Elizabeth stopped to collect her thoughts. She knew she wasn’t telling things in the right order and that she was leaving a lot out. “When I asked Warren about the aerial photograph he got mad at me and kicked me out of the house. Today, I was on my way home when I stopped in to say goodbye to Elvina. On one of my previous visits she’d mentioned that she knew the man in the sketch but she couldn’t remember from when. Then she phoned me while I was here saying the sketch was of Warren. Knowing that Allen Sinclair would have been Harriet Barber’s son, I asked Martha and Warren if he had come and if Warren had killed him to keep the farm. It seems, instead, that Allen Sinclair killed Warren Davidson and took his place. Allen had just admitted he was Brian’s father when the officers arrived.”
“Then let’s go back into the living room and hear what they have to say,” Hildebrandt said.
* * * *
“I was there about a week,” Allen began. He was sitting with his hand on Martha’s. “And all that time Warren made it clear he didn’t want me around. He made life miserable for all of us. He began to accuse me of being an imposter. One day we were outside and he said I was trying to take advantage of an old lady’s past. I’d already shown him the copy of my birth certificate that my father had given me, but I took it out and showed him again. He grabbed it then said that if he tore it up I wouldn’t have any proof.” Allen faltered. Martha patted his hand. “I reached for my birth certificate and he wouldn’t give it to me. I tried again and he punched me in the shoulder. My anger got the better of me and I hit him hard. He went down. I began hitting him with a rock until he quit moving and then I realized he was dead.”
“Why did you dump him in the tank?” Hildebrandt asked.
“Martha came out of the house and saw what I had done. I hadn’t even had a chance to explain when we saw a low flying airplane coming in our direction. Without even thinking, I dragged the body over to the nearest hiding place, the septic tank, and lifted the lid. Martha held it up while I pushed Warren in.”
“That would have been the day the aerial photographer was taking a photograph of the farm,” Elizabeth put in.
Allen nodded. “We didn’t know at the time who it was but I thought for sure he had seen us. I guess he didn’t because he never said anything. He sure was persistent, though, about selling us a picture of the farm.”
“Then you became Warren Davidson so no one would ask questions about his going missing,” Hildebrandt said. “And instead of being brother and sister, in public you were husband and wife.”
“I dressed in the clothes he always wore,” Allen said. “We were about the same height but Martha had to take them in because he was larger than me. I wore a hat to hide my lack of hair. Mom and Martha went into town with me so people would see us together. We never stayed long, though, just bought what we needed and hurried home. Luckily, Warren had alienated their friends so no one came around who might have noticed I wasn’t him.”
“Elvina noticed a difference,” Elizabeth said. “It just took her a while to figure out who the man in the sketch was.”
“So what happened next?” Hildebrandt asked.
“We immediately subdivided the acreage from the rest of the farm and sold the land,” Allen continued. “We moved into Lethbridge to get away from the septic tank. I became myself again but kept Warren’s name.”
Suddenly, Martha stood. She looked at all of them. Her quiet voice grew stronger as she spoke. “Warren was a horrible man. He was always threatening Mom and me. As soon as we were married he wanted Mom to sign the farm over to him but she refused. He started beating me and kept it up until she finally agreed. When we went to see the lawyer, though, Mom told him to put the farm in both Warren and my names. Warren was so mad that he beat me badly and even struck Mom a few times when we got home. But it didn’t matter. Mom had won.
“We’d been married almost two years when Allen showed up at the farm and told us his story. Mom was so happy to see him and wanted him to stay. But Warren ordered him off the farm even though Mom and I pleaded with him. She hadn’t seen Allen since he was born and I’d never even known I had a brother. We both wanted him to live with us.” She lifted her chin defiantly. “We might not have chosen that way to get rid of my husband, but once it had happened, we were glad that he was gone. We had some really great years afterwards, Mom and Allen and me.” She sat down beside her half-brother again.
“I can understand why you didn’t want the aerial picture with your car in it but why wouldn’t you buy it with the car taken out?” Elizabeth asked. “After all, it was your mother’s farm.”
“Because it would have been a constant reminder of the day I committed murder.”
“What did you do with the car?” Hildebrandt asked.
“I stripped it and sold the parts.”
“Weren’t you scared that someone would find the body when you sold the acreage?”
Martha answered for him. “The tank was old, practically unusable anyway, and we waited until the house was in too bad a shape to be lived in. When Harry Wilson said he wanted to move on a mobile home and put in a new tank and field, we figured it was safe to sell it to him and Peggy.”
“Why didn’t you ever come back to see me?” Brian asked. He had been silent, listening to the confession.
“I’m truly sorry,” Allen said. “But I couldn’t go home a murderer, and I couldn’t run the risk of someone finding out I wasn’t Warren Davidson, either. I could never bring you here because there was always that worry that the body might be found and identified, and I would be charged with murder.”
“So you sent money instead.” Brian’s voice was bitter.
“I thought it was the best thing to do at the time.”
“I came west when I was nineteen looking for you. I spent two years living and working in small towns hoping to hear or see your name somewhere. I was right in Fort Macleod all that time, minutes away from you. And it was all for nothing because you had taken on a different identity.” He suddenly turned angry. “And I came back now looking for you so I could hear your side of the story and maybe give Cindy a grandfather. And you refused to even admit who you were.”
“Dad.” Cindy put her hand on his arm.
“I was so worried about who or what I would find and if it would affect Cindy’s and my life. Now I wished I’d never come.”
* * * *
“Where will I be able to reach you if I need to take another statement from you?” Hildebrandt asked Elizabeth when all the questioning was over.
She gave him her address, which he wrote in his book.
“What’s going to happen to Warren and Martha?” she asked.
“I don’t know. There is no statute of limitations on murder. It will be up to a judge to decide.”
Elizabeth went to her vehicle. It was getting late but, anxious to be with Sherry, she decided to start for Edmonton. If she drove until midnight, then slept for a while, she should make it home by early afternoon the next day.
She climbed up into the driver’s seat and reached over to give Chevy a loving scratch on the head. Poor Brian, she thought, but at least all the secrets were finally out in the open. With a sense of quiet satisfaction, she headed out on the road home.
The End
The Traveling Detective
Book Two
The Only Shadow in the House
Chapter 1
“Hey, Sally, wait up.” Elizabeth Oliver hurried to catch up with her best friend. “Are you going for lunch?”
“Yes,” Sally Matthews answered. “I’m starving.”
“Good. I’m hungry too.”
The two women walked down the hallway of the long-term care facility where they worked. Their shifts alternated between days and evenings and between the long term care and dementia floors. There were times when they saw little of each other but right now their schedules overlapped and they were both on day shifts.
“Do you want to go for drinks tonight with some of us from th
e second floor?” Sally asked.
“Sorry, I can’t,” Elizabeth said. “I’m meeting Jared at The Keg.”
“You two really hit it off,” Sally smiled. “I’m glad.”
“And I’m glad you introduced us.” Elizabeth pulled her shoulder length, light brown hair out of its pony tail. She hated pony tails but had to keep her hair out of her face while she worked. She envied her friend’s blonde hair which she kept cut short and styled. Her own hair was basically straight and for the most part refused to hold any style.
“He’s a special man, isn’t he?”
They reached the locker room and spun the combinations of their locks.
“He’s been helping me with my next travel article, telling me about the places to see in Redwater and surrounding area in case I include it. He grew up on a farm near there,” Elizabeth said, reaching for her lunch bag.
“Yeah, and it doesn’t sound like he had much of a childhood.” Sally took her lunch bag out of her locker.
Elizabeth shook her head. “He’s only told me a few things, like his mother committing suicide. You’d think with that and him now being in a wheelchair that he would hate the world.”
They pushed open the door to the staff courtyard. It was a sunny July day in Edmonton. The courtyard was square with a high, red brick wall. The floor was cement with areas left for flowerbeds. Round tables sat under shade trees or in the open for those who wanted to enjoy the sun’s rays.
Although the two of them went grocery shopping together their taste in food was totally different as shown by their lunches. Sally had two ham and cheese with lettuce sandwiches, three vanilla cookies, and container of milk. Elizabeth had brought a salad with cheddar cheese chunks and pieces of apple in it, a can of Pepsi, and a banana.
After the death of Elizabeth’s mother last year she and Sally had moved out of their apartment and into the basement suite at her father’s home, more to keep an eye on him than for any other reason. He liked the company and each of them took turns, along with Elizabeth’s younger twin siblings, Sherry and Terry, getting him out of the house, a task that was slowly getting easier.
“I hear Jared’s coming to the barbeque tomorrow night. So, you’re finally going to introduce him to your family.” Sally bit into her sandwich.
“It was kind of a spur of the moment thing.” Elizabeth opened her Pepsi. “With his wheelchair basketball coaching, his basketball practices, and my shift work we don’t have much time to see each other. When I found out that we had two evenings together in a row it just seemed that the barbeque would be the perfect time for everyone to meet him.” She looked at Sally, as she took a drink of her pop. “What else did he tell you?”
“Just that you’d also invited him to the dragon boat festival tomorrow but he couldn’t make it because of his wheelchair basketball practice.”
“There sure are no secrets when my best friend is my boyfriend’s caregiver.”
Sally just grinned.
Elizabeth remembered when Sally first told her about her decision to take on a private client. She’d interviewed with a few people before finding Jared Jones three months ago. She was hired and was able to manage her shifts with him around her job at the facility. So far, it seemed to be working well for her and gave her extra money without taking up much of her time. Many of the staff at the facility had one or two private clients on the side.
Elizabeth had thought about getting into private care but had decided to stay with her plan of becoming a writer. To date she had sold eight travel articles and one historical article. She was getting ready to head out on her research trip for another travel one in just under two weeks.
“Hey, Oliver, Matthews, there you are.” A heavier woman in a pink pant suit came over to them.
“Hi, Connie,” Elizabeth smiled.
“Sorry I’m late. I had to fill a shift for tomorrow.” She pulled out a chair at their table and sat down.
Connie was in charge of the scheduling and was the one who phoned them if there was a shift that needed filling. She was such a happy, easy going person that staff often stopped in at the office just to have their spirits lifted and to grab one of the candies from the dish she kept on her desk. Due to her personality it was sometimes hard to resist her when she called about taking an extra shift.
She always addressed everyone by their last names because, as she put it. “That’s how your names are lined up in my files, last name first.”
“We still on for the dragon boat races tomorrow?” Connie asked, taking three small plastic containers out of the lunch bag she had set on the table.
“We are unless you call us to work,” Sally smiled.
“So far, no one has asked for the weekend off, but someone might call in sick.”
Elizabeth and Sally watched Connie with interest. Their friend was always trying a new diet and they never knew what she would be bringing for lunch. This time she opened the containers to reveal vegetables, fruit, and three boiled eggs.
“Low carb,” Connie said, noticing their scrutiny.
“Is it working?”
“Just started it this morning.” She grinned at them. “Friday, you know.”
“I thought diets were started on Mondays,” Sally said.
“I used to try that but it never worked so I’ve decided to change days.”
Elizabeth and Sally laughed.
“So where are you travelling to this summer?” Connie asked Elizabeth.
“I’m not sure. I’m supposed to write about three loop tours that can each be done in a day’s drive from Edmonton.”
“That covers a lot of territory.” Connie sprinkled salt on an egg and ate it.
“I know,” Elizabeth said ruefully. “That’s why I am having such a hard time deciding. I’ve gathered tourist brochures of central Alberta and checked out the Internet, and I’ve come up with a lot of fascinating and entertaining ideas but still have to decide on the routes. I even asked the editor of the magazine what she had in mind like, was it towns, attractions, or scenery that they wanted to know about. She told me to go with what interested me.”
“Well, that was nice of her,” Connie said.
“Yes, it’s great that she has faith in me but it would have been nicer to have had some sort of guidance.” Elizabeth grinned. “Although, if I concentrate on one area like to the east or the north then when I send it in I could mention that I would be willing to do three in the other directions. It would be kind of like creating a special segment for myself in the magazine.”
Connie laughed. “Smart.”
“Have you narrowed your selection down at all?” Sally asked.
“Yes. There is Highway 16 East with Elk Island Park, Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, and the Pysanka at Vegreville plus Highway 14 has the Viking Ribstones and Fabyan Bridge. Or there is Highway 16 West with the Alberta Fairytale Grounds….”
Sally held up her hand. “Okay, I get the picture.”
“And that’s just a few,” Elizabeth smiled.
“Sometimes I wish I was a writer,” Connie said. “But I wouldn’t want to be you right now.”
“It’s certainly not as easy as it sounds. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything else. I love my travel writing.”
“Do you think you’ll find another mystery while you’re gone?” Connie asked. Everyone at work knew about Elizabeth and her murder solving while researching her articles.
“I doubt it,” Elizabeth said. “The odds of that happening three years in a row would be high.”
“Did you know that she wrote about the mystery of the skeleton found in the septic tank near Fort Macleod last summer?” Sally asked.
Connie looked at Elizabeth. “No, I didn’t hear that.”
Elizabeth smiled. “Yes, and I have a magazine editor who wrote that he liked it and would get back to me to let me know when they had space for it.”
“Hey, that’s great!”
“I’m also thinking of writing about the first murder I
came upon in Red Deer two years ago.”
“Sounds as if you like that as much as travel writing.”
“Oh, travel writing will always come first. At least I have magazine editors who want my articles before I even write them.” She held up her hands. “But enough about me. Did you know that Sally’s writing a science fiction novel?”
“Really?” Connie turned to her with interest.
Sally blushed and nodded.
“I didn’t know you liked sci-fi, too. I’m reading a great sci-fi book right now. What made you decide to write one?”
“I’ve been reading fantasy and science fiction since I was a kid and some of them were pretty bad,” Sally explained. “I finally decided that I could at least write as bad as them. I’m taking a summer evening course at a local college.”
“Wow, I know two writers. I can hardly wait until you both are famous and I can tell people I worked with you.”
Sally looked at her watch. “Well, I have to talk to the nurse before going back to work.” She looked at Elizabeth. “I’ll meet you at the car after work. We’ll go straight home so you can get ready for your date with Jared.”
Elizabeth nodded. She and Connie said goodbye to Sally then sat and enjoyed the warmth of the day for a few minutes more before heading in for the afternoon.
Chapter 2
Elizabeth sat at the restaurant table waiting for Jared. She couldn’t believe the thrill she was feeling just at the thought of seeing him. She felt it every time they got together. She had to admit that she really liked the man. Her mind went back to the first time she met him. She reddened slightly at the memory of the fool she’d made of herself.
Sally had insisted that she meet Jared, her new client. “His name is Jared Jones and he’s thirty-four years old. He lives on his own in a condo. He was in a boating accident when he was twenty-two and has been paralysed from the waist down since then so he’s in a wheelchair. He has a special van that’s been adapted for him. It has a side door, with a lift, for him to get in and out with.”
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