Rubbed Out (A Memphis BBQ Mystery) (25 page)

It wouldn’t hurt to have more witnesses, right? Lulu blared on the horn in long blasts, which brought more curious people from other houses out. And that made Sharon very, very mad.

Sharon started hitting the car with the knife—slashing the tires and cutting the paint as she swiped at the hood. And she didn’t stop yelling, although it was hard to tell exactly what she was saying.

When the police cars arrived, Lulu saw that none of
them contained Pink—the neighbors must have called 911 and the closest officers responded. Sharon seemed to not even register their presence…until they handcuffed her and put her in the back of a police car.

Unfortunately, Lulu was also detained for a while. But then, she’d been sitting there in a damaged car that didn’t belong to her. Once Pink arrived, he set everything straight. And he made sure that Lulu was taken home—the celebration for Derrick had already wound down and Lulu needed time to recover from her wild ride with Sharon.

It was hours later before Pink checked back in with her. It was real late and Lulu had been thinking about going to bed. She’d been descended upon by an indignant and loving horde of family and Graces and Morty, who’d demanded to know if she was all right, fussed at her for riding off with Sharon, and admired her for getting out of the situation alive.

Now they’d all left, shaking their heads. Except for Cherry, and Lulu was seriously considering pressuring her to take her leave, too. Once the doorbell rang and they saw that it was Pink, Lulu knew she’d have Cherry as a visitor for a while longer.

Cherry was breathless and didn’t wait for Pink to even sit down before she started giving him the fifth degree. “Did y’all get anything out of her, Pink? I bet she clammed up real quick, didn’t she? Think she’s going to get away with it all?”

Lulu sighed. “There really wasn’t any evidence, was there? I don’t think you can convict anybody because their husband picked up take-out instead of going to a restaurant.”

Pink laughed. “Well, y’all are wrong. We read Sharon her rights and she decided to spill everything. It was like a dam bursting and she couldn’t keep it all in. We even repeated a mention of a lawyer, worried that her confession wasn’t going to count in court—but she kept right on talking. Couldn’t wait to get it off her chest.”

“What a relief!” said Lulu. “I was thinking it was going to be my word against hers.”

“Of course, there were a ton of onlookers who could have backed you up on how she was trying to attack you, Lulu. Y’all did draw a lot of attention,” said Pink. “That was probably the excitement of the year for those folks.”

“Good entertainment value,” said Cherry, chortling. “Although I don’t know why I’m laughing. I’m still so mad at Sharon that I could spit. She tricked us into being her friend! She acted so…damaged. I thought she was a good person.”

“She was a good actress,” said Lulu. She thought for a moment. “Sharon said that Brody wasn’t part of the scheme. Is that what she told y’all, too?”

“He sure seemed surprised when we paid a visit on him tonight,” said Pink. “He’d been texting Sharon trying to figure out where she was. So apparently he didn’t know anything about her plan to get rid of Lulu. And he
claims not to know anything about Reuben’s murder or John’s.”

“The motivation was money, obviously,” said Cherry.

“That’s what Sharon said. Their whole lifestyle was endangered and Reuben bragged that he had more money than he actually did. And apparently Reuben and Sharon were a lot closer than we realized. They started an affair shortly after Sharon and Brody moved to Memphis. Reuben was drunk one day and told Sharon he’d changed his will and was leaving nearly everything to her and Brody. He didn’t know how desperate they were or that Sharon would now have a motive to kill him.”

“I’m surprised she could take down a big guy like Reuben with a knife,” said Cherry.

“Not me!” said Lulu. “She was strong as an ox.”

“She seemed real focused and determined,” said Pink. “And that desperation of hers drove her pretty hard, too. It might have made her even stronger than she was.”

“Did y’all hear anything from the people whose house I broke into?” asked Lulu.

“Lulu the burglar,” chortled Cherry.

Pink said, “Technically, you didn’t break into the house since the door was unlocked. It was more like trespassing. And no, they didn’t seem to mind—they understood why you came inside. Although their bushes have now got to be seriously pruned. And they did say their dog has an upset tummy.”

Lulu said, “Poor thing. I know I scooped out too much, but I was in a hurry.”

“It was quick thinking, though,” said Pink admiringly. “You really got yourself out of a pickle.”

“I have you to thank for that, Pink,” said Lulu. “You’re the one who told me to stay alert and be prepared to fight.”

“It was real gutsy of you to plow the car into the bushes,” said Cherry.

“Better than going off with a killer to a remote location,” said Pink. “But I do think it was very brave of you.”

“And I won’t say anything again about the fact that you tote that huge pocketbook,” said Cherry. “Or the fact that it’s always on your arm.” She looked pointedly at Lulu, and sure enough, the purse nestled in the crook of her arm.

“I’m thinking that even if she’s not pulling out survival gear from that pocketbook, it could be a weapon all by itself,” mused Pink. “Just seeing the size of it and the probable weight.”

“There was probably a time in my life when I could have put all my stuff in a tee-tiny pocketbook,” said Lulu. Then she stopped, thinking. “No, actually, likely not. I’ve always toted most of my stuff with me.”

“I’m glad you do,” said Cherry. “Who knows when we might need something from the Pocketbook of Power the next time we have an adventure?”

Recipes

Pineapple Casserole

1 20-ounce can pineapple chunks

1 cup sugar

4 tablespoons flour

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1 stick melted margarine

1 cup crushed buttery crackers

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Drain most of the juice from the canned pineapple (leave about 6 tablespoons), and pour the chunks and remaining juice into a casserole dish.

Mix the sugar and flour, and pour the mixture on top of the pineapple chunks.

Sprinkle the cheese on the top.

Mix the melted margarine and crushed crackers together and sprinkle on the top of the cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Simply Southern Pimento Cheese

8 ounces of extra-sharp cheddar cheese, cubed

1 4-ounce jar pimentos, with liquid

1 cup mayonnaise

1 squirt regular mustard

1 dash garlic powder

Put all the ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. Refrigerate for about 45 minutes for the pimento cheese to thicken into a spread.

Bread Pudding

2 eggs, slightly beaten

2
¹
⁄
₄
cups milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

¹
⁄
₂
teaspoon ground cinnamon

¹
⁄
₄
teaspoon salt

2 cups day-old bread, cut into 1-inch cubes

¹
⁄
₂
cup brown sugar

¹
⁄
₂
cup raisins

¹
⁄
₄
cup butter

¹
⁄
₂
cup caramel topping

vanilla ice cream (if desired)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the bread, brown sugar, and raisins. Pour into an 8-inch round baking pan and dot with butter. Put the baking pan inside a larger pan containing an inch of water. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and top with caramel and vanilla ice cream.

Three-Bean Casserole

1 package frozen French-style green beans

1 package frozen lima beans

1 package frozen baby green peas

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1
¹
⁄
₂
cups sour cream

3 ounces softened cream cheese

1 medium onion, finely chopped

salt and pepper to taste

1 can drained and sliced water chestnuts (optional)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

¹
⁄
₄
tablespoon Worcestershire sauce