A Pour Way to Dye (Book 2 in the Soapmaking Mysteries) (20 page)

I threaded the filmstrip through the viewer,
then flipped on the lamp. Only then did I realize that I’d put it
in upside down and backwards. Quickly correcting my mistake, I
started scrolling through the dates until I got to the first entry.
It was the wrong Ralph, as well as the next one, but on my third
try, I found him. Age hadn’t been a friend to him over the years,
but there was no mistaking that chin and prominent nose of his. I
scanned the article until I found what I was looking for.

Ralph Haliford—not Ralph Haller as he was
going by now—had been convicted thirty years ago. I held my breath
as I scanned the article, hoping it would show something that
dovetailed into Earnest Joy’s murder. No such luck. Haliford had
been an inept burglar, getting himself caught in the mayor’s house
with a bag of stolen swag. As far as I could tell, it was another
dead end.

Just to have a record of
it, I fed the machine a quarter and hit the
print
button, but all I got was a
black image on the paper.

Corki came up behind me. “Sorry, it’s broken.
But I found something else you might be interested in.”

“
Thanks anyway, but I have
just what I need.”

I started to take the tape out of the machine
when she said, “Go ahead, I’ll take care of this.”

“
I appreciate
it.”

She shrugged. “Why not? It’s quiet right now,
and I’d rather stay busy than get bored.”

I left the library, wondering what to do
next. Ralph might be an ex-con, but that didn’t automatically make
him a murderer. Still, I wondered if Molly knew about his record. I
thought about calling her, but our last conversation hadn’t gone
very well and I wasn’t really looking forward to getting spanked
again. I’d just have to take it though. She needed to know.

‘
Wilkes,” she said when she
answered her phone.

“
Hey, it’s Ben,” I
said.

Her voice was chilled as she said, “What do
you want?”

“
First off, I’d like to
apologize.”

She paused, then said, “Go on, you’ve got my
attention. What are you apologizing for?”

“
It’s about yesterday. I’m
sorry I interrupted your date. It was purely unintentional. I hope
you know that.”

“
Is that it?” she asked,
clearly not satisfied with the level of my remorse.

“
For the apology, yes.
There’s something else, though.”

“
Now how did I know there
would be?”

Boy, she surely wasn’t making this any easier
on me. “Did you know that Earnest Joy’s neighbor, Ralph Haller, is
really Ralph Haliford, and that the reason he’s living under an
assumed name is because he served time in prison?”

“
Ben, I swear you are
relentless. When you said you called to apologize, I thought it
might be for sticking your nose in where it didn’t
belong.”

“
Hardly,” I said. “Did you
know about Haller?”

She snapped, “Of course I knew. He served his
time, came back here, and changed his name legally to Haller. If
you think he killed Earnest Joy, you’re wrong. He’s got an alibi
I’m satisfied with. Ben, believe it or not, I do know what I’m
doing. I just wish I could say the same thing for you.”

“
That’s not fair. You’ve got
a lot more resources than I do. How am I supposed to compete with
that?”

“
You’re not,” she said, then
hung up on me. Okay, that exchange could have gone better. Not only
was Molly aware of Haller’s record, she’d already checked out his
alibi.

So who else could I investigate? No doubt
Molly had tested Andrew’s and Terri’s alibis, but did she even know
about Linda Mae? I couldn’t exactly call and ask her at the moment,
but I could dig into that angle without alerting Molly.

I drove to the Mountain Lake Motel, found the
room Terri had visited the afternoon before, and knocked on the
door. Linda Mae answered dressed in a bathrobe and her hair wrapped
up in a white towel. Did the woman ever wear clothes in her
room?

She had her wallet in her right hand as she
said, “It’s about time,” then she realized it was me. “Why Ben
Perkins, how did you know I was here?”

“
I’d like to talk to you,
Linda Mae.”

She stepped aside. “I was waiting for some
Chinese takeout. There’s enough for both of us; I always order too
much.”

“
Would you like to get
dressed first?” I asked. A fully clothed Linda Mae was enough to
deal with.

She clapped her hands. “You are just the
sweetest thing. If you insist, I’ll need a minute. You can come in
and wait while I get dressed, if you want to.”

“
No, thanks,” I
said.

She was laughing as she shut her door. While
I was waiting, a college kid drove up in a beat-up old Chevrolet.
He checked room numbers, then looked at me suspiciously. “Did you
have an order from Pete’s Palace?”

“
I’ll take it,” I said,
reaching into my wallet and paying the bill myself.

After he was gone, Linda Mae threw the door
back open. She was wearing a tight black sweater and snug Capri
pants, doing her best to show off her figure.

When she spotted the bag in my hands, she
asked, “Did he come by already?”

“
He did,” I said as I
stepped inside.

“
Here, let me pay you for
that,” she said, digging into her wallet.

“
I’ll buy your lunch if you
answer a few questions,” I said.

Linda Mae clapper her hands together. If you
pay for my meal, you’re entitled to more than that.”

“
Answers are all I’m looking
for right now,” I said.

She shrugged. “That’s probably just as well.
You’ve get a woman in your life already, don’t you? Don’t bother
denying it; I can see it in your eyes.”

In all honesty, I didn’t know the answer to
that question myself. “Let’s just say I’ve got all I can handle as
it is right now and leave it at that okay?”

“
That’s fine by me,” she
said, extending her hand. ‘Then we’ll both have to settle for just
being friends.”

I wasn’t sure I wanted this woman as a
friend, but I wasn’t about to snub her. I shook her hand, then she
pointed to the small table in the room. “See? I already set the
table.” The room, though not elegant by any standard, did have a
kitchenette. Linda Mae had laid out the plates and silverware,
along with a pair of beers from her mini fridge.

I hadn’t realized I was hungry until I’d
smelled that food. Suddenly my skipped lunch made my stomach growl.
“Are you sure you have enough to share?”

“
There’s plenty. Believe me.
Besides, you’re the one sharing with me, remember?”

“
Okay,” I said.

We dug into the assorted containers until our
plates were full.

“
You weren’t kidding, were
you?” I asked as I realized just how much she’d ordered.

“
I never joke about food,
Ben. I always get more than I want when I’m out of town. That way
if I get hungry late at night, I don’t have to go out again. You
said you had some questions for me,” she said as she pointed her
chopsticks at me. “Fire away.”

I swallowed a bite, then said, “Tell me about
you and Earnest.”

She thought about it a second, then said, “To
most of the world he was a cold, heartless man, but for a while
there, I saw a side to him that really touched me. Earnest came to
Charlotte on a buying trip and we ran into each other at a pawn
shop. He was looking for old coins for his jewelry shop, and
unfortunately, I was there selling my grandmother’s pearl earrings.
The man wooed me for nine days with flowers, candy, and gifts. He
catered to my every whim, and even flew me to Las Vegas to see a
show. That night we both got drunk, and when I woke up the next
morning, there was a ring on my finger. I don’t know how he managed
it, but we got married. Man, oh man, did things change then. That
afternoon, Ernie handed me a ticket to Charlotte and told me he was
going back to Harper’s Landing, and that I wasn’t welcome to join
him.”

I believed her, every word of it, but I had a
hard time seeing Earnest Joy in that light. “So what did you do
then?”

She took another bite, then followed it up
with a sip of beer. “I flew back home and cried in my cups, trying
to forget that it had ever happened. Then one day last week I was
messing around on my computer and decided to see what I could find
out about my errant husband. When I discovered he had his own
jewelry store and everything, I drove up here to have a little talk
with him.”

“
Were you hoping to
reconcile?” I asked her.

Linda Mae laughed. “No sir, I was after a
little divorce settlement. When I came by his shop, he threw me
out. I wasn’t about to give up that easily though, so I came back
the next day and found out he was dead. That’s when I marched over
to your soap shop and shook your hand. Are you still claiming you
didn’t do it?”

“
It’s the truth,” I
said.

“
Take it easy. I’m not
accusing you of anything. You might just be right, since you’re
still walking around. I wonder if one of those brats of his did him
in.”

“
Do you know Andrew and
Terri very well?” I still hadn’t told Linda Mae how I’d found her,
and it appeared that she’d forgotten she’d asked the
question.

“
No, we never met. I doubt I
could pick either one of them out of a lineup.”

She was the best liar I’d ever come across.
I’d seen Terri go into her room, and she was sitting there now
telling me they’d never met. Suddenly everything she said was
suspect.

“
So what are you going to do
now?” I asked.

“
I’m going to see how much I
get from the estate,” she said. “One way or another, Ernie’s going
to pay.”

“
They won’t settle until
they find out who killed him, you know,” I said. I wasn’t sure if
they would or not, but I was looking for some kind of reaction from
her.

“
That shouldn’t take too
long,” she said. “I’ve got faith in your police force.” She pushed
her plate away, then stood. “That was lots of fun, Ben, but I’m
late for an appointment.”

As she walked me to the door, I said, “I
didn’t think you knew anybody in Harper’s Landing.”

“
What can I say, I make
friends fast.”

She locked her door behind us, then got into
a Cadillac that was at least fifteen years old. “See you around,
Ben.”

I waited until she was gone, then got into my
Miata and followed her. I was expecting her to go to a bar or even
another motel. I did not expect her to do what she did. Linda Mae
pulled the Caddy in front of Kelly Sheer’s office and walked
inside. It appeared that she was retaining counsel in Harper’s
Landing. But could she afford Kelly? I didn’t see how, given the
apparent state of her finances, but perhaps she was hoping Kelly
would take her on a contingency basis. I thought about waiting
until she came out to see where she was going next, but sitting in
front of Kelly’s law office was not my favorite place to be. I
looked at my watch and was surprised to see that Kelly was working
late, given her new living arrangements. Was there trouble already?
If there was, I realized it wasn’t any of my business anymore.

I was close enough to visit Diana’s
bookstore, but I didn’t want her to think I was stalking her.
Still, it wouldn’t hurt to drive by. She was working in the display
window as I neared, and she waved at me. That was all the
invitation I needed. I parked in front of Dying To Read and she met
me at the front door.

“
Do you always hang out in
your display window?” I asked.

“
We’re doing an author
signing next month, and I want to give everyone fair warning.” She
lowered her voice and added, “I’m having second thoughts about it.
I spoke with another store owner and found out the woman’s a real
nightmare.”

“
What’s wrong, does she
demand all the brown M&M’s be taken out of her candy
bowl?”

“
I wish it were that
simple,” Diana said. “When her publicist called to book the
signing, I was thrilled, but I got an e-mail from her today, and
she’s made the most unusual request.”

“
I’m really curious now.
What did she ask for?”

Diana looked around the store to make sure no
one was listening to us. I saw Rufus had his head buried in a book,
and there were just a few customers browsing the cozy section. She
whispered, “She insists that her books not be referred to as
mysteries while she’s here. Ben, I run a mystery bookstore. How on
earth am I going to avoid it?”

I shook my head. “Beats me. Suddenly I’m very
glad I’m in the soapmaking business.”

Diana laughed. “Don’t get me wrong, nearly
all the authors I bring in are delightful, but sometimes I wonder
why I do it. Then I remember that it’s fun for my customers to meet
their favorites, and they often buy lots of books.”

“
How about you? Have you met
any of your literary heroes?”

She pointed to one of an array of photographs
hanging near the register. “That’s me with Carolyn Hart. She’s as
warm and as gracious as her characters. What an utterly delightful
woman.”

“
Are all of these
photographs on display new?” I asked as I pointed to several frames
I’d never noticed before.

“
I just put them up today,”
she admitted. “There wasn’t room enough in my office, so I decided
to mount them out here where everyone can enjoy them. I feel a
little odd about it all, since I’m in every picture.”