by B. J Daniels
“If there is one thing Lola loved even more than men, it was money.” Glenda dug around in the fridge. “I wonder if she ever really planned to run off with this guy.”
“What do you mean?” Clancy asked.
“She could have led the guy on, planning to doublecross him all along,” she said as she slammed the fridge door and popped another top. “Maybe he found out and killed her.”
“If you thought Lola embezzled the money, why didn’t you come forward during the trial?” Jake demanded.
Clancy could have cut the tension in the room with a dull knife.
Glenda came back into the room, sat and dug another cigarette out of a half-empty pack. “Why? I don’t know she did it. Why get involved in something I didn’t know squat about?”
“You were her sister,” Jake shot back.
“Half sister. Maybe I didn’t want anyone knowing I was related to her. It wasn’t like she told anyone about me. Anyway, she’d made someone mad enough to kill her. I didn’t want to get involved.”
“But you did get involved,” Clancy pointed out. “When you told Dex. Why did you decide to tell what you knew now?”
Glenda looked toward the front door as if she expected someone to come bursting in at any moment. “I want to go to Vegas before I die.”
It took Clancy a moment. “You told Dex because you thought he would uncover the missing money.”
Jake swore.
Tears filled Glenda’s eyes. “How did I know it was going to get Dex killed?” she demanded. “I just thought he might be able to solve the mystery of what happened to that money.”
“What made you think the money was even still around?” Jake asked, sounding surprised. “It had been embezzled over a period of time. What makes you think the embezzler didn’t spend it as fast as he stole it?”
She shrugged. “I figure if Lola stole the money, she would have been real careful. She’d know better than to spend it. So she’d hide it somewhere. She was probably going to pick it up that night but she got killed. Her lover might or might not have known where she’d hidden the money. Either way, he probably didn’t have time to rehide it before, he was arrested for her murder.”
That was quite the theory, Clancy thought. If Lola took the money.
“But now Warren Hawkins is coming up for parole,” Jake said, an edge to his voice. “You wanted to get to the money before he could. Just in case he was that man.”
Glenda took a swig of her beer.
“Wait a minute,” Clancy said, frowning at the woman. “You’re saying now that you don’t believe it was Warren Hawkins?”
“Someone murdered Dex because he was getting too close to the truth,” Glenda said with certainty.
Jake shook his head. “You had to have told Dex more than this for him to figure out who killed Lola.”
“I told you everything I told him,” Glenda said stubbornly. “When he came by, he wasn’t here long. We talked, he looked through a box of junk Lola left here, but he didn’t take anything except for some silly necklace, and he left.”
Clancy’s head jerked up. “Necklace?”
“What box of junk?” Jake demanded with a pained look.
“What did this necklace look like?” Clancy questioned.
“Just a string of beads,” Glenda said.
Clancy felt her heart rate accelerate. “Pale blue with a navy ceramic heart in the center?”
Glenda nodded, eyeing her suspiciously. “How did you know that?”
“Dex showed me the necklace. He said his mother left it to him.”
The woman snorted. “Lola didn’t leave him nothing. She could have cared less about the boy. It was just some stuff she dumped here and a few personal things the police turned over to me after the fire.”
So Glenda had come forward after the trial to collect her sister’s valuables. Only they hadn’t turned out to be valuable.
“You should have seen the way that boy rifled through that box,” Glenda was saying. “Like he thought she’d left him buried treasure or something.” Glenda wagged her head. “It was pathetic to see—”
“You still have the box?” Jake interrupted.
“It doesn’t have a thing in it that’s worth anything,” she said. “That’s probably why Lola left it with me.”
“I’d like to see the box,” Jake insisted.
With effort, Glenda pushed herself out of the chair and went into one of the rooms off the living room. She returned a few minutes later with a shoe box and handed it to Jake. He set it on the coffee table and carefully removed the contents. Clancy slid closer.
Glenda was right. It contained little of monetary value. Several pressed dried roses. Ticket stubs from the local theater. A faded fishing lure. A plastic bubble with fake snow falling over a fat, red-cheeked Santa. A cheap dime-store mood ring. A pair of tarnished silver half-moon earrings. An envelope of photographs from the resort, mostly scenic, Clancy noticed as she flipped through them. A stack of play programs, ones Lola had had roles in. A handful of greeting cards. It reminded Clancy of the kind of things a young girl keeps from her first love affair.
It seemed odd that Dex would take nothing but the bead necklace. Had he just taken it because it belonged to his mother? Then, why didn’t he take some of the other things? “Was the necklace in the box when Lola gave it to you?”
Glenda shook her head. “She must have been wearing it. The cops gave it to me with that ring and those earrings.” She pointed to the mood ring and the half-moon earrings Jake had pulled out of the box. “That’s the lot of her belongings,” Glenda said with disgust. “And all that talk about her ritzy friends.”
Jake handed Clancy the photographs he’d found. She leafed through them, stopping in surprise at a photo of Lola with a man she recognized. The man stood next to Lola on the dock in front of the resort, his arm around her shoulders, a smile on his face as he looked down at her. There was what Clancy would describe as a longing in his eyes. The man was Tadd Farnsworth.
“Could this have been Lola’s Prince Charming?” Clancy asked.
Glenda squinted at the photograph, then shook her head. “Why the fuss over keeping it a secret if she was going to pose right in front of the resort with him?”
Clancy had to agree. She suspected Lola’s great love had been a forbidden one. She just wondered why.
Jake glanced through the greeting cards, then handed them to Clancy. They were all in the same hand, all the kind of cards a man in love might buy a woman, all with the same inscription: “With love, your Teddy Bear.”
Glenda nodded with a smirk. “Teddy Bear. Can you believe that?”
It didn’t sound to Clancy like anything a grown man would call himself, but what did she know about men? She put the cards back into the box.
“Do you think Teddy Bear was this man she planned to run off with?” Jake asked.
Glenda shrugged. “If a guy who calls himself Teddy Bear doesn’t have something to hide, who does?”
“This stuff meant something to her,” Clancy said, glancing at the odd items from the box. “That’s why she brought it here.” But why? Was she worried that something might happen to her? Was there a clue in this box as to who killed her and had Dex recognized it? Then, why had he taken only the necklace, which hadn’t even been in the box?
Out of the corner of her eye, Clancy saw Jake slip one of the cards into his pocket when Glenda wasn’t looking. Clancy hoped he hadn’t taken it because he’d recognized the handwriting as his father’s, and that Teddy Bear was Warren Hawkins. If Glenda’s theory was right, Lola’s lover was still on the loose—and a killer. And if that were true, then Warren Hawkins had gone to prison for a murder he hadn’t committed.
“Do you mind if we take this photograph?” Jake asked, holding up the one of Lola and Tadd.
“Take the whole box,” Glenda said. “I want it out of here.”
Chapter Fifteen
Clancy was too quiet as they left Somers. Jake drove along the lakeshore, his own
thoughts tangled. The storm had left the day cooler than usual, but Jake cracked his window, anyway, to let in some of the fresh air. He found himself going over what Glenda had told them, trying to fit the odd-shaped chunks of truths and lies together. It made his head ache.
“Glenda Grimes knows more that she’s telling us,” Jake said with a silent curse. He looked over at Clancy when she didn’t respond. “Want to tell me what’s bothering you?”
They’d gone a few miles along the Flathead Lake shoreline, everything lush and green after the storm. He suspected Clancy had seen him pocket the card. She didn’t miss much. Or was he losing his touch?
“You’ve never believed your father was guilty,” she said quietly. “So who did you think was?”
Jake knew this discussion had been coming for years. Actually, he was surprised they hadn’t gotten into it sooner. He pulled the Mustang over at the first wide spot and turned off the engine. Sunlight flickered on the water. A canopy of clouds still hung over the mountains. It had seemed clear to him. “Your father,” he answered.
“That’s what I thought.” She didn’t sound angry, just sad.
“It was the only thing that made sense,” Jake admitted. “I knew you wouldn’t perjure yourself except to protect your father.”
“That’s what you think I did, knowing what it would do to you?” she asked. “Jake, I adored my father. But I didn’t love him as much as I loved you. I would never have lied for him. He wouldn’t have let me.”
Jake felt a pain at heart level stronger than any he’d ever known. “At the time, all I saw was that either you’d lied to save your father or that my father was not just a thief, but a murderer and an arsonist.”
“And now?” Clancy asked.
He shook his head. “Now everything seems different than it did then.” Because of the large amount of money that was missing, it seemed that one of the two partners, Warren Hawkins or Clarence Jones, had to be guilty. “Maybe Lola did embezzle the money. All I know is that now I can see that there might be another explanation, even though Lola’s dead and the money’s never turned up.”
“Maybe she spent it or gave it to someone. Maybe it’s still hidden somewhere like Glenda thinks it is.”
He looked over at her. “You don’t want my father to be guilty any more than I do, do you.”
She smiled. “I never did, Jake.”
“The problem is, if Lola had been skimming that much money from the businesses, my father would have caught it.” Warren Hawkins had been in charge of the financial end of the businesses.
“Your father may have been…distracted,” Clancy said.
He glanced over at her. Had everyone known about the problems his parents had been having or just Clancy? He’d always believed his parents would have worked things out if his father hadn’t gone to prison. Now he wasn’t so sure of that. He knew they’d been having financial problems partly because of the way his mother had liked to live, throwing large, extravagant parties. She loved to entertain, and there was nothing wrong with that. They could afford it. Couldn’t they?
“I thought we’d stop by Tadd’s and ask him about that photograph,” he said as he started the Mustang.
“You think he’s Teddy Bear?” Her tone made it clear she didn’t.
“His name is Theodore.”
* * *
THEY FOUND TADD at home, his leg up and a ballgame on the television.
“How’s the leg?” Jake asked, taking the chair Tadd offered. He noticed Clancy didn’t sit. She’d gone to the mantel, where she seemed to be inspecting a series of framed photographs.
“Hurts like hell,” Tadd said, grimacing. “Doctor says I’m lucky I didn’t break my neck.” His gaze followed Clancy. “How are you, Clancy?”
She turned. “Sore, but otherwise just glad to be alive.”
He nodded, and continued to watch her inspect the photos. “The sheriff called. They found the dirt bike.”
“Where?” Clancy asked.
“Paradise Cove.” Tadd seemed to hesitate. “They also found Liz Knowles’s body.”
“Oh, no,” Clancy said, slumping down into a chair by the fireplace. “She wasn’t.”
“She’d drowned,” Tadd said. “She was wearing the bike helmet.”
Jake slammed a fist down on the arm of the chair. “No way. Someone else was driving that bike when I saw her. Whoever it was killed her as sure as I’m sitting here. Don’t tell me the sheriff thinks it was an accident?”
“He’s waiting for the results of the autopsy,” Tadd said. “But it looks like Liz might have ridden the bike off the cliffs and drowned.”
Jake swore. “What about the bike?”
“Belonged to Frank Ames, all right. He’s sticking to his original story that someone stole it.”
“With Liz gone, we don’t know who was driving that bike and we can’t prove Frank’s lying,” Jake said.
Tadd nodded. “I think Frank Ames is up to his neck in this. I asked for a copy of the police report.” He reached beside his chair, picked up a manila envelope and handed it to Jake. “These are the photocopies of the evidence you asked for along with Dex Westfall’s autopsy report and copies of the clippings from Dex’s closet wall.”
Jake took the envelope but he didn’t open it. He studied Tadd, a dozen suspicions buzzing around in his head like angry wasps. “Where were you when Liz went off that cliff, Tadd?” Jake asked, trying to keep the accusation out of his tone.
Tadd’s eyes widened. “What?”
Jake saw Clancy tense. “You used to own a dirt bike. I remember when you raced in local competitions. You were pretty good.”
Tadd let out a laugh. “You can’t be serious. I haven’t ridden in years. I’d kill myself.”
“Or break your leg,” Jake added.
“Wait a minute,” Tadd said, holding up his hands. “Why would I want to kill Liz Knowles and my own client?”
“Because of Lola,” Jake said quietly.
“Lola?” Tadd asked, looking uncomfortable.
“We had an interesting talk with Lola Strickland’s sister this morning in Somers,” Jake said.
Tadd looked surprised. “Lola had a sister?”
“Half sister. Glenda Grimes. She told us she thinks the person who killed Lola also killed Dex.”
“You’re not accusing me?” Tadd laughed. I told you what happened. I got out of the boat to look around and fell. Fortunately I wasn’t far from the boat and could get to the hospital. I had the doctor call as soon as I could.”
“Lola’s sister told us something else interesting,” Jake said. “The night Lola died she thought she was running off with some man she’d fallen in love with.”
“No kidding,” Tadd said.
“Were you that man?” Jake asked.
“You aren’t serious. I was engaged to marry a senator’s daughter. Why would I run off with Lola?”
“Because you were in love with her,” Clancy said as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the photograph Glenda had given them. She handed it to Tadd.
He took it with obvious reluctance and stared down at it for a long moment. “Where did you get this?”
“From a box of special mementos that Lola left at Glenda Grimes’s house. This was in the box along with numerous cards from her Teddy Bear.”
He looked up and seemed surprised at their expressions. “You think I’m Teddy Bear?” Tadd asked, sounding amazed.
“Isn’t your real name Theodore?” Jake asked.
Tadd groaned. “I’ve never been called Teddy in my life. I certainly wouldn’t call myself Teddy Bear.”
“We think the man who wrote the cards is the same one Lola planned to run off with,” Clancy told him.
Tadd laughed. “You’ve got the wrong man.”
“But you did have an affair with her,” Jake said.
Tadd let out a groan. He met Jake’s gaze. “Okay, I had an affair with her. But it was just that, a brief affair. When she threatened to go to m
y fiancée, I bailed out.”
“But you never married the senator’s daughter,” Clancy pointed out.
Tadd nodded. “When I broke it off with Lola, she went to the senator. Not only did Suzanne drop me like a hot rock, it set my political career back a good ten years.”
“What did you do about it?” Jake asked.
Tadd laughed. “It was too late to do anything. I’d lost Suzanne and the senator. By then, Lola had already moved on to her next victim. Lola didn’t go long without a man,” he said bitterly. “I got over it.” He looked up and must have seen their skepticism. “Come on, you don’t really believe I was Teddy Bear. I’m a lawyer. I’d never put anything in writing.”
Jake didn’t want to, but he believed him. He’d also compared the handwriting on the back of the business card Tadd had given him with the note on the Teddy Bear card. The handwriting wasn’t even close.
“Any guesses who this Teddy Bear might have been?” Jake asked.
Tadd shook his head. “I’ll tell you who used to have it bad for Lola. Frank Ames. He was always hanging around her like a lost puppy.” He turned his gaze on Clancy. “Well, are you going to fire me?”
“You have more reason than any other attorney to keep me out of prison. The upcoming election and Aunt Kiki’s money. That’s good enough motivation for me.”
“I’ve been doing some research on sleep disorders,” Tadd said. “Did you know that severe stress or some type of trauma often triggers sleepwalking?”
“You mean like being arrested for murder?” Clancy asked sarcastically.
“I was thinking more like Dex Westfall showing up on the island,” Tadd said.
“Or showing up at the lodge after he’s dead?” Jake asked.
* * *
CLANCY WAITED UNTIL they reached the car and Jake started to pull away from the curb before she asked, “I’ve walked in my sleep again, haven’t I?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, my God.” She buried her face in her hands for a moment. “What did I do? Where did I go?” When he didn’t answer, she looked at him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
He shrugged.
“You thought I was faking it.” She turned to look out the passenger-side window, a volatile mix of emotions making her want to strike out at him.