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Authors: Elizabeth Spann Craig
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of being at that funeral and to see if anyone looked guilty, gossiped, or gave her any new leads. “Of course,” she said weakly. “I’d be delighted to watch Noah.”
Joan slapped her forehead. “Oh, wait a minute. I must be losing my mind. I forgot that Elaine already offered to keep Noah for me so that he and Jack can have a play date. But thanks for your offer.”
Myrtle relaxed. “Well, is there another time I can help you out?”
Joan said, “If you don’t mind, I did tell my dad that I’d help him go through Mother’s things. I’d called him yesterday and he mentioned that the thought of going through her clothes was making him even sadder. If that’s possible.”
Myrtle said, “That sounds perfect. Give me a call and let me know when you want to bring him by. Maybe I can even have Jack over then to give them the chance for another play date. That way, I could help Elaine out at the same time.”
Joan laughed, “They’re really both at the age where they’re doing parallel play instead of interacting with each other. You’ll see Jack pushing his truck around and Noah pushing his, but the trucks will never intersect. But I think they enjoy being around each other, anyway.”
“It’s settled then,” said Myrtle, beaming at her.
Miles said, “Joan, I’m glad you’re helping poor Lucas out. We tried to visit with him before we came here, but he was too upset to come out.”
“He’s definitely taking it hard, but then Dad has always been crazy over Mother. I’ve never really been able to figure that out, since she was always fussing at him. Always telling him to tuck his shirt in more, or to stand up straight, or to lose weight.” Joan looked ruefully down at her own pear-shaped figure. “I heard the same stuff. I do know one thing, though. He’d never have laid a finger on her, no matter what the police think. He worshipped the ground she walked on, no matter how she treated him.”
Myrtle said, “Is there anything you can think of that could help the police find the murderer? Redirect them to another suspect? I have insider connections, you know.”
“Red has been great, Miss Myrtle. But I have a feeling the state police think that Dad is behind the whole thing. There should be plenty of good suspects, though. Mother was hard to like. But yes, there was one thing that I need to tell the police about,” said Joan.
Myrtle leaned forward in her chair.
“Since I’ve gotten divorced,” said Joan, “I’ve needed help around the house and yard. The yard has been especially tough for me to stay on top of, so I made a call to a yardman that I found in the phone book to get an estimate for weekly yard work. As a matter of fact, he lives right across from Mother and Dad.”
Miles frowned. “Tobin, is it?”
“That’s right. Tobin Tinker. He came right on time and gave me a good estimate. But he was completely preoccupied with my mother and the problems he was having with her as a neighbor. He listed all kinds of stuff—she had too many parties and her guests blocked his driveway with their cars. That the parties were too loud and kept him up at night. And he said that she kept putting her excess trash in his garbage can…he was particularly upset about that.”
Myrtle hoped that maybe she had some more information than they did. “Extra trash?”
“Well, you know how we’re supposed to put all our trash in the roll-out cans? No bags on the ground? Mother had lots of extra trash sometimes because of her parties. She’d apparently stick the extra bags in Tobin’s trashcan. He lives alone and I guess he doesn’t have enough garbage to fill up his own can,” said Joan. She rolled her eyes. “It was kind of ridiculous of Mother to do that, but I can see her doing it.”
“But why was he telling you all of this?” asked Miles. “Sounds like he was just dumping on you.”
“I suppose he
Joan slapped her forehead. “Oh, wait a minute. I must be losing my mind. I forgot that Elaine already offered to keep Noah for me so that he and Jack can have a play date. But thanks for your offer.”
Myrtle relaxed. “Well, is there another time I can help you out?”
Joan said, “If you don’t mind, I did tell my dad that I’d help him go through Mother’s things. I’d called him yesterday and he mentioned that the thought of going through her clothes was making him even sadder. If that’s possible.”
Myrtle said, “That sounds perfect. Give me a call and let me know when you want to bring him by. Maybe I can even have Jack over then to give them the chance for another play date. That way, I could help Elaine out at the same time.”
Joan laughed, “They’re really both at the age where they’re doing parallel play instead of interacting with each other. You’ll see Jack pushing his truck around and Noah pushing his, but the trucks will never intersect. But I think they enjoy being around each other, anyway.”
“It’s settled then,” said Myrtle, beaming at her.
Miles said, “Joan, I’m glad you’re helping poor Lucas out. We tried to visit with him before we came here, but he was too upset to come out.”
“He’s definitely taking it hard, but then Dad has always been crazy over Mother. I’ve never really been able to figure that out, since she was always fussing at him. Always telling him to tuck his shirt in more, or to stand up straight, or to lose weight.” Joan looked ruefully down at her own pear-shaped figure. “I heard the same stuff. I do know one thing, though. He’d never have laid a finger on her, no matter what the police think. He worshipped the ground she walked on, no matter how she treated him.”
Myrtle said, “Is there anything you can think of that could help the police find the murderer? Redirect them to another suspect? I have insider connections, you know.”
“Red has been great, Miss Myrtle. But I have a feeling the state police think that Dad is behind the whole thing. There should be plenty of good suspects, though. Mother was hard to like. But yes, there was one thing that I need to tell the police about,” said Joan.
Myrtle leaned forward in her chair.
“Since I’ve gotten divorced,” said Joan, “I’ve needed help around the house and yard. The yard has been especially tough for me to stay on top of, so I made a call to a yardman that I found in the phone book to get an estimate for weekly yard work. As a matter of fact, he lives right across from Mother and Dad.”
Miles frowned. “Tobin, is it?”
“That’s right. Tobin Tinker. He came right on time and gave me a good estimate. But he was completely preoccupied with my mother and the problems he was having with her as a neighbor. He listed all kinds of stuff—she had too many parties and her guests blocked his driveway with their cars. That the parties were too loud and kept him up at night. And he said that she kept putting her excess trash in his garbage can…he was particularly upset about that.”
Myrtle hoped that maybe she had some more information than they did. “Extra trash?”
“Well, you know how we’re supposed to put all our trash in the roll-out cans? No bags on the ground? Mother had lots of extra trash sometimes because of her parties. She’d apparently stick the extra bags in Tobin’s trashcan. He lives alone and I guess he doesn’t have enough garbage to fill up his own can,” said Joan. She rolled her eyes. “It was kind of ridiculous of Mother to do that, but I can see her doing it.”
“But why was he telling you all of this?” asked Miles. “Sounds like he was just dumping on you.”
“I suppose he
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