Treacherous Tart (6 page)

“That's right. A good newspaper reporter has sources everywhere.” Ryan's bright eyes were troubled. “I also spoke with Professor Simpson on his way out of the shop. He said he didn't think Wickerson was calling for your aunt when he went in and said her name.”

“I know—he said something weird like that inside too. I don't know what he's talking about. It must be his years of stage drama.”

“What about Angela Hightower?” His gaze was intense on her face. “She said your aunt was missing when Wickerson came in.”

“What does that mean?” Maggie was beginning to get angry about Ryan's questions, even though she knew he was only repeating what he'd heard people tell the police. “Aunt Clara was outside in the alley. So what?”

“So nothing—I hope.”

“You have a suspicious mind, Ryan.”

“
Psst!
” Betty waved them closer. “I didn't want to say anything in front of Clara, but I saw the old Marlboro dude here yesterday with another, younger chick. They were having lunch and he
paid
.”

“Did you know her?” Ryan asked.

“She comes in once in a while. She probably lives or works around here. They were kind of chummy. He was feeding her ham, and they shared a drink.”

“He was cheating on Aunt Clara?” Maggie couldn't believe it. “Really? How many women could a man his age handle?”

“Don't think of his age,” Ryan advised. “Some people have better stamina.”

Betty agreed. “My first husband—he had some stamina. He was married to me, and we had Bobby and Betsy in the first two years. Come to find out, he was out there with two other women. One of them was pregnant. Can you believe it?”

“That's some stamina,” Maggie agreed.

“Anyway,” Betty confided, “I know Clara is upset, but this was probably for the best. She didn't need to be with some two-timing dude who was taking advantage of her.”

Maggie took the drinks to the table and went back for her sandwich. She thought about what Betty had said.

That seemed to completely contradict what Ryan had said of Donald—that he set his sights on one woman at a time, building up her trust. She wondered if Donald was courting a better prospect than Aunt Clara because he realized she wasn't as vulnerable as he'd thought. Maybe he'd already given up on her.

“I'm going to powder my nose.” Aunt Clara had stopped eating after a few bites of her chicken sandwich. “I'm afraid I'm not hungry right now. I hope Betty won't take offense.”

“We'll get it to go.” Maggie tried to be upbeat. “Maybe it will seems better for dinner.”

As soon as Aunt Clara was gone, Maggie tackled the subject of Donald's philandering, her tone muted.

“You think Donald was worried that he couldn't get anything from her?”

Ryan shrugged. “It's possible. Maybe he was trolling for his usual lonely widow. You wanted to convince him that Clara wasn't alone. Maybe he took the hint.”

“That might mean that Donald's killer doesn't
have to be someone from his past,” she theorized. “It could be someone trying to protect their mother, grandmother, et cetera, right here in Durham.”

“We could look into it.” He took another bite of his cheese-and-jalapeño sandwich, chewed, and swallowed it. “If that's the case, it
could
be a reader of the
Weekly
. I've been running those articles about him, without using his name, for a while. Maybe this morning was the last straw. What I wrote may have had an unexpected impact.”

He seemed almost buoyant about it.

“Don't be so happy about it.” She stared at him. “Maybe Donald's death is
your
fault, like Frank said.”

“My fault? I was trying to save someone from getting killed. That's my
responsibility
, not my fault.”

She sucked the last of her drink from her straw. “Whichever it was, you were plain enough in the paper today that your readers knew what Donald looked like. He, or she, could've been stalking him.”

“Yes.” Ryan wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I suppose that's true. The papers had been out on the street for hours at that point.”

Maggie nodded at him when she saw Aunt Clara approaching. “I'm not saying anything about this to her.”

“She's gonna see it sometime.”

“I'll deal with it then.”

Maggie and Ryan were done eating. Maggie asked for a to-go box for Aunt Clara's sandwich, and told Betty how much they had enjoyed their lunch.

“You're very welcome.” Betty wiped her hands on a clean towel. “Would you like me to give you a call if that other woman shows up again?”

“That would be great!” Ryan immediately took her up on her offer.

“She might not come back again without Donald. But if I see her, I'll call you.”

Ryan scribbled down his cell phone number on a napkin. “Thanks.”

“Will do.” Betty put the note in her pocket.

Aunt Clara walked out of the sub shop with Maggie. “I hope they're finished with the pie shop. Making some crust right now would do me a world of good.”

“They said they'd call. I haven't heard anything. Maybe Ryan could drop us off at the house. We could always make crust there and freeze it for tomorrow.”

“Freeze it? Bite your tongue, Maggie Grady! Frozen crust never tastes the same. I thought I taught you better than that.”

“Sorry. I was only thinking you'd have something to do.”

“I have to get back to the office,” Ryan interrupted. “Do you want me to take you home?”

“Yes, please.” Aunt Clara glared at Maggie. “It looks like someone needs further instruction on the fine art of pie making.”

Ryan smiled at Maggie. “You got it. I'm sure Maggie would be a much better pie maker if she made a few pies for dinner tonight. I'll bring Chinese.”

Maggie gave Ryan a dirty look, but her aunt was pleased with the idea.

They stepped out of the sub shop and abruptly stopped in their tracks.

Right in front of them was a large man, tall and heavyset. He wore an expensive black suit with a black fedora. He held his gold-headed cane with one gloved hand and a bouquet of white and red tulips in the other.

“Clara! So good to see you. I heard you're looking for a special man in your life. I think it may be me.”

M
aggie couldn't believe
it. Albert Mann was on the Durham Singles website? She'd never even thought of him being married, or otherwise.

The man was a nuisance, as far as she was concerned. He'd been in and out of their business since she'd come home.

Mann Development, Albert's company, had been badgering Aunt Clara to sell the land the pie shop was on since before Maggie had come home. He'd been devious and underhanded about it, but had offered her a
large amount of money. He wanted to build a medical office building on the spot.

Aunt Clara wasn't interested in selling for any amount of money. She wanted to run the pie shop.

“Albert, I know you mean well.” Aunt Clara neatly stepped around him. “Now is not a good time. I just lost Donald. I'm not looking for a new beau yet.”

He looked puzzled. “I had no idea you were already dating someone. It was a little flirtatious of you to already have one boyfriend and look for another. Are you a bad girl, Clara, my dear?”

“I don't know what you're talking about. I'm going home.” Aunt Clara glared at Ryan. “You said you were taking us, didn't you?”

Ryan had also been paralyzed by the sight of the real estate developer standing there with flowers. “Oh. Sure. Sorry.” He rushed to open the passenger-side door on his Honda.

“Thank you.” Aunt Clara held herself very primly as she seated herself in the car, eyes straight forward. Ryan closed the door.

“Well, Maggie. This must be some of
your
shenanigans.” Albert Mann rocked back on his heels and glared at her. “Clearly she wasn't expecting the offer of a date.”

“You're not supposed to show up,” she hissed. “You're supposed to respond with an email. Have you ever done this before?”

He ignored the question. “Who is Clara talking about anyway? Who is this Donald character?”

“Donald Wickerson. Aunt Clara was very close to him. He died suddenly today.” Maggie hurried to the back door of the car as Ryan got in the driver's seat and started the engine. “She's distraught.”

“You're not talking about that man in the
Weekly
, are you? The man who takes advantage of widows?” Albert shook his flowers at her. “And you have the nerve to set
me
up as a villain. I thought you'd take better care of your aunt.”

Maggie closed her car door without a reply. She still couldn't wrap her mind around all that had happened.

Of all the men in Durham her aunt's profile could have attracted, why had it attracted Albert Mann?

He probably thought he could find a way to take advantage of her aunt. What was wrong with everyone? She'd thought it might be different with the older Silver Foxes dating group.

It was hard to imagine him looking for his “true” love. On the other hand, she knew he had to be a member of the dating service to have seen Aunt Clara's profile.

This wasn't what Maggie had had in mind at all.

“What was going on back there?” Ryan spared a glance at her in the rearview mirror.

“I don't know,” she lied. “You know him. He'll try anything.”

“I can't believe even
he
would be so callous,” Aunt Clara said. “Donald isn't even in his grave, and there's Albert trying to court me. What times we live in.”

Maggie kept her opinion to herself. She planned to rush home and look at the Durham Singles site again. She wouldn't have done this to Aunt Clara if she'd known the types of men she'd attract to her poor aunt—not to mention what would happen to Donald. She might have to remove her profile.

When they reached the house, Ryan helped Aunt Clara from the car. He went inside with them.

“I'm going up to my room for a while, Maggie.” Aunt Clara was still sniffling a little.

Ryan waited until her aunt was gone before he turned to Maggie at the bottom of the stairs. “Okay. Spill it. I can see the guilt all over your face.”

There was no sign of Aunt Clara. Still, Maggie took him into the parlor and whispered, “I didn't mean for this to happen. I thought about the idea of signing her up with a dating service. I thought someone else could take her mind off of Donald. I didn't know Donald was going to die, or that Albert Mann would want to date her.”

Ryan laughed a little and put his arms around her. “I can't believe you did that! I mean, it's kind of funny. That was your way of getting rid of Donald? Haven't you heard all the horror stories about online dating?”

Maggie hugged him. “It's not funny. And talk about horror stories—you've been telling me for the last month about Donald killing the women he hooked up with. How does it get worse than that? Even Albert only wants her property.”

“Sorry.” Ryan kissed her cheek. “At least your heart was in the right place.”

“Why don't I feel better about it then?”

“Cheer up. Nothing happened. I don't think your aunt will go from Donald to Albert anytime soon.”

“Thanks.” She kissed him. “That helps.”

“I'll say.” He kissed her again. “I understand what you're saying. You don't want Clara to be alone. I think it's nice that you thought of it.”

“Thanks. Even though I ruined it.”

“Not ‘ruined' necessarily. Maybe something good will come of it.” He glanced at his watch. “I have to run. There are a lot of people to question about Donald's death.”

“It won't do you any good until next week. The paper just came out.”

“You know me.” He kissed her quickly on the lips. “I need information as quickly as possible to get the jump on the daily guys. I'll see you later.”

Maggie sighed when he left. He was lucky she liked him so much. Sometimes it seemed like everything was another story to him.

She went upstairs to talk to Aunt Clara. Her aunt was asleep, one slender hand tucked under her
chin. She looked so tiny lying there on the large bed she and Uncle Fred had shared for so many years.

Aunt Clara was fragile and yet had an iron will that had kept her going through so many years of being alone. She'd lost almost everyone in her family, including her sister, Delia, Maggie's mother. Maggie was her only living relative.

Maggie didn't wake her. She crept back downstairs to look for their copy of the
Durham Weekly
. Usually her aunt got it from the doorstep and read it before they left for the pie shop on Wednesday. Not surprising, she found the newspaper on the table in the parlor, where Aunt Clara must have read it before waking her that morning at four thirty.