Page 24

Chapter Twenty-Four

Summer

D ixie and I decided to order our lunch to go and head back to the office, since we wanted to discuss the case without having to worry about anyone overhearing—especially Maybelline. I texted Luke to let him know the change of plans and asked if he wanted me to pick up some lunch for him too. He told me to order the special, whatever it was, and he’d meet us at the office in fifteen minutes.

We ended up ordering four specials before we headed back, and Bill was happy to see the containers when we walked in.

“I always put on five pounds every time I’m in Sweet Briar,” he said, “and I attribute every single one of them to Maybelline’s cooking.”

“That’s fair,” I said. She still made it her personal mission to make me gain weight.

I handed out the containers, and we were just about to start eating when Luke walked through the door. His eyes lit up when he saw his container on my desk.

I laughed. “I may not cook the food for you, but I sure can provide it.”

“Ah, Summer,” he said, smiling as he walked over to pick up his food, “you have my heart, food or no food.”

I grinned back because I knew it was true.

“Did you ladies make any progress?” he asked as he sat in one of the client chairs and started digging into his pork tenderloin.

“We did, actually,” I said. “We made more progress than I expected. Considering Bethany’s murder occurred over forty years ago, people still seem to remember a lot of what happened.”

“That’s no surprise,” he said through a mouthful of mashed potatoes. “Murder’s big news in Sweet Briar, especially back then. People would’ve been talking. What’d you find out?”

“For starters,” I said, “I think Tim McCree was lying about his alibi for Chuck Petty.”

Luke narrowed his eyes. “Are we talking about the same case? There is no Chuck Petty listed in that case file.”

“I suspect his father, the mayor at the time, kept it off the police report,” I said.

Luke made a face. “I think you need to back up about five steps and tell me where Chuck Petty comes into this, and who he is exactly.”

Dixie and I told him about our exchange with the ladies in the coffee shop and how Chuck Petty left town around the same time as Bethany’s murder.

A grim look crossed his face. “So, the mayor back then was just as corrupt as the mayor is today?”

“I don’t know about that,” I said, “but it does seem mighty suspicious. Nevertheless, we don’t know why he would’ve killed her. Supposedly he had nothing to do with Bethany Brewer at all and his only connection to Lila was tormenting her. And bullying, however awful, is not the same thing as murder.”

“So what you need is a motive,” Luke said.

“Exactly.”

Luke stared at the wall for a few seconds before he said, “What I don’t understand is, if Chuck Petty was a suspect, why he wasn’t in the case file at all, and why Bethany’s parents wouldn’t pursue lookin’ into him as a suspect. Even to say his name was cleared. I can see them not diggin’ into it, but not listin’ him at all is suspicious.”

“We thought the same thing,” I said, “but when we talked to his alibi, he told us we needed to talk to Rachel Swan.”

Luke took a bite of his food. “And who is Rachel Swan?”

“Rachel Swan,” Dixie said, “was Lila’s new best friend.”

Then we told him about visiting Rachel’s farm that morning and everything she had said.

“Rachel obviously knows something about Bethany’s murder,” Luke said. “The question is how we’re gonna go about gettin’ information out of her.”

I held up my hands. “Whoa there, nobody said anything about you getting involved.”

He eyed me with a stern look. “We’re talkin’ about a murder, Summer. An unsolved murder. If you have an idea who the murderer might be, then I’m gonna get involved.”

“Now hold on there,” I said, “nobody ever accused Rachel of murdering Bethany.”

Luke’s body tensed. “That may be so, but you just admitted that you suspect she knows something about who did.”

“This is my investigation,” I said, “and you wouldn’t be any part of this if Magnolia hadn’t asked us to look into her mother’s past, so you’re gonna stay out of it and let us handle it. If we think there’s anything that you need to dig into, we’ll bring it to you. Otherwise, keep your hands off.”

He studied me with a blank expression for a few moments. Then a big smile lit up his face. “I kinda like it when you’re bossy.”

Bill groaned and rolled his eyes. “Y’all need to keep that sex talk out of the office.”

We all burst out laughing.

“Who said this was about sex?” Luke said, grinning ear to ear. “Maybe we’re talking about baking cookies.”

“I know for a fact that Summer doesn’t bake,” Bill said. “You were the one who baked all those cookies last night. She just watched.”

“Be that as it may,” I said forcefully, trying to rein them back in, “I am handling this investigation with Dixie, and you, Luke Montgomery, are staying out of it. Do you hear me?”

He took another bite of food and seemed to think about it for a few moments. “Fine. I’ll let you handle it as long as it’s not dangerous. But the moment it becomes dangerous, I become involved. Do you promise?”

I thought about how dangerous it could possibly be to go back and confront Rachel. She didn’t seem like the type to resort to violence, and I had taken a sip of that lemonade and hadn’t keeled over from being poisoned. Seemed like a safe promise. “Yeah, I promise,” I said. “If it gets dangerous, we’ll let you know.”

“So how, exactly, do you plan on handling this?” Luke asked.

I sighed. “I have no idea. I wonder if Chuck Petty’s parents or siblings are still alive and around.”

Dixie’s face lit up. “It just so happens that there’s a Peter Petty who has followed Maybelline’s Facebook page. I took the liberty of messaging him and askin’ him if he’s related to Chuck. He said he’s his brother and lives in Dothan. He also said he’d be willing to talk to us via Zoom. I just need to tell him what time.”

“Well, there you have it,” I said with a shrug. “Dixie’s already tracked someone down.” I gave Luke a pointed look. “Seems like a Zoom call should be safe, and we’ll have plenty of time to wrap it up before dinner.”

He rolled his eyes, then took another bite of his lunch.

The mention of dinner had me thinking about Meemaw and her secretive plans for tonight—and the potential need for a buffer of sorts. With this in mind, I turned up an innocent smile. “Oh, by the way. Meemaw’s having a family dinner tonight, and you and Bill are both invited.”

Dixie’s mouth dropped open, and before she could protest, I added, “I figure it’s a family dinner, and you two are our significant others, so of course you should be there.”

Luke gave me a smug look. “Seems reasonable. You know how much your Meemaw loves me.”

No arguing with that. That woman thought he hung the moon and was more ecstatic than I was when we got back together. And that was saying something.

“I’ll be there,” Luke said.

Bill nodded. “Count me in. I can’t turn down good food.”

“You don’t even know what she’s makin’,” Dixie scoffed.

I turned to Bill. “She’s making fried chicken and mashed potatoes.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Bill said. “That woman knows how to cook. No matter what she makes, I’ll be there.”

With any luck at all, Dixie and I would have this case wrapped up before we sat down to dinner and found out what Meemaw was up to.