A Dyeing Shame (19 page)

S
TILL WATCHING THROUGH
binoculars, Myrtle mused, “What on earth could his motivation be? It’s easy to see why Bootsie’s so crazy about him. But what’s driving
him
?”

“Money,” answered a dry voice from outside their rolled down windows. Myrtle and Miles jumped half a mile as Red’s angry face appeared through Myrtle’s window. They’d been so absorbed in their surveillance that the arrival of Red’s police cruiser had gone completely unnoticed. “Hi, Mama,” he said in a tight voice. “Miles. Thought I recognized the car. What the blazes are y’all doing out here?”

“Just following up on a lead for my
Bradley Bugle
story,” answered Myrtle calmly. “We’re on a stakeout. What are you doing out here?”

Red barely held his temper in check. “This is my beat. And I thought you were watching Jack today, Mama.” He peered into Miles’ backseat as if looking for a car seat and a red-headed toddler.

“Elaine didn’t need me to look after Jack today, after all. You know I wouldn’t bring him on a stakeout.”

“On a stakeout,” repeated Red in disbelief. “No, I wouldn’t ordinarily place Jack at a stakeout. But I wouldn’t put my mother there, either.”

“You should be proud of us,” said Myrtle firmly.

“Have you had a mild stroke? Why on earth should I be proud of you?”

“I followed leads to find out what was behind Bootsie’s secretive behavior.” Myrtle paused for a minute to give Red the opportunity to applaud her detective work, but continued talking when the adulation wasn’t forthcoming. “So I asked Miles to drive me out here. It was
my
idea and
not
Miles’.”

“Mama, it never occurred to me in a million years that this was Miles’ brainchild.”

“Anyway, we got to the bottom of Tammy’s hold on Bootsie. She’s seeing some young guy and obviously doesn’t want her husband to find out. Otherwise, she’d lose the easy life she’s been living.” Then she frowned. “Wait a minute. How’d you know his motive was money—and how’d you know what we were talking about?”

“Because,” replied Red in a world-weary voice, “I’m well aware of Mrs. Davenport’s goings-on. I could’ve told you all about them.”

Myrtle gaped at him and he continued, “She makes sure he has everything he needs to be comfortable. She gets a big allowance from the Judge, apparently.”

“Wait a minute,” said Myrtle. “Shouldn’t you be arresting him for prostitution?”

Red snorted derisively. “I’d have to arrest Bootsie herself if I went by that standard. Her husband has basically been paying Bootsie for thirty years to stick around. I think it’s more of a sugar mama relationship. But you’re right—I’m sure that Bootsie doesn’t want the Judge to know about it. Maybe he
sort
of knows what she’s up to, but he would divorce her for sure if he were publically humiliated.”

“Myrtle,” said Miles in a carefully patient tone, “I’m ready to grab some lunch. Can we get out of here and head for the diner or something?”

“I guess,” said Myrtle, still a little irritated about the fact that Red already knew about Bootsie’s affair. “Red, do you want to join us?” At least maybe she could try to find out what else he knew.”

“No, I’m still on patrol. I’m going to have to grab a late lunch today. Then I’ve got to meet up with Lieutenant Perkins to do another interview.”

Myrtle’s radar instantly went up. “Connor Walker, maybe?”

“None of your business, Mama.”Which only confirmed to Myrtle that she was right.

Customers still packed
Bo’s Diner when Miles and Myrtle arrived at one-thirty. When a booth freed up, they slid in on its vinyl seats. “Fried chicken plate looks good,” mused Myrtle. A pink head entered her peripheral vision. Kat said, “Got some tips for your column, Miss Myrtle.”

Myrtle blinked a little at the thought of Kat having any kind of home tips, but she plucked out a pen and paper from her large pocketbook. “Shoot.”

Kat cleared her throat for effect. “After painting a room, put your leftover paint in an empty mustard or ketchup bottle to squeeze out and spread for touch-ups, later. Also, instead of using lemon juice to keep peeled apples and bananas from browning in the air, try pineapple juice. It adds a little something extra to the fruit besides keeping it pretty,” said Kat.

Myrtle slid over and patted the booth next to her for Kat to sit down. “You do surprise me, Kat. I never would have pegged you for a painter or a cook. Got any other hidden talents? Horseback riding? Piloting planes?”

Kat laughed. “No, that’s about it.”

“Well, I’m proud of you. There aren’t many people who’ve had the rough past that you’ve had who are able to turn things around and make their life better. Good for you!” said Myrtle, beaming.

“Thanks,” said Kat. “Although I’ve had some pretty low moments here in Bradley, too, where I was wondering if I’d done the right thing to move near Tammy. But now it looks like it’s all going to work out just fine.”

Miles nodded. “For a while it must have seemed like Tammy was trying to undo all the progress you’d made. I hear she was really driving customers off. You probably wondered if the Beauty Box was going to survive.”

“She was screwing up all
her
chances and I thought she was going to try to take me down with her, just like my mom had done. I couldn’t let that happen to me again,” said Kat.

When Myrtle and Miles stared at her, Kat said, “Her death solved a lot of problems for me, for sure.” When they continued to stare at her, she gave a short laugh. “Hey,
I
didn’t kill her. But I’m glad someone else did so that I didn’t have to.”

Tentatively, Myrtle said, “I’ve heard that Tammy left you and Dina a nice legacy, Kat.”

Kat nodded her pink head. “I was really glad to hear about it. I want to upgrade the shop and bring in some more people; maybe a younger clientele and another couple of girls to do hair.”

“I was surprised that Tammy had such a substantial amount to pass on. Especially with her drinking problem.”

“She probably drank a lot of it away, but she didn’t spend money on other stuff. And she had a lot of it to go through. Her grandmother got filthy rich a few years ago from winning a malpractice lawsuit. Then she passed away the next year. My mom didn’t get a cent because my grandmother wasn’t even speaking to her by then. I wish Granny had sent some to
me
, but it was her money to do with what she wanted.”

Kat said, “I’m going to use her money to turn over a new leaf, which is what
Tammy
should have used it for. The Beauty Box needs some sprucing up, too. I started just getting rid of the old magazines. Once I did that, the tables looked all stained and beat up, so I put in some nicer ones. The new tables made me realize how bad the walls looked, so I took down the tacky hair posters and started painting yesterday. It’ll be a whole new Beauty Box by the time I’m done.”

Kat glanced at her watch. “Hey, it was good talking, but I’ve got to run. I’ve got a two o’clock and Dina is holding down the fort while I’m gone…if
she
hasn’t gone AWOL and headed for the shelter, that is.”

Myrtle said, “She’s still spending a lot of time over there?”

Kat nodded. “Every spare minute. Not that it’s really a bad thing. But she’s kind of going overboard with it. She must have been voted “Most Likely to Join a Cult” in her high school yearbook.”

Miles watched Kat leave. “So what do you think, Sherlock? Did Kat do it?” he asked in a low voice.

Myrtle took a sip from her sweet tea before stage whispering, “I hope not. I really like her. But she
could
have murdered Tammy, sure.”

Miles said, “She sure had the opportunity. She spent almost as much time at the Beauty Box as Dina. She could have easily come back there that night, killed Tammy, then returned to “discover” her the next morning.”

Myrtle nodded, slowly. “She could have. But I don’t know. It seems like you and I are missing something.” She thought for a minute, sipping her tea. “Nope, can’t pin it down.” Myrtle pulled out her cell phone. “I forgot I had this thing on vibrate while we were at our stakeout.”

“Did somebody call?”

Myrtle nodded, putting in her voice mail code. “It’s Agnes. She says she has a tip for the column. I don’t know why everybody is suddenly so flush with tips. I go for months with nothing and am begging people to send me something. Maybe Sloan is trying to beef up my column since he’s so low on content for the paper right now. I guess I’ll call her when I get back home.”

“So, based on everything you know today,” said Miles, “which suspect are you leaning toward?”

“Bootsie,” said Myrtle firmly. “Or, well, maybe Kat or Dina. I know Tammy was babbling on about her will and changing it—if they knew they were getting money, that might have been reason for murder. Oh, who knows. This case has been a doozy.”

It was still
dark outside when Myrtle woke up the next morning. Thinking a cool breeze or chirping crickets would help her sleep, she’d left her window open all night. Unfortunately, Myrtle had awakened sticky from the moist, heavy summer air. She showered and dressed in a cool cotton top and skirt.

This was the day she’d promised Prissy she’d read at Little Lambs Preschool. She cleared her throat of its early-morning gruffness and tried out a syrupy storytelling voice that she imagined Prissy might approve of.
No good.
She fell back on her technique from forty-five years ago: silly sound effects and vigorous gesticulating.

Myrtle was about to head out for an early-morning walk when she saw Jo ringing Elaine’s doorbell. Wasn’t it too early for her to be there? And…wasn’t it the wrong day?

Jo was just bringing in her cleaning supplies and vacuum when Myrtle joined her. “Don’t you come a different day, Jo?”

“You’re right. But it’s Agnes Walker’s day and she’s not answering her door. I hate to write her off my schedule completely, so if it’s okay with you, I’ll swap your days out and get to her on your day. Do you mind?” she asked Elaine.

Elaine looked over at the pile of dirty dishes in the kitchen sink and smiled. “Today works out great for me.” She walked into the den with Jo while Myrtle slowly pulled out her cell phone and sat down at Elaine’s kitchen table. She dialed Agnes’ number and the phone rang eight, nine, ten times. Agnes had banned most modern devices—like answering machines—from her home, so there was no way to leave a message.

Myrtle tried Connor Walker’s number. After a few rings, he picked up the phone and helloed in a rushed voice. “You’re probably leaving for work,” said Myrtle, “but I wondered if your mother was over there. Or if you’d heard from her lately.”

Connor was pulling on his shoes, eating breakfast, and talking at the same time. No, his mother wasn’t there and he hadn’t talked to her recently. “I wouldn’t worry about Mother, but it’s nice for you to check up on her. She’s getting a little deaf these days, so maybe she didn’t hear the phone ring. Old age kicking in,” he said a little apologetically. “By the way, thanks for introducing me to Kat. Funny thing how Tammy never managed to let us meet.”

“I’m sure you two would have met each other eventually. Kat isn’t exactly easily overlooked. I just helped speed up the process.” She paused. “Are y’all officially going out then?”

“We’ve got a dinner date in a few nights. Looking forward to it.”

The loud shuffling of papers and the briefcase snapping on Connor’s end of the line reminded Myrtle that he was more interested in leaving than in finding his missing mother or discussing his social life, so Myrtle ended the conversation and hung up. She couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that something was wrong. She grimaced at her watch. It was almost time for her to leave for the preschool. “Elaine,” she called.

Elaine walked into the kitchen. “Just getting Jo started. What’s wrong?” she asked quickly, seeing Myrtle’s frown.

“Probably nothing,” admitted Myrtle. “But it’s a little strange that I couldn’t reach Agnes yesterday afternoon or this morning, and she didn’t answer the doorbell for Jo a few minutes ago. Let’s check on her on the way to Little Lambs Preschool.”

“Sure, that’s no problem,” said Elaine. She added in a low voice, “I don’t mind leaving Jo here alone. After all, if Bootsie trusts her alone in her castle, I don’t think I have anything to worry about.”

After securing Jack in his car seat, they drove to Agnes’ house. Myrtle stayed in the car with Jack and anxiously watched Elaine hurry up the carefully swept walkway and stairs to the wrap-around verandah. Elaine rang the doorbell, rapped loudly on the door, and peered through the sheer curtains in Agnes’ windows. She tried the door and found it locked. Elaine shrugged at Myrtle and walked back to the car.

“Sorry, Myrtle. I guess she’s not there.”

Myrtle shook her head. “She wouldn’t be out anywhere yet. The only early appointment she keeps is for the Beauty Box and this isn’t her day. Besides, she was supposed to be here for Jo.” She opened her car door. “I’m going to try the back door.”

“Won’t you be late to the school?”

“It’ll only take a minute. I just want to be sure…” Myrtle pinched her mouth shut and walked quickly down the front walk, her cane punctuating the stones with thumps. As she walked around the side of the house, a sense of foreboding settled over her. “Agnes,” she called as she approached the backyard.

Agnes’ yardman came by each week to do the grunt work in her garden so that she could enjoy tending the flowers. She had a large rose garden currently in full bloom and rows of perennials on several sides of the yard. Myrtle noticed that the wrought-iron patio table held a tray with a couple of glasses and a pitcher.

Then she saw a crumpled body in a bright blue oxford shirt and worn khakis on the other side of the table. Myrtle, feeling as though she were floating, walked over to the body. Agnes lay on her face; the back of her head was smashed in. A dark-stained shovel lay next to her. Myrtle felt a tremendous sadness rush over her as she looked at her friend, who now seemed so small and frail and old on the ground.

It was obvious Agnes was dead. Myrtle leaned heavily on her cane as she walked across the patio to the back door. It was unlocked and Myrtle cautiously entered, careful not to touch anything. She took a tissue from her pocketbook and picked up the phone to call Red’s. When he answered, Myrtle said quietly, “Red. Get Lieutenant Perkins and come over to Agnes’. She’s been murdered.” Suddenly feeling very tired, Myrtle set the phone down on its receiver.