Nursing a Grudge: An Earl Walker Mystery

Chapter 14

Earl kept rubbing his eyes. It was like he had not slept at all. The whole night before, he tossed and turned, his head swirling with questions, with stray facts and wild conjectures. For a man accustomed to the quiet life of a hermit, it was a lot of sensory input to deal with.

He also spent the sleepless night worrying that his “not-a-date” with Gloria had been more fun than he cared to admit, even to himself. She was a charming woman, she was delightful, she was a ray of sunshine. And her interest in him was not entirely unwelcome. But something about her nagged at the back of Earl’s mind. Something he was afraid to face.

When the alarm went off, he went several bouts with the snooze button. But eventually he realized he couldn’t put the day off any longer. He finally crawled wearily out of bed, took the railing hand over hand around to the kitchenette, and started the coffee.

While he waited for the water to boil, he went around the apartment and turned on the lamps, opened the curtains, switched on the TV. Anything to generate more light in the place. Anything to help him crawl out of this fog.

His mind didn’t begin to clear until he finally had some coffee. He liked it thick, black, and syrupy. As it coursed through his system, he was able to dig through the clutter that was his morning brain and decide that the next person on his checklist should be Ray Stanton. After all, Stanton made the chili at the fateful party. He seemed to know the deceased. He was part of that circle of friends. Whether or not he was directly responsible for George Kent’s death, he was probably in a position to have seen something important.

Earl checked the clock. It was going on seven. Starting to feel lazy, he went for the phone—and realized he didn’t have any idea how to call the man. So he called up the front desk at Candlewick. A voice answered, far too cheery for this time of morning. It turned out to be an answering machine. Earl hung up.

On the end table was Gloria’s phone number. She was friends with these people; maybe she knew how to get in touch with Ray Stanton. But Earl wondered whether calling her this morning would send the wrong message. He didn’t want to give out inappropriate signals.

So he went about his morning routine—cereal, milk, vitamins, meds, the whole bit. The entire time, the urge to call Gloria became stronger. Earl wanted to hear her voice again.

He put off calling her as long as he could. He brushed his teeth. Brushed his hair. Picked out a shirt, pants, socks. But once he was dressed and ready to go, he was all out of stalling tactics.

She picked up on the first ring. “Hello?”

“Hi.” He hesitated. “This is, um, Earl Walker.” He was already starting to feel like a punk kid.

“Well, good morning, Blue Eyes,” she said. “How are you?”

“Still trying to get my day started, I guess. You sound awfully chipper.” Earl wished he had written down some notes before he got on the phone.

“I guess I’m just a morning person. Did you have breakfast yet?”

“I had some cereal.”

“Oh.”

“With milk.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Say—”

“Yes?”

Earl felt like he was floundering, so he jumped right to the point. “As you’ve figured out, I just don’t know my way around here at Candlewick.”

“Yeah.” There was a twinkle in her voice.

“So, I was wondering if you could play tour guide for me again today.”