Ten

“Was Hank about to give you a kiss back there?” Betts asked me while Agnes Swift took Abby back to the room where they were going to fingerprint her and look her over really good to see if she’d had any marks on her.

“Let’s just say that there was a lot of chemistry between us before he went and accused Abby of killing Nadine White.” I huffed, crossing my arms across my chest while we waited in the police department.

“Mae, he’s doing his job. This shouldn’t have anything to do with what the two of you might feel for each other.” Betts was always the voice of reason.

“Is there a history with Violet Rhinehammer?” I asked, taking the heat off the amazing date that Hank and I had before we decided to stop by the library.

“I think they dated a little on and off, maybe were serious for a few months.” Betts made it seem like it was no big deal. “Her mom is in our prison group. She talks about Violet on the bus rides over and she tells me how Violet is so wrapped up in making a career for herself that Violet has no time for a social life.”

“Her career is being a reporter for the Normal newspaper?” I laughed, thinking it wasn’t much of a career aspiration.

“I think she sees it more as an opportunity to gain some experience with research and following crime leads. That’s where they put her. In the crime and search and rescue division since we seem to have a lot of that around Normal lately.” Betts folded her hands in her lap. “I’m just not sure what’s happening around here lately.”

“With growth, like with our economy and the boom in the camping business, there’s bound to be more crimes.” It was just an observation I had made. “I’m telling you that I just don’t think Abby killed Nadine White.”

The door to the department flew open, Valerie Young on the other side. She ran over to the desk of the officer closest to her, demanding to talk to someone about Nadine White.

When she turned around and saw us, she didn’t wait for the officer’s answer. She darted towards us.

“Mae, where’s Nadine? What’s going on?” She asked, out of breath.

“Why don’t you have a seat,” I said and patted the chair next to me.

“I don’t want to sit. I got a call from the paparazzi asking me about Nadine’s murder. I went back to the camper and she wasn’t there. The car wasn’t there. The only thing I knew to do was to come here after Nadine didn’t answer her phone.” Valerie’s eyes darted around the station.

“It’s true. Nadine’s body was found tonight.” Betts took over the situation, which was probably for the best since she had some experience in dealing with deceased people’s family members.

It was part of the pastor’s wife thing she did.

“What?” Valerie fell into the chair. I watched her body language like the TV sleuths did. “Where’s the hospital?”

“She’s dead, Valerie.” Betts was as matter of fact as you could get. “She’s been murdered and that’s why we are here.”

Valerie fell to the floor. One of the officers hurried over and helped her to her feet while Betts and I tried to do the best we could.

“We’ll take her back to get checked out by the doctor.” The officer maneuvered Valerie’s limp body out of the room and back down the hallway. The same hallway where they’d taken Abby.

“How much longer?” Dottie looked at her watch. “I’ve got to get my hair in my curlers before too long or they won’t have enough time to set right before I have to be at work in the morning.”

“Like we know how much time.” Queenie stood up, pushing her arms over her head before she did a forward bend, planting her palms on the department floor. She curled back up and did a few body twists to each side before she walked over to the cork board. “Hey, y’all.” She ripped a piece of paper from the thumb tack. “The Ice Capades are coming to town. We’ve got to go.”

“Coming to Normal?” Dottie asked.

“Nope. Lexington. But we can all go.” She walked over and handed the paper to Dottie. Dottie passed it down the line and back to Queenie who folded the paper in half and stuck it down in her bra. “I’ve been dying to see them. It’s like a holiday tradition.”

“I think we need to see what’s going on with Abby before we make any plans.” I stood up when Abby turned the corner with Agnes.

“Here you go.” Agnes patted Abby. “I told you your friends were here,” she said, her jaws sagged. She was the cutest eighty-year-old I’d ever seen. She had short gray hair and wore a pair of black polyester pants with a long-sleeved Normal Police Department shirt. “How did your date go?” She winked at me.

“Date.” Abby’s shoulders slumped. “Mae, I’m so sorry this ruined your date. Leave. Go finish your date.”

“Honey, you’re more important than a silly date.” I left out the fact Hank was back at the crime scene and that was another reason we ended it. I knew she wasn’t in her right mind to put that together in her head. It was important that she knew she was supported, even if the odds were stacked against her.

I nodded for Agnes to have a private conference to the side while the other gals got Abby’s coat back on her.

“Thank you for being so nice to her.” I wanted to let Agnes know how much she was appreciated.

“She’s in shock. She needs to go to sleep.” Agnes glanced back at Abby over my shoulder. “I told Hank that the doctor didn’t find nothing on her. I don’t think she did it.”

“Did she say anything to you about it?” I asked Agnes. She’d always been so forthcoming in the other investigations even though Hank hated it.

“Not a word came out of her mouth. The doctor asked her all sorts of questions. He said he’d give her a prescription to sleep, so if you need it, give me a call and I’ll get it to you. But right now, if she gets some sleep, her memory might just come right back in the morning.” Agnes gave a sympathetic smile. “Hank asked if you were here.”

“Thanks, Agnes.” I didn’t want to get into all that. “I think it’s best we get Abby back to my place.”

There was dead silence in the minivan on the way home. The cleaning supplies in the back of Betts’s minivan rattled as she drove the curvy road back to Happy Trails. The compacted snow groaned under the tires as the snow continued to fall in big flakes, faster than the windshield wipers could clear.

“I’m taking you to my house for the night.” I ran my hand down Abby’s hair and helped her out of the van once we got there.

“Do you need help?” Dottie asked.

“No. I’m just going to put her to bed. I’ll call y’all in the morning. We’ve got a lot to discuss,” I said before I shut the door behind us.

Fifi jumped and yipped for Abby to give her some affection. Abby smiled and spoke to Fifi. It was the first sign of life still left in her.

“I’m going to go lay down if you don’t mind.” Abby’s voice was soft.

“I think that’s a great idea.” I agreed with her. “I’ll take Fifi out to do her business and check on you when I come back in. You know where everything is so help yourself.” I opened to refrigerator and took out a bottle of water. “Put this by the bed in case you need a drink later.”

She took the water and disappeared into the bedroom of my RV. Fifi danced around at the door waiting for me to open it. She darted down the steps. I followed her. A thick silence filled the space around me. An eerie feeling blanketed me.

I looked up in the sky for reassurance that all was well, but the big snowflakes hid a lot of the stars and the moonlight that calmed me. I glanced across the lake at the camper Nadine and Valerie had rented. The twinkling lights swayed from the night breeze. I wondered about Nadine’s personal life.

Did she have any family or friends that were going to miss her over Christmas while she was here? Did she plan to go somewhere for Christmas? What on earth was her story.

“Hey, girl.” Fifi brought me out of my thoughts as she bounced up in the air wanting me to pick her up. “Let’s go for a little walk.”

My keys were still in my pocket and taking a night stroll up to the office to get a look at Nadine’s contract sounded like a pretty good idea. There was no way I was going to fall asleep. There was too much adrenaline pumping inside of me from all the questions I had about Nadine.

Dottie’s camper was dark. I bet she had smoked a cigarette, put her pink sponge curlers in her hair, and headed straight to bed. The warmth of the office felt good on my chilly cheeks when I opened the door. Fifi ran over to her little bed after I put her down.

The files on my desk were the packets from the renters staying in the campground right now. I kept them on my desk from the time they checked in until they checked out for easy access. I was glad I didn’t have to go searching the storage unit where we kept all the files after they checked out. The office was too small for any sort of storage cabinets.

 The office was plenty big enough for our needs.  There were two desks – mine and Dottie’s – with two chairs in front of each, where the renters sat to sign their rental agreements when they checked in. Oh, and there was a coffee station and Fifi’s bed on the floor.

I sat down and opened Nadine’s file with her rental agreement. There was one contact she’d put down for an emergency and it was someone by the name of Dawn Gentry. I quickly wrote the name and phone number down. I knew it was something Hank would want to know.

I picked up the phone and hesitated before I dialed Dawn’s number. I was torn about whether to let Hank call her or to call her myself. Per the agreement, I had full permission to reach out to Dawn.

“Hello?” A very sleepy voice answered.

“Is Dawn Gentry there?” I asked.

“This better be good for you to wake me up. I better’ve won a million dollars.” She was as sassy as Nadine. No wonder they were friends like Nadine had stated on the contract.

“I’m sorry, but do you know Nadine White?” I asked.

“You mean Nadine Dembrowski?” She asked. “Nadine White is her pen name.”

“Oh.” I looked at the name she’d registered under and it she’d written White. “Yes, if that’s her real name.” I scribbled it down. “She’s the author of Cozy Romance in Christmas.”

“Yeah, what about her?” Dawn sounded a little more awake.

“I’m Mae West from Happy Trails Campground where Nadine White… Dembrowski,” I corrected myself, “rented a camper from me for the winter.”

“Is she in jail?” Dawn didn’t sound amused.

“Jail? Um. . .No.” Odd, I thought. “She listed you as her emergency contact and I’m sorry to tell you that Nadine has been murdered.”

“What?” Dawn was fully awake. “Nadine Dembrowski? Are you sure? I mean, I knew it was a crazy idea when she told me she was going to stay in some camper in Kentucky while she tried to write some sort of cookbook, but I didn’t think it was dead crazy.”

“Unfortunately, it’s true. Valerie Young is staying with her and she’s going to identify the body for the local sheriff’s department, but since Nadine had listed you as her emergency contact, I thought you might be able to get in touch with her family.” I could feel the tension over the phone line as Dawn processed everything I was telling her.

“God, I knew she and Valerie were having that big contract dispute and I told her not to kill Valerie. I never figured it’d be the other way around.” Her words nearly stopped my heart.

“Valerie?” I asked a bit stunned.

“Yeah. You did say Valerie Young, right?” she asked. I could hear some fidgeting on the other end of the phone. “What town are you in? What airport?”

“I did say Valerie Young. Normal, Kentucky. Bluegrass Airport.” I rattled off the answers. “Back to Valerie, did you say they are arguing over a contract?”

“Yes. Nadine told me that she was going to sign a contract without an agent, which means she was letting Valerie go. You know, in the publishing world today, authors don’t really need a middleman anymore. Nadine knew that. Now she wanted to write the books she’s always wanted to write. Not use a ghost writer to help her.”

I was so glad I had called Dawn. She was a wealth of information and had shed a lot of light on another suspect.

Valerie Young.