Gloria eased Annabelle into the church parking lot on Sunday morning. She made it a habit to try and get there at least half an hour early to beat the crowds but this morning the lot was already jam packed.
Belhaven Church of God was the only church in town and more than half the residents were members. Some treated Sunday morning service as strictly a social event but not Gloria. She loved the Lord with all her heart. God had brought her through some very rough times, especially since James’s death. She took comfort in knowing that one day she would not only be with her Lord and Savior, she would be reunited with her husband of almost 40 years. And she was looking forward to that moment – more so with every passing day.
Gloria scanned the packed sanctuary looking for an empty seat. She suddenly caught Dot’s hand waving wildly from one of the pews. As Gloria made her way over to her friend, Steve, the town’s confirmed bachelor, stepped into her path.
“Good morning Gloria. You look stunning today,” he complimented.
Gloria scrunched her nose in annoyance, forced a fake smile and uttered a perfunctory “Thank you.” She did not plan on giving him one iota of encouragement.
The man was a known womanizer and she wanted nothing to do with him. He hadn’t lived in Belhaven more than six months now and dated at least that many lonely widowed women, bouncing from one to the next, leaving a trail of broken hearts in his wake.
“If you’ll excuse me…” Gloria sidestepped Slick Steve and scooted into the open spot next to Dot.
Dot nodded in the direction of a forlorn-faced Steve. “Why don’t you give him a chance?” she asked.
“Because he’s a known womanizer,” Gloria hissed. “And I’m not the least bit interested,” she sniffed.
Dot shook her head. No sense in arguing with Gloria. Once she had something set in her mind, there was no changing it.
Pastor Nate’s message this morning was like a direct message from God. As if it was written for the Garden Girls Club and their new mission to help others. The pastor’s key verse was perfect:
Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. Hebrews 13:16 ESV
Ruth and Lucy were waiting for Dot and Gloria outside the sanctuary after the service. “Where’s Margaret?”
As usual, Ruth had the scoop. “She’s not feeling too good this morning. Thinks she ate some bad Mexican food last night.”
“What about Don?” Don was Margaret’s husband.
“Off golfing for the day with his buddies,” Ruth sniffed.
“Maybe I should run by her place with some Chicken Noodle soup later,” Gloria offered. Margaret could be a real pain in the rear but she certainly couldn’t bear the thought of her friend alone and suffering. “So I guess it’s just the four of us going to visit Dale and Maude.”
Ruth nodded. “Yeah, we don’t want to disappoint them. They’re expecting us.”
The four of them spent the rest of the afternoon visiting the two shut-ins. By the time the visits were over, they were feeling pretty proud of themselves. Both Dale and Maude’s faces lit up when the company arrived. They each had tea and cookies ready and waiting.
The visits also gave the women a chance to reflect on their own lives and how thankful they were for their good health. Maybe someday if they were stuck at home, someone would take the time to visit with them, too.
Ruth started the van and headed back to the girls’ cars to drop them off. On the way, they passed the old Johnson mansion. Well, it wasn’t really a mansion. Just an ancient, rambling house that was perched on top of a steep hill that led down to Lake Terrace. Back in the day, it must’ve been a real beauty. The plantation style home was impressive, even in its current state of disrepair. The large columns in the front supported a double deck that ran the length of the house. A black, wrought iron railing connected the columns and several sets of French doors opened up to the outdoors.
Years ago, Gloria’s mother told her a reclusive elderly couple lived in the big, old place. They were the town hermits, venturing out only every once in a blue moon. They never even went out to shop for groceries. Instead, they had the small town grocer on the corner of main street deliver food once a week. Every Tuesday morning like clockwork he would leave the boxes and bags of groceries on the front step, never once meeting them in person.
Gloria vaguely remembered seeing them one time when she was young. She happened to be walking by on her way to visit a friend that lived down by the lake.
She caught a glimpse of them through the tall, chain link fence that completely surrounded the house. The woman was already in the car, a shiny four-door Lincoln sedan, by the time Gloria noticed them.
The old man was slowly making his way around the back of the car, creeping along at a snail’s pace, his wooden cane clicking eerily on the hard gravel as he walked. He must’ve noticed Gloria standing there watching him because he stopped in his tracks and looked right at her. Gloria shuddered even now as she remembered his piercing blue eyes staring at her through the fence. Gloria’s shaky little legs took off as she flew down the hill, putting as much distance between her and the scary old man as possible.
Gloria was a teenager when they died. No one ever came to claim the place. It was sad to see such a stately home become so neglected.
“Oh. Hey, Lucy, remember the other day when you were asking me if there were any women detectives at the murder site investigating last week?” Ruth smiled in the rearview mirror. “Yeah. I was able to find out that the only two cops at the scene were Joe and a Detective Larry McClellan.”
Gloria chewed her bottom lip, deep in thought. So the charm didn’t belong to anyone investigating the scene.
Gloria absentmindedly said goodbye to her friends and made her way over to Annabelle. She planned on researching the charm online but just hadn’t gotten around to it yet. This evening would give her plenty of time to check it out.
Gloria fired up her computer, checked her emails and quickly got down to business. She set the small charm on the desk beside her.
Gold, Ruby and Pearl Heart-shaped Locket. Gloria clicked “search” and held her breath. Picture after picture of heart-shaped lockets popped up on the screen. After an hour of looking at all the different pieces, she sighed in frustration. Not a single one of them was even close to the one sitting on her desk.
She rubbed a weary hand across her forehead as she stared down at the mysterious jewelry. How on earth will I ever be able to find the owner of this charm?
She reached over and grabbed the Penny Saver newspaper from the corner of her desk. If I can’t find a killer, at least I can start on my grocery list, she decided.
As she reached for the inserts, something on the cover caught her eye. It was an ad for an antique store in a nearby town. Hmmm. You don’t think whoever it was bought the charm at a local store…
Just then, Puddles jumped up on her lap and started rubbing his head in her hand. She scratched the fluffy critter’s head as she pondered the idea. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Her heart fluttered at the thought of doing real detective work.
She turned back to her keyboard. “Antique stores in Green Springs.” She clicked “enter” and watched as four separate stores popped up on the screen. She grabbed a piece of paper and pen and carefully wrote each name down.
Gloria set Puddles on the floor and made her way to the kitchen, satisfied that she was finally onto something – quite possibly a killer.
The next morning, Gloria was standing in the post office bright and early, waiting for Ruth to finish up with a customer. She tapped her foot on the cement floor as Ruth proceeded to gossip for a good five minutes with the person ahead of her.
Gloria cleared her throat. “Ahem.”
Ruth gave her the evil eye as she wrapped up her current conversation.
After the lobby was empty, Ruth turned to Gloria. “In an awful big hurry this morning, aren’t we?” she snapped.
Gloria answered the question with one of her own. “Have you heard if they’ve identified the body they found in the woods yet?”
Ruth’s eyes gleamed in triumph. The town’s Ms. Busybody knew something. “As a matter of fact, I do,” she said. “Joe was in here not too long ago.”
“And?”
“The dead man was from Green Springs.” Ruth shook her head sympathetically. “Such a sad situation. He left a young wife behind.” Tsk Tsk.
Gloria was growing impatient. “Did you happen to find out his name?”
“Malone. Daniel Malone.” Ruth waved an arm in the air. “Some kind of local businessman. Filthy rich from what I was told.”
“Such a sad situation,” she repeated. “I’m not sure if he had any children.”
Ruth pulled her reading glasses off her plump, round face and began chewing on the end. “The funeral is at 2:00 on Tuesday. It’s going to be a big deal what with him being an area businessman and all.”
Gloria was halfway to the door but Ruth wasn’t done yet. “Hey, where you going?”
“Gotta run. I have a bunch of other errands to take care of today,” Gloria called out on her way out the door.
“But what about lunch?”
It was too late. Gloria was long gone.
Back in her car, Gloria started the engine and then paused. She could go to the funeral on Tuesday and then run by the antique shops to see if anyone recognized the charm…
On her way home, she made a last minute decision to stop by Lucy’s house. As she coasted into the drive, she could see Lucy was hard at work in her lush, green garden.
Gloria hopped out of her car, a noticeable spring in her step. Lucy eyed her friend suspiciously as she skipped over to the tomatoes. “I think I’m onto something.”
Lucy stuck a gloved hand to her forehead as she shaded her eyes. “Huh?”
Gloria sighed in exasperation. “You know. The charm.”
Lucy took off her gardening gloves and tiptoed past the strawberry plants as she made her way over to Gloria.
Lucy wasn’t nearly as fascinated with the charm as Gloria was. But it was nice to see her best friend showing an interest in something, even if it was a murder.
“I did some research on line. It’s an antique. Pretty much a one-of-a-kind.” She paused for a moment. “Ruth told me the dead man’s name is Daniel Malone and he’s some kind of businessman from Green Springs.”
Lucy shook her head as she dropped her gloves on a nearby bench. “Poor thing.”
“I’m going to his funeral Tuesday,” Gloria blurted out.
Lucy shook her head. “How’s that going to help solve the murder?”
“Killers always go to the funeral,” Gloria reasoned. “At least that’s what they do on TV.”
“I think you need to stop watching all those CSI episodes is what I think.”
“But what if I figure out who the killer is?” Gloria insisted.
Lucy was skeptical. “Just by going to the funeral you can figure out who the killer is?” she asked.
Gloria shook her head. “No – no.” She went on. “After the funeral, I’m going to the antique stores and pawn shops in Green Springs. I was thinking maybe the killer bought the charm at one of those stores.”
Lucy still wasn’t convinced, although that made more sense than trying to figure out who the killer was just by going to the victim’s funeral.
Gloria could see she wasn’t following the logic. “It’s such a unique charm. If you were a store owner or even just an employee, wouldn’t you remember who you sold it to?”
Lucy wiped a sweaty palm on the leg of her dingy old khakis. “Well, maybe.” She picked up the garden hose and began spraying her thirsty plants. “Yeah, I suppose I would,” she decided.
“So you wanna go with me Tuesday?” Gloria held her breath. She didn’t want to go by herself and since Lucy was the only one who knew about the charm…
Lucy thought about it for a brief moment before nodding her head. “Yeah. I’ll go. I can see this means a lot to you.”
She stopped spraying for a brief moment as she turned back to her friend. “But I need to be back before 6,” she warned. “Bill’s taking me squirrel hunting.”
Gloria shook her head in disbelief. “You’re doing what?”
“You know, squirrel hunting.” As if that was an everyday occurrence. Squirrel hunting.
“Better you than me.” Gloria decided it was time to change the subject. “I still haven’t told anyone else about the charm, yet.”
Lucy shut off the hose. “Yeah, your secret’s safe with me. I haven’t breathed a word to anyone. Not even to Bill.”
Mission accomplished, Gloria hopped back in her car and rolled down the window. She clicked the A/C to the off position. Fall was right around the corner and she had every intention of enjoying the beautiful weather as much as possible before winter set in.
Puddles was waiting for her at the door. To some, it might be just a cat but to Gloria he was much more than that. He was her closest companion. Her confidant. She could talk to him about anything and he wouldn’t argue or fuss. The cat adored her as much as she adored him.
She opened a can of tuna and set it on the floor. Puddles rubbed her ankles in appreciation before sauntering over to wolf down his treat.
Just then, her phone rang. She stood there for a moment as she considered not answering it. I really need to get caller id.
She was glad she picked up. It was her daughter Jill. “Hi Mom. How was your day?”
“Oh, not too bad. Just running some errands. I dropped by Lucy’s a little while ago to visit and now I’m home for the night.”
Jill worried about her mom living alone. She tried over and over to convince her to move closer. There was a nice little retirement community not far away from her house. Her Aunt Liz, Gloria’s older sister, lived there. It would be the perfect place for her. She just didn’t like the idea of her mom living alone in that rambling farmhouse out in the middle of nowhere with no neighbors close by.
Concern filled her daughter’s voice. “I heard they found a body in the woods behind the elementary school the other day.”
Gloria gazed out at the big red barn and slowly shook her head. “Yeah. Such a sad situation,” she said. “I just found out today he was from Green Springs. His name was Daniel Malone.”
“You need to be more cautious and start locking your doors,” Jill fretted.
“I have been, my dear. At least when I’m home. I haven’t been able to when I leave because I can’t remember where the heck the keys are at.”
“That’s one of the reasons I’m calling. Greg and I are going to stop by one night this week and put new locks on all the doors.” Greg was Jill’s husband.
“Oh, you don’t have to do that. I’ll be fine.”
Jill was adamant. “No. We’ll be over later this week to put them on. No ifs ands or buts!”
Her daughter was using “that tone.” It was no use trying to argue so she just gave in. “OK, just let me know ahead of time to make sure I’ll be here.”
“Hey, you two knock it off! Right now!” Jill started yelling into the phone. “Look Mom, I gotta go. The boys are getting ready to kill each other.”
Gloria smiled. Jill had her hands full with those two rambunctious youngsters. Every time they came for a visit, they wore Gloria out. It took a whole week just to recuperate.
“Give those handsome fellas a smooch from Gram.”
“OK. Bye.” Just as she was hanging up, she could hear Jill still yelling. “Let go of his neck! He’s turning purple!”
They sure were a couple of little terrors. It was rare for Jill to ask Gloria to babysit. Or if she did, it was only for a couple hours. The last time they were over, they tried to flush poor Puddles down the toilet. She shook her head as she remembered that day. The poor cat was terrified of running water for a whole month after the incident.
Gloria’s stomach started to grumble. Now what to have for dinner? She opened the freezer and peered inside at the tall stack of frozen dinners. None of them looked the least bit appealing.
She opened the refrigerator. Maybe there was some leftovers, she thought hopefully. But there was nothing in there except half a carton of eggs, a quart of milk that was about to expire and a block of sharp cheddar cheese.
She sighed as she pulled the eggs and milk from the shelf. Scrambled eggs it is.
After dinner, Gloria tidied the kitchen and turned off the light. On her way out, she remembered to lock the back door. After all, the killer hadn’t been caught. At least not yet.