We were quiet during the car ride, which I guess befitted the solemnity of the occasion. Elton eased the Escalade into the mortuary parking lot and stopped near the main entrance. He put on his jacket and then came around to open our doors. As he helped Dolores from the car, he offered to carry the garment and shoe bags inside for her.
A dark-haired young woman dressed in an unadorned black suit and white blouse with a Peter Pan collar greeted us. “I am Carolyn Harrold. Welcome to the Harrold Brothers Funeral Home.” She looked from me to Dolores and back again. “Mrs. Nickens?”
“I’m Dolores Nickens. These are my friends Jessica Fletcher and Elton Anderson. They have been invaluable to me during this terrible time. I’m grateful to have them with me.”
I stole a glance at Elton and was surprised to see a lone tear sliding out from under his eyeglasses, even as he said a polite hello.
Carolyn led us to the same conference table where Dolores and I had met with Mr. Harrold on our last visit. “Please make yourselves comfortable. Uncle Jonah will be right with you.”
Then as if noticing for the first time that Elton was carrying bags that certainly contained the deceased’s final outfit, she said, “Mr. Anderson, may I take those?”
Elton looked at Dolores, who nodded and said, “Thank you, Ms. Harrold. Then Elton can comfortably join us at the table.”
Elton handed off the bags and instantly moved to the table to pull out a chair first for Dolores, then for me. He sat down and we all waited in silence until Jonah Harrold joined us. He offered his condolences politely, and then gently began explaining the process and the schedule that he and Pastor Forde had put together.
Dolores asked a question or two and suggested very minor changes. She also added a rendition of “On Eagle’s Wings” during the service, and requested that it be sung by a soprano.
Mr. Harrold took careful notes and promised that once the adjustments were confirmed with Pastor Forde he would e-mail the final program to Dolores, later in the day.
As we stood to leave Mr. Harrold said, “I am truly sorry for the delay, Mrs. Nickens, but with this kind of death we are at the mercy of the coroner and the sheriff. I suppose you, of all people, understand that.”
Dolores’s expression might have been unfathomable to him, but I could see she took his words as a reminder of her status as both widow and person of interest. Her face crumpled and she began to cry. I pulled some tissues from a box on the table and handed them to her. She said a soft good-bye to Jonah Harrold and walked quickly from the room.
Dolores was still crying quietly when Elton pulled out of Harrold Brothers’ driveway and turned toward home. “I knew it would be hard, Jess, but I never imagined it would be this hard. Tell me now. Is it going to be worse during the actual wake and funeral?”
Such a difficult question. How could I answer?
“Dolores, grief ebbs and flows. One minute you feel as though it’s manageable, and the next minute you are overwhelmed, immobilized. With the passage of time the grief becomes more manageable, but in the first few weeks and months your grief can become unwieldy at the oddest moments. It is so difficult to predict.”
“Who could think I would kill Willis? That sheriff should see me now. He should feel my grief, my loneliness.”
I leaned over and put my arms around her. “You are stronger than you realize. I promise you will get through this.”
“And can you promise that the vile murderer who took Willis from me will be caught and punished?”
I hesitated. “I can’t be sure, of course, but a few things have been bothering me. I can’t quite make the puzzle pieces fit, but it is possible that we will find out who killed Willis before too long.”
“Is your private detective friend still helping you?”
“Harry? Yes. Yes, he is. In fact, he may hold the final key,” I said with more confidence than I felt. “And I expect to hear from him soon.”
When we passed through the gate at Manning Hall and began winding along the driveway, I stretched my neck and peered over Dolores’s head. When we reached the koi pond I asked Elton to stop.
“Dolores, take a look. Your friends are home,” I said, hoping that what she saw would cheer her. That was a gamble I thought worth taking.
“Wh-what?” Dolores followed my gaze. “Jess, my koi! They’re back. How did you know?”
“Deputy Remington told me yesterday that they would be coming home today. With all that was going on, I forgot to tell you. This morning was so emotional—gathering Willis’s clothes, going to the funeral parlor—that, well, it slipped my mind. I thought once we got settled in the house I would tell you to expect the koi, but they are already here.”
“Jess, Willis died here, at this pond he had built especially for me. I think I’d like to stay here for a minute or so. You and Elton go on up to the house. I will walk up when I am ready.” Dolores got out of the car.
Elton jumped out of the car and ran up to the sitting garden. He came back with a white wicker chair with flowered cushions, set it next to Dolores, and got back into the car.
“Elton, that was very thoughtful,” I said.
“I figure Miss Dolores should be comfortable if she’s gonna stay even five minutes.” Then he asked, “Should I drive?”
“Yes,” I said. “Dolores needs this time alone with her koi and her memories.”
Just as Elton finished parking the car, my cell phone pinged. Harry! He wrote, Hit the mother lode.
I replied, Will call in ten.
I asked Elton to let Lucinda and Marla Mae know that Dolores was at the koi pond and that I would be in my room making some telephone calls.
“Sure ’nuff. Be happy to. I’ll be in the library if you need me to take you anywhere later on today.”
I knew I did have someplace to go, and I had an important question to ask, so I said, “Grab yourself a nice snack while you are in the kitchen, because we are definitely heading over to the Sheriff’s Department in a short while. Oh, and don’t say anything to Dolores. I don’t want to get her hopes up.”
As soon as I closed the door to my room, I hit the speed dial for Harry on my phone and he answered midring.
“My message got your attention, huh? I kind of figured it would.” Usually unruffled no matter what the situation, Harry sounded jubilant, and that told me he was sure he’d cracked into information that would draw the sheriff’s attention away from Dolores and point a finger squarely at someone else.
“Harry, my curiosity level is lighting up at around a thousand megawatts. What have you got?”
“Money, Jess, that’s what I got. Lots and lots of money, which is the reason that someone decided Willis Nickens had to go, and that someone sure wasn’t your friend Dolores.”
“Then who, Harry? Who are you talking about?”
“I’ll get to that, but first I have to tell you that I now owe dinner to the nicest lady at the South Carolina tourism board, should I ever get down that way—but you know how I hate to leave Boston. Even for work, I try to never travel south of New York.”
“Harry!” I knew I sounded sharper than I’d intended, but it brought him around.
“Okay, Jess, okay, I’m just playing with you. Here’s the skinny . . .”
I listened carefully, scribbling a word or two on a piece of the fancy stationery from the desk drawer. “Harry, say that again. Okay, got it.”
I asked a couple of questions, and then Harry had one for me. “So, how does my info square with what you’ve been digging up?”
“It squares flawlessly. I just need to confirm one thing, and then, hopefully, Dolores will be . . .”
“Off the hook.” Harry finished my sentence.
“Yes, Harry, thanks to you, Dolores will be off the hook.”
On my way downstairs I met Marla Mae coming up, carrying a tray. “Miss Dolores i
s going to have a snack in her room and then take a rest. She said she would be down for dinner.”
That fit my plan perfectly. I told her Elton and I would be out for a while but would return before dinner. At least I hoped we would.
* * *
* * *
Elton pulled into the parking lot of the Sheriff’s Department and asked again, “Are you sure you don’t want me to come inside with you?”
“Thank you, but I am very sure. I think I will do better on my own. People may speak to one person in confidence, but a second person too easily becomes a witness.”
“Be sure you have my number in your cell.” He held up his phone. “I have mine right here and can be there in a flash if you need me.”
“Elton, you are behaving more and more like a mother hen,” I said with a smile.
I was glad to see Deputy Remington at her usual spot behind the counter. That would save my having to explain who I was. Of course I would still have to explain what I wanted.
The deputy looked up and gave me a cheery smile. “Mrs. Fletcher, you are becoming quite a regular. I should give you an application to join the department. Then you could be here full-time.”
I gave her what I hoped was my warmest smile. “I am afraid I don’t have nearly the proper qualifications to be a deputy, much as I admire all of you who fill that role.”
She returned my smile and asked, “How can I help you today?”
“First off, I want to thank you. The koi are back in their pond, and when I last saw Mrs. Nickens she was sitting by the pond enjoying their antics. Such a relief for her to have one normal thing at a time like this.”
“Well, I’m glad I could help. Now, if there is nothing else . . .” She held up a pile of folders as an indication that she was anxious to get back to work.
“Actually, I am also looking for Deputy Lascomb. Is he in by any chance?”
Remington glanced at her computer screen. “Sorry, ma’am. Lascomb is on patrol. He won’t be back until the end of shift, and that’s hours from now.”
I sighed. “Oh, that is a disappointment. I was hoping to get all my thank-yous done in one trip.” A small white lie, but I hoped it sounded sincere. “I guess there is no point in waiting . . .”
“No, ma’am. If you want to leave a message, I can see that Lascomb gets it.”
“That’s just not the same, though, is it? Thank-yous should be said in person.” I tried to look hopeful. “Perhaps if I knew where he was on patrol, I could find him.”
“Mrs. Fletcher, really, you know I can’t . . .” Remington looked as if she was hoping I would disappear, and when I didn’t she said, “Okay, but you came across him totally by chance. You never even saw me today.”
“Cross my heart.”
She hit a couple of computer keys and said, “You’re in luck. He responded to a car accident on Shop Road, in the state Department of Motor Vehicles office parking lot. That’s quite a place to have a car accident, isn’t it? Anyway, looks like a fender bender, no injuries, but he should be filling out paperwork on-site for another twenty minutes or so.”
I thanked her profusely and ran out the door.
Elton knew exactly where the Department of Motor Vehicles was located. As soon as we’d pulled into the parking lot I saw the turret lights of a Sheriff’s Department car at the left side of the building. Now all I needed was a few words from the normally taciturn Deputy Lascomb.
Chapter Thirty
Elton parked two rows away and I walked to the accident scene, careful to stay out of the deputy’s line of vision. There were very few onlookers but I managed to stand behind two of them, a middle-aged man and woman, until they decided watching the accident site was even more boring than renewing the woman’s driver’s license—or at least that’s what I got from a snippet of their conversation. When they walked away I moved behind a tree.
Within a few minutes the deputy appeared to be finishing his duties. He handed papers to the drivers of the involved cars and held back what little traffic there was until they each drove safely away.
When Deputy Lascomb headed for his cruiser, I stepped out from behind the tree and called his name.
He was laughing when he turned toward me. “There you are, Miz Fletcher. For a while I thought we were playing a game of ‘now you see me, now you don’t.’ I would have been disappointed if you went about your business without saying hello. Are you here to register a car? Get a South Carolina driver’s license?”
“I must confess, as a resident of Maine, I don’t even know where the Maine Department of Motor Vehicles office is, so my answer to both those questions is no.”
His eyes became a shade more guarded, even as he took one more try. “Are you lost?”
“Good heavens, no. My driver”—I waved vaguely in the exact opposite direction from where Elton was waiting for me—“had to pick up some papers for his supervisor. I was so tired of being cooped up in Manning Hall that I decided to come along.”
He crossed his arms and remained silent, a posture of his that I’d seen before.
“And then I had the good fortune to see you and thought I would watch you in action.”
“How’d I do?” he asked, and I wasn’t sure he was joking.
“Just as you’ve been in all of our interactions, you were courteous and professional with those drivers, particularly the woman who seemed so upset.”
His shoulders relaxed. “That is very kind of you to say, ma’am. Now, I’d best be getting back to patrol.”
“Well, I do have one question.”
“I’ve told you before, Miz Fletcher—questions and answers are above my pay grade.”
I nodded. “You have mentioned that but this question has nothing to do with Willis Nickens’s murder.”
The guarded look vanished from his eyes. “I get it. You are wondering about the softball game. We won six to three. I hit two doubles.”
I was effusive in my congratulations, and slipped my actual question in at the very end.
“You’re incorrigible, Miz Fletcher, and extremely persistent. Still, I get your point. It has nothing to do with the actual murder, so I guess there’s no harm in answering.”
And he told me exactly what I wanted to know. We spoke for a few more minutes, until he got a call on his radio. He thrust his business card at me and raced off to respond.
My brain was so busy bouncing ideas around that I barely noticed when Elton drove us through the gate to Manning Hall. When he parked the car by the veranda, he said, “Are you okay, ma’am? Not like you to be so quiet on the ride home.”
“Elton, I am perfectly fine. I do have a lot on my mind. By any chance are you able to stay past the dinner hour tonight in case I need you, or do you have a class?”
“I’ll be here, no problem. You can find me in the library as usual. ’Course, this’ll give me a chance to see what is on Lucinda’s menu. I’m already wondering about dessert.”
Elton went directly to the library while I followed the sound of voices to the kitchen. As I passed Willis’s office I noticed the door was open but Dolores was nowhere in sight, making me doubly glad that the folders that held the most interest for me were snugly hidden in my room.
I entered the kitchen in time to hear Dolores say, “That’s terrific. You saved me a phone call. We’ll see you for dessert.
“Ah, Jess, there you are. Marjory happened to call to see how I’m doing, and when she mentioned that Tom and Candy were having dinner at her house I invited them all to come here for dessert.”
“How nice. Oh, and Elton will be staying later than usual. I may need him for a chore or two.”
Lucinda said, “We have a pecan pie, a chess pie, and benne wafers. I suppose I should whip up a cobbler, since we still have those blueberries. That’ll give them plenty of choices.”
“Thank you, Lucinda. T
hat will put everyone in a good mood before I put them to work.” Dolores picked up a sheaf of papers from the table. “Mr. Harrold sent the wake and funeral arrangements we agreed upon. I can give Marjory, Tom, and Candy copies right away, and they can begin making lists of all the friends we’ll want to make sure know that they are welcome to come and pay their respects to Willis. I wouldn’t want anyone to miss the notice in the newspapers, which Mr. Harrold assures me was sent out this afternoon.”
Abby came running into the kitchen, skidded to a stop, and greeted everyone politely. Then she said, “Granny Dolores, guess what happened today. Because it is such a beautiful day, with all that blue sky and sunshine, Mrs. Creighton said, ‘I declare today a no-homework day.’ We are supposed to play outside instead.”
Dolores dropped her papers back on the table and gave Abby a hug. “And what did your father say?”
“He said to ask if you would take me to the hummingbird feeder. He’s in the living room talking to Mr. Norman.”
“That’s a great idea. We can see if we need to make more nectar.” As she opened the back door, Dolores said, “Jess, would you please shut the door to the office? I think I left it open.”
I was relieved that she didn’t invite me to go along. I had one or two things to do. I went to my room to gather what I needed and made one quick phone call. Then I stopped in the library, asked Elton to leave the library door open, and gave him instructions as to what I needed done.
I threw my shoulders back and walked into the living room, closing the door behind me.
“Jessica, you’ve had a busy day.” Norman eyed the folders in my hand. “I heard you went with Dolores to the funeral home to finalize the arrangements. You are a loyal friend.”
Clancy said, “I would have gone along but I didn’t realize that was scheduled for today. Can I offer you a drink? Wine? Something stronger?”
Killing in a Koi Pond Page 23