A Plain Malice: An Appleseed Creek Mystery (Appleseed Creek Mystery Series Book 4) (11 page)

Ellie was a widow in her late sixties
with steel gray hair peeking out from under her prayer cap. She nodded to the two ladies behind me. “Hello. Are these friends of yours?”

I nodded.
“This is Raellen and LeeAnne, they are from the tour bus.”

Raellen
stuck out her hand. “We were on the bus where those two people died. It was awful.”

Ellie
shot me a quick glance and turned back to the ladies. “I heard about that. I’m so sorry for your loss. Is there anything I can do?”

“I could use some help actually.”
Raellen beamed. “I’ve just been shopping in your lovely flea market, and the bus driver won’t let me put my packages on the bus. I don’t know how I’m going to get them home.”

Ellie peered into the wagon.
“One of the girls at the gift shop will ship them for you. I’ll take you to her right now.”

“She would?
Bless your heart. That is so kind of you.” Raellen clasped her hands.

I was surprised she didn’t cut her fingers on the sharp edges of her jewels.

“It’s no trouble,” Ellie said.

“You go ahead
, Raellen. I’ll wait here.” She pointed to one of the white rockers on either side of the cold fireplace.

With Ellie pulling the wagon, she and Raellen headed in the direction of the gift shop.

LeeAnne sighed as she sat in the rocker. “It’s nice to get off of my feet.”

“Care if I join you?” I asked.

She smiled. “Not at all.”

I settled in the rocker on the other side of the fireplace.
“Are you enjoying the trip?”

“Very much.
” She leaned back in the rocker. “Until this morning. In fact, when we woke up this morning, Raellen and I commented on how well everything was going. I knew we should have knocked on wood. Raellen said I was superstitious to say that, but look what’s happened.”

“How was Dudley as a tour guide? Did you speak with him that much?”

Her black eyebrows knit together. “I won’t speak ill of the dead, but Dudley wasn’t the nicest man I had ever met. Then again, he was a whole lot better host than Hudson. I plan to write a letter of complaint to the tour company about Hudson.”

I leaned forward. “Why? What did he do?”

She tipped her rocker toward the fireplace. “It’s what he doesn’t do. He’s not interested in helping anyone. Many of these people need help off the bus or with carrying their luggage. Hudson won’t lift a finger. He says it’s not part of his job.” She folded her hands in her lap. “And he’s bad tempered too. It was worse when Dudley was here. Those two were like two cats trapped in a burlap bag.”

“
Has Hudson been in a foul mood the entire trip?”

She thought about this for a moment. “No, I wouldn’t say that. In fact, our last night in Lancaster he seemed almost giddy. I had wondered if maybe he’d taken a nip.”

“A nip?” I asked.

“
Drank liquor,” she whispered.

“Ahh
.” I nodded. “What did he do that made you think that?”

“He was just so cheerful I couldn’t imagine what else could have made him so happy.
Hudson is a grouchy soul. It’s hard for me to understand those types of people. Life is too short to be in a bad mood, you know?”

“What made you think he was in a good mood?”

Her false eyelashes hit her cheekbones when she blinked. “Well, he said hello to me with a big smile and then held the elevator for me. Hudson is not the sort of man who holds the elevator for a lady.” She tipped her chair forward again. “And he whistled while we were in the elevator. It was a bright cheerful tune. I was relieved when the elevator reached my floor. Hudson’s cheerfulness made me uncomfortable.” She shivered.

“Did you see
Hudson with anyone that night?”

“No.
When he wasn’t on the bus, he was alone. He never joined us on any of the excursions, but I imagine he had seen them all before on other trips. I think I remember Dudley saying the Amish Country tour was one Blue Suede did three times a year.”

“Did you know Ruby before coming on the trip?”
I asked.

“
Ruby?” She cocked her head. “I never met her before the day the bus left Mississippi. Tupelo isn’t that big of a city, but it’s large enough not to know everyone.” She frowned. “She was a kind lady. It’s a real shame what happened, but I know she had a heart condition.”

It was my turn to tip my chair. “You did? How did you know that?”

“She told us. She told everyone who would listen. Ruby was a talker. You know the type. She never met an ear she didn’t want to yap in.”

I
settled back into my chair. “When you said, she told everyone, who do you mean?”

“Everyone on the bus.
When you get old sometimes all you feel you have to talk about are your ailments and your grandchildren. Ruby didn’t have any grandbabies, so I guess that left her only with her ailments. You’ll understand when you’re older.”

Something to look forward to.

“
What did she say about her heart condition? Did she go into a lot of detail?”

“
Oh my, yes, I can’t say I remember what she said about it other than she had one.” She lowered her voice. “I tuned her out after a while.”

“Ellie, thank you so much for mailing those packages
,” Raellen said as they appeared in the hallway. “I don’t know what I could have done if I had to leave that set of Depression glass here. I’ve been a collector for years.”

“It should be
waiting at your doorstep by the time you’re back home.” Ellie patted her arm. “I hope you all enjoy your visit in our little county.”

“It’s been lovely,”
Raellen said. “Discounting the tragedy, of course.”

Ellie’s eyes slid my way.
“Of course.” She said her goodbyes and left me with the two southern women.

LeeAnne stood.
“Ready to eat, Raellen?”

Raellen slowly stood from her rocking chair.
“I’m starved.”

I checked the read out on my cell phone
. It was exactly two o’clock. “You two haven’t eaten yet?”

“Shopping before snacks.
That’s our motto,” Raellen said.

“That’s right,” LeeAnne agreed. “Would you like to join us
, Miss Chloe?”

I shook my head. “I should go check on
Hudson and the other guests.”

LeeAnne smiled. “You’
re such a wonderful hostess. I wish we could have had you from the beginning.”

Raellen nodded. “Dudley was the worst.”

Whoever killed him must have agreed.

Chapter Ten

“Chloe!” Becky ran up to me just outside of the dining room. Tears were in her eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

I didn’t have to ask her what she meant. “Becky, I—”

“I deserve to know.” She stood in front of me in her Young’s uniform: a plain navy blue dress and black apron with white stitching with the restaurant’s name on one of the apron pockets. She looked every bit the sweet Amish girl from the neck down. Her white-blonde hair brushing her shoulders belied the decision she made to leave the Amish way. “It’s my family.”

“I know, I know. I’m so sorry. I wanted to call you. I thought of it, but the
n I got caught up with Chief Rose…” I knew it wasn’t an excuse.

“So I have to hear about it while I’m waiting tables?” A tear slid down her
flawless cheek. Becky was a good five inches taller than me and had the frame of a prima ballerina. She had no idea how beautiful she was. Aaron, who I spotted over her shoulder watching Becky from the host’s podium, did.

“I’m sorry, Becky.”

“I could have been there to help.” Another tear rolled down her cheek.

I winced. Becky coming out to the farm was precisely why I didn’t call her
. I didn’t want her father to associate her with the incident. Their relationship was already rocky enough. I knew it would heal. If I could mend my relationship with my father, then I knew there was hope for Becky and Mr. Troyer.

“Is it true? Do the police really believe my father could have killed those people?”

A couple waiting in line to be seated at the restaurant gasped and shuffled away with their two children in tow.

I wrapped my arm around her shoulder
s and guided her to a quiet corner of the gift shop where oak shelves held packages of dry Amish noodles and popcorn kernels.

“He would never do
that,” Becky insisted.

We sat on a bench beside the noodles.
“Shh, shhh,” I said. “The guests are watching you.”

She raised her voice. “I don’t care if they are.”

“Becky, I don’t think Chief Rose believes your dad did anything wrong. She put me on the bus with the people from the bus tour. Their guide was one of the two people who died. The other person was an elderly woman.”

She wiped at her face. “So, she wants you to drive them around town in a bus?”

“I’m not driving.” I dropped my voice to a whisper. “Chief Rose wants me there more to gather information.”

“Oh.” Her mouth formed a circle
, and some of the hurt in her eyes cleared away. “What does Timothy think about that?”

I frowned. “
He didn’t argue against it.”

“I know my brother. He’s against it,” she said. “How can I help? Do you think I should go to the farm?”

I didn’t know, but I knew from my own experience sometimes staying away was worse because it’s so much harder to reach out to someone after hours, days, or even weeks have passed. “If you want, I will go with you.”

She gripped my hand. “Thank you
, Chloe.”

“So you really are friendly with the locals,”
a voice said from behind.

I turned to find
Hudson glowering at us.

I gritted teeth. “
Becky, this is Hudson. He’s the bus driver. Hudson, this is my friend Becky.”

Hudson
folded his arms. “We leave in thirty minutes. The geriatrics are shuffling back to the bus. You’d better get over there to supervise.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

He waited.

“You want me to come right now?”

“I’ll meet you on the bus.” He stalked away.

“
You have to stay on the bus with that guy?” Becky asked.

I gave her a wry smile. “
Are you envious of me of being stuck on the tour bus with him?”

She giggled.

“You said you heard about the incident while waitressing. Was the staff talking about it?”

She shook her head.
“A couple from the bus was discussing it. When they spoke of the two people dying on an Amish farm, I asked where the farm was.” She frowned. “I know Ellie doesn’t like me to spend that much time chatting with the guests, but they enjoy it. When I asked, I never thought, I never imagined, it was my farm. I knew you were going there today for a bus tour, but I didn’t put it together until they said it was a dairy farm. They said dad’s milk killed those people.”

I scooted away from her on the bench,
so I could have a clear view of her face. “Did they say anything else?”

She thought for a moment. “
They said the two women bickered a lot during the trip.” She nodded. “Yes, they said that, and Pearl—I think they said the name Pearl—was probably sorry she didn’t have someone to bicker with any longer.”

“Did the couple say who the
y were?”

Becky shook her head.

“What did they look like?”

“They were
a black couple.”

Most of the passengers on the bus were white, but there were three African Americans, one being
LeeAnne. I pulled the itinerary out of the back pocket of my jeans. On the backside of the itinerary there was a list of all the guests’ names. I had met everyone on the list except Earl Kepler and Duke and Doris Kite.

I patted Becky’s arm. “
I’m sorry. I messed up. I should have called you right away.”

She s
hrugged. “It’s okay.”

“W
hy don’t you talk to Ellie about going home early?”

She shook her head.

“All right. Then, I will see you later I had better go see about the bus passengers.” I removed Timothy’s pickup keys from my pocket. “Timothy is around here somewhere. Can you give them to him?”

She droppe
d the keys in her apron pocket.

At twenty until three,
Hudson had the bus at the curb in front of the restaurant. All of the passengers were already aboard.

“What took you so long?” he asked.

I guessed it was Hudson’s idea of a greeting. “I told everyone to be back on the bus at three. They’re early.”