Murder by Kindness

by Barbara Graham

  Tony had his own opinions of men who thought nothing of spending the evening and their money hanging out in the bars while expecting someone else to supply food and clothing for their children. He managed to hold on to his temper, but it was a near thing. He tipped his head to indicate to Wade that he was ready to leave. It was a race to the door. Wade won.

  Wade glanced at him when they were standing in the fine, fresher air of the parking lot, inhaling deeply. Heavy exhaust fumes were better than breathing in the bar. “Let me guess. We’re off to notify the brother and the nephews.”

  “First, I think I’d like to get my own vehicle.” Tony glanced at his watch. “This day is not getting any younger. Maybe I can go straight home after we enjoy our interview.”

  Wade nodded and climbed behind the wheel. “We’ve heard some sorry stories, but certainly nothing that I think says criminal behavior.”

  Tony agreed. “But it doesn’t seem possible that she could accidentally ingest that much arsenic. It isn’t a good way to commit suicide, either.”

  “However improbable, then, we’re left with homicide.” Wade’s eyes started to cross.

  “On second thought, I think we can wait until morning to accost Mrs. Plover’s ‘grieving’ relatives.” Tony felt his brain turn to mush. “Go home. Get some sleep.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  The first thing the next morning, the quest to meet the rest of the Plover clan continued. Tony managed to track down an address for the late Mr. Plover’s brother in a neighboring county. Tony and Wade headed out on the unpleasant duty of death notification.

  Leon Plover, Eunice’s brother-in-law, barely let them introduce themselves and mention her name before he began ranting about Eunice and how selfish she was and downright pigheaded she was about everything involving his family. “Whatever that crazy woman claims is a lie!”

  “We’re here with bad news.” Tony cleared his throat, hoping to stop Leon’s tirade. “I have to admit I’ve not heard anything to indicate you cared much for your sister-in-law, Eunice, at all, but she passed away.” Before he’d climbed out of the Blazer, Tony had popped four antacid tablets in his mouth. A chunk of one still embedded in a tooth gave him something pleasant to think about.

  “Oh, my sorrow. She can’t be dead. That’s so wrong.” Leon turned his head and snuffled into his right shoulder. The T-shirt, once white, had seen better days and had no recent experience with a washing machine. “I’ll miss her so much.”

  Tony considered what he was hearing. Leon had just told them their relationship was far from a pleasant one, but now the fact that she was deceased seemed to upset him way out of proportion for an antagonistic relationship. What surprised Tony even more was the giant contrast between Leon and his deceased brother. Eunice’s husband had been well-educated and well-dressed. Either Leon was an ignorant piece of trash, or he wanted Tony to believe he was. Tony would swear it was the second option. But why?

  “When was the last time you spoke with her?” According to the current gossip in Silersville, the argument about the house and money was ongoing and had recently escalated.

  “Well, let’s see, I was over to her place, maybe a month ago.”

  While they still stood in the entryway, Leon’s two sons staggered down the stairs. Grown men, almost identical physically to their father, they were dressed in expensive, but soiled, clothing. They smelled like the Spa or another unpleasant bar: stale smoke, stale beer and maybe old chicken grease.

  The brothers stared at the three men who stood at the bottom of the stairs. Finally, bracing himself against the stair rail, the one on the left spoke. “What’s up, Dad?”

  Leon managed a teardrop before answering. “Your beloved Auntie Eunice has passed away.”

  “Cool.” The one on the right spoke, but both men grinned like they just won the lottery. “When do we get the money?”

  “Now, boy, I expect there’s some paperwork to do first.” Leon looked to Tony for verification.

  Tony’s mouth opened but a different voice spoke.

  “Damn.” This came from the brother on the right. “I could sure use some of that cash now.”

  It wasn’t easy, but Tony managed to hold his tongue. He fought to keep his expression impassive because he wanted to hear the whole conversation. If something untoward had happened to Eunice, these three appeared to have a motive and not much in the way of brains or compassion.

  Leon scratched his belly. “I guess that’s life.” All hint of grief evaporated. “Seems to me, we might as well get started clearing out all that junk that’s in the old woman’s house.”

  “No, you will not.” Tony shook his head. “That house is sealed and the property is off limits until further notice and until there is a determination of inheritance of some of the personal items.” He didn’t trust these men.

  “That’s not fair,” one of the brothers whined.

  “That’s the way it is.” Tony didn’t know which of the men had said the words, but they all looked disappointed and angry. “If you trespass or steal anything, I will arrest you. If you even touch the doorknob, I will arrest you. If you are unaware of the change in ownership, you should know the house and land no longer belonged to Eunice at the time of her death.”

  The relatives stood, mouths gaping wide.

  Tony repeated. “It will not belong to you.”

  Not satisfied by the suicide theory, Tony and Wade went from house to house in Mrs. Plover’s neighborhood, knocking on doors and asking people if they often had contact with Mrs. Plover. They asked what the neighbors knew of her and if they’d ever noticed anything peculiar or unusual happening at her home. Most of their responses detailed facts Tony already knew. The older woman was well-liked and watched a neighbor’s baby for an hour each morning until the babysitter picked her up, for free. She was quiet. She kept her trash contained. She waved and smiled when they drove by. Her most frequent visitors were her friend Jenny Swift and her nephew, Jack Gates.

  One neighbor told a different story. It was not a new story to Tony, as the sheriff.

  Tony knew from complaints Mrs. Plover made that she thought one of her neighbors, Wes Hoffman, was a dangerous man, if not a known criminal. She claimed Hoffman had broken every law in the book, and he was harming his children. Careful investigation showed the neighbor’s most heinous activity was his preference for a vegetarian lifestyle. Tony had paid the man a visit at the time.

  Now, months later, standing on Hoffman’s porch, Tony said, “Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”

  “I thought we cleared up everything.” Obvious surprise creased the neighbor’s forehead. “But sure, it’s fine.”

  “I’ll ask a few questions, then we can work up to the reason.” Tony thought either the man had no idea what was going on in his neighborhood or should be working on an acceptance speech to collect his award for really fine acting. “Mrs. Plover.”

  “What’s that old bat accusing me of now?” The neighbor flung the door open as wide as it would go, ignoring the way it bounced off the wall, and rested his fists on his hips, making a display of his anger. “Whatever it is, I’m sure she’ll write a letter to the editor complaining about my aberrant lifestyle.”

  “I gather you still don’t get along?” Tony knew it was an understatement. This man was very angry. Tony made a notation in his notebook about Hoffman’s anger. “What if I told you she was dead?”

  “I’d say, either it’s a lie or good riddance!” Hoffman practically spat the words. Almost immediately, whether from something his brain signaled or the expression he might have seen on Tony’s face, Hoffman amended his statement. “Now that’s not altogether true, Sheriff. While it is true that she is an aggravation of enormous proportions, it is only to me. My children and my wife like her.” His breathing was rapid and shallow.

  “Why do you say that?” Wade managed to ask a question before the neighbor launched into another verbal assault.

  “She’s one of those stro
ng people. I don’t think she’s ever been sick.” Hoffman stuffed his hands in his pockets and hunched his shoulders slightly, looking somewhat apologetic. Staring past the men on his front step, he looked in the direction of the Plover house. “She actually isn’t all bad. A few weeks ago when we all had the flu bug, she brought us soup, even a homemade vegetarian soup for me.”

  “Was that before or after she called my office to complain about your withholding meat products from your children?”

  “Before.”

  Tony thought the neighbor’s expression bore a striking similarity to a five-year-old’s displeasure when caught doing something he had been instructed not to do. “Did you go over to apologize?”

  “Yes. I took her a plate of oatmeal-raisin cookies.”

  “When was this?” Tony mentally checked their timeline.

  “Uh, well, it was Sunday.”

  “Did you get the plate back?” Wade studied the man’s face before writing himself a note.

  “No.” The neighbor looked surprised by the question. “It wasn’t valuable. It was a throwaway, a recycled paper product.”

  “If it turns up, we might ask you to identify it. For evidence purposes.”

  “Evidence? A paper plate?” The young man’s expression changed as he began connecting the dots. “Say, what’s going on? Has something happened to her?”

  “Yes, I’m afraid she has passed away.” Tony hated delivering this kind of news, even to people who claimed they didn’t care.

  “Impossible.” The motion of his head from side to side emphasized Hoffman’s disbelief. “She’ll outlive us all.”

  Tony thought he would approach this from another direction. “All right, let’s say I believe you. Being one of her neighbors, you were in a good position to see what was going on. You know, if there was something to witness.” Tony was not happy with his own words. He tried a question. “If you were going to guess who might have a serious grudge against her, who would it be? Have you seen anyone unusual visiting her?”

  Hoffman studied the ground for a bit and then stared at the house across the way, and then straightened and looked directly into Tony’s eyes. “Yes, there was something strange.”

  “Tell me.”

  “I had forgotten all about it. A family stopped by her house not too long ago, a man and a woman and three children. I heard them all screaming at each other.” Hoffman ran a hand through his hair making it go all spiky, as he carefully tried to recall the day.

  “Was Eunice screaming?” It was hard for Tony to imagine the normally well-behaved woman acting like a toddler.

  The neighbor concentrated on the question and eventually said, “No, actually, she was pretty calm. The shotgun she had pointed at them wasn’t wavering at all.”

  Tony smiled to himself. He heard Wade stifle a laugh. The neighbor had clearly been so caught up in his own petty argument with her that having his neighbor lady brandishing a shotgun at someone else didn’t seem at all threatening. “I think I need more information. Could you hear anything they said?”

  “Why don’t you two come in and sit down?” Hoffman led the way into his house. “Would either of you like some water or coffee?”

  Wade declined.

  Tony shook his head, and settled onto the sofa. “About the argument.”

  Hoffman launched into his story. “It was over a week ago now. Saturday afternoon. I was trying to watch basketball. The Tennessee girls had their hands full that day. It was quite a match.” He studied his floor for a moment, hands spread as he shifted, almost like he was playing in the game. He looked up. “Wait. I just remembered I overheard her say she would not sign any paper. Ever! She had to be really screaming at someone for me to hear it over here. The windows were closed.”

  “Do you know what kind of paper she was talking about?”

  “Not exactly. I had the feeling though that it was something to do with ownership of her house.”

  “Why was that?” Wade looked up from his note taking.

  “You know how sound travels up here in the hills. One minute you can’t hear anything being said ten feet away and then, with just a slight shift in the air or in your location, you can hear everything like they’re talking right next to you.”

  Tony had experienced that phenomenon. He nodded. “What was said?”

  “Well, all of a sudden I heard something about them wanting her to move into town, leaving the house, or else they’d lock her up.” He frowned. “I can tell you that, as much as she irritated me personally, I cannot imagine her living anywhere else.”

  “But you don’t know who these people were?”

  “I should.” Hoffman leaned back and closed his eyes. He made a little humming sound as he thought. Tony was content to wait. Suddenly the man’s eyes flew open and he sat up straight.

  “I had seen them before.” Hoffman rose to his feet and went to the window, staring at Mrs. Plover’s house. “After they had stopped by to threaten her, she talked about them. It was just the one time, and it made her so sad we ended the conversation. I expected feistiness and aggravation from her, not tears. I guess her late brother had three children, two boys and a girl. In her words, none of them ever amounted to a hill of beans. After their father died, they robbed their mother of every last penny she inherited and bankrupted the entire family. I think the angry man that day had to be one of her nephews.”

  Wade said, “No wonder she didn’t want their name on any of her property.”

  Between her own niece and nephews and her late husband’s family, Tony wondered how many would try to challenge the will now that she was dead. He was thankful for the information he’d received from her attorney, Carl Lee Cashdollar.

  Tony heard a blast of static coming from Wade’s microphone, followed by Rex’s voice. “Sheila says to tell you that a pack of women is headed toward Mrs. Plover’s house.”

  Wade looked to Tony for guidance. “Want me to hang more yellow tape?”

  Tony wasn’t sure what to tell him. “Better to err on the side of caution. If we let those ladies trample the scene and a crime has been committed, we will never solve it, and if we do, we will never get a conviction.”

  Wade gave a small salute. “I’ll block off as much of the property as I can.”

  “I’ll go back to the center. When you finish, come to my office. I’ll see if I can find an address for her brother’s children.”

  “Sounds like a family as much fun as her husband’s.”

  Thankfully, it didn’t require much detective work to locate the name and address. While he waited for Wade, Tony stared at the growing pile of papers on his desk and found himself wondering what to tackle next.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Theo stood near the quilt shop’s front window and watched a small, old couple walking down the sidewalk. The two of them were holding hands as they walked and bobbed up and down in perfect unison. New to the area, it looked like they had quickly become acclimated. Theo guessed they’d had lunch at the senior center and then, carrying matching small, orange, thermal tote bags, they went for a short walk. No one she talked to knew their names.

  Theo had managed to learn their home was a small apartment in the new senior housing complex. Theo wasn’t quite sure that six were enough units to qualify as a “complex,” but it didn’t matter. Theo’s enjoyment came from watching the pair. Husband and wife were almost identical in height and weight and, dressed in the right clothing, they looked like Humpty Dumpty and his wife taking a walk. They were quite round in the middle and had unusually thin arms and legs. His bald scalp did nothing to dispel the egg comparison.

  They had come into Theo’s shop one day, wandered about, touching almost everything except the fabric, then left. They ran their hands over spools of thread, small scissors, pre-wound bobbins, packages of needles. Shortly after that, Theo discovered a few small items missing. They could have simply been misplaced, but she had a feeling they had been stolen. She knew Miss Bessie had not bee
n involved because when Bessie took something, she left something in its place. Bessie had once left a jar of mustard to replace a missing measuring tape.

  Theo had not mentioned any of this to Tony, mostly because she wasn’t certain. However, if they came in her shop again, she would watch them very carefully. If they were stealing, it was most likely not from need, but for fun. She wasn’t in the mood to provide their entertainment.

  “Sheriff, we’ve got someone at the front desk inquiring about a stuffed toy hippopotamus that has gone missing.” Rex’s voice interrupted Tony’s thoughts.

  Frustrated in his attempts to learn anything about former sheriff Harvey Winston’s cold case, Louise Barnet, and preparing to talk to Jack Gates again about his late aunt, Tony had almost forgotten about the toy. “I’ll be right there.” Unlocking the small bin he’d placed it in, Tony retrieved it and took it with him. He expected to find a child waiting with a parent. Instead, he found the Grand Duchess and Richards, her chauffeur.

  The chauffeur spoke. “I should have asked you about the hippopotamus when I was here the other day. It’s been days since she lost it, and everyone has been searching. It’s been a very difficult time for her.”

  Tony thought the chauffeur seemed embarrassed by his oversight. As for the Grand Duchess, she looked lost and confused, until she spied the dirty, soft toy he carried.

  “Oh, thank you, sir,” she whispered as she reached for the hippo with trembling hands. Tears filled her eyes. “My treasure.”

  Obviously recognizing the object, the chauffeur’s face split with a wide smile. “Awesome.”

  Tony thought the word sounded odd coming from the well-spoken chauffeur and said, “There was no identification in it. Not even on the prescription bottle.” Tony was more than curious.

  “A word, Sheriff?” Richards stepped away from his employer. When Tony joined him, Richards whispered, “She has several medications, but my wife is in charge of keeping them safe and hands them out on schedule.” He cleared his throat. “However, the Grand Duchess likes to carry some pills she can take whenever she feels like she’s going to have a spell, whatever that is.”