Part 8 (1/2)
”I'm not sure how receptive she would be to an apology just now,” I said honestly. I didn't want to put Ellen through anything she didn't have to endure while so much was going on. ”Don't get me wrong. She has a good heart, but this has all thrown her for a real loop.”
”I understand how she feels,” Jessie said. ”Would you mind conveying my apologies to her directly, then? She might be a little more receptive hearing it from you. Please?”
”I'll tell her,” I said, not at all sure how it would go over with Ellen. Still, it was the least I could do. I believed that Jessie was sincere about at least that much, and that she regretted the trouble she and Gordon had caused Ellen since they'd come to town.
”That's all that I can ask,” Jessie said, and then she walked away.
I went back into the diner, took a deep breath, and decided that the longer I put it off, the worse it was going to be.
I needed to convey Jessie's message, no matter how unpleasant Ellen's reaction might be.
As I walked inside, I looked back over my shoulder. Jessie was heading toward a nice car, but that wasn't what caught my eye.
Wayne, my favorite mechanic and Ellen's current boyfriend, sat up in the car he was driving after she pa.s.sed him, and as soon as Jessie pulled out of the parking lot, he was right behind her.
What was the man up to?
I didn't know, but I was going to make it a point to find out the next time I had a chance to talk to him. That was all we needed, more people trying to solve Gordon's murder and getting in our way. Moose and I had it covered, and at least we had some experience investigating.
All Wayne would do was mess things up.
Chapter 8.
”Is she gone?” Ellen asked me as I walked back into the diner.
”She just left,” I said. ”Do you have a second?”
Ellen surveyed the tables, checked the order window, and then nodded. ”We're in the middle of a lull. What did she have to say?”
”Among other things, she wanted to apologize to you,” I said.
Ellen's gaze flared, and her face flushed a little. ”What happened? Was she too afraid to face me herself? Why did she send you to apologize to me?”
”She asked me if she should speak with you directly, but I wasn't sure that it was all that good an idea. I offered to tell you myself, and if that was the wrong decision, you shouldn't hold it against her.”
”Are you actually on her side, Victoria?” Ellen asked loudly enough to get the attention of our diners. Great. I'd been trying to avoid a scene, and now I was the direct cause of one.
”Lower your voice,” I said, and she nodded. ”You shouldn't even have to ask me that question. I was thinking of you when I volunteered to convey her message, but if I was wrong, I'm sure she'll talk directly to you about it. I was just trying to help.”
Ellen nodded. ”I know you were. I'm sorry I snapped. I can't help myself. When I think about Gordon trying to take my children away from me, with that woman's deep pockets behind him, it makes me so furious I could scream.”
”You're going to want to fight that impulse,” I said, trying my best to smile gently. ”We don't need any help painting you with the 'Angry Ex' brush. Half the town probably thinks that if you did do it, you were defending your children, and I'm fairly sure none of them blame you for what happened to Gordon.”
Ellen looked around the room, and a half dozen folks looked straight down into their plates. ”Do you honestly think that many people in town believe that I'm a murderer?”
”I misspoke,” I said, realizing how damaging that must have sounded to Ellen. ”I'm sure most of them believe in your innocence.”
”But not all of them,” Ellen said. ”Not by a long shot. I've lived in Jasper Fork my entire life. How could anyone think I was capable of murder?”
”Don't forget that plenty of them have believed it of me in the past,” I said, ”so don't feel like they're picking on you. Ellen, it's one of the reasons that Moose and I are searching for Gordon's killer. The longer it takes for an arrest to be made, the worse it's going to get for you and your family. Trust me on this one, there are more consequences from being convicted in the court of popular opinion than any trial.”
”I know you've been in the center of these things before,” Ellen said. ”I thought I understood how you felt, but that was foolish of me. Until I started feeling the scorn of folks I thought were my friends, I had no idea how crus.h.i.+ng the weight can be.”
It was bad timing, but Margie Brewer chose that moment to pay her bill. As she handed Ellen a ten for a five-dollar tab, she said, ”Keep the change, and hang in there. Even if this thing goes to trial, you just need one mother on the jury to keep your freedom.”
”I didn't kill him, Mrs. Brewer,” Ellen said.
”Of course you didn't, sweetie,” Margie said as she patted Ellen's hand, and then she walked out of The Charming Moose whistling.
”She just called me a cold-blooded killer, didn't she?” Ellen asked me.
”Not exactly,” I said.
”It was close enough, and you know it. You and Moose need to figure this out, Victoria, and I mean fast.”
”We're doing the best we can,” I said. ”Are you sure that you're all right?”
”I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't a little shaky,” Ellen said, ”but I'm not going anywhere. Folks need to see that I'm not hiding in some corner, afraid of what might happen to me.”
”That's my girl,” I said as I squeezed her shoulder. ”We'll figure this out.”
”I hope you're right,” she said, and then Malcolm Mason waved his coffee cup in her direction, and she grabbed a full pot as she headed off in his direction.
As I watched Ellen flit among our customers, I knew that she was right. Moose and I had to find the killer, and we had to do it before the town decided collectively that Ellen had taken that pipe to her ex-husband. I knew that Margie Brewer had been trying to be supportive, but she'd just confirmed my worst fears. If enough folks in town believed that Ellen was a killer, there would be no changing their minds later, even after the real murderer was brought to justice.
”Is Ellen working today?” Sheriff Croft asked as he walked into the diner a little after ten. ”I thought for sure she'd be home.”
”She wanted to come in, and I didn't have the heart to turn her away,” I said. ”Is something wrong? You're not going to question her here, are you?”
”No, your friend Rebecca made it clear that I wasn't supposed to talk to her without supervision,” the sheriff said with the hint of a smile. ”That was smart, bringing her in on this.”
”She's never let me down before,” I said. ”If you're not going to talk to her, why are you here, then? I know that you're not a big fan of the diner in general.”
”Nonsense. I love your pancakes, and you know it.”
”Still, you don't eat here very often,” I said.
”That's because I know where that will lead. If I want to keep fitting into this uniform, I have to watch what I eat. Every now and then, though, it's good to indulge.”
”So that's all you want; pancakes.”
”That's it,” he said.
”Then have a seat, and I'll be right with you.”
”Does that mean that you're not even going to let Ellen wait on me?” he asked.