Last Licks

by Donally, Claire

  “You mean have other people—like the cops—defend his dignity.” Will drove on for a moment, then said, “Would it surprise you to hear that Gardner Scatterwell, on the other hand, had been in some kind of trouble stretching back to his high school days?”

  “What kind of trouble?”

  “Drunk driving, disturbing the peace, harassment—female division, this time. It all stayed pretty low-level, fines and suspended sentences, probably due to him having expensive lawyers. Usually there were fairly long gaps between charges, so I guess he tried to behave himself.”

  “Probably he took his bad behavior out of town. My dad mentioned that he often traveled,” Sunny said.

  They were getting close to Alfred’s address, but as Sunny looked out the window, she didn’t see the picture of gracious living she’d expected. The houses were nice and well kept, but they weren’t much bigger than the one she lived in, and they were rather close together. “Wait a minute, I know this neighborhood,” she burst out. “My dad used to call it ‘the servants’ quarters.’”

  “Sort of Piney Brook by extension.” Will grinned.

  “A dump, by Piney Brook standards. If this is where the Scatterwells come from . . .” It took Sunny a minute to find the words. “Well, let’s just say they put the ‘pretend’ in ‘pretentious.’”

  “Oh, this is just Alfred’s place,” Will assured her. “The old family manse is a big, dilapidated pile right on the banks of the Piney Brook itself. That’s where Gardner used to live, although he closed the place up when he wound up in Bridgewater Hall.”

  “I wonder if Alfred looks forward to moving up to the big house,” Sunny said.

  Will grinned and sang, “‘Movin’ on up . . .’”

  They stopped in front of a house not that different from its neighbors. Sunny wasn’t expecting Jeeves the butler to appear when they rang the doorbell, but the apparition that answered went way too far in the opposite direction. In a knit polo shirt and plaid Bermuda shorts, Alfred Scatterwell definitely hadn’t dressed for the occasion. Seeing his knobby knees and scaly elbows was bad enough, but his potbelly seemed to bobble with every step.

  “So you found the place,” he said. “What do you want?” Apparently while he was only the all-purpose heir, Alfred had held himself back around his uncle. Now that he expected to rake in Gardner’s money, Alfred was letting his true nature out.

  “First, we’d like to offer our condolences—” Sunny began, but Alfred waved her off.

  “You saw how well the old man and I got along. Do you really think I’m bereaved?”

  Smelling the brandy on his breath, Sunny had another description in mind.

  “I think you should be concerned about the way your uncle died,” Will firmly told him. “There are some unusual circumstances.”

  “The people at Bridgewater Hall told me Uncle Gardner died of a stroke, and his personal physician concurred,” Alfred replied. “Considering he had a stroke three months before, how unusual is that?”

  “There’s a situation you’re not aware of.” Sunny told Alfred the story Oliver Barnstable had recounted to her and Will.

  Scatterwell looked incredulous. “You’re taking the word of that flabby-faced loudmouth? The man is on pain medication, for heaven’s sake.”

  “You yourself complained about the mortality rate at Bridgewater Hall,” Sunny pointed out. “Don’t you feel any responsibility to find out what happened?”

  “I felt responsible enough to the family fortune to look into the possibility of suing for malpractice.” Alfred shook his head. “The outlay in lawyer’s fees didn’t match the uncertain chances of winning a settlement.”

  Sunny didn’t know what to say to that. She looked over at Will, who was eyeing Alfred as if he’d encountered a strange specimen. “Mr. Barnstable raised enough concern that we’re looking into what happened to your uncle.” Will tried to appeal to Alfred’s penny-pinching side. “It needn’t even cost you anything. If you just approached the medical examiner and asked for some test—”

  “Why should I?” Alfred interrupted. “If there was a policy with a big payout, the insurance company may want to quibble, but I don’t. My uncle always sneered at me for inheriting family money. But what did he do? He received the lion’s share of my grandfather’s estate and spent his life wasting it. There aren’t many Scatterwells left, thanks to people like Uncle Gardner who never had children. If I can amass enough money, invest it intelligently, there may be something for the next generation—and we could repair the mansion that’s going to rack and ruin. I was down in the big house yesterday trying to see if we could use any of the public rooms for a memorial. They’re all going to need work.”

  Sunny couldn’t get over this attitude. “So you’d wink at murder to get your inheritance?”

  “I reject any culpability for my uncle’s death.” Alfred drew himself to his full height. He might have looked impressive, if he’d been dressed better and his belly didn’t jiggle. “But if—if—someone hurried his demise along, it stopped him from wasting money on that overgrown home for the senile.” He glared at Will. “Just as his stroke stopped him from throwing money away on a high school he’d barely thought of in the last fifty years or so. When you called yesterday, I knew I recognized your name—so I looked in Uncle Gardner’s papers to find the connection. What did you do to get his money, sing the school song?” Alfred put his hand over his heart and croaked, “‘Saxon, Saxon, onward, upward,’” his expression looking as if he wanted to spit. “Oh, yes, I went there, too. A few years before you did. Family tradition, sending the males to that ridiculous place. And I hate to disappoint you, Mr. Fund-raiser, but they won’t get one thin dime from me.”

  He finally led them into the house from the doorway, along a hallway toward the living room. “I was from the same family as Uncle Gardner, went to the same stupid schools. But for my entire life, he lorded it over me, mocked me, belittled me. Well, he’s not so superior now.”

  Alfred pointed at the coffee table, which held a waxed cardboard box with a metal handle, the sort of thing that might accompany a large order of take-out Chinese food. “It’s just like that old joke he liked to tell—all men are cremated equal.”

  8

  A slow, red tide crept up Will’s neck to his face. “You wasted our time when you’d already cremated your uncle?”

  “I wanted to find out what your investigation had turned up,” Alfred coolly replied. “From what I heard, I have nothing to worry about.”

  “You mean, worrying about a murder charge?” Sunny asked. She figured it was worth one last chance to try and shake up Scatterwell a little. “Maybe you could tell us where you were between, say, ten p.m. and four a.m.?”

  “I was home, alone, watching a DVD and then sleeping in bed.” He smiled. “The sound sleep of the innocent.” From his mocking tone, Alfred might as well have been channeling his uncle’s nasty side. “Good luck to you. I’d say you’ll need it.”

  Sunny watched Will’s hands slowly close into fists at his sides.

  We’d better get out of here before Alfred winds up adding another assault complaint to his record. She put a hand on Will’s elbow. “No use wasting any more time,” she said. “Let’s go.”

  It was a long walk back to the street, especially when they heard Alfred chuckling behind them. “I’d love to shove that laugh back down that smug jerk’s throat,” Will muttered. “Along with a couple of teeth.”

  “Getting mad isn’t going to get us anywhere,” Sunny warned, then smiled. “Getting even might. You know, it’s amazing. I had my doubts about this investigation. But all of a sudden, I wouldn’t mind proving that Gardner’s death was a murder, especially if it meant taking down some smug jerk for the crime.”

  They climbed into Will’s pickup. “Now that you’ve had a moment to cool down, do you really think Alfred is a suspect?” Sunny asked Wil
l.

  He stabbed his key into the ignition aggressively. “Well, he destroyed any possible evidence of foul play by cremating Gardner’s body. I wonder if he was already arranging that when I called him yesterday morning.”

  Sunny nodded. “That’s definitely a mark on the suspect side of the ledger.” She glanced at him. “Do you think Alfred actually committed the crime?”

  “If I were Gardner, I certainly wouldn’t take a drink from him in the middle of the night.” Will frowned, chewing on that for a moment. Then he said, “Of course, from what you’ve told me about Gardner Scatterwell, maybe he didn’t think that Alfred had the stones to try and kill him.” Will continued to think it over. “Of course, Alfred didn’t have to be the actual doer. He could have paid to have it done.”

  Sunny blinked. “You mean that now you’re agreeing with what Ollie suggested? That somebody at Bridgewater Hall could’ve been tempted by money?”

  Sunny suddenly remembered Rafe Warner’s frayed shirt and went silent.

  “The one thing I keep hearing about the wonderful world of health care is the low salaries—especially the farther down the ladder you go with the caregivers,” Will continued. “Alfred seems to have at least a piece of the Scatterwell fortune. I think he might be able to offer a price that someone on the staff couldn’t refuse.” He shook his head. “I wish we could look into where Alfred’s money’s been going, but I don’t think we could talk Nesbit into doing some forensic accounting.”

  Sunny grinned. “Who needs Nesbit? We can get Ollie digging into good old Alf and the Scatterwell fortune. He’s good at following the money, and he has financial contacts all over the state. The day that Gardner died, he had me bringing files of earlier deals he’d done with Stan Orton. I bet he’s doing the same sort of investigation into Mr. Orton’s finances.”

  “Probably to see if Orton demanded money back from his bumbling assassin.” Will turned the key. “Okay, that gives us two reasons to check in at Bridgewater Hall, getting Ollie to tap into his money contacts and seeing who on the staff might have been bribed.” He grinned. “By Orton or anybody.”

  As they drove up, Sunny used the time to check in with Nancy. She was relieved to hear that no problems had developed at MAX. Let’s hope it stays that way, she thought, but then changed her mind. Maybe one, small, reasonably easy problem, she hedged. Just so Ollie doesn’t think he can dump me and hire Nancy at half my pay.

  Arriving at the nursing home, they decided to tackle the question of susceptible personnel first. That meant a visit to the administrator’s office, which turned out to be on the second floor and took advantage of the bay window next to the main entrance.

  “Do you have an appointment with Dr. Reese?” the secretary outside his office door asked. Since she had a computer screen facing her chair, she probably had the answer in front of her eyes.

  “I’m pretty sure he’ll see us,” Sunny told the woman. “Or those confidentiality agreements he’s had you working on will be pretty useless.”

  She quickly got on the phone. “He’ll see you now,” she said, rising to open the door. But Reese beat her to the punch, swinging the door open from his side and gesturing Sunny and Will into the office.

  When they explained that they wanted to see who’d been working the night that Gardner had died, Reese frowned. “I don’t think—” he began.

  “I can’t imagine anything in the employee attendance records that could affect patient confidentiality,” Will broke in.

  “And if you’re worried about the labor problems, we’ll certainly do our best to stay out of them,” Sunny chimed in.

  Reese sank back in his desk chair, his face gray. “Do you think I like playing the bad guy here?” he demanded in a hoarse voice. “There was a reason why the board forced Faulkner out and brought me in. This facility has been losing money for the last two years. We’ve had to dip into the endowment, and if we keep doing that, it’s just a matter of time before we have to close the doors. Yes, I’m asking people to sacrifice. But the alternative would be no jobs at all.”

  “Have you explained that to the union?” Sunny asked.

  “I don’t dare.” Reese leaned across his desk. “If they hear that we may close, the more well-heeled families will pull their loved ones out of here. That will just accelerate the downward spiral.” He paused for a second, clearing his throat. “Of course, I’m telling you all of this in confidence.”

  Boy, Sunny thought, he’s really depending on those confidentiality agreements—especially since we haven’t signed them yet.

  “In the meantime, employee morale is diving, and your mortality rate is going up,” Will pointed out. “Is there a connection?”

  “None that I can find.” Reese dug out a handkerchief to mop his suddenly sweaty face. “We have a monthly mortality review, and there’s nothing out of the ordinary. Every facility dealing with the elderly has spikes and sometimes valleys in their statistics.” He sighed. “It’s just unfortunate that it’s happening now.”

  “Maybe more unfortunate than you think,” Will said, telling Reese their suspicions about a staff member’s possible involvement.

  “You think that one of the staff was bribed—that one of our people—” He broke off, staring blindly into space.

  Probably imagining the headlines, and what would happen after they came out, Sunny thought.

  “At this point, let’s call it an unnerving possibility.” Will used a soothing voice. Sunny had seen cops use it to coax suspects into confessing crimes. “It would be better if we checked it out to exclude innocent people.”

  Reese caved. “Rafe Warner has the relevant records.” He gave them a pleading look. “Just don’t tell him what they’re for.”

  Sunny figured it was kinder not to mention that Rafe was already aware of their investigation.

  When they got downstairs to the security desk, they found Rafe Warner out of uniform. He smiled at Sunny. “I’m here early. When the weather’s decent, I like to grab a sandwich in the coffee shop and eat it out in the garden.”

  “Sounds nice,” she said. “Can we join you?”

  A few minutes later, they sat on a bench outside in the garden, a large area with graveled walks meandering around bushes and trees, with plants and plenty of flowers wherever Sunny looked. The day was clear and warm, with the afternoon sun beating down heavily.

  “The trick is to find places with shade and a breeze.” Rafe took a careful bite of his chicken salad sandwich and washed it down with a sip of soda. “And you’ve got to watch out, because we get a lot of bees around here. The flowers draw them.”

  “Rafe,” Will said, “we just had a meeting with Dr. Reese.”

  “Oh?” Rafe’s eyes grew guarded.

  “He gave us the okay to check the records for the night that Gardner Scatterwell died.” Will looked closely at the security guy as he spoke.

  “I’ll still have to check with him, of course.” Rafe looked as though his sandwich didn’t taste so good anymore.

  “That’s exactly what you should do,” Sunny told him. She paused for a moment, trying to phrase her next question so it wouldn’t sound like an accusation. “I know you’re pretty busy on the door during the early part of your shift, but things must get kind of boring overnight, don’t they?”

  “Oh, no,” Rafe replied. “I have screens to watch from the video cameras outside, and I do at least one set of rounds, clocking in at stations all over the building.”

  Something else to check, Sunny thought.

  “Did you notice anything odd the other night? Anybody out of the ordinary?”

  “You mean, anybody I want to put the finger on.” Rafe put his sandwich down and pulled out a cell phone. After dialing, he said, “Hey, Dee, it’s Rafe. I need to talk to the doctor.” He waited a moment, then said, “Afternoon, Dr. Reese. I’m here with Miss Coolidge and Mr. Price—�
�

  That was as far as he got. Then he sat listening in silence. “Okay, I understand. Yes, sir.”

  He shut his phone and put it in his pocket, frowning. “I’ll give you the records when we get back inside,” he said. “As for who was here—well, the whole late-night shift, of course. They’re spread pretty thin, but most of the patients are fast asleep anyway. So who else? Elsa Hogue worked late. So did Luke Daconto.”

  “What was he doing, giving midnight concerts?” Sunny said in bafflement.

  “All the therapists have paperwork.” Rafe shrugged. “Ask them about it.”

  “Anyone else?” Will asked.

  “One funny thing,” Rafe said. “They paged Dr. Gavrik but weren’t sure whether she would show. It was her day off. Dr. Reese came bombing in and told me to get the number for the on-call doctor, but then Dr. Gavrik arrived. It was around three in the morning, but she didn’t drive up in her car. I saw it on one of the security camera screens. She got out of a town car. And you know how people look when they jump out of bed? She didn’t look that way.”

  Will leaned forward on the bench. “You mean, she looked like she’d already been awake?”

  “She looked like she’d been out,” Rafe said. “She was wearing a good suit, which she doesn’t usually do when she comes in here.”

  Sunny slowly nodded, remembering the light jade number she’d noticed on the doctor. She’d thought it was awfully dressy for that time of night, but Rafe had been more observant. “It was rumpled, as though she’d been sitting in it for a long time. Longer than just a ride in a town car.” He shook his head, looking a little less sure. “And something else. When she came in, I thought I saw some kind of airline ticket in the pocket of her jacket.” He touched his chest. “Up here. But when she left, it was gone.”

  Will glanced over at Sunny. “You think she could’ve taken a red-eye flight in from somewhere?”

  She shook her head, confident in the knowledge gained from working at MAX for more than a year. “Not one that came in through Pease. The latest arrivals there are around ten thirty at night.”