The Monet Murders

“You thought wrong.” The Devil Rays cap shaded his eyes but didn’t conceal the anger seething in them. At least his hands were empty. No hunk of concrete today.

“What are you doing here?” I hung my hands on my hips, shrew fashion, daring him to cause a problem.

Behind him, Lee, in her little black dress, her curtain of yellow hair flowing to her shoulders, sent a glance darting from her father to me and then about the shop as if she were searching for an escape route and couldn’t find one.

“Are you all right?” I asked her.

“Yes, ma’am.”

From the look of her trembling hands, “No ma’am” would have been more accurate.

Easing past the two of them, I rounded one of the display tables and aimed for the phone on the sales desk.

“No need for making calls, missy,” Merle said.

“This is my store. I go where I want.”

“Don’t reach for that phone and we’ll be just fine,” he said. “Alls I’m after is a few answers from my gal here.”

“Lee?”

“It’s all right, Deva. I’ll answer Daddy’s questions. It’s time.”

I had to smile. She was ready for him, no matter what.

“Yesterday, I got halfway to Birmingham,” Merle said to her. “Then I turned around so’s I could ask you a question. When I came by with that check, did you lie to me?”

She shook her head. “No, Daddy, I didn’t.”

“Sins of omission I’m talkin’ about. Omission, like the Bible says.”

I took a step closer to the phone.

Merle’s peripheral vision must have been damned good. “Step away from the phone.”

“Daddy.” Merle swiveled his attention back to Lee. Her chin came up. “I’m getting married. I’d like for you to give me away.”

Merle spread his legs and plunged his hands into his pants pockets. “Who to?”

I edged closer to the phone.

“To Paulo St. James.”

“No, you ain’t. You’re comin’ home with me. Back to Alabama where you belong. Away from that-”

“I’m not going anywhere. This is my home. I am going to marry Paulo. Just as soon as he’ll have me.”

“I figured that’s what you had in mind.” Merle’s hand emerged from his pants holding a snub-nosed revolver. “You’re comin’ with me, gal.”

“No, I am not,” she said.

Never had I heard a voice so soft and yet so determined. Its strength put steel in my own spine.

I grabbed a crystal heart from the counter. As I slung it at him, I yelled “Hey, Merle!”

He spun away from Lee. Before he could take aim at me, the crystal heart, heavy as a good-sized stone, smacked him in the head, knocking him to the shop floor. The gun dropped from his grasp and went spinning across the room. A little poetic justice, I thought, pouncing on the gun before Merle could gather his wits.

He lay moaning next to a skirted table loaded with Valentine figurines. At least he hadn’t smashed anything when he fell. A few moments later, he struggled to a sitting position and fingered his head.

“Watch your moves,” I told him. “Or I’ll shoot.”

“You’re bluffin’. You won’t shoot. You ain’t got the guts.”

“Want to put me to the test?”

No answer.

“Well?”

Merle sat up and hung his hands between his knees. “She’s better off dead than married to that-”

“You God now?” I asked. “Lee, call Lieutenant Rossi. His number is 555-”

“No, Deva. Please. I don’t want to call him. Let Daddy go.”

I glanced over at her. “Go? You’ve got to be kidding. This was attempted murder.”

She shook her head, sending tears flying off her cheeks. “If he wanted to kill me, he would have. Daddy’s a crack shot.”

With a groan, Merle got to his knees then pulled himself to his feet and stood wavering. A thin thread of blood trickled from his forehead. “I meant you no harm, gal,” he said to Lee, “but I can’t abide your choice. Not now, not ever.”

“Then go, Daddy, and don’t come back.”

Merle held out a hand to me. “Not without my property.”

“You mean this gun? You actually mean this gun?” With my free hand, I beckoned him forward. “Come and get it. But before you try, let me tell you about my daddy. He was a Boston cop. He taught me how to shoot. Toss a coin in the air, and I can hit it dead center.” I leveled the gun at his gut. “You want a demonstration?”

“I hate boastful women.”

“That so? Get the hell out before I change my mind. If you ever show your face around here again, I’ll sue you for assault. And attempted murder.”

Merle shrugged and sauntered to the door. “It makes no never mind. I won’t be back.” He upped his unshaven chin at Lee. “I only tried to do what your momma would want.” He yanked the door open and stomped out, giving the door such a vicious slam the bells flew into a frenzy.

Lee collapsed on the chair behind her desk. “I’m so sorry, Deva, but I know him. He won’t be back. He’s through with me. I’ll never see him again. And you know something, I really don’t care.”

With that, she laid her head on the desktop and sat weeping her heart out.

I patted her heaving shoulders, trying to be a comfort, but Paulo was the one she needed.

“Shall I call Paulo, Lee? He’ll help you to-”

“No!” She bolted upright in her seat, raising a tear-stained face. “I don’t want him to know what Daddy said. That’s why I asked y’all not to call the lieutenant. Paulo is so worried about our…difference…I’m afraid he won’t marry me. Especially since Daddy’s so dead set against it. And if he doesn’t, Deva, I will die, just like Daddy wants.”

“Nothing in the world will keep Paulo from you,” I assured her. Though my better judgment told me to turn Merle in, Lee looked so sad I didn’t have the heart to go against her wishes. “Okay, no police, but I sure hope you know your father as well as you say you do.”

I spun the barrel and slid open the cylinder, holding out a palm to catch the bullets. Nothing fell out. I peeked inside the chamber. Empty. “I guess you do know Daddy well. The gun wasn’t loaded. He never intended to shoot, just to scare you into leaving with him.”

Sorrow flickering in her eyes, Lee said, “Daddy wouldn’t hurt a flea, Deva. His bark’s worse than his bite.”

She could be right, but my prior experiences with Merle Skimp didn’t have me convinced. Without burdening her with the knowledge, I intended to turn in the gun to Rossi. I doubted it was the one that had killed Maria and Jesus. Surely Merle wouldn’t be stupid enough to wave it around if it were, but it wouldn’t hurt to be sure.

“Besides, if we reported Daddy, the newspapers might find out,” Lee said. “We don’t want them printing any more bad stories about the shop, do we?”

“No.” I had to laugh, gallows humor no doubt. “Aren’t we lucky business is so bad? Nobody came in during our Wild West Show.”

She rewarded me with the hint of a smile and answered the phone-our first call of the day-then held out the receiver.

“It’s Mrs. Alexander.”

I stiffened. Another call from Ilona? What now? Whatever she had to say, it wouldn’t be good.

“Deva, you are my friend,” she began. “We must speak.”

“I’m listening.”

“Not like this. In person. Can you come?”