Marja McGraw - Bogey Man 04 - Awkward Moments (8 page)

Chapter Fourteen

Chris and Bill decided to check the yard to see how much damage last night’s visitors had done. Bill wanted to see how many holes had been dug. Mikey lagged behind.

“Mom, what does Ace mean? I know Dad calls me that all the time, but I’m not sure what it means.
I like it though.”

“Well, if something is really, really good, like high quality, then you call it aces. In World War II, they used to call some pilots
flying aces
. I believe that meant they were the best at their jobs. So I guess it’s a nickname for a top quality guy. You know, Mikey, your father thinks you’re the best.”

Mikey grinned from ear to ear. “I just wondered.” He ran out the front door to find Chris and Bill.

“Don’t slam the – ”

Creak, bang
.

“Too late,” I said to myself.

It had been another long morning and glancing at the clock I saw it was eleven-thirty. I headed for the kitchen to make sandwiches, but had second thoughts before I got there. Maybe we could have a little fun with the good people of Serenity.

“
Chris
,” I yelled out the door. “
Would you come here for a minute?
”

He waved at me and headed for the house. “What is it, Duchess?
Don’t tell me you found another body.”

“
Funny guy. No, I just had a brainstorm. Why don’t we all drive into Serenity and have lunch at the Burnt Bun? It might be fun to see how many guilty expressions we see on the local faces.”

Chris grinned. “
Sometimes you’re crazy like a fox, Sunshine. I hadn’t even thought about doing something like that. They’re not going to expect us in town and surprise can be a good weapon, if you use it right.”

“I’ll put the dogs in the house while you round up Mikey and your brother.” I whistled and the dogs came running, looking for a treat
. Thinking ahead, I always kept a few dog cookies in my pocket and rewarded them for coming so quickly.

The Bogey Man waved at Mikey and Bill, motioning them to come to the house.
“We’re gonna go eyeball the locals while we have chow at the Burnt Bun. See if anyone looks guilty.”

“The Burned Bun? Oh,
that
sounds like a treat.” Bill started to turn his nose up, but caught himself and looked downward, trying to hide an expression of distaste.

“It’s Burnt with a
t
, and you’re in for a surprise,” I said. “We had dinner there last night which, unfortunately, is where everyone heard about Mikey finding old Henry and his loot, but the food was delicious – homemade, hot and tasty.”

“I guess you’d know
since you own a restaurant. Mom told me you serve gourmet food and she said I should come for a visit. Should I?”

“We do
and you should.” We were very selective about the food we served our customers, and I was delighted to hear Judith had been bragging about the restaurant. It was time for Bill and Stephanie to come see us. We’d been to their place, but they’d never visited us.

Bill turned to Chris and gave him a look.
“What was wrong with your job as a mailman?” he asked. “Not enough excitement?”

“Don’t start,” Chris said
, with a warning in his voice. “You were always quick to judge.”

Mikey jumped in before things could get ugly. “Let’s go eat. I’m hungry.”

“You’re always hungry,” I said.

“I’m a growin’ boy, or at least that’s what Grandma Judy tells me.”

Chris patted his pocket and turned to me. “You got any lettuce? I left my wallet on the dresser.”

“I’ve got money in my purse,” I said, holding it up for him to see. I’d grabbed it when I put the dogs in the house.

“I’ll drive,” Bill said. He sighed and added, “Lunch is on me.”

Mikey and I climbed in the back seat of Bill’s Dodge dually with a little help from Chris.
The truck had big tires and it was a high step to get into it.

“This sure is a big truck, Uncle Bill. How come you need such a big truck?”

“It’s for work,” he replied. “I need something sturdy at the work sites.”

“Oh. Dad’s friend has a construction business, but his truck isn’t this big.”

I could see Bill’s face in the rearview mirror and he looked quite pleased with Mikey’s comment. It seemed like men were always trying to outdo each other, and I guess the size of a truck meant something to Bill’s masculinity. Go figure.

Mikey kept talking. “Big D – that’s what his friends call him, and we’re his friends – has a littler truck, but he’s bigger than you. Mom calls him a gentle giant.”

I patted Mikey’s knee. “Shhh.”

Bill’s eyes did a quick check in the rearview mirror before he turned away.

Just like the night before, it took us about twenty minutes to drive into Serenity. I saw two people turn their heads away when they saw Chris in the truck. Pay dirt right off the bat. Their guilt was almost palpable.

Chris turned to look at me over the back of his seat. “While we’re in town we’ll stop and
jaw with the flatfoot. Maybe they’ve figured something out by now.”

“I’d also like to stop in the store and pick up a few groceries while we’re here,” I said.

“Isn’t the word
flatfoot
kind of disrespectful?” Bill asked.

“Nope. It’s part of the forties lingo,” I said, saving Chris from having to answer. “And if you’re going to hang around with us, you’ll probably want to get used to the way we talk.” I glanced at him in the rearview mirror.

He glanced back and didn’t say anything else.

“There’s the Burnt Bun,” Mikey said, leaning forward and pointing. “I wonder what they have for lunch.
I hope it’s as good as dinner was last night.”

“It looks like they’ve got a
big lunch crowd, too,” I said. “Maybe we’ll be able to find out a few things – like who had it in for Charlie.”

We piled out of the truck once Bill found a parking space big enough for the
truck, and trekked back to the diner.

Entering, we
saw that Essie had put up a sign telling people to seat themselves. She and her husband stood behind the counter. Joe appeared tired, and Essie looked like she’d been crying. With Charlie’s death, I wasn’t surprised. If this place was anything like
Bogey Nights
, they’d probably become close to their employee.

Joe saw us
and after offering us a limp wave of the hand, returned to the kitchen. I couldn’t tell if he had a guilty look on his face or not. His expression was unreadable.

“There’s only one table left,” Essie said, approaching us. “Same one you had last night. I’ll give you a minute to look at the menu before…” She suddenly stopped talking and started to cry.

I put my arms around her and patted her back. “It’s okay, Essie. I’m sure Charlie was a good friend. Go ahead and cry it out.”

She took me at my word, apparently, and sobbed
for a minute before sniffling and pulling a tissue out of her apron pocket. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

We sat down at the table and Bill leaned forward, speaking quietly. “Did you notice how quiet it
got when we walked in?”

“Yes,” I said. “
It’s either awfully good food or a lot of guilty consciences, or maybe both.”

Chris leaned back in his chair and studied the other customers, putting on his best Bogey face. He pulled on his earlobe and rolled his upper lip under.
Tipping his head back, he narrowed his eyes and watched everyone down his nose. I had a feeling if he’d been wearing a hat he would have pushed it forward, lowering it on his forehead to give himself a mean look.

A man at the next table
glanced up and when he saw Chris watching him, he immediately picked up his glass and took a gulp of water, choking on it. His wife pounded on his back and whispered in his ear.

“Don’t mind him,” she said, smiling
sweetly at Chris. “He hasn’t been drinking long.” She turned back to her husband, looking disgusted with him, and gave him a final hard pat on the back.

Bill surprised us all when he stood up and took in all the faces in the room. “If any of you were at the Perry farm digging for gold last night, then I want to give you a warning. Try it again and you’ll be sorry.” He sat down and clamped his lips together, reminding me of his father, Chris
Sr
., except I’d never seen his father look so put out.

“Think that’ll hold ‘em?” he asked quietly.

“Probably not,” Chris said, letting his upper lip unroll.

Chapter Fifteen

Essie finally came out and took our orders. She seemed to have calmed down, at least for the moment, but I had a feeling it wouldn’t last long based on her expression.

“Can I ask for something special?” Mikey asked.

“It depends on what it is,” Essie replied. “What is it you’d like?”

“Well, could I have a BLT, except leave off the lettuce and use peanu
t butter instead of mayonnaise?” Leave it to Mikey. He wanted a peanut butter, bacon and tomato sandwich.

“Well, I’ll be darned,” Essie said. “I thought I was the only one who eats a PBT sandwich.”

“No, ma’am, my mother makes them for me. And peanut butter is good for little boys.” He thought about what he’d said for a moment. “Even if they aren’t so little anymore.” He’d had his eighth birthday not too long ago.

After we placed our orders Chris excused himself and disappeared into the kitchen to see Joe.
He wasn’t gone long. “He said he was too busy to talk to me, and he wouldn’t look me in the eye. He practically gave me the bum’s rush.”

Bill turned his chair toward me. “Bum’s rush?”

“That means he practically kicked Chris out of the kitchen. If he’d used force, it would have been the real deal.”

“It looks like I’ve got a lot to learn if I’m going to spend some time with the Cross family.”
Honestly, Bill didn’t look too happy. If anything, he appeared worried.

Essie
arrived with our food and placed plates in front of each of us. She was quiet and didn’t try to chat like she had the night before. “I’ll be back with your drinks,” she said. “I should have brought those first.”

“This is really good bacon, Mom.” Mikey dug into his sandwich like he hadn’t eaten once already. Of course, breakfast had been cold by the time he ate, and he’d already cleaned his plate when I’d come into the house, so maybe he’d thrown it away. I probably would have. Cold eggs
aren’t very appetizing.

“Let’s just finish eating and hit the bricks,” Chris said.

We ate without conversation, paid our bill and left. Conversations picked up as we walked out the door, and I noticed Bill’s back stiffen.

“This is a strange town. I don’t know if I like it.” Bill followed us toward the police station.

Chris laughed. “You need to relax and take things as they come. I have a feeling this is going to be one of the most interesting trips you’ve ever taken. In fact, I’m sure of it.”

Opening the front door
of the police station I noticed there were only two rooms to be seen. The main room had a small waiting area and a counter, behind which a young woman stood, watching us. Behind her I could see a small room, probably the Chief’s office. Jimmy sat at the desk and stood when he saw us.

“We’re here to see Jimmy… Uh, Officer Stubbin,” I said
to the young lady behind the counter.

“Come on back.” Jimmy
called to us. “I don’t have much to report, but if you know what’s going on, you can keep an eye on things out at your place.”

Chris pushed open a swinging half-door and held it while the rest of us trooped through toward the small office.

The room was small enough that we had to scrunch together to fit inside the space. There was only one chair other than the one Jimmy had been sitting on, and the men insisted I use it.

“I’ll make this brief,” Jimmy said
, sitting down behind the desk.

Mikey seemed to lean toward him,
apparently wanting to hear what had been determined.

Jimmy studied Mikey for a quick moment before speaking. “I guess your son has probably heard all kinds of things on TV, so this shouldn’t be any big deal to him.

“Charlie, as you know, was hit over the head. Doc thinks maybe someone hit Charlie with the shovel we found.”

“Is that i
t?” Chris asked.

“Well, it looks like somebody hit him in the face before using the
shovel.”

“In your opinion, Officer Stubbin, do you think his death had to do with the treasure hunt everyone was involved in?” Chris leaned in just as Mikey had done.

“There’s no way to know,” Jimmy replied. “I’d make that assumption, but a good police officer doesn’t make assumptions. We look for facts. I’ll be talking to my uncle about this, too. He’s home from the hospital, but he won’t be coming back to work for a while.”

“I meant to ask about him,” I said. “Please give him our best.”

“We said a prayer for him,” Mikey volunteered. He smiled at Jimmy and the dimple on the right side of his face was front and center. Reaching across the desk, he patted the flatfoot’s hand. He’d been hanging around with me too much.

“He’ll appreciate that.” Jimmy smiled back at Mikey and looked down at their hands.

Mikey pulled away, looking a little self-conscious.

“Do you know if Doc is in his office?” Chris asked. “We’d like to speak to him, too.”

“He should be, but he won’t be able to tell you any more than I have.”

“I just want his take on this whole thing.” Chris made me feel he had something up his sleeve.

I didn’t say anything, deciding to keep my mouth closed and wait to see what Chris had in mind.

Jimmy gave us directions to Doc’s office and we hot-footed it over to the building. It was only a block away. Small town.

Doc was in and escorted us back to his office. “Your timing is good,” he said. “We close for lunch so I’ve got about fifteen minutes before anyone comes in.”

“Doc,” Chris said, “Jimmy said it appeared Charlie had been hit in the face before he was killed. Is that true?”

“Yes. Every indication is that someone belted him a good one before hitting him with the shovel. Why do you ask?”

Chris was quiet for a moment and we all waited while he collected his thoughts. “Now, this is just me, but I would think if someone hit him in the face it would indicate anger. The shovel might have been a follow up when the anger built up beyond a fist fight.
Was there any indication that Charlie had hit someone? Bruising on his hands or anything like that?”

“Nothing,” Doc replied. “If you’re right, then I’d have to assume the killer got in the first and last punch before he killed Charlie.”

“And that would make the murder a lot more personal,” I said. Things were taking a turn I hadn’t expected.

Bill
watched and listened with a thoughtful look on his face, but he didn’t say anything.

“Thanks, Doc. You’ve been a big help.
It sounds like Charlie kissed the canvas before he could defend himself.” Chris held out his hand and the two men shook.

I turned to Bill to translate, but it was obvious he’d understood the kissing reference.
Charlie was knocked down before he could fight back.

“I think I’d better talk to Jimmy about this.” Doc stood, bringing out visit to an end. “I’ll call him right now.”

Chris rolled his upper lip under and studied the doctor. “Yeah, the copper has two angles to eyeball now.  It coulda been about the gold and silver, but my gut’s telling me it wasn’t. Did Charlie have any enemies you know of?” He pulled on his ear lobe before sticking his hands in his pockets.

“I didn’t know him that well,” Doc replied, smiling. “
He and my wife were friends years ago, but… You might talk to Essie and Joe. They probably knew him better than anyone. Charlie kind of kept to himself, as far as I know. He was a quiet one.”

Chris nodded.

“You sure remind me of Humphrey Bogart.” Doc continued to smile. “All you need now is a good murder to solve. Hey! Ya got one. How about that?”

“Yeah, how about that?” Bill said.
There wasn’t even a hint of humor in his voice.

“We’ve done this before,” I said.

“Yeah, this isn’t our first rodeo,” Mikey added.

Bill and Doc both turned to Mikey with surprised expressions on their faces. After all, how often does an eight-year-old talk about investigating a murder?

“But you’re not the police,” Bill said.

Chris narrowed his eyes at his brother before turning and leaving Doc’s office.