“What?” Marge cried, as she almost dropped a copy of Miss Marple’s complete short stories. “What are you talking about?”
“A woman was found murdered in Dan’s office,” Scarlett explained with visible glee. “And your brother seems to think that Dan did it.”
“Yeah, and if Dan is sent up the river that’s the end of the Gazette I would think, which means your daughter will be unemployed.”
“And with her wedding coming up the timing couldn’t possibly be worse,” concluded Scarlett with relish. “She’ll be out of a job, without a paycheck, and will have to postpone the wedding. Terrible, terrible news.”
“The worst,” Vesta agreed.
“Oh, God,” said Marge, sinking down onto the cart and upending a stack of books about women doing naughty things with wolves. “I don’t believe this. Dan? A murderer?”
“I always thought there was something fishy about that man,” said Vesta. “Haven’t I told you there was something fishy about that man, Scarlett?”
“No, you haven’t.”
“Well, I’m telling you now.”
“I can’t believe it,” said Marge, bringing a weary hand to her brow, which was now bedewed with nervous sweat. The word picture her mother had painted was not a pretty one.
“Which means Odelia has been working for a killer all this time,” Vesta continued her tidings of doom. “It’s a miracle he never killed her.”
“Probably a liaison that ended badly,” Scarlett opined. “You know what old men are like. She probably came to end things, and he took it badly so he bashed her head in.”
“He bashed her head in!” Marge cried, upending another stack of books featuring women doing naughty things with vampires.
“With a garden gnome,” said Vesta, a wicked gleam in her eye.
“Not one of Tex’s garden gnomes,” said Marge, horrified at the implication.
Vesta shrugged. “Only time will tell. But it wouldn’t surprise me. Dan probably plundered Tex’s collection of gnomes last night, and this morning used one to murder his girlfriend.”
“But why?” Marge cried.
“Because he’s a murderous brute, that’s why,” said Scarlett. “These people don’t need a reason to do what they do. It’s in their blood.”
“Not Dan Goory. We’ve known Dan for years.”
“Which just goes to show you can never tell,” said Vesta with satisfaction. “I’m sorry about the wedding.”
“Yeah, that’s too bad about the wedding,” Scarlett agreed, though she didn’t look disappointed at all, and neither did Vesta.
“Well, I can’t stand around here yapping all day,” said Vesta. “Let’s get out of here, Scarlett.”
“Where are you going?” asked Marge, still recovering from the shock.
“Now more than ever it’s important we get this neighborhood watch up and running,” said Vesta.
“Make sure this kind of thing never happens again,” Scarlett pointed out.
“Killers like Dan Goory should be stopped in their tracks. And we’re going to make sure they are—isn’t that right?”
“Damn skippy,” Scarlett agreed.
Marge watched both ladies walk off. Next to her, Mrs. Samson had appeared and had stooped down to pick up one of the books Marge had dropped. It was a book with a bare-chested man on the cover with fangs and drops of blood on his six-pack. “This looks nice,” she murmured, and dropped it into her basket. She then glanced up at Marge. “I couldn’t help but overhear,” she said, and shook her head, little white curls dangling gently as she did. “I don’t believe for one minute that Dan is a murderer. Not one minute.” And with a sweet smile she patted Marge on the arm. “You hang in there, sweetie. Your daughter is a lot smarter than your mother. She’ll find the killer—just you wait and see.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Samson,” said Marge, touched by the woman’s words.
The old lady’s smile widened. “Mark my words, your daughter’s wedding to that hot young cop will go off without a hitch. And before you know it they’ll be at it like bunnies, making you, my dear Marge, a very young granny indeed.”
It was with mixed emotions that Marge checked out Mrs. Samson’s latest haul. The prospect of Odelia and Chase’s wedding going off without a hitch was a pleasant one—the thought of becoming a ‘young granny’ a lot less!
Chapter 9
The investigation was picking up pace and Dooley and I were in the thick of it as usual. After talking to Kingman and Buster we’d returned to the Gazette in the hope of finding Odelia there. As I’d surmised she was engaged in conversation with Chase inside, in her own office, devising a plan of campaign. So when I told her about the UPS guy she actually picked me up (with some effort, I might add) and planted a kiss on my head!
“That’s great news, Max,” she said. She immediately related my words to Chase, who nodded. He was in full detective mode now, judging from the stony look on his face.
“We have to find this UPS guy,” said the cop. “Hopefully he’ll be able to tell us more about what happened.”
“One thing’s for sure. Heather Gallop’s visit to Dan is connected to Maria Power.”
“What makes you think that?”
“The message she sent Dan. Gnomeo?”
“Could have been related to the Gazette.”
“According to Dan, Gnomeo refers to a movie starring Maria Power that has been lost for years.”
“A lost movie!” Dooley cried. “So romantic!”
“Yes, it is,” said Odelia with a smile. “So Maria Power’s very first movie, back when she was a complete unknown, was also the last movie made by Rupert Finkelstein.”
“I think I’ve heard of him,” said Chase, his brow creasing as he searched his memory.
“Rupert Finkelstein was the most successful and famous director of his time. He made half a dozen movies that are considered masterpieces today. But when he made a version of Romeo and Juliet, a whimsical farce, the movie ended up costing so much money the studio fired him from his own production. In retaliation Rupert quit the business, but not before destroying every last copy of the movie.”
“So the first movie of Maria Power never came out?”
“No. But the studio rumor mill had it that Maria’s performance was the best thing about the whole project, and soon her name was on everyone’s tongue, Hollywood’s hottest new property. Her career really took off then, and she was in hit after hit.”
“All based on a movie that no one ever saw.”
Odelia nodded, and chewed her bottom lip. “Dan thinks that maybe this mystery guest, this Heather Gallop, was going to offer him a copy of the movie—hence the message.”
“So... Gnomeo refers to this mystery movie?”
“Yeah. Maria’s character spends a lot of time talking to a gnome.” When Chase crooked an eyebrow she shrugged. “I told you it was a whimsical farce.”
“More like a whimsical flop if you ask me. No wonder the studio shut it down.”
“So Dan thinks Heather Gallop had a copy of the movie?” I asked.
“But I thought the movie doesn’t exist?” asked Dooley.
“If it does exist, it’s probably worth a great deal of money,” said Chase.
“Oh, it’ll be priceless,” said Odelia. “Absolutely priceless.”
“How can something be priceless, Max?” asked Dooley. “Doesn’t everything have a price?”
“Some things are so valuable it’s impossible to put a price on them,” I explained.
“But why come to Dan?” asked Chase. “Because of the Gazette?”
“No, because of the Gnomeos,” said Odelia, and laughed when Chase made a face.
“What are the Gnomeos, Max?” asked Dooley.
“I have no idea,” I said. “But I have a feeling we’re about to find out.”
“The Gnomeos is what the members of the official Maria Power Fan Club call themselves,” Odelia explained. “There is a second fan club, though, run by a man named Jack Warner: the Maria Power Society. But Dan is founder and chairman of the first one, the original. And in his capacity as club leader he’s in charge of the Maria Power retrospective, organizes exhibitions dedicated to her life and career, publishes a monthly club newsletter and much, much more. It’s one of his biggest passions in life.”