“I’m sure that murder is
not
a good picnic topic, Lulu,” said Evelyn. But she relented at Lulu’s hangdog expression and sighed. “Okay. I’ll admit it is the most interesting subject du jour. And . . . I did have something to tell you, although I was going to pick a better, less-public time.” She hesitated.
“Well don’t stop there!” said Lulu. “For heaven’s sake, spill the beans.”
“I was at the Peabody myself that afternoon,” said Evelyn, pausing for dramatic effect. She got it, too.
“
What?
” chorused everyone.
“This is the gossipy part of my story,” Evelyn explained. “Yes, I was at the Peabody, having an assignation with a gentleman I’ve been seeing for a little while.” They all gaped at her. “Not in a
room
. In the lobby, for heaven’s sake. We were having afternoon drinks. And you know how vast that lobby is, filled with sofas and arm chairs and tables and people. And ducks. The woman was there, but she clearly either didn’t see me, didn’t recognize me, or didn’t care.”
“Rebecca, you mean?” asked Lulu in a hushed voice that somehow seemed more appropriate when speaking of the dead while on a springtime picnic.
“Yes. I didn’t know she was there until she came right up close to me, talking on her phone. She was wandering off and talking on the phone, just like she did at Aunt Pat’s that day. Except I guess she didn’t see me there with my back to her because she walked right toward me. And she was fussing at some loan creditor. Really letting them have it for harassment.” Evelyn gave an emphatic bob of her head. “And we thought she was rolling in money with her Chanel sunglasses and designer clothes.”
This news, however interesting it might be, wasn’t a major surprise to Lulu. Rebecca Adrian had tried to blackmail Seb, after all. And she had a feeling about the very next thing Evelyn was going to say. Sure enough: “So then she wrapped up her rant and went back to her table, when what should happen but yet another phone call for Miss Thing. She wanders over near me again, and you’ll never guess who she’s talking to this time.” Evelyn peered at Lulu anxiously.
“Seb?” she said quietly.
Evelyn leaned back. “How’d you guess, Lulu? I thought Seb and she had never even met each other. I know he’s a smooth operator, but—”
“Actually, it’s a smaller world than we all thought it was. Apparently Seb and Miss Thing dated each other for a while in New York. Crazy, isn’t it?” Lulu said.
This time it was Lulu that everyone gaped at. “Really? He went out with that woman?” asked Cherry. “I thought Seb had more sense.”
“Well, maybe he does, but not when it comes to women.”
Evelyn broke back into the conversation to take the spotlight again. “Well, I’ve been meaning to tell you about this, Lulu, like I mentioned. But it sounds like you already knew. I guess the police know, too?” When Lulu nodded, Evelyn said, “Just as well. We know he didn’t have anything to do with her death, but the police would want to know they were old flames.”
Cherry said, “Actually, I might have some information, too. I didn’t know I did, though. I heard Seb on his phone the morning of the tasting. I’d gone to the gas station to fill up my bike. Seb was there, but I saw he was on his phone, so I didn’t try to say hi. Then I was really glad I didn’t say hi when I realized he was having a blazing argument with somebody on his phone. It sounded like women troubles, which didn’t really surprise me at all, knowing Seb. All I could gather on my end was that he’d been accused of cheating on somebody.”
Lulu tried to digest this tidbit. “So you’re thinking he had an argument with Rebecca Adrian? That maybe she was ragging him for cheating on her in New York a while ago?”
Cherry said, “Well, that could have been true. But the explanation that I like so much better is that maybe Seb and
Lurleen
were arguing the morning Rebecca died. Since we know that Seb and Lurleen were an item, maybe Lurleen got real jealous of Rebecca—maybe she thought they were trying to reignite an old flame. She could have gone all
Fatal Attraction
on him and killed her competition!”
Lulu said slowly, “As appealing a solution as that would be, I just don’t see it. That seems like an awfully severe reaction to the possibility of some cheating.”
“Maybe it’s something to tell the police, though. The next time we have to talk to them,” said Cherry. There was no reasoning with her when she was being insistent. That was her theory, and she was going to stick with it, no matter what. “And you know what? That woman needs a makeover. Is she
trying
to look like Wonder Woman? She’s got those clunky gold bracelets on and keeps wearing Fourth of July colors for that dumb Hog Heaven Loves America theme of hers. I keep thinking she’s got an invisible jet parked out back somewhere.”
“She’s a brazen hussy,” said Jeanne with some degree of venom.
Evelyn heaved a dramatic sigh. “Well, if you’re going to be a hussy, Jeanne, it’s best not to be a meek one. My sympathy lies with Seb, though. Like him, I used to be unwise with my relationships. But then I realized that I needed to really think about who I went out with. Not treat it like a fling, but like the beginning of something that could last a lifetime.” She flung back her head and let the wind blow her hair back around her shoulders. “Love is too important to treat cheaply.”
Suddenly, their quiet picnic was interrupted by the roar of a Jet Ski and an enthusiastic, “Hoo-boy!” Lulu blinked as Evelyn did an abrupt about-face and started waving to the sunglassed younger man on the Jet Ski. “Hey there! I’m thinking about buying one of those things. Mind if I go for a test ride with you?”
“Sure, sweetheart! Hop on!” he shouted as he pulled up to the boat.
“Evelyn,” said Lulu, “uh . . . what about us going back to the house?”
“Y’all will be
fine
! Enjoy your picnic, and I’m sure motorcyclin’ Cherry can maneuver that boat home when you’re done.” Her last words were nearly swallowed whole by the ruckus the Jet Ski made as the young man soared away on the top of the water.
“Well, my
God
,” said Peggy Sue. “And off she goes with a handsome stranger on a Jet Ski. So this is how the other half lives.”
“Sounds like an invitation to fornication to me,” said Jeanne. She pressed her lips together tightly. Then she said, “I think it was that wine she drank. And now what
will
we do, stranded on the lake with no captain?”
Everyone looked at Cherry. She lifted her hands in protest. “Hey, I never said I could pilot a boat, y’all. We could just wait to see if our hostess comes right back.”
But nobody thought that was a good idea. After all, Evelyn hadn’t
said
she was planning on coming back and rescuing them at all.
“I could call the police,” suggested Peggy Sue. “I think they have a boat patrol out here.”
“And how excited would they be to rescue a bunch of middle-aged ladies from a picnic?” said Jeanne.
Lulu said, “Cherry, I think you’re our only hope. Think you can give it a go?”
Cherry puffed out a breath in consternation and put on her helmet. “Okay.” She turned the key gingerly, pulled a lever, and turned a wheel, and sure enough they were moving through the water. Everyone groaned with relief. At least, they did until Cherry said, “Anybody remember where Evelyn’s lake house is? All these coves look alike!”
Actually, no one had taken any notice at all of how they’d arrived at their picnic spot. After all, they weren’t anticipating being stranded there without their captain.
And so began an hour of cruising through different nooks and crannies of Pickwick Lake. Although it was a very picturesque cruise, to be sure, it was one marked by Cherry’s quick confidence behind the boat’s wheel—and her rapid transition to speedy piloting, which made Lulu more than a little seasick.
Finally, Flo caught sight of Evelyn’s house. “There! There it is!” she cried, standing up in her excitement before quickly falling down on the deck as the boat crested some waves from another watercraft.
“All right, girls, I’m steerin’ her in. Somebody jump out when we get near the dock and rope her up, okay?”
“I’ll try to,” said Jeanne in a trembling voice.
Cherry fired the motor and steered the boat toward the dock. She tried to cut the motor and idle the boat to the dock. But something happened and the motor revved instead of idled. And Evelyn’s dock would never be quite the same again.
The next few minutes were a blur to Lulu. The Graces whooped and hollered, the dock fell apart, and Tommie ran down the stairs to the boat, cussing Evelyn out and trying to direct them in. They ended up dropping anchor and giving up on docking the boat to anything at all.
You’d have thought that the afternoon, like the dock, couldn’t have been salvaged. But Tommie became the world’s best hostess in the absence of their original hostess. They swam in the heated saltwater swimming pool and had the most succulent supper of shrimp and grits that you could possibly imagine. Cherry suggested they play canasta, which Tommie was a whiz at, and they stayed up much later than they’d planned, laughing, dealing the cards, and delving thoroughly into Evelyn’s extensive wine collection.
The next day dawned hot and humid. Evelyn had come in pretty late the night before and seemed not at all concerned by the wrecked dock on her property. The breakfast the next morning was mouthwatering—a quiche lorraine, bacon, and poached eggs on toast. By the time Lulu had eaten all that food, she decided to have a second cup of coffee so she wouldn’t turn around and head straight back for the bed.
Evelyn had decided to stay on at Pickwick Lake for another day. The gossip in the car was lively as they considered her motives behind this extended stay. “I just know it’s because of that boy,” said Cherry.
“That boy is her son’s age!” said Jeanne. “He must be in his midtwenties.” But she wasn’t all that shocked, by the sound of it.
“All the better!” said Flo. And the others were just glad Flo was still in an upbeat mood.
Lulu was delighted to see Big Ben, Morty, and Buddy at the restaurant when she arrived. “Good to see y’all here. I wanted to let you know that Ben called me last night and said the place was jam-packed with folks. I’m absolutely convinced it’s because of y’all. They’re all still talking about the music you played.”
Morty tried and failed to look modest. “Well, we do have a good time playing it. I guess people are bound to have a good time when they listen to it, too.”
“It sure brought me out of the doldrums,” said Lulu. “And it brought the balance sheet out of the red. Y’all have a seat and enjoy yourselves. I’ll bring you a pitcher of sweet tea.”
“That’s the kind of welcome I like,” said Buddy.
“What’s happening?” bellowed Big Ben.
“Sweet tea,” yelled Buddy back. “Can’t you put your ears in? I’m tired of hollering at you!”
Big Ben glared at Buddy but obediently took the hearing aid case out of his pocket. “Interfering friends,” he muttered.
They settled into the rockers on the screen porch and rocked until the wooden floorboards creaked. Morty unfurled the newspaper and handed Big Ben the local section, Buddy the sports and comics, and reserved the A section for himself. Big Ben flapped open the local section with a flourish. Buddy peered over at it.
“What kind of nonsensical headline is that?” he asked.
Big Ben was still miffed. He looked at Buddy down his nose. “What are you griping about now?”
“The headline there. Who wrote such a thing? ‘Ninetyone-year-old Found Dead.’” Buddy snorted.
Morty raised his eyebrows. “What kind of a story is that? Was it a slow news day?”
Big Ben said with great dignity, “I think there’s more to the story than that. Otherwise, it would hardly be newsworthy.” He disappeared pointedly behind the paper. Morty and Buddy exchanged glances. When Big Ben got in a snit, it took a while to jolly him out of it.
Lulu came out on the porch with a big pitcher of sweet tea and some glasses full of ice cubes. A waitress behind her put down a plate of hot corn bread on a table.
Lulu sat down in a rocker. “Is it too hot to sit out here this morning?”
Morty said, “It’s hot, but with the fans and the tea, I think we’ll be okay. I like to sit here and look at all the people going by on Beale.” He looked thoughtfully at the waitress as she went back into the dining room. “Where’s Sara? I haven’t seen her around lately.” Lulu frowned, and he added quickly, “No complaints about the service, Lulu. I was only wondering where she was. She’s not been down in the dumps about that scout, has she?”
Lulu mentally kicked herself. She’d been so busy focusing on trying to investigate this murder that she wasn’t paying enough attention to her family. “I hope not, Morty. I’m afraid Sara has dropped off my radar. I went to Pickwick Lake with the Graces for a getaway. But I’m hoping Sara wasn’t too upset about Miss Adrian. After all, the woman was a food scout. She wasn’t any kind of an art expert.”
“Or,” Buddy added, “a literature expert. Poor Mildred. Have you seen her around at all?”
“Actually, she was here the other night. I was glad to see her. It sounded like she’d decided not to take Miss Adrian’s opinion too seriously.” She rocked silently for a minute. “Come to think of it, Sara hasn’t been coming in to work at the normal times lately. Maybe I better find out what’s going on.” She looked up as the screen door opened and Seb came in.
“Seb!” It was good to see him and see him looking like
Seb
again. He was clean and shaven and wore clean, pressed clothes. Big Ben lowered his paper briefly to smile at Seb, who always made small talk with him. It was a lot easier to talk to Seb now that he’d ditched those wild herringbone shirts. They’d given him vertigo.
Seb carried a laptop bag and looked ready to work. “Don’t look so surprised to see me, Mother,” he drawled. “I did tell you I’d come in to work today. It sounds like the office is well on its way to imploding without my guiding hand.”