by Mary Daheim
“Is she right?” Renie asked, looking shaken.
Judith’s shoulders sagged. “I don’t know. Anything’s possible when you’re rich. But I certainly intend to tell Joe. And Edwina, of course.”
With heavy steps, Judith and Renie left the tower. As they came from the passageway that led into the hall, they could hear raised voices in the entryway. Mystified, the cousins looked at each other, then hurried toward the commotion.
Edwina Jefferson was putting handcuffs on Peggy Hillman, who was swearing at the top of her lungs. “I’m arresting you for the murder of Dr. Aaron Moss. Anything you say may be held against you in a court of law…”
“How dare you?” Peggy screamed. “I’ll sue! I’ll see that you lose your job! You can’t do this to me! You’re…black!”
Edwina chuckled, but her usual good humor was absent. “Honey, I could bust you if I were purple,” she said, propelling Peggy across the entry hall. “Maybe it’s more fun because I am black. You know how lackadaisical and fun-loving we all are in the watermelon patch.”
Arms crossed and leaning against the far wall was Joe Flynn, looking bemused. Judith hurried to join him.
“What happened?” she whispered as Peggy was dragged through the front entrance, where an incredulous Kenyon stood sentry.
Joe shrugged. “The perp went down. That’s how it works.”
“But…How did Edwina figure it out?” Judith asked, utterly bewildered.
“Let’s get you that drink from the drawing room,” Joe said. “Wayne’s in there, having a second or maybe a third stiff shot, which I gather is unusual for him.”
“He can use it,” Renie murmured, as she trudged along behind the Flynns.
Wayne Burgess was slumped on the sofa, a glass in one hand, the other holding his head. “Are they gone?” he asked in a toneless voice.
“They are,” Joe said, going to the bar. “Do you mind?”
Wayne shook his head, but said nothing.
Judith waited until Joe had poured the drinks. Feeling sorry for Wayne, whose troubles ranged from filial to marital to financial, she sat down beside him.
“So tell us,” Judith urged as Joe and Renie seated themselves in two of the silk-covered armchairs.
“The usual. Hard work and plenty of interviews.” Joe paused to sip his Scotch. “But it wasn’t just Edwina. It was Danny Wong.”
“Danny?” Renie echoed. “Number Three Son always seemed like the silent partner.”
“Maybe,” Joe grinned, “but that’s what Woody was sometimes called when we partnered. Keeping your mouth shut doesn’t mean you can’t solve crimes.”
“So how did Danny solve it?” Judith asked, her curiosity rampant.
Joe settled back in the chair. “When Charlie Ward was killed, Danny was enrolled in law enforcement classes at Sunset Community College. I don’t know if you’ve checked out the road between the golf course and the campus, but it’s a long, straight two-lane stretch. Now remember, Danny was just a kid, eighteen, maybe nineteen. He’d finished his class and just pulled out from the college. Danny got behind an old clunk that was going too slow for his teenage taste. He wanted to pass it, but there was a big Lincoln Town Car coming in the opposite direction at an extremely slow speed. Danny was temporarily stuck behind the clunk. A minute later he saw another car pulled off to his side of the road. There weren’t any flashers on it, so he didn’t stop. Danny, I should point out, had a late date that night.”
“So far, I’m following you,” Judith commented. “Go on.”
“The following quarter,” Joe resumed, “Danny’s class was using case histories of certain types of situations, including hit-and-run accidents. It was only natural that the instructor chose the Ward fatality, since it had occurred so close to the campus. They could walk to the scene for their field trip.”
“You mean they solved it?” Judith asked, gaping at Joe.
“No, no,” Joe chuckled. “Nothing so simple. The point is, Danny vividly remembered the incident and even the Lincoln, which he recognized when he and Edwina went over it for possible evidence.”
“Dr. Moss’s Lincoln,” Renie put in. “How did he know it was the same one he saw that night?”
“He didn’t,” Joe replied. “But it seemed like more than a coincidence, especially when he realized that Peggy Hillman’s ex had been the hit-and-run victim. That got him to wondering, and of course Edwina jumped on it when he told her.”
Judith felt her stomach lurch. “Wait a minute. You don’t mean that Dr. Moss was the one who…?”
Joe shook his head. “No. It turned out that, according to Kenyon, of all people, Charlie Ward was coming to see Peggy at The Willows. Charlie jokingly mentioned to Kenyon that he might end up walking from his place up north because he was having car problems.”
“Real—or manufactured?” Judith asked.
Joe shrugged. “Unless Charlie’s car is still around somewhere, only Peggy can answer that.”
“I understand now why Peggy had to get Caroline out of the house that night,” Judith said. “She couldn’t afford to have her daughter know that Charlie was coming to blackmail her mother.”
Joe gave a faint nod. “Anyway, Dr. Moss had been going south, to Creepers, and had seen the hit-and-run. When Danny saw his car, the doctor had turned around and was going back to the accident scene which was why he was driving so slowly. Danny and Edwina came to the conclusion that Moss had seen the accident and knew who was at fault.”
Judith relaxed. “Exactly. Dr. Moss recognized Peggy’s car, maybe Charlie’s as well. The doctor had been on his way to see Mrs. Burgess, who’d had a gall bladder attack. By the time he got there, he was at the point of collapse. That’s what put me onto Peggy’s trail. What had upset Dr. Moss so badly before he even reached the house? Peggy had just arrived, which meant her alibi was iffy for the time of her ex-husband’s death. I began to see a connection then, not only between the accident and Dr. Moss’s murder, but going back to Suzette’s death and Margaret Burgess’s suicide.”
Wayne’s head jerked up. “You know?” he asked in a stricken voice.
Judith nodded. “I’m sorry,” she said apologetically. “If it’s any consolation, your mother must have been mentally unstable. It’s likely that your sister inherited those genes.”
“I don’t remember my real mother,” Wayne said, his voice thick. “But Peggy has always been…volatile.”
“As in unbalanced?” Renie asked bluntly.
“No.” The word was emphatic. “Peggy’s not crazy. Neither was our mother.”
Judith, Joe, and Renie all looked at each other. They shared a single thought: It was useless to argue with Wayne. Insanity wasn’t acceptable for a Burgess, perhaps not even as a legal defense.
“Your sister was very human,” Judith said, more gently. “We noticed that from the start. Perhaps because of that, the barriers that wealth and privilege provide were more fragile.”
Wayne looked anguished. “Peggy was always less inclined to keep things to herself. She wasn’t always…discreet.”
Judith nodded. “Her indiscretion about how the rest of the family needed money and therefore might want to harm your stepmother also made me wonder. I realize now that it was deliberate. She was trying to steer us away from the real victim and the real motive, both of which were behind her need to silence Dr. Moss.”
Edna, all aquiver, entered the drawing room. “Mr. Flynn? Mrs. Burgess would like to see you, please.”
“Again?” Joe shrugged and stood up, then turned to Judith. “I guess I won’t be home for dinner. Will you?”
Judith grimaced. “It’s after five. I assume Arlene’s managing?”
“As far as I know,” Joe replied, crossing the room. “You and Renie might as well eat dinner somewhere out on the highway.”
“But…Shouldn’t we say good-bye to Leota?” Judith asked, reluctant to let go.
Embarrassed, Wayne cleared his throat. “Maman would prefer not to see you ag
ain.”
Judith couldn’t help but look annoyed. “Why? Does she feel she’s lost face?”
Wayne hung his head. “I never question Maman’s motives.”
The implication was obvious. Judith had no right to question them, either. “But the case is closed, isn’t it? Why are you staying, Joe?”
“One case is closed,” Joe answered from the doorway. “The other isn’t. Mrs. Burgess still wants to know who’s been trying to kill her.”
“Damn!” Judith breathed. “It wasn’t Peggy? You mean Renie and I flunked detection?”
“Afraid so, Jude-girl,” Joe said, growing impatient. “Don’t worry about it. You’re not detectives.” He disappeared from the drawing room.
Judith and Renie went upstairs to pack.
Two days later, just as Judith was trying to convince Phyliss Rackley that Satan hadn’t put a catnip mouse in the laundry detergent, Edwina Jefferson arrived at Hillside Manor.
“Peggy Hillman has entered a not guilty plea,” she told Judith as they sat down to coffee at the kitchen table. “Naturally, she’s hired the best criminal lawyers available, including some dude from L.A.”
“Do you think she’ll get off?” Judith asked with a sinking feeling.
Edwina shrugged. “Who knows? Danny and I did our jobs. You did yours, too. I wanted to thank you and your cousin for your help.”
“We didn’t do much,” Judith said bleakly. “In fact, you and Danny had it solved before we did.”
“That’s our job,” Edwina said, accepting Judith’s offer of cookies from the sheep-shaped jar on the kitchen table. “To make you feel better, you were right about Peggy taking the garage remote and putting the car in the garage. It had an oil leak, I might add. Anyway, that’s why Russ Hillman didn’t think she was at Creepers when he came looking for her the night of the murder.”
“And dropped that golf marker?” Judith asked.
Edwina nodded. “He couldn’t figure out where she was, and he wanted to make sure the coast was clear before he took off with Dorothy Burgess. The Hillmans have separate bedrooms, you know. So do Wayne and Dorothy.”
“A family tradition,” Judith murmured. “And a sad one. Tell me, did the dirt on the floor and under Dr. Moss’s body come from the garden where the footman statue was planted?”
“So it seems, but the forensics folks found enough hair, skin particles, and fiber to clinch it as the weapon. Hey,” Edwina said as Renie came in through the back door, “it’s honey. What’s up?”
“My blood pressure,” Renie said, surprised to see the detective. “I just finished a presentation with some dunder-heads at KINE-TV. Their ideas of public service suck. I ended up telling them the best public service they could render would be to go off the air. I think I lost the account.”
Edwina laughed as Renie poured herself a mug of coffee. “Tact doesn’t seem to be your strong suit. How do you stay in business?”
“Because I’m damned good,” Renie replied. “Modest, too.”
Judith looked askance at Renie. “Sometimes my cousin bugs me,” she said to Edwina. “Frankly, I feel like a big flop.”
“You shouldn’t,” Edwina said. “Your insights and your way with other people were invaluable. You were right about that wishing well.” She winced. “While everyone was at Dr. Moss’s funeral yesterday, the well was opened up and we found skeletal remains which were identified as belonging to Suzette. Dr. Stevens is very grateful. By the way, did you figure out where Dr. Moss got his money?”
Judith nodded vaguely. “Sort of. After Charlie Ward’s accident, Aaron Moss told Peggy that he suspected her. For the sake of the family, especially Leota, of whom he was extremely fond, maybe even in love with, he agreed to keep quiet. Peggy paid him off with part of her inheritance from her father. But four years later, Dr. Moss was sensing his mortality. He could no longer keep the secret and live with his conscience. He was also afraid for Leota. He may have known that the attempts on her life were real, and somehow feared that Peggy had snapped, just like her birth mother, and was trying to kill Mrs. Burgess. I suspect he warned Peggy, which was a fatal mistake. She had to lure him to the house where she could kill him to keep him quiet. Then, to make sure her secret was safe, she took his keys and removed any evidence he might have saved at his office. She returned the keys the next morning, tossing them in the pool where she knew they’d be found. In a weird way, I think it was a thoughtful gesture. Peggy had caused her stepmother’s fall. She felt bad about it, and wanted to make sure Dr. Stevens had a key to get into Creepers.”
Edwina was nodding agreement. “One other thing—Caroline wrote those words on the tablet in the library. She was proud of them, and insisted I read the rest of it which she’d written later. It was a poem about her failed marriage. A thirty-two-page poem.” Edwina held her head, then asked if Joe had come home yet.
“No,” Judith said. “He called earlier this morning to say he might be winding things up there by late this afternoon. Have you talked to him?”
“Yes, about an hour ago,” Edwina replied, then looked apologetic. “He’s solved the rest of the case.”
“He has?” Judith almost dropped her coffee mug. “You mean it really was Peggy who was trying to knock off Mrs. Burgess?”
Edwina shook her head. “No. It was Bop.”
“Bop,” Judith murmured. “I certainly considered him, along with Kenneth. Dorothy seemed to be shielding somebody, so it had to be her husband, her son, or Russ Hillman. How did Joe find out?”
“Nurse Fritz,” Edwina replied. “She’s had it in for the family ever since she didn’t get the legacy or whatever it was that Walter Burgess allegedly promised her. The other night, Edna brought up tea for Mrs. Burgess and Nurse Fritz. Bop was already there, having delivered the pizzas. Apparently, he was nervous—because of his intentions—and he mixed up the boxes. Fritz became suspicious. She guessed that something was amiss, but she didn’t notice him tampering with the tea. Then she made the mistake of taking the cup that was meant for Leota.”
“Gambling debts,” Judith stated. “The motive was that he couldn’t wait for his inheritance?”
“That’s right,” Edwina said. “His business is doing fine, but he’s not making a sufficient profit to cover his losses. Bop’s gambling wasn’t limited to cards. He bet on everything—horses, sporting events, table games. Compulsive, of course.”
Judith was looking bemused. “He didn’t really want to kill his grandmother, though. Maybe he just wanted to scare her. How many times did he try? And fail? I remember hearing someone say Bop had no killer instinct. I should have taken it literally. Did you arrest him?”
“No,” Edwina said with an ironic smile. “Mrs. Burgess refused to press charges. Instead, she handed over the money and insisted he start attending Gamblers Anonymous meetings.”
“Leota couldn’t take any more family embarrassment,” Judith said. “It’ll be very hard on all of them when the trial is held. You know,” she went on, “I have a theory about why Leota didn’t want to see us again before we left Creepers. I’ll bet she saw Peggy in the entry hall just before the lights went out and Dr. Moss was struck from behind. She’ll never admit that, not even if she’s called to the stand. But after Peggy was arrested, Leota didn’t dare look Renie and me in the eye. She’s basically an honest woman and she was too ashamed.”
“Honest,” Renie noted, “except when it comes to upholding her family.”
“Very likely,” Edwina said, standing up. “If—a big if—Peggy’s convicted, and goes to prison, it’ll be a terrible disgrace. I can’t imagine how she’ll endure a life sentence.”
“I don’t know about that,” Renie said, gobbling up sugar cookies. “She’s already done a lifetime stretch. If Creepers looks like a prison, feels like a prison, then…” Renie shrugged.
“True,” Judith said. “Wealth, especially inherited wealth, is imprisoning. What’s worse is that it cuts you off from other people. You aren’t whole, you’re jus
t a shadow of a real human being. It seems like a hollow life.”
“And one we don’t have to worry about,” Edwina declared, hands folded in a prayerful gesture. “Thank you both. I’ve got to finish the paperwork.” She turned to Renie. “You did good—sugar.”
Renie’s eyes grew wide as she grinned at Edwina. “I’m a sugar? Finally?”
Edwina didn’t reply. Instead, she hugged Judith. “Don’t beat yourself up. You’ve been one terrific amateur sleuth. So long—sister.”
As Edwina’s solid figure exited through the front door, Judith felt her spirits rise. “I really like her,” she said.
“You like everybody,” Renie said, pouting. “Sister—I didn’t know there was yet another level of endearment.”
“It’s because I’m married to an ex-cop,” Judith said, hoping to salve Renie’s feelings. “By the way, are you going to see Bev while she’s in town?”
Beverly Ohashi had flown in from Cairo to help the rest of the family weather the storm in the wake of Peggy’s arrest. “Probably,” Renie replied as the cousins returned to the kitchen. “I guess if we couldn’t figure out who was trying to kill Leota, it’s a good thing Joe could.”
Judith agreed, though with some reluctance. It still galled her that she’d been stumped by the attempts on Mrs. Burgess’s life. Before she could say as much, Phyliss appeared, carrying an empty laundry basket.
“I’m sorry I won’t be around when that church group gets here,” she said, referring to the visitors who were arriving around five. “But I’ll see cousin Orval and his wife, Radella, at the conference tomorrow morning. I told ’em Hillside Manor was the best B&B in town. Lots of extras, at a sensible price. They’ll see things around here they never could imagine in Grundy Center, Iowa.”
“That was very kind of you to recommend us,” Judith said. “We’ll be full up through the weekend.”
Phyliss turned to Renie. “Hallo, Mrs. Jones. Have you been saved yet?”
“Not recently,” Renie replied, flipping Phyliss off as the cleaning woman turned her back to empty a hamper of dirty clothes into the basket.