“That doesn’t explain why you’re in my basement. Slitherstone? Are you related to Carsie and Carnie?”
Cynthia shouted, “We’ve all been kidnapped. She’s planning to kill us.”
Sylvia’s smile disappeared.
Elmo turned to run upstairs and call 911.
But then he saw Carnie. She was pointing a gun at him. “What are you doing, Carnie?”
“If you had just gone ahead and married my sister, this wouldn’t be happening. Move over there by that table.”
“You mean Carsie’s in on this?”
“Yes. Well, sort of. She was supposed to seduce you into marrying her so we could get our hands on your money.”
“I can’t believe this.”
“But in the process, she fell in love with you.”
Sylvia chimed in. “A fairy tale love story, huh, Doc?” She laughed.
Carnie kept her gun pointed at Elmo as she walked to Ellen’s bed and removed the handcuff from her right wrist. Then she moved away from the bed and ordered Elmo to walk over and handcuff himself.
Elmo looked at Sylvia. “You couldn’t be a friend of my mother’s.”
“Oh, I never said we were friends. I said we went to college together. I suppose we were friends at first. But that ended when she stole your father away from me.”
“So, my dad dumped you way back in college, and now you want money? Is that what this is all about?”
“No, not really. It’s more about getting even. About getting what’s mine. Morford should have been my husband. You should have been my son.”
“Are you really that petty? To hold a grudge for over 50 years?”
Sylvia stopped smiling. “I want what’s mine. And I’m gonna take it.”
**********
Mallie Mae was still standing near the bottom of the stairs watching Macy in Carnie’s room, when she heard somebody come in the front door. Then she heard footsteps coming down behind her. She knew that at any moment Macy would hear too, and turn around. But there was nowhere to go but down.
“Mallie Mae?” said Macy. She rushed to her. “What are you doing up? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I just—“
“—what’s going on around here?” Carsie said as she stepped off the bottom stair. “Why is everybody up in the middle of the night?”
Macy and Mallie Mae looked at each other, but said nothing.
“And I think my grandmother is over here too. Where’s Elmo?”
Before they could answer, Carsie saw that Carnie’s bedroom door was open and the light was on. “And where’s Carnie?”
Carsie ran to her sister’s bedroom and saw the hole in the floor. “What’s this?” Then she heard somebody below. “Hello?”
“It’s me, Sis.” Carnie walked up the stairs and into the room.
“Carnie, what’s going on here?”
“We’re having a little party down in the basement.”
“I thought this was the basement.”
Carnie looked at Mallie Mae and Macy. “Come on, Ladies. Elmo wants you to come down too.”
As they were approaching Carnie’s room, she reached into her suitcase, pulled out a little plastic bag and put it in her skirt pocket. “Follow me.”
When they entered the lab, Macy looked around and said, “Where’s Elmo?”
“He’s in here.” Carnie led them into the big bathroom and sent them through the mirrored doorway.
Sylvia was standing at the far side of the room holding the pistol. “Welcome, Ladies. Now the fun begins.”
“Who are you, and how dare you break into our home?” said Mallie Mae.
“Don’t you recognize me, Mallie Mae?”
“No. Should I?”
“We went to college together. I was one of your suite mates.”
“Sylvia?”
Sylvia’s grin scared Macy.
“Yes. So, I’m sure you know why I’m doing this.”
“I have no idea.”
“You stole my boyfriend, Mallie Mae! I’ll never forgive you for that!”
“Stole your boyfriend? Morford?”
“Yes, of course, Morford. When your roommate dumped him, I was there to pick up the pieces. But then she decided to play matchmaker, and introduced him to you. She was determined that I didn’t get him. She hated me.”
“Martha didn’t hate you.”
“Yes, she did. Bring it over here, Carnie.”
Carnie reached into her pocket and took out the little plastic bag as she walked to her grandmother. Sylvia exchanged the gun in her hand for the bag in Carnie’s hand. Then she reached into the bag and pulled out a silver bracelet. “But I finally took my revenge on Martha.” She held up the bracelet and walked over to Mallie Mae.
“What’s that,” said Mallie Mae.
“I’m surprised you don’t recognize it.”
“It can’t be the bracelet Morford gave her.”
Sylvia turned it over and held it close to Mallie Mae’s eyes so she could read the inscription.
“How did you get that?” The horrible truth sunk in. “Somebody murdered her last week. It was you!”
Sylvia started laughing. “She had it coming.”
“Just because she got me and Morford together—over 50 years ago? Because of that you murdered her?”
Carnie spoke up. “Actually, I killed her. And her nurse.”
“And you’ve been living in my house?” said Mallie Mae.
“That’s right, Old Lady.” Carnie pointed the gun at her. “Now get over there against the wall and sit down! You too, Macy!”
Carsie was dizzy with confusion. “Carnie, why did you have to ruin everything? Elmo and were going to get married.”
“Wrong,” said Carnie. “Elmo wasn’t going to marry you.”
“Yes, he was. He just needed a little time to work things out for Mallie Mae and her Alzheimer’s.”
“I don’t believe Mallie Mae even has Alzheimer’s disease,” said Carnie. “I think she was faking it to break up you and Elmo.”
“That’s not true, is it Mallie Mae?”
Mallie Mae didn’t answer.
“Besides,” said Carnie, “tonight I caught Elmo making out with Macy.”
Carsie looked at Macy. “They’re great friends. I’m sure Elmo was just giving her a friendly hug.”
“Well, let me see if I can paint the picture for you, Sis. They were in his study. And her blouse was unbuttoned, her bra was flipped up and he was kissing her on the boobs. And if I hadn’t walked in when I did—“
“—Elmo, how could you?” said Carsie.
She looked at Macy. “And I trusted you.” She began to cry.
“Quit being a baby, Carsie,” said Sylvia. “Can’t you see that the Mobleys are all alike?”
**********
Horatio jerked from his sleep when Hadley tapped him on the shoulder.
“What’s the matter, Ben?” said Horatio.
“I’m going home.”
Horatio put on his glasses and looked at the alarm clock. “But it’s 1:45 in the morning.”
“I know. I’m sorry, but I’ve got to get home. Something’s just not right. I called the house phone and nobody answered.”
“They’re sleeping.”
“Yeah, but then I tried all their cell phones, and nobody answered. And I know Elmo and Macy would answer their cell phones at night.”
“Well, maybe you should call the police.”
“No, I want to check it out myself first.”
“Goodbye, Ben,” said Alma from the other side of the bed.
“Sorry, Alma. Didn’t mean to wake you,” said Hadley.
“Well, call me if you need anything,” said Horatio.
“Okay, thanks. I really enjoyed our day together, and I hope we can—”
Horatio was already snoring.
35 - MALLIE MAE'S SECRET
The four women in the hospital beds were still asleep. Greg, Cynthia, and Elmo were standing, handcuffe
d to the bed guardrails. Macy, Mallie Mae, and Carsie were standing near the doorway to the bathroom. Carnie and Sylvia were across the room.
“I’m sorry you were hurt when Morford and I started dating,” said Mallie Mae to Sylvia. “I had no idea.”
“That’s hard to believe. I would have still had a chance when he got tired of you—if you hadn’t pulled him into bed and got yourself pregnant.”
“I didn’t mean to get pregnant. It was an accident.”
“No, it wasn’t. It was your way of stealing him away from me—forever.”
“But he never went out with you. I’ll bet he didn’t even know you were interested in him.”
“He would have gone out with me. But then he had to do the right thing and marry you.”
“So, what do you want from me?”
“I had a beautiful plan. Carsie would seduce Elmo, make him fall in love with her and they would get married.”
“I really do love you, Elmo,” said Carsie.
“Shut up, Carsie,” said Sylvia.
But Carsie went on. “I was acting at first—but then I really feel in love with you. And I tried to get my grandmother to forget about her plan, but—”
“—I said shut up!” Sylvia paused for a moment to regain her composure. “And of course, Elmo would love Carsie so much that he wouldn’t bother with a prenup. But then, after a few months, Carsie would turn into an unlovable witch and make him miserable.
“In the meantime, Carnie would take a nursing job at Coreyville General under one of her many assumed names. She would bump into Elmo at the hospital and go after him with her incredible sex appeal, and eventually make him cheat on Carsie.”
“You don’t know Elmo—he would never do that,” said Mallie Mae.
“Really? He was about to marry Carsie. We were so close. Anyway, after Elmo had cheated on his new wife and she had found out, she would have divorced him and bled him dry. Then my granddaughters and I would have enjoyed the dividends of our success.
“So, you see, my plan was to make your son miserable and poor, and thereby, make you miserable, Mallie Mae.”
“You should have left Elmo out of this. I’m the one you hate.”
“Yes, but he’s the one you love.”
“But your plan failed,” said Mallie Mae. “Elmo was about to break up with Carsie. He’s in love with Macy.”
“No, he’s not—he loves me! Don’t you, Elmo?” said Carsie.
“It doesn’t matter anymore, Carsie,” said Sylvia. “I have a new plan. A much better plan. We’re all gonna stay right here until Monday morning. Then Elmo’s going to the bank to liquidate all his and Mallie Mae’s assets. Then he’ll wire the money to my bank account in Grand Cayman. And if he contacts the police or tells anybody what’s really going on, he’ll never see his mother or any of the rest of you again. At least, not in your current state, with heads attached.”
Cynthia listened in silence. She was a vice president First State Bank where the Mobleys had their accounts. She knew there was no way Elmo could go into the bank and wire all their money to an offshore account without arousing suspicion. She could offer to go to the bank with Elmo. But that would still leave her mom and Greg and everybody else in jeopardy. Should she speak up?
Carsie pointed at Cynthia. “And that woman should go to the bank with Elmo.”
“Why?” said Sylvia.
“Because she works there. I went to the bank with Elmo one time and I remember her. She’s some kind of loan officer or something.”
“Is that true,” said Sylvia to Cynthia.
Before she could speak, Mallie Mae said, “It doesn’t matter. We don’t have any money. At least, not the kind of money you’re talking about.”
“Don’t lie to me, Mallie Mae. Carnie, would you like to come over here and shoot Elmo in the leg?”
“Wait a minute. Let me explain,” said Mallie Mae. “We used to have money. Until Morford quit his practice and built this underground hospital.”
Sylvia studied Mallie Mae’s face. “I don’t believe you, Mallie Mae. But it’s a long time ‘til Monday morning and I am curious. Why did Morford build this place?”
“It was the early 1980s and Morford was trying to help some men who had AIDS. And everybody was so afraid of the disease back then. People didn’t even want you driving through their town if you had it.
“So, Morford knew the family name would forever be spoken with disgust if the townspeople found out he was treating those men. But he was determined to help them. So he built this underground lab and clinic to treat them. And he spent a lot of money doing it. Before long, his patients’ friends in San Francisco found out about Morford’s clinic and wanted to come here. But all he could handle was four patients. So, he sent donations—enormous sums of money, to help pay for their medical care. After a couple of years, we were down to a few thousand dollars.”
“But you still have this magnificent acreage and this wonderful house,” said Sylvia.
“Yes. Thanks to Elmo. After Morford died in the car accident, Elmo moved back home to support me and keep me from losing the house. He was so wonderful.” She smiled at her son and he smiled back.
Carnie stepped forward. “But what about the murders?”
“What murders?” said Mallie Mae.
“You thought nobody would ever find them. But you were wrong.”
Mallie Mae squirmed. “Find what?”
“The skeletons.”
Everybody in the room seemed surprised—except Greg, Cynthia, and Mallie Mae.
“Skeletons?” said Sylvia.
“Yes,” said Carnie. “I found four skeletons in a wooden box, buried under the floor in a room off that hallway.”
Sylvia stared at Mallie Mae. “Let’s hear it.”
“Those were Morford’s patients.”
“He murdered them?”
“They begged him to. He had done all he could for them, but they were all dying a slow death. Two of them were in worse shape than the others, but they all wanted to die together.”
Carnie was enjoying this part of the story. “So, what did he do? Blow their brains out? Cut their throats?”
“No. Of course not. He just upped their Morphine until they faded away.”
“Oh, that’s no fun,” said Carnie.
“What about their families?” said Carsie. “And what about the police? Didn’t somebody come looking for them?”
“No,” said Mallie Mae. “Sadly, nobody cared what happened to them except some friends in California. But most of them were dying too.”
Sylvia jumped in. “But it was still murder. Morford deserved to die in a car accident.”
“Actually, it wasn’t an accident,” said Mallie Mae. “I wanted everybody to think it was an accident because I didn’t want to have to tell the whole story. Somehow while he was treating those men he must have stuck himself with a needle. By the time he killed them, he had discovered that he had the disease too.
“So, he filled up two big gas cans and put them in the front seat of his car and then drove into a concrete wall at 90 miles per hour. It was suicide. Either he couldn’t live with the fact that he had killed those men, or he couldn’t bear the thought of putting his family through the torture of watching him die a slow, excruciating death.”
Elmo spoke softly to his mother. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Well, isn’t that a sad story,” said Sylvia with a smirk. “I wish I had known about your suffering, Mallie Mae—so I could have enjoyed it. I could have basked in the glow of your agony. This is just another pleasure you denied me.”
“What a cruel, bitter old woman you’ve become, Sylvia,” said Mallie Mae. “I feel sorry for you.”
“Well, I can change that.” Sylvia turned around to face Carnie. “I think it’s time to start killing some people, Carnie.”
While Sylvia had her back to Elmo, he got Greg’s attention and pointed to the mechanism that locked the bed guardrail in place. Sylvia was obsc
uring Carnie’s view of Elmo. And Carsie was watching the exchange between her sister and her grandmother.
Greg understood Elmo’s message. The bedrail to which he was handcuffed could be released by flipping a latch.
Sylvia continued, “We’ll start with…Macy. Yes, let’s kill Macy first. That will devastate Elmo. Then we’ll do Elmo. After that, Mallie Mae will be begging us to put her out of her misery.” She laughed.
**********
Hadley was just a few miles from home when the Buick began to sputter. He knew his car better than he knew his own body, and diagnosed the problem instantly as a clogged fuel filter. He had installed a new one just two months early. Must have picked up some dirty gas, he thought.
Fuel filters are great for protecting the carburetor by catching little bits of trash in the line. But after a while the trash buildup begins to choke off the flow of gasoline.
Hadley didn’t have a spare fuel filter in the trunk. He hoped he wouldn’t have to leave the car on the side of the road and walk the rest of the way—although, he was capable of making the walk. But it would take too long. He sensed his family needed him right now.
He was almost there. So, he would continue to push his old Roadmaster. It had always served him well.
Surely it wouldn’t fail him now.
36 - ELMO'S GUN
It was just after 2:00 AM, but nobody was sleeping in the Hideaway Hospital—except the drugged women in the four beds.
Sylvia was pacing the floor, having the time of her life. “Go ahead, Carnie. Do whatever you want with Macy.”
Carnie handed the pistol to Sylvia and walked slowly toward Macy. The fear in Macy’s eyes excited her. She wanted to stab her in the chest fifty times. Or rip her clothes off and have sex with her—right there in front of everybody.
“No, Carnie—please,” said Elmo.
Cynthia, Greg, and Mallie Mae joined Elmo, begging Carnie not to harm Macy.
Carnie reached behind her back and whipped out the knife and held it up. “Quiet!”
Dead silence.
Carnie turned her head toward the bathroom. “I heard something upstairs. Elmo, do you own a gun?”
Greg Tenorly Suspense Series Boxed Set Page 36