Organized for Murder

by Ritter Ames

  Ever pragmatic, Kate asked, "How much will they cost?"

  He shook his head. "Pay me whenever you can. This isn't any time to be quibbling about what you can afford to have installed. The way I see it, you can't afford not to have as many eyes as possible watching your back. Be they human or electronic."

  *

  Before the police arrived, Meeks and the women went over exactly how much of the tale needed retelling.

  "Say you recognized the mask was gone because you had to straighten it yesterday," Meeks told Kate. "They'll assume then it was crooked on the wall, and you won't need to go into any more detail."

  "That really is the truth," Meg assured Kate. "It was hanging a little off-center yesterday before you straightened it."

  "Yeah, but only after I'd re-hung the cursed thing."

  Meeks frowned. "Exactly what the police do not need to hear. You were in the house. You were commissioned to do a job. You touched things. Nothing more; nothing less. That way if a crime is committed later and something else you've touched is found on the scene, there's a logical explanation for your fingerprints. Are we clear?"

  "Absolutely," Meg said.

  Kate nodded.

  "Okay, fine." He pulled out his cell phone. "I'll call this in." He frowned. "One last thing, Kate. Don't look so damned guilty."

  This time Lieutenant Johnson used the spotless kitchen for an interrogation room. Upon arrival, he separated the three of them, leaving Kate's interview for last. As she finished, Johnson tapped the notebook page with his pen and nodded. "Your statement matches the others, Mrs. McKenzie. We'll call the insurance company about a photograph, and, if none is available, use the description you've provided to check local pawnshops, antique vendors, and all the online auctions."

  "The mask wasn't the first thing stolen." Kate crossed her fingers under the table as she held back the items currently in hers and Meg's possession. "Amelia's stepdaughter—"

  "Yes, yes." He sighed. "I've spoken at great length to various members of the deceased's family about missing items. Everyone seems ready to offer a favorite suspect to blame for the disappearances."

  "Well, seeing as you already know—"

  "Thanks for mentioning it." Johnson's response came as automatic, and his attention returned to the notepad.

  She rose from her chair. "If that's all—"

  "One more question, Mrs. McKenzie." Johnson leveled his gaze her way. "Do you have any idea why someone wanted to steal that particular mask?"

  Kate remembered Meeks's earlier warning "don't look so damned guilty." She stood straighter and forced her breathing to remain steady and calm. "No, sir, not a clue."

  The kitchen door flew open. Valerie, angry and loud, cried, "I'm the last to find out something was stolen, huh? Goes to prove your compulsory search yesterday was less than worthless."

  The expression that flashed across Johnson's face seemed both sly and interested. "I'm Lieutenant Johnson of the Vermont State Police. And you are?"

  "Valerie James." Glowering, she shook his hand.

  "Please tell me everything that happened yesterday, Ms. James."

  Valerie's ire immediately changed to a smile.

  Turning to Kate, he added. "Thank you, Mrs. McKenzie. That's all for now."

  What kind of fresh hell will she get me into? Damn!

  At least Valerie had taken off in the Miata yesterday before they'd found the mask in the van. Lost in thought, Kate didn't realize she'd stopped right outside the kitchen, obviously within eavesdropping distance, until Johnson walked over and swung the door closed. Heat rose to her face as the officer in the front foyer stared at her. Another uniform stood guard at the top of the stairs. She was almost to the parlor when Johnson delivered his final shot, opening the door to call, "One last thing, Mrs. McKenzie."

  Kate turned.

  "Don't even think about leaving town."

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  How Busy People Save Time (Cover during presentation at Book Nook) 1) Budget time just like money: a) Buy monthly items (diapers, pet food, razor blades, etc.) through Amazon subscription for automatic ship and money savings.

  b) Sign up to have payroll checks directly deposited.

  c) Use automatic and online bill paying options.

  d) Don't wait in line; buy stamps from USPS web site or many grocery stores.

  2) Plan menus: a) A month of planned menus allows more efficient shopping and storing.

  b) Sign-up for online coupon sites, and check saving strategy sites like www.couponmom.com.

  c) Buy on-sale items ahead, but don't overbuy for items you won't soon need.

  d) Post preprinted grocery list on refrigerator, checking items as you run out.

  3) Other monthly shopping: a) Buy supplies and staples for your home on a monthly basis—weekly sale ads can save money, but also entice more shopping and spending.

  b) Plan wardrobe needs and homework project supplies ahead, then make a big trip to shop early in the month to avoid costly and time consuming Eleventh Hour maniac runs.

  c) Use online shopping, especially when shipping is free—but don't let S&H charges discourage purchases, as they eliminate travel costs and parking problems.

  d) Send gifts and flowers over the Internet.

  e) Look to future needs—buy a bit ahead each month; save time and money.

  f) Organize the year's receipts together, by store, in one big envelope or file, and have no difficulty finding one if a purchase must be returned.

  4) Regular administration tasks: a) Keep a bill-paying station stocked with checkbook, envelopes, pens, and stamps.

  b) Use preprinted return address labels or purchase a customized self-inking stamp.

  c) Set up regular timeframes to pay bills and mark each on a master calendar—if all are due at the same time, call and get due dates modified to accommodate your payday budget.

  *

  Impossible as it seemed, the morning's events had a high probability toward getting even worse. Beyond their contract to babysit and bluff Sophia's stooge, with Johnson interviewing Valerie there was no telling how she might turn the tables to incriminate Kate and Meg—inadvertently or otherwise. Even the strongest reason for taking the job, to return incriminating items, backfired spectacularly, possibly disastrously, with the vanished mask carrying her fingerprints.

  Worst of all, the crew's inventorying duties hadn't moved to the second floor, so she hadn't yet been able to unobtrusively return the ebony box and ivory fan to their rightful spots. Nothing offered a good reason for Kate to slip up there when Valerie and Meeks were around. She had gotten the items into the house, however, and hidden them under the dusty potted fern in the parlor, rearranging the frolicking gnomes for added camouflage. But until the pilfered items regained their true places upstairs they pointed a guilty finger her way. The surveillance cameras added another layer of concern, despite their obvious good.

  What really irritated her was the missed opportunity to return the purloined items with the death mask the previous afternoon, after Valerie left and before the video monitors moved in. Should have. But twenty-twenty hindsight was useless in the face of the resulting panic to get the mask back into place on the wall. The ebony box and ivory-silk fan had flittered out of Kate's mind as quickly as New Years' diet resolutions.

  Sheesh, talk about the perfect patsy. I'm helping the bad guy do his job. Or her job, she corrected herself.

  With police traipsing everywhere, Kate remained jumpy most of the morning. Would they do a more thorough search in case the mask was secreted somewhere in the house, and discover her own cache before the two items could be replaced? Icing on the cake, added to the lieutenant's recent comments.

  Telling herself to quit worrying was a useless endeavor, and the day provided little else to do as the team waited for the police to complete their duties and eventually release them. By ten o'clock, officers moved the threesome into the dining room, once the room attained "clean" status, to wait and watch a
s different law enforcement personnel criss-crossed the hall.

  "Could we please go ahead with our inventory job?" Kate asked Lieutenant Johnson. She could feel a headache coming on, and though not crazy about working the day either, if they got anything done it would have to be soon. Amelia's funeral started at three, and she needed to go home and change.

  "Where do you want to work?" Johnson stood in the middle of the hall and turned to get the floor plan's full effect.

  Kate joined him on the oriental runner and pointed toward the front of the house. "We've been working on the parlor."

  "You done in the southeast parlor?" he barked at a nearby technician.

  "Didn't see any reason to go in there," the tech answered. "Want me to do it next?"

  The women groaned. The lieutenant shrugged and grinned. "No, I guess not. The only thing positively missing is the mask. No need to create any more headaches."

  Kate's headache subsided a bit.

  As they made their way into the parlor, Meeks came down the stairs. "I think I have things scouted out all right, and I've placed a few pivoting cameras on each floor, but I'll be over with my guys to set more later."

  Meeks seemed to take up the entire parlor doorway. He pointed to a camera mounted high in one corner, across the room and a good distance from the windows. "They're all like that little one. Tiny but mighty. Uses wireless technology to send everything to our computers." The camera pivoted in a slow, continuous arc, keeping the room in scope.

  "It'll spot anyone coming in and tell us whatever's taken, unless the item is right under the lens. That's kind of a dead zone. But you're more interested in 'whom' than 'what,' and this system should do the job." He hefted his two black leather cases. "You ladies need anything else before I go?"

  "No, but thank you," Kate said. Meg nodded and smiled. Valerie looked bored.

  "Well, guess I'll be g—"

  "Just a minute, Meeks," Lieutenant Johnson called him back. "We'll want any evidence you collect on those tapes."

  "You mean files. Everything's digital. And I'm afraid you'll need to get permission from my client."

  "We've already spoken with Charles Webster Walker. He said we have his full cooperation."

  "On the burglary of the mask?" Meeks questioned.

  "Yes."

  "But I wasn't hired because of the mask. My contracted duty predates that discovery. I'll be happy to turn over anything my client releases, but I can't agree to do so without his direct instruction." Meeks walked to the door and left without another word, leaving a red-faced Johnson in his wake.

  Feeling a little cowardly, Kate moved further into the parlor, out of the lieutenant's line of sight. Meg and Valerie followed suit.

  Law enforcement completed their tasks and vacated the premises within another hour. Kate's official workday had started at seven. It was past noontime, and she was shouldering the effects of a nearly full day and unrelenting stress. The idea of leaving for a restaurant meal made her giddy, but simply eating sounded wonderful, too. She was about to suggest a call-in pizza order, hoping maybe Louie would be delivering for Hazey Pie and she could follow up another lead, when the front bell rang.

  "I'll get it. I need to get up anyway." Meg scooted the computer off her lap and went to the door, rolling her head as she walked to loosen neck muscles.

  Seconds later Mrs. Baxter appeared, a worried frown covering her dumpling face. "Oh, you poor dears. Wading through all these dusty things."

  Kate glanced down at the gray-brown streaks overlaying the print of her shirt and the blue in her jeans, and noticed Valerie equally and dustily decorated, including forehead stripes where she'd swiped her sweaty brow.

  "If I told Miss Amelia once, I told her a hundred times we had to get someone in to take care of these things," Mrs. Baxter continued. A tear slipped down one powdered cheek as she faced Kate. "But, of course, that's why you were here to begin with, wasn't it dear?"

  Kate quickly rose from where she'd been kneeling by the sheet music to hug the older woman. "In case you need me, I'll be at the funeral today, Mrs. Baxter. Don't forget that."

  The cotton-haired cook pulled back and nodded, wiping her eyes with a lacey handkerchief. "I know you will, dear." She reached up and squeezed Kate's shoulder, then briskly blew her nose. "There. That's better." She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry I fell apart. Those spells hit when I least expect."

  "Well, I'm glad you came today," Kate said. "I was going to go by your cottage on the way out to check on you."

  Valerie loudly sniffed, drawing attention to herself. The smug look she shot Kate implied she had information but wasn't ready to spill.

  Kate turned her attention back to Mrs. Baxter. "Did you come to say hello, or can we help you with anything?"

  The cook took a final swipe at her reddened nose and shook her head. "Came to clean out the refrigerator and freezers. Stuff's going to ruin if I don't. No one in that selfish family ever thinks about such mundane things. Got an okay from Mr. Walker to donate the whole kit and caboodle to the homeless shelter. They'll be by in about an hour to pick up the donation."

  "We were about to order lunch—"

  "Order lunch?" Mrs. Baxter shook her head. "Not while I'm here you won't. You ladies come into the kitchen, and I'll make you a meal to remember. Nothing planned from scratch, mind you, but well worth every bite."

  They had barely sat down before the cook swept a companionable plate of cheeses along with a basket of bread rounds and crackers for them to nibble on while they waited. Kate tried the Camembert first. Meg dived into the Vermont Shepherd and Valerie chose Maytag Blue. Cucumber and red onion salad followed, and Kate loved the cool, fresh taste, marveling over the black sesame seeds on top.

  "I've never seen black sesames before."

  "Just one of my secrets," Mrs. Baxter returned, beaming. "Now, for the main course," she stood on tiptoe in front of the open freezer, "would you like Korean beef bok choy, chicken grilled with peach salsa, or mushroom bolognese?"

  "You want us to choose?" Meg cried.

  Valerie whined, "I can't."

  Mrs. Baxter's smile shone bigger. "I'll put everything out and you can serve yourselves a bit of each."

  The woman was true to her word. From freezer to microwave to table in less than a quarter of an hour, and Kate knew precisely why Amelia made her first task after returning to Hazelton to hire back Mrs. Baxter.

  They passed on black-and-white parfaits for dessert, but all dove into the cherry turnover midgees and chocolate-dipped coconut macaroons.

  "Oh, Mrs. Baxter, I've died and gone to heaven," Meg said, stacking her dessert dish on top of her spotless salad and dinner plate.

  "Me too." Kate added her dishes to the stack and rose to bus the table. Meg grabbed the used silverware.

  "And me," Valerie chimed in, remaining steadfast in her chair.

  Mrs. Baxter beamed as she wiped her hands on a dishtowel.

  A knock sounded at the back door, and Kate expected the homeless shelter personnel. The cook dropped the towel on the counter and bustled over to open the door. Bill Nethercutt entered instead.

  "I had to pick up something in the garage and thought I heard voices," he said. "Figured I'd stop and say hello, but it looks like I might be in time for lunch."

  "Yes, sir." Mrs. Baxter scooted to a cabinet, returning with another plate and silverware. "I was feeding the ladies leftovers, but we've plenty more. Sit down and make yourself at home."

  Bill started with the beef bok choy. Another knock sounded at the door.

  Mrs. Baxter admitted two husky individuals sporting crew cuts and flannel shirts, as Kate filled Bill in on the food plans.

  "Oh, excellent idea," he said, but a line formed between his eyebrows. "Wish I'd thought of it myself."

  He remained silent the rest of the time he was there, eating and staring as box after box of packaged frozen food disappeared into the homeless shelter's van. Kate wondered at this strange behavior from such a normally greg
arious man. Was it the idea of Mrs. Baxter's exquisite edibles going to charity that silenced his tongue, or a dislike of the two individuals who came to get the food? With her last bite, Kate recalled his rumored money woes and decided it was likely the idea he couldn't take the delicious meals home himself.

  "Did you find what you needed in the garage?" Meg asked.

  He seemed caught off-guard by the question, and stared blankly at her for several seconds. "Oh, yes," he said at last. "We'd left the keys to the MG in the glove box. I wanted to pick them up to keep Danny from getting any ideas about driving the car."

  "But it's up on the rack," Kate said.

  "How would you know that?" Bill asked, suspicion showing on his face.

  Valerie jumped in to explain. "There was a prowler yesterday. We checked the garage and backyard."

  "A prowler?" His fork slipped from his hand and clattered onto the plate.

  "Yes, and one of your father's death masks was stolen," Kate added, "Charles Webster Walker is aware of everything. The police were here all morning."

  "Here?" He pushed his chair away from the table. "Gotta talk to—" Then he stopped. Kate wondered who Bill wanted to speak with, and what he wanted to talk about.

  He pulled keys from his pocket, and for a moment returned to a semblance of his former gracious self. "Ladies, it's been a pleasure, but I just remembered an appointment." He looked at his watch. "I'm sorry, but I really have to run."

  I'll bet you do. But where are you running, Billy-boy? Kate wished she had time to follow, now anxious to witness how he would appear during Amelia's service in the afternoon.

  *

  The funeral was held at the Episcopal Church in Hazelton, the small sanctuary overflowing with friends, family, and the out-and-out curious. The mingled scents from the floral displays that filled the front and lined the walls almost overwhelmed Kate's senses.

  Local florists are probably making more on this funeral than they will for Mother's Day next month.

  The family sat separated from the rest of the mourners, each member dressed in stalwart black. Handkerchiefs were the favored accessory, but she noticed Bill no longer appeared upset. In fact, from the distance he seemed almost giddy, having to wipe a huge smile from his face whenever his head turned Sophia's way. She, in turn, tried to wither him with a glare. Danny and Thomas, on the other hand, stayed absorbed by the sprays and stands of flowers, and Mrs. Baxter cried nonstop. Kate was glad the cook had been invited to sit with the others, though a little surprised Sophia would condescend to let "the help" fraternize in such a manner.