Bed & Breakfast 10 - Nutty As a Fruitcake by Mary Daheim

Author:Mary Daheim [Daheim, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mary Daheim
Publisher: Unknown
Published: 2010-03-22T04:00:00+00:00

Judith sighed. “I’ll take it. We’ll have to put it on top of the car. It’s too big for the trunk.”

Renie was stroking the branches of the big fir’s neighbor. It was a bit shorter but almost as full. “To heck with it,” she said.

“I’ll buy this one. My husband and I’ll pick it up this afternoon. How much?”

“Eighty-five,” O.P. replied promptly. “I’ll tag it for you.”

An older boy Judith didn’t recognize came to cart off the giant fir. “Don’t forget to make a two-inch cut,” Judith called, then turned back to O.P. “I guess it’s worth it. It may be the nicest tree we’ve ever had.” It was, Judith silently added, certainly the most costly.

Now very serious, O.P. nodded. “It’s a super tree. Say, Mrs. Mc…ah, Mrs. Flynn, do you think my brother and me could talk to Mr. Flynn sometime?”

NUTTY AS A FRUITCAKE / 135

“Sure,” Judith replied, as Renie approached, carrying a pineand-cedar wreath. “What about?”

O.P. rubbed at his left eye, then brushed an accumulation of rain from his worried face. “It’s Aloysius. He says I got to talk to Mr. Flynn about the guy I saw the other day.”

“What guy?” Judith asked, feeling her boots sink into the muddy ground.

“I don’t know him,” O.P. said, blushing a bit. “But I saw him through my telescope before I went to school Wednesday morning. It was still pretty dark out. He went to Mr. and Mrs. Goodrich’s house. You know, the back way.”

Judith, Renie, and O.P. had begun strolling in the direction of the trailer that served as office and shelter for the scouts. Three people already were lined up, waiting to pay for their selected greenery. Judith didn’t get in line. She was too intrigued by O.P.’s information.

“What time Wednesday morning?” she asked, trying to keep the excitement out of her voice.

O.P. scratched at his cheek. “Around seven-thirty, I guess. I leave for school at eight, but breakfast wasn’t ready, so I stayed in my room and was playing around with the telescope. I’m too old for TV ’toons.”

Two children, both boys who were not much younger than O.P., tugged at his slicker. Apparently, they wanted him to help their parents choose a tree. Reluctantly, O.P. excused himself.

“O.P.!” Judith called after him. “Come over to our house when you get through here, okay? Bring Dooley.”

A wave of one slicker-covered arm signaled agreement, or so Judith hoped. Mentally, she kicked herself for not talking to O.P. sooner. But during the years that his older brother had shown no interest in detection, Judith had forgotten about the telescope.

“Who could have come by so early?” Judith muttered as she and Renie finally fell into what was now a six-person queue. “If we take Art at his word, it wasn’t him. O.P. might recognize Art anyway. The grandsons, too. Who’s left?”

136 / Mary Daheim

Renie was counting cash out of her wallet. “O.P.’s sure it was a man?”

“He seemed to be.” Briefly, Judith’s attention was diverted by the sight of the lad who’d hauled her tree away.

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