A Body in the Backyard: #4

Chapter Five

Chapter Five 

Myrtle could tell it was going to be one of those nights where she couldn't sleep. As soon as she lay down, her mind became fixated on things she needed to do to prepare for the little reception after the funeral. She'd tell herself to relax, take deep breaths, gradually stretch her muscles and feel that she was about to drift off...and some other detail would pop into her head and mess it all up again. 

When she finally did fall asleep, her dreams were of that weird, am-I-awake-or-am-I-asleep, quality that played with her head. She kept glancing at her clock, convinced it must almost be morning but saw instead that it was only fifteen or twenty minutes later from the last time she'd checked. Finally, she gave a frustrated bellow, untangled herself from the tangled bed sheets, and propelled herself out of the bed.  

It was two o'clock in the morning. This was her usual time for being awake and it wasn't that she was unprepared for it. Ordinarily, she'd putter around the house-start a load of laundry, put away the dishes from the dishwasher, read a few chapters of a book. Sometimes she'd take a walk down the street. Her neighbors had grown accustomed to seeing a tall, white-headed person in a bathrobe navigating down the sidewalk in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, Red, if he were the one to see her, never missed the opportunity to remind her that Greener Pastures retirement home was an excellent, safe place for wandering octogenarians.  

The thought of Red made Myrtle settle docilely in her armchair and turn on the TV for the rest of her Tomorrow's Promise soap opera that she'd fallen asleep during earlier. Five minutes into the show, though, she became uncharacteristically annoyed by it. Melaina was in the hospital again? That woman had been in the hospital the past few months with every illness known to man-cancer, rehab, a car crash, a gunshot wound. Couldn't the writers come up with something new for her to do?  

Myrtle turned off the TV, feeling restless again. Sleep wasn't going to happen, so she might as well stretch her legs. Red should be sleeping soundly after all the excitement of the murder. She brightened. Maybe Miles would be awake. He frequently had insomnia himself. She put on her robe, pulled out a bag of cookies and hung them from a plastic bag on her wrist, grabbed her cane, and headed outside the door. She even remembered to lock the door behind her. 

Myrtle wandered down the sidewalk, then peered at Miles's house. There were lights on, all right. They didn't look like nightlights, either. Myrtle walked up his front walk and rang Miles's doorbell. 

Miles answered the door. "I figured you might come over. I set the coffeemaker to perk at one-thirty." 

Myrtle grinned at him, delighted to have someone to talk to in the middle of the night. "I'm late, then! Let's get started. I brought some gingersnaps." 

Miles smiled back at her. Minutes later, they munched on cookies and drank milk and coffee. Myrtle said thoughtfully, "You didn't set an alarm for yourself or anything did you? Because you thought I might come over?"  

"Nothing like that. I just anticipated that you might have insomnia tonight-I know your mind starts getting real active when you have a new case to mull over," said Miles. 

Myrtle gave a satisfied sigh. "I like the way you put that, Miles. A case. That's what I've got. A new puzzle to solve." 

"Although more dangerous than any of your crossword puzzles," said Miles. "You weren't worried about walking over here in the dark? You did have a murder right in your own backyard last night, after all." 

Myrtle shrugged. "It had nothing to do with me, did it? Seems like it had more to do with you. I'm only trying to get to the bottom of it, that's all. Why would someone want to kill me?"