I nodded. My head had begun to pound. “How about a couple of aspirin?” Glancing around the room, I saw that no one was offering me sympathy or anything else for that matter. “Okay then. My theory is that she wanted to get out of the marriage to Harrison Lawson and into one with James Rush. Harrison was older and had heart problems—who knows why she preferred Rush—except he’s richer, younger, more handsome, and probably more capable sexually.”
The captain crossed his arms. I could see that he would need convincing. “I’m not clear on these motives,” he said.
“It started with McAfee needing or wanting money, the usual motive, right? I think Mr. Lawson found out that McAfee was engaged in insurance fraud. He checked it out for himself. When he was convinced, he may have let something slip to Hilary, her being his little devoted wife and all. Hilary may very well have seized on that opportunity to persuade McAfee to kill Harrison. Once you question him, I bet he’ll implicate Hilary if you offer him a deal.”
The captain gave me a look I won’t soon forget. “How did you know it was McAfee? Everyone needs money.”
“Let me outline it for you, Captain. It’s rather convoluted.” I couldn’t help it. I felt somewhat smug. My mother’s voice inside my head chastised me for my cocky attitude, but I pushed it to the back of my mind. After all, I didn’t get to sit in the catbird seat often.
Milton shook his head but didn’t say anything.
“Okay. There was a dinner party at the Lawson’s the night before the murder. Frankie told me so. That’s the housekeeper, Captain.”
“I know who Frankie is.”
“Anyway, at first I thought that the night before the cocktail party the poison had been put in a bottle of imported schnapps, but later I realized that it couldn’t have been because it was too risky. Someone else might have drunk it, too, although it has a unique, and I might add, nasty, taste and not many people like
“Go on.”
“There were several possibilities. They could have poisoned Lawson’s food the night before at the dinner party. Or he could have been poisoned at breakfast or lunch the day of the cocktail party. That definitely would have made Hilary the main suspect unless it could be proved that someone else had access to his food. Like Arthur, but I’ll get to that in a minute.” I yawned. “Couldn’t I go home and come back in the morning after I get some sleep, Captain?”
“Just tell me the facts and you can come in to make a formal statement in the morning, all right?” He frowned. “I’d like to get some shut-eye myself.”
“Okay. So whoever it was had to poison the schnapps the day of the pool party if they wanted to be sure he would die.”
“And Arthur Woodridge didn’t have access to his food or drink,” the captain said.
“No, though I think they would have liked to figure out a way to make out like he did. It’s a bit confusing that they would choose a party setting to kill someone, but I think perhaps Arthur’s getting paroled had something to do with it.”
“Changing their timetable so they could frame him—or at least attempt to.”
“Right, and it almost worked, but we know where he was at the time.”
“But how did you figure it was McAfee? We were looking at several people who were at that party.” He rose and picked the lamp up off the floor.
“I thought several of them were suspicious, too. For one thing, the phone call to the police. Several people at the party were on their cells around the time that Harrison fell. McAfee was only one of them, but I bet if you check his records you’ll see his call was to the police, part of implicating Arthur.”
The captain nodded and glanced at Ben.
“As to some of the others, Hadley needed money. The real estate market was killing him. He had no liquidity and all his properties had lost their values. He couldn’t unload them, but even without many tenants, he had to keep making the payments. He had a large insurance policy on Lawson, by the way.”
“How’d you know that?” Ben asked. Mostly he’d stood staring at me like a wax figure.
I shrugged. “McAfee told me.”
“So you withheld evidence again?” The captain’s face grew pink.
“Well, he said it just to throw me off the track, Captain. And it did for a day or so. There are also large policies payable to Hilary and the kids.” I uncrossed and re-crossed my legs, trying to find a comfortable position in which to sit. No matter where I shifted my weight, it put pressure on a bruise. “There’s even a very old small one payable to Annette.”
“What about Smythe?” Milton asked.
“Smythe also had a motive. Lawson had been bad-mouthing him all over town. It cost him his business, but he was able to get hired by another firm and is getting back on his feet. For a while I suspected Smythe, but he just didn’t seem the type, not that typecasting means anything, and then when he came to the office last night . . .” I glanced at Ben. “He scared some burglars—or someone—away from my back door. If he had been the one he could have done something to me last night. Not that I thought it was him. I already knew by then who the killer was.”
“Mavis, you amaze me sometimes,” Ben whispered.
That was the nicest thing he’d said to me in quite a while. I smiled and wanted to reach for him, wanted a big, warm hug from him, but stayed where I was.
“Hilary was having an affair with Rush. It apparently started years ago when he represented Arthur. Rush was young and gullible and she got him into her bed. But she married Harrison Lawson because he had money and Rush didn’t back then. Also, marrying Lawson was part of her plan for after she framed Arthur.”
“Jesus,” the captain said.
“Yes, she did do that, but I don’t believe that Rush knew it. He was just a dupe. If he suspected later, he never did anything about it. It would have ruined him. I also don’t think Lawson knew. He really loved those kids, but I don’t think he would have gone along with framing Arthur. He seemed like a decent man the few minutes I knew him.” I glanced again at Ben. “Could we please finish this in the morning, Captain? I feel like I’m going to fall on my face.”
“Just a few more questions, Mavis. Have you figured out when McAfee started defrauding the company?”
I sighed with fatigue. “I’m guessing it was when he was a sales rep.”
“Because . . . ”
“You have to make a lot of sales to move up in the company. A young rep told me that at the party. What McAfee did, I think, was buy insurance under another name. He’d get the name out of the obits. He’d pretend to sell the policies. I figure the plan was originally to boost his sales so he could be promoted faster.”
“Wasn’t he hoping to be the next president?” Milton asked.
“Yes. His sales record was astounding. His scheme evolved as time went by. He went from trying to get promoted faster to actually claiming the death benefits. He’d forge the death certificate. It’s all right there in those files, Captain.”
“But how did you know about it? How come we didn’t find this out?” Milton asked as he glanced over the papers.
“It was something Annette said when I first went to the insurance office. After she got hurt, I thought she just wanted to show me all the insurance beneficiaries. When I went to the hospital to see her, though, she was trying to tell me something else—only I didn’t figure it out right away.” I still felt responsible for her assault. I hoped that somehow I could make it up to her.
“The night she was supposed to meet me, she had those papers, only I was out looking for the kids instead of meeting her. It wasn’t until I knew how Lawson died that I realized who killed him and that Annette had something more to show me.”
“Did Sorenson tell you how Lawson died?” the captain asked with a glance at Ben.
“No. I have other sources, you know.” Smugness doesn’t become me, my mother used to say, but I couldn’t help myself.
“If you’re so smart, Mavis Davis, you tell me. How did Lawson die? I just got th
e report on my desk this morning.”
I wasn’t doing a good job at hiding my glee. “Captain, I was there. I saw McAfee pour Lawson’s drink from a strange-looking bottle under the bar. A few minutes later, he stumbled over Harrison Lawson when he pretended to slip in the water around the pool. Lawson spilled the remnants of his drink. He walked right back over to the bar and refilled it from the same bottle.”
“So the poison was in the bottle?” the captain asked.
“Of a rather exotic, expensive brand of schnapps. Not a popular drink with the River Oaks set, but with Lawson’s German heritage, he practically grew up on it.”
“Schnapps is pretty strong stuff,” he said.
“When I arrived, Mr. Lawson already appeared to be ill.”
“But you didn’t question them having a pool party?”
I shrugged. “Not my business at the time. Anyway, I think Hilary and McAfee tried to bring on the heart attack earlier but hadn’t given him enough poison, whether in his food or drink, I’m not sure, perhaps both. They had to make sure he got more to finish him off.”
“Because of Arthur.”
“Right. I bet if someone did some checking they’d find that Hilary had begun a pattern of ordering very unusual flowers with which to decorate her house. Captain, also, if you think about it, many of the plants used in the landscaping around the pool are oleanders. I wish I’d remembered earlier how sickly sweet the scent of all those flowers in the backyard was when I’d first gotten there. I just failed to put it together until now. Oleanders are pretty toxic and I wouldn’t be surprised if some of those other flowers are poisonous, too.”
“Oleanders are very poisonous,” he said. “Everyone knows that. But Lawson died of a heart attack.”
“Yes, brought on by the poison. Dried oleander leaves affect the heart rhythm, among other things. If he hadn’t had the heart attack, he’d have died pretty quickly anyway.”
“And how do you know it was the schnapps?” the captain asked.
“Well, I saw the bottle initially and didn’t recognize it as anything I’d ever seen before, not that I’m that heavy a drinker. So when I went back to see Mrs. Lawson, I sneaked a better look at it.”
“We’ll get a search warrant and go over to the Lawson home.”
“You can,” I said, “but when I was there, the bottle looked fresh. I can’t believe Hilary would be dumb enough to leave the original one there.” I refrained from mentioning that Lon was dumb enough to leave it on the day of the murder. Of course, he had assumed it was a heart attack.
“We’ll get a warrant anyway,” the captain said. He sighed as he stood, like he was bone weary.
“Look for florists’ records. Maybe she charged the flowers.”
“I’m not even going to get angry at you for having come here, Mavis,” the captain said. “I think the abuse you took from him, by the look of it, probably taught you a lesson.”
I grimaced and didn’t reply. I wondered whether I looked as bad as my wounds felt. I wanted nothing more than to go home and nurse myself.
The captain’s cell phone rang. After he hung up, he said, “McAfee wants to make a statement. They’re taking him to the interrogation room. That’s all for now, Mavis. But be in my office at ten sharp.”
“Yes, sir.”
Ben walked me out to my car. He didn’t say much except that when everything was wrapped up, we needed to talk. I agreed and headed for home.
The next morning, I got Margaret and headed for the police station. Ben and the captain told me that McAfee made some damaging accusations against Hilary after he’d had his Miranda warning read to him the night before. They were waiting for an assistant district attorney to come over and authorize a deal. When the ADA arrived, the captain sent Ben to arrest Hilary Lawson. I read and signed my statement.
Margaret and I watched part of the interrogations before we got tired of the whole mess and went back to the office. After all, we needed to make some money and quick.
After school got out, Candy and I went back downtown for her to make her own statement and then over to the Lawson house. That was the hardest part. Tommy and Jeanine were going to need some extensive psychiatric help to recover emotionally—if they ever could.
The day after that, I met with Gillian at the courthouse where she took me to give a statement to the grand jury. A court reporter took it down. It was pretty much as I’ve above-stated. Later, another ADA accompanied us to a courtroom where I stood in front of the judge and listened as the DA’s office dropped the charges against me. Gillian said I didn’t have to, that she’d see to it, but just the same . . .
While I was there, Arthur Woodridge came in. They had released him the previous evening, but he also wanted to be present when the state dismissed their case against him.
It turned out that the special investigator located one of the witnesses against Arthur and talked to Frankie who was now willing to testify. His investigation had convinced him that Harrison Lawson was innocent of everything except being fooled by a pretty woman. James Rush, he said, as brilliant as he was, was a dope, too. Hilary had convinced Rush in the earlier case against Arthur that his client was guilty. Rush had taken it from there.
The last I heard, the judge, the district attorney himself, and Gillian Wright had all applied to the Governor for a pardon for Arthur. Arthur was living with his kids in the Lawson house, which Harrison had left them in his will. The court appointed Arthur as guardian of the children’s estates. With Gillian’s help, Arthur applied to have the termination of his parental rights set aside. If that didn’t work, he would adopt the kids. He was also suing Hilary for, among other things, false imprisonment.
As for James Rush, we found out later that I was correct in my assumption that he would have been Hilary’s next husband. Lucky him. He changed his mind after the police arrested Hilary for murder.
The Woodridges guaranteed Frankie a job for life.
After several months, Annette Jensen recovered except for a very slight speech impediment. As a reward for her loyalty, the insurance company promoted her to a high managerial position. She has forgiven me for not meeting her that night. We’ve become good friends and meet often for lunch.
Kelby McAfee pled guilty and was sentenced to life with no parole in exchange for his testimony against Hilary.
Hilary Lawson is out of jail on bond. Her lawyer keeps stalling the murder trial. Where she lives is a mystery, but it’s not River Oaks.
James Rush won another big lawsuit and is probably richer than King Midas. I saw him once downtown. He drove a convertible Mercedes and a buxom blonde sat beside him. The State Bar of Texas gave him a public reprimand for his part in the Woodridge case. That just shows how much money helps a person. Gillian said they would have disbarred her.
Mandy retired, and Angela Strickmeier took over her position. She’s pregnant again. Her husband is working steadily now.
Lon Tyler is still with homicide, much to the captain’s and Ben’s chagrin.
Captain Milton didn’t get promoted to deputy chief. He allegedly doesn’t hold that against me.
Ben and I are still together and still halfway discussing marriage.
Candy really did graduate from high school and still works for me while she attends community college.
Margaret’s relationship with what’s-his-face is still hot and heavy. I wonder sometimes if I’m going to have to give her away.
And my Mustang was finally repaired with the huge bonus that Arthur, Tommy, and Jeanine forced on me against my will.
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COPYRIGHT
THE SWEET SCENT OF MURDER
- No. 2 in the Mavis Davis Mystery Series
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Copyright © 2007 by Susan P. Baker.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Produced in the United States of America.
Originally published by Five Star, A Division of Thomson Gale, The Thomson Corporation, Waterville, Maine, February 2007.
For information and/or permission to use excerpts, contact:
Refugio Press, P.O. Box 3937, Galveston, TX 77552
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
With great appreciation to Patricia Ledbetter Wright (dec’d), Sandra Gardner, Catherine Robert, and Victoria Rust, as well as the Galveston Novel and Short Story Writers for their assistance as readers and critics.
The Sweet Scent of Murder Page 25