by Lois Lavrisa
“No. I mean, yes. Everyone in my house was welcome to have them. That’s why I made them. Southern hospitality.”
“I bet they’re great,” Tracy said.
“Yes, one of my specialties. I learned how to cook from my nanny, who also handed me down all sorts of her recipes. I can do most of them with my eyes closed.” I sighed, remembering my sweet Hattie. Gosh, I wished she were here.
“And Mr. Frank Kincaid said that you said, ‘Give me a little time, I’m sure that I can silence Mr. Phong.’”
“Well, something like that,” I stammered. “But you’re taking it out of context.”
Tracy scooted his chair closer to me. “Are we?”
“Frank and Lily wanted to move out because Mr. Phong was making so much noise.” I folded and unfolded my hands in my lap.
“And what would’ve happened if they moved?” Ray asked.
This was by far the most embarrassing time of my life. Tears welled in my eyes. Time to come clean. “Here’s for the record. I’m not proud of the mess that I’m in. But I’m beyond broke. All that I have left of my family’s inheritance is the house. An ancient house that is in desperate need of attention. I took out as many equity lines as I was able to in order to do as many repairs as I could afford. Money ran out before all the work was done. And the bills kept rolling in. So I had to take in renters to help keep the house from foreclosure.” I sucked in a deep breath. “There. I’ve humbled myself in front of you. I’m not proud of it.”
“Finally the truth. See? That doesn’t hurt, does it?” Ray smirked.
My heart stabbed and ached with a million needles of despair. “No, sir.”
Ray asked, “Let me get this right. You needed the renters to help pay bills?”
“Yes,” I said. “And not only do I have the equity lines, I have unpaid taxes. It just kind of got out of hand.”
Tracy dipped his head as if in sympathy for me.
“And what would happen if you didn’t have renters?” Ray asked.
I inhaled, then let out my breath. That was the exact question I’d asked myself many times. And each time, the answer sank me into hopelessness. “I’d lose everything.”
“When you mean everything, you mean the house?” Ray asked.
“Yes. However, the house is not just what you see. It’s like a relative to me, with all the laughter. The people who lived there and made it alive are all now a part of the structure. It is my family.”
“Let me make sure I get this right. Your dwelling is like, what, um, a person?” Tracy asked.
“It is all that and more. It’s me. It’s my past; it’s my future.” I straightened my back.
Ray cleared his throat. “Because your residence is like family, you needed to keep it. Is that correct?”
I nodded.
Ray continued. “To prevent you from losing the house, it was important for you to keep renters. To make repairs, pay bills.”
Again I nodded; this time my head stayed low.
Ray added, “And once you had renters in place and had money coming in, you had to keep them happy so they wouldn’t leave?”
I lifted my head. “Why, yes. It’s also just plain good manners, too.”
Ray asked, “Let’s say a renter complained about bugs. You’d take care of it to keep them happy, wouldn’t you?”
“Of course,” I said.
“And if your tenants complained about no hot water, you’d take care of that too, right?” Ray asked.
“Yes,” I said. Ray was stating the obvious. Where was he going with these questions? He was leading me somewhere, but where? I had repaired, fixed, and replaced countless items in the house.
Ray persisted. “Okay, then. If a tenant complained about another tenant, you would try to take care of that, too. To make everyone happy.”
“I would. However, we all get along pretty well.” Even if I was both fascinated with and disgusted by Xavier, I wasn’t entirely sure how well I got along with him. But Lily was sweet, and Frank and Mr. Phong were fine.
“What would you do about a noise issue?” Ray asked me.
“What kind of noise?” Tracy asked.
“Are you talking about Frank’s issue with Mr. Phong?” I asked.
“What issue?” Tracy spoke.
My palms were sweaty as I clasped them in my lap. “He was trying so hard to learn English.”
“I’m taking an online course. It is a great way to acquire a language. I learned Spanish that way.” Tracy smiled.
Ray interrupted, “Tracy, thanks for the update, but this is not about you.”
“Yes, sir, sorry.” Tracy blushed.
I said, “Mr. Phong listened to a lot of music. That’s how he was trying to learn English.”
“Using a Rosetta Stone course would work, too,” Tracy said.
“Anyway, did he sing out loud?” Ray asked.
“Yes. All the time,” I said.
Ray whispered something to Tracy.
Tracy stood and then walked past me. I smelled a spicy aftershave. He held his hand in the door. “I’m getting some coffee. I’ll be right back. Miss Gordon, do you need anything?”
“No, thank you.” I stifled a yawn.
Ray waved his hand and Tracy left the room. “Nice kid, and he means well. But I think he’s interfering more than helping out right now. So, it’ll be just you and me for a while. Is that okay?”
“Sure,” I said.
“Now let’s get back to where we left off. Mr. Phong sang all the time. He seemed to annoy some of your tenants. You said if you didn’t have tenants, you would lose everything. The house is like a family member to you; it is all you have left. And you would do whatever it took to keep your tenants happy so that you could pay bills and keep the house.”
“Why, yes. All of that is true.” I rolled my neck, which felt sore from sheer exhaustion. It must’ve been three in the morning, at least. “Except the way they’re lined up like that, it looks bad. I mean, all of those facts are true but taken out of context.”
Ray chuckled. “You’re right about that.”
I stretched my legs under the table. I’d decided not to say anything until I was asked to.
“Your tenant Frank added that you also were screwing on a top of a bottle of poison while you told him that you would do anything to silence Mr. Phong. Is that the context that we missed?” Ray closed the notebook on the table. He rubbed a hand on his head.
“That was for ants. Good heavens. Are you suggesting that I used that on Mr. Phong?”
“I won’t know for sure, but it looks like Mr. Phong either had an allergic reaction or he was poisoned. We’re doing a lab report on what remains on the muffin plate, as well as an autopsy. You see, Miss Gordon, I’m just making sure that I have all the information while it’s fresh.”
I bit my bottom lip. “At three in the morning, I doubt I’m fresh anymore.”
Ray let out a chuckle. “We’ll wrap it up soon.”
“And Officer Ray, yes, I needed money, so why would I kill off a paying tenant?”
“Perhaps you are a psychopath?” Officer Ray chuckled.
“No, sir. That I am not. I wouldn’t kill anyone. A tenant or otherwise.”
“Even a paying tenant who had a very valuable ring? A ring that is now missing?”
“Are you implying that I took his ring?”
“Did you?”
I stiffened my back and looked him in the eye. “I certainly did not. And, Officer Ray, you seem like a fine Southern gentleman, and I know that you would not insult a lady by calling her names like psychopath and thief. You’re just doing your job. However, I have to tell you that I take offense to your accusations.”
“Please accept my apology.” Officer Ray flipped through some pages. “Do you know of anyone who would want to kill Mr. Phong?”
“No, sir.”
Ray raised an eyebrow. “You lived with him for almost a year.”
“Yes.”
“And in all
that time, you neither saw nor heard anything that would indicate he had enemies? Or issues with anyone?”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“You may not believe this, but I want to help you. But you need to help me here. You already have some legal issues going on with running a boardinghouse without proper permits and licenses. And let’s not forget about the unpaid taxes.”
I swallowed hard. “Yes, sir, I’m all too aware of my problems.”
“Then do me a favor so we can both go home. Rack your memory, and let me know of anything at all that you may have noticed concerning Mr. Phong. No one has a problem-free life.”
“Well, his cousin Joseph was very angry that Mr. Phong owed him money.” I handed him Joseph’s business card. “And he also said that Mr. Phong stole something of his, although I don’t know what that was.”
“Anyone else who may have had a grievance with the victim?” Ray asked.
After a pause, I said, “Another tenant, Xavier, seemed very interested in Mr. Phong. He asked a lot of questions specifically about him.”
“Maybe he was just trying to get to know the other tenants in the house.”
Did all men think alike? “That’s what he said, but I don’t know. Xavier was acting squirrelly. He seemed really focused on what Mr. Phong brought home from work. You may have already figured this out, but Mr. Phong, Joseph, and Xavier all work at the same place.”
“Yes, we have. So what made you think Xavier was acting—how did you say it—squirrelly?”
“After Mr. Phong passed, we were all in the room, and Xavier started to rummage around looking for something.”
“Hmm.” Officer Ray picked up a pen. “Did he take anything?”
“No, not that I saw.”
Ray jotted something on the paper. “Anyone else you can think of who acted out of the ordinary?”
“There’s only Lily and Frank, and there was nothing unusual. I mean, they would’ve liked him to be quiet, but that’s all. I don’t think anyone in the house had anything to do with Mr. Phong’s death. I just think it was, I don’t know, a freak accident?”
“Got it.” Ray stood, the metal legs of his chair clattering as he shoved it away from him.
“Are we done?” I rose, my body exhausted beyond belief.
“For now.”
I stretched my arms, trying to work out the tautness. Thank goodness that silliness was over. I moved toward the door and grabbed the handle.
Ray stood behind me, his breath on my back. “Don’t leave town. You are still on our radar.”
Chapter Seven
After a few hours of fitful sleep and a quick shower, I entered the kitchen to see Cat setting some biscuits on a plate. “Since the police took away your flour, sugar, baking soda, and a lot of other stuff, I had to buy a packaged mix. They’re not your famous muffins, but they’re edible.”
A sweet smell wafted in the air. Glancing around, I saw some white powder on the cupboard handles and some on the countertop. “What’s that?”
“They dusted for fingerprints. I cleaned up as much as I could.”
I walked over to her. “Thanks, Cat. I’m so sorry about all that’s going on here.”
Cat squeezed my shoulder. “I’m here for you. No matter what.”
“I know you are. I’m just overwhelmed.” I caught her up on what had happened at the police station.
“So they think you might be a suspect?” Cat asked.
“Yes, can you believe that?” I huffed.
“It is funny and so out of character, too. I mean, you had nothing to do with his death?” Cat grinned.
“Cat, that sounded like a question rather than a statement.”
“I’m just kidding.” Cat tapped me on the arm. “Although, you never answered my question.”
I stammered. “Cat. My heavens. I would remember if I killed someone.”
“Of course you would.” Cat smiled and shook her head. “I mean, I’m just saying now that I know how financially destitute you are, that must be very stressful. Then taking in a bunch of strangers. It could make a person snap.”
“Yes, it’s very taxing.” I pushed a stray hair behind my ear.
“I know, and I love you. But I’m concerned about how the situation looks.”
“What situation?”
Cat gently held my hand. “The poison you had and…”
“For ants, not people.”
“That’s what I told the police. They asked me so many questions. I just answered truthfully. And they asked if I’d seen you with a bottle of poison. I remembered when you got up off the floor of my room that it slipped out of your pocket. I’m so sorry, but I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but they seemed so focused on it.”
“It’s okay.” I sighed. “I’m glad that you were forthcoming with them, because I have nothing to hide.”
“I hope I didn’t say something I shouldn’t. I really feel bad.” Cat hung her head.
“Please let it go; it really doesn’t matter. They’ll find out I had nothing to do with his death.”
“I know.” Cat stuck the pan in the sink and squeezed soap in it. “By the way, José said he’s working on getting some of the issues around the house taken care of. Like the permits and such. He said he’s going to do as much as he can. Or at the very least, try to stall you being shut down.”
“He’s sweet.” I fiddled with the pearls around my neck. “But I’ve been thinking. I have something that I need to sell. The money might help me pay off some debts as well as get my affairs straightened out.”
Cat turned on the water. “Oh? How did you come to this revelation?”
“My Hattie used to say, ‘When you get pushed in a corner, climb out a window.’”
“I have no idea what that means.” Cat shut off the faucet.
“Whenever I was stuck on a problem and couldn’t find a solution, she would say, ‘There’s a way out of it if you just look.’”
“Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“I’m tapped out on the house’s equity. I have just one thing left, my window to climb out of, so to speak.” I touched the smooth pearls on my neck. “Will you go with me to the pawnshop?”
“Sure. But what are you going to take there?”
I rubbed the pearls in between my fingertips. “When Xavier made a comment about my vintage pearl necklace possibly being expensive, it started me thinking.”
Cat’s eyes widened. “Not your pearls!”
I nodded, feeling tears well up in my eyes. There was not a materialistic bone in my body that attached me to the lovely white string; instead, my bond was steeped in sentiment.
“But they mean so much to you.” Cat waved her hand.
“Yes.” My gut sank at the thought of letting go of my beloved pearl necklace. With fondness, I pictured my great-grandmother wearing it, then my grandmother and then my mother. How they connected each of our lives as much as the strand that held the pearls together. Yet I had to let them go to save the house. I had no choice. Even though I knew that was what I should do, I still felt like I was abandoning a relative.
Cat asked, “Are you sure?”
I bit my lip. “Yes. After breakfast, let’s go to the pawnshop.”
“I wish I had some extra money to help you out so you wouldn’t have to sell your necklace.”
I held Cat’s hand. “You’re a good friend.”
***
We made our way down Broughton Street. A man walking ahead of us looked like my new tenant, Xavier. He was in front of Jack’s Pawn Shop when I called out his name, but he didn’t turn around. A minute later, we caught up to him waiting at a red light to cross the street.
Xavier saw us. “Good afternoon, ladies.”
“Hi, Xavier. Bezu called for you and you didn’t answer,” Cat said.
“Oh?” Xavier cleared his throat. “Pardon me, I must have a lot on my mind. By the way, I’m really sorry about all that happened, Bezu. Is everything okay?”
&n
bsp; “Wonderful. Thank you for asking.” I fidgeted with my pearl necklace.
“You’re not great. A guy died in your house, the police may think it’s you who killed him, and to top that off, you’re going to give up something valuable.” Cat pointed behind her toward the pawnshop.
I glared at Cat. “Everything is fine.”
Xavier ran a hand through his hair. “Okay. Good.”
“By the way, in light of all that has happened, Xavier, you don’t have to move out. But if you’d like to, I certainly understand, and I will refund your rent,” I said.
A walk signal lit up on the streetlight.
“Okay. I’ll be back to the house later on. We can talk about it then,” Xavier said.
“Why, of course,” I said.
Before crossing the street, Xavier added, “Just know that if you need to keep my rent money, you can hold off refunding me for a while. Until you get things in order.”
“Thank you for the kind gesture, but I’ll give you what is owed to you.” Something about him seemed more refined and sophisticated than I remembered. Yet he still seemed cagey, like a trapped bird.
“Good day, ladies. I’ll see you later.” Xavier jogged across the street.
Cat pointed toward him. “He’s really cute.”
“That he is,” I said.
“But he acts kind of odd, almost like he’s two different people. At times he’s gruff and rather bold like a tough guy; other times he’s very kind and refined like an aristocrat,” Cat said.
“You just summed up exactly what I think about him.”
A moment later, we entered the pawnshop.
***
“Where did you get this?” An elderly man with a wisp of white hair and kind blue eyes looked through a piece of equipment that resembled a mini telescope.
I had just introduced myself, then handed him the pearls. His name badge said Jack.
“I inherited it.” I took in a deep breath looking at my pearls, which lay on a large square of black velvet. The shop smelled like ammonia and mothballs.
“Do you know how old they are?” Jack asked.
“I think maybe the early 1900s or so.”
“You said your name is Barbara Elizabeth Susan Gordon, right?”