The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree (Berkley Prime Crime)

a sandwich of Buzz’s pulled pork with white sauce, along with side dishes of cabbage slaw and fried okra. Verna had ordered grilled chicken and poured white sauce over it, too. Before he moved to Monroeville, Buzz had worked for Big Bob Gibson, up in Decatur, Alabama, where he learned how to make the famous white sauce. Everybody raved about it.
    “Well,” Verna said finally, “I have to admit that it was quite a sight. That bonnet flying off, and your cousin standing there on the train steps, bald as the day she was born.” She grinned. “Bet those shoes are going to kill her feet before she gets to Memphis.”
    Lucy shook her head ruefully. “I had to warn her not to take them off. Her feet will swell so bad she’ll never get them on again. I wanted to give her a pair of Ralph’s but I was afraid a man’s shoes under that dress would be a dead giveaway.” She sobered, looking at them across the table. “You’re not going to tell on me, are you?”
    “Tell what?” Myra May asked. “Seems to me that it was really nice of you to buy a train ticket for a cousin who was down on her luck.”
    “I think so, too,” Lizzy put in. “I hope she gets where she’s going safely and never has to come back.”
    Verna shook her head. “Too bad she had such a terrible experience during her visit here. Couldn’t have been much fun.”
    “Thank you,” Lucy said simply.
    Ophelia nodded, her eyes nearly filled with tears. “Yes, thank you, thank you! Y’all are the best friends anybody could have.”
    “That’s for durn sure,” Myra May said emphatically. She finished her sandwich and wiped her fingers with her napkin. “And now, you two get to hear what the three of us have been up to this afternoon.” She looked at Verna and Lizzy. “Okay if I go first?” When they nodded, she reported on what she had learned from Imogene Rutledge, then summarized her conclusions in one sentence.
    “Miss Rutledge thinks that the bank’s money problems were created by Mr. Johnson, who made a couple of unsecured loans to family members. She thinks he’s been moving money around to cover up his misdeeds, and she’s willing to tell the bank examiner what she knows. In fact, she’s agreed to drive over to Darling first thing in the morning and talk to him.”
    “Sounds a little vindictive to me,” Verna said critically.
    “Who cares?” Ophelia asked. “If she can get poor Alice Ann off the hook, she can be as vindictive as she likes.”
    “Anyway,” Lizzy said, “he’s got it coming. Silly man—firing an outspoken woman who knew about those loans. That’s asking for it, seems to me. You’d’ve thought he’d have more sense.” She looked at Verna. “So what did you find out about Bunny?”
    “That she lied to Mr. Moseley,” Verna said promptly. “And what’s more, he knows it—now. He was here this morning, asking about her at the house where she and her mother used to live.” She told what she had learned from the soda jerk about Bunny’s time as a cosmetics clerk at the drugstore and from the woman at Bunny’s old house. “The woman kept saying that Eva Louise was a good girl who didn’t have any sense at all when it came to men,” she added. “I guess we can take that for true, can’t we?”
    “I sure can,” Myra May said dryly.
    “I can, too,” Lizzy said. She leaned forward and lowered her voice. “And I can tell you who the man was in that photograph, as well.”

TWENTY-THREE
    Lizzy and Verna Hire a Lawyer
    Thursday, May 22, 1930

    Lizzy and Verna were waiting for Mr. Moseley when he came into the office at seven thirty the next morning, folding his umbrella, shaking the rain off his hat. They had discussed whether Lizzy should talk to Mr. Moseley alone or whether Verna should be there. Lizzy thought it might be less embarrassing for him if she did it alone, but Verna thought that the two of them might be able to put more pressure on him to do what needed doing. They had finally decided to do it together.
    “Strength in numbers,” Verna said, and Lizzy agreed.
    “Mornin’, girls,” Mr. Moseley said cheerfully. He had met Verna often, of course—he had regular business at the probate office, and she dropped in to visit with Lizzy every now and then.
    Knowing that Verna resented being called a “girl,” Lizzy spoke up. “We need to talk to you, Mr. Moseley. We’re hoping you can help us.”
    Mr. Moseley smiled and rubbed his hands. He seemed to be feeling better. Lizzy