The Wrong Hill to Die On: An Alafair Tucker Mystery #6 (Alafair Tucker Mysteries)

by Donis Casey

  “No. I don’t know the older two at all but to see them on the street. I knew Bernie from his handyman business. Too bad he had to cross over Jordan right in front of my house.” Elizabeth sounded more amused than upset.

  “You’re not surprised that Bernie was murdered,” Alafair said. It was not a question.

  Elizabeth shook her head. “He was the sassiest flirt this side of the Pecos. I fear it was just a matter of time ’til some aggrieved husband did him in.”

  Alafair was surprised that her sister had voiced aloud what she had been thinking. She had formed an opinion of the murdered man at the open house, but how accurate could that be considering she had spent less than ten minutes in his company? She was not acquainted with the particulars of his life.

  Of course she had formed an impression nonetheless. She always got a sense of a person within moments of meeting him. Sometimes longer acquaintance proved her right and sometimes entirely wrong. Usually right, though. Often enough that she had quite a bit of faith in her intuition.

  Her intuition had told her that this Bernie Arruda was a piece of work.

  He thought he was irresistible to women. She had known plenty like him in her life, including some in her own family. The difference between Bernie and most other ladies’ men was that he really was extraordinary: handsome, charming, and attentive. He could sing, too, his true tenor voice full of feeling as his fingers caressed the strings of his small guitar.

  If only he had not been so aware of his gifts. Considering the fact that he was giving their wives heart-flutters, the men seemed to like Bernie as well as the women did. He would have been hard not to like, she admitted to herself, the way he made everyone he spoke to feel as though he or she was the most interesting person he had ever met. And if you were female, the most desirable.

  The one thing she particularly remembered about Bernie was that when he looked over the women at the party—any woman from twelve to eighty, including middle-aged matrons like herself—his dark eyes smoldered with a sexual intensity that embarrassed Alafair. Well, obviously not everyone was enamored with Bernie, considering that someone had taken a notion to cave in the back of his skull. Still… “Harsh retribution for a few ill-chosen words.”

  “You know how men are, Alafair.” Elizabeth stepped back over the ditch and they walked together toward the house. “Some will take exception when another man eyes his wife. Some will take double exception when a brown man eyes his wife.”

  “What do you aim to tell the sheriff when he comes by, Elizabeth?”

  “There is not much I really know for a fact. I expect I’ll cogitate for a spell about who all was at the house last night and what happened. Maybe you can help me. Perhaps we can remember something to tell the sheriff that will light a fire under him.”

  “Oh, honey, I can’t be getting involved in this business. I’m here to see to Blanche, and besides we aren’t going to be in Arizona very long. Even if we were, I don’t know any of the folks around here, so there is nothing I could say about any of them.”

  “I don’t expect to solve the crime, Alafair. I only wish I could come up with something for the law to go on and not just let it go with, ‘you know how Mexicans are.’”

  Alafair’s gaze shifted as she considered all the people she had met at the open house. “Well, Elizabeth, I heard some saber-rattling language, but if anyone I met the other night is a murderer or a criminal, I am going to be mighty surprised.”

  Elizabeth’s neighbors were just like Alafair’s neighbors in and around Boynton. The men had gathered in the back yard and sat under the trees drinking sweet tea, loudly talking politics and laughing so much that Alafair had wondered if there was something other than tea in their glasses.

  The women had congregated in the house, milling around the kitchen and parlor. Mrs. Carrizal had made a deliciously creamy hot drink flavored with cinnamon, vanilla, and chocolate that no one could get enough of. They discussed their kids and joked about their husbands and men in general, just like home.

  Alafair had enjoyed the gathering very much, which had been something of a surprise, considering how hard Elizabeth had had to work to convince her it would be a good idea in the first place.

  Tired

  Alafair and Blanche and Shaw were so tired when they arrived that they had spent their first full day in Tempe piled together napping on the bed in the back bedroom where Elizabeth had ensconced them. Blanche slept the entire day and the adults rose only long enough to dress in the morning, wash, and eat enough to keep from starving. But on the second day Shaw had spent an hour or two downtown visiting Webster’s law office, and Blanche was feeling lively enough to take an interest in the exotic new surroundings and her exotic new relatives.

  Blanche’s relatives were just as taken with her. Chase Kemp would have spent hours chattering away at his cousin and bringing her bugs and sticks and puzzles and pictures he had drawn, had Alafair not banned him from the bedroom most of the time.

  Blanche and her aunt Elizabeth had taken to one another immediately. Alafair was amazed at how much the two were alike in looks and temperament. Both were tall, slender, and fragile-looking, with the same elegant cheekbones and creamy skin. They were both blessed with a languid, knowing gaze and large, almond-shaped eyes, though Elizabeth’s were dark brown and not green. Both had oceans of sable brown hair that fell in graceful waves and stayed perfectly in place at any time of day. How had it come about, Alafair wondered, that her own long, dark, springy hair always looked like she had just been caught in a windstorm? Was she not of the same blood as her sister and her own daughter? Little wonder that Blanche adored Elizabeth. They are kindred souls, Alafair realized. Considering how restless and volatile, how stubborn and full of schemes Elizabeth had been as a child, that realization made her vaguely anxious.

  By the third day, Blanche was ready to explore. But as happy as Alafair was to see Blanche feeling so much better, she refused to let her do more than get out of bed to take meals and use the chamber pot. Blanche expressed her unhappiness at the arrangement. But aside from an hour or so spent playing with her cousin or reading to her aunt, she slept much of the day in spite of her protestations.

  Alafair did not leave her side. While Blanche slept she had amused herself by exploring the large, light-filled and airy veranda bedroom.

  Two large, six-paned, double casement windows took up almost the entire width of the outside wall. The rest of the room contained the beds and a wardrobe, a couple of comfortable chairs, a tall bookshelf, and a long, narrow, wooden table along the back wall that was piled with the detritus from Elizabeth’s various crafts and enthusiasms.

  During the long afternoons that Alafair kept watch over Blanche’s healing sleep, she whiled away a few of the hours by becoming acquainted with the evidence of her sister’s eclectic pastimes. Boxes of fabric scraps for quilting and rug-making, spools of ribbon, a box of feathers, a rack of preserved flowers and reeds were scattered across the long table at the back of the room. Did she make hats? Alafair kept forgetting to ask. Elizabeth had carefully labeled a dozen or so rock fragments and pasted them to a large piece of cardboard. Envelopes full of newspaper clippings and a tall stack of magazines were piled on one corner: Ladies Home Journal, National Geographic, The Nation, McClures’, a couple of dime novels, a theosophical treatise, mathematics and chemistry textbooks, the Radical Review, Photoplay and Motion Picture Story Magazine. Several books by one Dane Coolidge sat on a bookshelf under the window. When she picked one up to flip through it, Alafair discovered it had been signed by Mr. Coolidge himself. The bottom bookshelf was lined with law textbooks and tomes of Arizona and United States statutes. Amazing. Was there anything Elizabeth did not take an interest in?

  Eventually Alafair abandoned her snooping and leaned over the bed to check on Blanche. She was sound asleep and looked so innocent and peaceful that Alafair could not help but brush the child’s cheek with her lips. She tiptoed out of the room and through the quiet house to
find Elizabeth sitting at the kitchen table with one foot propped on the rung of the chair next to her, cradling a mug of something creamy in one hand and reading a book.

  Persuasion

  Elizabeth looked up and smiled. “Well, greetings, stranger! Nice to see you out and about this afternoon. How is Blanche doing today?”

  Alafair pulled out the chair on the opposite side of the table and sat down. “She’s napping right now. She is better every single day, Elizabeth. As soon as we got out of Oklahoma she started to perk up, but just since she has been here, I swear it’s like she took some magic elixir. I am afraid I’m not going to be able to force her to stay in bed much longer.”

  “Might be good for her to stretch her legs and get a bit of exercise.”

  “I know it. It’s just that she has been sick so long that it’s hard for me to credit that she’s finally on the mend. I declare, Elizabeth, the air out here is a miracle, so clear and dry and perfect. I never knew there was a place in these United States where you could go about in your shirtsleeves and leave the windows open in February.”

  Elizabeth cocked an eyebrow. “You’ve come at the best time of the year. You would change your mind if you visited in July. And besides, it’s March now, sister.”

  “Oh, yes, I had forgot. I kindly have lost track of time.”

  “Well, I am glad the sweet thing is feeling better. I’ll tell you, Alafair, that is one beautiful girl you’ve got there. She’s going to make all the boys cry when she grows up. You had better warn Shaw to keep an eye on her.”

  Alafair laughed, flattered. “Thank you, we think all our young’uns are good-looking. But she’s not quite eleven years old yet. She has got a way to go before we’ll need to lock her away from the fellows.”

  “You sound like a mama, all right. Our mama is the same way—can’t quite see that the children are more grown up than she thinks they are. Mark my words about that pretty girl.” She closed her book.“Did you read the article about y’all’s trip that came out in the paper this morning?”

  Alafair nodded, glad of the change of topic. “I did.” Kemp and Stewart, Attorneys-at-Law, was located next door to the local newspaper. When Shaw had returned to the house after his visit downtown yesterday afternoon, he told Alafair a reporter friend of Web’s had asked permission to write an article about their prodigious trip from Boynton, Oklahoma, to Tempe, Arizona. Shaw had obliged him with an interview and the article had appeared in the Tempe Daily News that very morning.

  “Well, I don’t know if you’ve been hearing all the comings and goings through this house today but I think every person we know in town has telephoned or dropped by to say hello. Everybody wants to meet y’all. Of course I gave them all a glass of tea and sent them on their way, since I figured Blanche didn’t need to be bothered. But since Blanche is doing well and you must be getting bored by now, I am wondering if you and Shaw would object to us having an open house tomorrow evening?”

  Alafair looked skeptical. “An open house?”

  Elizabeth spoke over her before she could demur. “You’ll not have to do a thing, Alafair. I would not dream of letting you lift a finger. You and Shaw can just sit on the porch like the king and queen of Cathay and talk to folks or not as suits you. I’ll ask my friend Cindy to help me with the arrangements. She’s married to Web’s law partner, Geoff Stewart. They live right next door. She lost a baby recently, and she has been moping.”

  “Oh, I am sorry to hear that.” Alafair’s voice was full of sympathy. “How old was the baby when it died?”

  “No, sister, it was an early miscarriage and not her first. They’ve been trying for a baby for years with no luck. It’s gotten so that Geoff spends all his time working and Cindy fills her days with charity work amongst the poor Mexicans over in the Barrio. I’ve been looking for some way to cheer her up, and something like this may help. My neighbors, Mr. and Miz Carrizal, will help us set up the tables and the like. We’ll have folks bring pot luck. Maybe the Arruda brothers can play some music for us. Why, I’ll have Web invite some of the moving picture people who are staying at the hotel. Maybe one or two of them would like to come by and get some home cooking. That would be something! Cindy would love it. Oh, Alafair, I would love for you to get to meet the main actor, Mr. Bosworth. He’s ever so handsome and charming…”

  Alafair had been going to refuse outright until she saw how excited Elizabeth was. She looked so happy and hopeful at the prospect that Alafair could not make herself say no. It was not really for them that Elizabeth wanted to invite the local movers and shakers to her house. What could she do but be gracious about it? Besides, anything that may put a bit of pink in Blanche’s cheeks was worth considering.

  Elizabeth rattled on. “You must make the acquaintance of Mr. and Miz Carrizal. They are just the kindest people. They would do anything for you and act like you were doing them a favor to let them. Miz Carrizal loves Chase, too. He runs over there whenever he can and she feeds him Mexican eats and sets him to doing chores for her, even as little as he is. I don’t know how she does it. He would just as soon eat a bug as listen to anything I have to say, much less turn a hand.”

  Children know where they are wanted, Alafair thought.

  Elizabeth went on. “Mr. Carrizal is just as fine a person as his wife. He watches over me and Cindy, too. He’s the one who arranged for Bernie Arruda to come and fix things around our houses and yards when they’ve broke, like my gate latch and when one of the shelves in the kitchen came loose. Things like that would just stay broke if we had to rely on our husbands to fix them. Web is so busy with that law practice that he’s not home enough to notice what state the house is in. Of course his head is so empty of any thought but business that he doesn’t notice when he is home, either. ”

  This was the first time that Elizabeth had actually said anything to confirm Alafair’s suspicion that all was not well in the Kemp marriage.

  “When you meet them you’ll love the Carrizals, too. Maybe she’ll bring some tamales! What do you say, Alafair? Oh, please say yes.”

  “Well, I’ll ask Shaw about it, honey, but I reckon it will be all right. As long as Blanche holds up, though. If she tires out or gets to coughing, don’t be disappointed if her and me disappear back into the bedroom.”

  “Oh, no, Alafair, I understand. But it will be good for Blanche. You will see. And for Cindy and for you and Shaw, too. This will make everybody feel so much better.”

  Villa’s Raid

  Alafair had intended to broach the subject of the proposed open house to Shaw as soon as he got in from downtown, but when he returned in time for dinner with Webster in tow, they were full of their own news.

  Web could hardly contain himself, hovering over the women as they set the table under the ramada in the back yard. It was too pretty a day to eat indoors. “Bill over to the Daily News just got a wire from the A.P. that said Pancho Villa just attacked and burned Columbus, New Mexico, this morning with fifteen hundred men. Said at least sixteen Americans were killed before the Mexicans were driven back across the border.”

  The women stood agape at the news for a moment before Alafair said, “Columbus? Why, that’s where we were stranded overnight on our way here, wasn’t it, Shaw? Where the doctor was so good to come and help Blanche?”

  “That’s the place,” he confirmed. “Looks like we missed the invasion by the skin of our teeth.”

  Alafair was distressed. “Oh, mercy! Folks were so nice to us there. I hope that good doctor and the wonderful lady at the hotel are all right.”

  “Bill told us that the troopers of the Thirteenth U.S. Cavalry pursued the Villa band back into Mexico,” Web hastened to reassure her, “and at last report they were engaged in a battle some fifteen miles south of the border. Our fellows will whip them good, sure enough!”

  Shaw took a biscuit from the serving plate in Alafair’s hand before she could set it on the table. No matter what exciting news he bore, it was still dinner time, after all. “The wi
re report said that quite a number of the raiders were killed. Sounds like Villa’s gamble has cost him more than it gained.”

  Elizabeth looked worried. “Do you suppose we’re in any danger here?”

  “Oh, I doubt it, honey,” Web said. “We’re a hundred and seventy-five miles from the border and three hundred fifty miles from Columbus. Still, Cap Irish has called out the Home Guard just to be safe. They’re gathering right now over to the Normal School, on the quad in front of Old Main.”

  “Cap Irish is not a man to go off half-cocked,” Elizabeth noted. “There must be some cause for concern.”

  “Villa and his bunch have been drifting around the border area for weeks but they never made any real move to come across until now,” Web said. “I thought he told an American reporter that he wanted to take his army to Washington to let Wilson know he didn’t have anything to do with that massacre of Americans at Santa Ysabel last January.”

  Shaw looked skeptical. “Personally, I was always of a mind to take that piece of news with a grain of salt. The idea that Villa would think he could get an army all the way to Washington City for a pow-wow with the president is about as hair-brained as you can get. I can’t credit it. I never had the impression Villa was stupid.”

  “What should we do?” Elizabeth wondered. “Is there some help we can offer to the poor folks in Columbus?”

  “Nothing we can do right now,” Shaw said. “The news is still coming in, and things may change. I’ll tell you one thing, though, I sure heard a lot of wild palaver on the street when the news broke. There’s some folks act like they want to round up every Mexican-blood man, woman, and child in town and clap them into jail, then blow the country of Mexico off the map for good measure.”

  Alafair made a disgusted noise. “That’s always the way of it. Like as not the hotheads will blow off steam and calm down directly.”