Seb looked surprised, then frowned. “Oh, I see. So that’s why you were suddenly so interested in Pickle, Mother. You were trying to catch Lurleen out in a lie.”
“Great. Just great. So you fouled that up, too,” said Lurleen. “No wonder your mother figured out I was involved.”
Lurleen was getting more agitated, so Lulu cut into the conversation. “What happened with Mildred exactly?”
“Well,” drawled Lurleen. “She was murdered.”
Lulu tried hard not to let Lurleen’s shocking lack of feeling rile her up. “Yes, but how did it come about? She set up one of her meetings with you, right?”
“She did. I guess she was trying to play detective, so she was ready to ask all kinds of questions about what I’d been doing at the Peabody. Apparently, she’d seen me leaning over Rebecca’s drink, although my back was facing her, so she wasn’t positive I’d put something in there or not. But no one else knew I was on the scene except for Flo, and she didn’t even think twice about the explanation I’d given her.”
“So you strangled Mildred,” said Lulu with a shiver.
“I didn’t
want
to,” said Lurleen, rolling her eyes. “For heaven’s sake, you’d think I was some sort of crazy killer. The whole Rebecca thing was an accident—basically a prank gone wrong. I didn’t deserve to go to
jail
for something like that. But Mildred was one of those snoops who was determined to make trouble. She was acting like she was a detective, trying to solve the case. Nosy. I tried just to
warn
her off. I sent her that letter. But she was still interviewing suspects at her bookstore. Then she seemed convinced it was me. She was going to expose me, and I was going to end up in jail. I had to stop her. Just like I have to stop you,” said Lurleen calmly.
Seb gave Lurleen a stony stare. Lulu was most disturbed by the way her son seemed to have already accepted that Lurleen was going to shoot and kill his mother and then dump her body somewhere. He was going to be seriously piqued over it, but that was his only reaction. “What was Seb’s involvement in all this? How did it come about?”
Seb looked at his mother balefully. “Simple. I came back to Memphis, started dating Lurleen, and got mixed up in her crazy plan and cover up.”
“Not
that
simple, Seb. Your drug addiction had a little something to do with it, too, you know. The fact that I have some connections that can keep you in your drug of choice for a while. Although I didn’t realize how weak you were. I thought you would actually be able to slip out of the office and put a little something in the woman’s food. After all, you wanted to get back at her for the blackmailing attempt just as much as I wanted to get her sick to get bad publicity for Aunt Pat’s.” Lurleen looked disgusted.
“It wasn’t that easy for me,” groaned Seb. “I told you that already. That’s why I decided not to go into work that day. I told you on the phone that morning that I didn’t want any part of it.”
“Well, because you knew about the plan and everything, you’re as guilty as I am, Seb. I hope you know that. You’re an accessory. And you’ll be named an accessory in the bookstore woman’s death, too. You knew what the plan was ahead of time. You even took the kid’s jacket so we could plant some evidence against him.”
Lulu’s heart skipped a beat. She had not wanted to believe that Seb would have anything to do with poor Mildred’s death. “Tell me you didn’t have anything to do with that.”
Seb didn’t say anything.
Lurleen said, “Your baby boy had plenty to do with it, and don’t let him tell you otherwise. He knew that Mildred had seen not only me at the Peabody, but Seb in the parking lot. You see, after I found out that Seb had chickened out at the restaurant, I asked him to go ahead and try again at the Peabody. I figured it would be much easier for
him
to make an excuse to see Rebecca. After all, they’d dated each other. Or Seb could say something to her about the blackmailing again. But he chickened out of that, too.”
Lulu said, “So when Derrick heard you talking on the phone in the parking lot, you were actually talking to Lurleen; telling her that you weren’t going to go in. That you didn’t care about the blackmailing.”
“Which meant that I had to come over to the Peabody on some trumped up reason. Rebecca looked like she was in such a black mood that I don’t think she ever even noticed that I was there. But I saw Flo there and had to give her an excuse, so it was just as well that I’d come prepared with a story. When I told Seb that I was going to try to sneak something into her drink, he said the cameraman had mentioned that she always wandered away to take her cell phone calls. Finally I got him to help me out. He called Rebecca from the parking lot so she’d leave the table for a minute.”
“And Mildred saw both of you at the Peabody. Which wouldn’t have been significant at all, except for the fact that Rebecca was murdered. So she wanted to talk to both of you.”
“She wanted to talk to both of us. First Seb went, the day before Mildred died. He was trying to figure out what exactly she knew. That way, if it really wasn’t anything important, we could let it slide. But he found out, by chatting the crazy thing up a little bit, that she knew about
me
being there. And she knew that I had been leaning over Rebecca’s drink. So it was clear that we were going to have to take care of that. I didn’t even know she was at the Peabody when I was there. Seb knew the plan, but he had the stupidity to go drink and drive right before we were going to go through with it. But he’d have been right there on the scene if he hadn’t been at 201 Poplar.”
Now Seb could no longer meet his mother’s eyes.
“So I had to do the job myself. And then you came in, Lulu. You just couldn’t stop nosing around, could you? I had to clock you. I looked around real quick to make sure I’d planted Derrick’s jacket that Seb had gotten for me and that I hadn’t left anything else behind. Then I got the hell out of there.
“And now,” said Lurleen, “we’ve got you on our hands again. I’ve stopped believing that Seb can be any help at all to me. Obviously I’m going to have to take care of this myself.”
Seb said in a quiet voice, “Lurleen, let Mother go. She’s not going to tell anybody about this. Are you, Mama?”
“I absolutely am,” said Lulu in a deadly serious voice. “As soon as I get away from you, I’m calling the police. I can’t believe the two of you and all the misery you’ve caused. It’s time for it to be over.”
“Yes. It’s time for it to be over—for you,” said Lurleen. She pressed the gun into Lulu’s leg. “Come on, let’s get out of here. And don’t make a sound or I’ll shoot you right here in the park.”
“You’re going to have to shoot me in the park, then, Lurleen. I’m not going off to some remote location with you,” said Lulu.
“Okay, have it your way. As long as nobody knows who I am, I can still get away with it. I’ll get ready to run.” Lurleen put on a huge pair of sunglasses as the sun shone down on her glossy black hair. Seb put his arm around Lurleen.
“Can’t we talk about this honey? Just for a minute?”
Just then, a man shot out from the trees behind them. “Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!” he yelled as he tackled Lurleen and Seb at one time and whaled on them with both fists.
Seb and Lurleen were so taken by surprise that they were easily overcome by the attack. In the scuffle, Lurleen’s gun went flying—a yard from Lulu’s feet. Lulu scooped it up and pointed it, shaking, toward the three on the ground, not sure if her savior was as bad as the rest of them. There was screaming around them in the park and the music stopped playing.
An angel, reflected Lulu later, in the form of Big Ben had appeared suddenly on the scene. He’d decided that he was a grown man and could get his very own bottle of Domaine Vincent Dauvissat Chablis Les Preuses. He was just picking it up from the wine store off Beale when he saw Lulu holding a gun on three people. He drew in his breath, dropped the bottle to the ground, and started a stiff, arthritic run to the policeman he’d passed in the street seconds before.
Chapter 19
The sweet tea was very refreshing. But Lulu had the feeling she was soon going to need something completely different: and alcohol based.
Detective Bryce had, by now, gotten every little bit of information that she knew out of her. Lulu could tell he wasn’t too pleased. He kept pressing his lips together when she mentioned piecing the clues together. Well, at least he should be happy she solved his case for him. Lulu only wished she had something to celebrate herself. Despite having grown apart from her son, Seb was still her baby. And the fact he would surely be on his way to prison felt like a knife stabbing her right in the heart. She’d already called Jed, their lawyer. She felt it was the least she could do, considering she blamed herself somehow for Seb’s fall into crime.
She wearily said, “Are we about done, Detective Bryce? I feel really weary and still need to thank my hero, Big Ben, for calling the police. I don’t know how long I’d have been able to hold that gun on those three, and things at the park were getting crazy. They might have jumped me to take it back, or I might have accidentally fired off a shot and hurt them or an innocent bystander. Or one of the people at the blues concert might have decided that
I
was the dangerous one and wrestled the gun away from me while Lurleen went free.”
Detective Bryce said gently, “I have full confidence that you would have been able to do anything necessary to get safely out of the situation. And you would have been well within your rights.”
He stood up to leave. “You know, though, the identity of the real hero is complicated. I think most people would think it was Virgil. After all, he’s the one who knocked the gun out of Lurleen Ashton’s hands. He’s the one who stopped you from being moved from one location to another. Maybe he’s the hero.”
Lulu looked at him with surprise. “Well, I didn’t think of that. He’s an antihero, isn’t he? It was just a series of fortunate events for me. Or maybe, it was my guardian angel looking out for me. What are the chances that Virgil would be convinced that dark-haired Lurleen Ashton was Flo in a wig? What are the chances that he’d even be passing the park at that time?”
“I believe he knew that you and Flo spent time together, so maybe when Virgil saw
you
, he decided you must be with Flo. And Lurleen’s hair is so black it’s almost unnatural. Plus, her sunglasses apparently matched Flo’s, too.”
“And,” mulled Lulu, “when he saw Flo in the presence of a nice-looking man who was putting his arm around her, he went absolutely wild. Thank goodness.”
There was a soft rap on the office door, and Detective Bryce left through the door past Big Ben, who smiled in at Lulu. “Are you okay?” he asked (softly, since he’d turned up his hearing aid).
“Thanks to you I am,” said Lulu, giving him a big hug. “I simply can’t thank you enough. You sure were at the right place at the right time.”
“You were already taking care of yourself pretty well when I got there,” said Big Ben, as he took a seat in the office. “You looked like Annie Oakley standing there.”
“Yes, but if they’d jumped on me to take the gun away, I wouldn’t have shot them,” said Lulu. “It’s just not something I could have done. So grabbing that policeman made all the difference in the world.”
There was a deep, harrumphing cough behind them, and they turned to see Buddy and Morty at the office door. “Mind if we come in?” asked Buddy.
“We were so glad to hear you were okay,” said Morty, giving Lulu a tight hug.
“When we heard the story from Big Ben, we couldn’t believe it,” said Buddy. “And we are so sorry about Seb. We know you’ve got to be sick over it, Lulu.”
Lulu sighed. “I really am. But I’m coming around to the way of thinking that Seb was an adult who made his own choices, bad and good. He clearly is in no shape to be out in society right now. I’d like to think that deep down, Seb
is
a good man who made some awful decisions because of drugs. Maybe this will be a wake-up call for him. Or maybe he can get the help he really needs there.”
Buddy lifted up an arm to show he carried a canvas tote bag. He said hesitantly, “I thought it might be best, Lulu, if we could somehow focus on some of the good things about today. I knew what a blow Seb’s arrest is for you. So I started thinking about some of the good things that happened today.”
Lulu smiled. “I’m liking the way you think, Buddy. I’ll start and make mine about Seb. He’s still young enough to turn his life around. And Jed says the charges won’t be as severe as Lurleen’s, since he was an accessory after the fact, or something.”
Morty said, “And that wicked Virgil is off the streets and won’t be bothering Flo anymore. They’ve locked him up good.”
Lulu brightened. “That’s true. And Detective Bryce said that he was wanted in Mississippi for a whole slew of things. It sounds like he’s going to be in the slammer for quite a while.”
Big Ben chimed in. “And everybody can breathe easier now that they’re not under suspicion of murder anymore.”
“And the murders have been avenged,” said Lulu. “And”—she got up to hug Big Ben again—“my dear friend, with his quick thinking, averted a major crisis at the park, possibly saving my life or others’ lives.”
Buddy put a tote bag on the desk. He said, “Keeping these good things in mind, and, considering the need for a little something alcoholic under such circumstances, I hope my friends will join me in a drink.”
Big Ben said in a breathless voice, “Is that what I think it is?”
“If you’re thinking it’s the Domaine Vincent Dauvissat Chablis Les Preuses, then you’re right. Because,” added Buddy, “it’s not every day that I get to celebrate one friend saving the life of another.”
He reached into the tote bag again and pulled out another bottle of the same label. “This one is for you, Big Ben. Your allowing that bottle of wine to bust on the asphalt to run to take care of Lulu kind of put it all into perspective for me.”