“Give me fifteen minutes.”
“I’ll give you anything I have.”
“Promises, promises.” Ellen disconnected.
Janet parked behind the bright red Ford F-150 4x4 that Andy had recently bought with twenty-three thousand miles on it, barely broken in, according to him. He swore that based on how and where he was raised, it was his only choice for a vehicle. Janet believed him. Greg had a silver Lexus coupe that he insisted on leasing new with an option to trade every other year.
“How in the hell do they afford all of this?” Janet said the same to herself every time she came to the house. “Twenty-eight hundred square feet for two grown men.” She looked at the mock Tudor house complete with small turrets on each front corner that served as storage rooms and shook her head.
“We work our cute little butts off all day and bring more work home at night.” Greg answered the question. “We love spending our money on our home.”
“And each other.” Andy joined them in the front hall, holding an extra margarita glass.
“I’m assuming the Great White is on her way? The guest room is prepared.” Greg giggled. “I love saying that.”
“And I know you call her that because of her disposition and hair color. Yes, she is.” Janet sipped the drink and didn’t set her briefcase down until she reached the large walnut partners’ desk in the middle of the boys’ den. “I know I shouldn’t, but I enjoy the salt on the rim of the glass.” She sighed, contented for the moment. Janet could think in this room. She loved the rich paneling and all the books she teased the boys about not reading. Best of all were the logs blazing in the fireplace. Christmas was only a few weeks away, and she knew what she wanted.
“Live large while we can, Auntie. It can all change in the blink of an eye.” Greg stood beside her and toasted her glass. Andy returned to the kitchen.
“He put shrimp in to marinate, always a good appetizer.” Greg cleared a place on the desk. “Okay, what do we have?” He pulled a chair over beside hers.
Janet began emptying her briefcase of the Candler files for Keith and Beth. The estate work, the probate photo proof sheets, the statements, the e-mails, and the sheriff’s report were spread out on the large surface of the desk in short order.
“Keep those vile things away from me.” Greg moved the e-mails to the bottom of the stack. “Enough to give porn a bad rep.”
“Greg, be serious.” She took one more sip from the glass and smacked her lips. “I know the evidence is here. You must help me see it. You know how just saying things aloud to someone else oftentimes helps the answer pop into your mind.”
“Let’s do it. Walk me through it. Just a sec. Andy, you need to hear all of this, too.”
“I’m on the way with the shrimp, and I don’t mean this fine figure of a woman I found on the doorstep.” He walked into the room with a platter of shrimp surrounded by chips and salsa, and Ellen on his arm. “I know us. We’ll get started, forget all about dinner, and three hours from now wonder why we’re ravenous.”
“I’m already hungry.” Ellen munched from the tray before it was set down and added her laptop to the pile on the desk. She tossed her coat over the recliner near the fireplace and warmed her hands by the crackling flames.
They settled around the desk with files, food, and the margarita pitcher all in easy reach, and waited for Janet to tell them a story.
Janet began with Keith and the creation of documents for Beth to handle her mother’s estate and caretaking. She explained Beth’s investment in Lou’s property and what she knew of Will’s use of his share of the farm and estate. She touched lightly on the e-mails and Delores’s statement. She took the most time explaining Beth’s handwritten codicil, including her notes from Gloria. Then she walked them through Beth’s estate, using the contact sheets with the postage stamp-size photos of everything Beth owned keyed to a written list.
“I keep thinking about my conversation with Bo Watson in the clerk’s office a week or so ago.”
“Lucky you.” Greg dodged a punch from Andy. “Seriously, he’s a nice guy even if he was clueless why I schlepped along as manager on the football team.”
“He explained to me what was wrong with the accident report on Beth’s death.” Janet held the bound copy and riffled the pages. “The sheriff’s photographs make me crazy because of the poor copy quality.”
Janet refilled her glass, realizing that the alcohol was taking the edge off her thought process, but recognizing that sometimes—like that night—that was a good thing. “Up and down versus sideways on the tractor, compaction of ditches.” She waved her hand knowing Ellen and Andy were familiar with both.
“She would not have mowed around a steep hillside unless she was used to knowing she could.” Andy expanded the thought for her.
Janet and Greg stared at him.
“That’s bothered me ever since the accident was first explained to me as operator error. Beth knew better.” He drained his glass.
“Exactly. That’s what Bo said and is willing to testify to.”
Andy nodded.
“But is that enough for me to go to a judge? I don’t think so. Most people ‘know better’ than to have the accidents that kill them.” She leaned back in the chair to straighten her spine. She had that nagging feeling again—same as when she left Lou’s the last time feeling as though wearing leg weights. Weights.
Janet suddenly sat forward. “Ellen, were you standing near me the first time we went to Beth and Lou’s to see Keith when Beth drove up on the tractor?”
“Briefly. I went to find Lou after speaking to Beth to give you time alone with her.”
Janet nodded. Her eyes were not focused on the room. “I teased Beth about the makeup box on the front of the tractor.”
Andy frowned.
“It was an old toolbox that Lou had rigged to add weight over the front axle. When the girls renovated, they saved all the old cast iron window weights. Lou collected more and filled the box with over two hundred pounds.” Janet hit herself on the forehead with the palm of her hand. “Beth used the added weight for traction so she could make loops around the house when mowing so that she didn’t have to waste time backing up and down the steep slope out from the house. I’m an idiot!”
“Meaning less chance of rolling down a hillside with the tractor coming after you,” Greg whispered.
“Enough compensation to make you think you could do a quick mow with the contour instead of taking the time to go up and down a slope.” Ellen understood exactly.
Andy picked up the contact sheet. “Do you have these any larger?”
Janet glanced at the files. “The prints are at home. We can look at them online. You-know-who set me up on a Web-based service for back-up storage.”
Ellen used her laptop to quickly access the Web site.
Janet logged into her account at the digital upload site that she had gigs of storage on, even though she had no clue what a gig was except when it was up. She found the index and opened the folder of photos taken the day of the estate listing. She slid the laptop over to Andy.
Andy navigated through the images, zooming in and out, finally concentrating on the ones taken at the tractor shed. “She knew tractors, grew up on them. One would not have gotten the best of her,” he said to himself as he went back and forth through the images. He held his hand out to Janet. “Accident report.” He motioned to Greg. “Magnifying glass.” Andy held the report next to the computer screen.
Greg shook his head slowly when he caught his aunt’s eye. He whispered, “He’s processing. Let him work through it.”
Andy settled on the shot taken looking into the shed that had caught the front of Lou’s John Deere and Beth’s McCormick Cub. He stared. “Bessie.”
Greg leaned closer to Janet. “He keeps that old tractor in the garage instead of his truck. He disappears, and I find him tinkering with the motor or wiping down the body. The neighbors can’t believe he’ll mow the vacant areas of their lots
and push snow out of their driveways for nothing. I know he’s thinking about Beth any time he’s near Bessie.”
Janet felt foolish as tears filled her eyes.
Greg squeezed her arm. “I do the same.”
Andy spoke, more to himself than to the others in the room. “The front blade is off the Deere. Lou said at the hospital that she had prepped the tractor for mowing. They kept the bush hog on the back because it was so cumbersome to take off and put back on, and it gave them more traction in the rear when they did use the blade. The blade is off. Beth hated having to adjust the pitch of the blade so it didn’t hit ground on sharp turns when she was mowing.” His face froze and his mouth dropped slightly open. “What a dumbass I am. How do we know the weights were in the box? How did Beth know?”
“She trusted Lou,” Ellen stated simply. “Look, hanging on the wall of the shed, a clipboard and a maintenance checklist same as Lou uses at work. Lou did all the maintenance on the tractors. Beth did all the mowing.”
Greg and Janet stared at each other.
Andy spoke deliberately. “What’s different between the sheriff’s photo of the Deere and yours?” He didn’t look at Janet.
They clustered behind Andy.
Greg spoke first. “Grass is taller. Lawnmower is positioned farther back and at a different angle.”
“What’s different is not important. What’s the same?” Ellen took a wooden pencil from the can on the desk and pointed to the bottom horizontal log of the shed that the exterior siding was nailed to. “Enlarge that.” Her voice was barely audible when she spoke. “Look what’s on the log in the shed in both photos…a socket wrench. How is the lid attached to the box the weights go in?”
“Bolts,” Janet remembered.
“Want to make a bet what that socket fits and who left it there?”
“No,” Janet and Greg said together.
“I wonder if your friend Bo looked inside the box on the front,” Ellen said.
“I know how to find out. Where’s your telephone book?”
Greg found the latest in a bottom drawer and held the book for Janet as she turned to the Ws.
Janet drew her cell phone from her pocket as though a gun from a holster. She called Bo and began with an apology for disturbing him at home before asking the question. Her eyes widened as she listened. She lowered her phone and looked at the others.
“The lid was bolted tight after the tractor rolled. They looked inside and assumed it was just an empty toolbox.”
She dialed the next number from memory.
“Ben, it’s Janet Evans.”
Andy and Greg grimaced as they heard the volume of the man’s barely muffled voice from the cell phone several feet away.
“Yes, I know what time it is…Yes, I know you have young children…No, I’m not going to apologize. You told me when I had proof…” She let him rant until he ran down.
“Calm down, Ben. Yes, it’s about Beth. I don’t appreciate that kind of language.” She put her hand over the phone and whispered to the boys, “Unless I’m using it.”
Janet spoke deliberately when she could get a word in. “You told me when I had proof, you would initiate a case. I need items from Beth’s home to be impounded and fingerprinted. Well, they belong to Lou Stephens now. I’ve seen something as Beth’s executrix.” She waited on him again.
“Damn it, Ben. Listen to me. Lou took the weights out of the box on the front of the tractor, causing it to flip. Bo Watson told me that the box was empty when they examined the tractor after the accident. Lou tampered with the tractor knowing that Beth would be the next to use it. The damn wrench is still in the shed, there’s no difference in position between the May and July photographs. Someone needs to look for a pile of old window weights.” She nodded as his volume decreased.
“How in the hell should I know what one looks like?” Janet raised her eyebrows at the boys.
“Yes, you can prove it. Take my word. Promise me you’ll do this first thing on Monday.”
They were both quiet for a moment.
“Because you owe me, Ben, and we all owe Beth.”
“Excellent. Assign it to Howard. He’ll have it put together in no time. I’m talking murder of the first degree. It’s going to be nasty. I’m betting the partner did it, and the sister-in-law directed it. The brother knew some of what was going on.”
Janet waited through a brief silence, allowing him time to digest it all.
“Yes. Impound the John Deere farm tractor, the socket wrench that I’ll e-mail a photo of, and look for the weights. Fingerprint all of it. I’ll bet you a new laptop that the fingerprints are all from one person, and I don’t mean Beth.”
He didn’t take Janet up on the bet, either.
“Thank you, Ben. Thank you.”
Greg divided the last of the drink mix between the four glasses. “You have your case.”
They emptied their glasses in stunned silence.
Chapter Twenty-nine
“What have you done to us?” The man’s voice was on the verge of hysterics.
“What?” Janet bobbled the handset of the phone and fumbled for the switch on the stem of the lamp beside her bed. Buddy whimpered from his bedding beneath the window and watched her to know whether to bark. Ellen hit a knot in the log she was cutting through—Janet often teased her that her snoring sounded like a chain saw under water.
“You’ve ruined us. Patti and I did nothing to hurt Beth that day. It was that damn Lou. You’ve had them both charged with first-degree murder. Both of them. It was supposed to be just Lou.”
It was Will Candler.
“That day.” Janet felt the blood rise in her face as she struggled with the bedclothes, and it wasn’t a hot flash. Her T-shirt was tangled with the sheet. She motioned the dog to stay in his bed as she carried the phone into the living room. She struggled to keep her balance as she pulled on sweatpants; the house was chilly.
“You don’t deny that you did this? You’re the reason I’ve had to use all the equity in our home to retain a goddamned lawyer. My wife’s been indicted for murder, and my home is my only real asset. I can’t afford the bail to get her out. You know what Patti is holding over me if I don’t get her off. Patti is in fucking jail!” Will screamed the last into the phone. “Patti has flipped out and won’t even talk to me other than to threaten me. You’ve made my life hell. Everyone looks at me like something they would scrape off the bottom of their shoes.”
“At least you still have your life. I’m not at fault. Think about what the three of you did to set all of this in motion.” Janet knew she shouldn’t be having this conversation, but her temper momentarily overcame her professionalism. “You told me to do what I had to.”
“To Lou, for Christ’s sake. Did I have to spell that out? Don’t forget that there were four of us involved. Have you ever thought about it that way? You’re not going to like what you’ll hear or what will come out. Call this trial off now,” Will yelled into the telephone. “I’m telling you neither Patti nor I did anything to that tractor or Beth. Patti is right. Beth was the one who had given up on everything.”
“It’s not possible to stop the trial unless Lou and Patti confess their guilt. Otherwise, it’s up to a jury to hear both sides and make a decision.” Janet paced along the back of the sofa. Her voice was cold as the February night outside. “We shouldn’t be having this or any conversation. I’m hanging up. Don’t call back. I’ll have to notify the commonwealth attorney of this.”
“You’ve destroyed all of us, yourself included, you judgmental bitch. You still don’t understand. Patti has already brought in one of her crazy-ass friends from college who just happens to be one of the best criminal lawyers in the Southeast and has been carrying a torch for Patti ever since their sorority days. Ashley Tate will do anything and everything to save Patti, and I’ll go broke paying for it!”
“You destroyed yourselves.” Janet hit the end call button on her phone. She held onto the handset as she s
tared into the dying embers of the corner fireplace. Each day gave new meaning to the word “irony.” She knew Ms. Tate by reputation only.
Ellen walked out of the bedroom in sweatpants and T-shirt, rubbing her head. “Is everyone okay?”
“Just the usual harassment before a big trial.” Janet looked to her for reassurance.
“Beth’s case?”
Janet nodded. “It was Will.”
“Holy crap. He knows better.”
“He will tomorrow. I have to call Ben and Howard first thing.” She looked at the clock. “Three a.m. Great.”
“I know. I haven’t been asleep long. You were tossing and turning, mumbling to yourself when I came to bed. Showtime was running ‘The L Word’ again. I love that show even if the girls are too young and too California.” Ellen frowned slightly and hesitated before speaking. “Do you have any idea how difficult the next few months are going to be on you?”
Janet nodded. A tear rolled down her cheek. “On both of us. I didn’t know if you did.”
Ellen shrugged. “I had a pretty good idea when this started that it would turn into a three-ring circus with a lot of elephant shit to dodge.”
“Everything will come out. Beth will be judged in absentia for her lifestyle. How can a client ever trust Will again? I have no doubt that Lou and Patti will be convicted felons.” Janet took a deep breath. “They’re all three ruined…reputations and finances…regardless of the verdict. Will is right about that. The attorney costs in a trial like this will be astronomical.”
“Boo-fucking-hoo. Let me feel sorry for any of the three of them, or not. It’s you I’m concerned about. I hate to think what this may do to your practice. These are the years we’ve worked so hard to enjoy. It’s never easy being a whistleblower. You knew that when you started the proceedings. It’s that damnable burden of knowledge. You had no choice.” Ellen motioned Janet to follow her back to the bedroom. She climbed in and held the covers up until Janet was settled. She pulled her close and held onto her.
“I didn’t have a choice once I had a doubt. My only regret will always be Beth and the fallout on us.” Janet nestled against Ellen and felt better. “Beth won’t be able to tell her side or clarify any of it. It will come out as the prosecution and defense spin it for the case.”
The Arcanum of Beth Page 19