Lucy chuckled as she read this, wondering if Rachel would say Ed Franklin’s hatred of Mexican immigrants was an effort to compensate for his family’s immigrant past, which he somehow found embarrassing or shameful. It struck her as ironic that the man whose family fortune was originally built by exploiting newcomers to the country would become a proponent of anti-immigration policies. But maybe, she decided with a sigh, he only wanted to prohibit immigrants from Mexico and Latin America. Perhaps he would find Europeans more acceptable.
When it came to getting quotes from locals she decided to start with the folks he worked most closely with, his fellow members of the board of health. She was only able to reach one, Audrey Sprinkle, and had to leave messages with all the others, which she doubted would ever be returned.
Audrey was hesitant to say anything about Ed, perhaps fearing he would reach out from the grave in retaliation. “I don’t really know what to say except this is the most awful thing that’s ever happened here in Tinker’s Cove. My heart just goes out to his whole family, and that includes his first wife, Eudora. That poor woman has lost her daughter, too, you know.”
“I understand,” said Lucy in her most sympathetic voice, “but what was it like to work with him on the board of health?” She was dying to ask Audrey if she agreed with Ed’s anti-Mexican sentiments as her son Jason certainly did, but resisted the temptation, opting to stay in safer territory. “What was his leadership style?”
“Ah, well, I guess you could say he was a strong leader,” said Audrey. “But he always had the best interest of the town in mind.”
“I see,” said Lucy. “Any examples?”
“Sorry, Lucy, I’ve got to run,” said Audrey, ducking for cover. “There’s someone at the door.”
Moving right along to the board of selectmen, Lucy called the chairman, Roger Wilcox.
“A fine example of public-spirited service,” he said. “Ed Franklin donated untold hours to the town, giving us the benefit of his unparalleled business knowledge and abilities.”
“But weren’t some of his actions rather controversial?” asked Lucy.
“Dear me,” said Roger, “my wife wants me to walk the dog. Says it can’t wait.”
Joe Marzetti was always a safe bet for a quotable quote, but he didn’t have much to say about Ed Franklin, either, when she reached him at his supermarket. “Helluva businessman, I got a lot out of that book he wrote—Never Let ’Em See You Sweat: How to Win in Business and Life.”
“Did he apply here in Tinker’s Cove any of the concepts he wrote about in the book?” asked Lucy.
“Aw, gee. I gotta problem with one of the checkouts. Gotta go.”
Lucy plugged away, working down the entire list of town officials, but nobody seemed to have much to say about Ed Franklin. She knew Ted wouldn’t be pleased with the story, but she filed it just before leaving for the day, hoping to put off the inevitable rewrite.
* * *
When Lucy arrived on Tuesday morning, as she’d expected, Ted wanted more. “I know the guy’s dead, but this story needs some livening up. It doesn’t give the reader any idea of who Ed Franklin really was.” He leaned back in his chair, chewing his lip. “What about his family? You haven’t tried them.”
“Oh, Ted,” she protested. “They’ve got enough to deal with. I don’t want to bother them. Phyllis was right. His wife’s pregnant and her husband was shot . . .”
“She’ll probably welcome the opportunity to talk about her late husband. She’ll probably want everyone to know how wonderful he was.” He paused, smirking. “Lord knows, nobody else seems to have liked him.”
“Okay,” said Lucy, hoping the phone at the Franklin mansion was unlisted. Unfortunately for her, the automated 4-1-1 operator offered her the option of placing the call.
A woman answered the phone, and Lucy assumed she was a maid or some other employee, and after identifying herself asked to speak to Mrs. Franklin.
“Oh, poor Mireille. She’s taking a nap,” said the woman. “I’m her mom. Everybody calls me Mimsy. Maybe I can help you?”
Whoa, calm down, Lucy told herself, feeling as if she’d hit the mother lode. “Well, first of all, let me say how very sorry I am about your son-in-law’s tragic death. I’m working on an obituary for the local paper and I just wanted to give family members an opportunity to say how they’d like him to be remembered.”
“Ed was a great guy,” said Mimsy. “He was crazy about my Mireille, and you know, a big famous guy like him, not to mention rich. Well he didn’t need to, but, you know, he actually came to our house and asked my husband, Mireille’s father, you know, for her hand in marriage! Isn’t that the sweetest thing you ever heard? And it was especially nice since poor Sam was on his death bed. He had cancer and didn’t live to walk little Mireille down the aisle.”
Personally, Lucy thought it was probably a bit of a con, even going so far as to take advantage of a dying man, but she wasn’t about to say so. “That is amazing,” she said, doing her best to sound sincere. “Like he was just a regular guy.”
“Trust me, Ed Franklin was really a regular guy. You’d never know he was a big shot. And good to our little girl! You shoulda seen the diamond ring he gave her. It’s too bad she can’t wear it now. Her fingers are
