Pretty is as Pretty Dies: Myrtle Clover #1

Chapter Sixteen

The list of suspects seemed to be dwindling. Kitty Kirk could still have killed Parke Stockard, but it made more sense that she was killed because someone else was the murderer and she'd known about it. Cecil Stockard could have killed his mother, but it seemed unlikely since he'd had an iron-clad alibi for Kitty's murder and it appeared the two murders were linked. Which meant the suspects Myrtle still needed to talk to were Benton and Tippy Chambers, Josh Tucker, and Althea Hayes.

She was just figuring out how to manipulate a time to talk to each of them when Myrtle's doorbell rang. She frowned and checked her kitchen wall clock. 7:00 a.m. She picked up her cane and walked over to the front door, peeking out through the sheer curtains at the window next to the door. She saw Josh Tucker standing out there and figured that Wonder Boy was all ready to interview her for the big story. Hopefully he wouldn't use too many adjectives in his article. Myrtle could just see it now: Myrtle Clover, appearing wan and wearing a tatty-looking polyester robe, recounted her harrowing story.

She opened the door and saw Josh glance over her appearance and start to apologize for coming over so early. She cut him off: "It's no problem, Josh. I'm just getting a late start to my day. Come on in and have some coffee with me. I guess you're wanting a first-hand account of what happened last night? Word spread fast, but that's pretty typical."

They settled into Myrtle's kitchen. Although it was the scene of many culinary disasters, its cheeriness made it her favorite room. Red checked curtains hung at the windows, the walls were a sunny yellow, and Myrtle had a set of soup-bowl-sized coffee cups in improbably wild colors into which she poured hefty helpings of java for them both.

Myrtle told the story of the drive to the cemetery the night before, conveniently leaving out the tale of the dinner party that had led to the outing (and hoping that the remains of the food weren't smelling up the space too much). She hadn't had a chance to take out the garbage yet.

When she wrapped up the story, Josh looked at her admiringly. She had a suspicious moment when she wondered if he were trying to butter her up to get more information out of her. He was nuts if he thought she was going to share her clues and insights with him so he could get the credit for solving the case. He said, "So by following your gut instincts, you ended up discovering Kitty Kirk's body in the cemetery. Your intuition is really beating the police department's, Miss Myrtle. And it sounds like you're very perceptive, too. Did you-ah-uncover any clues as to the murderer while you were there?"

Myrtle preened at the praise, but wasn't tricked into giving away any information. "Well, that's Red's job though, isn't it? I'm sure they've canvassed the area and if there's anything to be found, they found it."

Josh took a long swig of his coffee. "Off the record, Miss Myrtle," (which set the alarm bells off in Myrtle's head since reporters were never really off-record), "Who do you think is behind all this? Bradley, North Carolina, doesn't exactly have a real crime problem. Two murders in about as many weeks is almost unbelievable."

Myrtle nodded. "It hasn't exactly been a normal couple of weeks around here, has it? I can't say I have any idea what has suddenly introduced this element into the town, Josh."

"It almost seems," Josh said in a gossipy voice, "that it came in with some newcomers to town." He looked meaningfully at her.

"If you mean did all this start with Parke's arrival to town, I'd have to agree with you. She had a way of stirring things up." Myrtle watched with interest as Josh blushed. He must have had some kind of crush on Parke. But then, she was a gorgeous and accomplished woman. Maybe it was to be expected.