“We can take my car if you like,” I suggested, pulling my keys out from the bottom of my handbag.
Riley shrugged in a yeah whatever movement and we headed outside.
Now if I haven’t mentioned it previously, I drive a Mini Cooper S. It’s adorable. It’s red and has two black racing stripes running up the bonnet, across the roof and down the back hatch. It’s also turbo-charged so it goes like the clappers.
Getting in, I started the engine and waited for Riley. I watched as he folded himself into the passenger seat, narrowly missing his head on the roof, his knee hanging over the gear lever. As tight a fit as it was for him, I was enjoying every second of it, changing gear more often than necessary as it meant I would have to touch his knee.
It took about twenty minutes to get from my house to the Allora Lodge Nursing Facility, and I will admit by the time we got to our destination, I was one very happy girl.
As I parked in the visitors parking I took a look around at the buildings and grounds. It was utilitarian-looking building, with pale bricks, a green tiled roof, and sparse gardens surrounding it. Inside it was quite depressing and—not meaning to offend anybody—it smelled. When the time came for me to have children, I was going to be very nice to them in the hope I don’t end up in a place like this.
Stepping up to the unattended reception desk, I rang the bell and we waited until a nurse appeared. I asked for Lorraine Spencer, the lady whom our meeting was with and it didn’t take long for her to arrive. She was a small lady, about fifty, wearing a dark blue uniform with the Allora Lodge logo on the left breast.
“Come into my office,” she said using her arm to steer us towards the room on our left. It was pretty small considering the size of her desk and all the paperwork she had in piles around the room. “I apologize for the mess. I never seem to have enough space for everything. I keep hoping one day we’ll get a large donation and I might be able to get a bigger office.” She smiled. “Now, you mentioned on the phone yesterday you had some questions about a previous resident here,” she said, sitting down behind her desk and clasping her hands in front of her.
“Yes, her name was Avis Miller. I bought her house recently and we found something that would have belonged to her. I was hoping you could tell me if she has any living relatives so I could return the item to them,” I explained.
“Well, as you know all information about Avis is protected by the privacy act so I can’t tell you too much, but I can tell you she had no living relatives. She came to us after a rather nasty fall. She was only with us for four months before she passed, but she was a sweet lady. She was friendly to the other residents but didn’t really connect with anyone. It was quite sad that she never had many visitors during her time with us,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s not uncommon though. Do you have any idea how many family members put their relatives in here and basically forget about them?” she sighed, looking at Riley.
“Could you tell us who her visitors were?” he asked, trying to keep her on track. He gave her the killer smile, so anything he requested was pretty much going to be done. I saw the dazed expression enter her eyes.
“Well…I...umm…ummm...I’m not supposed to give out that information,” she stammered, “but how about I go and see what I can find out.” I could actually see her brain stop working there for a moment. I guess it proved any age bracket could be sucked right into Riley’s orbit.
“Seriously, with that smile you can get whatever you want, can’t you?” I asked once she’d left the room. He smiled back at me. He knew the power of his talent.
Lorraine was back in no time with a large black book in her arms.
“Now, let’s see what we can find. Our computer records show what day she had visitors and I was right when I said she didn’t have many. Only two in fact. The first one was a couple, Hazel and Adrian Maxwell, and the second one is a John Smith.” I knew about Hazel and Adrian as they had told me about their visit, but John Smith? Seriously, could he not have had a more common name?
“Do you keep a record of addresses of visitors?” I asked, hoping this would give us some more information. She shook her head.
“No…sorry. We don’t have a need for that kind of information.”
“What about on Avis’s records?” asked Riley. “You must have someone listed as a contact for her. Who was notified of her death?”
Lorraine stopped for a second, looking at Riley before clicking a few keys on her keyboard.
“I’m sorry, but that information is protected. I can’t tell you even if I wanted to. Can I ask what it is you found?”
I looked at Riley. There was no harm in telling her.
“Riley was renovating the attic and found a pile of love letters and an engagement ring. The ring looks valuable, so I thought it should be given either to a relative or back to the person who gave it to her.”
“An engagement ring?” Now we had her attention. “Well, isn’t that interesting. Do you think it belonged to Avis?”
“Yes, the letters were addressed to her,” said Riley.
“Well, who would have thought,” she said more as a comment than a question. “I know Avis liked one of the nurses here named Susan. How about I give her a call and see if she’s free for a chat.” Lorraine picked up the phone and pressed a few buttons. Within a minute Susan knocked on the door. Lorraine introduced us all as Susan took a seat opposite us.
“Do you remember Avis Miller?” Lorraine asked. Susan nodded. “Well, this lovely lady and her friend have bought her old house and are renovating it. They found an engagement ring that belonged to Avis—with some old letters—and are trying to track down the original owner,” Lorraine explained grinning. I think our story was the highlight of her day.
“Avis was such a lovely lady.” Susan smiled, remembering. “I got quite attached to her while she was here, but she never mentioned anything about ever being married or engaged.” Susan stopped and looked thoughtful.
“Did you ever hear her talk about a William?” I asked.
“No sorry, but I’ll give it some thought. Sometimes conversations will come back to me when I’m least trying to remember them.”
“Thanks anyway,” I said. This was turning out to be a waste of time.
“You know Susan, while you’re here I should get you to look at Mrs. Turner, she was feeling a bit under the weather this morning.” Susan and Lorraine got up to leave the room.
Well, that’s strange. Is this the end of the meeting? As she walked out of the room I noticed she glanced at Riley. Once they were gone, he got up and walked around the desk.
“What are you doing?” I whispered in panic. I hated the anxiety I feel when sneaking around, already my palms were sweating and my pulse had picked up. Flashbacks of getting caught while sneaking a look at Christmas presents at the age of seven were coming back to me.
“She was signaling to me to look at the computer once she was gone.”
Seriously? He got that from the look she gave him?
“She said she couldn’t tell us who Avis’s emergency contact was because of privacy laws. Well, this way she’s not telling us, is she?”
He looked quite happy with himself. I have to admit that’s pretty clever really. Grabbing a piece of paper, Riley took down some information. He’d just sat down in his seat when Lorraine came back into the room.
“Well, I’m sorry I couldn’t have been more help,” she said with a smile. “But I hope you found your visit to us useful. Susan will let me know if she remembers anything else and I have your number, Lizzie so I will contact you as soon as I find anything out,” she said as she shepherded us to the door.
“You’ve been a big help,” said Riley, giving her his killer smile again. I think that was payment for her deception.
* * * *
The name Riley had written on the paper was that of a solicitor in the city. I can’t be certain because I no longer have the contract, but I’m pretty sure it was the solicitor who sold me my
house. I thought it was interesting he was also her final contact. No friends or family–just a solicitor. But then what did I know? He could have been her friend after all.
I gave the number a ring once we were back in the car and set up an appointment to see a Mr. Patrick Johns on Wednesday. Hopefully he could shed some light on this. I was wondering who John Smith was when my phone started to ring.
“Hello, baby!” It was Mum. I was about to turn 32 and she still called me baby.
“Hi Mum. What’s up?”
“Well, I was thinking that, seeing how your birthday is on Tuesday, we would make Sunday dinner for you. Would that be okay, love? It’s just…your father and I have a tournament at the bridge club on Tuesday night and we wouldn’t be able to have it then.”
“That’s fine, Mum. Scott has actually organized a night out for my birthday. I think we’re having dinner in the city and going to a show afterwards. I’m hoping it’s Wicked but he won’t tell me.” I smiled, thinking about it. I hadn’t seen Wicked yet but from what I’d heard, it’s spectacular.
“Oh, that’ll be lovely,” said Mum. “Maybe he might have a special something for you.” I know she was hinting at a ring, but I hoped he didn’t. Yes, about seven months ago I was hoping for commitment, but now I was starting to feel a bit uneasy with our relationship. I know I’m lucky to have a boyfriend like Scott, but lately I was feeling like I didn’t want to be lucky. I wanted to be wanted. I wanted a relationship that was equal, where he felt just as lucky to have me.
After talking to Mum for another few minutes about Grandma Mabel—apparently she hadn’t stopped talking about Riley since she came over yesterday—I hung up.
“Grandma says hello.” I smiled. “I think she has a crush on you.”
“Old ladies love me.” He smiled back.
“Yeah, not just the old ones, I bet.”
Chapter Nine
It was sort of a tradition that every Sunday night the family would get together and Mum would cook a big roast. I must say Mum cooked the best roast. Grandma Mabel was always there to help her, but after she set the oven on fire last year, she was told to stay out of the kitchen. When I walked in, I found Molly in the kitchen with Mum. Danny, Andrew and Dad were watching Antiques Roadshow in the lounge. Grandma Mabel was in her usual high-backed chair, head back, eyes closed, mouth open and sound asleep.
“How can you hear the television over her snoring?” I asked as I gave Dad a kiss on the cheek. She sounded like an old chainsaw he once owned.
“You get used it,” he said looking around me, obviously more interested in the antiques on TV.
Mum and Dad had lived in this house my entire life, but every time I came here, it looked different. Mum got bored very quickly with the décor, and Auntie M and she put their heads together, it sometimes became a bit overpowering. Like now for instance. She’s lucky to have Dad and that he’s an extremely patient man because this week she’d changed the curtains and all the cushions on the couch. They all matched beautifully with a lovely floral print in scarlet. This of course didn’t match the floral carpet which was an awful mix of brown, mustard and orange. Nor did it match the purple couch.
“You’ve put new curtains up,” I said to Mum as I walked into the kitchen.
“Yes, aren’t they lovely?” Mum was so cute when she was excited. Her whole face glowed and she kind of had this scrunched-up look around her eyes.
“Gorgeous, Mum. Do you think there’s anything on the color wheel you might have forgotten to add?” asked Molly sarcastically.
A lot of people say Molly and I are a lot alike, but I think this is only in looks. Molly is far more outgoing than I am, far more confident and much better dressed. She’s the oldest of the three of us, and even though she sits here in her four-inch Jimmy Choo’s, skintight, pink-sequined halter-top and skintight jeans, don’t be fooled. When she gets her teeth into something, she’s like a bulldog, never letting go.
“Well, just because your house is very sterile looking, Molly, it does not mean you have to be sarcastic about mine,” said Mum, rather irritated. I have to agree, though. I thought Molly was right.
Mum and Dad’s house wasn’t particularly big, so when I left home they converted the bedroom Molly and I had shared growing up, into the dining room they never had. This of course had the added advantage of neither me nor Molly ever being able to return home to live. After Danny moved out, Grandma Mabel moved into the only other spare room.
As Mum called dinner, we all piled into the dining room and sat down to eat. Dinner was always a noisy affair in our family, everyone spoke at once and never waited his or her turn, but somehow we all managed to follow the conversation, even Grandma Mabel. After her nap, she was bright and chirpy once more. I looked at her thinking how sweet she looked in her purple calf-length polyester dress, complete with matching purple hair. Just as my heart was melting, she lifted her left bottom cheek and a distinctive noise coming from her rear end was followed by a seriously bad odor. Grandma continued to eat, a completely innocent look on her face as if nothing happened. A second later the odor hit and I saw her wrinkle her nose.
“Who let Polly out of prison?” she asked, looking around the table, her eyes stopping on me.
“Don’t look at me. Everyone knows it was you,” I quickly stated, making sure everyone knew it wasn’t me.
“Oh, Mum! We’re at the dinner table!”
Grandma shrugged and feigned innocence. Waving my hand around to clear the air, I looked up to see Danny leaning in towards me.
“Hey Lizzie,” Danny whispered. “I was thinking about Molly’s birthday next week and what we should get her.” Molly’s birthday is exactly one week after mine even though she is two years older.
“That’s good, because I don’t have a clue,” I replied.
“I think we should go out to the animal refuge and rescue a dog for her,” said Danny.
“Do you think that’s a good idea?” asked Andrew, who was sitting between Danny and me.
Actually, I thought it was a great idea. Molly had been down since she’d broken up with her last boyfriend and something that would give her unconditional love was exactly what she needed to get her mind off men.
“Have you been out there for a look at what they’ve got?” I asked.
“No, but I have looked on the Internet. There’s this one dog, his name is Harper. He’s a cross between a Maltese and who-the-hell-even-knows. After dinner I’ll show you,” said Danny, taking second helping of the potatoes.
Dinner continued on as usual but I was having a hard time concentrating on the conversation. I just couldn’t wait to see Harper. Molly had been heart broken when she split with her boyfriend Adam. So much so that I was actually worried she would never be the same again. Like I said before, Molly is very outgoing and loves nothing more than male attention, but after Adam, she hasn’t been interested. She’d thrown herself into her work. As a photographer she was highly talented, but this new hurt had made her talent shine even more. Maybe there was always an upside to everything.
After dessert, (Mum’s famous homemade chocolate cake), we left Molly and Andrew with the dishes—I got out of it because it was my birthday dinner—and got onto Mum and Dad’s computer.
It didn’t take Danny long to find the website we were looking for and suddenly, there in front of me was a full-size image of the saddest dog I’d ever seen.
Harper was listed under the oldies and was described as a pure white Maltese terrier. In the picture, he didn’t look pure white but he did look old. He was so old, he only had two teeth, and so as I looked at his photo, his tongue was hanging out of the side of his mouth. But none of that mattered, he’d already grabbed my heartstrings. He was exactly what Molly needed—something to love and take care of.
“Danny, you’re a genius.” I turned and gave him a big hug. He really was the most thoughtful brother a girl could ever ask for.
“By the way, for your birthday, I’m giving you a makeove
r,” he said. Like I said, always thoughtful.
“I can meet you there tomorrow and we can have a look at him, if you like?” I said.
“Sure, tomorrow works for me but it’ll have to be in the morning. I have a big day planned.”
* * * *
Trying to find the animal refuge was a feat in itself. When I did finally find it, I realized it was not a track that liked little Mini Cooper’s. It was muddy, bumpy and full of potholes big enough to actually lose my car in. But I could hear the dogs barking as I drove closer, so even though my car complained every inch of the way, I forced it to negotiate its way around the holes and over the bumps until I reached the gates. Sitting in the car, waiting for Danny to arrive nearly broke my heart.
When Danny did finally arrive, we made our way to the reception area and asked to have a look around. Now, you would think the amount of noise coming from behind these gates would have been a good indicator to me as to how many dogs were actually here. But no, I was shocked by the sheer number of abandoned animals. There were big ones, small ones, medium-sized ones, black ones, brown ones…the list went on. They were all so beautiful I didn’t understand how anybody could leave them.
We found Harper pretty quickly, which was good as I was starting to get a bit upset. He was standing in a pen with two other dogs, both of which were jumping up and trying to get our attention. Harper, however, was just standing back checking us out, his tongue hanging out of his mouth, just as it had in the photo. The attendant told us he was about ten years old and needed to go to a home without a cat. He hated cats apparently. Luckily he wasn’t coming to live with me.
“What do you think?” Danny asked.
“I think I want to take him and run. This place is really starting to get to me.”
Danny bent down near the fence and called Harper over. It took some coaxing but Harper eventually succumbed to the pressure. As Danny managed to put his hand through the wire and give him a pat, the other two dogs seemed to back off. I wondered if they had some sort of gentleman’s agreement concerning visiting humans where, once a dog was selected by a human, the other dogs backed off and respected the chosen one.
The Westport Mysteries Boxed Set Page 7