Death Changes Everything

by Linda Crowder

  “You mustn’t pay any attention to what Pam said about Steven stealing from us while we were gone. Steven had our complete trust or we wouldn’t have asked him to look after the house while we were gone.”

  “I wondered why you would ask Steven, who is so busy, instead of Pam.”

  “Pam’s busy, too. Men always think a stay-at-home mother isn’t doing anything, but let me tell you, it’s harder work raising seven children than running a company.”

  “My apologies. Have you noticed anything else missing since you’ve been home?”

  “No, nothing. Roger would have let you know if he’d noticed anything.”

  “Your son gave us a list of items that were in the safe. The list refers to paperwork but it doesn’t say what kind of paperwork.”

  “Our wills, Roger’s and mine. Our passports too, ordinarily, but of course we had them with us.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Hill. I appreciate you seeing me on short notice.”

  Jake walked Matt to his car. As they passed his truck, he pulled out an envelope and handed it to Matt. “Roger’s will. I was on my way to file it with probate court when Maddie called. I don’t see why you should have to wait for the Clerk to run you a copy. I was going to drop it off for you.”

  “How successful do you think Winters would be in challenging this will?”

  “Not at all. He’d have to prove Roger wasn’t capable of making his own decisions or that someone named in the will exerted undue influence on him. Neither condition would apply.”

  “And those are the only terms under which a challenge would be successful?”

  “He could produce a will more recent than this. He’d have to prove the new will is valid.”

  “Morty has a vivid imagination.”

  “Not a bad thing in a detective. Helps us ask questions we might not otherwise have thought of.”

  “Yeah, I guess so.” Matt started down the driveway, but turned and came back.

  “Forget something?”

  “I’m sorry. About what I said yesterday.”

  “Apology accepted. You were just trying to do your job.”

  “Mistakes get people killed, Jake. I need you to be more careful.”

  “So, you want me back on the team?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Danning talk to you?”

  Matt looked away and clenched his hand. “Does everybody have to know my business?”

  “Sorry. You were pretty set on me being off the case yesterday.”

  Matt leaned his back against Jake’s truck. “I still feel that way.”

  “I know.”

  The two men stood for a few minutes, saying nothing. Matt pushed away from the truck. “But my wings have been clipped. I’ve been benched for the duration.” He looked up at Jake, who stood nearly six inches taller.

  “I’ll try not to get myself killed, how’s that?”

  Matt glared at him. “Is Mrs. Hill really that out of touch or is she just not willing to air dirty laundry?”

  “I knew Roger much better than Della. When I wrote her will, Roger told me what to say. I typed it up and brought it out to the house for her to sign.”

  “Controlling.”

  “That he was. Don’t get me wrong, he was a good man, but everything had to be his way. My dad warned me about that when I took over for him.” Jake looked closely at Matt. “Buddy, you really do look like something Sparky threw up.”

  “Gee thanks.”

  “Tell me what you want done and I’ll do it. You go home. Get some sleep.”

  “I don’t know.” He rubbed the muscles at the back of his neck. “Find Valerie Smith, I guess.”

  “Actually, now that I’m back on the team, I can tell you that Emma and Grace are working on that.”

  “Do I wanna know?”

  “Probably not. I’ll try to find Winters, then I’ll see if they need some help knocking on doors.”

  “That’ll make Morty happy.”

  “Go home.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

  ***

  “Do you think we should be doing this? Matt told us to stand down.” Emma held open the door of her SUV and Grace climbed out, clipboard in hand. With no brochures or bumper stickers, Grace had decided they would gather voter input. Grace had prepared questions and prepared to take notes.

  “Are you certain Matthew isn’t home?” She asked, ignoring Emma’s question.

  “Kristy said he went to work, but she’s expecting him back for lunch. She’s going to try to keep him at her place this afternoon, but she’ll call to warn us if he’s on his way here. She thinks we should be safe at least until one-thirty. I hate asking her to be our lookout.”

  “I heard you on the phone, practically begging Kristy to say no if she felt it would cause friction between her and Matthew. We’re not asking her to lie to him.”

  “No, just keep something from him.”

  “Then we’d better get moving so we can finish before Matthew comes home. That way, she’s got nothing to keep from him either.”

  “Nobody’s going to be home on a work day.”

  “You are such a sourpuss today, Emma. A little more enthusiasm would be appreciated.” They started with the apartments closest to Matt’s. Since Valerie had repeatedly parked in his space, it made sense that she would have been staying at one of the apartments nearby.

  The complex had several buildings, with apartments clustered in groups of four, two upstairs and two down. Matt’s was downstairs on the right in his cluster and Grace marched up to his door and rang the bell.

  “What are you doing?” whispered Emma, tugging on Grace’s arm in a vain attempt to pull her away.

  “If by some chance Matthew is home, I would prefer to find out now, not by having him catch us knocking on these other doors.”

  “What’ll you say if he answers?”

  “That we came by to see how he was feeling.”

  Emma giggled. “With a clipboard that says Rand for CA. That’ll go over well.”

  “At least your mood has improved,” said Grace. “And since Matthew has not answered the doorbell, let’s get started.”

  Grace rang the doorbell at the apartment directly across from Matt’s. The two women waited, one confidently and one less so, but no one answered. Grace rang again but no one came. She made a note on her clipboard and led Emma up the stairs.

  “What are you writing?”

  “I want to make sure we speak to everyone so I’m keeping track.”

  “Good idea,” said Emma as she rang the bell. This time, they heard movement inside. The curtains parted and a man opened the window next to the door. He was wearing a dirty, white undershirt and his dark hair looked like he’d just gotten out of bed. “Whatever yer sellin’ I don’ want any.”

  Grace smiled broadly at the man, who glared back at her. “Good morning! I’m sorry to disturb you. We aren’t selling anything. We’re here for the Jake Rand campaign, speaking with voters about the County Attorney race.”

  The man looked them over and Emma felt her skin crawl. “I don’ wanna talk to no politicians neither.”

  “I’m Emma Rand.” Emma tried to match Grace’s cheerful demeanor, but what she wanted to do was grab her hand and run away. “It’s my husband who is running for County Attorney.”

  The man’s face disappeared from the window and Emma heard the sound of tobacco juice being spit into a tin can. Nauseated, she looked at Grace who was looking slightly green. They waited, but the man did not reappear.

  “Should I ring the bell again?” whispered Emma.

  “I think not.” Grace made a note on her clipboard and moved to the fourth apartment. Here the door was answered by a woman, with a toddler clutching her leg and looking up at them. If the woman spoke English, she decided not to demonstrate that skill when Emma told her why they were there. She just shook her head and shut the door.

  “Well that was a bust,” said Emma as they walked back down the stairs. “Maybe thi
s was a bad idea.”

  “And maybe you’re giving up too soon. There are five other buildings. Let’s go.”

  They rang the bells at the apartments in the buildings on either side of the one Matt lived in. Few doors opened. One woman gave them an earful about the abusive and corrupt legal system in Casper. Another ranted about politicians, and one simply yelled at them to go away.

  They moved to the next row of buildings and worked methodically until in the building directly behind Matt’s, their patience was rewarded. A woman, who appeared to be close to Grace’s age, answered the door. When Emma explained why they were there, she was the first person who invited them to come inside.

  “You two look tired to death,” she said as she led them to her small but comfortable living room. She insisted on making coffee for them and, when it was ready, she brought in two mugs and settled into her chair. “How long have you been at this?”

  “Not very long,” Grace lied. “We want to make sure we speak with everyone we possibly can.”

  “My, my. Such dedication. Well, I’m happy to help. What would you like to know?”

  “As I told you, my husband is running for County Attorney.”

  “You must be very proud.”

  “I am, thank you. He’s a wonderful man. He really wants to know what voters like you would like to see in your next County Attorney.”

  “Just about anyone would be better than the last one, dear.”

  “That’s certainly true,” agreed Grace. “I’m sorry, I forgot to ask your name.”

  “Cecily. CeCe to my friends.”

  “Well, CeCe,” began Grace, stumbling over the nickname, “what quality do you think is most important in a County Attorney?”

  “Honesty, but that’s a tall order for a politician.” She hooted at her joke. “You asked me, so I’ll tell you. I’d like to see them take people to trial instead of letting criminals off with a slap on the hand. That’s what we’re paying them to do, isn’t it?”

  “My husband agrees that sometimes a case should be prosecuted, but sometimes justice is best served by a defendant pleading guilty. You can count on him to consider every case individually and make the decision he feels is best.”

  Cecily studied Emma, then she took off her glasses, cleaned then with a tissue from the box on the table next to her chair. When she put them back on, she smiled. “I like you. You say what you mean, not what you think I want to hear. Is your hubby like that?’

  “Oh believe me, Jake speaks his mind, regardless of what he thinks I want to hear.”

  Cecily laughed, a great gully-washer of a laugh that proved infectious. When the three women finally stopped laughing, Grace asked Cecily if she were planning to vote in the primary in January.

  “I’ve never missed an election in my life. When my Janie was born, I made Herbert stop on the way to the hospital so I could vote.” She laughed again, though not as raucously. “My water broke as I was handing in my ballot. You should have seen the looks I got, but John F. Kennedy got my vote that day. ‘Course, it didn’t matter. God Himself couldn’t get elected as a Democrat in Wyoming.”

  Grace and Emma both laughed and Cecily smiled at them. “What’d you say your husband’s name was, dear?”

  “Jake Rand.”

  Cecily’s eyebrows flew up and her face flushed. “Is he here, too? Is he knocking on doors?”

  “No, I’m sorry. He had to work today. He’s an attorney in private practice.”

  “I’d like to meet him. Can he come see me?”

  “I’m sure he’d be happy to meet you, CeCe. When would it be convenient for you?”

  “Tomorrow. Doesn’t matter when, just call me first and I’ll be sure to put my teeth in. Oh my dear, are you all right?”

  Emma was choking on her coffee and managed somehow to stammer, “I’ll have him call you in the morning.” When Grace had written down Cecily’s phone number, the two bid a hasty goodbye.

  “I shall be interested to know why she was so excited when she heard Jacob’s name,” said Grace when they were safely back in the SUV on their way downtown.

  “I noticed that, too. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out. Grace, I have clients I simply must see this afternoon. Would you mind if I drop you at the bookstore for a few hours?”

  “I’m a little tired after all those stairs. Would Jacob be able to bring you home if I took the car?”

  “I’m sure he could. Grace, I’m so sorry. I should have noticed. You really do look tired.”

  “It’s nothing to worry about. I’ll take a nap and be right as rain this evening.”

  ***

  “You look awful,” said Kristy, opening her door to Matt.

  “You’re the third person today who’s told me that.”

  “Because it’s true. Who were the other two?”

  “Jake and Captain Danning. They both told me to go home and go to sleep.”

  Kristy kissed him. “Well, I’m glad. You were pushing it, going to work today. Can I get you some soup?”

  “I would love soup. What’ve you got?”

  “I made tomato bisque, but if you want something more substantial, I have leftover chicken and dumplings in the freezer.”

  “Nah, tomato’s good.” Matt sat on a stool at the bar and watched Kristy in the kitchen. “You didn’t happen to talk to Danning today, did you?”

  Kristy spooned hot soup into bowls and shredded cheese over the top. “No. Why?”

  “He seemed to know a lot more than I thought he should have about the investigation. He even knew about my headaches and dizziness and the frickin’ crossword puzzle.”

  Kristy put Matt’s soup on the counter. “I don’t know about the crossword, but sweetie, nobody has to tell him how you’re feeling. One look at that scraggly mug and he can guess the rest.”

  “That good, huh?”

  She leaned against the counter and blew on her soup. “I tried to tell you, but you’re a bit…”

  “Dedicated?”

  “Stubborn. Pig-headed. Obstinate. Mulish.”

  Matt held up his hands. “Okay, okay. I give.”

  “When did you see Jake?”

  Matt looked sheepish. “At Della Hill’s house.”

  “By that hangdog look on your face, I’m guessing it was after Captain Danning told you to go home.” Kristy shook her head. “Was it worth it?”

  “She’s either clueless or in heavy-duty denial about her family. Jake gave me a copy of Roger’s will.” Matt pulled out the envelope and went into the living room. Collapsing onto the sofa, he kicked off his shoes and put his feet up on the coffee table.

  Kristy plucked it from his hands. “Read later. Nap first.” She sat down next to him and patted her lap. He laid his head in her lap and she gently stroked his hair.

  “This is nice,” sighed Matt. “I’m glad Danning made me come home.”

  Kristy watched his features relax, her heart swelling to know how at home he felt with her. She took a deep breath. “I love you, Matt,” she whispered, but he had already fallen asleep.

  15

  Jake watched Matt drive away, then went back inside to say goodbye to Della. He stopped at the courthouse to file the will, then headed back to his office to search for Walter Winters. When nothing came up on the Internet, he launched a public records search. While he waited for the results, he went over the facts as he knew them, but it brought him no closer to a solution.

  Atop any list of suspects is always the victim’s spouse. Maddie Hill was either a very good actress or she was genuinely grieved. Morty had checked Steven’s travel and it appeared he’d been accompanied by a variety of women on his trips over a number of years, none of them his wife. Maddie was no fool. She may have turned a blind eye, but she had to have known about it. If she hadn’t killed him before, why now Roger’s will gave her five million reasons to keep Steven alive, if she’d seen it.

  Pam Young now stood to inherit twice the fortune, but that was only a motive
if she’d seen Roger’s will and if she had an expectation that Roger would not change his will after Steven died. The timing of her father’s death, when he had told Jake he intended to make such a change, was suspicious. The Coroner had assured Matt that Roger’s death was by natural causes though, so Jake thought money was an unlikely motive for Pam.

  A stronger motive was her fifteen-year grudge against both Roger and Steven. In spite of Della’s assurances to the contrary, Pam herself had announced the men had forced her out of the company and she didn’t seem over it to him. She lived on the next block and could have come and gone by way of the alley, without much risk of being seen. Grace had eliminated Pam, pointing out that Steven’s murder was impulsive and Pam would have had plenty of time to plan.

  Bruce Lewiston had been passed over for promotion when Roger appointed Steven CEO. This could have come as no surprise, since Roger had always been open about his intentions. The only way Roger would have promoted Lewiston was if there was no one in the family ready to take the helm. Lewiston would likely have assumed, as Jake had, that with Steven out of the way, Roger would bring Pam back. With Roger gone, too, Jake expected Pam would soon step in.

  Lewiston had known about the fund that had supported Hill Energy’s workforce since the price of oil dropped. Even if he’d successfully hidden it from the family for years, the current downturn was too severe for even Steven to ignore. Had he confronted Lewiston about it?

  Jake wished the auditor would finish his work and tell them how Lewiston had managed to set up the fund. If he forged signatures, he would be facing serious prison time and that would give him a reason to kill Steven before he could take action against him. Since neither man had a meeting on their calendar, perhaps Steven had told Lewiston to come to his house. How could none of the neighbors have noticed someone coming to the house that morning or heard the shots?

  Next, Jake considered Valerie Smith. She had Roger’s address so had she broken into his house? If she was having an affair with Steven, she could have gotten the code from him, since it was Steven who gave it to the pool company. Still, if she’d written down the address, wouldn’t she have written down the code and the combination for the safe? If she’d stolen from his parents, perhaps Steven had threatened her with the wild shot, but why would he put the gun down where she could pick it up and shoot him?