14 The Chocolate Clown Corpse (14 page)

Emma smiled even more broadly. “That sounds wonderful. Could your husband come to see me there?”

“Yes. I’ll call him as soon as we get you installed.”

She seemed content with that plan. I didn’t go on to explain just why Sarajane had this “quiet and private” room.

Sarajane is herself a former abused wife, and she works with the underground railroad that aids abused women who are trying to escape their tormentors. She specializes in women in so much danger that they need new identities and completely new lives. Aunt Nettie and I have occasionally been able to help these women with temporary jobs. Our husbands, both Hogan and Joe, pretend they don’t know about Sarajane’s activities. Some of the things she’s involved in, such as fake ID cards, aren’t quite legal, and Hogan is, after all, a police chief. As a former city official, Joe also tries not to know what’s going on.

By the time we got to Warner Pier, the winter darkness had closed in, and I felt safe going straight to Sarajane’s. Once I had delivered Emma to her new landlady, I went into the kitchen and
pulled out my cell phone. I wanted to call Joe and try to explain what I’d been up to. I wasn’t at all sure he was going to approve.

I was almost glad when he didn’t answer. The situation was so complicated that I needed to make a few notes before I talked to him. There was a stick-on memo pad on Sarajane’s refrigerator, and I grabbed a sheet, ready to outline my afternoon.

Then someone spoke behind me, and I nearly jumped out of my scrubs.

“Oh, hi, Lee. Have you quit the chocolate company and gone in for something medical?”

I whirled around and found myself facing Belle Montgomery.

What the heck was she doing there?

“Oh golly!” I said. “You left a message. I thought you went home.”

“No, the message was supposed to be that I wasn’t going home. Why? Shouldn’t I be here?”

No, she shouldn’t. The daughter of the man accused of killing Moe Davidson should not be in the same bed and breakfast inn with Moe’s widow. It was all wrong. A potential scene to end all scenes.

How could I get her out of the kitchen and keep her out?

I reached for Belle’s arm. “Let’s go into the living room,” I said.

“I was going to go out to dinner. If you’re on your own—would you like to go along?”

“I need to reach Joe.”

“Where has he been today? I’ve been trying to catch him.”

“An emergency came up . . .” I tugged at Belle’s arm again, but the darn woman just stood there.

Belle laughed. “Lee, you haven’t answered my question. What are you doing in those scrubs?”

“It’s a long story.” I tugged again. “Come in by the fire, and I’ll tell you.”

I’d succeeded in moving her only one or two steps when the door to the pantry hall opened, and Emma and Sarajane came in. Sarajane was talking enthusiastically, and Emma was whispering replies. They stopped when they saw Belle and me.

“Oh,” Sarajane said. “Belle. I thought you went out to dinner.”

“I was just leaving.” She stared pointedly at Emma. Silence grew. Sarajane and I looked at each other.

Finally Sarajane spoke. “This is Emma. She’s just arrived. She’s a personal guest of mine. Emma, this is Belle.”

Belle was still staring. “Emma, you seem familiar. Have we met?”

Oh heavens! Belle must have seen Emma’s picture in the newspaper or on TV.

Emma whispered. “I don’t think so.”

Belle turned to me. “Lee, I wanted to tell you and Joe about a decision I’ve made.”

I devoutly hoped that her decision was a vow of silence. But no such luck. She went on.

“I’m coming out of the closet about my family. I’m telling everyone.” She took a deep breath and turned toward Emma and Sarajane. She spoke proudly. “Yes, my father is Royal Hollis, the homeless man who has been arrested in the death of Moe Davidson.”

Sarajane and I both gasped so hard we inhaled nearly every molecule of air in that kitchen. What a time for Belle to decide to come clean.

Sheriff Ramsey, Chuck, and Lorraine had been yelling, “Git a rope,” every time Royal had been mentioned. How was Emma going to react? Hysteria? Sobs? Anger? Fear?

I didn’t know what to expect, but “My goodness” was definitely not on my list.

Because that was what Emma said. She took a step toward Belle, and her expression became quite sympathetic. “My goodness,” she said. She followed that with, “Oh my.”

Then Sarajane took control of the situation. “Dinner,” she said. “Emma, you and I need to have a little conference before dinner.” She grabbed Emma’s arm with a grip of steel, and she steered her back into her secluded bedroom. If Emma had resisted, I firmly believe Sarajane would have put her in a judo hold and thrown her through the door.

I took my cue from Sarajane, though I didn’t use a judo hold either.

“Belle,” I said, “I want to hear about how you reached that decision. Let’s go out to dinner together.”

I got Belle into the living room. Then she stopped dead and turned to face me. “Was that Mrs. Davidson? She looks like the picture I saw in the paper.”

“Yes, Belle.”

“So she came here? Am I going to have to leave?”

“I don’t think so. Frankly, she wanted a few days of solitude, so I’d appreciate your not mentioning that she’s here. To anyone.”

“Does Joe know what’s going on?”

“No, Joe hasn’t talked to her. He had a crisis with his regular job and has been in Grand Rapids all day. With his cell phone turned off. I was just going to call him again.”

I yanked my phone out of my pocket and called Joe. He didn’t answer, but I left a message, and he called me back before I could ditch those puke green scrubs.

“What are you up to?” he asked. “I’m on my way back from Grand Rapids, and I just got a phone call from Clancy Pike saying that you kidnapped Emma Davidson this afternoon.”

I think that the presence of Belle Montgomery was the only thing that kept me from losing it completely. I had thought I could handle things calmly, but that comment nearly pushed me right over the edge. I did not want to deal with Clancy Pike. And I didn’t want to explain the events of the afternoon over a cell phone in front of Belle.

I couldn’t ask for sympathy, so I attacked. “Listen,” I said, “I’m going to my office. I’ll ask Belle to go with me. And you’d better show up there within an hour ready to listen. And Clancy’s story isn’t exactly true.”

I hung up and turned to Belle. “Joe’s going to meet us at my office. I suggest that you and I leave. Stay here while I check with Sarajane.”

I called Sarajane out of Emma’s room, afraid that she might change her mind about letting Emma stay. But she didn’t seem to care.

“Oh, it’ll be all right,” she said. “Emma’s reaction to Belle’s announcement was rather—well, unexpected, but she doesn’t seem angry. I don’t think they’ll have a knock-down-drag-out. In fact, she seems to feel sympathetic toward Belle.”

“I’ll take Emma to my house if you’re uneasy.”

“No. I’ve had women here who were hard for me to understand before. None of them ever attacked me.”

I leaned close. “The hospital was afraid that Emma would harm herself.”

“Not in my house.” Sarajane’s voice was firm. “Not herself. Not anybody else.”

She patted my shoulder and went back to Emma. I heard her speaking. “Now, Emma, do you have any prescriptions with you? Any over-the-counter drugs?”

I decided I had to trust Sarajane. She had a lot of experience with desperate people.

But how about Belle? Could I trust her? Would she be willing to keep her mouth shut? Or would she start telling the world that Emma was at Sarajane’s?

I wanted to take Belle away with me so I could keep an eye on her. There was no reason Belle shouldn’t shout Emma’s whereabouts from the rooftops. And that might be disastrous with someone wandering around trying to kill her.

If I could keep Belle with me until Joe came, maybe I could
keep her quiet. Maybe. It might be a challenge. I went back to the living room resolved to meet that challenge.

“Belle, do you like pizza?”

“I’m not very hungry.”

“Neither am I, but we need to eat. I also need to go to my office if the genius ladies who make our chocolate are going to get paid tomorrow. And I asked Joe to meet us there.” I took a deep breath to signify that I was changing the subject. “So, in the few days you’ve been in Warner Pier, have you been introduced to the Dock Street Pizza Place?”

“Actually, yes.”

“Then you know about one of our local treasures. What do you like on your pizza?”

She was vague about her pizza preferences, so I called in an order for what Joe would want: an extra large pizza with pepperoni and mushrooms. I also asked for three side salads and an order of garlic bread. I took ten minutes to remove my incriminating scrubs—just in case the cops should come looking for me—and to put on minimal makeup. Belle and I went by to pick up the pizzas and took them to the office. I turned on the lights in the retail shop, so Joe would know we were there, and took Belle back to our break room. There were soft drinks in the refrigerator and an oven for the pizza and bread. I stowed the pizza and bread away and got two sodas. Then I sat down and took a deep breath.

Belle hadn’t said much on the way to the office, but I could almost hear her brain clicking. She had been thinking madly. I expected her to start talking as soon as we were settled in the kitchen, and she didn’t disappoint me. “Lee, just what is going on?”

Luckily, the trip for pizza and to the office had given me
time to consider what to tell her. And I’d decided to request a delay—just until Joe got there.

“Belle, I’ve gotten myself into an extremely complicated situation. I need to tell Joe about it—I haven’t done anything illegal, but I may need a lawyer! He should be here in another half hour. Would you mind waiting, so I can tell you both at the same time?”

Belle looked at me narrowly. “I guess that’s all right.”

Was the crisis over? That would be a lot to hope for.

Too much to hope for, actually. Belle popped open her can of Diet Coke, then spoke again. “Is this Mrs. Davidson okay?”

I decided I’d better level with her.

“I can’t swear she isn’t disturbed,” I said. “But I’ve been with her most of the afternoon, and she seemed pretty sensible to me.”

“Didn’t I hear that she attempted suicide?”

“That’s what we all thought, but she says she didn’t. There’s only one thing I feel sure of: She’s safer there at Sarajane’s than she would be at the hospital. Or at her home. So I appreciate your not saying anything about her until the situation is a little more claptrap.”

Belle looked stunned, and it took me a moment to realize what I’d said. Claptrap?

“Not claptrap!” I yelped the words. “Clear-cut. Until the situation is more clear-cut!”

Belle’s expression changed from stunned to amused. Then to highly amused. Then to laughter. I began to laugh, too. The pair of us sat there, clutching our Diet Cokes and roaring.

And just as our hilarity reached a peak, we heard someone pounding on the front door.

We stopped laughing instantly. Belle frowned. “Is it Joe?” she asked.

“He probably hasn’t had time to get here. Besides, he has a key. I guess I’ll have to answer it to find out.”

Of course, I’d check carefully before I opened the front door. I peeked around the edge of the shade, and there was plenty of light outside for me to see who was there.

“Dadgum,” I said. “It’s Chuck Davidson.”

I wanted to pretend I wasn’t there. But that wasn’t going to work. The light was on, both in the back room and in the shop. And I’d twitched the blind. Chuck was already calling my name. I just had to brazen it out.

I sighed and opened the door, prepared either to have a fight or to lie my head off.

“Come in, Chuck. What’s up?”

“Oh, Lee! Has Emma contacted you?”

“No.” At least that was true. I’d contacted her. “Isn’t she still in the hospital?”

“She’s gone! Lorraine and I don’t know where she is. Are you sure she didn’t call you?”

“She called the house trying to reach Joe, but he wasn’t there. Why should she call me?”

“She seems to have some big thing—well, since the episode at the hospital, when the two of you say the strange guy was in her room, she seems to think you’re a friend.”

“I hope I am. I’m sure she needs one.”

Chuck paced up and down the shop for a moment. He looked frantic, and I almost expected him to start wringing his hands. I felt sorry for him.

“Personally, I need all the friends I can get, all the time,” I said. “Where do you think Emma has gone?”

“We don’t know. Hospital security is looking everywhere. She left a note, said she was leaving the hospital, and that she’d called a friend to pick her up.”

“I see.”

“That hospital was clearly negligent! I’m going to sue the . . . Well, anyway, I thought she might have contacted you.”

“Emma lived in Warner Pier for at least two years. She probably has lots of friends here, people she knows better than she knows me.”

“Lorraine and I can’t think of any she’s mentioned, Lee. She’s so shy. Apparently she just stayed home. And my dad—well, he didn’t encourage her to get out and do things, meet people. All her friends are back in Indiana.”

“There’s been time for one of her Indiana friends to drive up for her.”

“I can’t imagine that. Lee, I’m worried about her. I’m afraid she’s had a complete mental breakdown.”

“What does Lorraine think?”

“Oh, Lorraine.” Chuck’s voice was filled with disgust. “Lorraine has her own problems. I can only worry about one of them at a time, and today it’s Emma’s turn. Honestly! When my dad married Emma, I hoped he’d finally decided to act like a normal person. But, no! He just made her crazy, too.”

I began to sympathize with Chuck. He did seem to be the only normal person in the Davidson family. I couldn’t tell him where Emma was, of course, because she’d asked me not to. But maybe I could talk to her. Chuck—and Lorraine, too—did deserve some reassurance about her safety.

Chuck kept on talking. “Clancy Pike thinks you might have helped her leave the hospital, Lee.”

I’m sure my voice was cold. “Joe and I have had our run-ins
with the stand-in chief. He’s suspicious of us because of my connection with Hogan Jones, the real police chief. Hogan doesn’t get along with the sheriff, and the sheriff is the former boss of Clancy Pike. But if Clancy suspected me of doing something illegal, I think he’d be over here pounding on the door.”

“He was at the hospital, looking at the security film.”

“Hmm. Well, he’ll see me on it. After Emma called and couldn’t reach Joe, Joe asked me to go by the hospital and see if I could talk to her.”

“Then you did see her!”

“The hospital wouldn’t admit she was there, and I didn’t know her room number.”

Chuck deflated. “Oh. At least they made some effort to guard her privacy. But, Lee, poor Emma has really lost it. All this stuff about someone trying to kill her . . .”

Chuck had pushed me too far.

“Wait a minute! Chuck, you’re forgetting that I was there. I saw the clown holding the pillow over her face. That was a genuine attack. I guarantee it.”

We stared at each other for a long moment. Then I spoke. “Emma actually is in danger, Chuck. I can’t judge her mental state, but that attack really happened.”

For a moment I thought Chuck was going to hit me. He got red in the face, clenched his jaw, and squinched his eyes.

Then he turned and opened the door. “Whatever!” He stepped outside and yelled back over his shoulder, “I tried to talk to you!” He left.

“Whew!” I said.

But what had Chuck meant by his final remark? What was he going to do? He was obviously putting pressure on Clancy
and the hospital to find Emma. By siccing Clancy on me, he could cause me a lot of trouble, and he could cause Joe even more.

I heard a voice behind me. “Lee?”

I jumped and whirled around. “Belle! Honestly! I was so annoyed with Chuck that I almost forgot you were there.”

She was frowning. “Lee, I can’t blame Chuck for being worried about Emma. Why didn’t you at least tell him that she’s safe?”

“Because Emma asked me not to.”

“And you keep your word?”

“I try to.”

I wanted to explain to Belle that I try not to say I’ll do something unless I feel sure I can keep my word. In this particular situation, I was beginning to think I’d spoken too soon. But if I told Chuck she was safe, he’d know I was in touch with her, and Emma had asked me not to tell him anything.

“The predicament with Emma has a lot of fortifications that I hadn’t foreseen,” I said. “I mean, ramifications!”

Belle still looked as if she doubted my decision. But before I could argue it out with her, there was a loud knock on the street door.

After I’d jumped a foot off the floor, I peeked out. “Thank goodness! It’s Joe,” I said.

I unlocked the door and let him in. As soon as I had locked the door behind him, I grabbed him around the neck. He hugged me back.