So it was, for the second time that day, I sat down at Uncle Javin’s kitchen table and ate with people from my past. Only this time, the conversation was as warm and sparkling as the sun glinting off the remnants of yesterday’s snow.
As Pat, Jackie, and I talked, it seemed as if we had never been away from each other. Conversation flowed easily and we giggled over reminisces like school girls. Jackie’s dark hair had turned white and Pat’s athletic build had rounded into near chubbiness but none of that mattered. What mattered was our friendship and I felt a stir of gladness that I had not experienced since my return to Edna.
“You’ve met my son, Ned,” Pat said. “Gerald Mills, the policeman.”
“No!” I exclaimed. “Pat, you are not old enough to have a grown son.”
Pat smiled and nodded. “Afraid so. I married right out of high school so you might say I was a child bride. My husband was Jarred Mills. You never met him. He moved here from Georgia thirty years ago. I’ve been a widow for ten years.”
Jackie took a sip of coffee. “I got married too, only I waited until I finished college. I met Ron Murray at the University of Oklahoma. When a position teaching kindergarten opened up here, we moved back. I taught kindergarteners for a good many years and Ron established a law practice.”
“Any children?” I asked.
Jackie shook her head. “The regret of my life. I’m retired but I consider all my ex-students my children.”
“Life takes us around blind corners sometimes,” I said. “I was really looking forward to seeing Uncle Javin after all these years, but my homecoming was not exactly what I expected.”
Pat slid a second slice of cake on my plate. “I heard about it. How horrible, finding your uncle like that.”
Jackie put down her coffee cup. “Tell us all the details. What’s going on, Ned?”
So, I poured another round of coffee and told them about Uncle Javin’s letters, finding him dead, the trip to the police station, and the discovery in his wardrobe.
Pat’s mouth dropped open. “I guess my son didn’t tell me everything after all. Martha Decker accused you of murdering poor Mr. Granger?”
“I’m afraid so.”
Jackie munched thoughtfully and said, “She’s a strange one, I think.”
I found myself coming to Martha’s defense. “Actually, I understand why she thought I had shot Uncle Javin. And, when she came this morning, she seemed really friendly.”
Jackie was still chewing. “Okay,” she mumbled. “If you say so. Have you had any other visitors? There’s a rumor that a developer from Oklahoma City is trying to buy up property in this part of town for a housing development and is especially interested in Mr. Granger’s house and acreage.”
“A housing development here on this beautiful land?” I felt my temperature rise and set my cup down so forcefully coffee sloshed. “Nobody like that had better come nosing around.”
Pat poked Jackie and grinned. “She hasn’t changed a bit.”
“There’s another rumor too; actually, it’s an old folktale, that there might be silver on this land,” Jackie said. “I don’t know if it’s supposed to be hidden in the house or buried in the ground or what. Like all gossip, it changes from one mouth to another.”
“Oh, boy,” I muttered. “What under the sun have I stepped into?”
Pat’s eyes crinkled. “Well…”
Jackie looked stern. “Pat!”
“Do you know whether the Decker family was living next door at the time of Eldon’s death?” I posed the question to both of them.
“So far as I know, they were,” Jackie answered.
“And Martha has never married, I suppose. At least, she didn’t mention a husband. She said she lives next door with her mother, Anne. Martha’s name is still Decker.”
Pat looked thoughtful. “It seems I remember my parents saying she had a boyfriend but I think he disappeared about the time Eldon Decker was murdered.”
“Probably a good thing for him,” Jackie said. “I don’t know much about Martha but she seems a little—well—dingy.”
“Dingy?” That was a pretty good way to describe her. “Did she have her sights set on Uncle Javin? Chief Morris said she brought him food often. I don’t know how Cade knew that, though.”
Jackie picked up her napkin and wiped cake crumbs from her mouth. “First I’ve heard of it.”
Pat’s eyes filled with tears. “Oh, Ned, I’m sorry this is happening to you. Right here, three weeks before Christmas too, when we’re supposed to be cheerful and merry and…”
“Things are not always what they should be,” Jackie said, carefully folding her napkin. “We just have to deal with them as they are.”
We were silent for a few moments, digesting Jackie’s morsel of wisdom.
Pat squished cake crumbs together with her fork. “What do you think of Cade? He has changed a lot, hasn’t he?”
“Honestly, Pat, who wouldn’t change in forty years? He’s probably a good lawman, seems to take his job seriously.”
“Much too seriously sometimes,” Jackie said.
“It’s because of that dratted Lena.” Pat’s voice rose. “She didn’t know a good man when she saw him. She ran off with some salesman two or three years ago and nobody has heard from her since.”
Jackie sipped her coffee. “As Ned said, sometimes life leads us around blind corners.”
“When is Mr. Granger’s funeral?” Pat asked.
I traced the rim of my cup with my finger. “That’s a chore I dread. I must go to the funeral home and make arrangements. I have no idea whether he went to church or which church, or if he had close friends here or who should be notified.”
Pat smiled. “He did go to church—the one Gerald and I attend, Rose Chapel. In fact, sometimes Gerald preaches when Pastor Williams is out of town.”
My ears pricked up. “Rose Chapel? Uncle Javin mentioned ‘Rose’ but I thought he was talking about a person. Could he have meant the church?”
Pat shrugged.
“I tell you what,” Jackie said, collecting empty saucers, cups, and forks, “let us go with you to the funeral home. We can help you make decisions and then we can put an obituary in the paper. That way, anyone who knew Mr. Granger will be able to come and pay their last respects.”
“Would you?” It felt as a load were lifted from my shoulders. “It would mean so much to me.”
“We’re the Three Musketeers. ‘All for one and one for all’,” Pat said as she stood up. She walked into the parlor and looked around. “This is a remarkable old house. One of the really historic ones in town. Look at that lovely detail in the woodwork.”
“My grandparents lived here,” I told her, “and since Uncle Javin never married, he lived on in the house after they died. But I understand it was built before their time, and they bought it from the original owners. I don’t know whether my uncle had a will, or if the house is mortgaged. I know nothing about it.”
“All old houses have stories,” Pat continued, “and so does Granger’s Mansion.”
“Granger’s Mansion?” I asked.
“That’s what the people in town call it. I probably shouldn’t tell you this, Ned, but there’s a rumor that it’s haunted.”
“Pat!” Jackie exclaimed. “You’ll scare her.”
I lifted their coats and my own off the hall tree. “Actually, I heard the same thing from your son this afternoon.”
Pat nodded. “Yes, there’s a story about the original owners…I’ve forgotten their names. Anyway, the lady of the house just disappeared one day. This was way back before statehood. I think the husband was influential in town politics. Rumors made the rounds that he had killed her but he said she ran off with another man.”
“Oh, my goodness!” I pulled my jacket close. “Ednalee is such a quiet, peaceful town on the surface, but it seems that the women, at least, are pretty restless. So, I guess the ghost is that poor woman?”
Pat cocked her head and gazed at me with wide eyes. I winked at Jackie. “Pat’s hoot-owl look, a sure sign of wisdom.”
“And, a further bit of information,” Jackie said, “your uncle did indeed leave a will. Ron was his lawyer and I feel sure he will be calling you.”
Excerpt from MOONLIGHT CAN BE MURDER, to be released this fall by Pen-L Publishing.
+
Chapter Seven
As Pat, Jackie, and I talked, it seemed as if we had never been away from each other. Conversation flowed easily and we giggled over reminisces like school girls. Jackie’s dark hair had turned white and Pat’s athletic build had rounded into near-chubbiness but none of that mattered. What mattered was our friendship and I felt a stir of gladness that I had not experienced since my return to Edna.
“You’ve met my son, Ned,” Pat said. “Gerald Mills, the policeman.”
“No!” I exclaimed. “Years have a way of slipping by, don’t they?”
Pat smiled and nodded. “Afraid so. I married right out of high school so you might say I was a child bride. My husband was Jarred Mills. You never met him. He moved here from Georgia thirty years ago. I’ve been a widow for ten years.”
Jackie took a sip of coffee. “I got married too, only I waited until I finished college. I met Ron Murray at the University of Oklahoma. When a position teaching kindergarten opened up here, we moved back. I taught kindergarteners for a good many years and Ron established a law practice.”
“Any children?” I asked.
Jackie shook her head. “The regret of my life. I’m retired but I consider all my ex-students my children.”
“Life takes us around blind corners sometimes,” I said. “I was really looking forward to seeing Uncle Javin after all these years, but my homecoming was not exactly what I expected.”
Pat slid a second slice of cake onto my plate. “I heard about it. How horrible, finding your uncle like that.”
Jackie put down her coffee cup. “Tell us all the details. What’s going on, Ned?”
So, I poured another round of coffee and told them about Uncle Javin’s letters, finding him dead, the trip to the police station, and the discovery in his wardrobe.
Pat’s mouth dropped open. “I guess my son didn’t tell me everything after all. Martha Decker accused you of murdering poor Mr. Granger?”
“I’m afraid so.”
Jackie munched thoughtfully and said, “She’s a strange one, I think.”
I found myself coming to Martha’s defense. “Actually, I understand why she thought I had shot Uncle Javin. And, when she came this morning, she seemed really friendly.”
Jackie was still chewing. “Okay,” she mumbled. “If you say so. Have you had any other visitors? There’s a rumor that a developer from Oklahoma City is trying to buy up property in this part of town for a housing development and is especially interested in Mr. Granger’s house and acreage.”
“A housing development here on this beautiful land?” I felt my temperature rise and set my cup down so forcefully coffee sloshed. “Nobody like that had better come nosing around.”
Pat poked Jackie and grinned. “She hasn’t changed a bit.”
“There’s another rumor too; actually, it’s an old folktale, that there might be silver on this land,” Jackie said. “I don’t know if it’s supposed to be hidden in the house or buried in the ground or what. Like all gossip, it changes from one mouth to another.”
“Oh, boy,” I muttered. “What under the sun have I stepped into?”
Pat’s eyes crinkled. “Well…”
Jackie looked stern. “Pat!”
“Do you know whether the Decker family was living next door at the time of Eldon’s death?” I posed the question to both of them.
“So far as I know, they were,” Jackie answered.
“And Martha has never married, I suppose. At least, she didn’t mention a husband. She said she lives next door with her mother, Anne. Martha’s name is still Decker.”
Pat looked thoughtful. “It seems I remember my parents saying she had a boyfriend but I think he disappeared about the time Eldon Decker was murdered.”
“Probably a good thing for him,” Jackie said. “I don’t know much about Martha but she seems a little…well…dingy.”
“Dingy?” That was a pretty good way to describe her. “Did she have her sights set on Uncle Javin? Chief Morris said she brought him food often. I don’t know how Cade knew that, though.”
Jackie picked up her napkin and wiped cake crumbs from her mouth. “First I’ve heard of it.”
Pat’s eyes filled with tears. “Oh, Ned, I’m sorry this is happening to you. Right here, three weeks before Christmas too, when we’re supposed to be cheerful and merry and…”
“Things are not always what they should be,” Jackie said, carefully folding her napkin. “We just have to deal with them as they are.”
We were silent for a few moments, digesting Jackie’s morsel of wisdom.
Pat squished cake crumbs together with her fork. “What do you think of Cade? He has changed a lot, hasn’t he?”
“Honestly, Pat, who wouldn’t change in forty years? He’s probably a good lawman, seems to take his job seriously.”
“Much too seriously sometimes,” Jackie said.
“It’s because of that dratted Lena.” Pat’s voice rose. “She didn’t know a good man when she saw him. She ran off with some salesman two or three years ago and nobody has heard from her since.”
Jackie sipped her coffee. “As Ned said, sometimes life leads us around blind corners.”
“When is Mr. Granger’s funeral?” Pat asked.
I traced the rim of my cup with my finger. “That’s a chore I dread. I must go to the funeral home and make arrangements. I have no idea whether he went to church or which church, or if he had close friends here or who should be notified.”
Pat smiled. “He did go to church—the one Gerald and I attend, Rose Chapel. In fact, sometimes Gerald preaches when Pastor Williams is out of town.”
My ears pricked up. “Rose Chapel? Uncle Javin mentioned ‘Rose’ but I thought he was talking about a person. Could he have meant the church?”
Pat shrugged.
“I tell you what,” Jackie said, collecting empty saucers, cups, and forks, “let us go with you to the funeral home. We can help you make decisions and then we can put an obituary in the paper. That way, anyone who knew Mr. Granger will be able to come and pay their last respects.”
“Would you?” It felt as if a load were lifted from my shoulders. “It would mean so much to me.”
“We’re the Three Musketeers. ‘All for one and one for all’,” Pat said as she stood up. She walked into the parlor and looked around. “This is a remarkable old house. One of the really historic ones in town. Look at that lovely detail in the woodwork.”
“My grandparents lived here,” I told her, “and since Uncle Javin never married, he lived on in the house after they died. But I understand it was built before their time, and they bought it from some of the first owners. I don’t know whether my uncle had a will, or if the house is mortgaged. I know nothing about it.”
“All old houses have stories,” Pat continued, “and so does Granger’s Mansion.”
“Granger’s Mansion?” I asked.
“That’s what the people in town call it. I probably shouldn’t tell you this, Ned, but there’s a rumor that it’s haunted.”
“Pat!” Jackie exclaimed. “You’ll scare her.”
I lifted their coats and my own off the hall tree. “Actually, I heard the same thing from your son this afternoon.”
Pat nodded. “Yes, there’s a story about the original owners…I’ve forgotten their names. Anyway, the lady of the house just disappeared one day. This was way back before Statehood. I think the husband was influential in town politics. Rumors made the rounds that he had killed her but he said she ran off with another man.”
“Oh, my goodness!” I pulled my jacket close. “Ednalee is such a quiet, peaceful town on the surface, but it seems like the women, at least, are pretty restless. So, I guess the ghost is that poor woman?”
Pat cocked her head and gazed at me with wide eyes. I winked at Jackie. “Pat’s hoot-owl look, a sure sign of wisdom.”
“And, a further bit of information,” Jackie said, “your uncle did indeed have a will. Ron was his lawyer and I feel sure he will be calling you.”
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