A Baked Ham (7 page)

“Six figures, at least,” Vern
said.
 

“Just out of curiosity, where
were you last night when it happened?” I asked.

“I was the same place that I’ve
been every night since I went out on my own; I was here behind my desk, trying
to figure out how I’m going to make this business a success.
 
So far, I’m not having much luck.”
 
He reached forward, moved his pen, and then
closed the open folder on his desk.
 
“I’m
guessing this meeting is over.”

“What makes you think that?” I
asked.

“It’s obvious you came in here to
ask me about Benny.
 
You never were
interested in a new insurance policy, were you?
 
At least not from me, at any rate.
 
I’m not even saying that I blame you.
 
I’m too old to start from scratch again.”

“We
might
be interested,” Moose said.
 

“If that’s true, call me later
for an appointment, and we’ll discuss it.
 
I’m just not in the mood to deal with this anymore today.”

“Thanks for your time,” I said as
we all stood.

“You’re welcome to it, for
whatever it was worth.
 
For the record, I
hope you figure out who did it.”

“What are you talking about?” I
asked as innocently as I could manage.

For the first time since we’d
come into his office, Vern Jeffries actually smiled.
 
“You’re investigating Benny’s death, and I
don’t blame you.
 
Moose, you must be
feeling the heat pretty solidly right now, but if it helps any, you aren’t
alone.
 
The sheriff’s already been here
grilling me, so I’m not surprised that you’re in the thick of it, too.
 
I’ll tell you what I told him.
 
If you really want to know who killed Benny,
you should look at his ex, Amanda Lark.
 
She could scare the label off a paint can, and from what
I
saw, he was terrified of her, and
that’s when they were getting along.
 
After he dumped her, I heard that she threatened to come after him with
a butcher knife.”

“Do you happen to know where we
might find her?” I asked.

“The last I heard, she was
working at Mad Dog; you know, the furniture outlet on the edge of town.
 
Watch yourself around that woman.
 
She bites.”

“We’ll be careful,” Moose said.
 
“Thanks for the information.
 
We’ll see you later.”

“Have your people call my
people,” Vern said with a hollow laugh.
 
“Except I don’t have people, at least not anymore.
 
Now, if you two will excuse me, I’m going to
lock my front door and get stinking drunk.
 
I don’t care how early in the day it is. You’re both free to join me,
but I should warn you, I get a little morose after I’ve had a few.”

“Maybe next time,” Moose said as
Vern walked us out.

Once we were through the door, he
closed it and locked it behind us, pulling the shade with one hand as he waved
good-bye to us with the other.

“What do you make of that?” I
asked Moose.

“I think the man needs to be on a
suicide watch,” he said.

“Do you really think that he’d do
something that drastic?”

“I don’t know, but I’m going to
make a few telephone calls to see if I can find a single friend he has
left.
 
Vern shouldn’t be alone right now,
in my opinion.”

I was starting to really worry
now.
 
“Should I go back in and keep him
company while you’re on the phone?”

“I doubt he’d open the door for
us again, but when I was digging around earlier, I heard about one man who
might be able to lend us a hand.”

Moose made his call while I
stared at Vern Jeffries’ office door.
 
What was he doing behind that pulled shade?
 
Should we have left him alone?

After a brief chat, Moose hung up
the phone.
 
“It’s good.
 
Steve Pierce will be here in five minutes.”

“You called the man’s
barber
?” I asked.
 
Steve was a good guy, and he liked to eat
some of his meals with us at the diner.

“They’re fishing buddies.
 
It was the best I could do, Victoria.
 
Anyway, he’s coming right over.”

“We’re waiting here, aren’t we?”
I asked.

“If you don’t mind,” he said.

“I’m happy to do it,” I replied.

Steve got there soon enough, a
barber as bald as the day he was born.
 
“How bad is he?”

“He’s probably already cracked
his first bottle by now, if that gives you any indication,” Moose said.

“Thanks for calling me.
 
I know that Vern’s not a ray of sunshine on
his best day, but he’s a good man to have in your corner when you’re down.
 
That’s what nearly killed him about this deal
with Benny.
 
That man took advantage of
Vern’s good nature, and he walked all over him.
 
Now, let me see if I can get him to answer the front door.
 
No offense, but it might be easier if you two
were gone, if you know what I mean.”

“Happy to do it.
 
Thanks again for coming.”

“Hey, if something happens to
Vern, who am I going to go fishing with?” Steve asked with a grin.

Moose drove off, but before he
could get far, he pulled into a lot a few doors down so we could see what was
going on.

“I was just about to suggest that
you pull over,” I said.

“Great minds think alike,” Moose
said with a slight grin.

We both watched in silence as
Steve repeatedly knocked on the door, to no avail.
 
I was about to suggest that we call 911 when
the shade finally came up and Vern opened the door.
 
After a brief conversation, the insurance
agent moved to one side, opened the door, and the barber walked in.

“That’s a relief,” I said.

“Honestly, it’s a short-term
patch, but it’s all we can do.
 
What do
you say?
 
Are you ready to go after our
next suspect?”

“I’m game if you are.”

“Good.
 
Then, if it were up to me, I’d say we go to
Mad Dog Furniture and find Amanda.”

“Why not?
 
This just gets better and better, doesn’t
it?” I asked as Moose pulled back out onto the road and drove toward the edge
of town.

“It’s not the life of glamour
they make investigating look like on television, but then again, what is?” he
asked.
 
“At least we get to nose around
and ask a lot of impertinent questions.”

“After what Vern told us, I’m not
entirely certain that it’s a good thing hearing their answers, though,” I said.

“Cheer up.
 
After all, how much worse could it get?”

“Do you really want to hear my
answer to that question?” I asked Moose.

“On second thought, I’ll
pass.
 
Hopefully we’ll get a little more
from Amanda than we were able to get out of Vern.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” I
said.
 
“I’ve heard some pretty scary
stuff about the woman.”

“I’m sure that she’s not as bad
as folks make her out to be,” Moose said.

“I guess we’ll find out soon
enough, won’t we?”

Chapter 5

I hadn’t been to the furniture
outlet in years, and in the time since my last visit, the place had gotten seedier
and more rundown than I could have imagined.
 
What would possess someone to shop there, let alone come to work there
every day?
 
The signage had long ago
faded from its original bright colors, and muted flags hung limp from the
awnings, which were covered with leaves.
 
One of the concrete steps had a corner knocked off, and there were
cracks all through the thing.
 
I wasn’t
sure the steps were safe to walk up, and honestly, the building wasn’t much
better.

I steeled myself for what was
inside, and I held my breath as Moose and I walked through the front door.
 
The first thing I noticed was the canned
music coming out tinny from the loudspeakers.
 
A handful of customers browsed throughout the expanse of cheap
furniture, wandering around a little like zombies in the flickering overhead
lights.
 

If I had to work there five days
a week, I’d stick a fork in the nearest electrical outlet and be done with it.

There was no sales staff on the
floor, at least none that I could see, but there were a few folks hanging
around the sales counter in the middle of the store.

“Can I help you find something?”
a middle-aged woman with a lipstick-stained smile asked us as we approached.

“I hope so.
 
We’re looking for Amanda Lark,” Moose said.

“Well, you’ve found her, sweetheart.
 
May I ask who recommended me?”

“Vern Jeffries,” I answered
without thinking.

The smile vanished
instantly.
 
“What did that weasel want?”

“He told us that you weren’t too
happy about your break up with Benny Booth,” I said.

“Is he still spreading lies about
Benny and me?
 
We ended things like a
couple of adults do, with a kiss on the cheek and a smile.
 
The problem with Vern is that he never got
over the fact that I turned him down to go out with Benny.”

“When did that happen?” I asked.

“When do you think?
 
Listen, if you’re not here to look at
furniture, sorry, I don’t have time for you.”

“Yes, I can see that you’re
overwhelmed with customers at the moment,” Moose said.

She was about to answer when I
decided that a little peacemaking might be in order.
 
“Actually, my husband has been talking about
getting a big sectional couch,” I said.
 
“Would you mind showing me what you’ve got?”

“Sure, why not?
 
You and your husband just follow me,” she
said.

“He’s not my
husband
,” I said.
 
“This is
my grandfather.”

Moose quickly added, “Not that I
couldn’t land a young lady for myself if I were in the market for one.”

“Sure, sure.
 
Whatever.
 
It takes all kinds.”

“Even though you were broken up,
you must have been devastated when you heard about Benny’s murder,” I said as
we started moving through the store.

“It was quite a shock,” Amanda
said.

“Where were you when it
happened?” I asked her.

“I was… hang on.
 
Why should
you
care where I was?”

I hadn’t expected her to balk so
quickly, so I had to come up with something on the fly.
 
I said the first thing that came to mind, and
I hoped that it would work.
 
“I just
wanted to know if you felt anything, like a psychic tug, when Benny was
murdered.
 
What
were
you doing at the time he died, do you know?”

“I was busy away from the theater
having a life, and no, I didn’t feel a thing.”

“Nothing at all?” Moose asked.

I shot my grandfather a warning
look.
 
Was he trying to antagonize this
woman?
 
Before she could react, I quickly
asked Amanda, “How long did you and Benny date?”

“It was a while,” she said.
 
“As a matter of fact, he was still in
business with Vern, if that gives you any idea.”

“We were wondering what made them
end their ties,” I asked.
 
“Do you have
any idea what happened between them?”

“Sure.
 
Vern thought he was the shark, only it turned
out that he was wrong.
 
Benny got the
best of him, and Vern wouldn’t take it like a man, so he took all of his
marbles and went home.”

“Is that what happened with you
and Benny?” Moose asked.
 
“Did he get the
better of you, too?”

“I told you, our breakup was
mutual,” Amanda said heatedly.

“That’s not the way I heard it,”
Moose said.

“Moose,” I snapped.

“Hey, I’m just saying out loud
what everyone else is thinking,” my grandfather said.