Joan Hess - Arly Hanks 09 by Miracles in Maggody

Author:Miracles in Maggody [Maggody, Miracles in]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-06-23T01:48:41+00:00

9

Estelle chewed on a pencil as she read the list in front of her. “How about Fergie Bidens? He ain’t much to look at, but he’s been known to sniff around divorcées and widows.”

“Norma Kay was married,” Ruby Bee said, “and Fergie’s too much of a yellowbelly to risk messing with Bur Grapper. He’s not a likely candidate, but I suppose you can add his name to the list.”

“That’s makes six, and we have no way of knowing if she was carrying on with someone from another town.”

“We have to start somewhere.”

Frowning, Estelle put down the pencil and took a sip of sherry. “How do you plan to go about this? None of these fellows is gonna cotton to being asked if he was having an affair with a married woman—much less with a murder victim. That John Robert Scurfpea is meaner than a coyote in a steel trap, and Lewis Ferncliff spends more time in the county jail than he does at home. I hear they reserve a cell for him every Saturday night—and he ends up checking in more often than not.”

“I’m aware of their reputations,” said Ruby Bee. “I never said we ought to flat-out ask them. I just thought we could help Arly by giving her a list of suspects.”

“Just because one of these fellows was having an affair with Norma Kay doesn’t make him a murderer.”

Ruby Bee went into the kitchen to stir the turnip greens while she mulled this over. “The way I see it,” she said as she came back into the barroom, flushed with triumph, “is that Malachi Hope convinced Norma Kay to break off the affair. He left her sitting right there by the telephone. She called the man and told him how the cow ate the cabbage. He was so upset that he went to the gym, strangled her, and left her dangling from the backboard so everybody’d think it was suicide.”

“Or,” Estelle said slowly, “she called Bur Grapper and confessed to him.”

Ruby Bee preferred her own theory, but she pretended to weigh this alternative before shaking her head. “You can add him if you want, but I still think it was her lover. Most likely he’s married and got all worried about Norma Kay confessing her sin in front of everybody at the revival, including his wife.”

“It sure wouldn’t sit well with Bur Grapper if Norma Kay made a fool of him in front of his neighbors and former players. His family has lived in these parts since God made little green apples. Do you recall how his sister wrote that pamphlet about their family history and had copies printed up? Why on earth she thought any of the rest of us cared about her dead kinfolk was a mystery to me.”

Ruby Bee grinned. “I heard she did it to prove there weren’t any Buchanons in the family tree.”

“Bur Grapper might have killed his wife to protect the family’s reputation.” Estelle printed his name in large letters at the bottom of the page.

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