open every day except Christmas.
“Since it’s November, don’t be surprised if it gets chillier as the day goes on, even with the sun, so be sure to layer. Go on. Out. Dinner’s at five thirty. Roast beef with all the trimmings. Don’t be late.” She stood back by the dining room door, arms still crossed, and waited until everyone cleared out.
Pippa’s heart was pounding. A puzzle store? She smiled at her hostess. “Thank you, Mrs. Trumbo, for the delicious breakfast. Maude’s Creepy Puzzles, you said?”
Mrs. Trumbo nodded. “Yes, on South Looney Street. Maude Filly owns it. That’s her maiden name, and it so happens she was Major Trumbo’s first wife, lived with him here in town when he was a big pooh-bah in the army. She’s been a good friend of mine since Major Trumbo passed to the hereafter, where he belonged, not before, it would have been too weird. She’d already changed back to her maiden name so there was no confusion. I always mention her store to my guests. Maude designs and makes most of her own puzzles, got a gift for it. I once asked her why the fascination with monster puzzles. You know what she told me? She said, ‘Lill, you can always pull apart puzzle pieces and the monster is gone, not like those monsters who come in your nightmares. People like that.’
“If you can figure that out, tell me. During the summer, when tourists are thick on the ground, she makes a fortune. Everyone with a kid wants a monster or a snake puzzle, says she can hardly keep up. It tides her over during the winter. Would you look at the time? Back to my kitchen. Have a good day, Ms. Cinelli.” She paused and gave Pippa a big grin, showing beautiful white teeth, possibly her own. “You’re a pretty girl. Not many young available men around St. Lumis, particularly now in November. That’s a pity. You’ll have to come back in the summer. All you’d have to do is walk around and look available.”
Pippa accepted this advice with a smile, but she wasn’t paying attention. Creepy puzzles. No, couldn’t be that easy, that obvious. She was already wearing a white shirt under a dark blue V-neck sweater, jeans, sneakers, and a leather jacket over her arm, ready to rock ’n’ roll. Her first stop would be Maude’s Creepy Puzzles, on South Looney Street, only a two-block walk from Major Trumbo’s B&B.
Five minutes later, she was already there, facing a deep, narrow storefront set between Sharpest Tools and Buzzy’s Burgers. Maude’s Creepy Puzzles was written in bold Gothic script above the door. One large front window showcased puzzles from ancient horror movies, like Creature from the Black Lagoon, the original Godzilla, and Jack Nicholson in The Shining, grinning manically, his eyes quite mad, a thick green snake wrapped around his waist, mouth open wide, fangs dripping venom. The snake looked nearly as terrifying as Nicholson. And there was a kraken, a giant bulbous beast rising above a ship, crushing it and eating the sailors, the kraken’s long, fat teeth dripping blood. Talk about giving kids nightmares.
Even the Closed sign was in fancy Gothic script. The door opened as Pippa studied a puzzle of a serpent winding its way up what looked like the Tree of Life. The Garden of Eden? If that serpent spoke to her, Pippa knew she’d have run away, not hung around and munched on an apple.
An older woman wearing an orange turban that rose a good five inches above her head and a flowing black caftan with yellow stars looked over at Pippa and gave her a big smile. She was about seventy, comfortably large, her eyes slightly almond shaped and nearly as dark as Dillon Savich’s. So this was the first Mrs. Trumbo.
“What a blessed Sunday morning. It’s good to see someone out of bed, looking alert, after those wicked revelries at Leveler’s Inn last night.” She touched her fingers to her orange turban. “Yes, yes, I’m still celebrating Halloween. Come in and look around. I think there’s a couple of Snickers bars in the basket on the counter if you still have a sweet tooth left. Just let me hang the Open sign. There.”
I’ve found the mother lode.
17
Pippa was so excited, for a moment she couldn’t think of a thing to say. She beamed at Mrs. Filly and out tumbled, “I can’t wait to talk about your puzzles, Mrs. Filly. They’ve always fascinated me. Mrs. Trumbo said