The Darling Dahlias and the Confederate Rose

Lizzy sat back, thinking. She wanted to believe that Coretta was being sincere. But everything she knew about this woman told her that Coretta couldn’t be trusted. Tell her a secret and she would exaggerate and twist it to serve her own purposes, and then she’d blab it all over the place. Agree to do something with her, and she’d change her mind halfway through and quit. She sneaked a sideways glance at Coretta. True, all that had been quite a few years ago, when they were in school together. Coretta was older now and more mature. Maybe she meant what she said. Maybe she had changed.

Or maybe not. She might be the same old Coretta. And if she ran true to form, she would finagle it so that she’d end up looking like a hero and Verna would be in even deeper trouble.

Lizzy sat back and folded her arms. “Just what is it that you think you can do?” she asked warily. She would go along with this scheme just far enough to find out what Coretta had in mind.

“I can go undercover in the office,” Coretta said, and batted her Joan Crawford eyes.

“Undercover?” Incredulous, Lizzy fought the urge to giggle.

“Exactly,” Coretta replied earnestly. “I can be a spy. But as I said, I’m going to need help. This isn’t an operation I can carry out by myself.”

Now, Lizzy did laugh, skeptically. “That’s rich, Coretta. Really rich. Just who do you think you’re going to spy on? Those two women in the office? And how is that going to help Verna?”

If Coretta was offended by Liz’s skepticism, she didn’t let on. “I don’t know enough to figure out what’s going on all by myself. But Verna does.” She leaned forward, her dark eyes glittering. “I have access to the account books, and I have a key to the office. I can smuggle the books out to Verna, wherever she is. Or I can smuggle Verna into the office, if she’d rather me do that. I’m thinking that if she uses the auditor’s report as a guide, she’ll be able to figure out what happened to that money. At least, she might come up with a pretty good idea.” She patted the handbag she had put between them on the swing. “In fact, I’ve brought the report with me. I think she needs to see it.”

Lizzy was taken aback. Smuggling Verna into the office was very close to Verna’s original scheme for conducting her own investigation, when she thought she still had a key that worked. Maybe what Coretta was suggesting was doable. On the other hand, maybe it was a put-up job, some kind of trick.

“The report,” she said. “May I see it?”

“Why?” Coretta asked uneasily.

“Because I want to make sure it’s the real thing,” Lizzy said.

“Well, I guess it’s okay,” Coretta said, and reluctantly pulled a large envelope out of her handbag.

Lizzy opened it and scanned the three sheets of paper. As far as she could tell, the report was genuine. It had what appeared to be the seal of the state auditor’s office at the top of the first page and a signature and another seal at the bottom of the third.

She handed it back with a frown. “I don’t understand, Coretta. Why would you even think of doing such a dangerous thing? Why would you risk it? If Mr. Scroggins found out what you were doing, he’d fire you so fast it’d make your head spin. And then both you and Verna would be out of a job. If Verna winds up in jail, you might be in there with her.”

“Why would I do such a dangerous thing?” Coretta repeated, with the air of someone who has thought all this out. “Because I don’t like what’s happening here, Liz. This whole situation stinks to high heaven. It’s corruption, that’s what it is, and Verna is getting blamed for it. Like I said, I am not a big fan of hers, but what’s happening is just plain wrong.”

“Yes, but the risk—”

Coretta lifted her chin. “Some things are worth taking a risk for, Liz. I do have my principles, you know.”

“I didn’t say you didn’t,” Lizzy said, although that was exactly what she was thinking. Coretta had never struck her as the type to take a risk on principle.

“You didn’t have to,” Coretta replied regretfully. “I can tell.” She became very serious. “Anyway, I don’t believe Verna took that money. But like I said, I’m going to need help to prove it.” She gave Lizzy a straight, hard look. “Actually, Liz, I’m going to need Verna’s help. Before I can do anything, I need to sit down and talk to her, so we can make a plan.”

“Talk to . . . Verna?” Coretta sounded convincing, but all their past history rose up in Lizzy’s mind like a dark shadow. Maybe she was working for Mr. Scroggins—or for the sheriff. Or both. Maybe this was a ploy, a trick to find out where Verna was, so the sheriff could come and arrest her.

“Yes, talk to her,” Coretta insisted. “I need to sit down with her and map out a strategy. Like right away.” Her voice became emphatic. “Like tonight.”

“Tonight?” Lizzy asked. “But Verna has taken the train to Nashville. You can’t—”

“Uh-uh,” Coretta interrupted, shaking her head definitively. “I know for a fact that she didn’t take that train to Nashville.”