Too Dead To Dance (8 page)

“Oh, Megan, it was awful
seeing that bloody body. We need to find the fool who killed this
Wes guy to get Bernie off the hook.”

“Bernie? You mean both of
you are involved in this mess? I don’t know how you get mixed-up in
these things, Jennifer. Why do you even have a coffee booth at
Polka Daze? You said you got an offer to sell Primo
Gusto?”

“Oh, I did, but I just
don’t know what to do. One day I feel that I can’t refuse the offer
that company in Seattle made me, then I don’t know how I can part
with it. In any case, my lawyer says to wait until the divorce is
final to make a decision so Edwin can’t get any of the
profits."

“Didn't he sign off on the
incorporation so he couldn't be held liable for your debts?” Megan
asked

“Yes and he hasn’t been any
part of my business. But, if I sell before the divorce is final, he
may be able to get some of the money I receive from the
sale.”

"Well, then you'd better
wait to sell. You built the business, with him fighting you every
step along the way. He doesn't deserve to get any of the
profits.”

“I’m not even sure I want
to sell. Primo Gusto is like my child. It’s
complicated.”

“Isn’t everything? But you
were interested in selling before Edwin left you. Maybe you just
need it now while you heal. Promise me you won't make a decision
until you work out your feelings about the divorce and where you
want to go from here.”

"I was getting some
pressure from the company in Seattle that made the offer but I put
them off until after the divorce, so I have some time to decide
what to do,”

“That’s good. Okay, what do
we have to do to help Bernie?”

I watched as Megan downed
the last of her cooler. I had only taken a few sips of
mine.

“When Bernie and I were
walking toward our cars after the keg tapping, this guy ran into
us. He almost knocked Bernie down. I think it was Wes.”

“Why do you think it was
Wes?” Megan asked.

“Because he was tall and he
hid his face and who else would try to knock down a nun? When
Bernie got to her car she found both tires on the driver’s side
were flat. They weren’t cut, just flat. I think Wes let the air out
of them.”

“That’s no help. If this
Wes dude flattened her tires, it gives her more reason to knock him
off. We need to find out what the argument was all
about.”

“Okay, so where were you
last night? Is Don in town?” I asked. Don Dahlberg was Megan’s
current love interest. An airline pilot, he was only in Hermann a
few days a week, which is probably why the relationship had lasted
for over three months.

Megan rolled her eyes at
me. “It was the first night of Polka Daze. Where else would I be
but in the big tent until it closed.”

“Oh, good Lord, you must
have seen Wes! He was in the Windig Sangers Band.”

“I probably did. Actually I
wasn’t paying too much attention to the people on the stage. I was
busy with the guy sitting next to me.”

“Don? How did you drag him
to Polka Daze? He hates that music.”

“Don’s in Reno. I went
alone but hooked up with a guy—a young, good-looking guy. Are you
going to drink this?” she asked reaching for my wine
cooler.

Handing her my bottle I
asked, “How can you cheat on Don? I thought it was the real thing
this time.”

“Maybe it is, I don’t know.
But I was lonely and Al was there and he was so cute—and
young.”

“How young?” I
asked.

“I don’t know. I didn’t
check his ID. But he was flirty and cute and it was fun. Guess you
can call me a cougar, too.”

“I can’t believe you
cheated on Don? How could you?”

“Hey! Don’t go getting on
my case. I’m not Edwin or Marty. I’m not married and I can do as I
please!”

Time for me to shut up. She
might be right. Maybe I was projecting Edwin on her. But I hate
cheating, it’s so low.

Changing the subject, I
asked her what else she knew about Detective Decker.

“Not much. He’s somewhat of
a mystery. He moved here a couple months ago to take the detective
job when Harvey Marshall retired. I got my hair done last week and
one of the girls at Hair Haus told her customer that he came from
Chicago. But that’s about all anyone knows. She said he lives alone
and apparently he doesn’t party. He sounds boring, if you ask
me.”

I guess I had asked her.
But I didn’t think that someone was boring just because they didn’t
hang out in bars. Of course, I didn’t say that to Megan. “Okay, so
we need to figure out how to help Bernie.”

“Jennifer, I have no idea
how to catch a killer. You’re the one who watches all those crime
shows on TV.”

“We need to find out what
the argument between Bernie and Wes was all about. Do you think
she’d tell you? She clammed up on me last night when I asked. Of
course that was before he got killed.”

“I can try. I’ll go over to
her place tomorrow and see if I can get her to talk,” she
said.

“I’ll try to find out about
Wes. I can start with Trudy, the lady with the booth next to mine.
Her husband leads the band and probably hired Wes. If she can’t
help me maybe she can tell me who can. We can compare notes later
tomorrow and figure out where to go from there.”

Megan downed the last of my
wine cooler and grabbed the empty bottles. “I’m outta here,” she
said moving toward the front door. “Off to the Fest Grounds for
more fun and games.”

“Have fun,” I called to
her. “Behave yourself.”

“Make up your mind,
Jennifer. I can’t do both.” She waved and shut the door.

8

I went to the kitchen for a
cup of coffee. When I saw the magnet on the fridge advertising a
pizza place in Park Rapids, MN, I thought about my daughter, Beth.
She’d gone to Hermann High School for her senior year where she met
Ken Trager. They got married right after graduation. Beth and Ken
were living “up North” as Minnesotans say when referring to any
place north of the Twin Cities.

They ran a resort near Park
Rapids and the owner told them he’d give them first chance to buy
if he decided to sell. They spent the summer renting, cleaning and
maintaining the cabins and grounds. During the winter months, they
made repairs, shoveled snow and rented cabins to
hunters.

Maybe Beth knew Wes. He was
older than her but girls always knew the older guys. Or not. Given
what Megan had said about cougars, maybe that wasn’t true
anymore.

Ken answered the phone and
when Beth got on the line I explained what had happened to Bernie,
I asked her about Wes. “I didn’t know him, Mom. Oh, I knew about
him. He’s older and was already out of school when we moved here.
He hung around with a bunch of other dropouts who were always
getting into trouble. My friends and I stayed away from that bunch
of losers. I do remember the bank robbery, though. Maybe Nick knows
more about him.”

Nick is my son. He’s two
years older than Beth and was in college at Northern Illinois
University when we moved here. He decided to stay in Illinois, but
spent summers with us until he graduated. Now he works as an
accountant. But unlike his father, he’s working toward an MBA. He
has a great job as a comptroller at a riverboat casino in northern
Indiana, a few miles from the Illinois border.

“I doubt if Nick knows him.
He didn’t spend much time here. But I’ll give him a
call.”

“Are you okay, Mom? It must
have been gross to find a dead body. Yuck.”

“Well, it sure wasn’t
pleasant. But the worst part is that the police are looking at
Sister Bernadine as a suspect.”

“Oh, Mom, that’s just
crazy. She couldn’t hurt a flea. She was such a big help to me when
I was getting ready for my wedding.”

“She was?” I asked. “I
don’t seem to remember her being so helpful. She wasn’t even around
much. Didn’t she have that summer Bible day camp for teens about
that time?”

“Yes, she did. But I needed
her wisdom, not her hands.”

“Beth, what are you talking
about?”

“Well, you know. It was
getting close to the wedding and the invitations were out and the
flowers were ordered and everyone was so busy when I suddenly
thought, ‘What the hell and I doing?’ I had all these fears and was
ready to run away. So, I went to see Sister Bernie and she told me
to look at what I wanted from life. She said not to be influenced
by what others wanted for me but to think about what I wanted from
my life.”

“Did that help? I never
knew…”

“Yes, it did. We prayed
together then she let me know that what I was feeling was normal
and not to worry. She assured me that marrying Ken was a good thing
and that I wouldn’t regret it. She was right. I’ve never been
happier.”

“Wow! I never knew you had
the last minute jitters. You acted so unruffled.”

“I was unruffled after I
talked to Sister Bernie.”

“Why didn’t you come to me,
Beth?” I asked.

“Oh, Mom. You were
practically a basket case with all the details to attend to. I
didn’t want to get you all freaked out, too.”

“I wouldn’t have been
‘freaked out’, as you put it. I could have told you—”

“You could have told me a
lot of things, but I didn’t want to put more pressure on you. You
were so busy and I didn’t want to disappoint you. It all worked out
fine.”

“Oh alright, I see your
point,” I said, not really seeing the point. I was her mother,
after all. “But what made you decide to talk to Bernie? She
obviously didn’t have any personal experience in that
area.”

“Oh, yes she did. She left
her family and friends and went into the convent while practically
everyone in her life was trying to change her mind. I knew she’d
understand. And even though I love Megan, I think I was afraid to
confide in her because she might have told me to bail. I wanted to
marry Ken. I think I just needed someone to tell me I was doing the
right thing.”

“I never knew,” I
stammered.

“You weren’t supposed to,
Mom. You had enough to worry about.”

“How is everything going
way up there in the north woods?” I asked, changing the
subject.

“Great. We had an
ultrasound yesterday and you can actually see the baby! I’ll scan
it and email it to you. It’s awesome. You know, you need to get a
Facebook page so you can see all the pictures of Ken and me and the
resort.”

“I know, Honey but it’s so
much work. And I’m so busy.”

“Mom. It’ll only take ten
minutes. And you’ll be glad you did once you get it done. Have
Megan get you signed up if you don’t know what to do. She’s a whiz
with computers and online stuff.”

I bristled. “I don’t need
Megan to help me. I’m sure I can follow the instructions and get
signed up. After all, every seventh grader is on
Facebook.”

“Okay. I’ll look for your
friend request.” I’m sure I heard her giggle.

“Mom, there’s something
else I want to talk to you about, but I’m not sure I
should.”

“Oh, Beth, you know you can
tell me anything,” I said, surprised again that she was reluctant
to share with me. She’d never had a problem telling me her secrets,
or had she? I only knew what she told me, not what she chose not to
share.

“Daddy came up here last
weekend.”

“That’s terrific. I’m sure
you had a good time. I don’t want you to take sides, Beth. Our
problems are between us. We don’t want you and Nick to feel that
you have to choose between us. We both love you.”

“I know that, Mom. The
problem is that he brought his girlfriend with him. I didn’t know
what to do.”

“You mean Marty? I know
about her. I hope you were nice to her.” I knew about the new
girlfriend. She was a waitress at one of the restaurants that
bought coffee from me.

“It wasn’t Marty that I was
upset with. For cripes sake, she’s almost as young as
me!”

“Your father is going
through a mid-life crisis. I think he feels that he’s getting old.
The new flashy car and the young flashy girlfriend make him feel
young again.”

“How can you be so nice
about it? I think it’s horrible and I wanted to yell at
him.”

“Well, don’t yell at him, I
already did that. It didn’t do any good. Just give him some time.
You two have always been so close. Don’t lose that
feeling.”

“Mom, that closeness ended
a long time ago. Actually Daddy’s been different since we moved to
Hermann. I just don’t know what’s up with him.”

“I don’t know either,
Sweetie. But he’s your father so be nice to him.”

“I will and I was but it
was such an uncomfortable situation. I gave them a cottage to use
while they were here. I couldn’t bear to have them sleep together
in my house. Gross! Now I know why you wouldn’t let Ken sleep over
before we got married.”

“I’m sorry that he put you
in such an awkward situation, Beth.”