Hushed Up

by Elizabeth Spann Craig

  “Except Tallulah and Lillian weren’t exactly best friends. And Tallulah looks like someone who didn’t sleep last night,” said Myrtle.

  Miles pushed his glasses up his nose. “I’ll be the judge of that, since I’m an expert.” He looked reflectively at Tallulah who’d made the unfortunate decision to wear black and not wear makeup. “Actually, she does look a little sleep-deprived.”

  “And she keeps looking over at Red.” Myrtle pursed her lips thoughtfully.

  Miles frowned. “In what way?” He peered over at Tallulah.

  “I don’t mean in a romantic way. She looks like she has something on her mind. Look how antsy she is.”

  Tallulah was a ball of restless energy. She was moving from one foot to the other and shifting her arms around. Her gaze would rest on Red and then flit off to someone else. She also craned her neck to look around her as if to see who else was there. Then her gaze returned to Red

  “Maybe she feels guilty. Could she really have been that upset over Yard of the Month?” asked Miles.

  Myrtle said, “Or else she knows something. After all, she was right next door to Lillian. It seems to me that she might have seen something. She strikes me as a neighbor very much like Erma. One who doesn’t have a lot to do and spends days glued to the window.”

  Miles turned to look at Erma and Myrtle snapped, “For heaven’s sake! Don’t look at her. It will only encourage her.”

  A soloist started singing the Lord’s Prayer and Myrtle and Miles stopped talking and sat solemnly through the rather long service. Martin looked relaxed but solemn. His sister sat stiffly as if forced to be there. Bianca, Lillian’s employee, was also in attendance and kept looking fretfully at the floral arrangements as if spotting some flaw that no one else could see.

  There was a string quartet, another solo, eulogies, and a full sermon. It was fortunate Miles had somewhat caught up on his sleep and didn’t doze off. Myrtle kept watching Tallulah watch Red.

  Finally, the service wound to a close.

  “Thank goodness,” breathed Miles. “Now what’s the plan?”

  “Well, we’re definitely heading to the reception. But I’d like to see if Tallulah ends up speaking to Red. Maybe we can hover close enough to Red so we can overhear if she approaches him, but not too close so Red ends up speaking with us and scares Tallulah off.”

  Miles considered this. “What approximate proximity are we talking about?”

  “Just follow me,” said Myrtle.

  “Shouldn’t we speak with the family first?” asked Miles, looking uncomfortable. He was always one for following correct protocol.

  “We’ll see them at the reception,” said Myrtle. “Come on.”

  They got within a few feet of Red and he raised his eyebrows and gave them a nod. There was an older woman who had just engaged him in conversation. Tallulah, who had been heading in Red’s direction, hesitated as she spotted the woman with him. She instead started fiddling with her phone while keeping an eye on Red.

  The older woman sounded cranky. “I just think it’s dreadful, Red. Something must be done about my neighbors.”

  Myrtle rolled her eyes at Miles.

  Red said in his most patient voice, “Remind me again what the issue is, Miz Patty?”

  Patty said petulantly, “I thought you’d remember. I’ve spoken with you about it before.”

  Myrtle reflected that Red’s patience was likely becoming strained as she saw a patch of red crawl out of his collar and up his neck. “I’m sure I’ll remember as soon as you tell me, Miz Patty. It’s just been crazy-busy at the department lately.”

  Patty said, “It’s about those children who live next door to me. Or, rather, their completely inattentive parents. They haven’t been to school at all, lately. It used to be just one or two days a week and now it’s all the time!”

  As Patty continued ranting about the neighbors, Myrtle watched Tallulah. She stopped fiddling with her phone and looked again at Red before sitting on a bench. She appeared to want to wait out Red’s conversation.

  But Patty didn’t seem in any hurry to walk away. Plus, the more she talked about the neighbors, the more grievances she came up with. Myrtle rolled her eyes at Miles.

  Red finally tried to stem the tide. “Miz Patty, again, I appreciate your letting me know. I agree the parents could use a talking to, whether from me or the school. I’ll check in with the school first to see what I can find out. Are you sure the kids aren’t being homeschooled?”

  Patty blinked. This possibility had apparently not occurred to her.

  Red said gently, “It may be that’s all that’s going on. But I’ll be sure to follow-up on it, to make sure. It’s been good speaking with you, but I’m afraid I’ve got to head out . . . I have a meeting I need to attend.”

  Myrtle made a face at Miles. This was not part of the plan.

  As Red hurried by he said, “Hi, Miles. Mama.” In a dash, he was at his police car.

  “Pooh,” said Myrtle. She looked over at Tallulah and she looked as frustrated as Myrtle did. “Let’s go see if Tallulah will tell us what’s up.”

  Miles groaned. “Must we?”

  “There’s something up, isn’t there? We should find out what it is.” Myrtle started setting off, but stopped as someone tapped her on the shoulder behind her.

  She spun to see Erma standing there, sniffing a bit.

  Myrtle jumped and Miles took a step backward to impose better personal space boundaries.

  Erma said, “Wasn’t it such a lovely service? Such a pity Lillian couldn’t see what a nice funeral she had. And I’m so glad I was able to make it—I had this terrible stomachache this morning. Seriously, I don’t know what was wrong, but I was totally wracked with pain.”

  Now Miles took another step backward and patted his suit pocket for his hand sanitizer.

  “Yes, it was a lovely service,” said Myrtle hastily. “Unfortunately, Miles and I need to leave, though. Now.” She glanced over at Tallulah, but she was already gone.

  After successfully escaping from Erma, they climbed into Miles’s car and he set off. Myrtle added thoughtfully, “I feel like I want to know more about Martin. There’s just something that seems a little off about him.”

  “The way he tries to hawk insurance at every available opportunity?” asked Miles.

  “You’re far too obsessed with that, Miles. And no, it has more to do with his background and his money. With his relationship with his mother. I really feel as though he must be hiding something. It’s a pity I didn’t teach him.”

  Miles said, “I’d think you’d be relieved you didn’t teach him. He sounds like he might have been something of a pistol.”

  “Oh, I’d have been able to manage him, have no fear of that.” Myrtle snapped her fingers. “I know. I could speak with my friend, Carolyn. I’ve known her since back when she was a middle school librarian. She lived right next door to Lillian then.”

  “Before Tallulah lived there? Or on the other side?” asked Miles.

  “On the other side. She might be able to give me some more of Martin’s backstory and maybe more about Lillian and Annie, too,” said Myrtle. “We’ll run by the public library after the reception. She’s helping out there now. Information was always her forte.”

  As expected, the funeral reception was rather lavish. “Rowan has outdone himself,” muttered Myrtle.

  “It looks more like a wedding reception than a funeral reception,” said Miles, glancing around.

  Rowan had apparently gone all-out. There were photographs of Lillian interspersed with sterling silver chafing dishes and serving spoons. The foods were upscale spins on typical Southern funeral foods. Martin must not have spared any cost. Myrtle and Miles filled their plates.

  Miles murmured, “I had no idea the flower business was so profitable.”

  “Or is this an example of overspending by someone who regul
arly does it?” asked Myrtle.

  The bottom floor of Martin’s tremendous house was completely full of Bradley residents. Myrtle scowled at them. “It’s very hard to find the family when there are so many vultures in here.”

  “Vultures? Really? I thought the appropriate term was ‘mourners.’”

  Myrtle said, “Not when they’re so clearly here for the food.” She frowned. “Some of these people seem a little intoxicated.”

  Miles shrugged. “Maybe they’re simply high on life since they’ve just left a funeral. What’s the German term? Schadenfreude?”

  “I think they’re high on more than life. Look at them.”

  Sure enough, there seemed to be a portion of the gathering that was quite raucous. They were getting louder and louder, too, with both their conversation and their laughter.

  Miles looked over at them. “On the upside, I think we’ve located Martin.”

  “He’s serving alcohol here?” Myrtle raised her eyebrows. “For a Bradley funeral, that’s really unheard of.”

  “And expensive,” added Miles.

  “Well, we’re not going to imbibe. We need to have all our faculties for investigating.”

  Miles cast a regretful look at the counter that was serving as a bar.

  “Let’s find Annie. I’m not positive Martin would even register our condolences if we were to give them to him,” said Myrtle.

  Chapter Thirteen

  But Annie proved difficult to find. Myrtle and Miles made a couple of unsuccessful passes downstairs in case Annie was on the move. But she was nowhere to be found.

  Myrtle said, “Let’s split up. I’ll check outside and you can check upstairs.”

  Miles balked. “I’m not going upstairs. That seems rather off-limits. The family quarters.”

  “It’s not a family. It’s only Martin. But all right. I’ll go upstairs and you go outside. We can text each other if we find her.” Someone jostled Myrtle, spilling wine on her. “Watch it!” she snapped at the middle-aged man. He reddened, mumbled an apology, and hastily retreated. “Something always happens to my funeral outfit,” she growled.

  Myrtle headed for an elaborate staircase under a tremendous crystal chandelier while Miles set off through a couple of French doors to what looked to be an amazing deck with lake views.

  The elaborate staircase was steeper than Myrtle anticipated and required a certain amount of athleticism to ascend. She boosted herself with her cane and it thumped on the marble as she went. She knew if anyone questioned her about being upstairs, she could easily get away with acting confused. It was an excellent trick and she’d occasionally rely on it. No one would challenge an octogenarian on that point, after all.

  But no one seemed to be paying attention at all as the party downstairs became louder and louder.

  Myrtle paused at the top of the stairs, slightly winded, and peered down the long hallway with what appeared to be a dozen or more doors. The place was more like a hotel than a house. All the doors seemed to be open, at least. She slowly walked down the hall.

  Myrtle had passed several empty bedrooms when she came upon what appeared to be a library. She raised her eyebrows. She wouldn’t necessarily have pegged Martin as a reader. She’d have to ask Carolyn, her school librarian friend, about that. Myrtle, never able to resist a library, walked in.

  “Hi, Miss Myrtle,” said a quiet voice.

  Myrtle startled and turned around to see Annie on a leather sofa behind her.

  “Oh, goodness,” said Myrtle. “Annie, I’m sorry to disturb you, today of all days.” She decided she didn’t need her old lady act with Annie. Annie might not believe it. Instead, she said, “I heard about Martin’s library and I thought I’d take a look. I can’t seem to pass up a library.”

  Annie smiled weakly at her. “That’s okay, Miss Myrtle. It’s probably better for me to talk to somebody, anyway. I just came up here to be quiet for a few minutes and then things got so loud downstairs that I didn’t want to go back down. What’s going on down there?”

  “Alcohol,” said Myrtle simply.

  Annie made a face. “I told Martin not to offer an open bar but he never listens to me. Well, I’m definitely not going back downstairs now.” She hesitated. “Like I said, I probably needed to talk to somebody, though. I’m glad it’s you.”

  To Myrtle’s alarm, Annie burst into tears. Myrtle stood up and looked frantically around for a box of tissues. There were none to be seen, so she pawed through her tremendous purse until she found a packet of travel tissues buried somewhere near the bottom. She thrust them at Annie and made comforting sounds until Annie finally stopped crying.

  “Sorry,” said Annie behind several tissues. “I think it’s all just hit me now. Mama’s death, I mean. And I feel terrible about it—the way she died, the fact we weren’t on better terms, all of it. I also feel really guilty that it didn’t make me upset to hear Mama was dead. I felt . . . relieved.” She stared down miserably at the wad of tissues in her hand.

  Myrtle made some tut-tutting noises. “Well, of course you felt that way. Death affects everyone in different ways on different days. But I’d think your mother also would have felt badly too, if you’d been able to ask her. She’d have been sorry she hadn’t developed a better relationship with you. That was more of her responsibility and less of yours.”

  Annie gave her a grateful look. “Do you think so? Thanks, Miss Myrtle.”

  They sat quietly for a few moments. Myrtle glanced around the library and thought all the books seemed to be in excellent condition. Most of them appeared to be unread, especially the books of a more-serious and literary nature. However, there were many shelves of paperbacks that looked quite dog-eared. Perhaps Martin was a reader, after all.

  Myrtle said, “I did have a question for you. It’s about a neighbor of yours.”

  Annie smiled. “Our former neighbor? Carolyn? Oh, she’s wonderful. She’s one of the reasons I enjoyed school and reading as much as I did. She always had such terrific recommendations for things to read. She has little grandchildren now and I bet she’s developing a love of reading in them, too.”

  Myrtle said, “Carolyn is a terrific librarian and book-lover. But I actually meant your neighbor on the other side.”

  Annie made a face. “You mean Tallulah. She’s dreadful.”

  “I ran into her at the store,” said Myrtle.

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” said Annie with a grimace.

  Myrtle chuckled. “She did seem a little peculiar. I got the impression she and your mother didn’t get along very well.”

  “You might say that. I might say they fought like cats and dogs,” said Annie.

  “Tallulah didn’t mention that, though. She said they didn’t see eye to eye on a Yard of the Month award for their neighborhood,” said Myrtle.

  Annie snorted. “Sure. Maybe that was one of the minor things they argued about. But I can assure you it was a lot more complicated than that. Mama had offers from a developer for the lot that was behind her house and Tallulah’s.”

  “That sounds like quite a spacious lot.”

  “It is. The developer was actually going to divide it in half and put up two homes,” said Annie.

  “I have the feeling Tallulah didn’t much care for the idea.”

  “She was livid,” said Annie with a faint smile. “It’s kind of funny now, but it was making Mama furious the way Tallulah was behaving. Mama said it was her land to do whatever she wanted to do with and that Tallulah was just lucky Mama hadn’t gotten a decent offer from a developer up until that point.”

  “Tallulah wanted the land to stay undeveloped,” said Myrtle thoughtfully.

  Annie said, “Absolutely. Mama said she wanted her privacy and Tallulah thought if the developer put these two-story houses right in her backyard that they’d be able to see right into her property.”

  “Tallulah could simply have insta
lled some privacy landscaping. I have some of that at my house. Tall bushes and trees and whatnot. I have a problematic neighbor, as well.” Myrtle made a face at the thought of Erma.

  “Apparently, Tallulah wasn’t interested in redesigning her yard. She wanted it the way it was because she grew vegetables in the summer and didn’t want all the shade that would come with planting large bushes and trees.”

  “She was in quite a pickle, then,” said Myrtle.

  Annie looked startled. “You don’t think Tallulah would have killed Mama over something like that?”

  “I don’t know. But she sure didn’t want me to know the real reason she was feuding with your mother. Yard of the Month, indeed!” Myrtle sniffed. “And what will happen with the real estate deal now?”

  Annie frowned. “I haven’t really thought about it. I don’t think Mama had actually signed the papers yet. She was speaking with the developers in the vacant lot, which is how Tallulah found out about it. I guess we’re under no obligation to go through with it. But I have the feeling Martin will be all over it. In fact, he’s so unsentimental, I bet he’d sell Mama’s house, to boot. Then the developer could put up two more houses. She had a big lot, too.”

  Myrtle said, “That means, if Tallulah did murder Lillian, she didn’t gain a thing. I don’t believe it’s something Tallulah could have counted on.”

  Annie shook her head. “No, of course not. It was silly of me to even think it.” She paused. “Unless it wasn’t planned. What if Tallulah went over to Mama’s house to speak with her again about the development? Maybe Mama made her angry and she killed her in the heat of the moment. She could easily have slipped over there and back without anyone seeing her.”

  “You’re saying it might have been manslaughter.”

  Annie said, “That’s right.” She sighed. “Although I have a tough time believing Tallulah could have done that. I mean, I never really liked the woman, but I sure wouldn’t have said she was capable of doing something like that. Don’t pay any attention to me. I’m just overtired and stressed out.”