“I’m thinking out loud here, but what if Harris Schultz already knew what was in that house? Maybe he decided he’d use Lydia to find how he could get access to that merchandise. Drug users need money. There was plenty of stuff to sell in that place—which is why I believe Chester considered a confused woman who loved cats to be the perfect target to exploit in the first place.”
“I get it. You’re saying it was Harris’s idea to come here and dig around for information? That he tricked Lydia into bringing him along?”
“Exactly.” He smiled. “It’s always good for a cop to be married to a good listener. You distilled that information into a few sentences after I rambled on.” He stood, being careful not to disturb Otto and Chablis, who were snuggled together between us.
“Shouldn’t you get a little sleep before heading back to work?” I said.
He took out his phone. “I can’t. Waking up a suspect is my favorite pastime, and if Harris Schultz still wants his lawyer present, he’s gonna have to wake that person up, too.”
He leaned over and kissed my forehead. “Thank you.”
As he walked toward the kitchen and the back door, I heard him say, “Candace. Were you asleep?”
She isn’t now, I thought. I didn’t have to rouse any cats to head to bed. They followed me willingly, because sleeping on a quilt in the bedroom was far better than wrangling for space on a sofa.
Twenty-six
“The question I asked myself, Jillian, was this.” Kara lifted her coffee mug and stared at me over the rim.
“Go on,” I said.
I sat with Simon on my lap, Merlot and Syrah at my feet, all the while watching Otto toying with Dashiell’s ear, hoping he’d play. Good luck with that, silly boy. Chablis was purring away with her head close to Kara’s ear. It had been a short night because Kara showed up early, anxious to talk.
“Okay, here’s my thought. If Brenda was run off the road, she knew something that put her in danger. She heard or saw something she shouldn’t have about the murder case. Isn’t that a logical conclusion?”
I wanted to crawl back into bed and sleep for two more hours, but she was so passionate about getting answers, I had to be her friend as well as her stepmother. “Sure. Logical, though an assumption. Her purse and phone are missing. It could have been a crime by a stranger. The question is, when did she end up putting herself in danger if it is connected to Chester’s murder?”
“At the hospital. She bought journals for Minnie and—”
“After picking up Minnie’s personal items at the house?” I asked.
“Yes. I talked to a clerk at Dollar General who remembers her. She actually bought three cheap little journals. She took them to Minnie, they talked and my guess is that someone was listening to that conversation. Minnie maybe told Brenda something important related to the case, perhaps while she was doodling and scribbling in that book. The twins hadn’t shown up yet, but the daughter was there, right?”
“You think Greta is responsible?” I shook my head trying to reconcile the notion of new mother Greta as a cold-blooded woman bold enough to run Brenda off the road.
“I know, I know. I can’t see her doing that, but who else was there? What about those twins? Could one of them have been sneaking around waiting to talk to his mother? Does Tom know if the sons knew Chester? What secret did Brenda learn from Minnie that made her a target?”
“The sons might not have known Chester, but Chester’s son went to school with Harris and Henry—and also with Lucinda, the daughter-in-law. But while you digest that piece of information, here’s the latest on what I know. Maybe you can pull something out of what happened yesterday.” I summarized Lydia’s visit, how Tom smelled marijuana on Harris and how Harris possibly knew, from one source or another, about the merchandise in Minnie’s house. “Harris is the brother who asked for a lawyer. Maybe he was involved with Chester. You could well be correct about him lurking in the hospital and hearing a conversation that put Brenda in danger.”
Kara said, “All of those boxes you’ve mentioned are at the center of this mess. They have to be. I didn’t hear this from Tom, but my police source tells me the financial documents show that Minnie was racking up credit card bills. And get this: That credit card is nowhere to be found.”
“Your police source?” I smiled. “Candace? B.J., who has a major crush on you? Who?”
She grinned back at me. “A journalist never gives up her sources. Besides, you don’t want to know, especially if your husband questions you concerning how I found this out.”
I had to agree with her on that one. “I heard that Minnie had some money. Was she being bled dry?”
“Not really. See, I know about that, too. I’ve been busy. Her retirement money is safe because it’s stashed in protected accounts. She was left with a nice nest egg when her husband died, so that money is invested—or so I am told.”
I grinned. “Your source has to be B.J. What did he tell you about those journal pages we found in Minnie’s dining room?”
“What journal pages? Aren’t we looking for missing journals that Brenda bought?” Her eyes grew keen with interest.
“Oh boy. Now I’m in trouble. Don’t go asking your source because this probably has nothing to do with Brenda. The pages we found yesterday were dated before Minnie even met the doctor.” I went on to tell her about the ripped-out pages that had been missed in the initial search of the house.
Kara squinted at me, considering this. “Why were these particular pages ripped out and hidden? You told me there was a stack of journals in the closet and yet now there’s something she’d written that seemed important enough to hide.”
“Kara. Come on. The woman was walking down Main Street in her nightclothes carrying a cat. If she’s the one who hid those pages, what she wrote might not mean anything.”
“True enough. Do you happen to know what she wrote on those particular pages?” she asked.
“Kara, this can’t have anything to do with Brenda.”
Kara pointed with her mug in my direction. “That’s where you’re wrong. If Minnie knew something suspicious about Chester, something about him that led to his murder, then we have to follow the crumbs. It could very well be the same thing that Brenda learned and what put her in danger.”
“Here’s all I know. Tom’s quick look at the pages indicated it didn’t make much sense. Poor Minnie was so clueless and so neglected.” I sighed. “You know what my main question is? Why didn’t her children help her?” This thought upset me so much that I felt the burn of tears behind my eyes.
Kara set down her mug and reached across the small table for my hand. Her tone softened when she spoke. “Jillian, your heart is almost too big. What did Tolstoy say about families?”
“‘All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,’” I said quietly.
She sat back. “I believe that explains it. Be assured that our family is not unique—because we’re happy.”
I nodded and smiled in agreement.
Though I didn’t want to leave my cats yet again, I couldn’t allow Kara to visit the Schultz brothers all by herself. She was determined to pay them a visit and she refused to wait until Liam was free later today. She also wanted to get her hands on that second journal.
We took Kara’s car and decided we were both fatigued enough to require more caffeine and maybe a hefty dose of sugar for the almost hour-long trip to the town where Harris and Henry Schultz lived. We stopped at Belle’s Beans for pastry and coffee to take along. Kara said she would buy and went straight to the counter after we walked in.
I glanced around and saw a familiar face, but it took a few seconds to place her, maybe because she wasn’t in the spot I always saw her—the county animal shelter. But it was the person she was with who made my stomach do a flip-flop. Should I talk to them? My heart was saying no, but my
mind screamed yes. You have to.
“I see two people I’d think you be interested in talking to,” I whispered to Kara. “Join me in a second.”
I walked over to the table where the two women were conversing.
I addressed the young woman who manned the intake counter at the animal shelter. “Hey there, Sara Jo.”
She blinked in surprise when she looked up at me. “Oh. Hi, Jillian.”
“So sad about Chester.” It was all I could do to keep my eyes averted from Sara Jo’s companion—the woman who’d been in the shouting match at the hospital. This was Chester’s daughter-in-law, Lucinda.
Though I hadn’t addressed her, Lucinda spoke. “Ain’t it enough your husband woke us both up and told us to come to Main Street so he can talk to us again? Leave us alone so we can drink our coffee and then get this so-called interview over with.”
“I’m sorry,” I said evenly. “I don’t think we’ve met, but you seem to know me.”
“Oh, and you want me to believe you don’t know me. Cut the crap, lady.” Lucinda had fire-red hair and a temper to match. But of course I already knew that. I’d witnessed it firsthand at the hospital.
“Did I see you being escorted out of the hospital the other day?” I added a smile to punctuate my sentence, but did I really want to get into a verbal sparring match with this person? So I added, “I truly am sorry for your family’s loss and I hope you believe that.”
Sara Jo gently punched Lucinda on the upper arm and the diamond on her engagement finger caught the light and flashed brightly. “Jillian is cool. She means it. She’s not the cops.”
Lucinda sullenly responded with “Maybe.”
I looked at Sara Jo and said, “How are you managing without Chester? The county shelter is such a busy place as it is.”
“We don’t have a replacement, if that’s what you’re asking. I swear they don’t pay me enough for what I do.” She smiled at Lucinda. “But I’m making time for Lucinda and the rest of Chester’s family. They need someone to lean on. It’s tough times when the man is dead and folks are talking so mean about him.”
Kara joined me. “What are people saying?” she asked.
“Who are you?” Lucinda’s fading haughtiness returned full force.
“She writes our newspaper,” Sara Jo said. “Don’t you know anything, Lucinda?”
“Well, excuse me for livin’.” Lucinda folded her arms over her large bosom and stared off to her left.
“I’m sorry, sweetie.” Sara Jo rested her hand on Lucinda’s forearm. “Come on, now. Don’t be like that.”
Lucinda didn’t take her eyes off whatever she’d fixed on across the room. “If you’re my friend, tell these people to leave.”
“You know what, sweetie?” Sara Jo said. “If you think people are talkin’ trash about Chester, these are the people you should be tellin’ the truth to. These here are nice folks and Miss Kara Hart could maybe write something nice in Chester’s obituary.”
Lucinda turned back and I saw her eyes had filled with tears. In a quavering voice she said, “Thing is, he wasn’t a nice man. But he was my husband’s daddy. I’ve known him half my life. We loved him in spite of how he acted. We’re the only ones knowin’ he could be kind when he set his mind to it.”
That Tolstoy quote was running through my head, truer than ever. I chose as gentle a tone as I could muster. “Can we sit down and talk to you about him? Kara presents all sides in the newspaper and I know she’d like to hear what you have to say.”
Lucinda said, “We’re just gonna have to repeat it all when we have to go talkin’ to the police chief—to your husband. Why’s he need to talk to me again? I told him all I know.”
“I have no idea, Lucinda. But one thing I do know? He wants to find out who killed Chester and bring that person to justice. I promise you that.”
Sara Jo was nodding. “See? That’s what I told you. We got nothing to be scared of ’cause we didn’t do anything wrong. We just go in there and tell the truth. You did tell the truth the last time, didn’t you?”
Lucinda stared at her friend as if she could set Sara Jo’s hair on fire if she sent enough hostility her way. “Did you tell the truth, girl?”
Kara pulled out a chair and sat down. I followed suit.
Kara cleared her throat. “You’ve both lost someone you knew well and for a long time. Grief hurts, I know. I lost my daddy when I was about as old as the two of you. I hated the world, even hated Jillian. But it was all because I was afraid of how to get along without him, afraid of missing him so much my heart would burst. Grief is a whole lot of fear. Don’t turn it into anger and lose the support you get from each other.”
Quiet descended like an anvil as we took in her words. Kara had proven once again what an amazing person she was.
Finally Lucinda spoke in a near whisper. “Would you write something kind about Chester? From what you just said, I’m thinkin’ you could do that.”
Kara smiled. “In an obituary, we write what the family wants to say about the person they loved and lost. You give me some facts that you want the world to know and I’d be happy to write it up.”
What she wasn’t saying is that obituaries aren’t free. I wondered if Kara was willing to do an obit at no cost if she could get these two young women to speak to her about Chester. My guess was yes.
Lucinda looked at me. “Last time we talked, that top cop you married didn’t want to know nothin’ good about Chester. He just wanted to know why someone wanted him dead. I was thinkin’ he wanted to blame me or my husband. No matter what our differences, me and Earl would never hurt Chester. He said he had money comin’ in real soon and would buy us that big flat-screen Earl’s been wantin’. So why would he go and kill his daddy if that was the case?”
“You’re right. That doesn’t make sense,” I said. “Did you tell the chief that?”
“Didn’t get a chance,” Lucinda replied. “I heard Earl in the other room down at the station shoutin’ at that girl cop and I couldn’t have her gettin’ him all riled right after Chester was murdered. I told the top cop I was done. I walked into that other little room where they was talkin’, grabbed Earl by the arm and off we went.” She lowered her voice. “Earl’s got a little trouble with his blood pressure what with his weight bein’ what it is. But if Chester left us that money he promised, I’m puttin’ us both on one of them fancy diets where they deliver the food to your door.”
Ah, I thought. Chester promised his family money. Despite the fact that I was beginning to believe Lucinda, I still had to remember how Tom probably looked at this situation. What if they wanted that payday sooner rather than later? Maybe they figured killing Chester was the best way to get it. “The chief called you back in today because you never finished your interview?”
“That’s right. We thought we’d fuel up on caffeine first. But surely your top cop told you all kinda twisted stuff about us, ’specially since you was in the hospital hallway when me and Earl got into it with those silly boys pretendin’ to be men. Knew those two from high school and they were always trouble.”
“You mean Minnie’s sons?” I said.
Lucinda pointed at me. “That’s right. What the heck is wrong with them? They was sayin’ we went into their mother’s house and there was valuable stuff there and who did we think we were trespassin’ and all kinds of lies.”
Kara cocked her head, her tone curious. “What kind of valuable stuff?”
“How the heck would I know?” Lucinda’s tone was strident and a few others in the café turned to stare at her. She ignored them and went on. “We never set foot in that woman’s house. Didn’t know her from Adam.”
Sara Jo had been watching our exchanges with interest and spoke to Lucinda now. “Didn’t you know Chester spent a lot of time with Minnie?”
Lucinda gaped at her friend. “Are you sayin’ you
knew he spent time with Mrs. Schultz, Sara Jo? And if so, why didn’t you tell us?”
At some point Kara had placed my to-go coffee and a little white paper bag with my pastry in front of me. I picked up the coffee and sipped, anxious to hear what Sara Jo had to say.
Sara Jo’s fair skin pinked up. “Chester said she was a crazy woman, that’s all. And finally, after he said it about five times on different days, I asked him what he was doing visiting with her.”
Kara said, “What was his answer?”
“He said he only dropped by to make sure she was okay. She had a lot of cats and he said he was worried about them. But, you see . . .” She held up a hand in Lucinda’s direction. “Don’t you go all ballistic on me again. Promise?”
Lucinda eyed her and then her features relaxed. “Promise.”
“Chester didn’t much care for animals—and you know that’s true, Lucinda. He got bit by dogs and scratched by cats so many times he’d had about enough of them. Anyways, him telling me he was checking on those cats? I didn’t believe it for a minute. I was thinking he found himself a sugar mama.”
Maybe he did, I thought. Problem was, Minnie probably had no idea that was what she’d become.
Twenty-seven
The drive forty miles north of Mercy to find Henry and Harris Schultz took nearly an hour, and I wished after speaking with Chester’s daughter-in-law that I’d brought a few cats along to cuddle with. Putting a human face on Chester Winston—though no doubt he was a flawed man—had left me feeling down. No matter what his character, his family was grieving, and that helped me understand why they had behaved so poorly in the hospital that night. Love, I’d learned long ago, was complicated.
Lucinda and Sara Jo had offered new information, and Kara gave them both her card before we left Belle’s Beans. Maybe after they’d spoken with Tom, he would jog their memories even more, and then one or both of them would share this with Kara.
The Cat, the Collector and the Killer Page 19