Page 30 of Grave Danger

“We were eating at Margie’s with Oliver and Dave when the accident happened. Made a horrible sound.” Demmy looked at Cody, who nodded but kept quiet, letting him tell it because he didn’t have it in him to talk about it all just yet.

“Did she really drive that goddamn gas guzzler into the pharmacy?” an elderly man called from the driveway.

“Oh, apple trees,” Amelia said with a heavy sigh. “You might as well come back to the group and tell us all at once.”

They followed Amelia across the lawn to the dozen seniors all standing and watching them, eagerly awaiting news. Otis was among them, and he shook both their hands.

“Well?” a lady with soft, white curly hair and big round sunglasses said. “Is it true?”

“Yes, the Widow Monroe’s car jumped the curb and crashed through one of the big windows of the pharmacy.” Demmy put a hand on Amelia’s shoulder. “Eileen Berridge was in the passenger seat.”

“Eileen? Oh, dear. Oh, no. Is she okay?”

Cody found he wanted to share this part of the story, and he smiled. “She was griping and complaining as they put a neck brace on her and wheeled her to the ambulance.”

“Oh, that poor dear,” Amelia said.

“She’ll be giving the nurses and doctors hell for sure,” a man said to murmured agreements all around the group.

“What about JoAnn?” Amelia asked. “How’s she doing?”

Demmy glanced at Cody, and Amelia quickly interpreted his hesitation. She took a step back and reached for Otis who grabbed her hand tight in both of his.

“Demetrius?” Amelia said in a quiet voice, and the rest of the group stopped talking among themselves and shuffled a step or two closer. Cody saw one woman reach up and adjust the volume of her hearing aid.

“She didn’t make it,” Demmy said in a gentle voice.

“What? Oh. Oh, no.” Amelia’s eyes filled with tears, and she took another step back as if distancing herself from such terrible news. “Was she… Was it very bad?”

“Um…” Demmy faltered, and Cody decided it was time for him to help out.

“There’s a lot of damage to the building. The front end of her car went right into one of the windows.”

“Which one?” a man from the group asked.

“Oh, fir trees, does it matter?” Amelia said.

“It does to that pharmacist.”

“It was the middle one,” Cody said.

“Hard to replace a middle one.” The man shook his head and made a tsk-ing sound.

“Anyway, she was gone by the time the fire department got there,” Cody continued. “I didn’t see any… Well, there was no blood that we could see, so it didn’t look like she’d been injured too badly.”

“She could barely see over that damn steering wheel,” a woman said, shaking her head.

“Maybe Eileen will be able to tell us more,” another woman said. “Since she was in the car with her. What if JoAnn had a stroke or something while she was driving?”

“I wonder who the executor of her estate is?” said the man who had asked about the window. “They’re going to have a lot to handle getting the insurance to cover the damage to the pharmacy. Those big windows aren’t cheap, especially a center one.”

“I’m sure her sister will be handling her affairs,” a woman in the group said.

“Sister?” Cody said at the same time as Demmy.

“I didn’t know she had a sister,” Demmy said. “Does she live here in town?”

“No, she moved to Florida years ago,” a woman said. “Probably, oh, thirty years ago now. Her name’s Dottie.” She looked around the group. “Anyone have her information? She should be told about this.”