Plan Bee (21 page)

“Tom’s health is fine,” Sally said. I’d already figured that out since no ambulances or fire engines were outside the store.

I grabbed Mom’s arm. “Come on. We’ll wait out front. Let’s not get Sally in trouble.”

Mom didn’t look like she was going to back down, but after a moment of hesitation she did.

While we waited, I took a few minutes to survey the damage to the chief’s vehicle. From the front end, I said, “We have to cover for Grams, or Johnny Jay is going to make sure her driver’s license is taken away from her.”

“That might not be such a bad thing,” Mom said. “She’s going to kill somebody at this rate.”

“Not at her regular speed of five miles an hour she won’t. Just don’t tell her to floor it next time she does something like swipe Johnny Jay’s car.”

The side mirror would have to be replaced. Lucky for Grams, there was no telltale sign of paint from her car. Not a trace on the other squad car, either, which only had a little bitty scrape. And if anyone on the street or inside one of the businesses had witnessed the incident, they wouldn’t tell on her. Johnny Jay wasn’t their favorite guy. Grams was everybody’s darling. So my grandmother was home scot-free.

I took the opportunity to apologize to Mom for my behavior outside of Stu’s when I’d gone to the mat with Lori Spandle. She set her breakfast dish on the hood of Johnny’s car and hugged me. Two apologies down, two to go. Because as much as I dreaded the idea, the new kinder me realized that I had to make things right with the Petries, too. Lori Spandle and Johnny Jay were my lifelong enemies and for right now, they could just stay that way. But I didn’t have any real quarrel with Aggie and Eugene, although Aggie did her best to pick fights. In the customer service business, I’ve learned to grovel when necessary.

I tried to prepare Mom for the inevitable. “I’m pretty sure Tom is going to jail.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Three police cars? It doesn’t look good.”

But she refused to listen. “I just hope they finish before Tom’s breakfast gets cold.”

Carrie Ann arrived on the scene again, saying the twins had punched in. She patted Mom on the shoulder and gave me a worried glance.

Finally, they brought Tom out and as I’d suspected, he was handcuffed.

What followed was classic television-style romance between Mom and Tom.

“I brought you breakfast,” Mom called out, holding up the dish and making her voice peppy even though her face was white. Then to Johnny she said, “Let the man at least have his breakfast first.”

“Save it for me, Helen,” Tom said, giving her a big grin, sort of forced considering the circumstances. “I’ll eat it as soon as I get back. Everything you make is so delicious.”

“Shut up and get in the car,” Johnny Jay said to Tom.

“Hurry back soon,” my delusional mom said. “I’ll be waiting.”

“Miss you already,” Tom said as he got in the backseat of the squad car. Johnny Jay slammed the door and went around to get into the driver’s seat.

“What the hell happened to the side of my car?” he yelled, proceeding to take the Lord’s name in vain in a few combinations I’d never heard before.

Nobody said anything.

“Well, if this doesn’t beat all,” he said. “Somebody had the nerve to swipe my car in broad daylight while I was right around the back of the building.” He uttered a few more angry swear words.

After examining his vehicles from all angles and putting pressure on the bystanders, which didn’t get him any further, Johnny Jay glared at me, then at Mom, then at the dish in Mom’s hand.

“How did you get here, Helen?” he asked her, knowing as well as the rest of us that Grams drives her around most of the time.

“She came with me,” I piped up and lied, committed to my grandmother and her continued freedom to travel as she pleases.

Johnny Jay cursed some more but eventually got into his
car and slammed the door, causing the mirror to fall all the way off. As they drove away, Tom turned around in the backseat and locked eyes with Mom until the chief’s car disappeared from sight.

My heart ached for Mom after seeing how devoted she’d been to Tom. They really had something going, something powerful. Not once did my mother question his innocence. What would happen to her newfound faith in mankind if Tom turned out to be guilty?

After that I really, really, really didn’t want Tom Stocke to turn out to be a murderer.

My mom had never dated anybody other than my dad. He was number one in her book from high school until his death. And even beyond.

Then Tom came along.

If Tom killed his brother, that would be a bitter pill for her to swallow. Not to mention she might revert to her old bitter-pill personality, and that would be a setback for the entire family.

Tom Stocke had a lot going against him.

For one, he was a big man, large enough to pick up Ford and carry him a good distance if he had to. So if Tom had watched me stumble across his brother in the cemetery before he managed to accomplish whatever he was trying to do, he could easily have made off with the body as soon as I went inside the store.

Then there was the blood on his shirt. If it turned out to be Ford’s, Tom was toast.

And if they found the murder weapon inside his apartment or store, Tom was burnt toast.

After careful thought, I decided Tom didn’t stand a chance.

“I might as well come to the store and help out,” Mom said. “Until Tom gets back.”

I didn’t like that one bit. Not only because Mom might reorganize all the shelves or give away the store, but because customers would be gossiping up a storm, making all kinds of crazy accusations about the Stocke brothers. That was the last thing Mom needed, and I told her as much.

“This will all be cleared up very soon,” she said. “In the meantime, I’ll set any misguided customers straight with their facts.”

The only positive thing about her working was that I’d get some other errands and projects done. I tried calling Alicia Petrie from a listing in the phone directory. When an answering machine picked up, I left a request for her to call me back.

Planning to get a little paperwork out of the way, I sat down at my desk with the door closed. But before I tackled the stack in front of me, I remembered something about my conversation with Tom’s brother.

When I’d asked Ford how long he planned to rent Clay’s house, he’d said, “Just for the weekend. By then we’ll be done.”

We’ll!

One sleeping bag. One camping chair, one everything. So what had he meant?

Who was the other person, or persons? And where were they?

I hadn’t caught that at the time, mainly because I was so freaked-out that Lori Spandle might actually have let Ford sign a long-term lease. The only part I’d really absorbed was “for the weekend,” which was a major relief.

I went up front and questioned Mom. “You’ve heard the gossip about Tom, right?”

Mom nodded. “It’s all over town.”

“And the part about Ford running off with his wife? Is that true?”

Mom nodded again.

“Do you know if Tom and Ford were in contact before this happened?” I asked. “I mean, did Ford know that Tom lived in Moraine?”

“Apparently, because he showed up. But it was a surprise to Tom. They hadn’t spoken in years.”

“Did Tom have any idea what Ford wanted?”

Mom shook her head. “Tom’s such a good man he didn’t want to think bad thoughts, but I’m pretty sure his brother was after his money.”

I’d forgotten about Tom’s lottery score! He’d lived so simply. He must have banked the entire wad. And the money would have grown since then.

“If Ford was after Tom’s money,” I said, “how would he get his hands on it? After what he did with his wife, Tom wouldn’t willingly share his wealth with the jerk.”

Mom looked both ways to make sure nobody was close enough to overhear us. “The only way?” she whispered. “He’d have to inherit it.”

“But that would mean…”

Mom nodded. “Tom would have to be dead.”

“He was going to kill Tom?” I stared at Mom.

“Maybe,” she said, leaving me standing there with my mouth open.

I shut it and scuttled back to my hole in the wall.

Self-defense might actually work as a real defense! I could imagine the whole thing.

Ford tried to kill Tom. Tom defended himself. Too bad he panicked. He should have turned himself in right away instead of disposing of Ford’s body in a fireplace. Now look at the mess he was in. And it was way too late to
convince Johnny Jay that it had been an accident. Tom was looking at manslaughter, if he was lucky.

If Ford was going to kill Tom, then the
we
meant he had a partner.

The only thing that might help my mom’s new boyfriend was to expose that partner. Once he surfaced (or she), that person would have to tell the cops the truth—that Ford’s intention had been to eliminate his brother and make off with his money. Then Tom could plead self-defense for sure.

I called Patti’s cell phone. She didn’t answer. Instead she walked in without even knocking. Patti wore her pocket vest crammed full of various tools associated with her new trade. Her homemade press pass dangled from her neck, and she wore a pair of black shades.

I wondered if last night’s wine had affected her as much as it had me.

“Where’s my sister?” I asked her.

“Sick,” Patti said.

“The rest of us had to get up and go.”

Patti shrugged and plopped down in the chair next to my desk.

I told her what I knew about Tom’s arrest and why I thought Ford had a partner floating around somewhere.

Patti hung on every word, then said, “I have my own problems, too, you know.”

“Like what? I thought you’d wanted to work with me to solve this. Look what it could do for your career.”

“First I have to track down my attacker. Until then, I feel like a prisoner. I’m used to total freedom of movement and now? I’m a shell of the woman I used to be.”

“You’ll be safe as long as you don’t order another telescope.” I couldn’t believe what came out of my mouth next. “Besides, you can stay with me as long as you want.”

Before I could stuff those words back in and gulp them down, Patti perked up and said, “Okay. It’s a deal. I’ll help you and you help me.”

“Any more hickory nuts?” I asked.

“None so far. But I have a lead on the murder weapon.”

“You do? Who told you?” With Patti, asking for credentials was important.

“I can’t divulge my source. That would be unethical. All I know at this point is that brown fibers were found on Ford’s neck.”

“Like threads from a scarf?”

“Maybe.”

Patti could be making up stuff for all I knew. “So how are we going to find Ford’s partner in crime?” I said.

“That’s a tough one,” she said. “How are we going to track the kook who tied me up and left me for dead?”

“You weren’t even close to dead.”

“I might have been if you hadn’t come along to rescue me.” Patti finally took off the dark sunglasses. Her eyes were bloodshot. “Do you think it was an outside job or an inside job?” she asked.

“Which one are we talking about? Ford Stocke?”

“No. My attacker.”

“Inside,” I said, convinced that Patti’s assailant had been someone she’d ticked off. And that meant a local resident. “Someone is watching you, making sure you don’t get another telescope.”

Patti nodded. “That sounds reasonable. But I can’t figure out why. It’s not like I can see the whole town from that window. My view is seriously restricted.” She sounded disappointed with her limited ability to snoop.

“No more telescopes,” I repeated in case she wasn’t listening. It seemed like a no-brainer to me.

“What about Ford’s partner?” she asked. “Inside job or outside job?”

“Since no one else was staying at the house with Ford, I’m going to guess inside. Whoever it was didn’t need a place to stay, so the partner lives in the area. I’m not sure how to start looking, though.”

“I’m going to find out the name of the person who delivered my telescope,” Patti said. “Maybe they saw something.”

Right then, Alicia returned my call, I explained about my scarf, and we arranged to have me swing by.

“I’m going over to Alicia Petrie’s. You check out the delivery company.”

And with that, I hung up and set out to investigate.