“They do wonders for your ass,” Timberland said.
“Nice. You don’t want to sell me life insurance, do you?”
“You don’t want to buy life insurance, do you?”
“So I guess that makes us even,” Bernie observed. “By the way, those veneers on your teeth. You should have them redone. They look like Chiclets.”
Bernie was happy to see that Timberland’s smile was now slightly smaller.
“You’re not here for auto insurance,” he said.
“Then what am I here for?”
“To ask me questions about my relationship with Amethyst.”
“And why do you suppose that?”
“A little birdie told me.”
Somehow Bernie couldn’t believe that birdie was Jeanine. Maybe Inez? Most probably Inez.
The corners of Timberland’s mouth turned up at Bernie’s evident confusion. “But actually, it doesn’t matter,” he said.
“That you and Amethyst hung out together?” asked Bernie.
“So what if we did back in the day?”
“And that your family moved away right after Bessie Osgood went out the window?”
Timberland smirked. “Again, so what? I’m sure if you check, you’ll find that lots of people left around that time.”
“So maybe that has something to do with Amethyst’s death.”
Timberland’s smirk grew bigger. “I guess you’re behind the times.”
“Not me. I’m fashion forward,” said Bernie.
Timberland blinked for a minute, then recovered himself. “You mean, you haven’t heard?” he asked.
“Heard what?” Bernie replied. Now it was her turn to be puzzled.
“They arrested Bob Small this morning for Amethyst’s murder.”
Bernie shifted from one leg to the other. She wondered if that was what her dad had been calling her about. It probably was.
“So?” she said. “Your point is?”
“My point is that I want you to keep away from me. You have no legal authority.”
“Is that what you brought me here to tell me?”
“As a matter of fact, it is. I brought you here to tell you that I’ll have you arrested for stalking if you keep bothering me.”
Bernie couldn’t help it. She laughed. “You’re kidding me, right?”
“Not in the least.”
“You could have said no when I called.”
“I just saw your name on today’s calendar.”
“Even so. You could have called and cancelled.”
“I wanted to tell you in person.”
“How considerate.”
“I’m a considerate guy.”
“I don’t know…,” Bernie said.
“That’s obvious.”
Bernie talked over him. “For someone who is in the clear, you’re certainly going to a lot of trouble to tell me to lay off. Why is that?”
Timberland took another step toward her. “You and your sister have a reputation for causing trouble.”
“It depends on your definition of trouble. And, anyway, what could we do to you? You just told me you had nothing to do with any of this.”
Timberland went on as if she hadn’t spoken. “If you’re smart, you’ll stay out of my way.”
“You want to tell me about your daughter?”
Timberland flushed. “You’ve been warned,” he growled.
“I guess you don’t like talking about her.”
“Get out before I have you arrested.” Timberland took his cell off the clip on his belt. “I’m dialing.”
“I’m going. I’m going.”
Well, that had been a complete waste of time, Bernie thought as she got back in her vehicle. She shook her head in disgust at herself. She’d let him lead the conversation from the get-go. Bad. Bad. Bad. The only thing she did know was that the daughter was a definite sore spot. She sighed and looked at her watch.
She had another hour before she had to meet Libby at the Haunted House. She decided to use it to pick up more potted mums at the garden center. If she recalled, they still had some left. And as long as she was there, she could ask Kathy about Zinnia. They were the same age. Maybe she’d know something about her.
Then if she had any time left over, she’d buy some more napkins. She’d seen some really cute ones with ghosts on them in the dollar store over on Grand Avenue. And maybe they had some other Halloween stuff as well. That was the thing with the dollar store. You never knew what you were going to find. Kind of like life, Bernie decided. She shook her head. She was definitely getting sappy in her old age.
Kathy’s Garden Shop was located in a mini strip mall three miles off of Longely’s main road. The strip mall had been built recently. There was more and more mall sprawl lately, taking up land that, in Bernie’s judgment, should have been left alone. After all, how many Home Depots and Staples did you need?
Kathy’s Garden Shop was located between a drugstore and a place selling chicken wings, but as Kathy had pointed out to Bernie, the rent was cheap, the utilities were fairly low, and there was plenty of parking. Like Bernie and Libby, Kathy managed to compete with the chains by charm, customer service, and interesting merchandise. So far she’d done pretty well for herself.
When Bernie got out of her car, she was happy to see there were eight pots of mums sitting outside of Kathy’s shop.
“You want to do a trade?” Bernie said when she went inside.
Her friend Kathy looked up from behind the register. Today her hair was in cornrows. She had light brown skin and large green eyes. It was a smashing combination.
“What kind of trade?”
“You let me borrow the mums to decorate the tables up at the Haunted House, and I’ll give you three apple pies.”
“Apple and cranberry and throw in a parsnip pie and you got a deal.”
“You are the only person I know, except for me and Libby, that likes parsnip pie.”
“That’s because you’re making my grandmother’s recipe.”
“No. It’s my grandmother’s. We’ve had this discussion before.”
Bernie pointed to the display of orange and lemon trees. “Those would look nice in my bedroom.”
“And I would sell them to you,” Kathy said, “if you didn’t have a black thumb.”
“Gray thumb.”
“Black,” Kathy said firmly.
“All right. Black.” It was true. Bernie had yet to keep a plant alive. She simply forgot to water them. “By the way, do you remember Zinnia McGuire?”
Kathy put her pen down. “Course, I do. She used to pal around with Zachery Timberland, Bob Small, and Amethyst Applegate. Now there was a nice crew.”
“Whatever happened to her?”
“She died in an automobile accident down in Coopersville. Hit-and-run, if I remember correctly. Some guy went right through the stop at Elves and Ash and T-boned her. He must have been going really fast, from what I understand.”
Bernie raised an eyebrow. “And no one saw anything?”
“It was three-thirty in the morning. You know what that place is like. It’s even worse than Longely. A neighbor called it in. She said the crash woke her up.”
“I wonder why Zinnia was there?”
Kathy shrugged. “She was probably doing the typical druggie high school dropout thing.”
“Did Zinnia ever say anything?”
“Nope. She died on the way to the hospital. I guess she was in pretty bad shape when the police got there. It’s really too bad.”
“How’s that?”
“Because she was getting her act together. She’d given up the stuff she was doing—the coke and the weed—and was talking about going back to school.”
“How long after Bessie Osgood died was she killed?”
Kathy thought for a moment. “Maybe one year. Certainly no more than two.”
“Interesting,” Bernie murmured.
“You don’t think one thing had anything to do with the oth
er, do you?” Kathy asked.
“Probably not,” Bernie said.
Nevertheless, she filed the fact away in her head for possible use later.
Chapter 11
“Damn cell,” Sean said as he and Marvin headed toward Lexus Gardens.
Marvin turned his head to look at Sean. “Can’t you—”
“Eyes on the road,” Sean yelled.
“They are on the road,” Marvin said.
“Now they’re on the road. Before they weren’t. Maybe you shouldn’t talk while you’re driving.”
Marvin didn’t say anything. Sean could tell he was sulking. Young people didn’t take correction well these days. They should be thankful for the help. But when he’d said that to Libby and Bernie, they’d just rolled their eyes.
After a moment, Sean said, “Things are stressful.” Which was as close to an apology as he was going to get.
Marvin stared straight ahead. Another moment went by before he spoke.
“There was no one on the road.”
“Maybe there wasn’t,” Sean allowed, “but that’s not the issue. The issue is there could have been.”
“I don’t get it,” Marvin told him.
Sean watched him for a moment and shook his head. Now he was driving like a little old lady, with both hands gripping the steering wheel.
“Bad habits are bad habits,” Sean explained. “The object in life is to develop good ones. That way, when a situation comes along, you don’t have to think about what to do. You know what to do.”
“I suppose,” Marvin said.
“You suppose! That’s the basis for military training. It stops people from getting killed.” Sean nodded at the turn coming up. “You want to take a right here.”
“I know,” Marvin said. “Contrary to popular opinion, I can drive.”
“I never said you couldn’t.”
This time when Marvin talked, Sean was delighted to see he kept his eyes on the road. He knew he should feel guilty about yelling at the kid, but he didn’t, because he’d accomplished his objective. He couldn’t forbid Libby to ride around with Marvin, but he could endeavor to make him the best driver possible. And if yelling was what it took, then so be it. Sean could live with that.
“So Banks doesn’t know that we’re coming?” Marvin asked.
“No. I can’t call him, because I can’t get any reception here. Maybe it’s better that way,” Sean said.
“What if he’s not in?” Marvin asked.
Sean waved his hand to indicate the countryside. “Then we’ll have enjoyed a drive in the country.”
Sean was glad to be out riding around. And if Edward Banks wasn’t in, they could always speak to him another time. Some people would say that talking to Banks was just a waste of time, but Sean had always found that the more information one could gather, the better. You could never tell what might prove to be important and what wasn’t until you got it all together and laid it out on the metaphorical table.
So why had Amethyst wanted to speak to Banks? Banks was a recluse. Sean had heard that his house and gardens were spectacular, but no one Sean knew had seen them. So maybe he’d see them now. That is, if Banks was in and was willing to talk to them. If not, all he and Marvin had wasted was the fifteen-mile drive into the country. Which wasn’t a waste, especially not today.
Maybe they’d go home by way of Orchid Farms, and he’d get some apples. Cortlands were always good. And they had unpasteurized cider, something you couldn’t get in the grocery stores anymore. Maybe he’d get a gallon for the house and a quart for Jeanine for all the help she’d given him. Yes. That was what he’d do. He was feeling very pleased with himself when Marvin started talking.
“What?” Sean asked.
“I asked if Bernie knows that Bob Small was arrested,” Marvin said.
“Probably not,” Sean said.
Clyde had phoned to tell him after Bernie had gone, and although he’d tried phoning Bernie, he hadn’t gotten through. He hadn’t even been able to leave a message, because her mailbox was full. Not that it really mattered.
He’d tell her when he met up with her at the Peabody School. He sat back and took in the scenery while keeping one eye on Marvin’s driving. Even if Marvin were the best driver in the world, which he wasn’t, Sean had to admit to himself, he wouldn’t be able to relax. The truth was he didn’t trust anyone to drive except himself.
They got to Lexus Gardens twenty minutes later. The road up to the estate formed a winding ribbon as it went up to the top of the Altamar Hill. Huge evergreens hugged either side of the road, blotting out the light.
“I wouldn’t want to drive up and down this road in the winter,” Marvin observed as he made another turn.
“Me either,” Sean replied. “But he probably doesn’t have to. He probably spends his winters in the Caribbean. I mean, I would if I had that kind of money.”
“Would you really?” Marvin asked.
“No,” Sean said. He hated the heat.
Another one-eighth mile and they were at the estate. The whole thing was enclosed in a stucco wall, with barbed wire on the top.
“I guess he doesn’t want any visitors,” Marvin said.
“I guess not,” Sean agreed. He was surprised there wasn’t an ARMED RESPONSE sign tacked up to the wall.
The house and the gardens had been featured in some magazine named Shelters. Or something like that. Maybe when Sean gave Jeanine the cider, he’d ask her if she could look that up, too. He directed Marvin to drive up to the gate. There was an intercom mounted on the far wall. Sean told him to lean out the window and push the button. Marvin did. There was a crackling noise.
“Ask if we can come up and talk to him for a moment,” Sean ordered. “Tell him we’re involved in a homicide investigation.”
“But we’re not the police,” Marvin protested.
“I’m not saying we are,” Sean told him. It just sounded that way.
“If you say so.”
“I do,” Sean said.
“Okay,” Marvin said, and he turned and yelled into the intercom. There was no response. He tried again. Nothing.
Marvin turned back to Sean. “Maybe no one is home.”
“Maybe,” Sean said. “Try another time.”
Marvin did, with the same results.
Sean looked through the gate. The opening offered a narrow perspective. All he could see was a lawn, a large red maple, the front of the house, and a large blow-up statue of a witch bowing up and down. Sean did a double take.
Talk about something being out of place. You expected to see something like that at Wal-Mart, not someplace like here, a place that was known for its taste and elegance. Another odd thing caught his attention. No lights were on in the house, and he didn’t see any movement anywhere. Which was strange because a house this size required a staff to run it. Sean gave a mental shrug. Banks could be off in China, for all he knew.
“It’s awfully quiet,” Marvin observed.
“It is, isn’t it,” Sean agreed. All he could hear was the wind murmuring and a flock of geese honking as they flew overhead.
Marvin leaned out and pressed the intercom button again. Just static. “Hello,” he cried. “Anyone home?”
“Let’s just go,” Sean said.
Marvin turned back to Sean. “Maybe he went to the Caribbean, after all.”
“He could be anywhere,” Sean said. One thing was clear. No one was home. Or if they were, they weren’t answering the intercom. “We can stop at the farm stand on our way to the Peabody School.”
Marvin nodded and turned around. Later Sean would be sorry that he had made that decision. Later he’d be sorry that he hadn’t asked Marvin to try the gate. Later he’d tell himself he was turning into a careless old man. But that was later. Right now he wanted to get to the farm stand before it closed.
“Thank you,” Libby said as Mark helped her carry the last of her cartons into the kitchen.
She began unpacking. Mark coughe
d. Libby looked up. He was standing beside her, shuffling from one well-shod foot to another.
“Yes?” she said.
Mark coughed again. Libby decided he looked uneasy. Somehow she liked him better that way.
“Can I help you with anything?” she asked. She wished he’d come to the point. She had a lot of things she had to do.
“I heard.” Mark stopped.
“Heard what?” Libby asked, mystified.
“Er. I heard you saw something the other day.” He spoke quickly, running his words together. “Or maybe I should say someone.”
Libby knew instantly what he meant. “That’s right,” she said cautiously as she took the jugs with the waffle batter out of the cardboard box she’d carried them in. “You’re talking about Bessie Osgood, aren’t you?”
Mark nodded and fidgeted some more.
Libby rested her hand on top of one of the five-quart jugs. “I still can’t believe I did.”
“You don’t believe in that kind of thing?” Mark asked.
“Not at all. I keep thinking she was some kind of optical illusion that someone had created.”
“I don’t think so,” Mark said softly.
“Why not?”
“Because I saw her, too,” he said a moment later. He held up three fingers.
“Three times?” Libby asked.
Mark nodded. “I don’t believe in ghosts, either.”
“Neither do I,” Libby lied, because in her heart she did. “But here we are.”
Mark nodded. “I didn’t tell anyone, because I didn’t want them to think I’m crazy.”
“I’m surprised. I’d think you’d want the publicity.”
“I’m a behind-the-scenes kind of guy.”
Libby unscrewed the top of the five-quart jug of whole-wheat batter and started pouring it into a pitcher. “I felt so cold,” she said.
“I got goose bumps on my arms,” Mark said.
“Me too. And I could kind of see a shape.”
“Out of the corner of your eye?”
Libby nodded. “I had the impression of a teenage girl. But I don’t know why I thought that. I couldn’t really see her all that well. I could hardly see her at all. I closed my eyes for a second, and when I opened them again, she was gone.”
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