Too Dead To Dance (23 page)

Instead of showcases, the
coins were in loose-leaf books stacked on the table where the two
men were standing, paging through them. Each black binder had
information on the spine—country, denomination, and year they were
minted.

Three rows of narrow wooden
shelves surrounded the room. The shelves held cups, mugs, steins
and other drinking vessels. There didn’t seem to be any rhyme or
reason to the display. It appeared that when one cup was purchased,
another took its place, regardless of color, size or anything
else.

I turned toward the
sprightly sales clerk and said, “I’ve never been in a stor within a
store before.”

“Everyone asks about the
store the first time the come here. My Dad owns the building. When
my sister took over the jewelry store when he retired, he had this
part sectioned off for me because he knew how much I wanted a coin
shop.”

“
That was so thoughtful. Is
it working out for you?”

“I’ll say! I’ve been here
three years now and it’s doing quite well.”

I’d have liked to talk to
her longer but I needed to complete my task. “Do you have any
Coca-Cola beer steins?” I figured it would take less time to ask
than to check each cup on each shelf. Besides, it seemed on this
beer stein hunt, the more I looked, the more I bought.

“Absolutely!” she answered,
coming around the counter and pointing to the wall to my right
while moving toward it. Here’s one. It’s really cute.” She lifted a
Santa mug off the shelf. She was right, it was cute. Santa sitting
with a Coke glass in his hand while an elf dressed in green poured
Coke from a bottle into the glass. The handle of the mug was shaped
as a Coke bottle. “This is very cute,” I told her. “But it’s not
what I’m looking for. Here’s a picture of the one I
need.”

She took the picture from
my hand and with her index finger on her mouth, she pondered. “You
know, I’ve seen this beer stein.”

“You have? Did you sell
it?”

“No. I didn’t have it, but
I saw it.”

Oh, joy! I was getting
closer. “Where did you see it”

“I don’t know. I can’t
remember. I was going to buy it but I was in a hurry and thought
I’d go back later. Then I forgot all about it until now. Where did
I see it?”

I waited, hoping she would
remember.

“Nope, can’t remember.” She
said, holding out the picture.

“Can I leave my number with
you? If you come across it or remember where you saw it, would you
call me? I’d truly love to buy it.”

“Sure, I can do
that.”

I handed her my card and
mentally crossed the last name off my list.

Before I left, I looked at
the men paging through the coin books. “Hey, Randy. I didn’t know
you were a coin collector.”

Bernie’s old beau, Randy
Vetter turned and greeted me. “Hi, Jennifer. I just collect
pennies. Been doing it since fifth grade. Remember Mrs. Huber? She
got me started.”

“I loved Mrs. Huber. She
was like a chubby aunt. Randy, I’m sorry the police bothered
you.”

“They didn’t really bother
me, Jennifer,” Randy said, shrugging his shoulders. “They bothered
Lisa though. I was just surprised when they showed up at my
door.”

“I hope Lisa isn’t still
mad at me.”

“She’ll get over it now
that they arrested Frank. She sure was in a snit, wasn’t she?”
Randy laughed and stuck a toothpick in his mouth. “She’s one fiery
woman.”

He patted me on the
shoulder. “Take care, Jennifer.” Turning to the girl behind the
counter, he asked, “Got any of those new Lincoln pennies? I need
the one with the log cabin on the back.”

Bernie and Megan were
waiting in my driveway when I pulled up. I parked the car in the
garage and listened once again as the door creaked close. I really
had to call someone about that.

“Where have you been?”
Megan called to me from her open window.

I jumped into the back seat
of Megan’s SUV and said, “Let’s go, girls. I’m hungry for potato
pancakes.”

Megan pulled out and we
were on our way to have breakfast at our favorite place.

While we stuffed ourselves
with pancakes, bacon, eggs, and toast we discussed the events of
the day before.

The waitress at Dottie’s
Diner, whose nametag read “Pansy” took the empty plates off the
table and said, “I’ll bring the coffee pot over, looks like you’re
going to be here for awhile.”

“Is the manager in?” I
asked. “I’d like to talk to him if he is.”

“Did I do something wrong?”
Pansy asked.

“Oh, no. Of course not. I
have a business proposition for him.”

“He doesn’t come in today
until three. Can I help you?”

“As a matter of fact you
can,” I said, pulling a three-pound bag of my best restaurant blend
from my oversized purse. “Have him try this out and then give me a
call. I can give him a very good price if he likes my
product.”

It was almost lunchtime and
we were still hashing over the events of the last few days. Megan
set her coffee mug on the table. “The best part was when I kicked
Edwin off my porch while it was raining. He actually
sputtered.”

Pansy had just brought a
coffee carafe to our table and began refilling our cups when
Detective Decker slid into the booth next to me. “I thought I’d
find you here,” he said to me. He casually lifted his arm and
rested it across the back of the booth with his fingers just barely
touching my shoulder.

“How did you find us?” I
asked. This was our secret place.

“I’m a detective,
remember?” He smiled that wicked smiled at me.

“Yeah, great job detecting
the Fest Meister, Mister.” Had I really said that?

“We would’ve gotten there,
Jennifer, and without putting anyone in danger.”

Crossing my arms, I sat up
straighter in the booth. “Listen, Detective Decker…”

“You can call me Jerry, you
know. We’re not strangers anymore.” Again with that smile. I may
have even blushed, remembering that kiss.

Before I could think up a
retort, Pansy plopped a cup in front of Decker and filled it from
the carafe she’d left on the table. “Want your usual burger and
fries, Jerry?” she asked.

Decker nodded, and then
looked at me as if he’d just been caught with his hand in a cookie
jar.

“Great detecting, Jerry.” I
said.

While Decker ate his lunch,
we peppered him with questions.

The Fest Meister had saved
for years to start his own business. A year before the meat market
went up for sale he found that Ida had been withdrawing money
faster than Frank was depositing it. She gambled it all
away.

Frank started saving again,
this time putting the money in an account that Ida couldn’t touch.
About four years ago, she was diagnosed with cancer and died a few
months later. When the meat market came up for sale, he talked his
brother, Al into going into business with him. Since Al was a
butcher it appeared to be a good idea and he told Frank he could
come up with half the money.

Frank didn’t have near
enough money to pay his share and the closing was in thirty days.
That’s when he contacted Wes and Sally’s father and they put
together the plan to rob the bank.

“Trudy told me he used
Ida’s life insurance money to buy the meat market.” I
said.

“That’s what everyone
thought. Turns out Frank only had a $10,000 policy on her. That’s
barely enough to pay for a funeral.”

“I don’t understand,” I
said. “I saw Al and one of the Princesses in the cargo truck when I
left the Fest Grounds Saturday night. How did Frank get the truck
and run me off the road?”

Decker pointed a finger at
me. “That’s what happens when amateurs get involved in police
business. Al gave the Princess, who is his niece, a ride home. She
only lived a few blocks away. When he got back to the Fest Grounds,
Frank took the truck and Al stayed around to dance and party after
the closing ceremony.”

“But I don’t understand.
Why did Frank kill Marty?” Bernie asked.

“Marty had no idea it was
Frank who had killed Wes. She demanded that he pay her the share he
owed Wes. She knew all along that Wes was in on the bank
robbery.”

“But she told us she didn’t
know anything about it,” I said.

“Jennifer, people lie all
the time. Did you expect her to tell you she was involved in the
extortion attempt of a bank robber?"

Frank had parked his truck
around the corner from her house, threaded his way through various
backyards and came in Marty’s back door. Marty thought he was there
to pay her off.

When he left after killing
her, he crossed a few different backyards and came out at his truck
as if he’d just made a delivery. No one paid any attention to him
since they were used to him or Al in the truck, driving all over
town to deliver orders to homes and businesses. He had become
invisible.

“Oh, good Lord,” Bernie
said, “What if he had come in while I was there?” She crossed
herself.

“He saw you Sister,” Decker
told her. “He waited for you to leave, then went in to confront
Marty.”

“What about Al?” Megan
asked. “Was he involved at all?”

“No,” Decker replied, “He
thought, just like everyone else, that Frank had used his savings
and Ida’s life insurance to pay his share.”

We were finishing our last
cup of coffee when Natalie Younger trotted into the
room.

“My, my, look who’s here,”
she said, pulling a chair up to our booth and plopping down as
close to Decker as she could get.

“Are you the new detective
in town that I’ve been hearing so much about?” She actually, no
kidding, batted her eyes at him.

While he was looking for an
answer, I introduced him. “Detective Decker, meet Natalie
Younger.”

“Pleased to meet you, Miss
Younger,” he said, leaning away from her and closer to me. Under
the table he grabbed my hand.

“What have you all been up
to? I heard that you solved a murder, Jennifer. You certainly can
get mixed up in the craziest things. Can’t she
Detective?”

Megan stood up. “Okay,
gang, the bus is leaving.”

Since she’d driven, Bernie
got up and I motioned to Decker to let me out.

Decker said, “Why don’t I
give you a ride home, Jennifer.”

I readily
agreed.

Natalie looked around and
said, “You aren’t all going to leave me here alone, are you? I
haven’t even ordered yet.”

We all got up and Megan
leaned over Natalie and said, “There are a couple of truckers up at
the counter. Why don’t you go sit up there and order your
lunch?”

“What a great idea! Why,
Megan, I didn’t know you could be so nice.” She got up and sashayed
over to the counter.

When Natalie was out of
sight, we all laughed out loud, except for Bernie.

“Shame on you , Megan. That
was just naughty.”

“I know, Bernie, but it
sure was fun. Come on, we’ll stop at the Dairy Queen on the way
home.”

“Oh, Megan. You say the
nicest things.” Bernie laughed and followed Megan to her
SUV.

I turned to say goodbye to
them when something caught my eye. I walked over to a shelf with a
two foot high sign in bright yellow with red letters spelling
“Clearance.”

I love a sale but that’s
not what I had seen. On the shelf beneath the sign was a red and
green box with a Coca-Cola logo on it. I picked it up and shouted,
“Whoopee. I found it!”

“Found what?” Jerry
asked.

“I found the Coca-Cola Soda
Fountain beer stein. I’ve been looking all over town for this
little beauty.”

“Why?”

I explained that a customer
had seen it in town but couldn’t remember where. “This place wasn’t
even on her list. But I bet she came here for lunch and forgot all
about it. No wonder she couldn’t remember where she had seen
it.”

The biggest surprise was
when I took it to the counter to pay for it. Clearance meant forty
percent off. I found the beer stein and got a bargain to boot.
Laura would be my customer forever! And the surf and turf dinner
was mine!

We left the diner and Jerry
helped me up into his truck. “Looks like I’m going to have to get a
step-stool if we’re going to be seeing each other.”

I just looked at him,
totally at a loss for words.

“I know you’re skittish
about getting into a relationship, Jennifer.”

I started to deny it, then
just shut up, for once and let Jerry finish.

“How about we start with
that dinner date you promised me and see how it goes from
there.”

“Wait a minute,” I said.
“The deal was when you apologized to Bernie and me for suspecting
her, I would go to dinner with you.”

“I already apologized to
Bernie. I went to church this morning and caught up with her after
Mass. She graciously accepted my apology. And now, I sincerely
apologize to you for ever doubting you. Your loyalty to your
friends is amazing.”