Sweet Ginger Poison (15 page)

**********

Bull Crawley checked his watch. Where was Silvy? She
had promised to come back at 3:30.

He heard somebody come in the back door and walk down
the hallway toward his office.

“Silvy? Is that you?”

“Yes, it is.” She appeared in his doorway carrying a
very large potted plant. “Can you give me a hand with this thing?”

“What is it?” He got up from his desk and went to help
her.

“It’s a gift—for you, Baby. For your office.”

“But it so…big. I don’t have any place to put it.”

“Sure you do,” she said. “Right over here in this
corner.”

He helped her carry it.

“See?” she said. “Now every time you look up, you’ll
see it and think of me.”

“Well…okay.”

“Let me explain. See these white flowers?”

“Yeah.”

“They are the males.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah. And these pretty pink flowers are the females.”

“Okay.”

“Think of it as a love plant. One of those white
flowers is you and one of the pink ones is me.”

“A love plant?” He grabbed her and pulled her close.
“I’d rather think of it as a
sex
plant.”

“You would, huh?” She punched him playfully. “That’ll
work. It can be loving
and
sexy. But it’s
dangerous
too—like
me
.”

“I like danger. And I know how to handle it.” He
pulled her body in tighter.

“Can you?”

**********

The Domino Girls were at Ginger’s, about to eat Jane’s
birthday cake.

“I shouldn’t be drinking coffee this late,” said Jane.

“Late?” said Barb. “It’s seven o’clock.”

“Now that you’re 61, I think you can handle a little
late-night caffeine,” said Ethel. “Like the rest of us.”

“But can you handle the
sugar?
” said Ginger,
grinning as she cut large pieces and placed them on plates.

“The sugar’s not a problem,” said Jane. “Bring it on.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” said Barb, tilting her head to
check Jane’s body. “Have you looked in the mirror and done a butt check
lately?”

“Look who’s talking,” said Jane.

“No, no,” said Ethel. “Barb doesn’t have a juicy
caboosey.”

“Thank you, Ethel,” said Barb.

“I’m sorry,” said Jane. “You’re absolutely right.
Barb’s caboose is just fine. It’s the
saddlebags
that are the problem.”

“Hey!” said Barb.

“Hold on,” said Ginger. “I can’t keep up. Are we
talking in terms of trains or horses?”

“Huh?” said Ethel.

“Cabooses and saddlebags don’t really go together,”
said Ginger, passing a piece of cake around to each woman, “unless we’re
talking about an old Western.”

“Now, why did you go and do that, Ginger?” said Barb.

“What?” said Ginger.

“You do it every time. Just when I’m about to really
go off on somebody—usually Jane—you throw a monkey wrench into the thing. I had
a killer comeback to what Jane said. But now you’ve made me forget it.”

“Good,” said Ginger, “because I need y’all’s help with
something.”

“Okay,” said Ethel.

“Yeah, we’ll help you,” said Jane, taking a bite of
cake.

“Well, you know I’ve been trying to help Lacey out of
the mess she’s in.”

“Have the police thrown her in jail?” said Barb.

“No. Surprisingly they haven’t, and I don’t know why.
They haven’t even charged her yet.”

“Maybe they found the
real
killer,” said Jane.

“I wish,” said Ginger. “But I doubt it. The chief is
not sharing information with me, but if somebody had been charged, he couldn’t
keep that a secret.”

“Yeah,” said Ethel, “the whole town would know about
it.

“So,” said Ginger, “I’m trying to come up with other
possibilities for suspects. And I think I have one. Maybe two.”

“Who?” said Jane, suspending her next bite of cake
until she got an answer.

“Kayla Hanker.”

“Who?” said Ethel.

“Navy’s girlfriend,” said Barb.

“Right,” said Ginger. “And possibly Cray Vittleman.”

“Carl Vittleman’s son—the lawyer?”

“Yes,” said Ginger.

“Why would they want to kill Navy?” said Jane.

“I’m not exactly sure,” said Ginger.

“Oh, you’ve really gotten desperate, Ginge,” said
Barb. “You’re grasping at straws.”

“Not totally,” said Ginger. “I went to visit Ellegora
Newcomb this morning. That didn’t help much. By the way, Navy’s funeral is
tomorrow at ten. Y’all want to go with me?”

The other women nodded.

Ginger went on. “But then I dropped by Carl
Vittleman’s office. He’s the Newcomb’s attorney. But he wasn’t there. Instead I
met with his son, Cray—who I wasn’t impressed with at all. Then, on the way
out, I got his receptionist to spill the beans.”

“What?” said Jane. “What beans?” She could barely
contain her excitement. Ginger sensed that the sugar from the cake was
beginning to kick in.

“From what she said, it made me think there was a
second trust fund. You know that Navy blew the first one—all two million of it.
So, I’m thinking there was a second one that he was unaware of, and that he was
due to get it on his twenty-fifth birthday. Remember: he got the first one when
he turned 21.”

“Yeah,” said Jane. “His dad had set up the trust fund
before Navy was born.”

“I didn’t know
that
,” said Ginger.

“So, you think his father may have set up
two
trust
funds?” said Ethel. “The second one being a backup in case he squandered the first
one?”

“If so,” said Barb, “the dad was a pretty smart
cookie.”

“Yeah,” said Ginger, “except when he walked out in
front of that bus and got himself run over.”

“Oh, yeah,” said Ethel, cringing.

“But how would it profit Cray Vittleman for Navy to
die?” said Barb. “That doesn’t add up.”

“Don’t be so sure,” said Ginger, “Guess who I saw in
the parking lot when I came out of his office?”

“Kayla.” said Jane.

Ginger nodded.

“I get it,” said Ethel. “The two of them are having an
affair, and Cray tells her about the secret trust fund, so they plot to kill
Navy.”

“She collects the money,” said Jane.

“And they ride off into the sunset,” said Ethel.

“But Ginger, I thought you said Kayla was Navy’s
girlfriend
—not
his
wife
,” said Jane.

“Yeah,” said Ginger. “That’s the one hole in my
theory.”

“And it’s a big,
gaping
hole,” said Barb.
“Better keep looking, Honey. This theory ain’t gonna fly.”

“What if they really were married, but they didn’t
want anybody to know?” said Jane.

“Look—Navy never spent one second worrying about what
other people thought,” said Barb. “So, why would he hide the fact that he was
married? It makes no sense.”

What Barb had said was perfectly logical. But Ginger
still wasn’t ready to give up on her theory.

It was too late to knock on Ginger’s door. He knew
that. The porch was dark, but there was light coming from the living room. It
was 10:45 p.m., so she was probably dressed for bed. He pulled the car over
anyway. What would the neighbors think?

He got out of his car, walked to the door, and
knocked.

Ginger seemed tired, but happy to see him. “Elijah?”

“Sorry to bother you so late, Ginger.”

“It’s no bother. Come on in.”

She took his coat and draped it across a chair. They
sat down in the living room.

“So, what brings you out this time of night?”

“Well, I know you’ve been trying to think of other
suspects for Navy’s murder.”

She perked up. “You’ve got one for me?”

“Maybe. But I’m not sure I should be telling you.”

“Why not?”

“I learned this information during a counseling
session tonight.”

“Well, it’s not like you’re a Catholic priest.”

“I shouldn’t have come. I’m sorry, Ginger.” He stood
up.

“No, wait. You don’t have to mention the name of the
person you counseled,” said Ginger. “Unless, of course, that person is the suspect.”

He hesitated.

“Elijah, please. What will it hurt?”

“Manny Monet.”

“The shoe shine guy?”

“Yeah. What I found out is that he has a side
business: loan sharking.”

“You’re kidding. I wouldn’t have thought he had much
money to loan.”

“According to…my Mr. X, Manny started out small,
making payday loans.”

“I hate those. They’re such a rip-off.”

“I’m guessing that these days he makes way more money
with his illegal banking than he does on shoe shines.”

“So, you think Navy borrowed money from Manny?”

“That’s what I’m wondering.”

“Navy
was
getting desperate. He didn’t have a
paying job. I think he was just holding out for help from his mother.”

“And something tells me that if he did borrow money
from Mr. Monet, it was a lot more than a couple hundred dollars.”

“Let’s say it was several thousand. Then Navy couldn’t
pay it back. And maybe he even thumbed his nose at Manny, thinking there was
nothing he could do about it.”

“Yeah. But Manny couldn’t let him get away with that.
What if word got around? Maybe I’ve seen too many movies, but wouldn’t Manny
feel he had to go break Navy’s legs or something?”

“Yeah—so people would be afraid of him. Very good,
Elijah. I think you’ve come up with a solid suspect.”

There was a loud crack of thunder.

Elijah grimaced. “I hope that’s not God’s way of
saying he’s mad at me.”

Ginger laughed. “No, I think he’s just telling us
there’s a storm coming.”

“Well, I’d better go.”

Ginger stood up and walked him to the door. “Thank you
so much, Elijah.” She hugged him.

Just stay right here in my arms, thought Elijah. When
Ginger released him, she looked up into his eyes. It was all he could do to
keep himself from kissing her on the lips. But he feared that if he did, the
next lightning strike would rip through the ceiling and strike him dead. Why,
Lord? Why can’t I show this marvelous woman how I feel about her?

“Goodnight, Elijah. Drive carefully.” She picked up
his coat and handed to him.

He opened the door. “Goodnight, Ginger.”

**********

Danny could hardly wait to get his money. He would take
the five thousand to Shreveport and turn it into fifty thousand in one night.
He loved gambling. But he wasn’t like most of the chumps who think they can
beat the house. He really
could
.

As he pulled off the highway onto the dirt road, it
began to drizzle. Danny wasn’t crazy about doing business in the freezing rain
and lightning, but it wouldn’t take long.

He drove until he reached the illegal dump site. It
was mounds of the type stuff you can’t give away or leave out for the city to
pick up. The pile was more rusty than stinky—made up of things like TVs,
refrigerators, bicycles, mattresses, etc.

Danny checked his watch. It was 10:57 p.m. He expected
to see headlights in his rearview mirror at any minute.

A pop in his left ear made him jump. Then he realized
somebody was knocking on the window. He rolled it down.

“Get out.”

Danny opened the door and stepped out. He began to
shiver almost immediately, and regretted coming without a coat. The half-frozen
raindrop pellets began to strike his head. It seemed like his thick hair was
the only thing keeping the little ice missiles from penetrating his skull.

“Just give me my cash, so I can get out of here,” said
Danny.

“Give me my
gun.
”

“I don’t have it.”

“Where is it?”

“I don’t know.”

The rain began to pour down. Suddenly there was a
pistol jammed into Danny’s left cheek.

“Whoa. What are you doing?”

“Tell me what you did with the gun.”

“My girlfriend took it. And I don’t know what she did
with it.”

“Lacey Greendale?”

“Yes.”

“Looks like I’ll have to get it from her myself. Maybe
I’ll take a little
sugar
while I’m at it.”