Chapter 53 – Mrs. Dunlap

"I don't know what to think of the couple that moved into the neighborhood. Have any of you talked to them?" Mrs. Dunlap asked as she sat crocheting at Molly Kraft's kitchen table. The women in the neighborhood met twice a week to gossip while they knitted or crocheted.

"I heard through the grapevine that they are spies and were snuck in here from another country to keep an eye on things?" Betsy Gallagher theorized while lowering her voice like someone was outside listening.

"Oh come now, who would send a spy to this neighborhood?" Mrs. Dunlap scolded Betsy. "It isn't like anything exciting ever happens here."

"Well I just think it is odd that there are two men and two women over there. I have not seen all four of them together so I don't even know which ones are really even our neighbors. Does anyone else know?" Mrs. Spencer asked as she furrowed her brow. She took another sip of her coffee and then went back to knitting the blue and white sweater that she was making for her grandson.

"The day I tried to welcome them to the neighborhood, I met the woman in the station wagon. I don't think she told me her name, but she said their last name was Kelly. I was excited thinking we had some Irish neighbors, but she insisted that they are Italians. Well right away, I knew there was something suspicious about that. When have you ever heard of such nonsense? How in the world did an Italian end up with a last name of Kelly? Anyway, the lady told me that she was a second cousin. She invited me inside, but when she opened the door, I saw a man standing there with a woman. The woman appeared to be Italian but the man did not. I'm not quite sure what we interrupted, but the place was a mess. I saw a lamp smashed and pillows all over the place. They both looked like they were hurrying to get dressed. If I didn't know any better, I would think that these two just had a little fling. I don't think the man was Mr. Kelly at all. I did see another man the day before enter the house and he did look Italian. Who knows what kind of tryst we have going on right under noses!" Mrs. Dunlap asserted.

Irene Jones had been quietly listening as they discussed the new neighbors, but she suddenly decided she needed to add in what she had seen.

"I have seen Mr. Kelly. He was outside for only a moment, but I said hi to him. It was the first day that he moved in. He seemed very sad too. I yelled out a greeting to him and introduced myself. He seemed a little nervous, but said that I could call him Angelo. A drycleaner got out of his van with a load of laundry for him so he went back inside with the clothes. The weird part is that I noticed that I ended up with a credit card application in my mailbox for him just today," Irene informed them.

"What is so weird about that?" Mrs. Dunlap asked. "You know Ol' Harold delivers the mail to the wrong boxes all the time."

"I know, but this mail was addressed to Richard Kelly not Angelo Kelly. So I started thinking about it. What if this man is part of a witness protection program?" Irene explained her theory.

Mrs. Dunlap started chuckling and said,"Irene, I think you watch too many soap operas."

"No, think about it Janice. Like you said, what Italian is named Kelly? This second cousin of his seems to show up all hours of the day. That dry-cleaning truck was here for a few days and then suddenly was replaced by a tv repair truck. The other man who is hanging around drives a silver sports car. Then just today, I saw this Kelly guy walk out with his cousin and another beautiful lady. They all got into the station wagon and have been gone for a few hours now." Irene continued to explain why she knew she was right.

Betsy had sat listening and suddenly blurted out, "Of course, it makes sense now! There are now three women over there that we know of. He's running a brothel!"

"What? Betsy! A brothel in our neighborhood? That's just crazy talk!" Janice Dunlap scoffed at the notion.

Molly began nodding her head and agreed, "I think you might be right Betsy. Who would suspect such a thing here? We have a nice, peaceful neighborhood. That man with the silver car might be one of their best customers."

"That man with the silver car is too good looking and shouldn't need to buy the affections of a lady!" said Irene siding with Janice.

Janice shot Irene a look of astonishment. Realizing that everyone was now looking at her, Irene defended herself as she pointed one of her knitting needles at the group. "Look, I might be old, but I'm not blind and I'm not dead. That is one gorgeous man. Are any of you going to deny it?"

The other ladies laughed at her comments while agreeing that the man was a nice looking fellow. Satisfied that she had proven her point, Irene went back to knitting.

"Besides, the other morning when I interrupted them, I noticed that he was wearing a gun. Why would he need a gun if he was at a brothel? Why would they allow him to even have a gun?" Janice argued.

"Why didn't you tell us that he had a gun?" Betsy complained. "That definitely changes everything."

"What does it mean though?" Janice asked.

"I have no idea but I'm going to keep an eye on that house. Something strange is going with them and it is up to us ladies to put a stop to it!" Betsy said decisively.

"Agreed," the rest of them chorused.

TBC.