Plan Bee by Hannah Reed

Author:Hannah Reed
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Ghost, General, Women Sleuths, Fiction, Mystery & Detective
ISBN: 9781101553930
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2012-01-03T05:00:00+00:00

Twenty-one

Tuesday morning at The Wild Clover, I wasn’t imagining all the snickering going on behind my back. It was definitely real. In the light of day, my actions last night seemed juvenile at best. I regretted what had happened in the middle of Main Street. Boy did I ever. It’s just that something came over me and I totally lost all self-control.

The worst part was that nobody who came into the store talked about it out in the open. Which made me squirm even more.

Bits and pieces of other information slowly began to surface, sharing the limelight with my public meltdown. Tom Stocke’s entire life story for one, thanks to blabby Patti. Nothing I hadn’t already heard, though—his wife running off with Ford, Ford’s ongoing problems with the law, and Tom’s quiet move to Moraine to bury the past. Until the past followed him here and got itself buried instead.

A catfight in the street should have been overshadowed by that juicy news, but by the sly and amused looks I was getting from my customers, I knew I was competing with Tom for top news story.

His friendly association with my mother came up, mostly behind my back, too, but my staff clued me in. My perfect mother, who’d spent her life worrying about what the neighbors would say, and blaming me for what they did say, was now fodder for gossip herself. At least when she eventually reverted back to her old snarky ways, I would have some ammunition of my own next time she fired a round. After last night, I suspected that round had to be right around the corner.

The senior citizens arrived to play sheepshead, Wisconsin’s official state card game, in the choir loft, a friendly, cozy nook I’d converted into a gathering place. This was their regular card day, but they usually played in the afternoon.

Grams, an avid card player, said it best as she came in carrying Dinky. “We want to be part of the conversation and there’s sure a lot going around.” She handed the dog over to me, saying, “And here’s your adorable Dinky back. Let me know when she’s trained, sweetie.” Grams winked to let me know the deal was still on.

The seniors were mixed on whodunnit. Everybody hoped the killer was an out-of-towner who was gone for good. Of course, Tom’s name came up as the one and only other possibility, but many of the crusty old-timers thought his brother had gotten his just deserts, whether Tom did the deed or not. A small-bit criminal who stole his brother’s wife didn’t garner the same compassion as your average murdered citizen.

Stu walked in the door for his daily newspaper and had a silly smile on his face when he spotted me. He didn’t mention the fight, though. And he had news we hadn’t heard yet. “Aggie and Eugene Petrie are out of jail on bail.”

“Their sidewalk rummage sale days are over, though,” I said. “I hope they learned their lesson.”

What goes around, comes around.

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