“Damn.”
“All right.” Harry got up and opened the big jar of Best Fishes. She placed four of the delicious tidbits under the cat’s bright whiskers. Mrs. Murphy, in a fit, knocked the treats off the counter and stalked out of the room.
“So emotional,” Officer Cooper said as Tucker scarfed down the treats.
“Like people,” Harry said.
36
At seven forty-five the next morning, the phone rang in the Crozet post office.
“Hello,” Harry answered.
“Did you catch the killer yet?” Mrs. Hogendobber’s voice boomed.
“How are you?” Harry was surprised at how happy Mrs. Hogendobber’s call made her.
“Bored. Bored. Bored. Being under threat of death isn’t as much torture as being out of the swim. Did you catch him?”
“No.”
“Any clues?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me. I’m far away. I can’t blab.”
“Get thee behind me, Satan.”
“Mary Minor Haristeen, how dare you quote the New Testament to me like that? Why, I’m appalled at the suggestion that I would tempt you. I’m not tempting you. I’m simply trying to help. Sometimes a person considering the same evidence will see something new. Many cases have been solved thatway.”
“If you’re far away, Rick Shaw can’t make your life miserable. He can sure muck up mine.”
This idea dawned on Mrs. Hogendobber and set.“He’d be thrilled for an answer. Now, I’ve known you since the day you were born. Prettiest little baby I ever saw. Even prettier than BoomBoom Craycroft—”
“Don’t stretch the truth,” Harry interrupted.
“You were—upon my soul, you were. You know I won’t breathe a word of this and I do have good ideas.”
“Mrs. Hogendobber, I can’t speak as freely as I would wish.”
“Oh, I see.” Mrs. Hogendobber’s voice registered her thrill with the development. “Someone we know?”
“Yes, but not of the inner circle.”
“Reverend Jones.”
“Now why would you mention his name?”
“He’s a lovely man but he’s not of my denomination. I don’t consider him of the inner circle.”
“Hardly any of us attend your church. I’m an Episcopalian.”
Mrs. Hogendobber, a self-confessed expert on Protestant churches, corrected Harry.“You are entirely too close to the Catholic church and so is Reverend Jones. The real Reformation came when churches such as mine, The Holy Light, freed The Word to the people. However, you don’t even attend Saint Paul’s, so you ought to stop claiming that you are an Episcopalian. You are a lapsed Episcopalian.”
“Is that like fallen arches?”
“Harry, such subjects are not humorous and it grieves me that you don’t see the light. That’s why we’re called The Holy Light.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Who’s there? Will they be offended if you tell?”
“I don’t think so. It’s Officer Cooper.”
“Really?” The husky voice shot upward.
“Really. Now I’ve got to get back to work. You take care of yourself.”
“I want to come home.” Mrs. Hogendobber sounded like a miserable child.
“We want you to come home.” Harry thought to herself: Some of us do. Harry missed her.
“I’ll call tomorrow. I can’t give you my number. ’Bye.”
“’Bye.” Harry hung up the phone. “She’s a pip.”
“There’s another one at the door.”
Harry smiled and kept silent as she unlocked the door for Mim Sanburne, who was unusually early. She paused but did not say hello.
“Good morning, Mim.” Harry decided a lesson in manners might be amusing.
Big Marilyn’s expertly frosted hair caught the light. “Are you under house arrest?”
“We’re rehashing the Stamp Act and how it led up to the Revolution,” Officer Cooper retorted.
“Deference is greatly to be sought after in public servants. Our sheriff prides himself on his staff. But then—” Mim didn’t finish what would have been a threat, for Josiah jauntily opened the door. Nor did she tell Harry that she had indeed called Mignon Haristeen, who told her to mind herown goddamned business and reinstate Harry on the Cancer Ball committee. Yes, Mignon deplored the divorce but Harry had worked hard for the charity and the charity should come first. That made Mim back down.
“Stop what you’re doing and come on over to the shop,” Josiah said. “I’ve worked a miracle.”
“I’ll come over when Larry gives me my lunch break.”
“That’s no fun. We should go now—the more the merrier.” He swept his arm to include Mim and Officer Cooper.
“Thrilled,” Mim said without conviction.
Susan pulled up at the same time as Rick Shaw.
Josiah watched them through the window.“I envy you, Harry. You’re at the hub of Crozet–Grand Central.”
“Hi,” Susan called out.
Rick Shaw came in on her heels.“I need a buddy today when I ride,” she said. “You’re it, Harry.”
“Okay—but I think we’ll melt.”
Rick ushered himself behind the counter and collected BoomBoom’s papers from Officer Cooper. He made no attempt to hide this collection, but he didn’t draw attention to it either. “Has she been a good girl?” He nodded in Harry’s direction.
“Good as gold.”
“Officer Cooper, how long are you going to shadow Harry? Will I ever be able to have an intimate dinner with her?” Josiah emphasized the “intimate.”
“Only if you do the cooking,” came Cooper’s swift reply.
“Where’s Mrs. Murphy?” Susan inquired.
“Pouting in the mail bin,” Harry said.
“Sheriff Shaw, would you like to see the shop before I open it? You wouldn’t know it was the same shop,” Josiah persisted.
It wasn’t. Harry dropped by after lunch. Well, after what started out as lunch and ended up being an appetite killer. She zipped into Crozet Pizza, only to behold BoomBoom and Fair in earnest conversation at a table. She was beginning to like BoomBoom more and Fair less but she couldn’t bear them together. She left without even a slice of that famous pizza.
Maude’s shop, transformed into a high-quality antiques showroom, conveyed that sleek, urbane yet country mix that was Josiah’s forte. The packing materials were arranged in the back room and even they looked inviting. Officer Cooper rummaged around. She loved antiques.
“You’re glum, sweetie. What’s up?” Josiah sidled over to Harry.
“Oh, Fair and BoomBoom were at Crozet Pizza. It’s silly for it to hurt, but it does.”
He curled his arm around her shoulders.“Harry, anyone who ever died of love deserved it. There are other fish in the sea and besides, you’ve wasted far too much time, far too much, on Pharamond Haristeen.”
“I guess.”
Officer Cooper rested herself in a cushy wing chair to better appreciate the discussion.
“It’s a new day tomorrow, brighter and better.” He turned to Cooper. “You and I are going to be friends. You have exquisite taste, I can see, but tell me, is my favorite postmistress really in danger?”
“I can’t answer that.”
Josiah pulled Harry even closer to him.“I wasn’t born yesterday. Mrs. Hogendobber certainly was packed off in great haste. If she’s on vacation, so to speak, and you’ve got a police dogsbody—pardon me—that means the authorities are worried about her and you. Well, so am I.”
Officer Cooper crossed her legs.“I know you’ve spoken to Rick but for my satisfaction, who do you think is the killer?”
“I don’t know, which is so frustrating … unless it was Mrs. Hogendobber and you’ve locked her up to keep the townies from lynching her. Mrs. H., a killer—unlikely, although she can kill a conversation faster than Limburger cheese.”
“Any idea about motive?” Harry asked.
“Some sort of grudge, I should think.”
“Why do you say that?” Officer Cooper shifted her position.
“He’s humiliated the bodies, if you think about it. I think that bespeaks some kind of powerful emotion. Anger. Jealousy perhaps. Or he was spurned.”