Virginia Lowell - A Cookie Before Dying

“Do you know anything about Charlene?” Olivia asked.

Struts shrugged. “She’s got her admirers.”

“I gather you’re not one of them?”

Struts snorted. “Your mom insists Charlene was shy in high school, but she reminds me of those in-crowd girls. Not fond of that type myself.”

“Me neither,” Olivia said, “though Mom keeps reminding me that as an adult I should suspend judgment.”

“Too tiring,” Struts said.

“Any idea how Charles Sr. died?”

“Sure do.” Struts’s lips curved in a half smile of malicious glee. “Charles had his wife Patty served with divorce papers while he went on an early honeymoon with his twenty-five-year-old nurse and second-wife-to-be.” Strut’s smile broadened. “As I heard the story, poor Charles didn’t last the night. Too much excitement. He had a heart attack and died in some fancy hotel in Vegas.”

“Interesting,” Olivia said. “So then how did Charlene’s mom die?”

Struts sighed. “That’s a sad story. I knew Patty from way back when she dated my oldest brother, before Charles swept her off her little size-five, triple-A feet. She should have married my brother, maybe she wouldn’t have morphed into a skinny witch. Anyway, after Charlie Sr. left her and then up and died, Patty inherited everything except the trust for Charlene and Charlie. So Charles Sr. got his comeuppance and Patty got it all. But was she happy?”

“I’m guessing not?”

“And you’d be right,” Struts said. “Patty went into a tailspin and let go of the steering wheel. She started drinking, decided she was too fat—at maybe ninety pounds—so she got herself hooked on diet pills and then sleeping pills. Plus she still drank her meals. She died less than a year after Charles Sr. Nobody talks about exactly how she died, but I think we can guess.”

“Those poor kids,” Olivia said.

“Yeah.” Struts picked up her half-eaten purple Tin Lizzie cookie. “Pills, booze, and starvation. That’s a sad way to go. Me, I’d rather sail a Maserati over a cliff.” Struts made a dent in the Model T’s back end and surveyed the damage while she chewed. “Did you know Model Ts mostly came in black?” she asked.

“I did not.”

“I like it in purple,” Struts said. “Very tasty.” She reached across her desk and pressed the intercom button. “Break time, lads. Caffeine and sugar in my office.” Whoops of joy penetrated the hum of the air conditioner.

Before the young men arrived, Struts took an old Baltimore & Ohio dining car plate off a hook on the wall. She spread a paper towel across it and placed a few cookies on top. “Gotta slow those boys down or they’ll plow right through those cookies.

Olivia said, “Somehow I’ll have to get a good look at Charlie from the back.”

“Don’t fret, I’ll make it happen.” Struts swept her nail file and hairbrush into her desk drawer, perhaps to preserve her tough-woman-mechanic reputation.

Charlie Critch and Olivia’s younger brother, Jason, crowded into the small office, filling it with movement and noise. The smell of gasoline trailed in behind them. They tore into the plate of cookies as if they hadn’t seen food for days. A turquoise race car decorated with black flames and a royal blue baby carriage with tulip-red wheels disappeared into their mouths without even a murmur of admiration for their artistry.

“Hey, Sis, this latté is cold,” Jason said.

“You’re welcome.”

Charlie Critch gave her a shy smile and toasted her with his latté. “Thanks for the coffee and cookies, Ms. Greyson.”

“Call me Livie.” Olivia tried to envision Charlie as an enraged store invader, but his quiet, respectful voice made it tough. At twenty, he still had the gangly look of a teenager who has just reached his full height, which Olivia estimated to be about six-foot-two. At six-foot-one, her brother was a shade shorter. Both young men had neatly trimmed brown hair and slender builds. In fact, now that she saw the two together, both of them looked similar to the man she’d seen running away from Charlene’s store.

Jason snatched the last cookie on the plate, a burnt-orange airplane with cinnamon candies for windows. As it flew toward his mouth, he glanced at Charlie’s thin face and hesitated. Without comment, Jason cracked the plane in half and handed a piece to the younger and clearly ravenous man.

“You’re Charlene’s brother, aren’t you?” Olivia asked Charlie. “How have you been settling in here in Chatterley Heights?”

“Great.” Charlie smiled, revealing a mouthful of well-tended, perfectly straight teeth with a clump of orange icing stuck between the front incisors. “I love working on cars,” he added, with a sideways glance at Struts.

“It’s too bad about Charlene’s store,” Olivia said.

Charlie’s boyish face tightened, but he didn’t comment.

“Any idea who might have done such a thing to your sister? I mean, you’ve both lived here only a short time, so it’s hard to believe anyone in Chatterley Heights would have developed a grudge against her.” Olivia held her breath, hoping she hadn’t overdone it.

To her surprise, it wasn’t Charlie who reacted. Her brother, who had been slouching on the corner of Struts’s desk, straightened and slid to his feet. He thrust out his chin in what Olivia called his bulldog look. “Grudge? Who said anything about a grudge? Charlene’s a sweet kid. No reason anyone would want to hurt her.” Jason slipped his hands in his pockets and retreated to the windowsill.

Struts winked an eye at Olivia. “How about it, Charlie? I believe we can safely assume you’ve known your sister longer than any of us. Can you think of anyone who might have it in for her?”

Charlie crossed his arms as if he thought his chest might escape from his body. “No one,” he said. “Maybe some people don’t take to Charlene right off the bat, but she’s always stuck by me. She doesn’t deserve to get hurt.”

While Olivia digested Charlie’s information, spoken and tacit, Struts pushed the cookie box toward the two young men. “Sustenance,” she said. “Boys need their daily sugar and butter.” Jason was nearest, so he reached into the box and plucked out a burgundy spaceship with pale pink polka dots, which he kept for himself. He handed Charlie a Santa’s sleigh in mint green with grape trim.

“Hey Charlie,” Struts said, giving Olivia a glance filled with meaning. “Since you’re here, does that Toyota parked out on the street look like it’s got a flat?” She nodded her head toward the office window behind her desk. Charlie crossed the room, offering Olivia a clear view of his back.

“Which Toyota?” Charlie asked, as his head moved from left to right. “There’s five of them. Two red Corollas, one of them this year’s model; a blue Camry with a dent in the driver’s door; a green Camry, maybe ten years old; and a red truck.”

“I think it was one of the red Corollas,” Struts said. “Or maybe the truck.”

Jason joined Charlie at the window. Struts smirked at Olivia as both of the men’s heads swiveled back and forth, hunting for a flat tire. “I think your eyesight’s going, Boss,” Jason said, turning to face her. “All the tires look fine to me.”

“Me, too,” Charlie said. “Want us to go out and take a closer look?”

“Nah, I guess I was dreaming about more walk-in business,” Struts said. “Okay, guys, you’ve finished off the cookies, so back to work.” Once the door had closed behind them, she turned to Olivia. “Well?”

“Honestly, I can’t be sure. Charlie doesn’t seem the type to smash up a store, and it sounds like he’s close to his sister, but . . .” Olivia shrugged and tossed her empty latté cup into the wastebasket as she rose to leave.