The Widow and the Will

by J. Thomas-Like

  Chapter 39

  Dr. Guildford shook his head in disbelief after Ford explained to him who he was, why he was there, and what he wanted.

  “Murder? Are you serious?”

  “Very, sir.” Ford’s face was serious and concerned. “Tess will need character witnesses. I’d like to speak with everyone in the office, if that’s all right.”

  “Of course, whatever you need. I don’t believe for one second Tess had anything to do with her husband’s death. I’ve known her for many years. She’s a lovely girl.”

  “Yes,” Ford agreed, clearing his throat. You have no idea. “Your cooperation will be extremely helpful. When can I get started?”

  “Now, of course,” Dr. Guildford said. “Come with me and we’ll talk to my office manager first. She can help you to arrange whatever you need.”

  Ford was taken to a back office, away from patient rooms, to speak with Daphne Moore, the doctor’s long time office manager. She was a tall woman with light brown and graying hair styled in a tidy French twist. She wore a simple navy pantsuit and no makeup. There didn’t seem to be any frills about her at all, and she greeted him with a firm handshake and obvious confidence. The word that came to Ford’s mind was “handsome.” Daphne Moore was a handsome woman – not necessarily beautiful, but attractive. While Dr. Guildford explained why Ford was there, he watched the expressions on Daphne’s face go from surprise to confusion to horror. That was definitely a good sign. Her eyes were honest and Ford didn’t think he would have any problem getting truthful answers from her.

  “Do you mind if I record our conversation?” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and set it on her desk. He also made sure he had his notebook and pen at the ready in case he wanted to make specific notes or questions.

  “No, by all means,” Daphne said, obviously upset by the circumstances. She rubbed her forehead and then rested her palm against her mouth. “I just can’t believe all of this.”

  “You can only imagine how shocked Tess is.” Ford gave her an understanding and sympathetic look. “How long have you known her?”

  “Since the day she began working here. I hired her, for heaven’s sakes!”

  “Had you ever met Jack?”

  Daphne nodded. “Yes, on several occasions. When Tess was a receptionist, he often came in to take her to lunch or drive her home. He always came when we had staff parties when significant others were invited. He was such a nice boy and grew into a wonderful man.” She smiled sadly. “I was there, at the wedding. I saw him on the floor in the church.” Her bottom lip trembled and her eyes welled with the smallest hint of tears. Reaching for a tissue, she sniffed and patted her nose. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget Tess screaming. It was the most horrible thing I’ve ever heard.”

  Ford squirmed in his chair, unable to truly imagine the torment in the sounds Tess must have made, yet feeling a deep sense of sympathy for her. He knew what that kind of anguish was like. He knew what kind of a dark place it came from.

  “How many others from the staff attended the wedding?” Ford found his voice and tried to get the interview moving again.

  “Just me, actually. Tess invited the entire staff, even though we all knew she couldn’t really afford it. They were trying to keep the wedding small. So, we decided that we would all decline the invitation and have a little party here for her, then celebrate after she got back from her honeymoon. In the end, though, I decided I couldn’t miss it. I practically watched her grow up.”

  Ford chewed on the end of his pen and wrote the word “party” in the notebook. “When did you have it?”

  Daphne pursed her lips and thought for a second. “It was the Wednesday before the wedding. It was a surprise shower. I called her that morning and asked her to come in to the office for some special project or something, I don’t remember what exactly. When she got here, we were all in the kitchen. There were gifts and food and a cake.”

  “What kind of gifts?”

  “Oh, the usual. We got things from her bridal registry, some people gave just a card and some money.”

  “Was there anything that stuck out? Premade gift baskets? Plants or flowers?”

  Daphne’s eyes lit up. “Yes! Dr. Guildford asked that we get her several flower arrangements and plants. And there was a gift basket with lots of goodies in it for the day of the wedding. Brownies, cookies, teas, coffee. It was a little bit of a running joke among the women in the office. They all remembered their wedding days and how they hadn’t eaten anything. Stories about almost passing out at the altar. We wanted to make sure Tess and Jack had something to eat.”

  Jackpot! Ford forced himself to sit still and not give Daphne any hint of his relief.

  “Where did that particular basket come from?”

  “It didn’t come from anywhere. Between all of us, everything was homemade. Well, except the coffee and tea. Those came from Biggby, Tess’s favorite. But everyone made something different to put in a basket we got at the dollar store.” Daphne eyed him with suspicion. “Why? Does that matter?”

  “I can’t really disclose too much,” Ford explained, “but it might.”

  Daphne leaned back in her chair and frowned. “I understand.”

  “I really appreciate your candor, Ms. Moore,” Ford told her, as he stopped the recording app. “I think that’s all I have for you right now. Could I start speaking to the other employees now?”

  “Sure. Do you have any particular order you want them called in? You can use my office.”

  “No, whoever is free is fine. I don’t want to disrupt the day any more than I already have. I just want to ask some general questions about what kind of relationship people had with Tess. She’ll need all the character witnesses she can get. I’m here to determine who would make the best ones.”

  Daphne nodded. “I certainly hope you choose me. There is absolutely no way in hell she had anything to do with Jack’s death. I watched those two grow up together. I never saw two people more in love than them.”

  Ford forced a smile on his face. I’m getting a little tired of hearing how much in love they were. He reached to shake her hand as she stood up. “I appreciate that. Hopefully this won’t take long.” He threw her a charming smile to help her relax.

  “Not everyone is in today, though. Mike called off sick this morning and Sarabeth doesn’t work today.”

  Ford jotted the names of the missing employees into the notebook. There was no way they could have known he was coming. “That’s fine.”

  One by one, Daphne sent in each employee at the doctor’s office. Sometimes Ford asked the same questions in the same order. Other times he mixed things up. He felt fairly confident that Ms. Moore would make sure there weren’t any extraneous conversations between the employees, but he couldn’t be positive. He knew his presence was a distraction and tongues wagged no matter what he tried to do to stop it. His biggest concern was that the two missing people would get the heads up about the questioning. If either of them were involved, they might bolt. It wasn’t that much of a worry. Ford had his ways of finding people. He just hated to think about the time it would take to do it.

  As he left the doctor’s office two hours later, Ford was feeling hopeful, but not nearly as confident as he wanted to be. Molly Kincaid had baked the brownies and Madeline Cole had assembled the basket. It did not explain how the poison had gotten into the brownies though. Molly was a kind, sweet woman who had cried real tears upon hearing that Jack’s death was suspicious and that Tess was a person of interest. Madeline had been just as affected by the news, but her reaction was one of anger and profanity. Neither woman seemed to have any kind of negative thought about Tess or Jack, or a desire to hurt them in any way.

  As he rode back to the office, thoughts of his night with Tess tried to push their way to the front of his brain and he struggled to shut them away. The distraction of those memories was not what he needed then. He had to keep his eye on the prize, which was keeping Tess out of jail and finding the
real murderer.

  Chapter 40

  Mike Andrews walked into Dr. Guildford’s office ten minutes early and hung up his coat in the usual spot. After storing his lunch in the fridge, he moved through the halls towards his desk, whistling the theme from Star Trek. He smiled at the other nurses and staff, feeling good. As he approached his cube, he adjusted his scrubs. It was always hard for him to find them to fit his well-muscled chest, arms, and legs. He checked himself in the reflection on a metal c-fold dispenser to make sure his shiny, black hair was still pulled back into a tight ponytail. Giving himself a grin and a wink, he whipped his neck left and right enjoying the pop and crack of the muscles and tendons.

  A post-it on the front of his computer screen caught his attention immediately and he pulled it off to read before sitting down. Ms. Moore wanted to see him right away.

  Frowning, Mike crumpled the note and tossed it into the garbage. He turned to go straight to Ms. Moore’s office, but Sarabeth the biller caught him by the arm as she walked into the room. “Did you hear?”

  “What?”

  “There was an investigator here asking questions. I was off yesterday so no one will tell me anything. We’re both supposed to report to Ms. Moore right away.”

  “I got a note. Why don’t you go first, and then I’ll go after, okay?”

  Sarabeth looked nervous and her graying hair quivered on her head as she nodded. “Okay.”

  When she was gone, Mike fished his cell phone out of his pocket. His previously good mood was shattered. He shot off a quick text: We’ve got a problem.

  Chapter 41

  David Kingston slammed the phone down and cursed. Once again, the investigating cop on Jack’s case hadn’t given him squat. He refused to answer any questions and would not tell David what he was doing or where he was going with the case. This was the third time, and the thought of Tess Langford spending more time out and about, instead of in jail, made him want to storm over there and demand answers.

  One more time, he would have to make the call to his parents to give them bad news. The last two times he’d done it by phone, but this time he would have to make a trip to the house. There was no way around it. His gut clenched with anxiety at the thought. He hated seeing the looks on their faces whenever he had to confront them about Jack.

  Looking at his watch, it was almost five. Might as well knock off early and get this done. Packing up his briefcase, David left his office and told the receptionist he was going home for the evening.

  On his way to his parents’ house, David stewed over how the scene would go down. His father would rage. His mother would cry. And he would have to do damage control, calming his father and comforting his mother. Frankly, he was getting sick and tired of the whole business. More than once, the idea of having Tess taken out crossed his mind. But then he’d be no better than she. There was no way he was going to risk going to prison for life. Plus, if she died, then all the money would revert to the beneficiaries in the will she no doubt already had prepared.

  David knew the police were trying to work up a solid case against Tess, but it was all circumstantial at this point. Yes, Jack had been poisoned and yes, Tess was the only one with Jack for the hours leading up to the wedding. But they still didn’t know how she’d given him the poison and her grieving widow act was a good one. She was fooling everyone into believing she had nothing to do with it. David worried that a jury would either find her innocent or be hung and not able to convict her. How would his parents be able to live with something like that?

  Pulling into the driveway of his childhood home, David sighed. His mother was puttering with the plants in her flowerbeds and shooing the dogs away from them. Why does she plant shit she knows could hurt them? Whatever. His dad sat on the porch reading the Wall Street Journal. They both waved to him and smiled, but he couldn’t make himself return the gesture.

  “What’s wrong now?” Roger asked, as they approached him. He crossed the driveway so that he wouldn’t have to shout.

  “I got stonewalled again. The police won’t tell me a thing.”

  “Dammit!” Roger roared as Emily’s pruning shears clattered to the cement.

  “Why?” Emily whined. “Why won’t they talk to us?”

  “I don’t know, Mom.”

  Just then, a buzzing noise came from the pocket in Emily’s gardening apron. With a look of embarrassment, she fumbled for her phone and pulled it out. “Excuse me, won’t you?” She stepped away to examine the device. David watched after her, but Roger pulled him away.

  “You have to do something, David. Your mother can’t go on like this. This needs to get on the fast track, otherwise we’ll never be able to fix whatever damage is being done to my investments.”

  Pulling his gaze away from his mother, who was going into the house and followed by the dogs, David cocked his head to the side. “You mean Jack’s investments, don’t you?”

  Clearing his throat, Roger glanced down at his feet. “Yes, yes, of course. You know what I mean.”

  David’s bottom lip pouted out the slightest bit and he shrugged his shoulders. “Believe me, Dad, I’m as angry about this as you. But there’s nothing I can do.”

  “You need to figure out what to do, son. You owe it to your brother!”

  David controlled the urge to scream at his father with gargantuan effort. Don’t you think I know that? He wanted justice for Jack as much as anyone, but the law was the law. There were steps and procedures to follow, no matter who you were. They would have to be patient and let the case develop. David wished he could take some of their pain away and comfort them, but he didn’t know how to do it.

  The two of them continued to stand on the hot cement in silence. The late afternoon sun was like fire and David could feel himself sweating inside his expensive suit. All he wanted to do was go home and take a shower.

  Just then, Emily came out of the house and returned to her husband’s side. She no longer wore her apron and had changed clothes. “That was my friend, Moira. She needs some help with a personal problem. Roger, why don’t you and David have dinner together? I’m not sure when I’ll be back.”

  “Yeah, sure dear.” Roger pecked her on the cheek and Emily walked briskly to her car. She got in and drove away at a faster pace than David thought safe.

  “Moira? Who’s Moira?” David asked.

  Roger shrugged. “Hell if I know. You know your mother. She always has some friend in need or committee meeting. Wanna grill some steaks?”

  There goes my shower. But he couldn’t leave his dad alone after another disappointment. “Yeah, okay. Whatever you want, Dad.” David watched his mother’s tail lights disappear down the street.

  Chapter 42

  “I’m not seeing much here.” Hudson scratched his head and sifted through all the notes Ford had taken during his interviews. “Unless we polygraph them all, I don’t see which person shows any signs of having something out for Tess.”

  “There are still two more I have to talk to,” Ford said. “Some guy nurse and a woman in billing.”

  “A guy?”

  Ford shrugged.

  “Well, I know guys are nurses too. You just don’t see them in a private practice. Usually in hospitals.” Hudson leaned back and clasped his hands behind his head. “When are you going?”

  “I’m on my way there now.”

  “Good. We need to find something, Ford, anything.”

  “Doing my best, brother,” Ford sighed. “My police contacts are avoiding me. I can’t get anyone to talk.” He turned away to stare out the plate glass window of the office.

  Hudson watched his brother watching traffic. “You want to tell me what’s bugging you?”

  Ford stiffened but didn’t turn back around.

  “I know something’s going on, Ford. You might as well tell me because I’ll figure it out sooner or later.”

  “Nothing’s wrong.”

  “Bullshit,” Hudson spat. “You’ve been more distant than usual. I can har
dly get you in the same room with Tess. You don’t pick up the phone or respond to texts like you used to. Spit it out.” Hudson got up and crossed the physical distance to his older brother, wishing he could bridge the mental divide as well. He nudged Ford with his shoulder. “Out with it.”

  Ford sighed, but continued to stare out the window. “Just frustrated, brother. We don’t usually have cases like this. I don’t like not being able to figure shit out.”

  Hudson nodded and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I hear you. You don’t know how many times I’ve wished I hadn’t taken Jack Kingston’s call. And then I feel guilty thinking that because then where the hell would Tess be now? Everything happens for a reason.”

  Ford finally looked at Hudson and gave him a grave smile. “You’re probably right.”

  “I know I am. And we will figure this out.”

  Hudson went back to the table and slumped into the chair. He picked up a piece of paper and then put it back down again. Then he shuffled for another. Ford turned to observe him. “I’m going to read every word in this file a million times if I have to. I’m going to think of what we haven’t thought of. And you’re going to help me.”

  Ford stepped over to the table and put his fist out. Hudson bumped it with his own.

  “Now get going and interview those people.”

  * * * * *

  Ford smoked and rode his bike to Dr. Guildford’s office. He knew he dodged a bullet with his brother and felt a little shaky from the close call. No matter what happened in his life, Ford knew that Hudson loved him. He would be there, through everything, even when they fought. He’d been about as close as he’d ever been to spilling the beans about Tess, but his instincts made him clam up at the last second. It wouldn’t serve anyone’s purpose to have Hudson pissed off. And he’d asked Tess to promise to keep it a secret. Who was he to be a hypocrite?