“Wait a minute.” Ruth spoke up before Ida could make the request. Ruth tapped her fingernail on the surface of the iPad. “Olive Pendleton’s books are on Amazon. Amazon is the biggest bookseller in the business, you know.”
“It stands to reason her books would be on there, then, right?” Nans asked.
“Sure. But here’s the thing. Look at her rankings.” Ruth turned the iPad around so they could see the screen. “She’s ranked way down around five hundred thousand. Her books aren’t selling well at all.”
They all craned their necks to look.
“Huh. Maybe that explains why their house is in disrepair,” Nans said.
“But it wouldn’t explain why Rupert would hide her body and pretend she was alive,” Ida added.
“Wait a minute.” Helen paused with a scone midway to her mouth. “I seem to recall hearing she had a new book coming out. That would spur interest in her other works, wouldn’t it?”
“Oh yes, a new release always brings in new interest,” Ruth said. “Now let me Google… oh yes, here it is. She does have a new book.” Ruth looked at them over the rims of her bright-red reading glasses. “And it’s coming out next week.”
Nans clapped her hands. “Well, that explains it. If the book is coming out next week, then she’s already written it. It’s probably in the publishing process right now. Rupert is probably just pretending she’s alive so that the checks will keep rolling in and not be channeled elsewhere due to the terms of her trust.”
“Maybe he’s even going to manufacture some kind of mystery around it. You know, like what happened when Agatha Christie disappeared.” Ida’s blue eyes sparkled. “That would increase sales, wouldn’t it?”
“He could milk this for months, and I bet he’d make more money than ever on those books,” Ruth said.
“And with no body and no murder investigation, the police won’t be poking around, and he could still continue his affair while collecting all the royalties,” Ida said.
“Well, we don’t know for sure that he’s having an affair,” Nans pointed out. “This could all just be about the money.”
“Right,” Helen said. “We need to check into that.”
“How do we do that?” Lexy asked.
“Easy. Every neighborhood has a busybody, right?” Helen looked at Ida. “I bet you were the busybody in your neighborhood, Ida. Tell us how we would figure out who the busybody is in the Pendletons’ neighborhood.”
Ida straightened in her seat and shot Helen a nasty look. Nans and Ruth tried not to laugh.
“Well, I’m not sure exactly, but I think that if you want to find the neighborhood busybody, you have to go check out the neighborhood. They’re usually looking out the windows to see what is going on. So all we have to do is go back there and see who’s watching.” Ida picked up another scone and chomped down on it so hard that Lexy was afraid her dentures would fall out.
Nans clicked the cap on the whiteboard marker. “Luckily, we have a perfect excuse to go back to the neighborhood.” Nans turned her gaze on Lexy, and Lexy’s stomach dropped. “Lexy, you’re meeting with Caspian Kingsley this afternoon to finalize details on your catering job, aren’t you?”
“Yes, but I usually go alone, and I don’t really think I need—”
“Excellent.” Nans cut her off. “What time are you going to pick us up?”
6
Lexy had tried to get out of taking Nans and the ladies to the Kingsleys’, but Nans had nipped her protests in the bud by giving her “the look.” The one she’d been giving Lexy since she was a little girl. The one that Lexy couldn’t say no to.
So she picked them up at four p.m. and drove over to the Castle Heights neighborhood, parking on the same intersecting street at Ida’s request. Ida wanted an opportunity to scan the Pendletons’ yard for the drone as they walked down the street.
When they got out of the car, Ruth made it a point to canvass the neighborhood. Lexy thought maybe she was trying to be discreet, but her jagged movements and the way she was craning her neck, whirling around, and peeking over the top of the car made it pretty obvious she was looking for something.
“What are you doing, Ruth?” Nans asked.
“I’m looking for the neighborhood busybody.” Ruth zeroed in on something, her eyes narrowing. “And I think I found her.”
Across the street was a brick house with black shutters and trumpet vines climbing up the chimney. It wasn’t as stately as the others but still bigger than the average house. It sat on a moderately landscaped lot. The window shades were drawn, but in one window they could see two fingers had pried the louvers apart. Someone was looking out at them. As they watched, the louvers snapped shut.
“Well, I think she’s on to us,” Helen said.
“That’s okay. Those types always like to talk. She’ll welcome us when we show up at her door.” Ruth hitched her purse up on her shoulder and started toward the Kingsleys’.
“If we show up at her door.” Lexy fell into step behind Ruth. “Now I want you guys to just keep quiet. Don’t say anything. I told Kingsley I might be bringing some…err…assistants. You don’t need to open your mouths at all.” Lexy fixed them with a stern glare. Even though they nodded in agreement, she had a feeling they weren’t going to follow her instructions.
The ladies stood silently behind Lexy as she knocked on the Kingsleys’ door. The Kingsley house was in much better repair than the Pendletons’. It was almost as large but a more elegant style that dated from the 1920s, with weathered cedar shingles and crisp white trim. The landscaping was not overdone, the shrubs were meticulously trimmed, and there were window boxes on the lower windows, overflowing with purple and white petunias.
The door was answered by Caspian Kingsley, whose personal appearance was as meticulous as that of his house. He wore a crisp blue-and-white pinstriped Oxford shirt and linen slacks. His tanned face radiated a healthy glow and made him look a decade younger than the mid-sixties that Lexy knew him to be.
“Lexy. How lovely to see you again.” Caspian held his hand out, and Lexy shook it. His questioning gaze drifted over her shoulder to Nans and the ladies.
“This is my grandmother, Mona Baker, and her friends. They may be assisting me when I cater.” Lexy leaned closer to Kingsley and whispered, “They’re elderly, with not much excitement in their lives, so I brought them along.”
Behind Lexy, the four ladies gasped.
“Well, I would hardly say that we’re—” Nans started but snapped her mouth shut when Lexy pinned her with a steely glare. Lexy turned back to Kingsley, unable to help the smile that tugged the corners of her lips. She knew the ladies wouldn’t like being portrayed as bored and elderly, but it served them right. She wanted to show them that insisting on tagging along with her came with its drawbacks.
“The venue will be set up out in back.” Kingsley turned, indicating for them to follow. They walked through a marble foyer into a lemon-cleaner–scented living room done elegantly in creams and blacks and then out one of the triple sets of French doors to the backyard that they had seen from the street the other day.
“I’ll be having a tent set up, and I think this spot will be perfect.” Lexy pointed to the one section of yard that was fairly level. Then she turned and pointed at the other side, which sloped down toward the Pendletons’. “And I was thinking about setting up a little bar with mimosas over here, but with this slope, I don’t know…” She let her voice trail off as she looked out over the Pendletons’ yard. She already knew what she was going to do about the slope, but she wanted to pretend she was thinking so she could have more time to scope out what was going on at the Pendletons’.
Her eyes immediately flew to the cement patio. From this angle, a larger section of patio was visible than she’d been able to see from the street. Smack dab in the middle was a dark stain. And if she wasn’t mistaken, that was exactly where Olive Pendleton had fallen to her death.
“…and I was wondering if we could have so
me of those cupcake tops.” Kingsley’s words jerked Lexy’s attention back to the real reason she was here.
“Yes. Of course. And quiche and the usual eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast, right?”
“Yes, and I would like some…” His brows drew together as he looked past Lexy’s shoulder. “What is your grandmother doing?”
Lexy spun around to see Nans, Ruth, Ida, and Helen scrambling down the back of the yard that sloped toward the pond. For a second Lexy thought they might be about to slide in, but they stopped themselves just short of the edge, where a group of cat-o-nine-tails stuck up out of the water.
“That’s the neighbors’ pond, ladies,” Kingsley yelled to them then turned concerned eyes on Lexy. “Are they senile? They won’t jump in, will they?”
“I wouldn’t put it past them.”
Nans waved from the edge of the pond. “Sorry, I dropped something and it rolled down the hill.”
Kingsley’s lips pursed together. “I do wish the neighbors would clean that yard up.”
“Yeah, why don’t they? Doesn’t the author Olive Pendleton live there?” Lexy asked.
“Yep. They’re eccentric. I mean, just look the yard. It needs work. The pond is a mess. Yet they’re building a new gazebo, and even that is being done in a slipshod manner. As you can see, they have the walls built but still have yet to finish the footing.” Kingsley waved his hand toward the gazebo, where Lexy could see bags of cement lying at the foot of the partially studded wall.
Rupert was actually in the gazebo, apparently working on it, and the voices must have caught his attention. He looked over, his eyes narrowing as he recognized Nans and the ladies.
“Hey, get away from my pond!” He raised his fists in the air and started toward them, but his foot slipped in the mud near the gazebo, and he stopped to right himself. The four Peekapoos, however, had no problem with the mud, and they ran over to the edge of the property, barking and yipping.
Nans and the ladies scrambled up from the embankment.
“Not very friendly, I take it,” Lexy said.
“Like I said, they’re odd ducks. And those dogs, they make a racket,” Kingsley said distastefully.
The ladies had come to join them, and Ruth said, “Must be a lot going on next door with all the women coming and going.”
Kingsley gave her a funny look. “Well, I wouldn’t say there’s a lot of women. Then again, her sister is there a lot. Susan. She always did follow Olive around like a puppy.”
“You know her sister?” Nans asked.
Kingsley nodded. “I know the family. Known them for decades. This was the McMurty family home before their parents died. Olive always was the smart one and Susan was the pretty one. She’s quite a wallflower despite her beauty—so fragile. You know the type. Delicate. Always sick. Funny how two sisters can be so different. As you can see, Olive is wild with money, but Susan is the opposite. Lives frugally. Doesn’t spend it willy-nilly like Olive and Rupert.”
“So the two sisters are close, eh?” Ida slid her eyes over to Kingsley. “And Rupert, does he get along with Susan?”
“I assume so. She’s here all the time, and they appear to get along. Poor Susan doesn’t really have anyone else. Her marriage ended badly. ’Course, Susan always did do everything Olive did. Even got one of those fluffy little dogs. She dotes on that thing, especially since Brent won’t have anything to do with her.”
“Brent?” Lexy asked.
“Her son. They had a falling out…well, it’s really not my place to be airing their laundry.”
“And what about the other women?” Helen asked.
“Other women?” Kingsley frowned. “I don’t know about any other women. Not too many people go over there unless they have one of their raucous parties.” Kingsley glanced disapprovingly at the patio. From this angle, Lexy could see the outdoor kitchen better. It had a stainless steel grill that looked to be in good working order, a giant stainless steel chest that looked like a cooler or freezer, and a large fridge. The stone counters were a little the worse for wear, and the appliances needed polishing but looked to be in good condition otherwise. It also looked well used, but Lexy had a hard time picturing a happy crowd of people holding drinks in their hands and chatting while dour Rupert worked the grill.
Kingsley pressed his lips together thoughtfully. “Oh wait! There is that one woman, I think it’s Olive’s assistant, or maybe she’s the maid, I’m not quite sure. A blonde. Looks similar to Olive and her sister. Quite honestly I don’t pay that much attention to what’s going on over there. I’m not one of those nosy neighbors like Mrs. Jensen.”
“Mrs. Jensen?” Nans said. “She wouldn’t happen to live in the brick house with the trumpet vines, would she?”
“Yes, how did you know?” Kingsley asked.
Nans nodded at the ladies knowingly. “Oh, we are very observant.”
“So the sister and the maid are usually over there. What about other men? Don’t Rupert or Olive have male friends?” Ida asked.
“No, I don’t recall any. Like I said, we don’t pay much attention to what goes on over there. It’s usually just Olive and Rupert.”
“So you didn’t hear anything strange over there the other day.” Nans jerked her chin in the direction of the Pendletons’ patio.
“Strange? No. What are you getting on about?” Kingsley’s eyes darted from Nans to Lexy. He seemed like he was starting to get suspicious, so Lexy shrugged, pointed to the four ladies, and twirled her finger around her ear to indicate maybe they weren’t all there.
Kingsley’s eyes turned sympathetic, and he cleared his throat. “Oh, ummm… We try not to pay attention. Too much dog yapping. I only wish our shrubs would grow higher and block them entirely. We hardly come out here anymore.”
“Maybe if her books were doing better, they’d have the money to fix the place up,” Ruth said.
“Her books?” Kingsley waved his hand, “Pfft. She doesn’t need the money from that. She has plenty of money from her folks.” Kingsley frowned as he glanced over at Rupert Pendleton, who had gone back to working on the gazebo. “Unless they’ve already spent it.”
“I hope the yapping dogs won’t be a problem with the brunch out here,” Helen said.
“Me too.” Kingsley looked at Lexy. “They can be a bit obnoxious. I have half a mind to call the cops the next time they get on one of their incessant barking jags. Anyway, do you have enough information?”
“Oh, yes. Thank you so much.”
“And you’ll be here Wednesday morning ready and set up in time for the first guests to arrive at ten a.m.?” Kingsley herded them toward the French doors.
Lexy was about to assure him they would when Nans answered for her. “Oh yes, we will. Don’t worry, we’ll all be here and set up and waiting for your guests with bells on.”
As Kingsley led them into the house, Lexy thought she heard him mutter, “I was afraid she was going to say that.”
7
“You ladies are not invited to the catering event at the Kingsleys’,” Lexy whispered as they left the Kingsleys’ house.
“Oh, now come on, Lexy, you could use some extra help, couldn’t you?” Ruth looked at her with innocent eyes.
“Yes, but somehow I don’t think you guys would be much help.”
“Now, now. We’ll deal with that when it comes,” Nans said as they proceeded slowly down the street toward Lexy’s car. Ida skirted the edge of the Pendletons’ property, her hawklike gaze scouring every inch, looking for her drone. Over at the gazebo, Rupert glared at them, tracking their every move.
The neighborhood was quiet, with no traffic except one Prius that drove slowly past them. The heads of the four senior citizens swiveling toward the Pendletons’ property reminded Lexy of Nans and the ladies.
“Did you guys see anything in the pond?” Lexy asked.
Ruth shook her head. “It’s as murky as the coffee they have in the senior center. We may have to go in.”
Lexy slid h
er eyes over to Ruth. “Go in?”
“Yeah. You remember when we took those scuba diving lessons last year? I still have my wetsuit, and so does Ida.”
“Well, we have to do that at night.” Helen gestured toward Rupert. “Hawkeye over there isn’t going to let us just jump into his pond if he catches us.”
“I’m afraid his alarm system would warn him if we ventured onto the property.” Nans pointed to the four dogs, who were now racing across the yard toward them. Apparently they didn’t like the way Ida was rummaging in the hedges at the edge of the property.
“Woof!”
“Yap!”
“Growl!”
“Hey, you mangy mutt, let go!”
Lexy looked through the thick shrubbery to see Ida in a pitched battle with the black Peekapoo, who had the corner of her purse in his mouth. Ida was holding the handle, pulling back, while the small dog used his back legs to dig into the ground.
“Come on, Ida, you can’t beat a little seven-pound dog?” Nans asked. “I told you you needed to hit the gym more.”
Rip!
The dog ripped a piece of shiny patent leather from the corner of Ida’s purse, and Ida fell back on her butt. The dogs ran off victoriously toward the patio.
“Dagnab it! I just got this purse at Talbot’s!” Ida’s face turned sour as she inspected the bottom of the purse, then her eyes flicked out to watch the dogs as they ran to the outdoor kitchen, presumably to hide their new treasure.
“Looks like you got an excuse to get another new purse,” Lexy said as Ida stood and brushed off the back of her tan polyester stretch pants before elbowing her way out of the hedge.
“Yeah, but this one’s got all nice compartments in it.” Ida opened the purse to show her, and Lexy noticed it was filled to the brim with various household objects, lipstick, and even another scone wrapped in a napkin.
“Forget about that.” Ruth pointed in the direction of the dogs. “We may have just found one of their hiding spots.”
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