"A Murder In Milburn", Book 4: Death By Ice Cream (14 page)

“I’m flattered you think so,” Nora said with a smile. “I’ve got a lower estimate of myself than you do. In any case, I think that people are often far luckier than they imagine. They think that they’re self made, without realizing all the small ways their life has been made better by other people. I don’t know, Sean, I guess we’ll disagree on this, but I can’t stop feeling bad for Tiffany.”

“Well, she was murdered,” Sean said. “I do feel bad about that, if it’s any help. Not only do I feel bad, I’m doing my hardest to catch the murderer.”

“The murderer… who you still think is my boyfriend?” Nora asked.

Sean shrugged. “As a sheriff, I’m not allowed to tell you our theories until we’ve arrested someone. For all you know, my principal suspect could be the King of Spain.”

Nora laughed, as he parked the car. “You’re a funny man, Sheriff Sean Dracon.”

“I aim to please, Miss Nora Newberry. Now out of the car, please, I have an impatient dog and a rerun of the late night show waiting for me back home.”

“Good luck, by the way,” Nora said. “If Dillon helps you break Chase’s alibi, well, you’ve got a great case against him, right?”

Sean shrugged. “I hope so.” He helped unchain her car from his, and put the chains back in his trunk. “Goodnight! Keep some coffee ready for me at the diner tomorrow.”

“Will do.” Nora waved as he drove away. “Good night!”

*****

Chapter 16

The next day was Thursday, which, at the diner, meant an all-day breakfast special. Tina had set up a chalkboard outside, declaring that the specials of the day were a chive omelette and a ham-and-blue-cheese crepe.

The chive omelette hadn’t had many takers, but her ham and cheese crepe was a big hit. Nora spent all morning and the better part of her afternoon hard at work, with Lincoln helping her out. The good thing about Linc was that he also supplied a steady flow of mindless chatter as they worked, which actually helped Nora. It was like having the radio on in the background, except that she had to occasionally say “Hmm,” or “I see.”

“I was talking to my friends about the Tiffany murder,” he said. “They’ve all laid bets on who’s done it.”

Nora sighed. “Please tell me they didn’t give the best odds to Harvey.”

Lincoln had the grace to look a little ashamed. “No. Well I guess they did. But I told them off.”

“It’s funny,” Nora said. “This time around, the town isn’t very shocked at the murder.”

“Course they aren’t,” Lincoln said. “I mean, the other people, Selena or JJ, they were fine upstanding citizens. With people like Tiffany, well, you expect some amount of violence in their lives. I guess the only reason people are even shocked is because Harvey is involved. That gave people something to gossip about. If it ever turns out that her loser ex did it, the townsfolk would just shrug and say, “
That’s what happens when you do drugs, kids
.”

Nora didn’t know what to say, so she gave a noncommittal nod. “Here, I’ve got three crepes plated. I need a bunch more bacon pan-fried, and have you cut up that zucchini yet?”

“Yes ma’am.” Lincoln rushed around, following her orders.

“Nora, two cheeseburgers, three fries, and one steak sandwich to go, please.” Tina popped her head into the kitchen, then rushed back out.

Nora spent the better part of the morning, and most of the afternoon, taking care of a steady rush of visitors. Thursdays were often rush days, since the nearby Yellowstone park had a large number of visitors arriving Thursdays and Fridays, a lot of them stopped at the diner on their way. Most of the folks who ate here on these days were tourists with big appetites, while on Saturdays and Sundays, surprisingly, the crowd was more local.
 

Finally, around 2:30pm she had a lunch break, wolfing down a hot ham and Swiss cheese sandwich with a side of mixed greens salad.

The bell above the door clanged, as Simone and her son Will sauntered in.

“Hey, Nora.” Simone smiled at her as she hopped up on a counter-stool. She helped Will up and placed a menu in front of him. “I don’t know why we’re looking at it, really. I already know what I want.”

“What’s that?” Nora asked. “If you’ll wait two minutes, I’m almost done with lunch.”

“No rush. Will here just had a big day, his first gold star for a project at preschool.” Simone smiled. “So I’m treating him to a big sundae, or a milkshake, whatever the young man wants.”

Nora finished up her lunch, washed up, and came out to take their orders while Tina had her break. “Well, young man, what’s it going to be?” she asked, smiling down at the adorable boy with his melting chocolate eyes.
 

He frowned down at the menu, and said, “Can I have the chocolate milkshake please? Can I get M&M bits in it? Mom always puts those in for me.”

“Well, I’m not sure mine will live up to your mom’s, but I’ll try my hardest.” Nora smiled. In the kitchen, she said, “Hey, Linc, if you’re not too busy, go get me a pack of M&M’s, will you? There’s a young man who wants it in his shake.”

Ten minutes later, Will was happily slurping down the shake, while his mother sat sipping a cup of mandarin tea.
 

“How are you doing?” Simone asked Nora. “I’m sorry our conversation got a bit heated the other day. Bernard is under a lot of stress. We’ve had a lot of reporters asking us to comment about the body found on our premises, and business has taken a bit of a hit.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Nora said.

“The one good thing that’s come of all this is I’ve finally managed to talk Bernard into retiring Joe. He agreed it’s for the best. There’s a lot of rumors about him and Tiffany doing the rounds, and he was never very popular with the women working with us anyway. Complaints about him have increased after the murder.” Simone sighed. “What a headache it is. We’ve had to stop our expansion plans for a while. But look at me, I probably sound very selfish right now. I’m rattling on about things like this while a poor woman was just murdered.”

“I understand,” Nora said with a smile. “We feel bad for her, but in the end, the rest of us need to move on with our lives. Right?”

“I guess.” Simone shot a glance at Will, who was reading the comics section of the paper while slurping his shake. “Will asked me about it too, the other day. Apparently there are rumors at his preschool now that the ice-cream factory is haunted. He had nightmares.”

“He had nightmares the night we came to your house too,” Nora said. “About a face at the window, remember?”

“Oh, yes. Poor kids. They’re so sensitive. It’s funny, really. He once sat through a fairly terrifying animated film about ghosts with me. He even yawned at the end, yet he has some phobia against men who are bald!” Simone laughed.

Her laughter was cut short as the door open and Joe stormed in. He gave Simone a malicious glare, and strode right up to her. “You! You put him up to this! You got me fired!”

“What are you talking about?” Simone shrunk away from him. She hopped off her stool, and scooped Will up. “I think I’m going to leave, Nora.”

“Oh, no, you’re not! Not until you’ve told me why you always hated me!” Joe exclaimed. “I haven’t done a thing! I’ve called women
sweetheart
sometimes or told them that their skirts looked good. Just harmless comments! Can’t you women take a joke anymore?”

“I’m leaving, Joe. It’s in your best interest if you stay calm. No one is firing you, though we ought to. You’re simply being offered an early retirement.”

“You’re not firing me because you don’t want to pay severance,” he said. “Well, I’m not quitting so easily. I’ve got a lot of friends at the factory, and they won’t take too kindly to what you’ve done either. I’ve helped build up this factory while you sat around with your fancy ideas! You can’t just throw me out!”

Nora could see the expression change in Simone’s eyes, from fear to a fierce pride, to anger. “My fancy ideas?” Simone spat out. “You mean the ideas that helped launch the factory, and distinguish us from our competitors? You mean the ideas that got us write-ups in national newspapers or air-time from celebrity radio shows? Those ideas? You’re just an old fashioned man who thinks all women are only fit for the kitchen. You’ve been really nice to Bernard, but I’ve seen your true face. You always burned inside that I was your boss. You always pretended that I was
only
your boss because I was Bernard’s wife. Well enough is enough, you’re not stepping inside that factory again. Not while I’m the chief.”

At this outburst from his normally cheerful mother, Will burst out in sobs.

“You’re no chief! You just have a fancy title and a doting husband,” Bernard sneered.

“If I didn’t have Will here with me, I’d give you a fitting reply,” Simone said. “Right now, I’m just going to leave, and if you try to stop me, Joe, I’ll be calling the sheriff.”

Almost as soon as she had said his name, the door opened and Sean walked in. He had on his uniform, and was biting his lower lip. He locked eyes with Nora and came up to her immediately, not even noticing Simone or Joe.

“Hey,” he said.
 

“Hi.” Nora smiled. “Can I get you a coffee?”

“Yes,” he said. “As quickly as possible, to go. If you could wrap up a sandwich too, that’d be perfect.”

“Something’s wrong,” Nora said, studying his face.

“Dillon never showed up,” Sean said. “I’ve got to go check on him. I’m getting antsy. Ellerton was supposed to follow Chase, but he was given the slip. Chase has been missing all morning.”

Nora felt her stomach sink. “That’s bad news.”

“It’s just news, right now,” Sean said. “Let’s see how things develop.” He accepted a wrapped steak sandwich and a thermos of coffee from her, “Thanks, Nora. Keep it on my tab, please.”

“Of course. Good luck, Sean.” She wished him that for two reasons - the first was that she wanted to see Tiffany’s suspect brought to justice. The second - if it was Chase, then it wasn’t Harvey.

Simone had left already, leaving money on the counter. Joe sat where Will had been sitting, looking very annoyed.

“I was here before the sheriff, but he gets served first,” Joe said. “That’s the way it is in this town. Us honest hardworking men get stood up, and the richie-rich people have their way.”

“Sorry about that, he was in a big hurry,” Nora said. “What can I get you?”

“Well, I’m in a big hurry, too,” Joe fumed. “I’m in a big hurry to find me a lawyer who can sue that… that absolute witch!”

“Sir,” Nora said sternly, “I don’t want you cursing people here.”

“Well, of course you don’t, darling. Sorry.” Joe calmed down a little. “Now how about you get me some coffee and maybe a plate of scrambled eggs with bacon and home-style potatoes? Anger helps build the appetite.”

“Coming right up,” Nora said, without a smile.

When she came back out with his food and coffee, he was scanning through the paper, tsking as he read about Tiffany’s murder. “It’s always the poor who suffer,” he said. “What did Tiffany ever do to anyone? She liked to have fun, but she wasn’t evil. Her murderer clearly is.”

“You got any ideas?” Nora said. “About who did it, I mean?”

“Oh, I got plenty of ideas,” Joe said. “There are rich people involved, who had a lot to lose if Tiffany told her secrets. Now Sean’s a mighty fine sheriff, but I told him when he asked me, this case is bigger than he thinks. There’s a lot of depth to it. There’s things he doesn’t understand. ”

Or maybe, things he’s involved in. With a sudden sinking feeling in her stomach, Nora remembered what Harvey had told her. Tiffany had come to him saying that Sean was involved in something big. Now the way Harvey put it had made Nora suspect that it was just a tall tale to get money out of him. But Harvey was a good judge of character, and if he didn’t think she was lying, maybe she wasn’t.

But what about Dillon, why hadn’t he shown up? Nora had firsthand experience of how creepy Chase was - did that necessarily mean he was a murderer? Maybe Sean was just looking for somebody to pin the blame on. Someone who the town would just assume had done it. Hadn’t she been almost relieved when Sean suggested that it could be Chase?

“You knew Tiffany well, right Joe?” Nora asked.

“I could tell you a lot about her,” Joe agreed.

She wanted to hear more, but the phone rang. After ignoring it for two rings, Nora picked it up. “Madness Diner. This is Nora speaking.”

“Nora! I’m Dillon. We met yesterday remember? At the bar? Look, I need your help. I don’t know what to do and I’m scared. I need help. Please!”

“Dillon? What happened?”

“I… I was clearing out all of Tiffany’s stuff. I found something. I found something that makes it really obvious…” He took a deep gasping breath. “I can’t talk. They might have tapped her phone.”

“Hang on,” Nora said. “Where are you? I’ll come out at once.”

“I’m at her house,” Dillon said. “But meet me at the bar. There’ll be no one there right now.”

*****

Chapter 17

In fifteen minutes, Nora was at the bar. She’d called Harvey, but not Sean, asking him to be there as fast as possible. Whatever it was that Dillon had found, he seemed very eager to share.

She parked outside, and saw that Harvey was already there, leaning against his car while fiddling with his phone.