Elizabeth C. Main - Jane Serrano 02 - No Rest for the Wicked (24 page)

Chapter 24

Sounds of the banter
between Tyler and Laurence floated down the stairs as
Bianca and
I gathered bestsellers to restock the display windows. Their emotional conversation had
certainly cleared the air
.
My thoughts returned to Alix.
Too bad her situation
couldn’t
be resolved with a few words
. When would Nick get back to Juniper? I needed him here, and not just because of our escalating relationship.

Apparently, my expression reflected these concerns. Bianca turned from placing an oversized travel book about Sicily on a stand
.
“
What’s wrong? Aren’t you h
appy about Ty and his grandpa?
”

I continued to place crisp new hardbacks on their stands.
“
Of course. I’m just thinking . .
.
”

“
About Wendell? Don’t worry. I’ve been feeding him scrambled eggs and cottage cheese in case his mouth is still sore, and he eats everything just fine.
”

“
Actually, I wasn’t thinking about Wendell either.
”

“
About Nick then.
”

“
That’s right. As Alix’s attorney, he’ll have much better access to her, and he can advise her on strategy.
”

“
He’ll be back soon.
”
Bianca’s
voice oozed confidence.
“
He won’t stay away from you any longer than he has to. Everybody knows he’s hooked.
”

“
I see. And you’re
some kind of an expert on men?
”

The pitying look she gave me spoke volumes. My beautiful daughter had been the subject of men’s attention for some years now. It was only by luck that no one had yet captured her heart.

I burst out laughing and hugged her.
“
Yes, I guess you are.
For Alix’s sake,
I hope you’re right about Nick getting back soon.
”

“
And for a lot more than that, Mom.
”
Bianca raised her eyebrows significantly, making me feel about ten years old, but she didn’t wait for a response before finishing her airy dismissal of Alix’s very real jeopardy.
“
He’ll help Alix when he gets here, if you haven’t already snagged the killer by then.
”
She checked her watch.
“
I’d better scoot if I’m going to get to that appointment. I’d love to skulk around with you, watch you solve the murder
.
”
S
he looked wistful at the idea
.
“
B
ut I have to take care of business until Alix is
free
. You have your job and I have mine. Would you like to take Wendell
with you
?
”

I’d forgotten about Alix’s appointment to talk to some woman today about wedding flowers, but Bianca hadn’t. In fact, Bianca’s general calmness about Alix’s arrest had puzzled me, but now I got it. While Bianca discussed the merits of red or white roses at the Wedding Belle, I was supposed to catch a murderer and clear Alix’s name. Simple, right?
Bianca seemed to think so.

“
That’s okay
.
You take Wendell. He’s probably very good at choosing flowers.
”

*
* * *
*

Under normal circumstances, I’d have found it entertaining to deal with the indignation of Thelma Garstrom who couldn’t believe that Thornton’s didn’t have a picture book featuring the marble-toed woodpecker of Argentina. Under normal circumstances, I’d be looking forward to getting off work and telling Nick about my day as we relaxed over an Australian Shiraz and a plate of garlicky Greek olives. But nothing was normal at the moment. Bianca might assume that the Bookstore Heroine could just walk out the door and nab a killer on the sidewalk, but when I looked out the window, I di
dn’t see any likely candidates.

True to his word
, Laurence had
gone to
the Sheriff’s Department to report the incident with the strange man he’d encountered, but he’d been informed that Sheriff Kraft was busy and would get back to him later.
To me, that sounded ominous
,
but
I came up empty when I tried to think of anything else I could be doing now to help Alix
.

I continued to shelve books while willing Nick to call. Even
supposing
he did, I could imagine his incredulity at my recitation of recent events.
From the
ridiculous
casino
trip
to
Alix
’s
arrest,
things had certainly spun out of control since he left. I didn’t even want to think about
the
disastrous
SOS meeting
. As far as I
knew,
Minnie and Velda were still out harassing Phil and Eileen Hedstrom over absolutely nothing. Nick might well decide to turn around and head right back over the mountains to deal with the relative
ly
sane activity of pursuing timber thieves.

The door burst open and banged against the wall. Minnie and Velda, red-cheeked and out of breath, raced inside, mouths open and ready to tell me about their latest adventure. They skidded to a halt at the sight of a customer at the counter.

Making a fast recovery, Minnie advanced on the startled Thelma and enveloped her in a bear hug.
“
Welcome home. How was the cruise?
”

Thelma disentangled herself from Minnie’s grasp.
“
Everything I could have hoped for. Lectures on native birds every morning and evening, jungle hikes midday, tapes of bird calls to put
us
to sleep at night. It was magical.
”

“
But the buffet.
”
Minnie moved right to her favorite topic.
“
How was the buffet?
”

“
Truth be told, I hardly noticed.
”

“
Really
?
”
Surprise arched Minnie’s eyebrows.
“
I’d heard … the warm crullers for breakfast, the savory crab bisque for lunch, the won tons stuffed with tiny
shrimp.
”

“
Yes, yes, I know people rave about dining on cruises, but when I have a chance to see a red-fronted coot or a two-banded plover, all thoughts of food just go right out of my head.
”

“
You don’t say.
”
Minnie’s astonishment matched her ample waistline. Nothing drove food from her thoughts.

“
People tell me I have the appetite of a bird. Isn’t that appropriate?
”
Thelma looked expectantly at us until we laughed politely at the well-worn joke.

I followed up.
“
S
hould I order that book for you? Be here in a couple of days.
”
I fiddled with the order blank to avoid staring at the woman’s sharp nose and tiny round eyes. Maybe Thelma was actually related to those marble-toed woodpeckers.

“
I guess I can wait that long. Go ahead. So nice to see you, Minnie, and
—
”

“
Where are my manners? Thelma Garstrom, this is my good friend Velda Kubek.
”

“
Do you like birds, Velda?
We have a group you might enjoy—
”

“
That would be wonderful.
”
Velda’s soft voice made a nice change from Minnie’s booming contralto.
“
I’d love to join you sometime if … if I can get away.
”

“
Velda cares for her aunt—you know, Eleanor McKay,
”
Minnie explained.
“
Maybe I can watch Eleanor for you sometime, Velda, so you can go.
”

“
Oh, would you? That would be such a treat.
”

“
Can’t think why it didn’t occur to me before. Of course you need a break now and then.
”
Minnie turned back to Thelma.
“
Give me a call before the next meeting.
”

“
I’ll do that. Nice to meet you
,
Velda.
”

Grasping the startled woman by the elbow,
Minnie
ushered
Thelma
toward the door.

“
You must have a million things to do after yo
ur trip, so we won’t keep you.
”
She waved a cheery goodbye and closed the door firmly behind Thelma before striding back to the counter, her company manners erased as though by magic.
“
Arnie showed up at Phil and Eileen’s house. Pulled in right behind us
, made a lot of noise about a possible complaint for harassment
. They must’ve called him on a cell phone when they saw we were following them. Talk about rude.
”

“
You can’t exactly blame them, the way you attacked them at the meeting,
”
I said.

“
Minnie merely asked for a simple answer,
”
Velda said.
“
No need for them to take such offense.
”

Could Velda seriously support Minnie’s position? One look at her earnest face told me she
did
, but I couldn’t help making one last stab at normalcy.
“
Minnie demanded an answer. Doesn’t
that strike you as offensive?
”

“
And why shouldn’t they have given one, if they were innocent?
”
Minnie and Velda exchanged virtuous nods.
“
Could’ve saved everybody a lot of trouble.
”

“
And saved Arnie a trip out to their house. Terrible waste of taxpayers’ money,
”
Velda added.
“
Their trip to the casino shouldn’t have been any big secret.
”

“
Right,
”
Minnie said.

“
Maybe it wasn’t a secret.
Maybe they just didn’t feel it was any of your business.
”
I knew I was talking to myself, with no hope of convincing them. I was looking at two stone walls.
“
So, after all this fuss and furor, did you ever discover what they were doing at the casino?
”

After a pause, Minnie replied sullenly.
“
Outreach for their church-sponsored AA group. Helping some young man.
”

I couldn’t help needling her.
“
So Operation Hollow Feather caught them doing a good deed?
”

“
When they wouldn’t answer my questions, naturally that made me suspect—
”

“
—that they were murderers,
”
I said.
“
How could they have possibly found that offensive?
”
Minnie didn’t seem to have anything more to say on the subject, so I prompted her.
“
Unless they happened
to confess to murdering Hunter Blackburn.
”

“
No.
”
Minnie sounded bitter.

Velda cast a sidelong glance at her friend.
“
They were the keynote speakers at a revival in Woodburn the day the murder took place.
”

“
With
three hundred
witnesses,
”
Minnie added glumly.

Hiding a smile, I turned away to answer the telephone.

“
Can you talk?
”
The strain in Alix’s voice caused me to hesitate for an instant before replying.

Both Minnie and Velda had pricked up their ears.
“
Alix?
”
They asked in unison.

I placed my hand over the receiver and grabbed an order form. I didn’t want to lie to them, but I certainly didn’t want them in
the conversation.

Apparently, I was successful in deflecting their interest.