“Ellie. Tell us about the Save the Turtles Convention. I know Grace was the president of the Tybee chapter. Are they still going to hold the meeting?” I shoveled a fork full of eggs in my mouth.
“That’s a good question, Trixie. I’ve talked with some of the other attendees and the organizers are going ahead as scheduled. The local members planned a memorial for Grace on the last day. Even though she had the personality of a riled up porcupine, she contributed so much to saving the sea turtles. She’s a legend in her own right.” Ellie took a tiny bite of muffin – probably bran.
“Too bad she had to ruin her good works with her surly nature. Seems she cared more about turtles than she did humans.” Dee Dee waggled her fork.
“Do y’all remember the argument Laura and Grace had the first day we arrived? Do you think that Laura really killed her?” Ellie appeared much too happy about Laura’s troubles.
“No, we don’t. That’s why we’re helping her.” Dee Dee turned to me for assistance.
“That’s right. Ellie could you tell us where you went the night I found Grace’s body?”
Her green eyes opened wide and she stumbled over her next words. “Uh, I went into town. Don’t you remember? I spent time at the Pirate’s Pub with some of my friends attending the convention.” Something about her answer seemed a little too contrived, but her response would be easy enough to check out. I decided to go for broke and charged ahead with the next question. “We saw you talking with John Porter this morning on the beach. Where do you know him from?”
She squinted at me, then turned to Dee Dee. “Ladies, I don’t believe my personal life is any of your business.” She scooted her chair back. “This conversation is over.”
“Wow,” Dee Dee exclaimed, watching her bolt out of the room. “If she doesn’t have anything to hide she sure has a funny way of showing it.”
“I agree. She might not be guilty of murder, but she’s hiding something.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
I stacked up our dirty dishes and scooted my chair back. Dee Dee grabbed a pile as well and we headed to the kitchen, still discussing Ellie’s hasty departure.
Louise stood at the sink, up to her elbows in sudsy water. “Hey, ladies. Thanks for bringing the plates. Just set them on the drain board.”
Checking to make sure we were alone, I thought this would be a great time to talk to her. “Louise, do you know Edna very well?”
“We’ve known each other over ten years. She’s been working for Grace for fifteen and I’ve been with Laura for ten. We hit it off right away. I guess having so much in common made it easy to become friends.”
Dee Dee pulled out a chair for me and picked up the line of questioning. “Did she ever talk about how Grace treated her?”
Louise rubbed her nose with her arm, leaving a wad of bubbles on the end of her snout. “She sure did. There wasn’t any love lost between them two. Grace treated Edna like a mat to wipe her feet on. She cried on my shoulder more than once. But she was stuck. She doesn’t have any family since she never married and her folks passed. At the time, it made sense to live with Grace. After a few years, things weren’t so rosy anymore. Any time she talked about leaving, Grace threatened to blacklist her. Told her she’d never work on Tybee again. She had poor Edna scared half to death.” Louise pointed to the dishes. “Could you hand me another stack, dear?”
Dee Dee gathered up a precariously high mound and carried them to the sink. The work keeping a bed and breakfast was never ending.
“We’re doing everything we can to help Laura.” Dee Dee assured Louise, and pulled the notebook from her pocket. “We have a list of people we want to question. Could you look it over and tell us where we might find some of them?”
“Honey, you’re going to have to hold it way back if you expect me to read it.” Dee Dee made the adjustment. “Whoa. That’s a long list. You have Edna on the list? If I’d known that I wouldn’t have told you all that stuff about her.”
“No. No. Don’t worry about Edna. We put everyone down that had recent contact with Grace. It doesn’t mean we really suspect them of any wrong doing,” Dee Dee said.
Louise was right, though. She had divulged a lot of information and it didn’t bode well for Edna.
She placed her dripping hand under her chin, reminding me of The Thinker. “You can probably find Mary Sue at her job. She works at the local hamburger joint, Dairy Delite. The building’s located on the main road right before you get into town. You can’t miss it. Bert lives somewhere in Savannah. Mary Sue might be able to tell you where since she worked for Grace. Jasmine works at one of the tourist shops downtown, I think its Pirate’s Treasure. I’m sorry I can’t be of any more help.” She let the water out of the sink, rinsed her hands, and dried them with a dishtowel.
“You’ve been a tremendous help.”
“I’d do anything to support Laura. She’s been really good to me. I feel so blessed to be working here with her instead of Grace. I’ve always felt sorry for poor Edna. Stuck with that …. Well I’d better not say what I was thinking.”
Before she could finish, Nana barged in the kitchen like a whirlwind. “There you are. I thought you’d left without me. Who are we going to interview first?”
“Uh, Nana.” I looked to Dee Dee for some help, but she had started helping Louise re-shelve the dried dishes.
“I think we’ll try to find Mary Sue Bartlett first. Are you ready to go?”
“I sure am. Let’s go!”
I was so shaken up with what Louise may have been about to explain, I hadn’t noticed, but I had to admit, she looked very cute. Dressed in a dark blue jogging suit with a light blue tee shirt, she wore a matching blue baseball cap. Wearing a matching cap was something she’d recently started. I can truthfully say there was never a dull moment with Nana around.
“Let’s tell Mama we’re going.”
Nana scooted out of the kitchen faster than a greased pig.
“Are you really going to let her go?” Dee Dee whispered.
“I guess so. I just couldn’t tell her no. Anyway, Mama needs a break.” We thanked Louise for her help and went to find Nana. We discovered her excitedly telling Mama about our sleuthing.
“Now don’t you worry, Betty Jo. I’ll keep an eye on the girls. I won’t let them do anything stupid.” This coming from the lady who on a whim decided to get a tattoo that would last a lifetime – well as much time as Nana had left.
“Trixie, thank you for letting Nana go along. I’d like to spend some time with Laura today. She needs all the support she can get.”
I hugged Mama as tight as I could. I loved her so much. I realized I needed to spend some time alone with Mama. I wanted to share my feelings with her about Beau’s proposal.
Dee Dee walked up. “Group hug?” We hugged and we laughed and we cried. The events of the past few days had taken its toll on all of us. Lord, please don’t let us wind up in the home for the bewildered before this is over.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
We piled in my car. It still harbored the new car smell. Dee Dee sat in the back and Nana rode shotgun. We decided to interview Jasmine first and save Mary Sue until lunch time. We drove down Jones Avenue, and headed toward the pier and pavilion. City officials had cordoned off the downtown area due to the arts and crafts festival. I hoped the walk to Pirate’s Treasure wasn’t too far and then recalled the physical therapist said moderate exercise would be good for my new knee.
Nana hopped out of the car before it completely stopped. I slammed the gearshift in park and followed her as fast as my gimpy leg would allow. I could sure use some of her energy, Lord.