closed. Jimmy called for the EMTs, telling them where we were.

Mikey stood quietly by the front door, watching and waiting, and I thought he might be saying a prayer for Joe.

Doc arrived and took over for Chris and Bill. Joe was alive, but just barely. Doc wasn’t sure if he’d survive the heart attack or not.

When the
EMTs arrived and took Joe, Essie went with them. We told her we’d close the diner and lock things up. I wasn’t sure if she heard us or not.

Jimmy stayed and took our statements before leaving to see what was going on at the hospital. He shook his head after we told him Joe’s story. “I’ve know
n Essie and Joe my whole life. I can hardly believe he did this.”

It turned out Stephanie had once managed a diner. She got all the onlookers to leave, and she knew what to put away, what to turn off, and what to leave alone.

It was anticlimactic, but I guess we’d had enough drama already. There was no showdown, no one trying to run away, no confrontation of any kind. Just a husband who loved his wife and who let his imagination run away with him.

We left quietly.

Chapter Fifty-one

Early the next morning Jimmy called to say Joe was going to live. After what had happened, I honestly wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. He’d still be charged with murder, and it would be like having your
father or grandfather charged. He was just your average guy, or so it seemed. I didn’t want to think about what the future held for him.

Jimmy also told us they got the tire track information back and they’d matched it up with Joe’s vehicle.

We spent one more day at the Perry farm. We had a few loose ends to tie up.

Late in the morning we called Stu and he came out for a visit. We met him outside. He looked haggard, and I was sure it was because of Joe. It really was a small town, and I was sure the two men were friends.

Chris shook hands with him, inviting him to come in. After shaking their heads over Joe’s confession, my husband got down to business.

“Stu, we’ve thought things over carefully and talked,
and we’ve come to a decision. Mikey would like you to have the gold we found. It’s really yours because old Henry was your uncle. The will we found… Well, I’m quite sure old Henry never thought a total stranger would find his treasure.”

Mikey stood and listened to us. He nodded. He was a generous child and I adored him for it.

Stu didn’t say anything for a long time. “You know, Jean and I have been helping with her mother’s medical bills. The money would sure come in handy. I was beginning to think I’d never get to retire.” He smiled. “But I’ll tell you what. How about if your son and I split the gold? Considering where you found the pouches, I have a hunch where the rest of the gold is buried, and I don’t think there was really as much as the people in this town think. But there’s certainly enough for us to split. I’ll be able to pay those bills and Mikey will have a good start on his college fund. Deal?”

It was Chris’s turn to sit quietly. We hadn’t expected this response. He looked at Mikey and they had what I’d call a “mental exchange of ideas”. I could see it on their faces.

“Stu, you’re a good man, and we thank you. I think that’s an excellent idea, and so does Ace.”

Mikey smiled in Stu’s direction.

Stu left shortly after our conversation, saying he’d call us in Los Angeles if he was right about the rest of the gold. I had no idea what might have spurred him into figuring he knew where it was. All he’d say was it had something to do with old Henry’s will and a comment Frannie had made to his grandmother, many years earlier.

Stephanie and Bill had gone shopping in a nearby town and returned shortly after Stu left.

“Well, I wasn’t even here for the whole mystery, but I sure had a good time. I can’t wait to tell my friends at home about this. You two are spectacular, and I mean it. Bill and I are going to have to come visit you and his parents very soon. And your son is absolutely adorable.” She turned in his direction but he’d mysteriously disappeared as soon as he heard the words, “…your son”.

“Well, I’ll see Mikey before you leave. Bill and I have decided to stay here for a week and have our own celebration. I gave him some big news while we were shopping.
Our lives are about to change forever. And I’ve decided I need to devote more time to hearth and home, meaning Bill and… Oh, and just to clue you in, I shopped for some maternity clothes. We’re going to have our own little Mikey, so we’ve got lots to celebrate.”

“Take a breath, honey,” Bill said. His grin couldn’t have gotten any bigger without splitting his face. He guided his wife to the sofa and helped
her sit.

Chris laughed. “Oh, bro, you’re in for it now.”

After hugging Stephanie and Bill, I motioned for Chris to follow me and we wandered outside, settling in the chairs on the porch.

“
I thought they might like some time alone. It’s been quite a week, hasn’t it?” I asked.

“Nothing out of the ordinary for us.” Chris took hold of my hand and squeezed before he rolled his upper lip under and tugged on his ear, making me grin at him.

Mikey joined us, sitting on the steps.

“Can you believe all of this even happened? I mean, we solved another mystery and I’ve got a college fund, whatever good that does.”

“Oh, it does a lot of good, Ace.”

Sherlock and Watson settled at the bottom of the steps. They seemed to sense that things were calmer.

I laughed, happy to be sitting on the Perry farm steps with my two favorite people. “Do you realize, none of this would have happened if that little bird had just died in someone else’s yard?”

Mikey shook his head and leaned against me.

Chris unrolled his lip and crossed his eyes at me. “Ain’t fate somethin’?”

“Ain’t it just?
”

About the Author

Marja McGraw worked in both criminal and civil law enforcement for several years in California. She eventually relocated to Northern Nevada where she worked for the Nevada Department of Transportation.  Marja also did a stint in Oregon where she worked for the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and owned her own business, a Tea Room/Antique Store. Her next stop was Wasilla, Alaska. The draw to Northern Nevada was strong, and she eventually returned.

She wrote a weekly column for a small newspaper in No. Nevada and she was the editor for the Sisters in Crime Internet Newsletter for a year and a half. 

Marja has appeared on the morning news in Reno, Nevada, and on The Morning Show on KLBC-TV in Laughlin, Nevada. She’s also been a guest on several radio and Internet radio shows.

Starting with
Mysteries of Holt House, A Mystery,
Marja followed up with
A Well-Kept Family Secret - A Sandi Webster Mystery
and the beginning of the Sandi Webster series
. Bubba’s Ghost, Prudy’s Back!
,
The Bogey Man,
Old Murders Never Die
and
Death Comes in Threes
followed.
Bogey Nights – A Bogey Man Mystery
, the first book in a new series was followed by
Bogey’s Ace in the Hole,
They Call Me Ace
and
Awkward Moments
.

She says that each of her mysteries contains a little humor, a little romance and a little murder, and that her books concentrate on the characters and solving the crime rather than the crime itself.

She has a website at
www.marjamcgraw.com
and a blog at http://blog.marjamcgraw.com/.