Myrtle Clover Mysteries Box Set 2

Chapter Three

Chapter ThreeThey peered around the door and spotted Felix, Sybil, and Cosette staring silently at each other. The water was instantly forgotten and Myrtle and Miles hovered in the kitchen door, not entering the room. What was playing out was as familiar to Myrtle as old storylines on her soap opera.

“I knew it!” Sybil was hissing, with the same over-the-top melodrama employed by Myrtle’s soap.

Felix said coldly, “Get ahold of yourself, Sybil. You’re misreading the whole situation.”

“No you’re not,” said Cosette quickly, with a smirk at Sybil.

Sybil gave a half-sob. “You’ll be sorry, Cosette,” she hollered as she bolted for the kitchen door, pushing past Myrtle and Miles on the way out.

Felix and Cosette suddenly noticed Miles and Myrtle standing there. “Um. Water?” asked Myrtle.

Felix muttered something that sounded suspiciously like snoopy old woman before striding out of the room.

Miles glared at Myrtle and was just opening his mouth, probably to say something placating to Cosette, who seemed on the verge of explosion, when a toddler ran into the kitchen.

“Noah!” said Cosette, frowning down at the child as if he’d grown horns. Her daughter, Joan, came into the kitchen next. Cosette proceeded to ignore Myrtle and Miles, and Joan did too. “I didn’t tell you to bring the baby to the drop-in, Joan. Whatever are you thinking?”

Joan said icily, “I’m thinking that I have no one to watch Noah for me and that you have no right throwing a guilt trip at me for not being here. But since it’s so important to you, I’m here. With Noah.”

“Well, Noah is an extremely advanced boy, but I don’t think even he belongs at a party for grownups. We’ll bore him to tears.” Cosette stood, staring at the baby as he took some pots and pans out of the cabinet and started banging on them with a spatula. “I know what we’ll do. Constance Walker is here with her teenage daughter. I’ll ask Ginny if she can take Noah into my bedroom to play.”

Without asking, she strode out. Joan’s face was strained and splotched with red as she watched her mother leave with Noah firmly in tow. She didn’t seem dressed for a party in any way. She wore navy-blue sweatpants and a stained tee shirt and hadn’t even appeared to have brushed her mousy brown hair.

“I’ve had it with her,” she muttered to herself. “I’m done. Done!”

Joan barely glanced at Myrtle or Miles on the way out.

“I have to admit,” Myrtle said slowly, “that although I’ve heard the elderly are frequently treated as if they are invisible, I’ve never actually experienced it to this degree.”

“They were all too caught up in their drama to spare us a glance,” said Miles, looking green around the edges.

Myrtle studied him. “I know you don’t like conflict, but try to buck up. It’s all over now. It was fairly eye-opening; although I’m not sure I understood all of what was going on.”

“Are you sure it’s over?” asked Miles doubtfully. “It doesn’t seem that way to me. It seems like they are just getting geared up.”

“I think we’ll find that everything will settle down now that Cosette’s grandson is on the scene. Funny how a child can make adults act more mature,” said Myrtle.

“Except for the fact that she relegated him to her bedroom with a sitter. It doesn’t sound like he’s going to have much of a chance to make the adults cool down.”

Myrtle said, “Let’s find out how things are going out there.”

She turned to exit the kitchen and Miles stopped her. “Let’s get you a glass of water, since that was your excuse for coming into the kitchen to start with.”

“I guess I should,” said Myrtle with a sigh. “Although I still don’t think they were paying any attention to me or my excuse at all.”

With glass in hand, they walked back out to join the rest of the party. “It seems to me that a few people have already left,” said Myrtle. She raised her eyebrows. “But Sybil is still here.”

“She probably thought that if she left too early, people might suspect a scene,” said Miles with a small shrug. “Do you think Felix left?” asked Miles.

“I doubt Felix cares if he makes a scene or not,” said Myrtle. “I don’t see him. Maybe he decided to leave.”

“Lucas seems to be stepping into the hosting duties,” said Miles thoughtfully.

“I guess Cosette must have trained him well,” said Myrtle. Lucas was busily clearing away empty plates and glasses and returning with a tray of mini quiches and pickled shrimp before disappearing again. His limp seemed a bit more pronounced with all the activity.

“I don’t see Joan, do you?” asked Myrtle, peering around the crowded living room and dining room.

“She’s probably making sure her child is all right,” said Miles with a snort. “It didn’t sound like she’d even heard of the babysitter that Cosette was putting Noah with.” He shifted restlessly. “Did you get all your snooping out of your system?” he asked rather plaintively. “I’m ready to get out of here. I think Cosette registered my attendance, even as preoccupied as she was. Actually, I was ready to leave as soon as we arrived.”

“Oh, I suppose so. You’re no fun, Miles. What else do you have to do tonight? Read Penelope’s Promise?”

“I’m sure I can think of something more entertaining than being here. Folding laundry holds more appeal, as a matter of fact,” said Miles.

Myrtle heard a familiar voice behind her. She turned to see Sloan Jones talking loudly to someone across from him. Sloan was the editor at the Bradley Bugle and Myrtle wrote a weekly helpful hints column for him, although she’d much rather be writing an investigative report or following a big story for the paper. Sloan had his back to her.

“That’s right,” Sloan was saying loudly over the noise from the party. “I felt like we needed a fresh voice in the newsroom. I’ve been writing stories for the paper for forever, it seems like. And poor Miss Myrtle...” He chuckled. “She’s not exactly on the cutting edge of journalism. So I’ve got this intern for a while. We’ll see how she does. I’m excited about it.”

Myrtle turned back at Miles who was looking sympathetically at her. “All right, I’m ready to go now. Let’s go that way so that you-know-who doesn’t realize I was listening to him.”

“Let’s find Cosette and thank her and get out of here,” agreed Miles.

“You’re such a stickler for observing the proprieties,” murmured Myrtle. “Let’s see. I guess she’s back in the kitchen again. I haven’t seen her out here or in the dining room and Lucas has taken over all the hosting duties.”

They walked back to the kitchen and looked inside. Lucas was busily stirring another pitcher of sweet tea. “Can I help you with anything?” he asked politely, perspiration dotting his forehead.

“No, we’re just looking for Cosette to thank her and tell her bye,” said Myrtle.

Miles quickly added, “But since we can’t seem to locate her, we’ll thank you, instead, for our very pleasant evening.” He took Myrtle by the arm to pull her gently back to the kitchen door.

Lucas looked startled. “You haven’t seen Cosette? I mean, I haven’t seen her either, but I assumed she was deep in conversation with somebody at the party...that’s why I jumped in to help with the food.” He absently put down the tea pitcher, nearly dropping it on the floor in the process. “Maybe we should look for her.”

Miles sighed and Myrtle said quickly, “I think we should. Although she might very well be in your bedroom with Noah. You saw that your grandson was here, didn’t you?”

This information seemed to be a surprise to Lucas, too. “Noah? How did he get here? I haven’t seen Joan.”

“Joan is here somewhere—I think. At any rate, we saw Joan arrive with Noah, but we haven’t seen her for a while. Cosette found a teenager to look after Noah,” said Myrtle. Lucas was truly looking puzzled and she said quickly, “Let’s look around for both of them.”

The first place they checked was the master bedroom. A bored-looking teen gave them a quick smile as they entered. Toddler Noah was playing with a coloring book—in theory, anyway. He seemed to be tasting all the different colors of crayons. There was no sight of Cosette or Joan and the teenager hadn’t seen either one since she’d been asked by Cosette to watch Noah.

As they left the room, Myrtle muttered to Miles. “Genius. Right. He’s busy eating his crayons”

“Is that still bothering you?” said Miles.

“It is. Jack is just as smart as little Noah and I don’t feel the need to go blabbing around town about his brilliance. Cosette is so—”

“Annoying,” said Miles.

Annoying—and missing. They looked for her in the crowded living room, the dining room, and even knocked on the hall bathroom to make sure she wasn’t in there. Everyone had seen her, but no one had seen her recently.

Lucas’s face appeared strained. They’d retreated back to the kitchen to talk, since they could barely hear each other in the other rooms. “Where could she have gone? And during a drop-in? That’s not like her. She’s always a good hostess.”

Myrtle said, “The only place we haven’t checked is outside. She’s clearly not inside.”

“Why on earth would she go outside? I mean—she’s an outdoor person, but why now?” He gave a rough laugh. “I don’t go outside at all myself anymore—gardening never caught on for me.”

“Who knows?” asked Myrtle impatiently. “But we should check. And we should make sure her car is here, too.”

“I can’t imagine Cosette driving away from a party,” said Lucas.

“Maybe she suddenly realized y’all were out of ice or something,” said Miles. “It happens.”

They walked out the kitchen door onto the back porch and into the attached garage. Cosette’s sedan was still there. “I didn’t think she would leave,” said Lucas. “But where is she?”

“Can you turn on any lights that will shine in the backyard?” asked Myrtle. “It’s the only place we haven’t checked.” She gripped her cane. She was fairly sturdy on her feet, really. Just not on soil.

Lucas obediently stepped into the kitchen and flipped some switches, and lights came on at the back corners of the ranch house and outside the back porch. Myrtle peered into the darkness. There was a dark lump on the ground near the line of trees leading down to the lake.

Myrtle gripped her cane and opened the screen door, moving carefully into the yard. “Do y’all see something there? On the ground...near the woods?”

Lucas froze in place as Myrtle and Miles hurried forward.

It was Cosette, sprawled face-first on the damp ground. A bloody croquet mallet lay next to her.