Vicky suspected Cash wouldn’t know how to put pressure on his own sister-in-law and would simply take her statement and be done with it. That would also save him the trouble of going after Deke.
Michael’s voice was treacherously soft. “There may not be any connection between Deke and Mortimer Gill. But how about Deke and Celine?”
“Celine, Celine!” Lilian jumped up. She walked to the sideboard, picked up a pack of cigarettes and lit one. She inhaled hard, dropping the lighter in place. Despite her nerves her posture was still straight, the result of a lifelong obsession with appearances. “That was the trouble all along.” She blew out smoke and diffused it with an impatient hand gesture. “People just wouldn’t stop talking about Celine. I came to live here three years after it happened and it was the first thing I learned about.”
“We have a right to know,” Diane said. “All of our lives changed when she went missing. That is something you just don’t forget. Ever.”
“A right to know?” Lilian put stress on the verb. “You can’t know anything for sure anymore after two decades. There are no facts, just insinuations. And I refuse to let Deke become a victim of that.”
“Why would he become a victim?” Vicky asked with a frown.
Lilian looked at them. She seemed to weigh her options.
Michael said, “If you are sure Deke had nothing to do with Mortimer’s death, you might as well tell us what happened that night.”
Lilian scoffed. “It’s not that simple.”
Michael tilted his head. “Why not? If Deke is innocent…”
“He could still get into trouble. Gwenda lost her beauty parlor because of those allegations you printed in the paper. Rumor has a life of its own.”
“Gwenda’s products were really tampered with. And I just told you I’m not here for a story in the paper. I’m here to solve the case that ruined my entire life. Don’t you think I know what it’s like to be wrongly accused? I wouldn’t wish that on anybody. I’m not looking to make victims just for the sake of it. But I do need to know the truth about Celine. Mortimer Gill probably died because he knew something. Do you really think I can just let that go? Start another twenty years of my life not knowing?”
Lilian surveyed Michael as if assessing how determined he was. Then, after another big intake of cigarette smoke, she walked back to the table and sat down. She pulled over an empty plate and tipped ashes off on it. For someone so sophisticated it was such a deviation from etiquette that Vicky concluded Lilian was either very distracted or not quite as posh as she led people to believe.
“Deke came home two days ago…” Lilian stared ahead, as if seeing it all unfold again. “He was out of his mind. It seemed Mortimer Gill had called him, at the office, and said he had something, papers, that proved Deke had abducted and killed Celine all those years ago. He wanted to sell these papers to Deke, for an insane amount of money. Deke refused, saying he had nothing to do with it. Then Mortimer started babbling about a car that had been seen that night. A car that could be traced back to Deke.”
Her eyes widened just a fraction. “Mortimer claimed that if Deke didn’t pay up, he’d go public with his allegations and that people would believe there was some truth in it. That they would start avoiding him and his business would go bankrupt. Deke cut him off saying he had nothing to do with it and he wouldn’t pay blackmail money. Not to some…dirty extortionist.”
Lilian glanced past their faces. “You see, Deke knew for sure that Mortimer had already tried this sort of thing before. He had once hurt a client of Deke’s by going through paperwork in his home, while he was working there, and selling information from it to a competing company. The client had told Deke about it and asked for legal advice. Deke had referred him to a good lawyer, but they never managed to prove Mortimer had done it. You just couldn’t put your finger on him. Deke used to say that Mortimer would sell his own mother if there was a fast buck to make.”
She nodded slowly. “Knowing what he was like, Deke told Mortimer to go take a walk, because he didn’t believe him and he’d never pay up. But when he got home, he was so upset he threw one of my best vases against the wall. I tried to calm him down saying that if he was innocent, there was no problem. But Deke was worried that the same thing would happen as with those letters about Gwenda’s parlor and he’d lose everything he had built here. Just imagine if people started believing he had abducted and killed an innocent girl. Even if nothing could ever be proven, he’d lose everything. I tried to assure him things wouldn’t be that bad, but… To be honest I was worried myself that the thing would get out of control.”
Lilian stubbed the cigarette out on the plate. “I hate smoking; I quit last year. Felt so much better after that, like I could really breathe. But yesterday I started all over again. Everything hangs in the balance for us.”
She tapped her fingernails on the table and sighed. “Deke said that he wasn’t going to come to the party. That he didn’t want to see people and talk about pointless things. But I made him come. I wanted him to forget about it for a while. Unfortunately when we got home late, around two, I think, word was already out that Mortimer was dead. Murdered. Then Deke freaked out for real. He said he couldn’t lie to Cash, his own brother, about what Mortimer had said to him during that blackmail call. But that if he told the truth about Mortimer threatening him with public exposure, he’d be suspected of the murder for sure and maybe even convicted.”
She frowned. “I don’t know the exact details, but Deke said that back then there had been talk old Sheriff Perkins was shielding someone in town, because of power, connections. Deke said people would believe his father had paid Perkins to lead the investigation away from their family. After all, his father had enough money to pay a substantial bribe.”
Lilian bit her lip. “Beside losing his business and his reputation, Deke was now afraid he would end up in jail for Celine’s disappearance and die there. He made up some story about a business meeting in San Francisco and left. I told him it would be no use as he had to get back here sometime and face Cash, but he wouldn’t listen to me. He drove off like a madman.”
Lilian’s eyes filled with tears.
Michael sat motionless. “You are certain Deke did not have any chance that night to go to Mortimer and kill him?”
“He was home by five-thirty. He talked to me. He had developed a headache, so I gave him a painkiller and I sat by the bed while he slept for half an hour.” She laughed softly. “I stayed with him all the time to sort of…prevent escalation. Later on I was glad for it. If I had not been with him all the time, I might have doubted his innocence myself. I saw how angry he was when he came in here, how undone and scared for the future.”
Her face contorted. “What use is it though? Who will believe me? They will all say I’m covering for Deke because he is my husband.”
Diane sat frowning hard. “Mortimer must have believed Deke meant it when he said he was not paying up. That’s why he approached me. Five thousand was not a lot, but for Mortimer it might have been enough. If he wanted to get rid of the evidence fast.”
“There really is evidence?” Lilian seemed shocked at the idea. Her eyes darted to the door, and her hands cramped together in front of her. “You know where it is, what it is? I’d be willing to pay a lot of money if you do not turn it over to the police.”
Michael eyed her suspiciously. “Why?”
“Cash can’t handle a case with his own brother involved. The state police will be called in. The media will dive at it, and we will be slaughtered. I’d like to settle it behind closed doors.” Lilian sounded emphatic, almost self-assured. The change that had come over her was so abrupt that Vicky wondered if her earlier emotions had been an act. If Deke had left his wife behind to cover for him, he had known he could count on her acting skills.
“Trust me, Deke didn’t have anything to do with it. I told him not to run, as it would make things worse. But he didn’t listen.” Lilian banged the table in frustration. �
�He never listens!”
“Stop treating me like a little child, Lilian.”
The sudden male voice made them all freeze.
The ajar door swung open, and in the doorway was Deke Rowland, looking pale and angry. He wore a light blue, short-sleeved shirt.
On his left arm there were long angry red scratches, with bruising around them.
Traces of some wild animal…
Chapter Nineteen
“Deke!” Lilian sprang to her feet. Her face paled under her makeup so that her lipstick stood out like a smudge. “You promised to stay upstairs and leave it all to me.”
Deke glared at her. “I should never have let you talk me into that.”
“So we can’t believe a word of what you just said,” Diane said bitterly. It was obvious she despised Lilian for acting like she was cooperating with them while she had been lying all along.
“No,” Deke said. “She told you the truth.”
He spoke firmly, and Vicky could see a flash of Cash’s determination in Deke’s face. Normally it was a little weaker than that of his older brother. Too much good living, parties, late nights and wine had left their traces. But right now Deke was a man with a mission. He had decided to stop hiding and confront them.
He came into the room and stood upright, looking at them one by one. “After Mortimer called me and said out of the blue he had something on me concerning Celine, I almost lost my mind. I knew what that guy was capable of. A few hints, lies, and my reputation would be shot, forever. Besides…”
Deke exhaled hard. “Cash and I have always been good friends. I knew this whole mess would put a strain on our relationship. He just got his badge and is trying so hard to make it work out. So I tried to avoid making my statement, by supposedly running off to San Francisco.”
He considered for a moment as if reevaluating his own decision. “I went to the airport and appeared at the desk and I called Cash from there saying I was getting on the plane now. I even understand that somebody local saw me there and spread word of my flight all over town. Fine with me. It served my purpose. I wanted people to think I had left. But I never did. I came back here. I wanted to search Mortimer Gill’s place quietly, for the evidence he’d claimed to have. I needed to know what it was and how much it could hurt me. I hoped to reassure myself with the discovery Mortimer had been bragging and he wasn’t holding anything substantial. Then I’d turn myself in to Cash and make my statement, truthfully, regardless of what would happen next.”
Michael nodded at his injured arm. “The owl got you.”
“Yeah. I had checked the internet to learn a little about birds. I waved a bright cloth to scare them away from me, but it didn’t work. It only made them angry. The thing came for me; it was huge.” He shuddered. “I realized it could have been my face, my eyes. So I gave up and came back here.”
“He told me everything,” Lilian said, lighting another cigarette. “I told him he was just making it worse for himself, but he wouldn’t listen.”
“I am not dumb!” Deke shouted at her.
Lilian sat, face down.
Deke continued, white with anger, “When I listened in to the call about this little lunch you planned here for some purchases, I knew something was up. That Vicky Simmons and her friends were coming over with a hidden agenda.”
He looked at Vicky. “I knew, because you never could let go once you sank your teeth into something.”
Vicky flushed. It wasn’t very flattering to know people had that opinion of you. And Lilian had to really hate her now for this deception. She’d never become a client at her store. That wouldn’t have been a disaster if the Rowlands had turned out to be really guilty of involvement in Mortimer’s death. But as they appeared to be innocent, the whole confrontation had just hurt people’s feelings and brought them no nearer to Mortimer’s killer. And answers about Celine.
Were they pushing it too far in their obsession with the past?
Deke continued, “But Lilian refused to believe me. She insisted I stay out of it and she’d handle it. She seems to think money can buy anything, even your silence.”
Lilian’s right hand toyed with her delicate silver bracelet. “Tell them about the car, Deke. They might as well know it all now.”
Deke pursed his lips apparently too steamed to reply, and Lilian continued to Michael, “Mortimer claimed there was mention in those old police files of a car that had been seen in town on the night of Celine’s disappearance. A conspicuous car.”
Lilian sighed. “Deke did borrow a car from a friend that night. A red Jaguar. They were always trying to lay their hands on the hottest cars. To take for a spin, impress girls.”
She threw him a scorching look. “Since it was not his own car, nobody linked it to him later. The friend kept his mouth shut. The police tried to follow up the lead, but since nobody had seen the license plate, it turned out to be a dead end. But Deke was worried it would now come out anyway. Would implicate him because he had not come forward at the time and honestly admitted he had borrowed the car.”
Michael raked through his hair. “In a car like that he could have taken Celine’s dead body away fast.”
“To where?” Deke threw his hands up. “What body? Nothing was ever found.”
He threw Lilian a murderous look. “Thanks a lot for squealing on me. Do you think they are convinced by what you told them? How you gave me a painkiller and sat by my side all the time because you were so worried about me… It’s your word, and what does it mean, knowing you are married to me? Besides, Danning here is the main suspect himself. He is just trying to shift the blame to somebody else. And knowing what he knows now, he can do a good job of it, thanks to you!”
And Deke stamped from the room. They heard his angry footfalls beat up the stairs.
Lilian looked up. Her face was flushed over this humiliation in front of visitors, but she was still better in control of herself than Deke. “I’m sorry about that. Deke is suffering from serious stress. He is not himself these days.”
“We’d better get down to business,” Vicky said quickly and got her basket to discuss the catalogs full of handwoven fabric and the scented candles. Lilian said she’d think about it and let her know. She held on to the catalogs to leaf through. The atmosphere was polite, but a little icy, as Lilian didn’t appreciate how strangers had witnessed a domestic dispute. It marred the picture of perfection she worked so hard for.
Vicky herself wasn’t quite sure what to feel about the encounter. It was good to know Deke had been the one searching for evidence at Mortimer’s place, but if he was telling the truth and he hadn’t killed Mortimer, who had? Maybe she was just alienating everybody in town without getting any closer to a solution about Mortimer’s death, and Celine’s.
As they walked to their car, an elderly gardener with a straw hat on had just climbed off the lawn mower. He wanted to pass them, apparently headed for a shed. Michael halted him. “Did you also work here two nights ago? Say between five and eight p.m.?”
The man nodded, a friendly expression on his withered face. “Besides taking care of this big garden, I also care for Mrs. Rowland’s tropical plants. In her conservatory.” He gestured to the left wing of the house where a glass construction protruded. “It’s a lot of work. Especially the orchids.”
Vicky studied the conservatory. Made of glass, it provided an excellent view of the front of the house.
Michael seemed to think the same thing as he asked eagerly, “What time did Mr. Rowland come home that day?
“Oh, around five-thirty.”
“And when did he leave again?”
“Close to seven, I think. His car was in front of the house all of the time. He normally puts it in the garage, but not that day. He must have been upset about something. He came from the car and ran right into the house.” The gardener looked puzzled.
Michael glanced at Vicky. This statement fitted with what they had learned inside. He asked, “And Mrs. Rowland, was she here all of t
he time?”
“I’m not sure. When she is at home, her car is in the garage. She’s very particular about that. Always worried it will get damaged. But when I put a few tools away that night, it was not in its usual place.”
Michael perked up. “What time was that?”
The man shrugged. “Six, six-fifteen, I’m not sure. Why do you want to know?”
“Thank you very much. You’ve been a big help.” Michael patted the man’s shoulder and walked off. Vicky followed quickly, glancing over her shoulder at the bewildered gardener. Past him she saw the curtains of a downstairs window move. Somebody had watched their exchange with the old man.
Deke?
Or Lilian?
“Of course!” Diane exclaimed with suppressed excitement as they arrived at the car. “Deke came home, told her the story about Mortimer’s call. Lilian panicked thinking it might blow up and hurt her name. After all, Mortimer wasn’t known to be very careful, once he believed he could get easy money. So she gave Deke a painkiller and put him to bed. She went to Mortimer’s to offer him money to shut up and leave town… But Mortimer was greedy and didn’t think her offer good enough. He laughed at her, taunted her, said he’d ruin her and dear old Deke… That got Lilian steamed. Or afraid of losing her entire life of comfort and social acceptance. As the wife of a convict she’d never see any of her posh friends again.”
Diane’s face was flushed, her tone urgent. “Then as Mortimer crawled on the floor to pick up some dropped money that Lilian had offered as a bribe, she picked up something heavy and struck him down. She will have had enough time to go back home, wake up Deke and go to their party, which would then give them some sort of alibi. She says they left for the gala at six-thirty, but the gardener claims that Deke’s car was still in front of the house close to seven. And I bet those people who organized the gala don’t remember exactly at what time their guests arrived.”
Dead to Begin With (A Country Gift Shop Cozy Mystery series, Book 1) Page 19