Give Murder A Hand: Lizzie. Book 2 (The Westport Mysteries) (10 page)

Danny turned to look at me, his eyebrows raised. “What kind of
information?”

“Well he didn’t have a lot to tell, only that an old man at the pub
told him about a guy who went missing around the time and perhaps his bones were
buried.”

“What else did the old guy have to say?”

“I have no idea. That’s all Bradley could tell me.”

“Why don’t you go to the pub and ask the old guy yourself?”

“Maybe ... Riley wants me to stay out of it though. He already
hates my nightmares and he thinks this will only make them worse.”

“
The Mystery of the Skeleton
in the Garden
would give me more nightmares.”

“Is that what you’re calling it is it?”

“Yep, it’s like a
Famous Five
novel.
The Mystery of the Skeleton In The
Garden
,” Danny added. “Do you remember those books Grandma gave you as a
kid?”

I nodded. “They were my favorite.”

Danny took a swig of his wine. “We could be the
Famous Five
,” he said excitedly. “We’d
have to leave Riley out of it of course.”

“
Famous Five
?” I
questioned.

“Yeah...me, you, Andrew, Molly and Harper.”

I shrugged. It sounded like a good idea, but then a lot of things
sounded like a good idea after a glass of wine.

“Where do we start?” I asked.

Danny stood and put his glass on the coffee table. “We’ll start at
the pub. See if we can find this old guy and ask him what he knows. Come on,
it’ll be fun.” He held out his hand for me to take. Pulling me to my feet, his
excitement was contagious. “Which pub?” he asked.

“The Grinning Dog.”

“Okay, you’ll have to drive. I’m already on my third glass of
wine.”

“What about the pizza?”

“We’ll drive past and pick it up.”

“What about Riley?” I asked, biting my lip. “I don’t want to upset him.”

“We’re only asking an eighty-year-old man to tell us a story. What
harm can that cause? Besides, what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

“Okay, but if he gets angry you can say you’re investigating and
not me. I just tagged along for the ride.”

“Sure. Whatever. Let’s go.”

* * *

It didn’t take long to get to the pub, but it appeared
that The Grinning Dog was a popular place on a Friday night. Now, I will
confess to not being the most patient person in the world, so by the time I had
followed a family to their car and waited while the dad carefully belted all
the kids into their seats, then slowly got in himself and finally reversed out
of the park, I was feeling quite agitated. Unlike Danny, I’d only had half a
glass of wine and I was starting to worry about doing this behind Riley’s back.

“I think you can do all the talking,” I said to Danny, pulling the
car into the spot and turning off the engine.

“Why? What’s wrong with your voice?”

“Nothing, but you’re Julian.”

“What are you talking about?” Danny looked at me like I was crazy.

“
The Famous Five
. Remember?
You can be Julian – the leader.”

“Oh, but I don’t want to be Julian. He was stuck up and boring. I
want to be George. Or Dick. I liked Dick.”

I looked at Danny and stifled a giggle. “Okay. You’re a Dick,” I
said, opening my car door and stepping into the evening air. The evening had
turned out quite humid and I welcomed getting back inside to the air
conditioning. Danny quickly followed me as I walked towards the entrance doors
and beeped the car locked.

“I heard that,” he said. “And I am not
a
dick. I
am
Dick. He was
the braver one, courageous and strong.” Danny held his head high and walked
ahead of me, opening the heavy glass door as I approached.

The Grinning Dog was more a family-friendly pub with a large
restaurant at the front and the bar in the far corner. One side of the bar
serviced the restaurant whilst the other side was the more traditional area
with smaller tables and bar stools. A large Harley Davidson motorcycle sat in
the centre of the bar separating the two areas. I moved to a small round table
in the furthest corner and pulled out a chair.

“So what does this guy look like?” asked Danny, moving to sit next
to me.

“All Bradley could tell me was that he was in his eighties, bald–headed
and wore a turtleneck.”

“A turtleneck? It’s like thirty degrees outside.”

“Yeah, apparently he’s got scarring or something and doesn’t like
people seeing it,” I shrugged. Why he wore a turtleneck was really none of my
business.

“Well go get me a drink and scope out the bar. I’ll wait here and
look around,” said Danny, glancing around the room.

“Why do I have to buy the drinks?”

“Because this is your mystery.”

I sighed. Fair enough. I stood and moved to the bar, scanning the
crowd as I went. It didn’t take long for me to spot the person we were looking
for. He actually seemed to be the only person in here over the age of fifty. I
ordered Danny a white wine and myself a coke, and moved back to the table.

“He’s at the end of the bar, sitting alone,” I said, handing Danny
his drink.

“Yeah, I saw him. He’s not alone though. He seems quite happy
sitting next to that really ugly woman.”

I smiled looking at the seven-foot tall statue of the dog wearing a
dress and lipstick, seductively sitting on the bar stool next to him. I guess
that’s why they call this the Grinning Dog.

“What do we do now?” asked Danny more seriously.

“You’re Dick remember? You tell me.” Danny picked up his drink and
took a sip thoughtfully. We sat in silence for a few minutes, each lost in our
own thoughts. “Maybe I should buy him a drink and ask to sit next to him?” I
added.

“Sure. It’s probably the closest he’s come to getting lucky in a
long time.”

I whipped my head to look at Danny. “I’m not trying to pick him
up!”

“Sounds like you are, but who am I to judge? If that’s your thing
then go for it. I reckon you’d be guaranteed to get the information you’re
after ... providing he doesn’t have a heart attack first.”

Humph. “Well, what do you suggest?”

“I’d go the direct approach. Walk over there and ask him.”

I looked at the man in question. He didn’t look scary. In fact, he
looked quite the opposite. He sat watching the football match showing on the
big screen above the bar, his bald head reflecting the overhead lights. If
anything, he looked lonely.

“If you talk to him then I won’t actually be guilty of going behind
Riley’s back, will I?”

Danny looked at me and sighed. “If I do this for you, you’ll owe
me, okay?”

“Yep, no worries.”

“You’ll have to repay the favor in any way I see fit?”

“Sure ... whatever you need, I’m your girl.” That was a statement I
knew I’d live to regret but right now, it seemed like the best choice.

“Alright, here goes.”

Danny took the last swig of his drink and moved across the room to
sit next to the old man. Now this is where I should mention that Danny’s
sexuality oozes out of him. There is no mistaking what his orientation is. The
old man picked up on it immediately and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. I
crossed my fingers and hoped he wasn’t homophobic.

Danny’s skill at talking to people and making them feel at ease
kicked in pretty quickly though, and within a minute the man relaxed and not
surprisingly, he started to talk. I sat back and waited for Danny to return
watching them closely for any clues. About ten minutes later, Danny returned
smiling broadly.

“What did you find out?” I asked.

“I found out that Jim’s wife died five years ago and that he’s
really lonely. His kids don’t visit, even though I think they should. He had a
heart attack a few months ago and they didn’t even go to see him in the
hospital. Spoilt brats... you work hard all your life to provide for them and
that’s what you get in return. Thank God I’m never having any.” Danny sat and picked
up his empty glass. “You didn’t even buy me a drink?” he asked, incredulously.

“Danny, what useful information did you find out?”

“Lizzie, have some sensitivity. That old man is a person with
feelings, you know!”

“Sorry, Danny. Would you like to invite him over for a drink with
us?”

“I already did, but he’s watching the game. I hate football so I
left him to it.”

“Did you ask about the missing person?”

“Of course I did, but he didn’t tell me much more than you already
know. Except I did find out that the house you are living in had a bit of
scandal surrounding it in its day.”

Now he had my interest. “Really? Like what?”

“There’s rumors of an illegitimate child being born there.”

“Really? How long ago?”

“About sixty five years.” Danny’s eye twinkled as he spoke. He
loved gossip.

“That’s about the same time the body was buried.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s also about the time of the missing person
report.”

“Did Jim say who the missing person was?”

“He said he couldn’t remember the guy’s name, but he did remember
he worked for the local butcher and had a weird thing about stuffing things.”

“Well that makes sense if he was a butcher. They stuff chickens all
time.” Personally I hated stuffing but Mum cooked with it all the bloody time.

“Yeah, but not that kind of stuffing. I mean, he stuffed animals
like dogs and cats and put them on his mantle.”

“Ooooh,” I said, my lip curling. “Was his butchery very popular in
the unusual meats section?”

Danny laughed. “Ha! Sometimes you can be quite funny, Lizzie.”

I beamed. Danny never told me I was funny. Unfashionable – yes,
unkempt – yes. He even complimented me once and told me I was pretty – but he
had never told me I was funny.

“What do we do now?” I asked, sipping my drink.

“I think you should talk to that police officer who has the hots
for you.”

“Danny, he does not have the hots for me. And anyway, what happened
to you doing the questioning so that Riley doesn’t know I’m up to anything?”

“I’m pretty sure you’d get more out of the policeman than I would.”

Yeah, but I bet if Danny had seen Officer Ed Helms, he wouldn’t be
arguing with me right about now. “I’ll think about it.” I sighed and finished
my drink, looking at the clock on the wall. “Anyway, I’ve got to go. Riley will
be home soon.”

“Yeah. I’d better get home to Andrew. Don’t want him thinking I had
too much fun without him.”

We stood to leave and I followed Danny to the door. I looked around
the restaurant as we passed and noticed the crowd had thinned out quite a bit. I
guess as it was now just after nine pm, the mums and dads would have taken the
kids home to bed. I smiled and was just about to walk through the door behind
Danny when I stopped. My heart skipped a beat and I felt the air being sucked
out of me as I looked into the far corner of the room and saw Riley. Sitting
with a very beautiful looking Allison, her hand rubbing his forearm
affectionately. He had his back to me so I couldn’t see his face but it was
definitely him. There was no mistaking it, especially when I heard his deep
throaty laugh drift towards me across the room. Time stood still for a moment
until I felt Danny grab my arm and drag me into the night air.

“Come on girl, hurry up. People are trying to get past you.”

I snapped to and looked at Danny, my throat closing as I did. Riley
had told me he had a meeting with a new client tonight, so what was he doing
here with Allison?

“What’s wrong?” asked Danny “You look sick. You’re not going to
throw up are you?”

I shook my head, sat on the low wall running along the edge of the garden
bed, and sunk my head between my knees. I sucked in air and tried to control
the adrenalin rush that caused my hands to shake and my knees to wobble. Danny
sat next to me.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” said Danny, placing his arm
around my shoulders. He may seem abrupt and uncaring but Danny was actually one
of the most caring men I knew.

“It was Riley. He was in there with Allison.”

“His ex-girlfriend Allison?”

I nodded.

“Are you sure?”

I nodded again. Danny hugged me a little bit tighter and placed his
head against mine.

“Maybe she’s the new client he was seeing?” I hadn’t thought of
that.

“Do you think she could be?” I asked, lifting my head.

“I don’t see why not. Riley’s never lied to you before.”

“But why didn’t he tell me that’s who he was meeting?” I asked
quietly.

“Don’t know. Maybe he was afraid of your response.”