Thirty-Four and a Half Predicaments: Rose Gardner Mystery #7 (14 page)

“The Fenton County Unsolved Mystery Club,” she said without missing a beat.

“Huh.”

I had no idea if this crazy story was gonna work, but there was no turning back now. Especially since she hadn’t slammed the door in our faces. “So will you help us?”

She studied me, her eyes narrowing into such tiny slits it was a wonder she could still see me.

“Are you thinking about helping, or are you plotting how to kill Rose and dispose of the body?” Neely Kate asked.

“Neely Kate!” I gasped, spinning around to face her.

“I’ll do it,” Miss Mildred said, banging her cane on the porch railing.

I jumped and spun back around so fast I made myself dizzy. “Which one? Help us or murder me?”

Her lips curled. “I’d prefer to do both, but seein’ as how yer boyfriend would probably have me tossed in jail, I’ll stick with helping. But I have conditions.”

“
Conditions?
”

“Okay,” Neely Kate said. “What are they?”

She pointed her cane at me. “At no time will you be drivin’ my car.”

“
What?
” Why would I drive her car? Then I remembered that I’d once borrowed it to save Joe. “That was
one
time.”

“And my name goes first on the paper.”

“What paper?” I asked. “
The newspaper?
”

Neely Kate stepped up behind me and lowered her voice. “The certificate. For the competition, of course.”

Miss Mildred’s disdain returned. “For someone who’s supposedly solved so many mysteries, you’re awfully dense. All those bad guys must have turned themselves into you and brought their own handcuffs.”

My hands clenched into fists at my sides.

For once, my best friend skipped over defending me. “I think you’ve misunderstood, Miss Mildred,” Neely Kate said, fighting the grin that tugged at her lips. “We don’t need you for our team. We just want to interview you.”

The elderly woman shook her head. “Nope. I either help you solve the case or I don’t help at all.”

Neely Kate nodded. “Fine.”

I grabbed her arm and carefully tugged her off the porch. “Miss Mildred, I need a moment to talk with my
partner
.” When we were out of earshot, I leaned toward her and whispered. “What are you doin’?”

“She’s one of the few people who was actually around when the factory burned down. We need her.”

“No we don’t. Half the town is over the age of sixty.
Everyone
probably remembers the fire.” I pointed to the house next door. “If Miss Mildred won’t help us out, we can just march over to Miss Opal’s and ask her.”

“Think about it, Rose. You were onto something when you said all that neighborhood watch business is her attempt to solve a mystery. You and I both know she’s always filing away details.”

“Not all of them are right,” I pointed out. “She gets all kinds of things wrong.”

“She only seems to skew them when
you’re
involved. And you weren’t even born when this happened, so I think you’re off the hook. Besides, she was your momma’s best friend and you think your momma might have killed Dora. All the more reason to keep Mildred around—you can pump her for information about Dora and your momma.”

“She’s not gonna willingly give us information that proves Momma killed Dora.”

“Don’t you think Miss Mildred would have built a wood pile in your front yard and burned your momma at the stake if she truly thought your momma was a murderer? I’ve never met a woman more judgmental of what she considers wrong-doin’.”

She had a point. My jaw clenched. “Maybe so, but I refuse to traipse around town with
Miss Mildred
.”

“Who said we have to take her with us? Let’s tell her she’s the home base and we’re gonna do the leg work.”

I groaned. This would be an absolutely terrible idea if it weren’t such a good one.

“Ha!” Neely Kate said, her voice filled with excitement. “You know I’m right.”

I couldn’t outright admit it was a good idea. I still wasn’t sure I wanted to involve nosy Miss Mildred by doing more than interviewing her, but I could see some of Neely Kate’s points. “Fine.”

Before I could change my mind, Neely Kate hurried back to the porch, leaving me to reluctantly follow behind.

“Okay, Miss Mildred,” Neely Kate said, holding out her hand to shake. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”

She gave Neely Kate’s hand a brisk shake and proceeded to drop it as though it were on fire.

“So here’s how this is gonna work,” Neely Kate said. “You’re gonna be home base. You’ll stay here and be in charge—”

“In charge?” I blurted out, but Neely Kate ignored me.

“And we’ll report back to you. You’ll be like Bobbie on
Supernatural
.”

Miss Mildred’s face puckered like a prune. “What’s
Supernatural?
”

Neely Kate blinked, her mouth parting open, and her full body seemed to shudder. “I’m gonna pretend you didn’t say that.” I felt an unexpected stab of sympathy for my former neighbor. Four months ago I’d been in her shoes.
Supernatural
was one of Neely Kate’s favorite TV shows. She’d shamed me into watching it too.

Miss Mildred waved aside her comments about the show with much more bravery than I’d possessed. “If I’m hangin’ around here, how am I gonna help solve the mystery?

“We’ll bring back clues, and you can help us figure out where to go from there.”

“Huh.” She was actually considering this.

“We can get walkie-talkies,” Neely Kate added. “So we can keep track of each other.”

Miss Mildred nodded. “And we’ll have code names.”

This was getting out of hand.

“Miss Mildred,” I groaned. “This is—”

“It was Atchison Manufacturing,” Miss Mildred said, her eyes bright. “Henry Buchanan owned it. He never reopened it after it burned down in the fire right after Thanksgiving, and he hung himself in his basement a few weeks later.”

“So it
was
Ima Jean’s Buchanan’s husband,” I said, turning to Neely Kate. Dora had also explicitly mentioned Henry in the journal. We were definitely on the right track.

Neely Kate shot me an
I told you so
look, but I wasn’t willing to let her gloat. I was pretty sure Miss Opal could have told us the same thing.

Miss Mildred glanced around the neighborhood. “Mitsy Johnson is peering out her picture windows. I can’t talk to you out here.”

“You want to go inside?” Neely Kate asked.

Miss Mildred looked offended. “What kind of sleuth are you? If I invite you inside, it’s gonna look suspicious. I’ll meet you somewhere.”

“This is getting ridiculous,” I muttered.

But Neely Kate’s head bobbed. “You’re right. Where do you want to meet?”

“I was gonna suggest the produce aisle of the Piggly Wiggly, but that one can’t go back there without causing a commotion. She caused enough trouble yesterday.” Miss Mildred’s eyes filled with disgust and she flicked a finger toward me. “In fact, I’m not sure I want to work with her.”

I half expected Neely Kate to tell her I was off our nonexistent team, but instead she squared her shoulders. “Rose stays or it’s no deal.”

The elderly woman’s jaw set.

“Rose is one of the sweetest people I know, but for some reason you’re just too pigheaded to see it.”

The elderly woman pointed a gnarled finger at me. “That girl is possessed by demons. I can’t risk her demons jumping out and taking over my own soul.”

Neely Kate put her hand on her hip. “Are you
sure
you don’t watch
Supernatural?
”

Miss Mildred gave her a blank stare. “I gave up trying to save her soul years ago.”

“Saving Rose’s soul isn’t part of the bargain.” Neely Kate shrugged her shoulder, tossing her hair. “We’ll make do without you. We’re a pretty good team on our own. We only came to you because it makes sense to go to the best potential source of information first.” She turned around. “Come on, Rose. Let’s go talk to Miss Opal.”

“Fine,” Miss Mildred said. “I’ll do it, but only because I owe this town my expertise. And I want that trophy.”

“Certificate,” Neely Kate corrected.

I rolled my eyes. “So where do you want to meet?”

Miss Mildred gave me a sideways glance. “The one place I think my soul will be safe. Church.”

A half hour later, I parked my truck in the parking lot of Jonah’s church. I’d texted Joe to let him know I’d survived another cryptic encounter with his sister. I slipped my phone into my coat pocket, then turned to Neely Kate. “Tell me again why we’re lettin’ her think she’s in charge?”

Neely Kate gave me an exasperated look. “I told you a half dozen times already. I think she knows things that will help us. And need I remind you that you were the one who suggested we talk to her in the first place?”

“Yeah, talk to her, not cater to her every persnickety demand. Heck, she probably doesn’t have any more information than what I already found in Dora’s journal.”

“I’m not so sure. If you were involved in criminal activity would
you
write it down?”

“We don’t
know
that Dora was involved in criminal activity. It’s just as likely she stumbled upon it and quit. Maybe she thought she’d get in trouble for not forking over important information.”

“We can’t go into this with any preconceived notions, Rose. Just because she was your birth mother doesn’t mean she couldn’t do something bad.”

I knew she was right, but I still couldn’t believe Dora had extorted anyone. In my opinion, the guilt she’d felt wasn’t proof of her active involvement in a crime. But then again, if someone told me three months ago I’d be sniffing out information for Fenton County’s crime boss, I would have asked if they’d had a recent head trauma. Desperate people did desperate things. My own situation was proof enough of that. “Fine. We’ll find out what Mildred knows and be done with her.”

Neely Kate reached for the door handle. “Maybe I should do the talking since she’d not too fond of you.”

“Fine.”

We walked inside the front doors of the church and I peeked around to look for Miss Mildred. I hadn’t seen her old Cadillac in the parking lot, but given her secret agent suggestion of meeting here, it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if she’d decided to hide her car. “She’s not here yet.”

Neely Kate sat in a chair in the foyer. “I’m gonna rest here for a moment.”

She looked pale and worn out, which gave me second thoughts about this whole caper. “Maybe we should postpone talking to Miss Mildred for tomorrow. This mystery’s been sitting around for twenty-five years. One more day’s not gonna matter a hill of beans. I’m sure you could use some rest.”

“We’re already here, so we might as well see this part through.” She grimaced. “Although maybe you could just drop me off at the doctor’s office instead of taking me home to get my car. Ronnie’s coming, so he can take me home.”

“Ronnie’s coming to your doctor’s appointment?” I was shocked. He usually wanted nothing to do with anything medical. “Is everything okay?”

She shrugged. “It’s no big deal. But this way, I can go home and take a nap afterward. My granny is makin’ me take her to Bingo tonight.”

“You’re kidding.”

“I wish I was. She says no good ever came from sittin’ around and mopin’.”

“Is that what she thinks you’ve been doin’?” I asked in shock. “Because even if you were, there’d be nothin’ wrong with that.”

She shook her head, tears filling her eyes. “She’s right. I wasn’t even showin’. It’s not like I had a real baby and it died.”

I gasped. “
Did she say that?
”

“She didn’t have to.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “But it’s true. I never got to hold them.” More tears rolled down her cheeks. “I never even got to see them.”

“I know, honey, and I’m so sorry. But that doesn’t make them any less real. They were your babies and you have every right to feel sad about it.”

The front door opened and Neely Kate sat up, wiping her tears. “Miss Mildred’s here.”

“She can wait. This is more important.”

“No.” She stood and lifted her chin. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.” She got up out of her chair and passed me to meet Miss Mildred.

Miss Mildred shot a glare in my direction. “I’m surprised you haven’t burst into flames.”

I scowled. “I come here all the time to talk to Jonah. He’s a good friend of mine. Besides,” I added, “you’ve seen me in church before. I’m sure you remember our encounter in the ladies’ room.”

Miss Mildred didn’t look too happy about the reminder.

Neely Kate motioned toward the sanctuary doors. “Why don’t we sit in there and talk? I doubt anyone will see us.” When Miss Mildred gave her a blank stare, Neely Kate added, “So no one sees us together? That’s why we’re here, right?” Her voice ended an octave higher, as if she were talking to someone who was senile. Miss Mildred was a lot of things, but senile wasn’t one of them. Or at least I hoped as much. Otherwise, this whole ordeal was for nothing.

“Oh. Yeah.”

I rolled my eyes as we followed Miss Mildred through the sanctuary door.