Sweet Ginger Poison (11 page)

**********

Ginger and company praised Elijah for his powerful
message as they shook his hand and hurried out the door to Barb’s car. It was
important to make it to Luby’s Cafeteria before the line got too long.

Barb always insisted on driving since she had the
biggest car. Her old Cadillac was in pristine condition. Parking was sometimes
an issue. But the thing sailed down the road like a battleship. It was almost
like riding in a limo.

“Great sermon, huh?” said Jane from the back seat.

The others agreed.

Ginger was in the front with Barb. Was it just her
imagination, or did it seem like Elijah wanted to ask her something as they
were going through the handshake line? Surely he didn’t want to have lunch with
her—not that she wouldn’t be interested. Or would she?

Would that be starting something—like dating? She
didn’t want to rush into anything. Besides—Sunday lunch at Luby’s with the
girls had become a tradition.

“Was the sermon longer than usual?” said Barb.

Ethel checked her watch. “I don’t think so.”

“Well, just look at that line,” said Barb.

“First Baptist must have let out early,” said Jane.

“And the Catholic and Methodist churches too,” said
Barb. “This is ridiculous.” She pulled into a parking spot, but left the engine
running.

“We can’t always be at the front of the line,” said
Ginger. “It’s only fair that other people get their turn.”

“Well, I think we should just go somewhere else,” said
Barb in a huff.

“We could go to
your
house, Barb,” said Ginger.
“When’s the last time you cooked us a meal?”

“I’ve got a better idea, Ginge,” said Barb with a sly
smile. “Let’s go over to the parsonage.”

“The
parsonage?
” said Jane.

“Yeah,” said Barb. “I got the distinct impression that
the good reverend was just itching to invite our Ginger over for a nice cozy
lunch. Didn’t y’all notice?”

“Well…now that you mention it,” said Ethel.

“Really?” said Jane. “I didn’t notice. But I
have
seen
the way he looks at her.”

“Jane!” said Ginger. “Don’t you dare talk about our
pastor that way.”

“I’m sorry, Ginger,” said Jane, “I didn’t mean for it
to sound crude. I just think he really likes you. And yeah, I think he’d like
to ask you out.”

“
I
think he’d like to jump her bones,” said
Barb.

“Barb!” said Ginger. “That was terrible.”

“Yeah, Barb,” said Ethel, giggling, “that was
terrible. I can’t believe you said that.”

“Well,
somebody
needed to say it,” said Barb.
“Just to wake Ginger up and get her back into the game.”

“Maybe I don’t
want
to be in the game right
now,” said Ginger. “But I’m not stopping the rest of you. Go for it.”

“Good—because I’m ready to go,” said Jane. “But the
coach won’t send me in.”

“What coach?” said Ethel. “There’s a
coach?
”

“No,” said Jane. “There’s no coach. In fact, in my
case, there’s no
game
.”

“Yeah, Ginge,” said Barb, “at least you’ve got a
game
.”

“What are we doing?” said Ginger.

“We’re discussing your love life,” said Ethel. “Even I
knew
that
.”

“I mean—what are we doing for lunch? We’re just
sitting here.”

“Let’s go to Sonic,” said Jane.

“
Sonic?
” said Barb. “I wanted meatloaf.”

“I don’t mind eating a hamburger in the car,” said
Jane.

“Me either,” said Ethel.

“Fine with me,” said Ginger.

“Well, okay,” said Barb. She backed out of the parking
spot and drove away. “But I don’t want to see any crumbs in my car.”

“We’ll be careful,” said Jane.

“And absolutely no ketchup!” said Barb.

“Yes,
Mother
,” said Ethel.

In less than five minutes they had driven to Sonic and
ordered their food.

“Now Ginger can give us the rest of the details about
last night,” said Jane.

“I’ve already told you everything I can,” said Ginger.

“Right,” said Barb. “
Now
tell us everything you
can’t
.”

“Yeah,” said Ethel, “give us the dirt.”

“There
is
no dirt,” said Ginger. “Not
really
.”

“'Not really’ means there's more,” said Jane. “Come
on—you know you can’t keep a secret from us.”

“Spit it out,” said Barb.

“Look,” said Ginger, “I told you that somebody put
fish oil in the coffee cake. Obviously, they knew about Navy’s allergy. And
they knew he kept his Epi-Pen in his glove box.”

“Yeah,” said Jane. “We know
that
. What else?”

“That’s about it,” said Ginger.

“Any suspects?” said Barb.

Ginger hesitated.

Barb jumped on it. “Who is it? Anybody we know?”

“Yes,” said Ginger, quickly adding, “but she didn’t do
it.”

“
She?
” said Jane. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”

“A
woman
killed him?” said Ethel, as though no
woman had ever killed a man in the history of the world.

“Wise up, Ethel,” said Barb. “Women can be a heck of a
lot meaner than men—if you really tick ‘em off.”

“Yeah,” said Ethel, “but here in Coreyville? I can’t
imagine.”

“What’s her name?” said Jane.

“Lacey Greendale,” said Ginger.

“But Lacey works for
you
, doesn’t she?” said
Ethel.

“Yes,” said Ginger. “But, like I said: there’s no way
she did it.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” said Jane.

“Why?” said Barb. “What do you know?”

“I don’t know if it really means anything,” said Jane,
“but the other day I was walking out of Wal-Mart and I saw Lacey standing in
the parking lot, yelling at some guy in a black car. I couldn’t see who he
was.”

“Was he in a Corvette?” said Ginger.

“I don’t know,” said Jane. “Could have been. And then
the guy just peeled out and drove away, leaving her standing there.”

“They used to date,” said Ginger. “And since they
broke up, they haven’t been on very good terms. But she’s no killer. I’m sure
of that.”

Was Ginger just kidding herself? Was she so determined
to prove Lacey’s innocence that she couldn’t see the obvious? She had stashed
the pistol in Lester’s old safe in the basement to protect Lacey. It was
Danny’s
gun. Or was it? What if Lacey bought the gun to take revenge on Navy?
Ginger felt a chill run up her spine.

Lacey could have planned to shoot Navy, and then
thought of a neater, cleaner way—with less risk. After all, it wasn’t really
poison
.
It was just a dietary supplement. Lots of people take them all the time.

Sure, she spiked his coffee cake. But it was just to
make him sick, just to get back at him—not to
kill
him. Was it her fault
that he had misplaced his Epi-Pen? She couldn’t be blamed for his carelessness.

Ginger needed to either come up with an alternate
suspect or face the reality that Lacey might indeed be the killer.

Early Monday, Silvy quietly slipped in the back door
from the alley and walked down the hallway to his office.

Bull Crawley looked up from his computer. The
forty-year-old bald head, along with the six-foot tall, double-wide frame made
him look like a washed up pro wrestler. “Morning, Honeysuckle.”

Silvy was not fond of the nickname he had given her.
But she was in no position to complain. “Good morning, Bull.”

“So, what’s my pain-in-the-butt brother up to this
morning?”

“He’s already selling coffee cakes. Actually, they’re
jumbo muffins. But he’s calling them cupcakes.”

“Really? Good. He’ll be out of business soon—and in
jail, where he belongs.”

“I’m not so sure,” said Silvy.

“How long you think it’s gonna take for somebody to
realize that his cupcakes taste just like Ginger’s coffee cakes?”

“But that’s just it—they
don’t
.”

“Why not? Didn’t he follow the recipe?”

“Yes. And I helped him. We started with the Sweet
Ginger Cake. He wanted to try just one recipe at first to see how it goes over.
And we followed the recipe very carefully. I don’t know what went wrong.”

“Maybe you baked them too long, or at the wrong temperature,”
said Bull.

“No. We did everything exactly according to the
recipe.”

“Well, if they don’t taste right then why is he trying
to sell them? That’s crazy.”

“Because Cash can’t tell the difference. He thinks
they’re fine. He has no sense of taste.”

“That’s true.” He grinned. “Except in women.” He got
up from his chair and walked around to her. “How about working me into your
busy schedule today?” he said, putting his big, hairy arms around her.

“I could probably take a break at around 3:30.”

“You work way too hard for that putz.”

She smiled. “Well, this afternoon when I come back
I’ll work hard for
you
.”

“Yeah, but you’ll only stay ten minutes. He gets you
all night long.”

She faked a pout. “Don’t blame me. This is what you
wanted.”

“No, not really. But it’s the only way I knew to keep
up with what he’s doing. Cash is determined to steal all my customers.”

“Oh, come on now, Bull. He’s nowhere close to doing
that.”

“Well, I just don’t trust him.”

“You’ve got nothing to worry about, Baby.” She nearly
choked on the word ‘Baby.’ “I’ve got everything under control.”

“That’s what I love about you, Honeysuckle.” He pulled
her small, firm body close and kissed her hard.

She nearly gagged. How much longer would she have to
endure this nasty little charade?

**********

Lacey delivered two cups of coffee to Ginger and
Elijah’s table.

“Thank you, Lacey,” said Ginger.

“Yes, Ma’am. You’re welcome.” She smiled politely and
walked away.

“Things are pretty tense around here, I guess,” said
Elijah.

“Yeah,” said Ginger. “And I just don’t know what to do
about it. I tossed and turned all night trying to think of who else might have
wanted to kill Navy.”

“Maybe it’s some
other
ex-girlfriend—could be
somebody from Dallas. Who knows what all he was into over there. Maybe he owed
money to a loan shark.”

“You’re right. It could be somebody from out of town.
All I’m thinking about is the people here in Coreyville.”

“You can’t let it make you crazy, Ginger.”

“I know. But look at her.”

Elijah glanced over at the counter where Lacey was waiting
on a customer.

“Do you really think she’s capable of murder?” said
Ginger.

“You can’t always go by looks. Think about Judas. The
other eleven didn’t think
he
looked like a
traitor
.”

“You’re not helping. Judas committed suicide. I love
that girl. I can’t stand the thought of her being hurt.” She paused. “No. I
will not accept it. She is not the one.”

“Well, maybe Chief Foenapper has some new leads. He
might already have another suspect or two.”

“But if he did, wouldn’t he have let me know about
it?”

“Honestly, I doubt it. My impression is that he wants
to solve this crime all by himself. I remember how tight-lipped he was out at
the nursing home. He didn’t want to tell us anything.”

A woman rushed inside and went straight to Ginger.

“I’m sorry, Ginger.”

“For what?”

“I was picking up some donuts for Henry over at Cash’s
place and I saw that he’s started selling muffins. And I thought I’d try one. I
love your coffee cakes, Ginger. But I was in a hurry, and I thought I could
save some time.”

“I understand. It’s okay, Phyllis. It doesn’t hurt my
feelings.”

“But it’s just not as good as yours.”

Ginger tried not to gloat. “I see.”

“So, even though Henry’s waiting for his donuts, and
he’s got to get to work, I just had to get me a Sweet Ginger Cake.”

“Well, you’d better hurry then. No hard feelings.”

“Thanks, Ginger.” She rushed to the end of the line.”

“Looks like you’ve got some competition,” said Elijah.

“Yes. But apparently it’s not very
strong
competition,”
said Ginger. Then she had a thought. “Excuse me just a moment.”