Murder Passes the Buck (20 page)

ing on a case.
”

“
No, Ma,
”
Blaze said in a controlled voice.
“
I
’
m working on a case. Remember, I
’
m the sheriff. That
’
s my job.
”

“
Yes, I know, but I
’
m assisting.
”

“
No, you
’
re not. You
’
re going to hunt deer out in your blind a little and take nice naps in the afternoons, and keep out of my business. It
’
s time to retire.
”

I didn
’
t say anything, just went on eating. I never listened to Blaze my whole life and wasn
’
t about to start now.

I remembered I needed to use my word for the day and rummaged in my pockets for the scrap of paper. It wasn
’
t there. This word-a-day idea sounded good at the beginning but was quickly becoming a chore. I couldn
’
t remember yesterday
’
s word or the day before
’
s word. I couldn
’
t even remember today
’
s word without a cheat-sheet, and now I
’
d lost it.

“
And just to keep you safe and honest,
”
Blaze said, interrupting my thoughts.
“
I
’
m assigning you your own private bodyguard.
”

I smiled.
“
I already have a bodyguard.
”

“
And who would that be?
”

“
Kitty
’
s taking care of me.
”

“
Kitty couldn
’
t protect a three-legged dog. Little Donny
’
s going to keep an eye on you. Day and night, he
’
s going to know right

where you are. Isn
’
t that right, Little Donny?
”

“
Geez,
”
Little Donny whined.
“
Do I have to?
”

Blaze glared at him. Little Donny looked away first. I thought this was a fine arrangement. The thought of Little Donny hanging around was appealing. He would be easy to lose if I wanted him lost, and he might even be helpful. I wish I
’
d thought of it first. Kitty could share the job with Little Donny, a great excuse when I needed time away from her.

“
Little Donny,
”
I said,
“
I think it
’
s a wonderful idea.
”

Poor Donny laid his head in his hands, defeated.

After supper clean-up, Blaze and Mary went to visit Grandma Johnson with a plate of chicken, and Little Donny, my new personal bodyguard, fell asleep on the couch.

Snow was still coming down thick and heavy when I started the truck and pulled out. I waited until I drove out onto the main road before I put on the lights.

I noticed after the first mile that I
’
d picked up a tail. By the second mile I figured out who it was. I pulled over, rolled down the window and motioned the trailing car over

to the side of my truck. The car crept up on the left side and stopped, the window sliding down.
“
Might as well make yourself useful,
”
I said to Kitty.

Kitty wasn
’
t dressed for outdoor work, which served her right for following me around. I hoped she
’
d suffer, but I hadn
’
t anticipated the amount of junk that woman carried around in her car. She rummaged in the trunk and came back to the truck carrying a load of clothes.

“
Hop in,
”
I said.
“
We
’
ll pick up your car later.
”

She grinned like she
’
d been invited to my private party, instead of the truth, which was that she
’
d crashed it.

I wore my fishing vest under my hunting jacket and it was fully loaded. I had pepper spray, ammo, hand and foot warmers, and a thermos of Tang. The stun gun was tucked in my purse, and my shotgun lay on the cab floor. I had dressed for subzero weather because this was a surveillance run, and we were going to be outside.

Kitty fussed and complained as she struggled into long underwear and an old army fatigue jacket.

“
If you want to run surveillance,
”
I said, watching her attempt to button the jacket,

which turned out to belong to her cousin and was several sizes too small,
“
you have to be prepared.
”

After driving by Bill and Barb
’
s house several times, we parked down the road. I could see light filtering through drawn drapes. With the garage door down, we didn
’
t know if they were home or not. Lights on didn
’
t mean much. Some people don
’
t bother turning them off, especially if they
’
re only going to be gone a short while.

“
Let
’
s sneak around back and take a peek inside a window,
”
I said, dropping down from the truck. The weight of my weapons vest almost bowled me over face first.
“
Watch that first step, Kitty. It
’
s a killer.
”

I burst out laughing when I glanced over at her.

“
Shhh,
”
she hissed.
“
Don
’
t let everyone know we
’
re coming.
”

She had on a black facemask to keep her face warm, and she looked like she was ready to rob the Escanaba bank. She was wrapped in so many layers of clothing she could have passed for King Kong. Snow settled on her head as we crouched in the shadows.

We probably should have talked about a plan, but I had a general idea. If they weren
’
t home, we would let ourselves in and

do a quick search, looking mostly for incriminating evidence like big insurance policies or airline tickets for Tahiti or documents referring to Chester
’
s land. If they were home, the best we could do was watch for suspicious behavior.

They were home. We could see them through the kitchen window, sitting at the table with a bottle of beer in front of each of them and a stack of papers between them.

Settling in the shadow twenty feet from the window, I rummaged in my vest and hauled out a pair of binoculars. I tried to get a better look at the papers on the table, but the binoculars steamed over every time I put them up to my face. When a thin crust of ice formed on the lenses I gave up, put them back in my pocket, and edged closer.

Fifteen minutes later they still sat there talking.

“
Can you read lips?
”
I whispered to Kitty.

She shook her head.

If they had looked out the window, they wouldn
’
t have seen us we were so piled with snow. Kitty shook from the cold, her teeth rattling.

We were on our way back to the truck, rounding the house on the side, when we heard knocking at the front door. Stopping and peering in a dining room window, I saw

Bill move through the house. The window gave us a perfect view of the front door when Bill opened it.

Little Donny stood on the porch.

“
Can I talk to my granny?
”
we heard Little Donny say. He craned his neck to look around Bill.

“
What makes you think she
’
s here?
”
Bill wanted to know.

Barb walked right by the window we were watching through and stopped behind Bill. I could almost have reached around the corner of the house and tugged on Little Donny
’
s jacket, we were that close to him.

“
Her truck
’
s parked on the road out front.
”
Little Donny turned and pointed off into the dark toward the road.
“
I
’
m supposed to be watching her and she gave me the slip. Blaze
’
ll skin me alive if I don
’
t find her fast. Isn
’
t she here?
”

Kitty and I were creeping down the side of the drive trying to stay out of the porch light when Kitty stopped abruptly and I plowed into the back of her. I steadied myself and looked back at the tracks following us away from the corner of the house. It better keep snowing, I thought, or in the morning they
’
ll see our prints all around the back of the house.

‘
I have an idea,
”
Kitty whispered.
“
Come

on
”

LA
·

And she clomped right out onto the driveway and headed for the house calling out,
“
Hey, everybody, sure are glad you re home. Hey, Little Donny, what are you doing here?
”

Kitty should have pulled off the black facemask. Not looking as if she was about to rob them blind would have lent credibility to whatever lie she was about to concoct. Little Donny took a step back toward the inside of the house, his eyes wide and round like coffee saucers, but he relaxed once he saw me coming up behind.

“
Granny,
”
he said in relief,
“
where have you been?
”
He kept an eye on Kitty, who still hadn
’
t figured out she better unrnask
, “I
decided to step in since the woman
w
ith the brilliant idea was keeping it to hersel
f.

“
We
’
re freezing,
”
I said to Bill.
“
If you let us come inside and thaw out, maybe
I’ll
talk Kitty into taking off her face mask. Our truck broke down out on the road and we almost froze to death working on it
,
Donny, you run down and check
i
t out. There are battery cables in the back. Maybe you can get it started.
”

“
Why didn
’
t I see you when I passed the truck?
”
he asked, puzzled.
“
I stopped and

checked inside.
”

Kitty and I looked at each other.
“
We walked back the other way some,
”
Kitty said.
“
You must have passed us in the dark.
”

I handed the truck keys to him and watched him pull out, driving Blaze
’
s
sheriffs
truck.

Bill swung the door open.
“
Better come

out of the snow.
”
We were in.

“
I have to go to the bathroom,
”
I said, melting snow pooling on the floor around my feet. I removed my boots, but remembered just in time to keep my hunting jacket on. It wouldn
’
t be smart to expose my weapon vest. Bill pointed down the hall and I went, trailing clumps of snow falling from my clothes.

I searched through the medicine cabinet first, finding the usual things plus a couple of prescription drugs
— Valium and an antibiotic. The cabinet under the sink held the usual — toilet paper, and a small trash can. The counter was covered with cosmetics, and an ashtray overflowed with stubs of menthol cigarettes.

Finishing my search, I opened my vest and extracted the thermos, pouring the Tang down the sink to relieve some of the weight.