A Body in the Trunk : Myrtle Clover Book 12

Chapter Six

"Well, that was disturbing," said Miles as he and Myrtle drove to the Goodwill.

"Oh, Wanda gives those dire predictions every time I see her," said Myrtle, waving a hand dismissively.

"No, I mean that chicken." Miles was gripping the steering wheel tightly as if the wayward fowl might somehow pop up at him out of his backseat to terrorize him further.

"It's very brave of you not to have slathered on hand sanitizer as soon as we got to the car. I know that's usually what you do. I was envisioning you putting hand sanitizer on your pants where the chicken brushed against you," said Myrtle. "You know. As a sort of sterilizing method."

"Don't think I wouldn't have. I happen to be out of hand sanitizer. By the time I'd remembered, we were already at Wanda's house," said Miles. "This day hasn't gone exactly as planned."

"Look on the bright side—at least we squeezed all the stuff in the car." Myrtle was indeed holding some garbage bags on her lap, but it had all managed to go in one trip. "And I found out some more information, even though it did come from a fairly unreliable source."

Myrtle had filled Miles in on the way to Wanda's house. He said, "It's only Puddin who's unreliable. Her cousin might not be."

"Anyone with a name like Bitty has the propensity for unreliability," said Myrtle with a sniff.

"Do you know anything about this Adelaide? Are we going to be able to talk with her?" asked Miles.

"Of course we are. I'm a correspondent for the Bradley Bugle. I need to do interviews. Adelaide is a busy woman, so we'll need to beard the lion in her den."

"And her den is the local high school?" asked Miles with a sigh. "Why does it seem as if all roads lead to the high school? And—could she be the person that Neil recognized?"

"We'll have to make a trip over to the school. I looked Adelaide up online and read that she coaches basketball there. We'll go to a game—I know those are open to the public. Otherwise, it can be a bit tricky to get into a school these days, if you're simply wanting to talk to a teacher. And, no—I don't think that's who Neil recognized from Boston. I taught Adelaide, myself. As far as I'm aware, she's been here in Bradley for her entire life," said Myrtle. "Although Puddin's theory was that Neil told his wife that he'd seen someone he knew from Boston as a cover, in case he spent additional time at the school."

Miles grimaced. "We'll have to go to a basketball game? But that's likely to be very loud. And involve sitting on bleachers. I'm not sure how long you or I will be able to do something like that. Besides, Wanda said that 'stuff happens' and that I should stay alert."

"Don't be silly. We're stronger than we look and I doubt that Wanda was referring to the hazards of bleacher-sitting. Besides, it's the perfect opportunity to talk to Adelaide," said Myrtle. She pulled out her phone. "According to the school's website, the game is early, too—at 4:00. She must coach the junior varsity—they're usually the earlier games."

Miles pulled into the Goodwill and up to the drive-through where donations were accepted. For the next few minutes, they assisted one of the workers in unloading the car.

They were on their way back to Myrtle's house when Miles's phone rang.

Myrtle picked it up and glanced at it. "It's Tippy Chambers. I didn't realize that you two were on such friendly terms, Miles."

"Hardly. She'll be wanting to ask something about my book club selection," said Miles, sounding stressed. "I don't want to take the call while I'm driving."

"Most definitely not! You pay attention to the road. You're carrying precious cargo," said Myrtle. "I'll handle Tippy." She answered the phone. "Tippy? This is Myrtle. Miles is driving—is there something that I can help you with?"