“Hayes,” Taneesha said.
“And you work with Sheriff Bailey,” Augusta said. “Why have I got a bandage on my head?”
A nurse came bustling in with a young man in scrubs.
“We’ve got to take her for another CT scan,” she said to Taneesha. “Miss Augusta, we’ll get you another breakfast once we’re done.”
“Don’t you bother with that,” Augusta said. “Taneesha Martin Hayes here is going to run over to her uncle’s restaurant and get me a real breakfast.”
“That’s right,” Taneesha said with a grin.
Tab arrived at his grandparents’ house and smelled bacon cooking and biscuits baking.
He smiled, thinking Vincent Wren was going to provide some peace of mind to the whole family.
He went to check on Caitlin, hoping to talk some sense into her. To his astonishment, she was dressed and had an open suitcase on the sofa.
“So,” he said tentatively, “When’s your mom coming?”
“Soon, I hope,” Caitlin said, “I called her and told her I wanted to go by the house before we went to the airport.”
“So are you two going to fly out of Atlanta today?” he asked, trying to keep it casual, but thinking that Caitlin might be planning to make her last stand at the house in Atlanta.
“Yeah,” she said, picking up a shoe box and making space for it in one side of her suitcase. “Could I please have some privacy?”
Tab shrugged and decided to leave well enough alone. He went to the kitchen where his grandmother and grandfather were enjoying breakfast and Vincent seemed to be cleaning out the refrigerator.
“Looks like the tantrum’s over,” Buzz said to his grandmother. “She’s called her mother and she’s packing to leave.”
“Will wonders never cease?” Pink said, smiling. “Well, I hope she’s happy at that school. The poor thing has had such a bad week, and it will be better for her to be with girls her own age. Now sit down. You just have to try Vincent’s biscuits.”
Chapter 47
At Hilliard House, Phoebe Baird was thinking hard about Caitlin’s change of attitude. It made her suspicious, and it struck her that if Caitlin got into the house in Atlanta, she might dig in her heels and refuse to leave there. The more she thought about it, the more she was sure of it.
She went to talk to the chauffeur about driving them straight through to Virginia.
Mallory was all smiles when Hunter arrived at the newspaper office.
“Miss Rose was so glad you found her watch,” she said. “And I think she was especially glad that it turned up over at the McFalls’ house because it proved her memory wasn’t so bad after all.”
“Is that all you’re smiling about?” Hunter asked. “I tried reaching you yesterday. How was your dinner date?”
“Just great,” Mallory said, still smiling.
“You look like the cat that ate the canary,” Hunter said. “What happened?”
“Can’t tell you,” Mallory said. “It’s a secret.”
Augusta Wren was pleased with the breakfast Taneesha brought her: eggs, sausage, cheese grits and two biscuits.
“Now this,” she said, “Is real food even if it is in a take-out tray. Of course, you come from a family of fine cooks. Do you cook?”
“I do,” Taneesha said. “I love to cook.”
Augusta ate all of her eggs and grits, half of the sausage, and one biscuit before she stopped and said, “That’s all I can manage, but that was fine. Now tell me about this business of my getting hit on the head. I don’t remember a thing, but it must have happened.”
“You know you were hit on the head?”
“I heard the nurse say it, and I can feel the bandage. I know they’ve shaved off some of my hair, but I don’t remember anybody hitting me. Who are they saying hit me? Where was I?”
“You were in your bed,” Taneesha said. “We know Marietta was there earlier and fixed you some soup and then a toddy. Do you remember that?”
“Yes,” Augusta said. “It was canned soup, but I ate some of it. That toddy did the job, though.”
“Do you remember anybody being there that evening except Marietta?”
Augusta thought about it.
“Nobody but Caitlin,” she finally said. “Has that child gone yet? I swear she is a mess. Never thinks about anybody but herself.”
“Caitlin was there in the guest house?” Taneesha asked.
“Well just for a minute. She came knocking on the door, and I had to drag myself out of bed to unlock it. But she didn’t stay. She just wanted to know if I had Deb McFall’s home number. She said her grandparents were asleep, and she had called Tab, but he wasn’t answering, and she wanted their—you know—what do you call it?”
She was looking tired already.
“Landline number?” Taneesha asked.
“Yes, I wasn’t very nice. She had gotten me out of bed for something silly like that. I think I told her that I didn’t know, and not to bother me again because I didn’t feel good. Has her mother picked her up yet?”
“She’s here in town,” Taneesha said. “They’re supposed to leave this afternoon.”
“Was it a burglar who hit me?” Augusta asked after taking a sip of her coffee and scowling at it. “Did they steal anything?”
“No,” Taneesha said, deciding not to mention the jewelry bag. Things were clicking together in her mind, but she tried to sound relaxed.
“So did Caitlin leave when you told her to?”
“I reckon she did,” Augusta said, and then she smiled a little. “I do remember slamming the door behind her. I went straight back to bed. You know how it is when somebody gets you out of bed for no good reason?”
“Oh, yes,” Taneesha said. “Did you lock the door?”
Augusta thought about that and frowned.
“Honey, I think so, but I don’t know. To tell you the truth,
I was probably a little drunk from that toddy. Marietta made it right strong.”
Taneesha felt as if her mind couldn’t process information fast enough.
As she headed out, a young custodian stopped her, looking anxious.
“You’re from the sheriff’s office, right?” he asked. “I’m Tarquin Greathouse. I’m a member of the Paranormal Society, and I wonder if I could talk to you about something.”
“I haven’t got time now,” she said, reaching into her pocket for a card. “Call me tomorrow.”
Her cell phone rang just as she got back to her car. It was Sabrina McFall returning her call, and the timing couldn’t have been better.
After they had exchanged pleasantries, Taneesha got to the point quickly.
“I need to ask you about Caitlin. Has she had any history of stealing?”
There was a long silence.
“Yes,” Sabrina finally said.
“She’s stolen from you before?”
“Yes,” Sabrina said, “In fact, I went into her room while I was in the house in Atlanta, and got five or six things of mine. I got so used to it that I used to just ask her for things back.”
“Just from you? Did she steal from anybody else?”
“I’m pretty sure’s she’s shoplifted from Macy’s and from The Gap, and got away with it. She didn’t need to do it, but she did it anyway. That’s why she got expelled from the nice school we got her into. She was stealing little things from the other girls. They promised Buzz not to tell the police if he’d just make sure she didn’t come around the school. She hasn’t been in school since November. I tried, but they all called the other school. She didn’t care, though, except for not seeing this boy she thought was her boyfriend. She was texting him all the time, and he wouldn’t answer.”
“What boyfriend? What was his name?”
“Oh, it was Galen something. We never even met him.”
“Do you think she has emotional problems?” Taneesha asked cautiously.
“I think something’s missing,” Sabrina said, her voice softer. “She wouldn’t go to a counselor or a psychiatrist. She’s really bright, but she just doesn’t go by anybody’s rules. She used to leave the house without telling anybody, and I wouldn’t have a clue where she was. That’s why I couldn’t believe it when Buzz bought her a car for her birthday and wanted me to teach her to drive. Have you ever tried teaching somebody to drive who doesn’t think they have to go by any rules?”
“No,” Taneesha said, waiting for more.
“And, of course, she failed the driving test,” Sabrina said, “Buzz said he’d take her to take it again, like maybe if he went they’d let her pass. And then she went out one night on her own. I think she was trying to find that boy she was so fixated on. Anyway, Buzz took her keys away, and she pouted all the way through Christmas about that. He was still after me to find another school for her, and I told him he’d have to do that himself, and then, on top of everything, he decides he’s going to run for Governor.”
She ran out of breath, but Taneesha realized she had just heard from the real, unfiltered Sabrina McFall.
“So, Mrs. McFall,” she said, cautiously, “You know that your husband was suffocated with a pillow after he collapsed with his heart attack. Do you think there’s a chance that Caitlin could have done that?”
Sabrina considered it and said, “Oh, Lord, I hope not. I really don’t think so. That wouldn’t make any sense. I mean he loved her, and he pretty much caved on anything she wanted.”
“I understand you’re saying that it wouldn’t have been in her interest,” Taneesha said. “But do you think she’d be capable of it? Was she ever violent?”
“Not around me,” Sabrina said, after a long hesitation.
“But I do know that one of the reasons Phoebe sort of gave up on her was … well, this is awful .. she threw Phoebe’s dog out the car window.”
“Huh?” Taneesha said.
“What Phoebe told Buzz was that they were on some major highway out there near San Francisco, and the traffic got stopped for some reason, like four lanes across, and the dog—it was a Chihuahua—kept barking, and Caitlin just rolled down her window and threw the dog out. Phoebe had to jump out of the car and try to catch him, and he got panicked and got under another stopped car. And then the traffic started up again, and everybody was honking.”
“Did she save the dog?” Taneesha asked.
“Yes,” Sabrina said. “And I’m pretty sure she’s still got him. She got rid of Caitlin instead. You know, I had sort of wanted to get a cat, but I wasn’t going to do that after I heard the dog story. Buzz never liked Phoebe’s chihuahuas, and he didn’t think it was a big deal, but it is, isn’t it?”
She made a snuffling nose. Taneesha realized she was crying, and said, “Yes, I think it really is a big deal. Thank you for telling me that. Now, let me just go back to one thing. When you were packing up to leave, you looked around for something and didn’t find it. What was missing, and did you ever find it?”
“No,” Sabrina said, “It was a cloisonne compact, something my mom gave me. It has enamel flowers on it. It’s not valuable, just something pretty that I liked.”
“When had you last used it?” Taneesha asked.
“When I was getting ready to go downstairs,” Sabrina said. “Just to powder my nose. I usually kept it in my purse.”
“And you didn’t take your purse downstairs?”
“No, I didn’t and if Caitlin’s got it, I’d sure like to have it back,” she said, suddenly sounding out of patience. “She won’t argue about it. She just hands things back and shrugs.”
Chapter 48
In his father’s Atlanta office, Declan Reeves looked cornered and nervous.
“I was just going to call you,” he said to Sam, “I got a new phone and I, uh, just figured out how to check the messages.”
Sam didn’t bother with disputing that or mentioning his calls to Declan’s father, who wasn’t at work yet.
“We just need to get a few things straightened out,” he said.
“If it’s about Caitlin, I don’t know what she said, but I really didn’t know she was just sixteen,” Declan said, his voice cracking. “I honest-to-God thought she was older than that. She looks older. And she was kind of pushy, you know. But nothing really happened down there in Merchantsville, and as soon as I found out she was that young, I didn’t even take her phone calls. She’s been texting and calling me all week. I haven’t even answered, but once. And that was Thursday night, to tell her to leave me alone. Then, when she didn’t stop, I got a new phone.”
“Why don’t we find somewhere to sit down,” Sam said, “You’re really not in trouble about Caitlin being a minor unless something serious happened.”
“It was nothing serious,” Declan said, leading the way to his tiny office. “Really. It was just that she was flirting all the way down from Atlanta and telling me she liked my sweater and reaching over and messing with my hair and stuff like that.”
“Kenyatta Johnson said she saw you two kissing on the stairs,” Sam said. “What I want to know is if you can tell us anything about Buzz McFall going upstairs. Did you see him go upstairs?”
“What did Caitlin tell you?” Declan asked.
“Don’t say another word, son!”
Dawson Reeves was at the door, looking angry.
“How dare you come in here talking to him without asking me!” he said.
“He’s 24 years old,” Sam said. “And this is a murder investigation.”
“Did you tell him he has a right to have an attorney present?”
“You have a right to an attorney,” Sam said to Declan.
“I don’t need a lawyer,” Declan said. “I’m sick of this whole thing, and I didn’t really do anything serious with that girl. Really. It’s all getting blown up out of proportion. Dad, would you go away and let me talk to them and get this over with. It’s kind of private.”
Sam started over when Dawson left.
“Did you see Buzz McFall go upstairs? ”
“No, I was upstairs when he came up there,” Declan said in low voice. “ I was in Caitlin’s room with her, and he just came crashing in. Didn’t knock or anything.”
“And saw the two of you together?”
“Yeah,” Declan said, turning red, “but wasn’t anything serious happening. We were on her bed, but you know, all our clothes were on.”
“And what was Mr. McFall’s reaction to seeing you there?”
“Well, he was all red in the face and breathing funny. I know now he was about to have a heart attack, but I thought he was really mad. He looked at me and said, “Get outta here!” in this funny voice, like he could hardly breathe and then he just charged on through the bathroom and into the other bedroom.”
“Did you follow him?” Skeet asked in a gentle voice.
“NO! I thought he might be getting a gun. I took off running out of there and downstairs and right out to my car. I would have gone home, except once I got out on the street I realized my gas tank was nearly empty, and I didn’t have my wallet. It turned out later Caitlin had picked my pocket. She gave it back to me later and acted like it was a good joke, but I didn’t think it was very funny, and later on I realized I was missing a hundred dollar bill that I always keep behind my cards—just for emergencies. I think she took it, but I wasn’t going to bring it up. I just don’t want anything to do with her.”
“Back up now,” Sam said. “Did Caitlin run down the stairs with you?”
“No,” Declan said. “Well, not right behind me, but she did come down in a little while. She came out to the car looking for me and said to come on back in, that everybody was waiting for her dad to speak. She said she had told him we were just fooling around, and he wasn
’t that mad. That’s when she gave me my wallet. I only found out later that she had taken the money.”
“You believed that he wasn’t mad?” Skeet said.
“No,” Declan said. “I didn’t know then about the heart attack. He had looked like he was about to explode. But I couldn’t keep running the motor to stay warm, and I was worried about the gas, so I came inside and hung out in the kitchen.
“Then the next thing was that woman was screaming, and it turned out Buzz was dead from a heart attack, or that’s what everybody said. I still don’t know why it’s supposed to be a murder. What happened to him?”
“He was trying to get his angina medicine, and he collapsed on the floor, and somebody found him that way and suffocated him with one of the pillows from the bed,” Sam said, watching Declan closely.
“Was it the screaming woman who did it?” Declan asked.
“We don’t think so,” Sam said. “She had gone up to the third floor, and she came down and found him lying there already dead.”
Declan was turning pale. He got to his feet awkwardly.
“I’m going to throw up,” he said.
Chapter 49
Taneesha’s call about what she had learned from Augusta Wren and Sabrina McFall came just as Skeet had gotten Declan Reeves to the men’s room.
“Go pick Caitlin up,” Sam said. “Right now.”
“I’m at the McFall’s house,” Taneesha said. “She left about half an hour ago. I called Robin Hilliard and he says that her mother’s gone. Tab said she was having a big fit yesterday saying she wouldn’t go, and…”
“I know about that,” Sam interrupted. “So she changed her mind?”
“Right. Vincent Wren’s there. I’m thinking she heard about Augusta recovering, and she wanted to get out of town.”
“What are they driving?”
“Dark blue Mercedes Benz limousine,” Taneesha said. “Chauffeur driven. There can’t be too many of those on I-75 headed north.”
Looking for Lillian (Hunter Jones Mystery Book 7) Page 15