Going Through the Notions (A Deadly Notions Mystery) (29 page)
Read Going Through the Notions (A Deadly Notions Mystery) Online
Authors: Cate Price
Martha ordered a waffle cone with butter pecan, and I selected a sugar cone laden with mint chocolate chip.
“So how come you didn’t enter the baking contest, Martha? I would have thought you were a shoo-in.”
She sniffed. “Well, I
would
have won, but I didn’t want people to say it was rigged.”
We stopped to watch the goat races, which was where I decided to pump her for the lowdown on what the heck was going on with Cyril.
She shrugged. “He’s an interesting man and I’m enjoying getting to know him.”
“Okay.” I licked my ice cream cone and waited.
She flipped up the brim of her straw hat. “Oh, Daisy, I don’t know. It’s kind of like looking at a deep lagoon and being intrigued by it, but you don’t want to dive right in. There might be something lurking underneath that you’d hit your head on. Better to slide slowly into that cool water.”
Martha was called over to one of the booths, and it looked like she’d be tied up for a while, so I kept walking.
Detective Serrano was hanging out by the fire engine, wearing a T-shirt and jeans, and also licking at a cone.
“What kind of ice cream did you get?” I asked him.
“Coffee mocha.”
Of course.
What had Sarah said about people looking like their dogs? Did they also resemble their ice cream choices?
He took another long, loving lick at the cone. Too bad Martha and Eleanor were missing this.
“By the way, I checked with my pals in New York,” he said. “They’re still waiting for the autopsy results on Fiona’s stepmother, but seems as though there’s nothing suspicious. It looks like she died of natural causes—a preexisting heart condition. Fiona’s father was a heart surgeon, and that’s how they met.”
“Thanks for letting me know.” Obviously the detective was one of those people who never took a day off.
“And speaking of autopsies, I’m also ordering a more in-depth review of the one for Jimmy Kratz. He had some kind of allergic reaction right before he died. Perhaps from the mold, pesticides, or other hazardous substances he came into contact with as he cleaned out houses.”
I appreciated how thorough this guy was. The fact that Jimmy’s head was completely bashed in would be reason enough for most people as the cause of death.
Serrano licked all the way around the top of his cone, swirling the ice cream into a sharp point. Martha would have been in the first aid booth by now. “I also noticed our boy Jimmy was snipped a couple of years back.”
“Snipped? You mean he had a vasectomy?” I gasped.
“Yup.”
I stared at him. “So he couldn’t possibly be the father of Carla’s baby? Oh, wow, that’s a huge relief!”
Serrano made a slight inclination with his head, and I turned to see Carla heading toward us, hand in hand with a tall guy that I assumed was the crazy boyfriend. They stopped to chat with the firefighters, and I could feel Serrano giving the guy the once-over just as I was doing. He didn’t look that homicidal to me. Freckle-faced, and possibly hot-tempered, but not crazy.
I moved closer and managed to maneuver Carla to one side and whisper the good news that her baby wasn’t Jimmy’s.
She nodded. “Yeah, once I calmed down, I did the math and I didn’t think it could be his. But thanks for letting me know for sure.”
Carla had on about a quarter of the makeup she usually wore. Like Reenie, she looked much healthier and prettier.
“My boyfriend’s actually really happy about the baby. He said it’s time for both of us to grow up.”
I gave her a quick hug. “I’m glad.”
Serrano had disappeared by this time, so I thought I’d go find Joe and see what he was up to. On the way, I passed a cow lift in demonstration and stopped to watch. It was an apparatus that rolls a cow that is down on the ground with post-calving paralysis or some other ailment onto a fabric sling, which was then attached with hooks to a front end loader to gently lift the animal.
The old farmer demonstrated how there was an open area for the udder to hang through, to reduce stress and pressure. “This here cow lift can lift up to twenty-two hundred pounds.”
My phone chimed with a text message. It was Sarah.
Gone to Kratz farm to take more pix. Lite perfect now. Rain tmrw.
I sighed. I’d better tell Reenie that Sarah was over at her place. I didn’t want her to freak out again.
It was almost 3 p.m. We’d planned a brief ceremony at 3:30 p.m. to present Reenie with a symbolic check. The actual money would be donated once any fixed expenses for things like the insurance were deducted and the accounting finalized.
Cee Cee was still at the face-painting table. Reenie’s son was sitting in her lap and the little girl was wiping the table with a wet paper towel.
“Have you seen Reenie?” I asked.
“She asked me to watch these two for a bit.” Cee Cee smiled at them. “Said she was going home to change before the presentation, but she’d be back in half an hour.”
Oh, crap. That meant she’d bump into Sarah. I hoped she wasn’t as mad as when I stopped over unannounced.
Suddenly there was a commotion at the admissions booth, and I thought I heard someone screaming.
I ran, my feet flying across the grass of their own accord, and as I got closer, I saw Liz Gallagher weeping uncontrollably, surrounded by several of her friends.
“The cash box with the money is missing!” Eleanor’s face was white as she rushed up to me. “I asked Liz to watch it while I went to the bathroom. She got distracted when two of the kids started fighting, and when she looked back, it was gone. Jesus, Daisy. There was about twenty-five thousand dollars in that damn box.”
As I stared at Eleanor in shock, I suddenly realized where I’d seen one of those cow lifts before. At Jimmy’s place, for the cows that were down with milk fever. You could probably lift quite a few barn beams with one of those devices.
My heart started racing. Reenie had mentioned a dozen pens, but as I forced my frantic brain to do a quick mental calculation, there were actually thirteen in Fiona’s photos. Who would know to describe them as a dozen other than someone who had seen them firsthand?
Minus the one that I’d found.
I looked around, panic-stricken. I didn’t know where Joe was and Serrano was nowhere to be seen. Sarah had taken the car, and even if I could get someone to give me a ride in a hurry, the fair was winding down and a long line of cars were sitting at the exit, waiting to pull onto Sheepville Pike.
I didn’t have that kind of time.
I sprinted back to the flea market, praying that the bicycle I’d seen for sale was still there. The price tag said ten dollars.
I thrust a twenty at the owner and rode faster than I ever had in my life.
W
hen I got to the Kratz farm, heaving for breath, there was no sign of Sarah or Reenie.
I dropped the bicycle on the ground and ran into the barn, praying I was wrong, but I felt around inside the cow lift and my hand came out with a small pile of wood shreds.
I looked up and my world ground to a sickening halt as Reenie walked Sarah into the barn at gunpoint.
“I’m so tired of you two sneaking around, checking up on me,” Reenie snapped. “I tried to warn you off once. Why the hell didn’t you listen?”
“She stole the money we collected at the fair, Mom.”
“I know.”
Sarah’s eyes were hot with anger. “The cash box is on the front seat of her truck.”
“Shut it.” Reenie shoved the end of the barrel of the gun into Sarah’s back.
My mouth was dry and I took shallow breaths. Now was not the time to pass out.
“You know, you people crack me up. When I saw you in town that day, talking about a fund for the kids’
college
, for Christ’s sake. College! You have no idea. I need the money now!”
My mind was racing. I couldn’t rush Reenie. She might pull that trigger and Sarah wouldn’t stand a chance. I fingered a seam ripper in my pocket and edged closer.
“Yeah, I always wanted to go to Florida. It’s cheaper there. I figured I may as well wait until after the fair and get the cash, too. There’s my gas and rent money until I can sell the pens.”
“What did you do with them?” I knew the police had searched this barn and the house.
Reenie smirked. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
Sarah frowned. “You were planning on leaving your kids behind?”
Reenie shrugged. “They’ll be better off with Cee Cee and her fancy doctor husband than me. I need to start a new life. I deserve it! After all I’ve been through.”
I swallowed, never taking my eyes off Reenie. I was praying that someone at the fair would put two and two together. I had to keep us alive until I figured something out.
“I know you used the cow lift, Reenie, but how did you manage to keep Jimmy still long enough to hit him with the beam? After all, he drove Angus home, so he wasn’t
that
drunk.”
She chuckled. “I left cookies in the barn that night for when he came back and got the munchies. Jimmy only ate a certain brand, because he had a real bad peanut allergy. I made some that looked the same, except with a trace of peanut butter.”
A picture flashed into my mind of backing into the recycling container. That’s why she had been so upset. I remembered now, too late, the empty peanut butter jar on the ground.
“After he had an allergic reaction, I waited until he was unconscious. It was easier to hit him with the beam when he was passed out.”
Even with a gun poking her in the back, Sarah rolled her eyes at this.
“When I was sure he was dead, I took the keys and went to the auction house and stole the pens.”
In spite of the fact that Reenie had committed a greater crime with no compunction, I was shocked as another fact hit me. “Hey, wait a minute, did you really leave two young children home alone?”
“They were fine. Why don’t you shut the hell up?”
She swung the gun in my direction.
It felt like my heart had crawled up and was now beating in my throat instead of my chest. I swallowed again, struggling for the right words.
“Reenie, you’re not a murderer. Killing Jimmy was a crime of passion after all you’d been through. You don’t really want to hurt us.”
Sarah moved ever so slightly to her right.
This was the opening I’d been waiting for and I hurled myself at Reenie. If she shot me, so be it. I’d lost one child to a maniac with a gun, and I’d be damned if I’d let it happen again.
Reenie whipped it around and cracked me on the side of the head with the butt end. My brain exploded and I crashed to the floor. She pointed it at Sarah now and I looked up at them as I desperately tried to make my stunned body move, hearing the screaming inside my head.
But Reenie was slightly off balance, and one of Sarah’s long legs swung in a roundhouse kick, sending the gun into a nearby pile of hay.
I fought a wave of dizziness, struggling to all fours to the sounds of grunts and heavy breathing as the two fought.
They were unevenly matched. My taller, athletic daughter with slight, shorter Reenie, but with the desperation of a cornered animal, Reenie scrabbled for the weapon again in the hay. As she came out with it, I saw by the glint in her eyes that this time she’d take the shot.
I pulled the seam ripper from my pocket and lunged at Reenie, gashing her calf with a nasty slice. She screamed in pain, and with that split-second advantage, Sarah grabbed the gun, twisting it in Reenie’s hand to break her grip.
For good measure, Sarah whacked Reenie on the side of the head, too, the same way she’d hit me. She fell to the ground, unconscious, blood already oozing through her baby fine hair.
A car pulled up outside, and Serrano and two other police officers came rushing in.
“Daisy! Are you guys all right?”
“We’re fine. Nice of you to show up,” I said, heaving for breath.
He grimaced. “Finally figured this one out when I saw that cow lift at the fair. Told you it was a crime of passion.”
One of the officers handcuffed Reenie, and the other radioed for an ambulance.
“Oh, Sarah.” I scrambled to my feet, held out my arms, and my daughter fell into them.
“Guess all that fight-scene training on film sets paid off, huh?” she whispered.
“You were amazing,” I said. She squeezed me tight, and I felt the lithe strength of her.
Serrano coughed. “So this just leaves one question. Where are those damn pens? We’ve already searched this fricking place. Maybe we need to go over it again, all the nooks and crannies. There’s acres of farmland as well.” He ran a hand wearily over his cropped hair.
“Hold on, I have an idea.” I let go of Sarah and hurried over to the henhouse, remembering how well Reenie had cared for the chickens. Better than her own children.
I felt under the straw, and smiled when I felt the shapes beneath my fingers. With a flourish, I pulled out a clutch of valuable fountain pens.
Serrano grinned at me. “I’m no country boy, but them’s some funny-looking eggs, ma’am.”
I caught my breath as I held up the Magical Black Widow pen, the beautiful silver web gleaming in the sun.
After Reenie was driven off in the ambulance, and the police had taken our statements, Sarah and I walked over to the car and my bicycle.
“You know what, Mom, you’re so brave. I never realized it before. You fought for Angus when no one else believed he was innocent, and now you risked your life fighting for me. You did good.”
“Thanks.”
“Um, Mom? There is one more thing . . .”
“Yes?”
“Would you be willing to look after Jasper while I’m on location? I know he’d be happier here at home with you than with a sitter. What do you think?”
I grinned at my daughter. “I think that sometimes you come up with a really great notion,” I said as I got on my flea market bicycle. “Race you home.”