Corpse in the Crystal Ball (28 page)

“Wasn’t that just grand?” Granny said hours later after everyone had left, then she did a little jig.

“Oh, yeah, just peachy,” I replied, massaging the base of my skull. “Are you feeling okay, Granny? You’re not acting quite like yourself.”

“I feel great, dear. Better than I have in years. Being in Divinity with my favorite granddaughter must be good for me. I even baked some herbal brownies. I got the recipe from Mother Nature’s Health Shop. Did you know parsley and cilantro help relieve bloating by flushing toxins out of the body? They’re also full of antioxidants and help lower body fat.” She popped the last bite into her mouth and wiped her hands on her apron briskly. “I didn’t think they would be any good, but I have to say they are delicious and nutritious. Imagine that.” She giggled. “They’re out in the kitchen if you want any.” She untied her apron and hung it on the coat tree by the front door.

“Thanks, but I couldn’t eat if I tried. Too much going on.”

“Well, with two fellers, I should say so.” Granny tsked. “Someone’s being very naughty.” She snickered.

I blinked at her.

Oh brother.

“You really do have to make up your mind at some point.” She took her plastic rain cap out from her purse and tied it securely over her white curls, then slipped on her cardigan sweater.

“I was talking about almost getting strangled last night, not my
fellers
, because I don’t have any fellers. Just friends.”

“Someone should tell them that, because both their faces say they’re clearly sweet on you.”

“Like I said before, you really do need to get your glasses fixed.” I puckered my brow. “Where are you going now?”

“To take my road test, silly.”

“Oh my gosh, I completely forgot that was today. Granny, I don’t think—”

“No worries, dearie. I figured as much, so that’s why I asked Captain Walker to take me. He didn’t mind one bit.” She leaned forward and fluttered her lashes, giggling again. “Just between you and me I think he might be sweet on me. Isn’t that just the bee’s knees?”

“Oh my.” Well, what on earth did I say to that? “Um, okay. The keys are by the door. Good luck.”

“Luck schmuck.” She waved a hand at me. “I feel great, and I’m not the least bit nervous. Can you believe it? I don’t know what’s different, but I feel like I could conquer the world right now.” The doorbell rang. “Toodles, dearie.”

She whipped open the door, and Captain Walker’s eye-brows
shot up, one hand hovering in midknock while the other held his hat. “I see you’re ready.”

“I was born ready, you old rascal.” She patted his chest. “Now step out of the way. That road is calling my name.” She bustled by him, snatching the keys off the table on her way.

He looked at me in helpless confusion. “She’s certainly in a peppy mood. I’ve never seen someone so excited to take a road test before.”

“Peppy’s one word for it,” I muttered. My bug roared to life as if to prove a point. “You’d better hurry up. She just might take off without you.”

“I’m on it.” He slapped his hat on his head and ran after her, yelling, “Granny, wait a dang minute. I’m not that fast. Don’t put it in drive yet. Hit the brake, woman!”

Twenty minutes later, there was a knock on the front door. I opened it only to find Captain Walker standing there with the strangest look on his face.

I bit my bottom lip, then blew out a breath. “She failed, didn’t she?”

He just shook his head no.

My eyes sprang wide. “She actually passed?”

“With flying colors.”

“You’re kidding.”

“No, I’m dead serious. I’ve never seen anything like it. It was like she was possessed. She kept spouting the most bizarre comments, and then she ordered me out of the car and barely waited for the examiner to get in. Then it was like someone else took over her body. The examiner said
she whizzed through the test without a single mistake. Got a perfect score.”

“Where is Granny now?”

“Passed out in the car.”

“Excuse me?”

“First she squealed, then she giggled hysterically, then she cried, then she had me drive home and she fell asleep. I think it was all just a bit much for her. I didn’t have the heart to wake her up.” He handed me my keys. “When she comes to, I’m sure she’ll tell you all about it and you can celebrate.”

“Well, thank you, Captain Walker. I’m sure if she was awake she’d thank you herself.”

“She already did.” He cleared his throat, and pink crept above his shirt collar, up his neck, straight to his cheeks. “Smack dab on the lips.” He slapped his hat on his head and touched the rim. “Good day, Miss Meadows.” He turned around and headed to his car, but there was a definite spring in his step.

I jogged out to check on Granny. He’d cracked the windows and covered her with her cardigan sweater. She was passed out cold with her rain cap still firmly in place and her lips tipped up slightly at the corners in a dreamy smile.

I just shook my head and made my way back into the kitchen. Who knew parsley and cilantro could affect a person like that? I searched the kitchen. I didn’t see the herbs Granny had used, but I did see one big mess. She hadn’t cleaned up after herself like she normally would. There were crumbs everywhere along with a trail of dark green flakes.

I grabbed a dishcloth and started cleaning up the kitchen when Morty darted by with something in his mouth. If he
chose now to start killing mice, I was going to flip out. I chased him into the living room where he vaulted onto his favorite perch. The sofa. Hanging out of his mouth was what looked like plastic.

I pried open his jaws and pulled out a plastic bag. A full, unopened bag of Mother Nature’s all-natural parsley-cilantro mix.

If Granny hadn’t used these herbs, then what in the world had she put in the brownies? Carrying the bag into the kitchen, I searched the trash and pulled out an empty plastic bag with a gasp. It didn’t take a genius to guess what Granny’s new ingredient had been.

Ted Baxter’s bag of marijuana!

The police must have missed this bag when they arrested Ted. I glanced at Morty and then narrowed my eyes. His bow tie was missing, and I could swear he had a grin on his face. He gave me a look that said,
It’s not my fault Granny Gert is blind as a bat.

“Morty Meadows, you are in big trouble, mister!”

He yawned and pranced away with his head held high, not looking scared in the least.

The front door opened, and Granny came wobbling inside. “Oh dear me. I don’t know what came over me, but I have a raging headache. I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck.”

“At least you passed your road test.” I smiled wide.

She smiled back. “I did, didn’t I? Imagine that. Funny, I don’t remember half of the experience. I must have had help from an angel today.”

She’d had help, all right, and she’d certainly been flying high, but angels had nothing to do with it. Ms. Mary Jane did. I’d
never tell her, though. My straitlaced Granny would be horrified if she knew the truth.

“I’m starved,” Granny said, joining me in the kitchen. “Any brownies left?”

“No!” I yelled, throwing a dish towel over them. “Ants got into them. Besides, with your headache, I think something of substance is what you need.”

“I think you’re right.” She donned her apron, already looking and acting more like the Granny Gert I knew and loved, thank goodness. “I’ll make us some finger sandwiches.”

“I’ll make the tea,” I said, and chucked her brownies in the trash when she wasn’t looking. What a day I was having so far. It couldn’t possibly get worse, could it?

A couple hours later, the phone rang. “Sunny’s Sanctuary,” I said. “Can I help you?”

“Hi, Sunny, it’s Selena. Can I speak to Granny?”

My spine stiffened. What was Selena doing calling my granny
Granny
as though she were hers? “She’s feeling a little off and is taking a nap,” I said, tight-lipped.

“Oh.” Selena sounded frustrated and a little lost.

I relented. “Is something wrong?”

“Mitch dropped me off at the gym and went for a drive. I told him I’d only be an hour. He was supposed to pick me up, but he’s already a half hour late. I think he forgot about me. I heard Granny passed her road test. I was calling her to ask if she could give me a ride home.”

“I don’t really want to wake her up, but I can give you a ride.”

“Are you sure? You seem sort of upset with me.”

I sighed. “As clichéd as it sounds, it’s not you. It’s me. I’ve had a rough couple of days.”

“I heard. At least they caught the real killer, right?”

“So it seems,” I replied. “I’ll be there in five minutes.”

“Okay, and thanks. I really do appreciate it.”

I hung up and grabbed my keys. Five minutes later I pulled up in front of Wally’s World. Selena stood there in all her perfectness. I repeat, why’d she have to be so nice?

She hopped in the car. “You’re the best. I can’t imagine what happened to Mitch. It’s not like him to leave me alone.” She said it innocently enough and I knew it was true, but it still grated on my nerves.

“I’m sure there’s a good explanation.” I pulled into Mitch’s apartment complex and cut the engine.

“You can just drop me off. You don’t have to come in.”

“I don’t mind, and like you said, Mitch doesn’t like you to be left alone.”

I followed her inside and checked the place out. It wasn’t like I was a real cop or even had a gun, but something made me go through the motions, anyway. Especially after his place had been ransacked not long ago.

It didn’t matter that Ted Baxter had been caught. My intuition said something bad was still lurking out there. Maybe Ted really did have an accomplice. Chuck or Abigail could still be a part of this. Just because Ted was in jail didn’t mean the case was closed in my book.

I was beginning to think my imagination was running away with me again when the phone rang. Selena answered. Her face turned pale, she said she was on her way, and then she hung up.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Mitch.” She swallowed hard. “He’s been in an accident.”

“I-Is he—”

“No. He’s hurt and needs surgery, but he’s going to be okay. Would you mind driving me to the hospital?”

“Already have my keys in hand. Let’s go.”

Ten minutes later we pulled up outside of Mercy Hospital. Another five minutes, and we were waiting outside the recovery room doors. Detective Fuller spotted me and headed our way.

“How bad is he?” I asked, the worst feeling in the pit of my stomach.

“He’s pretty banged up and has a broken leg that had to be reset, but that’s the worst of it. No internal damage. It could have been a lot worse.”

“I don’t get it. Mitch is such a great driver. So careful. How did this happen?” Selena asked.

“Someone cut his brake lines. He said he went into the gym to talk to Wally for a minute when he dropped you off. It must have happened then. Once he picked up speed and headed out of town on the back roads, he had no brakes when he came upon a killer curve. He tried to stop when the brakes went out completely. He’s lucky he’s in such great shape, or the outcome would have been much worse.”

“Someone cut his brake lines?” I asked when Selena walked away to talk to a nurse. “Who would do that?”

“Someone who wanted him out of the way. Someone who thinks Selena knows where the money is. Someone who was working with Ted.”

“I knew it. My cosmic senses were telling me something was wrong. You don’t think this case is over, either, do you?”

“Not by a long shot. Ted Baxter seemed too easy to me.
Don’t get me wrong, he could still be a part of it, but he’s not smart enough to pull this off on his own.”

The doctor came out and told Selena she could see Mitch. They’d moved him to his own room to await surgery and had given him something for the pain, so he was pretty out of it. She headed that way, and I followed her. When I drew up outside the room, a nurse stopped me. She said he could only have one visitor at a time, so I waited outside, but Selena left the door slightly ajar.

“Mitch? I’m here. Can you hear me?” she said softly.

He tossed and turned but obviously wasn’t coherent. I couldn’t see them, but I could hear every word. I’d bide my time, and then when she came out, I would go in and see him.

Mitch started mumbling in his drug-induced sleep. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. I couldn’t help myself. You changed, Izzy. What was I supposed to do?”

“Mitch, it’s Selena, not Isabel. Do you understand?”

“Selena,” Mitch said on a sigh, and his thrashing about settled down. “Selena was so sweet and nice and everything you used to be. I never meant to hurt you. I deserved the scar. I never did ask her to marry me. I couldn’t after locking you up. Now you’re dead. It’s all my fault. Just like Miranda.” His voice slurred, and he fell back into a deep and dreamless slumber.

Meanwhile, my whole world fell apart.

He had been about to ask Selena to marry him, not Isabel. So Selena was the real love of his life …and she was still alive. No wonder he ran every time she beckoned. My heart broke in two as I realized I didn’t stand a chance. I never had.

Selena whispered, “Oh, Mitchie, I never knew.”

I bumped into the door and started to walk away, when Selena poked her head out. “Sunny? Did you want to see Mitch?”

I shook my head on a sad smile. “No, that’s okay. He has you.” I started down the hall.

“Sunny, wait. You don’t—”

“It doesn’t matter.” I kept going, her voice fading to a distant plea as I rounded the corner and broke into a run.

I couldn’t stand there and listen to any more. No matter how much I protested, I could no longer deny my feelings for Mitch. Granny was wrong. I didn’t have to choose. There had only ever been one choice for me.

Mitch.

Only I couldn’t have him, and he’d made it clear he didn’t want me, anyway. I continued until I reached my car. As I fished for my keys in my bag, I felt a pair of eyes on my back. I turned around to tell Selena I wasn’t in the mood to talk right now, but she wasn’t there.

Chuck Webb stood leaning against the hospital wall, smoking a cigarette in the shadows once more. My eyes locked onto his, and chills ran through me. What did he want? Why was he here? Was he following me? Or was he the one who cut Mitch’s brake lines? Was he working with Ted and after the money he thought Selena had?