Tina and Hank sat on the couch. “You know we could start a fire in here any day now.” Tina looked at the white, painted brick fireplace with longing. But she didn’t have the energy to light one.
“I’ll get one going after you tell me all.” Uncle Bob smiled.
“Where’s Mom?”
“She’s in her room. Resting, staying out of Maria’s way.”
“Oh, it’s Thursday. I forgot Maria would be here. She break anything yet?”
Uncle Bob laughed. “Not so far. She’s either being more careful lately, or she’s not finding that many things she dislikes.”
Tina gaped at him. “You know she’s been breaking stuff on purpose?”
“Well, I began to suspect when you were about nine or ten. Then I watched her a few times and confirmed it.”
Tina was surprised for a moment, but then not surprised. Her uncle was extremely observant. He had to use his eyes a lot more than people who could hear had to. “You know she started doing it for me.”
Now he looked surprised. “She did?”
“You remember the first thing she ever broke? Which was a long time, I believe, after she started working here.”
“No. No, I don’t remember.”
“An ugly African face mask. Scared me when I was little. She found out. Next time she was here, it smashed to the floor. She explained to Mom that the nails holding it up must have loosened over time, and when she went to dust it, it fell. Mom didn’t seem too upset.”
Both her uncle and Hank laughed out loud. As if on cue, they heard the vacuum cleaner start upstairs. “What else has she broken over the years?” Hank asked. “You never told me about this.”
“Well, I think she averages about one thing a month. So, for twenty years since I was nine? But I don’t think she’s broken two hundred and forty objects. So must be a lot less than that. What do you think, Uncle?”
“I don’t know. Your mother has a lot of stuff, almost as bad as Olivia. There are a few things I’d like to smash to smithereens still left.”
Princess raised her head as Laura entered the room. They all stared at her.
She paused in the doorway. For effect, Tina thought, holding her breath. Had they gotten Maria into a lot of trouble?
Laura looked at Hank briefly, then at Tina a bit longer, then her gaze stayed on Uncle Bob. “You never thought to tell me this?” Her voice was icy.
Princess stood up and cocked her head at Laura as if puzzled.
Tina had never seen Uncle Bob blush before, but his skin turned a light pink. “Sorry, Laura. Didn’t want to ruin a good thing.”
Laura sputtered, then burst out laughing. She laughed so hard, she had to sit down. Princess cocked her head in the other direction, then sat down again.
“You knew, too.” Now Uncle Bob looked chagrined. “She thought she hornswoggled all of us. But we all knew. Weren’t you upset by at least some of the stuff she smashed to smithereens?”
“Only a couple of pieces. You know Wesley was the collector, not me. A lot of the African stuff didn’t appeal to me very much. I suspect Maria knew that. I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of any of it after he died.”
Tina stared at her mother, wide-eyed. How little she knew about her. The vacuum cleaner stopped running upstairs. Tina, Hank, and Laura glanced at the ceiling. “What?” Uncle Bob asked. “What did I miss?”
“Just the vacuum cleaner. Maria turned it off, so I guess we should stop talking about her. She may come downstairs any minute.”
“Oh.” Uncle Bob took a deep breath. Tina was aware again, as she occasionally was, that he could never stop regretting his lack of hearing.
“So,” Laura said. “Tell me what’s going on next door.”
“Okay.” Tina told her and Uncle Bob everything that had happened, then asked, “Did someone come to the house while I was gone? The front door was unlocked when we got here.”
“I had a visitor. I forgot to lock the door after he left.”
Tina stared at Uncle Bob. “You never have visitors,” she blurted out.
“True. This one was a blast from the past. Old Navy guy. He’s got cancer. Came up from Connecticut to talk to me a bit.”
“What about?” Laura asked.
Before Uncle Bob could answer, a loud crash came from upstairs. Princess stood and stared at the ceiling. Tina guessed the noise came from Uncle Bob’s room. She didn’t remember Maria ever breaking anything of his. What could it have been?
CHAPTER 43
“What was that?” Uncle Bob asked. The sound must have been low-pitched enough for him to make out.
“I think Maria broke something again,” Tina said. “Might have been in your room.”
Uncle Bob stood up quickly. “I’m going to find out.” He left, followed by Princess.
Tina, Hank, and Laura glanced at each other, then, without saying a word, walked up the stairs behind Uncle Bob.
Maria stood in the middle of his room, hand over her mouth, eyes wide. A framed picture lay on the floor, the glass cracked. She took her hand down so he could read her lips. “Oh, Mr. O’Neil, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to drop it, but when I saw who was in the picture…”
Uncle Bob looked confused. He frowned at her. “You know who that is?”
Maria nodded.
“How would you know him? He lives in Connecticut.”
“But he was stationed here, in the Navy. Back when I was a little girl. My family knew him. They lost touch, though, and I’ve never seen him since. This is an old picture, so I recognized him.”
Uncle Bob rubbed his hand over his eyes. “I got it out after he called. He came to visit me this morning. What do you know about him?”
Maria looked frightened. “He was a… a bad man. My parents did not like him. He lived next door to us for about two years. He liked my father and kept in touch for years after he left.”
“You don’t have to worry about him anymore, Maria. He’s old and sick. He won’t harm anyone else ever again.”
Maria stared at him, wide-eyed. “This is true?”
“Absolutely. Now, if you’ll clean this up, you may leave for the day. As always, the house looks wonderful after you are done with it.”
“But I’m not done. I still have your bathroom and the hallway to do.”
“It’s okay,” Laura said. “You got a shock, and we want you to take the rest of the day off.”
“Thank you.” Maria bent down to pick up the picture. Tina saw a young man in Navy whites, standing in front of a huge ship. She was too far away to make out his features, but that didn’t matter.
“Let’s get something to drink,” Laura said, leading the way down the back stairs into the kitchen. When everyone got there, she turned to Uncle Bob so he could read her lips. “You need to tell us more about this man, why he came here, and why the mere picture of him could have scared Maria so badly.”
Uncle Bob rubbed his eyes again and sat down, Princess beside him. Worried, Tina fussed with the coffee pot and set napkins, spoons, cream, and sugar on the table. When she finally sat across from her uncle, he said, “It’s a long story.”
Laura patted his hand. “We have time.”
“You want me to stay?” Hank asked. He stood leaning against the pantry door, arms crossed.
“Yes, of course. As a matter of fact, your grandfather also knew Jerry Weaver.”
Hank pulled out a chair and sat down. “I think I remember that name being mentioned. Usually in whispers.”
Uncle Bob nodded. “Olivia knew him, too. That’s why he came to see me today. As I mentioned, he has cancer—third stage pancreatic. He has good days and bad days; mostly bad days. So, he couldn’t come see me until today.”
“You’ve been in touch with him all these years?” Laura asked.
“Off and on. Mostly off. When we changed addresses, we let each other know. I wrote to him a couple of days after Olivia was murdered. That’s when I found out he has cancer, when he wrote back.”
Uncle Bob waited for her to sit back down to answer. “No, we always wrote. I just did it because I felt I should. Didn’t really want to talk to the man.”
“Why not?” Tina poured everyone a cup of coffee.
“As Maria said, he wasn’t a good person.” Uncle Bob poured cream into his coffee, then sugar, and stirred. “Actually, he was both good and bad, and sometimes it was hard to tell which was dominant. He was a good, loyal friend. If you were his friend, he would do anything for you. But if you got on his bad side, look out.”
“You were his friend.”
“Yes. I became one before I knew his true nature. After that, it would have been dangerous to cross him.”
“What was the relationship between him, my grandfather, and Olivia?” Hank asked.
“Complicated. Jerry was in love with Olivia. But she favored your grandfather. Back then, I was just a bystander.”
Tina noticed that both her mother and Hank looked at Uncle Bob intently.
“But all that changed when we were shipped out. Jerry seemed to forget Olivia. Everyone changed partners. Jerry had a new woman in every port. Your grandfather met your grandmother on leave here in Newport, and I never found the right woman to marry.”
“What did Jerry do that was bad?” Tina asked.
Uncle Bob took a sip of his coffee before answering. “He became a supply clerk, and he got active on the black market. We all knew what he was doing, but no one reported him because we were afraid to. He made friends in high places by doing favors and even acquired a couple of guys who sort of physically guarded him.”
Tina noticed her uncle wasn’t using his usual funny, odd words or clichés. She’d never seen him this serious, or this unhappy, before. She wanted to give him a hug, but it would be awkward, and she wasn’t sure he’d want one right now. So she sat in her chair, waiting for what was to come, knowing it wasn’t going to be good.
“Then he killed a man,” Uncle Bob said.
Laura gasped. Hank straightened in his chair, and Princess cocked her ears. Tina realized she held her breath, waiting for the rest of the story.
CHAPTER 44
“Where did that happen?” Hank asked.
“Right here in Newport. We managed to get stationed back here near the end of our first enlistments.”
“My grandfather, too?” Hank asked.
“Yes. But he got out after his enlistment was up.” Uncle Bob patted Princess on the head. She whined a little, seeming to know he was unhappy. “I’m pretty sure Jerry pulled some strings to get us all here and have a party for your grandfather. What happened is complicated. The man he killed wasn’t a good person, either.” He paused, took a deep breath, and then continued. “We were playing poker in the back room at a notorious bar and grill. The other player accused me of cheating. Jerry knew I never cheated. I think he liked me to be around to see what it was like being a straight arrow. And decided it was rather dull.” Uncle Bob laughed ruefully.
“We don’t think you’re dull,” Laura said.
Uncle Bob smiled at her. “You just keep me around for comic relief.”
“Well, there’s that.”
Uncle Bob still smiled, but it faded quickly. “Anyway, Jerry and the other man got into an argument, and it escalated.” He turned to Hank. “Your grandfather and I tried to calm them down, but we couldn’t. The owner told them to take it outside. We all went into the alley, and they started to fight with their fists. Then Randy pulled a knife. Of course, Jerry had one, too, and he was quicker. He stabbed Randy in the chest, and that ended it.”
Tina shivered. Eyes wide, she stared at her uncle as if she’d never seen him before. How little she knew about him, really. “What did you all do?”
Uncle Bob took a deep breath. “We carried Randy to Jerry’s Jeep. Jerry had a boat tied up at Ida Lewis’s, so we took Randy out in it and gave him a burial at sea.” He turned to Hank. “Your grandfather even said a short prayer for the departed. The body never washed ashore, and although the police found out Jerry and Randy had fought, they had no body and no proof that Jerry had anything to do with Randy’s disappearance.”
“And you had mixed feelings,” Laura said, “all these years. Glad Jerry stood up for you, but unhappy he killed the other man.”
Uncle Bob shuddered.
Tina had a sudden thought. “You don’t think he might have killed Olivia?”
Hank and Laura stared at her.
“The thought crossed my mind. But he’s dying. I don’t know why he would.”
“Did she know about the killing?” Hank asked.
“I don’t know. I never told her. Jerry might have, maybe boasted about it when drunk. I doubt your grandfather would have said anything, and by that time he was sort of avoiding her.”
“Why?”
“He had married your grandmother by then. That seemed to make Olivia more interested in him, and she, well, she wasn’t stalking him exactly, but it was close.”
“How little we knew about that odious woman,” Laura sputtered.
“She was something in her youth. None of us were surprised when she snagged a rich husband. We sort of expected it.”
Tina tried to remember Olivia more clearly from when she was very young. She had been what some people would call a handsome woman. Strong, even features. Glorious black hair and hazel eyes. Maybe fifteen pounds extra weight, medium height. Even that young, Tina had felt her allure. But she was still surprised that Uncle Bob had begun a romantic relationship that late in their lives, knowing what he did about her.
“Anyway,” Uncle Bob continued, “when Jerry’s enlistment was up, he got out. I stayed in for twenty, as you know. But Jerry rejoined after about three years, and we’d run into each other at different assignments. I started thinking of him as the bad penny. Because of the break in service, he retired after I did, and no one was more surprised than I was when he decided to settle down here in Newport. He was from Chicago. He liked the sea. He sold his old boat soon after the incident in the alley. But he always had one wherever he was stationed. He ended up a very rich man.”
“Then,” Tina said, “you were here, and Jerry was here. And Hank’s grandfather. Where was Olivia?”
“She was off in Europe with her husband. But then he died, and she came back to Newport, moved into the house next door he’d left her.”
“And decided to take up with you,” Laura said.
Uncle Bob laughed. It was not a merry laugh. “Yes. And Jerry was jealous. So he moved away.”
“He did?” Hank asked, surprise in his tone.
“Not far. Just to Mystic. Don’t know why he’d move to Connecticut. Rhode Island is much nicer.” He smiled, but quickly sobered. “He’d come to see me sometimes.”
“I never met him.” Laura asked.
“I didn’t want him anywhere near you. Or Tina. We’d meet at a coffee shop. Or if later in the evening, at one of the local bars. Sometimes, Olivia would join us. Then she and I broke up, and Jerry didn’t come down as often after that. I’m not sure what he was involved with in Mystic. He’d buy and sell boats, other property. Seemed to me dabbling more than trying to make a lot of money.”
“So, bottom line,” Hank said, “you can’t think of any reason why Jerry would kill Olivia.”
“Maybe,” Tina said, “she did know about Jerry killing that other man. And threatened to expose him. There’s no statute of limitations on murder, is there?”
“It was self-defense,” Uncle Bob said quickly.
“Either way,” Hank said, “she could have caused Jerry a lot of trouble and grief.”
Laura poured herself another cup of coffee. “And she was just mean enough to get some satisfaction out of doing that, wasn’t she?”
Uncle Bob’s shoulders slumped, and he rubbed his hand across his eyes. “Anything’s possible. Especially where Jerry and Olivia are concerned.” He looked at Hank. “Do
I need to tell Lisbeth about all this?”
“No!” Laura banged her fist on the table. “You don’t want to get dragged into an investigation about what Jerry did.”
Hank lightly grasped Laura’s fisted hand. “It’s all right. I’ll put a bee in Lisbeth’s bonnet, as Uncle Bob would say, and she can check out Jerry Weaver.”
“Thank you, Hank.” Uncle Bob stood up slowly. “You’re a good man, like your grandfather. Now I’m going to totter off to bed. To all a good night.”
They watched him climb the back stairs, Princess at his heels, until he disappeared around the curve.
Tina looked at her mother and started to say something about Newport secrets again. At the sad expression on her mother’s face, she decided against it.
Hank stood up. “It’s been a long day. I’m going home.”
Tina walked him to the front door.
“What are you going to do tomorrow?” he asked.
“I think I’ll go see Leslie. I haven’t seen her in a while.”
“Enjoy your visit.” He leaned down to kiss her, and she clung to him, wishing he’d take her home with him. She would have to do something about Hank soon. She guessed it would be smart to wait until this was all over.
Then, he’d better watch out.
CHAPTER 45
The next day right after lunch, Tina set off to visit Leslie. She glanced in her review mirror at the stoplight on Broadway and stared at the dark green Mercedes behind her. Was that the Simpsons’ car? It was too close to see if it had a dealer’s plate, and the darkened windows made it hard for her to make out the occupants. She sped away when the light turned green so she could get a glimpse of the license plate. Paper.
Were they following her? If so, why? She didn’t know what to do. Call Hank? Call Lisbeth? Could be coincidence they were behind her. She’d wait to see what happened when she got to Leslie’s shop on Spring Street.
The car stayed on her tail all the way. She found a parking spot a block from the boutique and parallel parked with ease in her small VW. The Mercedes passed her and kept going. She didn’t know if that was because there was no other place to park or if they really hadn’t been following her.
Buried Under Clutter (Tina Tales Mysteries Book 2) Page 18