"You thought you had everybody fooled."
It was Monroe.
Daisy Ann peeked between the stems of her bush of flowers. She saw Richmond Eades and Monroe in the center of the small hospital room. Both had mean looks on their faces.
Both had their guns drawn.
"What is going on?" Daisy Ann said, shuffling into the room looking like a Las Vegas chorus girl behind a stage prop of flowers.
"Get in here," Eades said
"Close the door," Monroe ordered.
This must be their on-duty faces, she thought. The air in the room was thick with tension. She could smell the sweat of both deputies.
"He's dirty," Monroe said. "You're nothing but a washed-up drunk, Richmond. Over-the-hill. You'd have been canned years ago if Albion hadn't been there to take up for you. What you got on that pus boil, anyway. Must be something really good."
"At least," Eades said, the slimy grin stealing over his face, "I don't dumpster dive."
"What are you two talking about?" Monroe asked.
"You're looking at Burnell's murderer," Eades said.
"What!" she cried.
"He's lying," Eades said.
"You're lying," Monroe said.
Daisy Ann was still holding the enormous bouquet. It felt like it weighed about six tons. Her arms were aching, and her fingers were cramping under the strain.
Each deputy was accusing the other. But each had a gun. What should she do?
Run out the door was her first choice.
That was no good. She'd worn some slinky silver lamé sandals she'd got on sale at the shoe store beside the Dollar Store. They were cute as a baby's bottom, and she couldn't resist. They were half-off, but they high on heels and low on tread.
Her breath started coming in short, quick spurts.
Hyperventilating, she thought.
It would do her no good to pass out. She forced her breathing to slow.
A petal from one of the blossoms was tickling her nose. Oh, no, she thought. I feel a sneezing fit coming on.
Daisy Ann's sneezes were known to disrupt church services.
"Boys," she said, her voice breaking under the strain, "can't we work this out? I'm sure we all have done things we aren't proud of. But murder? I just can't see . . ."
"Shut up, Daisy Ann," Eades said.
His eyes bore holes into Monroe.
Monroe's eyes were steely and cold, too.
Daisy Ann trembled. The flowers jitterbugged on their stems. Something was trying to come to the forefront of her thoughts.
"You better hope Burnell's notes burned to ashes with your uncle's house," Richmond said.
"I don't know what you're talking about," said Monroe. "You're reeking of alcohol, Eades. You're drunk! You're nose is so far up Albion's butt, your brain is suffering from lack of oxygen."
"I may like the sauce," Eades said, "but there's nothing wrong with my nose. I can still smell a bad cop from a mile away.
I know you did it, Monroe. Burnell came to me. Told me he was scared. Who do you think sent him to Deke in the first place?"
"You're delusional," Monroe said. "The booze has rotted your brain."
"Put the gun down," Eades said.
"You're crazy," Monroe shot back.
"Crazy, huh?" Eades said. "Tell that to the Grim Reaper who's gonna stick a needle in your arm."
Daisy Ann's head was spinning. Monroe laughed. She'd never heard anything quite like it before.
"An eye for an eye," he said.
It was in that instant that the fog cleared from Daisy Ann's head. Monroe liked to hunt and stuff animals. He had access to fake snakes, glass eyeballs, and weed!
"Taxidermy!" she screamed. "Hiiii-yahh!
Adrenaline pumped through her veins like a roaring fire. She raised the vase high and smashed it over Monroe's head.
His gun hit the floor with a thud. Monroe dropped like a rock. There were stems and broken blooms around him scattered in a chaotic tangle. A huge water stain spread over the floor.
"Oh, sweet Jesus," she cried. "I didn't kill him, did I?"
"Not a chance," said Eades, bending down to cuff the deputy.
Daisy Ann's breath was coming in ragged gasps. She felt like a swamp, drained and dead.
Richmond Eades had lowered his revolver. The smile was gone from his face. He was pale and ashened.
"Hey," a voice behind Daisy Ann said, "what's a fellow got to do to get a good night's sleep around here?"
YOU ARE READING
It's Murder at the Buy-Right
Mystery / ThrillerIt's murder at the Buy-Right, a small town grocery store, a cozy-mystery set in rural America. When a body is found behind the store in a dumpster, Daisy Ann, the cashier, is mortified. She sets out to find the killer before he strikes again.