The Darling Dahlias and the Eleven O'Clock Lady

“Yeah. It’s pretty bad out there,” Charlie said, shaking rain out of his hair. “Some of the roads are blocked. I was lucky to get back to town.” He paused, looking around. “Sheriff Norris here?”


“He’s questioning a suspect in the Hancock murder,” the deputy said, nodding toward a closed door. “An Army corporal, from the CCC camp. Andrews, his name is.”

“Corporal? Corporal Raymond Andrews?” Charlie was surprised—and then immediately relieved. The sheriff must have some other evidence against the man. Lucy’s evidence about the motive for the murder would be corroborating, which might mean that she wouldn’t have to testify if he was brought to trial.

“Yeah.” Springer turned and one eyebrow went up. “That’s who it is. Andrews. His commanding officer is in there, too. Captain Campbell. Seems like he has his head screwed on straight.” He stopped, frowning. “Say, Dickens, you know this guy? Andrews, I mean. You maybe got something on him?”

“Yeah,” Charlie said. “Matter of fact, I have. She’s out in the car.”

“She?” Both eyebrows disappeared under Springer’s hair.

Charlie nodded. “If you’ll ask the sheriff to step out here for a minute, I’ll be glad to explain the whole thing. It might give him some extra leverage with Andrews.”

It took more than a minute for Charlie to summarize what Lucy had told him about the kickback racket Andrews was running. In fact, it took more like three or four minutes, because the scheme had so many moving parts. But the note he’d gotten from Mata Hari a few days before spelled it out pretty well, and the sheriff grasped its significance as soon as he read it. And even before Charlie had finished, Buddy was guessing how Rona Jean Hancock had gotten involved.

“She found out what was going on by listening in on the telephone,” the sheriff said, narrowing his eyes. “She figured since there was money involved, she’d get a piece of the action. She hit Andrews up for money, but he saw her as a loose cannon. He killed her to keep her mouth shut about his bribery scheme. Is that it?”

“That’s about the size of it,” Charlie admitted.

“Then it looks like we’ve got a case,” Buddy said with satisfaction. “We’ve got testimony that puts him with Rona Jean after her shift on Thursday night. We’ve got his scarred thumbprint on the car door handle. And now we’ve got a motive.”

“We’ve also got the same thumbprint on the Dr Pepper bottle,” Wayne put in, gesturing to the bottle on the table. “Just confirmed, Sheriff. On the neck of the bottle, exactly where you’d hold it if you were going to use it to knock somebody out.”

Buddy clapped the deputy on the shoulder. “That’s my man!” he exclaimed. “More than enough for an arrest!”

Charlie grinned, thinking what a great story this was going to make, with or without Lucy Murphy. Which reminded him that she was sitting out front in the car. “I think Lucy would prefer not to confront Andrews, at least right now,” he said. “But maybe if one of you could go out to the car and take her statement, you might be able to use it to pry a confession out of him.”

“Yeah.” Buddy’s smile lit up his whole face. “But we don’t need to do it out in the car. Wayne, you go out and get Miz Murphy, and you and her go in the kitchen and shut the door. Get it all written down and signed and dated—you can type it up later. Oh, and if she can come up with the names of some of the folks that have been paying these bribes, that would be great. We’re going to need to talk to them. I’m thinking maybe Mr. Moseley will want to trade immunity for testimony.”

“I may have something on that,” Charlie said. “Ophelia Snow, who works at the Dispatch, also works in the quartermaster’s office. With any luck, she’s getting the full list.”

“Ah.” Buddy looked at him. “Doing a little spy work on the side, are you, Dickens?” He grinned. “Got an angle on a story?”