Nelson didn’t bother to show him out.

As Earl, Jenny, and Gloria made their way down the corridor, the ladies burst out with questions.

“What happened in there?”

“What did he say?”

“And then what did you say?”

Earl refused to discuss anything. “Not out here.” He glanced around, suspicious of everyone in the hall. What was that man doing with the walker? Where was that woman rolling that oxygen tank?

They went to Gloria’s apartment. The women waited until they got Earl settled. Earl’s wheelchair was parked next to the couch. Jenny took the big chair. Gloria went to get everyone some iced tea.

While waiting for the tea, Jenny stared at Earl. He tried to ignore her, taking a few minutes to look around the apartment. If it wasn’t for their young chaperone, Earl would never have allowed himself to be alone with Gloria. It wouldn’t look right.

Gloria’s apartment was—what was the word?—cute. It had the same basic layout and furnishings as his and Kent’s, but she had added personal touches: ferns, ceramic cats, what have you.

Gloria returned from the kitchenette and handed a glass of iced tea each to Earl and Jenny. “Here we go.”

Earl took a sip. It was a little weak for his taste. Just the same, he smiled and smacked his lips. With both women staring at him, he focused on his glass. “So, did you brew this yourself, or—?”

“It’s instant.” Gloria was on the couch, sitting forward anxiously.

“So you just dip the bag—?”

“Crystals. You put crystals in a glass and add water.”

“So?” Jenny had waited long enough. “What happened?”

“Nelson is guilty of a lot of things—or he would have thrown me out a lot sooner.”

“Why do you say that?”

“He needed to figure out whether I knew enough to be dangerous. Did you get the shredded papers?”

Jenny opened her purse and thin slivers of paper shot out like they were spring-loaded. “All that would fit.”

“Good. We need to see whether we can get any of them to fit together. Based on Nelson’s reaction to my bluff, some of those may turn out to be the same receipts we found in the record albums.”

“Receipts?”

Earl folded his hands. “But there are still some things that don’t fit. I’m not sure what I think.”

“Why don’t you tell us all about it, darlin’, and we’ll work through it together,” Gloria said. “Maybe we can come up with something.”

Earl shared the details of his private meeting with Nelson. He gave them the context of the situation, what built up his theories, what his expectations had been going in to see the man. After he had unloaded the whole story, he just sat back in his wheelchair and locked his fingers together.

“We should call the sheriff,” Jenny said.

Earl looked forlornly at his empty glass. He looked at Gloria. “I don’t suppose you could—?”

“Of course, Blue Eyes. Don’t say anything interesting until I get back.”

“Hey,” Earl said, trying to sound bright and cheerful, “how about we go to the cafeteria and get something to eat?”

She looked at him uncertainly. “Now?”

“Yeah, it must be almost dinnertime. Besides, something about all this excitement has made me hungry.”

“Well,” Gloria said, “I can make something here if you want.”

“I don’t want you to go to any trouble.”

“It’s no trouble, if you don’t mind sandwiches. I’ve got some turkey bologna. Some chicken salad. I can also grill some cheese if you want to wait. And I have some canned tuna fish, if you want.”

“Tuna fish?” Earl wrinkled his nose. “The bologna sounds fine to me. If you can put a little mustard on it.”

“Sure thing. And you, young lady?”

Jenny smiled. “I’d like mayonnaise, thank you.”

“Okay. I’ll be right back.”

After Gloria left to make the sandwiches, Earl noticed the hum of a clock. He looked over to see a novelty clock on the coffee table, a little replica of the famed Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, home of the Grand Ole Opry.

Jenny clapped her hands together. “I’m just relieved it’s all over.”

Earl looked at her. “What’s all over?”

“Mr. Nelson killed George Kent. All we have to do now is call the sheriff and report him.”

Gloria came back out, wiping her hands on a towel. “Do y’all like pickles on your sandwiches?”

Earl thought for second then nodded. “Sure.”

Jenny asked, “What kind of pickles?”

Gloria started to answer then stopped herself. She made a crooked face. “Let me check.” She disappeared back into the kitchenette.

Earl turned to Jenny. “What makes you think Nelson killed anyone?”

“But you were the one who said George Kent was murdered. And then Nelson secretly went into Mr. Kent’s apartment, so I figured—”

“That’s been our problem. We’ve been doing too much figuring and not enough finding.”

“But you did find something.” She clutched a handful of the confettied paperwork. “If this is what you think it is, it could prove they were running their illegal deal out of Candlewick. Since it’s a state-licensed facility, that might make it a felony or something.”

Gloria reappeared. “I have sweet pickles, and I have dill pickles.”

Earl said, “Dill is fine, I guess.”

Jenny’s face fell. “No bread and butter pickles?”

“Aren’t those the same as sweet pickles?”

“No. They’re different.”

“Oh. Well then, no. I don’t have any bread and butter pickles.”

Jenny frowned. “Okay—um—” She tilted her head. “I guess I’ll pass. Thanks.”

Gloria smiled then nodded a little uncertainly and disappeared again into the kitchenette.

Earl turned to Jenny. “We have no proof whatsoever that Nelson is the killer.”

“Nelson couldn’t act more suspiciously if he wore a sandwich board on which he had written out a full confession. What more could you need?”

“For one, we need some kind of evidence. It’s going to be hard to pin him as the murderer.” Earl frowned. “And that bit about the antifreeze was news to me—if he had killed the man, why tell me something like that?”

Jenny opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out.

“See?”

“Well, the man is still breaking the law. Murderer or not, he’s still a criminal. Right?”

“Here we are!” Gloria came out with two plates, which she set on the small, round dining room table. “Okay, Jenny, yours is there—turkey bologna, mayonnaise, no pickle—and Earl’s is there—turkey bologna, mustard, and dill pickle.” She set the plates down as she spoke. Then she turned and left for the kitchen.

Jenny said in a low, forceful voice, “You need to call the sheriff ’s department and report Ed Nelson. They can figure it out. It’s what they do.”

“Why don’t you call them? I don’t want to get involved.”

“It’s a little late for that.” She took her chair. “You’re involved whether you like it or not.” Jenny took a bite of her sandwich. She frowned then checked under the bread. With an awkward smile, she took a knife, cut off the section with her teeth marks on it, and kept that part as she traded plates with Earl.

“But there will be questions. And forms. And paperwork. I hate that stuff.”

“We need to get scum like him off the street before he preys on someone else. Think of the victims.”

“Isn’t gambling a victimless crime?”

“Look at somebody like that poor man Dandy. Doesn’t he seem like a victim to you?”

Earl nodded. “I suppose he does.”

“Do the residents of Candlewick strike you as having a lot of disposable income they can just throw in a hole and forget about?”

“No.” Earl looked at the sandwich on his plate. “How many people do you think have access to that office there?”

Jenny seemed happier with the second sandwich. “Hmf?”

“You know, the doors, the file cabinets, stuff like that?”

“Ask Gloria. She would know.”

At this point, the woman herself returned. “Ask me what? Did I forget something?”

“Nothing,” Earl said. “We’re fine.”

Gloria’s eyes widened. “Oh—your iced tea!”

Before she left again, Jenny stopped her. “How easy is it for some passerby to just come in and grab something out of the office?”

Gloria stopped to think about it. “Not too easy, I would think. Mr. Nelson keeps his private office locked. And the outer office is always locked when no one is around. All the cabinets are locked up, too.” She snorted and said to Earl, “We don’t want someone stealing office supplies!”

Earl didn’t laugh. He just smiled awkwardly.

“I’ll get you that tea.” Gloria disappeared into the kitchenette again.

Jenny said, “It’s the right thing to do, Mr. Walker. Nelson killed one person, he threatened you, and he fired Grant Caine.”

“Well.”

“Okay, on the scale of things, Grant’s firing is hardly the same, but still—” Jenny took another bite of her sandwich.

Earl kept staring at the door to the kitchenette. When Gloria returned, he quickly turned his attention back to his sandwich. Gloria set the glass down for Earl then set a bowl of tuna fish down for herself.

“Anyway,” Jenny said, “now that we have this all resolved, we need to figure out your future.”

Gloria looked disappointed. “It’s all resolved?”

Earl shook his head. “No. Nelson said he didn’t kill Kent.”

“Of course he said that,” Jenny shot back. “Now stop putting this off. It’s important to wrap up all this other business so we can turn our attention to finding you a new place to live.”

Gloria looked aghast. “You still haven’t found a new home?”

Earl tried to think of a suitable reply for Gloria. All he could come up with was, “Not as of yet.” He turned his attention to Jenny. “Nelson said he wouldn’t have been that clumsy.”

“Everyone says that.”

“Has it occurred to you what will happen when the sheriff comes and arrests Nelson?”

“Another dangerous criminal will be locked up.”

“Without the manager, Candlewick will shut down immediately. Do you really want to put all those poor elderly people out on the street?”

Jenny frowned. “They would put someone else in charge, wouldn’t they? Find a replacement?”

“For ten days? Who in their right mind would take the job of being the brand-new manager of a facility that was going to close down in ten days?”

Gloria interrupted. “No leads at all? You didn’t have any friends or family help you find a new place?”

Earl shook his head sheepishly. “Not yet.” 

“Well, when did you plan to figure that out?” Gloria seemed upset. “This isn’t something you just figure out on the day this place closes. You need to have—”

“A plan, yes, I get that.” Earl was sorry he was short with her, but he was too embarrassed to apologize. Besides, couldn’t the woman see he needed to think? He turned back to Jenny. “As the manager, Nelson had so many other avenues open to him. If he was going to murder somebody, he could do it very easily.”

“We need to be looking at brochures, making calls, checking the papers,” Gloria said. “You need to see what your options are. How can you keep in touch with your friends if you don’t even—” She didn’t finish the sentence. Her lip trembling, she turned her attention to her bowl of tuna fish.

“Fine.” Earl set the sandwich down. “I’ll start the search.”

“But first things first,” Jenny said. “Call the sheriff ’s department, and tell them what you know about Ed Nelson. You have enough to get them started. They are professional people—just give them the lead, and they can take it from there.” Earl started to protest, and she added, “It’s their job. It’s what they do.”

“Fine. But I can’t do it from here. I need to go home first.”

Jenny eyed him warily. “Why? What’s wrong with—”

“I’m not comfortable calling from here.” He looked at Gloria and tried to smile. It hurt. “No offense. I’d just be self-conscious.”

Jenny said, “But you are going to make the call, right?”

Earl hesitated. “Yes.”

“You’re sure?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“Because if you don’t call the sheriff, I will.”

“Fine. I’ll call.”

Jenny smiled reassuringly. “And then we’ll see if we can figure out what to do for your move.”

Gloria smiled. “Absolutely.”

Earl nodded. “It sounds like you ladies have the rest of my life mapped out.”

Jenny and Gloria shared a grin. Gloria winked. Jenny said, “We’re working on it.”

Earl took a deep breath and let it out. “All right then, College. I guess you best get me home so I can get started.”

“Yes sir!” Jenny got behind his wheelchair and gripped the handles and pushed him around the dining table, toward the door. She turned back to Gloria. “Thanks so much for feeding us!”

“I’m sorry it wasn’t more.”

“No, it was great.”

When the two were out the door, Gloria waved. “Hope to see you again soon, Blue Eyes.”

Earl returned the wave uncomfortably. He grumbled something.

As Jenny pushed him down the hall, she asked, “So what was that all about?”

“What was what about?”

“That whole weird vibe in there. You were acting very strange.”

“Do you think Gloria noticed anything?”

“How could she not?”

Earl gripped the wheels on his chair. “Stop. Go that way.”

“But your apartment is—”

“If we went to that computer room, would we be able to go on the worldwide computernet?”

“Um, I suppose so. You can find pretty much—”

“Then we need to make a detour.”