Drizzled with Death(49)

“Well, you can say that again. I heard Hanley went directly to the Stack Shack after the police finished questioning him at the breakfast and bought everyone there a round of coffee. Piper had to start several new pots just to keep up with the demand.”

“Sounds like a pretty enthusiastic reaction to her death.”

“It certainly was, considering what all has been going on between those two.” Tansey gave me an exaggerated wink that took so long on the recoil I wondered if she’d managed to glue her eyelid shut.

“Are you implying he was up to no good with Alanza in the way I think you mean?” I was shocked from the crown of my head to the tips of my toes. Granted this was not as big a deal as it would have been for someone of a more normal height, but it was all I could do. Tansey nodded.

“Where did you hear that?”

“From Myra, of course. Who else says such things?” Tansey winked again and I wondered if she had always done it and I had never been old enough to be a recipient of her winks or if this was a new thing for her.

Myra was known for flapping her lips whenever a tasty tidbit landed in her ears. As outrageous as the things she passed on generally were, she wasn’t often wrong even if she was known for exaggerating. The trick with Myra was sifting out the reality from the embroidery of any situation. Time for a bit of digging.

“What did she say exactly? Coffee together at the Stack? Sharing a hymnal at church?” Any bit of anything could be read into especially as the winter was starting to gather around the town. Winter sports included snowmobiling, skiing, ice fishing, local politics, and dissecting the rumors passed on by Myra.

“Coffee isn’t drunk on your back. And whatever they were sharing wasn’t sanctified by the church. But it’s nice to meet a girl in this day and age still so innocent. No wonder my Knowlton is smitten.” Tansey looked my small frame up and down and I suddenly felt the need for a shower. With borax.

“An affair between Hanley and Alanza? Do you think Connie knew about it?” I wasn’t sure whether or not to believe it. Before Jill told me she was having an affair with him, I wouldn’t have thought Hanley could have seduced even one woman, let alone caught two in addition to his wife.

“If Myra knew, then most everybody else in town did, too. She isn’t exactly known for her discretion, now is she?” That was an understatement. Every embarrassing love affair, case of venereal disease, or arrest for DWI was something Myra shared with everyone in earshot.

“And what about Knowlton? He must have told you how he felt.”

“Well, you know Knowlton, never a bad word to say about anybody. He did say he wasn’t looking forward to coming back with a load of animals for stuffing an extra two hours out of his way. Even in the cold air, some of them can give off a powerful stink.” Tansey spat again like she was punctuating her thoughts.

“I can only imagine. So he can’t be mourning her loss, can he?”

“Well, of course not. No one is.”

“So why would Alanza want to shut down the access through her property for the snowmobile trails? Did someone do something to tick her off?”

“That’s no secret. Alanza wanted to be elected president of the club.”

“She didn’t seem like the outdoorsy type.” I’d never seen Alanza wearing anything that looked like it was built for the cold weather. She favored clingy silky tops and bottoms that wouldn’t be allowed in most public high schools even today, despite the fact her figure wasn’t up for such indignities.

“Everyone was shocked when she showed up at our first meeting of the season last year but we welcomed her, of course. She had a huge parcel of land and we wanted her to keep the status quo.”

“But no one wanted to curry favor enough to vote for her at the election?”

“There were some. I know I don’t have the easiest temperament.” That was news to me. Not the temperament part, the self-awareness. Tansey always seemed oblivious to how her actions and statements were affecting others. It never occurred to me she recognized what was happening and simply went on as she pleased anyway. “I argue for what I believe in no matter who says otherwise, and I’ve made my share of enemies over the years.” Tansey nodded to herself like she was thinking over a specific incident or two. “In the end, more people voted for me than they did Alanza. I’d like to think it was because they believed I’m a good president, but it may have been because she’d only been riding since she moved here and wasn’t what anyone would call an expert.”

“What I don’t understand is why Alanza was interested in the presidency in the first place.”