Bones in the Begonias

by Dale Mayer

  Nan stared at her in surprise. “Wow. I never considered that.”

  “So why did Betty have any of the jewelry? Why was she considered the one stealing the jewelry?”

  “That’s easy,” Nan said. “She must have found out Lansdown was blackmailing Hannah’s father.”

  “And so she was getting jewelry in exchange for what? Her silence? She was blackmailing the blackmailer? Or in payment to keep seeing Glenn? Or, for that matter, maybe Glenn gave Betty the jewelry as a gift.”

  “And Betty’s father, the jewelry store owner, was probably taking a bunch of those jewels to fence them for Brian, his brother the landscaping blackmailer. Or selling them outright in his own store.”

  “Stephen went to jail for theft.”

  Nan sat back. “That’s how that happened?” She pursed her lips together, staring off in the distance. “He was caught with some of the jewelry missing from Glenn Theroux’s place. Betty’s father didn’t have any way to prove he didn’t steal them. And he couldn’t very well tell the cops that he was blackmailing Glenn and that the jewels were blackmail payments to Lansdown and his blackmail partner, Betty’s father.” Nan stared at her granddaughter. “So it all comes full circle. The two blackmailers were brothers. One went to jail. The other one got away scot-free, and Glenn Theroux got the insurance money.”

  “One Lansdown got caught. The other Lansdown got dead, although years later,” Doreen reminded Nan quietly. “So, who do we know in all this who would have taken out Betty?”

  They looked at each other in silence for a second. “Lansdown,” they said together.

  “If Betty wanted to stay with Glenn or even if Betty saw her own payday coming out of her father and her uncle’s blackmailing scheme, they had to buy Betty’s silence to stop her from going to the cops,” Doreen said. “The two brothers had a good thing going.”

  Nan clapped her hands in excitement. “This is wonderful.”

  “This is supposition,” Doreen said. “It won’t stand up in court.”

  “What court?” Nan asked. “Lansdown is dead. Betty’s dead. Her father, Stephen, is already in jail. And Glenn is dead.”

  “But somebody was most likely working with Lansdown. Are you assuming it was his brother?”

  “Quite possibly. And then maybe his daughter Betty got in the way.”

  “You think Hannah knew?”

  “It’s possible,” Nan said. “She was friends with Betty. Maybe Betty warned Hannah about the scam. And maybe Hannah knew of her father’s involvement with Betty and the insurance payout. It seems like everyone got something out of the deal, except Betty.”

  “But we don’t know who killed Betty,” Doreen said. “And that’s the important thing right here. I don’t care about the insurance scam, the blackmail, the jewels. Somebody killed Betty, and that’s what I want to find out, to put them behind bars.”

  “You have to admit, my dear,” Nan said, “there is a good chance he’s dead or already behind bars.”

  Doreen didn’t want to say anything, but one person was a little too riled over this whole thing to not have known or to not have played a larger part than had first been suspected. Doreen quietly put the notebook into her pocket. “I’ll do a little more digging. If I find out the truth, I’ll let you know.”

  Nan leaned forward. “Are you sure you don’t want to talk to somebody here, like maybe Gladys? Questions might get answered.”

  Doreen shook her head. “No, because I don’t want to upset anybody else or to alert anybody else. If I’m wrong, that would cause more hurt or problems for everyone.”

  Nan patted Doreen’s hand. “You’re a good girl.”

  Doreen wasn’t so sure about that. She had a pretty darn good idea who had killed Betty. But it would upset a whole lot of people all over again. And that wouldn’t do Doreen’s reputation or her presence in the town any good at all.

  She looked at the rest of the tuna casserole. Still quite a bit remained. “Are you going to eat that tomorrow?” she asked Nan.

  Nan chuckled and stood. “Nope. You are. I’ll wrap it up and send it home with you. The only thing is, I need the dish back.”

  Doreen chuckled. “No problem. I can do that.” She stood as Nan returned with the wrapped tuna casserole. “Nan, don’t tell anyone about our conversation, okay? Let’s keep this a secret until I get to the bottom of this.”

  Nan leaned over and kissed Doreen on the cheek. “Absolutely. My lips are sealed.”

  But Doreen knew Nan had already told half the world. Probably while wrapping up the tuna casserole.

  Chapter 26

  Doreen stared suspiciously at her grandmother. “Nan, please tell me that you didn’t tell anyone since I’ve been here.”

  To Doreen’s horror, Nan’s cheeks blushed red. Nan pulled out her phone. “I might have texted someone. But she won’t tell anyone.”

  “Holy crap.” Doreen stared at her grandmother in shock. “Gladys? You told Gladys, didn’t you?”

  Nan bit her lip. “It’s just a little bit of fun.”

  Doreen stared at her in shock. “Murder is fun?”

  “No, of course not, silly. But we had a betting pool on it,” she confessed.

  This information was a game-changer. Doreen stared at Nan, nonplused. “Wow.” She leaned forward. “Then find out from her where Hannah is now, so I can talk to her.”

  A harsh voice behind them spoke out. “Leave that poor woman alone. Hasn’t she suffered enough?”

  Doreen happened to catch Nan’s big beaming smile on her face at the male voice. So Nan obviously knew the intruder. Doreen slowly turned to stare at the gardener who was forever telling her off for walking across the grass. “What do you know about it?” she challenged.

  He stuck his jaw out at her. “I know enough to leave well enough alone.”

  “So no justice for Betty?”

  “She doesn’t deserve any,” he snapped. “That girl was bad news. Nobody mourned her loss either.”

  Inside Doreen felt something slide downward. That was a terrible sentiment. “How sad. She was just a teenager. She never had a chance to grow up and to understand the error of her ways.”

  Nan leaned forward and patted the gardener’s grimy gloved hands. “It’s all right, Dennis. I’m sure Hannah wouldn’t mind answering a few questions.”

  Dennis snorted. “If she didn’t mind, she would have gone to the police, now wouldn’t she?”

  “You mean, she was never asked to speak to the police?” Doreen asked in horror, turning from Nan to Dennis and back to Nan. “How is that possible?”

  “She would have been of course,” Nan said, “but she wouldn’t likely have offered much.”

  “Hannah’s delicate,” Dennis said.

  His explanation was simple, and yet, unbelievable. Doreen stared at him, remembering the woman who strode directly to her front door and smacked her hard across the face.

  “I’ve met the woman. I don’t see delicate the same way you do obviously,” she said drily.

  He gave her a disgruntled look. “Why don’t you leave town? You’re nothing but a busybody, getting into everybody’s business. You should be leaving well enough alone.”

  “Dennis,” Nan spoke up with determination in her voice, “this is my beloved granddaughter you are speaking to. And I don’t want her to move away from me. And this town’s got plenty of busybodies, so don’t be trying to oust one if you aren’t going to evict all the others. Plus Doreen is solving a murder. Do you want a murderer to go free?” Nan stood, hands on hips, staring down Dennis.

  He didn’t have harsh words for her. Not after that.

  “If the case doesn’t involve Hannah, what difference does it make?” Doreen asked in a cool tone, hating that she’d already wondered about moving away. “It’s not my fault that I find stuff to close cold cases.”

  He glared at her. “Of course it’s your fault. You could have just walked away. You didn’t have to go to the library and start digging for shit
and talking to the detective. The police department has enough to deal with, without dealing with nuts like you.”

  “Dennis, mind your mouth,” Nan snapped. “You know your attitude is upsetting many of the residents here. We pay a lot of money to live here. So I’m sure we can find a more pleasant gardener, like my granddaughter, to work here instead.”

  Doreen frowned at Dennis, happy to hear her grandmother standing up for her. “So, in other words, Hannah gets to run away and hide, instead of answering a few questions that would clear this all up?”

  “That girl is innocent,” Dennis stated.

  “If she’s so innocent, she won’t mind answering a few questions.”

  Caught, again, he glared at her. And then he shrugged and walked away. “I can’t tell you anything.”

  Frustrated, Doreen turned back to Nan. “Ask Gladys where I can find Hannah, please.”

  Nan nodded, picked up her phone. Instead of texting, like she had earlier to keep it from Doreen’s sight, Nan called. When the woman on the other end answered, she asked, “Where’s Hannah right now?”

  Doreen couldn’t hear the full conversation, just Nan’s side of it.

  “Oh, she was gone for a few days, but now she’s back, is she?” Nan listened for a bit. “She’s at the house over on Oliver Street.” Nan frowned. “That place is a bit of a mess.”

  The other woman was obviously speaking as Nan nodded her head as she looked at Doreen.

  “No problem. I know Doreen just wanted to ask a question or two. … No, no, no. I’m sure she won’t upset her. We understand Hannah is delicate.”

  As soon as she got off the phone, Doreen glared at her. “Delicate my ass. She packed a wallop when she smacked me.”

  “She’s easily upset.”

  “I wonder why?” Doreen said snidely as she shook her head. Carrying the tuna casserole in a bag, she called the animals to her side. “Nan, I will talk to you tomorrow.” And she headed off.

  The minute she was out of sight, she changed directions, trying to remember where Oliver Street was. Nothing at this end of town was very far away, and she was sure it was only a couple blocks over. She thought she saw it when she’d returned from the grocery store, and considering she and Hannah had shopped at the same store, it made sense Hannah might live nearby too. Plus she had walked to and from Doreen’s house just to slap her.

  Doreen went a couple more blocks, still searching for the street name, but found nothing. Frustrated, Doreen headed home to get her car instead. She drove blocks further and didn’t find Oliver Street. Stopping at a gas station, she got directions.

  “You must be new to the Mission,” the guy at the pumps said, then staring into her car windows at the movement of the three animals inside. He just raised his eyebrows and turned back toward her.

  With her nod, the man continued.

  “You’re in the nice part of the Mission. Oliver Street is in the really bad and rundown part of Mission several miles thataway.” After a pause, he said, “I’ll write down the directions for you. But I suggest you take a big strong man with you if you’re going there in the dark. Hell, even if you go there in the daylight, you need a bodyguard.”

  Doreen nodded and said, “Thanks,” grabbing the sheet of paper and driving off.

  She only got turned around a couple times, not being familiar with this part of town. But, sure enough, as she crossed to the next block, she saw a side street that said it all. Oliver Street. She stopped and frowned. “Well, I certainly didn’t see this area on the way home from the grocery store. This must not be where Hannah lives either.”

  As she parked the car and walked alongside the street, her trio of animals followed her on yet another adventure. Doreen found an odd back alley that disappeared in the distance. She didn’t know how far it went, but it backed up to a good dozen-plus houses—all of which should probably be condemned.

  “How the heck am I supposed to know which house it is?” she asked Mugs.

  But Mugs was too busy sniffing along the street curb to give a darn as to what house he was supposed to be at.

  And then Doreen saw Hannah’s car. Doreen brightened. “I guess it wasn’t that hard after all.” She stopped and studied the houses. They all appeared to be abandoned. Surely no one lived in these homes anymore. The reason Oliver Street was familiar to Doreen was because it was the same street that Betty Miles’s family had lived on decades ago. Doreen had found it in her research. Not exactly a wealthy part of town. But it made sense that Betty’s family had lived here and probably her uncle had lived nearby too. This wasn’t where Hannah lived. She lived closer to Doreen.

  Thaddeus cooed on her shoulder—maybe as a warning. Goliath on the other hand stopped suddenly, his butt down and a hind leg shot up in the air as he cleaned a spot.

  Doreen walked up the driveway, found the garage door missing and an open door in the rear of the garage hanging by one hinge, which led to the backyard. No use going to the front door of an empty house, so Doreen headed to the backyard. And there she stopped. Hannah had a shovel in her hand at the far back corner. As Doreen stared at what was growing in the corner, her stomach knotted.

  “Why begonias?” she whispered to Mugs who stood at her feet, his hackles roused. “They’re such a lovely flower. Why does everybody abuse the begonias? They have enough trouble surviving winter without being mistreated at the same time.”

  She pulled out her phone. Mack would tear a strip of flesh from her if he knew what she was doing. She stepped back into the garage, hoping Hannah wouldn’t hear her. When he answered, he sounded distracted, and she could hear other voices in the background.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb you,” Doreen said hurriedly. “I just figured that, if I didn’t tell you, you’d get all pissy at me.”

  “Doreen,” he said slowly with a warning. “What’s up?”

  “Well, I’m pretty darn sure I know who killed Betty Miles,” she said in a harsh whisper. “But I’m not sure I’ll be able to prove it.” She heard his sucked-in breath and winced. “I know you told me not to interfere, and I didn’t. Honest, but I was talking to Nan, and she knew some stuff, and Gladys knew some stuff, and before I knew it, I had it all figured out.”

  “This isn’t some country-club game where you sit around the table and come up with your version of the truth. The way this works is we find facts and evidence to back up any theories.”

  “Or how about a confession?” She ended the call and set up her phone to record, put it in her pocket, and walked through the backyard to where Hannah was. “Any particular reason why you want to move the rest of the body parts now?”

  The woman froze, spun on a heel, and stared at her. “What are you doing on this property?”

  “I figured I’d return the favor. I mean, after you came to my house and attacked me, it seemed like a good idea that I should find you, maybe slap you back,” Doreen said in a conversational tone. “Just kidding. I wasn’t about to attack you.” She motioned at the shovel in Hannah’s hand. “Why did you plant body parts in begonias of all things? Why not tulips? Why not roses? And are they all pieces of Betty?”

  Hannah stared at Doreen in disgust. “And you are telling people how you’re a gardener and can take on all kinds of gardening jobs. You know what kind of root system roses have? You know azaleas and how touchy they can be? You can’t put something like that at their roots.” Hannah nodded at the ground before her. “In fact, the begonias haven’t done very well either.”

  “And why, if you were going to bury the body parts, didn’t you bury them all in the same place?”

  Hannah looked at her. “What are you even talking about?” As if she’d suddenly realized this conversation was going the wrong way. “I didn’t bury anything.”

  Doreen beamed. “I know. Technically that’s quite correct. Technically you didn’t bury anyone. You got Brian Lansdown to do it.”

  Hannah’s jaw slowly dropped. “Are you nuts?”

  She shook her h
ead. “Oh, no, absolutely not nuts. But he’s the gardener who had access to all these deep beds, so poor Betty could be buried in them.”

  “I didn’t have anything to do with Betty’s murder.”

  “That part is a lie,” Doreen said, still in a conversational tone. “And of course, Brian found out about it. That’s why he was blackmailing your father. The question is, how? And not only did he find out about it but he helped you dispose of her after the fact. And that’s a very interesting little tidbit. Because Betty was his niece. And his own brother ended up in jail. So why didn’t Brian go to the police and let them know what you’d done?”

  Hannah snorted. “I don’t know who you think you are, but you’re not making any sense.”

  Doreen walked across the neglected lawn, her hands in her pockets. “See? Everybody says you’re delicate. Everybody says you’re easily upset. That worked for you for a long time, didn’t it? I mean, it was just too awful what happened to you. You were so overwrought by the disappearance of your best friend that nobody could really question you about it. And, as time went on, the questions just fell away. But that whole persona of being so delicate meant everybody stayed away.”

  Something dark entered Hannah’s gaze.

  Doreen nodded. She’d seen it clearly for what it was.

  Hate.

  “You hated Betty, didn’t you? Absolutely hated her. The thing is, I don’t know why. Because she was sleeping with your dad? Were you jealous? Was Daddy also sleeping with you? Or were you upset for your mother’s sake?” At that, she could see a shift in expressions cross Hannah’s face. “Good. I’d really hate to think he was sexually abusing you too.”

  “What do you mean, abusing her? She loved being with him,” Hannah said in a scathing voice. “He always bought her jewels and fancy little boxes. As long as she lay down with him, she could have anything she wanted.”

  “You were totally okay with her getting the gifts because you had enough of your own. Even though your family was deemed the poorer part of the Theroux family, you still had way more than Betty’s family. Did Betty’s mother know Glenn was sleeping with Betty? Did your mother know Glenn was sleeping with Betty? But you knew Betty was sleeping with your father. Except Betty wanted one thing you didn’t want her to have. Betty wanted your father all to herself. She wanted to marry him. To get rid of your mother and you, and that you couldn’t allow.”