Marja McGraw - Bogey Man 04 - Awkward Moments (9 page)

Chapter Sixteen

Chris stayed a few steps ahead of us all the way to Bill’s truck.

“Aren’t you going to talk to Essie and her husband?” Bill asked. “Maybe you should.”

“You go talk to them.” Chris sounded put out about something. I had a feeling his brother had inadvertently stepped on his toes with his remark about us not being coppers.

“But – ”

“Look,
pal, you’re wet behind the ears when it comes to this kind of thing. Follow my lead, will ya? If we go back to the diner right now, everyone will clam up again. We need to go back when the place isn’t packed and we can really jaw with Essie and Joe. I think either they know something, or they were there digging right beside everyone else. When we go back, keep your peepers open and shut your pie hole while I talk to them. Watch to see if anything I say hits the target.”

“Yeah, okay.” Bill sounded like his balloon had burst.
I had a feeling he wasn’t used to his brother taking over. He struck me as someone who always wanted to be in control, but in this instance
no one
really had any control.

Remembering I wanted to pick up a few things at the store, I told everyone to wait in the truck for me. Mikey decided he’d rather go with me, so we left the brothers to their own devices while we shopped.

I was checking avocados to see if any of them were ripe when Mikey plucked at my sleeve.

“Mom, is that what it’s like to have a brother?”

“What do you mean?”

“Uh, it doesn’t seem like Dad and Uncle Bill like each other very much.”

“Oh, sweetie, they love each other. They just look at life in different ways. Bill wants to be in charge of everything and your dad won’t let him. I think it makes your uncle feel like he’s losing control. I also think he’s figuring out he’s out of his element this time.”

“Out of his element?”

“He doesn’t really understand what’s going on. There’s been a murder, and he’s never been around anything like that before. His element is going to work every day and coming home to Stephanie at night. He’ll watch football or something on TV over the weekend and then go back to work on Monday.”

“We watch football.”  Mikey thought for a moment. “But we have mysteries in our element, too.”

I smiled at my son. He was a real pip sometimes. “Yes, Mikey, mysteries are part of our element.”

I picked up some hamburger and buns, along with the avocado, lettuce and the rest of the makings for barbequed hamburgers. We’d had a busy two days and I didn’t feel like making a big dinner. Chris could do the cooking this time. I’d heat up some beans and fries and call it good.

We were checking out when Stu approached us, looking very serious. “How are you doing?” he asked. “I heard about what happened to Charlie out at your place.” He shook his head. “He was such a nice guy.”

“Did you know him well?” I asked, while transferring the groceries from the cart onto the counter.

“Pretty well. We went to school together. My wife and I have known him most of our lives.”

“Did he have any enemies in this town?” Trying to sound nonchalant wasn’t possible, so I just blurted out my question.

The clerk who was ringing up my purchases kept her head down and seemed to be concentrating on not looking at us.

“None that I know of.” Stu bit his lower lip. “Well, there was a rumor sometime back that he’d found himself a new lady friend, but I never saw her. Supposedly
she already had a man in her life who wasn’t happy when Charlie tried to edge him out.”

“Who told you that?” I asked.

“Actually, it was Charlie. He wanted advice about what to do. We were having a beer after work one night and he started to tell me the story, but we were interrupted and he never finished telling me. I don’t know who the woman was, or who the other man was.”

“Do you think Essie or Joe might know more about it?”

“You could ask, but they were good friends so they might not be willing to tell tales. Joe’s known Charlie almost as long as I have, so if he confided in anyone else, it would have been Joe. Yeah, I think it would have been Joe. He’s a closed-mouth kinda guy though.”

“I’ll mention it to Chris,” I said. “He can talk to Joe and ask him about it. Nice
visiting with you, Stu. Stop by out at the farmhouse and we’ll talk again. I know Mikey would like to hear more about old Henry.”

“I’ll do that. You’re out at the Perry farm, right?”

“Yes, sir,” Mikey said, “and I know my mom will give you iced tea and cookies while we talk.”

“In that case I’ll make it a point to stop by.” Stu left us at the cash register while he went back to work.

Arriving back at the truck we found Chris and Bill staring out of opposite windows. Rolling my eyes, I wondered if these two men could ever call a truce.

Chris saw me and climbed out of the truck. He put the bag of groceries on the floor of the truck and helped Mikey and me into the back seat.

“I’ve got news,” I said, ignoring the quiet atmosphere.

“What’s that?” Bill asked
, sounding more polite than interested.

“It seems that Charlie may have been involved in a love triangle. I ran into Stu and he filled me in on what little he knew. He suggested we talk to Joe about it because Joe and Essie were close friends with Charlie.”

Chris nodded and Bill just looked at me.

“Isn’t anyone going to say anything?” I asked.

Chris looked over his shoulder at me while Bill started the engine. “What do you want us to say?”

“I want you and Bill to get it together and start talking to each other. I want the two of you to work together on this thing.
I’ll bet Jimmy’s never worked on a murder before. The most unlawful thing that ever happens in this town is probably someone jaywalking. Chris, you’re as sharp as they come. And, Bill, you’re so organized it’s practically illegal. You two could learn a lot from each other and maybe solve a murder in the process.” With that I clamped my lips together as I’d seen Bill do and stared out the window. I’d had my say, and now it was up to them.

The drive home was quiet. Mikey seemed to sense he should let the men make up their own minds about whether or not to try to get along.

We drove past the long line of cottonwood trees and parked by the front door. Chris helped Mikey and me out of the truck and picked up the grocery bag.

He licked his lips and turned around, almost walking into Bill.

“Pamela’s right,” Chris said. “Let’s bury the hatchet.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Bill said. “If Stephanie were here she’d be telling me what a control freak I am and that I should quit it.”

That was honest.

“When I’m wrong, I’ll admit it. Solving a murder with the Cross family might be fun, if I can get past wanting to tell everyone what to do.”

My mouth dropped open. “Fun?”

“Okay, poor choice of words.” Bill turned to Chris. “You surprised me when you were talking to that Doc guy. I never would have thought about the anger angle of this case.”

“Get
him
,” Mikey said. “Now we’re on a case.”

I nudged him with my elbow. It wasn’t the time to make jokes. The brothers were beginning to thaw a little.

“Why don’t you and I go back into town in a little while and talk to Essie and Joe?” Chris asked. “Pamela and Ace can take a break and enjoy some vacation time while we’re gone.”

Bill held out his hand to press the skin with Chris. Oh, good grief! I was beginning to think
like Chris, even thinking in terms he’d use in speech. They shook hands and climbed back into the truck.

Bill’s parting words concerned me. “Don’t let people dig around the property while we’re gone.”

Chapter Seventeen

The dogs were barking and Mikey let them out of the house while I put the groceries away. After checking the dogs’ water, I sat down next to my son on the porch.

“Mom, you don’t think people would dig holes in the yard while we’re out here, do you?” Mikey was concerned about trespassers, thanks to his uncle’s comment.

“No, son, I don’t. Your Uncle Bill probably scared half the town
off when we were at the diner and he issued his warning. He can be kind of intimidating. I’d be surprised if anyone came back looking for gold.” Glancing at Sherlock and Watson, I knew we had two big dogs to protect us, too.

I watched a truck crawl slowly by the end of the driveway while
I spoke. Whoever it was seemed to be studying the property – and us. I stood and stepped to the right because Mikey’s attention was on me and I didn’t want him to see the truck. His eyes followed me. The truck moved on.

“But just to be on the safe side, I’ll keep the cell phone in my pocket. Better to be safe than sorry,” I said, smiling encouragingly at my son
and patting my pocket.

“I’m gonna get the shovel and start filling in the holes everyone dug last night. Okay, Mom?”

“Why don’t you let your dad and Bill do that? On second thought, go ahead.” I could keep an eye on him and it would keep him busy. He was too small to fill in many holes, but it was something to do. “I’ll help you.”

We found the shovel
in the shed that Mikey had been using when he dug up old Henry. There were two, and I grabbed the other one, a spade.

“Let’s start over there,” I said, pointing to the hole closest to the house.
I wanted to stay as near to the house as possible. I still couldn’t believe we hadn’t heard anyone when they were digging. They must not have spoken a single word to each other.

Mikey was having similar thoughts. “You know, Mom, digging wouldn’t make much noise.”

I nodded and began shoving dirt in the hole with my spade, wondering why the dogs hadn’t alerted us to everyone’s presence. I’d probably never know.

“How could they see any gold in the dark anyway?” he asked.

“I guess they couldn’t unless they used flashlights. Maybe they figured if they hit the gold they’d hear a clunking noise.”

“I wonder if they’ll start calling Charlie
old Charlie
now, like they do old Henry.”

“Maybe.”

My son’s thoughts seemed to be flitting from event to event as though he had a movie playing inside his head.

We’d filled in three holes, and Mikey was working on a fourth, when he stopped and gaped into the hole. “Mother! You’re not gonna believe this. I sure wish Danny was here so he could share in the fun.”

“What about Danny?” I asked. I’d only been half listening while we worked. Filling the holes wasn’t as easy as you might think.

“I said I wish Danny was here so he could see what I see, and we could have some fun.”
Danny was Mikey’s best friend.

“And what do you see?” I watched Mikey staring at the hole and
realized we were in for a little more excitement.

“Someone didn’t bring their flashlight last night.” He dropped to his knees and reached into the hole. I could see his shoulders moving while he dug with his hands.

“What
are
you doing?”

“Umm, it looks like old Henry really did bury something else here. There’s another bag like the ones that were buried with him.”

“
What?
” I dropped my shovel and ran to Mikey’s side.

“I can’t lift it, Mom.” He grunted and pulled on something.

“It can’t be,” I said, dropping to my knees.

The bag was stuck in the dirt and even with both of us pulling, we couldn’t dislodge it. I wasn’t willing to wait for Chris to come home. Picking up my shovel, I began digging the dirt away
from around the leather pouch.

Hearing a noise, I turned toward the road in front of the farmhouse. Th
e same truck I’d seen earlier pulled up at the end of the drive. A car pulled up behind the truck and idled by the side of the road, watching us.

“Hurry, Mikey. Start filling in the hole.” I wasn’t sure how long
they’d been watching, but it couldn’t hurt to make it look like we were just filling in another hole.

“But, Mom – ”

“Just do it, sweetie. Don’t turn around and look, but there are people watching and I don’t want them to know we found something.  We’ll dig this up later, after your father and Bill come home.”

Just like his father would do, Mikey immediately turned and looked toward the street. With a
self-conscious smile in the truck’s direction, he began filling in the hole as fast as he could.

“Oh, boy,” I said, watching the truck start moving and turn into the driveway. I looked for the dogs. Watson was lying beside the grave again and Sherlock was sniffing the oak tree.

The truck
drove past the cottonwood trees and stopped. The driver climbed out and approached us. “Afternoon, ma’am,” a tall, slender man said to me. “What’cha doin?” He looked to be around fifty-five or so, and he had thick longish deep brown hair and a mustache. He wore work jeans and a tee shirt. Although he was slender, he had ropey muscles, maybe from some kind of hard work.

Thankfully, the dogs came running over. After all, there was a fresh human here for them to sniff.

“We’re filling in the holes people dug last night.” I stopped and fingered the cell phone in my pocket. “You seem awfully interested in what we’re doing. Can I assume you’re one of the people who was here last night? If so, grab a shovel and help us fill in your handiwork.” I tried to sound irritated and intimidating rather than worried.

“No, ma’am, I wasn’t here last night, but I’ll help you anyway.” He held out his hand. “I’m Tony Hellman. I heard what happened to old Charlie. He was a friend and I wanted to see what was going on out here.”

“See, Mom? I told you. Now he’s
old
Charlie.”

“Hush, Mikey,” I warned.

“Beg pardon, son?” Tony studied Mikey and me even while he took the spade out of my hands and began shoveling dirt into the hole.

The dogs continued to sniff the man, but he didn’t pay them any attention.

“I told my mom I wondered if people would start calling Charlie
old
Charlie, like they call Henry
old
Henry. That’s all.”

“You know, Tony, we can do this ourselves. You might as well be on your way.” He was polite, but something made me nervous. Maybe it was just because he’d been watching us. Maybe it was something more.

The dogs didn’t seem put off by the man, but their opinion wasn’t
always
on the mark.

Glancing up I saw that the other car was still idling by the property. “Do you know w
ho those people are?” I asked.

Tony laughed, a pleasant and reassuring sound. “Sure. Those are the Dicksons. Chances are they were here digging last night. The whole town is buzzing about old Henry and his treasure. I have to admit, though, I was surprised to hear Charlie – excuse me,
old
Charlie – was out here digging last night. It just doesn’t sound like him. He wouldn’t have cared about buried treasure.”

“Why is that?” I asked, stepping back and pulling Mikey with me. Tony was making me feel comfortable, and I had a feeling that wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

Sherlock and Watson continued to study Tony. Their tails swung in large circles. I wondered if he had pets and my dogs were picking up a likable scent.

“Because old Charlie had money of his own. Most people don’t know it, but he came from a wealthy family. Back in the day he decided he wanted to make his own way. His parents lived like paupers and it disgusted Charlie. He figured if they had money, they should enjoy life. Since they pinched their pennies so hard, he decided to get away before he became
like them.

“When they died, Charlie inherited everything, but he never told a soul he could buy or sell the little town of Serenity. Charlie was just Charlie.”

“How do you know all of this?” I asked.

He leaned on the spade and looked off into the distance.
“Charlie and I had a history together. Yeah, we had a real interesting history.”

“Really? Are you going to share or was that just a teaser?” I surprised myself with my bluntness.

“There was a woman…” He continued to watch something and I had a feeling it was a memory playing itself out in his mind.

The dogs finally sat down in front of Tony, looking expectant. Was this someone who might offer them a treat? They waited patiently, and so did I.