Digging Up The Dirt

“Yes, you’re right about that,” An’gel said. “Well, Melba, we’ve enjoyed visiting with you, but Sister and I had better get going. You take care now.”

Melba bade them good-bye, and An’gel led the way out of the building and back to the car.

“At least we know what the woman on the street thinks about all this.” Dickce buckled her seat belt and then inserted the key in the ignition. “Where to next?”

An’gel didn’t respond right away, and Dickce had to ask her again.

“Sorry, I was thinking,” An’gel said. “I’ve had an idea. Why don’t I call Barbie and see if she’ll meet us for coffee and a pastry at Helen Louise’s bistro? I think we need to talk to her about Hadley and what she might have been up to with him forty years ago.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Dickce said. “Call her, and even if she can’t join us, we can still have that coffee and pastry.” She put the car in gear and headed for the town square.

An’gel pulled out her phone and found the number in her contacts. Moments later she was speaking to Barbie.

“We’re in town this morning on business,” An’gel said. “We’re heading over to Helen Louise’s bistro for coffee and a pastry, and we thought it would be fun if you could join us. Can you?”

“Love to,” Barbie said. “What a nice surprise. I’ll be there in two shakes.” She ended the call.

“She’s coming,” An’gel said. “Now if we can only get her to tell us what we want to know.”

Dickce found a parking space near the entrance to the bistro, and when the sisters walked inside, Helen Louise Brady, the owner, looked up from the cash register and smiled. She came around from behind the counter to greet them.

“Miss An’gel, Miss Dickce, how lovely to see you. I hope you’ve both been well.” Helen Louise gave them each a quick hug.

An’gel had to look up slightly when she returned Helen Louise’s greeting. The bistro owner was around six feet tall, a striking woman with dark hair and a sense of elegance about her, even in her work clothes and baker’s apron.

“We’re doing fine,” An’gel said. “We thought we’d have lunch here. A friend is going to join us. Barbie Gross. Do you know her?”

“Yes, I do. She’s a regular.” Helen Louise escorted them to the table she reserved for special guests. “What would you like to drink?”

“Water for now, I think,” An’gel said. “What is the special today?”

“Chicken cassoulet,” Helen Louise replied. “I can promise you it is vraiment délicieux, even if I prepared it myself.” She smiled broadly.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had anything here that wasn’t vraiment délicieux,” Dickce said with an answering smile.

“Sounds perfect to me,” An’gel said. “I agree with Sister. The food here is always magnifique.”

“Merci beaucoup, Mesdames,” Helen Louise replied with a tilt of the head. “Cassoulet for two, then. Anything besides water to drink?”

“I’ll have a glass of whatever wine you think appropriate,” An’gel said, and Dickce echoed her.

“Barbie ought to be here soon,” Dickce added.

“I won’t serve the cassoulet until I know what she wants,” Helen Louise assured them. “I’ll be back in a moment with water for you.”

Right after An’gel and Dickce received their water with slices of lemon, Barbie breezed in. She spotted them immediately but paused on the way to the table to speak to another customer—an older man, quite distinguished looking, An’gel thought. She didn’t know him, though.

Barbie, dressed in a silk warm-up suit and sneakers and sporting pearls around her neck and on her ears, sat down across from An’gel. She stuck her purse on the vacant chair to her left.

“I’m so glad you called,” she said. “I was getting bored. Lottie had something she just had to do, and I didn’t feel like TV or a book. I’ve been feeling so restless lately, all these odd things happening.”

“I know what you mean,” An’gel said, rather mendaciously. She and Dickce rarely ran out of things to do and so were seldom bored.

“Yes, these terrible things.” Dickce shook her head. “First Sarinda, and then Arliss. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?”

“There’s a lunatic out there.” Barbie shivered. “I’m surprised the police or the sheriff’s department hasn’t tracked him down yet. Surely they can find the person who ran Arliss off the road.”

“They are looking,” An’gel said. She debated whether to mention her own experience to Barbie. She decided she would, simply to gauge the reaction.

“As a matter of fact, I had a similar experience,” An’gel said. “To what happened to Arliss, that is.”

“Seriously?” Barbie’s eyes fairly popped. “When?”

“Right after we all left Ashton Hall yesterday afternoon,” An’gel said. She thought Barbie’s astonishment wasn’t feigned.

Helen Louise came to the table then with water for Barbie, who also decided on the cassoulet for lunch, along with wine. “Just bring the bottle,” she told Helen Louise.

Barbie turned back to An’gel. “Exactly what happened? Why aren’t you in the hospital?”

An’gel gave her a quick summary of the incident. After she finished, she waited for Barbie’s reaction.