by Body Wave
Marla grabbed the knife from her momentarily nerveless fingers. Vail stirred, putting a hand to his head.
Hearing him rouse spurred Agnes from her prone position. "Morris!" she called, but her companion didn't answer. He remained sprawled on the ground, unresponsive.
Vail leveraged himself to his knees.
Uttering a cry, Agnes hauled herself upright, then sprinted away into the night.
"Is he dead?" Marla asked, fearful that Morris might rise again and pounce on her.
Vail crawled over and prodded him. "He'll live, but he's got more than a concussion. Are you all right?" He turned to her, eyes gleaming in a manner that brought warmth back into her chilled veins.
"Yes, and you?"
"My head feels like it was hit by a sledgehammer. Sitting up makes me dizzy."
"Then I'll have to help you."
Help wasn't what Dalton had in mind when his arms closed around her.
* * *
*Chapter Twenty*
Sunday morning, Marla reversed her Camry from the garage and closed the garage door with her automatic opener. While it lowered, Moss waved to her from the next yard. She kept her foot on the brake, waiting for the white-haired gent to saunter over.
"How ya doing?" he said when she rolled down her window. "I hear you and your detective friend caught those crooks who killed that young gal."
She smiled kindly. "The two of them are being held without bail. Morris had to be treated in the hospital after Dalton gave him a nasty crack on the head. Agnes was caught at the airport boarding a flight for Costa Rica."
"So why do you have that sad look on your face?"
Her shoulders sagged. "Morris's wife was shocked to learn her husband and the nurse were not only having an affair, but also were implicated in Kim's murder. Barbara was sharp enough, though, to approach Miriam with a business proposition. Miriam has agreed to let her run the family corporation."
"Bet your ex is happy."
"Stan is relieved that his slate has been cleared, but he's still depressed. He really misses Kimberly. I'm on my way to see him right now. He's signing over his share of our jointly owned property."
"That's dynamite, mate. Say, have you seen Goat lately?" Moss asked, crinkling his tanned face.
"No, why?"
"He planted our impatiens and said he'd water them, but they're wilting. His van has sat in the driveway since Friday, and no one answered when I knocked on his door."
"Have you tried calling him?"
Moss nodded, his captain's cap bobbing on his head of white hair. "Same luck. Do you suppose he's left town for the weekend?"
She met Moss's concerned glance. "I don't think Goat would leave his pets untended. Besides, he'd take his van, unless someone picked him up. If he has customers scheduled for tomorrow, he'll be here. See if he turns up on Monday."
"I hope you're right."
"Got any new limericks to show me?" she asked, hoping to erase the worried expression on her neighbor's face.
He smiled. "I'm working on them. Gonna bring your detective over to see me?"
She laughed. "Yeah, if we ever get any free time together. I'll see you later. Let me know if Goat turns up."
The drive to Stan's house took fifteen minutes. Marla was surprised to see him waiting outside by his front door. As she strode toward him, she glanced approvingly at his polo shirt and tan Dockers. He'd slicked his hair off his forehead and even shaved for the occasion. She caught a whiff of his favorite lime cologne as she greeted him.
"Come in," he said. "This won't take long."
Her low-heeled pumps echoed in the hallway as she followed him to the kitchen. The house remained eerily quiet. Nothing seemed to have moved since she'd been here last.
She curbed her impatience, accepting Stan's offer to sit at the kitchen table. "Here's a check for the full amount," she said after he joined her.
His eyes flashed surprise, as though he hadn't expected her to manage the funding. "Did you take out a second mortgage?"
"No, Miriam gave me a loan. Her only condition is that I continue to visit her. She hired a new nurse, you know. Linda Haines. Linda is a real _mensch_. She's already taken Miriam to the mall and brought her to my salon. She doesn't have a head for figures, though. Miriam has convinced Stella to review the accounts with her."
"What about your car? Your lease is up. Do you intend to buy the white Camry or lease a new one?"
"I'm going to the dealer tomorrow. I'll make my decision then." Her lips pursed. "The papers, Stan."
He pushed them across the table to her. "I'll miss that rental income."
"No, you won't. You make plenty of money."
"It wasn't enough for Kimberly."
"Kimberly wasn't used to having someone control her purse strings. You expected too much from her, from all of us."
"I took care of you. That's what you wanted."
"Look, I'm not here to review past history." She stuffed the papers in her purse after examining his signature.
"You came through for me, Marla." His expression softened. "You're special in that way. People can rely on you. I-I never appreciated how dependable you were, or how far you've come."
"That's for sure! You wouldn't admit I could accomplish anything without you."
"So I've made a lot of mistakes. A lot. I'm hoping we can fix things between us."
"Meaning what?" She gave him a suspicious glare.
"We'll go out together. I need you, babe. That's what you like now, isn't it? To take care of other people instead of being taken care of yourself?"
She shoved to her feet. "Our relationship was finished a long time ago, Stan. Don't delude yourself into thinking we can raise it from the ashes. Besides, Dalton and I..."
"Are you sleeping with him?"
"That's none of your business!" Slinging her handbag over her shoulder, she narrowed her gaze. "If you're looking to mend fences, why don't you consider Leah? I don't know if even she'd take you back, though. Good-bye, Stan. Don't bother me again."
Her next stop was Miriam's house, where she'd been invited for brunch. A new maid served the family in the dining room.
"Where are the boys?" Marla asked Barbara, whose demeanor had been subdued since they greeted each other. The other woman didn't hold a grudge, even though it had been through Marla's efforts that her husband's crimes were exposed.
"Fortunately, it's their winter break. They're visiting my brother in Tampa. We may move to the West Coast. It's not the best climate here for them right now."
Marla recognized she wasn't speaking about the weather. "I'm sorry."
"You shouldn't be," Stella cut in. "Although it was Agnes's hand that killed my child, Morris was just as guilty."
She and Florence were seated on either side of Miriam, who didn't need any assistance with her meal. The matriarch had grown stronger with better nutrition and a more active role. Linda, the new nurse, sat opposite Marla, while Barbara assumed a position at the far end.
"I still don't understand everything," Florence muttered, looking elegant in a designer dress.
"Marla, tell us what that policeman learned," Miriam demanded. Her sharp gaze swung to Barbara. "Unless you'll be too upset, dearie. We've got a good lawyer for my son. Don't you worry, it's that rotten nurse who will get full blame."
"Apparently Agnes had been writing checks to herself that should have been going to Kimberly. Miriam thought she was still paying Kim's allowance, but that wasn't so," Marla explained. "I guess Agnes needed the money to help pay for her sister's care. All the while, Kim thought Miriam had cut off her funding, and that made her feel trapped in a marriage where Stan controlled the purse strings."
"My baby. She should have come to me," Stella whined.
"If I recall, she asked you for money, and you refused her," Florence sniffed. "You felt she should learn to walk on her own two feet."
"I listened to your advice! I should have realized you'd be happy to throw her to the dogs. You've hat
ed me ever since I married Douglas, and you resented Kimberly as our child."
Florence's eyes glowed like two flame throwers. "She should have been my daughter! You stole Douglas from me. I was prettier. Why would he even look at you?"
"Girls, stop it!" Miriam cried, her face a mask of distress. _"Kainer hot nit kain legoteh tsu hoben charoteh._ No one has a monopoly on regret."
"When did Morris start conspiring with Agnes?" Barbara directed her question to Marla. She'd been playing with her food, Marla noticed. Her plate of smoked whitefish, a bagel, eggs, and sliced tomatoes was barely touched.
"Agnes helped Miriam audit the family financial records, and she noticed discrepancies. She asked Morris about them, and he revealed he knew about her theft. They entered into an alliance which soon became more than a business arrangement. Morris needed money for his gambling debts."
"So why did Agnes murder my daughter?" Stella asked, her voice hoarse.
"Kim found out Agnes was stealing money from her grandmother. It had nothing to do with Jeremiah Dooley's existence, which was what I'd initially suspected. True, Kimberly blackmailed him. She threatened to expose the reverend to the media if he didn't pay her way out of Stan's house. Neither your family nor Jeremiah wanted his background revealed, but Kim wasn't killed for that reason. Greed was the motive. Morris extorted money from the company, and Agnes stole from Harris's trust fund. They had a cozy arrangement until Kimberly got wise to them."
"Is that what happened to Kathleen?" Miriam demanded.
Marla glanced at the new nurse, sitting white-faced in her seat. What a way to enter service, she thought, hoping the woman wouldn't quit. It wasn't an easy family group to join.
"Kathleen had a compulsion to take things. After Kim approached Jeremiah with her knowledge of their connection, Kathleen took a job at Stan's house on Thursday afternoons as their housekeeper. Apparently, she took Stan's letter opener and brought it to her room upstairs in your house."
"She spied on them, just like she did on our family." Miriam's tight-lipped expression held disapproval.
"Kathleen did it to protect Jeremiah's interests. She was devoted to him and believed in his higher purpose. Detective Vail told me his fish farms are legit. Jeremiah enjoys a luxurious lifestyle, but he still puts most of his money into his missions. Anyway, Agnes happened to notice the letter opener engraved with Stan's name in Kathleen's room. I guess she discovered the key to their house also. That's when she conceived of the notion for silencing Kim. Morris did nothing to dissuade her when she told him her plan."
"You see, it was all Agnes's idea," Miriam said.
"Morris didn't have the backbone to stand up to her. How did she know Kim would be downstairs that morning?" Stella asked, pushing away her untouched platter.
"When Morris learned of her relationship to Gary, he encouraged the repair man to talk about her. Gary told him how Stan made Kim get up every morning to fix his breakfast and how he expected her to wait on him."
"Morris didn't realize she was pregnant, did he?" Stella said, dabbing at her moist eyes.
"I don't think he understood Kimberly was that intimately involved with Gary, or he might have blackmailed her into silence. As for Kathleen, she must have figured out the nurse stole the letter opener from her bedroom. Agnes's prints were on a gun the cops found in the flea market where Kathleen was killed. It's a _shandeh_ no matter how you look at it."
"How is Stanley?" Stella asked, her gaze downcast. "We were wrong to suspect him."
"In his own way, he loved Kimberly. He misses her. I've never seen him so depressed."
"I can't believe you were married to him."
"I'm sorry I tricked you. But just as you suspected him, he suspected one of your family. He thought one of you killed her for her share of the trust fund. What will happen to that money now?"
"It'll go to Morris's sons. They're good boys. I think you'd do better to move them away from here," Miriam said to Barbara. Her shoulders slumped, and in that instant she appeared her true age.
After all, Marla thought, what did she have left? If her only remaining grandchildren moved away, she'd be stuck with the two bickering sisters. At least Marla could be a friend to her.
"I'll bet Linda is going to keep you so busy that you'll barely have time to get your hair done at my salon every week, let alone phone your grandsons," she said encouragingly. "When you get your new eyeglasses, maybe you'll consider buying a computer. Everyone keeps in touch on the Internet these days."
"I'm too old to learn new tricks, dearie."
"No, you're not, Mother," Florence piped in. "We could all learn together. Right, Stella?"
Her sister gave a grudging nod.
As Miriam's glance met hers, Marla detected a sparkle of glee. The old lady had more strength than her children combined. She wouldn't let anything keep her down, now that she had people who cared about her.
"I'll look into computer classes at the senior center," said Linda eagerly, sitting forward in her chair. "We're going shopping tomorrow. Miriam wants to look spiffy when she meets your mom next week."
"Ma can't wait to meet you. I think you'll get along famously. I hope you don't mind that I've invited Dalton to join us for lunch."
"I'm delighted," Miriam said, "although I'll have a thing or two to tell him about letting you run around playing undercover detective."
Marla laughed, disregarding the frowns on the sisters' faces. Let those old prunes stew. It gave her great pleasure to brighten Miriam's life.
* * * *
"She sounds like a charming woman," Anita said later when Marla dropped in and reported on her visit. "I'm looking forward to meeting her. How about some chicken soup with matzoh balls? I just made it last night."
Marla sat in the kitchen, across from her mother. She'd been glad to capture her alone, without her new boyfriend.
"No, thanks. I'm stuffed. I ate a bagel with Nova and cream cheese at Miriam's house."
"Then I'll put some into a container, and you can take it home for later. So, tell me, what's your status with the detective? Roger's son wanted to call you, but he got the impression you weren't interested."
"I'm not. Every time Dalton and I get together, it's been over a case he's investigating. I want to see what happens when neither of us is distracted."
"That sounds serious."
"Maybe it is. I don't know. There's still Brianna. I'm afraid I'm not very good as a mother figure. I've hardly done a thing about her birthday party."
"How do you have time when you have a business to run and spend your spare time chasing murderers?"
"Speaking of business, I found out why we've been getting so many no-shows lately."
"Oh?" Anita raised a penciled eyebrow. Even when she wasn't expecting company, she put on makeup, fluffed her white hair, and touched up her red-painted fingernails.
"You remember Carolyn Sutton? I worked in her salon for a couple of years before leaving to open my own place. She moved away, but her new location proved to be a bad choice. Now I hear she's leased a shop in the same shopping strip where I am."
Anita scrutinized her expression. "I gather this doesn't please you, _bubula."_
"Why should it? She's doing it on purpose to get back at me. Carolyn felt I betrayed her, and she resented my success. She should have understood that I was ready to break out on my own. It wasn't anything personal."
"Competition is the way of the world," Anita commented.
"You got anything to drink? I'm thirsty." She shifted in her chair; just talking about Carolyn made her uneasy.
Anita handed her a can of ginger ale and a glass full of ice. "What does Carolyn have to do with your no-shows?"
"She's been offering free services to my customers. Somehow she got hold of our client list."
"Go on!"
Marla sipped her drink, the effervescent liquid sliding down her throat. "Oh, I know some clients will come back when Carolyn starts charging them. But some may remain, especially
if her prices undercut mine. Cut 'N Dye has been the only hair salon in that area. I've worked hard to build up my clientele. I hate to think Carolyn is edging in on my territory."
She knew how petty it sounded, but she couldn't help the way she felt. Her salon had been the only kid on the block until now. All that time and money she'd spent promoting her salon's image would now have to be shared, and with someone who hated her.
"Have you checked with the landlord? Maybe there is a non-competition clause in your lease."