The Mournful Teddy

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The Mournful Teddy Page 25

by John J. Lamb


  I heard the wheelchair lift’s electric motor start and realized that Ewell was coming downstairs to investigate. I said, “Meredith, I think you should go to the truck with Ash. Miss Ewell isn’t going to want you to come with us.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you’ll ruin the big payday she’s got planned.”

  Ash and Meredith got into the Xterra as I waited for the old woman. I pushed the door open a little and saw Ewell arrive on the ground floor. As the wheelchair approached, it made a sound that reminded me of agitated bees in a hive.

  Ewell gave me an imperious glare. “Who gave you permission to enter my property? Where is Meredith going?”

  “We’ve come to give her a ride into town. She wants to confess to Robert’s murder and don’t bother trying to look surprised because you knew all along.”

  “You can’t prove that.”

  “I realize that, but you did know. I’ll bet your bedroom window on the second floor overlooks the guesthouse, because you’re such a tyrant you’d want to keep an eye on Robert whenever he was here. You knew Robert and Meredith were lovers.”

  “The slut seduced my nephew.”

  “Oh yeah, everybody knows how virtuous Robert was—a regular Sir Galahad. There’s no way you couldn’t have heard their argument on Friday night when she begged him to stay and—gallant guy that he was—he slapped her for the crime of imagining a Ewell was capable of behaving decently.”

  “I’m not interested in your little sermon.”

  “Too bad. You sat up there like a fat spider in a web and watched as Meredith murdered him in an uncontrollable rage. And what did you do?”

  “Leave my property now.” Ewell turned the wheelchair and grabbed the door.

  I placed my hand against the door to prevent her from closing it. “Did you call the paramedics? Did you call the sheriff? Did you open the window and yell at Meredith to stop? No, you tried to think of a way to turn Robert’s death into a profit and I almost gave you the opportunity when I told you that I suspected Trent of the murder. It’s got to be upsetting knowing you were that close to almost a million bucks.”

  “Get off my land, you bastard. Go! Get out!”

  “Gladly, because after I go and recover your precious Mourning Bear from a woman so lacking in conscience that she could be your clone, I’m heading home for a long hot shower. Being in the presence of someone as loathsome as you makes me feel soiled and I only hope we have enough soap to wash your stink from me.” I released my hold on the door and was walking away when it slammed shut behind me.

  Chapter 24

  Pulling up in front of the Sheriff’s Office, I parked next to a pair of gray State Police cruisers that had arrived some time while we were at the Ewell estate. I also noticed a cream-colored Ford Crown Vic sedan with county government license plates and suspected it belonged to the Commonwealth’s Attorney. Tina had been busy during our absence.

  We went inside the office and a deputy seated at the reception counter waved us on through, saying, “The Sheriff told me to send you right in.”

  A few seconds later, we stood in the doorway, obviously interrupting an intense discussion between Tina and an unhappy looking older man. I said, “Sheriff Barron? This is Meredith Audett and she’s come in here voluntarily to tell you what happened to Robert Thayer.”

  “Mr. Emerson, this is Brad and Ashleigh Lyon, the folks I’ve been telling you about.” Tina looked up at us and continued, “Mr. Emerson is our Commonwealth’s Attorney and he’s been telling me all about the political realities of Massanutten County.”

  “Which means he’s trying to get you to drop the charges to protect himself and his cronies. God Almighty, I am so tired of dealing with slimy characters pretending to be good citizens.” My leg was throbbing, I had a dull headache, and I didn’t realize just how cranky I was until I turned to Emerson and said, “Look, you two-bit procurer, why don’t you run home and lock yourself in a closet. That way you’ll be ready for the experience of state prison, because you and I both know that Gene Holcombe is going to implicate you and a bunch of other ‘servants of the people’ in this graft ring.”

  “And although I’m not as diplomatic as Mr. Lyon, I agree with his assessment,” said Tina. “Go home, Mr. Emerson. I’m calling the attorney general’s office in Richmond to get a real prosecutor.”

  Emerson pushed past us, scowled at me, and stomped down the hall.

  Tina stood up and pointed to the recently vacated chair. “Thanks for coming in, Ms. Audett. Why don’t you sit down right here? I have to talk to the Lyons for a moment and then I’ll be back.”

  Once Meredith was seated, Tina came out into the hall and shut the door behind her.

  “What’s wrong?” Ash asked.

  “Poole’s in the wind. His clothes closet was empty and his car was gone. It must have happened while we were tied up with the Holcombes. I put out a BOL.”

  “But it isn’t likely you’ll find him. He had to have been preparing for this day, so he probably has false ID and a bank account under the same alias. For that matter, he could have a cold car stashed someplace.”

  “I just feel awful. If we’d moved more quickly . . .”

  “You mean, and not waited for a warrant? Don’t kid yourself, Tina. He’d have posted bond and disappeared anyway. You did the best you could.”

  “Well, I’m glad he’s gone. He’d spread so much ‘charity’ money around, he might have been acquitted if he’d stayed,” said Ash. “Good riddance to bad rubbish.”

  “You’re probably right, sweetheart. Now, on to other business.” I nodded in the direction of the closed door. “Meredith confessed to killing Thayer and it sounded like a pretty valid ‘heat of passion’ situation. You’ll want to get started on the interview immediately because if I’m any judge of Liz Ewell’s character, she’s going to hire Meredith a lawyer and he’s going to come here and insist on seeing his client. After that, she’ll invoke and there’ll be no further opportunity to talk to her.”

  “Why would Ewell do that?”

  “She still wants to pin the murder on Trent so that she can sue the county for an astronomical amount of money.”

  Tina shook her head and sighed. “People. You’ve got to love them. Are you going up to get the bear now?”

  “Yeah. I’d like to take a deputy along just in case Cleland voluntarily comes outside the hotel room. That way, he can make a ‘probable cause’ arrest because she’s out in public.”

  “You can take Deputy Bressler. He was at the front counter when you came in.”

  “Have you sworn out a warrant for Cleland’s arrest?”

  “Not yet.”

  “The arrest warrant will get you into her hotel room, but you’ll also need a search warrant to recover any evidence that’s not in plain sight.”

  “I know. I’ve got the state troopers working on that, but it’s going to take some time.”

  “Don’t worry. Once we’re up there and the scene’s been frozen, Cleland isn’t going anywhere. Besides, it’s been almost twenty minutes since I’ve spoken with a sociopath, so I’m really looking forward to chatting with her.”

  “Me too,” Ash grimly added.

  “I really want to thank you two for all the help,” Tina said diffidently.

  “It’s a pleasure doing it for a friend . . . and someone we know will be a good and honest sheriff,” I said.

  On the way out, we paused in the lobby to brief Bressler on his new assignment. Then I grabbed a manila envelope from a stack on the counter.

  “What’s that for?” Ash asked.

  “Camouflage. If we show up looking like this is police business, the hotel staff won’t tell us what room she’s in, claiming it violates their privacy policy.”

  “But how’s an envelope going to help?”

  “You’ll see.”

  Soon, we were speeding down Coggins Spring Road toward Massanutten Mountain with Bressler in his patrol car behind us. The sun had already desc
ended below the ridgeline by the time we turned onto the cobblestone lane leading up to the Massanutten Crest Lodge. A moment later, the ersatz castle came into view. I parked the truck in a handicapped slot near the entrance and we went into the hotel while Bressler waited outside for my telephone call.

  With the huge stone fireplace in the corner and the maroon banners hanging on the walls, the lobby looked like a medieval feasting hall—so long as you could overlook the huge plasma television in the corner that was currently displaying a splashy commercial for adult diapers.

  “Follow my lead,” I whispered to Ash. Then, putting an idiotic grin on my face, I marched up to the young woman behind the registration counter and said, “Hi there! We’re looking for Lorraine Cleland. Can you tell us what room she’s in?”

  “And you are?”

  I waved the manila envelope as if it were a winning lottery ticket and did my best to sound jolly and just slightly demented. “Why we’re the Lyons and we just want to return this contract we signed with Lorraine. She’s going to make my wife’s teddy bears and put them in toyshops. Do you like teddy bears?”

  “I suppose.”

  “We love them. Our house is full of them.”

  “That’s nice.”

  “Sometimes I pretend to make voices for them. You know, I make them talk.”

  “Oh.”

  Ash tugged my shirtsleeve. “Oh honey, do one of the voices for her. She’ll love it!”

  “That’s all right. Really.”

  “So what room is Lorraine in? We want to drop off the paperwork and then go out and celebrate.”

  I could see the clerk weighing her options. The rules probably said she should call Cleland before releasing any information, but we looked harmless, and the girl seemed genuinely worried that I might give her a sample of one of my teddy bear voices. Finally, she said, “Room one-seventeen. Down that hall and to the left.”

  “Thank you, hon.”

  Ash waited until we were well down the hall before starting to laugh. “Oh my God, did you see the look on her face?”

  “I thought she behaved very professionally, considering she thought we were nuts.” I took my wireless phone out and called Bressler. “We’re in. Room one-seventeen on the ground floor. It’ll be at the rear of the building. Let us know when you’re back there and we’ll make contact with Cleland.”

  We came to the end of the corridor and turned left. Room 117 was the third door on the right. A couple of minutes passed and then my phone rang. I answered on the first ring and heard Bressler say, “Okay, I’m in position.”

  “I’ll call you back when I have some idea of what’s going to happen.” I disconnected from the call and used my cane to rap on the door.

  “Who is it?” Cleland called from within.

  “It’s Ashleigh and Brad Lyon.”

  “Go away. I don’t want to talk to you.”

  “Oh, but we want to talk to you and I’m perfectly happy yelling through the door so that your high-class neighbors can hear all about how you screwed a charity auction so that you could buy a stolen teddy bear.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Stick with that. The jury will love it.”

  “Go away!”

  “Lorraine, it’s in your best interest to open the door. Sheriff Holcombe is in jail and Reverend Poole has gone into hiding, but both of them were kind enough to tell us everything about your purchase of the Mourning Bear. Heck, we’ve even got your cashier’s check and as we speak, two state troopers are hard at work getting a warrant for your arrest.”

  “What do you want?”

  “We just want the bear back. Actually, that’s not true. I also want to see you led out of this five-star hotel in handcuffs and put into the back seat of a police car just like any other grubby felon, but I’ll settle for the bear.”

  The door opened and Cleland glared at us. “Come in and keep your voices down.”

  We went inside. Cleland was dressed in traveling clothes: khaki pants, a beige pullover shirt, and white deck shoes. An open suitcase lay upon the bed and a wooden box I was certain contained the Mourning Bear stood on the table.

  “Going back to Boston?”

  “Or just trying to get across the state line?” Ash added.

  I perched myself on the edge of the dresser. “Lorraine, I just have to know. That damned bear represents the deaths of fifteen hundred people almost a century ago. This weekend, it was the cause of an armed robbery, followed by a murder, and it almost got Ash and me killed less than two hours ago. The idea of having it in my house gives me the creeps, so why do you want it so badly?”

  “It’s one of the rarest and most valuable stuffed animals in the world. You collect teddy bears. You ought to understand.”

  Ash looked puzzled and repelled. “We collect them because we enjoy them, not because of what they might be worth. There are some things that just can’t be measured with a dollar sign, especially teddy bears.”

  When Cleland realized that Ash actually meant what she said and wasn’t merely spouting empty platitudes, it was her turn to look perplexed. “That’s sweet, Ashleigh, but what planet have you been living on?”

  “Yeah, what could be sillier than thinking that the purpose of life ought to be something more than seeing how much expensive crap we can accumulate?” I said.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean any offense,” Cleland stumbled over the words. It was obvious she was becoming frightened. “Look, were you bluffing about the state troopers?”

  “Not at all. They could get here any time.”

  “Can’t we come to some sort of an agreement?”

  “How do you mean?”

  “You let me leave with the Mourning Bear and I promise to buy the rights to Ashleigh’s teddy bears. There’s stationery here, we could write up an informal contract right now. The deal could be worth a lot of money to you in the years to come.”

  “Boy, oh boy, that’s a tempting offer, Ash,” I said mockingly. “What do you think?”

  “Yes, Ashleigh, I’d like to know what you think, since your husband seems to do all the talking for you.”

  Ash began advancing with a disquieting gleam in her eye that hinted at mayhem. Backing Cleland into a corner, she said, “You really want to know what I think? I think I’m going to punch your lights out for trying to bribe us. You can take your licensing contracts and put them where the sun doesn’t shine because I wouldn’t let someone as evil as you touch my bears—not for a million dollars.”

  Cleland bumped into the table and the wooden box began to totter. She grabbed at the box frantically and pushed it toward Ash, saying, “Here, take the damn thing! All I want is to get out of here!”

  I put my hand on Ash’s shoulder, gently restraining her. “Honey, let her go.”

  She turned and gave me an exasperated look. “Just one punch?”

  “Sorry sweetheart, Lorraine is needed elsewhere.”

  “What do you mean?” Cleland demanded.

  I hooked a thumb at the doorway, which was blocked by Deputy Bressler and two burly Virginia State Police officers. Bressler glanced at some sheets of paper in his hand, cleared his throat, and then said, “Lorraine Cleland, I have here a warrant for your arrest and another warrant permitting us to search these premises and all your possessions. You have the right to remain silent . . .”

  Chapter 25

  I sat on the bench in our front yard watching the moonlight flicker and dance on the surface of the Shenandoah River. It was late, but I wasn’t tired. I sat there brooding.

  I heard the front door open and close, and Ash sat down next to me a moment later. She took my hand and asked, “You’ve been out here for hours. Are you all right, honey?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You seem bothered.”

  “I am.”

  “Want to tell me?”

  Keeping my eyes on the river, I said, “Sure. I feel like a colossal failure. What did I really a
ccomplish over the past two days? Let’s tally it up: Holcombe hasn’t got a job and his wife still has cancer and Meredith Audett is going to state prison when she ought to be receiving a community service award for single-handedly lowering the property crime rate of Northern Virginia by killing Thayer.”

  “Brad?”

  “Meanwhile, Poole has absconded with God only knows how much money generated by the sale of stolen goods and Cleland has already posted bond and she’s got enough high-priced legal representation that they’ll never extradite her back from Massachusetts. Trent is spinning elaborate lies to foist all the blame onto his father and Ewell is still planning on suing the county. St. Paul had it wrong . . . the wages of sin aren’t death. In fact, sin pays pretty well.”

  “Brad?”

  “And let’s not forget that I managed to almost get us killed twice, and if we ever go up to the Massanutten Crest Lodge again for brunch, they’re liable to call the cops and have us committed for psychiatric observation. Other than that, everything is just freaking peachy.”

  “Brad, listen to me.”

  “Sorry, sweetheart. Okay, I’m done ranting. What?”

  “Good things happened too. Tina will be running unopposed in next month’s election and that means we’ve got a new and honest county sheriff. The town is a better place because Poole is gone, and you got Trent off the streets and that probably saved someone a beating or maybe even prevented a murder. Finally, you did solve the case.” She gently took my chin and turned my face until I was looking at her. “As far as the other stuff is concerned, you can’t take responsibility for things that you don’t have any control over.”

  “I know. It’s just that during all those years of investigating murders I don’t remember ever being so furious over all the deceit and backstabbing.”

  “You’ve changed.”

  “Could be.”

  “Darling, trust me, you’ve changed. The callous homicide inspector facade is fading and the kind, sweet man I love is becoming more and more visible. I like the change.” Ash leaned her head against my shoulder. “You know, there’s a teddy bear show up near Baltimore this spring. How would you like to design and make a bear for the show?”

 

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