“It’s not as if I’m in any sort of danger,” I told Ulysses, the next day after the fire. “I’m not out trying to find a guilty party or anything. The crime that happened fifty years ago at the Saunders house has already been investigated. But, I admit I’m curious about the Saunders and Newton families. What could possibly be wrong with trying to find out more about them? And, who would know more than Tom Newton?”
Ulysses wagged his tail, trudged to his bed, and flopped down, keeping a wary eye on me.
With purse in hand, I headed for the door. Slipping on my jacket, I made sure of the security alarm, and went out to my car, parked in the porte cochere.
Tom Newton was busy with a customer as I went inside the hardware store. He turned to Hershel and asked him to help Mrs. Blain, the woman at the counter, carry out her purchases. I smiled at Hersehel as he brushed past me. He glanced my way, nodded, and followed Mrs. Blain to her car.
“Good morning,” Tom said, coming from behind the counter. “Are you in need of some nuts and bolts this morning?”
I smiled. “Not at the moment. Do you have time to talk?”
“Sure,” he said. “Pull up that stool and tell me what’s on your mind.”
“I’m just being nosy, Tom, and you can tell me to shut up if you want. Somebody told me that your father and Cletus Saunders used to be partners in this store.”
Tom’s eyes took on a far-away look. “Yes, they did, way back before I was born. I’m not sure what happened, but Cletus and Dad had a falling out and Cletus withdrew from the store. It’s odd, too, that my mother and Marvie Saunders were once friends. Marvie became a school teacher and Mom worked in the bank for a short time.”
I fidgeted on the tall stool. “How sad that all four of them wound up being enemies.”
“I don’t think Mrs. Saunders and Mom were what you’d call enemies. They just didn’t have anything to do with each other after Cletus left the store and then refused to pay the big bills he ran up.”
“Strange, how old feuds have a way of hanging on,” I said.
“Listen, Ned, I heard about the fire out at the house. I doubt that it was accidental. No one was living there and there wasn’t any lightning. It sounds like arson. I want you to forget that I asked you to dig into that trouble. I’ll never believe my dad killed Cletus, but what’s done is done. It sounds to me like it might be dangerous for you to be involved.”
I drew a deep breath. “Actually, Tom, I believe you’re right.”
Murder By Moonlight by Blanche Day Manos, available on Amazon.com. Free with Kindle Unlimited.
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