In this blog:
Part 2 -Murder at Meadow Lakes……Again
A Note from Joy
New Offers in The BOOB Girl Series
In the last blog:
Sheryl, Alphonso’s manager ran into the dining room. One look told them something bad had happened.
“Alphonso! We’ve had a death! Ruthie! 322!”
Alphonso rushed to his scooter, zoomed out the door and the friends followed as fast as they could go, doing a super hobble.
The door to apartment 322 was open a crack. Alphonso banged his scooter through the door, The others rushed inside. Ruthie Vytrznik was flat on her back, eyes closed, looking quite dead.
Marge hurried to the bedside as the others gathered around. The old detective put her hand to Ruthie’s throat and felt for a pulse she knew was not there.
“Ruthie,” Mary Rose said. “I could never pronounce her last name.”
“Vi-Tris-Nick,” Robbie volunteered. “It’s Polish for ‘Troublemaker.’”
They watched Marge lean toward Ruthie’s face. She opened Ruthie’s mouth and sniffed. She pushed Ruthie’s cheeks in and sniffed again. “She’s making trouble even when dead. Call 911. And ask for homicide. Ruthie Vytrnik has been murdered.”
They were quiet. Mary Rose grabbed Wiley’s hand and put her other hand over her mouth. Marge looked around. “There is a strange smell in here,” she noted.
They sniffed.
It smelled as if Ruthie had been cooking a bad stew.
Marge made a “get out” motion with her and, looked at Alphonso and said only, “911.”
They turned, left the bedroom, Alphonso climbed onto his scooter and shot out of the door.
They followed.
“I’ll go get her records and call the police,” Alphonso said hurriedly. He and Raven headed back down the hall to Alphonso’s office. Marge stayed in the apartment to track down the odious smell. The rest of the friends waled a short way to the end of the hall, just yards from Ruthie’s now-closed door, where a table was surrounded with chairs so residents could gather and look out the large window.
“She was never very friendly,” Mary Rose said.
“She was downright strange,” Hadley added.
“She could be quite rude,” Robbie said.
“She had good legs,” Wiley said.
They looked at him.
‘She had this weird friend,” Robbie said, thinking hard. “Lucriminara, I think her name was.”
“Tall and pencil thin,” Hadley said. “I used to envy that thinness, now I like the saying, ‘Think of all the women who passed up dessert that last night on the Titanic. Well now, at my age, I am ON the Titanic, and I eat whatever I please.”
“What if you gain weight?” Mary Rose asked.
“That’s why God invented elastic waistbands,” Hadley said.
They gave a soft, almost embarrassed laugh.
Mary Rose looked serious. “Didn’t Ruthie have a cat?”
“It was a Gerbil,” Robbie informed them. “She named it Rodent.”
“Who will take care of Rodent the Gerbil?” Mary Rose asked, looking worried.
“He died sever months ago,” Robbie said with a small smile. “Rodent is a dead rodent.”
The door to Ruthie’s apartment opened and Marge came out. She walked down the hall toward them, and they looked up at her expectantly.
“I’m sure of it,” she said, “Ruthie was murdered all right. She was poisoned.”
Mary Rose gasped.
Robbie heard a “Ta Dumm” in her head like the scary two notes of suspense from the keyboard of a large pipe organ.
“How?” Hadley and Wiley said together.
Their eyes were glued to Marge, who leaned heavily on her red cane.
“Onions,” she said in a grim voice. “Ruthie Vytrnik died of an overdose of onions.”
Ta Dumm
A Note from Joy
My Very Bad Day!
I spent hours in the emergency room. Ugh!! 😢 It was not a good day at all. I decided to go horseback riding, to ease the boredom... something I haven't done in awhile. It turned out to be a big mistake!
I got on the horse and started out fine. Nice and slow, but then we went a little faster. Before I knew it, we were going as fast as the horse could go. I couldn't take the pace and fell off. I caught my foot in the stirrup with the horse dragging me. It wouldn't stop. Hit my head, banged up my back and elbow, pretty good and tore my pants half off me !
Thank goodness the kind manager at Dollar General came out and unplugged the machine. But, she had the nerve to take the rest of my change so I wouldn't ride the Elephant or Motorcycle. I was also banned from the Merry-go-round.
The nerve!
Perfect Mother's Day Gift!! Pick up your copy of any of The BOOB girls books at The Bookworm, 2501 S 90th St #111, Omaha, NE 68124 or Centering, 6406 Maple St, Omaha, NE 68104. Both are fully stocked with my books. Or, order online: www.theboobgirls.com.
Happy Mother's Day to all my Burned Out Old Broads friends. Love you all!!