Miss Dimple Suspects (11 page)

“It seems that some of the people of Japanese ancestry who lived on the island went to great lengths to help the downed pilot, but they were outwitted by the natives who were loyal to the United States.”

“The island of Niihau,” Suzy said. “I read about that, but it had nothing to do with the rest of us.”

“Is there anything back at the house—in your room, for instance—that would lead those who are investigating to realize the truth about your heritage?” Dimple asked.

“There’s my diploma … and medical textbooks—several boxes of them—with my name inside. I’ve been going by Suzy Amos here, but my given name is Suzu and my family name is Amaya. They won’t have to look far to find that out.” Suzy started to go to the window but shrugged and changed her mind. “All my correspondence with my family has been going through friends back in California. Miss Mae Martha and I were trying to be careful so that no one here would suspect.”

“So, you’re a physician,” Miss Dimple said. “I’ll have to say I’m not surprised after seeing the way you stepped in and took care of our Peggy. Doctor Morrison, by the way, holds you in high esteem.”

“She was a very sick little girl,” Suzy said. “I can tell you now I was doubtful she would last the night. I don’t believe the outcome would have been as positive without your help, Miss Dimple.”

“Ah, well…” Miss Dimple waved that aside. “Now, about yesterday morning when you were looking for greenery … Do you know if anyone happened to see you leave the house? Did you meet anyone along the way?”

Suzy frowned and shook her head. “There’s no one to see unless Bill or one of the nephews makes the trip up the hill, and I don’t remember seeing anyone that morning.”

“Maybe Mrs. Hawthorne mentioned it to somebody,” Annie suggested, but Suzy had no reply.

“I suppose that’s something we’ll never know,” Miss Dimple said.

Suzy carefully smoothed the napkin at her place. “You’ve all been so kind.… I’m afraid I’m putting you in danger. What will happen if anyone finds out I’m here? It might be best if I just go ahead and turn myself in.”

“First let’s weigh the possibilities, shall we?” Miss Dimple smiled, but there was no doubt she was in charge, and that, in itself, was reassuring to Charlie.

“I think it’s safe to assume that you are at present the number one suspect. In fact, I doubt very much if the police are even bothering with further inquiries. There’s a chance, I’m afraid, if you turn yourself in now, they might rush to convict you.”

Charlie frowned. “You mean she’d be railroaded?”

“Something like that,” Dimple replied. “Or worse. Oh, I’m confident the sheriff and his staff will do their best to protect you, but unfortunately reasoning doesn’t always prevail when emotions run amok—especially now.” Pausing, she dug into the handbag she’d hung on the back of her chair and brought out a small notebook and pen. “You’ll need a few personal items if you plan to stay here,” she announced, tearing out a page of lined paper. “If you’ll make a list of the things you’d like, one of us can pick them up in town this afternoon.”

“We’re probably close to the same size,” Annie offered. “I’ll bring you a pair of pajamas and a few sweaters.” She laughed. “And I’m sure you could wear a couple of skirts I haven’t been able to zip since I started eating Odessa’s good cooking.”

Miss Dimple rose to let the dog outside. “Well, my friend, Max, I’ll get in touch with the Ashcrofts later today, but I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t want to add a fine animal like you to their family.”

Charlie laughed. “I can think of one: Peggy’s cat Peaches!”

It was obvious that Suzy was trying to put on a brave face as the three of them prepared to leave a few minutes later. Sensing this, Miss Dimple gave her a reassuring smile. “If I were you I’d take advantage of a warm, comfortable bed, as I’m sure you didn’t get much sleep last night. Virginia should be home around five, and I’ll drop by soon after.

“Now,” Miss Dimple said on parting, “this is what I’d like you to do in our absence: Write down the name of anyone you can think of who might have wanted to kill Mae Martha Hawthorne—
anyone
 … and even some who might not. It’s not much to go on, but right now it’s all we have, and we’ll just have to work from there.”

*   *   *

Later that day while shopping for Suzy at Murphy’s Five and Ten, Charlie was browsing at the ladies’ underwear counter when she heard a voice that sent a chill dousing her heart like well water.

“
Charlie Carr!
I’m so glad I ran into you!” Emmaline Brumlow’s voice boomed across the store, almost drowning out Bing Crosby’s crooning of “White Christmas.”

I’ll bet it’s the
first
time she’s been glad to see me,
Charlie thought.

“And Annie, too! Good, you can help me spread the word!” Emmaline, who rivaled Charlie in height, crossed the distance between them in a few purposeful strides, and Charlie quickly tossed the lace-trimmed panties she was examining back onto the pile. Murphy’s selection of lingerie wasn’t her style at all and she suspected it wasn’t Suzy’s, either, but it would have to do in a pinch as Brumlow’s was much too expensive, and such a purchase there might cause suspicion.

Annie, who had attempted to escape, darted a look of pure, unadulterated misery at Charlie and dropped the tube of Pepsodent toothpaste and small jar of Mum deodorant onto the cluttered countertop. “Oh, hello, Mrs. Brumlow! I seem to have run out of everything at once,” she said lamely.

But Emmaline took no notice of that. “I thought I saw you two come in here from across the street, and you’re just the ones I had in mind to pitch in with our search!”

Charlie frowned. “What search?”

“Why, the search for the Japanese spy who killed that poor, unsuspecting Hawthorne woman! Haven’t you heard? Peewee Cochran said they found all sorts of incriminating evidence!

“Very incriminating evidence!”
Emmaline repeated the words and rolled them around on her tongue as if the taste of them delighted her. “Right here in our midst, she was, pretending to be a friend and passing herself off as some kind of nurse or something, and the longer it takes to find her, the more damage she can do.” Emmaline shuddered. “God only knows what else she’s been up to!”

“But how do they know she had anything to do with what happened to Mrs. Hawthorne?” Charlie asked, not daring to glance in Annie’s direction.

“Then where is she now, I’d like to know?” Narrowing her eyes, Emmaline folded her arms. “Guilty people don’t run away.”

Charlie was tempted to ask her if she would’ve thought her less guilty if she
hadn’t
run away, but she didn’t want to arouse suspicion.

“We could use your organizational skills,” Emmaline continued. “We must all do what we can when the security of our country is at stake, and if we coordinate our efforts, it might help the police flush her out before more harm is done.…” Looking about, she waved at Angie Webber, who was gazing longingly at the candy counter on the other side of the store. “Angela Webber! You’re just the person I wanted to see.…”

*   *   *

By the time Charlie reached home that day, her mother had received a phone call from Emmaline, as had her aunt Lou. Virginia, she learned later, had been paid a similar visit at the library.

“Did she mention anything about reshelving the mysteries?” Miss Dimple asked.

Virginia frowned. “Why no, I don’t believe she did.”

“You see. I told you she’d be distracted when something else came along,” Dimple reminded her.

“I think I’d rather reshelve the books,” her friend replied.

Again they had gathered at Virginia’s to lend support, as well as other necessities, to Virginia’s secret houseguest.

Suzy seemed pleased with the clothing Annie had brought, as well as the purchases from the five and ten, but the prospect of Emmaline’s alarming quest disturbed her. “This is going to make it even more difficult for anyone to believe my innocence,” she said, turning to Virginia. “And the last thing I want is to get you in trouble.”

But Virginia only smiled. “I’ll swear if Emmaline Brumlow doesn’t sound just like Smiley Burnette trying to round up a posse,” she said, referring to a popular character actor in western films. “Anything I can do to thwart Emmaline’s outlandish plans will make me a happier person!”

“Still, we must be very careful to keep our friend here under wraps until the proper time,” Dimple reminded them.

“And when do you think that might be?” Virginia asked what Charlie was sure the others were probably thinking.

“When we have reliable evidence pointing to the one who’s most likely to be guilty, starting with a list of people who were closely associated with Mrs. Hawthorne,” Miss Dimple replied with an expectant nod to Suzy.

Suzy left the room and soon returned with a small slip of paper. “I wrote down a few names, but I honestly couldn’t think of many,” she said, giving the list to Dimple.

“The two nephews, Isaac and Esau; Esau’s wife, Coralee, and Bill Pitts … That’s
all
?” Miss Dimple returned the paper in much the same manner as she would an unsatisfactory assignment to one of her students. “Surely you’ve met more people than this. What about her art supplies? Food? Someone had to furnish them. And isn’t there a little church not too far down the road? Did
no one
ever pay her a visit?”

Suzy folded the paper and folded it again, as if that would make it go away. “Esau and his wife took care of most of the grocery shopping, but now and then she would send Bill on an errand for something.” She frowned. “Her other nephew, Isaac, was the one who delivered her art supplies, but she rarely saw him.…”

“Anyone else?” Dimple asked, noticing her pause.

“Wait … the milk and egg lady—I almost forgot!” Suzy smiled, remembering. “Miss Mae Martha didn’t care for pasteurized milk, so now and then she’d buy milk and eggs from a neighbor who had a few cows and some chickens.”

“
What
neighbor?” Charlie asked, not having noticed any.

“She lived over a mile away, but I guess that’s close as neighbors go out there,” Suzy told them. “If the weather was nice, sometimes I’d walk to get them, or once in awhile Bill would buy them for her.”

“Do you remember her name?” Virginia asked, and Suzy shook her head. “I think Mrs. Hawthorne called her Becky, but I don’t remember for sure. Mostly she just referred to her as the milk and egg lady.”

“But you know where she lives, so that’s not a problem,” Annie said. “How old a person is she? What does she look like?”

“I have no idea,” Suzy said, looking from one to the other. “She left the milk and eggs in her springhouse and I was told to leave the money there in a jar. I never saw the woman’s face.”

They could be meeting to plan a Christmas party, Miss Dimple thought, or to discuss a neighborhood project. To anyone who asked, they were gathering at Virginia’s that evening to contribute items to “Bundles for Britain” and suggest ways to decorate the library for the holidays. Now the five of them sat around the gas fire in Virginia’s small living room with the shades drawn while Max dozed contentedly by the hearth. Earlier, Dimple had spoken with Kate Ashcroft, who readily agreed to give the dog a home. “After all Mrs. Hawthorne and her companion did for you and Peggy, it’s the very least we can do,” Kate said, “and from what you’ve told me about Max, I love him already!

“And, Miss Dimple, is there any truth to that terrible story Emmaline Brumlow is circulating about that young woman who took such good care of Peggy?” she added, lowering her voice in case Florence McCrary was listening in. “I don’t understand why she disappeared like this, but whatever the reason, she must be in some kind of trouble.”

If only you knew!
Miss Dimple thought, and agreed to bring the dog over the next afternoon after church.

“Were you able to think of anyone else?” Miss Dimple asked Suzy as they prepared to leave. “Anyone at all?”

“Someone did come a few times to see Miss Mae Martha about her paintings,” Suzy told her, “but we felt it best if I didn’t meet them, so I stayed in my room. I believe she gave them one of her paintings to hang in their church.” Her voice broke with emotion. “She was generous that way.”

*   *   *

“Why do you suppose people of Japanese heritage were sent to relocation camps, but not those whose ancestors are from Italy or Germany?” Annie asked as the three walked home together.

A cold wind hit them with full force as they rounded the corner, and they walked faster, hurrying across the street. Charlie thought of the flimsy tarpaper barracks Suzy’s family and others were forced to live in and hoped they were keeping warm.

“I suppose they feel the country might be more vulnerable to an attack on the West Coast where many Japanese have settled,” Miss Dimple said at last. “And because they look different.”

C
HAPTER
E
LEVEN

Charlie thought about what Miss Dimple had said as she walked home alone after leaving the others at Phoebe’s. She was aware, as were most Americans, of the brutality and atrocities committed by the Japanese soldiers. They read about them in the news and saw films of their heartless cruelty in newsreels at the picture show. Charlie knew she could come face-to-face with a German or an Italian, and unless they spoke in that language, she wouldn’t be aware of their heritage. But the Japanese were different. They looked different, acted differently, thought differently. And
they
had started this war, hadn’t they, with the cowardly bombing of Pearl Harbor? Charlie felt hot fury rising within her at the memory of it.

And then there was Suzy, who had been born in this country, had received her medical degree from a prestigious university right here in the state of Georgia, and had undoubtedly helped to save Peggy Ashcroft’s young life. If pressed, Charlie would have had to admit she’d thought differently of Suzy when she believed she was Chinese. Now, although she knew Suzy’s people were being treated unfairly, a germ of distrust still lingered, and she wasn’t proud of it.