Free Mercy & Mayhem: A Mercy Mares Cozy Mystery by Ava Mallory

the burrito he claimed he didn't want. Satisfied that he'd be okay for a while, I walked back to the office, still thinking about what he'd said.
     
    What did he mean by Rowdy being murdered?
     
    Hopefully, the staff wouldn't have mentioned the findings of the autopsy. If they had that would be highly unprofessional to disclose that information to the other residents. Perhaps he overheard the conversation Betty's son and Kathy were having, but even then, it really wasn't the place to discuss it in front of impressionable folks like Nubbin.
     
    Just as I was about to close the door behind me, Betty ran out of her room, screaming at the top of her lungs. “Help! Help!” She yelled.
     
    Tina was still in Nubbin's room and came running out immediately to assist her. “What's wrong? Are you okay?” Tina asked.
     
    Betty made a mad dash for me, still screaming as if she'd had the life scared out of her.
     
    I ran out to meet her. She grabbed my shoulders, begging me to help her.
     
    “What's wrong? Are you hurt?” I asked.
     
    “It's gone. He took it. It's gone.” Betty cried.
     
    “Who? Took what?” I motioned for Tina to check Betty's room. I hadn't seen any visitors enter the unit, but maybe one slipped passed me while I was in with Nubbin.
     
    Tina called out from Betty's room. “There's no one in here.”
     
    I lead Betty to a seat in the dining room, wrapping my arm around her frail shoulders. “There's no one there now. Who did you see? What did they take?”
     
    “The watch. He took his pocket watch.” Betty answered.
     
    I looked at Tina for clarification because I had no idea what Betty could be talking about.
     
    Tina shrugged. “I don't know. I've never seen a watch.”
     
    “Betty, can you tell me who you're talking about, so I can help you?” I asked, hoping that would help her to calm down. I figured she must have been delusional or thinking back to a time long ago. It could have been any number of reasons, given her dementia, but who was I to tell her that she was imagining it?

Chapter Six
                  “Welcome to the zoo.” Tina stood with her hands outstretched, waiting for Nubbin to hand her the cane he was swinging dangerously close to her head.
     
    “Murderers! The whole lot of you are murderers and I don't want no part of it. Now, let me out of this prison and leave me be!” Nubbin shouted from the counter top in the kitchenette.
     
    Good grief! Another day in paradise , I thought. I hadn't even had time to walk onto the unit fully before another crisis needed to be handled.
     
    Tina, bless her heart, tried her best to cajole him down, but he was not in the mood to comply with requests or listen to reason. Not when he was this agitated.
     
    I set my bags down next to the other aides, whom were enjoying the show and not the least bit interested in assisting Tina or Nubbin in any way.
     
    I wracked my brain to come up with a creative way to convince Nubbin to climb down from the counter top. Given his agility, I had to question why he had a wheelchair to begin with. Judging by his latest death defying stunts, I'd hazard a guess that the chair was used as a restraint and not as an assistive device. The only person that wheelchair assisted was the lazy staff member who didn't want to deal with him and his penchant for mood swings.
     
    I crossed my fingers and hoped this would work. “Mr. Schmeckpepper, that snow out there is something awful. I'm a California girl. I have no idea how you're supposed to drive in this mess. Do you think you could give me some driving lessons?”
     
    Nubbin grumbled at first, ready for an argument, then, something in his mind clicked and he stopped himself. “Hyundai, you got no business trying to drive if you don't know what you're doing.” He scolded me, offering Tina his cane.
     
    I offered him my hand and helped him to sit on the counter top, so Tina and I could ease him to the ground.
     
    “Well, how else was I