Old Promises

by Samantha Price

  “Nee, you didn’t!” Ettie said. “Why do you think she did it?”

  “She did, Ettie. She said the wife warned her off him and—”

  Ettie nodded. “Now I remember. I’m sorry. I was too busy trying to take everything else in.”

  “Because you need to clean out your ears, Mother, I’ll tell you once more. The wife thought Ian and I were having an affair and she came to warn me off him—told me to stay away. I assured her he was a client and nothing else. I even told her I was seeing Ronald, but she still didn’t believe me.” Myra sighed.

  “That doesn’t mean she killed him, though.” Ettie handed back the crystal earring.

  Myra threaded the silver part of the earring back through the hole in her earlobe. “I know, but I just know Tiffany did it. That’s her name, Tiffany Carter. I have a knowledge of it. Tiffany and Ian Carter have a son together named Byron. Ian told me that Tiffany has been worked up about Maria getting her hands on his money. Ian told me that Tiffany keeps asking to see his will and he won’t allow her to see it.”

  “And who’s Maria?” Ettie asked.

  “She's Ian’s first wife. She and Ian have a son together, too, Angelo.”

  “Let me get this right. Ian was married to a woman called Maria and they had a son, Angelo. Then he was married to wife number two and they also had a son?”

  “That’s right. One son each.”

  “Now, the second wife was worried that wife number one wanted to get her hands on the money, so to block her from doing so, she asked to see Ian’s will?”

  Myra nodded. “That’s exactly right.”

  “How long has Ian been seeking treatment with you?” Ettie asked.

  “About a year and he swore he felt better. Well, he did, until he was murdered. He came twice a week for two hours at a time. He was always the last appointment of the day and once it was over we’d sip green tea and share snippets of our lives in the sunroom.”

  “And he had a lot of money?” Elsa-May asked. “What Ettie and I have found out by experience is this; when someone is murdered, it’s mostly over love, or money.”

  “Sometimes revenge,” Ettie added. "Or any combination of those three."

  “Yes, Aunt, he had enough money for someone to kill him over.”

  “What did he do for a living to get so much money?” Ettie asked.

  “He owned an engineering firm and then he sold it.”

  “To whom did he leave his money?” Elsa-May asked.

  “My psychic abilities tell me he left most of it to Tiffany and their son.”

  “What about the other wife and son? Maria, and was it Angelo?”

  “That’s right, Mother.” Myra shook her head. “I don’t know how you can remember something about complete strangers and don’t remember anything about me.”

  Ettie pursed her lips not knowing what she was talking about and not game to ask. “I’ll try to remember your new name. Sparkle Orient. You’ll have that one for a while, will you?”

  “Yes, Mother. I’ve got no intention of changing it. After all, I chose it myself. I’m sure Maria and Angelo would’ve been left something.”

  “Ettie and I will visit Detective Kelly and see what we can find out.”

  “Did Kelly remember you?” Ettie asked Myra.

  “He thought he knew me from somewhere. I had to tell him who I was and then he remembered.”

  Elsa-May nodded. “He should be expecting us then.”

  “Would you like a cup of tea, Myra … I mean … um …”

  Myra rolled her eyes. “Sparkle, Mother, it's Sparkle, and I’d like a green tea if you have it.”

  “We don’t,” Elsa-May said. “We can give you black tea, or kaffe, or a glass of milk.”

  “Dairy? Don’t tell me you eat dairy.”

  “Jah, we do.”

  Myra shook her head. “You should be aware of the latest research.”

  “We'll read the latest research as soon as we start wearing crystals and locate all three eyes,” Elsa-May said.

  At that, Ettie jumped to her feet. “How about a weak black tea, Sparkle?”

  “That’ll be fine, thanks.”

  Ettie hurried to the kitchen, glad that Myra—Ettie decided her daughter would always be Myra—hadn’t reacted badly to what Elsa-May had just said. As she put the teakettle on the stove, she wondered how she could have produced a child so different from herself. What attracted Myra to the rubbish she was now talking about? That was a big question, one to ponder at another time. For now, they had to get Myra out of trouble. If only Detective Kelly wasn’t the lead detective on the case. Why couldn’t it have been someone else?

  Chapter 2

  Ettie took a tray of tea out to the living room and placed it on a low table.

  “Thank you, Mother.” Myra picked up the cup of tea and took a sip. “Not bad.”

  Ettie gave Elsa-May a cup of tea and sat down with one for herself. “Like Elsa-May said, we’ll pay Detective Kelly a visit tomorrow to find out what's happening.”

  “Tomorrow? Oh, thank you.” Myra took another sip of tea. “Don't you have any cookies?”

  “We do, but I didn't think you'd want to eat them.”

  “I do. I would like one to eat with my tea. I always like to have a little something with my tea.”

  “Coming up,” Ettie said.

  “Stay there, Ettie, I'll get it.” Elsa-May pushed herself up out of her chair.

  Ettie was a little apprehensive to be left there with Myra. “Don’t worry, Sparkle. I’m certain everything will be okay.”

  “Easy for you to say. You're not the one they think has murdered someone.”

  Ettie shook her head. “It's not easy seeing one of your children in trouble.”

  “That's something I'll never know because I'm too old to be a mother now. Thanks for reminding me.”

  Ettie leaned back on the couch and stared at her teacup. Sometimes it was easier not to say anything at all.

  “Here you are,” Elsa-May breezed into the room with a plate of sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies. “Your mother and I just made these yesterday.”

  “They do look delicious. I'll have to have one of each,” Myra said with a girlish giggle.

  Ettie wasn't brave enough to comment about the weight Myra had lost, and wondered if she might have been on some special diet.

  “Is there anything else you can tell us about Ian?” Elsa-May asked as she sat back down.

  “He was approaching his fifty-second birthday. He has one son with Maria and one son with his current wife, but I've already told you that much. I know a lot about him. It just depends on what's relevant.”

  “Are you still living in the same place?” Ettie asked.

  “I'll write down the address for you if you give me a bit of paper.”

  Ettie placed her teacup down and shuffled over to the bureau to find pen and paper and then took them back and placed them on the low table in front of Myra.

  “What does his current wife do?” Elsa-May asked.

  “Apart from being a socialite and attending all the parties and charity events, she owns a small but very upmarket clothing boutique in the Winston Hotel. Ian didn’t go out so much. In fact, he hated attending those functions.”

  “Does that mean husband and wife didn't get along?” Elsa-May asked.

  “He never said too much, just enough so I got the idea there was tension there.”

  “What gave you that idea?” Ettie asked.

  “He told me what I just told you about the will, and I know that they lived at opposite ends of their mansion. He had his wing, and she had another.”

  “So, you think she was in the marriage for the money?”

  “I know it,” Myra said just before she placed half a cookie into her mouth. "Mmm, these are delicious," she mumbled around the bite of cookie.

  “Why don’t we visit you after we talk to the detective tomorrow?”

  Myra swallowed her mouthful of cookie and had
another sip of tea. “Good idea.” That prompted Myra to write down her address. “I'm not too far away,” she said as she wrote. She set the pen back on the table and passed the slip of paper back to Ettie.

  Ettie looked at the address, a little sad that she hardly ever saw Myra even though they lived close. “We’ll visit you late tomorrow afternoon and let you know what he says.”

  “On second thought, I have a busy day tomorrow. I won't even get a lunch break. I've got appointments nine through five.” Myra sighed. “That is, if my day isn’t disrupted by being arrested.”

  “Why don't you stop by for dinner tomorrow night? You can have the evening meal here and, hopefully, we would know something from Detective Kelly by then,” Elsa-May said.

  Myra gave a weak smile. “Thanks, Aunt, I'll do that. I should go.”

  The elderly sisters followed Myra to the door. They stood together and watched Myra speed away in her vibrant red sports car.

  “Well, well. Sparkle Orient.” Elsa-May stared after the car.

  “Jah, I don’t know what to say about that. Do you think she just wants to shock me, or wants to hurt me?”

  “Do you want to know the truth?”

  Ettie faced her sister. “What is it?”

  “I think she gives very little thought to you at all. Except when she’s in trouble.”

  It was true. Ettie knew that what Elsa-May said was a fact.

  “We have to figure out what we’re having for dinner tomorrow night. Any ideas?”

  “What did we have planned?”

  “Meatloaf. The meatloaf I made today will be enough for tomorrow and if we’re going out, we’ll have no time to cook.”

  Ettie nodded. “Then we should stick with that, but nothing with dairy in it for dessert. Apparently, she doesn’t drink milk any longer.”

  Elsa-May chuckled as she closed the front door. “Sit down, Ettie, and I’ll make you a cup of nice hot tea.”

  “We’ve only just had one.”

  “I’m having another. We need it after hearing all that.”

  “Denke, that’d be nice. I suppose we’ll have to take the pie for the neighbors later.”

  “We?” Elsa-May asked.

  “You.” Ettie chuckled.

  Elsa-May continued into the kitchen while Ettie patted Snowy who was still on the couch after being patted by Myra. “You’re such a spoiled dog, Snowy.”

  Snowy remained silent with his eyes closed. His cute little tail gave one little wag.

  The next day, Ettie and Elsa-May sat opposite Detective Kelly with his desk separating him from them. Ettie was a little annoyed because they had waited for over an hour to see him.

  “I already know why you two are here.”

  “That's right. It's about Myra,” Elsa-May said.

  Ettie stared at her sister. “Don't you mean Sparkle?”

  “Sparkle Orient,” Detective Kelly stated.

  “That's right,” Elsa-May said.

  He stared at Ettie. “That's your daughter, Ettie.”

  “I know.” Ettie bit her lip. "But sometimes I do wonder ..."

  The detective continued, “Allegations have been made.”

  Elsa-May leaned forward. “What allegations and who has made them?”

  Ettie’s heart thumped hard. Myra hadn't mentioned anything about allegations.

  “Ian Carter confessed to his wife that he and Sparkle were plotting to murder her with a dangerous chemical and she gave us the name of it. The plan was, Ian was supposed to lure Sandra—”

  “Sandra?” Elsa-May interrupted.

  Kelly frowned and sifted through his paperwork. “Ah, sorry. Mrs. Carter’s name is Tiffany. I’m not sure where I got the name Sandra. Anyway, according to Mrs. Carter, Ian confessed that Sparkle and he had planned that he would encourage Tiffany to have an appointment with Sparkle where she would do a treatment on her. She’d then give her a poison-tipped crystal to take home with her to continue the treatment. According to Tiffany, Ian confessed that Sparkle and he were going to kill her.”

  Elsa-May scoffed. “Sounds a bit hit and miss for a murder plot, don't you think so, Detective?”

  “No comment. That's the allegation. We—”

  “If Ian wanted his wife killed why couldn’t he have put that poison on her himself? Why did he need Myra? Um, Sparkle?” Elsa-May asked. “And why would he tell her that even if he changed his mind? Why not just keep silent?”

  Kelly frowned at her. “That’s what she told us. We did find something suspicious at Sparkle's residence, and I suppose she has told you that we took the bottle away for testing.”

  “Let’s wind back a minute. What happened after Ian told his wife this? What did she do with that information?” Elsa-May asked.

  Ettie put her hand on Elsa-May’s arm to calm her down.

  Kelly frowned. “Nothing. He confessed his plot, apologized, and then they reconciled. They were going through a rocky period a few months back, she told me.”

  Ettie shook her head. “If my husband had confessed that he and another woman were going to kill me, there would be no going back from that. I’d move out of the house immediately.”

  Detective Kelly raised his eyebrows. “I thought that wouldn’t be allowed for you in your—”

  “We can’t divorce. We can separate and never marry again.”

  Elsa-May added, “Unless the spouse dies, in which case the other party is free to remarry.”

  “Ah, I see. Yes, I would be the same, Mrs. Smith. I don’t think I would ever trust my wife again if she confessed such a thing to me.”

  “Yes. It’s quite unbelievable,” Elsa-May added.

  “And doesn't it usually take weeks for toxicology reports to come back?” Ettie asked.

  “Sometimes. We’re still waiting on confirmation, but we're going on what Mrs. Carter has said. Sparkle had the bottle in her house with a label on it and it was the same poison that Mrs. Carter told us that her husband mentioned they were plotting to kill her with.”

  “She was the one who named that poison?” Ettie asked.

  “That's right.”

  “Phooey!” Elsa-May blurted out. “She’s making it all up.”

  “Of course she'd be making it up,” Ettie agreed. “My daughter is no killer. That poison was obviously planted there to make her look guilty.” Ettie looked nervously at Detective Kelly, hoping he would agree.

  He leaned back in his chair. “It might surprise you, Mrs. Smith. People constantly surprise me. My belief now is that anyone can kill under the right circumstances.”

  Ettie was worried that they weren't being much help to Myra.

  “Sparkle was at our place yesterday, and she told us there was some conflict between the first wife and the second wife,” Elsa-May said.

  He nodded, leaned forward again and placed his hands on the desk. “We're looking into every possibility. Now, if you ladies will excuse me, I’ve got a job to do.” When neither made a move to leave, he added, “I've got a lot of work to do. Will you please let me do my job?”

  “Yes, of course,” Ettie said.

  “Will you keep us updated, please?” Elsa-May asked.

  “I will, through Sparkle,” he said with a weak smile.

  Ettie bounded to her feet, and she and Elsa-May headed out of the station.

  Chapter 3

  As they were walking down the steps outside the station, Ettie asked, “What do you think, Elsa-May?”

  “Why would the man have told his own wife that he and Myra were plotting to kill her? I just can't say 'Sparkle' again right now.”

  “Tiffany was obviously lying, and I hope Kelly realizes that. And I've heard enough 'Sparkle' for now, too.”

  “Well, but what if she wasn't lying? What if her husband actually told her that?” Elsa-May asked.

  Ettie thought for a moment as they walked up the road together. “For attention?”

  “Maybe to jolt her into paying him more attention, which is a bad way to go about things, for
sure and for certain. I can't think of another reason, though.”

  Ettie tapped a finger on her chin. “Let's see; he confessed to her that he and Myra had planned to lure her into Myra's place of work where she'd be given a treatment and then she’d be sent away with a poisoned crystal? Why would someone tell someone that?”

  “To make her jealous of Myra?”

  “That's right, Elsa-May. That's what I thought.”

  “So, either Mr. Carter was lying or Mrs. Carter was lying. And the only reason we can come up with Mr. Carter lying is that he was doing it for attention, aside from the stupidity of the idea, and if Mrs. Carter was lying she’s trying to implicate Myra in the murder ... right?” Elsa-May asked.

  Ettie nodded. “I think so, but she could have been fixated on him spending so much time at Sparkle’s place, so that could be a reason why he might have come up with that idea. I can't believe I just called Myra by that silly name.”

  “Never mind the name for now. And if he didn't say it, Mrs. Carter was making the whole thing up, which means she's guilty of his murder.”

  “Maybe she's not guilty,” Ettie said.

  “Jah, maybe she just made the whole thing up because she was annoyed with Myra, or didn't like her, and she wants Myra to get the blame for his murder.”

  Ettie stared at Elsa-May, “What did you just say?”

  Elsa-May huffed. “I don't know why I bother talking if you're not listening.”

  “I am—I was. I got distracted for a moment thinking about whether we should go home or go to the coffee shop up the road.”

  “That's an easy decision! Go to the coffee shop up the road, of course. And I can repeat what I said to you while we're walking there.”

  “We’ll share a cake,” Ettie said, worried about her sister's increasing girth.

  “We'll have one each and share as usual.”

  Ettie grimaced. “I think we should just have one.”

  Elsa-May looked sad.

  “You can choose,” Ettie said, which made Elsa-May smile again. “Now, what did you say?”

  “I forget myself.” Elsa-May adjusted her prayer kapp. “Let's see now … that's right; I said, what if she didn't like Myra and just wants her to get the blame for the murder?”