Perplexity on P1/2 (Parson's Cove Mysteries) (4 page)

     I stood just inside the door and looked around. It was not a large room. The one florescent light in the middle of the ceiling, along with the white cupboards and the steel table, made the room look colorless and lifeless - like the body, covered by a white sheet, stretched out on a gurney a few feet in front of me. Cold sweat formed on my forehead and my heart pounded in my ears. One thing, I couldn’t do - I couldn’t faint and have Nurse Grappley find me. Just imagining her wrath brought oxygen to my brain. I tiptoed over to the motionless white mound, instinctively watching for any slight movement.

     My hand trembled as I lifted the cloth from the woman’s face. I didn’t realize I’d gasped until I heard my own echo. It sounded deafening, alien. I lowered the sheet.

     This was a stranger to Parson’s Cove but not to me.

     Grace Hobbs looked exactly the same as I’d seen her, only a few days before. The only difference was the small reddish-purple bullet hole between her eyes.

Chapter Four

     Reg held up his hand. “Mabel, I don’t have time for you this morning. Captain Maxymowich will be here any minute now. If you’re still concerned about that silly phone message, you’ll have to wait. I have a much more serious crime to solve.” Tiny beads of sweat covered his forehead and it looked as though he’d applied Flori’s rouge to his whole face. “Why aren’t you in your shop anyway?” he snipped at me.

     I’d barely gotten my body inside the door and there Reg stood, glaring at me, judging me, and looking like he was stopping traffic in the middle of a busy intersection in New York City.

     “Reg,” I said, looking him right in the eyes and putting my hands on my hips. “I think you might want to hear what I have to say.”

     He shook his head. “No, Mabel, you have absolutely nothing that I want to hear. Scully,” he said, as he turned towards the other side of the room, “show Miss Wickles the way out.” With that, he walked to his office and shut the door.

     “I know where the door is, Reg,” I yelled. “I just walked through it.” I waited a moment and then yelled louder, “I also know who the dead woman in the morgue is.”

     Slowly, ever so slowly, Reg’s office door squeaked open. He peered around the corner.

     “What did you say?” (Now I know what writers mean when they say a person’s face is as black as thunder.)

     “I said I know who the dead woman is. You know, there was a woman murdered, right here in Parson’s Cove?”

     “Of course I know a woman was murdered right here in Parson’s Cove.” He stepped up to me and placed his finger on my chest. “What I would like to know is how do you know
who
was murdered, right here in Parson’s Cove?”

     Scully and Jim, our always alert and conscientious deputies, moved closer. I could swear there was a smirk on Scully’s lips. Reg, on the other hand, was not smiling. His lips were curled and his breathing was not what I would consider normal. No wonder the man has high blood pressure.

     “What’s going on here, Mabel?” he growled. “If you think this is some kind of joke, you know I won’t hesitate for one moment to lock you up for mischief. You know that, don’t you? I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again.” He removed his finger from my chest, placed his hands on his hips and glowered.

     Reg can be quite intimidating when he wants to be. After all, I’m barely over five feet tall and he’s over six. He’s also hefty. For a man who should be retired, I imagine he could still throw a mean punch. With that thought in mind, I backed up against the door.

     He continued, “This woman is not from Parson’s Cove. Trust me, Miss Wickles, you do
not
know her. You have never seen her before in your life. Do you understand me?”

      “But that’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. Yes, I have seen her before. You won’t let me get a word in. I do know that woman. I went to the morgue and had a look.”

     I thought his eyes would pop out of his head. Scully and Jim, on the other hand, replaced their smirks with unadulterated adoration.

     “You what?” he bellowed. His face turned a brighter shade of red and a vein in his neck started to pulsate.

     “I went to the morgue and had a look.”

     “I know what you said.” He closed his eyes and ran his hand over his balding head. “All right,” he said with a sigh. “Who is this woman? And, I suppose while I’m at it, I should ask if you already know who killed her?” The last sentence he said wearing a mordant smirk on his lips.

     “Of course, I don’t know who killed her. How would I know that? I can tell you her name though - it’s Grace Hobbs. She won a trip to Las Vegas too. The same one I was on.”

     The three stood and gaped at me.

     “Now, Reg,” I said. “Do you believe that my life might be in danger too? That the message on my machine is threatening? That perhaps, there’s a madman out there, killing everyone who won that trip?” My legs felt wobbly. “Do you think I’ll be the next one to have a bullet through the brain?”

Chapter Five

     When I opened my eyes, I was lying on the cot in the cell. Reg stood over me, looking very concerned and waving a magazine in front of my face.

     “Would you stop that, Reg?” I said. “You almost hit me with that thing.”

     Jim pushed in front of Reg with a glass of water. “Here, Mabel, take a drink.” He lifted the back of my head with one hand and put the glass to my lips.

     I grabbed the glass and struggled to sit up. “I can drink by myself, Jim. What do you want to do? Drown me?”

     Water was just what I needed. I took my time and emptied the glass. The three stood watching, not saying a word.

     “What happened?” I asked.

     All three started talking at once.

     “Shut up, you two,” Reg yelled. He turned to me. “You passed out, Mabel, but don’t worry, we called Dr. Fritz and he’ll be here any minute.”

     I stood up, feeling a bit shaky but not shaky enough to be prodded by Fritzy.

     “I’m not waiting for him,” I said. “Flori will be at the shop with breakfast. She’ll be worried sick about me. I’m fine.”

     Reg clasped his hand around my wrist. “Sorry, but you aren’t going anywhere. Sit right down there. Scully, you get hold of Flori and tell her where Mabel is.”

     “Sure thing, boss. I’ll head over to the shop right now.”

     “You don’t drive over there - you phone.”

     “But I haven’t had breakfast yet either.”

     “Never mind breakfast. We’ve got a murder to solve. I’ll tell you when you can eat.”

     By the time Doctor Fritz arrived five minutes later, I was feeling much better. All he did was feel my forehead, look into my eyes, check my pulse and blood pressure and then pronounce, “You’ll live, Mabel.” He then turned to Reg and said, “Next time, don’t call unless it’s an emergency. You know, blood and guts.” With that, he whipped out of the room and disappeared, no doubt in search of blood and guts.

     “Okay, Mabel,” Reg said. “Let’s talk about this woman now. Who is Grace Hobbs?”

     “Like I said, she was one of the women who won a trip to Las Vegas. I don’t know much about her but she always carried a big brown leather bag. She never let it out of her sight. All her ID should be in that.”

     “There was no bag or purse. We searched the whole area.”

     “Where was the body found anyway?”

     “You know I don’t have to tell you things like that but I’m sure everyone in Parson’s Cove knows by now so I guess it’s no secret. I don’t know where she was murdered but her body was dumped in the bush behind the nursing home.”

     “Parson’s Cove’s nursing home? I wonder what she would be doing there.”

     “We don’t know where she was murdered. I said that’s where we found the body. It looks like someone killed her and then tried to hide the body. Guess they thought it would take awhile before she’d be discovered. The autopsy report will tell us the time of death.” He reached into his pocket, pulled out his worn black book and flipped it open. There wasn’t much written in it but it was old. “Now, what more can you tell me about this? What was her name again? Grace?”

     “Like I said, she was on the trip with me. She was one of the prizewinners. I didn’t talk to her much. She was friends with Andrea.”

     “Who’s Andrea?”

     “Andrea Williams. Or, Andy. She told us that some people called her Andy. No one on the trip called her that though, not even Grace. They didn’t know each other before the trip but they were both from the same city. Some place in Texas. Not a big city. Yellow Rose. That was it. They were both from Yellow Rose, Texas.”

     “You’re sure of this, Mabel? You’re sure this is the same woman that you were with in Las Vegas?”

     “Reg, not more than an hour ago, I looked at a woman with a bullet hole through her forehead. I’m not sure of much but this I’m sure of: A few days ago, Grace Hobbs was alive. You know, talking and laughing.” I paused. “Well, maybe not laughing so much the last time I saw her.”

      Reg’s eyes popped. “She wasn’t laughing? Why wasn’t she laughing?”

     “I don’t know. She was more serious and it struck me that she might be worried about something. There was sort of a rumble going around between us that she and Andrea must’ve lost money, gambling. At least, that’s what we all figured. I mean, you don’t really ask something like that, do you?”

     “Lots of money, do you think?”

     I shrugged. “I have no idea, Reg. All I know is, there wasn’t much laughter going on all the way to the airport. Of course, Betty and Ralph were miserable too. Actually, I was the only happy one and that was because I was on my way home. Now, I’m not so sure. Maybe now, I’d be safer in Las Vegas. What do you think, Reg? Do you think I’m going to be the next target?”

     “Of course not, Mabel.”

     “You don’t sound all that confident.”

     There was a worried look in my sheriff’s eyes. He sighed. “So far, there really isn’t a connection, is there?”

     “What do you mean, ‘no connection?’ I was the only winner from Parson’s Cove and some killer dumped her body in Parson’s Cove. Is there any closer connection? Besides that, are you forgetting the message I got on my answering machine?”

     He was silent for a moment. “Maybe you’d better bring that in for me. I’ll play that to Maxymowich.”

     I nodded. “I’ll have to bring my whole phone in. It’s all one piece. Flori bought it for me, you know.”

     “That’s okay.” He smiled.

     “When is the Captain getting here?”

     “He should be here soon.” He glanced at his watch. “I imagine he’ll bring a bunch of cops with him. He usually does.”

     “Is it okay if I leave, Reg? Flori will be worried. Besides, I don’t want to be here when all those cops from the city take over.”

     He nodded, his mind on something else already. I escaped out the front door and headed for the shop. It was almost eleven and my stomach was aching for food. An hour ago, I couldn’t have even thought about it without gagging.

     As I walked, I was wondering whatever possessed me to go over to the morgue and check out that body. I mean, in hindsight, it was a good thing that I did but it still doesn’t explain
why
I do such things. Flori says it’s because I have an over active imagination; Reg says I can’t mind my own business, and Jake thinks I have some sort of mental disorder. I suppose it’s a bit of all three combined. Sometimes that’s good. Sometimes, but not all the time.

     “Mabel,” Flori screamed, when I walked in the door. She rushed over and hugged me. “I was sick with worry. I don’t know if I felt any better after Scully phoned. Are you okay? I saved some breakfast for you. Are you hungry? Is it true that you had to go over to the morgue? I can’t believe you could do that. I told Jake and he said he believed it. He said you were capable of anything.” She proceeded to touch my hair and feel my arms.

     “I’m fine, Flori. You don’t need to touch me all over. All I did was faint.”

     Her eyes widened. “You fainted? Nobody told me that you fainted!”

     “Well, what did Scully tell you anyway?”

     “He said that you identified the body and that you were at the police station.”

     “That’s it? I identified the body? Flori, I went over to the morgue while I was waiting for you. It’s a good thing I did too because if I hadn’t, Reg still wouldn’t know who the victim was. I ran over as soon as you left to get breakfast. I’m sorry, I thought I’d be back before you. Anyway, when I saw that it was Grace, I couldn’t believe it. I had to rush over to tell Reg.” My legs started feeling weak again so I decided I’d better sit down before I fell down. “Flori,” I said, “she was one of the women on the trip with me.”

     As I spoke, Flori’s face had changed from pink to chalk; then, back to pink again. Her auburn eyebrows stood out like two neon arches.

     “What are you saying?” Her hand clutched her chest. “Are you telling me that you went into Grappley’s morgue by yourself?” Tears sprang up into her eyes. “Are you crazy?” She reached over and grabbed the front of my sweater. “Why did you do that?” Before I could even think of something that made any sense, she said, “You
wanted
to go and look at a dead body? Why? Why would you want to see a dead body?”

     I pried her fingers from my sweater.

     “Flori, it’s okay. I’m all right. Please, don’t ask me why I had to go and look; it’s just a good thing that I did. Maybe it was Divine Providence that sent me over there.”

     “Oh, for Pete’s sake, it was no such thing. You don’t think, that’s all. You don’t think of the consequences of anything.” She reached over, grabbed a couple of tissues and proceeded to weep. I sat and waited, feeling dreadfully guilt-ridden.

     “Are you finished now?” I asked when she finally stopped sniffling.

     She nodded.

     “All right, you might as well tell me now,” she said.

     “Tell you what?”