By Cat or By Crook

by Patricia Fry

  Savannah and Iris exchanged looks. Then Iris asked suspiciously, “Who was Dexter, Melody?”

  At that the woman began to cry. “My best friend in the whole world.” After a few minutes, Melody took a shuddering breath and gazed toward the digging site. “Mother had Dexter buried here and I painted his name on that rock to mark his grave. Why it was moved, I’ll never know. But I’ve looked for it since coming back here and could never find it.”

  “How along ago was Dexter buried?” Savannah asked.

  “Let’s see, I was probably twelve or fourteen then and away at boarding school. Yes, that was the year I turned fifteen. And that’s the year I painted his gravestone.”

  “So the stone was moved sometime within the last forty-five years or so,” Savannah figured.

  “But why?” Iris wondered.

  “To mark something more vital, it seems,” Melody said quietly.

  Savannah whispered, “What is more vital than a grave?”

  Melody forced a chuckle. “Just about everything and anything, according to my father.” When Iris and Savannah looked confused, she said, “As I told you, Iris, Father did not appreciate cats.” When the two women continued to stare at her, she said, “Dexter was a cat.” When she saw them relax, she said, “Did I forget to mention that? Sorry.” She laughed a little. “Actually, that’s rather humorous; you thought my mother buried one of my friends out here? Oh no. Just a cat…but he was a wonderful cat and I loved him dearly.” She took Iris’s arm. “How about we usher you back to the gallery.”

  “Gallery?” Iris questioned.

  “Where the chairs are waiting, over there in the shade. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to sit down. Shall we take a seat and watch the unveiling? I’m curious to see what’s under Dexter’s headstone—what it is that my brother and my nephew were so eager to get their hands on. Let’s hope it is here so we can be done with it and move forward with our plans.”

  “Hear! Hear!” Iris said. She then asked quietly, “Melody, how are you doing?”

  “As well as can be expected, I guess. Of course, I’m devastated and shocked. If only my father were alive, I would absolutely strangle him.” Melody thought for a moment, then said, “As much as I loved that man, I hate him. How could he…?”

  Before she could finish, Iris turned to see Craig and Damon walking toward them. “Here come the new laborers,” she quipped.

  “Got shovels?” Damon asked as they approached.

  “Sure do.” Iris gestured toward the shed. “Pick your poison.”

  “So you think there’s something of value under that rock, Craig?” Savannah asked.

  “According to what that worm, Willie, told us…” Craig laughed. “…or didn’t tell us, there could be.”

  “What do you mean, didn’t tell you?” Savannah asked.

  “Well, some people reveal more in an interrogation when they try to be evasive.” Craig looked at Melody. “I’m afraid that neither your brother nor your nephew is smart enough to get away with that nonsense.”

  “Crazy,” Savannah said, offering Lily a chilled juice box.

  The men were still digging under the Dexter stone half an hour later when Melody said, “I’m feeling a little faint, I think I’ll go lie down on the chaise, if you’re not going to use it, Iris.”

  “No. I’ll walk with you,” Iris offered.

  Melody chuckled. “Isn’t this like the blind leading the blind? We’re both quite in a muddle, aren’t we?”

  Iris nodded. She then said under her breath, “Uh-oh,” as she looked toward the front of the house.

  Having focused again on the digging project, Melody didn’t notice, but Savannah did. “What is it, Iris?”

  “Mr. Benjamin Kaiser in the flesh,” she said, nodding toward a white-haired gent who was easing out of a blue cab. Iris panicked when she saw him walking toward them. “Here, Melody, why don’t you lie down,” she said, helping her ease onto the chaise under a large tree. “Can I get you something to drink?”

  “Yes, water,” Melody said. “Do we have more water in that portable refrigerator? Is it time to replenish our supply?”

  “I’ll check,” Iris said. But before she could turn away, she heard a man’s croaky voice.

  “Good afternoon, ladies. What is going on out here, may I ask?”

  Melody quickly sat straight up. She stared at the elderly man as he ogled the digging activity. After taking a few short breaths, she said, “Well, would you look at this.”

  The man glanced in her direction, first squinting to see who she was, then taking a couple of steps back when she stood and approached him.

  “Hello, Father,” she said, with as much venom as she could manage. She pointed a finger at him and shouted, “Arrest him! Arrest that man, he’s a murderer!” When no one responded except to stare in their direction, she hollered again, “Arrest him now! He killed my fiancé!” She rushed toward him and began clawing at him, causing him to lose his balance and fall to the ground. “Arrest him, I say!”

  At that, both security guards rushed to help the elderly man up. They restrained him and looked to Craig for direction.

  “You heard the lady,” Craig said, walking toward the group. He wiped his brow with a handkerchief, then slipped his phone out of his pocket. “Send someone out to the Kaiser place on Westin, will you? We have a live one for you. What’s he being charged with?” he said into the phone. “Murder. A very old murder.”

  “Wait!” the old man insisted. “I did not kill Wallace. You got that all wrong, Mel. It wasn’t me. I never had a chance to explain. You see, I had to leave…rather abruptly…and wasn’t able to tell you what happened.” When his daughter turned her back on him, he said, “Please listen. I never saw Wallace that weekend. He was supposed to meet us on the ship. He had business to finish first and your mother agreed to drive him to the dock on her way to catch her Paris flight to meet you. But Wallace never showed up.”

  Melody eased down to a sitting position on the chaise, her head in her hands, as he continued, “I called your mother at your hotel in Paris to ask if she knew what had happened to Wallace. Didn’t she tell you?”

  The woman glanced up at her father, tears in her eyes.

  “She said she delivered Wallace to the ship as they’d planned and actually saw him step on board, so we looked all over for him. Later that night, after we’d sailed and we still couldn’t find him, we figured he must have fallen overboard.” He stared up at the house. “And all these years he was buried up there.” When he saw Melody glaring at him, he said, “Mel, you just have to believe me. I didn’t know anything about this.”

  She narrowed her eyes and challenged, “So how did you know he was in the walls of the house?”

  “I didn’t know until your brother told me just yesterday.”

  “Melvin?”

  “Yes, we’ve been in touch over the years. He knows where I stay when I come here.” He stared up at the mansion. “He said your people discovered the body in the interior of the old place and they believe it to be Wallace.”

  “Your ride’s here,” one of the guards said, upon seeing the sheriff’s car approach. “I guess we can let the cabbie go.”

  “You’ve got it all wrong,” Benjamin Kaiser protested loudly while he was being cuffed and led to a waiting patrol car. “It wasn’t me. It never was me!” he shouted.

  “Wow!” Savannah said under her breath as she watched the car leave with the prisoner.

  “What did he mean by that?” Melody asked, suddenly standing.

  Iris glanced at her just in time to see her collapse. “Oh, my God,” she said, helping her onto the lounge.

  “You’d better call an ambulance,” Craig suggested upon seeing the color draining from Melody’s face.”

  As if the wind had been knocked out of her, Iris eased into a nearby chair and placed the call. “Yes, we need an ambulance at the Kaiser place on Westin Road. The nature of the illness? Well, she h
ad a shock and then fainted. Yes, she’s still unconscious.”

  “I’ll get a wet cloth,” Savannah offered, checking first to make sure Lily was still sleeping in her stroller. When she returned, she gently dabbed at Melody’s forehead with the cool, damp paper towels.

  “They’re on their way,” Iris announced, moving closer to Melody. When she heard Lily begin to fuss, she took the towels from Savannah and told her, “Someone wants Mommy.”

  “Hi, punkin,” Savannah cooed, lifting the baby from the stroller. “Did you have a nice snooze?” When Lily snuggled against Savannah’s chest, she said, “Oh, not quite awake, yet, huh?” She walked with the child toward where Damon stood taking generous swigs from a water bottle. “How’s the digging going?” she asked.

  He shrugged. “Whatever’s down there—if anything—is sure deep.” He glanced at the hole they’d dug so far. “Could be a damn grave.”

  “Oh, my gosh, let’s hope not,” Savannah said, looking down into the hole.

  “Well, Damon, let’s get back to it,” Craig said, walking up to the couple. He reached out and smoothed Lily’s light-brown hair before picking up his shovel. When Lily looked at him, Craig winked at her.

  “How much deeper will you go?” Savannah asked.

  Craig winced. “I don’t know. I’m beginning to wonder if there’s actually anything down there.”

  “Yeah,” Savannah said. “Maybe someone moved that stone again.”

  “What?” Craig and Damon asked in unison.

  “Melody says that stone has been moved. If it was moved once, maybe it was moved again—you know—to throw people off.”

  “Now that’s discouraging,” Craig said, leaning on his shovel and looking around the property. “So you’re saying that whatever they think is hidden out here could be anywhere.”

  Damon stared off into the distance. “We should have asked Mr. Kaiser about it. He’d probably know.”

  “Yeah, but would he tell us?” Craig said. After a few moments, he added, “Hmmm, that’s a good idea.”

  “What?” Damon asked, wiping his brow with a bandanna.

  “I think we ought to vacate this place, let the old guy go, and see where he leads us.”

  “Huh?”

  “He’s evidently interested in something out here. He keeps showing up. Let’s let him show us where the supposed treasure is.”

  “You mean set a trap?” Savannah asked. “Do you think he’d fall for it?”

  “He’s old and probably not so sharp anymore. He’s bound to make a mistake,” Craig said.

  “But he’s lived free for this long without being caught,” Damon said.

  Craig contemplated the comment. “I imagine he’s been living out of the country. Something brought him back here and I want to know what it is, don’t you?”

  “Yeah, I guess.” Damon nodded toward the driveway. “Here’s the ambulance.”

  Several minutes later, after the ambulance had left, Iris walked up to the others, who were trying to decide what to do next. “They think she had a heart attack,” she said, glancing back at the ambulance as it left the property. “Poor, tortured woman.”

  “You’ve come to like her, haven’t you?” Savannah said.

  Iris wiped at her eyes. “Actually, I guess I have.”

  “Does she have anyone?”

  “Yes, a daughter. Melody asked me to call her.”

  “She woke up?” Savannah asked, surprised.

  “Yes, just before the ambulance got here. “I guess her daughter travels all over the world catering for dignitaries and celebrities. Mavis…that’s her name…said she’d be here as soon as she can break away from her commitments, whatever that means.” Iris looked at Craig and Damon. “Why did you stop digging?”

  “We have a new plan,” Craig announced.

  “Anything to get out of digging,” Damon said with a chuckle.

  “What’s the plan?” Iris asked.

  Damon grinned. “Craig’s going to let the criminal go and see if he’ll lead us to the treasure—if there actually is a treasure.”

  “Really?” Iris said, lowering her brow. “Let a murderer go?”

  “An alleged murderer,” Craig said. Then he asked her, “Do you have a better idea? Anyway, he does have a story that may or may not be true. It’s possible that he didn’t actually have anything to do with Mumford’s death.”

  “How did Mr. Mumford die, anyway?” Michael asked as he walked up to the group. “Do they know?”

  “Gunshot to the head,” Craig said.

  “Would the murder charge hold up after all these years?” Iris asked. “How would it be proven at this late date? And how long does Benjamin Kaiser have to live, anyway? He must be in his eighties or nineties.” Before Craig could respond, Iris asked, “So what’s the plan?”

  Craig gazed around the property. “We need to find a good spot to hide out where we can keep an eye on the entire property while we wait for someone to lead us to the booty.”

  Iris shook her head. “Well, I’ll be glad when it’s all out in the open—when there are no more secrets or surprises out here. Do you think this is the last one?”

  Craig grimaced. “One can only hope.” He scanned the area. “This place could be a minefield of secrets—even dead ones.”

  “Hey, Craig,” Damon said, “I just thought of something. Maybe we can use a shortcut to all this.”

  “I’m liking the sounds of that, already,” Iris said. “What is it, Damon?”

  “I read about a guy in Mason who does water witching.”

  “What?” Savannah asked.

  “Well, he evidently uses a water-witching apparatus to find bodies—you know—in old cemeteries that have been flooded out, or where someone has removed the headstones or the records were burned in a fire.”

  “You think there are bodies out here?” Iris asked, crinkling her nose.

  “We’re beginning to think so,” Craig said. “It seems to me that valuables would be buried shallow, but a body… someone’s going to put that a good six feet under.” He looked at the hole he and Damon had been working on. “We’re four or maybe four-and-a-half feet down already and we’ve found nothing. Either that rock has been moved over the years or it marks a grave and not a stash of money.” Craig coughed and cleared his throat. “Hey, those divining rods might actually be able to locate the stash if it’s a metal—you know—gold or silver.”

  “Well, I’m all for an excuse to quit digging,” Damon said, taking a swig of water. “Let’s see if we can get that guy out here.” He looked at Iris. “If nothing else, Mom, he might ease your mind about there still being any bodies on the property.”

  ****

  “Did you hear what happened?” Margaret asked Savannah when she called the next morning.

  “What?” Savannah asked.

  “Are you sitting down?”

  “No, I’m straightening Lily’s bedroom.” She laughed. “…over and over again. I guess our daughter is expressing herself already. She wants her toys where she wants them and it’s not put neatly away.”

  “Huh?”

  “I put it away and she drags it out. So what’s up, Auntie? I hope it’s not anything too awful. I’m still recovering from yesterday.”

  “I’m afraid it is,” Margaret said. “Melody Kaiser-Plumb had a heart attack and isn’t expected to live.”

  Savannah eased into one of Lily’s small chairs. “Oh no. I was hoping it wasn’t that serious.”

  “After you guys finished working over at the Kaiser place yesterday, Iris went to the hospital to check on her and ended up staying with her most of the night. Evidently, while she was still able, Melody signed the place over to Iris.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah, as it turns out, Melody owned the old Kaiser place outright; her brothers inherited other family properties. I guess the brothers were there in the beginning as a support system for their sister. According to Iris,
Melvin’s only interest in the old homestead was whatever he thinks is buried out there.” She laughed. “Of course, when they found the skeleton in the closet, that seems to have scared him away.”

  “Wow! So Iris owns that place now—creepy bodies and all?”

  “Yes, Iris and Melody’s daughter.”

  Savannah paused before asking, “But Auntie, isn’t Mr. Kaiser the rightful owner?”

  “Legally dead,” Margaret said.

  “But he’s not dead”

  “Oh, Vannie, I don’t know all the legalities of it, but it seems that once you’re found to be legally dead and your wife gets all the assets, she has the legal right to disburse it anyway she sees fit. I’m pretty sure that, in the eyes of the law, Melody is the owner of the Kaiser homestead. Well, now Iris is and Melody’s daughter.”

  “Why do you think Melody did that?”

  “Did what?” Margaret asked rather impatiently. “Made Iris part owner? I suppose because she has such a keen interest in the place, don’t you? And she has put so much into it.”

  “I guess. Do you think Iris is strong enough—you know, healthy enough—for all of those crazy changes and the responsibility?”

  “She sounded pretty tired when I talked to her early this morning. She couldn’t sleep and knew I sometimes get up early. She said Craig was still sleeping and she had to talk to someone.”

  “So Iris is a big landholder—an innkeeper. Wow! She really fell into something sweet, didn’t she?”

  “I don’t know if sweet is the right word, Vannie. There’s still a lot of negativity around the place. Gives me the willies.”

  “Speaking of Willie,” Savannah said with a chuckle, “whatever happened to him? Do you know?”

  “No. He probably skedaddled with his dad and uncle, once that body showed up. Or he could still be in jail, I guess.”

  “Does Iris think the brothers knew about the skeleton—Mr. Mumford?”

  “I don’t know. As near as I can figure, they were teenagers when that guy ended up in the wall.”

  “Oh, Auntie, Lily’s making messies again.”

  “Messies?” Margaret said, laughing.

  “Yeah, I need to stay on my toes to keep up with this one on cleaning day.”