The Saucy Lucy Murders (35 page)

Before long, the fire seemed to be under control.
A fire fighter, his yellow rubber slicker covered with ash, walked up to Lexie, Al, and Aunt Gladys. He was a tall, burly man with a sandy-colored handlebar mustache. The crinkled lines around his eyes were lined with gritty soot and dirt. Lexie got the impression of a mad hornet coming their way.

“I’m Chief Bob Plowman,” he said sternly as he walked up to them. “Was everyone out of the house?”

“Yes,” Lexie said.

One of Chief Plowman’s eyebrows cocked. “You the owner?”

Lexie nodded and hiccoughed. She took a deep breath and swallowed.

“You’re lucky,” Plowman said. “Fire’s out. Were you cooking anything?”

“No. Is the house …?” Lexie was almost afraid to ask the question. “Salvagable?”

“Sure. Damage was contained to the kitchen. You’ll have to hole up somewhere while the fire marshal conducts his investigation and your insurance company can get someone out to do repairs.”

Plowman nodded at an ambulance. In her shock, Lexie hadn’t noticed its arrival. “They’ll check you folks out,” he said.

One of the ambulance attendants walked over to Lexie, a short, rotund fellow with a serious expression. “You all right, ma’am?”

“I’m fine.”
Hiccough.
“But my aunt isn’t.”

Aunt Gladys clutched Lexie’s arm as another paroxysm of coughing racked her frame.

“Smoke inhalation,” the attendant said, taking Aunt Gladys’ elbow. “And let’s check you out, too. Just to be on the safe side,” he said to Lexie as he took Aunt Gladys to the ambulance.

The bustling EMT crew asked both Lexie and Aunt Gladys questions as they sat in the back of the ambulance. They covered them with blankets and took their vital signs. Lexie’s hiccoughs finally stopped, but Aunt Gladys’ cough didn’t seem as though it was going to quit any time soon.

One of the paramedics had Aunt Gladys lie on a gurney and covered her mouth with an oxygen mask. Then he approached Lexie and said in a low voice, “Your aunt’s condition has us concerned. She’ll need to go to the hospital in Westonville for observation for a few days. Her lungs may have been burned slightly by the smoke. That coupled with her age and high blood pressure … well, we’d better be safe than sorry.”

“Of course.” Lexie clasped her blanket more tightly, angrier by the minute about who would have the nerve to burn her house down. Then she thought of Bruce and his callous attitude toward his mother. She’d told him to come and collect his mother, hadn’t she? It wasn’t safe for Aunt Gladys to be here. Now look what had happened.

The EMTs continued to fuss over Aunt Gladys and Lexie tried not to think the worst. They were doing their jobs, doing everything they could for her.

“Leslie?” Aunt Gladys clawed at her oxygen
mask, staring at Lexie with questioning eyes.

Lexie held her wrinkled, age-spotted hand. “Don’t worry, Aunt Gladys.”

“What’s happening?”

“They’d like you to go to the hospital for a few days for observation.”

“I don’t want to go.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I hate hospitals. The doctors and nurses are all such schmucks.”

“I promise you’ll be fine.”

“Don’t let them keep me there,” Aunt Gladys pleaded. “It’ll kill me if I have to go back and live in a place like that.”

“It’s only for a short time, then you can come home,” Lexie assured her, though she wondered where home would be until the house was repaired.
Take it one step at a time, Lex.

Aunt Gladys gripped her hand tighter. “Promise me, Leslie. Promise me you won’t put me away again.”

Lexie’s heart melted. She knew despite the old woman’s penchant for driving her crazy, she couldn’t let her down. “I promise. I’ll bring you home as soon as you’re well enough. Now you’ve got to rest.”

“Thank you.” Aunt Gladys closed her eyes. “That’s more than my son, the idiot savant, ever offered to do.”

After the ambulance had hauled Aunt Gladys off to the hospital, red light atop the vehicle blinking in the swirling night mist, Plowman approached Lexie again.

He removed his hat and wiped the sweat from his brow with a handkerchief. “You won’t be staying here tonight, ma’am. You’ll want to call family or find someone to stay with for now.”

“You can use my phone,” Al offered.

She nodded.

“Me’n the boys will be working here a little longer checking for hot spots and making sure nothing starts to cook again,” Plowman explained.

“What happens next?” Lexie asked.

“We’ll get the county fire marshal over here in the next couple of days to determine the cause of the fire.”

“What if it’s arson?”

“The fire marshal will file a criminal report and turn it into the police for investigation.”

A lot of good that will do, Lexie thought. So far, they hadn’t been much good at ferreting out a murderer. She was certain they wouldn’t have much luck tracking down an arsonist. “Thank you, Chief.”

He gave a sooty grin. “Just doin, my job, ma’am. Just doin’ my job.”

F
OR
P
ETE’S SAKE
. T
HIS IS AWFUL
,” L
UCY TOLD
Lexie the next morning as they discussed the fire. She had immediately come to fetch Lexie at Al’s after the fire, and they sat in Lucy’s front room, decorated in Mom and Dad’s hand-me-down Cold War furniture, along with Nana McCool’s ancient vacuum tube television with a dead spider in the screen. Of course, it no longer worked, but Lucy had covered it with one of Mom’s handmade doilies and placed a plant on it. A spider plant. How fitting, Lexie thought every time she saw it.

Lexie had called Eva to let her know about the fire and also to insist she stick around the dorms for a while. Eva, bless her heart, wanted to come home and make sure everything was all right, but Lexie convinced her to stay put. At least until all the trouble blew over.

“I’m not sure if someone set the fire or if it was faulty wiring,” Lexie told Lucy. “We’ll have to wait and
see what the fire marshal says after his investigation.”

“What about Aunt Gladys and her candles?” Lucy asked.

Lexie shook her head. “Aunt Gladys was upstairs sound asleep. Chief Plowman said the fire started in the kitchen.”

Drained by all the commotion and emotion and befuddled by the bizarre events, Lexie sat on her sister’s couch. Numb. That’s all she felt. Hands wrapped around the thick ceramic mug of coffee, she stared into the steamy brew—not drinking, just thinking.

That’s it,
she told herself.
I’ve had enough. I will find out who is behind all of this nonsense and make them stop. Otherwise, I have no life left in Moose Creek Junction. In fact, I may have no life at all.

People around her had been hurt or murdered. She’d been stalked by some unknown person and attacked numerous times. Her business had slowly been ruined by innuendo and suspicion, and now the fire had put the final nail in the café’s coffin. She had her family’s safety to think about, not just her own. It was obvious the police weren’t going to solve the situation any time soon, despite their good intentions

To hell with Otis’ warning to stay out of it. And to hell with Gabe’s hints that she’d best not get involved. It was her life, her future. At the rate things were going, either she was going to have to take matters into her own hands or something far worse than the fire could happen.

She refused to wait and see what it might be.

“Hello? Earth calling Lexie.” Lucy swayed back and forth in Grandmother Castleton’s antique rocker. “I asked you a question. Do you think someone set the fire deliberately?”

Lexie set her jaw. “Gut instinct—yes. I think they did. Gabe thinks someone’s trying to kill me.”

“Good heavens, why?”

“Jealousy or spite.”

“For what?”

“Who knows?”

Lucy held her face in her hands and took a deep breath. “This is not good. I think I need to give your name to Reverend Lincolnway for prayer circle. We need a miracle.”

Lexie stood and paced—something she’d been doing a lot of lately. “While you and the sisters bow your heads and rub on your beads, I’m going to take action.”

“Alexandria Kathleen.” Lucy shook her finger and her scolding tone transported Lexie back to when she was a kid and Lucy had gotten upset with her. “Don’t you even think about hunting down the killer. You got yourself clobbered a couple of times already. Lord knows what could happen next time.”

Lexie threw her hands in the air. “I’ve already been targeted, no matter what I do. Remember the rock that smashed my front window and my forehead? And now the fire? I don’t have a choice. I’m damned if I do, and I’m damned if I don’t.”

“Lex—”

“If I don’t find the person who hates me, Lucy, I will have no life left here. I’ll have to move away.”

“No, never again.” Lucy stood, her face a mixture of apprehension and anger. “This is your home and this is where you’ll stay.”

“Then tell me, what choice do I have except to conduct my own investigation? The police aren’t getting anywhere.”

Lucy frowned. “You’re trying to rope me into some sort of new scheme, aren’t you?”

“I need your help.”

“You know I promised Mom and Dad I’d take care of you. That’s not fair. You’re taking advantage.”

Lexie stopped pacing and met Lucy’s gaze. “Look, you don’t have to do it. I’ll take care of it on my own.”

“Over my dead body,” Lucy said. “I’m in this with you, whether I like it or not.”

“Only if you’re sure.”

“I’m sure. What about Aunt Gladys? You’d better call Bruce again and see if he’ll come get her.”

“I’ve tried that already: it’s impossible to reach him. Besides, for the next few days, Aunt Gladys is in the hospital.”

“What about after that?”

Lexie snapped her fingers. “I bet Frenchie will babysit her.”

Lucy shook her head. “I can’t believe that at her age she’s got another boyfriend. It’s really disgusting.”

“Comes in handy for us, though,” Lexie said.

“We still better call Bruce and let him know what’s going on. Maybe he’ll feel guilty enough to come home.” Lucy handed her the phone.

“It’s not likely, but here goes.” Lexie fished Bruce’s phone number out of her purse and dialed. After about a million clicks, buzzes and rings, someone finally answered.

“I’m calling for an American guest of yours, a Mr. Bruce Slickman. This is an emergency.” As Lexie waited for the connection to Bruce’s room, she recalled the times when Aunt Gladys brought him to visit in Moose Creek Junction. Even as a boy, he’d been high strung and hard to pin down. He’d get into mischief, like frying snakes on electric fences and tying rubber bands around stray cats’ tails. What a joy he was to have in the family.

A few seconds later, an Oriental woman’s voice came on the line. “Hu-rr-o? Who this?”

Lexie tried not to imagine who she was, though she had a good idea. Probably she was one of Bruce’s
comfort girls.
“Lexie Lightfoot, Bruce Slickman’s cousin. Is he there?”

“Why you need speak with him?”

Lexie gritted her teeth. “It’s a family emergency.”

The woman must have handed the phone to Bruce because he came on the line. “Lexie? What’s this all about?”

“Sorry to bother you, cuz. There’s been an accident.”

“My mother?”

“She’s fine, but she is in the hospital.”

“My God, what happened?”

“My kitchen caught on fire last night. Your mother has a slight case of smoke inhalation and the doctors want to watch her for a few days. Bruce, you really need to come and get her.” Lexie decided there was no reason to go into all the additional complicated reasons. The phone call was costing enough as it was.

“I can’t,” he said. There’s a big deal going on Tokyo next week. I’ll make a million. I just need you to keep Mom for a while longer.”

Lexie rolled her eyes.

“He’s said no, right?” Lucy said softly.

She nodded. “Bruce, I can’t explain all the details right now. It’s not safe for Aunt Gladys around here.”

“What do you mean? Is she causing trouble?”

“It’s not so much that,” Lexie said. “This is just not a good place for her right at the moment.” Her stomach twisted. She had a bad feeling.

“But I’m flying to Tokyo in a few days and after that I’m off to the Philippines. There’s no possible way I can come home.”

“Bruce,” Lexie squeaked, gripping the phone so hard her fingers hurt. “You are not treating your mother very nicely. Remember, she carried you in her womb for nine months.”

“You don’t understand, Lexie. This is the deal of a lifetime. It’s worth millions and I already have several investors lined up. I’ve got to get offices
arranged and staff hired. The good news is when I’m through with this, I’ll have the money to put Mom up in the Taj Mahal for the rest of her life if she’d like.”

“What she’d like is for you to be a caring son. Quit leaving her with relatives or dumping her in assisted living centers. It’s inconsiderate and rude. You’re breaking her heart.”

“Lexie. It sounds like you’re running into some financial difficulty.”

“That is part of the trouble, but not everything. Your mother needs you.”

“I’m going to wire you some money. How does fifty thousand sound? Maybe you can hire an old folks’ sitter to watch her.”

“Bruce, I don’t want your money. I want you to come home.
Your mother
wants you home.”

“I can’t, cuz. Tell you what, though. I’ll make it seventy thousand.”

“This is not an auction, you moron! This is your mother we’re talking about. You can’t just pawn her off like an heirloom watch.”

“OK, eighty thousand, tops. That ought to take care of you and the old girl for a while. You could even do some traveling. Maybe go to Hawaii. I’ll be back to collect her as soon as I can.”

Lexie released an exasperated breath and started to speak again, but Bruce cut her off.

“I’ll wire the money first thing in the morning to the Moose Creek Junction Savings and Trust.”

“But Bruce—”

Click.

Lexie’s entire body tingled with rage at the sound of the phone disconnect and a clawing headache thrummed through her temples. She put the phone down.