1 Bless Her Dead Little Heart

by Miranda James

  Her mind returned to an unanswered question that still niggled at her. “When Kanesha is done with them, I want to ask Antonio how he got here. I still think it’s strange that there was no car in the driveway.”

  “It is odd,” Dickce said, “but I’m sure there’s an innocent, logical explanation. You’re making too much out of it.”

  Perhaps she was, An’gel thought. She simply didn’t like not being able to account for each and every detail.

  “Thank goodness the deputy will be in the house again tonight,” Dickce said. “I don’t know about you, but I feel pretty nervous over what could happen. I wonder if the killer is going to make another attempt.”

  “Surely if the killer has any brains at all, he or she won’t try again. Not with a deputy in the house and all of us on alert.” An’gel felt the tension increasing every hour. If only there were some way to bring the situation to a head, without anyone getting hurt or killed in the process. Could they possibly set a trap for the killer?

  She considered that for a moment, then slowly an idea began to form in her mind.

  A high-pitched scream interrupted her thoughts.

  CHAPTER 29

  An’gel winced as Diesel’s front claws dug into her leg. The cat launched himself off her lap, over the arm of the sofa, and onto the floor on the second scream. He tried to wriggle himself under the sofa on the third.

  By then An’gel was up off the sofa and heading for the door. She sensed that Dickce was right behind her.

  In the hallway she saw Kanesha sprinting up the stairs. Rosabelle stood in the doorway of the library, her head on Antonio’s shoulder with his arms around her. Her heart thudding painfully from the exertion, An’gel climbed the staircase as quickly as she could. Dickce passed her on the last three steps and hurried down the second-floor hallway ahead of her.

  Bernice stood outside the door to the guest bathroom huddled against Wade. An’gel reckoned that Bernice was the screamer. As she neared them, Dickce still ahead of her, she could hear Bernice sobbing in Wade’s arms.

  “What’s wrong?” Dickce asked when she reached them. An’gel caught up seconds later as Wade pointed, his expression grim, into the bathroom.

  “Maudine,” was all he said.

  An’gel moved slowly to the bathroom doorway and peered in. The scene inside shocked her, and she thought for a moment she was going to faint. Then she felt an arm around her waist and realized Dickce was there to support her.

  Kanesha knelt on the floor near the bathtub, where she was performing CPR on Maudine. Small black objects dotted the floor around them, and An’gel spotted a few on Maudine’s body. Her eyes couldn’t focus at first to allow her to determine what they were.

  “I’ll call 911,” Dickce said and slipped away.

  An’gel gripped the door frame for support. Her vision settled, and she figured out that the small black objects were spiders.

  Spiders?

  She felt nauseated. Where had so many spiders come from?

  She noticed the spiders weren’t moving. Were they all dead?

  Or were they fakes?

  She remembered suddenly that Maudine was terrified of spiders. Had someone come in the bathroom while Maudine was in the tub and dumped spiders all over her?

  Maybe Maudine had fallen and hit her head while trying to get out of the tub and away from the spiders.

  Kanesha continued to work on Maudine. An’gel’s head began to clear. She turned to Wade and Bernice. “Mr. Thurmond, go find your niece. The deputy needs help.” She wondered where Juanita could be as Wade, after a quick nod, hurried down the hall.

  Antoinette appeared at the head of the stairs and ran toward An’gel. “I can help,” she said when she reached the bathroom. “I’ve had CPR training.”

  “Thank you.” An’gel moved aside and leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. She couldn’t bear to watch any longer. Then she heard crying and realized Bernice’s distress was greater than her own.

  An’gel pushed herself away from the wall and approached the distraught woman. “Why don’t you come with me?” she said gently. “Kanesha and Antoinette will do everything they can to help your sister until the paramedics get here.”

  She led an unprotesting Bernice all the way down to the front parlor, where Rosabelle and Antonio sat together on the sofa. They had already helped themselves to the liquor cabinet.

  “What’s all the noise upstairs?” Rosabelle asked. “Bernice, what’s going on?”

  “It’s Maudie,” Bernice said. Her steps faltered, and An’gel feared she might collapse before they reached a chair. Antonio leapt up and came to assist.

  “What’s wrong with Maudine?” Rosabelle’s tone was sharp.

  “She apparently had a bad fall in the bathroom while taking a bath,” An’gel said. She left Bernice to Antonio’s ministrations and went to pour the shaky woman a glass of brandy. She brought it back and put the glass into Bernice’s hands. “Sip this. It will help.”

  Bernice’s hands trembled as they clasped the snifter and lifted it to her mouth. Her color began to return after a couple of sips, and her hands steadied. Antonio returned to his place beside his wife. An’gel pulled a chair close to Bernice’s and sat to sip at her own brandy. She felt the familiar warmth begin to spread, and her tension eased slightly as her heartbeat slowed to normal.

  “Maudine always was the clumsiest of my children,” Rosabelle said. “Is she going to be all right?”

  “I think you should prepare yourself for bad news,” An’gel said. “I believe Maudine had a terrible scare, and it could have made her have a heart attack.” She saw no reason to soften the blow, especially since she thought Rosabelle’s attitude was far too casual. “Kanesha and Antoinette are performing CPR until the paramedics can get here.”

  “A scare? What do you mean?” Rosabelle finally sounded concerned. She started to rise from the sofa, but then her legs seemed to give way and she sat down hard.

  Antonio put his arm around her to steady her. “Cara, you are too distressed. You must not try to go to her. You can do nothing to assist.”

  “There were spiders all over the floor, and all over her,” Bernice said. Her expression revealed her horror at the memory of what she had seen. “I was in the bedroom, and I heard a noise like something falling next door. So I went to check on Maudie, and that’s when I found her. There on the floor with spiders everywhere. So many spiders.”

  “Spiders? Why were there a lot of spiders in the bathroom? Doesn’t anyone ever clean in there?” Rosabelle’s voice rose on every word.

  Antonio picked up a glass and put it in her hands. “Please, my darling, you must not excite yourself so. Drink this. Steady yourself.” Rosabelle obeyed and drained the glass.

  “Of course that room is cleaned. Regularly and thoroughly.” An’gel glared at Rosabelle. “I don’t believe the spiders are real, frankly. I think they’re rubber.”

  “That means someone put them in there deliberately.” Rosabelle shuddered. “Maudine was terrified of spiders beyond all reason. She got that from me. I can’t stand the nasty things.” She shook her head. “She has a weak heart, you know. A shock like that could kill her. Who is the monster in my family who would do such a thing?” She burst into tears and buried her face in Antonio’s shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and rocked her gently.

  Rosabelle did have maternal feelings after all, An’gel thought. She had begun to wonder whether Rosabelle was so self-centered that nothing could shake her.

  Dimly An’gel heard the wail of sirens, coming closer with every second. She glanced down and noticed a large plumed tail jutting out from beneath the empty sofa across from Rosabelle and Antonio.

  Diesel.

  She had forgotten all about the cat in the uproar. He was still obviously frightened by all the noise and the heightened emotion. Could she coax
him out from under there? She did not want to be scratched, and she thought that might happen if she tried to drag him out.

  “Miss An’gel, is there anything I can do?”

  An’gel turned to see Benjy approaching. She wondered vaguely where Junior was and then realized he was most likely upstairs near his mother.

  “If you could keep an eye on Diesel, I would appreciate it.” She pointed to the twitching tail.

  Benjy nodded. He moved quickly to kneel beside the sofa and put his head down at floor level. He spoke softly to the cat, and moments later Diesel crawled out. He let Benjy pick him up, and An’gel felt greatly relieved. The last thing they needed was a traumatized cat getting in the middle of everything.

  “I’ll take him out to the kitchen and keep him there,” Benjy said.

  “Excellent,” An’gel replied. “Thank you.”

  Benjy hurried out with the cat still in his arms.

  The sirens sounded loud, and An’gel knew they were coming up the driveway. Suddenly they stopped, and she got up and headed for the front door.

  Dickce was already there, cell phone still held to her ear. As An’gel watched, Dickce swung the door open and stood back. The paramedics poured into the hall, and Dickce pointed them up the stairs. Three deputies followed.

  Dickce crossed the hall toward her, and she and An’gel waited at the doorway, looking up.

  A couple of minutes later, two of the deputies returned, escorting Wade, Juanita, Junior, and Antoinette down the stairs. Juanita had her arm around her cousin. His face contorted by grief, he cried quietly. Juanita led him into the parlor, Wade right behind them.

  “I’ll get them all some brandy,” Dickce said.

  Antoinette came over to An’gel, and the deputies returned to the second floor.

  “Is there any hope?” An’gel said softly to the girl.

  Antoinette shook her head. “No, ma’am. She never responded to me or to Kanesha, though we worked on her until the EMTs got there. I think she probably had a heart attack.” She shuddered. “It sure was creepy, those stupid rubber spiders all over her and on the floor. There were some in the bathtub, too. She must have been pretty scared of them.”

  “Scared to death,” An’gel said grimly.

  “Whoever did that to her is sick,” Antoinette replied. “Unless there’s something else you need, I’m going to help Gran make some fresh coffee. They’re all going to need it.”

  “Thank you,” An’gel said. She stared after the girl as she moved down the hall. She kept thinking about the fake spiders. How was it done?

  Did one of her family sneak into the bathroom while Maudine was in the tub and throw them on her? If that was the way it happened, she reasoned, then the perpetrator had to be either Bernice or Wade. They were the only two who were upstairs at the time, as far as she knew. Rosabelle and Antonio were downstairs with Kanesha. Where were Junior and Juanita when Bernice started screaming? Could they have been upstairs, too?

  She simply couldn’t see Bernice as a cold-blooded, heartless killer. Wade, well, she had little trouble seeing him that way.

  Was this another attempt on Rosabelle’s life that had gone wrong? Rosabelle said she was afraid of spiders, like her daughter had been.

  Or was Maudine the intended target this time?

  CHAPTER 30

  “Miss An’gel.”

  Kanesha’s voice brought An’gel out of her reverie. She looked up to see the deputy approaching her. She knew at once the news was not good by the set of Kanesha’s tense jaw.

  “She’s dead,” An’gel said.

  Kanesha nodded. “Heart attack probably.”

  “She was terrified of spiders.” An’gel felt sick to her stomach as the mental image of Maudine, lying on the bathroom floor, returned.

  “They’re rubber,” Kanesha said. “Do you have any idea where they came from?”

  “One of my guests must have brought them. Dickce and I wouldn’t have such things in the house, not even for Halloween.”

  “That’s what I figured, but I had to check. They must have been in a bag or a container of some kind. My guys are upstairs searching now, trying to find it.”

  “How was it done?” An’gel asked. “Are there any indications? All I can think is that someone walked in and threw them on her while she was in the tub or when she was getting out.”

  “I’m pretty sure they were inside the towel she picked up to dry herself with,” Kanesha said. “I found a couple on top of the table next to the tub and a couple in the towel itself. Looks like she picked up the towel, stepped out, opened the towel, and the spiders fell out and scared her so bad she had a heart attack.”

  “Sickening,” An’gel said. “What kind of twisted mind comes up with a wicked trick like that?”

  “It’s diabolical,” Kanesha said. “Whoever did it could have prepared the towel several hours in advance. When was the bathroom cleaned? There weren’t any towels in the laundry basket.”

  An’gel’s mind focused on the ordinary detail, pushing away the sad vision of Maudine. “Antoinette cleaned up there today. I’m sure she brought down any soiled linens and put out fresh ones.”

  Kanesha nodded. “I’ll check with her, plus I’ll have to find out when your guests took their baths.”

  “They probably spaced them out to make sure they each had enough hot water,” An’gel said. “The guest bathroom has a separate tank from the one that serves my bathroom and my sister’s. The guest bath on the third floor also has its own small tank.”

  “The only ones using the second-floor bathroom, then, would be Mrs. Sultan, her daughters, and her granddaughter, correct?”

  An’gel nodded. “Yes, that’s right.”

  “I’m going to talk to Antoinette first and find out about the towels,” Kanesha said. “Then I want to come and talk to everyone. Will you ask them all to remain in the parlor? I won’t be long.”

  “Certainly,” An’gel said. “Benjy is probably also in the kitchen with Antoinette and Clementine, if you need him for anything. I asked him to keep an eye on Diesel.”

  “Thanks,” Kanesha said. “I’ll be back soon.” She headed for the kitchen.

  An’gel took a moment for a couple of deep, steadying breaths before she was ready to face Rosabelle and her family once again.

  Bernice and Juanita occupied one sofa, with Junior between them. An’gel’s heart went out to the young man, who was obviously distraught over his mother’s death. He stared vacantly into space, but he held tightly to Juanita’s hand.

  Rosabelle didn’t appear to have moved since An’gel left the room a few minutes ago. She still had her head buried in Antonio’s shoulder, and he still had his arms around her. He rocked her slowly and murmured to her. An’gel could hear the soothing tone but not the words. Wade lounged near the liquor cabinet with a large glass of what looked like whiskey in his hand.

  Dickce sat several feet away from the family, her chair in the front half of the large parlor. She glanced up when An’gel entered the room, her look one of inquiry. An’gel shook her head, and Dickce frowned.

  An’gel faced the family. “Deputy Berry will be along in a few minutes to talk to all of us. She asked that we all remain here until she comes.”

  Wade and Juanita nodded. Junior and his grandmother did not seem to have heard. Antonio inclined his head once, but his attention otherwise appeared totally focused on his wife.

  An’gel sat near Dickce and regarded Antonio thoughtfully. He was the picture of devotion, but she couldn’t forget the conversation Dickce had overheard. Was he really planning to divorce Rosabelle? Could his intention to divorce his wife or his winning back of his inheritance have anything to do with the two murders?

  Perhaps there was no connection at all.

  She surely didn’t envy Kanesha the task of sorting out this twisted mess. Her hea
d ached as she tried to make sense of it all.

  An’gel sensed the tension in the room like a palpable force. There was also fear. She herself was afraid, not so much for herself or Dickce, but for the lives of her guests. One of them—minus Junior, who had an alibi for the first death—had murdered two people with heartless calculation, yet the obvious target for the cold-blooded campaign remained alive. Though not untouched, An’gel thought. The death of her daughter had truly shaken Rosabelle. An’gel couldn’t imagine what it must be like to outlive one’s own child, even if the relationship was stormy at best.

  Kanesha returned a few minutes later. She walked to the fireplace, then turned to face everyone.

  “I’m sorry for your loss, and I assure you my deputies and I will do everything in our power to resolve this situation.” She paused for a moment to look at each person in turn. “Two women have been murdered in this house in the past twenty-four hours. One of you committed both these acts, and I’m not going to stop until I have you behind bars. I want you all to think clearly about what is going on here. I want you to think about everything you have heard and seen since you arrived yesterday. Everything you did. Even the smallest detail could help. I’m going to question each of you in turn like I did yesterday, and I want to hear about anything you think might have a bearing on these two murders.”

  While Kanesha had talked, An’gel’s eyes had scanned each face in turn, over and over, in an attempt to discern any hint of emotion that could help identify the killer. Rosabelle had gently disengaged herself from her husband’s arms to listen to the deputy. Her expression revealed little, An’gel thought, other than grief. Wade simply looked bored as he sipped away at his drink. Bernice, Juanita, and Junior appeared as sorrowful as Rosabelle. Antonio’s blank expression revealed nothing to An’gel.