asked in a high voice, still covering her mouth with her hand. She turned away and stared at the wall. At least that was what Brownie thought Miz Adelia was doing. Her shoulders shook a little as she stood there. Mebe she’s feeling down in the pants.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I done thought about it. I found everything on Auntie D.’s treasure map, so I need something.”
“ Both diamond earrings?” Miz Adelia asked quickly. She glanced at him, her dark eyes big and wide. Evidently, Miz Adelia had been a contributor to the hiding of the treasure items.
“One in the chandelier and one hidden in the hidey-hole on the third level of the grand staircase,” Brownie said promptly.
“How in the name of— ” Miz Adelia bit off the word she was about to say and then waited a moment before adding, “how did you find the hidey-hole?”
“Don’t remember,” Brownie said. He shrugged. “Looked like it was a place for a hidey-hole. You know when Ma was here at Christmas, she was tapping on all the walls for secret passages and got me started.”
“I thought she was busy estimating the market value of all the furniture,” Miz Adelia said, looking back at the wall.
“That too. Ma can multitask.”
Miz Adelia said something under her breath that Brownie did not hear.
Under the table Precious pawed his leg as if warning him.
Surreptitiously Brownie got up and went to the counter where there sat a large ceramic pig wearing a chef’s toque waggling a tremendous tongue. He would have whistled covertly, but that would have cued Miz Adelia. He carefully took off the head and snatched up two doggie biscuits. With utmost discretion, he eased the lid back on. A spy/cowboy/astronaut couldn’t have done it better.
Miz Adelia said, “Don’t give that dog no more after them two biscuits.”
Brownie glanced at the back of her head. She can do that better than Ma. Mebe there’s cameras in here . He looked around suspiciously.
Returning to the table, he passed one biscuit to Precious who pretty much sucked it into her mouth.
“Dog’s getting a little pudgy,” Miz Adelia said. “Reckon she needs to go on a diet.”
Precious whined.
“So like I was saying,” Brownie went on as if she hadn’t spoken, “I want to be a sleuth. And all I need is a mystery. A really good mystery.”
Miz Adelia began washing dishes. “A mystery,” she said. “Let me think about that. I aim we can come up with something.”
Brownie began carrying loads of wadded-up newspaper to the garbage before Miz Adelia could tell him to do so. There was a pounding down the stairs as if someone with cement shoes on was in a terrific hurry and Bubba came in. Dressed in overalls, he appeared as though he had dashed through the shower and hadn’t paused to use the soap or a towel or possibly even the water. There were still needles in his hair, but the leaves were gone. Brownie couldn’t tell if the vine of poison ivy was still present.
Bubba took the entire carafe of coffee and carried it out the door before Miz Adelia noticed. He paused to forcefully scratch his leg and slopped about a cup’s worth of coffee on the stoop. Then he was diving into his old green Chevy truck without spilling anymore coffee, which Brownie thought was quite an accomplishment. The truck sputtered protestingly as he started it. He hesitated to put the carafe to his mouth and drank a significant amount straight from the glass container before putting foot to pedal.
“What happened to the coffee?” Miz Adelia said, looking around. She had a dish towel in one hand and a plate in the other. “There’s a mystery.”
“Bubba took it,” Brownie said and jerked a thumb toward the door.
The Chevy roared into life, and Miz Adelia peeped out to see Bubba turning the truck sharply into a U-turn that was tighter than Brownie would have thought a vehicle that old was capable of doing. “The whole thing?” she asked skeptically.
“I believe Bubba is in a