Barbara Graham - Quilted 05 - Murder by Sunlight (29 page)

Theo hurried down the stairs to intercept Alvin. She wanted a chance to talk to him before he walked into a house he might no longer recognize. They arrived at the front porch at the same time. Theo said, “Hey, Alvin.”

“M—Theo,” he hesitated. “Your husband told me about the coins.”

“I’m sure they’ll make your future plans easier.” Theo couldn’t tell from his expression what he might be thinking. “Your grandparents had to be collecting them for quite a while.”

“I probably would never have looked inside those boxes.” Alvin chewed on the corner of his lip. He looked dazed and lost. “Thank you. Thank all of you for doing this.”

“You’re welcome.” Theo remained in the doorway. “We’ve pretty well torn up the place but it’s your house, do you want to come inside?”

Alvin watched one of the ladies dumping a bucket of water, thickened with dirt, onto some old rose bushes. “I think I’ll wait and let it be a surprise.”

“Are you going to work in your garden?”

“No, ma’am. I just wanted to thank you for cleaning the inside of the house.” A faint twinkle lit his eyes. “I’m sure I won’t recognize it. My mom wasn’t much for washing things.”

“Orvan’s almost back to his normal irritating self.” Ruth Ann slipped the brush back into the tiny bottle of sky-blue fingernail polish.

“What’s Doc Grace have to say?” Tony had almost forgotten the old man’s collapse. Out of sight, out of mind. With everything else happening in the county, Orvan was definitely out of mind.

“Grace says he needs to eat every day, and drink some clean water before he sucks down any of his moonshine.” Ruth Ann gestured to some papers neatly stacked on her desk. “Do you realize how many of our county’s citizens, particularly children and old folks, aren’t eating every day?”

“I do on some level, but I’m not sure I understand why they don’t. There are all kinds of meal programs, right?” Disturbed by the idea of anyone going hungry, Tony massaged the back of his neck. “I’m always seeing the volunteers carrying containers of food to be delivered out of the community kitchen, and I’ve seen what is served at the senior center. It’s free, or all but, depending on your ability to pay.”

Ruth Ann nodded. “The programs are available, but you have to sign up for the deliveries or come into town. Maybe we could become a stop for the mobile pantry. Our parking lot could handle it.” She gently blew on her fingernails. “I’ll bet there is even a program to have someone come to your house and do light housekeeping or help you shower or take you to see the doctor, if you need help. If you know where to look.”

Tony knew of some counties with programs organizing volunteers to check in with designated seniors or other residents who lived alone. They provided a safety check and some social interaction. He’d been toying with the idea of starting something similar here in Park County, but it needed a coordinator from his department. “Do you know where to look?” He held his breath. Waiting and watching.

“Yes.” Ruth Ann gave him a happy smile. “Are you asking me if I could or if I would like to coordinate the program?”

“Both.” Tony mentally ran through his office’s budget. There was not a spare dime. “It would mean lots more work for you and no more pay. We simply don’t have the resources.” He sat down on the chair next to Ruth Ann’s desk, feeling an odd combination of hope and defeat. “It could seriously cut into your manicures, but with your law degree and the inside information you glean here, you might be able to save, or at the very least improve, any number of lives.”

“One class I took should have been called ‘red tape and bureaucracy,’ because we dealt with it constantly. I earned an A,” Ruth Ann said. “I’ve gotten tired of watching people like Orvan slide into the cracks.”

“Did you know he was in such bad shape?” Tony hated to think someone had known and ignored the situation.

“No. If I had, I’d have told you or one of the doctors.” Tears welled in her dark eyes. “He’s a rotten old buzzard, but I love him. He’s my biggest fan.”

Tony believed her. “It sounds like you’ve been planning this for a while. Why didn’t you mention it?”

“I would have.” She sighed. “But until recently, when Walter began improving, it gave me something to think about besides him, his health, and us and our own problems. And, to be honest, for a while I thought we might have to move away from here. It’s only in just the last few weeks that I felt confident of our situation and our ability to remain here.”

“And with Walter better, his mama went back to her home.” As Tony remembered it, Ruth Ann had celebrated her mother-in-law’s departure by bringing in cookies and cupcakes for a party.

“That too.” Ruth Ann’s dark eyes sparkled.

“I’d love to give you the volunteer organization assignment.” Tony laughed. “I’m game if you’re game. It will take a while for word to get around, and it will require time to recruit volunteers and contact the residents in need. It’s your program. You set it up however you think will work the best.”

Her smile lit up the room and lifted some of the weight off his shoulders. “Tell me what you need, and I’ll try to get it.”

Ruth Ann ignored her single remaining unpainted fingernail, screwed the lid on the polish jar, and dropped it into the trash can. “Let’s get started and see what we can do.”

Blossom arrived at the Law Enforcement Center with a fresh, warm apple pie, a gift-wrapped box, and a shopping bag filled with homemade caramel corn. She stood in front of Tony’s desk and stared at the floor, her lower lip jutted forward. “I’m sorry.”

Tony’s stomach rumbled. He was hungry, and the smell of the pie was tantalizing. He wasn’t prepared to forgive her for the gossip firestorm yet, but it was inevitable that he would. “What does Kenny think about your bringing me pies? And now, what do you have, packages and caramel corn? It has to stop, Blossom.”

“Kenny says he’d prefer I not cook so much for you and so I’ll take the corn and the gift back.” Her head moved slowly side to side. “Won’t you keep the pie?”

“You know I can’t resist.” Tony took the offered pie and put it on his desk. “I get plenty to eat at home, and I can buy a pie you bake at Ruby’s. Don’t you think that’s a better way for me to eat your cooking?”

“I guess.” Blossom’s shoulders rose slightly. Tears filled her bulbous eyes and overflowed, streaming down her face and dripping onto her blouse. She made no attempt to stop them or wipe her face. She groped behind her until she located the chair and collapsed onto it.

Glad the chair hadn’t broken, Tony handed her a wad of tissues. He thought she was acting like an oversized three-year-old. “Mop up.” He glanced through the doorway. Ruth Ann stared openly, her mouth ajar. He gestured for Ruth Ann to join them. “This is not about pie, is it?”

Blossom shook her head and blew her nose. Ignoring the trash can he offered, she placed the used tissue on her lap and used another one. By the time she seemed calm enough to talk, she had five tissues lined up in a tidy row.

“I hate her.” Blossom’s entire body shuddered with the force of her statement.

“Her who?” Tony sincerely hoped she wasn’t going to say “Theo.”

She didn’t.

“That ex-wife of Kenny’s. She’s awful!” Blossom blew her nose again. “She don’t want me near her girls or Kenny or even Miss Cotton.”

Hearing the problem had to do with her love life, Tony was relieved as well as concerned. “Isn’t Miss Cotton
your
dog?”

Blossom’s head bobbed. “But ’cause Kenny’s little girls love her so much, she wants my dog.” The sobs morphed into a wail. “She says she’s getting a lawyer to stop me from—what’d she call it? Alien affection. And I said to Kenny she’s won and we can’t get married, and I gave him back his ring.” She began crying again even harder.

Ruth Ann delivered another handful of tissues, pressing them into Blossom’s hand. Keeping a tissue for herself, she carefully cleaned the used ones from Blossom’s lap and tossed them into the trash can.

Tony frowned. “Don’t let her run your life.” He floundered in the face of her obvious heartbreak.

“Blossom.” Ruth Ann stepped forward and patted the larger woman’s shoulder. “She can’t sue you for alienation of affection. Kenny divorced her long before you two became an item, didn’t he?”

Blossom managed a nod.

Ruth Ann said, “Do you love Kenny?”

Blossom nodded vigorously.

“Then you need to talk to Kenny.” Ruth Ann had Blossom up on her feet and headed for the doorway. “Tell him exactly why you gave him the ring back and kiss and make up. Kenny’s a good man. He’ll understand your side of this.”

Tony waited until the women were out of sight before taking the pie to the kitchen. He cut a big slab, slapped it on a plate, and shoveled a bite into his mouth. Instead of the normal exquisite flavor, all he could taste was salt. He spat it into the sink and washed his mouth out with water. “That’s nasty.”

In her heartbroken state, Blossom must have switched the salt and sugar measurements. He called Ruby to suggest she check the café’s pies for edibility.

Theo had days where no one seemed aware of her relationship to the county sheriff. This was not one of them. Every person she’d seen since she left the house had a comment or a question about Tony, his job, the recent rash of crimes, and if Theo was withholding information they’d be interested to hear. She was heartily tired of it. When timid Deirdre tapped on her workroom door, Theo almost yelled at her.

“Theo?” Deirdre whispered. “Can I talk to you?”

Theo sighed. It wasn’t like Deirdre to invade her space. The woman was usually so quiet it was easy to forget she was in the building. She was younger than the senior group and older than the new quilters. “Come in.”

Deirdre sidled in, glancing from side to side and barely opening the door wide enough for her to pass through. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I hope you can help me.”

“Let’s sit down.” Theo herded her to the window seat. She did not offer her anything to drink or sit down herself.

“It’s about my husband’s cousin.” Deirdre exhaled loudly as if getting a load off her mind.

Theo waited. Silence. “What about him?”

“He’s been acting weirder than usual. I mean, there’s always been something wrong with him, if you know what I’m saying, but it’s getting worse.” Deirdre’s hands floated in the air and waved about like they were pushed by a gentle breeze, but no words accompanied their movement.

Theo blinked, waiting for the meaning of Deirdre’s story to become clear. “And?” She wanted Deirdre to leave.

“Well, you’re the sheriff’s wife. Don’t you think he should know?” The mouse snapped at Theo. “Honestly?”

“What
are
you talking about?” Defeated and curious, Theo sat down next to her.

Deirdre studied the floor in silence. After a couple of moments, she exhaled sharply. “Oh, I guess I didn’t tell you, did I?”

Theo shook her head. “Try again.”

“He—that is my husband’s cousin—has been staying in the tool shed on the back of our property ever since his wife ran off with a man named Bob. I’ve never liked him but, honestly, he’s gotten way worse lately than he ever was before. I know he does drugs, but I don’t know what kind. And then just the other day, I saw him drinking gasoline out of the mower can. Who drinks gasoline?” Her voice rose to a near wail.

Theo knew enough of the Bob/Not Bob story to realize this truly was something Tony should know. She called him on her cell phone, gave him the gist of what she had learned, and handed Deirdre the phone so she could answer his questions. Her recitation to Tony was a duplicate of the one she’d given Theo. She still seemed more impressed by his beverage choice of gasoline than his probable vicious bashing of total strangers.

Because Deirdre was so timid, Theo made sure she didn’t run home to try to smooth out any family rift and get hurt herself.

As the two women waited for news, Theo’s good manners broke her down, and soon she gave her visitor something to drink and threw in a mini-demonstration on the easiest way to quickly cut lots of the same-sized squares.

About a half hour passed before Tony called Theo back. “We’ve found him, thanks to you and Deirdre. He was passed out on his cot, and the hammer and wrench are in plain sight. It won’t take very long to transport him to the jail. Your friend can return home whenever she wants to.”

“That was quick.” Theo was surprised, but pleased.

Tony laughed. “It isn’t every day my wife calls with the solution to a puzzle like this. Thank you, sweetheart.”

Theo thought a box of good chocolates would be a nice reward, but she’d settle for some good old-fashioned gratitude. Moments later she had shepherded Deirdre out of her office and gone back to work.

In a good mood after arresting one of the county’s problems, Tony escorted Ruth Ann to the senior center. They wanted to survey the citizens who participated in the center’s activities and food service. Lunch was over, but there was a cluster of women at a table waiting to have their fingernails and toenails cared for.

Across the room three elderly men sat playing a board game. Each of them had a walker parked nearby.

A spry-looking silver-haired man came from the kitchen area, attracting the attention of the women in the room. He shied sideways a bit and kept his eyes trained on the floor.

“Have you ever seen him before?” Ruth Ann whispered to Tony.

“No.” Tony watched the women watching the older man. It was the way Daisy looked when her food bowl came out of the pantry. “The way the ladies are acting, I’d guess he’s someone they want to meet, up close and personal.”

Ruth Ann whispered. “I’ve decided to start with him.”

“Why?” Tony didn’t care where the work began.

“Because he is clearly here by himself and is new to the community.” Ruth Ann stepped closer to the new man. “What’s your name, and have you got a minute?”

The man’s gaze flickered from Ruth Ann, to Tony’s chest and badge, and moved back to the floor. “Sure, I’m Cecil.”

While Ruth Ann began her questions about what he thought would improve the seniors’ overall lifestyle and condition, Tony watched the elderly women, all of whom were keeping tabs on the new guy. They reminded him of sharks he’d seen one time, swimming in circles, checking out a piece of bait. Tony leaned forward and whispered, “Cecil, would you prefer to talk outside?”