Eggs Benedict Arnold (20 page)

Doogie registered surprise.
“
What?
”
he stuttered.
“
You
did? Where?
”

“
Why ... right outside here,
”
Suzanne told him.
“
In the
back alley. Becker was loading a big batch of flowers into
his car.
”

“
I wish you would have collared him,
”
said Doogie,
“
‘
cause I can
’
t find him anywhere.
”

“
You think Becker skipped town?
”

“
I told him not to. But it sure looks like he might have hightailed it out of here.
”

“
With a load of funeral flowers in his car?
”
said Suzanne.
“
Doesn
’
t make a whole lot of sense.
”

“
Nothin
’
makes sense,
”
mumbled Doogie.

“
Did you ask George Draper about the flowers?
”
asked
Suzanne.

“
Ayup,
”
said Doogie.
“
Becker was supposed to take
‘
em
up to Memorial Cemetery, but he never made it. Probably
just dumped
‘
em somewhere.
”

“
You checked all over town for Becker?
”

“
Not
all
over, but Becker
’
s not at his apartment. Landlady says she hasn
’
t seen him since early Monday.
”

“
Seen who?
”
asked Toni, joining the twosome.

“
Sheriff Doogie says Bo Becker skipped town,
”
said Suzanne.

Toni let loose a low whistle.
“
That doesn
’
t bode well.
”

Doogie nodded.
“
I already put out an APB for him.
”

Becker still didn
’
t seem right to Suzanne and she said so:
“
But if Bo Becker killed Ozzie, what was his motiva
tion? Seems to me Ozzie had been nothing but kind to him. Giving him a
job when ot
h
er folks wouldn
’
t.
”
She pondered
the situation. If Becker had left town, what was he running
from? Ozzie
’
s murder or something else entirely? And with
that distinctive red Mustang, you
’
d think he would have been spotted by now.

But Doogie seemed to have his mind made up.
“
He
’
s the
one,
”
said Doogie,
“
I
’
m sure of it.
”

“
So the case is closed,
”
said Toni.

Doogie looked grim.
“
It will be once I find him.
”

Chapter thirteen

“
Do you think Carmen Copeland
’
s as fancy as she looks?
”
asked Toni. They were speeding along a dark county road, twisting through the hilly countryside, headed for Cloverdale Farm. Hot on their cheese run.

“
I
’
ve been to Carmen
’
s house over in Jessup a couple of
times now and it
’
s really something,
”
said Suzanne.
“
Big palatial place decorated to the nines.
”

“
So a mansion,
”
said Toni.

“
You could say that,
”
allowed Suzanne. She was well
aware that Toni worked her butt off and could only afford a
one-bedroom apartment.

“
What if Carmen really drinks wine from a box and eats
Spam burgers?
”
asked Toni, giving a nasty giggle.

“
Nothing would surprise me with that woman,
”
said Su
zanne. She gazed out the side window, saw trunks of trees
and lights from farmhouses flicker by.
“
So pretty out here,
”
she murmured.

“
Better without lights,
”
said Toni. Without warning, she
flipped off her headlights. And, suddenly, they were hur
tling through the darkness at sixty miles an hour!

“
What are you doing?
”
Suzanne demanded, frightened out of her wits.

“
It
’
s like flying, isn
’
t it?
”
said Toni, focusing intently on
the straightaway ahead.

“
Like we
’
re in some kind of rocket
ship, piercing a black membrane.
”

“
You
’
re crazy, you know that?
”
replied Suzanne. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness and now she was ner
vously but secretly enjoying this strange adventure. A stand
of pine trees and a small pond slipped by, blue and black,
like wispy images from an art film.

“
Oh yeah,
”
said Toni, happily.
“
I know I
’
m a little loco.
”

“
Good thing you
’
ve got excellent night vision,
”
said Suzanne.

Toni nodded as she flipped her headlights back on.

“
Thank you,
”
said Suzanne, her respiration and heartbeat slowly returning to normal.

“
Oh, we coulda gone a lot farther,
”
said Toni,
“
but we
passed the marker for Deer County a little while back, so I
think Mike
’
s place is coming up.
”

“
And there it is,
”
said Suzanne. A sign advertising Clo
verdale Farm
—Farm Fresh Milk and Cheese flashed by,
then Toni swerved into the driveway and bumped down the
dusty drive that led to the farmhouse and barns.

Mike Mullen watched them arrive, silhouetted in the yellow light of a doorway. Tall and beefy, he was dressed in striped denim overalls and green rubber boots.

“
How are the deliveries going?
”
asked Suzanne, peering
past him into the dairy barn.

“
A huge success,
”
grinned Mike.
‘
Two new calves.
”

“
Can we see
‘
em?
”
asked Toni, ever the animal lover.

“
Sure,
”
said Mike, beckoning for them to follow. They
trod down a narrow cement walkway between two rows of stanchions where dairy cows contentedly munched organic
alfalfa. At the end of the barn was a row of box stalls.
“
In there,
”
said Mike.

Suzanne and Toni peered through wooden slats into a dimly lit stall. A lovely brown Guernsey lay placidly with
her hours-old calf nestled beside her.

“
Ain
’
t she a beauty?
”
asked Mike. He was acting like a proud papa.

“
Adorable,
”
purred Toni.
“
You said there
’
s two?
”

“
Over here,
”
said Mike, leading them to the next box stall.
“
This one was born just an hour ago.
”

“
Oh my gosh,
”
exclaimed Suzanne, gazing at the calf that was all legs and enormous, soft doe eyes.
“
What a beautiful baby.
”

With
wheels of Gouda, cheddar, and Swiss cheese packed
in cardboard boxes on their backseat, Suzanne and Toni headed back toward Kindred.

“
Do you know Earl is in the million-dollar club?
”
asked
Toni.

“
You mean Missy
’
s Earl?
”
said Suzanne.

Toni nodded.
“
She told me he
’
s already sold a million dollars
’
worth of insurance.
”

‘
The thing is,
”
said Suzanne,
“
if an average life insurance policy is, say, a hundred thousand dollars, then you really only need ten sales to hit that number.
”

“
When you put it that way, the number
’
s not so impres
sive,
”
said Toni.
“
I guess a million dollars isn
’
t what it used
to be.
”

“
Only if you have it, cash money, in the bank,
”
replied
Suzanne.

Toni reached over and flipped a dial on the scanner.
“
For
a lark,
”
she said.
“
Let
’
s just listen in.
”

“
Sure,
”
said Suzanne, gazing out the window, pressing her forehead against the cool of the glass.

“
Hmm,
”
sniffed Toni.
“
Nothing but static.
”
She batted at
the
dial, trying to give it another twirl.

“
Want me to do that?
”
Between Toni
’
s so-called flying
and her fussing wit
h
the scanner dial, she wasn
’
t exactly the most conscientious driver on
the
road.

“
Have at it,
”
replied Toni.

Suzanne bent forward and slowly turned
the
dial. It
blipped and bleeped and a few crackly voices faded in and
out.
“
Not much,
”
she said.

“
Keep trying,
”
said Toni.
“
If you get, like, the highway
patrol or something, it
’
s really cool. They
’
re always ten-
fouring or ten-twentying about
something
.
”

Suzanne worked the dial some more, picking up some
hollow-sounding chatter, but nothing all that discernible or even particularly interesting.
“
No luck,
”
she told Toni.