Vintage Whispers (A Cozy Retirement Mystery Book 1) (14 page)

Chapter Fourteen

“You okay?”

Mary Louise jerked. “How long have I been sitting here?”

Laws glanced in his rearview mirror. “Long enough for your friend to rush out the backdoor and catch another cab.”

“What?” Trembling like a leaf, she quickly peered out the back window. “Can you follow them?”

“Don’t need to,” Laws said, steering the car into slow-moving traffic. “I know where she’s going.”

“Are you sure?”

“Unless she’s decided to let her friend starve, yeah. I can get ya where ya need to be.”

Mary Louise scooted forward. “What friend?”

“No idea. But he lives in a barn.”

Mary Louise’s heart raced. She swallowed twice before she dared to let the question slip from her lips. “What barn?”

“Out at her brother-in-law’s old place,” Laws said. “She claims she has a horse out there. I’ve seen one or two. But I can’t imagine dropping thirty dollars a night on surf and turf specials just so a four-legged creature can dine on steak and shrimp.”

“How do you feel about being in the middle of an investigation?” Mary Louise asked, dialing Opal.

Laws studied her in the rearview mirror with knowing eyes. “Make the call. Ya might as well get yourself right with the Lord.”

“The Lord?”

“Guess ya ain’t heard? That’s what they call Sheriff Littleton down at the tracks
on account
of how he treats the regular folks.”

“I had no idea,” she said, guessing he put on fronts for Pearl’s sake.

“Are you talking to me or someone else?” Opal asked, jolting Mary Louise back to her original initiative.

“Are they still there?”

“By ‘they’ I assume you mean the men who are turning our shop upside down?”

“Can I speak to Sheriff Littleton?” She glanced in the rearview mirror.

Laws nodded. “Go on now. Do what ya must.”

A beat later, Sheriff Littleton said, “I hope you have a dose of truth for me, Mary Louise because I’m starting to think these two are covering for you.”

“They were, but not in the way that you think. Can you meet me at Clarence’s farm?”

“Why?”

“The ‘why’ will probably step out of Clarence’s barn in about five or six more minutes so can you meet me or not? If not, I’ll see if I can track down a local Fed. Maybe he will take the time to see if an old woman’s ramblings have merit.”

“Do you really have to throw threats down like a red two when you’re already holding the bird?”

“I don’t play cards, Sheriff Littleton. But if I were you, I wouldn’t worry about what I’m holding right now. Your true opponent is about to beat you at your own game.”

“Your code speech is about as bad as Pearl’s. We’re on our way.”

“Where are you?” Opal returned to the line.

“Heading to Clarence’s barn. I’m with Laws.”

“Is that supposed to leave me with a sense of relief? Pearl would provide more protection in a dangerous situation.” A beat later, she added, “Guess Clarence was keeping more than hay and horses in his stables?”

“Yes. And you’ll probably want to see this for yourself. Catch a ride with Littleton. I have a feeling we’re about to see a dead man walking.”

****

A blocked call came through as soon as Mary Louise disconnected Opal. “Hello?”

“Don’t do this.”

“I beg your pardon?”

Laws stepped on the brake and glanced over his shoulder, a concerned look on his tanned face. “Everything okay?”

“Who’s with you?” the caller asked.

“Who is this?”

“Mary Louise, you stuck your nose in a place it didn’t belong and now an innocent man is going to go down for something that I wasn’t man enough to do.”

“Clarence.”

“Yes.”

“What can I do for you?”

“You can call off your dogs.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Do not lie to me!”

“Clarence, look, I don’t know who or what has you so upset but right now I’m in a cab heading back to Vintage Whispers because the locals are ripping my place apart.” She crossed her fingers and held them where Laws could see them. “Someone, probably you, called in a tip about a skillet. If you have something you want to say to me, you can meet me downtown in ten minutes. Otherwise, I’m hanging up now.”

“You’ll regret this.”

“I’m hanging up.”

“He didn’t kill her because he wanted to. He killed her because she didn’t want to live anymore. She begged me to do it. Every night she cried herself to sleep. How does a husband tell a wife no without providing alternative solutions? So I talked to her brother. I couldn’t do what she asked of me so I went to Oscar. Do you hear me? This is my fault! Why couldn’t you just stay out of this? It was family business and none of yours!”

Mary Louise swallowed. Her eyes watered. “I’m sorry if I hurt you, Clarence. It wasn’t my intention.”

His ragged breaths came across the airways in spurts. “It wasn’t your intention? My sweet Samantha would roll over in her grave if she knew what you were trying to do!”

Laws took a left and then an immediate right, following the country road down to Clarence’s farm. Sirens resounded. The local police department and Sheriff’s deputies were already there.

“Where are you?” Clarence’s temperament changed from anger to panic. “Answer me! Where are you?”

Mary Louise closed her eyes. Why—how—had she ended up here? Maybe her son was right. Perhaps she needed to be in a retirement community where someone could keep an eye on her.

“I asked you a question.”

She jerked the door open and hopped out before Laws could park. Clutching her phone to her ear, she ran as hard as a seventy-something year old woman could run. She had to find a way to make this right.

Guns were drawn. Clarence’s barn was surrounded.

“Get back, Mary!” One of the local police officers swung his arm out to the side. “We have a dangerous criminal inside. You shouldn’t be here.”

About that time, Littleton’s car came to a screeching halt. It took a few seconds for the lanky sheriff to exit his vehicle and even longer for him to realize the severity of the situation.

When he finally withdrew his gun, he shouted, “Get in the car, Mary Louise!”

“You’re at my farm.” Clarence’s broken voice jolted her back to reality. She’d been holding the phone all this time and had completely forgotten about the person on the other end. “What have you done? How could you do this? Why couldn’t you mind your own business!”

“The coroner’s body was found today. And your wife died before her time,” Mary Louise said. “Someone has to answer for that.”

The line went dead.

“Come out with your hands up. No one has to die here today!” Cops shouted to those who were hiding inside the barn. “We just want to ask you a few questions!”

As the locals tried to negotiate a peaceful solution, Mary Louise opened the rear car doors for Pearl and Opal. By this time, Laws was standing next to the police cruiser, too.

“Why if you’re not a sight for sore eyes,” Pearl said, hugging Mary Louise before embracing Laws. “And remind me to tell your momma how hard you worked at keeping our girl here safe.”

“I’ll do just that,” he said, patting Pearl’s shoulder before swapping pleasantries with Opal.

About that time, a rookie cop approached them. “Sheriff Littleton asked me to tell you to leave the premises. We may have a standoff.”

“A standoff?” Pearl asked excitedly. “Will we have to dodge bullets?” 

Several rounds of gunfire were exchanged. Pearl was the first to duck behind Littleton’s car. Opal and Laws followed closely behind.

“There’s your answer,” Opal said.

“This is ridiculous!” Mary Louise couldn’t stay put. She had to do something or innocent people would suffer the consequences. Without a second thought, she rushed to the front of the car and kept walking toward the barn.

She wasn’t in any danger. Whoever was in that barn now had been there for a while. If he had been a true killer with murder running through his veins, he would’ve plowed Opal down the night before.

“Dang it, Mary! What are you doing?” Sheriff Littleton angrily threw his hands up. “Hold your fire! Hold. Your. Fire!”

She had almost reached the sliding double doors when Littleton caught up to her. “What is it with you and Pearl? Are you just itching to get yourselves killed?”

“Pearl walks in front of cars because she is the kind of lady who can stop traffic. I only jump in front of bullets when I think there’s someone worth saving.” She pointed at the barn. “Whoever is hiding in there isn’t dangerous. He’s scared!”

“Would you just…Can you please…” Littleton was too frustrated to speak. He yanked her to the wayside and pushed her behind an old green tractor. His face was as red as a candied apple. “Look, I appreciate everything you’ve done. Your prowling expertise undoubtedly led us to the person or persons responsible for the coroner’s death and maybe even Oscar’s.”

About that time, a wide and tall man exited the barn with his hands held high and his head dropped low. Pearl and Opal stood up as soon as they saw him. Mary Louise’s mouth dropped. And Sheriff Littleton looked like he’d seen a ghost.

“There never were any pictures. Were there, Sheriff Littleton?”

“I don’t know,” he grumbled. “Someone else was in charge of sweeping the coroner’s office.”

“Well someone else isn’t in charge here. I hope you’ll do the right thing.”

Sneering, Littleton motioned for the other officers. “Secure the suspect!”

“Don’t shoot!” Oscar’s wife rushed to his side. “Please don’t kill my husband. He didn’t do anything wrong. You have to believe me.”

Mary Louise held her breath as Sheriff Littleton and a few others surrounded Oscar with drawn guns. Officers and detectives yelled, “On your knees! Hands behind your back!” And it sounded as if they had rehearsed the chorus for many years. “You have the right to remain silent…”

The approaching night was thick with grief, dark with sorrow. Mary Louise couldn’t look at Kelly or her husband Oscar, a man who had faked his own death after saving his sister from further pain and suffering.

“I thought he was dead,” Pearl said quietly.

“I’m guessing he’ll wish he was by the time this is over.” Opal draped her arm around Mary Louise’s shoulders. “How’d you know?”

“I went to see his wife.”

“Well we knew that,” Pearl said, rolling her eyes. “You’re not very good at deception.”

“Neither was she,” Mary Louise said, nodding at Kelly as an officer pulled her away from her husband.

Mary Louise walked away from her friends, hoping to have a word with Kelly before they took her to the station for questioning. Right as she started to speak, Kelly said, “I guess you figured out the mystery after all.”

“I wish things were different.”

“Would you rather be dead or hiding, Mary Louise?” she asked solemnly. “It’s a question my sister-in-law asked when she was bedridden and unable to enjoy life with her husband and family. It’s the same question that my husband asked me after he barely escaped the night you and your friends were here.” The tears came in droves and slipped down her cheeks. “One day, when you’re sitting on that lonely porch in your secluded retirement community, you and your friends will ask the same.”

“We didn’t kill anyone,” Opal said, coming to Mary Louise’s defense. “And a mercy killing is still murder in this state. We don’t write the laws, kiddo.”

Kelly’s nostrils flared and for a moment she behaved as if she’d been cursed. “If this pans out the way I think it might, perhaps you’ll sell my paintings at Vintage Whispers. I always wanted to ask you but never had the nerve.”

“Tell me about the iron skillet and I’ll think about it.” Sheriff Littleton would need a confession and without one, someone might get away with the coroner’s murder.

“You want me to tell you about the blood,” she said, a slow smile creeping across her lips. “It was the coroner’s.”

“Tell us something we don’t know,” Pearl said, acting as if she had been trained for interrogation.

“Alright,” Kelly said, her expression never changing as her eyes met her husband’s. “Oscar didn’t kill the coroner.”

“Did you?”

“I guess you’ll have to wait and see. That’s the thing about a suspenseful mystery. You don’t know who the bad guy is until you reach the end.”