Finger Lickin' Dead (17 page)

“I’m so sorry, y’all! I promise you that I’ll never drag you into something like this again. Y’all are the
best
—you’re really saving my life.”

“Did you know that Big Jack was Cynthia’s cousin?” asked Lulu curiously.

“Nope! But I’m not really surprised. Big Jack is
everybody’s
cousin.”

“So then I guess Oliver is related to them, too? He’s Big Jack’s cousin, too.”

“Probably somehow. It’ll be an interesting wedding.”

“On to more interesting topics,” said Peggy Sue, leaning eagerly over the table at Lulu. “Is Derrick just thrilled about his date with Peaches tonight?”

Lulu could think of several adjectives, but “thrilled” unfortunately wasn’t among them. He was more worried and nervous than anything else. “It should be a fun night for them,” she said brightly, not addressing the question head-on.

“I thought it was so sweet of Derrick to suggest they have their supper here at Aunt Pat’s before they go to the movie! It just shows how excited he is—he wanted to introduce Peaches to a place that’s really important to him and his family. It just chokes me up.” And Peggy Sue did just that, to Lulu’s alarm. Her little round glasses fogged up with the sudden cloudburst and she took them off and rubbed them with a tissue. Lulu had no idea that Derrick’s suggestion might be taken that way.

“Well, and I also thought it might be easier, you know? Easier for the children. First dates are always pretty hard, you know, and they’re awfully young. Derrick really doesn’t have much experience dating yet.”

Peggy Sue said, “Oh! We could all be around in the restaurant when they have their date! I’m just dying to see the two of them together—I think they’ll be the cutest things. When are they meeting for supper? Can we just stay on?” She looked at her watch.

“I think they made it for six o’clock, Peggy Sue. They were going to try to catch the seven thirty movie since they have school tomorrow.”

“Perfect! It’s already five fifteen since that summit took the better part of forever.”

Flo winced.

“Now, Flo, it’s not your fault that those people are tacky. And now we’re here just forty-five minutes before their date! I’m settling in for the long haul.” A waitress checked in at the table and Peggy Sue said, “Could you bring me a drink, love? Heck, bring everybody at the table a drink! We need one after that meeting.”

When Lulu excused herself from the group to check on things in the kitchen, Sara scurried up to her. “You should see Derrick!” she said with a big grin on her face.

“Is he a nervous wreck?” asked Lulu with a worried frown.

“I think he probably is, but he’s hiding it pretty well. He just came in through the back door a few minutes ago. The whole time since he’s been back from school, he’s been getting ready for tonight at the house. And he looks great!” Sara’s freckled face beamed.

“He’s not wearing all black?” asked Lulu. “He’s brushed his hair?”

“He’s wearing a
golf shirt
and regular
blue jeans
!”

Lulu’s eyes widened. “This I’ve got to see for myself.”

She walked through a short hall to the office, where, sure enough, Derrick sat watching cartoons with Ella Beth and Coco. And he looked, thought Lulu with satisfaction,
wonderful
all cleaned up.

Derrick looked up and smiled at Lulu. She said, “Hi, sweetie! You look like a million dollars. Are you all set for tonight?”

Derrick took a deep breath. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”

Lulu cleared her throat a little. “I—um—I did want to tell you that Peggy Sue is going to be one of the gang in the dining room during your date. I know that might not be really ideal, but . . .”

Derrick shrugged. “Granny Lulu, it’s no big deal. If the date isn’t good, I need all the help I can get. Peggy Sue can talk to anybody about anything, so at least Peaches and I won’t be just staring at each other.” He frowned and a worried look crossed his features again. “I wish I knew what I was getting into—if she’s a cute girl or if she’s fun, or what.”

Lulu leaned over and patted him on the back. “Well, honey, she’s going to be here real soon, so you won’t have too much longer to worry about that. And maybe recommend the Brunswick stew to her tonight on the side. Your Uncle Ben has whipped up an amazing batch today.”

Derrick’s attention was pulled back to the cartoons (which seemed to be featuring a lot of explosions). Lulu felt something tickling her hand and looked down. Ella Beth was under a table, putting a small scrap of paper in her hand with one hand and holding a finger to her lips with the other.

Lulu said, “Okay, honey, well, I’ll see y’all in a little bit,” and she walked out to the hall.

The scrap of paper said “Meet me in the ladies’ room for an update.” Lulu frowned at it before remembering that Ella Beth had vowed she would investigate Adam’s death since she’d discovered his body. A very serious-looking Ella Beth met her in the restroom.

“Remember how I’ve been investigating the case?” she asked in a brisk, professional voice. “Well, I’ve been doing some hiding out, let me tell you. I’ve been under tables and lurking behind the rocking chairs, and hiding just around the corner of Aunt Pat’s outside. Collecting data, you know.”

Part of Lulu wanted to smile, but she didn’t dare. Ella Beth was one tough nine-year-old. Besides, it wasn’t really a laughing matter. What if she were caught when someone really
was
saying something they didn’t want anyone else to hear? “But I told you to be really careful, Ella Beth. Remember? I told you that there was somebody dangerous out there.”

Ella Beth beamed. “And that’s what I was! I was
very
careful. I was so sneaky, Granny Lulu. Nobody even knew I was there—not even you! Because you didn’t know anything about this until I just said something!”

Point taken. “All right, sweetie. Tell me what it was that you found out.”

“It was a couple of days ago that I heard it. You’ve been busy,” said Ella Beth with a reproachful look at Lulu, “so I haven’t even gotten a chance to tell you about it. Remember that day Aunty Evelyn came in with that other lady? What’s her name? With the grayish reddish hair? I was on the porch with B.B. and Elvis, and when I looked through the window into the dining room, it looked like people were really mad.”

Lulu knit her brows. “Her name was Mrs. Cawthorn. Now how could you tell that people looked mad all the way from the porch, Ella Beth?” Really, the child was just too observant. And Lulu was still irritated with her for nosing around in something that could hurt her.

“Oh, it’s
easy
, Granny Lulu! You could tell the grown-ups were upset. Aunty Cherry’s face was almost purple. Big Ben had that look on his face like something smelled rotten. And the woman with the red hair was holding her hands in fists.

“A minute later, Aunty Evelyn and the red-haired lady were talking together, so I hid behind one of the picnic tables. Grown-ups never see anything down low,” she said in a matter-of-fact voice.

Lulu had to agree with that. “Or up high, either,” she said.

“Miz Cawthorn’s cell phone rang and Aunty Evelyn said she’d call the other lady later and she left. But the red-haired lady sat down on the porch and started talking to the person on the phone. Adam was her
angel
. Adam was
such
a wonderful and special person. She was just so upset that Adam was dead. Her life was
over
!” Ella Beth rolled her eyes. “I felt bad that the man was dead. Really bad. Especially since I found him. But this lady was all gushy about it. It just sounded kind of fake.”

Lulu considered this. She hadn’t really thought about it, but Ginger’s expressions of grief really did seem over the top. Had she been playing it up a little? She really wasn’t all that upset, but she was just trying to grab the spotlight and get everyone to feel sorry for her?

“And then, while she was still talking about Mr. Wonderful Adam, Mr. Parsons came onto the porch.”

Lulu vaguely remembered Holden being at the restaurant that day. But then, he was there nearly every day since he’d lost his job. He knew everybody at Aunt Pat’s, after all, and the food wasn’t very expensive. And Lulu had guessed he felt pretty lonely. His wife had died just a couple of years ago and it was probably very quiet at his house. Too quiet.

“And he got
really
mad. Just as mad as the grown-ups in the restaurant. He stood right in front of Ginger on the porch with his arms crossed and his face all red. He even tapped his foot, just like you see in the cartoons. I thought
steam
might start shooting out of his ears, like the cartoons, but it didn’t. Miz Cawthorn got off her phone really quick and he started yelling at her right away.”

“Yelling at Mrs. Cawthorn?” Lulu tried unsuccessfully to picture this. Holden was such a mild-mannered man with his polka-dotted bow ties; his tidy, unimaginative clothing; and his careful way of talking. But then, she couldn’t really see him throwing a can of baked beans at Adam, either.

“He sure was. ‘What kind of a crazy lunatic was she?’ he said. That one made me smile because he must
really
be mad if Mr. Parsons was saying things like that. Because he knows
all
lunatics are crazy. He said Adam was a leech and a fake and a sneak and, if Miz Cawthorn didn’t see that about her own husband, then she must be stupid.” Ella Beth’s eyes were opened wide, remembering how mad Holden had been.

“What happened then?”

“Miz Cawthorn just looked kind of surprised. Then she laughed at Mr. Parsons and it was a kind of mean laugh. She said that Mr. Parsons didn’t know anything
about
Adam. And that Adam had nothing to do with the fact that Mr. Parsons had lost his job. She said it was just something that happened in the marketplace. That maybe if Mr. Parsons had been a better writer to begin with and if his articles hadn’t been so boring, then maybe he’d have kept his job at the newspaper.

“Then Mr. Parsons started kind of stuttering. He said that Miz Cawthorn probably didn’t even know how to read, so how could she have any idea what his stories were like? It was all Adam’s fault.

“Then Miz Cawthorn said, ‘You sure are awful mad at him. Maybe you were mad enough to kill him.’ And he stomped right off the porch into the restaurant. I figured she was about to go out to the parking lot, but first Evelyn came out for a second. Evelyn asked what Mr. Parsons was so upset about and Miz Cawthorn kind of shrugged. Then she said to Evelyn that she was going to get to the bottom of the murder. She said she knew that somebody went to a meeting with Adam with a gun, prepared to kill him.”

Lulu had to wonder what was going through Ginger’s head. Of
course
someone came to the meeting with Adam with a gun—he was shot, wasn’t he? Lulu gave Ella Beth a hug. “Sometimes grown-ups can get mad and act like little kids themselves . . . but it doesn’t mean that Mr. Parsons is going around killing people. And it doesn’t mean that Mrs. Cawthorn knew what she was talking about, either. You’ve told me now—why don’t you put it all out of your head and let me worry about it?”

Ella Beth sighed. “Granny Lulu, there’s an awful lot in my head right now that everybody keeps telling me to forget. It’s easy for them to say it, but hard for me to do it.”

Lulu chuckled. “You’re right, it’s not so easy, is it? But you could try to distract yourself, honey. Why not spend a little extra time with Coco? If you’re hanging out with other children, then forgetting will come a little easier to you.”

Ella Beth shook her head until her ponytail swung back and forth violently. “Coco just wants to talk about her beauty pageants and what it’s going to take to win the Little Miss. Then she starts fussing about Daddy and how he won’t let her wear the makeup she needs to be a contender.” Ella Beth made a face.

“Now, Ella Beth, you know that’s not true! Coco talks about other things, too.”

“Yes, ma’am, she does. Like Babette.” Lulu saw Ella Beth had a conspiratorial look on her face. She knew well and good that her Granny Lulu was no fan of the yippy, rodent-esque dog that Ben and Coco doted on.

“Well, there’s something wrong when you dress a dog up as a cheerleader. Don’t you agree with me, honey? I have no idea why that little creature nips at my heels every time I come to your house. B.B. and Elvis just
love
me.”

“That’s because they’re
real
dogs,” said Ella Beth fervently. “Babette is a cross between a dog and a squirrel.”

The restroom door opened. “Well,
here
you girls are! Hiding out, hmm? Peaches just got here and she looks like the cutest thing!” said Peggy Sue, bubbling.

“Great! I’ll be right there,” said Lulu, giving Peggy Sue a smile as she popped right back out the door and off to drag poor Derrick out of the office. She could hear Peggy Sue say, “My camera! I’ve got to get my camera out,” as she hurried off down the hall to the dining room.

Ella Beth said, “Granny Lulu, why do they call them blind dates? Derrick kept calling it a blind date and he was really worried about it.”

“A blind date is when you’re going into a date blind—you’re meeting the person for the first time on the date.”

Ella Beth made a face. “So they could be somebody who eats with their mouth open or burps at the table or something?”

Lulu felt a twinge of nervousness for Derrick. “That’s exactly right. Come on, Ella Beth, let’s go check on Derrick.”

“I think I’m going to check on Peaches first. Let him know what he’s getting himself into.”

Ella Beth opened the door to the dining room and, acting very careless, made a casual loop around the room. She hurried back to the office to report.

“Derrick! It’s okay! She’s
pretty
! And I don’t think she has troll manners or anything, either!”

In fact, thought Lulu, Peaches seemed practically perfect. She gave Derrick a big hug when she greeted him and said, “Gran always knows the best people in the world, so I knew you’d be a great guy!”