by B. T. Lord
Tom smiled. “Very well. The truth is, while I was down in Peru, I discovered I had cancer. I knew the best medical treatments were in Boston. So I quietly came back last summer, using my own plane to land in a remote air strip in New Hampshire where I could escape drawing attention to my presence. I immediately began the rounds of chemotherapy. While I was here, I paid a visit to Helen. I’d always respected her and was grateful for the donations she made to my charity. While I was there one day, she confided in me that she’d discovered Charles had attempted to kill Lily.” Once again, Cammie and Doc found themselves staring at him in disbelief. “Unlike her daughter, Helen was the furthest thing from an hysterical woman. She wouldn’t have made such a statement if she didn’t categorically believe it.”
“If she believed this, why didn’t she have Charles arrested?” Cammie asked.
“The evidence was circumstantial at best. It was in St. Moritz this past December when Lily and Charles went on their yearly ski trip. The man who waxed both Charles’ and Lily’s skis swore he used the correct wax. It was his job; he’d never had an accident or mishap before. After getting them ready, he called them and said they were ready for pick-up. As you can imagine, he was quite busy with other holiday skiers and wasn’t paying attention to who came in and out of his shop. However, he did remember Charles coming in because he accidentally picked up the wrong skis. He showed him where the correct skis were before turning back to his customers. It wasn’t until later, after the accident had been reported, that he realized Charles had spent an inordinate amount of time in the backroom where the skis were kept. He’d also noticed his containers of wax had been moved about. With all the hubbub that day in the shop, Charles would have had plenty of time to rewax Lily’s skis with a much faster wax. An investigation was launched, but nothing was ever proven. It was afterwards that Helen grew suspicious. I suspect it had something to do with the large amounts he was borrowing from her. She did her own quiet investigation and that’s when she discovered who Charles truly was. It wasn’t hard to come up with a motive. With Lily gone, he would have inherited a great deal of money.”
“What did you do about Charles?” Doc asked.
“What could I do? I’d just started chemotherapy. I wasn’t in any shape to take him on physically. However, despite everything we’d been through, I still loved Lily. I wanted to protect her as much as I could. The three of us, therefore, arranged a meeting with Charles at Helen’s cabin, under the pretext of lending him more money. Of course when he arrived, Helen confronted him with her findings. We agreed that if he consented to a quiet divorce from Lily and left the country, we would not go to the authorities.”
“When was this meeting?”
“The beginning of March, I believe.”
Cammie and Doc exchanged glances. That was the date Lily told them she and Charles had come up to speak to Helen about changing her will.
“What was his reaction?”
“At first, he denied everything. But once he saw the private investigator’s report regarding his debts, as well as a little help from Helen’s bank account, he decided to cooperate.”
Although Cammie suspected the answer to the next question, she decided to ask it anyway. “Why go through all the trouble of faking his death in California?”
“He owed a great deal of money to some very unsavory and dangerous characters. I’m sure he wanted to enjoy that money without ending up dead in a back alley somewhere.”
Doc turned and stared directly at Tom. “Did Charles kill Helen?”
Tom met his gaze. “I suspect he did. Helen was the one who controlled Lily’s finances. Charles knew he wouldn’t get any money from his wife, especially after she found out about his secret life. Nor was Lily going to risk being alone with him after what happened in St. Moritz. But he was greedy. He thought he could do what he’d always done – charm Helen into giving him what he wanted. So he returned to Helen’s cabin and demanded more money.”
“How do you know all this?”
“Helen wasn’t stupid. She knew he’d come back. The question was when. We talked about it several times and each time I pleaded with her to get some kind of protection. Hire some bodyguards to keep watch over her. I couldn’t be there because I was going through treatments at Brighams and Women Hospital. But you know how she was. She wasn’t afraid of anyone, including Charles. When I heard she’d been murdered, and especially the details of the murder, I knew he’d done it. He’d come up, fought with her when she refused to help him and shot her.” He held up his hand as Cammie opened her mind to speak. “I know what you’re going to say. Why didn’t I phone the police immediately? How could I? As far as they knew Charles was dead. He’d died in a boating accident on the other side of the country a month before Helen’s death. I had absolutely no proof he’d done it. I had only my suspicions.”
Doc shook his head. “There is an innocent man sitting in prison right now, charged with Helen’s death.”
“Ah yes. The local Helen was in the midst of suing.”
Cammie watched him, appalled at his lack of concern for Henry Harding. It seemed he and Lily were cut from the same cloth in their disregard for another person’s life. She kept her hand near her gun, not so much to shoot him now, but to smack him over the head with it over his callous indifference.
“You still haven’t explained to me what the hell you’re doing out here, living a hermit’s life while your family mourn your supposed death.”
“Sam, we’ve known each other a long time. I have my reasons for doing what I did.”
“You need to tell me,” Doc replied, refusing to back down. “Or I will immediately call Carole and tell her the truth. The poor woman suspects Lily had something to do with your death.”
Tom’s eyes widened in shock. “Why in heaven’s name would she think such a thing?”
Doc told him the conversation he and Cammie had with Carole the night of Helen’s wake. When he was done, Tom rested his head against the back of the couch and closed his eyes.
“Dear Lord, she misinterpreted the entire thing.”
“Then suppose you set us straight.”
“I was drunk. I said stupid things. By that time I knew I had cancer and was planning to fly to Boston. I mentioned Lily’s name because I was hoping to see her, to spend some time with her…” His words trailed off.
“Why are you here, Tom?” Doc asked, his voice reduced to a gentle whisper as he saw the toll their questioning was taking on the sick man.
Tom hesitated, then uttered a long sigh. “When Helen died, I was in Boston in a last ditch effort to save my life. I believed she read the writing on the wall long before I ever did. She’d already built this cabin as part of a charity she was going to launch that would provide poor, inner city children with a place to come and enjoy the great outdoors. Recognizing the inevitable, she offered me the use of this cabin to live out the rest of my days in peace and serenity.” He looked at Doc pleadingly. “I’m hoping you’ll respect my wishes and tell no one I’m here.”
Doc ignored the plea. “Am I missing something here? Am I not understanding why you felt the need to go through such an elaborate ruse to pretend you died? Or why you’re willing to let your family grieve your disappearance?”
“They would have been grieving my loss soon enough,” Tom shot back. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “You really don’t know my family very well, do you?”
“I think it’s you I don’t know.”
The two men stared at each other. It was Tom who looked away first. “Sam, you are a self- sufficient, independently minded man. You would never abide someone constantly at your elbow, fawning over you no matter the loving intent. I am the same way. I enjoyed my years in Peru, running my own life as I ran my charity. However, if I returned to my family in these conditions, they would have hovered over me, mistaking suffocation for love. They mean well, but as I came to the realization that my illness was terminal, I knew I couldn’t bear to have them constantly attached to
my hip, making sure I don’t go out to take a walk lest I catch a chill, or making sure I eat correctly when in fact, I don’t have much of an appetite these days. I couldn’t endure watching them see me die little by little every day, hoping when there is no more hope. It’s better this way. I couldn’t choose my birth, but I can choose my death. They’ve already mourned me. Please, I beg you. Let all this be.”
Cammie didn’t think it was that easy. There was always a hole in one’s heart when a loved one died, especially a son or a cherished brother. She understood his motives, yet at the same time thought it cruel to withhold a chance to say a last goodbye, or the opportunity for his family to give comfort in his last days.
“So you are determined to die alone up here?” Doc asked.
“No. Lily said that once her bequest is settled between the two of you, she’ll come up here and keep me company. It shouldn’t be much longer.”
Cammie and Doc exchanged glances. Neither had the heart to tell him that Lily wouldn’t be returning. She’d gotten what she needed from Tom. He’d protected her from Charles. In another week, she’d be off to summer in the Caymans. Tom would be forgotten. If he wasn’t forgotten already.
“Did you know Helen changed the provisions in her will?” Doc asked.
“She talked to me about making some changes, but she never told me what they were.”
Both Cammie and Doc watched him carefully as he said, “She cut Lily’s inheritance by more than half and left this property to me. She also left your charity $2 million.”
Tom’s face showed his astonishment. “Why would she do that to Lily?”
“Only she knows the answer to that.”
“Do you know where Lily was the day Helen was killed?” Cammie asked unexpectedly.
For the first time, Tom Hightower became angry. “Lily did not kill her mother!” he exclaimed. “She was in Boston.”
“Are you sure about that?”
His limbs shook and he became paler than he already was. “She was in the hospital with me.”
Cammie immediately knew he wasn’t telling the truth. Instead, she said, “You need to make a statement to the authorities regarding Charles,” Cammie said. “They need to know what happened.”
It took a few moments for Tom to regain his composure. When he did, he rose unsteadily to his feet. “I’ll write it out and you two can witness it. If they wish to question me further, they must come here. I just don’t have the strength to make the trek to wherever their headquarters are.”
It was better than nothing. Doc helped him to a small writing desk on the other side of the living room, where he withdrew a piece of paper from the drawer and dictated to Doc all he’d told them. He signed it and Cammie and Doc cosigned as witnesses. She took the paper, folded it and put it in her pocket.
“Is there anything we can get you while we’re here?” Doc asked.
Tom shook his head. “I have enough provisions to last me a year. All I ask is that you keep my existence a secret from my family. I much prefer to die here with only Lily by my side.”
As the Navigator pulled away, Cammie turned to Doc. “Do you believe him?”
“I believe he has less time to live than he said.”
“I meant about Helen, Charles and Lily?”
“Charles was obviously financially ruined. You said yourself Helen’s death was caused by someone enraged with her. If Charles was hoping to get more money from her and she refused, isn’t that the perfect scenario to kill her the way she was killed?” Cammie nodded slowly. “Obviously something isn’t sitting well with you.”
“He and Lily are covering up for each other. He because he loves her, Lily because she doesn’t want to be bothered with this more than she already has been.” She glanced out the window. “Did you notice that he didn’t even react to the news that Helen left his charity $2 million? All he cared about was what Helen did to Lily’s inheritance.”
“Because you think he was hoping to get some of that money?”
She met his gaze. “No. Because he’s still foolishly concerned over the feelings of a woman who doesn’t give a shit about him.”
Doc reached over and unexpectedly rested his hand on Cammie’s wrist. “You have no choice but to move on. Once we inform Mantree of what we discovered here today, I’m sure he’ll reach out to Interpol and begin a worldwide manhunt for him. As for Lily, she’ll have to live with the consequences of abandoning Tom when he needs her most.”
“Do you honestly think she’ll care?”
“I’d like to think that maybe, late at night, for perhaps a moment or two, she may feel some regret over the loss of her mother, and the loss of the only man who ever really loved her.”
Cammie snorted. She didn’t think Lily was capable of caring about anyone but herself. But this was going to be one of those cases where all the pieces were not tied up in red bows at the end. There would always be the lingering question of what really happened to Helen and whether Charles was truly responsible for her death. She had to make her peace with the probability that she’d never discover Lily’s true role in all of this.
She prepared herself for another tongue lashing from Mantree when they arrived in Houlton. To her astonishment, he was grateful for the information.
“This is the second person who believes Charles Evans is responsible for Mrs. Carsgrove’s death. After what you’ve told me, I think they may be right.” He paused, then continued, “It will be a good day when we’re able to let Henry go.”
“So you began to suspect he wasn’t guilty?” Cammie asked.
Mantree shook his head. “We still have no concrete proof regarding Evans, but at least there’s enough doubt that it may help Henry.”
“There’s one more thing, Geoff.” She shared with her fellow officer the reason Tom had hidden himself away. “You need to do what’s right, but if there’s any way to keep Tom’s name out of the papers…”
“I can’t promise anything, but I’ll see what I can do.” As he walked her to the door, he added, “I hate to see what you’re like when you’re working on a case that’s actually yours.”
Life went on in Twin Ponds. Summer had arrived, with its long hot days and warm, mosquito ridden nights. Besides working a full day at HQ, Cammie now found herself trying to politely fend off Doc’s thousand and one suggestions over the construction of the addition to her cabin. She knew he was only trying to be helpful, but with his endless lists and phone calls at every hour of the day and night, she was ready to tear her hair out. Finally, after spending a half hour ranting and raving about his intrusiveness, Jace sat her down and went over each item on Doc’s latest list. To her chagrin, she realized they were actually pretty good. It surprised her further to discover that the prickly doctor was quite sensitive to the fact that she didn’t want to completely erase her father’s presence from the cabin.
After rescheduling the appointment with the architect she’d missed because of the events up in Allagash, she saw that he too was able to make the necessary changes that didn’t erase her father’s presence or memory from the place he’d loved so much.
Occasionally her mind drifted back to Tom, all alone in his cabin, waiting to die. She felt a stab of pity, knowing he must have realized by now that Lily wasn’t showing up any time soon. For all she knew, the woman was already in the Caymans, frolicking with her friends, the memory of her mother and ex-husbands locked away with all her other secrets that had been carefully swept under the rug.
It was now mid-June and the foundation for the addition had been poured. Doc opened his home to Cammie and Jace while the work was underway, a gesture they were both grateful for, what with construction materials everywhere and most of the remaining cabin shrouded in Tyvek.
Cammie and Jace made it a habit to stop by every evening to see how everything was progressing. On week-ends, they helped out wherever they could to push the work along and save a bit of money.
It was Friday evening and Cammie drove down the drive
way towards the house. It had been a quiet day at the office and she was looking forward to doing a little bit of clean up in the yard. Parking the Explorer, she walked around the back of the cabin and found Jace piling up rocks that the tractor had dislodged that day.
Picking her way around the neat piles of planks that would be going up that weekend, Cammie marveled at the ingenuity of the early Colonial settlers. New England’s terrain was full of rocks of all shapes and sizes. Whenever they plowed their fields, they inevitably pulled up rocks. Instead of tossing them aside, they created the stone walls that were now such a picturesque part of New England landscape. Cammie and Jace decided to do the same.
Now that black fly season was over, he was using a back hoe to carefully move the stones over to the side away from the construction site. When all was done, they would begin to construct a stone wall along the perimeter of the property.
Waving her arms, she got Jace’s attention. He throttled down the machine and waved to her.
“How long have you been at this?” she asked.
“For about 45 minutes now,” he said, wiping the sweat from his brow with the back of his arm. “This is all going to look great when we’re done.”
“I’ll pile up those stray rocks that fell off the pile.”
Having already changed out of her uniform at Doc’s house, she pulled on a pair of heavy work gloves, grabbed two bottles of water from the cooler in the backseat of the Explorer and was soon retrieving the somewhat heavy stones that had rolled away from the pile Jace was creating.
After 30 minutes, she was covered in sweat. Pausing long enough to take a long swig from her water bottle, she put it down and turned back. Suddenly she stopped as she looked at the growing pile of rocks in front of her.
“Hey, what’s the matter?” Jace called out from the back hoe. “You see a snake or something?”
She didn’t answer. Instead, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped as a terrifying thought occurred to her. Ripping off her gloves, she hurried to her Explorer. Reaching the truck, she dove inside and grabbed her cell phone.