Chapter 25
By the time Doreen finally freed herself from her chatty neighbor, Ella, and returned home, hours had passed, but Doreen definitely knew a lot more about the community. Still not anything pertinent to the case though. Unsettled and full of questions, she decided to walk to Nan’s and ask her some more questions—especially about her betting activities. It was very convenient to have her grandmother just a few blocks away. Doreen had to admit to looking forward to the walk.
She put Mugs on a leash, admonished Goliath to get into no trouble while inside alone, then asked Thaddeus, “Do you want to go for a walk?”
Mugs started barking.
Thaddeus called out, “Walk. Walk.” His head bobbed up and down and side to side. He jumped onto Mugs’s back as she opened the door and locked it behind them.
Halfway to the retirement home, she realized she should probably call before visiting. Maybe Nan had company or had gone out shopping. Doreen quickly grabbed her phone from her purse and called her grandmother. “If you’re not busy, I’m coming for tea.”
Nan laughed. “Oh, I do like having you close by. I see more of you now than I think I’ve seen you in your entire lifetime.”
Doreen winced. As a reminder of how little time she had spent with her grandmother overall, it was potent.
When she reached Nan’s place, Doreen saw Nan carrying the teapot outside for them already. Nan straightened and waved. Doreen and her lively duo walked over and she took a seat at the little table. Mugs lay down at her feet. Thaddeus hopped onto the table and right up Nan’s arm. He crooned and rubbed against her cheek.
Stroking his feathers, Nan beamed at her. “This is just lovely. After all the commotion this morning, this is exactly what I needed.”
“What commotion?”
Nan shook her head. “Oh, I don’t want to bother you.”
“What commotion, Nan? I haven’t heard anything about it yet.” Doreen glanced around. “I thought I saw a cop car in the parking lot, but that could be for any number of reasons here.”
“A man went for a walk and didn’t come back,” Nan said with relish.
“Oh, dear.” Despite herself, Doreen winced. The last thing she wanted was the reminder of dead bodies. Her garden still looked like crap, compliments of the last officers who had come to her house. She glanced around. “Is he forgetful? Maybe he just got lost?”
“Around here, anything’s possible.” Nan patted her hand. “You’re a sweetheart, but don’t worry about him. He probably won’t be back.”
Doreen looked sharply at Nan. “What did you say?”
Nan looked confused for a moment, then added, “I’m sure he’ll be back.”
Slightly unsettled because Doreen was darn sure that wasn’t what Nan had said originally and not knowing why she had said it, Doreen sat back slightly and waited for her grandmother to talk. Perhaps her original wording was a simple mistake. She couldn’t know that the old man wouldn’t be home anymore.
Could she?
Still worried, Doreen asked carefully, “I presume a search party is out looking for him?”
“Oh, yes. The police are looking for him, and his family is looking too, I should imagine.” And she gave Doreen the sweetest, blankest look ever.
Doreen frowned, a shudder rippling inside. Had Nan declined mentally all of a sudden, or was she just preoccupied? And how to tell? “What is his name? Was the man a resident?”
“Oh, no. Robert was a workman here. Nicest man. Always came in to talk to me. Had such lovely stories about the different places he worked in.”
An ugly suspicion arose. “Did he mention your house, or ask you anything about what might be in your house?”
Nan looked at her in surprise. “Well, of course we talked about my house. It’s not in the heritage zone of Kelowna, but my house has all kinds of unique things about it. Plus I’d lived there for so long.”
Nan gave Doreen that breathtaking smile of innocence again that both made Doreen feel better and worse.
“Did he ever work on your deck or in the attic?”
Nan shrugged. “Not that I remember.”
Doreen waited, but Nan added nothing further. So Doreen asked again, “But he worked on your deck?”
Nan paused, deep in thought. “He might have built the deck originally, but I don’t remember for sure. Why?”
Doreen stared at the grass. Mugs slept at her feet while Thaddeus paced across the table, once again looking for scraps of things to eat. “No reason.”
“We talked lots over the years. He’s a very nice man.”
Doreen nodded. “I’m sorry that he’s missing.”
Nan said in a very cheerful voice, “I’m sure he’ll show up, or at least his body will in a few days.”
“You think he’s dead?” Doreen asked in a strangled voice.
“He’s not here. He’s not at home, and he didn’t go to work.” Nan shrugged. “Sounds like he might be dead.”
Glumly Doreen had to admit her grandmother was right. That was often the case. “Well, if he’s an older man, then that’s possible,” she said.
“Oh, dear. No, he’s not old. Not even forty yet, I don’t think.”
Knowing she couldn’t handle more of this conversation, Doreen determinedly shifted it to her discussion about the neighbors. “I went around to introduce myself to the neighbors today. Met three more people.”
Nan beamed. “Aren’t they lovely?”
“Some of them appear to be, yes. Some are talkative. Some are secretive. And some never seem to be home.”
“That’s people though. No matter where you go, you get a mix of them all.” She picked up her tea and gave her granddaughter a sweet smile once again. “You’ll fit right in.”
“Finding a body didn’t make for an easy introduction to the community,” she admitted.
“Nonsense. The place is dull and boring. It added some excitement to the area.”
“You sure you have no idea who killed him?”
Nan’s gaze twinkled at Doreen over the teacup. “No, not at all.” She leaned forward. “Do you?”
“No, of course not. I just got into the house. Nan, he was killed several days ago, if not weeks ago. He was killed while you were in the process of moving here, if not before.”
“That’s so sad.” She sipped her tea again and put it back on the saucer. “I was very busy in the days and weeks before this move, and if I wasn’t packing up things to bring with me here, I was in my front room watching the telly. Anything could’ve gone on in the backyard. I wouldn’t have known about that.”
“Or did you just not want to tell anybody about it?” Doreen leaned forward. “You do know that it’s illegal to withhold any information from the police about a case? And it’s also illegal to bury a body, even if you didn’t kill the person?”
Nan’s gaze widened. “Of course I didn’t know that. Why would I know that? It’s not like I have anything to do with dead bodies. Besides, sweetie, you were living at the house when the body was found.” She shook her finger at Doreen. “Make sure you’re not involved.”
The conversation was making less and less sense and seemed to be sliding more and more off to the side of ridiculous. Doreen worried about her grandmother. “Have you made any friends here?” She was trying to be objective and to change the subject.
“Lots. Several of them are very interested in my hobby.”
Doreen perked up. “Now that is good. What hobby are you talking about?”
She smirked. “You know what the hobby is. I had to stop for a long time. But I’m happy to say that I’m playing again.”
Doreen cast her mind back and forth as she tried to remember any of Nan’s hobbies from the last several decades. But she kept coming up blank. “Why was it you stopped again?”
Nan gave her a droll look. “The police didn’t like it.”
Doreen stared at her and then remembered Ella’s recent words. Doreen closed her eyes and groaned. “Nan, you’re gambling again?”
“No, of course not. It’s just betting pools. Little stuff, you know? Fun stuff. It’s not illegal. I already talked to the cops about it.”
“Gambling is bad. Gambling is bad,” Thaddeus intoned.
“Oh dear,” Nan cried out staring at the now preening bird. “What are you teaching him?”
“Nothing. He picks stuff up all the time. Back to the point, it wasn’t illegal before either, or so you told me, years ago I thought,” Doreen said. “Why would you do this again?”
“I’m very good at it.”
And again into such a bizarre conversation. Doreen leaned forward and asked, “Nan, what are you talking about? There was no need for the police to even know about your gambling before. Unless you were doing something illegal.”
“I got in trouble because I was disruptive at the casino,” she said. “I did have a temper back then, and everyone felt I had a problem. So I had to stop. I’m still not sorry I kicked that man though.”
Doreen sat back in shock. “I don’t think you ever told me the details about that.”
“What can I say? He accused me of cheating, but he was the one cheating. You have to watch out for Walter White. He owns the hardware store on Springfield. Definitely the sort to stay away from.” Nan shrugged. “It’s all good now. Besides, everybody should get arrested at least once in their life.”
Doreen stared at Nan, shocked.
Her grandmother picked up a cookie from the plate on the table and broke off a piece then broke it again to place small pieces on the table. “Thaddeus here was a godsend. I got him soon after I was arrested. He made me realize just how much I had to change. But that was years ago, my dear. And the loan sharks were really very nice. One of them was sweet on me. Basil Champs. I do love that man.”
Oh, my God. Nan had borrowed money from loan sharks? It was much worse than Doreen imagined. Nan’s wording and that soft tone of hers had Doreen wondering at this new side to her Nan. She’d always seen her Nan as a sweet old lady. Now it seemed sweet wasn’t as correct as maybe the term colorful. And did she go to the loan shark Basil out of need or out of want? Doreen wondered just how well she knew her grandmother.
“So, if all that was bad, why would you start gambling again now?”
“Well, because I’m not really gambling. It’s just betting pools. It’s fun.”
“So, no real money is involved?” Doreen asked cautiously. “And what kind of stuff are you actually betting on?”
“How long before Robert’s body shows up.”
Doreen winced. How completely insensitive. “If the police hear about that, they might think you have some insider knowledge that he’s dead.”
“Of course they will.” She gave a crafty grin, taking another piece of cookie and popping it into her mouth. “And the second betting pool is how long before the police solve the case.”
“Oh, boy.” Doreen shook her head. She stared at her grandmother in fascination. She was learning so much new information about her only living relative. Some of it was a little disturbing. But it was like Nan had a whole new lease on life. As if she figured she was too old to pay for the consequences and was just out to have fun. “It almost sounds like you’re courting trouble, Nan.”
“Not really. I’m harmless. Besides, nobody looks at us old people. Nobody thinks we’re constructive or destructive elements. It’s kind of irritating.”
“I can imagine,” Doreen said, her voice soft. “But still, do you want to spend the rest of your years in jail?”
Nan sat back with a thoughtful look on her face. “Only if it was in one of those nice jails. Of course most of them are nice. Especially in Canada. Now some of them in the States, that’s a different story. Some of those are rough.” She picked up her teacup again. “Would you still visit me there, my dear?”
“Yes, I would still visit, but I don’t know how often. It’s not like we have a jail close by.”
“There is one a few hours away.”
“How about you just don’t get into trouble to that extent, and you can stay here and have fun with all your friends?”
“Oh, I intend to do just that.” She held out a small piece of cookie in her hand. “Did you want some of this?”
Doreen looked at the big piece of cookie on her grandmother’s plate and the tiny piece in her hand. “Just give that piece to Thaddeus.”
Happily Nan obliged.
“Have you been eating well here?”
“I’ve been eating just wonderfully. These are Charlie’s cookies.” She leaned forward and whispered, “He put some of that green stuff in them, you know?”
Doreen’s heart stopped and then raced ahead. “Green stuff?” she asked cautiously leaning forward to brush Thaddeus back from the crumbs he was inhaling.
“Yes, they’re healthy cookies. He grows the green stuff in his backyard. I have to admit, when I eat them, I feel really good.”
Doreen stared openmouthed as her grandmother snapped off another piece of the marijuana cookie and popped it into her mouth. Good Lord, what had gotten into her grandmother now that she lived at Rosemoor?