The car kept coming, rocking its way across the pasture. People and horses darted out of the way. Maybe Sal mistook the meal trailer for a fast-food drive-thru. I waved my arms at him to stop.
“Stay right there,’’ I yelled. “We’ll get your coffees.’’
Johnny had put out the big serving urns. He knew the campers would wait for food, but they’d storm the trailer if deprived of caffeine. After we got cups for everyone, we joined Mama and Sal.
“We’re still waiting for breakfast, Mama,’’ Marty said.
“This fog has set the whole morning schedule back,’’ Maddie added.
Mama sipped her coffee. “Ooooh, Sal, they gave me yours!’’ She puckered her lips. “There’s hardly any sugar in here at all.’’
He took a swallow from the cup in his hand. “You’re right, Rosie. This one could rot false teeth.’’
They traded cups. Then, Sal lifted camp chairs for us from the Caddy’s big trunk. We set in to wait, and he went off to find a fellow New Yorker he’d met at last night’s campfire. No doubt they’d discuss how we poor, dumb Southerners couldn’t do anything right.
My sisters and I filled in Mama on what we’d learned from Audrey.
“I guess Johnny really did hate Lawton,’’ Mama said after we finished. “I found out what Trey meant, yelling about that fight they’d had. Seems Lawton threatened to call in his loan, which would have put Johnny out of business. That was two days before Lawton died. Everything between them just came to a head.’’
“How’d you find out?’’ Maddie asked.
“Well, Trey told Belle about how they’d rolled around in the dirt, fighting. She told Carlos, and he told Sal, who told me.’’ Mama shook her head. “Imagine, girls! At their age.’’
Marty lowered her voice to a whisper. “Johnny must have been awful mad.’’
I glanced over my shoulder for eavesdroppers. “Mad enough to commit murder?’’
I didn’t get an answer. We all just looked at each other over the tops of our coffee cups.
Maddie finally broke the silence. “Well, if Johnny didn’t kill Lawton, there’s no shortage of other suspects.’’
I nodded. “Starting with Trey. He wouldn’t be the first son who couldn’t bear living in his father’s long shadow.’’
“No way.’’ Mama’s voice was full of conviction. “That boy loved his daddy. You can see it in his eyes.’’
Maddie said, “The young widow looks most promising to me. Money’s a strong motive, and she probably stands to inherit a lot.’’
Marty cleared her throat, like an apology. “I’m not so sure, Maddie. People with as much money as the Brambles usually have wills and trusts and limited partnerships. They have all kinds of ways to squirrel it away. It’s not like Lawton would have had everything in a joint savings account with his and Wynonna’s name on it.’’
We thought on that for a while.
“I wouldn’t put anything past that Austin.’’ Mama sipped, looking thoughtful. “She set her cap for Trey and the Bramble family fortune. Maybe she didn’t want to wait for nature to take its course with Lawton.’’
I was more than willing to pile on about Austin. But instead I threw another name into the mix. “What do y’all think about Belle?’’
Did I want their opinion because Belle’s daddy died, or because Carlos seemed so taken with her?
Maddie snorted. “Belle’s too fragile, Mace. She’s a weakling. That stepmother of hers could knife her in the heart and then order in lunch. And, remember, Wynonna was the one who insisted Mama should ride Shotgun. She had something up her sleeve, I know it.’’
Mama said, “Honey, you can’t blame Wynonna for those bees.’’
“That’s assuming the bees were an accident, which I’m not sure they were,’’ I said.
We told Mama what Marty saw on Johnny’s hand.
“I’m still voting for Wynonna.’’ Maddie pointed her cup at us like a teacher summing up a lesson. “Maybe she found out Lawton was cheating. We already know the man had a history as a hound dog.’’
Marty said, “And that brings us right back to Johnny Adams’ hatred of Lawton.’’
A far-away look came into Mama’s eyes. “Johnny was the sweetest thing when we were all kids. There was one real unpopular boy at our school. He never had clean clothes, or shoes that fit, because his family was so poor. I remember how nice Johnny was to him. One January, when it was real cold, Johnny brought him a coat to wear. He claimed he outgrew it; but anyone could tell it was brand new.’’
She stared into her coffee like the coat was reflected there.
“It made the rest of us ashamed for how we’d treated that poor child. Girls, I just hate to think a kind person like that could be capable of murder.’’
I was imagining Johnny’s kindness to that unfortunate child a half-century ago, when a voice interrupted my thoughts.
“Sounds like you four detectives have the case nearly solved.’’ Carlos had snuck up behind us, his hand touching just a moment on the small of my back.
“No way,’’ I answered, hoping the others hadn’t noticed the gesture.
“No kidding.’’
He didn’t have to agree so readily, I thought.
“What you have so far sounds like idle gossip and speculation. I’ve warned you about that sort of thing before, Mace.’’
“Warning received, Investigator Know-it-All.’’
“Would you like to know what real police work revealed? The kind of police work that utilizes science and evidence?’’
“Oh, yes! Do tell.’’ I fluttered my eyelashes in my best Scarlett O’Hara imitation. “We’re just a bunch of silly women, hanging on every word from a smart man like you.’’
Maddie kicked me. Marty stared at the ground. I switched back to my normal voice. “Maybe I should remind you, your ‘real’ police work last summer sent Mama to the slammer.’’
“Hush, Mace!’’ Mama pinched my arm. “Let the poor man talk.’’
“I just hate to see you wasting your time with stupid theories,’’ Carlos said.
Last night’s Carlos was attractive; this morning’s version was pure arrogance. Maddie butted in before I could snap at him again. “What do you mean?’’
“My friend pulled in a favor and got some quick analysis on that tasting cup Mace has been so interested in,’’ he said. “The results are preliminary, but it’s pretty clear. There was nothing in that cup but chili.’’
___
I picked at my breakfast in a sulk. My sisters and Mama tried to point out it was good news that Lawton hadn’t been poisoned. And of course I knew that. But it irked me to be wrong. And it really irked me that Carlos had come to find me so he could crow about it—especially after our tender session in the woods last night. Maybe I was too sensitive, but did he have to act so superior?
“Are you going to eat that pancake, Mace?’’ Maddie stuck her fork over my plate and speared a piece of my breakfast before I could answer.
“Thanks for your concern, Maddie.’’
“Oh, stop being such a baby,’’ she said. “You can’t always be right, you know.’’
“That’s right, Mace,’’ Marty said. “Always being right is reserved for Maddie.’’
“Girls, girls. If we had rooms, I’d send you to them,’’ Mama said. “Look over there, where Carlos is talking to the Brambles. Now, there’s some people with some real problems.’’
Our eyes followed Mama’s across the breakfast crowd. She was right, of course. Trey shook his head as Carlos spoke. Belle’s face crumpled. Wynonna stood apart from the other two, head down as she listened, hands crammed into the pockets of a tight pair of jeans. Her boots were brown leather today, trimmed in fringe.
Looking around, I realized at least half the crowd was also watching the Brambles. Nothing like living your personal tragedy in public. Feeling petty, I resolved to stop acting like such a jerk. And the resolution lasted as long as it took to see Belle collapse into Carlos’s arms, sobbing.