Murder Over Easy (A Trailer Park Mystery Book 2) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Wanda Nell’s Favorite Recipes

  Discover More by this Author

  About the Author

  Copyright

  This ebook is licensed to you for your personal enjoyment only.

  This ebook may not be sold, shared, or given away.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the writer’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Murder Over Easy

  Copyright © 2006 by Dean James

  Ebook ISBN: 9781641970037

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  No part of this work may be used, reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without prior permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  NYLA Publishing

  350 7th Avenue, Suite 2003, NY 10001, New York.

  http://www.nyliterary.com

  Dedication

  For Charlaine Harris—

  Her books have never failed to enthrall me, and her friendship has never failed to sustain me.

  Acknowledgments

  As always, thanks to my agent, Nancy Yost, who asked the question that inspired this series. I can never thank her enough for that!

  My editor, Natalee Rosenstein, with whom I’ve now worked for more than a decade, continues to be the kind of editor every writer dreams about having. I can never thank her enough for the opportunities she has given me.

  Margaret Nimri provided assistance with certain culinary matters by sharing her family recipe for fruit cobbler, for which I offer grateful thanks.

  My friends never fail to give me support and encouragement Tejas Englesmith is always there, spurring me on and not grumbling when I have to spend time with the computer instead. Julie Wray Herman and Patricia Orr deserve medals for continuing dutifully to read everything I bombard them with and offer constructive criticism. I couldn’t do it without them!

  Chapter 1

  Wanda Nell Culpepper smiled sleepily into the early morning sunshine as she pulled out of the parking lot of Budget Mart and onto the highway toward home. She had her window down, enjoying the cool, fragrant air of this second week of June. It wouldn’t be much longer before the mornings would be hot and sticky, and she’d have to drive with the windows up and the air conditioner blasting, even at seven o’clock in the morning.

  She was looking forward to a rare Sunday off. After working an evening shift at the Kountry Kitchen, and then all night at Budget Mart restocking the shelves, she was glad the restaurant was closed today. She could sleep for a while, then get up and spend the day relaxing. Heck, maybe she could even finish that new Caroline Burnes book she had sitting on her nightstand. Miranda would be out of the house, working her own shift at Budget Mart, and Juliet would be taking care of Lavon, Miranda’s little boy. Wanda Nell could actually have a little time to herself.

  The streets of Tullahoma, Mississippi, were almost deserted. Wanda Nell made it out to the turnoff to the lake in record time, and she passed only one truck once she turned off the highway. A few minutes later, she came to the driveway leading to the Kozy Kove Trailer Park and turned.

  Pulling her red Cavalier into its parking place beside her double-wide trailer, Wanda Nell glanced over at her neighbor’s place. A light shone in the kitchen. She wondered how long Mayrene had been up and how her date last night had gone. Smothering a yawn, she decided she’d wait until later to get all the details from her best friend.

  Inside the trailer, everything was quiet Wanda Nell frowned as she dropped her purse on the counter in the kitchen. Miranda should be up by now, getting ready for work. Her shift started at nine, and it took the girl a long time to get up and get going in the morning. Shaking her head, Wanda Nell headed down the hall to the back of the trailer to wake up her older daughter.

  The door was partly open. Wanda Nell knocked, then called, “Miranda. You awake yet?”

  Mumbled words greeted her as she pushed the door further open. Lying in a tangle of sheets, Miranda peered balefully at her mother. “I ain’t going to work today, Mama. I don’t feel good.”

  Wanda Nell eyed her daughter doubtfully. Miranda was always claiming she was sick, trying to get out of going to work. She was the laziest seventeen-year-old on the face of the earth, as Wanda Nell had complained many a time. She stepped forward, leaned over, and placed a hand on Miranda’s forehead.

  “You’re not running a fever,” Wanda Nell announced. “And you don’t look sick to me.”

  Miranda pulled a pillow over her head and said something. Wanda Nell pulled the pillow off, and Miranda scowled up at her.

  “What did you say, Miranda?” Wanda Nell asked tartly.

  Miranda knew that tone. “Nothing, Mama,” she mumbled.

  “I expect you better be getting up from there and start getting ready for work.” Wanda Nell dropped the pillow back on the bed.

  Excited chatter from the nearby crib claimed her attention. Miranda’s sixteen-month-old son Lavon was awake and wanting his grandmother to pick him up. Wanda Nell stepped over to the crib and scooped the baby up in her arms, kissing him several times.

  “Miranda,” she said after a moment, “this baby’s sopping wet. I hope you haven’t let him lie here all night without changing his diaper.”

  Wanda Nell didn’t wait for Miranda to answer. She took Lavon into the bathroom and patiently stripped off his soggy diaper and dropped it into the diaper pail. She refused to have disposable diapers in the house, even though it meant she often had to wash the baby’s diapers herself when Miranda neglected to do so.

  Lavon stood on the toilet seat and talked to her while she got a washcloth and soaked it in warm water. As she bathed her grandson, Wanda Nell noted that more of what Lavon had to say actually sounded like real words. Right now he seemed to be telling her some story about his stuffed bunny. He giggled as she rubbed him dry with a towel.

  Carrying the baby back into the bedroom, Wanda Nell noted with disgust that Miranda was still lying there. She set Lavon down on the changing table and, without turning to look at her daughter, began to put a fresh diaper and a clean shirt on the baby. She spoke as she worked, trying hard not to let her irritation with Miranda color her voice.

  “Miranda, you’d best get on up out of that bed and start getting ready for work. You’re not too big for me to take a belt to, but I’m sure you don’t want me to embarrass you like that, do you?”

  “No, Mama,” Miranda said, her voice sullen.

  “Besides,” Wanda Nell went on, still not looking at her daughter, “remember what you promised you
r brother. TJ.’s gonna be mighty disappointed in you if he finds out you’re already slacking off before you’ve even worked a whole month at Budget Mart.”

  “All right, Mama,” Miranda snapped. “I get the message. I’ll get up and get ready for work. I already worked three days this week; seems like I oughta be able to have a little time off.”

  With Lavon cleanly dressed and riding comfortably on her left hip, Wanda Nell came over to Miranda. She had to keep a firm hand on her temper, or she and Miranda would get into a fight She didn’t want that She was trying hard to be more patient with the girl.

  With her right hand, Wanda Nell reached out and stroked her daughter’s head. “I really do appreciate you helping out Miranda. It means a lot to me, you holding down this job. And Dixie McBride tells me you’re doing good.”

  Miranda glowed under her mother’s tare praise. “Thanks, Mama. I guess I don’t mind working that much, but I sure do hate getting up early.”

  “I know, honey, I hate it too,” Wanda Nell said, turning and heading for the door. She paused a moment and looked back at Miranda. “But if you’re gonna be an adult and be treated like one, you’ve gotta behave like one.”

  Not waiting for Miranda’s response, she took Lavon into the kitchen for his breakfast She got him settled in his high chair and brought his favorite spoon and ajar of baby food. She had just sat down in a chair to feed Lavon when her younger daughter, Juliet appeared.

  “Morning, Mama,” Juliet said, coming forward to give her mother a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll take over, and you can go on and get to bed if you want I know you’re plumb worn out by now.”

  “I’m okay, sweetie,” Wanda Nell said. “Open up, little bird,” she told her grandson, and his mouth obligingly popped open.

  “You hungry, Mama?” Juliet asked. “I’ll scramble you some eggs if you want.”

  Wanda Nell shook her head. “No thanks. After I finish feeding Lavon, I’m going to bed for a while.”

  “Okay,” Juliet said. She went to the cabinet and pulled out a box of cereal, setting it on the table. She found a clean bowl and spoon in the dishwasher and retrieved the milk from the refrigerator. She sat down at the table across from her mother and poured cereal and milk into the bowl.

  Wanda Nell watched her daughter for a moment as she munched on her Cheerios. Juliet was everything her older sister was not: smart, mature, responsible, obedient Wanda Nell had to give Miranda some credit though. She was making an effort to get her act together. Wanda Nell was just thankful that Juliet nearly three years younger than her sister, didn’t need the same kind of constant pushing.

  “What’re you and Lavon gonna do today?” Wanda Nell asked, offering the baby another spoonful of his food. While Miranda was working at Budget Mart this summer, Juliet was earning some money taking care of Lavon.

  “TJ.’s gonna come by and get us after he and Grandmother Culpepper leave church, and we’re going to Grandmother’s for lunch and spend part of the afternoon. Is that okay with you?” Juliet regarded her mother anxiously. Wanda Nell and her ex-mother-in-law didn’t get along very well, but Wanda Nell didn’t begrudge the old woman time spent with her granddaughter and her great-grandson, now that she had finally admitted they existed.

  “No, honey, that’s fine,” Wanda Nell said. “I’m sure your brother will enjoy having you over there.” She shook her head. “I don’t know how he stands being cooped up with that old battle-ax all the time in that big old house.” Juliet laughed. ‘TJ.’s got her eating out of the palm of his hand, Mama. You know that She’d just about stand on her head and sing if he asked her to do it.”

  “And that’s the truth,” Wanda Nell said, smiling. TJ., her eldest, was the spitting image of his late father, Bobby Ray Culpepper, old Mrs. Culpepper’s only child. Half the time, Wanda Nell figured, old Mrs. Culpepper couldn’t remember whether he was TJ. or his daddy.

  “It sure is good to have TJ. back, isn’t it, Mama?" Juliet said. “Even if he’s living with Grandmother and not with us.”

  “That it is,” Wanda Nell replied, wiping some stray baby food from Lavon’s face. She still couldn’t quite get over the change in her son. At twenty-two, he seemed like he’d finally grown up. No more bar brawls, no more brushes with the law, no more running around town raising hell with his buddies. He was like a different boy entirely.

  Maybe his father’s murder had something to do with that, Wanda Nell reflected. They’d all been affected by Bobby Ray’s death and the investigation into it. By dying, Bobby Ray had made them a family again, something he’d never quite managed to do while he was alive.

  Shaking off her morbid thoughts, Wanda Nell got up and poured some milk into a sippy cup for Lavon. She handed him the cup, then ruffled his curly black hair. With his pale chocolate skin, he was a little brown angel. He looked up at her and giggled.

  “Mama,” Juliet said. “Did you hear me?”

  “What?” Wanda Nell turned to face her daughter. “No, sweetie, I’m sorry. I guess I was off on another planet somewhere. What’d you say?”

  Juliet laughed. “I didn’t think you were listening to me, but that’s okay. I know you’re tired.” She pushed away from the table and took her bowl and spoon to the sink. Facing her mother, she said, “I was telling you about the computer TJ.’s gonna give me.”

  “Computer? What computer?” Wanda Nell asked, bewildered. “How on earth is TJ. gonna afford a computer?” Her eyes narrowed. “Unless his grandmother bought it for him.” The old woman had showered numerous gifts on her grandson, but she remained stingy when it came to her two granddaughters and her great-grandson.

  Juliet shook her head. “No, Mama, it’s nothing to do with Grandmother. Mr. Tucker is replacing the computers in his office, and he told TJ. he could take a couple of the old ones.”

  “Oh,” Wanda Nell said, thinking it over. Hamilton Tucker, who insisted on being called Tuck, was a lawyer they had met during the investigation into Bobby Ray’s murder. Since then, he’d been very helpful to TJ., offering him a part-time job so TJ. wouldn’t be totally dependent on his grandmother for money.

  “TJ.’s been learning all about computers,” Juliet said, “and this afternoon he’s going to show me how mine works. I’ll be able to do a lot of my work for school on the computer, Mama, and there’s even a printer to go with it.” She eyed her mother anxiously. “Are you sure it’s okay?”

  Wanda Nell wasn’t real fond of accepting something that seemed like charity, but she couldn’t think of a way to turn down the offer without offending Tuck Tucker. She owed him a lot already for what he’d done for her and her family, and she didn’t like feeling beholden to anyone.

  “I guess so,” Wanda Nell said. She decided she’d talk to TJ. and see if there wasn’t some way she could pay Tuck for the computers, or at least for the one Juliet would be bringing home with her.

  All of a sudden, she yawned. Waves of tiredness washed over her, and she yawned again.

  “You go on to bed,” Juliet said. “I’ll take care of Lavon, and I’ll make sure Miranda gets off to work okay.”

  “Thank you, baby,” Wanda Nell said. She kissed both Juliet and Lavon, then almost stumbled on her way to her bedroom. All those hours on her feet had worn her out.

  Stripping off her clothes and slipping into a nightgown,

  Wanda Nell was in bed less than three minutes after she left her daughter and grandson in the kitchen. She was vaguely aware of sounds coining from the other end of the trailer as she drifted off.

  An insistent ringing pulled Wanda Nell from a deep sleep. Bleary-eyed, she stared at the digital clock on her bedside table. The ringing continued as she tried to focus on the time. Finally, she registered that it was 12:03 p.m. and that the ringing was from the phone beside the clock.

  Grumbling, Wanda Nell reached for the phone. “Hello,” she said.

  “Wanda Nell, you gotta help me,” a man’s voice said. “They said I killed her, but I didn’t, I swear. You gotta help me!” />
  Chapter 2

  “Melvin,” Wanda Nell said, “are you drunk? What are you talking about?” As she spoke, she sat up in bed, awake now. She pushed several strands of long blonde hair out of her eyes.

  “No, Wanda Nell, I ain’t drunk,” Melvin Arbuckle snapped back at her, “though I wish to hell I was right now. I can’t believe this is happening.”

  “Where are you, and what the hell happened?”

  “I’m at the county jail, and this is my one phone call,” Melvin said, making an obvious effort to speak in a calmer tone. “Fayetta’s dead, Wanda Nell, and they think I killed her.”

  Wanda Nell sat, shocked into silence, the phone still stuck to her ear.

  “Wanda Nell? You there?” Melvin asked, his voice strained.

  “Good lord, Melvin! Fayetta?” Wanda Nell couldn’t believe it Fayetta Sutton was one of the waitresses at the Kountry Kitchen, Melvin’s restaurant She and Fayetta had worked together there for several years, and they had despised each other the whole time. “Did y’all have a fight? Is that what happened?”

  “We had a fight last night,” Melvin said, his voice low, like he was trying to keep someone else from hearing him. “But when I left her place she was still alive.” He paused for a deep breath. “I went back over there this morning, and I found her.” His voice broke on a sob.

  Wanda Nell got a hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach. What he found had to have been pretty bad.

  “It was awful, Wanda Nell,” Melvin went on, his voice jerky as he tried to hold back the sobs. “Like somebody was slaughtering a pig. There was blood all over the place...” His voice trailed off.

  Wanda Nell shuddered and almost dropped the phone. Her imagination let her picture the scene all too clearly. “Good lord, Melvin,” she finally managed to say.

  “Look, Wanda Nell, they ain’t gonna let me talk any longer, so you gotta do something for me.”

  “What?”

  “You know that lawyer that helped you when Bobby Ray was killed?” Melvin didn’t wait for an answer. He rushed on. “You gotta call him for me, Wanda Nell. See if he’ll take my case. Tell him I got money. I can afford to pay him.”