A Timely Vision

Last night? Had Kevin forgotten? Or was Shayla being too hopeful? “I guess that was good for you then, Tim. I don’t blame you for not waiting for me. If you and Shayla are good together, you should go for it.”

He grinned at me. “Thanks, Dae. I appreciate that coming from an ex-girlfriend. I hope you realize this means my last marriage proposal is null and void.”

“I completely understand. I appreciate you keeping me informed.” I looked out the window at the passing scenery and smiled. I could only hope it would be this easy.

“I know you’re feeling a twinge or two of heartache right now,” he continued. “You’ll get over it. I know you’re going to find the right person for you someday.”

To stem the tide of this conversation, I decided to change the subject. No reason not to pump him for information since Kevin was trying to squeeze something out of the chief and Agent Walker. “I suppose you had to turn over all the evidence to the SBI.”

“No. They’re assisting us, but we’re the top dogs on this case. The chief wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“I’ve been wondering about the murder weapon.”

“I can’t tell you anything about that shovel, Dae. Don’t even ask me.”

“Of course. I’ll bet it has to be small and light for you to think Miss Mildred could use it against her sister.”

“You could say it’s not your average garden shovel,” he agreed. “I can’t say anything else about it. The hair and blood we found on it went to the lab for identification. If it comes back a match to Miss Elizabeth’s, that’s all she wrote for Miss Mildred.”

So they weren’t completely sure yet. It seemed unlikely Miss Mildred would have a shovel of any kind that had hair and blood on it, but as long as the proof wasn’t positive, we still had a chance. “I’m going to ask Miss Mildred about Wild Johnny Simpson while I’m at the hospital today,” I told him. “You never know. She might’ve killed him too.”

His eyes almost bulged out. “You think so? That would be something.”

“I guess you never know. Someone killed him, right?”

“Someone sure did. Mind if I step in while you’re talking to her? It could go a long way toward a promotion if I found out who killed Johnny.”

“I don’t mind, but you know you can’t get promoted until the chief retires. There’s nowhere else to go.”

“I can rack up a whole lot of points until then,” he reasoned. “Then when the chief retires, people won’t try to look outside Duck for his replacement.”

“That’s true. And you’ve got a long time to do it. The chief isn’t that old.”

“True. And his family doesn’t die young, that’s for sure. His father is really old and still living.”

I was sure I remembered Gramps talking about Chief Michaels’s father. They’d worked together in the sheriff’s office years ago. But I was also sure his father had died before Gramps retired. “I don’t think the chief’s father is old or living, Tim.”

“Yes, he is. I drove the chief up to Manteo the other day to see him in a rest home. He’s not in the best shape, but he’s definitely not dead.”

I didn’t say anything else about it since we’d arrived at the hospital. It was probably a communication glitch between Tim and the chief. Not really worth arguing with him.

Miss Mildred’s room was on the second floor. Tim walked up with me and tapped Officer Scott Randall on the shoulder, startling him out of his sound sleep. I supposed there wasn’t much to keep you awake when you were watching an old woman who probably couldn’t get out of bed.

“Tim!” Scott stood up and nodded to me. “Mayor O’Donnell. The night was uneventful. No one tried to get in or out of the suspect’s room.”

“Good.” Tim nodded. “I’ll take over now. Get some breakfast. Report to the chief when you get back to Duck.”

“Yes, sir!” Scott smiled at me, a shy, sweet smile, then headed for the elevator. He was a quiet young man with dreamy eyes. He’d been a police officer for only a few months. He didn’t seem suited to it. I didn’t expect him to stay.

I knocked softly at the door, then pushed it open a little when there was no response. “Hello? It’s Dae, Miss Mildred. I’m here to see you. I’ve brought you a few things.”

“Dae?” a faint voice responded. “Come in. Don’t dawdle there by the door all day.”

Miss Mildred seemed so much smaller, more fragile, in the big hospital bed. All the color had washed out of her dear old face, leaving only gray lines. Her blue eyes were sunken and had none of their usual fire. I bit my lip to keep from crying at the sight of her hooked up to tubes and machines.

“How are you doing?” I knew it was a bad beginning, but I was stumped for something witty to say given the circumstances.

“How do you think I’m doing? I’m in a hospital and people think I killed my sister, which I assure you is completely wrong. The only good thing I can tell you is that I slept all night. I don’t know if that was due to the drugs they gave me or if it was because Lizzie couldn’t find me here.”

I put the assorted magazines, lip balm, flowers and hand lotion on the bedside table. “At least you got some sleep. They told me you weren’t eating or drinking at home either. You made yourself sick.”

She made a humphing noise in her throat. “People get sick when they’ve lost the only person left in the world who matters to them. Now that Lizzie’s gone, it’s just me, Dae. You don’t know what that feels like yet. I know you think you do because you lost your mama, but believe me, this is much worse.”

“I believe you.” I drew up a chair, and noticed Tim hovering at the edge of the room, inside the doorway. “Do you think you could answer a few questions for me?”

“What kind of questions?” she barked. “I’ve been asked so many questions. I wish people would just let me die.”

I sat down and covered one of her hands with mine. It was so cold. “You don’t really mean that. I know Miss Elizabeth is gone, but you still have friends.”

She sniffed and turned her face away from me. “Friends? No one who cares. It was only me and Lizzie. Now it’s just me. How do I go on like that, Dae? There’s nothing left for me but rattling around in that big old house.”

I tried to divert her by bringing out the goodies I’d brought with me and offering to have Trudy come and do her hair. I knew what it was like to feel as though there was nothing left that mattered. There was nothing anyone could say to make it better.

Eventually I brought out the chocolate pudding cups that had been near the bottom of the bag. We sat eating them with plastic spoons for several minutes, not really talking, enjoying our pudding. When we were finished, Miss Mildred handed me her empty cup and smiled. “You’ve always been a good girl, Dae. Everyone is proud of you. You make a very good mayor too, especially being a woman and all.”

I thanked her, setting all the goodies aside and not minding that I was a good mayor considering I was a woman. It was time to say what I’d come to say. I took a deep breath and plunged into it. “Miss Mildred, did you kill your sister?”

“Don’t be stupid, Dae. I understand what they think. I don’t care. I know I didn’t kill Lizzie. They can think what they will.”

“It’s not that simple. You could go to jail or a hospital for the rest of your life unless we can prove you didn’t kill Miss Elizabeth.”

“I don’t know that I care. But if I did, what would I have to do to prove I didn’t kill Lizzie?”

“You can tell me again how you came to have her purse.”

“Lizzie brought it to me after she died. She said she needed me to keep it safe. You know how she felt about losing her purse. It was a big worry for her. I told her I would. She left.”

“Did she walk out the door?”

“Of course. How else would she get out?” Miss Mildred looked at me like I was the one who was crazy.

“If she was really a ghost, she could go through the door,” I explained.

“No self-respecting ghost in Duck would be such a show-off.”

I heard Tim snicker behind me. Miss Mildred told him he’d always been a problem child who had a hard time