Trash To Treasure Crafting 1 - Murder at Honeysuckle Hotel (15 page)

“Attention, ladies.” A woman across the room
clinked a fork against her water glass. She wore a clingy pink
dress with a sash adding a smidgen of color across her tiny waist.
Her blonde hair was twisted up in the back, not a strand out of
place. “We’ll move out onto the veranda now. The auction will start
soon.” She sashayed away as fast as she appeared.

Saved. Thank goodness for small miracles. The
women next to me immediately stepped away and moved toward the
other side of the room, not even giving me as much as a glance over
the shoulder. But the veranda? Outside with all of them? No
way.

All the women followed her like cattle, as if
she’d said there was a half-off sale on girdles out there. No way
was I going out there. Nope. I’d stay put. When they all cleared
out, I’d slip out the front door and wait until Claire Ann came to
her senses and joined me.

Within a few seconds, I was alone in the
large room. The silence which surrounded me now felt strange since
seconds earlier the room had been full of the chatter from women. I
guessed Claire Ann had gotten stuck in the middle of the herd and
wandered out back with the rest of the women. Usually I was the one
with the Lucy Ricardo schemes. This time, Claire Ann had dragged me
into one heck of a mess. And for what? Some kind of dirt on the
mayor’s wife? I didn’t know Claire Ann didn’t like Martha Murdoch
so much. She was annoying, but I didn’t think she was clever or
complex enough to cause too much trouble.

I tiptoed over to the entrance to the kitchen
and peeped around. No one was there—my chance to get the heck out
of there. But would a real sleuth not use this opportunity to at
least take a peek at a few things in the room?

The large modern kitchen seemed out of place
with the rest of the house. Commercial-sized appliances, stainless
steel countertops and black sleek cabinets with brushed nickel
knobs. Trays with sandwiches sat along the counters. Nothing odd
popped out at me as I looked around. But did I really expect it to?
Did I think I’d find Martha Murdoch’s diary lying on the kitchen
island with a note attaching saying “Read me, Raelynn?” Where was
the cook? I assumed the woman who answered the door was in charge
of the food. I walked over to the back door and peeked outside. The
women gathered under tents, chatting and laughing. No one noticed
me. Not even that rat I called a best friend, Claire Ann. I slipped
over to the cabinets near the refrigerator and eased a door open.
Big surprise, dishes. Cookbooks lined a shelf above the little desk
in the corner. I ran my finger along the spines. There was a small
drawer to the right, so I pulled it open. I glanced over my
shoulder, then turned back, focusing on its contents. Recipes and
coupons was all I saw. I was wasting my time in the kitchen.

I closed the drawer, then eased back into the
parlor. A couple of small tables set around the room so I glided
the drawers open and peeked inside. They were empty. She wasn’t
making good use of storage, in my opinion. Amateur sleuths in
novels would check every room in the house. I didn’t have the
stomach for that. My palms were clammy and my heart pounded. A
quick look around this room and I was out of here.

Wall-to-ceiling bookcases filled with
figurines, knickknacks and other collectibles were set to my right.
Underneath were large drawers. I opened one. It was full of
paperbacks. Hmm. I would have guessed she’d only read hardback
books. There was everything from mysteries to romance. Romance? I
didn’t think Martha Murdoch had a romantic bone in her snooty body.
I closed that drawer, then opened the next one. More paperbacks. I
spotted a newly released mystery I’d been wanting. The shiny book
called to me, so I slipped it from the drawer. I glanced around.
Still no one in sight.

When I opened the book to read the first
page, a small piece of paper fell to the floor. I reached down,
picked it up and unfolded it. Nancy Harper’s name was written on
the paper, along with a time and date. Why would Nancy meet with
the mayor or mayor’s wife? And the date happened to be the day
she’d died. The hairs on my neck prickled.

“What are you doing here?” Martha
shouted.

Claire Ann bounded through the door behind
her. She slipped past and grabbed me by the arm. “She’s my
assistant for the day.”

“I’ll never invite the paper to my home
again. And you can forget the mayor giving you any interviews,” she
shouted.

“Considering we’re the only paper in town, I
highly doubt that. Good day, Mrs. Murdoch.”

We hurried out the front door. I felt like a
teenager all over again, running from Mr. Baldwin’s front lawn,
with toilet paper still clutched in my hand. Mrs. Murdoch stomped
after us. I felt her presence behind us, the heat from her glare
radiating all the way from the porch.

We jumped in Claire Ann’s old truck, slamming
the doors at the same time.

“I feel like the Dukes of Hazzard.” I
laughed.

“Oh, Lord. Which one, Bo or Luke?”

“Bo, of course.” I snickered.

She snorted.

“Look what I found.” I unfolded the paper
still clutched in my hand.

She glanced as best as she could while
steering. “Wow.”

“What do you think it means?”

“I don’t know.” She frowned.

Chapter Twenty-One

After the madness of our tea party, I was
looking forward to a quiet day at work. Crazy, I knew. I never
thought I’d look forward to work. But at least Claire Ann couldn’t
drag me anywhere I’d get into trouble if I was at the
supermarket.

As I hurried towards the store, I realized
today wasn’t any different than any other. I got the usual glares
from people as I made my way down the sidewalk. Actually, it was a
little different. The stares were even worse today. No doubt my
lovely neighbor had already spread the rumor of the stranger seen
leaving my home at an ungodly hour. So now I was a lying, skanky
murderess. Did it get any better? If I didn’t own a great house
now, I’d be out of Honeysuckle faster than you could say two shakes
of a sheep’s tail. But I couldn’t leave my new home, it needed
me.

It was another warm, beautiful day, at least.
Although a tad too hot. Sweat erupted on my forehead as soon as I
reached the sidewalk. A few clouds rolled overhead; they’d probably
bring an afternoon rain shower. I managed to get to work without
anyone accosting me. When I stepped inside, Claire Ann stood behind
the counter. She didn’t look up at first, but when she did she had
a look of dread on her face. She frowned and glanced down every few
seconds, avoiding my gaze. I looked over at the tables. A few old
men sat in the corner. They shook their heads and frowned. I turned
my attention back to Claire Ann, then walked toward her.

“Why so glum?” I asked.

She frowned and shook her head. Without
uttering a word, she tilted her head in the direction toward the
back of the store, then said, “Charlie wants to speak with you in
his office.”

I stared at her, not sure what to say.
Somehow, I knew this wasn’t good. She had known when I spoke with
her on the phone earlier that this would happen. She’d been quiet
again, not like herself at all. Now I knew for sure she had been
keeping something from me.

“I knew you were hiding something from me,” I
said.

She’d never been able to keep a secret from
me for long. She found Ross with the floozy and initially wasn’t
going to tell me. She lasted all of twenty minutes before breaking
down.

“I’m not hiding anything from you, Raelynn.”
She looked down.

I swallowed hard. “What does he want?”

“You’d better just go talk to him. I’m
sorry,” Claire Ann said. Tiny tears collected in the corners of her
eyes.

The pathway leading to the office seemed
endless. As if I was on a conveyor belt, walking and walking. Each
step seemed to carry me further away. In spite of the dread in the
pit of my stomach, I finally made the long walk down the center
aisle. The smell of Lysol from the freshly mopped floor made my
stomach turn. Box after box of cereal lining the shelf made me
dizzy as I trekked to the back. This seemed worse than being called
to the principal’s office. Not that I’d ever been there. (Except
for the time in high school a bunch of us TPed the math teacher’s
house.)

The tiny hall had stacks of boxes on each
side, making movement difficult. I reached the old wood door at the
back of the store, just past the restrooms. More Lysol smell
emanated from the tiny rooms opposite the office. I couldn’t stand
much more. I knocked.

“Come in.” His deep voice sounded like he
needed a spot on the radio instead of behind a desk in that cramped
office.

I opened the door and poked my head in. “You
wanted to see me?” I asked.

“Yes, Raelynn, please come in and have a
seat.”

Charlie had the same look on his face as
Claire Ann. Also the look my father had when he told me my cat
died. In all the time I’d worked for Charlie, I’d never seen that
look from him. Not directed towards me, at least. I eased around a
few stacked boxes, moved a stack of papers from the seat and
lowered myself into the faux leather chair. It squeaked when I
sat.

Charlie looked down at papers on scattered
across his desk. I stared at him, waiting for him to speak. Was I
supposed to say something? I shifted from one side to the other.
Did I do something and he thought I knew why I’d been called to the
office? Maybe it was because I was short fifty cents the other
night with the register. No. That couldn’t be it. Claire Ann was
short plenty of times and he never said a word about it. Wonder why
that was, anyway? He did give her the best hours, too. Anyway, it
was only fifty cents. I’d give him the money if it mattered. I must
have under-charged for something, anyway. It happened—wasn’t my
fault.

I cleared my throat. “So, um, you wanted to
talk to me about something?”

He ran his hands through his salt-and-pepper
hair. The lines around his eyes seemed more pronounced today. Was
he sick? Was I sick? Wait, no, I’d know if I was sick.

“Raelynn, you know I like you. I really,
really do.” He let out a deep breath.

Was he going to ask me out? This could get
awkward. He’d only been divorced for two months now. But I guessed
people didn’t wait a long time sometimes. Heck, my Uncle Jeb got
remarried within two weeks of his divorce. I told everyone he’d
been seeing that woman for months before he announced he wanted a
divorce from his second wife.

“You really, really like me?” I nodded.
“And?” I didn’t like him in that way. Please don’t let him ask me
out. Mixing business with pleasure was never a good thing. “What
are you trying to say?”

“What I’m trying to say is… I’m going to have
to let you go.” His gaze flickered from his desk, to me and back to
the desk.

“What?” I sat up straighter. “Let me go?”

He looked down. “Yes.”

“You’re firing me? What did I do? If this is
about that fifty cents, the register was short, but I’ll gladly
give it to you.” I rushed the words out.

“Fifty cents?” He frowned, then shook his
head. “No, no. It’s not about that. Look, I know you’re a hard
worker and I appreciate everything you’ve done for the store, I
really do.”

“Then why are you firing me?” I ran my hands
through my hair. I’d never been fired before. “I’m never late for
work and I never mind working extra hours.”

He let out a deep sigh and ran his hands
through his hair again. “You have been a perfect employee, Raelynn.
This decision has nothing to do with your work performance.” He
sighed. “I don’t have a choice. I’m not the most powerful person in
town, you know. I just own the grocery store, which amounts to not
much. Some people think you’re guilty. They don’t want to come in
the store if you’re here, so I have no choice. You understand,
right?”

“I can’t believe this.” I shook my head.
“What happened to innocent until proven guilty? The sheriff doesn’t
think I did anything. If he did, don’t you think he would have
arrested me by now?” My voice quivered. “I can’t believe this.”

“You don’t have to tell me. I know you didn’t
do anything wrong. But there are some crazy people in this
town.”

“Who specifically wants me out of here? Was
it Martha Murdoch? Heck, I bet she wants me out of town
altogether.” I threw my hands up. “She’d be happy to never see me
again.”

He gave a half nod and I took that to be an
agreement. “I don’t think I should say who. I’ll let you come to
your own conclusions.”

“Well, at this point, I’m guessing not only
Martha, but the whole town.”

“I’ll pay you for the vacation time you have
coming. And the sick days, too.” He placed his hands on the
desk.

“Thanks, Charlie. I know you will. You’ve
been a good boss.”

“What are you going to do?” he asked as I
stood.

I turned and looked at him, then shrugged. “I
have no idea. I have the house now. I need to pay the utilities and
stuff. I guess I’ll look for another job in Belleville, or
something. I can drive back and forth if I have to. But there’s no
way I’m letting anyone drive me out of this town for good.”

He grinned, then winked. “I know they’ll have
a fight on their hands with you.”

“I know I just got the house, but I love it
too much to give it up.” I looked down.

“I understand. I’d probably feel the same
way. Just be careful.” His brow pinched together. “I know you were
attacked at the fairgrounds.” His gaze met mine. “I’ve heard the
rumors that you made the story up, but I know you didn’t. Like I
said, there are crazy people in this town. Obviously they are
capable of doing some very nasty things.”

“You can say that again. Must be something in
the water around here.”

“Someone murdered Nancy and someone attacked
you. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the same person.” He quirked
an eyebrow.