Nursing a Grudge: An Earl Walker Mystery

Chapter 13

Earl went to the drawer and found the number that Conroy had left him. He wasn’t sure what he would ask the man. All he knew was that there were all these little things nibbling at the back of his mind, and he was hoping that the host of the party could help him lay some of them to rest.

When Earl called, the first thing the other man asked was whether Earl had seen the ring. Earl said he had not.

“Well, I can’t talk long,” Conroy said. “I have to head for the general store before it closes.”

“Maybe I’ll meet you there.”

When Earl got to the Candlewick general store, he found Conroy by the canned beets. He grunted, “I’d rather die than eat those.”

Conroy looked down at Earl in the wheelchair and smiled. “Some of us can’t be so choosy. Folks get to a certain age, they gotta look out for themselves.”

“Fun talk from the man who threw a chili party.”

The man looked around nervously. “Hey, easy with that talk.”

“What’s the matter? Are you afraid the nurses will hear?”

“I’m more afraid that too many people will want in the next one. You saw how crowded my little apartment was. How many more do you think would be able to fit?”

Earl grumbled, “Well, you have room for at least one more.”

“Huh? Oh, you mean poor Kent. Yes, that was horrible. I may end up dropping the whole party altogether.”

They reached the canned fruit. Earl said, “I heard you had to get dialysis.”

“Eh?” Conroy started reading the back of a can of peaches. “I gotta flush the kidneys out three times a week. Luckily I was already scheduled for right after the party.” He set the can in the basket. “We were all risking our lives, I guess. It is one thing to have the thrill of the risk, like we’re all looking down the chasm. But when one of us actually falls over the side—” He let the sentence trail off.

Earl read the back of a jar of artichokes. He set it back on the shelf. “What if Kent was pushed? There is some question about whether he died of natural causes or not.”

Conroy jolted. “I don’t get you. What are you saying happened?”

“Someone may have done something to Kent. Maybe they even passed something dangerous on to him at the party.”

They had reached the cereal. Conroy put a box of granola in his cart. “Why would you think one of my guests killed Kent?”

His voice was low, his eyes darting around. “Those are my friends. I’ve known some of them for years.”

“Still, all things being equal, if someone killed him—”

“Why think it at all? Did the sheriff find something suspicious?”

“No. Everyone assumed he was just an old man and it was his time to go.”

“Well.” Conroy went for the next aisle. “Kent was old. We’re all old.”

Earl followed. “There was something wrong at your party. I saw it.” He wrung his hands. “I just can’t put my finger on it. Yet.”

Conroy blinked. “You sound like you’re being paranoid.”

While Conroy went through the checkout process, Earl occupied himself with the display of sunglasses by the front. He kept putting on the dark lenses and looking out the store’s front window. He would look through the dark lenses then raise the specs, comparing the same view through different lenses.