Looking for Lillian (Hunter Jones Mystery Book 7)

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Looking for Lillian (Hunter Jones Mystery Book 7) Page 16

by Charlotte Moore


  Sam was making calls to the Georgia State Patrol as Declan came out of the restroom looking pale.

  “There’s one more thing,” he said to Skeet. “I didn’t answer her calls, but I did send her one chat. I told her that their housekeeper stopped me at the funeral and told me that she was just sixteen, and I should stay away from her. I told Caitlin about that and told her to stop bothering me, and hung up. That’s when I got rid of my phone and got a new one.”

  He looked at Skeet forlornly and said. “There’s something wrong with her. Really.”

  “Looks like it,” Skeet said.

  Chapter 50

  Jack Morrisey enjoyed being a chauffeur, and up to a certain point, he had considered the trip to Merchantsville one of his better assignments. Phoebe Baird seemed to be accustomed to quiet, first class travel, wasn’t chatty and assumed that he would find her destination. He might as well have been alone on the highway.

  He would have preferred an ordinary motel to Hilliard House with all the flowery furniture and the ruffles on the pillow cases, but he had found a good little restaurant in the small town and had a thriller to read during the times he had to wait in the car.

  That was before the return trip. Now he had a second passenger, and he was thoroughly sick of Phoebe Baird and her daughter. They might think he couldn’t hear them through the glass partition, but it was a steady whine mixed with screeches. He didn’t understand why the rich Ms. Baird was putting up with the kid’s nonsense. He felt like picking up the intercom and asking, “Do you want me to put her out on the side of the road?”

  That’s what my mother would have done, he wanted to say to the rich lady, and If that was my kid, that’s what I’d do for sure.

  Phoebe had a headache.

  “I don’t want to go to Briar Ridge,” Caitlin was sobbing now, “I want to stay with you in Spain. I’ll go to school. I’ll do everything you say. I just want to be with you.”

  “Caitlin, sweetie,” Phoebe said, “That’s just not going to happen. I told you I’m married now, and I don’t think you’d get along with my new husband. He’s not an American. He’s not used to having teenagers around, and he was very strict with his own children. He, well, he wouldn’t understand the way you behave. It’s a different culture.”

  “I’ll be good,” Caitlin said with a sniffle. “I’ll be quiet as a mouse. He won’t even know I’m there.”

  “That wouldn’t work at all,” Phoebe said gently, feeling momentarily sorry for her daughter. “You need to be with girls your own age. Briar Ridge is really a wonderful place.”

  “I can’t go!” Caitlin suddenly shouted. “I won’t. You don’t get it. I’ve got to go to Spain! That old lady is going to tell them I hit her on the head.”

  “What on earth are you talking about?” Phoebe said.

  “Augusta!” Caitlin said. “She hates me. She’s going to pretend I was the one who did it. I know she will, and they’ll believe her because they think she’s so wonderful, but she’s the one who broke me and Deck up.”

  “Who’s Deck?” Phoebe asked, with a growing sense of dread.

  “It doesn’t matter. I don’t even care about him anymore. If you take me to Spain with you, you don’t even have to take me to your house,” Caitlin said, her voice rising again. “You can just give me some money, and I’ll take care of myself. You’ll never have to see me again. I can take care of myself. I don’t need you, anyway. I don’t need anybody. I just need to go somewhere far away.”

  They were halfway to Atlanta, when Jack Morrissey saw the trooper behind him with flashing lights. He picked up the intercom speaker and said, “Mrs. Baird, I have to pull over for the Georgia State Patrol. For the record, I wasn’t speeding. I’m going to stop, and I’ll get out and see what he wants.”

  “You got a Caitlin McFall, sixteen years of age, in there?” the unsmiling trooper asked.

  “Yes, sir. I’m driving for her mother, Ms. Baird. Her daughter’s with her. I’m pretty sure that’s her name. They’ve been fighting all the way from Merchantsville.”

  “Well, I’ll be taking them both off your hands,” the trooper said. “The minor is wanted for felony murder, and her mother needs to come with her as legal guardian.”

  Jack Morrisey had been in more than one tricky situation.

  “Can’t I drive the mother?” he asked, “I’d like to get the extra pay. She’s not under arrest, is she? She’s going to need transportation.”

  An uproar was beginning in the car.

  “The mother’s okay,” Jack said. “A real lady, but the kid is giving her a lot of grief.”

  “Yeah, you can drive the mother,” the trooper said. “I sure don’t want to listen to them squabbling. Just stay behind me. We’re going to the Magnolia County Courthouse.”

  Chapter 51

  After conferring with Sam by phone the second time, Taneesha went to tell Tab McFall his sister had been arrested for his father’s murder and the attack on Augusta and was returning to Merchantsville.

  “I don’t believe that,” Tab said flatly. “Why would she kill Dad? That doesn’t make any sense at all? And why would she hit Augusta? That’s crazy.”

  And at the same time, something seemed to be sinking in. He put his hands over his face and shook his head.

  “I’m not asking you to believe she did the crimes,” Taneesha said gently. “She hasn’t been proved guilty. I’m just telling you that she’s being charged with the crimes. She’s being brought back here, and so is her mother. I imagine she’ll want to get Caitlin a really good lawyer once she understands what’s going on.”

  By the time Sam and Skeet made it home, Taneesha had read a sullen and silent Caitlin her rights in the presence of her mother, and gotten her placed temporarily at the Magnolia County Detention Center.

  Phoebe Baird, who appeared stunned, was taken to see Caitlin and told her not to say one word to anybody until she had arranged for a lawyer. Then she had Jack Morrissey take her back to Hilliard House.

  Hunter’s phone chimed.

  “Hunter,” Shellie said. “Sam’s going to have a press advisory at 4 p.m. in the main courtroom.”

  “Is he back already?” Hunter asked. “What’s going on?”

  “He’s on his way,” Shellie said. “And they’ve made an arrest.”

  “Who?” Hunter asked.

  “I can’t say,” Shellie said. “It’s a minor, so we can’t release her name. She was headed to the airport with her mother. They’re charging her with attacking Augusta Wren, too.

  Hunter was speechless for a moment, and then it all began to fall into place.

  Chapter 52

  An hour later, Sam was sitting down with Pink, Tab, and Deb McFall, explaining that Caitlin was in police custody and that Phoebe, who really knew nothing about what Caitlin had done until the very end, was at Hilliard House working on getting lawyers.

  “You don’t need to do a thing, but you might be called upon as witnesses later,” he said.

  Pink seemed stunned at first, and then tearful and pensive.

  “I shouldn’t say this as her grandmother,” she said, brushing some tears from her eyes. “I suppose I should defend her, but I understood the way Sabrina just took off. The child could be so distant, and she really didn’t seem to like any of us, except Tab, and she was expecting him to spend all his time with her. I thought Phoebe and Buzz had spoiled her, but it must be something deeper than that…”

  “I want to know for sure that she did it,” Tab said to Sam. “I understand why you think so, but she was okay with me, sort of sticking to me like glue I guess, and I wanted to get away, but I figured she was having a hard time, you know…”

  “I just thought she had awful manners,” Deb McFall said, wearily. “But I’m pretty sure she stole a figurine of mine. I wish you’d look for it in her luggage.”

  “Oh, Mo
m!” Tab said. “That giraffe?”

  “Oh, Tab,” Deb said in exasperation. “My sister gave it to me. I think she took a lipstick of mine, too.”

  “Is this a meeting?”

  They all realized at once that Barnard McFall had come into the room.

  “Has Lillian left yet?” he asked.

  “You mean Caitlin, dear,” Pink said, “And yes, she’s gone with her mother. I don’t think we’ll be seeing them for a while.”

  “Probably taking her to Milledgeville,” Barnard said. “Is there any sweet tea left?”

  A little before four that afternoon when Mallory and Hunter headed across the street to the courthouse, there was a solid, depressing gray blanket of clouds and a cold wind. Novena had gone home early, insisting once more that it was going to snow.

  Several members of the media tried to get Sam to tell them Caitlin’s name, but he refused to say more than that an arrest had been made, what the charges were, and that it was a juvenile.

  “If the juvenile is tried as an adult, will you release the name?” the blonde from Channel Seven called out. “And did you receive any help from Lucasta Tilling in solving this crime?”

  District Attorney Sanders Beale took the question and said. “We are in the process of deciding whether to try this juvenile as an adult. In the meantime, no name will be released. No help was received from the person you just mentioned. She had nothing to do with the investigation or with the decision to arrest the juvenile.”

  “Just you wait,” Mallory murmured to Hunter. “She’s going to get herself some attention some way.”

  Tarquin Greathouse approached Taneesha after the press conference. He was dressed in black, had long dark hair, and was wearing eye shadow.

  It took her a moment to realize he was the man who had stopped her at the hospital. She took the time to listen.

  “I told you I was a member of the Paranormal Society,” he said, “but you didn’t let me finish. I was going to explain that I’ve been watching the McFall house, and I saw something Friday night.”

  “Please don’t tell me you saw a ghost,” Taneesha said.

  “I don’t know for sure,” he said. “I had parked on the street behind their house and walked a little way to get a good view. I saw a woman, or maybe a girl. She came from the big house and went to the little house in the back. She was at the door talking to somebody, and then she picked up something from the ground, and went inside. I stayed there a while, watching and she came out again and went back to the house. I was thinking then that it was Lillian’s spirit …”

  “What time was this?” Taneesha interrupted.

  “About midnight,” he said. “Like I said, I thought that it was Lillian, but Lucasta keeps saying that she never actually sees Lillian, and this is something I actually saw. I thought I should tell you in case it was a real person I saw.”

  “Thank you,” Taneesha said. “That could be important information and we’ll be back in touch.”

  Chapter 53

  When the six o’clock news came on, Lucasta followed Sam and Sanders Beale.

  Sam leaned back on the sofa and kept tossing a chewed up tennis ball to Flannery, who was in dog heaven retrieving it from the far corners of the room.

  “Let me throw the ball,” Ty said, and Flannery adjusted to catching it in the middle of the air a few feet from the little boy.

  Hunter was holding Katie the Calico who was in one of her rare cuddly moods.

  Bethie sat with her arms folded, and a slight frown on her face, listening intently.

  “I congratulate our law enforcement agencies on finally apprehending the killer,” Lucasta said,”But it could have been done much sooner if they had allowed me in the house to communicate with Lillian McFall’s spirit. Besides that, the brutal attack on Mrs. Wren could have been avoided entirely. What I know in my heart now about Lillian is that she is remaining there in the hope that the spirit of her lost love will somehow find her.”

  “I think I’m going to pay Lucasta Tilling a visit,” Hunter said.

  “I want to go if you do,” Bethie said. “I’m getting interested in weird people.”

  “Oh, please don’t,” Sam said. “I don’t want her to know anything about the case.”

  “I’m not going to talk to her about the case,” Hunter said, “I promise. I want to talk about Lillian.”

  “Just don’t talk to her about anything that’s happened since 1920,” Sam said, getting up. “I’ve made my arrest, and it’s a good one, and I’m leaving the rest to the lawyers.”

  “NO!” Ty suddenly shouted, and everyone looked toward him. He had his face between the curtains covering the sliding glass doors that led to the patio.

  “NO!” he shouted gleefully, turning around with a big smile. “NO! Look, my Bethie! NO!”

  Bethie got up and went to part the curtains and see what he was looking at.

  She turned and gave her parents a bedazzled smile.

  “It’s snowing,” she said. “It’s really snowing.”

  Chapter 54

  On Tuesday morning, Magnolia County had come to a standstill. School was closed. Some claimed that there had been six inches of snow overnight, and although it was more like four, it was an entirely satisfactory miracle for Middle Georgia.

  Knowing how soon it would turn to slush, Hunter and Sam both took the morning off. Sam bundled Ty up and tied plastic bags over his shoes so that they could all help him build his first snowman. Hunter showed Bethie how to make a snow angel.

  Aaron and Skeet had a snowball fight in front of the Magnolia County Courthouse, while Taneesha Hayes watched in safety from a courtroom window. Yes, she thought, it was beautiful, but it had felt so cold and wet in her shoes and was so scary to drive through.

  Mallory got her camera, and Tucker drove her around in his truck so she could take pictures for the paper while they stopped from time to time to hug each other and go over their plans to run off and get married.

  They had decided not to let anybody know until they came back.

  In the meantime, the older people talked on the telephone and they all agreed that the snow didn’t compare to the Blizzard of ’73.

  Caitlin McFall didn’t see the snow until the two officers came to drive her to another place and then she wasn’t interested. She asked the officers if her mother knew where they were taking her, and they said yes.

  She asked if she could have her cell phone back, and they said no.

  On the ride, she decided that her best option was to do what her mother had told her and to keep on saying nothing. She wondered idly if Deck would come to see her, and then she wondered if Deck had told them about her father coming into the room. He must have, she thought.

  But Deck hadn’t seen anything. Nobody had really seen anything but her.

  She hadn’t known her father was having a heart attack until later. If she had known that, she would have just left him there, but she thought he was so mad at her that he was having a fit or something.

  She was trying to talk to him, and he fell and he looked so awful that she wanted it to stop. She had put the pillow over his face just so she wouldn’t have to look at him, and then she had pushed it down harder and harder until he was still. She didn’t think she had killed him with the pillow, though.

  It was a heart attack, wasn’t it? She could say she was making it easier.

  And he would have taken away her car, she thought. People needed to understand that.

  He would have taken it back to the dealer like he had said he would before. He had even threatened to take it away that morning when she didn’t want to go to Merchantsville, but then she got the chance to ride with Deck, which was good.

  Now she wished that she had hit Augusta harder with that brick so that she was dead, and wouldn’t know so much. The whole thing was so scary to do that it had made h
er heart pound, and she just wanted to leave the jewelry bag and get out of there and back into the house.

  The thing with her dad had been so easy, that she had thought it would be just as easy with Augusta. She had needed for Augusta to be dead and gone. She was going to make everybody think Augusta had stolen the pearls and that she wasn’t so perfect, after all.

  Augusta had tried to break her and Deck up, and she knew too much.

  Augusta might tell the Sheriff about Deck’s being her boyfriend, and he might think something had happened upstairs.

  She knew Augusta hadn’t seen her with the brick, though. Augusta was asleep and snoring.

  Augusta could say “Caitlin did it” all she wanted to, but she didn’t really know that. It could have been somebody else. It could have even been Tab. It could have been Granddaddy. It could have been that crazy woman who screamed.

  And then she thought that it could have been Deck. He could have come from Atlanta to do it. She could say that if she had to, she thought. She could say he had come down from Atlanta and told her what he was going to do.

  She could say that it was all Deck’s fault, that he had followed Dad into the room, and that she didn’t even know what happened. She could say that Deck had pushed her down on the bed and that she was the one who ran out and went downstairs.

  She decided she would tell her mother that. It was a pretty good story, and Deck hadn’t been answering her calls.

  Mom would take care of it, Phoebe decided. It was good that Sabrina had just gone back to wherever she came from because Sabrina might not have even tried to help. Mom would fix it.

  They got to where they were going, and she saw that it was a kind of hospital with locked doors, but she could leave her room and watch television. The food wasn’t good, and there was an attendant named Laura who was following her everywhere, but it was still better than the first place.

 

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