“Well, if that’s what you’re thinking, you can just get the hell out,” I replied.
“Sorry, sometimes I speak what’s on my mind when I shouldn’t.”
“What if Amelia didn’t sign over the house to Aggie because Amelia wanted her to keep quiet about the kids? What if she signed the house over because Aggie knew that Stanley IV killed his father?” I said.
Mike shook his head. “I’m not buying that.”
“Call your grandfather, and ask him if there were any rumors that Stanley may have been involved with another woman,” I suggested.
“Your grandmother would know that better than he would.”
“Of course she would. And she’ll probably be sitting right there next to him when you call. He’ll ask her.”
Mike shook his finger at me. “You are a devious woman, Camille Shaw.”
“Never ask the man in charge,” I replied. “Always ask the woman behind the scenes who knows what’s going on.”
We laughed as Mike went into the kitchen to call Walt. I stretched out on the couch while we waited. “How are you feeling?” Randy said.
“Like I’m listening to Peter Gabriel’s song Sledgehammer with the volume on full blast. Lots of pounding and boom, boom, boom.”
Randy glanced toward the kitchen. “He should’ve done something to prevent this.”
“There wasn’t anything that could’ve been done, Randy. It happened pretty much like the dream, except for the rope being there.”
“Wait…whoa. What dream?” he said.
“It wasn’t really a dream; more like a nightmare,” I clarified. “Everything that happened today was in the nightmare.”
“Oh my gosh,” Jo said, “you had a vision.”
“Excuse me?”
“A premonition. You dreamed about it, and then it happened. You’re psychic.”
I refrained from saying “you’re nuts” to her. But on the other hand, I couldn’t say it was a total coincidence, all things considered. “I rather doubt it, Jo,” I told her. “It’s never happened before.”
“Maybe that bump on the head you got the other day triggered it,” she suggested. “I’ve heard about things like that happening to other people.”
“Well, maybe the concussion I got today will take it away.”
Mike came back into the room at that moment, saving me from further discussion about this. “I talked to Walt, who talked to your grandmother. It seems Aggie was upset with Stanley because he had been seen taking out his very beautiful, blonde secretary at a restaurant.”
“So he was two timing his wife?” Jo said. “What a schmuck!”
“That’s a good word for it,” Mike agreed.
“If Aggie knew, Amelia knew,” I said. “You don’t think…no, forget it. It’s crazy.” I massaged my temples, trying to will the headache that was flaring up to go away.
“What?” Mike said.
“It’s nothing. I don’t even want to mention it because it is so crazy. I think my headache is affecting my thinking.”
“Spit it out,” Randy said.
“You asked for it,” I said, “just remember that. What if Aggie and Amelia worked together to kill Stanley?” The three of them just stared at me like I had grown another head. “There are two consistent things that we have learned. One, Aggie was at the house at the time the shot was fired. Two, Amelia was with my grandmother and several other witnesses when Stanley was killed.”
Mike shook his head. “That’s crazy, Cam.”
“I believe I said it was.”
“But why would Aggie stay in a house with a ghost?” Jo said.
I shrugged. “Think about it. The house was hers. She was lady of the manor, so to speak. Stanley’s ghost has been trapped there all these years with her. It’s like they were married. Why leave when she ultimately got what she wanted, even if it’s in a sick, disgusting way?”
“That is just so wrong,” Randy said.
“But it makes sense, in a twisted kind of way,” Mike replied.
“But you can’t prove it,” Randy said, “not without Amelia’s cooperation.”
“Are you sure she was going out to the house?” Mike asked Jo.
“That’s what my cousin said.”
“Can you hold her as a material witness?” I said to Mike.
“For which case? Stanley’s murder? Cliff’s? The attempted murder of my grandfather?”
“Any of it. All of it. I don’t know. I’m not a cop!”
Mike picked up his phone. “Let me call the station and get them to go out there. Let’s see if she’s really there.”
I leaned back on the couch and closed my eyes while he made the call, wishing this whole thing was already over. When I opened my eyes again, my head was on Mike’s shoulder, and Randy and Jo were gone. “Where did they go?” I said, sitting up.
“They left about two hours ago,” Mike replied.
“I didn’t even notice.”
“I’m not surprised. You’ve had a heck of a day.”
“Did you find out anything? Is Amelia at the house?”
He shook his head. “Nope, and no one knows where she’s at.”
“Wonderful. So all we’ve got is a lot of supposition and no way to prove it.”
“We’re not going to worry about any of that tonight,” Mike said. He stood up, scooped me up, and carried me down the hallway to my bedroom. “You are going to get a good night’s sleep. And if you’re really good, then maybe tomorrow, we’ll talk about the case.”
“You’re just too good to me,” I replied as he put me on the bed. “However, it’s going to be hard to go to sleep with no pillows. You took them to the living room, remember?”
He went out and brought them back. “Now you don’t have an excuse. Do you want me to tuck you in or read you a bedtime story?”
“Ha ha, very funny. I’m just fine, thank you.”
He seemed to hesitate a moment before he said, “Well, if you need anything, just call me.”
“I will.”
Walking over the door, he turned to look at me. “I’ll leave the door open, just in case.”
“That’s fine.”
“Good. Well, good night, Cam.”
“Good night, Mike.”
I watched him disappear down the hall, then got up to pull down the covers and straighten the pillows before I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Lifting my shirt, I glanced in the mirror at my back and winced at what I saw. I let the shirt fall back down, turned off the bathroom light and gasped when I saw Mike standing by my bed. “Is there something wrong?”
“No, not a thing. I came in to ask you something and you weren’t in bed. I thought I would make sure you were alright. Your bruises look worse than they did this afternoon.”
“You saw that?”
He had the decency to blush. “Sorry. Why didn’t you say anything when I carried you in here?”
“You were being so sweet that I didn’t have the heart to tell you it hurt.”
Mike moved closer to me, pushing a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “Next time, tell me.”
“I will.”
“You’re a very tough woman, you know. Most women I know would be a total basket case after going through what you’ve been through this week.”
“I’m a tomboy at heart,” I said. “I beat up boys growing up. And when I wasn’t doing that, I was playing tackle football with them.” The silence got a bit awkward as we just stared each other. “Was there something else you wanted?”
“No, just wanted to see if you were alright. I’ll check on you during the night. Doctor’s orders.”
“Of course.” He helped me into bed and started to leave. “Mike?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for staying again tonight. I appreciate it.”
He smiled. “Anytime. That’s what friends are for, Cam.”
Chapter 42 - Monday
We did the whole waking up every hour thing during the night, but thankfully, I did
n’t have the nightmare again. I felt better when I got up around nine. When I went into the living room, Mike was on the phone, talking to Danny. “When did she get the car? I see. Any luck with the local hotels? No, don’t expand the search any further than the local area. I’ll take care of searching the surrounding area. When do you want your truck back? Uh huh…well, swing by and pick up the keys. If I need to go anywhere, I’ll borrow Cam’s car.” He looked at me. “Then again, maybe you better bring me a squad car. And don’t forget the other thing we talked about. Thirty minutes? That’s fine. Alright, Danny, thanks.”
“You’ll borrow my car?” I said as he hung up. “Says who?”
“I could confiscate it under the guise of official police business.”
“More like an official joy ride,” I snorted. “I’ve seen you looking my car. You’re just dying to take it for a spin.”
“I cannot tell a lie,” he laughed. “You’re right.”
“Hm, I’ll think about it. What did Danny have to say?”
“Somewhere between the Marriott and the Ashton house, Amelia had the driver pull over at a rental car place. He had patrol cars drive out to the house every two hours last night, but there is no sign of a car. He also checked the local hotels, but she didn’t check into any of them.”
“So she’s disappeared?”
“Or she’s hiding out.”
“From what? From who?”
Mike looked at his watch. “No clue. I going to try for a search warrant to check her credit card records.” He stood up. “I’ve got to take a shower. Danny’s going to be here in thirty minutes to pick up his truck and leave me a patrol car. I’ve got a couple of things I need to do.”
“You mean I’m going to be here unsupervised?” I gasped in mock horror.
“Fat chance, toots,” he laughed. “Someone will be here to relieve me. You’re going to stay here and rest today, no ifs, ands or buts.”
“Who’s coming for this shift?”
“You’ll see,” he said, coming over and giving me a quick kiss. He disappeared down the hall before I could ask any more questions.
Spying his phone on the coffee table, I slowly leaned over and picked it up. I sent Randy a quick message and asked him to come over in an hour. When Mike came back out, I was reading the L.A. Times on my iPad. “Do you plan to be here for lunch?” I said as he put his black bag by the door.
“I’m not sure. I’ll let you know. Do you want me to bring something over?”
“Oh no, there’s plenty of casserole and guacamole from last night. I’m going to go over our notes, see if there are any clues we missed.”
“I think that’s a good idea. Too many questions and not a lot of answers. We may have the answers and just don’t know,” he said as someone rang the doorbell. Walking over, he opened the door. “It’s so good to see you! Thanks for coming over.”
He stepped back, and Grandma Alma walked in the door with a beautiful new cane. It had butterflies that had been carved and painted. “What are you doing here?” I said as she sat down heavily in my recliner.
“Mike called me this morning, and asked me to come babysit a very stubborn patient,” she said. “How are you doing?” She looked at the bruises on my arms, which were a lovely dark blue, purple and black, then at the cast on my left arm. “He says you’re covered with bruises all over.”
“I went a few rounds with some rocks and lost,” I told her.
“Mike said you fell down a well,” Grandma Alma said.
I looked at him, and he shrugged. “Yes, ma’am, I did, but not that far.”
“What were you doing down a well in the first place?” she asked.
“It’s a long story, Grandma.”
“I’ve got plenty of time. Get your phone and call Walt so we can talk on that speaker doohickey thing.”
I looked helplessly at Mike again, and he just smiled as he picked up his black bag. “Well, it looks like you’re in good hands. I should be back in a couple of hours or so. Now you do what she tells you to, and don’t give her a hard time.” He was laughing as he left.
“What exactly is going on, Cam?” Walt said as soon as I called him on the house phone, putting it on speaker. For some reason, whenever Randy says he can’t get a hold of me, he forgets that I have a landline. “Mike wouldn’t tell me anything.”
“Amelia Ashton is in town.”
“That’s not surprising,” Grandma said. “She’s always here this time of the year for that board meeting.”
“We saw her at the Ashton house.”
“What was she doing out there?
“Visiting Stanley.”
“Visiting Stanley?” Walt said. “Girl, did you knock a few marbles loose yesterday when you fell? Stanley’s been dead sixty years.”
“But his ghost has been living, so to speak, in that house all these years,” I replied.
“Everybody always said that house was haunted,” Grandma said, slapping her hand on the arm of the recliner. “I’ll be danged if they weren’t right. How does he look?”
“Pretty good for a dead man,” I admitted, “but he’s an arrogant jerk.”
“Eh, he was that way when he was alive,” she said. “Being dead ain’t gonna change that.”
“Amelia said it was Stanley IV who killed his father.”
“She didn’t,” Grandma said. Walt said nothing.
“Oh yes, she did,” I said. “But he didn’t do it, did he, Walt?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.
“Grandma, Stanley III wasn’t the only one having an affair back then, was he? Amelia was having an affair with Cliff Scott, wasn’t she?”
“Yes, she was. But how did you know?”
“Because someone has been putting money into Cliff’s bank account for the last sixty years, and there’s no way he could’ve afforded the house he was living in on his salary. What happened, Walt?”
“Unlike her husband, Amelia was very discreet. No one knew about her affair with Cliff. After Stanley was killed, Cliff rarely left her side. It made her father suspicious, so he asked her about it just before the funeral. She admitted it and he went through the roof. But it wasn’t until after Stanley was buried that she told him Stanley IV had killed his father. He knew the publicity would ruin the bank, so he pressured me to say it had been a suicide. I was planning to run for re-election, and Mr. Underwood said he would make sure I never won another election as long as he lived.”
“So Cliff destroyed evidence?”
“Yes.”
“And the Underwoods paid him off.”
“Yes.”
“Did you have definitive proof that it was the son who did it?”
“Amelia said that he confessed to her he did it. He had been searching through his father’s desk for something, and he came across the birth certificate. She said when he confronted his father about it, Stanley III was rather dismissive of his hurt feelings. You know what happened after that.”
“We don’t think he did it, Walt.”
“What makes you say that?”
“It’s just a theory we’re tossing around. I do have some other news for you, though. Stanley IV is alive and well.”
“Really?” Grandma Alma said.
“And he’s living here in town.”
“You’re joking,” she said.
The doorbell rang, interrupting us. I got up and opened the door. It was Randy and Jo. “Grandma Alma, what are you doing here?” he said, going over to give her a kiss on the cheek.
“I’m babysitting Cam,” she said. “I’m supposed to make sure she stays out of trouble.”
“That’s a full-time job. I hope you’re getting paid good money.”
“And who is the nice young lady with you?”
“This is Jolanda Williams,” Randy said. “This is Cam’s Grandma Alma.”
“Pleased to meet you. Most people call me Jo.”
“What brings you two over here?” Grandma Alma sa
id.
“Cam asked us to come over,” Randy said. “She said we had some work to do.”
“Work?” Grandma Alma said, giving me the evil eye. “You’re supposed to be resting, not working.”
“Mike already knows I plan to do some work, Grandma. We’re trying to sort out all the information we have about the case. I just get the feeling that we have the answers, but we’re overlooking them.”
“You mean they’re getting lost in the shuffle, so to speak,” she said.
“Exactly.”
“I want to go back to what you were saying before they came in,” Grandma Alma interrupted. “You said Stanley IV is living here in town. You were joking about that, right?”
“No, ma’am, I wasn’t. It’s Artie Shatton.”
“The mechanic?” Walt said incredulously. “Holy cow. I didn’t even recognize him.”
I told them about the accident in 1968 that killed Cecilia and severely injured Artie. As Jo pulled out her laptop and got to work, I mentioned the trust fund and the withdrawals that had happened over the years, including the $500,000. “I think that Artie paid Jake Yarborough to kill Cliff, and now that we know he was involved in a cover-up, I’d say we have the reason why.”
“You need to talk to that little witch that tried to kill me,” Walt said.
“I have a feeling that is on Mike’s list of things to do today,” I assured him. “But there is something that I want to do.”
Randy looked at me. “Oh, no you don’t.”
“What?”
“You’ve got that look on your face that says you’re going to do something stupid.”
“Do I have a look like that?”
“Yes!” he and Grandma Alma said together.
“Amelia’s missing. I just want to find out if Stanley’s seen her in the last twenty-four hours. A quick drive out there and back.”
“Need I remind you of the last quick drive you took out there? You almost died!” Randy said. “No way, no how, ain’t happening, girl. Forget it.”
“You can come with me, Randy,” I replied. “We’ll take my car.”
“You can’t drive with a concussion,” Grandma Alma said.
“Randy can drive my car, and we can leave his car here in case you guys need it. Hand me my bag,” I said to Jo.
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